2018.10.15 LinkBlog – a lazy Monday

Same-sex mice have babies

At last the Feminist agenda can be completed! and I am not even saying that's such a bad idea. Would the world really be worse off if women ran things the way men do today? Serious question.
/jd

Same-sex mice have babies

‘…Baby mice have been made with two mums and no dad, say researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

It took a substantial feat of genetic engineering to break the rules of reproduction.The scientists said the “bimaternal” (two mammas) animals were healthy and went on to have pups of their own.

But there was bad news on the all-male front. Mice with double-dads were attempted, but died within days of being born.

[….] It was easier with double mums. The researchers took an egg from one mouse and a special type of cell – a haploid embryonic stem cell – from another. Both contained only half the required genetic instructions or DNA, but just bringing them together wasn’t enough…’


Language framing: The left is losing the language game

‘…The elephant continues to win. Whoever controls the words controls the ways in which ideas are framed. Anyone can disagree with your beliefs, but so long as they use the same framework of words you use to describe your beliefs, even in adamant opposition to them, you win…’

http://beloitcollegeroundtable.com/2018/10/02/language-framing-the-left-is-losing-the-language-game/


The Antifascists (2017) Documentary (full length)

‘A low-intensity war is being fought on the streets of Europe and the aim is on fascism. This critically acclaimed documentary takes us behind the masks of the militants called antifascists.

In 2013 a group of armed nazis attacks a peaceful demonstration in Stockholm where several people are injured. In Greece the neo-nazi party Golden Dawn becomes the third largest in the election and in Malmö the activist Showan Shattak and his friends are attacked by a group of nazis with knives and he ends up in a coma.

In this portrait of the antifascists in Greece and Sweden we get to meet key figures that explain their view on their radical politics but also to question the level their own violence and militancy.’


Anand Giridharadas

Why Real Change Won’t Come From Billionaire Philanthropists

‘When wealthy elites embrace issues such as inequality, poverty, climate change, women’s empowerment, and LGBTQ rights, are they spurring change—or reinforcing the status quo? In his new book Winners Take All, the writer Anand Giridharadas says it’s the latter. Giridharadas persuasively argues that when they adopt pressing social and economic issues as causes, plutocrats simply reinforce their position atop the hierarchy…’

Question: Billionaires like Jeff Bezos, George Soros, and Mike Bloomberg (who is allegedly considering running for president) position themselves as the antidote to Trump. But you see them and Trump more as flip sides of the same coin. Why is that?

Anand Giridharadas: ‘One of the things that became very clear to me as I reported this is: It’s not about billionaires we like versus billionaires we don’t like. This is not about rich people who do the right thing versus rich people who do the wrong thing. This is a fundamental question of, why do rich people have so much power over public life in America?…’

https://www.citylab.com/equity/2018/09/why-real-change-wont-come-billionaire-philanthropists/571354/


DNA Tests Prove Aboriginal Australians Are the World's Oldest Culture

DNA Tests Prove Aboriginal Australians Are the World’s Oldest Culture
The genetic study helps show that the ancestors of today’s Aboriginals came here about 58,000 years ago.

‘…Prior to this study being published, some scientists had debated whether or not modern Aboriginal people are the descendants of ancient tribes who first populated Australia. This research, the most comprehensive genomic study of Indigenous Australians to date, also helps to confirm that all humans share the same common ancestors from a single African migration event.

That event occurred when both Papuan and Aboriginal ancestors left Africa as part of a larger group of migrants around 72,000 years ago, then split with that main group of early humans about 58,000 years ago. Probably the first group of humans to cross an ocean, they reached “Sahul”—the supercontinent that was made up of modern day Tasmania, Australia, and New Guinea together—and then split apart about 37,000 years ago. The supercontinent only split up around 8,000 years ago.

“Australia has one of the longest histories of continuous human occupation outside Africa, raising questions of origins, relatedness to other populations, differentiation and adaptation,” the study concludes. “We find that Aboriginal Australians and Eurasians share genomic signatures… a common African ancestor.”…’

https://www.vice.com/en_au/article/5gq3vd/dna-shows-aboriginal-australians-are-the-most-ancient-culture-in-the-world


I always said #Murica elected an Internet Troll, now we must also count his wife...
/jd

‘…”I want to show them that I don’t care,” Melania Trump continued. “You could criticize whatever you want to say, but it will not stop me to do what I feel is right.”

She said her point was proven because by the time she put the jacket back on for her return flight, she could see “how the media got obsessed by it.”

First ladies and other political figures are often watched closely for what they wear, given the potential for sending messages and signals with fashion choices.

Trump’s choices, if anything, have prompted even more speculation than past first ladies.

Trump has criticized her husband’s “zero tolerance” immigration policy that separated families, and in the interview she said she was blindsided by it.

Her comments about the jacket in the ABC interview were in contrast with those of her spokeswoman, who at the time said the jacket had “no hidden message”.

President Trump, however, said the jacket was meant to be a hit at the media.

The president eventually halted the policy following widespread criticism from both parties, but The Washington Post reported on Friday that new options are being considered that could again separate families as officials deal with a new surge of immigrants at the border…’

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/411247-melania-trump-responds-to-jacket-controversy-it-was-kind-of-a-message


I suspect this is Left-wing vapourware
/jd

Kurds in Syria Will Use Crypto to Power an Anarchist State

‘…Because its primary currency is the Syrian lira, the main currency of the Syrian state (which Rojava has just spent years fighting), there’s a growing belief in some quarters that cryptocurrency could provide a better alternative, Erselan Serdem, a leader of Rojava’s technological development program, told CoinDesk.

Alongside a system of self-governing communes, Rojava plans to implement new technological academies, with a particular emphasis on cryptography and cryptocurrency, Serdem said.

Assisting the change is Amir Taaki, an early bitcoin developer who fought alongside Rojava in the war. As detailed by CoinDesk, Taaki is also in the process of setting up a European-based technological academy in Barcelona.

“[Rojava is] a revolutionary project that wants to build a new society based on anarchist principles, and that means law, defense, society and culture,” Taaki told CoinDesk.

The new academies follow the philosophy of Kurdish political theorist Abdullah Ocalan, who is promoting a form of governance called “democratic confederalism.” Advocating for direct democracy, feminism and ecology, Serdem said that blockchain and cryptocurrency are crucial for achieving this vision…’

https://www.coindesk.com/a-war-torn-country-in-syria-will-use-crypto-to-power-an-anarchist-state/


Archbishop Oscar Romero

In the history of Catholicism it will be remembered that America's CIA crucified one of its martyred saints.
/jd

The killing of Archbishop Oscar Romero was one of the most notorious crimes of the cold war. Was the CIA to blame?

‘…The men received orders from a National Police detective, Oscar Perez Linares, who came to the house. A man of few words, he was treated by the others with the respect reserved for those not afraid to kill. Several times, Jorge heard the others laughing at how Linares had shot Romero. Linares sat with a half-smile. “You should have seen the blood that came from that priest!” was his only comment.

At the time, Jorge’s story was impossible to check – although the rest of what he said turned out to be true. After the war, I looked in declassified CIA files. Sure enough, in mid-1983, an unusually detailed CIA report, quoting a senior Salvadoran police source, named Linares as a member of a four-man National Police squad which murdered Romero. Other Salvadoran officers said the same thing. And the man who drove the car which took the killer to the church also picked out a photo-fit of Linares. So why, if the CIA had such evidence, and solving the murder was such a priority, was nothing done?…’

https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2000/mar/23/features11.g21


2018.09.17 LinkBlog

#ListeningTo
/jd


The Anarchists Who Ignited Occupy Wall Street Seven Years Ago Are Now Calling For
#OCCUPYSILICONVALLEY

‘…On Monday, September 17th, millions of people around the world, in millions of different ways, will unleash a one-day flood of memes, posts, pranks, tweets, and statuses—each of them overflowing with everything Silicon Valley wants to keep offline…’

http://abillionpeople.org/osv-press-release.html


What is Orientalism? Here's one pervasive but unobvious example...
/jd

Forging Islamic science

‘…These contemporary images are in fact not ‘reproductions’ but ‘productions’ and even fakes – made to appeal to a contemporary audience by claiming to depict the science of a distant Islamic past.

From Istanbul’s tourist shops, these works have ventured far afield. They have have found their way into conference posters, education websites, and museum and library collections. The problem goes beyond gullible tourists and the occasional academic being duped: many of those who study and publicly present the history of Islamic science have committed themselves to a similar sort of fakery. There now exist entire museums filled with reimagined objects, fashioned in the past 20 years but intended to represent the venerable scientific traditions of the Islamic world…’

https://aeon.co/essays/why-fake-miniatures-depicting-islamic-science-are-everywhere


Capital will be capital
/jd

‘…Ten days after Nike announced that Colin Kaepernick would be the face of its “Just Do It” 30th anniversary ad campaign, the sports apparel behemoth’s stock price closed at an all-time high on Thursday at $83.47, according to a report from Bloomberg…’

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/9/15/1795753/-What-Was-Nike-Thinking


Historical nonsense underpins UK’s Brexit floundering
From Hastings to Dunkirk a past that blinds Britain to reality has been peddled

By Christopher Kissane

‘…In the British mind, that history remains centred on the second World War, the ‘darkest’ and ‘finest’ hour in which Britain imagines it stood alone in defiance of Nazism, not as a global imperialist allied to emerging superpowers.

[….] From the beginning of the European project, British opposition has rested on Powell’s assertion that the defining feature of Britain – “and above all of England” – is its “separateness from the history of continental Europe”.

[….] Superiority, antagonism and a fear of betrayal are not healthy historical lessons; instead they encourage Britain’s worst tendencies…’

https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/historical-nonsense-underpins-uk-s-brexit-floundering-1.3630936


War is a racket, and the endless war means endless cash – but not for the Afghans.
/jd

Pentagon says war in Afghanistan costs taxpayers $45 billion per year

‘…the $45 billion total for the year includes $5 billion for Afghan forces and $13 billion for U.S. forces inside Afghanistan. Much of the rest is for logistical support. Some $780 million goes toward economic aid.

The costs now are still significantly lower than during the high point of the war in Afghanistan. From 2010 to 2012, when the U.S. had as many as 100,000 soldiers in the country, the price for American taxpayers surpassed $100 billion each year. There are currently around 16,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

[….] “Why do the Taliban want a political settlement? They now control more territory than they did since 2001,” Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon said…’

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/pentagon-says-afghan-war-costs-taxpayers-45-billion-per-year


Alternative museum tours explore colonial loot, biased narratives

‘…”It is no longer possible for Britain to present itself as a world power, and people aren’t willing to pretend any more,” says Procter. “They are interested in the stories that aren’t being told.”

Admiral Nelson’s lifelong opposition to the abolition movement, the English Crown’s financial involvement with slavery and the lack of evidence to support lurid tales of cannibalism all come as a bit of a shock.

“Museums provide almost a Trojan horse type of space to confront the official narratives we’re told,” says Procter, who started the tours in 2013.

“I started them out of a sense of frustration over the lack of self-awareness that white British people have over their pasts and history – and that lack of attention is part of the shadow of white supremacy and racism that’s hanging over our heads right now.”…’

https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/alternative-museum-tours-explore-colonial-loot-biased-narratives-180915213140176.html


The Corporate Media finally gets it – post-Obama.
/jd

https://www.facebook.com/time/photos/a.470156966490/10156010810521491


White People.


Slaves taken from regions of Africa
Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/MapPorn/comments/9g5how/slaves_taken_from_regions_of_africa_1229_x_869/

Map: Slaves taken from regions of Africa


Michael Bloomberg for President?

Whether it be Hillary, Trump or Bloomberg, or even Sanders, certainly what #Murica wants most is someone from NYC to fight the elites.

/jd


#FYI, sometimes the NYT prints the truth.
/jd

‘…The United States controls roughly 800 military bases in dozens of countries around the world. This is far more than any other power. The United States also spends more on its military than China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, India, France, Britain and Japan combined. American Special Operations forces were deployed to 149 countries as of last year…’

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/17/opinion/democratic-party-cortez-foreign-policy.html


Where in the World Is the U.S. Military?

Where in the World Is the U.S. Military? (2015)

‘…By my calculation, maintaining bases and troops overseas cost $85 to $100 billion in fiscal year 2014; the total with bases and troops in warzones is $160 to $200 billion.

These costs have heightened debate over whether the United States needs so many bases abroad: What effect do they have around the world, and are they really making us safer?

The first step is looking at where U.S. bases are, and where they’re most prevalent. For my forthcoming book, Base Nation, I compiled a near-comprehensive list of overseas U.S. bases, including smaller cooperative security locations (“lily pads”) and suspected but unconfirmed sites (“unconfirmed lily pads”).

Mapped all together, this data, which comes from the Pentagon’s annual Base Structure Report and additional government, news or academic sources, helps to show just how far America’s reach is…’

https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/06/us-military-bases-around-the-world-119321