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leverage102, Exhibit A Bill Maher: Why White People Should Stop Using The Term ‘Woke’…Immediately
[...]
Woke is problematic for two primary reasons. First, it’s an offensive cultural appropriation. As is disturbingly often the case, White people (or any racial group outside the term’s origin) will sometimes begin using a term that originated in a community of color often as a term of pride, endearment, or self-empowerment years or decades later while either willfully or inadvertently distorting the original meaning of the term. While any significant analysis of what cultural appropriation .. https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-cultural-appropriation-5070458 .. is and why it’s problematic is beyond the scope of this article, suffice it to say that hearing White people randomly label individuals and organizations “woke” is very often an unsettling, if not infuriating experience.
I first heard the term “stay woke” within the Black community more than a decade ago to mean “stay vigilant”, “don’t be fooled”, or “don’t sleep”...
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=174544943
You abuse the word "woke" like all others of your kind. Your time is looking shaky...
leverage102, No more anti-vaccine propaganda accepted on this board.
And no more nonsense implication from you without a link in support.
"TELL THE COLLEGE KIDS YOU CANNOT ENTER THE CAMPUS WITHOUT
A VACCINE; Which he told his colleague it's all BS!! Did you watch the hearings ?
People were getting COVID with the Vaccine *"
And you can leave your caps at home in your closet too.
Post a link in evidence in support of you assertion today or your post will likely be deleted.
Where the hell are you freaks coming from all of a sudden. Who is coordinating your attacks?
Obviously meant the facts in your your post re political parties losing favor. All facts are fact.
There are not any alternate facts, as one of your conservatives once suggested there were.
Global warming is a fact, what is your opinion on that?
B402, Your facts are no different than our facts. People have been fed up with politics for years, nothing new there.
"Voters Who Identify As Independents Skyrocket—As Democrats And Republicans Dwindle
Im sorry you feel the way you do,,,,,,,,What you tell me and what is true or opinion, are 2 different things....Ill stick to my opinion and the facts I present,
I think people are sick of politics as usual, I believe independents and moderates of both parties make up more than the extremes of both parties, so a more centrist leader makes sense.......
Thanks,"
Of course moderates blah blah, you have been told that repeatedly. True moderates in the
GOP have largely left. Anyone who supports Trump is not acting as an informed moderate.
You are giving us old news.
More important is you saying Dems should be more centrist when in fact
they have lost some support because they have become more centrist.
Without looking, i will too. And might put Zalatoris in. Was saving, in case, maybe too much.
B402, You don't make sense. Firstly, more people vote for Dems than for him. You think the dnc would gain anything from you when you don't make sense here. As you have been told tooo many times, it is the Dems who work and and legislate for all the things you say are lacking, yet you say you will vote Republican. Beat Trump with integrity? They do every day. And these tactics you throw out bare boned as you do, what the fuck do you mean by your "not tactics." You have been told toooooooo many times your words as that are no more than an empty slogan. Am guessing you mean the court cases. The tactics, which are not, but which are steps taken against him by those in America struggling to keep America more honest than Trump and his people have been. Has Bannon reported to jail as ordered yet.
Democrats have moved to the center, the more socially-focused Dem left see that as a problem. You say they should be centrist, yet that's what they have more become. And it costs them political favor. To gain all you say they are lacking in, more fairness in tax, e.g. is the Dems would have to move to the left more. Again. Yet you cry 'more centrist.'
You contradict yourself. And still you say you will vote Republican.
"I get all the trumpism stuff,,,,,,,I understand why people vote for him and not dems now....I would tell the dnc same as I've said here.....Get off politics as usual, beat trump with integrity not tactics....Quit playing the political game of pandering, it's obvious and unbecoming in the modern era.....Be centrist, not catering to the base, keep in mind most of the Trump base was once the dems base......
P - Lastly, I still think Biden should go, but I have no idea who they'd choose that wouldn't play the same old game...."
Also, on pandering you are all over the place. And again you don't say what you mean. Who exactly do Dems pander to. And specifically how. And it's clear your Republicans pander to their base much more than Dems do.
Gotta say i can't see you understanding the reality of the situation very much at all.
Read again, SoxFan's
Will you please stop posting nonsense. Ask yourself who has championed the social safety net - Republicans or Democrats? Who is trying to gut Soc Security and eliminate the Affordable Care Act and who is trying to expand it? What would happen to those good citizens of W Virginia if they got rid of Soc Sec Disability (believe W. Viginia highest per capita in country on that). So cut the crap
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=174560040
quester614, Conflict of interest corruption, Thomas, Alito, Supreme examples for you.
And you need to provide a link for that today or it could be deleted tomorrow. Any not original needs a link. Also since you are obviously a lost Trump troll you need to supply support (a link) for wild assertions such as your GOP talking point re immigration there. Tell us why you feel Trump will get more of the popular vote than he did in 2020.
Tough course apparently. My bench are my best today .. LOL - again.
Yessir, 4-5% hope, too small - Trump’s Conviction Made These Voters Rethink Their Choice for President
"But the backfire, the backfire!!
My ass.
First Polls After Trump Conviction: Warning Signs For Republican"
Conversations with nearly 2,000 voters showed a small number had changed
their minds about Donald J. Trump. Here’s what a few said about why.
Former President Donald J. Trump was convicted last week of 34 felony counts after a weekslong trial in Manhattan. A study of nearly 2,000 voters by The New York Times after the verdict found more voters moving away from Mr. Trump than toward him. Doug Mills/The New York Times
By Reid J. Epstein and Camille Baker
June 6, 2024
By the time former President Donald J. Trump was convicted last week on 34 felony counts, the vast majority of people had made up their minds about him.
But a small sliver of Trump-ambivalent voters is out there — and in a close presidential election, they matter a lot.
For days, The New York Times has been listening to those voters process the news of Mr. Trump’s conviction, trying to measure the small shifts that could alter the contest between him and President Biden. Will Trump-leaning voters move firmly into his camp? Will Biden-leaning voters get off the fence?
A New York Times/Siena College Poll study .. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/05/upshot/polling-trump-conviction-voters.html .. of nearly 2,000 voters found modest good news for Mr. Biden. While the vast majority of people had not changed their position on the two men, more voters moved away from Mr. Trump than toward him .. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/06/05/us/elections/times-siena-recontact-study-results.html .
[Insert: More from than toward. That's what i've always said had to happen. Had to. ]
Follow-up interviews with these post-verdict switchers offer a window into the minds of still-persuadable Americans. Despite the big events and dramatic headlines, these voters said they were generally not fans of either candidate, they were in no hurry to decide and they might not vote at all.
Here’s a look at how this small, but potentially crucial, group of voters is thinking about Mr. Trump’s conviction and how it might affect their choice for president in November:
Jack Lyons, Reno, Nev.
Mr. Lyons, 65, owns catering and welding companies and a boat storage facility. Earlier this year, he said he considered himself a Trump voter primarily because of his anger over Mr. Biden’s economic policies — even though he said he opposed Republican attempts to limit abortion rights.
But when he heard about Mr. Trump’s conviction on the local Fox News radio affiliate in northern Nevada, Mr. Lyons began to rethink his vote this fall. He said he had taken “a step back” to wait and see if the former president serves jail time.
“I want to see what happens with Donald Trump going forward. What’s going to happen with him? Is this judge going to put him in jail?” Mr. Lyons said in an interview on Tuesday. “I’m not sure who I am going to vote for — or if I am going to vote.”
Despite being in favor of abortion rights, Mr. Lyons said he was disinclined to vote for Mr. Biden because he did not believe the president is on the side of small business owners. If he disqualifies Mr. Trump in his mind, he said he could back an independent candidate like Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
“If I could vote and I knew that Kennedy would have a real shot, I would vote for him,” Mr. Lyons said.
Eric Tabor, Albany, Ga.
There was a brief period recently when Mr. Tabor, 53, a tech professional, figured he would vote for Mr. Trump this year.
“What got me was that he seemed to be able to get things accomplished and pushed through,” said Mr. Tabor, who is a Democrat and voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Mr. Biden in 2020. “You need a person in that chair that’s going to be decisive and can get Congress and the legislature behind you.”
Mr. Tabor said he had turned to Mr. Trump after Mr. Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan was rejected by the Supreme Court, and Mr. Tabor was left with the feeling that the president was getting little done. He also worried Mr. Biden, 81, is too old to be president, Mr. Tabor said, and began looking more favorably at Mr. Trump, who is 77.
But after Mr. Trump’s conviction last week, Mr. Tabor said he was no longer so sure about the Republican. The Manhattan trial, on charges of falsifying business records related to hush-money payments paid to a porn star, made Mr. Tabor question Mr. Trump’s honesty.
“My thing is just go ahead and be honest. We, as Americans, we can respect that. A lot of people make mistakes,” Mr. Tabor said, adding that he worried that Mr. Trump would seek retribution against Democrats. “We all know if Donald Trump gets re-elected, he’s going to try to be a dictator and he’s got his ‘I’m going to get you’ list.”
Now, Mr. Tabor is researching third-party candidates and said there was little Mr. Biden or Mr. Trump could do to change his vote besides nominating a reliable vice president. “I don’t know if either one of them — because of their age and the demands on the president — would make it four more years.”
Jamie Beckwith, Butler, Pa.
Ms. Beckwith, a 41-year-old accountant, voted for Mr. Biden in 2020 but has been undecided about whether she will do so again. She blamed him for not saving abortion rights after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. And she said Mr. Biden shares blame for the deaths of civilians in Gaza because his government has supplied weapons to the Israeli military.
“The fact is that it is our bombs on the ground that these people are dying from,” she said. “There’s nothing happening from Biden other than encouraging it, in my opinion, or, you know, by continuing to fund it and not saying, ‘Enough is enough.’”
Ms. Beckwith volunteers with people trying to rebuild their lives from addiction and prison sentences, she said. She found the prospect of a felon running for president, moving on as if nothing had changed, frustratingly unfair.
“If a person who received 34 felony convictions in one day still ran for president, why can my guy not apply for a job at a gas station?” she said. “I look at it from the standpoint not of, you know, ‘Oh, Trump’s guilty.’ I don’t care. It’s the fact that he can still carry on his life without any kind of hurdles.”
She said she was now likely to vote for Mr. Biden in November.
Carla Watts, Fairburn, Ga.
Ms. Watts, a 52-year-old account executive for a telecommunications company, is a Democrat who voted for Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Biden the last two elections. But she watched Mr. Biden perform the job as president and could not envision voting for him again.
“Sometimes Biden says things without thinking,” she said.
Like many Democrats unenthused about the president, Ms. Watts said her choice came down to voting for Mr. Biden or sitting out this year’s election. She said she was never going to vote for Mr. Trump — his guilty verdict did not change her view of the former president — but she has eventually come around to the idea of voting again for Mr. Biden.
“My dad was in the civil rights movement, and they fought hard for us to even have the right to vote,” Ms. Watts said. “So to not vote is like a smack in my father’s face.”
Reid J. Epstein covers campaigns and elections from Washington. Before joining The Times in 2019, he worked
at The Wall Street Journal, Politico, Newsday and The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. More about Reid J. Epstein
Camille Baker is a news assistant working for The Times’s Data team, which analyzes
important data related to weather and elections. More about Camille Baker
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/06/us/politics/donald-trump-biden-trial.html
Looks a very good summary to me. Something you could send
to the DNC, and to other people who make Democrat ads.
LOL Sure is, just hope he doesn't run out of steam in the bigger ones.
That's what all of us who let him pass this week are saving him for, eh.
One question i'm not sure about. Do the top guys all usually play in all of the three playoffs?
Now +4. You're flying high, mick, Scheffler could snag another win for you.
B402, Putting aside the fact research says many of us have voted against our own interests forever, this year it is much more important than usual that ever more voters come to understand really where their long term interests lie. Seriously.
See again. should be: The Mass Psychology of Trumpism
"I'm sick of listening to Trump's lies and whining about this already.
That's something I agree about, naturally, but am also puzzled by. Most people dislike whiners.
So why do his culties give him a pass on that? It's so childish; he talks like a fifth grader."
Gotta be basically what Hanibal suggested
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=174525770 .
But there i forgot 'the Chosen One' belief. And the sense of belonging. Think of the music and singing
in black churches. And the music and singing in the new white evangelistic megachurches.
The Mass Psychology of Trumpism
In the minds of his most ardent supporters, the ex-president is both more and less than a person
[...]
[ Insert: Trump Floats the Idea of Executing Joint Chiefs Chairman Milley
The former president is inciting violence against the nation’s top general. America’s response is distracted and numb.
By Brian Klaas
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/09/trump-milley-execution-incitement-violence/675435/ ]
He now urges police to shoot shoplifters.
[ Trump calls for police to shoot shoplifters as they leave the store
Candy Woodall USA TODAY
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2023/10/01/trump-police-shoot-shoplifters-california/71021289007/ ]
He has begun characterizing his political adversaries as subhuman “vermin” who must be “rooted out.”
No one should need more, still there is -
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=174527302 .. plenty.
LOL Good, eh. Now y'all know.
B402, See there, no hint of desire from you to support those in Congress, or running for Congress, who
most work toward those things you profess to support. Like tax regimes - see my latest post on that ..
Forty-four of 50 US states worsen inequality with ‘upside-down’ taxes
"Tougher on Trump the better, and - US election 2024: Where Biden and Trump stand on key issues
"Biden Takes the Gloves Off to Tear Into ‘Convicted Felon’ Trump"
[...]
Taxes
President Biden supports raising the corporate income tax rate to 28%, bringing it closer to the 35% rate that prevailed prior to Mr Trump's term. He has also proposed imposing higher tax rates on the wealthiest Americans, cracking down on tax avoidance, and expanding tax credits for low earners and families. He recently escalated Trump-imposed tariffs on China, including a 100 percent tax on its electric vehicles.
P - Mr Trump is pledging across-the-board tax cuts if he returns to office, in part by prolonging soon-to-expire income tax cuts, along with estate and wealth tax breaks, from legislation he signed in 2017. He will maintain the corporate income tax rate at 21% and proposes a universal 10% tariff on all US imports, and a 60% tariff on imports from China."
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=174558888
And you say IF.... you would vote Republican. Stuck in ideology, forever a whinger who will not vote
for those most working to do what you say should be done. There are words for people like you.
Forty-four of 50 US states worsen inequality with ‘upside-down’ taxes
"Tougher on Trump the better, and - US election 2024: Where Biden and Trump stand on key issues
"Biden Takes the Gloves Off to Tear Into ‘Convicted Felon’ Trump"
[...]
Taxes
President Biden supports raising the corporate income tax rate to 28%, bringing it closer to the 35% rate that prevailed prior to Mr Trump's term. He has also proposed imposing higher tax rates on the wealthiest Americans, cracking down on tax avoidance, and expanding tax credits for low earners and families. He recently escalated Trump-imposed tariffs on China, including a 100 percent tax on its electric vehicles.
P - Mr Trump is pledging across-the-board tax cuts if he returns to office, in part by prolonging soon-to-expire income tax cuts, along with estate and wealth tax breaks, from legislation he signed in 2017. He will maintain the corporate income tax rate at 21% and proposes a universal 10% tariff on all US imports, and a 60% tariff on imports from China."
New research found that poorest fifth pay a tax rate 60% higher, on average, than the top 1% of households
Oliver Milman
Thu 11 Jan 2024 04.37 AEDT
Last modified on Mon 15 Jan 2024 01.05 AEDT
Reliance on sales and excise taxes has helped fuel this inequality, according to the report. Illustration: Guardian Design
A total of 44 of the 50 US states worsen inequality by making the wealthy pay a lesser share of their income in taxes than lower income people, a new analysis has found.
State and local tax regimes are “upside-down”, the new research finds, with weak or non-existent personal income taxes in many states allowing richer Americans to avoid tax. A reliance on sales and excise taxes, considered regressive because they disproportionately impact the poor, has helped fuel this inequality, according to the report .. https://itep.org/whopays-7th-edition/ .
CEOs of top 100 ‘low-wage’ US firms earn $601 for every $1 by worker, report finds
Read more > https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/aug/24/ceos-100-low-wage-companies-income
“When you ask people what they think a fair tax code looks like, almost nobody says we should have the richest pay the least,” said Carl Davis, research director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), which conducted the analysis.
“And yet when we look around the country, the vast majority of states have tax systems that do just that. There’s an alarming gap here between what the public wants and what state lawmakers have delivered.”
Only six states, plus the District of Columbia, have tax systems that reduce inequality rather than worsen it, with the poorest fifth of people paying a tax rate 60% higher, on average, than the top 1% of households.
The super-wealthy are treated particularly lightly by the tax system, with the top 1% paying less than every other income group across 42 states. In most states, 36 in all, the poorest residents are taxed at a higher rate than any other group.
The most regressive states in terms of taxation are, in order, Florida, Washington, Tennessee, Pennsylvania and Nevada. The least regressive jurisdictions are DC, Minnesota, Vermont, New York and California.
Various state-level policies, such as cutting taxes on the wealthy to supposedly drive economic activity, has worsened this situation, the report found. Inequality in recent .. https://www.theguardian.com/inequality .. decades has been far starker in the US than in other comparable countries and while some pandemic-era interventions, such as increased child tax credit, lessened the burden on the poorest in society, many of those measures have now lapsed.
“But we know it doesn’t have to be like this,” said Aidan Davis, ITEP’s state policy director.
“There is a clear path forward for flipping upside-down tax systems and we’ve seen a handful of states come pretty close to pulling it off. The regressive state tax laws we see today are a policy choice, and it’s clear there are better choices available to lawmakers.”
This article was amended on 11 and 12 January 2024. Owing to incorrect information supplied to us, an earlier version listed New Jersey as the fifth least regressive tax jurisdiction, according to the ITEP report, rather than California. Also, child tax credit was increased during the pandemic, not introduced then as an earlier version said.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/jan/10/states-wealth-inequality-taxes
B402, Again, if you have any integrity you have to vote Democrat. You cannot vote Republican. You cannot have anything to do with enabling Trump, which means you have to get off your 'Dems are shit obsession' and post more Hanauers. Think you did once, eh, i recall congratulating you for catching up somewhat, and linking others in for you. If you have any real integrity you should be on the hustings for the most radical socialistic minded people in Congress. AOC and others of the most progressive Democrats. If you have any real integrity one other thing is certain, you must change your attitude to those of all the political class who work hardest for the values you profess so loudly you care about, more than all the rest of us.
Why are the things i say about you above true. Because all the available evidence says they are the reality of the situation.
See also:
Your point about Hanauer "In this case my point about Hanauer was Everyone seems to be in agreement." was exactly my point to B402 sod knows how long ago when first getting totally fed up with his bullshit pedestal approach to this board and to posters here. This was long after when, but still goes to the point:
B402, GEE, "appearance of impropriety" oh no, of course no one here either has ever heard of it or understands it --
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=173841023
Ok, some other views from early 2022:
Hey asshole-- You've claimed...
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=168339584
B402, You've told us many times...
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=168339638
trolls who say the same things over just to receive the same responses over and over.
You don't see the irony in YOU saying that? Like most narcissists, you...
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=168339687
.I will defend my position on them with anyone who is willing to debate them via their response...
you don't debate, you just run back to your hidey hole and claim everyone else is treating you unfairly.
ask conix...
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=168339830
Those are all replies to the same post two years ago ..
Ill spend my time as I see fit, thank you..
[...]Is this now a rw board? Differing views not allowed...
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=168339181
And that's more than too much on that for now.
"Wife's car ready for pick up - the absurdity is she'll just break it again lol. c u."
Know you are joking, but still am sure every time your wife's car breaks down it's not her fault.
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=174003654
Now read your reply to that one above, and understand why you are seen to simply ignore all given you:
Glad to hear I'm taking up so much of your head space :) If you don't like what I say, do as I do, grin and move on to the next post....
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=174003844
That should make it clear to you why you have been called asshole here.
Could you redeem yourself in any eyes on this board. You would have to listen and change. Maybe.
Ritter ended in total disagreement with Bush policy, was also seen as somewhat dicey in some ways by other experts in the game.
Richard Butler, Ritter's former UNSCOM boss, said that Ritter "wasn't prescient" in his predictions about WMDs, saying, "When he was the 'Alpha Dog' inspector, then by God, there were more weapons there, and we had to go find them—a contention for which he had inadequate evidence. When he became a peacenik, then it was all complete B.S., start to finish, and there were no weapons of mass destruction. And that also was a contention for which he had inadequate evidence."[5]
Writing in The New York Times, Matt Bai said that Butler's caveat notwithstanding, Ritter was in fact vindicated about Iraq's lack of WMDs and that the aftermath of the war could be calamitous. Bai described Ritter as the "most determined dissenter and the one with the most on-the-ground intelligence" of the situation in Iraq prior to the war.[5]
However, Bai went on to compare Ritter's insistence during his 2011 trial for sex offenses that his conduct was of no consequence to the wider community—and his unwillingness to consider a plea agreement—to the stridency with which Ritter advocated for his views on Iraq: "If there is a connection between Ritter the activist and Ritter the accused, though, it probably lies in the uncompromising, even heedless way in which he insists on his version of reality, and how he sees himself always as the victim of a system that is self-evidently corrupt. ... the very attribute that made Scott Ritter appear somehow clairvoyant on Iraq—his refusal to accede to everyone else's sense of reality—is the same one that has led him, now, to ruin."[5]
[...]
Later statements on Iraq
In February 2005, writing on Al Jazeera's website, Ritter wrote that the "Iraqi resistance" is a "genuine grassroots national liberation movement," and "History will eventually depict as legitimate the efforts of the Iraqi resistance to destabilize and defeat the American occupation forces and their imposed Iraqi collaborationist government."[32]
In 2012, Ritter said the U.S. was "bankrupt, morally and fiscally, because of this war. The United States is the laughingstock of the world".[5]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Ritter#Reception_as_weapons_inspector
**
One post from 2010 -- A good summary post, lars. REVIEW ARTICLE .. An unsafe world: Bush unbound?
A.G. NOORANI
Ye gods, it doth amaze me,/ A man of such a feeble temper should/ So get the start of the majestic world,/ and bear the palm alone. [my emphasis, lol, not Will's]
- Julius Caesar, William Shakespeare.
IT is a singularly unsafe world that George W. Bush created in his four years as the President of the United States of America. The American people have voted him to lead them, once again. It is unlikely that he will construe this as a mandate for change. Bush has torn apart the fabric of international law and undermined the United Nations and other international institutions. Worse, he has sought to create an international order devoid of legitimacy.
[...]
Lakhdar Brahimi, former Algerian Foreign Minister and U.N. Special Representative to Afghanistan, said on July 26, 2003: "The war in Iraq was useless; it caused more problems than it solved, and it brought in terrorism." Attacks on the U.S.-led forces were carried out by Al Qaeda terrorists with the support of foreign fighters as well as by people loyal to the ousted Iraqi dictator, Saddam Hussein. But there was "a large group of Iraqis who will attack any foreign occupation force out of patriotism" - an emotion American leaders find hard to respect in others. The Iraqi government will have to prove that it was not "a puppet of the Americans, which is difficult to do when there are 150,000 foreign soldiers in the country". The same holds good for the Afghan government.
Despite its colossal failures in China and in Vietnam, the U.S. has not realised the force of nationalism. Scott Ritter, a U.N. weapons inspector in Iraq (1991-98) and author of Frontier Justice: Weapons of Mass Destruction and the Bushwhacking of America, warns: "The battle for Iraq's sovereign future is a battle for the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people. As things stand, it appears that victory will go to the side most in tune with the reality of the Iraqi society of today: the leaders of the anti-U.S. resistance... . Regardless of the number of troops the United States puts on the ground or how long they stay there, Allawi's government is doomed to fail. The more it fails, the more it will have to rely on the United States to prop it up. The more the United States props up Allawi, the more discredited he will become...
"We will suffer a decade-long nightmare that will lead to the deaths of thousands more Americans and tens of thousands of Iraqis. We will witness the creation of a viable and dangerous anti-American movement in Iraq that will one day watch as American troops unilaterally withdraw from Iraq every bit as ignominiously as Israel did from Lebanon" (International Herald Tribune, July 23, 2004). Judging by past form, Bush will try to crush the revolt and incur greater odium.
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=45321525
Zardiw, I claim relativity. Relative to Putin's and Trump's an ocean vs two dikes.
Zardiw, You mean i guess Fox News and lesser places like NYPost, Breitbart, The Washington Examiner.. et al
"...melt your brains with western MS media......lol........ "
And just so you know, the "fake news" phenomenon, encouraged and fed by Putin, Trump and the rest of you, is no joke.
LOL Remind him Australia has it's ups and downs too, and tell him to upset the World Champs back then was a huge deal in Australia. On coming here cricket was boring as hell for me, then again as kids we got bored with baseball. Test matches and many others still too are four day affairs. With a draw after all that not unusual.
The Packer family .. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Packer_family .. has long been one of Australia's most wealthy and powerful. Pretty well follows, eh. Good and bads, of course too. i mention them because Kerry Packer introduced one day cricket. One for your shopkeeper friend:
May 9 down the years - Packer's revolution
The circus gets on the road
World Series Cricket signings pose - with a fast-food clown - at the launch of Kerry Packer's venture, November 1977
World Series Cricket reeled in some big names • ESPNcricinfo Ltd
1977
The day the world's top cricketers turned pirate. That was the Daily Mail headline when the Australian TV magnate Kerry Packer's plans for World Series Cricket were leaked. John Arlott called it "a circus"; EW Swanton ended his friendship with the England captain Tony Greig, Packer's most significant signing and the man who persuaded a legion of other stars to sign up, including Viv and Barry Richards and Dennis Lillee. In the end, World Series Cricket went on for only 17 months before Packer got his wish - the broadcast rights for Test cricket in Australia - but the legacy lives on. Coloured clothing and floodlights revolutionised the game, and without Packer, one-day cricket as we know it today would not exist.
Heaps more, maybe one for your shopkeeper friend -
[...]
Other birthdays
1907 Tom Killick (England)
1945 Malcolm Nash (England)
1960 Iain Butchart (Zimbabwe)
1971 Roydon Hayes (New Zealand)
1971 Kalyani Dhokarikar (India)
https://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/player/54281.html
1980 Sean Clingeleffer (Australia)
https://www.espncricinfo.com/on-this-day/cricket-events/may/9
I posted years ago i'd seen the 2nd part of this years ago on the wall of a Sydney pub
Back in the 1970s an enterprising soul in England came up with an amusing explanation of cricket, clearly aimed at the kind of American tourists who buy plastic policemen's helmets and who believe that Dick van Dyke's cockney accent in Mary Poppins was exactly how 98% of England spoke (the other 2% being West County yokels with straw poking out of every available orifice).
What started as a novel marketing ploy has burgeoned into a beast utterly out of control. Thirty years on, the tea towels refuse to die, and anyone who enjoys cricket will have almost certainly been given one of the infernal things by a distant aunt or newly acquired mother-in-law who thought it would be "ideal for Christmas".
Anyone who receives one is allowed to be rude to the giver, and is also duty-bound to burn the cloth immediately.
But, as requested by some masochists, here is the text in full ...
Cricket: As explained to a foreigner...
You have two sides, one out in the field and one in. Each man that's in the side that's in goes out, and when he's out he comes in and the next man goes in until he's out. When they are all out, the side that's out comes in and the side thats been in goes out and tries to get those coming in, out. Sometimes you get men still in and not out.
When a man goes out to go in, the men who are out try to get him out, and when he is out he goes in and the next man in goes out and goes in. There are two men called umpires who stay all out all the time and they decide when the men who are in are out.
When both sides have been in and all the men have out, and both sides have been out twice after all the men have been in, including those who are not out, that is the end of the game!
https://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/page/429550.html
Your cricket fan would love it i'll bet. And if you get to a game with him, a great idea, you'll be one up on me.
B402, it's about time you understood that all of us to different extents, in our own self interest. That goes for all of us. Key is though, to different extent.
'Individuals with a superiority complex typically come across as supercilious, haughty, and disdainful toward others."
Your video held some truths, though why such a narrow focus. Why be soooo lacking in balance. Some liberals in some areas, the video is right, act and legislate against the encroachment of more housing density. You do understand, i hope, that some liberals are more hypocritical about much, including professed values, than others. You must accept the same situation exists in the conservative camp. In both moderates and extremes exist. Right. California got a brief conciliatory crumb at the end of your video, i do have an article on tab on that. Yes, i do have it when i say i have it. In California some Democrat legislators are doing their best to help ease the housing shortage.
And on taxation, again the vast majority of US states have a regressive tax system Florida the worst according to some. California among the least regressive the data says. Again yes i have evidence, in spite of the Trumpian accusation you made against me a couple of days ago.
Thing is we all live in capitalist countries. The U.S. arguably the toughest form of capitalism. Australia somewhat less severe. It's the system.
So you - start with the fact that we all act in our own best interest. Then accept some more than others. Then ask, in America do blue states aid red states more in terms of financial aid, or vice versa. You know the answer. Then why.
Then - ask, from a genuinely open and caring perspective - is it Democrats or Republicans as two big tents who work harder, and who legislate better, to preserve the safety net which helps to support those in the most need. To make things more equitable, as you profess is important to you. You know the answer.
And ask, is it Democrats or Republicans who nationally, on balance, work harder to create a more equitable and usefully informative and valuable education system. You know the answer there too.
Your video had one tiny focus, and though it holds much truth to most it would appear to be no more than ta hit on hypocritical Democrats. On hypocritical liberals. Could they have approached their concern in a more useful manner.
I say, looking at the bigger picture it is unarguable that it is Democrats/liberals more than Republicans/conservative who are making the greater effort to 'fix' the system of government you have. To make America more equitable as you say you would like it.
On balance Democrats are way out ahead.
Soooooo to Times picked comments at the top of the comments list of the Times article on your video:
Kevin McCloy commented November 9, 2021
Kevin McCloy
Long Beach, Ca.Nov. 9, 2021
Times Pick
1-There are more empty houses in California then there are homeless people, meaning the problem is that people hold on to housing as a commodity. We don't necessarily have to build more.
2-Most Californians don't live in Palo Alto. There is a class element you have forgotten. Yes the rich yuppie types are hypocrites, but most Californians live in places like Long Beach or Richmond, not Palo Alto, or Santa Monica
Diego commented November 9, 2021
Diego
South America Nov. 9, 2021
Times Pick
The US is a country that rewards economic success and punishes economic failure. The system is tailored to protect the interests of the middle class, which embodies the so-called American Dream, and punish, or at least ignore, the poor. This has always been the case, and it transcends political parties. The Republican party is just worse, while the Democratic party is just more hypocritical. That being said, many of the problems of Democratic states are of national scale, and don't lend themselves so easily to local solutions. A more successful local economy is going to create more jobs and migration, leading to housing crises, regardless of policies. But the video is right in pointing to the disgraceful hypocrisy of Democrats. The really taboo subjects of American politics are those that affect the interests of the middle class, or the military-industrial complex. Good luck in finding politicians with the courage to talk about them.
Bruce commented November 9, 2021
Bruce
Los Angeles Nov. 9, 2021
Times Pick
@Matt The editorial addresses hypocrisy. Californians who vote Democratic in many locations say they support the creation of more housing, but their actions betray what they say. In Chicago, Illinois, Democrats say they support equal education opportunities, but their behavior days otherwise.
It is hypocrisy that denies fair taxation in America, fair provision of public services, and adequate, quality housing for everyone—what Democrats SAY they want, but they support the opposite.
Look in the mirror blue states' liberal Democrats.
Lotzapappa commented November 9, 2021
Lotzapappa
Wayward City, NB Nov. 9, 2021
Times Pick
Absolutely wonderful & hard-hitting video. Since forever, the Democratic Party has been the kinder & gentler face of American capitalism, and its hypocrisy is rampant. This is in no way to excuse the even worse Republican Party, just to note the realities of liberal double-talk. It's why I hold my nose when I vote for Democrats, and why I hope, even as I know it won't happen any time soon, that another party that actually represents working and middle-class Americans will come along to challenge our two existing parties.
Matt commented November 9, 2021
Matt
Rochester Nov. 9, 2021
Times Pick
As a middle class renter, I'll never live in a red state again. Very few worker protection rights, very few renter protection rights. (And I'm sure there's others that relate to minotires or women, but I'm neither so I can't vouch for that.)
Having said that, you can't really compare Dem agenda on a national level with Dem agenda on a state level, every state has different needs and a different mix of constituents demanding different things that the state level reps must answer for. Liberals in California are different than liberals in Oregon. It's apples and oranges.
David commented November 9, 2021
David
California Nov. 9, 2021
Times Pick
What nonsense. There is no perfection in this world. Here in California we are well aware of the problems we face. We have one of the most robust economies in the world from agriculture to tech to Hollywood. Many of our problems stem from this success. I wouldn't think about living anywhere else.
Carr Kleeb commented November 9, 2021
Carr Kleeb
colorado Nov. 9, 2021
Times Pick
Boulder CO is one of the bluest cities in the US. We just voted down an amendment to allow more people to rent bedrooms in town. We banned all homeless people from downtown thru various laws and zoning so now they stay in areas prone to flooding. People proudly live 2 or 3 in a 5000ft home. Red or blue, Americans hate poor people and non-white people, and our government reflects that.
greg commented November 9, 2021
greg
Upstate New York Nov. 9, 2021
Times Pick
Maybe the problem is amount of our tax dollars that go to support red states? How about we keep our tax dollars here in the blue states and y'all in the red states learn to get by with the share of federal tax money you actually put in the national pot?
Sue commented November 9, 2021
Sue
CT Nov. 9, 2021
Times Pick
As a retired Bridgeport teacher, I’m glad you showed one of ours testifying to the problems we’ve worked with for years.
Kent Kraus commented November 9, 2021
Kent Kraus
AlabamaNov. 9, 2021
Times Pick
Not all Dems "share" the values that the progressive wing espouses. The party is a big tent.
Andrew commented November 9, 2021
Andrew
New York CityNov. 9, 2021
Times Pick
The Democratic Party is a big tent. Many of whom are center right, but love gay people, so they call themselves liberals.
I've been excoriating San Francisco for years as the biggest den of hypocrisy in the country regarding housing policy. What should be done there is what has been done in New York. Designate a few small historic districts to keep some of the old character and then densify densify densify. I suspect though that SF 'liberals' would rather keep their Victorians than watch their city grow and prosper in a sustainable and equitable way.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/09/opinion/democrats-blue-states-legislation.html#commentsContainer
The article with your video: Blue States, You’re the Problem
Why do states with Democratic majorities fail to live up to their values?
By Johnny Harris and Binyamin Appelbaum
It’s easy to blame the other side. And for many Democrats, it’s obvious that Republicans are thwarting progress toward a more equal society.
But what happens when Republicans aren’t standing in the way?
In many states — including California, New York and Illinois — Democrats control all the levers of power. They run the government. They write the laws. And as we explore in the video above, they often aren’t living up to their values.
In key respects, many blue states are actually doing worse than red states. It is in the blue states where affordable housing is often hardest to find, there are some of the most acute disparities in education funding and economic inequality is increasing most quickly.
Instead of asking, “What’s the matter with Kansas?” Democrats need to spend more time pondering, “What’s the matter with California?”
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/09/opinion/democrats-blue-states-legislation.html
The video could be a wake-up call to some, but i don't see there is much in it
which has not been posted about in similar vein on this board. Or course
to duplicitous conservatives as you it's a tonic. I understand that too.
B402, Agree some of us have been telling you for yonks the way you were posting here was silly.
Heh. Doesn't take away at all from the brilliance of it. Congrats, Buckey ..
Yeah, top stuff MasterB... Well doing, sire.
Sure will. Has always been in any top 20sy-olds to watch lists.
B402, You came here slamming the board, piling on posters and condemning Democrats virtually every post.
"Nor do they like the world as its shaping up, democracies failing or under threat around the world and here at home...Dare say and or point out any culpability of the dems and outrage begins.......Its just all those shithole types, right?.....Not exactly the equality dem were once known for, but one glaring reason for the division we all face."
Criticism of the Dems is posted on the board by others, including Democrat supporters. Valid criticism. It's not your criticism as such, it's more the absurdity of so much of it. Like you missing shithole was all Trump's initially, so it is thrown back at you people.
It's simply the every single post obsession of yours. Your "any culpability of the dems and outrage begins" is another example of your constant whine. And it is invalid. You are straight out of the boy who cried wolf fable. After a time you become little more than a toothache.
I've thought what DesertDrifter has mentioned regarding education and effort before, just not said it. It's something you really must consider. It's being as informed as you can be and checking yourself before you post. Metacognition .. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metacognition .. it's called. I'm sure you have been given like it before. Though as again you have been told repeatedly by a number here, you seem to ignore all given to you.
As DD most lately has said we all make mistakes. We admit them. You never do. Trump never does. Trump would be blasted on this board if he posted here. He would not be treated any differently than you are. Likely worse. Because he does not offer as much as you can. But some of your worst, your comment that i was well known for saying i had evidence of stuff before i had it. That is pure baseless Trumpian.
You, like Trump, come over as having a victim mentality.
Will finish here saying your 10 posts today to now is a much more palatable number that your exorbitant excess on other days. .
Again, exactly -- "[...]...They just move on to the next attack and with virtually no standards of behavior (or decorum) they pile bullshit on top of bullshit. I think part of it is education, as once someone learns to sift through information and reach the proper conclusion, having their outlook means they can blurt out anything, but in an academic setting, it would mean failing the exercise and flunking out. We have several "F" students in the critical thinking cadre represented by our trolls. So the divide is not easily crossed, and it leaves us almost speechless, as getting lectured by a dumbshit magat is repulsive to people trained to think.
I have observed that the non-trumpster repubs are still conservatives, but are bright enough to reject... "
Can relate to that. LOL Guess what is being repeated at length here this morning
20 World Cup 2024: USA pull off dream upset over Pakistan in Super Over to remain unbeaten in tournament
Captain Babar Azam top-scored with 44 runs off 43 balls to help Pakistan post a challenging total of 159 against
the United States at Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas in the 11th match of the ICC T20 World Cup 2024.
Written By: Sumeet Kavthale
@sumeetkavthale
New Delhi Updated on: June 07, 2024 2:18 IST
Image Source : AP USA players celebrating against Pakistan in Dallas on June 6, 2024
The co-hosts United States of America pulled off one of the biggest upsets in the history of T20 World Cups on Thursday, June 6. Monank Patel-led USA defeated Babar Azam's Pakistan in an absolute thrilling encounter that went into the Super Over at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas. The two teams ended the normal 40-over contest tied on 159 after the USA made 11 from the last three balls of their 20-over chase.
The Americans went first in the Super Over with Aaron Jones and Harmeet Singh collecting 18 from the Super Over contest against Mohammad Amir. Only 10 of those runs came from the bat with Amir missing his line and lengths and bowling some wides.
Iftikhar Ahmed and Fakhar Zaman came to bat with the former India U19 World Cup pacer Netravalkar bowling to display his discipline. He gave only 13 runs and also got the wicket of Iftikhar as USA romped home by 5 runs in the Super Over.
A win took the hosts to the top of the points table in Group A, replacing India with four points in two matches. The USA, playing their first ICC World Cup event managed to outclass the Pakistani side in every area to mark their name in the cricketing world.
Earlier in the game, Pakistan's top order witnessed an embarrassing collapse against the USA's pace attack. In-form skipper Babar Azam and all-rounder Shadab Khan added 72 runs for the fourth wicket with the former top-scoring with 44 runs off 43 balls. Pakistan managed to rise from 66/3 in 10 overs to post a 159/7 total in 20 overs.
Nosthukosh Kennjige claimed three wickets for 30 on his return to the starting eleven while Netravalkar bagged two for 18 for the USA.
Chasing a tough target, the USA lost opener Steven Taylor early in the powerplay but captain Monak Patel and no.3 Andries Gous added a 68-run partnership for the second wicket to put USA on a track for an easy win.
But Pakistan made a stunning comeback in the death overs with greedy spells from the pace trio of Naseem Shah, Shaheen Afridi and Mohammad Amir to restrict the hosts to 159/3 in 20 overs.
However, the Super Over thriller exploited Pakistan's poor fielding efforts and leaked crucial runs which proved costly. Monak Patel bagged the Player of the Match award for top-scoring with 50 runs off 38 balls.
https://www.indiatvnews.com/sports/cricket/t20-world-cup-2024-babar-azam-pacers-shine-as-pakistan-record-comeback-win-over-united-states-2024-06-07-935615
LOL Big effort!
Agree, pile the pressure on. Yep, Lesley handled like a champion.
conix, The crass implied misrepresentation in the "serious side effects"
"The researchers noted that serious side effects of the vaccines have been recorded,
including ischemic strokes, acute coronary syndromes and brain hemorrhages."
was noted in the first two comments. It would bitten the first two as it did me, and i wonder if you now wonder
why it didn't affect you the same. The 3rd reply added (why just repeat) the thought that without
the vaccines being developed so quickly serious excess death would have been in the
millions more. Wonder why that didn't strike you either.
I would have thought by now we would be spared forever more anti-vax junk from any suspect origin, such as the NY Post.
And without the required link??? Yet again.
Zardiw, Putin is reasonable? In what way exactly.
Agree. Australians tend to relative modest over garish, more times than not.
A thought just now on the wearing of them, maybe they wear them so
that they lie under their shirts so don't flop? Just an impulse guess.
Crybaby, punkass, snowflake is right. Thanks. Missing that one would have been a loss.
Well said. Objectively very fair. To link to
B402, You are kidding, eh. I give you good evidence of your 'telling others what they think' bullshit, now you ask for evidence of you misinformation mastery. I really thought you knew yourself better...
[...]
Ok, asshole, here you go:
And , where is the confirmation? You are too well known for searching for confirmation biased articles just to take your word for it especially for this subject after what I just saw and posted...........
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=174473951
That is one of your worse, because it was a totally false personal attack. Something you pulled out of your butt in toto. And be assured, it will always be one of the nails in your ban decree if and when one arrives on your doorstep again. In fact at that time, as i told you there, i was in the process of creating the post ..
[...]
In short, you continue to be blatantly dishonest by ignoring all factual information given you.
Your ignorant and patently dishonest trolling here will not be tolerated without further interruption.
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=174341621
You of course, as per your norm when hit with irrefutable truth, ignored it.
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=174550498
and B402's reply
'Asshole' eh,,,,,,Didn't see any misinformation I posted.....Do recall pointing out ghost ships for Iran are way up and so is their oil production....w links to verify btw....So no need to apologize
Am sorry you feel the way you do though....
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=174550610
All which complements some of what you said to him.
And B402? "Does anyone show more disdain, disrespect and contempt for others than Trump? His defamation conviction confirms it."
Does anyone here, including other trolls, show more disdain, disrespect and contempt for others than B402?
Think about it, B402, you are undoubtedly reading this when you see it, who haven't you
shown disdain for here except Jordan Peterson, Bill Maher and the occasional other.
On reading the first of yours i thought good, he's finally getting to know himself as well as we know him.
Yes, B402, am talking to you here through blackhawks because i said earlier i had finished replying to you today.
Tomorrow i will add a small comment on your video and, again, you.
I thought felonies were graded, and one who knows said no first offender had ever got jail time for a felony of Trump's level.
Ok, it depends on the state ..
https://www.criminaldefenselawyer.com/resources/criminal-defense/felony-offense/felony-classes-charges-penalties , figures.
So maybe the guy was talking about NY specifically.
Anyway, take it from this kangaroo pouch Trump will not get jail time for his hush hush.
And if he is elected not for any of the other crimes he's already committed.
Sudan - Darfur - South Sudan
"Pursuant to my first reply - 'The World's Worst Humanitarian Crisis': Understanding the Darfur Conflict"
Related:
Development in north and south Sudan - interactive
South Sudan is set to become the world's newest independent country on 9 July. Here we take a look
at key development indicators on population, health and education for both the south and the north
http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/interactive/2011/jul/07/north-south-sudan-development-indicators-interactive?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3487
South Sudan is already a divided nation, Omar al-Bashir warns
2011 - https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=64988653
Background
Sudan is the third-largest country in Africa, behind Algeria and Congo. For decades Sudan’s people have experienced civil war, genocide, drought, theft of the country’s natural resources, and autocratic governments.
There are several political regions in Sudan. North Sudan essentially controls the rest of the country. Darfur is a three-state area in western Sudan. In 2011, the south part of the country became independent as the new country of South Sudan.
Ethnic diversity has fueled some of the violence in the country. The government is controlled by the northern Arab minority, while the rest of the population is African. This division, Arab or African, is based on self-identification: on language, culture, belonging to specific tribal or family groups, and on livelihood patterns, yet nearly all Arabs and Africans in the North are Muslim in faith.
Since the end of British colonial rule in the 1950s, Sudan’s rulers have been members of the minority Arab population. Like most minority governments, these autocratic leaders have controlled through repression and violence.
North-South Civil War and Independence
Beginning in 1983, the northern government fought a brutal twenty-year civil war with the south. Over two million people were killed and four million more were displaced.
This conflict was largely portrayed in racial and religious terms: the Arab Muslim north against the black African south, which was largely Christian and animist. However, the conflict was essentially over control of the south’s resources – fertile land and oil.
The northern region is largely desert, broken only by the Nile River corridor. The south has grassland, swamps, and tropical forests – and oil. Fully 85% of Sudan’s oil is in the south. Sudan also has vast gold fields.
But identity was the opportunity for marginalization and disenfranchisement. There is a legacy of slavery in Sudan. Hostilities between the Arabs in the North and Africans in the south and west led to the northern Arabs enslaving Africans. Although slavery was officially abolished in 1924, the Arab government continued to deprive Africans of an equal voice in government and of equal access to resources.
The US became involved in Sudan during the civil war in the 1980s. As the death toll rose to 2 million people, many of whom were Christians, American Christians contacted their elected officials.
By 2005, President Bush became involved. He ultimately led the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, the CPA. The CPA called for the north and south to share the wealth and power; for national elections; for democratic and military reforms; and for a semi-autonomous government in the South.
The South voted overwhelmingly for independence in 2011.
South Sudan in Crisis
Fighting in the south broke out almost immediately after independence. The conflict was between South Sudan’s president Salva Kiir and his ethnic Dinka supporters and Vice-President Reik Machar and Nuer people. Although this is portrayed as an ethnic clash, like the face-off in the previous North-South civil war, it was a fight over power and resource control.
Image courtesy of European Commission DG ECHO is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.
In 2011 the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UMISS) entered with 17,000
peacekeepers. The UNMISS mandate has been extended to March 15, 2024.
[ Insert: Better than nothing i reckon -
United Nations Mission in South Sudan
https://unmiss.unmissions.org/news ]
The violence in South Sudan has escalated tragically, with 800,000 internally-displaced people, 75,000 refugees, thousands of people dead, and 3.2 million people in need of life-saving assistance.
The Darfur Genocide
Darfur is a three-state regional area in western Sudan about the size of Spain. This is the site of a third Sudanese crisis. This area has been hit especially hard by increasing desertification.
As desert areas expand, it is increasingly difficult for herders to find places to graze their animals. The herders encroach on farmers’ lands, and the result is often a violent battle over the land.
In Darfur, the nomadic herders are Arabs. The settled farmers are Africans. At the local level, the conflict is about basic resources – both the Arab grazers and the African herders need land and water. The Arab government wants the land from the Africans.
[UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA - AFRICAN STUDIES CENTER
Who Is an Arab?
WHO IS AN ARAB?
W. Montgomery Watt and Pierre Cachia
https://www.africa.upenn.edu/K-12/Who_16629.html ]
At the regional level, the conflict is portrayed as a tribal or ethnic conflict, with the government inciting the Arabs against the Africans.
The national level is political. Oil is the foreign direct investment that provides money for weapons, which bring power and the ability to attack people and grab their land. Whoever controls oil and other resources gets the power.
In 2003, some African rebel groups attacked a government post in Darfur in a desperate effort to urge the government to provide roads, hospitals, and schools. The government responded with a genocidal campaign not only against the rebels, but against all non-Arabs in the Darfur region.
The result has been Rwanda in slow motion. Since 2003, at least 300,000 innocent civilians have been killed in Darfur and more than 2.5 million people have been displaced from their homes and their villages.
Sudanese government planes bomb villages using Russian Antonov bombers. An Arab militia known as the Janjaweed, meaning ‘devils on horseback,’ enters a village to kill, torture, poison the wells, and burn the villages.
The government recruits Arabs who are motivated by racial hatred, small amounts of money, and the government’s promise that they can take whatever they can find in the villages – including the women and girls.
The large weapons, such as the bombers, are bought from Russia; smaller arms are bought from China using money from oil sales.
Image courtesy of USAID is in the public domain.
This catastrophe has been going on since 2003, and deaths and displacement continue to escalate.
The United Nations had a hybrid peacekeeping force in Darfur called UNAMID, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Darfur, comprised of 25,000 troops from the African Union and the UN.
UNAMID concluded in 2020.
People in Darfur protested the end of UNAMID.
But it had been determined that the Darfur conflict was resolved. In place of the UN peacekeepers, the Sudanese government would protect civilians, deliver aid, and mediate any further conflicts.
Prosecutions for the Darfur Genocide
Efforts were in motion to hold the worst of the genocide perpetrators to account. In March 2005, the UN Security Council referred the situation in Darfur to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court.
The Court issued indictments against seven people accused of leading the violence.
On March 4, 2009, the Court issued an arrest warrant for Sudan’s president Omar Al-Bashir on 5 counts of crimes against humanity and 2 counts of war crimes.
The next day Bashir expelled 13 aid agencies, including Doctors Without Borders, the Red Cross/Red Crescent, and the UN World Food Program.
A year later, Bashir was indicted for genocide, the first sitting head of state ever indicted by the ICC as well as the first to be charged with genocide.
[ In pretrial stage until .. https://www.icc-cpi.int/darfur/albashir ]
Although the violence and ongoing inequalities in Darfur remained unchanged, but in 2017 the Trump administration revoked some U.S. sanctions against Sudan.
He ended the 20-year trade embargo, lifted the asset freeze, and moved towards normalizing relations.
Image courtesy of Osama Elfaki is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Protests and a Coup
Massive citizen protests against Bashir began in December 2018 over rising bread prices. The protests morphed into calls for him to turn the country over to civilian rule.
Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters took to the streets of Khartoum, the capital, in early 2019. Bashir used his two closest generals to quash the uprising: General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan’s Sudanese Armed Forces, the SAF, and Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (known as Hemedti) and his paramilitary troops, the Rapid Support Forces.
But in a surprise move, the two generals joined forces, turned on Bashir, and deposed him.
They formed a military-led transitional government and announced that it would rule for two years. They suspended the constitution and dissolved the government institutions. The people were told that Sudan would soon prepare for “free and fair” elections.
The announcement drew more protests.
After the Coup, 2019-2021
For the promised two-year period, 2019-2021, there was a degree of military and civilian power-sharing.
The situation shifted in mid-April 2019, with increasing power going to the civilians. Al-Bashir and two others indicted by the International Criminal Court were imprisoned in Sudan, and the civilian prime minister, Abdalla Hamdok, agreed to transfer al-Bashir to the Court.
But the people demanded a complete end to military involvement.
On June 3, 2020, the UN Security Council adopted the UN Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS), a follow-up to the defunct UNAMID. UNITAMS has a political mission to support Sudan for a transition to democratic rule. The UNITAMS has been renewed until December 3, 2023.
[ Dec 2, 2023 - Security Council agrees to terminate UN mission in Sudan
The United Nations political mission in Sudan, UNITAMS, will end on Sunday.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/12/2/security-council-agrees-to-terminate-un-mission-in-sudan ]
Image courtesy of Osama Eid is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Coup, October 2021
Al–Burhan and Hemedti jointly carried out a complete military takeover in October 2021 instead of moving to the promised civilian government.
Soldiers arrested Prime Minister Hamdok and other civilian ministers. The military took over state TV and radio headquarters and restricted the internet.
Burhan said elections would be held in July 2023.
2021 – April 15, 2023
Since the 2021 coup, protests continued but with heavy repression from the government. Hundreds of people were killed and nearly 6,000 were injured. People were also unlawfully detained, forcibly disappeared, and subjected to sexual and gender-based violence.
April 15, 2023
On April 15, 2023, fighting broke out in Khartoum and in Darfur between the two generals’ troops: Al-Burhan’s Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) against Hemedti’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Violence spread rapidly in the two generals’ battle for control of Sudan. Hundreds of people have been killed, and thousands are refugees or internally displaced. Hospitals have been bombed and key infrastructure, including power grids, is destroyed. The people face an unimaginable humanitarian tragedy.
[Sudan crisis explained: What’s behind the latest fighting and how it fits nation’s troubled past
"Sudan Will Decide the Outcome of the Ethiopian Civil War
"Mali’s President Exits After Being Arrested in Military Coup
"Civilian deaths and atrocities escalate as chaos builds in Sahel
"Esper says ‘no decisions’ have been finalized on AFRICOM changes
"AFRICOM: Wrong for Liberia, Disastrous for Africa"""""
.. add today a link to that last one ..
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=59092358
[...]The RSF, led by General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo – who is generally known by the name Hemedti– has worked alongside the Sudanese army to help keep the military in power.
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=171728195]
Genocide in Darfur
Attacks in Darfur have escalated, and experts warn of ongoing ethnic cleansing and genocide.
Devolution to Destruction
The current mass atrocities in Sudan are the inevitable result of several factors:
* The West’s failure to realistically assess the goals of the military and paramilitary leaders
in Sudan and to naively believe in their promise of a democratic transition.
* An inability to strengthen and support civil society.
* A withdrawal of peacekeeping forces, placing vulnerable people at increasing risk.
* No effort to resolve local resource-based conflicts.
* Limited accountability for previous violence in the region.
* Inertia among regional mechanisms that could enhance peace, safety, and security.
https://worldwithoutgenocide.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Russia_out_of_Ukraine_Syria_Belarus_Sudan._51932070805-768x512.jpg
Image courtesy of Alisdare Hickson is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.
Russia in Sudan
Nearly every internal conflict ultimately becomes internationalized, and both Russia and China figure in Sudan’s crisis.
Sudan is Africa’s third largest producer of gold. Russia is sustaining its war in Ukraine and surviving Western economic sanctions by smuggling gold out of Sudan. There have been at least 16 known Russian gold smuggling flights out of Sudan over the last year and a half.
Russia has lent military backing to Sudan’s leadership to quash Sudan’s nascent pro-democracy civilian movement. U.S. officials affirm that Russia actively supported Sudan’s 2021 military coup. Documents show that both Hemedti and al-Burhan are backed by Russia.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, a Russian oligarch and one-time key Putin ally, is at the center of these efforts. Prigozhin controls companies including the Wagner Group, a brutal paramilitary mercenary group linked to alleged torture, mass killings and looting in Syria, the Central African Republic (CAR), and Ukraine.
In Sudan, Prigozhin’s company, Meroe Gold, extracts gold and provides weapons and training to both Sudan’s army and to the paramilitary. The US and the EU have placed sanctions against Meroe Gold.
[ The New ‘Africa Corps’: Russia’s Wagner Rebranding
Copyright © 2024 Energy Intelligence Group
https://www.energyintel.com/0000018f-a9d5-d735-a98f-fbdda67a0000 ]
China in Sudan
Image courtesy of Maria Chily is licensed
under CC BY-SA 2.0.
Chinese leadership is worried about ambitious Belt and Road Initiative projects. China is Sudan’s largest trading partner, and more than 120 Chinese companies operate in Sudan.
China had controlled 75% of foreign investment in Sudan’s oil sector until 2018 but it has reduced its dependency on Sudanese oil. Instead, it is engaged in massive BRI infrastructure development of roads, railways, and bridges.
This conflict in Sudan poses a major geopolitical threat to China’s BRI plans.
Geographic Location
Another critical issue has to do with potential military bases on the Red Sea, a critical location for world shipping and a strategic military position. France, China, Japan, Italy, and the US have military bases in nearby Djibouti.
Sudan is strategically located to give access to the Bab al-Mandab Strait, through which 10% of all world shipping passes. The Economist reports, “The Kremlin’s main aim is to thwart a democratic transition in Sudan, because its ambition to build a naval base on the Red Sea is better served by a military government in Khartoum than the embryonic democratic one that was aborted by the junta’s coups.”
Conclusion
This is not yet a proxy war, but it could easily expand. Egypt is siding with the government; Libya, the UAE, and Eritrea have supported Hemedti in the past.
This crisis in Sudan is a struggle for some of the world’s most valued resources, oil and gold; for power, especially through control of a desired seaport location; and the vulnerability of millions of people caught up in a struggle exacerbated by the region’s increasing desertification.
Research assistance by Megan Diller, 2023.
References
https://worldwithoutgenocide.org/genocides-and-conflicts/darfur-genocide
Here's to the guts and stamina of all those working for peace and democracy in
Darfur. And to all of the the millions of innocents suffering because of the bullshit.
OOps almost forgot the Democracy to not map ..
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=174544834map .
https://www.freeworldmaps.net/printable/africa/
Agree the map is a beauty, and enough for me for now. I pmmed it to myself ..
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=174544834 .