Chairman Mao, The Abe Licoln of Asia?

In a press conference held by China's communist party prior to the long awaited arrival of US President Barrack Obama equated China's invasion of Tibet in 1959 to Abraham Lincoln freeing the slaves in America.

That's right folks, the communist regime that limits speech, screens the internet, massacred people in Tienanmen Square and portrays the Dalai Lama as a "violent separatist", did not in fact (as well all previously thought) annex the peaceful nation of Tibet in 1959. No, we were wrong, they liberated Tibet from under the oppressive thumbs of the Nobel Peace prize winning Dalai Lama.

It's a good thing that China's government is there to clear things up for me, because up until this point it appears that I had misinterpreted the photos of Chinese soldiers executing monks in the streets and burning buildings; it appears that world news agencies also doctored the footage of Chinese military violently silencing peaceful protesters in Tibet prior to the Olympics.

China is entitled to their opinion on the matter and I'm glad that it is being shared with us, especially prior to the arrival of the "leader of the free world". Because, to paraphrase Beijing: "The President should really understand China's point of view, seeing as how he is black and black people were slaves... And they were liberated right? So yeah, that's what we did in Tibet! Only we just thought of it now, like 60 years after the invasion...sorry I meant Liberation. See? We really care about the people of the world. So Mao is a really cool guy, no worries there."

For my part, I'm just not buying what Beijing is selling. Mao might be a lot of things but the one thing he is not is a caring liberator of oppressed people.

Obama to GM CEO: You're fired

In a move that surprised the industry and will surely rock the stock market today, President Obama asked GM CEO Rick Wagoner to resign. The President has also given Chrysler a 60 day deadline to prove it is worthy of bailout money.

I have a really mixed sort of emotion about this whole thing, as I'm writing this I'm not even sure how the end of this post will look.

On the one hand I LOVE the accountability that Obama is trying to push hard for, especially when giving out tax dollars; as opposed to say... the proposed Conservative slush fund to "quickly disperse the money without going through the usual parliamentary spending checks" , which did not have the safeguards in place to protect Canadian tax dollars. I also love that the President seems to be paying attention to what companies are doing and the economy.

On the flip side, I don't like that when he appears on TV for presidential addresses the stock market almost inevitably goes down the next day. I also very much dislike the idea that a President of the US can force the president of a publicly traded company to resign. Can he urge the board to make radical changes? Certainly. Could he make suggestions to said board? Of course, the bailout money is his to dole out.

But GM is not a federally owned company, like say VIA Rail is here in Canada. That for me is where my moral dilemma lies. I understand that he's trying to look out for his people, making sure their money is well spent, making sure that past trends are reversed; and I agree with all of that. I just have a hard time believing what I'm seeing in the country that is probably the purest form of capitalism known to man, you wouldn't even see something like this in Canada and we LOVE public programs such as Healthcare, Medicare, EI, Welfare, Child Tax Credits and "Free Education". The only time CEOs here were forced to step down was after the sponsorship scandal where government funds had been misspent and misdirected.

GM under its current management probably doesn't deserve billions of tax dollars and yes, the CEO should have resigned, along with most of the board. But that's just my view, as a potential shareholder. Maybe the President is also a shareholder... In any case, as steward to the trillions of American Tax Dollars and after the bailout goes, he'll be the only shareholder that matters.

Muchacho Enfermo

Buy American? No thanks... I think I'll stay home.

The Canadian media (and the American media) is filled with news of this whole "buy American" part of Obama's 900 billion dollar stimulus package.

Does it scare me? Nope.Not even a little...
Will it affect Canada? Sure.

But the way I look at it is this: the US has never given a damn about us anyways when it comes to trade. Most of us still have a bitter bitter memory of the whole softwood lumber business. Where the WTO courts sided with Canada and the US gave us the middle finger salute and told the WTO to shove it. Or the "mad cow disease" ban on Canadian beef which bankrupted hundreds of Alberta farmers? We all remember that one.

So how is this new way of screwing Canada any different from the many ways they've screwed us in the past? The only difference is they're now making screwing Canada a legislative requirement. They're putting it on paper and they're telling us: "Hey largest trading partner and neighbor... We're going to pump 900 billion dollars into our economy and at the same time plunge your economy into an even bigger rut. By the way... The President is coming on the 19th better pucker up and kiss his ass..."

Maybe the US is doing what they think is best for themselves, maybe they're doing it because they know that Canada can't afford to do anything about it. But from here on in instead of shopping in Vermont on weekends I'm just going to go ahead and stay home and institute my own "Buy Canadian" policy. I urge you all to do the same.

Muchacho Enfermo

Hope for the hopeless?

Cartoon: from embassymag.ca


Reading article after article about Obama since his election in November all the way until today one thing is clear: in him people see hope for change. Love him or hate him, he is bringing something new to the mix in Washington and his presence is already shaking things up.

Here in Canada, looking at our current potential leaders, it's hard to have hope. It's even harder to have hope for change. The same old boys club, the same graying hair, the same rhetoric, the same arguments, the same problems.

Since Harper's first term in office we have seen a deep divide form in this country, from the rebirth of Western separatism and Quebec nationalism, to Danny Williams doing whatever the hell wants (WILLIAMS FOR PM PLEASE!)... I'm not a old man, heck I'm a young guy, but talking to people in their early 20s it seems that politics hasn't grabbed their attention. There's a deep feeling of complacency in the majority of our young voters. Who's to blame? The politicians haven't captured our attention, the politicians we have now don't campaign on anything. They spend so much time attacking each other that none of them have capitalized on their chances to captivate voters.

Obama campaigned hard, he campaigned on promises of Change(with a capital C) he spoke with passion, he was eloquent. Weather he can make things happen remains to be seen. But the bottom line is I don't remember anyone campaigning with fire like that here in the last 8 years. Maybe someone in Ottawa should hire some of Obama's campaign managers and learn a few things.

This is my challenge to the four clowns in Ottawa: grab our attention, make us believe, make us fight for you, make us tell our friends and talk about Canadian politics over dinner and drinks with our friends. Do your jobs.

As long as our politicians act like hopeless children, I have no hope for change or improvement.

Muchacho Enfermo

Castro: Wants to trade political prisoners for the "Cuban Five"

In Brazil today President Castro, little brother of Fidel Castro, has said that he is willing to send political prisoners and their families to the US in exchange for the "Cuban Five". The Cuban five are currently imprisoned in the US for espionage and attempted murder.

Castro has stated that he do "gesture for gesture" as a show of goodwill to the president elect Barack Obama and hopefully spur talks about ending the embargo. This comes on the heals of the other 32 South American and Caribbean nations having urged the US, last Tuesday, to end the embargo against Cuba.

We will have to wait and see if this pans out for Castro. If it does it would mean a major image boost in Cuba for his regime that has done their best to portray the "Cuban Five" as the "Five Heroes".

Nobody knows how this will play out on either side. Will Cuba hold their end of the proposed deal? Will the US cave and make the trade? This could be a chance to help the US rebuild their international reputation that has suffered worldwide in the last few years. International pressure has been mounting in the last few months for the US to lift the embargo, since both the UN and the EU have both voted to oppose it.

In my opinion, nothing will come of this, both sides are too entrenched in their self-righteousness to make a move and both sides have to deal with tremendous opposition pressure from within. I think this was just another volley in an ongoing war of words between the two nations.

For more information please visit Reuters.

Muchacho Enfermo

Bolivia: stopped before it even starts

It was reported today in Cuban Colada by Renato Perez Pizarro that the President of Bolivia Evo Morales proposed to Latin American nations to recall their ambassadors to the US as a way of pressuring Obama to lift the embargo within a prescribed time frame. Needless to say that this measure was not adopted at the end of the summit and all the ambassadors are still safe and sound in DC.

I don't know much about Morales except that he's a socialist and a fan of Che, that he plays soccer on weekends and never finished high school... Except for being a socialist, a pal of Hugo Chavez and Che fan he didn't seem all that bad, but if he'd finished high school maybe he would have seen that recalling his ambassador would not have been a smart move... that and I think he also kicked out a US ambassador back in September. Good job Evo Morales, way to alienate your country even more.

Muchacho Enfermo