The Free

He tried to save a rare parrot. It cost him his life.

via Repeating Islands News and commentary on Caribbean culture, literature, and the arts

A report by Megan Janetsky and Anthony Faiola

disclaimer.. the main text here is from The Washington Post. It implies Gonzo’s murder was either by left FARC dissidents or ‘armed groups’. In fact the thousands of murders are nearly totally by rightwing mercenaries of the ruling settler elite with impunity of Duque’s neo fascist regime. Murderers and torturers supported and incited by the USA for the last 70 years. Many of the victims are ex- FARC community activists who disarmed with the ”peace Accords”

On a January morning in the foothills of the Andes, gave his daughter a goodbye hug, jumped on his 2015 Yamaha motorcycle and set off for the habitat of the elusive yellow-eared parrot.

Cardona had spent two decades nurturing the rare bird, a species once thought extinct. Now, they numbered in the thousands, and he was their protector — the overseer of the wild preserve in this South American nation where they thrived anew. A preserve that happens to abut one of Colombia’s most notorious drug routes.

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“God willing, I will be coming back to you soon,” the 55-year-old told his daughter.

Three days later, a search party found his body in a shallow grave with two bullets in his chest. His slaying was the latest in a deadly wave of killings of environmentalists in Colombia, a nation where they are fast becoming almost as endangered as the species they strive to protect.

Continue reading “He tried to save a rare parrot. It cost him his life.”

Intelligence Report on “Extremism” Equates Anarchists With Right-Wing Militias

Apr 11 2021 8 comments By thecollective From Truthout by Kristian Williams

Mainstream Democrats are in a hawkish mood when it comes to “domestic terrorism.” That is bad news for the left.

Immediately upon taking office, President Biden “tasked the director of national intelligence, in coordination with the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security, with compiling a comprehensive threat assessment on violent domestic extremism,“ according to The Washington Post. This request was prompted by the right-wing attack on the Capitol on January 6.

The resulting report, “Domestic Violent Extremism Poses Heightened Threat in 2021,” was submitted on March 1, and its executive summary was released publicly a few days later. While its list of findings include some obvious observations — for example, that extremists are “motivated by a range of ideologies” and use the internet “to recruit, plan and rally support for in-person actions” — the final page of the executive summary, listing “Categories of Domestic Violent Extremists,” reveals a concerning typology.

Two capitol police stand guard in front of the capitol

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‘Ecocide’ must be declared a Crime as Capitalist looting Ravages the Planet

As the Climate Crisis Grows, a Movement still tries to Make ‘Ecocide’ an International Crime Against the Environment

from InsideClimateNews. 7 Apr 21, By Nicholas Kusnetz, Katie Surma and Yuliya Talmazan

International lawyers, environmentalists and a few polituicians say “ecocide”—widespread destruction of the environment—would serve as a “moral red line” for the planet.

Humans have always exploited the planet while replenishing little or nothing. Modern Capitalist insane mass consumerism is devouring vital and often irreplaceable ecosystems for short term profits and usually with zero obligation to pay the real ecological costs. The Earth is no longer a seemingly infinite treasure storehouse, as corporations ”are obliged to” loot resources to win the rat race to disaster.

In 1948, after Nazi Germany exterminated millions of Jews and other minorities during World War II, the United Nations adopted a convention establishing a new crime so heinous it demanded collective action. Genocide, the nations declared, was “condemned by the civilized world” and justified intervention in the affairs of sovereign states.

Environmental ‘Ecocide’ Lawyer Polly Higgins Dies Age 50… Environmental lawyer Polly Higgins, best known for campaigning for ‘ecocide’ to be recognized as a crime against humanity, has died from cancer aged 50. The British barrister gave up her high-level job and sold her home to dedicate herself to her cause, lobbying legislation makers and writing the book Eradicating Ecocide, among many other actions.

Now finally, a small but growing number of world leaders including Pope Francis and French President Emmanuel Macron have begun citing an offense they say poses a similar threat to humanity and remains beyond the reach of existing legal conventions: ecocide, or widespread destruction of the environment.

The Pope describes ecocide as “the massive contamination of air, land and water,” or “any action capable of producing an ecological disaster,” and has proposed making it a sin for Catholics.

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Spain: Help us Close the horror lab of Vivotecnia Eng /Esp

VivisectionApril 10, 2021Spain-Close the horror laboratory of Vivotecnia

AnimaNaturalis will take legal action against Vivotecnia laboratory, because of the continued abuse of animals

AnimaNaturalis and Acción Legal Animalista announce legal action
for the alleged crime of animal abuse with prison sentences of up to 18 months for those responsible and a professional disqualification of up to 4 years.

Given the evidence that appeared in different media of the existence of a systematic practice of mistreatment, torture, and death of animals subjected to experimentation in the laboratory of the Vivotecnia company, based in the town of Tres Cantos in Madrid, AnimaNaturalis announces that they are going to take legal action by filing a criminal complaint for a continuing crime of animal abuse in article 337 of the penal code, sections 1 to 3, which includes prison sentences of up to 18 months and professional disqualification of up to 4 years.

Likewise, AnimaNaturalis will verify if any alteration or falsity has been committed in the documentary records or controls so that these degrading and inappropriate practices of civilized society have been able to escape the control of public verifiers or auditors.

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‘Global Britain’, aggressive imperialism and draconian policing

by Rohan Rice shared with thanks

Belligerent abroad and Oppressive at home, the government’s Rhetoric is being Cemented into Law. Mass Resistance is the only Response.

Photo: Amardeep Singh Dhillon

On 16 March 2021, Boris Johnson announced that the UK would be breaking its commitment to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons that the UK signed along with 191 other countries in 1968.

It came as part of a defence and security review announcement in which Prime Minister Johnson outlined Britain’s plan to once again become a dominant, aggressive, imperial power on the world stage.

Most notable was the commitment to a 40 per cent increase in nuclear warheads to be purchased from the USA, taking Britain’s total from 180 to 240. No doubt Iran and North Korea will see the irony.

In an impudent show of imperialist intent Britain will also invest more in all five sectors of military defence, including cyber, maritime, land, sea, and space. Within this is the creation of a National Cyber Force, new special forces regiments called ‘rangers’, and a Counter Terrorism Operations and Situation Centre in Whitehall.