Clinton" "the democracy we want to see"....... lets think about that.

Clinton to Visit Tunisia, Egypt

U.S. Secretary of State Clinton has announced plans to travel to Egypt and Tunisia next week for the first time since popular uprisings forced out U.S.-backed dictators in both countries.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton: "Next week, I will travel to Cairo and Tunis to speak directly with the Egyptian and Tunisian people. I will be meeting with their transitional leaders, and I intend to convey strong support of the Obama administration and the American people, that we wish to be a partner in the important work that lies ahead as they embark on a transition to a genuine democracy. We have an enormous stake in ensuring that Egypt and Tunisia provide models for the kind of democracy that we want to see."

Bahrain Intensifies Crackdown on Opposition, Human Rights Groups

In Bahrain, a government crackdown on opposition and human rights activists has escalated with a new round of arrests. Over the weekend, twenty-three people were detained on charges of plotting the violent overthrow of the Bahraini government. The suspects include prominent members of the Shia opposition as well as human rights activists. As many as 250 people have been arrested in the crackdown in less than a month. Speaking to Democracy Now!, Nabeel Rajab of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights said he is facing arrest after being publicly named a terrorist in the Bahraini media.

Nabeel Rajab: "It’s getting very dangerous working on documentation of human rights. On a daily basis, you see my picture in the newspaper as a terrorist or supporting terrorism and all that; attacking me on the radio by a program just made an hour, an hour and a half, two hours, accusing us, accusing me of contacting international organization, giving false information to international organization to overthrow the government. If they arrest me, I’m not better than the others. I mean, I know this is also the cost of the work, the human rights work, the documentation, the reporting for international organizations that’s getting the government angry. And this is the cost of our work, and we are willing to pay for it."

Nabeel Rajab went on to discuss the US role in backing the Bahraini government.

Nabeel Rajab: "The] Bahrain government is a friend of the Western countries—and the European and the American. They are very influential in this part of the world. Unfortunately, for the past many years with all these violations against human rights, European Union and the United States government did not play a positive role. There, always economics and the flow of oil were a priority, and the rights of human—the last thing they would talk about [is] the rights of people here."

Join Him: A Man of Incredible Worth and Value

A man to look up to.

Mr. Zinn relized that to understand something like forign policy one had to understand a comprehensive forign reality. We think that by studying the the ones in charge, the "leaders" that we will have an acurate idea what it was like and then we can asses the situation's process of design, implimentation and merits. Howard Zinn taught us that this is not true, this is but a myth. How you really understand something like foreign policy is by studying people--all people. Today the world (the resistance) is at a loss. Few, to my knowledge, have the patience, discipline and love for people as Mr.Zinn had, to research and articulate the experience of other peoples in the world--the ones we'd like to write out. He offered a, much missing, perspective that completed the context and articulated all who were involved to give a true story. He was and is a beautiful inconveniences; he challenged the status quo: the way we use history the way we tell history and not only did he challenge those with power but also challenged those without to inventory our humanness and respond--respond boldy. Howard Zinn lived boldly and i want to as well, join him.

Learn more: Howard Zinn's Stories

I think it it i wise to capture the current attention that is being spent on Haiti and create conversation(s) and understanding of the reality of the factors that have historically, politically and Economically contributed to Haiti becoming the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere . Learning about U.S. intervention and exploitation via our hemispheric hegemony and Economy in the region gives the context for this disaster severity and sheds light on what makes true and holistic "earthquake relief efforts". We need to take responsibility and ownership of what we have done, this is what U.S. Foreign policy looks like, it goes beyond documents and cheap goods, but that message is not found on the T.V.

Not very often is the world, especially the United States, concerned with Haiti, and i am talking about humanitarian/social concern. It is tempting in the midst of Emergency, and this is most certainly one, to respond via active means (i.e. donating, fund-raising). But i think we need to venture further down river and not simply define the problem as "the earthquake"-- all though there is obvious need for this type of work, and the earthquake is undoubtedly a priority to deal with, quickly; not that we have (but we did send the military cause that's what we do best). The problem lies not just in natural disaster but the Western policies of military intervention and economic exploitation that has speckled (may seem more like bullet-holed) Haiti's history. I think the situation Haiti is in now would of been greatly reduced if they had better infurstrcutre; more roads, hospitals, communication, buildings codes, an sovereign people's government, and independent, for country, economy. Had the country been able to develop and grow for itself and its people there would have been less destruction, better rescue potential and less death. For intervening and exploiting via our hemispheric hegemony in the region we are guilty of setting the context for this disaster. It is CRUCIAL to recognize the reality of consequence of our Foreign Policy; it is not something that happens but something that is happening. Th character of the U.S.: how it interacts with the world, especially the poor, the effects of this interaction, has to be made known. We need to define the problem not as the "the earthquake" but the "hegemony and carelessness of the United States and its people toward the rest of the world. We need to understand that natural disaster are rarely natural, often they are human induced.

Please take the time and effort to learn about the problem, at its roots-- for that is true earthquake relief.

and please donate and respond, but there is more to this than reacting, starting thinking. And know who you are giving your money too.

I will post links as i see them, but please check out this book it is written by Paul Farmer, and has a introduction by Noam Chomsky, the book is titled "The Uses of Haiti" , and a summery can be found here.