US embassy attack: Rockets strike embassy compound in Baghdad – CNNPolitics
hmmm
Category: International Affairs,
Is Trump Bibi’s Chump?
Opinion | Is Trump Bibi’s Chump? – The New York Times
In a word? Yes.
That chump is his bitch.
‘Wuhan, you can do it!’ residents shout across the city in Coronavirus lockdown
The city of 11 million, where the virus emerged late last year, is now under effective lockdown. Footage shared on China’s Twitter-like Weibo social media platform showed residents of apartment compounds in the city chanting “Wuhan Jiayou” which roughly translates as, “Wuhan, you can do it!”
Tuesday’s death toll was up from 81 as of the day before, while the number of total confirmed cases in China surged to 4,515 as of Jan. 27, from 2,835 a day earlier, the National Health Commission said.
‘Wuhan, you can do it!’ residents shout across the city in Coronavirus lockdown – YouTube
hmmm
Trump’s Israel-Palestine “peace plan” is a con
Donald Trump’s “peace plan” isn’t a plan for advancing Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations. It’s a plan for scuttling them.
…More insidiously, it is a plan to legitimize Israel’s ongoing effort to seize additional Palestinian land.
…It was put together primarily by Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, in consultation with the Israeli government.
…It divides up the Palestinian territories and surrounds them by Israel, and gives Israel total control over Palestinian security — allowing a future Palestinian government to exercise full control over its own land only when Israel deems it acceptable. It’s a kind of state-minus: a Palestine without much of its land and subservient to Israel for basic functions.
…The plan states that “Jerusalem will remain the sovereign capital of the State of Israel, and it should remain an undivided city.” The Palestinians will be granted only a tiny fraction of the heavily Palestinian-populated part of the city known as East Jerusalem that excludes the religious holy sites.
…Not only would the future state of Palestine not be permitted to develop its own “military or paramilitary” forces — ever — but Israel would also maintain full security control over Palestinian territory until it decides not to. And if at any time Israel changes its mind, it is within its rights under the deal to retake military control.
…A peace plan is supposed to end Israel’s military occupation of the West Bank. By giving Israel full control, the Trump plan makes such a withdrawal nearly impossible to envision.
“If you put it in Israel’s hands it will never happen,” writes Ilan Goldenberg, the Middle East security director at the Center for a New American Security. “It’s a recipe for permanent occupation.”
…As soon as the Palestinians have rejected the plan — and it took only minutes for them to do so — the Israelis can say, “Well, we tried, but they wouldn’t deal.” And they can proceed with settlement expansion and land grabs, moving Israel toward “not peace, but apartheid,” as B’Tselem, a leading Israeli human rights group, put it in a press release on the proposal.
The Trump vision is, in short, a truly Orwellian creation: a “peace plan” that actually is a plan to destroy the prospects for peace.
…It doesn’t seem like an accident that the plan was released on the same day that Israel’s attorney general formally indicted Netanyahu on bribery and corruption charges.
Trump’s Israel-Palestine “peace plan” is a con – Vox
Orwell would be proud.
2015 Lebanese child bride social experiment won 8 international awards
Lebanese child bride social experiment wins 8 international awards
…and inspired the more recent version set in NYC.
Kudos.
Women Also Set Sail on Viking Voyages, Study Shows
According to study co-author Maja Krzewinska, the results shine a light on the path that ancient Norse women traveled as they assisted in colonizing new lands during the Viking Age. “We can also show that our Norwegian Vikings brought Norwegian women when they colonized Iceland and went to other areas,” she said in a Stockholm University press release. “It fits well with what we know from written sources and gives us an exciting picture of how migration was done in groups with high mobility like the Vikings.”
…Previous researchers have theorized that Vikings traveled in male-only groups, fathering children with local women as they raped and pillaged their way across Europe and the North Atlantic. A study from 2001, for example, argued the Vikings brought Gaelic women with them when they left to settle Iceland.
Women Also Set Sail on Viking Voyages, Study Shows – HISTORY
hmmm
Trump unveils ‘realistic two-state solution’ for Middle East peace
- Establish Jerusalem as Israel’s “undivided” capital, with a potential Palestinian capital to the east and north of the city.
- Recognise the vast majority of Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian territory as part of the country.
- Recognise the Jordan valley, which makes up about a third of the occupied West Bank, as part of Israel.
- Offer a path to some form of Palestinian statehood but with no army, and overarching Israeli security control in some areas, including over the sea.
- Refuse Palestinian refugees the “right of return” to homes lost to Israel in previous conflicts.
Trump unveils ‘realistic two-state solution’ for Middle East peace | World news | The Guardian
More like a plan for permanent occupation
…racist asshats.
Influential aunt of North Korea’s Kim Jong Un makes first public appearance in 6 years
“That she’s sitting right next to the leader and is listed second after Choe Ryong Hae suggests she might have been granted a significant new position, potentially advising Kim Jong Un on economic or political issues,” he said.
“It’s also a reminder of how weird and brutal North Korea is, after all she’s sitting next to the man who ordered her husband’s execution.”
Influential aunt of North Korea’s Kim Jong Un makes first public appearance in 6 years
hmmm
Your Guide to Not Getting Murdered in a Quaint English Village
Your Guide to Not Getting Murdered in a Quaint English Village | CrimeReads
for all those fans of English murder mysteries out there
DNA tests stand on shaky ground to define Native American identity
Walajahi explained to the crowd that DTC ancestry kits fall short on accuracy because they only offer a probability toward a certain ancestry. So, a test that claims an individual has Native American ancestry, could be wrong.
…Ancestry kits can’t determine Native American identity. Community relationships, traditions, and shared experiences are more important aspects of identity.
…“Using a genetic test to lay claim to any connection to the Cherokee Nation or any tribal nation…is inappropriate and wrong,” said Cherokee Nation Secretary of State Chuck Hoskin Jr. in a public statement. “It makes a mockery out of DNA tests and its legitimate uses while also dishonoring legitimate tribal governments and their citizens.”
Sovereign tribal nations determine their requirements for membership. A genetic ancestry test is rarely involved. A history of traditions, passing down crafts and skills, and a sense of cultural continuity set the baseline for tribal membership.
…With no regulatory body to oversee their methods, Hull hopes the companies come together to create a set of standards on their own ensuring that they use consistent language to help the public understand how to interpret genetic information.
DNA tests stand on shaky ground to define Native American identity | NHGRI
hmmm
DNA Tests Make Native Americans Strangers in Their Own Land
The DNA industry has, in fact, found a way to profit from reviving and modernizing antiquated ideas about the biological origins of race and repackaging them in a cheerful, Disneyfied wrapping …offering a 21st-century version of pseudoscience that once again reduces race to a matter of genetics and origins.
…If Native Americans are reduced to little more than another genetic variation, there is no need for laws that acknowledge their land rights, treaty rights, and sovereignty. Nor must any thought be given to how to compensate for past harms, not to speak of the present ones that still structure their realities.
…They conflate ethnicity with geography, and geography with genetic markers.
…In this way, race and ethnicity are separated from and elevated above experience, culture, and history.
…In North America,” the company blandly explains, “Native American ancestry tends to be five or more generations back, so that little DNA evidence of this heritage remains.” In other words, 23andMe claims DNA as conclusive proof of Native American identity, then uses it to write Native North Americans off the map altogether.
…“DNA is not a liquid that can be broken down into microscopic drops.… We inherit about a quarter of our DNA from each grandparent—but only on average.… If you pick one of your ancestors from 10 generations back, the odds are around 50 percent that you carry any DNA from him or her. The odds get even worse beyond that.”
In reality, such testing does not tell us much about our ancestors. That’s partly because of the way DNA is passed down through the generations and partly because there exists no database of ancestral DNA. Instead, the companies compare your DNA to that of other contemporary humans who have paid them to take the test. Then they compare your particular variations to patterns of geographical and ethnic distribution of such variations in today’s world—and use secret algorithms to assign purportedly precise ancestral percentages to them.
…Native American nations are political and cultural entities, the products of history, not genes, and white people’s assertions about Native American ancestry and the DNA industry’s claim to be able to reveal such ancestry tend to run roughshod over this history.
…The recognition of tribal sovereignty at least acknowledges that the existence of the United States is predicated on its imposition of an unwanted, foreign political entity on Native lands. The concept of tribal sovereignty has given Native Americans a legal and collective basis for fighting for a different way of thinking about history, rights, and nationhood. Attempts to reduce Native American identity to a race that can be identified by a gene (or a genetic variation) do violence to our history and justify ongoing violations of Native rights.
DNA Tests Make Native Americans Strangers in Their Own Land | The Nation
hmmm
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos Pledges To Invest $1 Billion In India
Amazon’s aggressive expansion in India has kickstarted an e-commerce boom in a country where hundreds of millions of people have rapidly come online through cheap smartphones and data plans in the last few years, and where most people outside urban areas do not have access to large retail chains. But it has also angered millions of small brick-and-mortar businesses, who say that Amazon and Walmart-owned Flipkart, which dominate online shopping in the country, are affecting their livelihoods by using their deep pockets to heavily discount products and undercut traditional retailers.
Small business owners in the country have also accused online retailers like Amazon of violating the country’s foreign investment laws. …They’ve also accused the companies of striking deals with smartphone makers that force them to sell their devices online exclusively and not in traditional retail stores.
…“The goal of Amazon and Flipkart is to bring in crony capitalism in India, dominate and monopolize the market, wipe out the competition, and leave consumers with no choice,” CAIT Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal told BuzzFeed News at the protest site. Khandelwal claimed that over 100,000 small retailers had been driven out of business thanks to Amazon and Flipkart’s deep discounting in the last four months alone.
…When asked about Bezos’ latest billion-dollar investment to digitize India’s small and medium businesses, Khandelwal said that cash infusion was to help Amazon continue to sell products at a loss by offering large discounts. “They’re trying to build a wrong and a false narrative here,” he said. “That’s not acceptable.”
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos Pledges To Invest $1 Billion In India
hmmm
House to investigate Trump ‘Remain in Mexico’ policy
“As we have previously written to you, MPP is inconsistent with the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) statutory authority, while exposing thousands of people to threats of murder, sexual violence, and kidnapping as they are forced to wait in extremely dangerous conditions before their asylum claims may be heard,” the letter reads.
“As of today, there are 31 active travel advisories for Mexico, including 5 warnings in which the State Department explicitly advises Americans against travel. It is difficult to understand why this administration is sending children and families to areas where they will face certain harm,” the members wrote.
…”It is imperative that the United States end this reckless course of action and reaffirm its commitment to the principles of due process on which this country was founded.”
House to investigate Trump ‘Remain in Mexico’ policy | TheHill
hmm
The U.S. has held a record 69,550 migrant children in government custody in 2019
The U.S. has held a record 69,550 migrant children in government custody in 2019
The US government are the bad guys in this movie.
Venice canals almost dry, two months after severe floods
In November, Venice experienced its highest water levels in more than 50 years in what some said was a direct result of climate change.
More than two thirds of the city was underwater then, with the mayor estimating damage at over a billion euros ($1.1bn; £850m).
Landmarks like St Mark’s Square were flooded, while shops and businesses had to close.
Venice canals almost dry, two months after severe floods – BBC News
hmmm
The World’s Happiest People Share Their Parenting Secrets
Why are the Danish people consistently reputed to be the happiest in the world? They suggest their elevated level of innate happiness may be rooted in the way the nation’s children are parented.
…Play is the language of children and in Denmark protecting children’s right to free play is taken very seriously; it’s considered crucial, not optional. Over scheduling kids is actively avoided; you’re more likely to hear a Danish parent say their child is going to play in the backyard on Saturday rather than take part in organised sport. And by “play” they mean kids are left to their own devices, with a friend or alone, to play exactly as they see fit, for as long as they want.
The Danes recognize play teaches social skills, empathy, self-control, coping mechanisms, and much more.
…The Danes like to “keep it real”. They’re honest with their children about the good, bad and ugly of life. Danish movies, stories, and books often deal with difficult topics and don’t always have happy endings; science shows “keeping it real” can improve empathy skills as well as make us happier in a “count your blessings” kind of way.
…Reframing is a cultural phenomenon in Denmark which is passed from one generation to the next; it’s incredibly powerful and results in the “realistic optimism” Danes are famous for.
…They actively teach empathy in schools. It has the same value as subjects like Math or English, with programs in place to teach kids to identify others’ emotions and conceptualize themselves in others’ shoes.
…Hygge, pronounced hooga, means “to cozy around together.” Hygge is spending time together with loved ones in a cozy, psychologically safe environment. Everyone enters into an unspoken agreement that, for this period of time, no one complains, brags or brings up negative or controversial topics; creating a drama-free space.
The World’s Happiest People Share Their Parenting Secrets – Raised Good
hmmmm
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev (and entire cabinet) Helpfully Resign To Help Vladimir Putin Consolidate Power
The principal ministers of the Russian government, from Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on down, resigned Wednesday in a move designed to ease a constitutional overhaul recently proposed by President Vladimir Putin. The president accepted Medvedev’s resignation and said he would appoint his longtime loyalist to the Russian Security Council.
…”After those amendments are adopted — and it was said that this is likely to be done following discussion — there will be significant changes not only to a variety of constitution articles, but to the balance of power, namely to the executive, legislative and judicial branches of power,” Medvedev explained in the meeting, Tass reports.
The package includes proposals to strengthen the country’s State Council and boost lawmakers’ power over nominations for prime minister and other major government positions. In his address, Putin said the moves are meant to buttress Russia’s democratic processes — though many observers find it more likely that they have to do with Putin’s as-yet-unclear plans to maintain influence after leaving the presidency.
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev Resigns As Vladimir Putin Seeks Change : NPR
hmmm
Comments From The Peanut Gallery 