Archive for July, 2007

Two wrongs won’t make it right


It’s no secret that I don’t think much of banks, but the news that Barclays may end up with seven point seven per cent of the company being owned by the Chinese government should have all people of conscience concerned.

Given how the world reacted to Google and Yahoo helping out the world’s largest oppressive regime in its censorship efforts, I’m wondering how this latest unholy love-in is going to go down. Barclays is no stranger to global controversy and condemnation, of course. Back in the 1980s it saw apartheid as anything but a black and white issue, choosing to get cosy with the then-all-white government of South Africa and boycotted by many people because of its willingness to deal with devils.

The Chinese government these days manages to combine the most horrible aspects of communism with those of capitalism, surpassing the US now as the world’s biggest polluter and contributor to global warming and its leaders making Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe look like a libertarian.

Read the full article.

Monday, July 23rd, 2007