It probably offends many that I’m so ruthless toward politicians, no country excepted. But to my mind, the struggle for democracy & human rights cannot accept the discounts or half-assed endorsements they offer. When it comes to politicians, so few can be trusted to operate without deceit. ‘Lesser evil’ doesn’t play well in practical, let alone principled, politics. We need to lay out our maximum program for social change–exactly what we want & need–knowing the struggle to achieve it will not be without temporary accommodations to power. But a temporary accommodation should not become a permanent capitulation. To my mind, working people are not served nor social transformation achieved by half-assed promises or discounts on justice.

Facebook policy is to cover up photos that appear widely in international media. Are its censors more sensitive than those of world media or human rights activists? Or just acting on behalf of governments that don’t want their barbarities exposed?

Óscar Alberto Martínez Ramírez & his 23-month-old daughter, Valeria, drowned Sunday, June 23rd, in the Rio Grande River near Matamoros, Mexico across the river from Brownsville, Texas (just one hour from McAllen). Señor Martínez, his wife Tania Vanessa Ávalos, & their little girl left their home in El Salvador last April to immigrate to the US. They intended to apply for asylum at the international bridge between Matamoros & Brownsville but found the offices closed & hundreds ahead of them in line so they decided to take their chances crossing the river.

Señor Martínez first carried his daughter across the river & then turned back for his wife but when the little girl saw her dad swimming away, she jumped into the water after him. He tried to pull her out of the water but both were swept away by the current. Their bodies were found Monday a few hundred yards from where they attempted to cross.

The deaths of Oscar & Valeria Martinez, along with the refugee concentration camps, represent US immigrant & refugee policy & resonate with that of the European Union which mandates the drownings, deaths, & forcible exclusions of thousands of African, Syrian, Iraqi, Afghan, Palestinian, & other refugees.

This is a photo of Oscar & Valeria Martinez. May they Rest In Peace.

Open the borders! Immigration is a human right. Asylum to refugees is mandated by international law.

(Photo by Julia Le Duc)

The photo of Oscar & Valeria Martinez resonates with these images:

Three-year-old Syrian refugee Aylun Kurdi, September 2015

16-month-old Rohingya refugee Mohammed Shohayet in Naf River, January 2017

Unnamed Rohingya refugee child in Naf River, August 2017

Zero Impunity is an organization that addresses the use of rape in war, occupation, genocide. This is their presentation on the Assad regime’s use of child rape & sexual torture.

https://zeroimpunity.com/how-the-assad-regime-used-child-rape-as-a-weapon-of-war/?

India Today reports that sound cannons will soon be used by the the Indian army “to control stone-pelting mobs in Kashmir” as an alternative to pellet guns which have blinded, disfigured, & killed thousands of unarmed protesters. As DNA India reports it, “during crucial anti-terror operations in Kashmir {the Indian Army} will no longer depend on pellet guns to disperse the human obstacles.” DNA India also refers to protesters against colonialism & occupation as ‘rampaging mobs’ who use children as human shields.

The Indian military has only initiated the process of transition by submitting requests to manufacturers asking them to detail specifications of their sound cannons by June 30th, 2019 & to give an assessment of the impact on human ears. This is a dog & pony show put on by the Indian Army. India has experience with using sound cannons since the Delhi police have had five of them since 2013 “to tame unruly protesters.” They can also draw on experience & studies from several other countries which use them: Australia, Azerbaijan, Brazil, Canada, Czech Republic, Georgia, Honduras, Hong Kong, Israel, Japan, Philippines, Poland, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, Turkey, UK, UK, Vietnam, Romania, Norway, Algeria. The CIA uses them as a form of torture in Guantanamo & other torture centers. The use of cacophonous sound to torture & harm is a long-established practice of war.

Sound cannons were first used in the US in 2009 against G20 protesters in Pittsburgh & have become part of the militarization of the police in several states. Most egregiously, they were used against the Ferguson, Missouri Black community in the 2014 protests ignited when unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot down by a policeman without provocation. They were also used in Washington, DC against the Women’s March in 2017.
A Kashmir Walla article called this transition from pellet guns to sound cannons “a major development” but that is far too much credulity. Pellet guns have proven so effective in disabling protesters & civilians, that it is highly unlikely India will replace them but will only augment them with sound cannons, technically called Long Range Acoustic Devices (LRAD). From repeated studies, it is already known that sound cannons can cause permanent hearing damage or loss, neurological damage, long-term injury to the brain & central nervous system, lung & cardiovascular damage.

Rather than being part of a more humane approach to destroying the Kashmiri struggle for self-determination, sound cannons are a weapon to increase harm to protesters. In their specification requests to manufacturers, the Indian government said they would require certification from Indian & medical organizations about their impact on human hearing & the “normal threshold of pain for children.” That could be called an admission by the Indian government that they intend to harm children with the sound cannons or at least know that children will be adversely affected. But does anyone really believe that a government which disfigures & disables thousands of unarmed protesters with pellet guns, uses mass rape, arrests without cause, barbarically tortures, & disappears thousands of young people, actually cares about hearing loss or neurological damage among civilian protesters?

(Photo by Brian Blanco/EPA is sound cannon used at 2009 G20 protests in Pittsburgh)

Bernie Sanders just proposed a plan to cancel $1.6 trillion in student loan debt for about 45 million people. His minions are drooling. Next he’ll be proposing a bill to cancel climate change & they’ll still believe him. At some point, people have to grow up politically & learn to distinguish populist campaign rhetoric from political realities. The banks hold those debts so just how likely is this plan to get past the US Congress (most of whom are beholden to those banks) let alone Wall Street?