“Roughly a quarter of Republican voters in the United States believe that ‘elitists’ in government, the media, and Hollywood are a cabal of Satan-worshipping, child-trafficking pedophiles who murder children for their adrenochrome. Meanwhile, 25 percent of Americans believe that it’s ‘definitely true’ or ‘probably true’ that the coronavirus pandemic was ‘planned.’ More than a third of self-identified conservative Republicans are in this camp, as are nearly one-in-five Democrats. These are not garden-variety conspiracy theories. … If you believe these plots are real, you are not the target audience for historian Richard Hofstadter’s collection of essays, The Paranoid Style in American Politics, first published in the 1950s and 1960s.” (05/15/22)
“It could have been a beautiful nightmare. The most terrifyingly colossal empire in human history done in not by another rival empire but by another rival century. After the long bloody American Century, a century defined by world wars, cold wars, forever wars, and the constant looming threat of nuclear war and after centuries of unipolar white Anglo-Saxon global supremacy, the Eurasian Century was going to be different. A multipolar order of the yellow people we raped in the South and their pale faced cousins who we’ve long manipulated into submission in the West. An unlikely partnership of the formerly colonized and former colonizers that remained too diverse to form a singular empire but too vital for the current empire to suppress indefinitely, no matter how many stupid fucking color wars and humanitarian interventions they chucked at it.” (05/15/22)
“Somalia’s parliament elected Hassan Sheikh Mohamud as the country’s tenth president on Sunday, in a vote broadcast live on national TV. Mohamud previously served as president from September 2012 to February 2017 and is now the first leader of the country elected twice as Somalia’s head of state.
After his election he vowed to ‘work on a stable politics that leads Somalia to agreement and the world to agreement. In the vote conducted by lawmakers and aired by Somali National Television (SNTV), Mohamud defeated outgoing President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed Farmaajo, whose rule came under scrutiny late last year as he suspended the powers of the prime minister amid an ongoing tussle for power, triggering calls for calm from the US and UK, and raising concerns of political violence. Farmaajo conceded defeat early Monday and congratulated Mohamud, urging support for the incoming administration.” (05/16/22)
“Supply chain troubles continue to bedevil us, as the demon-in-chief continues to wander mentally, verbally, and no doubt physically around 1600 PA. Not that HE is to blame — or that the occupant of 1600 PA should have ANY power over supply chains of anything. But the sad fact is that Uncle Joe DOES have an insane amount of power over the economy — both actual and by perception and influence, at least to disrupt and destroy. Including supplying formula. Yes, I know Uncle Joe says the shortage is the highest priority of the federal government right now, and will get better within weeks. How long can a baby go without food before they starve? Is Uncle Joe to blame? A lot of people want to blame him. Shockingly I submit it is NOT him to blame.” (05/15/22)
“Iran-backed Hezbollah has been dealt a blow in Lebanon’s parliamentary election with preliminary results showing losses for some of its oldest allies and the Saudi-aligned Lebanese Forces party declaring significant gains. With votes still being counted, the final results have yet to emerge for the first election since Lebanon’s devastating economic meltdown and a huge port explosion in 2020 that shattered Beirut. The heavily armed Shi’ite Muslim group Hezbollah and its allies won 71 of parliament’s 128 seats when Lebanon last voted in 2018, but whether they can cling on to a majority hinges on results not yet finalised — including Sunni Muslim seats. Results declared point to a more fragmented parliament sharply polarised between allies and opponents of Hezbollah, an outcome analysts said could lead to deadlock as factions hash out a powersharing deal over top state positions.” (05/16/22)
“On May 10, Georgetown Law’s Center on Privacy & Technology released a report — ‘American Dragnet: Data-Driven Deportation in the 21st Century’ — which you should find disturbing but shouldn’t find surprising. The part you should find disturbing: ‘ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] has created a surveillance infrastructure that enables it to pull detailed dossiers on nearly anyone, seemingly at any time. In its efforts to arrest and deport, ICE has — without any judicial, legislative or public oversight — reached into datasets containing personal information about the vast majority of people living in the U.S.’ [That’s also the] part you shouldn’t find surprising …. a number of commentators pronounce themselves shocked — shocked! — that a federal agency which the US Constitution says can’t be allowed to exist would do things the US Constitution says it can’t be allowed to do.” (05/15/22)
“Jury Finds Officers at Fault for Failing to Stop Fellow Cops from Beating Innocent Teen :: Free market police services :: What is life and when does it begin? :: More opinions on abortion :: How to show resistance through activism :: David in NM harshes our buzz :: 10yo Girl Reports Her Police Officer Dad for Sexually [sic] Abuse, Fellow Cops Covered It Up :: Show: 2022-05-15 Captain Kickass, Steve Clasic, Steve Kahuna.” [Flash audio or MP3] (05/15/22)
“Ten people were killed and three more were wounded when a man opened fire at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, authorities said Saturday. Police said the shooter, who is now in custody, has been charged with murder in what officials are calling a hate crime and a case of racially motivated violent extremism. … A law enforcement source told CBS News that the suspect allegedly yelled racial slurs during the shooting. A source also said the gunman had a racial slur written on his weapon. The suspect is believed to have posted a hate-filled manifesto online with racist language.” (05/15/22)
