Archive for the ‘Elsewhere’ Category
"I see your war crimes charge and raise you civilian protection…"
This is old-ish news, but it merits repeating: After five years of genocide, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir is flirting with peace in Darfur. He just wants one thing in return—immunity from that pesky genocide charge issued this summer by the International Criminal Court (ICC). And the United Nations, after years of tough talk about ending [...]
Turn to the left, turn to the Right: Get your Marxists right right right
Okay, people. I really don’t want to go here more than once. (And I haven’t, on the blog, but I have this conversation with people.) Let’s get the record straight: Fascists and Marxists…not the same. Both, in the eyes of some people like Republican Rep. (GA) Paul Broun, evil…but in a country with our level [...]
On torture, from around the blogosphere
It is a topic of distraction, in part because of the news, and in part because of my most recent piece. Here’s an insightful look at what the bureacratization of language does to experience, from William’s Dispatches The danger of bullshit euphemisms is that they actively obscure meaning. Common usage can’t afford to beat around [...]
Maybe Bush won't get away with torture after all
Here’s a story from Salon today, suggesting that an Obama administration may investigate–and I wonder, prosecute?–Bush and his subordinates for their pursuit of harsh interrogation policies, otherwise referred to in the rest of the world as “torture.” The piece suggests, among other things, a fight within the Democratic party about whether to have a fact-finding [...]
Rwanda-Germany update
I spoke with a friend in Kigali yesterday who told me that an estimated 7,500 people joined a march to protest Kabuye’s arrest. That’s quite a figure anywhere, but especially in a country that doesn’t use a march as a forum for expression as often as, say, America. I also hear from folks in Kigali [...]
What makes torture torture?
That’s a question that has obsessed me since America began debating whether torturing people is “warranted” or not. The debate started a few years ago, with the insistence of the Bush Administration that torture is the only way to get vital national security information out of bad guys. There was a heated public conversation about [...]
I am a freelance journalist and multimedia producer who covers human rights, Africa and foreign affairs. [