Spent the May 24 weekend glad that I hadn't rented a campsite or blown bucks on a fabulous getaway resort a la The Deerhurst Inn in Huntsville. One downpour followed another and then another, and Linda and I rented movies, drove around in the rain (everything's more fun in the Element), and got for a couple of walks when there were breaks in the clouds. All in all, not what you imagine when you think long weekend- even the dog was going stir-crazy, although she mitigated this by taking the opportunity to roll in some dead thing, and carrying the odour from outdoors to indoors. This last resulted in her being ostracized from our close quarters until Monday night when we walked her and she rolled in all new and wonderful smells, masking the dead thing smell. Ugh.
Got through some more of Global Action, by Maude Barlow and Tony Clarke, and have been chewing away at some of its central premises. For example, the idea that capital has (or should have) responsibility, in that the accumulation of capital is dependent on ages of productive society (in labour, know-how and civil infrastructures) and the extraction and use of natural resources. Thus, along with any "rights" we give to the free(r) movement of capital, there must be a corresponding duty owed to the interests of civil society. That responsibility should cross areas of public interest like food & water supply, a clean and sustainable environment, and issues of social justice such as social safety nets and healthcare.
I'm considering returning to White Rose, where I picked this book up for $7.50, and buying extra copies for my friends... It's a great primer on how the WTO, IMF and World Bank, among others, grew out of corporate influence, and while often understood to operate under the auspices of the UN are actually not governed or ruled by any UN body. The undemocratic, closed-door WTO rulings, the proposed framework of the MAI treaty, and subsequent efforts to profer greater rights on corporations than on individual citizens or governments -- the overview is clear and to the point. It goes a long way in answering the objections of those watching CNN and other global media outlets for their news processing.
Saw Linda off last night, and then spent hours noodling around what I might want to be when I grow up. Realized that I didn't expect to still be asking the question at 34... After two hours of this, resolved to file my taxes for 2 years ago, and pay that parking ticket I haven't see in 2 months.
