Watch This Space: United Nations Congo peacekeepers have declared that they will begin disarming rebel groups in one region by force in 48 hours. This is a significant development because UN peacekeeping forces have previously been forced to watch violence without acting and the Congo mandate includes the first experiment authorizing actual armed enforcement actions. If they carry out this threat, it’s a game-changer for the United Nations.
Author Archives: Bill Humphrey
AFD Ep 51 – Citizens v. Drones
Latest Episode:
“AFD Ep 51 – Citizens v. Drones”
Posted: Mon, 29 July 2013
Persephone and Bill discuss the civil war in Syria, American drone strikes on US civilians, the US jobs market, and President Obama’s new comments on the Keystone XL pipeline.
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AFD Ep 50 – Ethics, Efficacy, Insurance
Latest Episode:
“AFD Ep 50 – Ethics, Efficacy, Insurance”
Posted: Tues, 23 July 2013
Bill and guest co-host Sarah discuss Virginia ethics scandals, Alan Grayson’s effectiveness, John Boehner’s ineffectiveness, Indiana’s insurance rates, and Arizona’s expansion of Medicaid.
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AFD Ep 49 – Egypt Coup
Latest Episode:
“AFD Ep 49 – Egypt Coup”
Posted: Tues, 09 July 2013
Persephone and Bill discuss low-wage jobs, abortion rights, and the crisis in Egypt.
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Foreign policy by Broadway musical
Partly linking for the headline: “Mobs make fickle friends. Egypt is not Les Misérables”
And partly for some great lines like “British ministers shower bromides on Egypt in a torrent of patronising hypocrisy.”
And finally for insights like this:
In almost every case, [Western] public opinion has backed the insurgent mob against the regime, as if sated on Les Misérables. By the time of the Syrian uprising, it assumed that Arab mobs were always in the right and always win. This applied even when, as in Bahrain, this proved not to be the case, or as in Egypt, it required some ethical gymnastics. But then mobs make fickle friends.
Turkey: Unconvincing reasons to riot
I’m sympathetic to the fact that protesters in Turkey got a ridiculously abusive reaction, and I accept that Erdogan is an arrogant jerk.
But if police brutality, consolidation of electoral power by a conservative religiously-oriented party, and attempts to restrict access to abortion were grounds for forcing out or overthrowing a democratically-elected government through non-election means, then we would all be marching on Republican-led state capitols & DC in the United States today.
Plus, restricting the sale of alcohol is par for the course in the U.S. democracy even to present day so that’s also not a real reason to throw a riot.
Back on the Air! AFD Ep 48 – June Recap
Latest Episode:
“AFD Ep 48 – June Recap”
Posted: Tues, 02 July 2013
In the first episode of the summer at the new studio, my new co-host, Persephone, joins me to discuss the Voting Rights Act decision, the DOMA and Prop 8 cases, Wendy Davis, Obama’s climate speech, and Syria. This online version of the episode includes a much longer debate on the Syria problem.