Swift & Co. said on Jan. 4 that a series of Dec. 12 immigration raids at its six of seven meatpacking plants nationwide are expected to cost the company $30 million. Swift, the nation's third-largest processor of fresh beef and pork, said it has hired hundreds of new workers to replace employees who were detained, incurring about $10 million in hiring incentives and worker-retention efforts. The company expects to lose $20 million more in lost operating efficiency as workers are trained. Swift is operating on all shifts but likely won't "return to a state of normalcy" until the end of this year, said Don Wiseman, the company's general counsel. "We might have the warm bodies back, but they do not represent the same efficiency and skill level we had on the morning of Dec. 12," he said. (Denver Post, Jan. 5) The nearly 1,300 workers arrested in the raids amounted to about 9% of the company's work force. Swift's two main rivals, Cargill and Tyson, ramped up their production after the raids. (Rocky Mountain News, Jan. 5)

More than a thousand peasants and fishermen marched in Campeche, in the Yucatan peninsula, Jan. 6 to protest the degradation of their lands and waters by the state oil company Pemex. Participants included members of the National Campesino Confederation, the Supreme Maya Council, the Council of Campesino Organizations, and other member groups of Campeche's newly-formed Frente Estatal de Organizaciones Campesinas y Pesqueras (State Front of Peasant and Fisherman Organizations). In its first statement, issued the day of the march, the State Front denounced the rural development policies of President Felipe Calderon and demanded restitution for damaged lands and waters. (La Jornada, Jan. 7 via Chiapas95)

Dear Readers:

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Since the beginning of the year we've been keeping track of ghastly acts of (non-Muslim) terrorism from around the world which the media have largely played down or completely ignored. The latest entry is from India's restive Northeast. From BBC News, Jan. 7:

Suspected separatist rebels have carried out more attacks on Hindi-speaking migrants in a third day of violence in India's Assam state.

From Catholic Information Service for Africa via AllAfrica, Jan. 5:

A message purportedly from the deputy leader of the al-Qaeda terrorist network has appeared on the internet, urging the Union of Islamic Courts fighters in Somalia to launch suicide attacks against Ethiopian troops.

Incoming Defense Secretary Robert Gates has recommended that President Bush order an immediate buildup of 10,000 troops in Iraq, with an option of doubling that to 20,000 by spring. The plan is known as "Five Plus Two," sending five Army brigades into Baghdad plus two Marine battalions into western Iraq. Two of the Army brigades would go into Baghdad starting in January, with the other three on call. The plan comes with a high-level personnel shake-up in the Global War on Terrorism apparatus. Gen. David Petraeus has been named to replace Gen. George Casey as top US commander in Iraq, with Adm. William Fallon, now head of the Pacific Command, to replace Gen. John Abizaid as chief of Central Command. Outgoing Abizaid and Casey have both expressed qualms in recent weeks about boosting US forces in Iraq, with Abizaid warning that an increase of 20,000 could not be sustained for long by the overburdened US military. (CBS, Jan. 6)

The year is off to a great start. As in Madrid and Bangkok, somebody seeks to prove the intellectual superiority of their position by blowing up random civilians. (And none of these three cases involves Muslims, by the way.) From the NYT. Jan. 6:

COLOMBO — A powerful bomb blew up a passenger bus on Saturday, killing 11 people and wounding more than 40 others on the southern coast of Sri Lanka.

From Ali Javadi of the Worker-Communist Party of Iran, Jan. 1:

A Step toward a Dark Future!

The UN Security Council has unanimously voted on a resolution to impose a series of political and economical sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran. According to this resolution, the export of Commodities and materials with dual use in Uranium enrichment, production of heavy water and also missile production will be prohibited. In addition, the resolution has given a 60 day notice to the Islamic regime to comply with the resolution to halt Uranium enrichment, otherwise heavier economic sanctions will be imposed. The United States government demands unilateral sanctions against Islamic regime in Iran. Ahmadinejad, in response has announced that the Islamic regime will continue its nuclear enrichment programme and will soon have 3,000 centrifuges for production. Real and serious dangers threaten the society and people!