GDAE Podcast Episode 23

Climate Justice

• Climate Change: November 30 Day of Action, Corporate villains, Act for Climate Justice dot ORG.
• Wall Street's so-called "profits" and the Phony Accounting that created them.
  
• Climate Change II: Naomi Klein: Framing the issue in terms of "reparations".
  
• The Chasm between the Super Rich and the Rest of Us: Words of wisdom from Kuwait's Abdlatif Al-Hamad.
• Prosecution of Bush: War Crimes Against Children from a Book by Professor Michael Haas and Article by Sherwood Ross.
• Musical diversion: Sam Bush Fiddle Solo exploration from "Little Maggie" with Doc & Merle Watson.
  
• Bloopers.
  

Play Episode 23 from this page:



Click to Download Episode 23.

Previous Episodes & 60-Sec Promo:

GDAE Podcast 60-Second Promo

GDAE Podcast Episode 22 November 11, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 21 October 18, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 20 October 9, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 19 September 27, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 18 September 16, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 17 August 31, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 16 July 30, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 15 June 17, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 14 June 10, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 13 May 22, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 12May 5, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 11 April 24, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 10 April 9, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 9March 28, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 8 March 15, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 7 March 1, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 6 February 17, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 5 February 6, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 4 January 24, 2009

Corporate Globalization and Burma/Myanmar

What does the IMF and World Bank have to do with Burma/Myanmar? Some might say, "Nothing. The two groups have closed off all new loans to the regime since 1987." Perhaps, but that doesn't mean they don't still have influence.

In an article entitled "Invisible Hand / Iron Fist: The Role of the IMF in Burma/Myanmar," by Ryan Harvey, the relationships are discussed. The military junta displays a pattern of behavior that points to preparations for receipt of financing from the IMF. That pattern of cutting public programs looks a lot like an IMF austerity plan. The IMF continues to meet and advise the military government.

According to the article, the military government is actively developing a new "reclusive capitol Naypyidaw," for which major capital funds are needed for infrastructure. But it's not just the corrupted international financial institutions. The transnational corporations are also profiting from the authoritarian dictatorship as well, putting the lie to the establishment storyline about benevolent globalization. Beneviolent is more like it.


Ivanhoe Mines, headquartered in Canada, The China National Petroleum Corporation, China’s largest oil company, Total Oil of France, have all been "looking the other way," as they extract wealth from Burma/Myanmar, while literal slave labor is used in the process. It is worth noting that U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice sat on the Board of Directors at Chevron throughout the construction of the Yadana pipeline that devastated a number of villages.

Harvey's brief article is a must read for anyone interested in globalization or the situation in Burma/Myanmar.

Corruption within World Bank?

I don't claim to know "the facts" about Wolfowitz's supposed career advancement of his girlfriend at the World Bank. However, the issue is a big deal because of the weight that the World Bank places on preventing corruption when it makes funds available. If the World Bank is itself corrupt on the surface, what can be expected from those to whom the Bank makes loans?

That said, most people realize that the World Bank was captured and corrupted, long ago, by transnational corporate interests.
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