Salon Exclusive: Tigrayan children held in concentration camp

[View this email in your browser]( Your daily update from [Salon](. Written by [Brett Bachman](. Investigation shows Tigrayan children held in concentration camp For a while now, rumors have been floating around of the brutal living conditions in the Ethiopian region of Tigray, the center point for an equally brutal civil conflict that has been raging for some time in the country. Now, in a new, exclusive report for Salon from the the investigative journalist and human rights advocate Jonathan Hutson, some of the details of this abuse are finally becoming public. The current conflict in Ethiopia is incredibly complicated, and too nuanced to fully articulate here — But regardless of the reasons behind it, one thing is clear: there is an ongoing campaign bordering on genocide happening in this East African country. "Ethiopian federal forces, abetted by special forces, paramilitary groups, militia and police acting under the authority of the Amharan regional government, locked up in multiple locations hundreds of children of all ages — and even pregnant women, infants and toddlers — along with thousands of Tigrayan adults and senior citizens. These people appear to have been held in harsh conditions, systematically starved and beaten because of their ethnicity and with no judicial process or valid legal pretext. That is the definition of a concentration camp," Hutson writes. "This is a previously unreported part of an ongoing genocidal campaign led by Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed — ironically enough, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate — against various ethnic groups, including Tigrayans, Kimant, Gumuz, Ogaden (Somalis), Agew, Irob, Afar and Sidama, as well as Oromo people who fight to exercise the constitutional right to self-administration within a federal system." You can [read the entire report here](. (Satellite image 2021 Maxar Technologies) GOP congressmen reap millions in federal loans for personal car dealerships The PPP loan program embedded in President Joe Biden's CARES act has, admittedly, been a lifeline for thousands of people struggling to keep their businesses open amid an ongoing pandemic. But there has also been plenty of controversy over the allocation of federal funds, none more prominent than the lawmakers who have benefitted from the very same program they negotiated. A report in the money-in-politics blog Sludge found that at least 28 representatives or their spouses took in more than $27 million in small business loans from the program. [Salon's Jon Skolnick took a look at these figures]( and found that at least three Republican Reps. — Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania, Roger Williams of Texas and Vern Buchanan of Florida — have used PPP loans to float their own car dealerships (a more common holding among members of Congress than you would think). None of this is illegal, of course, under the same provisions that these lawmakers voted to enact. But "it certainly looks bad and smells bad," Aaron Scherb, a spokesperson for the watchdog group Common Cause said. - Biden decries "outrageous" treatment of Haitians at border — [but keeps deporting them]( - How did Trump respond to the Arizona audit results? 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[Because of SB8, I had to have an abortion at home]( - "Dear White People" visits the "Big Brother" Cookout via [a pointed parody of reality show racism]( - Ex-Illinois official [illegally deleted records from Trump Tower investigation]( report claims - Nick Lowe's toughest critic — himself. [The musician sat down with Salon to reflect on "The Convincer"]( 20 years later - How [the myth of 'border security']( American fascists - And, finally, it's time to [make this grilled cheese that's perfect for fall.]( The secret ingredient is pumpkin butter Not a subscriber yet? [Sign up]( to receive Crash Course. Why the U.S. departure from Afghanistan was perfect The United States messed up nearly every point of our pointless, wasteful 20-year-war in Afghanistan — why wouldn't we screw up our final exit? It's [a question Salon contributor Lucian K. Truscott IV attempted to tackle]( this weekend, coming away with the conclusion that there is no "good" way to lose a war. "The Afghans and the Iraqis who took the money, took all the equipment we gave them, took 20 years of our politics and our "prestige" as a nation, and the whole time they were laughing their heads off, because they knew what we didn't know. None of it was working. None of it would ever work. And one day we would be headed out of both countries with our tails between our legs, because that's what you do when you lose," Truscott IV writes. "That's why our frantic, chaotic exit from Kabul was perfect, because it perfectly capped off 20 years of lies about what was really going on over there, 20 years of frantic, chaotic thrashing around and throwing money and the bodies of young American men and women at a problem that could never be solved. It was an enormous delusion that we, the United States of America, could march into those countries thousands of miles away from our shores and — if we spent enough money and invented and fielded enough "mine resistant vehicles" and fired enough missiles from enough drones at enough 'Taliban commanders' — could somehow emerge from those quagmires victorious." - "[Students who grew up with search engines might change STEM education forever]( The Verge - "[The Highs and Lows of the ‘Cheer Mom,']( The New York Times - "[The Emerging Artistry of Hunter Biden]( The Atlantic - "[Minor Threat: MLB puts the farm system out to pasture]( Harper's Magazine - "[Why multilevel marketing companies were the “perfect” pandemic business]( Vox Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene does it again Another day, another public meltdown for Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. This time, the stage was a Democratic event to celebrate the passage of the Women's Health Protection Act being held on the steps of the U.S. Capitol Friday. The Georgia Republican used the opportunity to [scream at her colleagues in a graphic anti-abortion, anti-immigration tirade](. "Killing a baby up until birth is a lack of civility," she yelled at a group of Congresswomen, including Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar, New Mexico Rep. Melanie Stansbury, Michigan Rep. Debbie Dingell and Pennsylvania Rep. Chrissy Houlahan. "It's called murder" Never one to miss an opportunity to take advantage of the spotlight, she got in a few more digs on popular Republican talking points, including the southern border, respecting laws and Christianity. (Photo via Getty Images) Have a tip for Salon? Feedback on this newsletter? [Let us know](mailto:brett.bachman@salon.com). [Share]( [Share]( [Tweet]( [Tweet]( [Forward]( [Forward]( Copyright © 2021 Salon.com, LLC, All rights reserved. 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