Amid Protests, U.S. Begins Training Thai Coup Leader's Military

The U.S. began a 12-day annual, multinational
Cobra Gold military exercise on Monday (February 9), despite the
biggest pro-democracy protest in months displaying coup leader Gen.
Prayuth Chan-ocha as a gigantic faux Teletubby authoritarian.

In a sign of disapproval against the coup, Washington scaled-down
Cobra Gold, its biggest military exercise in the Asia-Pacific, and
this year sent about 3,600 U.S. troops instead of last year's 4,300.

"The large-scale, live-fire exercise associated w/ amphibious landing
was cancelled," American Embassy charge d'affaires W. Patrick Murphy
tweeted on Tuesday (February 10).

Other lethal exercises will be included.

A "non-combatant evacuation" from Thailand's tourist-packed Pattaya
beach near Bangkok is also scheduled, plus a "field training exercise"
involving troops in various formations.

Thailand is a key non-NATO ally of the U.S. in Southeast Asia.

Gen. Prayuth staged a bloodless coup on May 22, toppling a popularly
elected prime minister, Yingluck Shinawatra.

The Sociology of Dead Children

Experts have put urban violence under the microscope. You might call it the sociology of dead kids.

There’s a lot less here than meets the eye, or so it seemed when I read about a new study by researchers at Yale called “Tragic, but not random: The social contagion of nonfatal gunshot injuries.” It’s an attempt to create categories of likely future shooting victims in Chicago and, thus, determine who among us is most in danger. Well, sure, why not? But in the process, the study, at least as it was reported a few days ago in the Chicago Sun-Times, utterly depersonalized the potential victims, along with the communities in which they lived, reducing them to components in a mathematical formula.

The researchers “sought to go beyond a racial explanation for nonfatal shootings,” according to the Sun-Times. “They were trying to explain why a specific young African-American male in a high-crime neighborhood becomes a shooting victim, while another young black man in the same neighborhood doesn’t, the study said.”

War in Ukraine: Who Wants War? And Who Doesn’t?

“Russian aggression” – the bad faith mantra of dishonest brokers

Just as NATO allies Germany and France were undertaking a peace initiative with Russia and Ukraine, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry turned up in Kiev at the same time, seeking to poison the talks before they started by spouting yet again the ritual U.S. accusation of “Russian aggression.” The incantation is meaningless without context. Its purpose is mesmerize a false consciousness. “Russian aggression” may or may not exist in the events of the past year, just like “Russian self-defense.” Reporting on the ground has been too unreliable to support any firm analysis, never mind the provocative “Russian aggression” the U.S. brandishes as a virtual call for war. 

Iran Not Developing Nukes & Not an "Imminent Threat," El Baradei Says

Iran is not engaged in nuclear weapons research,
and not an "imminent threat" requiring military action, according to
Mohamed El Baradei, former director of the International Atomic Energy
Agency (IAEA) and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for efforts to
prevent nuclear proliferation.

"Anybody who is calling for a military solution for the Iranian issue
is crazy, because you will get a much worse situation than what you
have," Mr. El Baradei said.

"Nobody today is vouching that Iran is developing nuclear weapons. I
think even the U.S. intelligence [agencies], as you probably know, say
that Iran stopped any nuclear weapons research -- assuming that they
had done that -- in 2003," he said.

"That still continues to be the assessment of the U.S. intelligence
agencies, all the intelligence agencies. No, there is no imminent
threat that requires"  military action.

Mr. El Baradei made the remarks during a presentation here in Bangkok
on Monday (February 11) at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of
Thailand.

The Covert and Overt Duplicity of Religion and Heads of State

OK, president Obama professes his Christian beliefs and admits to
reading Joshua Dubois' daily devotional meditations for inspiration.
Yet he is deliberate in conceding Islam is a "great religion" in his
latest official responses to the Charlie Hedbo murders and immolation
of a Jordanian pilot. The White House refuses to link any of these
acts to the "great religion" of Islam. Though this sentiment, or
narrative if I may, is not shared by members on both sides of the
political aisle, there is one bi-partisan agreement that I have heard
reiterated by various politicians via the fourth estate-that Islam is
a "great"  religion being corrupted by radicals. This is where the
inescapable duplicitous nature of belief in the supernatural rears its
irreconcilable head.

What we know about RO: One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

A “new” group and concept for marijuana legalization has crept into Ohio and onto the national stage. Activism, advocacy, lobbying and ballot initiatives once comprised the social change formulae that challenged government suppression of this beneficial plant, which has historically been off limits to almost all use. But the success of legalization in Colorado has spawned a whole new brand of opposition. Internal, not external. Wealthy, not impoverished. Influential, not marginal. Seemingly pro, but very con.
A new group calling themselves “Responsible Ohio” (RO) has emerged on the marijuana ballot scene, driven not by grassroots activism, but instead by a consortium of investors, LLCs and holding companies who seek to enforce market exclusivity by writing themselves into the Ohio Constitution. Yet, despite a Goliath-size budget and a board of the rich and famous, they have made a number of critical errors, causing most of Ohio’s major newspapers to editorialize a preemptive “vote no!” to their scheme, belying all of the muscle that RO’s six figure ad agencies can buy. Some of the more damning aspects of RO include:

Free Press Hero: Julialynne Walker

Archiving African American history in Columbus. Preserving Columbus' African­American landmarks. Working to empower global Africans. Julialynne Walker is acknowledged in this issue as our Free Press hero for being a keeper African­American history in our city.

 

Julialynne serves as an Advisory Committee member for the Columbus African American Digital Collection and is a Steering Committee member for the local African­American Landmarks Preservation Initiative. She also brings to Columbus a rich background as a human rights advocate with a desire to provide cross­cultural opportunities for all people.

 

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