epa editor's choice 01 August 2018: A
hillside erupts in flames from the River Fire as fire fighters look on
in Lakeport, California, USA, 31 July 2018. The River and Ranch Fires
combined as the Mendocino Complex Fire. #firefighters #RiverFire #RanchFire #MendocinoComplex #wildfires #Lakeport #California #USA #UnitedStates #epaphotos Photo epa-efe / John G. Mabanglo: image via epapphotos @epaphotos, 1 August 2018
A structure burns out of control in the River Fire (Mendocino Complex) in Lakeport, California: Photo Fred Greaves: image via Reuters Pictures @reuterspictures, 1 August 2018
A full moon rises behind the Temple of Poseidon before a lunar eclipse in Greece Photo @alkiskon: image via Reuters Pictures @reuterspictures, 1 August 2018
@realDonaldTrump delivers remarks at a “Make America Great Again” campaign rally at the Florida State Fairgrounds in Tampa Fl. #TrumpTampa : image via Doug Mills @dougmillsnyt, 31 July 2018
Supporters yell at @realDonaldTrump as he delivers remarks at a “Make America Great Again” campaign rally at the Florida State Fairgrounds in Tampa Fl. #TrumpTampa : image via Doug Mills @dougmillsnyt, 31 July 2018
Supporters of President Donald Trump shout down a CNN news crew before a rally in Tampa, Fla. Amid the “Trump 2020” placards, the “Women for Trump” signs and the “CNN SUCKS” T-shirts, the most inscrutable message that came out of Donald Trump’s Tampa rally on Tuesday evening was a letter, Q.: photo by Chris O’Meara/AP, 31 July 2018
@realDonaldTrump delivers remarks at a “Make America Great Again” campaign rally at the Florida State Fairgrounds in Tampa Fl. #TrumpTampa : image via Doug Mills @dougmillsnyt, 31 July 2018
@realDonaldTrump greets a young supporter as he arrives in Tampa Florida for a MAGA campaign rally.: image via Doug Mills @dougmillsnyt, 31 July 2018
@realDonaldTrump pumps his fist after his new Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert Wilkie is sworn-in by @VP Mike Pence in the Oval Office. At left applauding is Secretary of Defense James N. Mattis. Holding the bible is Julie Wilkie. #Veterans: image via Doug Mills @dougmillsnyt, 30 July 2018
@GovMikeHuckabee ‘Jews building in Judea and Samaria will bring peace and prosperity to the Arabs’ He gets it! Fabulous having the Gov. visit #Efrat, lay cement for another building in our ancestral homeland. The #indigenous Jews are back! An inspiration for all indigenous people!: tweet via Avi Abelow @AviAbelow, 1 August 2018
@GovMikeHuckabee ‘Jews building in Judea and Samaria will bring peace and prosperity to the Arabs’ He gets it! Fabulous having the Gov. visit #Efrat, lay cement for another building in our ancestral homeland. The #indigenous Jews are back! An inspiration for all indigenous people!: image via Avi Abelow @AviAbelow,
GAZA: Israeli planes hit 25 targets in response to Gaza rocket fire - @AFP / @saidkhatib: image via Confict News @Conflicts, 20 June 2018
The two-time Republican presidential hopeful and father of the White House press secretary, Sarah Sanders, used a cement trowel to pave a wall in the community of Efrat as a symbolic gesture of support.
Anthony Scaramucci, who spent 11 days as the US president's communications director, was also due to attend, according to the event’s organisers, but minutes before the press conference they said he was sick and could not make it.
“I’m building because I one day might want to purchase a holiday home here in Efrat,” he told journalists at an event supported by settler organisations.
“If President Trump could be here today, he’d be a very happy man,” he said, standing in front of a red sign that said “Build Israel Great Again”, a twist on Donald Trump’s campaign slogan.
“I certainly can say that the president would be very proud to see beautiful, wonderful, thriving neighbourhoods being built,” said Huckabee, who has visited Israel since he was 17 and has been an outspoken settlement backer.
Yigal Dilmoni, who works for the Yesha Council, a coalition of municipal council from Jewish settlements, attended the bricklaying event and said settlers felt they had support from the Trump administration.
“When Trump got inside the White House, something changed between the United States and Israel,” he said. "We took over, but keep that part quiet - for now."
Israel captured and occupied the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem in the 1967 war with Jordan, Egypt and Syria. It left Gaza in 2005 but maintains control over most of the West Bank, where the Palestinians have limited self-rule and are excluded from certain roads built for settlers.
There are more than half a million Israelis in the West Bank and East Jerusalem in settlements regarded as illegal by the international community. Violence between settlers and Palestinians is common.
Huckabee said settlement building in Efrat was “really a bridge to peace”.
@PressSec “Fighting back” sounds more and more like #ObstructionOfJustice. #Huckabee #Trump #Muller#DOJ #MSNBC #GOP: image via Winton @dudleydwrightly, 1 August 2018
‘Cocaine users have to accept they are contributing to violent crime.’ A bus set on fire by gang members near Comuna 13 in Medellín last month.: photo by Joaquin Sarmiento/AFP/Getty Images, 1 August 2018
Medellín, the city of Pablo Escobar’s notorious drugs cartel.: photo by Anadolu Agency/Getty Images, 1 August 2018
Once upon a time in a place called #Colombia: image via Anaid, the Impatient @DIANA_VAL, 29 July 2018
Some would argue that the war on drugs is failing and that legalisation would take the power away from the criminals. I’m inclined to agree, but this looks unlikely to happen soon.
#Zimbabwe Man shot dead in Zimbabwe as post-election clashes erupt #AFP Photo @mlongari: image via Aurelia BAILLY @AureliaBAILLY, 1 August 2018
An injured man lies on a sidewalk on a street in Harare during clashes with police Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2018. Hundreds of angry opposition supporters outside Zimbabwe’s electoral commission were met by riot police firing tear gas as the country awaited the results of Monday’s presidential election, the first after the fall of longtime leader Robert Mugabe.: photo by Mujahid Safodien/AP, 1 August 2018
Prayer II. Harare, 2018. The make of democracy. #photojournalism #documentary #africa #zimbabwe #zimelections2018 #religion #prayer #afp #blue: image via Marco Longari @mlongari, 29 July 2018
Prayer III. Harare, 2018. Election Day. The make of democracy. #photojournalism #documentary #africa #zimbabwe #zimelections2018 #church #religion #prayer #vote #afp: image via Marco Longari @mlongari, 29 July 2018
Prayer IV. Harare, 2018. Election Day. The make of democracy. #photojournalism #documentary #africa #zimbabwe #zimelections2018 #church #religion #prayer #vote #afp: image via Marco Longari @mlongari, 29 July 2018
All Fall Apart
#Zimbabwe Man shot dead in Zimbabwe as post-election clashes erupt #AFP Photo @mlongari: image via Aurelia BAILLY @AureliaBAILLY, 1 August 2018
#Zimbabwe Man shot dead in Zimbabwe as post-election clashes erupt #AFP Photo @luistatophoto: image via Aurelia BAILLY @AureliaBAILLY, 1 August 2018
#Zimbabwe Man shot dead in Zimbabwe as post-election clashes erupt #AFP Photo @luistatophoto: image via #AFP Photo @AFPphoto, 1 August 2018
#Zimbabwe Man shot dead in Zimbabwe as post-election clashes erupt #AFP Photo @luistatophoto: image via #AFP Photo @AFPphoto, 1 August 2018
#Zimbabwe Man shot dead in Zimbabwe as post-election clashes erupt #AFP Photo @ZinyangePhoto: image via #AFP Photo @AFPphoto, 1 August 2018
Zimbabweans run from riot police firing tear gas during protests in downtown Harare, Zimbabwe, Wednesday Aug. 1, 2018. Hundreds of angry opposition supporters outside Zimbabwe’s electoral commission were met by riot police firing tear gas on Wednesday as the country awaited the results of Monday’s presidential election, the first after the fall of longtime leader Robert Mugabe.: photo by Jerome Delay/AP, 1 August 2018
Opposition MDC party supporters burn election posters with Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa during protest in the streets of Harare Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2018. Hundreds of angry opposition supporters outside Zimbabwe’s electoral commission were met by riot police firing tear gas as the country awaited the results of Monday’s presidential election, the first after the fall of longtime leader Robert Mugabe.: photo by AP, 1 August 2018
Opposition MDC party supporters protest in the streets of Harare during clashes with police Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2018. Hundreds of angry opposition supporters outside Zimbabwe’s electoral commission were met by riot police firing tear gas as the country awaited the results of Monday’s presidential election, the first after the fall of longtime leader Robert Mugabe.: photo by AP, 1 August 2018
Opposition MDC party supporters protest in the streets of Harare during clashes with police Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2018. Hundreds of angry opposition supporters outside Zimbabwe’s electoral commission were met by riot police firing tear gas as the country awaited the results of Monday’s presidential election, the first after the fall of longtime leader Robert Mugabe.: photo by Mujahid Safodien/AP, 1 August 2018
Opposition MDC party supporters protest in the streets of Harare during clashes with police Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2018. Hundreds of angry opposition supporters outside Zimbabwe’s electoral commission were met by riot police firing tear gas as the country awaited the results of Monday’s presidential election, the first after the fall of longtime leader Robert Mugabe.: photo by Mujahid Safodien/AP, 1 August 2018
MDC party supporters protest in the streets of Harare during clashes with police Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2018. Hundreds of angry opposition supporters outside Zimbabwe’s electoral commission were met by riot police firing tear gas as the country awaited the results of Monday’s presidential election, the first after the fall of longtime leader Robert Mugabe.: photo by Mujahid Safodien/AP, 1 August 2018
Soldiers beat a protester outside the Movement for Democratic Change party headquarters in Harare.: photo by Mike Hutchings/Reuters, 1 August 2018
An army tank patrols on a street in Harare during protests by opposition party supporters Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2018. Hundreds of angry opposition supporters outside Zimbabwe’s electoral commission were met by riot police firing tear gas as the country awaited the results of Monday’s presidential election, the first after the fall of longtime leader Robert Mugabe.: photo by Mujahid Safodien/AP, 1 August 2018
Opposition MDC party supporters rip down an election banner of Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa during protest in the streets of Harare Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2018. Hundreds of angry opposition supporters outside Zimbabwe’s electoral commission were met by riot police firing tear gas as the country awaited the results of Monday’s presidential election, the first after the fall of longtime leader Robert Mugabe.: photo by AP, 1 August 2018
An armed soldier patrols a street in Harare during protests by opposition party supporters Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2018. Hundreds of angry opposition supporters outside Zimbabwe’s electoral commission were met by riot police firing tear gas as the country awaited the results of Monday’s presidential election, the first after the fall of longtime leader Robert Mugabe.: photo by Mujahid Safodien/AP, 1 August 2018
An armed soldier patrols a street in Harare during protests by opposition party supporters Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2018. Hundreds of angry opposition supporters outside Zimbabwe’s electoral commission were met by riot police firing tear gas as the country awaited the results of Monday’s presidential election, the first after the fall of longtime leader Robert Mugabe.: photo by Mujahid Safodien/AP, 1 August 2018
Opposition MDC party supporters run from police on a street in Harare during clashes Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2018. Hundreds of angry opposition supporters outside Zimbabwe’s electoral commission were met by riot police firing tear gas as the country awaited the results of Monday’s presidential election, the first after the fall of longtime leader Robert Mugabe.: photo by Mujahid Safodien/AP, 1 August 2018
Opposition MDC party supporters face off with a water canon in teargas on a street in Harare during clashes with police Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2018. Hundreds of angry opposition supporters outside Zimbabwe’s electoral commission were met by riot police firing tear gas as the country awaited the results of Monday’s presidential election, the first after the fall of longtime leader Robert Mugabe.: photo by Mujahid Safodien/AP, 1 August 2018
The iconic K6 variant of a General Post Office red telephone kiosk that has been converted to contain a defibrillator in the Cotswolds village of Upper Slaughter.: photo by Andrew Testa / Panos via The Guardian, 31 July 2018
A structure burns out of control in the River Fire (Mendocino Complex) in Lakeport, California: Photo Fred Greaves: image via Reuters Pictures @reuterspictures, 1 August 2018
A full moon rises behind the Temple of Poseidon before a lunar eclipse in Greece Photo @alkiskon: image via Reuters Pictures @reuterspictures, 1 August 2018
I Have Heard the Voice of God, and It Sounds Hella Like Another Freakin Huckabee on an Arkansas Duck Hunt in Efrat ("I’m speaking for myself and God”)
@realDonaldTrump delivers remarks at a “Make America Great Again” campaign rally at the Florida State Fairgrounds in Tampa Fl. #TrumpTampa : image via Doug Mills @dougmillsnyt, 31 July 2018
Hey! We are a real stupid people! And real dangerous too! Watch out all you Commie scum we're comin for ya! Yeah! Git some! U-S-A! We're Number One!! Locker Up! A duck died for our liberties on the head of our Great Presidente! All Hail Th'Emp! You da man boss drumpf!!
Supporters yell at @realDonaldTrump as he delivers remarks at a “Make America Great Again” campaign rally at the Florida State Fairgrounds in Tampa Fl. #TrumpTampa : image via Doug Mills @dougmillsnyt, 31 July 2018
Supporters of President Donald Trump shout down a CNN news crew before a rally in Tampa, Fla. Amid the “Trump 2020” placards, the “Women for Trump” signs and the “CNN SUCKS” T-shirts, the most inscrutable message that came out of Donald Trump’s Tampa rally on Tuesday evening was a letter, Q.: photo by Chris O’Meara/AP, 31 July 2018
@realDonaldTrump delivers remarks at a “Make America Great Again” campaign rally at the Florida State Fairgrounds in Tampa Fl. #TrumpTampa : image via Doug Mills @dougmillsnyt, 31 July 2018
@realDonaldTrump greets a young supporter as he arrives in Tampa Florida for a MAGA campaign rally.: image via Doug Mills @dougmillsnyt, 31 July 2018
@realDonaldTrump pumps his fist after his new Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert Wilkie is sworn-in by @VP Mike Pence in the Oval Office. At left applauding is Secretary of Defense James N. Mattis. Holding the bible is Julie Wilkie. #Veterans: image via Doug Mills @dougmillsnyt, 30 July 2018
Th'Emp Siempre: The Thousand Year Drumpfsreich - Invest Now, For Fun and Prayers and Profit!
lmao i found the dumbest meme ever: image via Fred Delicious @Fred_Delicious, 29 July 2018
My new painting – “Crossing the Swamp”
“Never give up. Never lower your light.
Never stop till the swamp is dry.” – Jon McNaughton; list of figures in the boat: Mattis, Ben Carson, President Trump,
Jeff Sessions, Mike Pence, Melania Trump, Mike Pompeo, Sarah Sanders,
Ivanka Trump, John Bolton, Kellyanne Conway, John K: image via Jon McNaughton @McNaughtonArt, 31 July 2018
A Date for Cheeseburgers in Jerusalem with Mike Huckabee, King David's Little Kosher Explainer
Ran into @JohnJHarwood of NBC at bfst at King David Hotel in Jerusalem. He was complaining
there was no bacon or sausage on the buffet. I explained Kosher to him,
and told him we'd meet up for cheeseburgers later.: image via Gov. Mike huckabeeVerifiedaccount @GovMikeHuckabee, 31 July 2018
We're So, Like Down Wif Dat Fab Kosher Splainin' Peckerwood Gov - He So, Like Gets It! If You Build It Swarms of Huckabees Will Come!! All over it!!
@GovMikeHuckabee ‘Jews building in Judea and Samaria will bring peace and prosperity to the Arabs’ He gets it! Fabulous having the Gov. visit #Efrat, lay cement for another building in our ancestral homeland. The #indigenous Jews are back! An inspiration for all indigenous people!: tweet via Avi Abelow @AviAbelow, 1 August 2018
@GovMikeHuckabee ‘Jews building in Judea and Samaria will bring peace and prosperity to the Arabs’ He gets it! Fabulous having the Gov. visit #Efrat, lay cement for another building in our ancestral homeland. The #indigenous Jews are back! An inspiration for all indigenous people!: image via Avi Abelow @AviAbelow,
GAZA: Israeli planes hit 25 targets in response to Gaza rocket fire - @AFP / @saidkhatib: image via Confict News @Conflicts, 20 June 2018
Former Arkansas governor Mike
Huckabee speaks during a ceremony marking the construction of a new
housing complex in the Israeli settlement of Efrat in the occupied West
Bank on 1 August.: photo by Amir Cohen/Reuters, 1 August 2018
Mike Huckabee says he dreams of 'holiday home' in Israeli settlement: Former Arkansas governor made comment when laying a ceremonial brick at settlement in the occupied West Bank: Oliver Holmes in Efrat for The Guardian, 1 August 2018
Mike Huckabee,
the former governor of Arkansas, has laid a ceremonial brick at a
Jewish settlement in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and said he might
one day buy a “holiday home” there.
The two-time Republican presidential hopeful and father of the White House press secretary, Sarah Sanders, used a cement trowel to pave a wall in the community of Efrat as a symbolic gesture of support.
Anthony Scaramucci, who spent 11 days as the US president's communications director, was also due to attend, according to the event’s organisers, but minutes before the press conference they said he was sick and could not make it.
“I’m building because I one day might want to purchase a holiday home here in Efrat,” he told journalists at an event supported by settler organisations.
“If President Trump could be here today, he’d be a very happy man,” he said, standing in front of a red sign that said “Build Israel Great Again”, a twist on Donald Trump’s campaign slogan.
“I certainly can say that the president would be very proud to see beautiful, wonderful, thriving neighbourhoods being built,” said Huckabee, who has visited Israel since he was 17 and has been an outspoken settlement backer.
Mike Huckabee lays a brick at a new housing complex in the West Bank settlement of Efrat, on 1 August.: photo by Oded Balilty/AP, 1 August 2018
Trump would have been pleased to join him, he said, “because he is a builder and he loves to see construction sites”.
"Plus he likes big trucks a lot."
But the evangelical Christian added: “I’m not speaking for my government. I’m speaking for myself and God."
"Plus he likes big trucks a lot."
But the evangelical Christian added: “I’m not speaking for my government. I’m speaking for myself and God."
"I consider the settlements as part of
Israel," he added. "Definitely. yes."
Yigal Dilmoni, who works for the Yesha Council, a coalition of municipal council from Jewish settlements, attended the bricklaying event and said settlers felt they had support from the Trump administration.
“When Trump got inside the White House, something changed between the United States and Israel,” he said. "We took over, but keep that part quiet - for now."
Israel captured and occupied the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem in the 1967 war with Jordan, Egypt and Syria. It left Gaza in 2005 but maintains control over most of the West Bank, where the Palestinians have limited self-rule and are excluded from certain roads built for settlers.
There are more than half a million Israelis in the West Bank and East Jerusalem in settlements regarded as illegal by the international community. Violence between settlers and Palestinians is common.
Huckabee said settlement building in Efrat was “really a bridge to peace”.
Great Murican Fascist Art #28881 - Looks like an Arkansas duck hunt to me!
My new painting – “Crossing the Swamp”
“Never give up. Never lower your light.
Never stop till the swamp is dry.” – Jon McNaughton; list of figures in the boat: Mattis, Ben Carson, President Trump,
Jeff Sessions, Mike Pence, Melania Trump, Mike Pompeo, Sarah Sanders,
Ivanka Trump, John Bolton, Kellyanne Conway, John K: image via Jon McNaughton @McNaughtonArt, 31 July 2018
Me trying to grab extra ketchup packets even though they already put some in my Big Mac meal: image via Fred Delicious @Fred_Delicious, 29 July 2018
Yo Jesus Hon - GTFO!
I've
had enough of Jesus Christ being kicked out of everything, replaced by
LGBTQ and Islamic propaganda. When push comes to shove, American
Christians will stand for their rights.: image via Jon McNaughton @McNaughtonArt, 29 July 2018
That
pretty much sums it up. Sarah #Huckabee #Sanders, the most mendacious,
disgraceful WH press secretary in living memory. @PressSec: image via No Empty Suits @NoEmptySuits, 1 August 2018
@PressSec “Fighting back” sounds more and more like #ObstructionOfJustice. #Huckabee #Trump #Muller#DOJ #MSNBC #GOP: image via Winton @dudleydwrightly, 1 August 2018
Painting of Trump team 'Crossing the Swamp' touches off social media frenzy: image via Fox News @FoxNews, 31 July 2018
Gov. Mike Huckabee Retweeted Fox News
Gov. Mike Huckabee added,
Looks
like an Arkansas duck hunt to me! But I gotta get one of those--not
because of @realDonaldTrump but @PressSec rowing the boat. At least
they aren't up *^% creek and w/o a paddle!
Image via Gov. Mike HuckabeeVerifiedaccount @GovMikeHuckabee, 21 July 2018
@realDonaldTrump
let me make it perfectly clear I could care less what U do with
#America U crossed my line when U blasphemed the name of YAH and his
Christ my father and his house bringing the unclean things like
#MikeHuckabee #FranklinGraham #JerryFalwell,Jr #Pat Robertson: tweet via Demp Son of YAH @YAHsJUDGEMENT, 21 July 2018
Demp Son of YAH @YAHsJUDGEMENT
That
pretty much sums it up. Sarah #Huckabee #Sanders, the most mendacious,
disgraceful WH press secretary in living memory. @PressSec: image via No Empty Suits @NoEmptySuits, 1 August 2018
‘Cocaine users have to accept they are contributing to violent crime.’ A bus set on fire by gang members near Comuna 13 in Medellín last month.: photo by Joaquin Sarmiento/AFP/Getty Images, 1 August 2018
Medellín, the city of Pablo Escobar’s notorious drugs cartel.: photo by Anadolu Agency/Getty Images, 1 August 2018
Once upon a time in a place called #Colombia: image via Anaid, the Impatient @DIANA_VAL, 29 July 2018
Here in Colombia, the hypocrisy of western cocaine users is laid bare: Iman Amrani, The Guardian, 1 August 2018
As
I read the comments by the London mayor Sadiq Khan on middle-class
cocaine users fuelling violence in the capital last week, I was boarding
a flight to Medellín, in
Colombia. On Tuesday, Cressida Dick, the Metropolitan police
commissioner, followed up, calling liberal cocaine users hypocrites.
Reading about this debate in a notorious cartel city, I agreed largely
with Khan and Dick. But I couldn’t help but think about how much further
than London the consequences reach.
As a journalist I’ve covered issues to do with youth violence in our capital, and I have also found myself around the middle classes of which Khan speaks. The links are blindingly obvious. In areas of west London, for example, where extreme wealth is juxtaposed with tower blocks and estates, it’s not surprising to see how some young people from poorer communities are seduced by the lifestyles they can see within reach.
Violent crime in the UK rose in the past year, and the contributing factors are far more complex than simply the demand for cocaine and other drugs from the middle classes. However, estimates suggest that 875,000 people used cocaine in Britain in 2017-18, the highest number in a decade. If a gram costs up to £100, it’s safe to assume that many coke users have cash to burn.
Five years ago I arrived in Colombia to work as a teacher in a university, but also spent time working in networks engaging with sex workers and families who had lost loved ones in the violence between guerrillas, paramilitaries and narcos.
Despite the stereotypes about Colombia, cocaine was nowhere near as prevalent as people may think. There was one occasion at a football match where a guy in front of me pulled out a little knife to do a bump of coke, and I saw a few people taking the drug at a few nightclubs. But on the whole the only times I really saw it were on the rare occasions I mixed with westerners.
I remember going for drinks with some British graduates who were working in Comuna 13, a notoriously violent Medellín neighbourhood. We had a conversation about the legacy of Pablo Escobar's notorious drugs cartel, and one of the women expressed her distress at the damage that it had caused for the younger generations. She aspired to work in development and seemed pretty right-on. Half an hour later she was snorting coke in the corner of the bar. It was an attitude I grew familiar with among some researchers and tourists visiting Colombia.
There’s a wilful disconnect that people seem to be able to make between their actions and the bigger picture, and it’s pretty inexcusable coming from well-off, well-educated westerners who can’t really claim ignorance. I witnessed first-hand the effects of the drug war in Colombia, the legacy of corruption that the cocaine market financed, and the severe impact that it has had on the lives of people who want nothing to do with it. When I see people I know casually contributing to that I find it infuriating. But when I have raised my concerns, just about everyone I have spoken to dismisses the connection.
Drug violence was blamed for Mexico’s record of more than 29,000 murders in 2017. Civilians are caught in the crossfire in the war on drugs, and the demand is fuelled by white, middle-class drug users in North America and Europe.
As a journalist I’ve covered issues to do with youth violence in our capital, and I have also found myself around the middle classes of which Khan speaks. The links are blindingly obvious. In areas of west London, for example, where extreme wealth is juxtaposed with tower blocks and estates, it’s not surprising to see how some young people from poorer communities are seduced by the lifestyles they can see within reach.
Violent crime in the UK rose in the past year, and the contributing factors are far more complex than simply the demand for cocaine and other drugs from the middle classes. However, estimates suggest that 875,000 people used cocaine in Britain in 2017-18, the highest number in a decade. If a gram costs up to £100, it’s safe to assume that many coke users have cash to burn.
Five years ago I arrived in Colombia to work as a teacher in a university, but also spent time working in networks engaging with sex workers and families who had lost loved ones in the violence between guerrillas, paramilitaries and narcos.
Despite the stereotypes about Colombia, cocaine was nowhere near as prevalent as people may think. There was one occasion at a football match where a guy in front of me pulled out a little knife to do a bump of coke, and I saw a few people taking the drug at a few nightclubs. But on the whole the only times I really saw it were on the rare occasions I mixed with westerners.
I remember going for drinks with some British graduates who were working in Comuna 13, a notoriously violent Medellín neighbourhood. We had a conversation about the legacy of Pablo Escobar's notorious drugs cartel, and one of the women expressed her distress at the damage that it had caused for the younger generations. She aspired to work in development and seemed pretty right-on. Half an hour later she was snorting coke in the corner of the bar. It was an attitude I grew familiar with among some researchers and tourists visiting Colombia.
There’s a wilful disconnect that people seem to be able to make between their actions and the bigger picture, and it’s pretty inexcusable coming from well-off, well-educated westerners who can’t really claim ignorance. I witnessed first-hand the effects of the drug war in Colombia, the legacy of corruption that the cocaine market financed, and the severe impact that it has had on the lives of people who want nothing to do with it. When I see people I know casually contributing to that I find it infuriating. But when I have raised my concerns, just about everyone I have spoken to dismisses the connection.
Drug violence was blamed for Mexico’s record of more than 29,000 murders in 2017. Civilians are caught in the crossfire in the war on drugs, and the demand is fuelled by white, middle-class drug users in North America and Europe.
Some would argue that the war on drugs is failing and that legalisation would take the power away from the criminals. I’m inclined to agree, but this looks unlikely to happen soon.
Colombia’s new president, the rightwing, will be inaugurated next week.
His plans include an aggressive crackdown on coca cultivation in the
country, a proposal that was extremely popular with his supporters. It’s clear that western cocaine users have to accept they are
contributing to violent crime that has left hundreds of thousands dead
in Latin America over the past decades, and is spilling on to British
streets.
Perhaps the carnage in Latin America is a comfortable distance away from those snorting coke at weekend parties across the UK. If your money funds the market, you are complicit in the consequences.
Prisoners, Bogota, Colombia 80: photo by Marcelo Montecino, 27 June 2005
All Fall Apart
Perhaps the carnage in Latin America is a comfortable distance away from those snorting coke at weekend parties across the UK. If your money funds the market, you are complicit in the consequences.
"On the whole the only times I really saw it were on the rare occasions I
mixed with westerners.": photo via The Guardian, 1 August 2018
Prisoners, Bogota, Colombia 80: photo by Marcelo Montecino, 27 June 2005
#Zimbabwe Man shot dead in Zimbabwe as post-election clashes erupt #AFP Photo @mlongari: image via Aurelia BAILLY @AureliaBAILLY, 1 August 2018
By mid-afternoon much of the city centre resembled a war zone, with
military helicopters flying overhead, armoured personnel carriers moving
through burning debris and patrols of soldiers chasing stone throwers
down narrow streets. A pall of smoke filled the sky. On cracked
pavements there was glass and – in some places – blood.
Terrified commuters took cover in shop doorways or behind walls still
covered in posters bearing portraits of election candidates as volleys
of shots rang out and stones flew through the air. Witnesses reported
seeing soldiers beating people with makeshift batons.
*
“This is all the government’s fault,” Abigail Nganlo, a 29-year-old
nurse, told the Guardian as she sheltered from the clashes in a narrow
alley. “We are on our knees with the economic situation. People are so
angry. The [election] figures they are producing are fake. Where there
are 500 people at a polling station, they are saying 5,000.”
Alex
Kamasa, 30, an unemployed graduate, said: “They are desperate. It is a
big robbery. At least Mugabe rigged with brains. These guys rig like
school children. They insult us.”
- Zimbabwe election unrest turns deadly as army opens fire on protesters: Jason Burke in Harare for The Guardian, 1 August 2018
An injured man lies on a sidewalk on a street in Harare during clashes with police Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2018. Hundreds of angry opposition supporters outside Zimbabwe’s electoral commission were met by riot police firing tear gas as the country awaited the results of Monday’s presidential election, the first after the fall of longtime leader Robert Mugabe.: photo by Mujahid Safodien/AP, 1 August 2018
Things as they are
A woman with children runs down a street as opposition MDC
party supporters protest in Harare during clashes with police
Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2018. Hundreds of angry opposition supporters outside
Zimbabwe’s electoral commission were met by riot police firing tear gas
as the country awaited the results of Monday’s presidential election,
the first after the fall of longtime leader Robert Mugabe.: photo by AP, 1 August 2018
Military tanks patrol in Harare following demonstrations
by opposition party supporters in the capital, Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2018.
Gunfire, tear gas, and burning cars disrupted Harare’s streets Wednesday
as armed riot police and army troops clashed with rock-throwing
opposition supporters, protesting delays in announcing the results of
Monday’s presidential election, the first after the fall of longtime
leader Robert Mugabe.: photo by Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi/AP, 1 August 2018
Soldiers assault a man on a street in Harare following demonstrations by opposition party supporters in the capital, Wednesday, Aug, 1, 2018. Gunfire, tear gas, and burning cars disrupted Harare’s streets Wednesday as armed riot police and army troops clashed with rock-throwing opposition supporters, protesting delays in announcing the results of Monday’s presidential election, the first after the fall of longtime leader Robert Mugabe.: photo by Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi/AP, 1 August 2018
Police patrol as opposition MDC party supporters protest in the streets of Harare Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2018. Hundreds of angry opposition supporters outside Zimbabwe’s electoral commission were met by riot police firing tear gas as the country awaited the results of Monday’s presidential election, the first after the fall of longtime leader Robert Mugabe.: photo by AP, 1 August 2018
An uneasy silence is settling over Zimbabwe’s capital after people fled military and other security forces firing live ammunition to break up opposition protests over Monday’s election results. At least one person was killed.: photo by AP, 1 August 2018
Soldiers assault a man on a street in Harare following demonstrations by opposition party supporters in the capital, Wednesday, Aug, 1, 2018. Gunfire, tear gas, and burning cars disrupted Harare’s streets Wednesday as armed riot police and army troops clashed with rock-throwing opposition supporters, protesting delays in announcing the results of Monday’s presidential election, the first after the fall of longtime leader Robert Mugabe.: photo by Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi/AP, 1 August 2018
Police patrol as opposition MDC party supporters protest in the streets of Harare Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2018. Hundreds of angry opposition supporters outside Zimbabwe’s electoral commission were met by riot police firing tear gas as the country awaited the results of Monday’s presidential election, the first after the fall of longtime leader Robert Mugabe.: photo by AP, 1 August 2018
An uneasy silence is settling over Zimbabwe’s capital after people fled military and other security forces firing live ammunition to break up opposition protests over Monday’s election results. At least one person was killed.: photo by AP, 1 August 2018
Marco Longari in Zimbabwe: Prayers, and Things as they are
Things as they are.
Harare, 2018. The make of democracy. #photojournalism #documentary
#africa #zimbabwe #politics #afp: image via Marco Longari @mlongari, 29 July 2018
Zimbabwe, now.
Harare, 2018. The make of democracy. #photojournalism #documentary
#africa #zimbabwe #zimelections2018 #politics #democracy #afp: image via Marco Longari @mlongari, 29 July 2018
Prayer. Harare, 2018. The make of democracy. #photojournalism #documentary #africa #zimbabwe #zimelections2018 #religion #prayer #afp: image via Marco Longari @mlongari, 29 July 2018
Prayer II. Harare, 2018. The make of democracy. #photojournalism #documentary #africa #zimbabwe #zimelections2018 #religion #prayer #afp #blue: image via Marco Longari @mlongari, 29 July 2018
Prayer III. Harare, 2018. Election Day. The make of democracy. #photojournalism #documentary #africa #zimbabwe #zimelections2018 #church #religion #prayer #vote #afp: image via Marco Longari @mlongari, 29 July 2018
Prayer IV. Harare, 2018. Election Day. The make of democracy. #photojournalism #documentary #africa #zimbabwe #zimelections2018 #church #religion #prayer #vote #afp: image via Marco Longari @mlongari, 29 July 2018
All Fall Apart
#Zimbabwe Man shot dead in Zimbabwe as post-election clashes erupt #AFP Photo @mlongari: image via Aurelia BAILLY @AureliaBAILLY, 1 August 2018
By mid-afternoon much of the city centre resembled a war zone, with
military helicopters flying overhead, armoured personnel carriers moving
through burning debris and patrols of soldiers chasing stone throwers
down narrow streets. A pall of smoke filled the sky. On cracked
pavements there was glass and – in some places – blood.
Terrified commuters took cover in shop doorways or behind walls still
covered in posters bearing portraits of election candidates as volleys
of shots rang out and stones flew through the air. Witnesses reported
seeing soldiers beating people with makeshift batons.
*
“This is all the government’s fault,” Abigail Nganlo, a 29-year-old
nurse, told the Guardian as she sheltered from the clashes in a narrow
alley. “We are on our knees with the economic situation. People are so
angry. The [election] figures they are producing are fake. Where there
are 500 people at a polling station, they are saying 5,000.”
Alex
Kamasa, 30, an unemployed graduate, said: “They are desperate. It is a
big robbery. At least Mugabe rigged with brains. These guys rig like
school children. They insult us.”
- Zimbabwe election unrest turns deadly as army opens fire on protesters: Jason Burke in Harare for The Guardian, 1 August 2018
#Zimbabwe Man shot dead in Zimbabwe as post-election clashes erupt #AFP Photo @luistatophoto: image via Aurelia BAILLY @AureliaBAILLY, 1 August 2018
#Zimbabwe Man shot dead in Zimbabwe as post-election clashes erupt #AFP Photo @luistatophoto: image via #AFP Photo @AFPphoto, 1 August 2018
#Zimbabwe Man shot dead in Zimbabwe as post-election clashes erupt #AFP Photo @luistatophoto: image via #AFP Photo @AFPphoto, 1 August 2018
#Zimbabwe Man shot dead in Zimbabwe as post-election clashes erupt #AFP Photo @ZinyangePhoto: image via #AFP Photo @AFPphoto, 1 August 2018
The body of a man lies in the closed entrance of store
after he was shot as opposition party supporters and police clashed in
Harare, Zimbabwe, Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2018. Gunfire, tear gas, and
burning cars disrupted Harare’s streets Wednesday as armed riot police
and army troops clashed with rock-throwing opposition supporters,
protesting delays in announcing the results of Monday’s presidential
election, the first after the fall of longtime leader Robert Mugabe.: photo by Bram Janssen/AP, 1 August 2018
Zimbabweans run from riot police firing tear gas during protests in downtown Harare, Zimbabwe, Wednesday Aug. 1, 2018. Hundreds of angry opposition supporters outside Zimbabwe’s electoral commission were met by riot police firing tear gas on Wednesday as the country awaited the results of Monday’s presidential election, the first after the fall of longtime leader Robert Mugabe.: photo by Jerome Delay/AP, 1 August 2018
Opposition MDC party supporters burn election posters with Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa during protest in the streets of Harare Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2018. Hundreds of angry opposition supporters outside Zimbabwe’s electoral commission were met by riot police firing tear gas as the country awaited the results of Monday’s presidential election, the first after the fall of longtime leader Robert Mugabe.: photo by AP, 1 August 2018
Opposition MDC party supporters protest in the streets of Harare during clashes with police Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2018. Hundreds of angry opposition supporters outside Zimbabwe’s electoral commission were met by riot police firing tear gas as the country awaited the results of Monday’s presidential election, the first after the fall of longtime leader Robert Mugabe.: photo by AP, 1 August 2018
Opposition MDC party supporters protest in the streets of Harare during clashes with police Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2018. Hundreds of angry opposition supporters outside Zimbabwe’s electoral commission were met by riot police firing tear gas as the country awaited the results of Monday’s presidential election, the first after the fall of longtime leader Robert Mugabe.: photo by Mujahid Safodien/AP, 1 August 2018
Opposition MDC party supporters protest in the streets of Harare during clashes with police Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2018. Hundreds of angry opposition supporters outside Zimbabwe’s electoral commission were met by riot police firing tear gas as the country awaited the results of Monday’s presidential election, the first after the fall of longtime leader Robert Mugabe.: photo by Mujahid Safodien/AP, 1 August 2018
MDC party supporters protest in the streets of Harare during clashes with police Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2018. Hundreds of angry opposition supporters outside Zimbabwe’s electoral commission were met by riot police firing tear gas as the country awaited the results of Monday’s presidential election, the first after the fall of longtime leader Robert Mugabe.: photo by Mujahid Safodien/AP, 1 August 2018
Soldiers beat a protester outside the Movement for Democratic Change party headquarters in Harare.: photo by Mike Hutchings/Reuters, 1 August 2018
An army tank patrols on a street in Harare during protests by opposition party supporters Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2018. Hundreds of angry opposition supporters outside Zimbabwe’s electoral commission were met by riot police firing tear gas as the country awaited the results of Monday’s presidential election, the first after the fall of longtime leader Robert Mugabe.: photo by Mujahid Safodien/AP, 1 August 2018
Opposition MDC party supporters rip down an election banner of Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa during protest in the streets of Harare Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2018. Hundreds of angry opposition supporters outside Zimbabwe’s electoral commission were met by riot police firing tear gas as the country awaited the results of Monday’s presidential election, the first after the fall of longtime leader Robert Mugabe.: photo by AP, 1 August 2018
An armed soldier patrols a street in Harare during protests by opposition party supporters Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2018. Hundreds of angry opposition supporters outside Zimbabwe’s electoral commission were met by riot police firing tear gas as the country awaited the results of Monday’s presidential election, the first after the fall of longtime leader Robert Mugabe.: photo by Mujahid Safodien/AP, 1 August 2018
An armed soldier patrols a street in Harare during protests by opposition party supporters Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2018. Hundreds of angry opposition supporters outside Zimbabwe’s electoral commission were met by riot police firing tear gas as the country awaited the results of Monday’s presidential election, the first after the fall of longtime leader Robert Mugabe.: photo by Mujahid Safodien/AP, 1 August 2018
Opposition MDC party supporters run from police on a street in Harare during clashes Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2018. Hundreds of angry opposition supporters outside Zimbabwe’s electoral commission were met by riot police firing tear gas as the country awaited the results of Monday’s presidential election, the first after the fall of longtime leader Robert Mugabe.: photo by Mujahid Safodien/AP, 1 August 2018
Opposition MDC party supporters face off with a water canon in teargas on a street in Harare during clashes with police Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2018. Hundreds of angry opposition supporters outside Zimbabwe’s electoral commission were met by riot police firing tear gas as the country awaited the results of Monday’s presidential election, the first after the fall of longtime leader Robert Mugabe.: photo by Mujahid Safodien/AP, 1 August 2018
Things as they are
The iconic K6 variant of a General Post Office red telephone kiosk that has been converted to contain a defibrillator in the Cotswolds village of Upper Slaughter.: photo by Andrew Testa / Panos via The Guardian, 31 July 2018
every night now I lie awake wondering and wondering
about things as they seem to be and as they once were
and now are or seem to be
assaulting the walls of the sepulchre with questions
for example in the event of inclement weather
and what other kind is there any more
will pets be allowed into the defibrillation kiosk
and what to do what to do O what to do
should there ever appear to be a suspicious looking gel
smeard upon the latch on the kiosk door
Update so far. #RiverFire has scorched 33,398 acres and is 38% contained, while the #RanchFire has scorched 61,514 acres and is only 15% contained. #wildfires
#MendocinoComplex: image via Marcus Yam @yamphoto 11:02 PM, 1 August
2018
Update so far. #RiverFire has scorched 33,398 acres and is 38% contained, while the #RanchFire has scorched 61,514 acres and is only 15% contained. #wildfires
#MendocinoComplex: image via Marcus Yam @yamphoto 11:02 PM, 1 August
2018
Update so far. #RiverFire has scorched 33,398 acres and is 38% contained, while the #RanchFire has scorched 61,514 acres and is only 15% contained. #wildfires
#MendocinoComplex: image via Marcus Yam @yamphoto 11:02 PM, 1 August
2018
Update so far. #RiverFire has scorched 33,398 acres and is 38% contained, while the #RanchFire has scorched 61,514 acres and is only 15% contained. #wildfires
#MendocinoComplex: image via Marcus Yam @yamphoto 11:02 PM, 1 August
2018
Lost colleagues, exhausting work and 'hotter than hell': On the front lines of the #CarrFire, by @LouisSahagun: image via Marcus Yam @yamphoto 11:02 PM, 10:58 PM, 1 August
2018
California fires rage, and Gov. Jerry Brown offers grim view of fiery future. #riverfire #mendocinocomplex: image via Marcus Yam @yamphoto, 1 August
2018
Update so far. #RiverFire has scorched 31,898 acres and is now 38% contained. #RanchFire has scorched 59,014 acres and is 15% contained. #MendocinoComplex: image via Marcus Yam @yamphoto, 31 July
2018
Even the chickens had to evacuate. They were seeking refuge in the garage pictured in the background, but the #RiverFire destroyed it. #MendocinoComplex: image via Marcus Yam @yamphoto, 31 July
2018
Now I think I know why gods
ReplyDeleteAre so partial to heights—to mountain
Tops and spires, to proud iroko trees
And thorn-guarded holy bombax,
Why petty household divinities
Will sooner perch on a rude board
Strung precariously from brittle rafters
Of a thatched roof than sit squarely
On safe earth.
Chinua Achebe
Yes, the wisdom of the gods - and of our simian ancestors, before they were trickt into descending from the trees, in pursuit of high speed wireless.
ReplyDelete