Monthly Archives: September 2021

* Any views expressed in this opinion piece are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Thierry Lindor is the founder of The Federation of African Canadian Economic and Delegate at the G20 Young Entrepreneurs Alliance.

Haiti is not cursed, it is targeted!

From earthquakes in the summer to the assassination of President Jovenel Moise, and the perilous voyage to the U.S. border for Haitian refugees, only to end up whipped by modern-day plantation overseers.

They must be cursed!

Both the Obama and Trump administrations had their cages, while Biden has his lassos to violate Black and Brown bodies.

How can a nation be so grieved by these unfortunate events?

They must be cursed!

A popular take on the events happening in Haiti, spread by the American evangelical Christian pastor, Pat Robertson, is that the nation is cursed. The host of 700 Club on the Christian Broadcasting Network suggested that a pact [with] the devil brought on the earthquake in Haiti.

Robertson said during a broadcast of the show in 2010 that, the Haitians were under the heel of the French. You know, Napoleon III and whatever...and they got together and swore a pact to the devil. They said, 'we will serve you if you will get us free from the French.' And so, the devil said, 'OK, it's a deal.

They must be cursed!

The story alludes to the genesis of Haitian independence where the legendary Bois Caiman ceremony took place on August 14, 1791. Chaired by Dutty Boukman, a powerful leader of the Maroons (descendants of Africans in the Americas who formed settlements away from slavery) and the legendary Haitian vodou priestess, Ccile Fatiman, the visionaries knew how to weaponize their environment. They used swamps, crocodiles and venomous plants to keep the slavers away from their plan for freedom.

Toussaint L'Ouverture, a Haitian general and the most prominent leader of the Haitian Revolution, helped transform the slave rebellion into a true revolutionary movement. He went from trying to bargain for better conditions of slavery late in 1791, to becoming fully committed to its complete abolition and he eventually got that for himself and the people of Ayiti. It was a shame he did not live to see it.

But they are cursed!

I would argue, from the point Haiti gained its freedom, the nation faced constant targeted socio-economic and political oppression at the hands of the international community.

Although Haiti formally gained independence on January 1804, France refused to recognize Haitis independence in 1825 and the Napoleonic Armada threatened to invade the island unless the sum of 150 million francs (modern equivalent of $21 billion) was paid for the loss of income from slavery.

After several years of negotiations and fear of war, Haiti agreed to pay 150 million gold-Francs in 1838. Haiti did not finish paying this debt until 1947.

In 1914, the United States invaded Haiti and seized its national gold reserves worth about $500,000 about $13 million as of 2021. American troops killed several thousand Haitian civilians during the rebellions between 1915 and 1920, though the exact death toll is still unknown.

Those that managed to survive had to endure horrifying conditions of forced labour under a corvee policy to improve economic conditions in order to fulfil foreign debts including payments to the United States.

In 1922, the National Bank of Haiti was seized by the National City Bank of New York (today's Citibank). Peter James Hudson, associate professor of African American Studies and history in the University of California, Los Angeles, wrote in the Radical History Review that employees of National City Bank of New York triumphantly announced Bank of Haiti Is Ours.

In the early 1980's, Haiti maintained dependency on their own cultivation of rice. Thats until the United States, under the Clinton administration, formed the Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI) a trade agreement between the United States and Caribbean countries which aimed to lower tariffs to liberalize Haitis economy.

The CBI had tragic consequences for Haiti as their import tax stood at 35% prior to its formation, but the trade deal cut this down to 3% in 1994. The nation was inundated with cheap rice imports subsidized by the U.S. government from Arkansas. Haitian rice farmers could no longer compete and found themselves out of business.

In 2010, before a U.S. Senate committee, President Bill Clinton admitted that his initiative was a mistake that killed local Haitian agriculture for the benefit of his Farmer Friends in Arkansas.

This late admission of guilt came around the same time of Haitis most devastating year 2010 as the nation was destroyed by a 7.0 magnitude earthquake that killed more than 220,000 people.

The following year, a U.N. investigation revealed that a cholera epidemic hit Haiti following the voluntary discharge of faecal matter into the Artibonite River by United Nations employees. The 32-page report found that cholera spread quickly from a U.N. camp in the upper Artibonite River valley to water used by tens of thousands of Haitians for bathing, washing and drinking.

The cholera epidemic hospitalized nearly 300,000 and killed 4,500 people.

More than $13 billion in international aid was given to the Red Cross, UNICEF, The Clinton Foundation and several other NGOs in 2010. Although 95% of the 1.5 million people who were in camps have been moved, many of them are still not in permanent housing, with at least 200,000 people in new hillside slums and makeshift tents for homes. The majority of the funds disappeared without any transparency regarding the recipients.

Which leads us to where we are today. President Moise assassinated. Haiti struck by a of 7.2 magnitude earthquake. More than 15,000 descendants of Toussaint L'Ouverture undertaking the perilous march of more than 7,000 km to the United States to relive what their ancestors lived.

So, what do you think? Cursed or targeted?

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OPINION: Is Haiti cursed or targeted by the international community? - Thomson Reuters Foundation

9:24Nunavut MP Mumilaaq Qaqqaq on leaving politics, and why she feels no pride in Canada

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Lori Idlout, who was elected the new NDP MP for Nunavut this week,hopes to shift the balance of power in the relationship between her territory and the federal government.

"Up to this point, Nunavummiut, Indigenous Canadians basically are begging for more resources, begging for more services," she told As It Happens host Carol Off.

"We need to shift that relationship so that we get the federal government to realize that we can negotiate ... in a position of power, because we know that the federal government wants resources from us, too."

The task may provechallenging for Idlout, as her predecessor before the election, formerNDP MP Mumilaaq Qaqqaq,was outspoken about the challenges she faced on Parliament Hill and why she decided not to seek re-election.

"While I'm concerned, I know that I'll have the coping skills to be able to deal with it and to have a sense of what she's experienced helps me to prepare as much as I can mentally before I arrive there,"said Idlout.

Inher farewell speech to the House of Commons in June, Qaqqaqdenounced Canada as country built on the oppression of Indigenous people. She saidshe was constantly reminded as an Indigenous woman that she didn'tbelong on Parliament Hill, and said she was racially profiled.

Qaqqaq told As It Happensit was difficult to hear about reconciliation when she struggled to see it in action.

"To be told all the time as an Indigenous person, as someone that looks like me, that they know there's a problem, they know there needs to be more done, is incredibly frustrating."

Idlout said she hasempathy for Qaqqaq's experience, and found herself in a similar positionwhen she went south to pursue education.

"I've experienced racism. I know what it's like. I know how challenging it is to be judged just for the colour of my skin," she said.

Idloutis a lawyer by professionand recently acted on behalf of the group of people protesting developments at Baffinland Iron Mines'Mary River Mine.

But, she said, the issue at the top of her agenda is the ongoing housing crisis in the north.

"Housing was definitely the biggest issue, not just to increase housing, but to address the mould crisis, to make sure that we're renovating the old houses that were built many years ago, and to also make sure that we keep our elders in our communities. It's a huge concern."

While campaigning in August, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised $360 million to address the housing crisis in Nunavut.

But the COVID-19 pandemic has increased the cost of construction, which meansthat plans to build new public housing have often beendelayed.

Idlout said she wasn't confident that the territory would see the money "very, very soon" as Trudeaupromised.

"He's promised more housing funds for the last six years," she said.

"His promises, even those amountsresult in, based on an analysis that we were given, in three new houses per community per year. And three new houses in one community will not address the housing crisis."

Written by Andrea Bellemarewith files from CBC News. Interview with Lori Idlout produced by Sarah Jackson.

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New Nunavut MP Lori Idlout wants to shift territory's relationship with federal government - CBC.ca

Britain must act on the world stage to help end human rights abuses by a brutal occupying military force in Kashmir, MPs have heard.

Imran Hussain, Labour MP for Bradford East, said he expected the Government to suggest disputes in the region should be resolved bilaterally.

But Mr Hussain, in a passionate speech which was critical of India, said the UK and other countries needed to speak up.

Kashmir has long been a flashpoint between India and Pakistan, which claim the region in full but rule only parts.

Rebels have been fighting against Indian rule since 1989.

Speaking during a debate on human rights in Kashmir, Mr Hussain told the House of Commons: For over 70 years, the sons and daughters of Kashmir have been subjected to persecution, oppression, injustice in the most brutal manner.

For over 70 years they have been butchered, maimed and killed at the hands of an occupying Indian military operating under the draconian Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act.

And for over 70 years they have had their rights eroded, had their freedoms stripped away and has their self-determination denied.

Imran Hussain MP who has spoken out about Kashmir

Mr Hussain argued human rights and the right to self-determination are international issues before noting: We raise these issues time and time again but Kashmiris are still subjected to appalling human rights abuses at the hands of a brutal occupying military force.

If the UK and the rest of the international community continues to remain silent and continues to refuse uphold UN resolutions, and the right-wing Modi government continues to actively ignore them and unilaterally quash the Kashmiri struggle, then what is the point of us talking here?

He added: This is a time that we must start demanding and forcing real action of our government and of the international community.

Mr Hussain concluded: My final comments, as a proud British Kashmiri, will be this and let me be absolutely crystal clear about this the Kashmiris are not begging the international community, the Kashmiris do not bow before the international community, the Kashmiris around the world unite to demand our birth right to self-determination and to determine our own destiny.

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Conservative former minister Theresa Villiers earlier said the dispute over Kashmir is one clearly for India and Pakistan to resolve, noting this has been the position of successive UK governments.

She added: We should also keep in mind that the whole of Kashmir acceded to India when the country gained its independence in 1947, even if part of the area was subsequently seized and occupied by Pakistan.

Ms Villiers said she believed Indias courts and institutions are well capable of properly investigating alleged human rights abuses.

Labour MP Tahir Ali (Birmingham Hall Green) called for the Indian high commissioner to the UK to be barred from Parliament pending an end to the military occupation of Kashmir.

Foreign Office minister Amanda Milling said: The Government takes the situation in Kashmir very seriously but its for India and Pakistan to find a lasting political solution, taking into account the wishes of the Kashmiri people.

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MP calls for UK to speak up to help end abuses in Kashmir - Yahoo News UK

In hindsight, the biggest warning sign for the prospects of unionizing Amazon's Bessemer, Alabama, warehouse was, well, a sign: a large placard, posted by organizers outside the facility's entrance, featuring Stacey Abrams dressed as Rosie the Riveter, declaring "We Can Do It!" through a COVID mask.

Adopting the failed gubernatorial candidate and progressive darling as the symbolic heroine of the campaign was part of an effort to link unionization to progressive causesvoting rights, racial justice and gender equitythat organizers thought would appeal to a predominantly Black workforce.

"Stacey the Riveter" may have been a hit with Democratic politicians, who posed for pictures with the sign on visits to the facility. But not so much with the workers themselves. Abrams lost her election by 2 points; the union lost its by more than 30.

Bessemer was hardly the first time that union activists have grafted progressive causes onto the labor movement. The year before, then-AFL-CIO president, Richard Trumka, pledged that organized labor would "be an ally" of the LGBTQ community and Black Lives Matter by "invest[ing] in Black transgender leadership" and "electing candidates...who understand the intersectionality of worker and LGBTQ rights."

This "intersectionality" of labor issues and virtually every progressive social cause has become a defining feature of union activism. United Steelworkers, for instance, has "encourage[d] all local unions to initiate LGBTQ+ activism" led by its Steel Pride affiliate organization. Labor leaders from the SEIU and other national labor unions, meanwhile, have formed the Labor for Equality Council to promote the Equality Act because "LGBTQ rights and labor rights are intrinsically linked." Labor reformers have fallen prey, too. Harvard University's "Clean Slate for Worker Power," for instance, maintains that its blueprint for redesigning labor law "must start with inclusion" and "address systemic racial and gender oppression."

But like the term "Latinx," such rhetoric appeals to credentialed progressives but alienates virtually everyone else. The American Compass Better Bargain Survey asked Americans whether they would be more or less likely to support a politician adopting an emphasis on "inclusion" and "oppression" when speaking about labor reform. College-educated Democrats were the most likely to support a politician speaking that way. Independents and Republicans of all classes said they were less likely to.

By adopting progressive rhetoric at the expense of real organizing, Woke Labor is undermining itself. Unions try to blame their waning economic power and inability to organize workers on employer intimidation and Republican policy, but the reality is that workers don't want what they're offering. The Better Bargain Survey found that less than 40 percent of workers would vote to form a union in their workplace. Ask workers opposed to unionization why they'd vote against it, and the most common reason is union political activitycited by three-quarters of respondents.

Given a list of activities a hypothetical worker organization could do, workers rate politics and social activism as the least important. Given a list of the nearly 20 different political issues that the AFL-CIO and SEIU advertise working on, workers give majority support for working on exactly none of them. By nearly three-to-one, potential union members say they'd prefer an organization that focuses only on workplace issues over one that also takes on national political issues.

Of course, organizing is inherently political in some respects. But today the common economic interests of workers that might form the basis for collective action do not extend to any particular social agenda. Donald Trump won a majority of union households in Ohio and Pennsylvania last November. It's simply infeasible for unions to succeed as partisan political activist organizations under these circumstances.

So long as progressives use the labor movement as a platform for woke politicking, conservatives have the opportunity to build upon President Trump's inroads with the union rank and file. Pursuing worker-focused labor reform offers a promising pathway.

Workers say they want unions out of politics and in the business of supporting them directly. So why not cut them a deal?

For instance, policymakers could allow unions and other worker organizations to receive funding from employers and the government to set up training programs and provide health and unemployment insurance benefits to workers, but prohibit them from spending money on political campaigns or causes. This proposal earns wide support across classes and political parties, according to the Better Bargain Survey. Democrats, independents and Republicans all support it by three-to-one margins.

Neither party enjoys the exclusive allegiance of working-class and union households. If Big Labor and progressive activists have "woked" the labor movement into irrelevance, someone must work to rebuild it to better serve workers. Conservatives can lead the way.

Wells King is the research director at American Compass.

The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.

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The Labor Movement Is 'Woking' Itself to Death | Opinion - Newsweek

Judy Rickard and Karin Bogliolo are reluctant local heroes. They just wanted to be married and live their lives in blissful happiness. For most of us, it seems like a fairly simple principle.

But like Rosa Parks, who refused to give her seat up on a busthey had to endure the unreasoned bigotry of our national historical past.

On Sept. 18, exactly 294 years and one day after the U.S. Constitution was signed, they told their story. Married in 1996 in Vermont, their union was not recognized by the federal government. The Defense of Marriage Act, signed by President Bill Clinton as an appeasement to bigots, legalized discrimination against the LGBTQ+ community nationally.

Karin Bogliolo who is a world citizenborn in Germany, raised in the U.K. and a resident of France, Scotland and the United Stateswas barred from this nation due to legal prejudice. She is a gregarious, outspoken individual and was surprised that the United States was so backward compared to her previous homes.

Judy Rickard is a fighter with a heart. She has long been an activist for freedom and equality. Interestingly, Rickards cousin was the infamous Marvin Rickard, who turned his Los Gatos Christian Church into a political power base in San Jose that spearheaded opposition to LGBTQ+ rights in the late 1970s and 80s. His ironic fall from grace for sexual promiscuity is an all too familiar story among many of the most virulent evangelical leaders in our culture. While Pastor Rickard will live in infamy, his cousin Judy will be revered for generations not yet born.

Being on the right side of history is never the wrong thing to do.

Judy, as she would do her entire life, stood up to her cousin and called out his hypocrisy during those moral fights in the 1970s and 80s. Unfortunately, this community remained hostile to gay rights during that era. But Judy would never stop fighting for her and her communitys rights.

In 1996, the institutional prejudice of our nation reached a crescendo for her personally. Her book, Torn Apart: United by Love, Divided by Law is critically acclaimed. It tells of the hardship and heartbreak of having a long distance romance and being denied, by her own federal government, the right to be together with her spouse. A right heterosexuals have always taken for granted under the umbrella of our national Constitution, which guarantees our fundamental rights.

Along with local leaders including Wiggsy Silverstein, Ken Yeager, Congressmembers Mike Honda and Zoe Lofgren, Judy and Karin fought not only for their rights, but for others in similar circumstances, some of whom are documented in Judys book.

It took time and was frustrating. Finally, in 2013 the Supreme Court recognized what was long self-evident: That the state had no compelling interest in denying a fundamental right to gay couples. No more could the Marvin Rickards of the world pass laws to deny marriage to loving individuals.

Judy and Karin won, but it was not without sacrifice, courage and fortitude.

In these difficult times, it is important to remember that we have made progress over our 245 years of nationhood. Our nation has plenty of sins for which to account: Slavery, the Trail of Tears, the Chinese Exclusionary Act, the Japanese internment, Italian and Irish bigotry, discrimination of Germans, failure to allow Jews to enter our nation from Nazi Germany and a plethora of discriminatory laws, acts and injustices. But as Martin Luther King Jr. noted, the arc of history bends toward justice.

But we can never forget the heroes who bent that arc. Judy and Karin exemplify the very essence of Bobby Kennedys quote: Each time a (person) stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, (they) send forth a tiny ripple of hope, crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.

Both Judy and Karin are raging waters in our local sea of change.

San Jose History Park will soon have a link to their presentations, along with Mike Honda and Ann Ravel who both played pivotal roles in the advancement of their cause. In addition, San Jose History Park currently has a dont miss exhibition, Coming Out: 50 years of Queer Resistance and Resilience in Silicon Valley.

Rich Robinson is a political consultant, attorney and author of The Shadow Candidate. His columns appear every fourth Wednesday of the month.

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Robinson: The heroes of our youth - San Jos Spotlight - San Jos Spotlight

A letter war between Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and Governor B S Koshyari came to the fore after the latter expressed his anguish over crime against women in the state, especially in the wake of the recent rape and death of a victim at Sakinaka. In his letter, the governor had advised Thackeray to convene a special two-day session of the state assembly to discuss the issue of safety of women. He also attached the representation made by women BJP leaders, demanding a special session.

However, in his reply, Thackeray claimed that the crime, atrocities and violence against women is a national issue and urged the governor to appeal to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah to convene a four-day parliament session where these issues can be discussed. During the proposed discussion, the Sakinaka rape case will also be brought up.

At a time when the Opposition has been demanding a special session over the issue, you have supported their demand. This is a threat to the parliamentary democracy of the country, Thackeray said in the letter.

Referring to the gang-rape and murder of a nine-year-old girl in Delhi, Thackeray said, This took place in a city where the entire council of ministers sit. The responsibility of maintaining law and order in Delhi lies with the Centre.

The CM also mentioned about such cases prevailing in the BJP-ruled states, including Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand (the Governors home state) and Gujarat. In Bihar, a ruling party MP raped his own coworker. The police were under pressure to not register a case. An FIR could be registered only after three months, after a court order, the letter stated. Reminding the Governor of the rising crimes against women in his own home state, Thackeray said, You, yourself should compare the swift police action in Maharashtra versus the inaction in the BJP-ruled states.

Stating that Maharashtra is the state of Chhatrapati Shivaji, the CM said that Shivaji always gave priority to the safety of women in his Hindavi Swarajya. Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj even respected the women of his enemies. He never tolerated injustice and oppression against them. The current government of Maharashtra is following the same tradition of Shivaraya. The expectation is that we will receive your blessings as a governor of the state and elder, Thackeray said.

Shiv Sena MP Arvind Sawant also took a dig at the governors suggestion of a two-day session, saying that the legislative session in Uttar Pradesh should be convened every day in the wake of high crime rate. At the national level, Madhya Pradesh tops the charts among states for maximum rapes. The Governor has no moral right suggesting the government to call a special assembly session as he has not cleared the nomination of 12 persons in the state council, despite the cabinets recommendation, said Sawant.

On the other hand, the state Congress chief Nana Patole supported Thackerays call for convening a four-day session of the parliament as safety of women is not restricted to Maharashtra alone, but is a national issue. Raj Bhavan has become the BJPs office and the Governor is interfering in the state governments functioning, he said, defending Thackeray for his immediate decisions in the Sakinaka case.

Earlier, in July, Thackeray and the Governor were engaged in a letter war. Thackeray had strongly justified the two-day monsoon session, saying that its duration cannot be extended due to the current Covid-19 pandemic. However, he was not committal on holding the legislative assembly speakers election during the two-day session, saying there was no time-frame for it.

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Letter war between Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray, Governor BS Koshyari on crime against women - Free Press Journal

Students outside the White House in Washington, D.C., on May 2, 2011, hold the front page of The Washington Post following the news of Osama bin Ladens death. (Ken Cedeno / Corbis via Getty Images)

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Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord, and for this reason there is a peculiar perversity to the spectacle of fanatical Christians embracing vigilantism and de facto bounty hunting to save the children, punish the women, avenge the fetuses consigned by law to limbo ever since Roe v. Wade allowed women a measure of bodily autonomy in 1973. The Lord, after all, did not say, Vengeance is yours; go get em!

The fundamentalists and their opportunistic secular brethren, for whom oppression has always been primarily a political organizing project, are not unused to playing God, but with the Texas law they have abandoned even the trappings of civic petition for a refinement on freelance violence. Todays enraged righteous might not get to bomb abortion clinics, shoot down or physically threaten doctors and other workers, as their coreligionists have since the 1990s. But there is more than one way to pick up the stone. The rock is in a million handslegally this time. Were not so far removed from Afghanistan, after all.

And yet, notwithstanding Justice Sonya Sotomayors vehement dissent to the Supreme Courts ruling on the law, what seems a departure from legal and political norms is really an extension.

Courts consider cases in light of their particulars, legal process, and precedent; hence Sotomayors ire and the Justice Departments new challenge. But law or abortionor anything, actuallydoesnt exist in such a tight box; it exists in, and is shaped by, the flows and eddies of culture. That bears remembering, because for decades now what has suffused the common law of the culture, the reigning ideas and practices indulged across the political spectrum, is the thrill of revengealong with an accommodation to what we dont call vigilantism but which bears its stink.Related Articles

The coincidence of this latest battle in the culture wars with the 20th anniversary of the War on Terror is more than an accident of the calendar. Talk about picking up the stone Marred as this years commemoration of the 9/11 attack was by recriminations for the US defeat in Afghanistan, the essential features of the ritualthe God-bothering, the claims of unique suffering, the beams of pure blue light piercing the night skyagain reinscribed the idea of America as innocent victim who deserved to be avenged. The bloodletting across the globe that officially began September 20, 2001, had many causes beyond the suffering and death on 9/11: imperial fantasies, beclouded imaginations, fear, corruption, money, and the opportunities war presents for greasing many wheels. But the reason proffered to the public always played to Americans sense of virtue: the victim-nation would make the world safe, secure justice for its deadand free Afghani girls, to boot.

How easily vengeance was called justice. The declaration seemed so bold, but only because shreds of decorum prevented a more brutal honesty. Bush and Cheney could hardly have told the people: Look, Smedley Butler was right: War is a racket. Halliburton is on the line! Working alongside the regular armed forces, private contractors and subcontractors supplied mercenaries, translators, and torturers. They supplied services and equipment that were shoddy or worse. They reorganized Abu Ghraib as an American prison in Iraq, and supplied spoiled food that sickened US soldiers and prisoners alike. They assisted the CIAs metastasis into a shadow army and torture operation. And theyve profited mightily ever since.

That public-private vengeance campaign was prosecuted under a wisp of lawand by kidnapping, by rendition to foreign dungeons, by deals with local death squads, by bounties, by drone, by Republicans and Democrats. Legitimized violence, contract violence, freelance violence, they all have rubbed shoulders. Presidents werent vigilantes, exactly; they had legal memorandums and special exceptions devised by their hirelings, if not a formal declaration of war. Yet in the Oval Office they became Dirty Harry. Bush kept kill lists. Obama expanded the geographic kill zone. He invited The New York Times to report how he picked targets for assassination every Tuesday, and to advertise his moral agita. Turns out Im really good at killing people, he is said to have told his staff. Under Bush, Saddam Hussein was hanged by the puppet Iraqi government at a joint military base called Camp Justice. Obama had Osama bin Laden executed rather than arrested and then pronounced: Current Issue

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Justice has been done. tonight, we are once again reminded that America can do whatever we set our mind to. we can do these things not just because of wealth or power, but because of who we are: one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Pick up the stone We will not forgive. We will not forget, Biden said, shortly before a US drone fired a missile at a car full of children in Afghanistan on August 29, killing them and the adults nearby, 10 civilians in all, as the US army beat its final retreat.

The United States didnt need 9/11 or the War on Terror to become vengeful, or to outsource havoc round the world, or to prod Americans into public-private exercises of cruelty and call it good. History groans with our pretenses to innocence. Now that the war is soundly lost (though hardly over), and we clearly cannot do whatever we set our mind to, we confront, again, the prospect of derangement in defeat.

And so full circle to the Texas law, a pivot point, coming as it does in the wake of one lost war while rooted in the political backlash that defined the aftermath of the first major defeat, in Vietnam.

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Pick up the stone Someone had to pay. Back then, anti-war and civil rights actions that made the connections between systems of oppression had bloomed into a bouquet of movements that saw the beginnings of fundamental change reaching into every institution of America. Who knew that these advances were also creating an opportunity for the right? A new power base would be built from new threats with a new story line. Save the unborn! cried holy warriors, caring nothing for the born, exploiting every opening in Roes spongey reasoning to constrain womens autonomy legally, and stoking the violent passions that would, at their extralegal extreme, lead to hit lists and blood. Save our children! cried those same warriors bent on strangling the post-Stonewall gay rights baby in its cradle. Their leader, an orange juice pitchwoman and former beauty queen, sang Glory, glory, hallelujah rallying voters to deny homosexuals civil rights, while vice squads raided cruising spots around the country and entrapped gay men and teenagers. Save the family! cried legions of women organized to defeat the Equal Rights Amendment, roused by the specter of loneliness, lost status, and unisex public lavatories. Their leader, an anticommunist hawk, didnt believe any of it; she recognized a ripe constituency that would support Ronald Reagan and, willy-nilly, a proxy army in the Hindu Kush that brought on bin Laden and the collapse of the Twin Towers.Related Articles

Black people and poor people paid the most. The war on crime, the War on Drugs, the roundups of young black men, prison as a rite of passage. The war on sex, on porno and sex workers and single mothers. Liberal politicians joined the vengeance game partly to capture the flag from the right, partly out of a futile politics of accommodation, partly out of their own prejudices. Clintons end of welfare as we know it also meant the forced contraception of women receiving public benefits, and shackles clapped on pregnant women addicted to crack. Panic begot legislation by pitchfork. Spineless Democrats, caving to religious fanatics, passed the Defense of Marriage Act. Although sex-crazed strangers had been killing children for centuries, an extreme rarity, devastated parents forced a series of laws named for their dead children, which with every iteration have elaborated and expanded the machinery of punishment. That machinery has so transformed criminal prosecutors into advocates for aggrieved individuals or their families under the banner of victims rights that collectively we no longer remember why the state still claims to be representing the people.

Through it all there were real social dislocations and real fears, real frustrations and harms and material effects that were almost never honestly addressed, and real resistance. But bookended as we are at this moment between two imperial defeatsVietnam and Afghanistanits clear how much punch the idea of Victim America has had. All this and still were not safe? No wonder people pick up a gun, or a stone.

The Texas state guardians of fetal heartbeats abdicate responsibility not only for the peoplethe society of beating hearts from whose consent the government ostensibly derives its powerbut for their own law enforcement. Of course, theyre cynical, as are the justices whose failure to enjoin a law designed to evade federal review undermines their very reason for being. All of which suggests that either abortion is a threat to the republic so grave that the Supreme Court might slash its own wrists to stop itor this is really about something else.

Pick up the stone Remember the Ladies, Abigail Adams wrote her husband, John, shortly before the founding fathers threw them out of We the People. Abigail insisted, Your Sex are Naturally Tyrannical, but Johns responseWe know better than to repeal our Masculine systemsadmits that patriarchal subjugation is a choice. Like offensive war. Like the police state. Like stoning women literally or figuratively. If oppression were immutable in mens nature, why would anyone resist? (And why would women join in the fun?)Related Articles

But just because something is a choice doesnt mean that persistent tutelage cant make it seem like nature. Imperial aspirants and their cultural appendages have historically had to work at welding masculinity to glorified violence and disdain for womanish things. (Even now, Chinas government is campaigning against sissies and conscious slackers to man up for its future as global top dog.) Part of the 1960s counterculture was a rejection of that tutelage. Though halting and not without contradictions, the changes were destabilizing to some men whod identified with male headship, militarism, and brutalizing workespecially once women rebelled, Vietnam was lost, and industrial jobs disappeared. All the reasons these guys might feel stiffed in Susan Faludis termcould be buried in payback for the Feminazis whod magically turned them into girly men, forcing them to be bottoms. In the right-wing culture war paradigm, all routes to male emancipation led to Fight Clubright on up to January 6 and the explosion of vigilantes (overwhelmingly men) screaming Wheres Nancy? as they clobbered cops with flag poles.

They were losers. It seems important to underscore that. Losers whod been promised that they would get so tired of winning. Now they and their cohort have been enlisted in another battle, to spy on their neighbors, snitch on their kin, pick up the stone. Its not very dignified. In common parlance, people engaged in such activity arent soldiers but rats. Dignity, though, and even protection of innocent life arent the main points in the opportunistic politics of setting people at one anothers throats.

As with the War on Terror, the culture war has a machine to grease. Its a racket, too. This past summer our friend Jeff Sharlet, whos long been reporting on the Christian right, returned from a tour of churches that have largely whisked Jesus away. In one, the Lamb of God didnt get a mention and Jeff couldnt spy a cross. The preacher had an altar made of swords. Wherever Jeff went, he recounted with some mixture of awe and dread, the talk was of civil war.

Christians deprived of Christ, Oath Keepers naming names, baby-savers reduced to rats: Theres something desperate about it all. The backlash machine that had kept its troops in order for 50 years seems to be sputtering. Theres danger here; when hasnt there been? But the old paradigm has shaken loose, a new one is not yet clear, and we are at the fulcrum.

Continued here:

Pick Up the Stone: The American Way of Vengeance - The Nation

What comes after the anniversary of a tragedy? Earlier this month, many of us participated in memorials and retrospectives on the changes to American society in the two decades since the attacks of 9/11. We were among the many American Muslims who wrote about the impact of 9/11 on civil rights. As co-executive directors of Muslim Advocates, we were asked to document how the Patriot Act enabled mass surveillance and profiling of Muslims by local and national government, how a Bush-era immigrant registration program (NSEERS) effectively created a Muslim registry, and the many ways that the stereotype of Muslims as terrorists has fueled decades of anti-Muslim hate crimes and bullying. So what comes next?

Profiling, surveillance and over-prosecution of marginalized populations in this country are nothing new.

After 9/11, we were part of a group of Muslim lawyers who helped create a Muslim legal advocacy organization because we knew that things could get much worse for American Muslims. We knew and took seriously the way this country has discriminated against Black Muslims and other marginalized communities.

Simply put, profiling, surveillance and over-prosecution of marginalized populations in this country are nothing new. Trump's frenzy about an "invasion" of gangs across our southern border was not all that different from Democratic politicians' warnings about "super predators" during the passage of the 1994 crime bill. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X were just two of many civil rights leaders under constant FBI surveillance, and the Black Panthers were targeted with the blunter, more violent end of that stick. Many in our families were alive when Japanese Americans were sent to internment camps upon zero evidence of wrongdoing. Anti-German sentiment led to bans against teaching the German language and COINTELPRO and the McCarthy hearings painted anyone with communist beliefs as an enemy of the state. Even further back in our history, the Chinese Exclusion Act explicitly banned an entire race from emigrating to this country, and Jim Crow laws did everything short of slavery to control non-whites. And of course, all of this took place on the land of the many Native peoples who were killed or forcibly removed from their homes over centuries of repeated falsehoods and betrayal by the United States government.

So, yes, it has been twenty years since 9/11. But it has also been 77 years since Korematsu, 100 years since the Tulsa massacre, 131 years since the massacre at Wounded Knee, 139 years since the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act and 199 years since the Denmark Vesey rebellion. In other words, we need to see the bigger picture. We believe something much more transformative is possible if we demand that post-9/11 reflections are connected to the rest of American history and that we learn from all of it.

There is a terrible theme that runs throughout the story of the United States: when a group of people are seen as a threat, state power has been used to oppress them. More specifically, political interests have built and solidified their power by ramping up fearnot just stoking a fire, but creating it. American communities are thus pitted against each other, and eventually there is public support for government overreach that is outrageously outsized to the supposed threat.

Monuments and memorials should help us learn about our history and grow from it. When we were asked to opine about all the ways American Muslims suffered in the aftermath of 9/11, we knew it wasn't enough. We want to also talk about what this means for today. What does this mean for oppression in all its forms right now? And then the really difficult question: are we complicit in any of it?

Abuse of power hurts not just the abused, but also the abuser. Everyone needs to heal from these past harms, so we all must ask these questions. We could start on anniversaries. What if every commemoration of every atrocity was a step on a path toward truth and reconciliation? Maybe, then, we could see our way out of this dangerous cycle, heal the fractures in our society, and finally write a new American story.

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Opinion | It's Been Two-Hundred Years, Not Twenty: Targeted Repression in the US Started Long Before 9/11 - Common Dreams

INDONESIA

Academic experts on radicalisation in universities say Indonesia has its own radicalisation problem that does not take its cue from overseas events, but radicals could nonetheless become emboldened.

Indonesia has been concerned for some time about radical Islamic ideologies in schools and universities as well as in wider society, with young people increasingly targeted through online channels propagating extremist views. The government has attempted to counter this with moderate religious content on social media, and an ongoing review of the religious education curriculum.

The government has also set up a Religious Moderation House on every university campus, with all universities covered by last year.

Through academic discourse, inter-religious dialogue and seminars, the Religious Moderation House develops stronger commitment to nationalism and the Indonesian constitution; tolerance and willingness to work together with other religious groups; anti-violence; and incorporates local traditions and wisdom.

The reality is that the Talibans rise to power is Afghanistans internal affair, but terrorist groups here may see it as a victory over Western hegemony, BNPTs spokesperson General Eddy Hartono said in Jakarta on 22 August.

This is dangerous. They think if the Taliban is able to take power, why cant they? Then they would campaign for a caliphate in Indonesia.

Ridwan Habib, a terrorism analyst at the University of Indonesia, said the Taliban victory may not directly intensify the terrorist movement in Indonesia, but indirectly it may have an impact.

The Taliban victory can inspire terrorist groups here to fight for an Islamic state, he said. In other words, the Taliban victory ignites their spirit and motivation to build a Sharia-based power.

However, universities concerns about a re-emergence of radical thoughts and ideology were misplaced, according to some analysts. Yeni Huriani, a senior lecturer at the State Islamic University of Bandung or UIN Bandung, told University World News: Even when so-called radical thoughts are [expressed] in universities, there is nothing to worry about, because they are merely thoughts, ideas. By nature, universities are hubs of ideas and thoughts.

She added: Radicalism among common people and that in universities are clearly different. Radicalism in universities, among academics, is a form of reasoning.

Commenting on recent research revealing that 10 state universities in Indonesia have been exposed to radical ideology, Huriani maintained that the research findings, directly and indirectly, are often pre-determined by who funds the research. If its the secular groups that fund it, then we can predict the findings: Religious adherence is bad.

However, the Taliban victory could influence discourse in other ways in Indonesia. If there is anything to worry about from the Taliban rise to power, it is the likely setback in the discourse on womens issues in Indonesia and among Muslim communities, Huriani said.

Soon after taking over in the Afghan capital Kabul, the Taliban announced they would respect womens rights, forgive those who fought them and ensure Afghanistan does not become a haven for terrorists.

Im one of those who are not convinced. Lets see what they really do, she said, referring to the Talibans previous rule, when they largely confined women to their homes, banned television and music, and held public executions.

Huriani believes this could resurrect the debate on womens issues in Indonesia. We will go back to discussing whether in Islam women are allowed to work in public services, [and] pursue careers, issues which so far in Indonesia have been put to rest and for which we have reached general agreement.

Its a tiring discourse, she asserted.

Muhamad Murtadlo, a researcher at the Religious Affairs Ministry, said radicalism in universities has no clear definition. Very often the definition is too simplistic: People or a group of people are radical if they support the idea of an Islamic caliphate, he said, noting the caliphate concept is an interesting topic of political discussion. And in any discussion, some would agree and some others would not.

Abu Tholut, former leader of the terrorist group Jamaah Islamiyah, the group responsible for the 2002 Bali bombings that killed more than 200 people and which is dedicated to establishing an Islamic state in Southeast Asia, refuted the view that the Talibans triumph would give rise to terrorism in Indonesia.

There has never been any evidence that Muslim groups victories overseas caused terrorism at home. He pointed to Ayatollah Khomeinis rise in Iran after 1979, and the Mujahideen triumph over Russia in Afghanistan, causing Russian forces to withdraw in 1989, [which] triggered euphoria in Muslim communities but not terrorism, he said, when addressing a discussion forum at the University of Indonesia on 21 August, less than a week after the Taliban took over Kabul.

What has often caused terrorism and radicalism is the act of oppression on Muslims or invasion against Muslim countries by foreign powers, Tholut said, referring to the birth of ISIS or Islamic State that was caused by the United States invasion of Iraq.

Tholut, who has served time in jail for terrorist offences in Indonesia and also fought with the Taliban in Afghanistan during the 1990s, said: Terrorism was rising just when the US and NATO invaded Afghanistan in 2001. So victory does not cause resurgence. Invasion, oppression, injustice, killing does it.

Read more from the original source:

Taliban victory raises fears over campus radicalisation - University World News

Editor,

Apropos of the news item, Congress at crossroads as Mukul weighs his options, (ST, Sep 21, 2021), the former CM, Dr Mukul Sangma will throw a major surprise that is going to astound one and all prior to the next assembly polls. Visibly at loggerheads with Vincent H Pala, the political drama in the run-up to the 2023 assembly elections has started to unfold here and speculations are rife that Mukul may well switch sides with the saffron brigade. The re-induction of the former Home Minister, RG Lyngdoh besides other local political party leaders into the Congress fold may well seem to be in favour of Pala but that may not be enough to cut the ice in the next elections with the saffron party gearing up to form its own majority government in the state. Well, that may seem unachievable now, but in politics, as in cricket, the audience may never know how the game changes. A full-fledged BJP-led government in Meghalaya may rest much on how, also, Mukul responds to the political game plan as there is an aura of dissatisfaction when it comes to the NPP government here headed by Conrad Sangma. This first time CM has not been able to handle any issue on expected lines and many have even rated him as being one of the disastrous CMs, Meghalaya has ever seen. Another term for him seems unlikely at the moment but much may also depend upon how Garo Hills reacts to him in his next show. His governance, so far, has been more or less being centered on that part of the state and one may argue that this is alright since successive CMs of the state have only neglected that region. Nonetheless, I would prefer not to put my money on the re-inducted lot into the Congress.

Yours etc.

BC Paul

Shillong 4

Editor,

The Central Govt. has recently warned that Bank clientele that fail to link their PAN (Permanent Account Number) with their Aadhar Card by the deadline of September 30, 2021 would find their life-long bank become inoperative. Furthermore, it has been reported that a penalty of no-less than rupees one thousand would be levied from defaulters post the target date. Incidentally, the Govt. has been dithering on the specific deadline from one time to another for reasons best known to it. Out of the blue, I have been informed that this date-mark of September 30 next has been re-scheduled to March 31, 2022. Such inexplicable deferment of those at the helm tells its own story!We will recall that when Aadhar Scheme was initially launched it was spelled out that Meghalaya, Assam and erstwhile State of Jammu & Kashmir were exempted from its purview. Thus, indubitably it was a sigh of relief for the tribals of Meghalaya as they are being unshackled from the income tax net. Coincidently, it may be pertinent to reiterate that way back one of my letters entitled: The Dark Aspects of Aadhar (ST July 11, 2017) had figured in these columns where I had elaborately focused on how Aadhar enrolment by way of letting ones fingerprints imprinted and scanning of iris on a mechanical devise is actually compromising our Right to Privacy of which the Honble Apex Court has upheld as a Fundamental Right. To make matters worse, Aadhar enrolment, I had stated would metaphorically turn us into a dog under an electronic leash.Hence, the assertion of Anurag Thakur, Union Minister of State for Finance that September 30 shall be the deadline for the Banks account holders to link their PAN and Aadhar to their respective account numbers has thrown all concerned into a welter of inexorable confusion, especially the indigenous tribals of Meghalaya who have not yet included themselves under the Aadhar regimentation. Arguably, I hope that the residents of Meghalaya are exempted from the purview of this deadline in question, provided the initial notification that Meghalaya was out of the loop of Aadhar architecture is still operative.

Yours etc

Jerome K Diengdoh,

Via email

Editor,

The state capital witnessed a series of demonstrations post the August 13, 2021 incident. In fact, a large number of organisations have mushroomed, each echoing the same call suspension of the police officials involved in the alleged encounter killing of former HNLC general secretary- Cheristerfield Thangkhiew. Yes, granted that it is every citizens right to express themselves as long as they do not create a law and order situation and disrupt lives, however the recent sit-in at the U Kiang Nangbah statue a few meters away from the Civil Hospital saw a large gathering of people accompanied with a lot of noise with speaker after speaker delivering their speeches while those gathered there were cheering them at the top of their voices. The road alongside any hospital is normally a NO HORN ZONE in order to provide some quiet and tranquility to the ailing patients. If only those in the sit-in had been sensitive and considerate enough towards the patients of Civil Hospital and had taken their protests elsewhere and spared the patients from the ruckus outside the hospital it would have shown their courtesy towards those inmates. Surprisingly the Government did not prohibit the gathering around a hospital zone. Why is the Government so compliant? Henceforth, we as citizens expect the Government to prohibit such public gatherings especially at places where there is need for silence and sanctity such hospitals, schools and colleges and places of worship.

Yours etc.,

Jennifer Dkhar,

Via email

Editor,

Contrary to the expectations of a moderate government after a long period of oppression, the plans put forward by the Taliban government in Afghanistan give an indication that its policies will not be much different from that of the previous Taliban regime. As for college education, women students will be allowed to study in universities but with tough restrictions. They will have to comply with Islamic dress and code and there will be segregation between men and women. It is indeed reassuring that women are allowed to study in universities. However, the conditions attached to the grant of permission to women students indicate the hollowness of the Talibans talk about transformation. Women are not allowed to go to work either. It should be recalled that women demonstrators were recently assaulted in Kabul. All these indicate that the new Taliban regime is likely to implement regressive policies. Their approach to women and girls have not softened.As for school education, girls were excluded from returning to secondary schools. The Taliban regime allowed boys and male teachers to attend the secondary school classes. There has been no mention of girls or women teachers. Even if girls are allowed to attend schools, there will be segregation by sex. In the primary schools, boys and girls are attending separate classes. Reports reveal that many boys have refrained from going to school in solidarity with Afghan school girls.An interesting feature of the Talibans education policy is that female students will be taught by women and classrooms will remain separated as per the rules of the Islamic sharia. When required, men will be allowed to teach women, but in accordance with the sharia. It is ironic that education that transforms minds and promotes progressive ideas is being imparted to Afghan students in an oppressive and stifling atmosphere. It seems that the Taliban government is concerned more with the gender of the teachers than with their academic achievements. It may be recalled that the new Taliban government formed consists of only men. All these exemplify the Talibans male patriarchal oppression and discrimination against women. Amid great curiosity about how far the Taliban has changed, it is reassuring that education will be allowed, though there are restrictions.

Yours etc.,

Venu GS,

Kollam

Link:

Mukul and the ensuing assembly polls - The Shillong Times