Tag: Caspar Weinberger

EDSA1: The Snap Revolution

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)
Christopher Hitchens: Hitch 22

Off to the side was a more youthful Wolfowitz. He told me that this picture, which had pride of place in his office, was of exactly the moment when the Reaganites had narrowly voted to dump the Ferdinand Marcos dictatorship in the Philippines in 1986 and to recognize the election victory of his opponent Cory Aquino.* “It was the first argument I won,” said Wolfowitz proudly. “I said that if we supported a dictator to keep hold of a base, we would end up losing the base and also deserving to do so. Whereas,” he went on, “by joining the side of ‘people power’ in Manila that year, we helped democracy movements spread through Taiwan and South Korea and even I think into Tiananmen Square in 1989.“

* See, for the best account of this upheaval in real time, James Fenton’s book The Snap Revolution.

Related:

*The Snap Revolution (Part One: The Snap Election) | James Fenton

*The Snap Revolution (Part Two: The Narrow Road to the Solid North)

*The Snap Revolution (Part Three: The Snap Revolution)

Previously: PH’s EDSA1 AKA People Power Revolution

Google Document: PH’s EDSA1 AKA People Power Revolution & Chile’s 1988 Plebiscite

Tiananmen Square

The “October Surprise”: Throwing History Off Course

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

The “October surprise” worked its way into the political jargon in 1980 to describe the Carter administration’s efforts to obtain the release of 52 American hostages in Iran. President Jimmy Carter didn’t know, however, that his opponent’s campaign was planning its own “October surprise”—to elect Ronald Reagan by ensuring that the hostages would be held until after the election.

The “October Surprise”: Throwing History Off Course

DoD Will Spend $750,000 Torturing Animals, By Inducing ‘Havana Syndrome’, an Illness the Intel Community Cannot Prove Exists

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

The Department of Defense granted Wayne State University $750,000 to attempt to give ferrets “Havana Syndrome.” Earlier this month, the intelligence community concluded the illness is not caused by a weapon.

DoD Will Spend $750,000 Inducing ‘Havana Syndrome’ in Animals, an Illness the Intel Community Cannot Prove Exists

Related:

The Pentagon is funding experiments on animals to recreate ‘Havana Syndrome’ (PETA’s response included)

‘Nuclear Winter’ Discussed in Newly Released Reagan-Era Documents

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)1 Comment

Newly released government documents from the 1980s outline the devastation that would be wrought on the planet if nuclear superpowers go to war—which should serve as a reminder for policymakers to prioritize peace negotiations as the war in Ukraine rages on, according to Scott Horton, editorial director of Antiwar.com.

‘Nuclear Winter’ Discussed in Newly Released Reagan-Era Documents

Related:

Nuclear Winter: U.S. Government Thinking During the 1980s

Former Secretary Of State Colin Powell Dead After COVID Complications

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Former Secretary Of State Colin Powell Dead After COVID Complications

Related:

Colin Powell Brought “Diversity” to War Crimes and Imperialism.

Throughout his career, Powell was trotted out as evidence that we live a post-racial society. He served as a token to show that racism is over and inequalities were just the fault of individuals. This has been a strategy usually used by the Democratic Party, but the Republicans also dipped their toe into “intersectional imperialism” with Colin Powell.

Colin Powell: A Failed Opportunist