A Facebook friend has cleared up the mystery of what alt-left & alt-right represent. Slavoj Žižek, the racist xenophobe who blows his nose on his sleeve, is an example of alt-left. Now you get it? It’s a way of politely describing crackpots & blowhards.
Monthly Archives: November 2016
Emancipation US-style in Iraq
Emancipation US-style in Iraq: this is an unidentified displaced Iraqi women just after learning her 15-year-old son was killed, reportedly by an ISIS mortar in Mosul.
For those who advocate a US-imposed No Fly zone in Syria, there were two imposed in Iraq by the US, UK, & France between the 1991 Gulf War & the 2003 US invasion of Iraq–ostensibly imposed to protect the persecuted Kurdish minority in Iraq. Only those too stupid to vote believe that.
CBS news reported tonight on the prosecution of Somali youth in Minneapolis for joining ISIS in Syria. Their attraction to such violent politics is a concern. But quite frankly, it’s also a concern that young people are attracted to the politics of the US Marines & US Army.
There is no human liberation rooted in militarism. Bombing, special forces, & mercenaries are never going to be freedom fighters. This war against ISIS is a continuation of the Gulf War of 1991. Anyone who looks to the US military for emancipation either needs their head examined or has another political agenda.
US out of Iraq. US out of Afghanistan.
US, Russia, & all foreign military forces out of Syria.
(Photo by Ahmed Jadallah/Reuters)
Duterte’s war on the poor: 4,812 executions in four months
In the four months since Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte took office on June 30th until November 7th, a total of 4,812 suspected drug users or street peddlers were gunned down on the street in his war on drugs. According to police officials, 3,001 were victims of vigilante killers, usually described as two drive-by shooters on motorcycles, & 1,811 were killed in police operations.
Many of the extrajudicial killings are in Mandaluyong City, a part of the Manila metropolitan area with large redevelopment projects for gentrification. Huge sections of Manila are undergoing gentrification to build upscale condos, shopping malls, resorts. There have been years of pitched battles between slum residents being forcibly removed by bulldozers & riot police. There are countless slum fires with no forensic reports except fire officials scratching their asses in confusion & blaming it on building materials for shanties or cooking fires. They are much more likely arson for purposes of gentrification.
Yesterday, there was a massive slum fire in Mandaluyong City which killed two people, destroyed 800 homes, & left 5,000 people homeless.
It’s all of a piece–torching slums & shooting down suspected drug users. It’s not a war on drugs. It is a war on the poor.
Anyone who claims to be for human rights & does not denounce Duterte but defends him because he talks trash to the US should stop kidding themselves. They may also want to explain the deployment of Filipino troops to the Golan Heights. It doesn’t have to be said that most of those defending Duterte are also supporters of the Assad dictatorship & Syrian & Russian bombing of civilians. It’s also of a piece.
Our condolences to the victims & families of those murdered. May they Rest In Peace.
(Photo by Alecs Ongcal/Rappler)
CBS reported high school students in several US cities marched out in anti-Trump protests today.
All of them were led by the George Soros marching band. So you see? Conspiracies can be real.
So are alt-left & alt-right useful designations in politics? Do they represent a new kind of politics? Or are they, as I suspect, terms of abuse used by those who don’t know their ass from their elbow about distinctions in politics & think it’s better than calling everybody who doesn’t agree with them a fascist?
Anyone surprised that pro-Assad websites & those supporting Syrian & Russian bombing of civilians are denouncing the anti-Trump protests as orchestrated & manipulated by George Soros? The whole shebang of them: RT, Global Research, 21st Century Wire, Pepe Escobar, who actually campaigned for Trump.
That’s because those who support Assad’s dictatorship support Trump. Which is just as shameful as those who campaigned for Clinton hoping she would increase US military intervention in Syria.
Elections & wars always heighten the fractures of political movements. Often the schism is irreparable.
A word to the wise: the Facebook site called We Are Change portrays itself as progressive but if you go to its website you will find a cornucopia of racist & pro-Trump crap like the article titled “Fake Hate Crimes Going Viral, As Real Violence Surges Against Young Trump Supporters” & “Multiple Reports of Racist Trump Graffiti in South Philly,” by which they appear to mean graffiti against Trump.
I have over 200 friends who liked that wall & am absolutely certain they do not agree with the content of the website.
Paul Craig Roberts & the theoretical degeneration of the “left”
Nothing shows the profound political degeneration among progressives more pathetically than the widespread respect shown for Paul Craig Roberts, a former official in the Reagan administration, now a libertarian, white supremacist, anti-Semitic speaker & blogger. Roberts is frequently published in liberal journals like Counterpunch & OpEdNews; is a regular contributor to Russian-owned media like RT, Sputnik, & Strategic Culture; is a regular contributor to libertarian sites like Global Research, Lew Rockwell, Ron Paul, Alex Jones, Infowars. But most disgraceful of all, he was a frequent writer for VDARE, a notoriously white nationalist, anti-immigration, anti-Semitic blog which Ann Coulter, Pat Buchanan, & Michelle Malkin also write for.
Among his writings are denials of the 2012 Sandy Hook school shootings; claims the 2015 Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris were a US operation; claims the 2016 Orlando attack were a false flag operation; claims WWIII has begun, the Bill of Rights has been overthrown, & the US is ruled by a gestapo; that the anti-Trump protesters are “tools of the oligarchy” manipulated by George Soros; that progressives find ‘white trash’ more threatening than nuclear war.
Roberts is a supporter of Putin, a supporter of the Assad dictatorship & of Russian carpet bombing of civilians in Syria. In October, an article he wrote titled “The Real Humanitarian Crisis Is Not Aleppo” is still being circulated widely by progressives. Prominent activists Cindy Sheehan, Cynthia McKinney, & Colleen Rowley share & promote the view he expresses in this article & only oppose US intervention in Syria. All three have promoted his writings & shared platforms with him. Are they unaware of his racist, white supremacist, Islamophobic, anti-Semitic views? Surely they were offended by his ugly misogynist reference in the article to Clinton as “the killer bitch Hillary.”
Roberts is a committed campaigner for Trump. He’s jubilant about the election, calling it a victory for the working class. As youth, including working class youth most affected by the fascistic threats of Trump protest the elections, Roberts & his intellectual minions denounce them as manipulated by nefarious forces.
Do yourself a favor. Before you post the false flag rubbish & racism of Paul Craig Roberts, check out what he stands for, so clearly expressed in his articles. If you still agree with him, do me a favor & unfriend me.
Rohingya refugee Ziaur Rahman on human trafficking of Rohingya
This article is the story of Rohingya refugee Ziaur Rahman who many FB friends know from his posts on my wall about the trafficking & plight of Rohingya refugees.
About a month ago, we asked if anyone could contribute toward a computer for him since he had to write off a beaten up mobile. A friend who does not wish to be identified has contributed money for a computer & a new mobile.
Thank you all for keeping Ziaur in mind. Mostly thank you to the generosity of our anonymous friend for making Ziaur’s political & educational work much easier.
He is part of building a solidarity movement to demand Myanmar stop the genocide & grant full citizenship, human, democratic rights to Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar.
http://www.born-in-malaysia.com/i-was-trafficked-7-times/
(Ziaur speaking at the screening of ‘Bodies for Sale’ in November, 2015 in Kuala Lumpur)
Does anyone else wish Chris Hedges was more succinct & less apocalyptic?