The Philippines aren’t the biggest country in the world but their working people must rank among the most combative in the world. We’ve seen repeated pitched battles between riot cops & slum tenants resisting eviction. Every time a US president visits the Philippines, there are ferocious street scuffles between antiwar activists & riot cops.

The water cannon, an extremely dangerous assaultive weapon, is always used against protestors & in one memorable protest the activists wrenched it away & turned it on the cops. A memorable moment; also hilarious.

Here water cannons are used against antiwar activists moving toward the US embassy in Manila to protest the upcoming visit of Obama. Activists are demanding the withdrawal of US troops in the country under a Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) the US has with the Filipino regime. The VFA establishes the terms of US military presence. The most contentious provisions in these VFAs is always about civil & criminal jurisdiction over military personnel–that is, whether the jurisdiction will reside in Philippine courts or with US military courts (similar to the dispute Afghan president Karzai is having with the US over the Bilateral Security Agreement). We do more than tip our hats to these brothers & sisters; we offer them our deepest respect & solidarity. US out of the Philippines!

(Photo by Bullit Marquez/AP)

The nastiest feature of US & European propaganda against North Korea is not how they demonize its leaders–it’s inarguable that North Korea is a tyranny run like a feudal fiefdom (while the US considers South Korea a colonial military outpost). The nastiest feature is how propaganda draws on the most vile & racist stereotypes of Asians by portraying North Koreans as commie-bots, emotionless, stoical, obedient, showing emotions only in unison & on cue, & goose-stepping their way through every human activity.

The next time you hear the US saber-rattling with nuclear weaponry against North Korea, keep this poignant image in mind: North Koreans on the bus hold their South Korean family members’ hands after seeing them for the first time in decades at the Separated Family Reunion Meeting at Diamond Mountain in the North.

(Photo by Lee Ji-Eun Yonhap/AP)

Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni predictably signed the antigay bill into law today just six weeks after Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan signed a ban on homosexuality into law. The legislation in Nigeria triggered an outbreak of antigay violence which is exactly what it was intended to do–& it will have the same effect in Uganda.

Museveni who claims he sought scientific counsel on homosexuality said, “Homosexuals are actually mercenaries. They are heterosexual people but because of money they say they are homosexuals. These are prostitutes because of money.” His mangled rhetoric may be the result of his evangelical habit of speaking in tongues not cited in the lexicon of human languages & is only matched by his ignorance & social hatred. They’re more akin to a grunt–or even a fart.

He doesn’t know when to shut up because he went on to take issue with gay oral sex in lurid terms, claiming it gives you worms. Hopefully Uganda won’t ban sex education because our man knows less about sex than a US middle-school kid–& that’s saying a lot about his ignorance.

Reports mention the “fierce criticism” Museveni is receiving from US politicians like Obama & John Kerry. Obama described the law as “morally wrong,” Kerry said he was “deeply disappointed,” White House spokesperson Jay Carney called it “abhorrent,” NSA advisor Susan Rice said its passage was a “sad day for Uganda.” There are two pound Chihuahuas that pack a bigger bite.

Remember it was just a few weeks ago that Obama addressed the National Prayer Breakfast operated by the US political forces behind the Ugandan law. Collusion speaks louder than words–even if he could rise to the level of fierce. Museveni has no fear of political reprisals from the US since he is a partner in US military & economic operations in Uganda. Collusion speaks louder than wimpy-assed protests but profiteering speaks loudest of all.

It is a sad day for human rights; it is also a call to action because what began in Nigeria, Uganda, & Russia is being duplicated in Arizona & elsewhere. It’s a good time to recall the words of German theologian Martin Niemöller: “In Germany they came first for the Communists & I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist. Then they came for the Jews & I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists & I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics &I didn’t speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me & by that time no one was left to speak up.” Niemöller neglected to mention that homosexuals, Roma, people with disabilities were also among the litany of victims.

Our fullest solidarity with the LGBTI people of Uganda & Nigeria–& Arizona, USA.

(Photo from Advocate.com)