International Events VIII: Been living under a rock so long

[DMC]

Well this isn't good - ‘Very worrying’: is a far-right radical about to take over in Chile? - 

Quote

That man is José Antonio Kast – an ultra-conservative lawyer and father of nine, who some call Chile’s answer to Brazil’s radical leader, Jair Bolsonaro – and who is now just one step away from becoming his country’s next president.

Fifteen million Chileans will head to the polls on Sunday for the second, decisive round of Chile’s presidential election to choose between the far-right politician and his leftist rival, Gabriel Boric, who appears to hold a slender lead. [...]

In December 2018, Kast gave a keynote speech at a conservative congress organized by Bolsonaro’s congressman son, Eduardo, in the Brazilian border city of Foz do Iguaçu.

He used part of his address to recast Augusto Pinochet’s September 1973 overthrow of Chile’s socialist leader Salvador Allende, just as Bolsonaro has sought to rewrite the history of the Brazilian military dictatorship.

“Allende was overthrown by the people,” insisted Kast, who has praised Pinochet’s “economic legacy”. “We have to rewrite history from our point of view,” he told delegates.

After Kast’s first-round victory last month, Eduardo – Steve Bannon’s representative in Latin America – wished the Chilean candidate luck.

It's also recently come to light that Kast's father was a Nazi - he fled to Chile in 1950.  His brother was Labor Minister and later President of Chile's Central Bank under the Pinochet regime.

[HoodedCrow]

I didn’t know that Sweden has Christmas goats. They have a tradition that was about Odin, and now there are just straw Christmas goats. And then, most years, some anti straw goat people burn them. The twelve days of Christmas were originally about the Christmas goat and rewarding people for…I don’t know:), but it’s odd.

[DireWolfSpirit]

4 hours ago, HoodedCrow said:

I didn’t know that Sweden has Christmas goats. They have a tradition that was about Odin, and now there are just straw Christmas goats. And then, most years, some anti straw goat people burn them. The twelve days of Christmas were originally about the Christmas goat and rewarding people for…I don’t know:), but it’s odd.

There's a lot of various Santa origin lore.

Found this on wiki (regards the goat)

In Finland, Santa Claus is called Joulupukki (direct translation 'Christmas Goat').^[27] The flying reindeer could symbolize the use of fly agaric by Sámi shamans.^[28]

[HoodedCrow]

Thanks for posting about the goats:) I stand corrected. My DH says the goats were from the beasts that pulled Thor’s chariot. Thor had a chariot? Freya has cats, right? Norse mythology is not my strong suit:).

[Zorral]

Whew -- I was going, "Have I been wrong about who had the goat chariot all my life???????"  

[HoodedCrow]

I think that I didn’t get past the eight legged horse, the ravens, and the cat chariot. It is quite astounding to have cats or goats pulling together, so it must be a sign of unusual powers. I don’t recall them in the Marvelverse:), did I miss them.?:) This year, the arsonists “got” the straw Yuletide goat in a Swedish town. Did they do it on Odin’s day, Thor’s day or Frigga’s day?:)

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

Chinese totalitarianism seems to have won the day: 

Quote

Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai issued a bombshell denial on Sunday, claiming that she never accused a former top official of sexually assaulting her. “I wanted to make this very clear: I have never claimed, or written about anyone having sexually assaulted me,” Peng said in Chinese, in her first on-camera statement on the online firestorm ignited after she wrote her Nov. 2 social media post. Her remarks to Lianhe Zaobao, a Singaporean state-controlled media outlet, were made on the sidelines of a cross-country skiing event in Shanghai she was attending.

Peng also said that the Nov. 2 essay, which accused former vice premier Zhang Gaoli of sexual coercion, was a “private matter.” Regarding her subsequent disappearance from public view for nearly three weeks, Peng said, “There’s been a lot of misunderstanding… There [should be] no distorted interpretation.”

She added that an email she had written to Women’s Tennis Association head Steve Simon last month “entirely on my own volition.” The Nov. 18 letter, which Simon said he had “a hard time believing,” came after the WTA issued a statement threatening to boycott China if Peng did not emerge soon. When Peng was asked on Sunday if she was under surveillance, she replied, “Why would there be people following me?”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/chinese-tennis-star-peng-shuai-denies-making-sexual-assault-claim-as-fears-for-her-safety-wellbeing-endure

[Larry of the Lawn]

On 12/17/2021 at 1:54 PM, DMC said:

Well this isn't good - ‘Very worrying’: is a far-right radical about to take over in Chile? - 

It's also recently come to light that Kast's father was a Nazi - he fled to Chile in 1950.  His brother was Labor Minister and later President of Chile's Central Bank under the Pinochet regime.

Boric wins!

[Derfel Cadarn]

10 minutes ago, 1066 Larry said:

Boric wins!

Good! My dad’s lived in Chile (married to a Chilean) since ‘91

[DMC]

1 hour ago, 1066 Larry said:

Boric wins!

Yeah, saw that this morning.  Pretty convincingly too.  Another millennial head of government (who's frustratingly nine months younger than me).

[Erik of Hazelfield]

Also, in what almost seems like an oddity nowadays, Kast called Boric and congratulated him on the victory. Boric spoke well about his opponent during his victory speech. So overall a very good day for Chile and perhaps the rest of the world too. Every time that happens it’s a victory for democracy. 

[A Horse Named Stranger]

7 hours ago, DMC said:

Yeah, saw that this morning.  Pretty convincingly too.  Another millennial head of government (who's frustratingly nine months younger than me).

Yeah, that your run has never developed into something remotely tangible is kinda disappointing. 

[DMC]

17 minutes ago, A Horse Named Stranger said:

Yeah, that your run has never developed into something remotely tangible is kinda disappointing. 

The electorate is just not ready for a platform of booze, weed, and Dick's Picks.

[A Horse Named Stranger]

4 minutes ago, DMC said:

The electorate is just not ready for a platform of booze, weed, and Dick's Picks.

I think 2016 told a different story. Make America High Again.

[DMC]

29 minutes ago, A Horse Named Stranger said:

I think 2016 told a different story. Make America High Again.

Trump's a teetotaler, and he really doesn't strike me as a Dead fan.

[A Horse Named Stranger]

Yeah, but we otherwise pretty much all bases covered, we even had the pics of a Wiener (see what I did there). Porn stars, sexual assault bragging on camera. 

And you think a campaign on weed and booze would've sunk you?

[DMC]

5 minutes ago, A Horse Named Stranger said:

And you think a campaign on weed and booze would've sunk you?

Only if I was in the deep end at the time.

[rotting sea cow]

9 hours ago, Erik of Hazelfield said:

Also, in what almost seems like an oddity nowadays, Kast called Boric and congratulated him on the victory. Boric spoke well about his opponent during his victory speech. So overall a very good day for Chile and perhaps the rest of the world too. Every time that happens it’s a victory for democracy. 

I want to be honest. Kast was very well behaved during the whole elections and was probably one of the reasons why he was successful. Trumpism doesn't go well in Chile. When Boric got COVID few weeks before the first round, Kast was the only one to wish him good recovery and didn't complain that he had to go into preventive quarantine as he was exposed during a televised debate. On the other hand, the centrist candidate Provoste was very upset that she couldn't continue with the campaign and was quite nasty to Boric.

The elections was just a remake of the referendum to end Pinochet's rule. Almost the same percentages. But other things are very different. Both left and right winds coalitions are in shambles and there is need of new ideas and faces. Boric is a good boi, but he's not that well prepared for the upcoming challenges. A lot of old politicians are circling around like vultures offering their support in exchange of nothing.

 

[Zorral]

A Cuban-Guatemalan friend, who is also a US citizen, who moved to Cuba (Cuban wife) prior to the smashing of the Obama friendship pacts, is currently in Guatemala with wife and family, to 1) see his 90 + parents and have them see their grandchildren; 2) get vaxxed, with what he hoped would be Moderna, but they ended up with Pfizer.

Guatemala is awash in vaccine, that the US has donated.  But few Guatemalans are taking them -- convinced the vaccines are pernicious in all kinds of ways -- and they don't trust their 'government' either.  Most of the people getting vaccinated at the centers are people like him, from other countries in the hemisphere.

Getting to the city where his parents live, they had to be tested again and and quarantined for two days, before the local air line would take them there.  The same when coming back.  Also getting out of Havana to board to Guatemala, and it will be the same going back, which they are doing as soon as all of them recover, if they need to, from being vaxxed.

[Luzifer's right hand]

So Biden is threatening Putin with sanctions if he invades the Ukraine.

That is diplomacy speak for "yeah you can take it be we will be upset!" right?