(Graphic from Black Agenda Report)
THE AFRICAN UNION HAS BECOME AN “ANNEX” OF THE PENTAGON.
As Glen Ford noted last June, the expansion of U.S. forces in Africa (AFRICOM) is operating as an “infiltration” exercise of American forces being placed as “guests” of various African nations comprising the African Union. These “guests” are in a peculiar positions for guests: they pay the bills for the military operations of their “hosts” who repay this largess with operations designed to protect the multinational corporations seeking to exploit the riches of the continent. This process is about to be escalated, as an additional 3,500 U.S. troops are scheduled to be deployed as guests and masters in 35 countries throughout the continent.
(Black Agenda Report)
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WORKERS IN HAITI GARMENT ASSEMBLY SWEATSHOPS ARE DEMANDING A $7 MINIMUM WAGE: MAKE THAT $7 A DAY.
U.S. and Canadian clothing companies are enjoying record profits from trade policies in those countries that encourage outsourcing of clothing assembly into Third World countries. In the past, American labor unions have participated in an “anti-sweatshop movement” in support of protests against the miserable conditions among these workers. Now, local labor activists are wondering where all the “international labor solidarity” has gone.
(In These Times)
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BILL AYERS IS MAKING “TROUBLE” FOR BARACK OBAMA AGAIN.
In 2008 it was Obama’s association with the “radical” former member of the Weather Underground that made trouble for candidate Obama. In 2013, the trouble takes a different form as Ayers publishes a piece excoriating the President’s Race to the Top educational agenda of privatization, standardized testing and assault on job security of teachers. Education, insists Ayers, is a human right and a vital necessity of a civilized country, not a “product” to be manipulated and molded to the demands of the marketplace.
(Truth-Out)
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BOEING’S DREAMLINER: NIGHTMARE OR “TEETHING PROBLEMS?”
Boeing unveiled last year to much fanfare and excitement its new 787 passenger plane constructed of light-weight materials that was expected drastically to reduce fuel costs and was sold at a smart clip on that basis. In recent days, a series of “mishaps” in operation of the planes at locations around world begin to start whispers of “recall” while some defend them, like the MIT aeronautics professor who says that, like all new products, they have “teething problems.”
(USA Today)
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“HEY, CITY OF MIAMI AND MARC SARNOFF: WAY TO DEMONIZE THE VISITORS WHO MAKE MONEY TO COVER YOUR ASSES.”
Musician Tommie Sunshine responds to statements by the county commissioner that the Ultra Music Festival is too disruptive of the local community and that 70-80% of the participants were on “some kind of mind-altering drugs,” and the Miami City Council considers cancelling the festival’s second weekend. Apparently others agreed with Sunshine, as the Council did eventually approve the extension of the festival.
(Miami New Times)
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Quote of the day…
Karzai and Obama are working on an outline of an agreement for legalizing permanent military bases in Afghanistan. But as long as we have foreign military bases in our country, we have no independence. And when we have no independence, we have nothing, and all talk of democracy, human rights and women’s rights is a joke.
Malalai Joya, female member of Afghan parliament.
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