Yesterday, I got an email from Carrie B. She mentioned that Barry is having medical issues and could use all the prayeers (or however you communicate with the universe) you can spare. Her own mobility issues are such that she cannot go anywhere without someone driving her, and Barry won’t be driving for a while.
Earlier this week, or maybe last week, I selected a Beau video about the difference between the ICJ, which is currently hearing a genocide case against Israel) and the ICC, which isn’t. Well, The Conversation is interested in this too. Their article doesn’t exactly compare the two, instead going into more detail about the powers of the ICJ.
Sacramento is, of course, the capital city of California. Growing up, I had a great-aunt and a great-uncle living there and from time to time we would visit, which was not really enough to educate me about the city. But when I saw this article fro California Public Radio, I thought, well, apparently, if a group means business, apparently they can do something about homelessness. Of course it took a long time and a chunk of change, but the story might well still have something to say to people working on homelessness in other places. So, if you know of a group near you (or are part of one), this is for you to share.
Glenn Kirschner – Judge Cannon’s unjustified special master ruling; Barron’s bedroom; and DOJ’s continued inaction (Southern District of Florida appeals to the Eleventh Circuit. The SCOTUS justice assigned to the Eleventh Circuit is Clarence Thomas. God help us)
Meidas Touch – Top British Broadcaster SLAMS Mainstream Media FREAKOUT over Biden’s Pro-Democracy Speech
The Lincoln Project – Last Week in the Republican Party, Sep. 6, 2022
MSNBC – Not Everyone With ‘Political Integrity’ Should Run, Says Writer (Long, but good point[s])
“Honest Russian Army Ad”
Beau – Let’s talk about the loneliest man on Earth….
Yesterday, I went to visit Virgil – or tried to – but my car broke down and I had to get a tow and a ride home from my roadside assistance program. That went reasonably smoothly, and I have sent an email to the mechanics (they will have it by the time you read this) and a “JPay letter” to Virgil – that is a message which is electronically transmittied to the facility, printed out, and given to the offender – it’s the fastest means of communication from me to him, since I can’t call him, he has to call me. It is faster than snail mail, but not as much as I would wish at times like this.
Cartoon – 01 O2 RTL
Short Takes –
Crooks and Liars – Louie Gohmert Melts Down After Dem ‘Impugns’ His Lies
Quote – Rep. Cicilline then told Republicans to read the documents and stop making false claims. “Good luck with that,” the chairwoman said. This set Louie Gohmert’s hair on fire. “The gentleman … is not allowed under the rules to impugn false statements by this side,” Gohmert said. Click through for full extent of – whatever it is. Sometimes one wonders whether they are delusional or just plain dumb. Louie is delusional – but this was just plain dumb. [The meeting chair at that point was Madeleine Dean (D-PA)]
Daily Beast – Dr. Oz’s Turkish Nationalist Pals Living in His Secret N.J. Condo
Quote – Dr. Mehmet Oz owns an undisclosed apartment in New Jersey that houses close associates of his who are linked to groups that have denied the ethnic cleansing which occurred in the formative years of the modern Turkish state. Bergen County records show that since 2006 Oz and his wife have owned the condominium in the borough of Fairview, a seven-minute drive from their mansion overlooking the Hudson River, where the county sent the unit’s property tax bill as recently as this year. Yet this apartment is oddly absent from the otherwise exhaustive disclosure Oz made in April as a candidate for the U.S. senator from Pennsylvania…. What was possible to ascertain is who those tenants are: a pair of apparent longtime friends deeply involved in Turkish nationalist activism and connected to groups that have fought to prevent the United States from recognizing the extermination of Armenians on Turkish territory during World War I—which Oz himself has refused to describe as a genocide, despite a consensus among respected historians. Click through for more. Yes, Republicans lie, and no, other Republicans don’t care. But this is like denying the Holocaust happened. People like that are dangers to democracy.
Experts in autocracies have pointed out that it is, unfortunately, easy to slip into normalizing the tyrant, hence it is important to hang on to outrage. These incidents which seem to call for the efforts of the Greek Furies (Erinyes) to come and deal with them will, I hope, help with that. As a reminder, though no one really knows how many there were supposed to be, the three names we have are Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone. These roughly translate as “unceasing,” “grudging,” and “vengeful destruction.”
There are many terms used in national and world affairs which we all “know” what they mean, but aren’t always aware that ther need to have actual legal or quasi-legal definitions in order for nations, or groups of nations, to take any action on them. One such term is “treason.” We all know what it means – at least we all know what we mean by it – but in the United States, the fact is that the Founders chose to define it in the Constitution very narrowly. That’s not surprising as a matter of history, They were fearful that it might be over-used and lead to despotism.
Another of these terms is “genocide.” We all know what it means. But how many of us realized there are very strict elements of it (or, as this author puts it, “warning signs”) which can provide citizens of a nation, or neighbor nations, to see and raise red flags in order to try to put a stop to it. Here’s a look at Russia in Ukraine through the lens of those warning signs.
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Is Russia committing genocide in Ukraine? A human rights expert looks at the warning signs
There’s a real threat that Russia will commit genocide in Ukraine. As evidence of war crimes emerges, there is reason to believe it may already be taking place.
“Russia’s forces have committed war crimes in Ukraine,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement on March 23, 2022. Blinken cited as evidence for his allegation Russia’s destruction of “apartment buildings, schools, hospitals, critical infrastructure” and a maternity hospital in the besieged city of Mariupol that was marked with the Russian word for children.
Russia has killed at least 1,189 civilians and wounded 1,901 additional Ukrainians since it began its attack on Ukraine in February 2022, according to the United Nations. This actual death toll is likely much higher.
Such attacks on civilians during conflict are considered war crimes under international law.
But war crimes also often take place in tandem with other atrocity crimes – a legal term that also encompasses ethnic cleansing, crimes against humanity and genocide.
Some observers warn that this violence has the potential to become genocidal, particularly given Russian propaganda and physical destruction of Mariupol and other cities.
Ukrainian officials claim genocide has already begun. “The aerial bombing of a children’s hospital,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on March 9, 2022, “is the ultimate evidence that genocide of Ukrainians is happening.”
Given the scale of Russian violence in Ukraine, however, genocide warnings need to be taken seriously.
The field of genocide studies, in which I have long worked, has developed frameworks for assessing the threat of genocide in such volatile situations. These tools, including one used by the U.N., indicate Ukraine is indeed at considerable risk for genocide.
Genocide refers to “acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.”
These acts involve not just killing people, but seeking to destroy the target group by causing “serious bodily or mental harm,” creating harsh “conditions of life,” preventing births and “forcibly transferring” children to another group.
One predictor for genocide is a history of mass human rights violations and atrocity crimes, including genocide.
Russia has a long history of mass violence against Ukrainians and other groups.
Perhaps most infamously, the Soviet Union enacted land policies that prompted a food shortage and a famine, killing millions of Ukrainians from 1932 to 1933. This is known as the Holodomor, a Ukrainian word meaning meaning “death by hunger.”
Other Soviet atrocities include forced deportation of national and ethnic groups and massive political purges.
After the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, Russia committed mass violence against civilians in Chechnya, Georgia and Syria. It bombarded and obliterated cities like Grozny in 1995 and Aleppo in 2016.
Genocide and atrocity crimes are also strongly correlated with political upheaval, especially war. Such upheaval destabilizes a society and makes it less secure – especially for vulnerable groups of people who may be blamed for the political or economic instability.
Genocide has taken place during global conflicts, as illustrated by the Armenian genocide during World War I, and the Holocaust during World War II.
Such countries as China and Cambodia have also undertaken social engineering projects resulting in genocide.
Russia has experienced a number of political upheavals, including a current economic crisis. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is the sort of armed conflict often associated with atrocity crimes.
Ideology and demonization
Genocide is justified by propaganda and language that devalues and demonizes target populations. Historical examples abound, ranging from European colonial caricatures of Indigenous “brutes” and “savages” to Nazi representations of Jews as rats.
Russia is using this type of demonizing language to justify its invasion of Ukraine. First, Russia depicts its violence as necessary to “denazify” Ukraine. President Vladimir Putin, for example, has referred to the Ukrainian leadership as a far-right “gang of drug addicts and neo-Nazis.”
And second, Putin has suggested that Ukrainian identity is not real and that, historically, “Russians and Ukrainians are one people – one nation, in fact.”
Propaganda, like this 1940 antisemitic advertisement demonizing a group of people, is one warning sign of genocide. Galerie Bilderwelt/Getty Images
Understanding the risk
Proving genocidal intent is difficult, especially in a court of law. This is evident in current debates – including an ongoing court case at the International Court of Justice – about whether Myanmar committed genocide against the Rohingya people, a Muslim minority group.
But it can be inferred by patterns of violence consistent with the legal definition of genocide.
Russia has targeted and killed civilians and reportedly forcibly deported hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians, including children, to Russia. It has bombed a maternity hospital.
Russia seeks to seize and Russify Donbas and other parts of eastern Ukraine, where, if Putin is taken at his word, an “imaginary” Ukrainian identity will be erased.
There is a significant risk that Russia will commit genocide in Ukraine. It is possible that a genocide has already begun.
============================================================== Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone, it’s both interesting and useful that “genocide” can be classified as one of several “atrocity” crimes, any and all of which can be strictly defined. Think of that the next time you want to describe some action or some person as “atrocious.” Sadly, many crimes committed just in the US can fairly be describes as atrocities – particularly when bigotry is involved. You ladies have just about seen everything over the centuries. Help us to recognize what we see.
