Those who perpetrated this atrocity must be identified and held to account, and the United States will work with the international community to intensify our pressure on Assad and his cronies, whose rule by murder and fear must come to an end.

Again, with no apparent sense of irony, Hillary Clinton condemns Syria massacre: Assad’s ‘rule by murder’ must end.

This is a random sampling of the last few months of the USG not ‘ruling by murder’ (honestly, it took a 3 minute search through my Instapaper).

NATO Airstrike Kills Six Afghan Children, Parents | Antiwar.com

U.S. Drone Attack Kills 4 in Pakistan - NYTimes.com

Back-to-back drone strikes in Pakistan test diplomatic standoff over supply lines

Pakistan: Suspected US drone strike kills 4 in Miranshah, North Waziristan | GlobalPost

US-PAKISTAN TENSIONS RISE AS DRONE STRIKES POUND TRIBAL AREAS

HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT AND TARGETED KILLINGS | MICAH ZENKO

US Drone Strikes in Yemen Kill Up to 12 Civilians

NATO admits to Afghan family slaughter | Al Akhbar English

US attack kills 5 Afghan kids - Salon.com

NATO airstrikes said to kill civilians in two Afghan provinces - The Washington Post

Children among 20 killed in ISAF air raids | Pajhwok Afghan News

Talks fail as U.S. refuses to apologize for killing 24 Pakistani soldiers — War in Context

and on and on.

(via theamericanbear)

130 reblog

Culture has lead us to betray our own aboriginal spirit and wholeness, into an ever-worsening realm of synthetic, isolating, impoverishing estrangement. Which is not to say that there are no more everyday pleasures, without which we would loose our humanness. But as our plight deepens, we glimpse how much must be erased for our redemption. John Zerzan (via katydidknot)

(Source: fifteenminuteslater)

12 reblog

The Power of Tumblr. The Beauty of Strangers.

brokenhouse:

detroitsomething:

My name is Ray Stoeser. I am a high school teacher living and working in Detroit. Below is a testament to the power of Tumblr and social networking. Most importantly it is about how 554 complete strangers helped change the lives of my Detroit students.

The Power of Tumblr. The Beauty of Strangers.

Read More

that’s what I’m talking about.

975 reblog

Maybe you are searching among the branches, for what only appears in the roots. Rumi (via suciomalvestido)

(Source: spiritual-eloquence)

1786 reblog

This is especially difficult for members of dominant groups. If someone confronts you with your own behavior that supports privilege, step off the path of least resistance that encourages you to defend and deny. Don’t tell them they’re too sensitive or need a better sense of humor, and don’t try to explain away what you did as something else than what they’re telling you it was. Don’t say you didn’t mean it or that you were only kidding. Don’t tell them what a champion of justice you are or how hurt you feel because of what they’re telling you. Don’t make jokes or try to be cute or charming, since only privilege can lead someone to believe these are acceptable responses to something as serious as privilege and oppression. Listen to what’s being said. Take it seriously. Assume for the time being that it’s true, because given the power of paths of least resistance, it probably is. And then take responsibility to do something about it.

Allan G. Johnson

Also relevant.

(via wretchedoftheearth)
63 reblog

WikiLeaks: U.S. troops Handcuffed Children and Shot Them in the Head

crankycritic:

anticapitalist:

According to a diplomatic cable published by WikiLeaks, U.S. troops willfully massacred an Iraqi family in the town of Ishaqi in 2006, handcuffing and then shooting 11 people in the head including a woman in her 70′s and five children ages five and under.

McClatchy is reporting that the soldiers then called in an air strike on the house to cover up evidence of the killings.

This account differs sharply from an official version of the 2006 incident, which indicated that coalition forces captured an al Qaeda in Iraq operative in the house, which was destroyed in a firefight. The WikiLeaks cable, however, corroborates accounts by Ishaqi townspeople and includes questions about the incident by Philip Alston, the U.N.’s special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions.

The cable is dated twelve days after the incident, which took place March 15, 2006. In it, Alston says that autopsies performed in Tikrit on bodies pulled from the wreckage of the farmhouse indicated that all of the dead had been handcuffed and shot in the head.

If true, this action, although not as egregious as the My Lai massacre of March 16, 1968, wherein 347-504 unarmed civilians were shot to death by U.S. forces during the Vietnam conflict, still speaks volumes about war and the atrocities committed for war’s sake.

Read the original article (warning: graphic images)

Oh my God.

979 reblog

nelc:

Yoko Kanno.

her musical talent is off the charts… forever an inspiration.

447 reblog

Harry Lloyd is concerned about his facial hair. “I have a slightly controversial beard right now,” he says. “But I’m playing a 15th century Duke,” referring to his role as Ferdinand in the current production of The Duchess of Malfi at London’s Old Vic. — OUT Magazine June/July 2012 [x]

Harry Lloyd is concerned about his facial hair. “I have a slightly controversial beard right now,” he says. “But I’m playing a 15th century Duke,” referring to his role as Ferdinand in the current production of The Duchess of Malfi at London’s Old Vic. — OUT Magazine June/July 2012 [x]

(Source: mashenkamorevna)

233 reblog

(Source: yessiesmiles)

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The reverberations wandered sweetly, softly, working like a massage on the area of my heart that was the most tightly clenched, helping those knots to loosen. It was like the rush of waves, and like the laughter of people I’d met in all kinds of places, people I’d become friendly with and then separated from, and like the kind words all those people had said to me, and like the mewing of a cat I had lost, and like the mixture of noises that rang in the background in a place that was dear to me, a place far away, a place that no longer existed, and like the rushing of trees that whisked past my ears as I breathed in the scent of fresh greenery on a trip someplace…

(Source: kotokoori)

4 reblog