Category Archives: Fascism

Anne Applebaum Interview About President Donald Trump – SPIEGEL ONLINE

Applebaum: I don’t want to predict calamity. But I am afraid of a new Russian occupation of parts of Eastern Europe. Also of a new Russian campaign to exert influence in Germany or other parts Europe, aimed at making continental politics less democratic. I am afraid of a US trade war and even a shooting war with China.

Source: Anne Applebaum Interview About President Donald Trump – SPIEGEL ONLINE

No, I Will Not Give Trump a Chance | Dame Magazine

There’s no giving a chance to a man who doesn’t understand the basic principles of the U.S. Constitution. Who threatens Americans their citizenship or prison for burning the flag.Not only will I refuse to participate in my own soul murder of a foul man who takes a Victory Tour that got rebranded a “Thank-you” tour while visiting only states where he “won,” but that foulness doesn’t get a chance.There’s not a person on the planet who gets a chance after allowing “Lock her up” chants or racial and imperialistic violence at his rallies to win a seat to work for us.No influential person worth his salt gets a chance after messing in the business dealings of Carrier or Toyota or General Motors or who influences stocks to fall when he publicly pouts about their loyalty. No one who affects Boeing stock and causes it to plummet after lying about the cost of it compared to Air Force 1, gets a chance.There’s no giving a chance to a man who sides with a murderous leader like the Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte. DUTERTE.

Source: No, I Will Not Give Trump a Chance | Dame Magazine

Russia Passes a New Bill to Decriminalise Domestic Violence – The Ladies Finger

The bill was introduced by Yelena Mizulina, a senator in the Federation Council, Russia’s upper chamber of Parliament. “You don’t want people to be imprisoned for two years and labelled a criminal for the rest of their lives for a slap,” she had said back in August 2016, when she had first introduced the bill in Parliament. She went on to argue that traditional power dynamics of families should be reflected in the law — and told the Moscow Times that the law must not, “contradict the system of social values that society holds on to.” Mizulina had previously campaigned for anti-LGBTQ legislature against “gay propaganda”. But it has been reported that the bill was not a priority until Vladimir Putin intervened. Apart from starting the change.org petition, Popova also condemned the bill on a Facebook post, arguing that the bill will mean that, “an offender will now beat [his relatives] and pay a small fine.”

Source: Russia Passes a New Bill to Decriminalise Domestic Violence – The Ladies FingerThe Ladies Finger

New York Artist Molly Crabapple Sketches Her Way From Guantanamo Bay to Bangalore – The Ladies FingerThe Ladies Finger

Gaza was bombed and wrecked during the 2014 war, Molly remembers seeing construction workers taking the rebar from a building that has been bombed. “If you’ve ever seen rebar from a building that has been bombed, it is an evil-looking material. It’s like coiled snakes; like nettles.” She saw two men taking the rebar and straightening it with rocks and tools. And in it she saw an image of resilience, taking the rebar and turning it into construction material, but “goddammit, you’re going to rebuild anyway!”

Source: New York Artist Molly Crabapple Sketches Her Way From Guantanamo Bay to Bangalore – The Ladies FingerThe Ladies Finger

US shoe company recalls boot that ‘mistakenly’ leaves swastika prints – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) Not a mistake – they just got caught being stupid trying to profit off of racism and hate.

Conal said it did “not promote hate or discrimination of any kind” and was investigating what had gone wrong.The Reddit post, which has been viewed more than 3 million times, sparked a flurry of jokes on social media.On Amazon, where the boots were sold before being pulled by the company, users left reviews describing the boots as “good for marching into Poland, but not so much for anything else”, and rating them a “nein out of ten”.Other Reddit users pointed out the boot style shared its name — Polar Fox — with that of the codename for a German and Finnish military operation in World War II.

Source: US shoe company recalls boot that ‘mistakenly’ leaves swastika prints – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Russia dossier: what happens next – and could Donald Trump be impeached? | US news | The Guardian

The most sensational details contained in the dossier concern the allegation that Russian spies gathered compromising material, or “kompromat”, on Trump by secretly recording audio and video tape of his sexual activities in the presidential suite of the Ritz Carlton hotel in Moscow. Such content is virtually impossible to prove, or disprove, other than in the unlikely circumstance that tapes were to emerge. A potentially more potent line of inquiry contained in the dossier that could yet cause Trump trouble relates to allegations that members of his team were in close contact with Russian officials in the course of last year’s presidential election over Russian hacking of Democratic emails that were later published by WikiLeaks. Independent reports suggest that US intelligence agencies were already investigating alleged links, such as those between businessman Carter Page and senior Russian officials. The president-elect’s spokesman Sean Spicer this week said that the president-elect “does not know” Page, even though Trump himself last March described Page as a member of his foreign policy team.

Source: Russia dossier: what happens next – and could Donald Trump be impeached? | US news | The Guardian

FBI chief given dossier by John McCain alleging secret Trump-Russia contacts | US news | The Guardian

Most explosively, the report alleges: “FSB has compromised Trump through his activities in Moscow sufficiently to be able to blackmail him.” The president-elect has not responded to the allegations.CNN reported on Tuesday that the FBI was still investigating the credibility of the documents but added that the intelligence chiefs had included a summary of the material in a secret briefing on Russian interference in the election delivered last week to Barack Obama and Donald Trump.The emergence of the documents is potentially explosive, 10 days before Trump’s inauguration and on the eve of his first planned press conference since July last year.

Source: FBI chief given dossier by John McCain alleging secret Trump-Russia contacts | US news | The Guardian

Russia spreading fake news and forged docs in Sweden: report – The Local

Sweden’s most respected foreign policy institute has accused Russia of using underhand methods, including fake news, counterfeit documents, and other disinformation, to influence Swedish decision-making.The report by Martin Kragh, a Russia expert at the Swedish Institute of International Affairs, is the first empirical study detailing Russia’s use of ‘active measures’ in its information war against Sweden, which is largely directed at steering the country away from joining Nato.

Source: Russia spreading fake news and forged docs in Sweden: report – The Local

Russia Requires Apple and Google to Remove LinkedIn From Local App Stores – The New York Times “Money first, Morals/Principles pfft!”

Direct blocking of websites has been done by China, Russia, Turkey and several other nations for years, usually through their state-run internet service providers. But civil rights groups say the pressure authoritarian governments are now placing on Apple and Google is a new wrinkle.“Apps are the new choke point of free expression,” said Rebecca MacKinnon, who leads a project on open internet tracking at New America.Increasingly, United States tech companies are complying with those demands.

Coachella owner denies donating to anti-LGBT groups amid outrage | Music | The Guardian “Talking from both sides of mouth – he uses funds from Coachilla to fund Trump supporters!”

A major Republican donor, Anschutz gave more than $1m to conservative candidates and political fundraising groups in 2016, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan watchdog. Employees of the Anschutz Corporation also leaned heavily toward Republican candidates. The businessman has attended political events hosted by the Koch brothers, the billionaire scions of an oil fortune and also Republican donors, and Anschutz has donated to their political group Americans for Prosperity, which opposes climate change research and regulations. Anschutz’s natural gas company has also sued small towns in pursuit of fracking rights, and the businessman has invested heavily in a gigantic Wyoming wind farm.

Source: Coachella owner denies donating to anti-LGBT groups amid outrage | Music | The Guardian