My sister is a teacher in America, which means she has had to teach her fourth-grade students about how to defend themselves against people who might walk into her public school with guns. Once, during a false alarm, her class followed the “safety protocol” they had learned. What did these children do to protect themselves from the shooter they thought was in the building? One boy wielded a peanut butter jar. Another: a bottle of hand sanitiser. A student with a broken leg held up his crutch. My sister crouched behind her desk and told them they were doing great.
I wonder if the elementary school students in Uvalde, Texas, had similar drills. I wonder if the teachers there, like my sister, worried about what they would do if they had to barricade the door. I wonder if the fourth graders in Texas had time to pick up their staplers and notebooks and lunch boxes to defend themselves from an 18-year-old armed to the teeth before he slaughtered them in their classroom.
The elementary school shooting in Texas is the 212th mass shooting this year. It is the 27th school shooting. It is also the deadliest mass shooting in the US so far in 2022, which says something because it happened just ten days after ten people were killed in a supermarket in Buffalo, New York. So far, at least 19 children and two adults are dead in Uvalde. Others are injured.
Read more at:
How America went berserk - UnHerd
Showing posts with label Turmoil. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Turmoil. Show all posts
9/24/21
USA: Quo Vadis, America? - by César Chelala
U.S. intervention in other countries have generally not led to better living conditions for the populations of those countries. In most cases, it has had the opposite effect.
This is true not only in the case of Afghanistan. It is also true of countries such as Libya, Syria, Iraq and Yemen.
It is not cynical to replace the old saying “familiarity breeds contempt” with “intervention in other countries breeds contempt.
read more at: Quo Vadis, America? - The Globalist
This is true not only in the case of Afghanistan. It is also true of countries such as Libya, Syria, Iraq and Yemen.
It is not cynical to replace the old saying “familiarity breeds contempt” with “intervention in other countries breeds contempt.
read more at: Quo Vadis, America? - The Globalist
7/27/21
Middle East: Tunisia’s Trumpian president - by Marwan Bishara
Tunisia’s President Kais Saied has borrowed more than a few pages from Donald Trump’s playbook over the past couple of years.
Since taking office, he has attacked the system that propelled him to power, insulted parliament and parliamentarians, and undermined the parliamentary system on which the country’s democratic system is based, all in the name of “the people”.
Read more at: Tunisia’s Trumpian president | Politics | Al Jazeera
Since taking office, he has attacked the system that propelled him to power, insulted parliament and parliamentarians, and undermined the parliamentary system on which the country’s democratic system is based, all in the name of “the people”.
Read more at: Tunisia’s Trumpian president | Politics | Al Jazeera
11/3/20
USA in Turmoil: The U.S. could split up, Gundlach says. - here's how he'd invest for that.- by Andrea Riquier
"Donald Trump is most likely to win re-election, but no matter the outcome of the presidential race, the U.S. could find itself broken into more than one country as unrest and acrimony grip the electorate, noted investor Jeffrey Gundlach said Monday" said Jeffrey Gundlach
Read more at: The U.S. could split up, Gundlach says. Here's how he'd invest for that. - MarketWatch
Read more at: The U.S. could split up, Gundlach says. Here's how he'd invest for that. - MarketWatch
8/29/20
Montenegro is heading the same way as Belarus. Not enough is being done to avoid disaster - by Steven Kay
As the situation in Belarus continues to deteriorate, Europe may soon
have another electoral crisis at its periphery. In Montenegro, decades
of the same man’s rule and widespread discontent is likely soon to be
the for electoral fraud. The tiny Western Balkan nation – currently
waiting for EU membership to be besto
The West must brace for the expected if they are to prevent another Belarus. With Lukashenko, the strategy of waiting to see how things played out has gone awry. Weak statements immediately following the results allowed the former collective farm manager to believe his position was tenable. It emboldened him to crush opposition, rather than resign himself to the logic of the situation. His contempt for his people – who allegedly voted for him in vast numbers – was chilling. As he dressed himself in combat gear and gave instructions to his police to shoot, the exposure of the depth of his electoral fraud was complete.
Read more at:
Montenegro is heading the same way as Belarus. Not enough is being done to avoid disaster ǀ View | Euronews
The West must brace for the expected if they are to prevent another Belarus. With Lukashenko, the strategy of waiting to see how things played out has gone awry. Weak statements immediately following the results allowed the former collective farm manager to believe his position was tenable. It emboldened him to crush opposition, rather than resign himself to the logic of the situation. His contempt for his people – who allegedly voted for him in vast numbers – was chilling. As he dressed himself in combat gear and gave instructions to his police to shoot, the exposure of the depth of his electoral fraud was complete.
Read more at:
Montenegro is heading the same way as Belarus. Not enough is being done to avoid disaster ǀ View | Euronews
2/19/20
EU in turmoil: Is Europe Falling Apart?
Populism, nationalism, and internal griping are deeply, perhaps irreparably, damaging EU and NATO alliances.
Read more at:
https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/europe-falling-apart
Read more at:
https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/europe-falling-apart
11/29/19
USA: Dow Jones Today: Stocks Drop On China Turmoil; Apple Algorithm Probed - by A.R. Elliot
Stocks came off their early lows in Monday's Veterans Day trading
session, as political unrest in Hong Kong upended confidence across
global markets. A slow start to a big earnings week left analyst actions
and company news driving early trade. Cisco Systems (CSCO) and Home Depot (HD) lagged on the Dow Jones today, following downgrades. Apple (APPL) traded lower as New York regulators announced a company probe.
Read more at: Dow Jones Today: Stocks Drop On China Turmoil; Apple Algorithm Probed | Investor's Business Daily
Read more at: Dow Jones Today: Stocks Drop On China Turmoil; Apple Algorithm Probed | Investor's Business Daily
10/19/19
Spain - Catalan Indepence: Ex Catalan president says of independence push that it went too fast
Amid turmoil in Barcelona, ex-Catalan president says of independence push: ‘We went too fast’
Read more at:
2/6/18
Immigration turmoil: Blaming Immigrants For Economic Troubles - Basak Kus
Immigration has always been a prominent issue in American politics.
It has become even more salient with the presidency of Donald Trump. A
major debate at the moment concerns the economic impact of
immigration—low-skilled immigration, in particular. It is argued that
immigration has suppressed wages, discouraged unions, and exerted fiscal
pressure on the welfare state.
How valid are these arguments? Is immigration really the culprit for these woes?
Let us start with welfare. It is argued immigrants make demands on the welfare state, while not paying enough taxes to cover the cost of the benefits they receive. This is not accurate. America’s welfare system is facing pressure; there is no dispute about that. However, immigration is not the cause. Non-citizens’ use of welfare benefits has declined significantly since the 1996 Welfare Reform no matter where you look: TANF, SSI, food stamps, Medicaid (see here, here and here). At the same time, there is evidence that, in urban areas, immigrant households are paying taxes at nearly the same rate as native households.
If the American welfare system is in distress, that is largely because of the revenue side. The tax revenue the US collects is relatively small, which renders the American welfare state ineffective and unable to meet the needs of the public, as political scientist Sven Steinmo’s work shows. To be specific, in 2015, US’s total tax revenue, at 26 percent of GDP, stood significantly below the OECD average of 34 percent, while in many European countries it exceeded 40 percent. The US’s total corporate tax revenue that year, at 2.2 percent of GDP was also below the OECD average.
Since the 1970s, the highest marginal income tax rate has nearly halved. The bottom line is, it is not the demand on the system caused by immigration that is threatening the welfare state, it is the tax revenue needed to fund it, which is not being collected. Unfortunately, the situation is not likely to improve with the recent passing of the new tax bill.
The truth is, immigrant workers themselves are the victims of the same structural forces that have contributed to the demise of unions: de-industrialization, financialization, and policies, which for decades prioritized market flexibility over wages, employment protection, and unionization rights. Depending on particular political and institutional factors, unions fared better in some countries than others in the face of these global challenges. To make some comparisons with America’s northern neighbor, the percentage of the foreign-born population has been increasing in both countries, and, in fact, it is now higher in Canada than in the US (20% versus 13%). Yet, unions seem to have been faring far better in Canada—both in the private and public sector, despite higher rates of immigration. To be more specific, America’s unionization rates remained very similar to Canada’s until the 1960s, whereas now trade union density in Canada is more than twice that of the United States. Why is this the case? That is a complex question, as Barry Eidlin shows, having to do with these nations’ particular contexts of labor mobilization and party politics.
The worry that immigrants take more than they give, that they would become a “public charge” rather than an “economic contributor” is not new. Cybelle Fox’s work shows, for instance, how deep the economically-based-anti-immigration sentiment ran during the New Deal, how “rumors circulated in the press that there were a million or more aliens on relief,” and how most Americans believed aliens should not receive relief and that those who did should be expelled from the country. These arguments surface time and again, are misguided and simply fuel new nativist attitudes. The overwhelming evidence is that the inflow of immigrants, whether high- or low-skilled, contributes to US economic growth and is not the cause of American workers’ plight.
Read more: Blaming Immigrants For Economic Troubles
How valid are these arguments? Is immigration really the culprit for these woes?
Let us start with welfare. It is argued immigrants make demands on the welfare state, while not paying enough taxes to cover the cost of the benefits they receive. This is not accurate. America’s welfare system is facing pressure; there is no dispute about that. However, immigration is not the cause. Non-citizens’ use of welfare benefits has declined significantly since the 1996 Welfare Reform no matter where you look: TANF, SSI, food stamps, Medicaid (see here, here and here). At the same time, there is evidence that, in urban areas, immigrant households are paying taxes at nearly the same rate as native households.
If the American welfare system is in distress, that is largely because of the revenue side. The tax revenue the US collects is relatively small, which renders the American welfare state ineffective and unable to meet the needs of the public, as political scientist Sven Steinmo’s work shows. To be specific, in 2015, US’s total tax revenue, at 26 percent of GDP, stood significantly below the OECD average of 34 percent, while in many European countries it exceeded 40 percent. The US’s total corporate tax revenue that year, at 2.2 percent of GDP was also below the OECD average.
Since the 1970s, the highest marginal income tax rate has nearly halved. The bottom line is, it is not the demand on the system caused by immigration that is threatening the welfare state, it is the tax revenue needed to fund it, which is not being collected. Unfortunately, the situation is not likely to improve with the recent passing of the new tax bill.
The truth is, immigrant workers themselves are the victims of the same structural forces that have contributed to the demise of unions: de-industrialization, financialization, and policies, which for decades prioritized market flexibility over wages, employment protection, and unionization rights. Depending on particular political and institutional factors, unions fared better in some countries than others in the face of these global challenges. To make some comparisons with America’s northern neighbor, the percentage of the foreign-born population has been increasing in both countries, and, in fact, it is now higher in Canada than in the US (20% versus 13%). Yet, unions seem to have been faring far better in Canada—both in the private and public sector, despite higher rates of immigration. To be more specific, America’s unionization rates remained very similar to Canada’s until the 1960s, whereas now trade union density in Canada is more than twice that of the United States. Why is this the case? That is a complex question, as Barry Eidlin shows, having to do with these nations’ particular contexts of labor mobilization and party politics.
The worry that immigrants take more than they give, that they would become a “public charge” rather than an “economic contributor” is not new. Cybelle Fox’s work shows, for instance, how deep the economically-based-anti-immigration sentiment ran during the New Deal, how “rumors circulated in the press that there were a million or more aliens on relief,” and how most Americans believed aliens should not receive relief and that those who did should be expelled from the country. These arguments surface time and again, are misguided and simply fuel new nativist attitudes. The overwhelming evidence is that the inflow of immigrants, whether high- or low-skilled, contributes to US economic growth and is not the cause of American workers’ plight.
Read more: Blaming Immigrants For Economic Troubles
1/4/17
USA: Turmoil Overshadows First Day of Republican-Controlled Congress
Republicans so far have had a very bad showing since the new Congressional year opened. as they seem to be even unsure if their President elect will be backing up all their vague plans,
This includes plans to destroy medical insurance for millions of Americans.and many other proposed changes. It is disaster in the making and does not look pretty, whatever way you look at it
Read more: Turmoil Overshadows First Day of Republican-Controlled Congress - The New York Times
This includes plans to destroy medical insurance for millions of Americans.and many other proposed changes. It is disaster in the making and does not look pretty, whatever way you look at it
Read more: Turmoil Overshadows First Day of Republican-Controlled Congress - The New York Times
5/8/16
Are Kurds seeing calm before the storm? - by Seth J Frantzman
When protesters stormed Iraq's parliament on September 30, a Kurdish
news team from Rudaw found themselves reporting live in the midst of the
chaos.
A Kurdish Peshmerga soldier outside the parliament told them that protesters "had kissed [him] and given [him] flowers. It's very peaceful." It was a momentary gesture in a region that has become increasingly fractured along sectarian lines.
Kurds have been seeking greater independence and autonomy throughout the region in the last hundred years in the wake of what many complain were European-imposed colonial borders that ignored their rights.
Since the rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group in 2014, the Kurdish regions in Syria and Iraq have found their areas largely cut off from the central government.
This has brought widespread hopes for a Kurdish referendum on independence in the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in Iraq, and a federal structure in Syria that would preserve the Kurds' hard-fought rights.
Read more: nAre Kurds seeing calm before the storm? - Al Jazeera English
A Kurdish Peshmerga soldier outside the parliament told them that protesters "had kissed [him] and given [him] flowers. It's very peaceful." It was a momentary gesture in a region that has become increasingly fractured along sectarian lines.
Kurds have been seeking greater independence and autonomy throughout the region in the last hundred years in the wake of what many complain were European-imposed colonial borders that ignored their rights.
Since the rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group in 2014, the Kurdish regions in Syria and Iraq have found their areas largely cut off from the central government.
This has brought widespread hopes for a Kurdish referendum on independence in the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in Iraq, and a federal structure in Syria that would preserve the Kurds' hard-fought rights.
Read more: nAre Kurds seeing calm before the storm? - Al Jazeera English
10/10/14
Global Economy: Debt risk, market turmoil threaten financial crisis - David Parkinson
Nagging debt risks, heated currency wars and renewed market turmoil
are making the global economy a precarious place, six years after the
financial crisis.
On the sixth anniversary of the S&P 500’s biggest one-day drop in history – a 106-point plunge on Sept. 29, 2008, that marked the beginning of one of the worst market collapses of all time – the respected annual Geneva Report on the World Economy is raising concerns about a “poisonous combination” of record and still-rising global debts and chronically slow growth. It warned that this leaves the world exposed to a heightened risk of further economic stagnation and even another potential financial crisis.
Read more: Debt risk, market turmoil threaten financial crisis - The Globe and Mail
On the sixth anniversary of the S&P 500’s biggest one-day drop in history – a 106-point plunge on Sept. 29, 2008, that marked the beginning of one of the worst market collapses of all time – the respected annual Geneva Report on the World Economy is raising concerns about a “poisonous combination” of record and still-rising global debts and chronically slow growth. It warned that this leaves the world exposed to a heightened risk of further economic stagnation and even another potential financial crisis.
Read more: Debt risk, market turmoil threaten financial crisis - The Globe and Mail
5/18/14
Middle East Turmoil: Syria war: Air defence chief Gen Hussein Ishaq killed
The head of Syria's air defences has died amid fighting near Damascus.
Gen Hussein Ishaq was said to have been wounded as rebels
attacked an air defence base near the town of Mleiha on Saturday and
later died.
He is one of a handful of high-ranking military officers to be killed in the country's civil war.
Rebels are fighting to depose President Bashar al-Assad's regime in a bloody conflict that began three years ago.
Despite the war, the government plans to hold a presidential election next month in the areas under its control.
Read more:: BBC News - Syria war: Air defence chief Gen Hussein Ishaq killed
8/14/13
Egypt troops clear Morsi protests - EU deplores loss of life and considers speedy return to civilian rule essential
Egyptian security forces have moved in to clear two pro-Morsi protest camps in Cairo, leaving several dead. Figures about the people killed fluctuate betweem 8 - 600 depending to whom you are listening.
Note EU-Digest: It was also announced yesterday that Egypt’s new military-appointed government on Tuesday named a roster of generals as provincial governors, raising fears of a return to the authoritarianism of former President Hosni Mubarak.
The New York Times reported that of of the 25 provincial governors named, 19 are generals: 17 from the military and 2 from the police. One police general has become well known for his openly insubordinate refusal to protect supporters of Egypt’s first democratically elected president, Mohamed Morsi, an Islamist whose candidacy was advanced by the Muslim Brotherhood.
A spokesman said Ashton "deeply deplores the loss of life" after
reports that dozens or more of Morsi's supporters were shot dead in the
Egyptian capital early today as violence erupted after a night of
massive rallies for and against the ousted Islamist president.
So far no reactions from the US Government. e
To view live report more here: Egypt troops clear Morsi protests: live - Telegraph
Note EU-Digest: It was also announced yesterday that Egypt’s new military-appointed government on Tuesday named a roster of generals as provincial governors, raising fears of a return to the authoritarianism of former President Hosni Mubarak.
The New York Times reported that of of the 25 provincial governors named, 19 are generals: 17 from the military and 2 from the police. One police general has become well known for his openly insubordinate refusal to protect supporters of Egypt’s first democratically elected president, Mohamed Morsi, an Islamist whose candidacy was advanced by the Muslim Brotherhood.
None of Mr. Morsi’s Islamist appointees — 11 of Egypt’s 27 governors —
were kept on, but six of nine generals whom he had appointed to
governorships retained those posts, although one was moved to Alexandria
from the Red Sea region.
By naming so many generals, the new government installed by Gen.
Abdul-Fattah el-Sisi also returned to one of Mr. Mubarak’s trademark
tactics, using the governorships to cultivate the loyalty of top
officers while extending the grip of his police state.
Even some founders of the petition drive that paved the way for Mr.
Morsi’s ouster began for the first time to question the leaders they had
helped bring to power. “Our reasons for revolting against the two
regimes were the same, so it’s not right for governors to be appointed
this way,” Hassan Shaheen, an organizer of the petition drive, known as
Tamarrod, said, according to the state newspaper Al Ahram.
The European Union said on Saturday it deplored the loss of life in
Egypt and was following developments there with concern after deadly
clashes in Cairo between protesters against the interim military-backed
government and police.
EU foreign affairs head Catherine Ashton said the authorities should ensure a speedy transition to civilian rule and repeated demands that political detainees, including President Mohammed Morsi who was ousted by the army on July 3, should be released.
EU foreign affairs head Catherine Ashton said the authorities should ensure a speedy transition to civilian rule and repeated demands that political detainees, including President Mohammed Morsi who was ousted by the army on July 3, should be released.
So far no reactions from the US Government. e
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