WaPo Profiles the Corps

The Washington Post runs a story today on the Peace Corps volunteers who, instead of being used as pawns in the U.S. government's continuing war of diplomatic aggression against Evo "67%" Morales, decided to hang on in Bolivia. Sarah and Co., you do our country proud! It's true that Bolivians do view the U.S. with suspicion--rightfully, if you ask me. But actions like these Peace Corps volunteers take demonstrate that not all U.S. citizens approve of devious U.S. foreign policy. And that's part of why, contrary to U.S. claims, Bolivia isn't the dangerous hell-hole our government says it is: Bolivians know that U.S. citizens aren't all to blame for stupid U.S. policy. Thank you, Peace Corps people.

H/T Otto.

Working Hard to Save the World From the Peace Corps

Yesterday, Otto noticed that the C.I.A. had been snooping around his blog, through a referral from the blog of our favorite Peace Corps volunteer, Sarah Nourse, who had the temerity to exercise her First Amendment privilege in an open letter in the Andean Information Network and an interview in an AP article. Well, it seems the C.I.A. has also been snooping in this direction, too. See graphic at right; click on it to make it larger. (Doesn't the C.I.A. have the necessary technology to spoof a fake network location, or is this its way of intimidating people who speak out?)

I don't mind the agency checking out this site; after all, I suppose it is its job to monitor malcontents such as myself who criticize U.S. policy. But why is agency investigating a Peace Corps volunteer? Doesn't Sarah get to speak her mind?

But thank you, C.I.A. agent man or woman. This is just the thing that makes me feel vindicated in deciding to blog. Next time, though, take more than 50 seconds to read it! There's all sorts of good stuff in the archives....