Hunkered Down in Hokkaido

The G8 and some of their special friends, i.e. not China not India of course Israel, are meeting this week in northern Japan and once again, security operations are massive. According to The Independent, "Japan's last G8 conference in 2000 cost its taxpayers $750m and the final price tag for Hokkaido is likely to be not far off that figure." Naturally, a large portion of this bill goes to police, surveillance operations, etc. Thus has it ever been. When APEC met in Sydney, Australia last year, it was also the biggest security operation ever seen in that country. If the preparatory meeting last month in Osaka of G8 finance ministers is any indication of how serious the Japanese government is about keeping heads of state safe from harassment (if not harm), then we can expect some repercussions for protesters who do not show adequate respect for the state's security program.

Without China and India participating, the premise that this summit will arrive at doable and sufficient reductions in global CO2 emissions is basically laughable. The Europeans will again find themselves dealing with a US president promoting faith-based reduction regimes, i.e. whatever the corporate emitters [his base] say they are willing to accept and even then, in a way that will somehow enhance their profits [their faith]. In terms of the problems in Africa - Zimbabwe, Somalia, Somalian pirates (!), Darfur-Chad - i believe we can expect more hollow pronouncements and no substantive acts. However, it's a great accolade to the power of the G8 rulers that most of Hokkaido Island has been transformed to isolate and protect these people, and maybe some protesters will have to be deported but that's the price of security - democracy? - while the international media again tells us about the 9 course meals and who gave whom a comforting back rub. There is something incredibly flawed with this model of global governance in the 21st century, and the way these meetings continue to be used as excuses for turning the planet into a totalitarian security zone.