Racism in Australia

The person who carried out the mass murder in New Zealand two days ago is an Australian who had picked Christchurch because it had plenty of soft targets and the country allowed the easy purchase of semi-automatic weapons. Jason Wilson writes that this episode should make people aware of how Islamophobia has become pretty much enshrined as public policy in Australia. In reading his account of the roots of racist thinking in that country, I was struck by the similarities with US history.
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Mass murder as a device for garnering media attention

The person who committed the deadly attacks on two mosques in New Zealand apparently had live-streamed the whole thing of Facebook. Although the video was subsequently taken down, in these days nothing ever disappears and I am sure that with some diligent searching, one could find it. The questions are why one would want to do so and whether one should do so. I did not watch the video and will not do so because I find acts of violence to be repulsive. This applies even to scripted violence in films and TV and I will only watch it if it serves an integral part of the story, which is very rare actually. It seems like much of the violence on screen is gratuitous. If I see a film as containing violence as its primary descriptor, I immediately rule it out.
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The strange rise of Beto O’Rourke

I supported Beto O’Rourke when he ran for the Texas senate seat because when your opponent is Ted Cruz, you don’t really need a platform other than “I am not Ted Cruz”. But it has never been really clear what he stands for and so I am a little surprised that his announcement that he is running for the Democratic nomination for president is being taken so seriously.

Seth Meyers looks at this and other issues.

Students call for global strike to demand action on climate change

The revulsion over the mass murder of Muslims in New Zealand by white supremacists has overshadowed an important news event today and that is the call for a global strike by students to call attention to the need for governments to take action on climate change. They are rightly pointing out that it is their generation and those that follow who will have to live with the consequences of inaction by my generation.
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Carnage in New Zealand

I have been to New Zealand many times because my wife’s family lives there and she goes there every year. The impression one has is of a bucolic, sheep-dominated, pastoral country, somewhat sleepy and relaxed, the kind of place one might retire to if one were seeking peace and quiet. So the news this morning of the murder of 49 people at two mosques and the injuring of roughly the same number in that country came as a shock.
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Everything is rigged to favor the wealthy

The latest example of how the wealthy rig the system for their benefit is the story of how they bribe their children into the colleges of their choice by paying people to do standardized tests for them or bribing sports team coaches to certify that the students are top athletes when they are nothing of the sort. This kind of bribery is for those who cannot afford he more traditional kind of bribery of making large ‘donations’, with the Trump and Kushner families being prime examples. The extremely wealthy can do even more, by making even larger donations to colleges for buildings and the like. All this is legal. As has been often pointed out, what is shocking in the US is not what is illegal but what is legal.

Stephen Colbert explains what kind of cheating was done in the cases that were just revealed.

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Another day, another Brexit vote

Today saw another day of drama and maneuvering in the British parliament (Is there any other kind these days as the March 29 deadline looms ever closer?) with bills and amendments and amendments to amendments. The main item on the agenda was a vote on whether to rule out a no-deal Brexit and net result was a vote of 321-278 in favor. So for those keeping score at home, on Tuesday parliament overwhelmingly rejected Theresa May’s Brexit deal, today they again defied her and ruled out a no-deal Brexit, and tomorrow they vote on whether to extend the March 29 deadline. Logically, that would seem to be the only option left and should pass but nothing can be taken for granted anymore. Even voting against a no-deal Brexit seems at best symbolic since, as far as I can tell, if nothing changes by March 29, a no-deal Brexit will go into effect automatically.

Here are the results of today’s vote, the first on an amendment to the motion and the second on the motion itself. The results of the votes are announced with fun bit of parliamentary ritual with the ever-colorful speaker John Bercow presiding.

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Attempts to discredit AOC continue to flounder

There seems to be no end to the efforts of right-wing efforts to disparage congressperson Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in order to diminish her popularity. In a congressional hearing, she sharply questioned the CEO of Wells Fargo, a truly disgraceful company, about its practices. It showed how well prepared she is for these hearings.

In addition she asked who bears liability for oil spills from the pipeline, and whether the people who financed it share in it.


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The US is targeting independent journalists

I have written before about how so many mainstream media outlets in the US serve as propaganda arms of the US government, especially when it comes to reporting on foreign government who have been deemed to be hostile to the US or when the US is planning to invade those countries. The examples are so many that only the most fervent apologists (which includes many in the media and punditocracy) could possibly deny it. The latest target of such propaganda is Venezuela where it is clear that a covert war is being waged against that country.
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