Category Archives: Just strange

Mayor of London calls for cancellation of Trump’s visit to UK | 3CHICSPOLITICO

 

Donald Trump mocked Mayor Sadig Khan b/c he is Muslim. No other reason. He also attacked a Gold Star family, Khizr & Ghazala Khan, who lost their son in the Iraq war. What kind of monster insults & mocks a friend who has suffered a horrible tragedy? When you’ve had no home training & been an ignorant bully all of your life, then it’s no surprise what the ignoramus did to people in the UK & the Khans. If someone mocked, insulted & piled on to my pain after I’ve suffered a tragedy, I’d cut them off for good. I hope you’re listening, UK? Cancel the visit.

Source: Mayor of London calls for cancellation of Trump’s visit to UK | 3CHICSPOLITICO

Not falling down – sister-hood magazine. A Fuuse production by Deeyah Khan.

Since the aftermath of 9/11, the US has been in a state of perpetual reeling. The Bushies exploited the pain and fear of 9/11 to pursue their own warped dream of burning the Middle East to its ashes in the hope that a Phoenix (one kowtowing to the US oil and corporate interests) would arise. In the name of the 3000 killed on 9/11, we, as American voters and taxpayers, enabled the massacre of an estimated million in Iraq. The numbers of civilian casualties in Afghanistan are rarely ever talked about. Then as the years went by, with hubris we went to Libya and left another massive chaos. On Syria we equivocated having understood some of the lessons of Iraq and Libya. But somehow that caution vanished when the Saudis threw a hissy fit and demanded an attack on Yemen. We – the Obama administration – went in with them, fuelling their planes, selling them arms – along with the UK and France of course. So today, we are elbow deep in blood and cholera, with no exit strategy.With the election of no. 45, the US is reeling ever more crazed and clumsily around the world, hugging dictators, dropping drones and bombs, and denigrating other leaders. It is all made worse by the fact that the US president wants to project his own ignorance and arrogance on the rest of us.We need a reality check on this 16 years of militarized reeling. Enough. Enough of all the violence. By us, by our governments, with our taxes. Enough of the giddy reeling by the defence and security industry that has become so bloated and deadly. Enough of the cosying up to the Saudis, who are the progenitors of all the warped groups who claim to represent Islam. Enough of the violence by inhumane men who think they’re entitled to kill or believe that terror gives them a fast track to heaven.Enough of all of it. Let’s admit militarism begets extremism that begets militarism that begets more violent extremism. It’s time to stop reeling and get back to the drawing board. Because right now, this US government is caught in an unreal reel that is taking us all closer to the edge of the abyss. That is just. not. tolerable.

Source: Not falling down – sister-hood magazine. A Fuuse production by Deeyah Khan.

Climate deal: PM Modi’s US visit still on despite Trump rant against India on climate change | India News – Times of India

Trump’s claim that India was seeking “billions and billions and billions” was also typical of the hyperbolic falsehoods he often indulges in. Total foreign aid to India in 2015 was only $ 3.1 billion, with US aid to India only around $ 100 million. This is being whittled down to $34 million in 2018, pocket change for India which now itself gives out $ 1.6 billion in foreign aid, mostly to neighboring countries.

Source: Climate deal: PM Modi’s US visit still on despite Trump rant against India on climate change | India News – Times of India

Rebecca Solnit: The Loneliness of Donald Trump | Literary Hub

The man in the white house sits, naked and obscene, a pustule of ego, in the harsh light, a man whose grasp exceeded his understanding, because his understanding was dulled by indulgence. He must know somewhere below the surface he skates on that he has destroyed his image, and like Dorian Gray before him, will be devoured by his own corrosion in due time too. One way or another this will kill him, though he may drag down millions with him. One way or another, he knows he has stepped off a cliff, pronounced himself king of the air, and is in freefall. Another dungheap awaits his landing; the dung is all his; when he plunges into it he will be, at last, a self-made man.

Source: Rebecca Solnit: The Loneliness of Donald Trump | Literary Hub

Walker director expresses regret over sculpture that recalls Mankato hangings – StarTribune.com – but will not dismantle it or send it back – fail, shame, just plain stupid!

ATHimmelman MAY. 27, 177:32 PM

The Walker board and staff responsible for this outrage somehow did not learn/know the most fundamental principle of relationships with community members. Those making decisions directly affecting communities must share the power to decide what is being proposed with those from the affected communities. Nor the basic requirements for partnerships: mutual respect, mutual learning, and mutual accountability. This was understandable 50 years ago but is willful ignorance today.

Source: Walker director expresses regret over sculpture that recalls Mankato hangings – StarTribune.com

Trump in Brussels: ‘The Germans Are Bad, Very Bad’ – SPIEGEL ONLINE

According to a report in the German daily Süddeutsche Zeitung, many EU officials were appalled by how little the Americans appeared to know about trade policy. The guests from Washington seemed not to be aware that EU member states only negotiate trade treaties as a bloc. According to the paper, Trump’s chief economic advisor, Gary Cohn, claimed during meetings, for example, that different customs tariffs are in place between the U.S. and Germany than between the U.S. and Belgium.

Source: Trump in Brussels: ‘The Germans Are Bad, Very Bad’ – SPIEGEL ONLINE

Trump slams Germany′s trade surplus with the US, threatens to stop car sales | Europe | DW | 26.05.2017

During meetings with EU leaders, US President Donald Trump threatened to halt the sale of millions of German cars in the US. In comments leaked to German press he said Germany was acting in a “bad” or “nasty” way.

Source: Trump slams Germany′s trade surplus with the US, threatens to stop car sales | Europe | DW | 26.05.2017

Lost Police File Helps Exonerate Man of Murder After 24 Years in Prison – The New York Times

About two weeks ago, an investigative file that had long been sought by defense lawyers was found in a box in a hallway at police headquarters. The file included witness statements that contradicted accounts that Mr. Thomas was involved. “Had that information been available at trial — and had the story of Shaurn’s presence in court at the moment the murder was committed been told correctly — prosecutors agreed the trial would likely have ended differently,” the Pennsylvania Innocence Project said in a statement. How the file got lost and was finally found was not clear. A department spokesman on Thursday said no one was immediately available to address those questions. Mr. Thomas, who studied cooking while in prison, was greeted by friends and relatives when he was released on Tuesday and headed to Red Lobster for dinner. Mr. Thomas’s legal issues are not quite over. Prosecutors could still seek a retrial on the charges, though his lawyers said that is unlikely. In a statement, Kathleen E. Martin, the first assistant district attorney, said a decision would be made “in the very near future.” “Our role is to seek justice at every opportunity and whether it be prosecuting violent criminals or reviewing cases to ensure those behind bars deserve to be there, we will carry out this duty fairly and thoroughly,” the statement said. The Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News reported in November that the Conviction Review Unit had not found a single case worthy of overturning, while similar units in Dallas and New York City had exonerated dozens of inmates. The Philadelphia unit announced a restructuring and hiring of new staff members in February. Many questions remain about how Mr. Thomas’s case was investigated and prosecuted, Ms. Bluestine said. “That it took 24 years to get him out of prison should shame everybody,” she said.

Make no mistake: Donald Trump has fueled violence against journalists | Richard Wolffe | US news | The Guardian

The candidate is of course now president of the United States, who calls the media “the enemy of the American people.”This is not a small development in the long history of shocking Trumpisms.AdvertisementYou don’t need to take the Guardian’s word for it. Here’s the opinion of William McRaven, the former special ops commander and architect of the raid that killed Osama bin Laden: “This sentiment may be the greatest threat to democracy in my lifetime,” he told journalism students at the University of Texas earlier this year.Yes, journalists are important. So important that the founding fathers cited the freedom of the press in the first amendment to the constitution. At the start of the Bill of Rights, it’s sandwiched between the freedom of religion and the right to petition the government.Journalism is so important that the Massachusetts constitution says this: “The liberty of the press is essential to the security of freedom in a state: it ought not, therefore, to be restrained in this commonwealth.”

Source: Make no mistake: Donald Trump has fueled violence against journalists | Richard Wolffe | US news | The Guardian