Happy Weekend

Quick thoughts:

-As someone who hates every major news channel; I still flip through them in the morning out of habit, hitting up CBS, ABC, NBC, CNN and yes Fox too just to see what everyone is talking about. THey are all of course, ridiculous and idiotic and I cant stand one channel for more than a minute. I had the mute button on the other day flipping through and noticed a strange pattern. The different news channels kept showing this cracked out black woman next to photos of a morbidly obese black woman. Thinking it was a story on how crack leads to weightloss, I unmuted it. I was wrong, it was Star Jones going around talking about her fight with Barbara Walters, and the "news" channels treating it as if this were actually news. Literally, the didnt even put it under the "Now turning to entertainment" section. The Today's shows top/main interview at the beginning of the show was Star Jones, interview by weatherman Al Roker because, I kid you not, she apparently felt an affinity with him he recommended doctors to her when she was fat for gastric bypass surgeory.

-Mexico is having a presidential election this summer. Im rooting for Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, and actually worked in contact with student organizations in Mexico two years ago that were having nationwide protests to prevent a politically motivated "desafuero" against AMLO which would bar him from running for president (my contact with this non-violent, peaceful organization is one of the many reasons I dont rule out the NSA monitors my emails. Another reason is because I get newsletters from an Iraqi labor union.)
Unfortunately the presidential election is neck-and-neck, and when its THAT close, there will be cheating because A. Mexico is corrupt (just like the USA) and B. Its a CRUCIAL election for George W. Bush, and here is why:

Ever since the Monroe Doctrine the US has considered Latin America its own sphere of influence, to be controlled and dominated by the US (which translates to Latin American raw materials going to US cheaply, US finished goods having open markets in Latin America, and every Latin AMerican country having a favorable climate to US investment). Any time a Latin American country tried to steer away from US influence, the US usually sent the marines in. Literally almost every country in the Western Hemisphere has been invaded by the US. It was done openly until after WWII when imperialism became unpopular. During the Cold War, though, it was still necessary to keep the whole hemisphere under our control. Even if one country fell out, it had to be stopped because it would be like "a virus infecting others" in Kissinger's words, or a "rotten apple" infecting every apple in the barrel, in Kennan's words. Since WWII we've intervened in Guetemala, Cuba, Brazil, Haiti, the Domincan Republic, Chile, El Salvador, Nicuragua and more! THe reason this election is so important:

HUGO CHAVEZ! Yes the current democratically elected President of Venezuela is a Mr. Hugo Chavez, who took Venezuela out of US control (aided by oil wealth). As a result, the US funded and tactically supported a 2002 coup agaisnt him that ultimately failed. Ever since its been funding anti-Chavez groups, but suddenly in Bolvia.... Evo Morales! Democratically elected and is taking Bolivia out of US influence too (nationalized gas/oil, rejecting neoliberalism and FTAA). The Mexican leftist candidate, AMLO, has similar politics to these guys. No doubt the US is already funding the other candidates (most likely through the Orwellian termed National Endowment for Democracy). If AMLO had a huge lead in the polls going into the election, it would be hard to steal. If it was very close, it would be very easy to steal. Look at the US 2000 election. And besides Mexico is the US's direct neighbor and has been under US domination since 1848 (and everytime something went wrong, the US sent troops in again, like in 1859, 1866, 1870, 1890, 1913, 1917, 1918 and 1919). If AMLO wins, its disaster for US hegemony in the hemisphere, thus, I believe he will not be allowed to win. If he does, it will be interesting.