$7 billion in public funds – that’s a lot of money for a country were poverty can be considered a major social problem. In a country where Mexican migrant labourers try to sneak across the border, a country where those same migrants are exploited by the agricultural industry and treated like vermin by law enforcement, $7 billion pays for a lot of green cards and education schemes. But Uncle Sam spent the $7 billion on funding the highly profitable oil giant Enron.

“Researchers from the Sustainable Energy and Economy Network (SEEN), a project of IPS, have discovered that over the past decade, 21 agencies representing the U.S. government, multilateral development banks, and other national governments helped leverage Enron’s global reach with $7.2 billion in public financing approved for 38 projects in 29 countries.”

In those countries, Enron became notorious for causing environmental problems and corrupting local officials. Enron did not invent corruption in the developing world, but they sure were good at it.

And yet it appears as if Enron’s friends in the US government are largely untouchable. Where are the mainstream journalists hounding the government for the truth? Where are the thousands of people protesting corruption on US soil? And where is the accountability of an open and free market system?

Not in the US of A, that’s for sure.

Popularity: 6% [?]

I have to start this rant by admitting that I don’t like George Soros.

Not for any rational reason, really, as I don’t know the man and wouldn’t recognise him if I bumped into him in the street. I don’t even know very much about him, apart from the fact that (a) he has an immense pile of money, (b) that he isn’t afraid of pumping a part of that money into really good causes, and© that nobody rakes together $6.9 billion without taking some of it from someone else.

So now I have that off my chest, I can also admit that I’m warming to the man, even if it’s only because he’s not afraid to say what’s on his mind.

Some of what’s on his mind is this: “If we assess the foreign policy accomplishments of the Bush administration since Sept. 11, the scorecard is quite dismal. There are some people in the Bush administration who have the same mentality as Arafat or Sharon. I can name names, like Ashcroft, Cheney and Rumsfeld, although that is considered impolite.”

He goes on: “Although the terrorist threat is real, and we must defend against it, we are going about it the wrong way. What makes the situation so dangerous is that nobody dares to say so. The nation is endangered, therefore it is unpatriotic to criticize our leader. That is not what has made this country great. The strength of this country lies in the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights and the freedom of speech and thought.”

Amen, brother.

Popularity: 9% [?]