Revelations of Former FO Spokesperson Tasnim Aslam regarding the role of INGOs endorse James Peck's claims about convergence of US Foreign Policy & Human Rights.

[1]
How INGOs suspiciously operate in Pakistan | A discussion with ex-civil ... https://t.co/zxQWuCEZVy via @YouTube

James Peck in his book, “Ideal Illusions: How the U.S. Government Co-opted Human Rights” argues that US Foreign Policy and human rights industry is interconnected and is being used as an ideological weapon.

[2]

From the moment when Universal Declaration of Human Rights has been signed in 1948 in response to Nazi atrocities, human rights are being used to extend American global reach.

By condemning Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and other human rights groups

[3]

with legal outfits for downplaying economic and social discriminations, Peck reveals that humanitarian interventions in US military adventures in Vietnam, Iraq and other places serve as pretexts for invasions to ‘legalize’ US prerogative of intervention while ignoring

[4]

the illegitimacy of intervention and the violence it causes.

In words of Peck, “The widely heralded rise of human rights is not free of such complications. For the history of human rights in the United States—as a movement, as an impassioned language of good intentions,

[5]

A thread
1/9
"Srinagar, January 4, 1990. Aftab, a local Urdu newspaper, publishes a press release issued by Hizb-ul Mujahideen, set up by the Jamaat-e-Islami in 1989 .. asking all Hindus to pack up and leave."
by @KanchanGupta

2/9
"In the following days, there is near chaos in the Kashmir valley with Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah and his National Conference government abdicating all responsibilities of the State."

3/9
"Walls are plastered with posters and handbills, summarily ordering all Kashmiris to strictly follow the Islamic dress code, ... masked men with Kalashnikovs force people to re-set their watches and clocks to Pakistan Standard

4/9
"Srinagar, January 19, 1990. Jagmohan arrives to take charge as governor of Jammu and Kashmir. Farooq Abdullah, whose pathetic, whimpering, snivelling government has all but ceased to exist and has gone into hiding, resigns and goes into a sulk."

#KashmiriHinduExodus

5/9
"As evening falls... three taped slogans are repeatedly played the whole night from mosques: 'Kashmir mei agar rehna hai, Allah-O-Akbar kehna hai' (If you want to stay in Kashmir, you have to say Allah-O-Akbar);
#KashmiriHinduExodus

Among the 4 far right parties in Israel, looks like "New Right" (mildly religious, very hawkish) will run alone and be anti-Bibi

Jewish Home (very religious, mildly hawkish), Religious Zionist Party (very religious, very hawkish), and Otzma Yehudit/Jewish Power (theocratic, genocidal) will run together and be pro-Bibi

The "Religious Zionist Party" used to be called "Tkuma", it was the religious faction of a hawkish, mostly secular coalition called the "National Union". It's legally taken over the National Union's spot in the election registry but jettisoned most of it's secular voters

"Jewish Home" used to be called the "National Religious Party" for most of it's history. It renamed itself in order to gain secular votes but most of those new people left to form "New Right" so now "Jewish Home" is smaller than the old "National Religious Party"

In the last election, New Right, Religious Zionist Party (then called Tkuma-The National Union), and the Jewish Home all ran together as pro-Bibi with Otzma Yehudit running on its own and failing to enter parliament

1] Hopefully, after this, I will be saying less and less stuff about @DMwonzora & the @MyMDC_T

In Africa, any serious politician has to be a charismatic orator.

Strategy & effective administration is actually anchored on that.

Sadly, Dougie ticks none of those boxes.

2] African politics is unique.

There are many brilliant politicians who failed to make a mark, simply because of their inability to command attention.

You need to be able to convince people to listen, if you have any chance at convincing them to believe in you & what you offer.

3] Of equal concern is the perceptions people have of a politician.

ZANUPF caused irreparable damage on Tsvangirai as a political brand, as State media "successfully" labelled him a stooge of Westen interests.

I've wondered if the MDC did enough, to shake this off early.

4] Another critical feature of African politics, is that parties are just as popular as their Leader(s), especially the inaugural one(s).

The party grows as the Leader becomes more popular.

Most times, the Leader fortunately or unfortunately becomes more popular than the party.

5] ZanuPF was just as popular as Mugabe

MDC-T was just as popular as Tsvangirai

MDC ALLIANCE is just as popular as Chamisa.

Whoever takes over usually struggles.

Funny enough, Dougie is attempting to bank on the popularity of man who actually politically died with his MDC-T.

Dear MAGA, why do you follow this con? First he told you Mexico would pay for the wall. They didn’t. Then he warned you that caravans of illegal immigrants were invading. They weren’t. He said the ACA was a disaster and that he had an amazing plan to replace it. He didn’t.
(1)

He said he was the strongest against Russia. But he wouldn’t even condemn Putin for putting bounties on our troops. He said it was a perfect call. It wasn’t. He said he would save the coal industry. He didn’t. He said other countries would respect us. They don’t.
(2)

He said he only hires the best people. But fires those same people. He said if Clinton were elected it would be nothing but investigations. We’ve had nothing but investigations his entire 4 years. He said he would be tough on North Korea. They have more missiles than ever.
(3)

He said they’re coming for the suburbs. No ones coming. He said Covid was a hoax. It’s not. He said it’s just like the flu. Over 350K are dead in 10 months. He said he shut down travel from China. Not true. He said everyone who wants a test could get one. They couldn’t.
(4)

He told you masks don’t work. Let me say that again. He told you masks don’t work. Cmon. He said the day after the election Covid would just go away. Since the election every fucking day has been worse. Over 4K died just yesterday.
(5)

This morning, His Excellency starts the 2020 Edition of the National Thanksgiving Ceremony at ZITF Grounds. This is the fourth such get-together of the faithfuls, with the President having attending all but one. Zimbabwe is a prayerful Nation of many faiths, all of which coexist

...harmony as dictated to by the National Constitution.

How the 36 Nigerian states got their names. A thread 🧵

1. Abia

Abia is an acronym from the four main groups of people in the state as at the time it was formed in 1991: Aba Bende Isuikwuato Afikpo.

2. Adamawa

Adamawa was named after a warrior, Modibbo Adama Bin Ardo Hassan, that conquered the region in the beginning of the 19th century.

3. Akwa-Ibom

Akwa Ibom is named after the Qua Iboe (or Kwa Iboe) River.

4. Anambra

The state got its name from the corrupted version of Oma Mbala (Ànyịm Ọma Mbala), a popular river in the area.

The revelation that a former officer in Israeli military intelligence’s notorious Unit 8200 has been employed to work in the Office of the Leader of the Opposition is of deep

Unit 8200 is a unit of the Israeli Intelligence Corps, part of the Israeli military. Part of its role includes surveilling Palestinians living under Israel’s belligerent and illegal occupation in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

The activities of the unit, which involve blackmail and harassment of Palestinian civilians in violation of international law, have been revealed in large part because of the testimony of brave whistleblowers,

including many who have become refuseniks and now resist the Israeli states’ oppression of the Palestinian people.

Their testimonies have been widely published in The Guardian and New York Times.

Shockingly, whistleblowers within the unit have confirmed that LGBT Palestinian’s sexuality is used to blackmail the unit’s intelligence targets into becoming informants.

THREAD
What is overlooked in analysis of #RussiaProtest after @navalny's arrest? It's sophistication that the Kremlin has developed in addressing such threats, and lack of realistic strategy by Putin's opponents. Let's put together some unpleasant facts 👇

2/ Of course, it's hard not to be impressed by @navalny's and his family's courage, as well as by energy and scale of protests on January 23. Good summary by @yaffaesque for @NewYorker here:

3/ @navalny's investigation about Putin's palace (>96 million views now!) and street protests are seen as a serious challenge by the Kremlin, which is visible in heavy-handed crackdown on Navalny's team&family, as @HenryJFoy & @maxseddon document here:

4/ Jan 23 protest had the widest geographic coverage (>120 cities all across Russia), and the crowd numbers were significant, particularly in Moscow and St. Petersburg. It's important to note that the price tag for unsanctioned rallies is now higher than before...

5/... and protesters risk much more than 100k people who came to Bolotnaya Square in Moscow back in 2011. Add COVID, and 40k crowd (@Reuters estimate) in the capital will look like a success. But here comes the tricky part.

If anyone in the US thinks France is doing any better with "expeditious vaccination," let me disabuse you of that conceit right now. Until recently, I've been fairly supportive of Macron's government. Tough job, tough people to govern.

After this? If I were a French citizen, I'd probably vote for the communists or the fascists (and those probably will be the options, at this rate). If the guys who're at least supposed to be competent technocrats can't manage a vaccination campaign--

--and offer idiotic excuses like, "Well, we're taking it slowly because, you know, France is full of lunatic anti-vaxxers and we don't want to frighten them"--I'm not making that up, folks, an aide to the health minister said exactly that, yesterday--

--why the hell would you put them back in office? If you want incompetent government, why not at least go for the gusto and get the incompetent ideologues your heart truly desires?

I do hope Macron realizes that if the non-insane French citizens don't get needles in their arms, fast--as in, "within a month, not within ten years," that's it for the Fifth Republic, because the French have had it. He was the Establishment's last chance.

1.I just hope that the Nigerian youths most especially the Soro So ke werey Generation will learn a thing or two from what is happening in America. That they will learn something about PATRIOTISM and LOVE of Country. Citizens has the rights to criticise or protest against the

2. gov't but allowing foreigners to help you destroy and burn down your Country while they protect theirs jealousy is the most stupid thing anybody can do.

The earlier you and all African youths understand that the problems you are facing and complaining about in Africa are

3. orchestrated by the same people you always call upon whenever there is a problem the better for you. Let me give you an example, every Country borrows, and the World Bank and IMF are created for these reasons. But when Countries like America and the other developed countries

4. borrows from them, they get the loans at 1.5 -1.9% interest rates. Meanwhile, African Countries will get those same loans at 9-10% interests. Loans they may never be ever be able to pay. This is because the plan is to make sure Africa never succeeds, because if we do the West

5. will be in serious trouble. Africa's success will mean their failure and our failure means their success. So they will do everything to make us never to succeed. Too sad that the African youth has failed to realise this even with the huge access to informations in this

.@N12News assessment of Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi's tenure as IDF Chief of Staff at 2 yrs:

2-@n12news:IDF finishing 2 good yrs since Kochavi's appointment: few Israelis harmed by terror, terror attacks stopped at border, including sea and land penetrations from Gaza , bombs on Syrian border, rocket attacks, Cyber attacks

3-@n12news: On the offensive, IDF engaged in, intensifying "war between wars" -- most activity carried out by air or sea, small part through cross-border special forces ops. Not just in Syria, but also Iraq, Lebanon, Sinai, in addition to reported cyber attacks in Iran

4-@N12News: Significantly damaged weapons, bases, armament factories. "Iranians evacuated 50% of forces in Syria, moved bases east," mistakenly thinking this would complicate IAF missions. Damage also to Syrian Army, its missile factors and defense systems

5-@n12news: War Between Wars will expand in coming yr, but this brings Israel closer to point where opponents can no longer restrain themselves

Navalny’s return, his arrest and the protest. A first quick thread
1. Navalny in Germany had rot make a difficult choice: to stay in exile and become insignificant or to return to stay significant (and may be even rise more), but under risk for his freedom and life. /2

2. I can’t imaging that Navalny and his team thought that his return and even his arrest might provoke a „revolutionary situation“ in Russia like we’ve seen in Ukraine earlier or Belarus now. he’s a too experienced politician for such a misjudgment. He’s playing the long game./3

3. He had to wage his wishes and the risk. His preferred the possibility of a rather long imprisonment to the perspective of insignificance in evil. He’s more than 20 y. younger than Putin. The next medium-term goal will be „smart voting“ in the Duma elections next September. /4

4. Nobody can with certainty predict the tipping point of political developments. No revolutionary moment was ever predicted.Lenin did not know that he will succeed, when he returned to Russia in 1917. What he knew was that there is a crises. There is a multiple crisis in…/5

…Russia now, too. No really worrying for Putin. But worrying enough to be afraid of an upcoming challenger to try to not let become him too strong. So far Putin’s strategy was to use only as much force as needed. This is a strategy that demand first certain skills…/6