Global
Is the human race determined to snuff itself out through mass violence? There are many signs that it is.
The most glaring indication lies in the continued popularity of war. Despite well over a hundred million deaths in World Wars I and II, plus the brutal military conflicts in Korea, Indochina, Hungary, Algeria, Lebanon, Angola, Mozambique, the Philippines, the Congo, Afghanistan, Iraq, and elsewhere, wars continue to rage across the globe, consuming vast numbers of lives and resources. In 2012, worldwide military spending reached $1.75 trillion. Moreover, the most lavish spenders for weaponry, war, and destruction were the supposedly “civilized” nations of NATO, with $1 trillion in military expenditures. By far the biggest military spender in 2012 was the United States, which accounted for 39 percent of the world total.
The most glaring indication lies in the continued popularity of war. Despite well over a hundred million deaths in World Wars I and II, plus the brutal military conflicts in Korea, Indochina, Hungary, Algeria, Lebanon, Angola, Mozambique, the Philippines, the Congo, Afghanistan, Iraq, and elsewhere, wars continue to rage across the globe, consuming vast numbers of lives and resources. In 2012, worldwide military spending reached $1.75 trillion. Moreover, the most lavish spenders for weaponry, war, and destruction were the supposedly “civilized” nations of NATO, with $1 trillion in military expenditures. By far the biggest military spender in 2012 was the United States, which accounted for 39 percent of the world total.
Next weekend, we will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, best known for Dr. Martin Luther King’s “Dream.”
Fifty years later, the dream challenges us yet. It is alive because it is not static. The dream of equal rights and equal opportunity, of being judged for character, not color, has transformed this nation. Much progress has been forged; much remains to be done.
One way to think about the Civil Rights Movement and Dr. King’s Dream is as a symphony of freedom. The first movement was the movement to end slavery, which required the bloodiest war in American history. Then came the drive to end segregation, the disfiguring legal apartheid of the South. In that victory, the movement freed not only African-Americans but also the South to grow, and opened access to libraries and hotels, trains and restaurants, pools and parks. Rosa Parks could sit wherever she wanted to on that bus.
Fifty years later, the dream challenges us yet. It is alive because it is not static. The dream of equal rights and equal opportunity, of being judged for character, not color, has transformed this nation. Much progress has been forged; much remains to be done.
One way to think about the Civil Rights Movement and Dr. King’s Dream is as a symphony of freedom. The first movement was the movement to end slavery, which required the bloodiest war in American history. Then came the drive to end segregation, the disfiguring legal apartheid of the South. In that victory, the movement freed not only African-Americans but also the South to grow, and opened access to libraries and hotels, trains and restaurants, pools and parks. Rosa Parks could sit wherever she wanted to on that bus.
In an August 15 Rolling Stone interview, Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) made what appeared to be an inadvertent disclosure of some of the contents a classified intelligence committee document. Buried at the back of the article was a question about the role of contractors. The question was open ended and seemed refer to wiretapping of the American public. But Wyden decided to talk about torture. “One that is going to be part of an upcoming debate, I hope, which is something Senator Udall and I and others are pushing, is to declassify that report on torture. I think it will give us new momentum for drawing a sharp line on the contractor issue . . . and I think when Americans get to read about the role of contractors in some of those interrogations, they're going to share our view,” he said.
Stopping crime before it happens is a great idea, but stopping young men for “walking while black” — touted by true believers as the same thing — is a game played by an occupying army.
The tactic is called stop-and-frisk. As practiced by many police departments, including New York’s, it amounts to blatant racial profiling. Stop-and-frisk makes it impossible for young men of color to lead normal lives, to walk outside without fear of preemptive police harassment. The long-term hatred and tension it engenders does far more harm to a community than all the questionable good that proponents ascribe to it. Security based on racism is a sham.
So I join in the celebration of Judge Shira A. Scheindlin’s ruling Monday in Manhattan’s Federal District Court, declaring the New York Police Department’s stop-and-frisk policy unconstitutional. She accused the city of “checkpoint-style policing” in minority communities and wrote in her decision, according to the New York Times [2]: “Blacks are likely targeted for stops based on a lesser degree of objectively founded suspicion than whites.”
The tactic is called stop-and-frisk. As practiced by many police departments, including New York’s, it amounts to blatant racial profiling. Stop-and-frisk makes it impossible for young men of color to lead normal lives, to walk outside without fear of preemptive police harassment. The long-term hatred and tension it engenders does far more harm to a community than all the questionable good that proponents ascribe to it. Security based on racism is a sham.
So I join in the celebration of Judge Shira A. Scheindlin’s ruling Monday in Manhattan’s Federal District Court, declaring the New York Police Department’s stop-and-frisk policy unconstitutional. She accused the city of “checkpoint-style policing” in minority communities and wrote in her decision, according to the New York Times [2]: “Blacks are likely targeted for stops based on a lesser degree of objectively founded suspicion than whites.”
This past year when Republicans in the Ohio legislature passed Senate Bill 5 (SB 5), designed to wipe out public worker’s pensions, it was personal for young Mark Bukszar in Brooklyn, a working class suburb of Cleveland, Ohio. Mark’s Dad had reached retirement age and planned to retire after working three decades at Metro Health, Cleveland’s largest public hospital. SB 5 would’ve taken that from him and his family.
Mark got involved, along with his Dad and thousands of other Ohioans, in the massive campaign to save worker’s pensions and defeat SB 5. Getting active in politics for the first time, Mark gathered signatures, wrote and spoke to legislators, attended rallies. The hard work that Mark and those thousands of Ohioans put in paid off when SB 5 was defeated and public worker’s pensions were saved, at least for now. That hard work was special for Mark, but he saw wealthy special interests continuing the push to take away pensions and other gains that ordinary Ohioans had worked so hard to earn.
Mark got involved, along with his Dad and thousands of other Ohioans, in the massive campaign to save worker’s pensions and defeat SB 5. Getting active in politics for the first time, Mark gathered signatures, wrote and spoke to legislators, attended rallies. The hard work that Mark and those thousands of Ohioans put in paid off when SB 5 was defeated and public worker’s pensions were saved, at least for now. That hard work was special for Mark, but he saw wealthy special interests continuing the push to take away pensions and other gains that ordinary Ohioans had worked so hard to earn.
BANGKOK, Thailand -- Hindus and Christians in eastern India refused to
allow the burial funeral of a woman who converted from Hinduism to
Christianity, and her body remained in dispute until police found a
neutral site on government property.
The confrontation is one of the latest in Hindu-majority India where Hindus suffer problems after converting to Christianity, Islam, Buddhism or other religions.
Kanti Lakra, 60, died of kidney failure on August 12 in a hospital in Hazaribagh, in eastern India's Jharkhand state, according to the Times of India.
Last Rites
She had converted from Hinduism to Christianity several years earlier because her husband, Shiv Prakash Ram, was Christian.
Ram wanted to bury her body according to Christian tradition in Kesura, their village near Hazaribagh.
But the family were the only Christians among the village's Hindus, and Ram could not find a local cemetery.
The confrontation is one of the latest in Hindu-majority India where Hindus suffer problems after converting to Christianity, Islam, Buddhism or other religions.
Kanti Lakra, 60, died of kidney failure on August 12 in a hospital in Hazaribagh, in eastern India's Jharkhand state, according to the Times of India.
Last Rites
She had converted from Hinduism to Christianity several years earlier because her husband, Shiv Prakash Ram, was Christian.
Ram wanted to bury her body according to Christian tradition in Kesura, their village near Hazaribagh.
But the family were the only Christians among the village's Hindus, and Ram could not find a local cemetery.
In Oslo, the world’s most important peace prize has been hijacked for war.
In London, government authority has just fired a new shot at freedom of the press.
And in Washington, the Obama administration continues to escalate its attacks on whistleblowers, journalism and civil liberties.
As a nation at peace becomes a fading memory, so does privacy. Commitments to idealism -- seeking real alternatives to war and upholding democratic values -- are under constant assault from the peaks of power.
Normalizing endless war and shameless surveillance, Uncle Sam and Big Brother are no longer just close. They’re the same, with a vast global reach.
Last week, I met with the Research Director of the Nobel Committee at its headquarters in Oslo. We sat at one end of a long polished conference table, next to boxes of petitions signed by 100,000 people urging that the Nobel Peace Prize go to Bradley Manning.
In London, government authority has just fired a new shot at freedom of the press.
And in Washington, the Obama administration continues to escalate its attacks on whistleblowers, journalism and civil liberties.
As a nation at peace becomes a fading memory, so does privacy. Commitments to idealism -- seeking real alternatives to war and upholding democratic values -- are under constant assault from the peaks of power.
Normalizing endless war and shameless surveillance, Uncle Sam and Big Brother are no longer just close. They’re the same, with a vast global reach.
Last week, I met with the Research Director of the Nobel Committee at its headquarters in Oslo. We sat at one end of a long polished conference table, next to boxes of petitions signed by 100,000 people urging that the Nobel Peace Prize go to Bradley Manning.
In what might be it's last gasp of investigative national security reporting before the finalizing of Jeff Bezos' CIA sponsored buyout, the Washington Post released an NSA internal audit from 2012 detailing thousands of violations of the FISA and other laws and regulations governing surveillance of Americans. Despite revealing literally thousands of instances of unauthorized collection that violated the law, the report whitewashed at least one seemingly deliberate violation. The Washington Post story failed to catch this that this operator error appears to have happened by design.
Last week Attorney General Eric Holder delivered an unprecedented speech concerning America’s oldest war. Perhaps hoping to carve out a positive legacy that works to bring an end to the War on Drugs, Holder has undoubtedly initiated a step in the right direction.
Speaking at the American Bar Association’s annual meeting in San Francisco, the head of the Department of Justice did not hesitate in displaying his thoughts about our justice system. The stentorian sounds of jaws dropping across the room would ordinarily account for a news report in itself, but the speech’s content was truly unsurpassable on the day.
Speaking at the American Bar Association’s annual meeting in San Francisco, the head of the Department of Justice did not hesitate in displaying his thoughts about our justice system. The stentorian sounds of jaws dropping across the room would ordinarily account for a news report in itself, but the speech’s content was truly unsurpassable on the day.