I finally arose at about 5:30 this morning, after first awakening and then drifting back to sleep at 1:30 and then again several more times. By 5:30, I was ready for the day. Unlike yesterday, when I crept out of bed without a thought of showering or shaving, I decided to start the day clean and clean-shaven. After making myself as presentable as possible, I made a pot of coffee, washed yesterday's dishes (another piece of evidence of my slovenly lifestyle...yesterday's dishes), and went to the computer.
I was pleased to read a comment posted by Bev of Burning Silo, responding to my post about the 5 things I commit to do this year. She has a few commitments of her own that I find laudable. Then, I began my weekend morning tradition of reading, online, various news stories from papers around the world. The fact that I'd just read comments from Bev, who's from Canada, prompted me to start my trek there.
I opened the Globe and Mail website and came across this article that just wrenches my gut. An animator/filmmaker and her husband, who returned to New Orleans at her urging, were among the victims of the recent upsurge in violence in that city. Helen Hill was killed and her husband, Paul Gailiunas, a doctor, was shot four times. When these tragedies--so long after Hurricane Katrina has passed--are personalized through stories such as this one in the Globe and Mail, it makes me think back to the promises that were made to the nation and to the city of New Orleans by George Bush. Like so many other things he has uttered, his promises were empty lies. And people's lives are shattered, in ruins, or lost completely because the city has been effectively abandoned.
Farther south, in Chile, large international corporate interests (in one project, Swiss, Canadian, Spanish, and Chilean companies are involved) continue to work to build dams to generate vast amounts of hydroelectric power, with the potential of devastating enormous expanses of pristine rivers and river basins. Who cares? It's way down in Chile, so why should it matter? Unfortunately, I suspect there are a lot of people who feel that way.
My Internet wanderings next took me to Venezuela, where I read an interesting interview in which the interviewee (Heinz Dieterich) argues (though I believe in a fundamentally specious way) that the foundations have been laid for Socialism of the 21st Century. I did find the article interesting, with its argument that replacing price, the 'regulating principle of the market econonomy,' with value, the 'regulating principle of the socialist economy,' is the key to the transition to 21st Century socialism. The definition of value the guy uses, the amount of labor used to produce products, disregards nonlabor components of production, e.g., investments in equipment, etc. The key to socialism, he says, is to attach equal value to things that are traded or sold...so, for example, if I wanted to buy a watch, I would pay for it with either something that an equal amount of labor went into creating as that which went into creating the watch or with a monetized version of that labor time. If you read Spanish and have an interest in the topic, here's a link to a paper that sets forth the principles of Socialism of the 21st Century.
After perusing the news and a few other items of note, I began to explore motels for sale...not entirely sure why. I found many of them for sale in the southwest, typically at prices in the neighborhood of $3 million for 80 unit properties, which sounds rather steep to me. In the unlikely event that readers of this blog have an interest in buying motels, here are some links that may be of interest: first link; second link; this one interests me...only $140,000 for a hotel in Tucumcari, NM, across the street from Dels!
OK, last item. I have an interest in information about Mexico, so when I found the National Institute of Geographical Statistics and Information, I was delighted. It's all in Spanish, but with enough time and perserverance, I can wade through it and get lots of interesting information.
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