I will try to save my most important Blogsome blog posts, copying them to the new site. However, unfortunately, I fear that will be a small minority of my over 10,000 Blogsome posts.
Today, a glimpse from CNN about the reality of George W Bush’s (and now Obama’s) brave new Afghan reality:
Afghan woman being forced to marry her rapist …
Afghan prosecutors announced Wednesday that a young rape victim, jailed for adultery after reporting the crime and pushed into marrying her attacker, would have her sentence reduced from twelve to three years. The prosecutor said she would, for now, remain in jail — with her child — for not reporting the attack fast enough.
The Dutch police training mission in Kunduz, Afghanistan, is costing 500,000 euro for every local police officer who goes through the program: here.
In this video, a human rights activist from Bahrain reacts to the recently published report admitting state violence and torture in the Gulf absolute monarchy.
About this video: even a commission founded by the government of Bahrain with all the limitations which that implies, admits state violence and torture policies in Bahrain.The commission denies Bahrain state media propaganda conspiracy theories about the pro-democracy movement supposedly being tools of Iran.
This music video is Chumbawamba, The Day The Nazi Died, with Greek subtitles.
In Greece, the fight of the workers against the draconian IMF-European Union-ordered Thatcherite cuts continues.
According to Theodora Polenta, the budget plans want to cut the salary of a young Greek teacher from 1240 euro to 850 euro by the end of 2012.
On the other hand, the cuts in military spending … wait a moment! The EU-IMF-Greek government budget plans to INCREASE the arms spending by 66.7% relative to the 2011 budget.
This is absolutely sick. It looks like EU and IMF want to attack the Greek people’s living standard on the one hand, and to use Greek soldiers as cannon fodder for the next NATO Iraq-style, Afghanistan-style, or Libya-style neocolonial war on the other hand.
There is another sinister side to this huge increase in military spending. If, in Greece, you look across the Mediterranean, you see the armed forces of the pro-United States military junta of Egypt maiming and killing pro-democracy demonstrators. And if, in Greece, you look back in time, you see the Greek colonels’ junta dictatorship.
Apparently, in some circles of the rich in Greece and internationally, there is fear that the Greek workers’ resistance to Thatcherite quack medicine will prove so strong that that quack medicine will prove impossible to administer by, officially, ”democratic” means. And that to impose open dictatorship once again on Greece might be the only way.
A step to tyranny has already been taken in Greece. The new so-called “national unity” government includes the LAOS party, supporters of the old Greek colonels’ dictatorship (and of Adolf Hitler, according to statements by prominent LAOS members).
The European Union is mainly a capitalists’ club, ramming Thatcherite poison down the member states’ throats. However, a few years ago, when in another country, Austria, other fans of Hitler’s Third Reich, Jörg Haider’s “Freedom” party, joined a coalition government, the European Union did protest (they did not follow through as Berlusconi did not like the protest). Now, when the LAOS fascists join the Greek coalition government, there is no European Union protest. Quite the contrary, the European Union wants the fascists in the coalition, as LAOS does not only like anti-Semitism and Islamophobia, but the European Union’s Thatcherite anti-people cuts as well.
It is to be hoped that not the European Union bureaucrats and their Greek racist allies, but the people’s anti-austerity and pro-democracy movement will have the last word. In Greece … in Egypt … in Bahrain … everywhere else.
Defence ministers of European Union member states endorsed joint projects on Thursday in an effort to increase the bloc’s military clout: here.
Deeply Divided New Greek Government Runs Out of Steam: here.
Chart of the Day: Greek workers work 48% more hours than Germans: here.
“Nobody seems to be saying it, but the only way out for Greece, could well be a military coup”, Michel Rocard said, while also expressing his belief that no nation “can be democratically governed, when you cut back 25 percent of its earnings”: here.
Camera traps installed by WWF in the Nepalese Himalayas have captured their first picture of an endangered snow leopard. The cameras are part of a community monitoring project that will help WWF estimate number of snow leopards in area and determine the best way to conserve them.
First Amur tiger captured by camera trap in Wandashan mountains: here.
Russian reserve created for Amur leopard and tiger: here.
