Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip meet Rwanda's President Paul Kagame ( Source: WPA Pool/Getty Images Europe)
THE BEASTS OF AFRICA—AND THE KEEPERS WHO FEED THEM.
(Black Agenda Report)
A White House paper called “U.S. Strategy Toward Sub-Saharan Africa” captures the attention of Glen Ford. The paper is yet another of President Obama’s platitudinous pronouncements of the high ideals of democracy and development for a continent racked by military dictatorships and poverty. It fails even to mention the rampant militarization of U.S. policy in the area, under the “soldier-to-soldier” coziness of the U.S. AFRICOM with these regimes. Ford singles out the three countres of Uganda and Rwanda which, between themselves and with U.S. support, have ravaged Democratic Republic of the Congo and Ethiopia, which has provided a similar surrogate for U.S. policy in its assault on Somalia—terrorist operations in the so-called war on terrorism.
`
SEX WITHOUT A CONDOM: FOR THIS HEINOUS ALLEGED OFFENSE, JULIAN ASSANGE NOW MUST CHOOSE: ECUADOR OR GUANTANAMO?
(Asia Times)
Facing extradition to Sweden (and ultimately to the U.S.) on rape charges, the Swedish journalist is now under the protection of the government of Ecuador as it decides what to do with his request for asylum. Pepe Escobar reviews the state of the “case” against him, which he sees as boiling down to specious charges made to a crusading female prosecutor by a female companion of Assange jealous when his attentions turned to still another woman. Of course in none of this lurid array of charges is there any mention of the real offense of Assange: his effrontery in publicly revealing embarrassing if not criminal actions of U.S. “diplomacy,” failing to follow the rule of “safe sex” for journalists in describing official government policies.
`
RACHEL CARSON, WHERE ARE YOU WHEN WE (REALLY) NEED YOU?
(Counterpunch)
Paul Craig Roberts reflects on the effect of Carson’s Silent Spring, published in 1962, which “caught Monsanto offguard” and contributed to the banning of the pesticide DDT. 50 years later, the earth is faced with an escalating environmental crisis resulting from assaults ranging from mountain top removal to fracking for natural gas to genetically modified foods involving herbicide-resistant seeds. Roberts is not optimistic that, even if a new Rachel Carson were to appear on the scene to publish even more “inconvenient truths,” this information could survive the propaganda mill of “psy-ops” that put down environmentalist concerns as a kind of “religion” that allegedly is based on no hard scientific proof. This time around, Monsanto’s guard is up, along with its numerous polluting allies and the public is likely to remain as oblivious to the consequences of its actions as people for eons of history have been.
`
WAS JERRY SANDUSKY A CHILD ABUSING PERVERT?—OR JUST A MAN WITH “HISTRIONIC PERSONALITY DISORDER?”
(USA Today)
The idea of this “disorder” was broached by a defense attorney as an alternate explanation of his relationships with young male athletes. Psychiatrists are not yet sure that such disorder exists and some express doubt that, if it did, they would ever go into court to offer this as an exoneration of their client’s behavior.
`
IN LONGBOAT KEY FLORIDA, YOU CAN’T DISPLAY A PICTURE IN A PUBLIC SPACE IF THERE IS EVEN A “PERCEPTION” OF NUDITY IN IT.
(Sarasota Herald Tribune)
Local artist in this town near Sarasota is shocked when city officials tell her she must take down a picture supposedly displaying nude bodies of female circus acrobats. The artist protests that they are actually wearing clothes, but this isn’t enough for city officials who think that one of the women is topless and even the “perception” of nudity is not acceptable in the town.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Quote of the day…
So it has come to this: A man who has courageously exposed US war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan is forced to flee to a Latin American country’s embassy to avoid capture, prosecution in a kangaroo court or perhaps even a military trial, and then imprisonment, torture and maybe even execution by the self-described “leader of the free world” — the country that has committed these war crimes he exposed. And his own country not only won’t help him. It is cooperating in his persecution.
Dave Lindorff, on Australia’s failure to assist a native Australian, Julian Assange, in his fight to avoid extradition to face sex crime charges.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Do you receive the daily headlines in the form of an early-morning e-mail? If you don’t and you would like to receive them, just send a note to sunstateactivist2@yahoo.com and you’ll be enrolled in the “Progressive breakfast club.”
Recent Comments