Tag: freedoms

Gabon Opposition Leader Alleges the Ousted President’s Family Arranged the Coup to Retain Power

Ms. Cat

Gabon’s opposition leader is accusing the family of the recently ousted president of engineering his removal from power as a way of retaining their control in the oil-rich Central African nation

Gabon Opposition Leader Alleges the Ousted President’s Family Arranged the Coup to Retain Power

Video via The New Tourist

Related:

Disputed election sparks beginning of the end of 56 years of Bongo family rule

Ali Bongo’s presidency has also been marked by a distancing from France. When he first came to power in 2009, Bongo recalled Gabon’s ambassador to Paris after France’s prime minister appeared to question the legitimacy of his election.

“Ali Bongo has never stopped distancing himself from Paris,” said Glaser. “His favourite capital is London and he has very good relations with the Americans, with China and also with Muslim countries, including Morocco. In the post-colonial period, if there’s one [African] country that has truly gone global, it’s Gabon.”

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Ideological opponents of the Ukrainian government are waiting for prison or death

Ms. Cat

This article was submitted to the WSWS by Maxim Goldarb, the head of the Union of Left Forces (For a New Socialism) party, which has been banned by the Zelensky government. The World Socialist Web Site unequivocally opposes and denounces the persecution of left-wing and oppositional tendencies in Ukraine by the NATO-backed Zelensky regime. We call on our readers to distribute the information about the state-backed repression of anti-war opposition in Ukraine as widely as possible.

Ideological opponents of the Ukrainian government are waiting for prison or death

H/T: Stimmen aus der Ukraine: Linken Oppositionellen drohen Gefängnis oder Tod

Volodzymandias: US Aid is Turning Ukraine into Another Israel

Ms. Cat

Disclaimer: The views expressed herein are solely those of the author and may or may not reflect those of Ms. Cat’s Chronicles.

Americans in general aren’t exactly a bunch renowned for their global solidarity but they really do seem to legitimately give a fuck about the besieged people of Ukraine. As a lifelong anti-imperialist who has spent the raw end of a lifetime trying to convince these same motherfuckers that Palestinians and Iraqis are people too, the temptation to roll my eyes at this sudden outpouring of empathy for the one population on the business end of a bomb that doesn’t have “Made in America” stamped on the side of it is understandably high.

Volodzymandias: US Aid is Turning Ukraine into Another Israel

Today’s Russia Is Upholding the Best of the Soviet Legacy

Ms. Cat

By Victoria Nikiforova – Dec 5, 2022

The following essay is written and published by a columnist at Russia’s main state media outlet, RIA Novosti. The essay provides an overview of the achievements and the lasting legacy of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) for today’s Russia and for the world. It is not a comprehensive history of the USSR; that is for historians to continue to write and debate. The essay’s most salient feature is the insight into the thinking of the people of the Russian Federation at this very turbulent turning point in their history.

The essay voices the wholesale loss of positive expectations of the Russian Federation people for the Western imperialist countries as the latter escalate their drive to isolate and weaken their country and its government. Many other such writings are appearing in Russian media. Altogether, they reflect a deepening understanding in Russian society that world imperialism—headed by the United States and including the major powers of Europe and Japan–is very much alive, dangerous, and, quite literally, out to get them. There is a profound upheaval taking place in the political thinking and the aspirations of the many peoples of the Russian Federation.

Today’s Russia Is Upholding the Best of the Soviet Legacy

How Ukrainians voted for the preservation of the Soviet Union in 1991, but still ended up in an independent state later that year

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By Alexander Nepogodin, RT, 8/10/22

Back in early 1991, few thought the disappearance of the Soviet Union from the political map was likely. The results of a huge national referendum held in March indicated as much. Ukraine’s vote exceeded 70%, and public discussion of the joint future for all the socialist republics mainly focused on various forms of a federation.

How Ukrainians voted for the preservation of the Soviet Union in 1991, but still ended up in an independent state later that year

America, Meet Your New Dictator-in-Chief: The President’s Secret, Unchecked Powers

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by John W. Whitehead & Nisha Whitehead | June 01, 2022

America, meet your new dictator-in-chief.

As the New York Times reports, “Newly disclosed documents have shed a crack of light on secret executive branch plans for apocalyptic scenarios—like the aftermath of a nuclear attack—when the president may activate wartime powers for national security emergencies.”< The problem, of course, is that we have become a nation in a permanent state of emergency. Power-hungry and lawless, the government has weaponized one national crisis after another in order to expand its powers and justify all manner of government tyranny in the so-called name of national security. The seeds of this present madness were sown almost two decades ago when George W. Bush stealthily issued two presidential directives that granted the president the power to unilaterally declare a national emergency, which is loosely defined as “any incident, regardless of location, that results in extraordinary levels of mass casualties, damage, or disruption severely affecting the U.S. population, infrastructure, environment, economy, or government functions.”

America, Meet Your New Dictator-in-Chief: The President’s Secret, Unchecked Powers

Missing Links/Links Behind Paywalls:

Secret Emergency Orders May Include Focus on Internet, New Files Show

Report: Military may have to quell domestic violence from economic collapse

Known Unknowns: Unconventional “Strategic Shocks” in Defense Strategy Development (PDF)

End the Imperial Presidency Before It’s Too Late

Too Much Presidential Power — We’ve Got to Address the ‘Unitary Executive’ Question