Tuesday, June 30, 2009
http://chinaconfidential.blogspot.com/
Cruel Energy: 25,000 Ethanol Slaves in Brazil
The U.S. State Department's 2009 Trafficking in Persons Report mentions Brazil for the eighth time in nine years as a country that does not comply with minimal standards regarding efforts to combat trafficking in persons.
The report cites figures from the Brazilian Federal Police that up to 400,000 children and teenagers are sexually exploited in the country, and that over 25,000 people are subject to slave work conditions in sugarcane harvesting for sugar and ethanol production, as well as in cattle and grain properties in the Amazon and in mining operations.
The report also says that with increased ethanol exports, human trafficking for slave work in ethanol plants tend to increase.Monday, June 29, 2009
Calling Captain Macklin: 'Coup' in Honduras
Hugo Chavez is upset. His proxy in Honduras--a phony populist who betrayed his country--has been kicked out of office and into exile.
AP reports:A tall, wealthy rancher with a black mustache and a white Stetson, Manuel Zelaya spent the last three years turning the political system on its head. At public events, he hurled insults at the rich and powerful, sometimes reinforcing his points by breaking into song. Now those leaders have turned against him, backing the soldiers who ousted him Sunday in Central America's first military coup in 16 years.
Thousands of Hondurans celebrated in the streets in 2006 when Zelaya won the presidency as a frank-talking populist who lambasted the rich — despite his own wealth — and pledged to combat corruption, poverty and crime.
Those promises remain largely unfulfilled. Corruption has dogged his government with several officials accused of taking kickbacks. He doubled the minimum wage but most businesses have refused to pay it, saying they can't afford it amid a global financial crisis. And violence has surged, rising 25 percent from 2007 to 2008 to make Honduras one of Latin America's deadliest countries.
Continue here.
President Obama is siding with Chavez. IBD provides the background:As a result of his brazen disregard for the law, Zelaya found himself escorted from office by the military Sunday morning, and into exile. Venezuela's Hugo Chavez and Cuba's Fidel Castro rushed to blame the U.S., calling it a "yanqui coup."
President Obama on Monday called the action "not legal," and claimed that Zelaya is still the legitimate president.
There was a coup all right, but it wasn't committed by the U.S. or the Honduran court. It was committed by Zelaya himself. He brazenly defied the law, and Hondurans overwhelmingly supported his removal (a pro-Zelaya rally Monday drew a mere 200 acolytes).
Yet the U.S. administration stood with Chavez and Castro, calling Zelaya's lawful removal "a coup." Obama called the action a "terrible precedent," and said Zelaya remains president.
In doing this, the U.S. condemned democrats who stood up to save their democracy, a move that should have been hailed as a historic turning of the tide against the false democracies of the region.
The U.S. response has been disgraceful. "We recognize Zelaya as the duly elected and constitutional president of Honduras. We see no other," a State Department official told reporters.
Worse, the U.S. now contemplates sanctions on the tiny drug-plagued, dirt-poor country of 7 million, threatening to halt its $200 million in U.S. aid, immigration accords and a free-trade treaty if it doesn't put the criminal Zelaya back into office.Korean War II Looms
The pro-appeasement Obama administration has refused to acknowledge North Korea's renunciation of the Korean War armistice.
Why?Holocaust-Denying Iran President Knows No Limits
Iran's Holocaust-denying, Hitlerian maniac-in-chief knows no limits. The fascist monster is now lying to his people about the cold-blooded killing of an innocent young woman by one of his dreaded Basij militiaman, even accusing the CIA of shooting her. Click here for the story.
The idea that the civilized world would even consider allowing a regime led by this villain to acquire atomic arms boggles the mind.
Tuesday, 30 June 2009
China Confidential has repeatedly warned that another Korean war is possible. Gordon Chang agrees. Click here for his opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal.
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