US Pentagon concludes US bombing of hospital in Afghanistan last October was unintentional on their part so not criminal. The families of those killed or “injured” (a term which covers a multitude of disabilities & dismemberments) will receive compensation between $3,000 & $6,000. Chump change & an outrage, because as the Pentagon sees it, Afghans are not Americans so not human & their lives have little value.

There is no political mission more imperative than rebuilding the international antiwar movement.

Our fullest solidarity with the people of Afghanistan & deepest regrets the antiwar movement is too fragmented & weak to stay the hand of US-NATO aggression.

In attempting to counter the BDS movement, Israel & its supporters blither on about the separation of culture from politics & wax sentimental about poetry & music uniting warring factions in the great spirit of “Kumbaya.” Baloney! You can’t harmonize apartheid with justice or tyranny with freedom.

Music is as much an instrument of rebellion against tyranny as is the soundtrack of love. It is regarded suspiciously by dictators which is why many of the troubadours of freedom have been brutally murdered. Israel wants to use it to support colonialism & ethnic cleansing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uu_adzfW8tc

Just so we’re clear on what supporting the Assad regime & foreign military intervention in Syria means:

Making a sarcasm out of the ceasefire, Syrian airstrikes in Aleppo for the past six days have killed over 200 people. The bombing is targeting residential areas & according to witnesses, no neighborhood of the city has not been hit. That death toll is expected to rise. Wednesday they bombed a hospital operated by Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF/Doctors Without Borders), killing 27 people including children & three doctors. One of the doctors killed was the city’s last pediatrician.

When walking my foundling dog through the neighborhood looking for her litter, I found a park she frequented where a group of people regularly fed her, gave her water & affection. They knew her so well they named her Princess. Hence her name, Princess Millie.

A kind-hearted animal rescuer here paid for Millie to see the vet today for flea control & an exam for her body sores, heart worms, etc. It cost him a fortune but the vet fell in love with her & promised to help find a suitable family for her. He gave me quite a tutorial on Pit Bulls & declared them among the most loyal & endearing of dogs. He said we needed to move fast in finding her a suitable home or she would bond with me.

On the way home, I drove past the park & saw the little crew having lunch so I stopped with Millie to give them the news. I live in a fairly poor neighborhood & it turns out they are amongst the poorest. All were unemployed, some were senior, most were disabled or sick, & a few were homeless–one man for nearly three years. They come together to share junk food they manage to scrounge up.

So I need a little advice here: The long-term homeless fellow has no benefits & the lawyer handling his case for disability social security has done little in nearly a year. He suffers from medical malpractice from the use of an IVC filter which causes him frequent bouts of excessive bleeding from every orifice. There is apparently a class action suit he cannot join since he has no internet access or other resources.

My question is where/how to proceed to help him? Where can he look for legal, medical, emergency housing help?

These little ones are children in Gaza–the little ones Israel & its loathsome minions like Elie Wiesel claim are used as human shields by their parents, who will grow up to join Hamas & become “terrorists.”

This is another demonstration of the power of photography to negate a thousand lies & make the political so personal. It can humanize those demonized by colonial & apartheid propaganda.

Honor & build the economic, cultural, & academic boycott of Israel (buy nothing with barcode beginning 729) because these children have a right to come of age without bombing & ethnic cleansing & in a world suitable for them to live & love in.

The killing fields of the Middle East, from Yemen to Iraq to Syria to Gaza–& onwards if the military domination of the region is not stopped by massive international antiwar pressure:

This photo is identified as “the al Qaeda-held port of Mukalla city in southern Yemen.” According to media reports, most of which come straight out of the US Pentagon PR office, Mukalla was taken over by al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) in April 2015.

The US has been drone bombing in Yemen since after the 9/11 bombing of the World Trade Center in 2001. It’s hard to imagine there’s anything left of AQAP but if there is bombing them to smithereens is obviously a failed military strategy. The Pentagon claims it takes out al-Qaeda fighters in these bombings but not a word of what Pentagon officials say about Yemen (or anything else) can be trusted. The greater likelihood is that Yemeni civilians, like the wedding party bombed to death in 2013, are the primary victims–& maybe intended targets.

This unforgettable photo by Javaidd Naikoo was taken in early April at the funeral of Kashmiri activists Waseem Malla & Naseer Pandit who were killed by Indian troops in a shootout 55 km/34 miles from Srinagar. Those in the trees are trying to view the passing cortege/protest attended by over 70,000 people.

The photo is honored on the cover of this new literary book & is certainly worthy of photographic awards. Photography is a way of getting out the truth about the occupation of Kashmir because a photo can negate a thousand lies & make the political so personal.

Congratulations Javaidd.

Hating on Clinton’s politics is one thing. Describing her as a whore is quite another. Detestable, just plain & simple misogyny–& not less so if done by a woman–because no one refers to male politicians in cheap shots & sexualized language.

Feminism isn’t about policing & monitoring language. It’s a rebellion against hatred for women which shows up in so many ways, including choice of epithets & frat boy humor at the expense of women.

As it becomes certain she will be the nominee for her party, that epithet is showing up more & more boldly on Facebook. It’s shameful.