Day: April 22, 2024

Russia spymaster meets with Cuban, Bolivian, and Brazilian counterparts in Moscow  Washington Examiner

He was asked the same question when he arrived at court too. And he ignored it. https://t.co/Sq6TRUEoqD

— KT “Special CIA Operation” (@KremlinTrolls) April 22, 2024

In 2012-3, prior to Russia invading Crimea, Russian intelligence spent a lot of time and money recruiting disgruntled/failed wannabe media personalities to spread conspiracy theories cooked up by Kremlin propagandists https://t.co/Fcq1qZw3IH

— KT “Special CIA Operation” (@KremlinTrolls) April 22, 2024

PEN America, a free-speech advocacy watchdog that advocates for literary expression and human rights, has canceled its annual Literary Award ceremony in the aftermath of a months-long campaign objecting to the organization’s response to the war in Gaza. Last week, in the most recent and prominent protest, over two dozen authors and all but one author longlisted for the awards’ top honor, the $75,000 PEN/Jean Stein Book Award, withdrew from consideration for the prize. 

“We greatly respect that writers have followed their consciences, whether they chose to remain as nominees in their respective categories or not,” Rosaz Shariyf, PEN America’s literary programming chief officer wrote in a Monday statement. “We regret that this unprecedented situation has taken away the spotlight from the extraordinary work selected by esteemed, insightful and hard-working judges across all categories.” 

The statement reaffirmed that PEN is committed to freedom of expression and said the five finalists and winning titles for each award — yet to be publicly announced — were selected before authors withdrew from consideration. Those who did not take themselves out of the running will receive their awards. Of 61 authors and translators nominated, 28 withdrew, PEN said.

Jean Stein’s estate said in a statement that its namesake, an author and editor, “was a passionate advocate for Palestinian rights who published, supported, and celebrated Palestinian writers and visual artists.”

Representatives for the estate said that Stein “would have respected the stance and sacrifice of the writers who have withdrawn from contention this year.”

Instead of being awarded this year, the estate directed PEN to donate the $75,000 prize to the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund. The allocations of winnings that could not be awarded will be decided on a case-by-case basis, according to the award contract and the wishes of the award underwriters.

Before PEN’s announcement, a flurry of open letters, from authors like Naomi Klein and Roxane Gay, alleged that PEN was failing to protect writers. Although the organization has previously made statements about the war in Gaza, and called for a ceasefire in March, such authors expressed a belief that the calls were not strident enough, writing in an April 17 letter that, by not responding to the war earlier, “PEN America’s leadership has eroded our confidence in its mission.” They also took issue with PEN America not calling the war a genocide.

Among the pre-announced honorees who will not be feted as planned is playwright Tony Kushner, who won the PEN/Mike Nichols Writing for Performance Award. (Kushner has himself been critical of Israel, signing N+1’s open letter from Jewish writers arguing against calling criticism of Israel antisemitic.) The Literary Awards were scheduled for April 29, and were to be held at The Town Hall in New York.

On April 18, Camille T. Dungy, the sole author who did not withdraw her nomination for the Jean Stein award, wrote in a statement to The Forward that her decision to not withdraw her memoir was made in the context of increasing book bans.

“Such bans are putting young people at risk, particularly Black, Brown, queer, and trans youths who can’t access books that represent and affirm who they are and who they need and want to be,” Dungy wrote. “PEN America has fought such book bans for years, and it is because of this fundamental mission that I continue to support the organization.”

The post PEN America cancels prestigious literary awards after authors withdraw in protest over Gaza response appeared first on The Forward.

washington — Marijuana use is a rare consensus issue in politically divided America, with polls showing that 88% of Americans support at least partial legalization. But neither of the two main presidential contenders are capitalizing on this, advocates say, with both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump landing far behind where most Americans are on the issue.

VOA spoke to cannabis advocates on the sidelines of a rare, recent policy summit on the issue, held annually in Washington as a preview to a weekend-long music festival.

“One thing [both candidates] have in common is that their track records on cannabis have been inconsistent and incremental,” said Caroline Phillips, organizer of the National Cannabis Policy Summit. “We’ve heard promises from both administrations, neither of which have panned out in full.”

Biden in 2022 directed the Department of Health and Human Services to take a key step toward legalization by ordering a review of its classification of marijuana as a dangerous controlled substance, on par with heroin and LSD.

Nearly a year later, the body recommended moving marijuana to a lighter classification, alongside prescription drugs. That ruling now sits with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, which has the power to act.

But, Phillips said, many advocates seek the full removal – or “de-scheduling” – of the substance from the DEA’s Controlled Substances Act.

“They have given us great signals that they’re willing to shift towards de-scheduling, but most likely re-scheduling,” she said of the Biden administration. “However, we haven’t quite seen the action to back up their words.”

Re-scheduling puts marijuana on par with prescription drugs and regulates users’ access to it; de-scheduling removes it from the list of controlled substances entirely.

Neera Tanden, director of Biden’s Domestic Policy Council, said the administration sees a need to learn more – something that re-scheduling the substance would enable by making it more readily available to scientific researchers.

“There’s been a lot of change on this issue for several years,” she told VOA. “It’s important for us to be able to research it more effectively.”

A small but vocal group of anti-cannabis legislators in Congress have also expressed concerns about changing the status of marijuana. Last year, 14 of them – all Republicans – sent a letter opposing the effort to loosen its classification.

In their letter, the group pointed to the potential for addiction and the increased potency of today’s cannabis, saying “facts indicate that marijuana has a high potential for abuse and that the risk is only increasing.”

Trump’s position on marijuana, advocates say, is hazy. The pro-legalization Marijuana Policy Project says he “never brought the issue up proactively” as president. Since leaving office, Phillips said, “we’ve heard him both say that people who sell drugs in the illicit market should be jailed and even put to death.”

On the campaign trail, Trump has largely avoided the issue, said Morgan Fox, political director for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, known as NORML.

“We haven’t heard too much from the Republican nominee so far,” he said.

The personal becomes political

The candidates’ attitudes, Fox said, are out of step with those of many Americans, and lean on old tropes about marijuana that paint users as prone to mania – like in the 1936 film “Reefer Madness” – or use fear as a tool, like the 1980s-era Drug Abuse Resistance Education program.

“Luckily, with the advent of the internet and the development of a lot more communication around these issues, people have not only been able to see that the policy of prohibiting cannabis and criminalizing cannabis consumers is nonsensical, but they’ve also been able to really see the human impact that it has had,” he said.

For entrepreneur William Davis, this is personal. With his pressed jeans, alligator-skin boots, crisp white cowboy hat and penchant for replying to questions with “yes, ma’am,” he knows he does not cut the figure of a stereotypical cannabis user.

“It’s a lot of people that you would never think,” he said.

For years, the Iraq war veteran struggled with PTSD and opioid addiction. He was reluctant to accept a friend’s recommendation that he try cannabis, he said, because to him it evoked a wildly popular 1980s ad that showed a frying egg, and a stern admonition: “This is your brain on drugs.”

“Like in a hot pan with the egg, I thought, ‘Nah, I don’t wanna try drugs, I’m gonna fry my brains,’” Davis said.

Instead, he said, marijuana produced a revelation. Davis says he uses CBD, the non-psychoactive compound found in marijuana, to soothe his anxiety during the day, and the active component, THC, for relaxation after work.

Six years ago, he founded a company, Euphoria Eats, that sells infused hot sauce and barbecue sauce.

Davis, who is from Houston but now lives in solidly Republican Louisiana, said he supports legalization for business reasons.

“Until this will be decriminalized and legal everywhere, there will always be hesitant individuals who are afraid to put their money into a lucrative business that they see is making money, that they see is making an impact on the community,” he told VOA.

‘My vote influences cannabis laws’

Polls show that the greatest pro-cannabis momentum comes from younger Americans.

Community organizer Scotty Smart spoke to VOA about his position as a young progressive, which was summarized neatly on his moss-green T-shirt that read: “MY VOTE INFLUENCES CANNABIS LAWS.”

“I think cannabis is an issue that ignites and excites young people to pay attention,” said Smart, who works with the nonpartisan New Georgia Project and with a pro-marijuana education and awareness movement called We Want all the Smoke.

A key factor that young voters are watching for, he said, is whether the Biden administration moves forward with the process of downgrading cannabis.

“Hopefully that takes place before the election so we can really see, have something to go off of and not just have election speeches giving us hope,” he said.

Maya Tatum, former chair of the national grassroots group Students for Sensible Drug Policy, agreed that the candidates’ actions matter more than their words. Neither man, she said, is a clear winner here.

“A lot of the young voters that I’m around are wanting to hold Joe Biden accountable for what he said,” in support of cannabis, she said. “I don’t personally feel like there’s a lot that Trump is offering as it relates to cannabis.”

Fox said NORML would like to see political aspirants be more open about cannabis on the campaign trail.

“Any candidate that actually wants to get ahead – whether it’s in the presidential election in Congress or state legislatures or local legislators – if they ignore this issue, it’s going to be at their peril,” he said.

Veronica Balderas Iglesias contributed to this report from Washington.

BANGKOK — Myanmar’s Vice President Henry Van Thio, who served in the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi and then continued in the position after the military ousted her to seize power in 2021, is stepping down for unspecified health reasons, state media said Monday.

State television MRTV announced Monday night that 65-year-old Van Thio had been allowed to retire from his post for health reasons in accordance with the constitution but did not provide any details of his health or say who, if anyone, will replace him.

Van Thio, a member of Myanmar’s Chin ethnic minority and a former army officer, was named second vice president in 2016 when Suu Kyi’s party started its first term after winning the 2015 general election in a landslide. Her National League for Democracy party governed Myanmar with overwhelming majorities in Parliament from 2015 to 2021, before being overthrown by the military.

Van Thio was the only member of Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party to stay on as a member of the National Defense and Security Council after the military seized power from the elected government of Suu Kyi in February 2021.

The council, established under a previous military government, is the highest constitutional government body responsible for security and defense affairs and is nominally led by the president. However, in practice, it is controlled by the military. Its membership is made up of the top military chiefs and cooperative politicians.

It played a key role in the February 2021 military takeover when the president in Suu Kyi’s government, Win Myint, was detained with her, and First Vice President Myint Swe, a member of a pro-military party became acting president. The move allowed the council to be convened, declare a state of emergency and hand over power to military chief Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing.

Although the army claims it took power constitutionally, legal scholars generally describe its action as illegal. It has renewed the state of emergency several times.

Van Thio has played no apparent active role in the military government aside from helping to provide it with the veneer of constitutional rule.

He almost completely disappeared from public view until his first known attendance at the National Defense and Security Council meeting in July last year, when the state of emergency was extended for the fourth time. He was absent from the council’s earlier meetings to extend emergency rule, with bad health cited as the reason. He was reportedly treated in hospital in January last year because he suffered a serious head injury in a fall at his residence in the capital, Naypyitaw.

A few days after last July’s council meeting, the National League for Democracy announced it had expelled him from the party because of his attendance at the meeting. The party in March last year was dissolved by the military government, whose legitimacy it doesn’t recognize, for failing to meet a registration deadline.

Suu Kyi’s party boosted its majority in the November 2020 election, but in February 2021, the army blocked all elected lawmakers from taking their seats in Parliament and seized power, detaining top members of Suu Kyi’s government and party, except Van Thio and Myint Swe.

The army said it staged its 2021 takeover because of massive poll fraud, though independent election observers did not find any major irregularities.

The army takeover was met with widespread popular opposition. After peaceful demonstrations were put down with lethal force, many opponents of military rule took up arms, and large parts of the country are now embroiled in conflict.

Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi is on a three-day visit to neighboring Pakistan. The visit — the first by an Iranian president to Pakistan in eight years — comes amid heightened tensions in the Middle East. It is also the first meeting between the head of governments of both countries since the two sides exchanged cross-border strikes in January. VOA Pakistan Bureau Chief Sarah Zaman reports from Islamabad. VOA footage by Wajid Asad. Video editing by Malik Waqar Ahmed.

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