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Mano Singham
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It appears that I am not the only one taken by John Bercow, the speaker of the British House of Commons. As a result of the intense attention paid to the parliamentary maneuverings over Brexit, he has apparently become a cult figure in Europe and Der Spiegel interviewed him, where I was relieved to hear him saying that the rumor of him stepping down this summer was unfounded.
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This phrase ‘locker room behavior’ is used to suggest that the rules of socially acceptable behavior are relaxed in the locker rooms used by the people who use such rooms. The phrase is sometimes invoked to try and excuse atrocious speech and behavior, most infamously by Donald Trump when during the 2016 campaign he was caught on tape boasting about his sexual assaults on women.
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I know people who are now total dependent on GPS to tell them how to get anywhere they have not been before. What this cartoon shows is not that unthinkable.
Four indicative proposals for Brexit were selected by the speaker for debate and voting and just now it was announced that all four failed to get a majority, joining in the dumpster the eight from last week. The closest that lost by just 3 votes (273 to 276) was one proposed by a pro-European Conservative Ken Clarke though most of his party voted against it. This was seen as a minimally disruptive Brexit that would consist of a UK-wide customs union with the EU.
A disappointed Clarke reportedly said that “his customs union did not get a majority because some people’s vote supporters would not back it because they only wanted to back a second referendum. And some MPs would not back it because they wanted common market 2.0, even though they would have been happy with the customs union plan too, he says. He says he sometimes thinks this house is not very good at doing politics.” That seems like an understatement.
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On the Australian TV network ABC, comedian Sammy J takes us through the various poses.
I wonder when the Randian nutters will go after these evil Communist institutions that seek to undermine the American way of life by giving people free access to knowledge and information.
While not using terms of politeness such as ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ is logical since it is after all a machine, I too feel the same way as the father, a sense of discomfort with giving peremptory instructions to anyone.
As cartoonist Ruben Bolling explains, for all the scaremongering by right-wingers, the people who today are advancing in the US policies on taxation that are branded as socialist would be seen as far too timid by their predecessors in the 1950s.
Tom the Dancing Bug 1429 socialists from the future
Piling on someone whom the internet has decided is worthy of public shaming is now a commonplace phenomenon. John Oliver has an excellent segment on when public shaming is justified and when it is horribly wrong.
The second half of this segment features an interview with Monica Lewinsky who was viciously and unjustifiably slut-shamed twenty years ago. She has weathered the storm that surrounded her and which could have easily destroyed her. Remarkably, she seems to have come through that ordeal and the interview reveals her to be a delightful person who deserves an apology from all those who attacked and ridiculed her.