Boris Johnson’s sleaze catches up with him

It never ceases to amaze me when politicians who are by no means poor, get caught doing sleazy things in order to get luxuries that, in the grand scheme of things, seem quite petty. As someone once wisely said, what is astonishing is not that politicians can be bought, it is that they can be bought so cheaply.

In the UK, prime minister Boris Johnson seems to have got caught getting people to give him money to redecorate the apartment that he lives in in Downing Street, an episode now referred to as ‘Cash for Curtains’. (In the US, this would have been given the label ‘Curtaingate’, a tiresome practice that really should be retired.)
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Samantha Bee blasts Biden’s handling of refugees at the border

While Biden’s policies at the border are not as bad as Trump’s, that is an appallingly low bar and cannot by any means be trotted out as an excuse for the conditions that continue to exist at the southern border. Bee is to be commended for calling out the administration for its lack of swift action to correct the conditions under which children are still being held.

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Racist, and proud of it

Kiauna Larkins was delivering food in Akron, OH as part of her job with DoorDash. She was with her two-year old son in the car when she encountered James Rhodes who apparently did not like the presence of a black woman near his apartment building and let loose a threatening, racist, and profanity-laced tirade in the presence of the child.

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An amusing monologue by Jimmy Kimmel

Last night he covered several topics that have been in the news these past few days.

At the 4:45 mark, he mentions anti-mask zealot Fox News’s Tucker Carlson’s calls to people to report the parents of children who wear masks to the police or Child Protection Services for child abuse. I think we have to conclude that at this point Carlson has deliberately chosen to become a parody of himself so that he can gain attention by generating ridicule for the things he says. (Having scorn rain down on you and being seen as an idiot is, for some inexplicable reason, viewed as some kind of victory by right-wingers and is known by them as ‘owning the libs’.)

I cannot believe that even his loyal audience will follow his advice. If some do, I would love to listen to their conversations with the police and CPS dispatchers as they try to convince them of what abuse the children are being subjected to by wearing masks.

Long overdue recognition that Israel is an apartheid state

While some prominent people like Desmond Tutu and Jimmy Carter have labeled Israel as an apartheid state, some human rights groups and progressives in the US have long shied away from criticizing Israel’s awful treatment of Palestinians, earning them the label of PEPs, standing for ‘progressive except for Palestine’. Hence I am glad that at least one prominent human rights group has finally come right out and stated that what is going on in Israel and the occupied territories is nothing less than apartheid.
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India’s massive second wave of covid-19

It was just a month ago that I posted about how the numbers of covid-19 cases in so many countries in Asia and Africa were much lower than models predicted and India was cited as one example. That situation has changed dramatically since then. The average number of daily deaths in India had reached a low of less than 100 on March 8th but as of yesterday had rocketed up to about 2,500. This figure shows that it is now around Brazil’s daily death rate. That country’s leader Jair Bolsonaro is being blamed for his downplaying of the danger of covid-19 and ignoring expert advice on how to deal with it.

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A new low in US anti-vaccine misinformation

A private school in Florida (of course!) is actually barring vaccinated teachers from interacting with students. The school fees are pretty high which shows that this school caters to the high income and high wealth population.

A Miami school has discouraged teachers from getting the Covid vaccine, saying any vaccinated employees will be barred from interacting with students.

Centner Academy leadership cited debunked claims of non-vaccinated people being “negatively impacted” by contact with vaccinated people.
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Is this harsh treatment really necessary?

The treatment of people caught up in the US penal system is often brutal. One of the results of celebrities going to jail is that we get to hear of harsh treatment that is meted out to detainees that are ignored when poor and unknown people are subjected to it. One such case is Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein’s close associate, who has complained to an appeals court during a bail hearing that she is not allowed to sleep at all. Recall that Epstein died by suicide in jail though no evidence has been presented that Maxwell is suicidal.

Two of three judges on a second US circuit court of appeals panel in Manhattan expressed concern about light shone in her cell every 15 minutes at night as Federal Bureau of Prisons (BoP) guards make sure she is breathing.
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California slated to have governor recall election

The state of California is famous for having all manner of issues decided by placing propositions on the ballot. Its state constitution also has a provision in which any statewide office holder can be removed from office and replaced. All that is required to trigger such an election is for just 12% of the number who voted in the previous election to vote in favor of a recall. That has just happened with governor Gavin Newsom, who won election to the position in 2018 with more than 60% of the vote. The vote will be held later this year.

The recall effort is led by Republicans who opposed Democrat Newsom’s pandemic shutdowns and mask mandate, as well as his immigration and tax policies. The campaign has tried to distance itself from its ties to far-right groups, including QAnon, following the deadly 6 January attack on the US capitol.

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Keeping track of right wing extremist groups

It can be difficult to keep track of the various extremist groups on the right since even though they share certain broad goals, they each have their own agendas and membership. In an article After The Storm in the April/May 2021 issue of The Progressive magazine, Matthew N. Lyons provides a handy list to enable us to keep track of whoo’s who and doing what.

Boogaloo bois: Started around 2018, this loose collection of people advocate overthrowing the state and view law enforcement as the enemy. While largely made up of white nationalists, they claim to have factions that support Black Lives Matter and LGBTQ+ movements. They often wear Hawaiian shirts as identifiers.
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