And now for something completely different:

[underlankers]

That is to say a good-news story which has every reason for grounds for optimism:

http://www.voanews.com/english/news/ICC-Finds-Congolese-Warlord-Guilty-142613986.html

The International Criminal Court, in trying one of the war criminals from the forgotten continental wars in the Congo, has found one of these men guilty. This is the first such verdict

Comments

[terminator44]

How odd for you to be decrying foreign interference in other nations.

[sophia_sadek]

Wasn't it Western support that got Lubanga going in the first place?

[dv8nation]

Optimism, Lankers? Just how much have you had to drink?

[kardashev]

Oh, he's in a good mood because physicists said that there are an infinite number of universes alongside our own. This means that one of his alternate history scenarios(probably all of them, in fact) are coming true in some parallel cosmos. How could he not be happy? XD

[mahnmut]

There's too much war in his universes. Not much different from ours.

[terminator44]

Well, he is a fan of Warhammer 40,000.

[underlankers]

Sure, but even a start in this direction is an encouraging thing. If the ICC starts doing more things like this, there could be a deterrent effect in at least some situations, and even a moderate decrease in overall misery is a Big Damn Deal.

[usekh]

It is a good sign, but really. Get back to me when they tackle the US over the war crimes in Vietnam.

[underlankers]

And when they tackle Russia over its violating the Geneva Conventions by promoting settlement of ethnic Russians in the Baltic states, which were absorbed in three wars of aggression in 1940, as well as for things like the Katyn Massacre, the 1955 Hungarian revolt atrocities, the Prague Spring, and the shenanigans the Red Army got up to in Afghanistan, too, I presume? Unless war crimes committed by the USA have a special mystical-woo woo level of evil above war crimes committed by others, then that is not about the crime but who perpetrates them.

And when they try Russia for violating the Geneva Convention in the Baltics, then we turn to Israel and its directly identical behavior in the "Occupied Territories".

[sophia_sadek]

In the VOA video, Phil Clark of the School of Oriental and African Studies criticizes the court for not going after bigger fish. He also points out that the prosecution's case was pretty feeble.

Do you have any observations on the Kony 2012 phenomenon?

[luzribeiro]

Do you have any observations on the Kony 2012 phenomenon?

This is probably the 5th or 6th time I'm hearing someone asking this question.

[sophia_sadek]

Jon Stewart did a skit or two on the topic. Here is a blog on the phenomenon.

[luzribeiro]

I know. I've already learned everything about this. I doubt there's anyone on the planet who still hasn't.