Tag Archives: international

Speaking of NATO

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As I pointed out in the previous post, Trump never liked NATO and didn’t want to be tied down by those strategic alliances. This article from Politico shows it clearly, reporting on a time Trump said exactly that to world leaders while he was President. Trump vowed he’d ‘never’ help Europe if it’s attacked, top EU official says ‘By the way NATO is dead,’ the former (and potential future) US president added in private meeting. BRUSSELS — One of Europe’s most senior politicians recounted how former U.S. President Donald Trump privately warned that America would not come to the EU’s … Continue reading →

Thinking about the Korean Peninsula

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If you’re not familiar with Pod Save the World from Crooked Media, it is where Tommy Vietor and Ben Rhodes, both of whom worked in the Obama administration, discuss world politics and all sorts of other affairs. It’s consistently interesting and informative, one of my favorite podcasts and I recommend it to you without reservation. Embedded below is the episode from January 10, 2024. If I’ve done this right it’s cued up to 51:35, towards the end of a discussion of Russia’s war on Ukraine, and the fact that North Korea is currently supplying Russia with a lot of heavy … Continue reading →

Help those on the ground in Syria and Turkey

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I’m sure you’ve heard about the massive earthquakes that have hit Syria and Turkey this week, killing more than thirty thousand people and leaving even more without shelter. (gift link) Members of BTS ARMY have put together this list of organizations on the ground who need donations. I would add World Central Kitchen, which as usual is already working to ensure people get fed. Please help in whatever way you can, in any amount. US and European currency goes a long way in these areas, so even small donations can mean a lot. ARMY pls help boost & donate for … Continue reading →

Rejecting democracy

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I’ve been watching the attempted insurrection in Brazil, not with much shock, but with some anger. This is, of course, another expression of the right-wing authoritarians who are doing their best to fracture political systems around the world. They stormed Brazil's National Congress and set fire to the carpet. They attacked presidential offices, rifled through papers and tried to barricade themselves inside. Videos show Jair Bolsonaro's supporters rioting in Brazil’s government offices. https://t.co/dpVKpXYIdo pic.twitter.com/eMDQGA0rpf — The New York Times (@nytimes) January 9, 2023 Apparently Bolsonaro has been working with Steve Bannon, Stephen Miller, and perhaps other Trump-aligned fascist types, which … Continue reading →

Women of Iran ~ Dancing for freedom

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Reports (from MSNBC, no link) are that somewhere between 40 and 50 people have been killed in and around the Iranian protests. The protests are not disappearing, though, if anything they continue to spread. Internet outages continue, so information still comes slowly. The women have been forbidden to dance, but they dance anyway. I love these clips so much. This is what civil disobedience looks like in an Islamic Republic. #IranProtests #IranRevolution For 43 years women in #Iran have been forbidden to dance & sing in public or show their hair & they are saying enough. It’s really that simple. … Continue reading →

Update on Iranian protests

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From Sept. 20, this is the first video I saw from the protests in Iran. Unprecedented scenes in Iran: woman sits on top of utility box and cuts her hair in main square in Kerman to protest death of Mahsa Amini after her arrest by the morality police. People clap their hands and chant “Death to the dictator.” #مهسا_امینی pic.twitter.com/2oyuKV80Ac — Golnaz Esfandiari (@GEsfandiari) September 20, 2022 A report from Arash Azizi at Newsweek: Iran’s Regime May Have Just Sparked a Revolution On Sept. 17, Mahsa’s funeral in her native Kurdistan province was accompanied by massive protests which soon spread … Continue reading →

Best reads

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This week, try these three. Harold Myerson at the American Prospect, on a new labor alliance in California. L.A. Story, The Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy: a new model for American liberalism? From reporters at the Arkansas Times, working with InsideClimate News, The path of the Pegasus pipeline in Arkansas, Exxon’s pipeline cuts across the watersheds that provide drinking water for 770,000 Arkansans. And James Fallows at the Atlantic presents an analysis of the situation in Syria, Your Labor Day Syria Reader, Part 2: William Polk. An in-depth, step-by-step account of how we got here and what might … Continue reading →

Dying for Freedom

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As in Iran, now in Egypt, news people are reporting that some numbers of protesters have been killed. My best wishes go with the people who risk themselves for their human rights. I hope our government supports them in their movement, and that no more lives will be lost. This footage, taken on the Kasr Al Nile bridge in Cairo on the 28th of January, is astonishing. The people push back against the police who try to stop them. I’ll gather some resource links for understanding this conflict in the space below. • Al Jazeera’s English language live stream has … Continue reading →

Iraq

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For me, at least, the winding down of this war demands a great scream of outrage, a reflection of the scream that has pounded through my own head from the night I sat up and watched the “shock and awe” bombings that began the thing . Wrapped in every form of death, degradation, and corruption, the War in Iraq is and always will be a a stain on our national history, an emblem of hubris and greed. The President can’t say any of that, and probably wouldn’t even if he felt he could. He’s a milder person than I am. … Continue reading →