Category Archives: News

They’re saying the solar eclipse gives you a spiritual connection to the cosmos. Have I missed a chance to ask for a hit on the lottery? Or can I stand in front of a picture of the eclipse on my TV & wish upon that star?

Anniversary of Syrian sarin gas attack on civilians in East Ghouta

Putin & Assad in gas masks Aug 21 2017

Four years ago today, 1,400 people, including 426 children, were suffocated to death by sarin gas dropped by the Assad regime on East Ghouta.

Is that how the Hands Off Syria Coalition sees a freedom struggle against US regime change plans in Syria? What did the civilians have to do with the US Pentagon?

The only principled demands are for the immediate cessation of Syrian, Russian, & US bombing of civilians & the immediate, unconditional withdrawal of all foreign military forces in Syria.

(Image from Charles Lister on Twitter)

An Assad supporter said she had gone through my posts, found me a shallow thinker & asked what gave me the right to speak on international politics. Then she compared me to Alex Jones. That would have hurt to the quick except that Jones is an Assad supporter & one of her co-thinkers too contemptible to refute.

There is no credentialing agency but what gives me the right to speak on international politics is my commitment to human solidarity, my decades of careful study, my understanding that politics are very complex, that I don’t know everything or even very much about a lot of issues, & my refusal to be glib or pretentious on an issue. But I know the fundamentals, mostly I understand militarism, & don’t consider the bandwagon a useful guide to who I stand with in solidarity.

For the record, I don’t question anyone’s right to speak about international politics but respect all who stand against war, occupation, genocide, Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, fascism, & white supremacy & who don’t make exceptions for Syrian & Russian bombing of civilians.

India issues deportation orders for 40,000 Rohingya refugees

Rohingya boy

The Indian government has issued deportation orders for 40,000 Rohingya refugees living in the country. The majority live in Jammu where they are being targeted by rightwing Hindu groups with links to the BJP, the ruling party of India. One group called the Jammu & Kashmir National Panthers Party had a billboard campaign calling for their expulsion & there have been vigilante attacks on Rohingya including physical assaults & torching their makeshift homes & scrap they collected to sell.

This little boy is a Rohingya refugee living in India. He has a right to human & refugee rights in whichever country his family seeks asylum.

(Photographer unknown)

The Ministry of Health in Gaza reports that more than 3,000 patients need to travel for medical treatment outside Gaza but cannot because of the Israeli blockade of Gaza.

(info from Eman Qasim on Twitter)

In the alt-universe where alternative facts & post-truth truthiness prevail, militarism is a progressive force, special forces & mercenaries are freedom fighters, & carpet bombing of civilians is the way to take a stand for freedom. Dystopia has won the hearts & minds of so many who are now deranged.

There is no progressive or humanitarian militarism. Those who think Syria, Russia, Venezuela, or even the US in Syria are the exception have gone over to the dark side & are of no more use in politics.

So Eva Bartlett & Vanessa Beeley go to Syria embedded with the Syrian army & socializing with top Assad officials & we’re supposed to believe they’re independent journalists. Abby Martin goes to Syria for TeleSUR, Venezuelan-owned media, with access to top Maduro government & military officials & we’re supposed to believe she’s an independent journalist.

Define dependent.

People’s Tribunal on Burma’s Crimes Against Humanity, Sept. 18-22, 2017 at University of Malaya-Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

I am honored & humbled beyond words to be invited to attend & report on this International People’s Tribunal on Burma’s Crimes Against Humanity. It will be September 18-22, 2017 at the University of Malaya-Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. I can’t afford to attend in person but I will be covering it via live stream where others around the world can also follow the proceedings.

They are putting out a call for volunteers to help organize & promote the event in Kuala Lumpur. But of course promoting it around the world can be done by all of us.

It has been said that the destiny of the Rohingya living as a free people in Myanmar is a hopeless cause. On the contrary, for the first time in decades of persecution & ethnic cleansing, Rohingya activists have made their fight one of the most important in the world. Not to draw our pity but to strengthen solidarity with their struggle for human, democratic, civic, & refugee rights.

If you are interested in volunteering you can contact them at https://twitter.com/BurmaTaskForce or https://www.burmamuslims.org/PPT.

Please use this link to promote this very significant event exposing the human rights crimes of the Myanmar government against Rohingya Muslims.