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In 1950 the CIA’s Colonel Lansdale reported that:
“The Binh Xuyen were participating in one of the world’s major arteries of the dope traffic, helping move the prize opium crops out of Laos and South China. The profits were so huge that Bao Dai’s tiny cut was ample to keep him in yachts, villas, and other comforts in France.”… More>>
Posted in Asia, Books, History, Politics, Vietnam, War
Tagged Binh Xuyen, Central Intelligence Agency, CIA, France, Hmong people, Vang Pao, Vietnam War
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Highlander has provided training and education for the labor movement in Appalachia and throughout the Southern United States. During the 1950s, it played a critical role in the American Civil Rights Movement. It trained civil rights leader Rosa Parks prior to her historic role in the Montgomery Bus Boycott, as well as providing training for many other movement activists including Martin Luther King, Jr., James Bevel, Bernard Lafayette, Ralph Abernathy and John Lewis in the mid- and-late 1950s. Listen to an NPR story about the school…
Bridges became the leader of San Francisco’s beleaguered dock workers and helped found the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU). In the 1934 maritime strike, Bridges displayed his steadfastness by surviving relentless slanderous attacks on his character and principles, which in turn inspired broad numbers of port workers to follow his leadership… More>>
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Posted in Biography, California, Essays, History, Labor, Politics, San Francisco
Tagged Harry Bridges, International Longshore and Warehouse Union, Labor, San Francisco
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Today’s Times has a story about the relative calm in Algeria during the recent political contagion sweeping North Africa and the Middle East. It’s a bit surprising considering Algeria’s violent history since the end of WWII…
Posted in Africa, Algeria, History, Politics, War
Tagged Abdelaziz Bouteflika, Algeria, Algiers, Islamic terrorism, Middle East
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