Bunny Wailer Interview with Colin Grant

BUNNY WAILER

In a rare interview Colin Grant catches up with reggae legend Bunny Wailer on his tour bus at the start of a European tour. Discussing his recent song "Don't Touch the President." about the debacle over the hunt and arrest of the mafia don, Christopher "Dudus" Coke, Bunny also talks about his own controversial prsion sentence for marijuana posession in 1967 which produced one of his greatest songs "Battering Down Sentence."


To listen to the interview:

 

Download Bunny_Wailer_Interview.mp3

About the author: 

 Colin Grant is a BBC radio producer and independent historian. His first book, Negro with a Hat: The Rise and Fall of Marcus Garvey, was published in 2008 (Jonathan Cape/OUP). His memoir Bageye at the Wheel, an extract of which, ‘Lino’, will be printed in Granta 111: Going Back, will be published in February 2012.

Giggle Magazine

Short Story Competition

Deadline: Wed 26 Jan 2011

Welcome to Giggle Magazines' first short story competition. Send us your wild and wonderful words, make them count and make them funny. We want to giggle!

Giggle Magazine is a platform publication offering a voice to Artists, Writers,
Comedians, Photographers and Musicians. Giggle Magazine provides a promotional
outlet for fresh talent in a competitive industry, simultaneously we provide high
quality entertainment for readers in Wales and the South West of England and the
opportunity for struggling talent to earn a bit of money promoting their own material
and the work of others.

1st Prize: £50 plus publication in February issue and copies of the magazine.

2nd and 3rd Prizes: Publication in April issue and copies of the magazine.

Entries must be no more than 1000 words in length, typed, double spaced, and have the author’s name, address and contact details on the cover page.

Please also include a word count at the end of the manuscript. We can only accept stories in English. Entries over the word count will be disqualified. No correspondence will be entered into.

Entries may be on any topic, but remember, we want to laugh.

Entries must be previously unpublished. Submissions are accepted from both published and unpublished writers.

The entry fee for each story is £3 sterling, please pay by cheque if possible, and make it payable to ‘Giggle Magazine’. For alternative payment methods contact Jess Dando. You may enter as many stories as you wish.

Entries may be sent be email or post.
Winners will be notified in early February.

Deadline: 26th of January

Contact Details:

Jessica Dando
No 3 Arthur Street
Cardiff
CF24 1QR

Tel: 029 2030 2196
Email: jessdando@giggle-mag.com

For more information and updates visit the website: www.giggle-magazine.co.uk

Writing Collaboration Competition

Have you ever produced, or would you like to produce, a piece of writing with another person? Have you ever worked with an illustrator?

Leaf are seeking collaborations – between two or more writers, writer and artist / printmaker/illustrator, photographer – or any other kind of collaboration you’ve taken part in.

You’re welcome to embark on a brand new piece, or submit an extract from a previous project. Pieces of writing should be no longer than 1000 words each. Please attach any art as jpegs at a low resolution (if we print it we will ask for another high res version).

Prizes: £150 first prize (shared between the collaborators) and publication in The Leaf Writers’ Magazine. Further successful entries may be published in the magazine. Published authors will also receive a free copy of the magazine.

You can enter online or by post: if you enter by post and would like your piece returned to you, please provide a stamped, self- addressed envelope.

 

To enter: £3 per entry, 4 entries for £10. You can use your voucher from the magazine as payment or part payment.

Please include both/all of the authors’ names on your entry form.

Enter by post: you can download an entry form (word document) here

or just send your details and a cheque. click here for postal address

 

Enter online: pay via paypal (they take credit cards if you don't have a paypal account). The button will take you to paypal and then you just email us the writing. Please send your work as an attachment to contact@leafbooks.co.uk

For a single entry (£3.00):

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For 4 entries (£10):

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Closing date 28 Feb 2011

*****************************

 

Poetry Competition - Closes 31 st January 2011

We invite you to submit poems (max 35 lines) on any subject.

Prizes: Winning and outstanding entries will be published in the Leaf Writers’ Magazine. These, and further commended entries, will also be published in an anthology. Winner receives £150 and a free copy of the anthology and the magazine. One runner up receives a free copy of the anthology and the magazine. Further successful entrants published in the magazine will get a free copy, and commended authors in the anthology will get a free eBook and will be able to preorder the book at a reduced rate.

Entry Fee: £3 per entry, 4 entries for £10.

You’re entitled to one free competition entry if you’ve bought the magazine.

Enter by post: you can download an entry form (word document) here

or just send your details and a cheque. click here for postal address

 

Enter online: pay via paypal (they take credit cards if you don't have a paypal account). The button will take you to paypal and then you just email us the writing. Please send your work as an attachment to contact@leafbooks.co.uk

For a single entry (£3.00):

leafbooks@yahoo.co.uk" type="hidden" /> leafbooks@yahoo.co.uk" type="hidden" />

 

For 4 entries (£10):

leafbooks@yahoo.co.uk" type="hidden" /> leafbooks@yahoo.co.uk" type="hidden" />

Closes 31 st January 2011

*****************************

Young Christian

 SHORT STORY CONTEST

$2,250 in cash awards! 

Living Lights Publishing wants to inspire young Christians to take up the pen and write from the heart.  The purpose of this writing contest is first and foremost to glorify the Almighty and, secondly, to create a culture of quality writing, reflecting a Biblical world view.

THEME:   In today's world, we see economic hardship and other troubles all around us, whether in Europe, North America, or the developing world.  How has your faith grown through difficult situations and hard times?  How has God helped you or your family with a particular great need?  Judges will be looking for well-written, heart-warming, realistic stories that portray the importance of family, sincere Christian values, and faith in God.

 

 

~SHORT STORY CATEGORIES~

Young Professional (17 thru 90+):

• 1st Prize: $600
• 2nd Prize: $300
• Three Runner Ups: $150 each.
• Two Honorable Mentions

Aspiring Writer (12 thru 16):

• 1st Prize: $300
• 2nd Prize: $200
• Three Runner Ups: $100 each.
• Two Honorable Mentions

English as Second Language (International):

• 1st Prize: $100
• See Rules and Requirements for more info.

NOTE:  Every entrant will receive a copy of the winning entries in booklet form at no additional cost (actual shipping extra).

 

 

~SUBMISSION GUIDELINES~

• Genre: NonFiction -- Short Story
• Cost:  $10 for early birds (if submitted by January 15, 2011); $15 standard entry fee.
• Discounts available for MOMYS.com families and groups of 7+.  Click here for details. 
• DEADLINE: March 15, 2011.  We are accepting entries NOW.
• Length: 1,500 to 3,000 words.
• Content:  First or third person true story accounts of how God has helped you and/or your family in a time of great hardship.
• Time:  Winners announced April 15, 2011 on this website. Writing awards disbursed with a booklet featuring the winning entries on June 15, 2011.
• Rules:  See the Contest Rules page for more details.

Group rates for multiple submissions (Sunday school/Sabbath school teachers, pastors, youth directors, etc.) are available. For more information email Naomi O'Donovan at editor@livinglightspublishing.com or call 353 (0) 28 34546, leaving a message if necessary.

 

 

~COPYRIGHT INFORMATION~

Simultaneous submissions are allowed.  Authors retain copyright; submitting manuscript in contest indicates the author grants LLP one-time rights to publish the winning entries in booklet form.  See the rules and requirement page for more details.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Book review: 'Haiti Noir'

The anthology edited by Edwidge Danticat puts a uniquely Haitian spin on the crime genre.

A Haitian band performs at a voodoo festival. (Daniel Morel / Associated Press / January 2, 2011)

By Carolyn Kellogg Los Angeles Times

January 2, 2011

 

Haiti Noir

Edited by Edwidge Danticat

Akashic Books: 309 pp., $24.95 hardcover, $15.95 paper

---

If criminality is universal, crime is local. That's what the successful noir anthology series by Akashic Books has shown: Starting with "Brooklyn Noir" in 2004, the small independent has published dozens of city-focused noir collections — from Los Angeles to Istanbul — celebrating crime, criminals and the people who write about them so well.

The latest comes with a literary pedigree: "Haiti Noir" is edited by Edwidge Danticat, a much-lauded young Haitian American writer who has received a National Book Critics Circle Award and a MacArthur "genius grant" fellowship. A handful of the contributors may be familiar — Danticat herself, for instance, and Madison Smartt Bell — but most are from the far-flung, multilingual Haitian diaspora.

Danticat had nearly finished gathering the stories for this book when Haiti was hit by a massive earthquake on Jan. 12, 2010. More than 200,000 people died, and an estimated 1.1 million were left homeless.

"Each story is now, on top of everything else, a kind of preservation corner," Danticat writes in her introduction, "a snapshot of places that in some cases have become irreparably altered."

These snapshots are of the criminal element, of the blithely privileged, of lives on the edge of poverty or disaster, of envy and greed and corruption and lust and pure bum luck — all components of classic noir. Both "Rosanna" by Josaphat-Robert Large and "The Harem" by Ibi Aanu Zoboi (Zoboi's is one of three stories dealing with the earthquake) have sharp twists that fit them into the classic noir mold. Marie Ketsia Theodore-Pharel's "Mercy at the Gate" has an equally classic murky morality.

But other stories stretch the definition of noir beyond the criminal and into something more ethereal. Ghosts and gods figure in these narratives, as do the ideas that powerful emotions — particularly vengeance — can empower uncanny action. A story may feature a police inspector, but that doesn't mean it won't get weird.

The strangeness comes from the legends and myths connected to voodoo, or, more properly, vodou. The American fascination with the religion is satirized in Mark Kurlansky's "The Leopard of Ti Morne," which begins: "Izzy Goldstein felt in his heart that he was really Haitian, although no one who knew him understood why he felt that way. 'Izzy, you're Jewish,' his mother would say with sorrow…." The author of the bestsellers "Cod" and "Salt," Kurlansky covered Haiti and the Caribbean for eight years as a journalist.

Kurlansky's story and a few others work as cultural crossing-gates, speaking to American expectations and providing entry points. Though many of the books in Akashic's noir series seem geared to reflect a city back to its readers — Koreatown, Los Feliz and the Fairfax district make appearances in "Los Angeles Noir" — "Haiti Noir" is presenting a country mostly to readers who never have been there.

Is it fair, then, to use the criminal side to do so? Well, noir tales are classically delicious, with bad people doing bad things, in settings where morality has lost its compass. But for Haiti, this French film-influenced noir is secondary. When Haiti was established as the hemisphere's first black-led republic in 1804 by former slaves, Danticat writes, "even the Polish soldiers who deserted the French to fight alongside Haitians during their battle for independence were considered 'noirs.'" "Noir," she tells us, meant "citizen," regardless of race; "blanc," the word meaning "white" (in Creole, "blan"), was applied to all foreigners, regardless of race.

This book seems to be wrapping that Haitian idea of noir into these stories, resulting in a smaller body count than in other books in the series. Several stories are about women trying to secure control; some hinge on the tensions between those who have resources and those who don't; others are about growing up with the tragic miscalculations of youth. There is some unevenness — some stories are simply less finished than others — but that's common to the series.

What is more interesting is that Danticat has put together a collection possessing classic noir elements — crimes and criminals and evil deeds only sometimes punished — but also something else, perhaps uniquely Haitian too.

carolyn.kellogg@latimes.com

Copyright © 2010, Los Angeles Times

Op-Ed Columnist

The New Voodoo

By PAUL KRUGMAN

Published: December 30, 2010

  Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times

Paul Krugman

• Read All Comments (324) »

 

Hypocrisy never goes out of style, but, even so, 2010 was something special. For it was the year of budget doubletalk — the year of arsonists posing as firemen, of people railing against deficits while doing everything they could to make those deficits bigger.

And I don’t just mean politicians. Did you notice the U-turn many political commentators and other Serious People made when the Obama-McConnell tax-cut deal was announced? One day deficits were the great evil and we needed fiscal austerity now now now, never mind the state of the economy. The next day $800 billion in debt-financed tax cuts, with the prospect of more to come, was the greatest thing since sliced bread, a triumph of bipartisanship.

Still, it was the politicians — and, yes, that mainly meant Republicans — who took the lead on the hypocrisy front.

In the first half of 2010, impassioned speeches denouncing federal red ink were the G.O.P. norm. And concerns about the deficit were the stated reason for Republican opposition to extension of unemployment benefits, or for that matter any proposal to help Americans cope with economic hardship.

But the tone changed during the summer, as B-day — the day when the Bush tax breaks for the wealthy were scheduled to expire — began to approach. My nomination for headline of the year comes from the newspaper Roll Call, on July 18: “McConnell Blasts Deficit Spending, Urges Extension of Tax Cuts.”

How did Republican leaders reconcile their purported deep concern about budget deficits with their advocacy of large tax cuts? Was it that old voodoo economics — the belief, refuted by study after study, that tax cuts pay for themselves — making a comeback? No, it was something new and worse.

To be sure, there were renewed claims that tax cuts lead to higher revenue. But 2010 marked the emergence of a new, even more profound level of magical thinking: the belief that deficits created by tax cuts just don’t matter. For example, Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona — who had denounced President Obama for running deficits — declared that “you should never have to offset the cost of a deliberate decision to reduce tax rates on Americans.”

It’s an easy position to ridicule. After all, if you never have to offset the cost of tax cuts, why not just eliminate taxes altogether? But the joke’s on us because while this kind of magical thinking may not yet be the law of the land, it’s about to become part of the rules governing legislation in the House of Representatives.

As the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities points out, the incoming House majority plans to make changes in the “pay-as-you-go” rules — rules that are supposed to enforce responsible budgeting — that effectively implement Mr. Kyl’s principle. Spending increases will have to be offset, but revenue losses from tax cuts won’t. Oh, and revenue increases, even if they come from the elimination of tax loopholes, won’t count either: any spending increase must be offset by spending cuts elsewhere; it can’t be paid for with additional taxes.

So if taxes don’t matter, does the incoming majority have a realistic plan to cut spending? Of course not. Republicans say that they want to cut $100 billion in spending, which is itself small change in a $3.6 trillion federal budget. But they also say that defense, Medicare and Social Security — all the big-ticket items — are off the table. So they’re talking about a 20 percent cut in what’s left, which includes things like running the judicial system and operating the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; they have offered no specifics about where the cuts will fall.

How will this all end? I have seen the future, and it’s on Long Island, where I grew up.

Nassau County — the part of Long Island that directly abuts New York City — is one of the wealthiest counties in America and has an unemployment rate well below the national average. So it should be weathering the economic storm better than most places.

But a year ago, in one of the first major Tea Party victories, the county elected a new executive who railed against budget deficits and promised both to cut taxes and to balance the budget. The tax cuts happened; the promised spending cuts didn’t. And now the county is in fiscal crisis.

Now the federal government has a lot more flexibility than a county government: it needn’t, and shouldn’t, balance its budget each year. The deficits of the past two years have actually been a good thing, helping to support the economy in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis.

But Nassau County shows how easily responsible government can collapse in this country, now that one of our major parties believes in budget magic. All it takes is disgruntled voters who don’t know what’s at stake — and we have plenty of those. Banana republic, here we come.

______________________________________

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2010

Dear Paul Krugman: Voodoo is a religion, not another name for evil irrational bullshit.

Everyone of a certain age well remembers the arrival into the English language of the phrase "voodoo economics".

30 years later, though, isn't it time for critics of "trickle-down" theories to decouple their economic polemics from religious invectives? Voodoo, you see, is a religion. In fact, it has at least as many adherents as Judaism.

Voodoo is more properly spelled Vodou, as is done in Haiti, or Vodun, as is common in West Africa. In the Western Hemisphere, Vodou is not only widespread in Haiti, but is also found, among other places, in the US states of Louisiana, Florida and New York.

In the Americas, Vodou is closely related to the Candomble religion found in Brazil, and the Santeria religion of Puerto Rico and Cuba. Like Vodou, both Candomble and Santeria are found elsewhere, including in many parts of the US. Most major American cities now have Botanicas, shops that cater to practitioners of Afro-Carribean religions generally, as well as to all sufficiently curious spiritual seekers, or just people interested in buying prayer candles, books by Alan Kardec, incense, etc.

In Africa, Vodun is just one of many surviving strands of African Traditional Religion. Benin, Togo, Nigeria, and Ghana all have large populations of adherents of Vodun. Estimates of the total number of practitioners of African Traditional Religion go as high as 200 million (or even higher), making it one of the largest religious traditions in the world.

It is especially galling to see fuck-the-poor/let-them-eat-cake economics characterized as "Voodoo", when the fact is that Christianity, and this should hardly be news to anyone, is the religion most closely associated with the supply-side crowd.

So whatever value there might be in Paul Krugman's most recent editorial, titled "The New Voodoo", everything that he says is irrevocably tainted by Krugman's egregious callousness toward a religion he unthinkingly derides.

The most dangerous and pernicious forms of bigotry are those that pass as socially acceptable. And this acceptance is due to the fact that people are perfectly comfortable engaging in and perpetuating certain kinds of bigotry because, in their ignorance, they do not take the targets of their bigotry seriously.

Links related to Vodou and African Traditional Religion:

• Vodou Priestesses & Priests Being Lynched in Haiti
• Blood Libel Against Africans & African Traditional Religion
• Al Jazeera's New Racist Documentary: "Magic & Murder"
• Support Haiti. Support Vodou. Buy Barbancourt Rum.
• Angelique Kidjo on Voodoo and Catholicism
• "What exactly is it about traditional religion that we fear?"
• "Witchcraft holds out against modern age"
• "Africa became Christian by submission, not by conversion"
• "The first thing Christianity did in Africa . . . ."
• More on Traditional African Religions
• Fela Kuti and traditional African religion

[the above image is from the Robson Khalaf's blog Povo do Santo.]

POSTED BY APULEIUS PLATONICUS AT 12/31/2010 04:30:00 PM 

The world's broken promises to Haiti

A year on from the earthquake, more than a million are still living in tents and less than a tenth of aid cash has been delivered

• Comments (31)

• 
• • Robert Muggah
  • guardian.co.uk, Friday 31 December 2010 17.11 GMT
  • Article history

Patients suffering from cholera in Haiti. Despite calls from doctors for extra measures to prevent aid workers from transferring the disease to local people, the disease is spreading unchecked in the 'Republic of NGOs'. Photograph: Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images

 

Despite breathless promises to "build back better", the international community has made only incremental progress in Haiti over the past 12 months. Our failures are especially stark when measured against the genuine displays of global solidarity with Haiti in the wake of the the January earthquake and financial pledges to reconstruction three months later, in March.

Even if some allowance is made for the extraordinary devastation wrought by the disasters, few disagree that the Haitian government's handling of the situation has been spectacularly poor. Likewise, with few exceptions, the international aid sector's record has been dismal. Notwithstanding efforts to signal political commitment to supporting Haiti's transition – including UN secretary general Ban Ki Moon's appointment of Bill Clinton as special envoy – few tangible outcomes have yet to be materialise. Haitians themselves are growing disillusioned and impatient, and signs of violence are apparent in the streets of wrecked Port-au-Prince.

And while 2010 was grim, there are few guarantees that 2011 will be any better.

Veteran disaster relief and development workers acknowledge that the process of recovery and reconstruction takes time. But in Haiti, donors have been especially slow in identifying priorities, disbursing funds and supporting (rather than substituting for) local capacity. Although the international community promised almost $10bn in aid earlier in 2010, very little has actually arrived. What is more, support appears to be dwindling. In 2010, more than 35 countries and multilateral agencies pledged roughly $3.8bn to reconstruction. Going into 2011, pledges have diminished to 20 countries amounting to $1.5bn.

The coordination and commitment deficit is hardly new to Haiti. Even before the earthquake, longstanding and newer donors were hoping to taper down their security and development contributions. While the UN Stabilisation Mission in Haiti's (Minustah) mandate has been repeatedly extended, major troop and police contributing states (such as Brazil), as well as aid providers such as Canada and the United States, were searching for an exit strategy.

In the meantime, the Haitian Interim Recovery Commission – the government mechanism designed to coordinate and prioritise international investment – has failed to lift off. And while the commission approved some $1.6bn in projects in August 2010, it is not clear whether these initiatives can be sustained much beyond 2011.

Taken together, less than a tenth of the total amount promised has even arrived in Haiti, much less been spent.

Also worrying is the way in which development aid agencies are resorting to old practices, including preferential treatment of their own contractors. On the grounds of minimising the risk of wasting aid through corruption, "no bid" contracting is now the norm. This results in serious distortions in aid allocations: out of every $100 pledged by USAID, for example, Haitian firms are awarded less than $2. Other major donors are following suit. This runs counter to the now widely-held view among development professionals that supporting local capacity and ingenuity is key to sustainable successful outcomes.

As most Haiti watchers know all too well, the situation before the earthquake was dire. Despite meagre economic gains in 2009, the country was at the very bottom of virtually every international index. And while this "Republic of NGOs" was visited by massive promises of assistance and an additional 500 relief agencies in 2010, Haiti's three horsemen of the apocalypse – displacement, disease and instability – have brought the nation to its knees.

Almost 12 months after the earthquake, there are still an estimated 1.3 million people living in tents, waiting to be relocated to new houses. Recent household survey data revealed how, in the months after the quake, these population groups were the most food insecure. Less than a third of them claimed to have had access to international assistance, and most managed to survive owing to resilient social networks, including remittances from Montreal to Miami.

In the meantime, a cholera epidemic has killed over 2,500, infected over 100,000 and could kill thousands more, if not immediately contained. According to epidemiologists, the pathway of the epidemic since October – running as it has from north to the central and southern regions – suggests that it has spread virtually unhindered. Water purification tablets, improved sanitation and small adaptations in personal hygiene could effectively control its movement.

Finally, the country continues to be wracked by political instability. The lack of leadership and poor handling of the elections have been reported on extensively. Most of the 18 presidential candidates – some with links to the former regime of Duvalier dictators (father and son) – proved incapable of providing a compelling vision for Haiti's masses. The persistent allegations of fraud and intimidation during the electoral cycle were as predictable as they were depressing. The poor way in which the vote count was managed and the weak response of outsiders (notably, with the OAS and Minustah refusing to acknowledge the full extent of "irregularities") guarantee continued unrest in 2011.

The international community could not stop the earthquake, but surely it can deliver on its promise to help Haitians reconstruct their battered country.

Hearing the voices of sex workers

Posted on April 19, 2010 by Brett| Leave a comment

I’ve written a bit about sex work and the decriminalisation of sex work, on this blog. One thing that really stands out for me, is how seldom the voices of sex workers themselves are heard. So I thought I’d feature some of the best examples I’ve come across of sex workers presenting their own stories and views.

I love this simple but very effective video by the New York based advocacy organisation, Sex Work Awareness. It’s called I am a Sex Worker:

Quite a lot longer, is this video produced jointly by Witness and the Healthy Options Project Skopje (HOPS) campaign, promoting zero-tolerance of violence against sex workers in Macedonia:

 

Moving away from video for a moment, it’s really worth reading a recent publication by Akina Mama wa Afrika, called When I Dare to be Powerful. It’s part of a rising sex-worker movement in East Africa, and has been labelled a sex-worker oral herstory. It was written by Zawadi Nyong’o and edited by Christine Butegwa and Solome Nakaweesi-Kimbugwe. It can be found here, on the site of the Global Network of Sex Work Projects.

Also have a look at this article on Reuters AlertNet, about sex workers in East Africa rising against violence and prejudice.

Finally, back to video. South Africa is currently re-evaluating its laws on adult sex work. Organisations representing sex workers, such as the Sex Worker Education and Advocacy Task Force (SWEAT) and Sisonke, are advocating for decriminalisation of sex work. But others are promoting a model similar to the one adopted in Sweden, where it is not illegal to be a sex worker, but the buying of sex is criminalised — so the focus is on punishing the client, rather than the sex worker.

It may sound like a good idea in theory — but many sex workers disagree. Here is Swedish sex worker, Pye Jacobsson, sharing her views about why this model is bad for sex workers. It’s called, We Want to Save You (and if you don’t appreciate it, you will be punished)!

 

That video was produced by the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (HCLU) and the Sex Workers rights Advocacy Network (SWAN) in Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged Sex work, decriminalisation, decriminalization, Sweat, Sisonke, HOPS, HCLU, SWAN, Witness, Sex Work Awareness, Akina Mama wa Afrika. Bookmark the permalink.

December 31, 2010 7:50 AM

How WikiLeaks Enlightened Us in 2010

Posted by Joshua Norman 37 comments

(Credit: Getty Images/Oliver Lang)

 

WikiLeaks has brought to light a series of disturbing insinuations and startling truths in the last year, some earth-shattering, others simply confirmations of our darkest suspicions about the way the world works. Thanks to founder Julian Assange's legal situation in Sweden (and potentially the United States) as well as his media grandstanding, it is easy to forget how important and interesting some of WikiLeaks' revelations have been.

WikiLeaks revelations from 2010 have included simple gossip about world leaders: Russia's PM Vladimir Putin is playing Batman to President Dmitri Medvedev's Robin; Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is crazy and was once slapped by a Revolutionary Guard chief for being so; Libya's Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi has a hankering for his voluptuous blond Ukrainian nurse; and France's President Nicholas Sarkozy simply can't take criticism. 

CBS News Special Report: WikiLeaks

However, WikiLeaks' revelations also have many  major implications for world relations. The following is a list of the more impactful WikiLeaks revelations from 2010, grouped by region.

The United States

- The U.S. Army considered WikiLeaks a national security threat as early as 2008, according to documents obtained and posted by WikiLeaks in March, 2010.

- Then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and his top commanders repeatedly, knowingly lied to the American public about rising sectarian violence in Iraq beginning in 2006, according to the cross-referencing of WikiLeaks' leaked Iraq war documents and former Washington Post Baghdad Bureau Chief Ellen Knickmeyer's recollections.

- The Secretary of State's office encouraged U.S. diplomats at the United Nations to spy on their counterparts, including collecting data about the U.N. secretary general, his team and foreign diplomats, including credit card account numbers, according to documents from WikiLeaks U.S. diplomatic cable release. Later cables reveal the CIA draws up an annual "wish-list" for the State Department, which one year included the instructions to spy on the U.N.

- The Obama administration worked with Republicans during his first few months in office to protect Bush administration officials facing a criminal investigation overseas for their involvement in establishing policies that some considered torture. A "confidential" April 17, 2009, cable sent from the US embassy in Madrid obtained by WikiLeaks details how the Obama administration, working with Republicans, leaned on Spain to derail this potential prosecution.

- WikiLeaks released a secret State Department cable that provided a list of sites around the world vital to U.S. national security, from mines in Africa to labs in Europe.

Iraq

- A U.S. Army helicopter allegedly gunned down two journalists in Baghdad in 2007. WikiLeaks posted a 40-minute video on its website in April, showing the attack in gruesome detail, along with an audio recording of the pilots during the attack.

- Iran's military intervened aggressively in support of Shiite combatants in Iraq, offering weapons, training and sanctuary, according to an October, 2010, WikiLeaks release of thousands of secret documents related to the Iraq war.

- According to one tabulation, there have been 100,000 causalities, mostly civilian, in Iraq - greater than the numbers previously made public, many of them killed by American troops but most of them were killed by other Iraqis, according to the WikiLeaks Iraq documents dump. 

- U.S. authorities failed to investigate hundreds of reports of abuse, torture, rape and even murder by Iraqi police and soldiers whose conduct appears to be systematic and normally unpunished, according to the WikiLeaks Iraq documents dump.

Afghanistan

- U.S. special-operations forces have targeted militants without trial in secret assassination missions, and many more Afghan civilians have been killed by accident than previously reported, according to the WikiLeaks Afghanistan war document dump.

- Afghan President Hamid Karzai freed suspected drug dealers because of their political connections, according to a secret diplomatic cable. The cable, which supports the multiple allegations of corruption within the Karzai government, said that despite repeated rebukes from U.S. officials in Kabul, the president and his attorney general authorized the release of detainees. Previous cables accused Karzai's half-brother, Ahmed Wali Karzai, of being a corrupt narcotics trafficker.

Asia

- Pakistan's government has allowed members of its spy network to hold strategy sessions on combating American troops with members of the Taliban, while Pakistan has received more than $1 billion a year in aid from Washington to help combat militants, according to a July, 2010, WikiLeaks release of thousands of files on the Afghanistan war.

- A stash of highly enriched uranium capable of providing enough material for multiple "dirty bombs" has been waiting in Pakistan for removal by an American team for more than three years but has been held up by the country's government, according to leaked classified State Department documents.

- Despite sustained denials by US officials spanning more than a year, U.S.military Special Operations Forces have been conducting offensive operations inside Pakistan, helping direct U.S. drone strikes and conducting joint operations with Pakistani forces against Al Qaeda and Taliban forces in north and south Waziristan and elsewhere in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, according to secret cables released as part of the Wikileaks document dump.

- China was behind the online attack of Google, according to leaked diplomatic cables. The electronic intrusion was "part of a coordinated campaign of computer sabotage carried out by government operatives, private security experts and internet outlaws recruited by the Chinese government."

- Secret State Department cables show a South Korean official quoted as saying that North Korea's collapse is likely to happen "two to three years" after the death of the current dictator, Kim Jong Il. The U.S. is already planning for the day North Korea implodes from its own economic woes. China has "no will" to use its economic leverage to force North Korea to change its policies and the Chinese official who is the lead negotiator with North Korea is "the most incompetent official in China."

- North Korea is secretly helping the military dictatorship in Myanmar build nuclear and missile sites in its jungles, according to a leaked diplomatic cable. Although witnesses told the embassy that construction is at an early stage, officials worry Myanmar could one day possess a nuclear bomb.

- Five years ago, the International Committee of the Red Cross told U.S. diplomats in New Delhi that the Indian government "condones torture" and systematically abused detainees in the disputed region of Kashmir. The Red Cross told the officials that hundreds of detainees were subjected to beatings, electrocutions and acts of sexual humiliation, the Guardian newspaper of London reported Thursday evening.

- The British government has been training a Bangladeshi paramilitary force condemned by human rights organisations as a "government death squad", leaked US embassy cables have revealed. Members of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), which has been held responsible for hundreds of extra-judicial killings in recent years and is said to routinely use torture, have received British training in "investigative interviewing techniques" and "rules of engagement".

- Secret U.S. diplomatic cables reveal that BP suffered a blowout after a gas leak in the Caucasus country of Azerbaijan in September 2008, a year and a half before another BP blowout killed 11 workers and started a leak that gushed millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.

Middle East

- Saudi Arabia's rulers have deep distrust for some fellow Muslim countries, especially Pakistan and Iran, despite public appearances, according to documents from the late November, 2010, WikiLeaks U.S. diplomatic cable dump. King Abdullah called Pakistan's president Asif Ali Zardari "the greatest obstacle" to the country's progress and he also repeatedly urged the United States to attack Iran to destroy its nuclear program to stop Tehran from developing a nuclear weapon.

- Iranian Red Crescent ambulances were used to smuggle weapons to Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group during its 2006 war with Israel, according to the leaked U.S. diplomatic memos.

- In a leaked diplomatic memo, dated two weeks after elections that landed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in office, a senior American diplomat said that during a meeting a few days before "Netanyahu expressed support for the concept of land swaps, and emphasized that he did not want to govern the West Bank and Gaza but rather to stop attacks from being launched from there."

- The United States was secretly given permission from Yemen's president to attack the al Qaeda group in his country that later attempted to blow up planes in American air space. President Ali Abdullah Saleh told John Brennan, President Obama's counterterrorism adviser, in a leaked diplomatic cable from September 2009 that the U.S. had an "open door" on terrorism in Yemen.

- Contrary to public statements, the Obama administration actually helped fuel conflict in Yemen. The U.S. was shipping arms to Saudi Arabia for use in northern Yemen even as it denied any role in the conflict.

- Saudi Arabia is one of the largest origin points for funds supporting international terrorism, according to a leaked diplomatic cable. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged U.S. diplomats to do more to stop the flow of money to Islamist militant groups from donors in Saudi Arabia. The Saudi government, Clinton wrote, was reluctant to cut off money being sent to the Taliban in Afghanistan and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) in Pakistan.

- The U.S. is failing to stop the flow of arms to Middle Eastern militant groups. Hamas and Hezbollah are still receiving weapons from Iran, North Korea, and Syria, secret diplomatic cables allege.

- A storage facility housing Yemen's radioactive material was unsecured for up to a week after its lone guard was removed and its surveillance camera was broken, a secret U.S. State Department cable released by WikiLeaks revealed Monday. "Very little now stands between the bad guys and Yemen's nuclear material," a Yemeni official said on January 9 in the cable.

- Israel destroyed a Syrian nuclear reactor in 2007, constructed with apparent help from North Korea, fearing it was built to make a bomb. In a leaked diplomatic cable obtained by the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth, then-US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice wrote the Israelis targeted and destroyed the Syrian nuclear reactor just weeks before it was to be operational.

- Diplomatic cables recently released by WikiLeaks indicate authorities in the United Arab Emirates debated whether to keep quiet about the high-profile killing of a Hamas operative in Dubai in January. The documents also show the UAE sought U.S. help in tracking down details of credit cards Dubai police believe were used by a foreign hit squad involved in the killing. The spy novel-like slaying, complete with faked passports and assassins in disguise, is widely believed to be the work of Israeli secret agents.

- WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange told Al Jazeera network that some of the unpublished cables show "Top officials in several Arab countries have close links with the CIA, and many officials keep visiting US embassies in their respective countries voluntarily to establish links with this key US intelligence agency. These officials are spies for the U.S. in their countries."

Europe

- Of the 500 or so tactical nuclear weapons in the U.S. arsenal, it is known that about 200 are deployed throughout Europe. Leaked diplomatic cables reveal that dozens of U.S. tactical nuclear weapons are in Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium.

- NATO had secret plans to defend the Baltic states and Poland from an attack by Russia, according to a leaked diplomatic cable. NATO officials had feared "an unnecessary increase in NATO-Russia tensions," and wanted no public discussions of their contingency plans to defend Baltic states from Russian attack.

- The Libyan government promised "enormous repercussions" for the U.K. if the release of Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, the Lockerbie bomber, was not handled properly, according to a leaked diplomatic cable. The Libyan government threatened "harsh, immediate" consequences if the man jailed for the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 died in prison in Scotland. 

- Pope Benedict impeded an investigation into alleged child sex abuse within the Catholic Church, according to a leaked diplomatic cable. Not only did Pope Benedict refuse to allow Vatican officials to testify in an investigation by an Irish commission into alleged child sex abuse by priests, he was also reportedly furious when Vatican officials were called upon in Rome.

- Sinn Fein leaders Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness carried out negotiations for the Good Friday agreement with Irish then-prime minister Bertie Ahern while the two had explicit knowledge of a bank robbery that the Irish Republican Army was planning to carry out, according to a WikiLeaks cable. Ahern figured Adams and McGuinness knew about the 26.5 million pound Northern Bank robbery of 2004 because they were members of the "IRA military command."

Africa

- Anglo-Dutch oil giant Royal Dutch Shell PLC has infiltrated the highest levels of government in Nigeria. A high-ranking executive for the international Shell oil company once bragged to U.S. diplomats, as reported in a leaked diplomatic cable, that the company's employees had so well infiltrated the Nigerian government that officials had "forgotten" the level of the company's access.

- Mozambique is fast on its way to becoming a narco-state because of close ties between drug smugglers and the southeastern African nation's government, according to U.S. Embassy cables released by WikiLeaks. The cables say cocaine, heroin and other drugs come in from South America and Asia, and are then flown to Europe or sent overland to neighboring South Africa for sale.

- Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe-appointed attorney general announced he was investigating Mugabe's chief opposition leader on treason charges based exclusively on the contents of a WikiLeaks' leaked cable. The cable claimed Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai encouraged Western sanctions against his own country to induce Mugabe into giving up some political power.

Americas/Caribbean

- Mexican President Felipe Calderon told a U.S. official last year that Latin America "needs a visible U.S. presence" to counter Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's growing influence in the region, according to a U.S. State Department cable leaked to WikiLeaks.

- A newly released confidential U.S. diplomatic cable predicts Cuba's economic situation could become "fatal" within two to three years, and details concerns voiced by diplomats from other countries, including China, that the communist-run country has been slow to adopt reforms.

- The Honduran military, Supreme Court and National Congress conspired in 2009 in what constituted an illegal and unconstitutional coup against the Executive Branch, according to a leaked diplomatic cable. However, the constitution itself may be deficient in terms of providing clear procedures for dealing with alleged illegal acts by the President and resolving conflicts between the branches of government.

- Venezuela's deteriorating oil industry and its growing economic problems are taking a toll on President Hugo Chavez's popularity. In one confidential leaked diplomatic cable dated Oct. 15, 2009, the U.S. Embassy said "equipment conditions have deteriorated drastically" since the government expropriated some 80 oil service companies earlier that year. It said safety and maintenance at the now state-owned oil facilities were in a "terrible state."

- China has been reselling Venezuela's cheap oil at a profit, according to a classified U.S. document released by WikiLeaks. President Hugo Chavez was upset that China apparently profited by selling fuel to other countries, fuel that it had sold China at a discount in order to gain favor. The cable also describes falling crude output in Venezuela caused by a host of problems within the national oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA, or PDVSA.

- Jamaica's counter-drug efforts have been so sluggish that exasperated Cuban officials privately griped about their frustrations to a U.S. drug enforcement official, according to a U.S. diplomatic cable. The communique released by WikiLeaks said Cuban officials painted their Caribbean neighbor to the south as chronically uncooperative in stopping drug smugglers who use Cuban waters and airspace to transport narcotics destined for the U.S.

 

- A leaked U.S. diplomatic cable published Saturday depicts the leader of Mexico's army "lamenting" its lengthy role in the anti-drug offensive, but expecting it to last between seven and 10 more years. The cable says Mexican Defense Secretary Gen. Guillermo Galvan Galvan mistrusts other Mexican law enforcement agencies and prefers to work separately, because corrupt officials had leaked information in the past.

- McDonald's tried to delay the US government's implementation of a free-trade agreement in order to put pressure on El Salvador to appoint neutral judges in a $24m lawsuit it was fighting in the country. The revelation of the McDonald's strategy to ensure a fair hearing for a long-running legal battle against a former franchisee comes from a leaked US embassy cable dated 15 February 2006.

In 2010, WikiLeaks released only about 2,000 of the approximate 250,000 cables it claims to possess, and the pace of those releases dropped dramatically as the holidays approached. If Assange's promises are to be believed, 2011 will be another important year for learning about the hidden forces that drive our world.

 

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>via: http://www.alternet.org/module/printversion/149369