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The Pivot to Africa

By Commentaries/Opinions

010621-africa-map-military-090513-aThey’re involved in Algeria and Angola, Benin and Botswana, Burkina Faso and Burundi, Cameroon and the Cape Verde Islands. And that’s just the ABCs of the situation. Skip to the end of the alphabet and the story remains the same: Senegal and the Seychelles, Togo and Tunisia, Uganda and Zambia. From north to south, east to west, the Horn of Africa to the Sahel, the heart of the continent to the islands off its coasts, the U.S. military is at work. Base construction, security cooperation engagements, training exercises, advisory deployments, special operations missions, and a growing logistics network, all undeniable evidence of expansion – except at U.S. Africa Command.

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Africa News in Brief from Global Information Network (9/4/13)

By Africa News in Brief, News & Current Affairs

OIL POLLUTER SNARED IN CORRUPTION CRACKDOWN

Sep. 3 (GIN) – A Chinese oil giant with several polluting investments throughout Africa has been targeted in a sweeping anti-corruption drive in China. Four senior managers have already been detained in the investigation.

Wang Youngchun, vice president of the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), is being questioned by Beijing for “gross violations of party discipline,” a standard euphemism for corruption.

Three other CNPC executives were named the next day and resigned from their posts for “personal reasons.” The four men are said to be facing questions about the award of oil exploration projects.

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California Prison Hunger Strikers Continue Their Resistance

By News & Current Affairs, War on the “War on Drugs” Posts

By Dylan Murphy
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation’s (CDCR) refuses to negotiate with prison hunger strikers as they enter day 56 of the protest at solitary confinement and inhumane conditions. The hunger strikers are in increasing danger from heart attacks but maintain their resolve to continue their resistance until the CDCR agrees to negotiate around their five core demands.

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I Can No Longer Just Stay in My Lane

By Commentaries/Opinions, War on the “War on Drugs” Posts

311429_168583126562986_414573294_nBy Michelle Alexander
For the past several years, I have spent virtually all my working hours writing about or speaking about the immorality, cruelty, racism, and insanity of our nation’s latest caste system: mass incarceration. On this Facebook page I have written and posted about little else. But as I pause today to reflect on the meaning and significance of the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington , I realize that my focus has been too narrow.

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