Chop, chop!

When the family is together we cook. And, what better time to capture the movement and action of hurried hands working away in the kitchen.

Here's to a bit of togetherness, good food and good cheer!

Bank of (Un)America

In a recent stand against activities that are "inconsistent with internal policies for processing payments" Bank of America is refusing to handle payments for WikiLeaks.

Well, I'm glad to see that such a highly regarded corporate entity can proudly stand above the crowd and propose it's high standards of integrity. And if you'd like to know anymore about any the great Bank of America moral code, all you have to do is do a web search.

And what do we see?!

This was first to come up:

• Bank of America Agrees to Pay $137.3 Million in Restitution to Federal and State Agencies as a Condition of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Corporate Leniency Program (US Dept of Justice)
  

"Bank of America was the first and only entity to come forward and report its wrongdoing to the Department of Justice before the department opened its investigation into anticompetitive conduct in the municipal bond derivatives industry. The department’s ongoing investigation has resulted in charges against seven executives and one corporate entity and guilty pleas by eight executives for antitrust and related federal crimes. The investigation remains active and ongoing."

Other instances of Bank of America's high standards can be found over at Bad Attitudes, where they cite the bank's participation in such activities as accepting illicit funds from drug traffickers; doing business with a global arms dealer; and ongoing investigations into home mortgage chicanery.

Here's to double standards

It's funny that our US Imperial power-mongers can destroy countries in the name of democracy on a whim, but when the shoe is on the other foot, or when the foot gets placed in the mouth, messages we send get a little crossed.

In following the WikiLeaks saga and the tracking bits of information streaming out on independent news sources I came upon this on the Voice of America web site: US Diplomat: China Displays 'No Morals' in Africa

Basically, the takeaway is "A diplomatic cable leaked by WikiLeaks quotes a senior U.S. official as saying China is acting aggressively and "without morals" in Africa."

"In the cable, Carson describes China as a "very aggressive and pernicious economic competitor." He adds that Beijing has "no morals" and "is not in Africa for altruistic reasons."

So, I guess it is OK for the US to wield destructive power in the name of economic superiority or chance of setting up its corporations with opportunities to make cheaper widgets and prolonging our cultural affluenza, but when someone else does it they are "without morals"? Because we are all convinced that the attack and occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan is for "altruistic reasons", right..?