Monday, September 07, 2020
Michel Barnier 'Worried' by No 10 Plans to Renege on Brexit Deal
THE GUARDIAN: EU’s chief Brexit negotiator said full implementation of withdrawal agreement vital for avoiding a hard border
Michel Barnier said he was “worried” by the latest twists in the Brexit negotiations and would seek answers from the UK’s chief negotiator, David Frost, over claims that Downing Street is planning to negate parts of the withdrawal agreement.
The EU’s chief Brexit negotiator said full implementation of the international treaty was vital for avoiding a hard border on the island of Ireland as it was reported that the government is planning legislation to override parts of the deal struck last year.
Ahead of the start on Tuesday of the latest round of trade and security negotiations with the British government, Barnier said the Northern Ireland protocol in the withdrawal deal was a “prerequisite for peace since the end of the conflict ... and it’s the prerequisite for a united and coherent economy for the entire island, and also to respect the single market”. » | Daniel Boffey and Jennifer Rankin in Brussels | Monday, September 7, 2020
Michel Barnier said he was “worried” by the latest twists in the Brexit negotiations and would seek answers from the UK’s chief negotiator, David Frost, over claims that Downing Street is planning to negate parts of the withdrawal agreement.
The EU’s chief Brexit negotiator said full implementation of the international treaty was vital for avoiding a hard border on the island of Ireland as it was reported that the government is planning legislation to override parts of the deal struck last year.
Ahead of the start on Tuesday of the latest round of trade and security negotiations with the British government, Barnier said the Northern Ireland protocol in the withdrawal deal was a “prerequisite for peace since the end of the conflict ... and it’s the prerequisite for a united and coherent economy for the entire island, and also to respect the single market”. » | Daniel Boffey and Jennifer Rankin in Brussels | Monday, September 7, 2020
Ex-Trump Official Shares His Prediction If Trump Loses 2020
Multiple News Outlets Mirror Report of Trump Denigrating Veterans, Military Service | MSNBC
Reneging on Brexit Deal Would Strengthen Case for Breaking Up UK, Government Told
THE GUARDIAN: Johnson to deliver ultimatum to EU as minister defends plan as addressing ‘a few loose ends’
Reneging on any obligations under the Brexit withdrawal agreement would make the case for breaking up the UK stronger, the government has been warned, as a minister defended the plan as simply addressing “a few minor loose ends”.
After it emerged Boris Johnson is drawing up legislation that will override the Brexit withdrawal agreement on Northern Ireland, threatening the collapse of talks with the EU, the SNP said leaving without a deal would cause “lasting damage to Scottish jobs and the economy in the middle of a pandemic”.
Ian Blackford, the SNP’s leader, said “By threatening to undermine the UK’s international treaty obligations and impose a catastrophic no-deal Brexit on Scotland against our will, the prime minister is proving he cannot be trusted and is underlining the need for Scotland to become an independent country.” » | Peter Walker, Political correspondent | Monday, September 7, 2020
Reneging on any obligations under the Brexit withdrawal agreement would make the case for breaking up the UK stronger, the government has been warned, as a minister defended the plan as simply addressing “a few minor loose ends”.
After it emerged Boris Johnson is drawing up legislation that will override the Brexit withdrawal agreement on Northern Ireland, threatening the collapse of talks with the EU, the SNP said leaving without a deal would cause “lasting damage to Scottish jobs and the economy in the middle of a pandemic”.
Ian Blackford, the SNP’s leader, said “By threatening to undermine the UK’s international treaty obligations and impose a catastrophic no-deal Brexit on Scotland against our will, the prime minister is proving he cannot be trusted and is underlining the need for Scotland to become an independent country.” » | Peter Walker, Political correspondent | Monday, September 7, 2020
Sunday, September 06, 2020
Is Trump a Fascist? Philosopher Jason Stanley Considers the Evidence after "Four Years of Chaos"
A ‘Tyrant-Clown’ Has Destroyed My Love Affair with America
THE OBSERVER: With its cynical disabling of the body politic, the Trump administration has contaminated the well of US independence
Once upon a time, at the start of the last century, PG Wodehouse declared, with the fervour of the convert, that to live in America was “like being in heaven … without the bother and expense of dying”.
America used to do that to a certain kind of Brit, and to those who saw themselves as Greeks to the Americans’ Romans: we’d fall hopelessly in love, however much they abused the relationship.
My own long affair with America, as an idea as much as a reality, began in the bicentennial year, 1976, with a graduate scholarship to the University of Pennsylvania. Among the lovely red brick of old Philadelphia, I maxed out on the promise and possibilities of the American revolution, its majesty, optimism and rhetoric. Those pioneers of radical political self-expression, Jefferson, Franklin, et al, became idols of deep faith. For instance, years later, on a return visit to the Constitution Center, I was brought to tears by a video devoted to that love letter to democratic principles, the US constitution, and the eternal magic of “We, the people”. » | Robert McCrum | Sunday, September 6, 2020
Once upon a time, at the start of the last century, PG Wodehouse declared, with the fervour of the convert, that to live in America was “like being in heaven … without the bother and expense of dying”.
America used to do that to a certain kind of Brit, and to those who saw themselves as Greeks to the Americans’ Romans: we’d fall hopelessly in love, however much they abused the relationship.
My own long affair with America, as an idea as much as a reality, began in the bicentennial year, 1976, with a graduate scholarship to the University of Pennsylvania. Among the lovely red brick of old Philadelphia, I maxed out on the promise and possibilities of the American revolution, its majesty, optimism and rhetoric. Those pioneers of radical political self-expression, Jefferson, Franklin, et al, became idols of deep faith. For instance, years later, on a return visit to the Constitution Center, I was brought to tears by a video devoted to that love letter to democratic principles, the US constitution, and the eternal magic of “We, the people”. » | Robert McCrum | Sunday, September 6, 2020
Buttigieg: Trump ‘Shouldn’t Be Allowed within a One Mile Radius of a POW Flag’ | Deadline | MSNBC
CNN Exclusive Interview with Sen. Kamala Harris (Parts 1 & 2)
Biden Fires Back at Trump: My Son Wasn't a Sucker
CNN's Keilar Rolls the Tape on Trump's Attacks on Military Members and Their Families
Tricks of Treats? Ft. Tim Noakes, Prominent South African Athlete & Scientist
Saturday, September 05, 2020
Outrage, But Not Surprise, at Reports That Trump Called Fallen Veterans ‘Suckers’, ‘Losers’ | MSNBC
The Nazi Romance With Islam Has Some Lessons for the United States
Both Hitler and Himmler had a soft spot for Islam. Hitler several times fantasized that, if the Saracens had not been stopped at the Battle of Tours, Islam would have spread through the European continent—and that would have been a good thing, since “Jewish Christianity” wouldn’t have gone on to poison Europe. Christianity doted on weakness and suffering, while Islam extolled strength, Hitler believed. Himmler in a January 1944 speech called Islam “a practical and attractive religion for soldiers,” with its promise of paradise and beautiful women for brave martyrs after their death. “This is the kind of language a soldier understands,” Himmler gushed.
Surely, the Nazi leaders thought, Muslims would see that the Germans were their blood brothers: loyal, iron-willed, and most important, convinced that Jews were the evil that most plagued the world. “Do you recognize him, the fat, curly-haired Jew who deceives and rules the whole world and who steals the land of the Arabs?” demanded one of the Nazi pamphlets dropped over North Africa (a million copies of it were printed). “The Jew,” the pamphlet explained, was the evil King Dajjal from Islamic tradition, who in the world’s final days was supposed to lead 70,000 Jews from Isfahan in apocalyptic battle against Isa—often identified with Jesus, but according to the Reich Propaganda Ministry none other than Hitler himself. Germany produced reams of leaflets like this one, often quoting the Quran on the subject of Jewish treachery. » | David Mikics | Monday, November 24, 2014
Seth Andrews: From Religion to Reason
The Mennonites – A Trip Back in Time | DW Documentary
Like the Amish in the US, the Mennonite Christian community shuns the modern world. Most Mennonites live in secluded, self-sufficient colonies. We get a rare glimpse into the life of a devout and isolated community.
The Mennonites embrace isolation, which in their eyes helps protect them from the temptations of the modern world. At first glance, time seems to have stood still in the Mennonite colony in Belize, where people still travel by horse-drawn carriage and do without conveniences such as televisions and electricity. They still speak an old form of the German dialect Plattdeutsch. But modern life is slowly making inroads in Little Belize. Wilhelm, the community’s former doctor, was expelled for owning a mobile phone. Fearing that their community was being tainted, some more traditional members decided to found a new colony in a remote jungle in Peru, where they hope to live according to old customs and religious beliefs. For the first time ever, a camera team was granted access to one of Central and South America’s traditional Mennonite colonies.
The Mennonites embrace isolation, which in their eyes helps protect them from the temptations of the modern world. At first glance, time seems to have stood still in the Mennonite colony in Belize, where people still travel by horse-drawn carriage and do without conveniences such as televisions and electricity. They still speak an old form of the German dialect Plattdeutsch. But modern life is slowly making inroads in Little Belize. Wilhelm, the community’s former doctor, was expelled for owning a mobile phone. Fearing that their community was being tainted, some more traditional members decided to found a new colony in a remote jungle in Peru, where they hope to live according to old customs and religious beliefs. For the first time ever, a camera team was granted access to one of Central and South America’s traditional Mennonite colonies.
The Danger Is Now Clear: Trump Is Destroying Democracy in broad daylight
THE GUARDIAN: More and more, the president voices contempt for the voting process. Imagine what he’d do if re-elected
This is not a normal election. I don’t say that because it is now clear that, against some stiff competition, Donald Trump is the most repellent individual ever to have sought, let alone won, the presidency of the United States. The latest proof comes in a quadruple-sourced account of Trump describing US troops who died for their country as “losers” and “suckers”, and demanding that a military parade exclude wounded veterans, lest spectators glimpse an amputee. “Nobody wants to see that,” he said.
There was a time when the Atlantic’s jaw-dropping report, later corroborated “in its entirety” by the Associated Press, would have proved terminal for a politician in a country where respect for the military supposedly has the status of a religious obligation. But that time is long past. It ended in 2015 when Trump branded John McCain – who had spent more than five years in a Hanoi cell as a prisoner of war – a “loser”, though of course now Trump swears blind that he never said any such thing, despite the existence of videoshowing him saying exactly that. » | Jonathan Freedland | Friday, September 4, 2020
This is not a normal election. I don’t say that because it is now clear that, against some stiff competition, Donald Trump is the most repellent individual ever to have sought, let alone won, the presidency of the United States. The latest proof comes in a quadruple-sourced account of Trump describing US troops who died for their country as “losers” and “suckers”, and demanding that a military parade exclude wounded veterans, lest spectators glimpse an amputee. “Nobody wants to see that,” he said.
There was a time when the Atlantic’s jaw-dropping report, later corroborated “in its entirety” by the Associated Press, would have proved terminal for a politician in a country where respect for the military supposedly has the status of a religious obligation. But that time is long past. It ended in 2015 when Trump branded John McCain – who had spent more than five years in a Hanoi cell as a prisoner of war – a “loser”, though of course now Trump swears blind that he never said any such thing, despite the existence of videoshowing him saying exactly that. » | Jonathan Freedland | Friday, September 4, 2020
Brits, Take It from an Aussie: If Tony Abbott Is Your Solution, You've Got Big Problems
It’s true that Tony Abbott was a highly effective opposition leader.
Between 2013 and 2015, he was involved in enough domestic scandals, international embarrassments and local protests to damage the reputation of a sitting Australian prime minister.
Alas for Abbott, he was prime minister himself at the time.
We Australians have been obliged to reflect on the qualities of our former conservative “Liberal” leader at the prompting of the British. For reasons that are inexplicable to us, Abbott has been given the role of trade adviser by Boris Johnson’s government.
The task ahead is to skilfully create for Britain a post-Brexit trade environment. The nation must replace a forsaken European common market membership with international exchanges that are profitable, advantageous and – fingers crossed! – don’t result in too much visible pus in the food.
I can only imagine someone in the appointment process believed the whole endeavour is destined to fail and only a fool would take the job. In that case, Britain, fair enough: Abbott romps it home on both fronts. » | Van Badham | Friday, September 4, 2020
Boris Johnson Fascinated by Donald Trump, Says Ex-Ambassador
Kim Darroch, a former British ambassador to the US, has said Boris Johnson is fascinated and inspired by Donald Trump, and is intrigued by the US president’s patchy relationship “with the facts and the truth”.
In a new book serialised in the Times, Lord Darroch said Johnson must share the blame for his resignation as ambassador to Washington, which followed the leaking of diplomatic cables disparaging Trump.
Darroch wrote that Johnson had been “fascinated” by Trump on his visits to Washington as foreign secretary before he became prime minister, with particular focus on the president’s use of language.
This includes “the limited vocabulary, the simplicity of the messaging, the disdain for political correctness, the sometimes incendiary imagery, and the at best intermittent relationship with facts and the truth”, the former diplomat wrote. » | PA media | Saturday, September 5, 2020
Friday, September 04, 2020
Trump: Americans Who Died in War Are ‘Losers’ and ‘Suckers’
THE ATLANTIC: The president has repeatedly disparaged the intelligence of service members, and asked that wounded veterans be kept out of military parades, multiple sources tell The Atlantic.
When President Donald Trump canceled a visit to the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery near Paris in 2018, he blamed rain for the last-minute decision, saying that “the helicopter couldn’t fly” and that the Secret Service wouldn’t drive him there. Neither claim was true.
Trump rejected the idea of the visit because he feared his hair would become disheveled in the rain, and because he did not believe it important to honor American war dead, according to four people with firsthand knowledge of the discussion that day. In a conversation with senior staff members on the morning of the scheduled visit, Trump said, “Why should I go to that cemetery? It’s filled with losers.” In a separate conversation on the same trip, Trump referred to the more than 1,800 marines who lost their lives at Belleau Wood as “suckers” for getting killed. » | Jeffrey Goldberg | Thursday, September 3, 2020
When President Donald Trump canceled a visit to the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery near Paris in 2018, he blamed rain for the last-minute decision, saying that “the helicopter couldn’t fly” and that the Secret Service wouldn’t drive him there. Neither claim was true.
Trump rejected the idea of the visit because he feared his hair would become disheveled in the rain, and because he did not believe it important to honor American war dead, according to four people with firsthand knowledge of the discussion that day. In a conversation with senior staff members on the morning of the scheduled visit, Trump said, “Why should I go to that cemetery? It’s filled with losers.” In a separate conversation on the same trip, Trump referred to the more than 1,800 marines who lost their lives at Belleau Wood as “suckers” for getting killed. » | Jeffrey Goldberg | Thursday, September 3, 2020
Trump 'Is a Man of Many Fears': Former Military Leaders React to the Atlantic's Reporting | MSNBC
Former Australian PM Tony Abbott Confirmed as UK Trade Adviser
Boris Johnson has appointed Tony Abbott as an official UK trade adviser, defying widespread condemnation of the former Australian prime minister’s record of misogyny and homophobia and his views on the climate emergency.
Abbott, whose consideration for the role prompted criticism from opposition parties, charities and LGBT and environmental activists, is among nine external advisers appointed to the Board of Trade. The board, revived by Theresa May, is intended to help shape post-Brexit trade policy.
Liz Truss, the international trade secretary, who declined to defend Abbott’s views when asked about them in a TV interview last week, said the advisers were “a diverse group of people who share Britain’s belief in free enterprise, democracy and high standards and rules-based trade”. » | Peter Walker and Kevin Rawlinson | Friday, September 4, 2020
'We're At the Point Where We Should Sanction Putin', Tory MP Says | LBC
Tom Tugendhat told LBC sanctions should be used "more actively" to help target individuals who have been "part of Putin's mafia regime".
Speaking to LBC's Iain Dale Tom Tugendhat, the Chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee and Conservative MP for Tonbridge and Malling, said it was time to start sanctioning President Putin.
Earlier President Vladimir Putin's spokesman has brushed off allegations that the Kremlin was involved in poisoning the Russian leader's most determined critic, Alexei Navalny. But Mr Tugendhat told LBC that he thinks the UK should be "stiffer with the sanctions" that are in place.
Referencing the Magnitsky Act the Tory MP said sanctions should be used "more actively" to help target individuals who have been "part of Putin's mafia regime".
Speaking to LBC's Iain Dale Tom Tugendhat, the Chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee and Conservative MP for Tonbridge and Malling, said it was time to start sanctioning President Putin.
Earlier President Vladimir Putin's spokesman has brushed off allegations that the Kremlin was involved in poisoning the Russian leader's most determined critic, Alexei Navalny. But Mr Tugendhat told LBC that he thinks the UK should be "stiffer with the sanctions" that are in place.
Referencing the Magnitsky Act the Tory MP said sanctions should be used "more actively" to help target individuals who have been "part of Putin's mafia regime".
Thursday, September 03, 2020
Türkei vs. Griechenland: Riskiert Erdogan einen Krieg? | Auf den Punkt
Wednesday, September 02, 2020
Prof. Richard D Wolff on the Four Reasons Capitalism Is Imploding
Angela Merkel: 'Unequivocal Proof' Alexei Navalny Was Poisoned with Novichok
Tuesday, September 01, 2020
Donald Trump’s Failed Leadership Threatens Everything Mark Cares about. For that reason, he's for Joe
Donald Trump Denies Suffering 'Mini Strokes'
Donald Trump has denied having a series of “mini strokes” amid reports Mike Pence, vice president, was put on standby after he sought hospital treatment in November.
Mr Trump's denial comes amid new scrutiny of his unannounced weekend trip to Walter Reed last November, during which the White House said the president began “portions of his routine annual physical exam".
However, according to a forthcoming book by New York Times reporter Michael Schmidt, West Wing staffers were told to put Mr Pence on standby “to take over the powers of the presidency temporarily if Mr Trump had to undergo a procedure that would have required him to be anesthetized". » | Josie Ensor, US correspondent | Tuesday, September 1, 2020
Meet the New Yes Man on Trump's COVID Task Force: Dr Scott Atlas Wants US to Adopt Herd Immunity
Germany Shocked by Far-right Protesters Trying to Enter Parliament | DW News
Monday, August 31, 2020
Saturday, August 29, 2020
Jon Meacham on the DNC and the RNC: Patriotism vs Propaganda | The 11th Hour | MSNBC
Is President Trump Fascist? | NYT Opinion
Mary Trump Shares New Recordings of Trump’s Sister Criticizing Family | The ReidOut | MSNBC
Friday, August 28, 2020
2020: The Next Great Depression (w/ Richard Wolff)
Thursday, August 27, 2020
Voting Trump Out May Be the Best Way to Stop Police Violence (w/ Mark Pocan)
Wednesday, August 26, 2020
New Zealand: 'From Hero to Martyr': Widow of 51st Christchurch Shooting Victim Addresses Gunman in Court
Tuesday, August 25, 2020
Richard Wolff on How American Capitalism Is Just Socialism for the Rich
Trump Is No Aberration: Veteran GOP Strategist Stuart Stevens Says Racism Is Party's "Original Sin"
Monday, August 24, 2020
UK Delays Zaghari-Ratcliffe Release for Fear of Offending Trump, Lawyers Claim
The British government has deliberately delayed taking steps necessary to secure the release of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe – including payment of a £400m debt owed to Iran – for fear of offending the Trump administration, lawyers acting for the British-Iranian woman have alleged.
In a seven-page letter to the defence secretary, Ben Wallace, the lawyers accuse the government of procrastination and claim the UK’s approach to securing the release of dual nationals from Tehran jails has been far less effective than those of other countries – including the US. A BBC Panorama programme broadcast a similar charge on Monday night.
Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been under effective house arrest in Tehran since March when she was given temporary release from prison having served four years of a five-year sentence for alleged espionage. She was arrested in Tehran in April 2016. » | Patrick Wintour | Monday, August 24, 2020
Steve Bannon, Former Trump Adviser, Allegedly Stole Funds for Private Border Wall Plagued by Erosion
Thursday, August 20, 2020
Putin Critic Alexei Navalny Fights for His Life Following Suspected Poisoning
The 44-year-old was taken off a flight to Moscow by stretcher and is now on a ventilator, unconscious "in a grave condition" in intensive care in the city of Omsk, according to his spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh.
Britain's Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said he was "deeply concerned" about the reported poisoning, adding: "My thoughts are with him and his family."
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