Rectal swab anyone?

Holy crap. This stuff is just incredible. I've posted a bit before on Little Lord Fault-leroy's trip to Asia and what it might have cost us.

Z-Net has some more information on what Marie Antoinette Bush's visit might have cost the Filipinos and Thais:

[In a speech in the Phillipines] the Emperor warned: "A new totalitarian threat has risen against civilization". The remark was clearly not meant to be taken as self-referential.

Urban poor dwellings near Congress were demolished before he arrived. Thousands of police and armed forces turned Manila and parts of Central Luzon into a militarized zone. Surveillance and harassment of activists was stepped up. It is estimated that Bush's eight-hour stay cost the Philippines US $1.45 million. After all, the Emperor of the World was in town. And nothing is too much fuss to keep the Emperor happy.

It is estimated that Bush's eight-hour stay cost the Philippines US $1.45 million. After all, the Emperor of the World was in town.

Then it was on to Thailand, which like the Philippines, has sent troops to Iraq and is viewed as a key US ally in the region.

A rectal swab, anyone? It's OK, I will understand if you say no. But at least you have a choice in the matter. Hundreds of catering and waiting staff at the hotels accommodating dignitaries for the APEC Meetings in Bangkok didn't. They were forced to have rectal swabs to ensure that they were not carrying any infectious diseases that might contaminate the VIPs' food.

In the weeks leading up to the meeting, thousands of stray dogs were rounded up. Some 10,000 homeless people were pushed off the streets before APEC and the Bush state visit on the orders of Bangkok Governor Samak Sundaravej who likened them to "stray dogs". 900 street people, originally from Cambodia, one of the WTO's newest members, were rounded up and flown to Phnom Penh by a Thai Air Force plane. Sex workers and street hawkers were ordered off the streets, schools and many businesses were closed for a week, and sections of the city received a cosmetic makeover.

Thailand's billionaire former police officer/telecommunications magnate-turned-Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, demanded that there be no protests during APEC and stepped up surveillance on a number of social movements, activists and NGOs. The Thai government warned that immigration police would stop foreign activists from entering Thailand to join anti-APEC and anti-Bush mobilizations.

Displaying an adherence to a Bush-like understanding of democracy, Thai Foreign Ministry Spokesman Sihasak Phuangketkeow defended these moves in a media interview, saying demonstrations could deflect from the importance of the APEC Summit:

"Thailand is a free country where democracy activities of this kind are allowed ... but I think that for this APEC event we want to concentrate on holding a successful APEC meeting."

A huge banner featuring a giant picture of Bangkok grand palace, placed strategically to hide urban poor dwellings by Chao Phraya river was emblematic of the way in which advocates of free market capitalism will do almost anything to stop the facts getting in the way of a good story – or photo-op.

Let them eat cake, eh Boy Blunder?

Read the full article for more on APEC.

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.