International Events 5, "As the World Turns"

[TheLastWolf]

6 hours ago, DireWolfSpirit said:

There's a string of words you do not see everyday.

Replace Canadian Viewers with starved pimply kids, true in my neighborhood 

[Zorral]

Why do countries -- and even, in the USA, municipalities, counties and states -- do this more often than not with massive illness arrives in the population?  Why do we not learn over the millennia of pandemics, or within a century, or even a half century?

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/24/world/asia/india-coronavirus-deaths.html

Quote

 

.... Interviews from cremation grounds across the country, where the fires never stop, portray an extensive pattern of deaths far exceeding the official figures. Nervous politicians and hospital administrators may be undercounting or overlooking large numbers of dead, analysts say. And grieving families may be hiding Covid connections as well, out of shame, adding to the confusion in this enormous nation of 1.4 billion.

t’s a complete massacre of data,” said Bhramar Mukherjee, an epidemiologist at the University of Michigan who has been following India closely. “From all the modeling we’ve done, we believe the true number of deaths is two to five times what is being reported.”

At one of the large cremation grounds in Ahmedabad, a city in the western Indian state of Gujarat, bright orange fires light up the night sky, burning 24 hours a day, like an industrial plant that never shuts down. Suresh Bhai, a worker there, said he had never seen such a never-ending assembly line of death.

But he has not been writing down the cause of death as Covid-19 on the thin paper slips that he hands over to the mournful families, even though the number of dead is surging along with the virus.

“Sickness, sickness, sickness,” Mr. Suresh said. “That’s what we write.”

When asked why, he said it was what he had been instructed to do by his bosses, who did not respond to requests for comment....

...Doctors worry that the runaway surge is being at least partly driven by the emergence of a virus variant known as the “double mutant,” B.1.617, because it contains genetic mutations found in two other difficult-to-control versions of the coronavirus. One of the mutations is present in the highly contagious variant that ripped through California earlier this year. The other mutation is similar to one found in the South African variant and believed to make the virus more resistant to vaccines.

Still, scientists caution it is too early to know for sure how pernicious the new variant emerging in India really is....

 

[TheLastWolf]

Sri Lanka bans the burqa. Citing natl. security concerns. Cheap move after it incompetently failed to protect its citizens from Islamic extremist Easter Church attacks. 

Not surprising from a country of war crimes, genocide, civil wars... 

Jews=Tamils 

'Aryans' = Sinhalese 

LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam)= Resistance. 

Canada France etc = Israel and other refuge immigration nations. Like 1947 indo pak Hindu Muslim riots, partition, war blah blah 

Watch Deepan, Palme D or winner. Cannes. Jacques Audiard. Repeating this umpteenth time. 

Sigh 

Now the Rajapaksa bros are back in power. 

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

Potential coup d’etat in France:

https://www.thearticle.com/users/sign_in

[Derfel Cadarn]

1 hour ago, Ser Scot A Ellison said:

Potential coup d’etat in France:

https://www.thearticle.com/users/sign_in

Paywall. Will wait for the movie

[Rippounet]

53 minutes ago, Ser Scot A Ellison said:

Potential coup d’etat in France:

https://www.thearticle.com/users/sign_in

No.

Quote

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-56899765

In a country which pays for several thousand former generals on the retired and reserve lists, the support of just 20 of them to such explosive language does call for a sense of perspective, the BBC's Hugh Schofield in Paris says.

It's still bad though, not because of a potential coup, but because of what the letter says:

Quote

 

What does the letter say?

It warns French President Emmanuel Macron, his government, and MPs of "several deadly dangers" threatening France, including "Islamism and the hordes of the banlieue" - the impoverished immigrant suburbs that surround French cities.

The signatories go on to blame "a certain anti-racism" for splitting up communities, and seeking to create "racial war" by attacking statues and other aspects of French history.

 

So it's bad because it shows how more and more people are willing to openly express far-right views, and how the media will help spread such views. The government is fully responsible for having accused academics of "islamo-leftism" - among other things.

It's still unlikely that Le Pen gets elected next year - though it will be a close one, again. Her support for the generals in this case won't help her, as Macron can now present himself as the protector of republican order and values - and also make sure that the military do not, in fact, get funny ideas. However, it shows that she has already won the battle of ideas, as the  third or fourth-generation Muslim immigrants in poor suburbs have now come to be associated with islamism - and drug trafficking. Regardless of who wins in 2022, islamophobia is already prevailing.

If the election was run on any other topic (the pandemic, the economy... etc) than islamophobia, Macron would lose. Hence why a letter by a bunch of old farts found its way to you Scot. This letter isn't news: there has always been a strong far-right element in the military, and they've done worse than writing letters in the past. But now the government needs the public to fear them, so they're suddenly being given extra attention.

 

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

4 minutes ago, Rippounet said:

No.

It's still bad though, not because of a potential coup, but because of what the letter says:

So it's bad because it shows how more and more people are willing to openly express far-right views, and how the media will help spread such views. The government is fully responsible for having accused academics of "islamo-leftism" - among other things.

It's still unlikely that Le Pen gets elected next year - though it will be a close one, again. Her support for the generals in this case won't help her, as Macron can now present himself as the protector of republican order and values - and also make sure that the military do not, in fact, get funny ideas. However, it shows that she has already won the battle of ideas, as the  third or fourth-generation Muslim immigrants in poor suburbs have now come to be associated with islamism - and drug trafficking. Regardless of who wins in 2022, islamophobia is already prevailing.

If the election was run on any other topic (the pandemic, the economy... etc) than islamophobia, Macron would lose. Hence why a letter by a bunch of old farts found its way to you Scot. This letter isn't news: there has always been a strong far-right element in the military, and they've done worse than writing letters in the past. But now the government needs the public to fear them, so they're suddenly being given extra attention.

 

Thank you very much for the clarification. The push by right wing racist on all fronts.  The brazen way they are throwing out their bigotry should give is all significant pause.

[Zorral]

Whether Brasil under the heel of Bolsanaro, the US under the heel of orange demon, or India under the heel of Modi -- with corona, it's all the same -- dead and sick bodies and burnt out medical professions, and denial, official concealment, then merging into even public announcements they don't give a damn for the sick, dying and dead, or anything else at all except their own self-boasted greatness in destruction, cruelty, bigotry, greed and corruption. What they are is enablers, perpetrators of mass crimes of infinite variety against humanity.

"It’s hard to convey the full depth and range of the trauma, the chaos and the indignity that people are being subjected to. Meanwhile, Modi and his allies are telling us not to complain"

by Arundhati Roy

A long read, filled with atrocity after atrocity of infinite variety, written by a deeply grieving and angry writer.

https://www.theguardian.com/news/2021/apr/28/crime-against-humanity-arundhati-roy-india-covid-catastrophe?

Quote

....Modi the magician takes a bow for saving humanity by containing the coronavirus effectively. Now that it turns out that he has not contained it, can we complain about being viewed as though we are radioactive? That other countries’ borders are being closed to us and flights are being cancelled? That we’re being sealed in with our virus and our prime minister, along with all the sickness, the anti-science, the hatred and the idiocy that he, his party and its brand of politics represent?....

 

 

[dog-days]

I read that article earlier today. There aren't really words...

And not just because of the sections describing the effects of Covid and the political response, horrible as they are, but also the information, partly new to me, about the extent to which nationalist politicians band together to blame Indian Muslims for their oppression, instead of offering any kind of justice for their suffering at the hands of Hindu extremists. 

[Zorral]

The article does an admirable job of connecting the atrocities Modi and his obscene, bloated, corrupt kleptocracy have committed with corona to the political, environmental, and racist and other atrocities that have been going on now in India -- the same sorts all the way down the checklist that one finds here in the US w/demon and Bolsanaro and every other authoritarian 'populist' regime on the globe.

 

[Varysblackfyre321]

10 hours ago, Rippounet said:

No.

It's still bad though, not because of a potential coup, but because of what the letter says:

So it's bad because it shows how more and more people are willing to openly express far-right views, and how the media will help spread such views. The government is fully responsible for having accused academics of "islamo-leftism" - among other things.

It's still unlikely that Le Pen gets elected next year - though it will be a close one, again. Her support for the generals in this case won't help her, as Macron can now present himself as the protector of republican order and values - and also make sure that the military do not, in fact, get funny ideas. However, it shows that she has already won the battle of ideas, as the  third or fourth-generation Muslim immigrants in poor suburbs have now come to be associated with islamism - and drug trafficking. Regardless of who wins in 2022, islamophobia is already prevailing.

If the election was run on any other topic (the pandemic, the economy... etc) than islamophobia, Macron would lose. Hence why a letter by a bunch of old farts found its way to you Scot. This letter isn't news: there has always been a strong far-right element in the military, and they've done worse than writing letters in the past. But now the government needs the public to fear them, so they're suddenly being given extra attention.

 

Hey the French has to embrace totalitarianism and disregard any democratic or social progress it’s made in the last few hundred years. If it doesn’t well the Muslims will take over and do all that all the stuff the right is fearmongering about anyway.

[rotting sea cow]

17 hours ago, Rippounet said:

 

It's still unlikely that Le Pen gets elected next year - though it will be a close one, again. Her support for the generals in this case won't help her, as Macron can now present himself as the protector of republican order and values - and also make sure that the military do not, in fact, get funny ideas. However, it shows that she has already won the battle of ideas, as the  third or fourth-generation Muslim immigrants in poor suburbs have now come to be associated with islamism - and drug trafficking. Regardless of who wins in 2022, islamophobia is already prevailing.

If the election was run on any other topic (the pandemic, the economy... etc) than islamophobia, Macron would lose. Hence why a letter by a bunch of old farts found its way to you Scot. This letter isn't news: there has always been a strong far-right element in the military, and they've done worse than writing letters in the past. But now the government needs the public to fear them, so they're suddenly being given extra attention.

It is a sad state of affairs that people like Macron get a free pass because the other options are much worse.

[Rippounet]

2 hours ago, rotting sea cow said:

It is a sad state of affairs that people like Macron get a free pass because the other options are much worse.

Well, his approval rating is at 37% with 60% disapproval. 73% think he's the "president of the rich."
The reason why it seems like he gets a free pass is because the media (and the people who own them) love him (throughout the West, not just in France). In the press it's said his popularity compares favorably to Sarkozy's (who wasn't reelected) and Hollande's (who didn't even try to be reelected).
Almost everything you can read about the press these days is the media trying to save Macron's bid for reelection, and that includes pushing the idea that only him can save France from the fascists... which means giving a lot of attention to said fascists...
It's lunacy. And of course, France's two-round presidential election means whoever reaches the second round against Le Pen is almost guaranteed to win (well, except if it's someone a bit too much to the left, but that's another problem).
But I've seen at least one article in which one of his advisers openly said that he might give up, favoring one last round of "reforms" instead. To be clear, we're talking one massive round of austerity programs here, supposedly to make up for the "Covid debt."
Macron is trying to have his cake (destroying public service a bit more) and eating it too (being relected).

[Luzifer's right hand]

Us left leaning folks were saddened by the fact that the French had the choice of Macron or Le Pen in the 2nd round in 2017.

It was well known among interested people here in Austria that he is the worst kind of neoliberal that will kill people by focusing on taking stuff from the poor.

[Zorral]

"India’s passion turns ‘grotesque’: As the outbreak worsens, a cricket league plays on."

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/04/30/world/covid-vaccine-coronavirus-cases?

Quote

 

....But one group that seems unaffected is the wealthy and powerful Board of Control for Cricket in India, the regulatory body that oversees the Indian Premier League, which was modeled on soccer’s Premier League in England and features players from around the world.

The board has kept ambulances fitted with mobile intensive-care beds on standby outside stadiums where matches are being played in case a player falls sick. It is testing players every two days and has created a travel bubble between stadiums in the six states hosting matches, including dedicated airport check-in counters for cricketers.

Meanwhile, some Indians say they cannot cross state lines to find hospital beds for Covid-19 patients.

Hemang Amin, the board’s chief operating officer, said in a letter released this week that the health and safety of players and staff members were “of paramount importance,” and added that the matches, which conclude on May 30, were a needed distraction in a difficult time.

“When you all walk out onto the field, you are bringing hope to millions of people who have tuned in,” he wrote.

But the league’s safety protocols have only highlighted the gap between its star players — who have said little publicly in the face of criticism — and the rest of the country.

“That ambulance outside that stadium could have saved at least ten lives a day,” said Ishan Singh, a cricket fan in Delhi. “These players are thieves. Given a chance, they will rob wood from the cremations and sell it in the market.”....

 

Recall the howls of outrage from orange demon when the NFL shut down?  And how fast the money generating national and college sports franchises went back to playing -- no matter how often players got sick and / or test positive?

These sorts should be ridden in timbrels to the guillotine. 

[TheLastWolf]

11 hours ago, Zorral said:

"India’s passion turns ‘grotesque’: As the outbreak worsens, a cricket league plays on."

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/04/30/world/covid-vaccine-coronavirus-cases?

Recall the howls of outrage from orange demon when the NFL shut down?  And how fast the money generating national and college sports franchises went back to playing -- no matter how often players got sick and / or test positive?

These sorts should be ridden in timbrels to the guillotine. 

You should pop in the Cricket thread from time to time. 

 

Escape from reality. BCCI earning loads of money happens. But hey, when the world's going to hell, I'd like to be munching popcorn, watching my least fav team getting thrashed by my Favs. And laughing at fatsos dropping catches. If you think I'm a body shamed, remember that I don't support nepotists breaking fitness barriers. Bottom level ones. 

Plus India's second wave explosion was due to irresponsibily managed elections in few states, heavily populated, densely. Plus common man idiocy. Plus overpopulation. BCCI can't afford to lose their cash cow, IPL, so they must have enough precautions to risk COVID. plus these alternative league guys. Happened in 2008. Or 7. Like the Football fiasco now. 

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I was expecting the Jewish stampede tragedy when I saw this thread unread 

More here

[Zorral]

Cannot endure any sports, with the exception of a very few that involve animals, like dog shows, cat shows, and horse shows.  Plus flower and gardening shows.  

 

 

[TheLastWolf]

12 hours ago, Zorral said:

Cannot endure any sports, with the exception of a very few that involve animals, like dog shows, cat shows, and horse shows.  Plus flower and gardening shows.  

 

 

Tsk Tsk Tsk. 

[Crixus]

On 4/29/2021 at 9:11 PM, Zorral said:

The article does an admirable job of connecting the atrocities Modi and his obscene, bloated, corrupt kleptocracy have committed with corona to the political, environmental, and racist and other atrocities that have been going on now in India -- the same sorts all the way down the checklist that one finds here in the US w/demon and Bolsanaro and every other authoritarian 'populist' regime on the globe.

 

Truly horrific. I admire Arundhati Roy so much - such courage. I hope she doesn't get targeted by Modi and his thugs. Hopefully her international recognition will help avoid that. 

[Maithanet]

I know Israeli politics has at times had its own thread, but I don't see one now. Can we get an update @Datepalm (or any other informed boarders)?

It seems like Israel's govt is in a permanent stalemate (they are right on the cusp of their fifth national election in two years).  Netanyahu's cult of personality is such that he does not pay any price for demanding that Israeli voters return again and again to vote for/against him.  And while Israel has a vibrant multi-party system, Netanyahu himself has become issue #1, with all other piddling concerns like COVID, the economy, etc. secondary.  Netayahu will never willingly step aside from power, and (as if he needed further incentive) he is potentially be facing jail time if he ever leaves power.  The parallels with Trump are striking.