UN passes Declaration of Indigenous Rights

While only time will tell if this measure is a massive "human rights-washing" campaign or a real fresh start to globalization politics, this week we can celebrate that the UN passed the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples with overwhelming support.

Dissenters were predictably what has come to be called the CANZAUS group - Canada, New Zealand, Australia and the United States. (AKA those who have the most to lose as Indigenous Peoples have politically organized and remain committed to managing their own resources and rejecting the homogenizing and destructive forces of industrial capitalism).

It's not legally binding, of course, but the declaration does come into direct conflict with many of the WTO's primary goals, so let's watch to see how this plays out in the near future.

In other news, it's cold as a mug down here tonight. Awesome.