Congress just voted down a bill to reinstate the draft for men and women without the option to defer for higher education. They voted it down but why was it in the House in the first place. According to U.S. Army public information officers, the Army is growing by 30,000 in the next year. Why? Where are they going to find people who are willing to die for an increasingly unpopular war? They will find them in schools. Our schools are failing, kids have less and less options for college and even if they go to college the job market is dismal. But these 30,000 new troops will not just be sitting around on American, Afghani or Iraqi soil. They will be dispersed to the corners of the globe- Americans have no idea where our brothers, sisters, sons and daughters are being sent. Kids are scared. Parents are scared. Be prepared for Bush to take over again and flush any hope minorities and poor people have of a better life. If you are intersted in the topic of building the US Army- look at my article at the Santa Fe New Mexican website. Once again, the government has something brewing that is going to screw over people not just in America, but in many other countries as well.

We have learned a lot about coca and the struggle to maintain traditional use in Bolivia in the past weeks, but what about the other side? What about the cocaine industry? How does coca become cocaine? How much is imported into the U.S.? How do the chemicals used to produce cocaine get from the U.S. to South America? Understanding this side of the issue is essential to understanding how to fight for the rights of cocaleros. More importantly, it is essential to expose the hand of the U.S. in illegal drug trafficking. Look for an article on cocaine production in an upcoming edtion of narcosphere or narconews.  

La Paz is quickly morphing into Chicago. In Spanish. The cold nights, the rain, the smoky bars, upscale restaurants and the majority of the people ignoring the abject poverty around them is like any big city. But La Paz, and Bolivia in general, has a rippling undercurrent of true radicalism rare in American cities. A media center here in La Paz, an idea pitched by a few narco kids, would be ideal. It would be easily intergreated into society because La Paz has an infinite number of willing contributors. It would be devoured and absorbed by the youth looking for an outlet for their political causes and an inlet of true information. It could be the center of South American indy media.