Amnesty International, news sources
Edited excerpts by Carolyn Bennett
“It is particularly worrying that states such as Saudi Arabia and the USA are directly or indirectly aiding the Yemeni government in a downward spiral away from previously improving human rights record,” Amnesty reported today.
“An extremely worrying trend has developed where the Yemeni authorities, under pressure from the USA and others to fight al-Qa’ida [al-Qaeda], and Saudi Arabia to deal with the Huthis, have been citing national security as a pretext to deal with opposition and stifle all criticism.”
The number of death sentences passed in trials of people accused of having links to al-Qa’ida [al-Qaeda], or to the Huthi armed group has noticeably increased. In 2009, at least 34 people accused of links to Huthi armed groups were sentenced to death.
The security forces have killed at least 113 people since 2009 in operations the government says target ‘terrorists.’ Attacks have become more frequent since December 2009 with security forces in some cases making no attempt to detain suspects before killing them.
At least 41 people were killed, 21 of them children and 14 of them women, on December 17, 2009, when their settlement in al-Ma’jalah area in the southern district of Abyan was hit by missiles.
“All measures taken in the name of countering terrorism or other security challenges in Yemen must have at its heart the protection of human rights.”
“The Yemeni authorities have a duty to ensure public safety and to bring to justice those engaged in attacks that deliberately target members of the public, but when doing so they must abide by international law. … Enforced disappearances, torture and other ill-treatment, and extrajudicial executions are never permissible, and the Yemeni authorities must immediately cease these violations.”
Reports from Yemen today
Yemeni officials were reported saying Yemen’s army has killed 12 anti-government fighters and retaken control of a southern town after several days of fighting. The reports late yesterday said the army had begun its assault on the town of Loder after a Friday ambush left 11 soldiers dead.
Sources and notes
Yemen abandons human rights in the name of countering terrorism” (quoted Malcolm Smart, Amnesty International’s Director for the Middle East and North Africa Programme), © Amnesty International, the Yemeni security forces have killed at least 113 people since 2009, © ASSOCIATED PRESS, August 25, 2010, http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/report/yemen-abandons-human-rights-name-countering-terrorism-2010-08-24
“Yemen kills ‘al-Qaeda fighters,’” August 25, 2010, http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/08/2010825132359773721.html
Geopolitical implications
[U. S. in Middle East and S/Central Asia, Horn of Africa region)
YEMEN
Yemen (officially Republic of Yemen, Arabic Al-Yaman or Al-Jumhūrīyah al-Yamanīyah) is situated at the southwestern corner of the Arabian Peninsula.
Most of Yemen’s northern frontier with Saudi Arabia traverses the great desert of the peninsula and remains without demarcation, as does the eastern frontier with Oman. In the west and the south, Yemen is bounded by the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, respectively.
Its territory includes a number of islands including the Kamaran group located in the Red Sea near Al-Ḥudaydah; Perim (Barīm) in the Bab el-Mandeb, which separates the Arabian Peninsula from Africa; the most important and largest island, Socotra (Suqutrā), located in the Arabian Sea nearly 620 miles (1,000 kilometers) east of Aden; and The Brothers, small islets near Socotra.
The present Yemen came into being in May 1990, when the former Yemen Arab Republic, or North Yemen, merged with the former People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen, also called South Yemen [Britannica notes].
ARABIA
Arabic (“Island of the Arabs”) is a peninsular region together with offshore islands located in the extreme southwestern corner of Asia.
The Arabian Peninsula is bounded by the Red Sea on the west and southwest, the Gulf of Aden on the south, the Arabian Sea on the south and southeast, and the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf (also called the Arabian Gulf) on the northeast. Geographically the peninsula and the Syrian Desert merge in the north with no clear line of demarcation, but the northern boundaries of Saudi Arabia and of Kuwait are generally taken as marking the limit of Arabia there.
The peninsula’s total area is about 1,000,000 square miles (2,590,000 square kilometers). The length, bordering the Red Sea, is approximately 1,200 miles (1,900 kilometers) and the maximum breadth, from Yemen to Oman, 1,300 miles.
The largest political division is Saudi Arabia followed, in order of size, by Yemen, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, and Bahrain.
The island of Socotra in the Indian Ocean, about 200 miles southeast of the mainland, has strong ethnographic links to Arabia; politically it is part of Yemen [Britannica notes].
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Crimes of empire inseparable, endlessly cyclical
War, occupation, exploitation, poverty, injustice, climate change, conflict, poverty … To speak ─ as the U.S. does ─ of mere “democracy” amidst these crimes against nature is worst than ridiculous. It affronts, offends, insults, demeans all that lives or exists in any form.
Re-reporting, editing, brief comment by Carolyn Bennett
AFPAK, INDIA, IRAQ
U.S. Pakistan
“The U.S. currently spends at least $12 billion each month prosecuting the war in Afghanistan and the broader ‘war on terror.’ Congressional Research Service estimates that the U.S. spends $1 million per soldier per year in the AfPak theatre. …
“Imagine how Pakistanis would respond,” Mark LeVine writes in an opinion piece, “if, instead of competing with the Taliban or al-Qaeda via drones, missiles and IEDs, the U.S. were clearly at the forefront of a massive relief and rebuilding effort.
“Imagine if U.S. and other coalition officials, relief specialists and personnel worked with grassroots organizations… and began the process of building bonds of trust and solidarity with the very groups who are currently so suspicious of American intentions and goals.…
“How would [poor Pakistanis] respond if, instead of handing over ‘crops, fertilizers, and seed’ (in the UN secretary-general’s words) to the country’s corrupt landed elite, the U.S. led the drive to work with grassroots forces to break the cycle of dependency and corruption by empowering small farmers to take control of the country’s agricultural system?
“Such a strategy has a chance of working where the current one of bombs and aid to the government has met with failure.”
U.S. Afghanistan
Four U.S. soldiers died in three separate incidents Sunday in Afghanistan. The second-in-command of security for the inter-provincial Kandahar-Uruzgan highway also died early Sunday, Agence France Presse is reporting.
Afghanistan is preparing for what occupied Iraq tried and failed to accomplish (and which is impossible to properly) accomplish in the midst of war, occupation and unending conflict with thousands of foreigners (combatants or not officially ncombatants) on their soil: Parliamentary elections.
In a war-torn, conflict ridden country of fellow citizens and foreigners, it is hard to tell who is who and which side is killing which side.
Foreign forces “apologized” last week for firing a missile and 30-millimeter rounds from helicopters that killed and wounded Afghan National Police. Three Afghan police died Friday in a NATO airstrike in north Afghanistan [EPA]. Nine Afghan police died in two separate incidents in the north and south of Afghanistan. “Bodies of six police officers were found in their station house in Greskh district of southern Helmand province on Saturday.”
A botched NATO airstrike in July “killed six Afghan soldiers in Ghazni province in the east.”
Thirty-eight members of the international coalition, including 24 Americans, have died so far this month. The United Nations is reporting that Afghan civilian dead (est. 1,271) and wounded (1,997) soared to 31 percent in the first six months of 2010.
Hundreds of Afghan villagers some chanting anti-American slogans such as ‘down with Obama’ and ‘down with foreign forces’ closed the highway connecting Jalalabad to Pakistan on Wednesday. The villagers blocking a highway in eastern Afghanistan were protesting a night raid by NATO and Afghan soldiers that left two people dead.
Jalalabad lies on the route from Kābul, the Afghan capital, via the Khyber Pass to Peshāwar, Pakistan, and handles much of Afghanistan’s trade with Pakistan and India.
The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) disputed the villagers’ labeling of the dead. Afghans have staged a number of similar protests in recent months all related to the killing (or disputed killings) of civilians.
U.S. India
The Union Carbide chemical disaster perpetrated on the people of Bhopal, India, represents the world’s worst and most unjustly adjudicated disaster in history. However, reports last week said U.S. officials are attempting to silence “the uproar over ‘alleged malfeasance’ on the Bhopal issue.”
India’s media have released leaked emails suggesting that senior U.S. officials told India to end its ‘noise’ about the chemical disaster, in order to secure loans from the World Bank. U.S. deputy national security adviser Mike Froman writes in an email released on Wednesday, “‘I trust you are monitoring it carefully ... I think we want to avoid developments which put a chilling effect on our investment relationship.’”
U.S. President Barack Obama is scheduled to visit India in November and is “hoping to sign a series of investment agreements, particularly in the nuclear sector.”
Many Indians feel U.S. companies (Union Carbide then Dow Chemical) have not faced justice for the 1984 chemical disaster [AFP]. The U.S. has refused to extradite Warren Anderson, the former Union Carbide CEO who has been blamed for the disaster.
In December 1984, general references report, “Bhopal was the site of the worst industrial accident in history. An estimated 45 tons of the dangerous gas methyl isocyanate escaped from an insecticide plant owned by the Indian subsidiary of the U.S. firm Union Carbide Corporation.
“The gas drifted over the densely populated neighborhoods around the plant, killing thousands of people immediately and creating a panic as tens of thousands of others attempted to flee the city.
“The final death toll was estimated to be between 15,000 and 20,000, and some half million survivors suffered respiratory problems, eye irritation or blindness, and other maladies resulting from exposure to the toxic gas. Soil and water contamination in the area has been blamed for chronic health problems of the area’s inhabitants. Investigations later established that substandard operating and safety procedures at the understaffed plant had led to the catastrophe.”
U.S. Iraq
Sixty people died and an estimated 125 suffered wounds Tuesday when a bomb hit an army recruitment center in central Baghdad. The location of the massacre was the historical site of Iraq’s defense ministry, a building that had been turned into an army recruitment center and military base after the United States invaded the country in 2003. Iraq is still without a coalition government and the incident last week demonstrates the rising violence in that U.S.-occupied country. Violence hit a two-year high in July. This latest incident has been recorded as “the deadliest attack in Iraq this year.”
Unraveling war lies spinning “success”
Edited excerpt from Professor Hannah Gurman’s article “The Iraq withdrawal: An Orwellian success”
…In recent weeks, we have reached another historic juncture. The Iraq war, or at least the American military’s role in it, is drawing to a symbolic close. To mark this moment, the U.S. Ministry of Information has put its spin machine in high gear. …
The official version championed in its earlier moments by President Bush, Gen. Petraeus and the congressional hawks, and now trumpeted almost as loudly by the White House and U.S. State Department is this: Violence is down. Iraqis are finally … taking responsibility for their own security. The March elections were a great step forward. Iraq, we can safely say, is on the path to a brighter future. This story marks the last chapter in the surge narrative that took root in 2006, a narrative in which Petraeus is credited with turning the war around.
Proponents of this story know better than to declare victory, a word that has largely fallen out of the official lexicon. But the word ‘success,’ which has taken its place, is everywhere; and while it doesn’t quite afford that nationalist sense of superiority to which Americans have long been accustomed, success does provide a certain contentment and satisfaction over a job well done. It allows for that perennial optimism that never quite goes out of fashion in the American way of war.…
As the deadline for troop withdrawal has neared, Ambassador Christopher Hill has become a more visible prop in the administration’s official spin machine, deflecting any arrows aimed at the armor that is the official success narrative.
However, the success story is a bit harder to feed to the Iraqis who actually experience the realities on the ground in Iraq, and who, unlike Hill, will continue to face these realities on a daily basis.
No matter how much the U.S government erases the past or predicts the future of Iraq, ordinary Iraqis will continue to face the messy and complicated realities of the present. I dare [U.S. President] Obama and everyone else in the spin machine to go to Iraq and look a child in the eyes ─ A child who, seven years after the U.S. invasion, still lacks adequate housing, drinking water, sanitation, electricity and education. Then tell that child that the war in Iraq was a success.
“The Iraq withdrawal: An Orwellian success ─ The symbolic end of America’s involvement in the war has arrived, but the propaganda rages on” (Hannah Gurman, posted at Salon dot com), August 15, 2010, http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2010/08/15/iraq_withdrawal_success. Also at CounterSpin (8/20/10-8/26/10): “Hannah Gurman on Iraq, Norman Solomon on Petraeus and Afghanistan,” http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=4138
Hannah Gurman is an Assistant Professor at New York University’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study. Her dissertation “The dissent papers: the voice of diplomats in the cold war and beyond,” received Columbia University’s Bancroft Prize. She has published articles and reviews about U.S. foreign policy in numerous venues including Salon, Small Wars Journal, and Foreign Policy in Focus as well as The Journal of Contemporary History and Diplomatic History.
Sources and notes
“The real war on ‘terror’ must begin” (Mark LeVine, OPINION), August 18, 2010,http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/2010/08/201081612554999771.html
Mark LeVine an author and a professor of Middle East history at the University of California, Irvine.
“Four U.S. soldiers killed in day of Afghan violence” (AFP), August 23, 2010, http://sg.news.yahoo.com/afp/20100822/twl-afghanistan-unrest-575b600.html
“Policemen targeted in Afghanistan,” August 21, 2010, http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2010/08/2010821142838886939.html
Jalalabad lies on the route from Kābul, the Afghan capital (110 mi [177 km] north-northwest), via the Khyber Pass to Peshāwar, Pakistan, and handles much of Afghanistan’s trade with Pakistan and India. The town stands at an important strategic position, commanding the entrances to the Laghmān and Konar (Kunar) valleys. It is a military center, with an airfield.
Jalālābād (formerly Jalālkot) is the capital of Nangarhār velāyat (province) in eastern Afghanistan on the Kābul River [Britannica notes]
“Afghan villagers protest night raid,” August 18, 2010,
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2010/08/2010818102118648839.html
Bhopal is situated in an agricultural area in the fertile plain of the Malwa Plateau. The region was formerly a part of the Bhopal princely state, which was founded in 1723 by Dost Mohammad Khan, an Afghan adventurer, and was the second largest Muslim principality of the British Empire [Britannica notes].
“Al-Qaeda ‘claims’ Baghdad attack,” August 20, 2010, http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/08/20108204250505178.html
“Scores die in Baghdad bombings,” August 18, 2010,
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/08/20108183304894446.html
Re-reporting, editing, brief comment by Carolyn Bennett
AFPAK, INDIA, IRAQ
U.S. Pakistan
“The U.S. currently spends at least $12 billion each month prosecuting the war in Afghanistan and the broader ‘war on terror.’ Congressional Research Service estimates that the U.S. spends $1 million per soldier per year in the AfPak theatre. …
“Imagine how Pakistanis would respond,” Mark LeVine writes in an opinion piece, “if, instead of competing with the Taliban or al-Qaeda via drones, missiles and IEDs, the U.S. were clearly at the forefront of a massive relief and rebuilding effort.
“Imagine if U.S. and other coalition officials, relief specialists and personnel worked with grassroots organizations… and began the process of building bonds of trust and solidarity with the very groups who are currently so suspicious of American intentions and goals.…
“How would [poor Pakistanis] respond if, instead of handing over ‘crops, fertilizers, and seed’ (in the UN secretary-general’s words) to the country’s corrupt landed elite, the U.S. led the drive to work with grassroots forces to break the cycle of dependency and corruption by empowering small farmers to take control of the country’s agricultural system?
“Such a strategy has a chance of working where the current one of bombs and aid to the government has met with failure.”
U.S. Afghanistan
Four U.S. soldiers died in three separate incidents Sunday in Afghanistan. The second-in-command of security for the inter-provincial Kandahar-Uruzgan highway also died early Sunday, Agence France Presse is reporting.
Afghanistan is preparing for what occupied Iraq tried and failed to accomplish (and which is impossible to properly) accomplish in the midst of war, occupation and unending conflict with thousands of foreigners (combatants or not officially ncombatants) on their soil: Parliamentary elections.
In a war-torn, conflict ridden country of fellow citizens and foreigners, it is hard to tell who is who and which side is killing which side.
Foreign forces “apologized” last week for firing a missile and 30-millimeter rounds from helicopters that killed and wounded Afghan National Police. Three Afghan police died Friday in a NATO airstrike in north Afghanistan [EPA]. Nine Afghan police died in two separate incidents in the north and south of Afghanistan. “Bodies of six police officers were found in their station house in Greskh district of southern Helmand province on Saturday.”
A botched NATO airstrike in July “killed six Afghan soldiers in Ghazni province in the east.”
Thirty-eight members of the international coalition, including 24 Americans, have died so far this month. The United Nations is reporting that Afghan civilian dead (est. 1,271) and wounded (1,997) soared to 31 percent in the first six months of 2010.
Hundreds of Afghan villagers some chanting anti-American slogans such as ‘down with Obama’ and ‘down with foreign forces’ closed the highway connecting Jalalabad to Pakistan on Wednesday. The villagers blocking a highway in eastern Afghanistan were protesting a night raid by NATO and Afghan soldiers that left two people dead.
Jalalabad lies on the route from Kābul, the Afghan capital, via the Khyber Pass to Peshāwar, Pakistan, and handles much of Afghanistan’s trade with Pakistan and India.
The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) disputed the villagers’ labeling of the dead. Afghans have staged a number of similar protests in recent months all related to the killing (or disputed killings) of civilians.
U.S. India
The Union Carbide chemical disaster perpetrated on the people of Bhopal, India, represents the world’s worst and most unjustly adjudicated disaster in history. However, reports last week said U.S. officials are attempting to silence “the uproar over ‘alleged malfeasance’ on the Bhopal issue.”
India’s media have released leaked emails suggesting that senior U.S. officials told India to end its ‘noise’ about the chemical disaster, in order to secure loans from the World Bank. U.S. deputy national security adviser Mike Froman writes in an email released on Wednesday, “‘I trust you are monitoring it carefully ... I think we want to avoid developments which put a chilling effect on our investment relationship.’”
U.S. President Barack Obama is scheduled to visit India in November and is “hoping to sign a series of investment agreements, particularly in the nuclear sector.”
Many Indians feel U.S. companies (Union Carbide then Dow Chemical) have not faced justice for the 1984 chemical disaster [AFP]. The U.S. has refused to extradite Warren Anderson, the former Union Carbide CEO who has been blamed for the disaster.
In December 1984, general references report, “Bhopal was the site of the worst industrial accident in history. An estimated 45 tons of the dangerous gas methyl isocyanate escaped from an insecticide plant owned by the Indian subsidiary of the U.S. firm Union Carbide Corporation.
“The gas drifted over the densely populated neighborhoods around the plant, killing thousands of people immediately and creating a panic as tens of thousands of others attempted to flee the city.
“The final death toll was estimated to be between 15,000 and 20,000, and some half million survivors suffered respiratory problems, eye irritation or blindness, and other maladies resulting from exposure to the toxic gas. Soil and water contamination in the area has been blamed for chronic health problems of the area’s inhabitants. Investigations later established that substandard operating and safety procedures at the understaffed plant had led to the catastrophe.”
U.S. Iraq
Sixty people died and an estimated 125 suffered wounds Tuesday when a bomb hit an army recruitment center in central Baghdad. The location of the massacre was the historical site of Iraq’s defense ministry, a building that had been turned into an army recruitment center and military base after the United States invaded the country in 2003. Iraq is still without a coalition government and the incident last week demonstrates the rising violence in that U.S.-occupied country. Violence hit a two-year high in July. This latest incident has been recorded as “the deadliest attack in Iraq this year.”
Unraveling war lies spinning “success”
Edited excerpt from Professor Hannah Gurman’s article “The Iraq withdrawal: An Orwellian success”
…In recent weeks, we have reached another historic juncture. The Iraq war, or at least the American military’s role in it, is drawing to a symbolic close. To mark this moment, the U.S. Ministry of Information has put its spin machine in high gear. …
The official version championed in its earlier moments by President Bush, Gen. Petraeus and the congressional hawks, and now trumpeted almost as loudly by the White House and U.S. State Department is this: Violence is down. Iraqis are finally … taking responsibility for their own security. The March elections were a great step forward. Iraq, we can safely say, is on the path to a brighter future. This story marks the last chapter in the surge narrative that took root in 2006, a narrative in which Petraeus is credited with turning the war around.
Proponents of this story know better than to declare victory, a word that has largely fallen out of the official lexicon. But the word ‘success,’ which has taken its place, is everywhere; and while it doesn’t quite afford that nationalist sense of superiority to which Americans have long been accustomed, success does provide a certain contentment and satisfaction over a job well done. It allows for that perennial optimism that never quite goes out of fashion in the American way of war.…
As the deadline for troop withdrawal has neared, Ambassador Christopher Hill has become a more visible prop in the administration’s official spin machine, deflecting any arrows aimed at the armor that is the official success narrative.
However, the success story is a bit harder to feed to the Iraqis who actually experience the realities on the ground in Iraq, and who, unlike Hill, will continue to face these realities on a daily basis.
No matter how much the U.S government erases the past or predicts the future of Iraq, ordinary Iraqis will continue to face the messy and complicated realities of the present. I dare [U.S. President] Obama and everyone else in the spin machine to go to Iraq and look a child in the eyes ─ A child who, seven years after the U.S. invasion, still lacks adequate housing, drinking water, sanitation, electricity and education. Then tell that child that the war in Iraq was a success.
“The Iraq withdrawal: An Orwellian success ─ The symbolic end of America’s involvement in the war has arrived, but the propaganda rages on” (Hannah Gurman, posted at Salon dot com), August 15, 2010, http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2010/08/15/iraq_withdrawal_success. Also at CounterSpin (8/20/10-8/26/10): “Hannah Gurman on Iraq, Norman Solomon on Petraeus and Afghanistan,” http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=4138
Hannah Gurman is an Assistant Professor at New York University’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study. Her dissertation “The dissent papers: the voice of diplomats in the cold war and beyond,” received Columbia University’s Bancroft Prize. She has published articles and reviews about U.S. foreign policy in numerous venues including Salon, Small Wars Journal, and Foreign Policy in Focus as well as The Journal of Contemporary History and Diplomatic History.
How many (est.) in two-theater
U.S.-led
WAR DEAD?
Casualty sites reporting
August 22, 2010 (accurate totals unknown)
• Anti-war dot com Casualties in Iraq since March 19, 2003
[U.S. war dead since the Obama inauguration January 20, 2009: 187]
Wounded 31,907-100,000
U.S. veterans with brain injuries 320,000
Suicides [estimated] 18 a day
Latest update on this site August 16
• Iraq Body Count figures
97,361 – 106,245
• ICasualties IRAQ: 4,417 U.S., 4,735 Coalition
AFGHANISTAN: 1,241 U.S., 2,019 Coalition
Sources and notes
“The real war on ‘terror’ must begin” (Mark LeVine, OPINION), August 18, 2010,http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/2010/08/201081612554999771.html
Mark LeVine an author and a professor of Middle East history at the University of California, Irvine.
“Four U.S. soldiers killed in day of Afghan violence” (AFP), August 23, 2010, http://sg.news.yahoo.com/afp/20100822/twl-afghanistan-unrest-575b600.html
“Policemen targeted in Afghanistan,” August 21, 2010, http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2010/08/2010821142838886939.html
Jalalabad lies on the route from Kābul, the Afghan capital (110 mi [177 km] north-northwest), via the Khyber Pass to Peshāwar, Pakistan, and handles much of Afghanistan’s trade with Pakistan and India. The town stands at an important strategic position, commanding the entrances to the Laghmān and Konar (Kunar) valleys. It is a military center, with an airfield.
Jalālābād (formerly Jalālkot) is the capital of Nangarhār velāyat (province) in eastern Afghanistan on the Kābul River [Britannica notes]
“Afghan villagers protest night raid,” August 18, 2010,
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2010/08/2010818102118648839.html
Bhopal is situated in an agricultural area in the fertile plain of the Malwa Plateau. The region was formerly a part of the Bhopal princely state, which was founded in 1723 by Dost Mohammad Khan, an Afghan adventurer, and was the second largest Muslim principality of the British Empire [Britannica notes].
“Al-Qaeda ‘claims’ Baghdad attack,” August 20, 2010, http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/08/20108204250505178.html
“Scores die in Baghdad bombings,” August 18, 2010,
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/08/20108183304894446.html
Friday, August 20, 2010
We have stake in impartial, nonpartisan judiciary
Excerpting and editing by Carolyn Bennett
The report leads, “State judicial elections have been transformed during the past decade. The story of [the United States’] 2000–2009 high court contests—tens of millions of dollars raised by candidates from parties who may appear before them, millions more poured in by interest groups, nasty and misleading ads, and pressure on judges to signal courtroom rulings on the campaign trail—has become the new normal.
“For more than a decade, partisans and special interests of all stripes have been growing more organized in their efforts to use elections to tilt the scales of justice their way. Many Americans have come to fear that justice is for sale.…”
Former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor writes, “This report, the latest in a series begun in 2000, provides a comprehensive review of the threat posed by money and special interest pressure on fair and impartial courts. . . .
Sources and notes
James Sample, Adam Skaggs, Jonathan Blitzer, Linda Casey, and Charles Hall are the authors and editors of “The New Politics of Judicial Elections, 2000-2009: Decade of Change,” August 16, 2010. The Justice at Stake Campaign, the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law, and the National Institute of Money in State Politics report covers not just individual elections but the whole decade [http://www.brennancenter.org/content/resource/the_new_politics_of_judicial_elections
Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law, 161 Avenue of the Americas, 12th Floor , New York, NY 10013, brennancenter@nyu.edu].
The Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law is a non-partisan public policy and law institute that focuses on the fundamental issues of democracy and justice. The work of the center ranges from voting rights to campaign finance reform, racial justice in criminal law to presidential power in the fight against terrorism. The institution describes itself as part think tank, part public interest law firm, part advocacy group, combining scholarship, legislative and legal advocacy, and communications to win meaningful, measurable change in the public sector [http://www.brennancenter.org/pages/about/].
Explosion in judicial campaign spending, much of it poured in by ‘super spender’ organizations seeking to sway the courts
Parallel surge of nasty and costly TV ads as a prerequisite to gaining a state Supreme Court seat
Emergence of secretive state and national campaigns to tilt state Supreme Court elections
Litigation about judicial campaigns, some of which could boost special-interest pressure on judges
Growing public concern about the threat to fair and impartial justice—and support for meaningful reformsThe Justice at Stake Campaign, the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law, and the National Institute of Money in State Politics have released a new, critical issues report in the public interest: “The New Politics of Judicial Elections, 2000-2009: Decade of Change”
The report leads, “State judicial elections have been transformed during the past decade. The story of [the United States’] 2000–2009 high court contests—tens of millions of dollars raised by candidates from parties who may appear before them, millions more poured in by interest groups, nasty and misleading ads, and pressure on judges to signal courtroom rulings on the campaign trail—has become the new normal.
“For more than a decade, partisans and special interests of all stripes have been growing more organized in their efforts to use elections to tilt the scales of justice their way. Many Americans have come to fear that justice is for sale.…”
Former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor writes, “This report, the latest in a series begun in 2000, provides a comprehensive review of the threat posed by money and special interest pressure on fair and impartial courts. . . .
“In too many states, judicial elections are becoming political prizefights where partisans and special interests seek to install judges who will answer to them instead of the law and the Constitution…
“We all have a stake in ensuring that courts remain fair, impartial, and independent.”
Sources and notes
James Sample, Adam Skaggs, Jonathan Blitzer, Linda Casey, and Charles Hall are the authors and editors of “The New Politics of Judicial Elections, 2000-2009: Decade of Change,” August 16, 2010. The Justice at Stake Campaign, the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law, and the National Institute of Money in State Politics report covers not just individual elections but the whole decade [http://www.brennancenter.org/content/resource/the_new_politics_of_judicial_elections
Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law, 161 Avenue of the Americas, 12th Floor , New York, NY 10013, brennancenter@nyu.edu].
The Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law is a non-partisan public policy and law institute that focuses on the fundamental issues of democracy and justice. The work of the center ranges from voting rights to campaign finance reform, racial justice in criminal law to presidential power in the fight against terrorism. The institution describes itself as part think tank, part public interest law firm, part advocacy group, combining scholarship, legislative and legal advocacy, and communications to win meaningful, measurable change in the public sector [http://www.brennancenter.org/pages/about/].
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Social Forums struggle toward “no bases,” peace
Editing, excerpting, notes by Carolyn Bennett
“Abolishing foreign military bases around the world and working toward demilitarization is essential in the struggle against war ─ one step to establishing another world that is possible and necessary,” asserts the International Network for the Abolition of Foreign Military Bases.
Bringing home the case are foreign military bases in Afghanistan and Iraq, torture at the bases in Guantanamo [Cuba] and Diego Garcia [Indian Ocean], construction of new bases in Okinawa [Japan], ‘realignment’ of military alliances in Asia, dramatic increases in joint military exercises ─ as part of the so-called ‘global war against terror.’ These acts of aggression and occupation demonstrate how foreign military bases, other forms of military presence, and militarization of whole societies are being used to secure the interests of particular states and corporations ─ to the detriment of democracy, justice, and sovereignty around the world.
“Another world will not be possible,” the Network continues, “without abolishing these bases and demilitarizing global and national societies.…
“Around the world, communities, social movements, women’s organizations, political parties, environmental groups, intellectuals and religious groups have been campaigning in various ways through the years against foreign military presence, militarization, and military interventions. In some cases, such efforts have taken the form of specific single-issue campaigns. In others, the campaign has been part of broader movements for independence and social justice.
“For these campaigns, the issue of foreign military presence has served as a rallying and unifying cause that has driven grassroots organizing, educational campaigns, and political mobilization. In a number of places, notably in the Philippines or in Puerto Rico, popular movements against foreign bases succeeded in adding to the social pressure that led to the termination of basing agreements with the United States. Even then, campaigns to force the U.S. to clean up the toxic legacy of their vacated military bases continue. In many places, such as Korea or Japan, the campaigns have been going on for generations. In others, such as Ecuador, Paraguay, Uzbekistan or Bulgaria, the struggle has only recently begun.
“Until 2004, most of these movements and campaigns have been mostly local or national in character ─ even if the reach of foreign military presence itself is global. While often very vibrant and dynamic, these movements were often isolated and disparate.
“Given the similar tactics the U.S. uses to guarantee its military presence, as well as the similar experiences of those hosting them, much can be gained from greater and deeper linkages among local and national campaigns and movements across the globe.
“Local groups around the world can learn and benefit from sharing information, experiences, and strategies with each other.…
“Globally coordinated actions and campaigns can highlight the reach and scale of the resistance to foreign military presence around the world. With the trend of rising militarization and resort to the use of force around the world, there is now an urgent and compelling need to establish and strengthen an international network of campaigners, organizations, and movements working with a special and strategic focus on foreign military presence and, ultimately, working towards a lasting and just system of peace.
“…In an international anti-war meeting in Jakarta in May 2003, just a few weeks after the start of the invasion of Iraq, a global campaign against military bases was proposed as a priority action of the global anti-war and justice and solidarity movements.…
“A project to comprehensively map the locations and forms of foreign military installations around the world is currently in full operation. Efforts to organize and expand the Network are also ongoing, with workshops and seminars on foreign military bases now a regular presence in various Social Forums such as the European Social Forum in Paris in 2003 and in London in 2004, the Americas Social Forum in Ecuador in August 2004 and the Mediterranean Social Forum in Spain 2005.
“One of the biggest gatherings of anti-bases activists … has been the series of workshops on military bases held at the World Social Forum in India in January 2004. …One year after the gathering in Mumbai, four sessions were organized by the Network during the World Social Forum in Por to Alegre, Brazil. The sessions managed to draw in new participants, and exchange updated analyses between Network members. …”
This past week, Marc Becker reported to Free Speech Radio News from Asuncion, Paraguay, “Ten thousand people gathered in Paraguay for the Americas Social Forum,” part of World Social forums that began as civil society’s response to neoliberal economic policies and militarization. “Even under sympathetic ‘leftist’ governments, the struggle for demilitarization in Latin America remains a key issue at World Social forums.”
Sources and notes
Free Speech Radio News, Marc Becker reported from Asuncion, Paraguay, August 16, 2010, http://www.fsrn.org/audio/americas-social-forum-targets-militarization-latin-america/7325
No Bases, The international network for the abolition of foreign military bases
http://www.no-bases.org/, March 2007, Call to an international gathering for the abolition of all foreign military bases, Ecuador, March 5 - 9, 2007
NO BASES NETWORK
International Network for the Abolition of Foreign Military Bases
No Bases Coalition Ecuador
American Friends Service Committee (USA) Asian Peace Alliance - Japan
Bangladesh Krishok Federation Bangladesh Sramajibi Kendra (Bangladesh)
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (UK) Focus on the Global South (Filipinas)
Campaña por la Desmilitarización de las Américas (CADA) For Mother Earth (Belgium)
Fellowship for Reconciliation (US) Gathering for Peace (The Philippines)
Japan Peace Committee (Japan) LALIT (Diego Garcia / Mauritius)
Movimiento cubano por la Paz y la Soberanía (Cuba) Nonviolence International (US)
Pakistan Peace Coalition (Pakistan) SEATINI (South Africa)
People's Task Force for Bases Clean-Up (Philippines) Stop the War Coalition (Greece)
Transnational Institute US Peace Council (US)
http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/American_Empire/NO_BASES_Network.html
“The Americas Social Forum (ASF) is part of the World Social Forum (WSF) process initiated in 2001 and has become the largest space for the articulation of social initiatives, the development of critical thinking, and the construction of alternatives to the neoliberal order, under the common belief that ‘Another World is Possible,’” http://www.forosocialamericas.org/the-americas-social-forum
Britannica notes:
Diego Garcia is the largest and southernmost member of the Chagos Archipelago in the central Indian Ocean. It occupies an area of about 10.5 square miles (27 square km) and has a waterway that is open at the north end. In the late 1990s, islanders from the Chagos Archipelago, including Diego Garcia, sued for the right to return home. In 2000, a British court ruled that the 1971 ordinance banning them from the islands was unlawful. U.S. and British officials fought attempts for resettlement. In 2003, a British court rejected the islanders’ lawsuit.
Jakarta whose area is 256 square miles (664 square km), estimated. Population 9,604,900, was formerly (until 1949) Batavia or (1949–72) Djakarta. It is the largest city and capital of Indonesia. Coextensive with the metropolitan district of Jakarta Raya, it lies at the mouth of the Ciliwung (Liwung River) on the northwest coast of Java. Jakarta has long been a major trade and financial center and has become an important industrial city and a center for education.
Pôrto Alegre city, the capital of the Rio Grande do Sul state, is in southern Brazil. Pôrto Alegre lies near the Atlantic Ocean coast at the northern end of the freshwater Patos Lagoon [shallow connecting waterway] along an arm of the lagoon known as the Guaíba River. The city sits at the junction of five short but deep rivers that flow into the Patos Lagoon. Colonists from the Azores [Portuguese in North Atlantic] founded it in 1742–43, first known as Pôrto dos Casais (or Pôrto dos Cazaes). German immigrants settled near the site in 1825 and Italian settlers followed. The administrative centre of Rio Grande do Sul moved in 1773 from Rio Grande to Pôrto Alegre, officially becoming the state capital in 1807.
Rio Grande is a port city of southeastern Rio Grande do Sul estado (state) in southern Brazil. The city lies along the Rio Grande (river), which is the outlet to the Atlantic Ocean of the Patos Lagoon. Rio Grande sits on a low peninsula, barely 5 feet (1.5 metres) above sea level and 8 miles (13 km) from the river’s mouth.
Geographical and geopolitical notes (2008) Encyclopedia Britannica Deluxe Edition. Chicago: Encyclopedia Britannica
“Abolishing foreign military bases around the world and working toward demilitarization is essential in the struggle against war ─ one step to establishing another world that is possible and necessary,” asserts the International Network for the Abolition of Foreign Military Bases.
Bringing home the case are foreign military bases in Afghanistan and Iraq, torture at the bases in Guantanamo [Cuba] and Diego Garcia [Indian Ocean], construction of new bases in Okinawa [Japan], ‘realignment’ of military alliances in Asia, dramatic increases in joint military exercises ─ as part of the so-called ‘global war against terror.’ These acts of aggression and occupation demonstrate how foreign military bases, other forms of military presence, and militarization of whole societies are being used to secure the interests of particular states and corporations ─ to the detriment of democracy, justice, and sovereignty around the world.
“Another world will not be possible,” the Network continues, “without abolishing these bases and demilitarizing global and national societies.…
“Around the world, communities, social movements, women’s organizations, political parties, environmental groups, intellectuals and religious groups have been campaigning in various ways through the years against foreign military presence, militarization, and military interventions. In some cases, such efforts have taken the form of specific single-issue campaigns. In others, the campaign has been part of broader movements for independence and social justice.
“For these campaigns, the issue of foreign military presence has served as a rallying and unifying cause that has driven grassroots organizing, educational campaigns, and political mobilization. In a number of places, notably in the Philippines or in Puerto Rico, popular movements against foreign bases succeeded in adding to the social pressure that led to the termination of basing agreements with the United States. Even then, campaigns to force the U.S. to clean up the toxic legacy of their vacated military bases continue. In many places, such as Korea or Japan, the campaigns have been going on for generations. In others, such as Ecuador, Paraguay, Uzbekistan or Bulgaria, the struggle has only recently begun.
“Until 2004, most of these movements and campaigns have been mostly local or national in character ─ even if the reach of foreign military presence itself is global. While often very vibrant and dynamic, these movements were often isolated and disparate.
“Given the similar tactics the U.S. uses to guarantee its military presence, as well as the similar experiences of those hosting them, much can be gained from greater and deeper linkages among local and national campaigns and movements across the globe.
“Local groups around the world can learn and benefit from sharing information, experiences, and strategies with each other.…
“Globally coordinated actions and campaigns can highlight the reach and scale of the resistance to foreign military presence around the world. With the trend of rising militarization and resort to the use of force around the world, there is now an urgent and compelling need to establish and strengthen an international network of campaigners, organizations, and movements working with a special and strategic focus on foreign military presence and, ultimately, working towards a lasting and just system of peace.
“…In an international anti-war meeting in Jakarta in May 2003, just a few weeks after the start of the invasion of Iraq, a global campaign against military bases was proposed as a priority action of the global anti-war and justice and solidarity movements.…
“A project to comprehensively map the locations and forms of foreign military installations around the world is currently in full operation. Efforts to organize and expand the Network are also ongoing, with workshops and seminars on foreign military bases now a regular presence in various Social Forums such as the European Social Forum in Paris in 2003 and in London in 2004, the Americas Social Forum in Ecuador in August 2004 and the Mediterranean Social Forum in Spain 2005.
“One of the biggest gatherings of anti-bases activists … has been the series of workshops on military bases held at the World Social Forum in India in January 2004. …One year after the gathering in Mumbai, four sessions were organized by the Network during the World Social Forum in Por to Alegre, Brazil. The sessions managed to draw in new participants, and exchange updated analyses between Network members. …”
This past week, Marc Becker reported to Free Speech Radio News from Asuncion, Paraguay, “Ten thousand people gathered in Paraguay for the Americas Social Forum,” part of World Social forums that began as civil society’s response to neoliberal economic policies and militarization. “Even under sympathetic ‘leftist’ governments, the struggle for demilitarization in Latin America remains a key issue at World Social forums.”
Sources and notes
Free Speech Radio News, Marc Becker reported from Asuncion, Paraguay, August 16, 2010, http://www.fsrn.org/audio/americas-social-forum-targets-militarization-latin-america/7325
No Bases, The international network for the abolition of foreign military bases
http://www.no-bases.org/, March 2007, Call to an international gathering for the abolition of all foreign military bases, Ecuador, March 5 - 9, 2007
NO BASES NETWORK
International Network for the Abolition of Foreign Military Bases
No Bases Coalition Ecuador
American Friends Service Committee (USA) Asian Peace Alliance - Japan
Bangladesh Krishok Federation Bangladesh Sramajibi Kendra (Bangladesh)
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (UK) Focus on the Global South (Filipinas)
Campaña por la Desmilitarización de las Américas (CADA) For Mother Earth (Belgium)
Fellowship for Reconciliation (US) Gathering for Peace (The Philippines)
Japan Peace Committee (Japan) LALIT (Diego Garcia / Mauritius)
Movimiento cubano por la Paz y la Soberanía (Cuba) Nonviolence International (US)
Pakistan Peace Coalition (Pakistan) SEATINI (South Africa)
People's Task Force for Bases Clean-Up (Philippines) Stop the War Coalition (Greece)
Transnational Institute US Peace Council (US)
http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/American_Empire/NO_BASES_Network.html
“The Americas Social Forum (ASF) is part of the World Social Forum (WSF) process initiated in 2001 and has become the largest space for the articulation of social initiatives, the development of critical thinking, and the construction of alternatives to the neoliberal order, under the common belief that ‘Another World is Possible,’” http://www.forosocialamericas.org/the-americas-social-forum
Britannica notes:
Diego Garcia is the largest and southernmost member of the Chagos Archipelago in the central Indian Ocean. It occupies an area of about 10.5 square miles (27 square km) and has a waterway that is open at the north end. In the late 1990s, islanders from the Chagos Archipelago, including Diego Garcia, sued for the right to return home. In 2000, a British court ruled that the 1971 ordinance banning them from the islands was unlawful. U.S. and British officials fought attempts for resettlement. In 2003, a British court rejected the islanders’ lawsuit.
Jakarta whose area is 256 square miles (664 square km), estimated. Population 9,604,900, was formerly (until 1949) Batavia or (1949–72) Djakarta. It is the largest city and capital of Indonesia. Coextensive with the metropolitan district of Jakarta Raya, it lies at the mouth of the Ciliwung (Liwung River) on the northwest coast of Java. Jakarta has long been a major trade and financial center and has become an important industrial city and a center for education.
Pôrto Alegre city, the capital of the Rio Grande do Sul state, is in southern Brazil. Pôrto Alegre lies near the Atlantic Ocean coast at the northern end of the freshwater Patos Lagoon [shallow connecting waterway] along an arm of the lagoon known as the Guaíba River. The city sits at the junction of five short but deep rivers that flow into the Patos Lagoon. Colonists from the Azores [Portuguese in North Atlantic] founded it in 1742–43, first known as Pôrto dos Casais (or Pôrto dos Cazaes). German immigrants settled near the site in 1825 and Italian settlers followed. The administrative centre of Rio Grande do Sul moved in 1773 from Rio Grande to Pôrto Alegre, officially becoming the state capital in 1807.
Rio Grande is a port city of southeastern Rio Grande do Sul estado (state) in southern Brazil. The city lies along the Rio Grande (river), which is the outlet to the Atlantic Ocean of the Patos Lagoon. Rio Grande sits on a low peninsula, barely 5 feet (1.5 metres) above sea level and 8 miles (13 km) from the river’s mouth.
Geographical and geopolitical notes (2008) Encyclopedia Britannica Deluxe Edition. Chicago: Encyclopedia Britannica
Monday, August 16, 2010
“‘Flipper’ committed suicide, stop dolphin capture” ─ O’Barry
Re-reporting, editing by Carolyn Bennett
Dolphin activist Richard O’Barry appeared today on the Democracy Now program with Amy Goodman.
To stop Dolphin kills, O’Barry said, “Don’t buy a ticket for a dolphin show.… If we stop buying tickets for silly dolphin shows, the problem will go away real quick.… “
The captured dolphin starring in the 1960s NBC television series “was a wild animal that lived in Biscayne Bay before we … dragged her kicking and screaming to the Miami Sea Aquarium and put her in a tank and gave her a stage name, Flipper. Her name was really [Kathy]. Her real name was [a whistle]. Dolphins have a signature whistle given to them by their mothers.”
Captivity kills. “The killers of dolphins are pollution, fishing nets, and captivity.”
Dolphins “are sonic creatures. They live in a world of sound. Their primary sense is sound. They’re sound-oriented. [Humans] are light-oriented, visually oriented…To place a free-ranging sonic creature in a concrete box for casual amusement is simply wrong. …”
Source and notes
“Filmmakers, Activists Try to Save Dolphins from Slaughter in Oscar-Winning Doc ‘The Cove,’” August 16, 2010, http://www.democracynow.org/2010/8/16/filmmakers_activists_try_to_save_dolphins
First recognized in the 1960s for capturing and training five dolphins used in the well-known TV series “Flipper,” Richard (Ric) O’Barry (born c. 1941) transitioned “from training dolphins in captivity to assertively combating the captivity industry.” He appears in “‘The Cove,’ a film that uses covert techniques to expose the yearly dolphin-drive hunting that goes on in Taiji, Japan.”
O’Barry says one of the “Flipper” dolphins died while in his arms a couple of days before the first Earth Day commemoration, April 22, 1970.
“Flipper was played at first by a female dolphin named Suzy, though primarily by another female, Kathy; and occasionally by other females named Patty, Scotty and Squirt. Female dolphins were chosen because they are less aggressive than males and their skins (unlike the skin of male dolphins) are usually free from scars and other disfigurations acquired in altercations with other dolphins” [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flipper_(1964_TV_series)].
Dolphin activist Richard O’Barry appeared today on the Democracy Now program with Amy Goodman.
To stop Dolphin kills, O’Barry said, “Don’t buy a ticket for a dolphin show.… If we stop buying tickets for silly dolphin shows, the problem will go away real quick.… “
The captured dolphin starring in the 1960s NBC television series “was a wild animal that lived in Biscayne Bay before we … dragged her kicking and screaming to the Miami Sea Aquarium and put her in a tank and gave her a stage name, Flipper. Her name was really [Kathy]. Her real name was [a whistle]. Dolphins have a signature whistle given to them by their mothers.”
Captivity kills. “The killers of dolphins are pollution, fishing nets, and captivity.”
Dolphins “are sonic creatures. They live in a world of sound. Their primary sense is sound. They’re sound-oriented. [Humans] are light-oriented, visually oriented…To place a free-ranging sonic creature in a concrete box for casual amusement is simply wrong. …”
Source and notes
“Filmmakers, Activists Try to Save Dolphins from Slaughter in Oscar-Winning Doc ‘The Cove,’” August 16, 2010, http://www.democracynow.org/2010/8/16/filmmakers_activists_try_to_save_dolphins
First recognized in the 1960s for capturing and training five dolphins used in the well-known TV series “Flipper,” Richard (Ric) O’Barry (born c. 1941) transitioned “from training dolphins in captivity to assertively combating the captivity industry.” He appears in “‘The Cove,’ a film that uses covert techniques to expose the yearly dolphin-drive hunting that goes on in Taiji, Japan.”
O’Barry says one of the “Flipper” dolphins died while in his arms a couple of days before the first Earth Day commemoration, April 22, 1970.
“Flipper was played at first by a female dolphin named Suzy, though primarily by another female, Kathy; and occasionally by other females named Patty, Scotty and Squirt. Female dolphins were chosen because they are less aggressive than males and their skins (unlike the skin of male dolphins) are usually free from scars and other disfigurations acquired in altercations with other dolphins” [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flipper_(1964_TV_series)].
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Never violate “rights” for “democracy”—Broadbent
No nation knows it all
Excerpt, editing, compilation, notes by Carolyn Bennett
“[English philosopher Michael] Oakeshott warned of the folly of attempting to impose our institutions and values on other people. ‘Only they can truly understand themselves, their traditions and institutions and find appropriate answers to their political problems.” Canadian Ed Broadbent was writing in 2008.
“‘No nation has all the answers.
“‘Nations can and do learn from another’s mistakes and successes but in the end each nation must make its own decisions and innovations in the context of its own traditions, institutions, and particular circumstances.’
“This emphasis on respect for the traditions and values of each particular society raises hard questions about where and how to draw the line between respect for cultural differences and a belief in certain universal human rights.
“Most of the world now believes young girls should have the same opportunities as young boys. Unfortunately, many remain who do not share this belief in equality. There is no easy answer to this but we can certainly adopt a basic rule of thumb in practice.
“The International Bill of Human Rights must be the global standard. However, when it comes to the details of implementation in any given country, it is up to the human rights activists within that country to take the lead …. They know best their own culture and circumstances.
“… We should not be passive. We should promote the global development of democracy and rights …but also we must show modesty and tolerance: Tolerance to accept that there is more than one legitimate road to democracy; Modesty in understanding that our particular institutions may not be best for others. Modesty in understanding that, in the real world, the best plans can have disastrous consequences.
“We must never in the name of democracy, violate fundamental rights in order to achieve our goal of democracy.”
Sources and notes
“Global Democratic Development: What should and should not be done — how can we best encourage the growth of genuinely democratic governments in countries where it is now absent… ‘No Nation Has All the Answers’” (Ed Broadbent), Peace Magazine, April-June 2008, http://www.peacemagazine.org/archive/v24n2p12.htm
John Edward ‘Ed’ Broadbent (PC, CC, Ph D, LL.D; born March 21, 1936, Oshawa, Ontario), is a Canadian social democratic politician and political scientist; 1975-1989 leader of the federal New Democratic Party (NDP). In the 2004 federal election, he returned to Parliament for one additional term as the Member of Parliament for Ottawa Centre. Briefly, in the 1980s, he was “the most popular politician in Canada, scoring higher in public opinion polls than then Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. Broadbent stepped down as leader of the federal New Democratic Party in 1989 after what he called a disappointing election result. The party had just won the most seats in its history, but Broadbent wanted more.” NDP leader Jack Layton “coaxed Broadbent back into politics and [he] ran for and won a seat in Ottawa Centre in 2004. He quit politics in 2005 because of his wife's illness.” CBC News, INDEPTH: ED BROADBENT, Timeline
CBC News Online May 4, 2005, http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/broadbent/
Also at Wikipedia and Rights and Democracy
English philosopher Michael Joseph Oakeshott (December 11, 1901 – December 19, 1990) wrote about political thought and the philosophy of history, religion, aesthetics and law. He is widely regarded as one of the most important conservative intellectuals of the twentieth century as well a liberal thinker [Wikipedia].
Nevertheless Occupation continues
August 14, 2010
Pakistan
Today is Independence Day in Pakistan:
63 years of independence from British colonial rule
Six people died and three suffered injuries today in Quetta when armed men opened fire. The victims were reportedly “painting a home that was stormed by the assailants.” Last night ten people died when armed men attacked a bus in Aab-e-Gum in the southwest of the Pakistan, 75 kilometers from the border city of Quetta. Quetta is the capital of Baluchistan province, close to the border with Afghanistan.
Pakistan “is currently suffering its worst ever flooding since becoming a state.”
Pakistan’s slow-motion disaster: millions suffering, thirty-seven bridges out, water contaminated
Sixteen hundred (1,600) people have died since July 29 in the flooding in Pakistan and “the UN fears the final death toll could be far higher.” Millions of acres of crops are under water. Fourteen to 20 million people are suffering ─ “7 million cases of diarrhea of which 300,000 can be cholera.”
The United Nations and International Committee of the Red Cross are warning of at least six million people already without clean drinking water.
August 12, 2010
Afghanistan
“‘Death to the United States’” hundreds of villagers shouted, as they blocked a main road in eastern Afghanistan after a NATO raid Wednesday night killed three people. Zarin Khil village Elders (Wardak province) said U.S. troops stormed into a family house and shot dead three brothers before taking their father into custody; [and] for several hours, an estimated 300 protesters blocked the highway linking Kabul and southern Afghanistan.
The United Nations reported this week that the number of civilian casualties was up one-third in the first half of 2010, with fighters killing seven times more civilians than NATO-led troops; however, 386 civilians died at the hand of NATO or Afghan government forces, including 41 during search-and-seizure operations such as night raids.
Civilian casualties have been a sensitive issue in Afghanistan where 150,000 (est.) foreign troops’ military campaign approaches nine years.
August 10, 2010
Iraq
Four people died and 21 people suffered wounds Tuesday in Baghdad when a series of improvised explosive devices detonated. Two other explosions in the Iraqi capital involved bombs attached to vehicles.
August 11, 2010
Ramadan
Across the world, more than one billion Muslims begin observance of Ramadan. For 30 days, adherents to Islam practice abstinences in observance of their holiest month of days.
Invasion, occupation sources and notes
“Deadly attack on Pakistan bus,” http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2010/08/20108148414139876.html
“Pakistan floods stoke cholera fears,” http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2010/08/201081442342515262.htm
“Civilian deaths spark Afghan unrest,” http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2010/08/201081214759771683.html
“Deadly blast hits Baghdad,” news/middleeast/2010/08/2010810123223488123.html
“Muslims begin Ramadan observance,” http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/08/2010811122934556812.html
Excerpt, editing, compilation, notes by Carolyn Bennett
“[English philosopher Michael] Oakeshott warned of the folly of attempting to impose our institutions and values on other people. ‘Only they can truly understand themselves, their traditions and institutions and find appropriate answers to their political problems.” Canadian Ed Broadbent was writing in 2008.
“‘No nation has all the answers.
“‘Nations can and do learn from another’s mistakes and successes but in the end each nation must make its own decisions and innovations in the context of its own traditions, institutions, and particular circumstances.’
“This emphasis on respect for the traditions and values of each particular society raises hard questions about where and how to draw the line between respect for cultural differences and a belief in certain universal human rights.
“Most of the world now believes young girls should have the same opportunities as young boys. Unfortunately, many remain who do not share this belief in equality. There is no easy answer to this but we can certainly adopt a basic rule of thumb in practice.
“The International Bill of Human Rights must be the global standard. However, when it comes to the details of implementation in any given country, it is up to the human rights activists within that country to take the lead …. They know best their own culture and circumstances.
“… We should not be passive. We should promote the global development of democracy and rights …but also we must show modesty and tolerance: Tolerance to accept that there is more than one legitimate road to democracy; Modesty in understanding that our particular institutions may not be best for others. Modesty in understanding that, in the real world, the best plans can have disastrous consequences.
“We must never in the name of democracy, violate fundamental rights in order to achieve our goal of democracy.”
Sources and notes
“Global Democratic Development: What should and should not be done — how can we best encourage the growth of genuinely democratic governments in countries where it is now absent… ‘No Nation Has All the Answers’” (Ed Broadbent), Peace Magazine, April-June 2008, http://www.peacemagazine.org/archive/v24n2p12.htm
John Edward ‘Ed’ Broadbent (PC, CC, Ph D, LL.D; born March 21, 1936, Oshawa, Ontario), is a Canadian social democratic politician and political scientist; 1975-1989 leader of the federal New Democratic Party (NDP). In the 2004 federal election, he returned to Parliament for one additional term as the Member of Parliament for Ottawa Centre. Briefly, in the 1980s, he was “the most popular politician in Canada, scoring higher in public opinion polls than then Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. Broadbent stepped down as leader of the federal New Democratic Party in 1989 after what he called a disappointing election result. The party had just won the most seats in its history, but Broadbent wanted more.” NDP leader Jack Layton “coaxed Broadbent back into politics and [he] ran for and won a seat in Ottawa Centre in 2004. He quit politics in 2005 because of his wife's illness.” CBC News, INDEPTH: ED BROADBENT, Timeline
CBC News Online May 4, 2005, http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/broadbent/
Also at Wikipedia and Rights and Democracy
English philosopher Michael Joseph Oakeshott (December 11, 1901 – December 19, 1990) wrote about political thought and the philosophy of history, religion, aesthetics and law. He is widely regarded as one of the most important conservative intellectuals of the twentieth century as well a liberal thinker [Wikipedia].
Nevertheless Occupation continues
How many (est.) in two-theater
U.S.-led
WAR DEAD?
Casualty sites reporting
August 9, 2010 (accurate totals unknown)
• Anti-war dot com Casualties in Iraq since March 19, 2003
[U.S. war dead since the Obama inauguration January 20, 2009: 186]
Wounded 31,902-100,000
U.S. veterans with brain injuries 320,000
Suicides [estimated] 18 a day
Latest update on this site July 23
• Iraq Body Count figures
97,196 – 106,071
• ICasualties IRAQ: 4,414 U.S., 4,732 Coalition
AFGHANISTAN: 1,226 U.S., 2,002 Coalition
August 14, 2010
Pakistan
Today is Independence Day in Pakistan:
63 years of independence from British colonial rule
Six people died and three suffered injuries today in Quetta when armed men opened fire. The victims were reportedly “painting a home that was stormed by the assailants.” Last night ten people died when armed men attacked a bus in Aab-e-Gum in the southwest of the Pakistan, 75 kilometers from the border city of Quetta. Quetta is the capital of Baluchistan province, close to the border with Afghanistan.
Pakistan “is currently suffering its worst ever flooding since becoming a state.”
Pakistan’s slow-motion disaster: millions suffering, thirty-seven bridges out, water contaminated
Sixteen hundred (1,600) people have died since July 29 in the flooding in Pakistan and “the UN fears the final death toll could be far higher.” Millions of acres of crops are under water. Fourteen to 20 million people are suffering ─ “7 million cases of diarrhea of which 300,000 can be cholera.”
The United Nations and International Committee of the Red Cross are warning of at least six million people already without clean drinking water.
August 12, 2010
Afghanistan
“‘Death to the United States’” hundreds of villagers shouted, as they blocked a main road in eastern Afghanistan after a NATO raid Wednesday night killed three people. Zarin Khil village Elders (Wardak province) said U.S. troops stormed into a family house and shot dead three brothers before taking their father into custody; [and] for several hours, an estimated 300 protesters blocked the highway linking Kabul and southern Afghanistan.
The United Nations reported this week that the number of civilian casualties was up one-third in the first half of 2010, with fighters killing seven times more civilians than NATO-led troops; however, 386 civilians died at the hand of NATO or Afghan government forces, including 41 during search-and-seizure operations such as night raids.
Civilian casualties have been a sensitive issue in Afghanistan where 150,000 (est.) foreign troops’ military campaign approaches nine years.
August 10, 2010
Iraq
Four people died and 21 people suffered wounds Tuesday in Baghdad when a series of improvised explosive devices detonated. Two other explosions in the Iraqi capital involved bombs attached to vehicles.
August 11, 2010
Ramadan
Across the world, more than one billion Muslims begin observance of Ramadan. For 30 days, adherents to Islam practice abstinences in observance of their holiest month of days.
Invasion, occupation sources and notes
“Deadly attack on Pakistan bus,” http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2010/08/20108148414139876.html
“Pakistan floods stoke cholera fears,” http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2010/08/201081442342515262.htm
“Civilian deaths spark Afghan unrest,” http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2010/08/201081214759771683.html
“Deadly blast hits Baghdad,” news/middleeast/2010/08/2010810123223488123.html
“Muslims begin Ramadan observance,” http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/08/2010811122934556812.html
Friday, August 13, 2010
SPORTSWOMEN ─ insult, ridicule, sexualize, ignore them
From Dave Zirin’s interview with Mike Messner, USC professor of sociology and gender studies
Edited excerpt, notes of note by Carolyn Bennett
Decrease in women’s leagues and play coverage
Amidst a continuing rise in participation and interest in women’s sports, Messner and Zirin say TV news and highlights shows consciously fail to keep pace.
“In 1989 and 1999, the big chunk of women’s sports coverage we [saw] on these shows was what we called insulting or trivialization or humorous sexualization of women athletes ─ e.g., a nude bungee jumper or leering court reports on tennis players like [Russian-born American] Anna Kournikova or later [former World No. 1 Russian] Maria Sharapova.
“In 2004 and 2009, those kinds of stories declined to the point where we saw almost none of that insulting stuff about women athletes but … when [sports reporters stopped] doing insulting or humorous sexualization stories on women athletes, it seems they don’t know how to talk about women and women sports at all.”
Dearth, insult, ridicule motive
Boys club mind, institutional sexism, subconscious or conscious decisions (?)
“[Broadcasters] make conscious decisions about what they cover everyday but … there is a tremendous amount of inertia as well.
“Only a part of it has to do with the fact [that] men are making most of these decisions. Men are capable of doing good sports reporting on women’s sports and a lot of men really like women’s sports but many of these reporters fear not staying with Big Three sports.”
Source and notes
“The Dramatic Drop in Women’s Sports Coverage: A Dave Zirin Interview with Mike Messner,” a professor of sociology and gender studies at the University of Southern California (USC). Dave Zirin is author of Bad Sports: How Owners are Ruining the Games we Love, http://edgeofsports.com/2010-07-06-548/index.html
August 9, 2010, on Women’s Magazine … part of a speech by Dave Zirin on women and sports given at the 2009 Socialism Conference in San Francisco … program segments available at kpfawomensmag.blogspot.com, http://www.kpfa.org/archive/id/63157
Edited excerpt, notes of note by Carolyn Bennett
Decrease in women’s leagues and play coverage
Amidst a continuing rise in participation and interest in women’s sports, Messner and Zirin say TV news and highlights shows consciously fail to keep pace.
“In 1989 and 1999, the big chunk of women’s sports coverage we [saw] on these shows was what we called insulting or trivialization or humorous sexualization of women athletes ─ e.g., a nude bungee jumper or leering court reports on tennis players like [Russian-born American] Anna Kournikova or later [former World No. 1 Russian] Maria Sharapova.
“In 2004 and 2009, those kinds of stories declined to the point where we saw almost none of that insulting stuff about women athletes but … when [sports reporters stopped] doing insulting or humorous sexualization stories on women athletes, it seems they don’t know how to talk about women and women sports at all.”
Dearth, insult, ridicule motive
Boys club mind, institutional sexism, subconscious or conscious decisions (?)
“[Broadcasters] make conscious decisions about what they cover everyday but … there is a tremendous amount of inertia as well.
“Only a part of it has to do with the fact [that] men are making most of these decisions. Men are capable of doing good sports reporting on women’s sports and a lot of men really like women’s sports but many of these reporters fear not staying with Big Three sports.”
Source and notes
“The Dramatic Drop in Women’s Sports Coverage: A Dave Zirin Interview with Mike Messner,” a professor of sociology and gender studies at the University of Southern California (USC). Dave Zirin is author of Bad Sports: How Owners are Ruining the Games we Love, http://edgeofsports.com/2010-07-06-548/index.html
August 9, 2010, on Women’s Magazine … part of a speech by Dave Zirin on women and sports given at the 2009 Socialism Conference in San Francisco … program segments available at kpfawomensmag.blogspot.com, http://www.kpfa.org/archive/id/63157
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