It's a good read,entitled "Bush-Led 'Disaster Capitalism' Exploits Worldwide Misery to Make a Buck" and Naomi nails it. From Alternet via The Nation, a passage:
And the disaster capitalists have been busy -- from private firefighters already on the scene in Northern California's wildfires, to land grabs in cyclone-hit Burma, to the housing bill making its way through Congress. The bill contains little in the way of affordable housing, shifts the burden of mortgage default to taxpayers and makes sure that the banks that made bad loans get some payouts. No wonder it is known in the hallways of Congress as "The Credit Suisse Plan," after one of the banks that generously proposed it.
It would of been nice to have our National Guard here in Cali to fight the 1700 fires we got going on...but alas, most of them are fighting Bush's war in Iraq or Afghanistan. Ms. Klein then goes after Iraq and the OIL ministry:
But these cases of disaster capitalism are amateurish compared with what is unfolding at Iraq's oil ministry. It started with no-bid service contracts announced for ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell, BP and Total (they have yet to be signed but are still on course). Paying multinationals for their technical expertise is not unusual. What is odd is that such contracts almost invariably go to oil service companies -- not to the oil majors, whose work is exploring, producing and owning carbon wealth. As London-based oil expert Greg Muttitt points out, the contracts make sense only in the context of reports that the oil majors have insisted on the right of first refusal on subsequent contracts handed out to manage and produce Iraq's oil fields. In other words, other companies will be free to bid on those future contracts, but these companies will win.
Such crap. Utter crap and fuckwittery our government pulls m'dear reader. For more 'straight talk' check out her piece here.
