One could be forgiven for thinking there's anything honorable or honest about Colin Powell. For more than two decades now the Washington media has portrayed the former Secretary of State as something of a real life action hero, a reluctant warrior whose greatest fault – should they deign to mention any – was just being too darn loyal to a guy named George and his buddy Dick. What you might have missed is that Powell is a war criminal in his own right, one who in more than four decades of "public service" helped kill people from Vietnam to Panama to Iraq who never posed a threat to America. But don't just take some anti-war activists' word for it: Powell will proudly tell you as much, so long as he can make a buck from doing it in a book.

Powell's latest $27.99 account of his legendary life is billed as a "powerful portrait of a leader who is reflective, self-effacing, and grateful for the contributions of everyone he works with." But the title, It Worked for Me: In Life and Leadership, could very well refer to Powell's own careerist ambitions: saying and doing whatever served the interests of power – as a young officer in Vietnam, as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the illegal invasion of Panama, as Secretary of State under George W. Bush – has worked out tremendously well for the man, if not so much for those unfortunate enough to be on the receiving end of his public service.
http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/9698-colin-powell-another-war-criminal-cashes-in

Thousands of college graduates from (the state of Washington) are about to enter the job market during what some are calling the bleakest economic downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Among them are 5,000 University of Washington students who received their diplomas Saturday at a commencement ceremony at CenturyLink Field.
http://www.seattlepi.com/local/komo/article/5-000-students-graduate-from-UW-amid-bleak-job-3622397.php

TULLE, France — President Francois Hollande said Saturday France will begin its Afghanistan pullout next month and complete it by year-end ...

Allies have downplayed the impact of their early departure, saying Afghan troops are ready to take over.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jHWD-KiuXLY_nrAAke6MRXQy4hfA?docId=CNG.77d52b238aae4509a56c20582e5ad5b5.721

Judge Thomas Raffaele of Queens told the New York Times and the New York Law Journal that the incident occurred just after midnight on June 1. The 69-year-old judge had been cleaning out his parents’ house after their move to Houston, and he was walking down the street with a friend who had helped him move two tables. A crowd had gathered around New York City police officers making an arrest, and Raffaele called 911, thinking the officers needed backup.

One officer was ramming his knee into the back of a screaming handcuffed man, while the crowd jeered, Raffaele said. One woman, a nurse, called out to the officer to stop. Raffaele described what happened next in an interview with the New York Law Journal.

"As people kept criticizing, the officer got angrier and angrier and started to curse at people in the crowd and jumped up and ran toward the crowd and started hitting people," Raffaele said. "I was the first person he hit. It was a full-force, open-hand blow to the front of my throat. If I hadn't moved my head back when I was being hit, I think I would have been killed on the spot. That's how hard I was hit, and I am saying that from the perspective of someone who was trained in the Army on hand-to-hand combat."
http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/new_york_judge_says_cop_punched_him_after_apparently_mistaking_him_for_a_he/?utm_source=maestro&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=weekly_email

A Colorlines.com investigation last August highlighted the role of California state law in shielding allegations of officer misconduct from public scrutiny and accountability. The investigation found 20 officers whom have been involved in two or more shootings over the past decade, 13 of whom are still employed by the department. A large number of officers involved in shooting incidents were also assigned to tactical teams that were at the heart of OPD’s violent response to Occupy Oakland protests last fall. The independent monitor is already investigating police violence during that raid.


Last week’s federal court order, which also raises the possibility of court-imposed sanctions if misconduct is uncovered, is the latest sign of Judge Henderson’s growing impatience with OPD’s lagging reforms. The independent monitoring team, led by former Rochester Police Chief Robert Warshaw, is the third such monitoring group. Earlier this year, Henderson threatened to place the police department under the control of a court-appointed receiver if the pace of OPD’s reforms did not pick up. In late January, Henderson took a step in that direction by ordering OPD Chief Jordan and City Administrator Santana to consult with the independent monitor before making any significant decisions regarding personnel matters or departmental policy.
http://colorlines.com/archives/2012/06/the_oakland_police_departments_nine-year-long.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+racewireblog+%28ColorLines%29