SATURDAY MORNING REAL ART READING

First, a report from Reuters via the Houston Chronicle on, as Peter Jennings used to say, your money:

Iraqi funds can't be found

At least $8.8 billion that was given to Iraqi ministries by the former U.S.-led authority there cannot be accounted for, according to a draft U.S. audit set for release soon.

The audit by the Coalition Provisional Authority's own inspector general blasts the CPA for "not providing adequate stewardship" of at least $8.8 billion from the Development Fund for Iraq.

Click here for the rest.

This is either due to corruption or sheer incompetence. My bet's on corruption.

Keep in mind that this money comes from American tax payers--I think that pretty much speaks for itself.

Next, a report from the AP via the Houston Chronicle on the continuing saga of American hyper-patriotism:

Mexican flag causes a furor

Criticism over a Mexican flag hung in a classroom has led school officials to create a policy that says the display of foreign banners must be temporary and related to what is being taught in class.

Officials at North High School, where the student population is 84 percent Hispanic, said they received complaints over a photograph in the Rocky Mountain News taken Monday, the first day of school.

The photo showed a Mexican flag displayed in a classroom next to a U.S. flag.

Andrew Fox, who teaches English to Spanish-speaking students, said he wanted his Hispanic students to feel more welcome.

Click here for the rest.

I displayed a Mexican flag for years in my classroom at Sterling High School in Baytown for pretty much the same reason that Fox did. Anticipating such criticism, I made sure to place the Mexican flag far away from the US flag, and well beneath it. Fortunately, no one ever hassled me about it, and I think that, on some levels, it really did make Mexican-American kids feel more welcome in my class. It's a damned shame that the weird patriots in Colorado have essentially taken away Fox's ability to make a gesture of inclusion toward an entire ethnicity.

Next, from WorkingForChange, another entry in the never-ending "Wal-Mart Sucks" series:

Public pays the costs of Wal-Mart's low prices

According to a report issued by the University of California Labor Center, the reliance by Wal-Mart workers on public assistance programs in our state costs taxpayers an estimated $86 million annually. In other words, the same poor schmucks who toil to fund public assistance for individuals are indirectly providing the same courtesy to Wal-Mart.

Moreover, the study further estimates if other large retailers adopted Wal-Mart's wage and benefits standards, it would cost taxpayers an additional $410 million a year in public assistance. At this rate, Wal-Mart workers' utilization of public assistance nationally could cost the American taxpayer as much as $2 billion per year.

In addition, the Labor Center study suggests there is strong evidence that the jobs created by Wal-Mart tend to replace higher paying jobs, as existing retailers are forced to scale back or go out of business.

Click here for the rest.

I've been talking a lot recently about how neo-liberal economic philosophy is essentially bullshit propaganda, justifying conservative attitudes about stealing from the poor and giving to the rich. The ultra-successful Wal-Mart, with it's aggressive capitalization on both the rollback of longstanding labor protections and the federal government's unwillingness to enforce existing labor law, is arguably the most visible example of the ravages of neo-liberalism. When companies don't pay enough, somebody, somewhere, picks up the tab. In Wal-Mart's case it's both their employees and the American tax payer. Truly, Wal-Mart sucks.

And, again from WorkingForChange, a report on the numerous scandals involving both the White House and other highly placed Republicans:

Investigations are still brewing

* Who Outed CIA Agent Valerie Plume?
* Who in Halliburton Approved Bribing a Nigerian Official?
* Did Cheney approve Illegal Halliburton Operation in Iran?
* Was Representative Nick Smith Offered a Bribe?
* How Did Iran learn that the U.S. broke its Secret Code?

Click here for the rest.

There's a lot of serious chicanery going on with the Republicans these days, and much of it makes Watergate seem quaint in comparison. The fact that these scandals aren't headline news every damned day is testimony to the utter failure of the corporate news media to do it's job, which is no surprise, because they are the corporate news media, after all.

And Finally from CNN courtesy of Corrente, a report on...well, this is pretty amazing; just read the excerpt:

Kennedy has company on airline watch list

A second prominent lawmaker said Friday that he's been subjected to extra security at airports because his name appears on a list designed to prevent terrorists from boarding planes.

Rep. John Lewis, D - Georgia, a nine-term congressman famous for his civil rights work with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., has been stopped 35 to 40 times over the past year, his office said.

Kennedy, D-Massachusetts, told a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on border security Thursday that he's been stopped several times because his name appeared on an airline watch list.

Click here for the rest.

I think it's pretty obvious that Lewis and Kennedy, two Democrats who have been around forever, are not terrorists. This is harassment, plain and simple. Who says that the Bush administration isn't politicizing the war on terror? Hell, this isn't even politicizing; this is a rank abuse of presidential power, and probably needs to be placed in the scandal article, above. Outrageous.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$