BeckyDem
BeckyDem's JournalFor a Black Man Hired to Undo a Confederate Legacy, It Has Not Been Easy
Devon Henry and his company have taken down 23 monuments in the South, including the infamous Robert E. Lee statue in Virginia, in part because few others were interested.
Devon Henry stands among the pieces of a pedestal that once held a statue of Robert E. Lee in Richmond. His general contracting company has hauled away 15 pieces of Confederate statuary in the city.Credit...Sanjay Suchak
Matt Stevens
By Matt Stevens
April 17, 2022
RICHMOND, Va. — As Devon Henry and his construction team take down the last remnants of statues that long dotted this former capital of the Confederacy, they have developed a grim game.
Random passers-by, some in vehicles, others on foot, often make known their disapproval of Mr. Henry’s work — so often, in fact, that Mr. Henry, who is Black, began to keep count of the many times he or a Black crew member were called an incendiary racial slur.
The count is 72 and climbing, according to Mr. Henry, who has emerged as the go-to statue remover not only for this city, but for all of Virginia and other parts of the South.
Statue removal has become a lucrative line of work amid the ongoing national reckoning over traumas past and present. But in Richmond, where a 21-foot figure of Robert E. Lee towered over the city for more than a century, officials say no amount of government pleading produced a candidate interested in dismantling the city’s many monuments during the tense and sometimes violent days of summer 2020.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/17/arts/confederate-statue-removal-contractor.html
( I wish I could say I was shocked. )
Opinion: For Putin to face justice, we must join the International Criminal Court
By Ilhan Omar
Yesterday at 2:14 p.m. EDT
https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-apps/imrs.php?src=
&w=691
The International Criminal Court in The Hague in 2019. (Peter Dejong/AP)
For me personally, it evokes a traumatic past. As an 8-year-old girl in Somalia, I remember watching armed militias go by my family’s window, hearing bombs go off outside our doors and wondering if our house was next.
No child in Ukraine or anywhere in the world should have to witness what I witnessed as a little girl.
Accountability is the key to prevention. If there are no consequences for committing these atrocities, we will find ourselves in the same place in the future. Putin must be charged and held fully accountable for his crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court (ICC). And anyone responsible for this illegal war of aggression must face justice.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/04/13/icc-war-crimes-putin-russia-us-should-join/?utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=wp_main&utm_medium=social
( Seems long overdue. )
What Russians who were previously 'not interested in politics' think about the war against Ukraine
Full title: ‘I watched the news and didn’t understand a thing. Why were we fighting?’ What Russians who were previously ‘not interested in politics’ think about the war against Ukraine
4:09 pm, April 14, 2022
Source: Meduza
For many Russians, life has changed radically because of Moscow’s decision to wage an all-out war against Ukraine. As a result, some Russians who had never given politics a second thought are now closely following the news and have begun to carefully criticize the government, quit their jobs in protest, and even attend anti-war rallies. Meduza shares some of their stories here.
Excerpt: I watched the news and I couldn’t understand a thing to be perfectly honest. Why couldn't have things been resolved peacefully? If the diplomats couldn't agree, there are still sanctions that they could use, economic threats. Why fight? From the very first day, I wanted this horror to stop so that Ukrainians wouldn’t suffer. I still don’t understand why my country is causing them so much suffering. At first, I was confused. But then, when I realized that this war is unnecessary, I got angry. At Russia, at our government. It’s painful for me to acknowledge that it was decided for me that we would go kill our neighbors, that somebody is destroying their lives in my name.
https://meduza.io/en/feature/2022/04/14/i-watched-the-news-and-didn-t-understand-a-thing-why-were-we-fighting
( Interesting insights, imo. )
Bernie Sanders:The Congressional Budget Office, run by a Republican, estimated that Medicare for All
https://twitter.com/SenSanders/status/1513941301972119556( So Fox "news" and the Republican Leadership will excommunicate this Republican..that's my guess. )
House Democrats Grill Pentagon About Sexual Assault Tracking
Citing Prospect reporting, Reps. Katie Porter and Jackie Speier want to know whether the military is improving its sexual crimes database.
by David Dayen
March 25, 2022
Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA) questions Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell during a House Financial Services Committee on February 27, 2019.
Two California House Democrats are asking the Department of Defense to explain its actions on tracking cases of military sexual assault, based on Prospect reporting that the Pentagon suppressed initial research into improving its internal assault database.
Last November, the Prospect reported that Pentagon officials had known for years that the military’s system for reporting sexual assaults was badly dysfunctional, leading to chronic underestimates of the scale of the problem. Yet when members of the Defense Digital Service (DDS), the Pentagon’s technology experts, provided initial recommendations on how to fix the reporting problems in 2016, top military officials dressed them down. The DDS staffers were subsequently reassigned and the project dropped. Some of the individuals who participated in the scotching of the report remain at the Pentagon, and the problems with the database continue.
According to estimates, 1 in 16 women (and 1 in 143 men) in the military experience a sexual assault incident annually, and for service academies that number increases to an appalling 1 in 6 women and 1 in 29 men.
“Poor data management makes it difficult for DOD leadership to understand the scope of the problem or respond effectively,” write Reps. Katie Porter (D-CA) and Jackie Speier (D-CA) in a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. This was buttressed by a report last May from the Government Accountability Office (GAO), finding that the data on military sexual assault that DOD is mandated by statute to collect was not comprehensive or accurate.
https://prospect.org/justice/house-democrats-grill-pentagon-about-sexual-assault-tracking/
( Hat tip to The Prospect and our Dems! The fight goes on. )
The ICJ's Provisional Measures Order: Unprecedented
by Ori Pomson | Mar 17, 2022
On March 16, 2022, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) rendered its provisional measures order in the application brought by Ukraine against Russia under the Genocide Convention, arguing, inter alia, that Russia’s invasion was an unlawful abuse of its obligation under the Convention to prevent genocide. In its order, by 13 votes to 2, the Court ordered that Russia “shall immediately suspend the military operations that it commenced on 24 February 2022 in the territory of Ukraine.” While the ICJ has previously rendered provisional measures orders in high profile situations—the Tehran Hostage Crisis, U.S. military activities against Nicaragua, armed clashes between Burkina Faso and Mali, Uganda’s invasion of Congo and Russia’s invasion of Georgia—it would be no exaggeration to say that the present order is the most breathtaking one it has ordered to date.
The purpose of the present post is twofold: It will first summarize the ICJ’s order and then offer some commentary. However, before doing so, it is useful to provide some background on the ICJ’s power to render provisional measures orders.
Background on Provisional Measures Orders
Article 41(1) of the ICJ Statute provides that “[t]he Court shall have the power to indicate, if it considers that circumstances so require, any provisional measures which ought to be taken to preserve the respective rights of either party.” While for many years it was debated whether such measures are binding, the Court settled this question affirmatively in its 2001 LaGrand judgment, in the context of the U.S. state of Arizona’s execution of a German national despite a provisional measures order rendered to the contrary.
Since provisional measures orders are rendered before the case has been fully adjudicated, serving to protect potential rights of a party in the interim, the Court’s jurisdiction and the validity of the claimed rights cannot be definitively established. However, the prospect of the Court ordering a State to act—accentuated by the LaGrand finding that such measures are binding thereon—necessitates that provisional measures have some nexus with the prospects of the case (Judge Lauterpacht in Interhandel; Judge Abraham in Pulp Mills). For such reasons, the ICJ has developed a number of conditions which must be met for provisional measures to be rendered (see Miles, p. 174).
https://lieber.westpoint.edu/icj-provisional-measures-order-unprecedented/
( Extraordinary, excellent decision. )
'A way to let my friends know I'm still alive' Vera Lytovchenko, a professional violinist
Title: ‘A way to let my friends know I’m still alive’ Vera Lytovchenko, a professional violinist, keeps playing for her neighbors — even as Russian bombs fall outside.
9:40 am, March 11, 2022
Source: Meduza
Vera Lytovchenko is a violinist from Kharkiv. Because the Russian military has been bombing her city nonstop, she’s spent most of her time lately in the basement of her apartment building, where she plays violin for her neighbors. Videos of her playing have been viewed thousands of times on social media and have helped other Ukrainians endure the fear and violence that have become a part of their daily lives. Vera spoke to Meduza about how life has changed since February 24.
Excerpt: When the war began, I was asleep. At five in the morning [on February 24, 2022], we heard some explosions, and my first thought was: who’s setting off fireworks this early in the morning? I didn’t believe it could be bombs for the longest time — I even tried to make myself fall back asleep. After a while, though, I realized it wasn’t fireworks after all.
Excerpt: I don’t know exactly what’s happening around the city right now. Not many people are leaving their homes. The city is partially destroyed; some buildings look really scary. People are acting very strange: some are panicking, while others are so calm that they’ve even kept walking their dogs in the morning. We get a few hours of peace in the morning — it’s usually quiet from about 7 to 9. That’s when you can leave the basement and go up to the apartment. But after that, it’s dangerous to be out in the city.
Much more at link: https://meduza.io/en/feature/2022/03/11/a-way-to-let-my-friends-know-i-m-still-alive
The Only Russian Official Angrier Than Putin at How Things Are Going in Ukraine
He’s at the negotiating table.
By Rebecca Adeline Johnston
March 08, 202212:36 PM
Russian presidential aide and head of the Russian delegation Vladimir Medinsky after the Russian-Ukrainian talks in Belarus’ Brest region on Monday. Maxim Guchek/Belta/AFP via Getty Images
If there is one person in Russia who is more unhappy than Vladimir Putin to watch Russian troops underperform as they struggle to encircle Kyiv, it is likely Vladimir Medinsky. Unfortunately, that is also the person Putin chose to lead the Russian delegation in talks with Ukraine.
Many have rightly insisted that Russia and Ukraine must arrive at a diplomatic solution to end this war. But Medinsky has already sought to use these talks to justify further hostilities. Russian shelling shattered hopes this past weekend for a humanitarian corridor, which had been the only real diplomatic victory of the previous week’s worth of negotiations. Speaking before the third round of talks on Monday morning, Medinsky blamed Ukraine for the breakdown of the corridors and claimed without evidence that Ukrainian “nationalists” using Ukrainians as human shields were at fault for civilian deaths over the weekend. (These deaths are widely attributed to a Russian military strike.)
Medinsky, an aide to Putin on history and humanities policy since 2020, is widely known in Russia as an ultraconservative nationalist firebrand and military history enthusiast. Over his eight years as Russia’s minister of culture, between 2012 and 2020, he made regular headlines for lambasting Russian filmmakers “whose main message is that ‘Russia is shit,’ ” accusing Poland of information warfare, postponing the Russian release of major Hollywood films like Paddington 2 in order to give Russian movies a boost at the box office, and being credibly accused of plagiarizing both of his dissertations. A government overhaul in 2020 cost him that post, and Medinsky has spent the past two years in his position as an adviser to Putin editing new history textbooks and lecturing on YouTube. The Russian government has many people much more qualified to negotiate a peace deal with Ukraine, let alone to do so under a heightened nuclear alert.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was blunt from the start about his lack of expectations for these talks. Choosing Medinsky to lead this delegation was a clear signal that Putin is likely not serious about reaching a negotiated peace. But sending Medinsky also sends an additional, very specific message: that Putin is doubling down on his inaccurate historical justification for this war, a narrative that claims Ukraine has no right to exist within its internationally recognized borders.
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2022/03/who-is-vladimir-medinsky-negotiator-russia-ukraine.html
( Excellent, it totally nails this disgusting stooge. )
Russia's tricky opinion polling: Sociologist Alexey Bessudnov shares five charts
Sociologist Alexey Bessudnov shares five charts that help explain how to read the Kremlin’s survey data on support for the war in Ukraine
8:27 am, March 7, 2022
Source: Meduza
According to opinion polls from VTsIOM (the Russian Public Opinion Research Center) and FOM (the Public Opinion Fund), more than 60 percent of Russians support the “special military operation” in Ukraine. But those results should be taken with a grain of salt: the same polls show that millions of people are opposing the war. Also, among the young residents of big cities who rarely watch television and get most of their information from the Internet, the war’s opponents are actually the majority. Exclusively for Meduza, University of Exeter sociologist Dr. Alexey Bessudnov offers the following analysis of the VTsIOM poll.
Meduza thanks Dr. Maya Vinokour at the NYU Jordan Center for this translation.
Chart 1. The results of two “governmental” opinion polls are nearly identical but don’t prove that Russians support the war.
After the start of the military operations in Ukraine, two sociological polling companies — VTsIOM and FOM — conducted polls asking respondents about their attitude toward the ongoing events. The results show that approximately 65 percent of Russians tend to support the “special military operation” in Ukraine. But can these numbers be believed? After all, VTsIOM and FOM are controlled by the Russian government (the first belongs to the government outright, while the biggest client of the second one is the Presidential Administration).
https://meduza.io/en/feature/2022/03/07/russia-s-tricky-opinion-polling
( Very good info. )
Jose Andres Retweeted: World Central Kitchen @WCKitchen:
https://twitter.com/WCKitchen/status/1500843931432595457( Unstoppable. )
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