Category Archives: Global Politics

Tlatlaya Massacre and U.S. Military Aid

A few weeks ago, for the second time, the Mexican Secretary of National Defense (SEDENA) denied an access to information request that would require documentation related to U.S. training, equipment or support for members of the 102nd Battalion.The 102nd Battalion became famous, or infamous, with the Tlatlaya massacre. On June 30, 2014, 22 young people died at the hands of the Battalion. The day after the massacre, the Army released a communiqué stating that 22 criminals had died in a confrontation in which not one member of the Army was injured.

Source: Tlatlaya Massacre and U.S. Military Aid

life on the verge of existence…. my article in huffington post italia | nadiaharhash

When Oppression is the Law. Resistance becomes an Obligation. Resistance is the way to liberation. Liberation is the way to peace. Peace cannot be built under oppression, apartheid and injustice.

Source: life on the verge of existence…. my article in huffington post italia | nadiaharhash

Utah judge orders baby taken away from married lesbian foster parents | US news | The Guardian

Utah state child welfare officials on Wednesday were wrangling with a ruling by a juvenile court judge who ordered a baby to be taken from lesbian foster parents and instead placed with a heterosexual couple, saying it was for the child’s wellbeing.Judge Scott Johansen’s order on Tuesday raised concerns at the Utah Division of Child and Family Services, said agency spokeswoman Ashley Sumner.Its attorneys plan to review the decision and determine what options they have to challenge the order.

Source: Utah judge orders baby taken away from married lesbian foster parents | US news | The Guardian

Military Concedes Election to Aung San Suu Kyi in Myanmar – The New York Times

By Wednesday evening, the commission had announced official results for 298 of the 491 seats contested in Sunday’s election. Of those, Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi’s party, the National League for Democracy, won 256 and the ruling party won 21.There are 664 seats in the two houses of Parliament; the military appoints 166 of them.The commission also announced that Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi had been re-elected to her seat, which was expected given the almost divine reverence that she commands across the country.

Source: Military Concedes Election to Aung San Suu Kyi in Myanmar – The New York Times

E.U. Move to Label Israeli Settlement Goods Strains Ties – The New York Times

“The Israeli pushback is about trying to intimidate Europeans from not going further down this path,” said Daniel Levy, Middle East director at the European Council on Foreign Relations. “The Israelis want this process to move as slowly as possible, because at a minimum it’s a headache, and at a maximum, ultimately, it could be devastating.”The European Union’s decision to proceed on guidelines years in the making, despite fierce lobbying by Israel and intervention by a group of United States senators, came after several of its member states, and its own Parliament, formally or symbolically recognized an independent Palestinian state. Those resolutions reflect mounting frustration in Europe over the stalemated peace process and the growing political pressure on leaders in countries with large Muslim populations sympathetic to the Palestinian cause.A spokesman for the European Commission, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject, said Wednesday’s move “in no way changes” the bloc’s stance on the peace process or Israel’s special treatment in European markets, where “Made in Israel” items carry little or no tariffs. But “products coming from the settlements cannot benefit from those preferences,” the spokesman said.

Source: E.U. Move to Label Israeli Settlement Goods Strains Ties – The New York Times

Israeli MK calls for permitting imprisonment of children | PNN

MK Anat Berko (Likud) submitted a law proposing that minors can be sent to prison, prior to any alleged stab attacks carried out by Palestinian minors. The current legislation prevents the imprisonment of children under the age of 14, although they can still be sent to juvenile facilities.The bill suggests that the age of the offender can be dismissed in cases committed with a “nationalist motive.”According to Berko, it is more likely that minors are recruited to commit attacks, as the ’loophole’ in the law, presumably there to protect children from being sent to jail, makes it easier to convince these children to commit acts of violence.

Source: Israeli MK calls for permitting imprisonment of children | PNN

The snooper’s charter: one misspelled Google search for ‘bong-making’ and you’ll be in an orange jumpsuit | Frankie Boyle | Comment is free | The Guardian

Soon our government will know everything we are thinking, and in that moment, we will stop thinking.

{but they – the snoopers – will be sound asleep by then cause what’s in most people’s heads is “what’s for supper” and that’s booooooring!}

Source: The snooper’s charter: one misspelled Google search for ‘bong-making’ and you’ll be in an orange jumpsuit | Frankie Boyle | Comment is free | The Guardian

UK surveillance bill could bring ‘very dire consequences’, warns Apple chief | World news | The Guardian

‘Any back door is a back door for everyone,’ says Tim Cook of proposals to allow authorities to track citizens’ internet use without requiring warrant

Source: UK surveillance bill could bring ‘very dire consequences’, warns Apple chief | World news | The Guardian

Cuban Peers Dispute Ted Cruz’s Father’s Story of Fighting for Castro – The New York Times

Told that País had been executed the next year, in a different place, and that this had been amply documented, Rafael Cruz brushed off the mistake: “I don’t remember where País was killed,” he said.In his book “A Time for Truth,” published in June, Ted Cruz writes that the rebels who attacked the Santiago Police Headquarters met devastating resistance, and “All of the students were killed, as was their leader, Frank País.”But of the scores of rebels who participated in the attack, only a few actually were killed, according to eyewitness accounts and historical documents.Mr. Cruz did not defend his exaggeration of the number of rebels killed in the Nov. 30 uprising. “I mean, I left within a couple of days of that,” he said. “We left town.”Conflicting AccountsAll of the unrest in Santiago de Cuba led the Batista regime to close down the university there, and Mr. Cruz returned to Matanzas, on the north coast, where he says he began leading his old cell and running weapons. In Ted Cruz’s book, he graduated to saboteur, disrupting transportation and communications infrastructure throughout the province.“Yes, I know him,” said Liborio Vera Andreu, 79, a schoolmate and leader in the youth brigades in Matanzas. But he said Mr. Cruz’s involvement had been limited to participating “in strikes and in protests.”

Source: Cuban Peers Dispute Ted Cruz’s Father’s Story of Fighting for Castro – The New York Times