I finally realized why the protests I'm always in never get any media coverage -- we're not moronic xenophobic ideologue white people! Your average peace protest these days gathers 200-400 people in the streets, and we're lucky to get a passing mention on the society page. Meanwhile, the Utah Minutemen cobble together "65 to 70 protestors," and they make it onto their local news' website (probably the evening news, too). (TPCQ: "They took our jobs!")

How odd that white people appealing to the basest, most selfish desires of middle-class America get so much media coverage with so few people in attendance? And here I thought protests just weren't exciting enough for local TV news! (For the record: I don't fling accusations like "racist" around lightly; the Utah Minutemen website links to this lovely gem. ("Why doesn't she go back home where she can enjoy her culture and her heritage all the time?")

But They're Illegal!

I don't really have any sympathy for the anti-illegal-immigration point of view, because I have a fundamental indifference at this point to the entire notion of the modern city-state. We're all humans, and in this era of neoliberalized transnational capital, borders are serving more and more as little else than a means to oppress workers. (Companies can get up and go wherever they like, but people can't.)

So while I don't condone illegal behavior, I don't really care that there are so many people in the US who "snuck in". I daresay the Sioux and the Apache and the Seminole and the Creek and the Coeur d'Laine probably have a few things to say about who the most offensive illegal immigrants on this continent are.

Besides, the prime beneficiaries of illegal immigration are the business owners who profit from such cheap labor -- not the poor shlub working in the lettuce fields so he can send money to his family who are even worse off than he is.

Baby News!

Mega-Congratulations to Garrett and Christie for their new baby girl, born yesterday. Surely pictures and news from the exhausted family will be forthcoming. Speaking of which, C&G -- when is Max going to have his own blog?

Guilty! Guilty! Guilty! Guilty! Guilty! Guilty!

In other news: BWA HA HA HA HA!!

The eight-woman, four-man panel found Skilling guilty on 19 of 28 counts, while Lay was convicted on all six counts leveled against him. Skilling was spared on charges of insider trading. They each face decades behind bars at their sentencing, scheduled for mid-September.

Surely it won't be a sentence commensurate with the suffering they caused (especially when compared to the relatively longer sentences blue-collar bank robbers receive), but it's still a dose of sweet justice at last.

Alas, Timor

You may have heard about all the violence recently in Dili, East Timor. I wish I had some insider information to give you, but unfortunately I can't offer much. The development-monitoring group La'o Hamutuk has been releasing statements for several months, but I doubt any communiques that come out soon will paint such a tranquil picture. Still, they're good background material. Meantime, be sure to check out the statement from ETAN for some more infrastructural background.

A delegation from Madison's own Just Coffee was in Dili recently; we don't know if they're still there or not. We do, of course, have a lot of friends and colleagues in East Timor, and it goes without saying that our thoughts and well-wishings are with them. For once it doesn't look like there's anything specific we in the US can do to help the situation in East Timor (aside from of course advocating for an international tribunal and a severing of military ties with the TNI), but if I hear of anything I'll keep you posted.

This guy is blogging in Dili, but it's hard to know how reliable it is.

TimeWaster™

Check out this clip from Robot Chicken. It's Star Wars-related!

Today I'm listening to: Groove Salad!