Category Archives: Fail!

For Whites Sensing Decline, Donald Trump Unleashes Words of Resistance – The New York Times

This year, for the first time in decades, overt white nationalism re-entered national politics. In Iowa, a new “super PAC” paid for pro-Trump robocalls featuring Jared Taylor, a self-described race realist, and William Johnson, a white nationalist and the chairman of the American Freedom Party. (“We don’t need Muslims,” Mr. Taylor urged recipients of the calls. “We need smart, well-educated white people who will assimilate to our culture. Vote Trump.”) David Duke, the Louisiana lawmaker turned anti-Semitic radio host, encouraged listeners to vote for Mr. Trump.Modern political convention dictates that candidates receiving such embraces instantly and publicly spurn them. In 2008, when it was revealed that a minister who endorsed the Republican nominee, Senator John McCain, had made anti-Semitic and anti-Muslim remarks, Mr. McCain forcefully repudiated them.Mr. Trump did something different.Asked about the robocall, Mr. Trump seemed to sympathize with its message while affecting a vague half-distance. “Nothing in this country shocks me; I would disavow it, but nothing in this country shocks me,” Mr. Trump told a CNN anchor. “People are angry.”Pressed, Mr. Trump grew irritable, saying: “How many times you want me to say it? I said, ‘I disavow.’”Asked six weeks later about Mr. Duke’s support, he said he had been unaware of it: “David Duke endorsed me? O.K. All right. I disavow, O.K.?” Later, on Twitter, he repeated the phrase: “I disavow.”Mr. Trump has often used those words when confronted by reporters. The phrase is comfortingly nonspecific, a disavowal of everything and nothing. And whatever Mr. Trump’s intentions, it has been powerfully reassuring to people on the far right.“There’s no direct object there,” Mr. Spencer said. “It’s kind of interesting, isn’t it?”Mr. Trump’s new supporters took his approach as a signal of support. In an interview on a “pro-white” radio show called “The Political Cesspool,” Mr. Johnson, of the American Freedom Party, praised Mr. Trump’s handling of the controversy.“He disavowed us,” Mr. Johnson acknowledged, “but he explained why there is so much anger in America that I couldn’t have asked for a better approach from him.”

Source: For Whites Sensing Decline, Donald Trump Unleashes Words of Resistance – The New York Times

Alarming Antibiotic-Resistant Superbug Discovered In NYer’s Bacteria Sample: Gothamist

The authors of this most recent report say that “it’s not an immediate threat,” but rather a warning sign. But experts told the Huffington Post that it’s likely the bug is “already in the guts of people throughout the United States and will continue to spread” (through fecal contact and poor hygiene, in case you were wondering), and that “within the next two to three years, it’s going to be fairly routine for infections to occur in the United States for which we have no (effective) drugs available.”As for the NYC patient? Not too much is known, other than the fact that the sample with the Colistin-resistant bacteria was gastrointestinal. One of the laboratory’s research directors told National Geographic that the hospital where it was collected is investigating the patient’s clinical history. The city Department of Health didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment, but we’ll update if they do.In a fact sheet put out last fall, the World Health Organization called antibiotic resistance “one of the biggest threats to global health today,” and noted that it’s “putting the achievements of modern medicine at risk. Without effective antibiotics for the prevention and treatment of infections, organ transplantations, chemotherapy and surgeries such as caesarean sections become much more dangerous.”

Source: Alarming Antibiotic-Resistant Superbug Discovered In NYer’s Bacteria Sample: Gothamist

 Follow the money and better understand the neo-cold war to counter-Russia

Germany’s Global Role

 

That the EU would cooperate more closely with NATO was not among the least the decisions taken at the Warsaw summit. This would be the case, above all, in areas where the EU is either significantly weaker than the USA, or where it wishes support. The former case applies to the domain of cyberwarfare and intelligence activities to be expanded, while the latter applies to the EU warding off migrants, wherein the military alliance will lend support. It also stipulates that the EU’s arms industry should be further bolstered and can possibly expect new orders from the United States. This reinforcement of cooperation was taken after German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier had announced that Germany has become a “central player” on the world stage and takes on a “global role,” while the USA has “stumbled” and “the illusion of a unipolar world” faded.[7] Steinmeier, together with his French counterpart, Jean-Marc Ayrault, additionally call for an excessive EU arms buildup permitting the European confederation to become an “independent” and “global” actor – also “independent” of the USA.[8]

 

Source: www.german-foreign-policy.com

Tim’s El Salvador Blog: When police kill

Salvadoran authorities have dismantled an alleged death squad partially made up of police and linked to around 40 killings of gang members since 2014, when a resurgence of gang-related violence began. Five civilians and five police were arrested Friday in the first crackdown in 20 years on a “social cleansing” group in El Salvador. Attorney General Douglas Melendez said the self-described “self-defense” organization was financed by local business leaders and Salvadorans living in the United States. Eleven other suspected members of the gang, which operated in the eastern province of San Miguel, remain at large. “We can’t allow our country to become the Old West and this case is an example of that, where we have evidence of summary executions carried out by the suspects,” Melendez said. Although the group has been linked to 40 homicides, the detainees will be charged with 9 killings, he added.

Source: Tim’s El Salvador Blog: When police kill

After ‘Brexit’ Vote, Immigrants Feel a Town Turn Against Them – The New York Times

“Something is broken in this town,” said Paul Gleeson, a Labour Party councilor in Boston, where 76 percent of voters supported leaving the European Union, the highest pro-“Brexit” proportion in the country. “This veneer of propriety has suddenly disappeared.’’In this new environment, some immigrants say they have stopped speaking their native tongue in public. Nervous mothers say they worry about their children being bullied at school. Young immigrants say they fear discrimination over jobs and university admissions.Gregory Pacho, who is Polish-Italian, runs a thriving taxi company. For the first time in the 16 years he has lived in Boston, he said, he has given serious thought to moving out, prompted by a leaflet on his car’s windshield that read, “Did you pack your bags yet?”Some of his English clients, with whom he joked over the years, no longer talk to him. “In one week, you experience that some people you’ve known for three years change their attitudes 180 degrees,” he said.PhotoPolish and Chinese shops sharing a neighborhood in Boston, where 76 percent of voters supported leaving the European Union. Credit Andrew Testa for The New York TimesMagdalena Korzeb, 34, said she had long considered herself half-Bostonian, having worked, paid taxes and lived here for 11 years with her husband and 5-year-old daughter. Not anymore.Continue reading the main storyADVERTISEMENT‘Brexit’: Britain’s Decision to Leave the E.U.Updates on Britain’s exit from the European Union.Obama Tells NATO That ‘Europe Can Count On’ the U.S.JUL 9Why the E.U. Had It ComingJUL 9Contest for British Premier Flares Over Claims on MotherhoodJUL 9NATO Unity, Tested by Russia, Shows Some CracksJUL 8New British Premier Will Be: A WomanJUL 8See More »RELATED COVERAGEIN DEBTEconomic Uncertainty Remains Even After ‘Brexit’ JULY 8, 2016‘Brexit’: Explaining Britain’s Vote on European Union Membership APRIL 5, 2016Overwhelmed by ‘Brexit’? Here Are the Basics JUNE 24, 2016“I feel used. Eleven years wasted. Eleven years ago, they were so happy to invite us here,” she said at the Delight Pub, a Polish bar that she owns on West Street. (English locals call it “East Street” because of the number of Eastern European shops.) “I could now close my shop, pack my bags and say, ‘Bye-bye.’”

Source: After ‘Brexit’ Vote, Immigrants Feel a Town Turn Against Them – The New York Times

His name is Philando Castile. He was murdered by the police in Falcon Heights, Minnesota | 3CHICSPOLITICO

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=486KsA193EE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlZVCyJoz0o

 

Philando Castile was stopped for a “routine ” traffic stop. AND NOW IS DEAD!! Asked for his information,  he volunteered to his murderer that he had a weapon, because he had a  permit. …

Source: His name is Philando Castile. He was murdered by the police in Falcon Heights, Minnesota | 3CHICSPOLITICO

Can We Handle the Truth?

We are a nation obsessed with fake news sites and conspiracy theories—which may very well be paving the way to victory for a president for whom fiction always trumps the facts.

Source: Can We Handle the Truth?

The explosion of fake news websites giving way to memes perpetuating untruths does more than just exploit readers for monetized clicks; it fosters a socially toxic mistrust of all media reports as politically biased fantasy, irrespective of the legitimacy (“professionalism”) of the outlets. One of the strangest examples of our current post-truth condition was a viral tweet claiming to show a female Trump supporter who’d been beaten up by “liberals.” There had indeed been violence at anti-Trump protests, but this image was not evidence of those altercations. In fact, it was Ash vs. Evil Dead actress Samara Weaving doing a makeup test. On-screen, the special-effects fakery is acceptable and even necessary to advance plotlines, etc. Remove the context, though, and what do you have? An illusion out-of-the-box becomes a corrupt political narrative.

How Israel is turning anti-occupation activists into dissidents | +972 Magazine

“If you are not for the government, you are anti-Israel, scum, a mole, an outsider who should be made not a citizen

On another front, Culture Minister Miri Regev has been working for several years to curtail political dissent in the arts. Last month Regev sent questionnaires to artists asking them whether they perform in West Bank settlements, the first step in cutting funding on the basis of political conscious. A year earlier she warned, “institutions that delegitimize the State of Israel will not receive funding.”Combined with a range of other pieces of legislation, policies and actions by government officials and extra-parliamentary groups, the cumulative effect of the NGO Law is to portray those working to end the occupation, fighting for equality and liberal democratic values as dissidents subverting the State of Israel itself.Speaking at the Herzliya Conference last month, Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan announced a new legislative initiative to install legal — perhaps criminal — sanctions against Israelis who actively oppose government policy vis-à-vis the Palestinians.“There’s no real price for somebody or an organization working against his country in order to isolate it in the world,” explained Erdan, whose ministerial responsibilities include Israel’s law enforcement agencies. “I’ve already established a legal team together with the Justice Ministry to create government-sponsored legislation in that context.”“We understand that there is a need to draw a line between freedom of expression and democratic values, in which we believe and want to safeguard,” Erdan continued, “but if we want to convince the world that delegitimzation is unacceptable and for which a price must be paid, then it needs to start here in Israel.”In the same speech, Erdan discussed the need to use Israel’s intelligence capabilities against individuals and organizations working to end the occupation, drawing direct parallels to the methods Israel has used to fight terrorism, including searching for tangential and indirect ties to terrorist organizations, finding financial improprieties, smearing individuals, and shutting down bank accounts.

Source: How Israel is turning anti-occupation activists into dissidents | +972 Magazine

Germany derides ‘disgraceful’ Farage after resignation – The Local

Major media outlets gave the story top billing on their websites throughout the afternoon.Munich’s respected Süddeutsche Zeitung went with the headline “Farage ducks out of taking responsibility.”Conservative daily Die Welt billed the story as “the next leader betrays the Brits”, while Zeit Online, website for the country’s largest weekly newspaper, chose “The end of the pub politician.”“Now, while he can see himself as victor after he declared that referendum day on June 23rd was his personal independence day, he is going. How incredibly cowardly that is. What a con artist,” wrote the SZ.

Source: Germany derides ‘disgraceful’ Farage after resignation – The Local

Victims, Not Threats: The Massacred In Iraq, Lebanon, Turkey, Syria, Yemen Are Not Terrorists For Hateful Rhetoric

Meet Adel Al-Jaf. He also calls himself Adel Euro, so you might know him by that. He was a rapper, a dancer and a man who tried to do the best that he could with what he had in his country. Last ye…

Source: Victims, Not Threats: The Massacred In Iraq, Lebanon, Turkey, Syria, Yemen Are Not Terrorists For Hateful Rhetoric

Sarah Sadaka, an Arab living in the United States, was going to a Best Buy store today. She went into that store speaking on her phone in Arabic, only to be circled by a woman who made it clear that her presence, her skin, her language made her uncomfortable. No one came to Sarah’s defense: she was just another sand nigger, breathing that free American air on the fourth of July. She did not deserve to have her right as a human being not to be violated that way taken away, she is, after all, only Arab.

Sarah, today, is the living embodiment of what it is to be the victim of terrorism in the United States, except this time it’s the brand championed by the likes of Donald Trump and the people with whom his rhetoric resonates.

When Omar Mateen went to a gay night club in Orlando and killed 49 people, mainstream American media only saw his name Omar as enough reason to justify his actions. He was just another Muslim. He was just another Middle Eastern offended by “our” way of life. Except Omar Mateen did not do so in the name of Islam, he did it in the name of his own insecurities, the insecurities of a man who is afraid of his own sexuality and who is so deluded in his own belief that he’d support two politically opposed factions in Hezbollah and ISIS as vindications for his action.

Omar Mateen’s characterization, and the repercussions that follow it, are a direct result of the kind of terrorism that Arabs and Muslims have to endure at the hands of people like Donald Trump, the Far Right across the world, and the minds that listen to them.

My mother tongue has become synonymous in people’s minds with death. If I speak it on a plane, I become an automatic threat, forced to undergo security checks, apprehended by officials because the words I utter from lips only resonate with fear, even if it’s to say: peace be upon you.

Victims, not threats. The more we are silent towards our murder, our decimation, and our characterization as people who do not deserve to live, the more we perpetuate the notion that people who think of Muslims, Arabs, Middle Easterners and those that live in the area are worth nothing is true. The more we are subdued in not demanding our deaths be remembered, be proclaimed, be cared for, the more our inherent value slips even further, even less than it already is, down an abyss in which the least valuable lives on this planet are Arab lives.

I should not be living in a world where I need to convince a friend of mine not to name his son Abdul Rahman because the name is “too Muslim.” I should not be living in a world where I have to defend myself at my own funeral. I should not be living in a world where the deaths of two hundred Iraqis is considered as just another bleb on the evening news, as they are just a waste of space.

We are people too, and we are worthy of life, one in which two hundred of us do not die at a mall buying new clothes for their children. We are victims, not threats.