Snapzu Politics: April 2017

Sunday 30 April 2017

Why Former Suffragettes Flocked to British Fascism

The women did make tea for the men, but they also received training in jiujitsu so that they could throw people out of meetings. By Martin Pugh.
Read more: http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/fascism/2017/04/why_the_british_union_fascist_movement_appealed_to_so_many_women.html?source=Snapzu

America’s Misadventures in the Middle East

It’s time for a fundamental reexamination of the U.S. role in the region. By Chas Freeman.
Read more: http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/americas-misadventures-in-the-middle-east/?source=Snapzu

The Soviet Union Is Gone, But It’s Still Collapsing

And five other unlearned lessons from leading experts about modern Russia and the death of an empire. (Dec. 22, 2016)
Read more: http://foreignpolicy.com/2016/12/22/the-unlearned-lessons-from-the-collapse-of-the-soviet-union/#browder?source=Snapzu

Chicago Was On The Verge Of Police Reform. Then Trump Picked Sessions To Run The DOJ

The city will serve as a bellwether for how – or if – the Justice Department will fight police abuse under the new attorney general. By Ryan J. Reilly, Kim Bellware.
Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/doj-police-reform-jeff-sessions-chicago_us_58f50a77e4b0da2ff86254cf?source=Snapzu

White House Correspondents’ Dinner: See Hasan Minhaj’s Scorching Speech

The Daily Show correspondent took no prisoners when he took the stage; read the full text of his speech here. By Hillary Busis.
Read more: http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2017/04/white-house-correspondents-dinner-hasan-minhaj-speech-donald-trump?source=Snapzu

The global elite are headed for a fall. And they don’t even know it

You often don’t realize a revolution is brewing until it’s upon you. By Damon Linker.
Read more: https://theweek.com/articles/694923/global-elite-are-headed-fall-dont-even-know?source=Snapzu

Turkey blocks Wikipedia under law designed to protect national security

Turkey has blocked Wikipedia, the country’s telecommunications watchdog has said, citing a law that allows it to ban access to websites deemed obscene or a threat to national security. The move is likely to further worry rights groups and Turkey’s western allies, who say Ankara has curtailed freedom of speech and other basic rights in the crackdown that followed last year’s failed coup.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/apr/29/turkey-blocks-wikipedia-under-law-designed-to-protect-national-security?source=Snapzu

Tornadoes Rip across East Texas, killing at least Four

Tornadoes ripped through an East Texas county on Saturday evening, killing at least four people and injuring dozens of others, and authorities warned the number of casualties could rise.
Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-weather-idUSKBN17V070?source=Snapzu

Australia wants to avoid a Korean conflict at all costs – and with good reason

Australia may indeed be “blindly and zealously toeing the US line” with regards to North Korea – at least openly – but in truth, Canberra wants to avoid conflict with Pyongyang. There is much at stake for Australia should war resume on the Korean peninsula, after more than 63 years of tense calm. While Julie Bishop stands shoulder-to-shoulder with Mike Pence for the cameras, there is no doubt that, privately, Australian diplomats are offering their US counterparts advice geared towards resolving the North Korea dilemma peacefully.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/apr/29/australia-wants-to-avoid-north-korean-war-at-all-costs-pyongyang-trump-kim-jong-un?source=Snapzu

Escaping Poverty Requires Almost 20 Years With Nearly Nothing Going Wrong

The MIT economist Peter Temin argues that economic inequality results in two distinct classes. And only one of them has any power. By Gillian B. White.
Read more: https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2017/04/economic-inequality/524610/?source=Snapzu

The Pentagon is considering up to 5,000 additional troops for Afghanistan

The Trump administration is evaluating plans to send as many as 5,000 additional U.S. troops to Afghanistan, where America's longest war has hit a stalemate and local security forces have become overwhelmed by rising violence. The Pentagon is considering options that include between 3,000 and 5,000 conventional military personnel to advise Afghan military and police units, those focused on fighting the Taliban, plus an unspecified number of additional special operations forces to escalate counter-terror operations against the al-Qaida and Islamic State loyalists entrenched along the Pakistan border.
Read more: http://www.militarytimes.com/articles/us-troops-afghanistan-donald-trump?source=Snapzu

Israeli teen behind 591 bomb threats to Australian schools: police

An Israeli teenager charged this week with making more than 2,000 hoax bomb threats to schools, Jewish centres, hospitals and airlines in five countries is alleged to have been behind 591 bomb threats against schools in Australia, Victoria police have confirmed. The 18-year-old is alleged to have robo-called schools in Victoria, Queensland, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory in January 2016.
Read more: http://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/2091464/israeli-teen-behind-591-bomb-threats-australian-schools-police?source=Snapzu

Renowned Conservationist Kuki Gallmann Shot in Kenya

Conservationist and author Kuki Gallmann, 73, was shot and wounded on Sunday morning in Kenya as she was inspecting damage committed by arsonists to her property, an expansive conservation park in Western Laikipia, in Kenya’s Great Rift Valley.
Read more: http://ens-newswire.com/2017/04/24/renowned-conservationist-kuki-gallmann-shot-in-kenya/?source=Snapzu

The new season of a much-loved Netflix series has leaked online early following hack

A hacker who was holding Netflix to ransom following claims they have stolen the new season of Orange Is the New Black has leaked episode online. Variety has confirmed that the hacker, known as The Dark Overlord, uploaded the episodes to illegal file-sharing website Pirate Bay after the streaming service failed to pay an undisclosed amount of money. Netflix released a statement earlier saying: “We are aware of the situation. A production vendor used by several major TV studios had its security compromised and the appropriate law enforcement authorities are involved.“
Read more: http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/netflix-orange-is-the-new-black-season-5-episode-1-leak-online-early-hacker-pirate-bay-a7709486.html?source=Snapzu

Turkey sacks 4,000 more officials in coup-bid crackdown - BBC News

The latest purge comes alongside a ban on TV dating shows and the blocking of the website Wikipedia.
Read more: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-39759050?source=Snapzu

Employers legally allowed to pay women less than men for same work, US federal court rules

A US federal appeals court has ruled that employers are legally allowed to pay women lower salaries than men for doing the same work, based on differences in the workers' salaries in previous jobs. According to the Associated Press, the decision by the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a previous lower-court ruling, according to which pay differences based only on prior salaries were discriminatory under the country’s Equal Pay Act.
Read more: http://www.independent.ie/business/in-the-workplace/employers-legally-allowed-to-pay-women-less-than-men-for-same-work-us-federal-court-rules-35662663.html?source=Snapzu

Saturday 29 April 2017

The Climate Change Deniers in Congress

How many are representing you? By Sarah Emerson.
Read more: https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/a-guide-to-the-climate-change-deniers-in-congress?source=Snapzu

Obama’s New Job: Guardian of Official Lies

“The salient feature of Obama’s offensive was the naked deployment of Islamic jihadists as foot soldiers of U.S. imperialism in Libya and Syria.” By Glen Ford.
Read more: https://blackagendareport.com/obama_guardian_of_lies?source=Snapzu

Disunion: When the Soldiers Went Home

At the age of 42, Taylor Peirce was ancient by Army standards. Nearly three years of campaigning and picket duty, from the rifle pits of Mississippi to Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, had exacted great physical costs.
Read more: https://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/04/24/when-the-soldiers-went-home/?source=Snapzu

Obama's travel expenses were $97m over 8 years. Trump is already at $20m on Mar-a-Lago trips alone

President Donald Trump has racked up an historic amount of travel expenses in his first 100 days in office, by far surpassing the president who came before him.
Read more: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/donald-trump-trips-mar-a-lago-cost-taxpayer-money-barack-obama-a7708666.html?source=Snapzu

Hemp Food Approved For Sale In Australia

Australia's health ministers have approved the sale of hemp foods nationwide. The Australia and New Zealand Ministerial Forum on Food Regulation gave approval for hemp seeds to be sold in Australia, at a Council of Australian Governments (COAG) meeting in Adelaide on Friday. It comes after Food Standards Australia and New Zealand approved hemp food in March.
Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/2017/04/28/hemp-food-approved-for-sale-in-australia_a_22059267/?source=Snapzu

Denmark Doctors Declare Circumcision Of Healthy Boys 'Ethically Unacceptable'

They believe the procedure has no meaningful health benefits.
Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/58753ec1e4b08052400ee6b3?timestamp=1484242698611?source=Snapzu

Brazil faces nationwide strike threatening to paralyze country

Brazilian protesters torched buses, clashed with police in several cities and marched on President Michel Temer's Sao Paulo residence on Friday amid the nation's first general strike in more than two decades. Unions called the strike to voice anger over Temer's efforts to push austerity measures through congress, bills that would weaken labor laws and trim a generous pension system.
Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-brazil-politics-protests-idUSKBN17U0EX?il=0?source=Snapzu

'Until the Drug Dealer's Teeth Rattle'

A new book examines how black communities inadvertently helped lay the groundwork for mass incarceration.
Read more: https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/04/james-forman-mass-incarceration/524328/?source=Snapzu

Oil, tech giants tell Trump to stay in Paris deal

Oil giants BP and Shell and a group of utilities and tech companies are pushing President Trump to stay in the Paris climate deal. In a letter sent to Trump on Wednesday, the firms said the deal benefits U.S. companies by putting them on an even playing field with foreign competitors, creates jobs through clean energy work and minimizes the risks climate change poses to them.
Read more: http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/330621-oil-tech-giants-tell-trump-to-stay-in-paris-deal?source=Snapzu

Eleanore Roosevelt: “Can a Woman Ever Be President of the United States?”

In the fall of 1932, when Eleanor Roosevelt was teaching American history at a high school for girls, editing a magazine called "Babies—Just Babies," and helping her husband in the last weeks of his run for president of the United States by making a gazillion campaign stops—a speech here, a photograph there—the Associated Press assigned a political reporter named Lorena Hickok to follow her around. Jill Lepore on one of the greatest first ladies of all time.
Read more: http://lithub.com/eleanore-roosevelt-can-a-woman-ever-be-president-of-the-united-states/?source=Snapzu

Disunion: Humanity and Hope in a Southern Prison

For more than the obvious reasons, Civil War soldiers in both armies despised military prisons....Andersonville, the infamous Georgia prison, was the ultimate abattoir; during the summer of 1864 nearly one in three Union inmates died.
Read more: https://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/04/24/humanity-and-hope-in-a-southern-prison/?source=Snapzu

Disunion: The Sinking of the Sultana

As John Wilkes Booth stepped into President Lincoln’s booth at Ford’s Theater...Union prisoners of war were heading home.... 2,100 of those soldiers, many sick, many barefoot, boarded the wooden side-wheeler steamboat Sultana....
Read more: https://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/04/27/the-sinking-of-the-sultana/?source=Snapzu

Disunion: The Man Who Carried Lincoln’s Torch

It seemed all of Washington had gone to the theater on April 14, 1865 – Good Friday – to hail the imminent end of the war.
Read more: https://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/04/17/the-man-who-carried-lincolns-torch/?source=Snapzu

Disunion: How Lincoln Became Our Favorite President

Today Americans almost universally regard Abraham Lincoln as our greatest president. And yet he was not always the revered figure that he has become.
Read more: https://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/04/29/how-lincoln-became-our-favorite-president/?source=Snapzu

‘Go Back To Your Country’: Egyptian Student Killed in ‘Racist’ Germany Car Attack

German authorities have launched an investigation into the death of a 22-year-old Egyptian student in the German city of Cottbus. New witnesses claim the student was racially abused by the passengers of a car that struck her and left her fatally injured in the German city of Cottbus. According to German media, Shaden Mohamed Al-Gohari was struck by a car in a hit-and-run as she crossed the road in the German city on 18 April. Shaden was transported to hospital but later passed away due to the serious injuries she sustained from the hit-and-run.
Read more: https://egyptianstreets.com/2017/04/28/go-back-to-your-country-egyptian-student-killed-in-racist-germany-car-attack/?source=Snapzu

‘Assassins!’: A Confederate spy was accused of helping kill Abraham Lincoln. Then he vanished.

On Feb. 19, 1867, the American gunboat Swatara returned to the Washington Navy Yard after a months-long trip to the Middle East. Out stepped a young man in a bizarre, filthy uniform and shackles. His name was John Harrison Surratt, and he was the most wanted man in the entire world.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2017/04/13/assassins-a-confederate-spy-was-accused-of-helping-kill-abraham-lincoln-then-he-vanished/?source=Snapzu

In the age of Trump, can Mr. Rogers help us manage our anger?

The PBS host once asked, “What do you do with the mad that you feel?” The question is as relevant as ever. By David Dark.
Read more: http://www.americamagazine.org/politics-society/2017/04/19/age-trump-can-mr-rogers-help-us-manage-our-anger?source=Snapzu

The Neoliberal or the Fascist? What Should French Progressives Do?

The presidential runoff between Emmanuel Macron and Marine le Pen poses a dilemma for many French progressive voters… By Philippe Marlière.
Read more: http://www.counterpunch.org/2017/04/28/the-neoliberal-or-the-fascist-what-should-french-progressives-do/?source=Snapzu

Trump is 'milking the North Korea crisis'

Donald Trump seems to have recognised North Korea as a defining issue of his presidency. He has been sending military hardware to the region, ending America's "era of strategic patience", pressuring China to exert influence on its ally and urging the UN Security Council to impose new sanctions on Pyongyang. But perhaps the most theatrical element of all of this geopolitical choreography occurred at home, when he "invited" (summoned) the entire US Senate to the White House for a briefing on the issue.
Read more: http://news.sky.com/story/trump-is-milking-the-north-korea-crisis-for-all-it-is-worth-10852463?source=Snapzu

‘Mad Anne’ Bailey was a frontier warrior and Revolutionary War hero who got wilder with age

This was one settler who wouldn’t settle down
Read more: https://timeline.com/mad-anne-bailey-a9b119223790?source=Snapzu

Donald Trump and the Transformation of White Evangelicals

White evangelical Christians set a new high water mark in their support of Republican candidates by giving Donald Trump 81% of their votes, according to the 2016 exit polls. Much ink has been spilled explaining just how Trump defeated primary opponents with much stronger Christian credentials, such as Mike Huckabee, Rick Santorum, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio. And Trump triumphed over Hillary Clinton, a lifelong Methodist who found her political calling in the church-youth group.
Read more: http://time.com/4577752/donald-trump-transformation-white-evangelicals/?source=Snapzu

Senators and Movement Leaders Introduce 100 Percent Clean Energy Bill

The legislation comes ahead of the People's Climate March on April 29th. Washington, D.C. -- On Thursday, ahead of the People's Climate March on Saturday, Senator Jeff Merkley, Senator Bernie Sanders, and Senator Ed Markey stood beside movement leaders to introduce legislation that will completely phase out fossil fuel use by 2050. The “100 by ‘50 Act” outlines a bold plan to support workers and to prioritize low-income communities while replacing oil, coal and gas with clean energy sources like wind and solar.
Read more: http://www.alternet.org/environment/senators-and-movement-leaders-introduce-100-percent-clean-energy-bill?source=Snapzu

A desperate escape

A closer look at the violent persecution of the Rohingya, a Muslim minority in Myanmar, and their exodus to Bangladesh. By Simon Scarr, Weiyi Cai, Wen Foo and Jin Wu.
Read more: http://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/rngs/ROHINGYA-CRISIS/010040E00WC/index.html?source=Snapzu

Where did all the saxophones go?

How one instrument went from being the backbone of American popular music to being a punchline in a joke about the ’80s. There’s no song in the Top 40 right now with a saxophone solo, there’s hardly a defined saxophone part on any of those songs at all.
Read more: https://theoutline.com/post/1409/saxophones-in-american-pop-music-history?source=Snapzu

U.S. Signals Possible Airstrikes in Somalia by Asking Aid Groups for Their Locations

A letter obtained by The Intercept asks NGOs to provide coordinates, as the U.S. military appears to be planning for a wider campaign against the Shabab. By Samuel Oakford.
Read more: https://theintercept.com/2017/04/28/u-s-signals-possible-airstrikes-in-somalia-by-asking-aid-groups-for-their-locations/?source=Snapzu

United Airlines' policy changes include paying bumped passengers up to $10,000

United Airlines will offer up to $10,000 when a traveler voluntarily gives up a seat on an oversold flight, part of a policy overhaul following the passenger-yanking video seen around the world. The Chicago-based carrier is adopting 10 policy changes in response to the outcry over the April 9 incident, recorded by other passengers, during which aviation police pulled David Dao from his seat after he refused to exit the plane. Dao was one of four fliers selected to give up their seats to make room for airline employees.
Read more: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-united-fixes-20170426-story.html?source=Snapzu

The Democrats’ Davos ideology won’t win back the midwest

The party has harmed millions of their own former constituents. If they change course, they can reverse their losses. By Thomas Frank.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/apr/27/democratic-party-2018-races-midwest-populism-trump?source=Snapzu

The decline of bees threatens plant evolution, stunting plant growth and muting scents

The feared demise of bumblebees could bring the evolution of the plants they pollinate grinding to a halt – leaving them vulnerable to new diseases and other threats – a new study suggests. Researchers in Switzerland tested what happened when field mustard plants were pollinated solely by bumblebees or hoverflies over nine generations. The results were dramatic: the bee-pollinated plants grew taller and produced twice as much scent.
Read more: http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/bees-bumblebees-decline-threatens-plants-evolution-study-suggests-a7629561.html?source=Snapzu

'Luxury' Fyre Festival is cancelled with ticket-holders still stranded in Bahamas

A luxury music festival in the Bahamas, with tickets costing up to $12,000 (£9,200), has now been officially postponed after reports of no security and cancelled flights. Fyre Festival, co-organised by Ja Rule, promised a "cultural moment created from a blend of music, art and food". Tickets included a flight from Miami, a stay in a "geodesic dome" and activities including yoga and kayaking. Festival-goers have described the event as a "complete disaster".
Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/39743303/fyre-festival-turns-from-luxury-to-disaster-with-ticket-holders-stranded-in-bahamas?source=Snapzu

Friday 28 April 2017

Russian hackers extort money from Trump’s critics

Russian hackers conducted a series of attacks on American liberal organizations, demanding a ransom for non-disclosure of confidential information they had obtained through hacking their e-mails and networking applications like SharePoint that allows sharing Microsoft Office files, Bloomberg reported citing sources with information from the FBI and private security companies.
Read more: https://en.crimerussia.com/gromkie-dela/russian-hackers-extort-money-from-trump-s-critics-/?source=Snapzu

Half of All Species Are on the Move—And We're Feeling It

As climate change displaces everything from moose to microbes, it’s affecting human foods, businesses, and diseases.
Read more: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/04/climate-change-species-migration-disease/?source=Snapzu