The Assassinations of Indigenous Leaders in Guatemala Trigger Fear as Political Cycle Begins

This never stops.  This story starts with a surreal terror and then back tracks through a recent history of the struggle.  It is comprehensive and enlightening. I remember in the 90's there was a lot of solidarity with Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua.  All these battles were largely lost and now few seem to care.  It is my hope that we can remember these struggles for liberation for what they are.



 Follow Jeff Abbot he is based in Guatemala and is a reliable source
https://truthout.org/articles/assassinations-of-indigenous-leaders-in-guatemala-trigger-fear/

I’m a Photojournalist and I’ve Been Working with Policy Makers. Should I Feel Dirty?

A friend of mine shared their excitement over the local showing of The Long Night that is co-sponsored by the local police department.  The event is wrapped in a a popular law enforcement meme, Human Trafficing.  My first inclination is "since when do the police do anything right?"  So I looked into it.  Well I still pretty much see it that way but that is not what's going on here.  Documentary film maker Tim Matsui is on a mission to make a difference in policy in addition to film making.  I applaud the effort and if as was the case in the state of Washington it moves toward de-criminalization of prostitution that's a good thing.  The title of the article he wrote about his odyssey sums up a very good question and the answer is sometime it doesn't make you "dirty".

Over coffee one day, Richey described his vision of King County owning a leadership role on this issue. He was working on an “end demand” program, a de facto decriminalization of sex workers paired with a targeting of sex buyers.

This quasi “Nordic Model” is a marked improvement from the traditional American approach to prostitution and lies roughly in the middle of the political spectrum of sex work. However, its efficacy relies not only on prosecutorial and law enforcement changes, but also on a strong social services safety net; something that the King County region is still building.
Over in the Sheriff’s office, things had shifted too. Both the Prosecutor and the Sheriff were now saying “we’re not going to arrest our way out of this.”

Read full article here:

https://medium.com/vantage/i-m-a-photojournalist-and-i-ve-been-working-with-policy-makers-should-i-feel-dirty-562c9537b605

The Farm Bill -- Before the gavel, the verdict is in

The debate about the farm bill is mostly about Snap and rightly so.  It is one of the last vestiges of the welfare state that the Republicans have battled successfully to destroy for forty years. Snap accounts for 75% of the $860 billion farm bill budget. There is a growing, popular movement that we are part of that wants healthy food but big ag by design overproduces corn and milk and soy and wheat and sugar and are desperate to continue because they are deeply invested.  The progressives and visionaries have moved beyond just complaining about a harmful system, we are visualizing a new way and putting science to work to prove it.  We are no longer hippies that "believe" in organic vegetables, but have matured to conclusively prove that action to repair the harm is imperative and and not only possible but doable.  However governmental policy support for these better practises in the farm bill are minuscule (and shrinking) compared to the rest of ag support policy.  The result of years of official policy is so much milk and so much corn that we have to have trade wars to force it on the rest of the world.  We have to put corn syrup in everything. We have to include extra cheese in the crust of unhealthy frozen pizza just to get rid of the excess milk. The list of unhealthy food in markets that is a direct result of policy is endless and growing despite our brilliant new (and not so new) ideas.

The fight over the safety net program of SNAP has really dominated the discussion, even justifiably. And it’s also the biggest expenditure under this bill, by a huge margin; it’s like 75 to 80 percent of the spending. But lots and lots and lots of things that impact the way our food system operates come from the Farm Bill. I think if you’re not involved in farming, people don’t realize the extent to which the government is involved in this industry, in this marketplace.

In conclusion (realistically) the snap program and supports for farmers markets that helps people get food does not directly or sufficiently help get rid of the ag surplus so it is in fact a logical fight for republicans that want to end welfare and all other good but competing programs. The writing is on the wall.  Snap will end if not in this bill then by a thousand cuts.  Competing memes for a better way forward for real food and sustainable farms, healthy children and solving the problem of degenerative diseases such as diabetes, largely caused by diet, not to mention the survival of the planet will also be expunged from this bill,if not today the over the next 7 years as government/corporate policy continues to diverge in the extreme from the interests of the people.

You can listen to the interview here

https://truthout.org/audio/lots-of-things-that-impact-our-food-system-come-from-the-farm-bill/

Deluge of electronic waste turning Thailand into 'world's rubbish dump'

So they sold it. They bought it.  And this is what's left. This is a solution? It feels so good that we talk zero waste here in the west but where is the global audit of what really is happening?

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jun/28/deluge-of-electronic-waste-turning-thailand-into-worlds-rubbish-dump

Mexican Police Force Arrested, Links to Candidate Killing

Yeh, but at the same time the Mexican government is writing law and cracking down on political dissent in favor of the ruling elites. I guess you have to maintain some decorum even in a police state.

In an unprecedented move, the entire police force of a Michoacan municipality is arrested with links to a mayoral candidature killing.

With the lates killings the number of Mexican political candidates and pre-candidates murdered since September 2017 to 121, making this the most violent electoral cycle in the country's history.

https://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/318-66/50839-mexican-police-force-arrested-links-to-candidate-killing

Why Is the US Silent About Mexico’s New Internal Security Law?

While Mexican governmental institutions are experiencing a credibility crisis, Mexico’s National Congress approved what is known as the Internal Security Law. According to Article 2 of the text of the law, its objective is “to safeguard the permanence and continuity of governmental order and institutions, as well as national development through the maintenance of constitutional order, the rule of law and democratic governance.”

Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto enacted the law, which became effective on December 21, 2017, and has since caused a wave of protests throughout Mexico. Numerous social movements, unions and civil society organizations see the new law as part of a process of militarizing Mexican society, which could worsen violence in the county.

In general terms, this law broadens opportunities for the armed forces to act throughout Mexican territory, even legitimizing the use of violence. It allows the armed forces to intervene in matters that concern civil authorities, such as disturbances and protests that are considered violent or acts of resistance. The law also permits the invasion of citizens’ privacy to collect intelligence information and entry into homes without a court order, including during criminal legal system investigations.

Anneliese Danaé Echeverria, an attorney and professor who is a union member and legal affairs assistant with Section 22 of the National Organization of Education Workers (CNTE) in the state of Oaxaca, tells Truthout, “The Mexican Constitution established that the army could not intervene in civil matters, they had to resolve any conflicts through the military court system. Civilians have their own courts. But the new law guarantees military intervention in all aspects of civilian life throughout the country. Civil authorities that are already in crisis will have little room to interfere with these interventions, because the military will act immediately, without consultation or requesting a warrant.”

https://truthout.org/articles/why-is-the-us-silent-about-mexicos-new-internal-security-law/