Despite the existence of large numbers of noxious people with no obvious reason for existing, such as one Jules Crittendon, there are a remarkable number of genuinely brave people in this world who deserve to be celebrated.
Amy Kazmin, BBC:
Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma’s Nobel Peace Prize-winning democracy advocate, is to be tried in Rangoon’s notorious Insein Prison for violating conditions of her house arrest after an incident in which an American allegedly swam across a lake to her compound then spent two nights inside.
Ms Suu Kyi, who has been confined to her dilapidated colonial-era bungalow since May 2003, was taken to Insein on Thursday and formally charged. The 63-year-old, who has suffered from low blood pressure and dehydration over the past week, is being held in a house on the prison compound until the trial, which is due to start on Monday.
The charges against Ms Suu Kyi, which carry a potential sentence of five years in prison and relate to the bar on her receiving visitors without government authorisation, have dismayed her supporters…
Sari Gelzer, Truthout:
In a victory for Lt. Ehren Watada, the Justice Department decided last week that it would drop attempts to retry the officer for his refusal to deploy to Iraq.
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Watada faces two remaining charges stemming from his public statements on the illegal and immoral nature of the Iraq war. The fate of Watada’s continued legal limbo is currently in the hands of Fort Lewis officials who will decide how to proceed with the charges of conduct unbecoming an officer.
It has been almost three years since Watada became the first commissioned officer to publicly refuse to go to Iraq. His decision was not that of a conscientious objector opposed to war in general, but of an officer who felt that participating in the Iraq war was akin to committing a crime.