Brazeau picks the Senate

It was reported in the Globe and Mail that Patrick Brazeau has picked his recently offered senator job over his previous job as National Chief of the Congress of Aboriginals People.

Originally he had planned to hold down both jobs, each job had a salary of over 100,000$ per year. Many people both on the Native side and on the non-Native side thought that he would be in clear conflict of interest. On one side he would be expected to lobby for Native issues to the government, on the other side he would be part of the very government he would be lobbying to.

Mr Brazeau is currently facing sexual harassment charges filed by former employees. A few people within the Congress of Aboriginals People are also calling for him to step down from his senate job because of these allegations.

In the end the 34 year old chose the job with the better salary and where he has the endorsement of Stephen Harper.
Wouldn't you?

For more on this issue please read a more in depth analysis on The Nexus of Assholery.

Muchacho Enfermo

Why you shold vote for Ashin Mettacara

The website Mizzima which specialize in news from Burma has published an article today on Ashin Mettacara the young monk that I ask you all to support at the 2009 Weblog awards. In this short text that is worth reading you'll find a lot more information about him and what it is he is standing up against.

For those of you who don't feel like reading the whole article here's a quote from it:

"...Burma's military rulers have hunted down bloggers and others involved in the dissemination of information and sentenced them to long prison terms. Popular comedian and film director Zargarnar was last year arrested and sentenced to 59 years of imprisonment for providing information and giving interviews to media groups.

Similarly, a young blogger, Nay Phone Latt, who is also a youth member of detained Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Nyi's National League for Democracy party, was also arrested and sentenced to more than 20 years of imprisonment for posting writings of Burmese youth on his Weblog.

Ashin Mettacara, who has completed his B.A and M.A studies in Sri Lanka's Buddhist and Pali University, said he would face a similar threat from Burma's military rulers if he should return to his homeland."

If that isn't enough to make you all vote or at least check out his website I don't know what is!

Muchacho Enfermo

What ceasefire?

The UN security council called for a ceasefire in Gaza yesterday. The vote was 14-0 with the US abstaining, standing by their original position that since Israel and Hamas wouldn't listen there was no point in trying.

Hamas is now being reported by the Associated Press as having said that it "is not interested in a ceasefire".

The violence has been escalating again, militants in Lebanon have reportedly been firing rockets on Israel.

Israel has been accused of firing on Red Cross aid workers and bombing a UN school. Since then all aid supplies in Gaza have been stopped.

If Israel is firing on the UN and Lebanon is firing on Israel... what does that leave? Are we on the eve of a much bigger crisis then was first expected in Gaza? Has Israel finally bitten off more then it can chew? And when will the UN actually step in and impose a ceasefire? If it does how likely is it to work?

Just a few questions I had... I'm hoping some of you have answers because I certainly don't.

Muchacho Enfermo

Please vote for Ashin and for Yoani

Joe the Plumber does what?

The associated press reported today that Joe the Plumber is going Israel to become a war correspondant. He is leaving for a 10 day trip to cover the fighting for the conservative website PJTV.com.

He wants to let Israel's “Average Joes share their story.”

Kudos to Joe the Plumber for knowing when to capitalize on an opportunity, kudos for PJTV.com for cashing in a meal ticket when they see one. But shame on both PJTV and Joe for trying to make a buck from the misery in the middle-eat.

While he's there Joe the Plumber should walk into Gaza and ask regular Palestinian average Joes their story. Get it from both sides like a real journalist.

My main concern is what more can Joe the Plumber possibly bring to the already extensive coverage of the carnage in Gaza? Do Israelis know who he is? Will the average Israeli care who this guy is? Why would they even talk to him instead of another more qualified correspondent that might have a deeper understanding of the culture, their emotions and the conflict as a whole?

My other concern is that this stunt might turn this conflict into a little bit of a joke despite the rising death toll. Imagine how Americans would have felt if Joe the Plumber interviewed "average joes" after hurricane Katrina or some other US tragedy with massive loss of life. Because that's what he will be doing in Israel.

While I think it's a great idea to have an average guy ask questions of regular everyday folks... I think it should be done at home in the US where people at least know who he is and it shouldn't be in the context a potential humanitarian crisis.

Again, I can't blame Joe the Plumber for wanting to make a buck. I'm just saddened that this sideshow comes at a time like this, in a place where so much blood is shed and where tension is at an all time high.

Muchacho Enfermo

Voting update!

You can vote every 24 hours!
There's 6 days left! that means 6 votes per reader!

"Build your little home" Raul Castro

Yesterday Fiona Govan of the Telegraph reported that Raul Castro, younger brother of Fidel, has declared that Cubans can now build their own while giving a speech in Santiago de Cuba.

"OK, here you can build. I've given you this amount of space, that amount of room for a street, and that amount for a sidewalk. Now build your little home with whatever you can."

Excuse me did he say? Build it with whatever you can. AND Build your little home.
What kind of condescending thing to say is that for the leader of a nation that is supposed to be all about "cooperation for the revolution" and "for the humble by the humble"? This sounds to me like the State has finally run out of ideas and realizes that it can't provide for its citizens the way it has promised to for the last 50 years.

This is another great reform Mr Castro... First you allow your people to buy computers they can't afford, share hotels with tourists that they also cannot afford, let people buy DVD players and cellphones that most of them can't afford. Now you're assigning them a tiny parcel of land and are saying: Fend for yourselves. What about those who can't afford the black market materials you are encouraging them to buy? Will the state refuse to provide materials to fix their existing homes because the new rules is "build it with whatever you can"?

Oh yeah I forgot the State can't even provide the materials... This isn't a reform at all isn't it? This is because you're screwed for money and can't afford materials so now you're screwing your people even more by abandoning them, their families, their crumbling homes and throwing them to the wolves!

How about the Cuban people "build a little" prison "with whatever they can" and put you and your cronies in there and take back their island?


Muchacho Enfermo

Vote for Yoani!

Yesterday I asked you all to support Ashin Mettacara for the Weblog log awards as he was nominated in the "Best Asian Blog" category. Today I am asking you to show your support for Yoani Sanchez as her blog Generation Y has been nominated in the "Best Latino, Caribbean or South American Blog" category.

Yoani is Cuba's most famous blogger, her blog has been blocked from within the island, she has gone head to head with Mariela Castro, she has been interviewed by countless TV stations and was voted by Time magazine as one of the world's most influential people.

Yet, her government still finds ways to harass her and the handful of blogger that blog in Cuba about Cuba. In December both her and her husband, along with another blogger Claudia Cadelo, were summoned by the Ministry of the Interior and were told in no uncertain terms that they should cancel a meeting of Cuban bloggers that was planned for the following weekend. These awards help raise awareness about her cause and help keep her out of jail.

Just as you did yesterday by voting for Ashin Mettacara, please take 30 seconds out of your day and show your support for Yoani and all of the other Cuban bloggers who risk their freedom to fight for freedom speech and freedom of opinion.

Muchacho Enfermo

Vote for Ahsin Mettacara

Ashin Mettacara, who's blog can be found in my blogroll and is someone I've had the privilege to chat with in the past, is a 27 year old Buddhist monk from Burma that is doing his best to spread the word about the injustices suffered in his country. For all of you who like reading Generation Y and about Cuba's struggles, Ashin's website is very much along the same lines, blogging under less than favorable conditions in a country where monks are sentenced to 68 years in prison for marching peacefully in the street and comedians are jailed for making a joke about the "government".

Yesterday was the 61st anniversary of Burma's independence from British rule. How much longer will it have to wait for independence from ruthless dictators?

Ashin Mettacara is one of Burma's best known bloggers and is nominated for best Asian Blog at the weblog awards.

vote here

Muchacho Enfermo