Category Archives: Profiteering

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

American hegemony: The Anglo-American suicide | In English | EL PAÍS

And yet it would not be the first time in history that an empire has committed suicide. From 1405 to 1433, China’s imperial navy sailed all the seas of Asia and along the east coast of Africa under Admiral Zheng He. The Ming dynasty was able to organize expeditions of up to 300 ships (some of them 120 meters in length at a time when the Santa María of Columbus only measured 26 meters) and employing tens of thousands of sailors. But when the Yongle Emperor died, coinciding with the era when Portuguese sailors were beginning to sail the seas, his successors decided to end the expeditions and began a long period of isolation that would ultimately cut China off from knowledge and key markets at a crucial juncture in its own development. This left the country in a position of weakness that later allowed the West to easily defeat it, obliging it to open its markets. The fact that, while Trump and May are announcing their intention to leave, Chinese president Xi Jinping is defending globalization at Davos, should offer a very clear indication of the depth of the power shift that we are acting as witnesses to – one that will only get deeper.

Source: American hegemony: The Anglo-American suicide | In English | EL PAÍS

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

Without Obamacare, I Will Get Sicker, Faster, Until I Die – The New York Times – But GOP does not care, not a whit!

My prognosis is not good, but Obamacare gets me the treatment I need so that I can be myself as long as possible. Without this insurance, my illness would progress more rapidly, until I died.Early on Thursday morning, the Senate voted to begin the process of repealing Obamacare. On Friday, the House followed suit. A repeal of Obamacare — without even knowing what the replacement would be — obviously makes me very scared. I used to be the one helping people as a social worker. Now I’m the one who needs help.17COMMENTSIt’s not too late for Republicans in Congress to change their minds and see reason. It will be at least a few weeks before Congress formally votes on the question of repeal.If one of the last meaningful things I can do is help even one person understand how important it is for millions of people to keep their Obamacare, then my illness will have served its purpose. For that I will be grateful.

Why Women Aren’t Welcome on the Internet – Amanda Hess

My harasser finally acquiesced to the protection order when my lawyer showed him that we knew the blog comments were coming from his computer — he had made a valiant attempt to obscure his comments, but he’d slipped up in a couple of instances, and we could prove the rape threats were his. When the judge approved the order, she instructed my harasser that he was not allowed to contact me in any way — not by email, Twitter, phone, blog comment, or by hiring a hot air balloon to float over my house with a message, she said. And he had to stay at least 100 feet away from me at all times. The restraining order would last one year.Soon after the order expired, he sent an email to my new workplace.

Source: Why Women Aren’t Welcome on the Internet

Men and women who threaten and/or incite criminal abuse against others on the internet and other digital and analog devices should not be allowed to do so. All organizations participating in facilitating the transmission of such abuse should be held financially accountable for the harm caused by such communications. Each transmission of such a message should constitute an individual criminal act.

Putin revels in Trump, lies and videotape | World | DW.COM | 13.01.2017

Given Trump had a long history of trying to do business with Russia in the 90’s and then later with the Miss Universe pageant, it’s not unreasonable to assume that Russia’s security services would have files on him. It would be unusual if they didn’t. The Czech’s are said to have had files on him as far back as the 1970s.Usually though you wouldn’t reveal your trump card publicly as your leverage would be lost – unless, of course, you had an entirely different plan in mind.The Kremlin labels allegations about the tapes existence as ‘pulp fiction’ but there must be some form of quiet enjoyment it’s reveling in as it watches the US tear itself apart. First with the hacking allegations and the role it may have played in getting Trump elected, and now with talks of impeachment before he’s even sworn in. It’s a disaster. Utter political disarray. And if Trump is looking for support at home, he may have to change his tune as, let’s face it, he hasn’t got off on a great start with his own intelligence agencies. If he doesn’t, they may well rain on his parade.And all of this as Russia enjoys its Orthodox Christmas. Who could ask for more? Putin speaks fluent German so perhaps the word that’s floating through his mind as he gazes across the square from the Kremlin to the Ritz Carlton – feeling a little inner glow – is schadenfreude.

Source: Putin revels in Trump, lies and videotape | World | DW.COM | 13.01.2017

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)

When Your Healers Become Your Killers | Inter Press Service

There is a major though silent global threat to human and animal health, with implications for both food safety and food security and the economic well-being of millions of farming households. It is so-called anti-microbial resistance.The problems arises from the indiscriminate, excessive use of synthetic products, such as anti-microbial medicines, to kill diseases in the agricultural and food systems, which may be a major conduit of the anti-microbial resistance (AMR) that causes 700,000 human deaths each year and has the potential to raise this number to up to 10 million annually.AMR is a natural phenomenon of micro-organisms such as bacteria, viruses, parasites and fungi that are no longer sensitive to the effects of antimicrobial medicines, like antibiotics, that were previously effective in treating infections.Nevertheless, commercial practices meant to increase benefits have been leading to the dramatic fact that these drugs are more and more used to practically solely promote animal growth.

Source: When Your Healers Become Your Killers | Inter Press Service

The Archaeological thefts | nadiaharhash

An Israeli colleague of mine, from an Israeli organization that stands against Israeli policies (Emek Shaveh) in what is claimed to be archeological and national parks as means to displace Palestinians and grab more control on the land, found while surfing some archaeological journals on the web, about some new findings in Deir Dib Wan, a town on the outskirts of Ramallah in what is categorized as a B area according to Oslo Accords. The excavated site was on the C area of the village, which seemed to have been covered by an American mission belonging to a theological institute within the University of Texas for the last twenty years, without even bothering to search for the landowners or taking any permission. The Israeli Coordination offices in charges of area C, however, no one has the right to enter a land and use it, excavate it without the permission or the notice of its people. Something that kept happening for twenty years. What we know from the journal, and thanks to this!!! That the area has a 1500 years old Byzantine city, the excavations revealed a church, homes, potteries, and definitely more. The university has been conducting exhibitions on the findings in the last years.

Source: The Archaeological thefts | nadiaharhash

It’s Against My Religion to Accommodate Nazis. | Rebelle Society

 

The backlash so far is mostly vindictive, verbally violent, and devoid of insight that tables have turned on the flamethrowers. This lack of self-awareness is stunning, if not surprising. The same constituency who applauded business owners who exercised their freedom of religion by denying service to LGBTQ patrons are now howling at the injustice of being unwelcome beyond certain doors or, in this case, a door.While it’s amusing to observe the confused flailing of bullies receiving a taste of their own medicine, there’s a larger kernel of wisdom to pluck from this story. Even as they are placed firmly in the shoes of their victims, the new GOP are incapable of making the leap to empathy.They see no connection between harm they’ve done and their own outrage at being excluded from places to which they’ve denied others entrance. This is the hubris of white males who believe the myth of their superiority, but it’s also something more troubling.The GOP’s devolution escalated with the election of Barack Obama. At a secret dinner, the night of Obama’s inauguration, 15 Republicans schemed to block the new president and do everything in their power to bring down his presidency. They put party ahead of country, caring little if the downward-spiraling economy bullet-trained to the abyss.

Source: It’s Against My Religion to Accommodate Nazis. | Rebelle Society