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2005: a very bad year for human rights…
And not surprisingly, we have the United States and the War on brown people, I mean Muslims, I mean Terror, to thank for it. As described in this press release, the Human Rights Watch has released its World Report 2006. It’s rather grim. New evidence demonstrated in 2005 that torture and mistreatment have been a…
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Pot, kettle, anyone? (the US government on Venezuela)
From the New York Times: the US government has barred Spain from selling military planes built with American technology to Venezuela, citing the “antidemocratic” nature of President Hugo Chávez’s goverment and saying that the sale would “destabilize the region.” What utter bullshit. Apparently, Spain’s government disagrees with the US and regrets their decision, but will…
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The NY dailies: never flagging in their ability to annoy
During my morning commute, I regularly get assaulted by images and headlines from NY’s astoundingly obnoxious dailies, the Post and the Daily News. I generally do my best to avoid those papers, but with so many people holding them up in front of my face on the F train on my way into work, I…
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Avian flu: who’s really at fault
This morning, I stumbled across this article on avian flu and the US poultry industry’s response to it: Asian governments must provide financial incentives and shut down as many backyard poultry farms as possible to halt the spread of bird flu, a leading U.S. poultry industry official said. “We cannot control migratory birds but we…
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More Lies from BushCo
From Reuters AlertNet: A captured al Qaeda operative who told U.S. authorities that Iraq had trained al Qaeda members to use unconventional weapons was identified as a probable liar months before the Bush administration began using his claims to make its case for war … “Saddam’s regime is intensely secular and is wary of Islamic…
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Legislating love
From my friend Dex: He looks too ‘aloof’ in photographs, so Immigration rejected his wife. This is a Canadian incident, but similarly racist, xenophobic, and just plain heartbreaking applications of immigration laws occur in the US every day. As Dex put it, “this is what happens when the government tries to legislate love.” Speaking of…
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The Bush Administration speaks from both sides of its mouth on torture
From Reuters AlertNet: Bush vows “we do not torture” terror suspects: “We do not torture and therefore we’re working with Congress to make sure that as we go forward, we make it more possible to do our job,” Bush said. And by working with Congress, they Bush Administration apparently means sending in Cheney to fight…
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The riots of Paris: a much abused community fights back
The riots in Paris, sparked by the deaths of two African teens and fueled by longstanding racism, xenophobia, and tensions, rage on. It is frightening to watch it happen through the lens of the media, and angering to know that little is likely to be done to address the real oppression, the real discrimination, the…