Yanis Varoufakis on Europe’s Energy Crisis, War in Ukraine & Crackdown on Dissent After Queen’s Death | Democracy Now!

2019-04-13 Yanis Varoufakis by Olaf Kosinsky-0658 (cropped).jpg

Once Australia’s own Yannis Varoufakis explains

Varoufakis says a history of market liberalization and reliance on cheap Russian gas has left the continent scrambling, in turn pushing up energy costs in the Global South as richer European countries buy up other sources of energy. “Yet again, Europe is exporting misery to the rest of the world,” says Varoufakis, a member of the Greek Parliament and former finance minister. His latest piece for Project Syndicate is “Time to Blow Up Electricity Markets.”

Source: Yanis Varoufakis on Europe’s Energy Crisis, War in Ukraine & Crackdown on Dissent After Queen’s Death | Democracy Now!

German Jews file war crimes charges against Israeli leaders | The Electronic Intifada

A man leans towards another and whispers into his ear

A Jewish group in Germany has filed criminal charges against Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid and defense minister Benny Gantz over the bombardment they ordered in Gaza this summer.

The Israeli surprise attack from 5-8 August left some 50 Palestinians dead, including 17 children. At least 360 people were injured.

“This was a supposed preemptive strike that was carried out without a concrete threat,” Jewish Voice for a Just Peace in the Middle East said on Sunday.

“Israel must be held accountable for war crimes like any other state.”

Source: German Jews file war crimes charges against Israeli leaders | The Electronic Intifada

Israel indicts Palestinian journalist over ‘incitement’ in Facebook posts

Palestinian journalist Lama Ghosheh is led into a hearing at the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court, accused of identification with a terrorist organization and incitement to violence because of Facebook posts, September 12, 2022. (Oren Ziv)

An Israeli court indicted a Palestinian journalist on Monday for identifying with a terrorist organization and incitement to violence, based on 11 posts taken from her personal Facebook profile. The indictment claims that in some of her posts, Lama Ghosheh praised the activities of Palestinian militants in the West Bank and Gaza, after they were killed by the Israeli army.

Source: Israel indicts Palestinian journalist over ‘incitement’ in Facebook posts

Israeli military attacks are an affront to human rights

Israeli attacks on Palestinians have received widespread condemnation while also inspiring unity and solidarity, writes Dr Ibrahim Natil.

Israel is not worried about accountability before the international community and it believes it is protected and above international law. Israel targets journalists, reporters and human rights in a systematic policy to frighten and terrify them to hide the expanding Israeli apartheid system every day in Palestine.

Source: Israeli military attacks are an affront to human rights

Old Dog Thought- The only Public Servant the LNP can tolerate is the King

Phil and the Socialist Arsehole

Fighting Fake News with REAL; 15/9/22 Media; Privatised education; Phil and Gought; Public Service the Liberals want to rid us of it;

The inevitable question arises: Should we have an Australian as head of state and become a republic? – » The Australian Independent Media Network

My thought for the day

Our lives have become controlled by the noise of the mass media. The sad thing is that we listen. (John Lord )

Source: The inevitable question arises: Should we have an Australian as head of state and become a republic? – » The Australian Independent Media Network

Beggars in surplus: Australia’s university gangsters

Vice Chancellors today are vacuum cleaners sucking up bonus wages in $ millions. Increasing their earnings by simply sacking staff en-mass, stealing wages, and offering degree courses to local and overseas students on the backs of an army of untenured part-time and casual staff and online to absolutely every and anyone. Yes, today you can simply buy a degree. Courses no longer carry the same prestige they once had forcing students to stay on longer in the ever-increasing, double degrees MBAs and PhD debt trap with no more guarantee of a job based on merit than before. Who you know still wins out over what you know where Lachlan Murdoch a BA in Philosophy is living proof despite One Tel and Ch10 on his track record.

The education system has been in sharp decline in inverse proportion to the financial returns being hailed. Throwing public money at these beggars in surplus, an otherwise sensible proposition that could shield the sector from the ravages of impudent investment decisions, looks less appealing on closer inspection. Without deep, remorselessly brave reform, one that directly decapitates the officialdom of university management, good money will be thrown after ill-gotten gains.

Source: Beggars in surplus: Australia’s university gangsters

The Weapons Industry as a Taxpayer Scam | The Smirking Chimp

Scamming the taxpayer has become a way of life for the national security state. We deserve a more transparent, democratic policy-making process. Our elected officials owe us their allegiance, not the defense-industry giants that make such hefty campaign contributions while beefing up lawmakers’ stock portfolios.

Isn’t it time to end the national-security version of spending unlimited in Washington?

Source: The Weapons Industry as a Taxpayer Scam | The Smirking Chimp

La Niña, 3 years in a row: a climate scientist on what flood-weary Australians can expect this summer

La Niña is officially here for the third year in a row. You probably associate it with flooding, but how might it affect future drought and bushfires? And could a fourth La Niña be possible?

After weeks of anticipation, it’s finally official: the Bureau of Meteorology has declared another La Niña is underway. This means Australia’s east coast will likely endure yet another wet, and relatively cool, spring and summer.

It’s the third La Niña event in a row. This is rare, but not unheard of. Triple La Niñas have also occurred in, for example, 1973–1976 and 1998–2001.

The past two La Niñas mean water catchments are already full, and soils are sodden from Noosa in the north through to Lismore and the Hunter Valley in the south. It means more flood events are likely in the coming months.

The bureau’s declaration will be unwelcome news to many people – especially those in parts of New South Wales and Queensland still recovering from recent floods. So what else can flood-weary Australians expect in the coming months? And is a fourth La Niña on the cards?

Source: La Niña, 3 years in a row: a climate scientist on what flood-weary Australians can expect this summer

Redefining Antisemitism to Protect Israel From Scrutiny Won’t Make Jews Safer

Israel’s supporters have sought to redefine antisemitism so that the term primarily refers to criticism of the Israeli state. This effort has been a great boon for Israel’s diplomatic propaganda — but a disaster for anti-racist struggles in Europe and the US.

Source: Redefining Antisemitism to Protect Israel From Scrutiny Won’t Make Jews Safer

Upset by New York Times Exposé on Hasidic Schools? That’s What GOP Wants for All American Kids | The Smirking Chimp

The real issue here is not “parents’ rights” but children’s rights. In most cases, the parents’-rights gambit is rhetorical sleight-of-hand meant to distract people from what’s really going on, which is adults depriving vulnerable children of the resources they need to grow into healthy adults. Book bans, “don’t say gay” laws, crackdowns on school newspapers and right-wing takeovers of school boards: It all serves the same purpose. For all the talk about “liberty” and “choice” that anti-education activists engage in, the end goal here is to limit the freedom of thought, and the freedom of life choices, that kids can have as adults.

Source: Upset by New York Times Exposé on Hasidic Schools? That’s What GOP Wants for All American Kids | The Smirking Chimp

US midterms: Republican senator introduces national abortion ban bill

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham.

Welcome to America’s Taliban. Fundamentalism has arrived. A Bill to ban Abortion in all States has been introduced. Education is totally privatised and is whatever you want it to be. None is fine and has been legislated in Florida and Arizona. Flat earth theory is an accepted reality and the states has no responsibility for children. The Republican Dark Ages have been directed and authorised from the top down with guns the ultimate authority just as in Afghanistan.

The introduction of such a bill is a sign of just how potent the abortion issue has become ahead of the midterms.

Women in every US state would be prohibited from having an abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy under a proposed national ban designed to galvanise Republicans ahead of the midterm elections.

Three months after the Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to abortion in America, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, an ally of Donald Trump, has introduced legislation for a federal ban, claiming that such a move would get the nation into a position that was “fairly consistent with the rest of the world”.

Source: US midterms: Republican senator introduces national abortion ban bill

Dumb Hannity Proves Why Trump Should Never Hold Office Again | Crooks and Liars

Dumb Hannity Proves Why Trump Should Never Hold Office Again

Fox News actually summarized and listed all of the investigations into Trump which until now haven’t been amplified. Sean Hannity shot himself and Trump in the…..

On Monday night’s Hannity, Sean read a list of the investigations into Trump’s criminal actions — that actually did the reverse of what the Fox News host hoped to achieve.

Most Fox News viewers most likely don’t know all the investigations undertaken against the former president, because Fox News and right-wing media refuse to cover them in any detail to shield any real scrutiny against Trump.

Source: Dumb Hannity Proves Why Trump Should Never Hold Office Again | Crooks and Liars

Donald Trump could become president of the United States again — even if he’s in jail – ABC News

A close up of Trump speaking at a rally at night.

I what universe is this rational?

As Donald Trump faces mounting allegations of impropriety, experts say even a prison sentence wouldn’t necessarily stop him becoming US president for a second time.

Source: Donald Trump could become president of the United States again — even if he’s in jail – ABC News

Old Dog Thought- Phil had no problem calling Gough out did he?

Fighting Fake News with REAL; 14/9/22; Born to Rule and Monarchies; Phil the Queen and a “socialist arsehole” Myth of “inequality”

Everything Is Political So Even Saying Nothing Is Political If You Think About It! – » The Australian Independent Media Network

Now I promise not to spend too much time on this but I feel the need to point out that the idea that King Chuckles can’t comment on climate change because it’s just a wee bit controversial is one of those things that needs a bit of an examination. I’m just going to do a short examination and then we can go back to discussing politics like we normally do, ok?

Source: Everything Is Political So Even Saying Nothing Is Political If You Think About It! – » The Australian Independent Media Network

The Big Myth About Inequality: It Just Happened! – scheerpost.com

It Took More than Trade to Screw the Country’s Workers But trade is not the whole story of the upward redistribution of the last decade. We also made government-granted patent and copyright monopolies longer and stronger. We also encouraged the financial sector to become bloated, giving big paychecks to Wall Street types at the expense of the rest of us. And, we have a corrupt corporate governance structure that allows CEOs and other top management to line their pockets and rip off the companies they work for. And we also ensured that highly paid professionals, like doctors and dentists, are protected from the same competition that their less educated counterparts face.

This is the topic of Rigged [it’s free]. It’s also the focus of a video series I recently did with the Institute for New Economic Theory, How to Unf*ck America. (Coming soon to a theater near you.)

Perhaps what is most striking about the inequality just happened story is how deeply ingrained it is among people in policy circles. When we make policy decisions that are virtually guaranteed to redistribute income upward, the implications for inequality do not even get raised.

Source: The Big Myth About Inequality: It Just Happened! – scheerpost.com

In her ‘devotion to duty’ the Queen sacked an Australian PM described by Philip as a ‘socialist arsehole’. By John Menadue

In her ‘devotion to duty’ the Queen sacked an Australian PM described by Philip as a ‘socialist arsehole’. By John Menadue

In the mammoth royal love in we are enduring, we are told about the Queen’s cordial relationship with numerous PMs. But not Gough Whitlam. That would upset our colonial mind set. We try and shut out the Queen’s implausible and misleading denial on the Whitlam sacking.

. See more

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Opinion | It Is Time to Throw the Monarchies of the World Into the Dustbin of History | Chris Hedges

Queen says "Off With Her Head"

Chris Hedges September 12, 2022 by Scheerpost

The fawning adulation of Queen Elizabeth in the United States, which fought a revolution to get rid of the monarchy, and in Great Britain, is in direct proportion to the fear gripping a discredited, incompetent and corrupt global ruling elite.

Source: Opinion | It Is Time to Throw the Monarchies of the World Into the Dustbin of History | Chris Hedges

Queen coverage highlights failure of media’s duty

The passing of Queen Elizabeth was met by a singular narrative of the mainstream media, eager to shower her with praise and forgo criticism, writes Dr Tim Dunlop.

Source: Queen coverage highlights failure of media’s duty

Queen’s death stirs media frenzy, prompts questions for Australia’s future

Dr Lee Duffield looks at the media circus surrounding the royal death and succession in England, and asks what it might mean for freedom and good government.

Source: Queen’s death stirs media frenzy, prompts questions for Australia’s future

‘We don’t need a new king’: Lidia Thorpe calls for Indigenous treaty then a republic | Indigenous Australians | The Guardian

Lidia Thorpe

Australia’s path to a Republic is less complex than Canada’s or NZs we have no treaties and Indigenous Australians aren’t even named in our Constitution We only admitted Terra Nullis was wrong 25-30 years ago and are trying to remedy our historic failings now. A Republic seems simple as do treaties under an entirely new Constitution that goes with a Republic.

Greens senator says people expected her to be ‘ranting and raving’ after Queen’s death but she has reflected and now wants Labor to ‘show ambition’

Source: ‘We don’t need a new king’: Lidia Thorpe calls for Indigenous treaty then a republic | Indigenous Australians | The Guardian

Being a republican in Britain used to be perfectly respectable. So why are people now getting arrested for it? | Zoe Williams | The Guardian

A protester airs her views outside parliament as King Charles arrives

British republicanism, which used to be a perfectly acceptable position, quite within the range of polite debate, and definitely not something you could be arrested for.

A woman in Edinburgh was arrested at the weekend for holding a sign that said: “Fuck imperialism, abolish monarchy.” In Oxford, an even milder protest resulted in the arrest of Symon Hill. He emerged from church as the proclamation for King Charles III was being read, and called out: “Who elected him?” There is a question mark over how disruptive that was, in the great scheme of things, but it was enough for the police to arrest and handcuff him, later to de-arrest him on the understanding that he would be questioned in the future. Hill says that, at the time, they told him they were acting under the new Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act (2022), though they later described it as a potential public order offence.

Source: Being a republican in Britain used to be perfectly respectable. So why are people now getting arrested for it? | Zoe Williams | The Guardian

With his army on the back foot, is escalation over Ukraine Vladimir Putin’s only real option?

It seems Putins army is refusing to give Putin what he wants

But perhaps there’s one hint. Throughout his tenure, Putin has consistently invited NATO and its allies to blink. At this crucial time, the West owes it to Ukraine, and for the sake of its own credibility, to ensure it does not give the Russian president what he wants.

Source: With his army on the back foot, is escalation over Ukraine Vladimir Putin’s only real option?

Zelensky Has Some Thoughts On Why Trump Kept Praising Putin | Crooks and Liars

Zelensky Has Some Thoughts On Why Trump Kept Praising Putin

Trump praised Putin, calling his military moves “genius.”

Eric Trump said on Sunday that if his father was president, “Do you think Russia would’ve invaded Ukraine? No way! No way! Trump would’ve called up Putin and said, ‘Listen, don’t play games. We’re not gonna do this.'”

Yeah, sure thing, buddy. The guy that withheld military aid for Ukraine before asking Zelensky to announce an investigation of his political opponents would be really tough with a genocidal maniac like Putin by saying those two sentences.

Source: Zelensky Has Some Thoughts On Why Trump Kept Praising Putin | Crooks and Liars

Donald Trump and His Two Forms of Fascism – Mother Jones

 

Donald Trump and Snowflake Fascism

Donald Trump and Gaslight Fascism

The reality of Trump’s conniving to subvert the republic cannot be recognized by leading Republicans. Doing so would create a dilemma for them. They would then have to explicitly declare themselves in favor of or opposed to this Trumpian war on democracy. They realize an outright expression of support for autocracy would not be good for the GOP, yet a declaration of opposition to the Trumpist assault on the Constitution would alienate any Republican from the party’s cult-like base. (See Liz Cheney.) To survive within the GOP, they must deny. They must say black is white. War is peace. Authoritarianism is democracy. That is the only way the party can now exist. The logic of their position demands it.

Source: Donald Trump and His Two Forms of Fascism – Mother Jones

Truth in Humour

Queenslanders question ‘ludicrous’ cost of changing state’s name | The Shovel
Finally, rich white man in charge 
 

Fighting Fake News with REAL 13/9/22 Truth In Humour; Unemployment;

Chalmers’ challenge just got a whole lot scarier

Dutton wants to focus on the Culture Wars I wonder Why?

The latest official data on Australia’s economy reveals serious structural problems making all workers poorer.

Chalmers’ challenge

The Treasurer will hand down a detailed federal budget next month which will reveal his intended strategies and expected outcomes. His priority must be to rectify wages, reform the tax system and shift the share of the nation’s booming revenues back into a fair balance.
This may take some years to accomplish fully. If he can get started in October, we will all be very “reasured”.

Source: Chalmers’ challenge just got a whole lot scarier

Australia’s Unemployment System Is a Marketized, Bureaucratic Nightmare

Australia’s privatized employment services system doesn’t help people find work. Instead, thanks to reforms first introduced by the Labor Party, it punishes welfare recipients with a bureaucratic maze of “mutual obligations.”

Source: Australia’s Unemployment System Is a Marketized, Bureaucratic Nightmare

Did Tourism Australia really get a KPMG report, or was it Scomo’s imagination? – Michael West

Tourism Australia, Scott Morrison

There are still many questions surrounding Scott Morrison’s ill-starred time at the helm of Tourism Australia, writes Jommy Tee. Newly released documents confirm KPMG did not undertake a probity audit in 2005 into the assessment and evaluation of shortlisted tenderers for Tourism Australia’s advertising contracts.

From his controversial “jobs for the boys” appointment, his run-ins with his minister and the board, his lack of transparency in the role, and his obfuscation at Senate Estimates it is no wonder that his departure came sooner rather than later.

Should Morrison ever look for a corporate gig after politics … well corporate Australia he’s all yours.

Source: Did Tourism Australia really get a KPMG report, or was it Scomo’s imagination? – Michael West

Liz Truss Will Lead Britain Deeper Into Decline

As energy bills soar, Britain’s new prime minister, Liz Truss, proposes short-term measures to prop up suppliers with public money. But we won’t be “back to normal” anytime soon — and it’s working-class Britons who will suffer.

Source: Liz Truss Will Lead Britain Deeper Into Decline

Waiting For The Irish To Say Charles The Third… – » The Australian Independent Media Network

The Irish simply thought of all English a  Third consideration

Scotland is about to take back Balmoral Castle and then there’s Australia

Mr Dutton has been suggesting that it’s inappropriate for King Charles to be against the destruction of the Earth because our monarch is meant to be politically neutral, but the first Charles lost his head and insisted that he didn’t need to listen to the British Parliament, although not in that order. So with a name like Charles, who knows what this Charles will do?

What will the monarchists do if Charles doesn’t become the silent figurehead who just cuts the odd ribbon and opens the odd fete and puts his name to the odd charity? (Although not so odd that it won’t have an office, a website or a plan before getting $18million from the government…) What if he feels that he has a role to play in loudly encouraging the move toward net zero? Which, after all, in Australia, is a bipartisan policy so it’s hardly controversial.

I mean, it’s not like they can demand we elect a new king.

Although it is possible that Scott Morrison had himself secretly sworn in as an alternative king in case something happened.

 

Source: Waiting For The Irish To Say Charles The Third… – » The Australian Independent Media Network

The Queen has left her mark around the world. But not all see it as something to be celebrated

Not so Tanzania or Rhodesia it was a German Colony

From the very beginning, Queen Elizabeth II’s reign was deeply connected to Britain’s global empire and the long and bloody processes of decolonisation.

Indeed, she became Queen while on a royal visit to Kenya in 1952. After she left, the colony descended into one of the worst conflicts of the British colonial period. Declaring a state of emergency in October 1952, the British would go on to kill tens of thousands of Kenyans before it was over.

Source: The Queen has left her mark around the world. But not all see it as something to be celebrated

Ukraine forces advance in north as Russians retreat

Ukrainian forces kept pushing north in the Kharkiv region and advancing to the south and east of the country after the swift fall of Russia’s main bastion in the north-east, Ukraine’s army chief says.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hailed Russia’s retreat from the city of Izium in the Kharkiv province as a breakthrough in the six-month-old war, saying this winter could bring more rapid gains of territory if Kyiv can get more powerful weapons.

Source: Ukraine forces advance in north as Russians retreat

Ukraine-Russia war: Russian nationalists rage after stunning setback on battlefield

Putin loyalist Ramzan Kadyrov has been dismayed by the Russia’s performance on battlefield in Ukraine.

Pissed at Putin

Russian nationalists called angrily on Sunday for President Vladimir Putin to make immediate changes to ensure ultimate victory in the Ukraine war, a day after Moscow was forced to abandon its main bastion in northeastern Ukraine.

Source: Ukraine-Russia war: Russian nationalists rage after stunning setback on battlefield

New York City’s Hasidic Schools Demonstrate the Folly of State-Funded Religious Education – Mother Jones

The equivalent of madrasas but in New York. Republicans want them in their States too but Christian. Building Cultural armies for war.

“The leaders of New York’s Hasidic community have built scores of private schools to educate children in Jewish law, prayer and tradition—and to wall them off from the secular world. Offering little English and math, and virtually no science or history, they drill students relentlessly, sometimes brutally, during hours of religious lessons conducted in Yiddish.”

Source: New York City’s Hasidic Schools Demonstrate the Folly of State-Funded Religious Education – Mother Jones

Florida ranked No. 1 for “education freedom” — by right-wing group that wants to privatize it all | Salon.com

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis speaks at a press conference to discuss Florida's civics education initiative of unbiased history teachings at Crooms Academy of Information Technology in Sanford. (Paul Hennessy/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Anarchistic Education Florida and Arizona where anything goes

“With this report,” added Burris, “the Heritage Foundation puts its values front and forward — that schooling should be a free-for-all marketplace where states spend the least possible on educating the future generation of Americans, with no regulations to preserve quality.” It’s no accident, Burris added, that Heritage’s top two states, Florida and Arizona, were ranked as the worst on the Network for Public Education’s own report card this year.

“These two states now have such a critical teacher shortage, due to their anti-public school agenda, that you do not even need a college degree to teach,” said Burris. “Parents who are looking for the best states in which to educate their children should take this report card and turn it on its head.”

Source: Florida ranked No. 1 for “education freedom” — by right-wing group that wants to privatize it all | Salon.com

Old Dog Thought- John Pilger delivers his contempt to the media barons the likes of Murdoch who stopped delivering news years ago

Thomas Paine’s Common Sense, published in 1776. Paine wasn’t just contemptuous of one particular British ruler but of monarchs in general.

Fighting Fake News with REAL, 12/9/22; Twitter Censorship; Canada; The Monarchy; Thomas Paine, ICAC; John Pliger; Murdoch;

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese puts Peter Dutton on notice a National anti-corruption bill (Federal ICAC) is coming in a few daysKangaroo Court of Australia

A Federal ICAC that does what it’s meant to will make the Anthony Albanese government, but a Federal ICAC that is nothing more than smoke and mirrors will destroy his government. We’ll all have a good idea of what the Federal ICAC will and won’t achieve when the legislation is made public so I will reserve any judgment until then.

Parliament has been suspended for at least 15 days due to the Queen’s death so the promise to table legislation for a National Anti-corruption Commission next week won’t happen but should happen not long after parliament resumes.

Source: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese puts Peter Dutton on notice a National anti-corruption bill (Federal ICAC) is coming in a few daysKangaroo Court of Australia

JOHN PILGER: Silencing the lambs — how propaganda works

For decades, propaganda has steered the course of the mass media’s narrative, dominated by the needs of state and corporate power. John Pilger explains that nothing has changed in today’s world.

Source: JOHN PILGER: Silencing the lambs — how propaganda works

Mourn the Queen, But God Save the People | The Smirking Chimp

Great Britain hasn’t just lost a monarch. The British social welfare state, once a shining beacon for Western democracies, is also dying. On a human level, every death is an occasion for mourning. But who mourns the needlessly dead or the system that could have saved them? If people could learn to care half as much about every victim of poverty or inadequate healthcare as they do about one person, we might yet build a just society.

They will play “God Save the Queen” and “God Save the King” many times in the days to come. But who will save the people?

Source: Mourn the Queen, But God Save the People | The Smirking Chimp

Queen Elizabeth dies: In Africa, tributes are tempered by Britain’s bloody colonial past

Many Africans want Britain to return prized diamonds that adorn the Imperial State Crown (pictured here worn by Queen Elizabeth II as she delivers the Queen’s Speech in Parliament in 2016).

Imagine Right- Wing and Conservative Australian loudmouths railing at our Republicans and what they perceive as disrespect of Indigenous Australians for not mourning, bending and kowtowing to the death of the Queen. They aren’t saying anything about the slave trade in Africa or the pillaging and destruction of a prosperous nation like India.

Africans aren’t nearly as polite in reminding us what was done to their forefathers in the name of The British Monarchy. Even the Germans and French left some colonies in a better state than the British because they weren’t as brutally interfered with. The difference is witnessed in Tanzania’s and Senegal’s Democracies to the lack of it in Nigeria

Though Queen Elizabeth II was revered by many in Africa, her death also reignited a different sort of conversation – one that touched on the legacy of the British Empire and the brutality the monarchy meted out to people in its former colonies.

In a younger generation of Africans growing up in a post-colonial world, some lamented that the Queen never faced up to the grim aftermath of colonialism and empire, or issued an official apology. They said they wanted to use the moment to recall the oppression and horrors their parents and grandparents endured in the name of the Crown, and to urge for the return of crown jewels – rare massive diamonds – taken from the continent.

Source: Queen Elizabeth dies: In Africa, tributes are tempered by Britain’s bloody colonial past

German broadcaster requires employees to ‘support Israel’s right to exist’

The Deutsche Welle office in Bonn, Germany, September 1, 2014. (Christian Wolf/CC BY-SA 3.0 DE)

Israel’s global influence diminishes democracies and supports autocracies for it’s right to maintain a fascist state

On Sept. 1, Germany’s international broadcaster, Deutsche Welle (DW) updated its Code of Conduct to require all employees, when speaking either on behalf of the organization or in a personal capacity, to “support the right of Israel to exist” or face consequences, such as dismissal.

Source: German broadcaster requires employees to ‘support Israel’s right to exist’

Canada’s Elites Stand Ready to Defend the Monarchy

Australia’s elites not only believe but speak much the same as do Newzealanders with one exception they have no treaty with their Indigenous peoples, no Bill of Rights and believe neither is needed.

Even though most Canadians would prefer an elected head of state, Charles III is the country’s new king. But enduring monarchism does suit Canadian elites, whose worldview is sustained by the idea of inherited privilege and power embodied by the crown.

Source: Canada’s Elites Stand Ready to Defend the Monarchy

Twitter Censored Post for “Abusive Behaviour” Toward Queen

The exterior of the Twitter headquarters in San Francisco, CA May 28, 2020.(Photo by Winni Wintermeyer for the Washington Post)

Twitter, the platform was quickly dominated by a global outpouring of both grief and glee, a heated mixture of paeans to the queen’s 70-year tenure and angry denunciations of the British monarchy’s legacy of colonial violence and exploitation. Among the latter was Carnegie Mellon’s Uju Anya, an associate professor of second language acquisition. “I heard the chief monarch of a thieving raping genocidal empire is finally dying. May her pain be excruciating,” Anya tweeted.

Source: Twitter Censored Post for “Abusive Behaviour” Toward Queen

Thomas Paine Was History’s Greatest Hater of the British Crown

In Common Sense, he called England’s King George III “the Royal Brute of Great Britain,” who “hath wickedly broken through every moral and human obligation, trampled nature and conscience beneath his feet, and by a steady and constitutional spirit of insolence and cruelty procured for himself a universal hatred.” Thomas Paine’s Common Sense, published in 1776. Paine wasn’t just contemptuous of one particular British ruler but of monarchs in general.

Source: Thomas Paine Was History’s Greatest Hater of the British Crown

The 15 Horsemen of the Apocalypse: The Dramatic Climate Emergency Tipping Points that are around the Corner

our latter-day apocalypse will be driven by 15 tipping points affecting the earth’s climate. The sooner humanity stops burning coal, petroleum and fossil gas, the sooner a set of significant dangers will begin to recede. On the other hand, if the new British Prime Minister Liz Truss commits to extracting gas by hydraulic fracturing, she will lock in a significant increase in heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere– carbon dioxide and methane.

David Armstrong McKay et al. have just published at Science an article surveying the 15 climate tipping points identified by the UN’s IPCC and the amount of extra warming that will trigger them. Here is the graphic they used to illustrate these tipping points:

Source: The 15 Horsemen of the Apocalypse: The Dramatic Climate Emergency Tipping Points that are around the Corner

Fears grow for welfare of imprisoned Putin critic Alexei Navalny

The United States is deeply concerned by the Russian government’s treatment of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny, the State Department says.

While the world’s attention focuses on Ukraine’s fight to drive out Russian invaders, Vladimir Putin’s jailers have been been tormenting  imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny

Russian prison authorities have interfered with Navalny’s preparation of his defence and communication with his lawyer, US State Department spokesperson Ned Price says.

He also said Navalny has been repeatedly placed in solitary confinement for minor alleged infractions.

Price said Navalny’s treatment was “evidence of politically motivated harassment” and he reiterated US calls for the opposition leader’s immediate release.

Navalny, President Vladimir Putin’s most vocal critic inside Russia, is serving an 11-1/2 year sentence after being found guilty of parole violations and fraud and contempt of court charges.

He says all charges against him were fabricated as a pretext to smother dissent and thwart his political ambitions.

Source: Fears grow for welfare of imprisoned Putin critic Alexei Navalny

Leaked Oath Keeper Data Reveals Hundreds Of Police Officers | Crooks and Liars

Leaked Oath Keeper Data Reveals Hundreds Of Police Officers

The names of hundreds of U.S. law enforcement officers, elected officials and military members appear on the leaked membership rolls of a far-right extremist group that’s accused of playing a key role in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, according to a report released Wednesday.

The Anti-Defamation League Center on Extremism pored over more than 38,000 names on leaked Oath Keepers membership lists and identified more than 370 people it believes currently work in law enforcement agencies — including as police chiefs and sheriffs — and more than 100 people who are currently members of the military.

Source: Leaked Oath Keeper Data Reveals Hundreds Of Police Officers | Crooks and Liars

Old Dog Thought- It’s time for a Republic and a Commonwealth of United Nations

Fighting Fake News with REAL; 11/9/22; Australia celebrates 1778 when it began 40,000 years earlier; Its Time for the Republic; and a true Commonwealth of Nations