Category Archives: pseudo-freedom

Donald Trump blames India, China for ‘greatest job theft’ – Times of India {Solution: Don’t let people like Trump move jobs out of USA!-LOL)

Donald Trump said US companies were moving out jobs to countries like India, China, Mexico and Singapore. “We are living through the greatest jobs theft in the history of the world. There’s never been a country that’s lost jobs like we do, so stupidly, so easy to solve,” he added.

Source: Donald Trump: Donald Trump blames India, China for ‘greatest job theft’ – Times of India

Kurds Fear the U.S. Will Again Betray Them, in Syria – The New York Times AKA: TIK, TOK – trust in Kurds, trust only Kurds.

So, many Kurds shuddered when Turkish tanks and soldiers recently rolled into northern Syria, with American support, to push back against Kurdish gains. They saw it, perhaps prematurely, as a replay of a century of betrayal by world powers, going back to the end of World War I, when they were promised, then denied, their own state in the postwar settlement.“The Kurds are going to scream betrayal at every turn when they think things are not going to go their way, because they’ve had a century of it,” said Joost Hiltermann, the program director for the Middle East and North Africa at the International Crisis Group, and a longtime expert on the Kurds.The Syrian Kurds say their aim is to establish an autonomous region, not their own state, where their rights are protected, in whatever settlement comes from the long Syrian civil war. And they say they hope that the United States will support them in that desire.To accomplish that, though, they need to connect two of their territories: Afrin, in the west, and Kobani, in the east, an effort that Turkey sees as a national security threat to be thwarted at virtually any cost.

Source: Kurds Fear the U.S. Will Again Betray Them, in Syria – The New York Times

Milwaukee Police Forcibly Arrested Two Men Last Night for Doing Nothing Wrong. They Got a Surprise When One Was A State Rep and the Other Was From the ACLU. | American Civil Liberties Union

At about 9:30 p.m., a handful of people, including Mr. English and Rep. Brostoff, stood on the northeast corner of Sherman Boulevard and Auer Avenue, observing a large contingent of police officers who had blocked off Auer on the west side of Sherman. The street has been the gathering place for community members since the fatal police shooting of Sylville Smith on August 13.Numerous officers then forcibly arrested Mr. English as he was walking away as instructed. He was handcuffed, forced to the ground, involuntarily searched, and placed in a paddy wagon with Rep. Brostoff. After officials became aware that they had arrested a state legislator, the two were released without charges.When I had the chance of speaking with Jarrett, he told me this:“The situation was confusing, because I really did not know what I was being arrested for. It was embarrassing and dehumanizing, and I did not feel that I was being treated with the dignity and respect that should be afforded any individual. But I was mostly thinking about all of the young people this happens to every day who don’t have anyone to call to get free. We cannot continue doing this to our people.

The Milwaukee Police Department has once again demonstrated its preference for occupation, excessive force, and belligerence over genuine engagement, civil dialog, and de-escalation. People have a right to stand on a street corner – to observe and record the police, as Jarrett was doing, or for any other reason. Unfortunately, rather than protecting people and their rights, law enforcement in this community all too often engages in the sort of destructive behavior to which Jarrett and Jonathan were subjected to last night.

Source: Milwaukee Police Forcibly Arrested Two Men Last Night for Doing Nothing Wrong. They Got a Surprise When One Was A State Rep and the Other Was From the ACLU. | American Civil Liberties Union

Wednesday Open Thread | #VeteransForKaepernick Exploded On Twitter | 3CHICSPOLITICO

Colin Kaepernick’s refusal to stand during the national anthem has taken over the news cycle. It seems almost everyone has weighed in on the issue except one, extremely important group: American co…

Source: Wednesday Open Thread | #VeteransForKaepernick Exploded On Twitter | 3CHICSPOLITICO

In firing human editors, Facebook has lost the fight against fake news | Technology | The Guardian

Zuckerberg insists that Facebook is a technology company and not a media company, building tools instead of creating content. However, as Facebook’s algorithm – which, after all, is built and maintained by human beings – decides which content people see in their news feeds, it is arguably irresponsible for the company to allow misinformation to spread unfettered when it is now so influential in the daily distribution of news.Advertisement“Machines think in black and white,” said Mandy Jenkins, head of news at Storyful, which specialises in verifying and distributing social news. “I don’t think verification can be automated yet. What something means to be real and verified is not black and white.“A judgement call has to happen. It’s about asking questions and seeing how a story adds up against other facts we know. What is the background of the source or site? Who is the person who wrote this story? Where does it come from? These are too many questions for a robot to answer on its own.”Trained humans with fact-checking and journalism skills, such as those fired from the company last Friday, aren’t 100% foolproof, but they can intervene to keep algorithmic wildfire at bay. Perhaps it’s time for Facebook to rehire them?

Source: In firing human editors, Facebook has lost the fight against fake news | Technology | The Guardian

Amir-Moazami: ′France does not have a homogeneous mainstream culture′ | Europe | DW.COM | 28.08.2016

Schirin Amir-MoazamiIn France, the notion of a homogeneous mainstream society has not existed for centuries. This has a lot to do with the colonial past and more recently, with the country’s immigration policy. That is why it is difficult to speak of specifically “French” values, especially if we have to determine this in the matter of how much of a body is allowed to be visible in public. These values have always been linked to contexts outside of France. So it is regrettable that France has never analyzed this past in a critical manner – for example, by asking about its consequences and impact on life today. What is certain is that one can no longer speak of original “French” values.Nonetheless, the debate has been raging in France. The philosopher and bestselling author Alan Finkielkraut points out the fact that many French people complain they no longer feel at home in their own country.This statement seems problematic to me. What does “at home” mean with regard to a past in which France took its “home” to other parts of the world? Finkielkraut himself comes from a Jewish background that he has analyzed journalistically. Unfortunately, he does not apply his question to the present. He does not ask how it is for minorities today that are also stigmatized and reproduced as minorities. It is quite obvious that Maghreb Muslims did not come to Islamize France. Instead, it is a case of postcolonial immigration.Do you see opportunities that could turn the tense situation into a successful integration story?So much has gone wrong in France in particular, so it is really hard to offer reasonable guidance. Society has become so polarized – and Germany is showing a similar tendency – that the findings are relatively serious. The recent decision of the [French court] to suspend the burkini ban is a step in the right direction. It is right not to allow the problem to heat up even more and to polarize society even more. But it would also be sensible to not to let the burkini represent an Islamist or terrorist threat. It would also be wrong to conduct this debate at the expense of women. Instead, people should look at matters of social justice, for in France, as in Germany, Muslims represent a certain social class in which a certain culture has emerged and then been marginalized.

Source: Amir-Moazami: ′France does not have a homogeneous mainstream culture′ | Europe | DW.COM | 28.08.2016

Colonial nostalgia is back in fashion, blinding us to the horrors of empire | Kehinde Andrews | Opinion | The Guardian

Lest we forget: far from being a benevolent saviour, the British empire was based on the exploitation, murder and devastation of people across the globe. Some notable atrocities include, but are by no means limited to: transatlantic slavery, famines in the British Raj, and brutal settler colonial regimes in Zimbabwe and Kenya. Hundreds of millions of people died as a result of Britain’s vicious regime. The empire collapsed after campaigns, rebellions and revolutions from the people who were oppressed by Britain. The natives did not happily accept colonial rule; they resisted at every turn because they understood the cost of the system to their nations.Walter Rodney’s classic book How Europe Underdeveloped Africa, goes into forensic detail as to how colonialism set back the continent by creating political and economic systems that impoverished Africa, with the direct purpose of enriching Europe. Even after independence, Kwame Nkrumah, the first president of liberated Ghana, explained in the 1960s that the economic policies of the country had an “Alice in Wonderland craziness about them”, with Britain extracting all the wealth from the resources of the nation.It is essential that the legacy of the British empire is understood because it still plays a key role in the world today. The devastation of nations by European colonialism goes a long way to explaining extreme poverty and conflict in many parts of the world, and is continued in manifestly unjust trade relations. Reminiscing about the days of empire and pining for Britain to be great again is a device to avoid any reckoning with Britain’s terrible colonial legacy and debt.Perhaps a recognition of the brutality, violence and horror at the dark heart of empire would shake the nation out of its postcolonial melancholia. To acknowledge the dark side of colonialism, however, would destroy the nostalgia that is such a strong part of British imperial identity. It is far easier to get lost in national pride from Olympic success than to reckon with Britain’s history and real place in the world.

Source: Colonial nostalgia is back in fashion, blinding us to the horrors of empire | Kehinde Andrews | Opinion | The Guardian

The Rise Of The Right Isn’t All Just About Class | Race Files

Consider the religious right. Are they a class movement? I argue no. They’re self-described cultural warriors, organized out of a born-again evangelical movement that rose as a response to sudden changes brought about by the baby-boom/free love/civil rights/anti-war/feminist uprising of the mid-last century by leaders who politicized what it meant to be “born-again,” exploiting the conservatism that dominated a cultural movement. During the height of religious right wing attacks against LGBTQ people and abortion, we were in a growing economy. The spoils of that growth may have been hoarded almost exclusively by the top ten percent, but the perception of good times was widespread throughout the middle class, and was demonstrated through the enthusiasm with which so many middle-classers responded to dot.com bubble investment opportunities that went bust. Never has the stock market been such a popular forum for the articulation of “hope” married to individualism than during the tech-bubble 90s.So let’s get this one straight so that class reductionists don’t steal the real opportunity presented by the fight against the right: class matters absolutely, but the rise of the right isn’t near as much about class as it is about culture, who gets to control it, and what that means about American cultural identity.I know opponents of “identitarianism” (the term for identity activists who they equate with neoliberals) will hate this, but those of us they’ve labeled “identitarians” include a not inconsiderable faction that understands that identity politics is, maybe, one of the most virulent expressions of anti-intellectualism out there. That’s right, we are able to hold a critique of identity politics while also having the sensitivity to recognize that you have to start with people where they’re at when you’re organizing a popular front for change. It’s an act of walking and chewing gum at the same time that I strongly recommend.Culture and identity are inseparable. We are cultural animals. This is what makes people distinct from other species. Identity is what holds cultures together. In order to win a more just world, we need to put political change in the context of cultural transformation and acknowledge this reality and not waste our effort trying to wish it away.

Source: The Rise Of The Right Isn’t All Just About Class | Race Files

Donald Trump’s achilles heel is that he is truly un-American | Jonathan Freedland | Opinion | The Guardian

 

What Trump had done was violate a core American ideal: the notion – not always honoured, admittedly – that no matter where your family came from, if you were born in the US or had come there and subscribed to its founding principles, then you were as American as a direct descendant of those who landed on Plymouth Rock. This was what set the US apart, the belief that national identity did not reside in blood or soil, but in loyalty to the nation’s constitution and its bill of rights.Or consider Trump’s proposal to ban Muslims from entering the US; it was again attacked by Republicans as well as Democrats because it contradicts America’s founding purpose, to be a haven from religious persecution, a purpose encapsulated in the constitution’s first amendment guaranteeing the “free exercise” of religion. Or reflect on Trump’s little joke this week, suggesting the way to deal with Clinton might be a bullet – at odds with America’s professed determination to resolve its differences through a constitution, the law and elections.The common thread is that all these moves by Trump are not just reactionary or bigoted or dangerous. They contradict the ideals that all Americans are meant to regard as sacred. Perhaps this is the way to attack Trump: as truly un-American. He says he wants to make America great again. The truth is, he would stop America being America.More comment TopicsDonald Trump US constitution and civil liberties Republicans DemocratsShare on LinkedIn Share on Google+ Save for laterReuse this contentAdvertisementMost popular in USHope Solo calls Sweden ‘a bunch of cowards’ after USA falter at Olympics Rio Olympics 2016: women’s football, tennis, athletics and basketball – live! San Jose Mercury News says sorry for ‘insensitive’ Simone Manuel headline Donald Trump: it’s all a joke Have we detected an alien megastructure in space? Keep an open mind | Seth Shostak

Source: Donald Trump’s achilles heel is that he is truly un-American | Jonathan Freedland | Opinion | The Guardian

Attacks on Dalits leave Gujarat government wounded – Times of India

Initiating the discussion, senior JD(U) member Sharad Yadav sought a ban on ‘gau rakshaks’ (cow vigilantes) operating in some parts of the country . He said it was a matter of shame that even after 70 years of Independence, atrocities against Dalits, especially women, were increasing.”Who created these ‘gau rakshaks? Why doesn’t the government ban them? What is this tamasha? We talk about Taliban … our caste system has a Taliban-like attitude, we need to discuss that,” he said. Congress and other members joined him, saying the incident only exposes the real face of the `Gujarat model’ promoted by PM Narendra Modi. Observing that youths were joining such groups because of rising unemployment, Yadav said that “in Gujarat, these gau rakshaks say 33 crore gods and goddesses live in the cow. Such superstitions are being spread in this country.”

Source: Attacks on Dalits leave Gujarat government wounded – Times of India