alanjjohnstone
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My worry is that the US Republicans will see it as the beginning of the end of the welfare state even though the Scandinavian right-wing will leave their social services intact. Same as the Tories in Britain simply cannot jettison the National Health Service.
There may well be changes in immigration and refugee policies but they won’t be unique. Denmark and the UK are deporting people and Sweden is taking an example from their lead.
Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson announced that she would resign after an unprecedented right-wing and far-right bloc narrowly won.
With 20.6 percent of votes counted so far the party emerged as Sweden’s second largest party behind the Social Democrats.
the post of Prime Minister will go to the leader of the Moderate Party, Ulf Kristersson.
Further to the evidence that there is a growing opposition to the war in Russia (albeit limited).
The petition, signed initially by 19 local Russian elected officials and published on Monday, contains a brief text that condemns Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and demands that he step down.
“We, the municipal deputies of Russia, believe that the actions of President Vladimir Putin are harming the future of the country and its citizens. We demand the resignation of Vladimir Putin from the post of president of the Russian Federation,” states the petition.
The petition makes four main accusations at Putin, namely that the invasion has resulted in:
the unnecessary destruction of Russian combat units;
the deaths of young Russian citizens, who could have otherwise contributed to economic development;
economic instability;
Ukraine now being better equipped militarily than ever after receiving modern arms from NATO, despite one of Russia’s stated goals being the “demilitarisation” of Ukraine.Despite the risks of speaking out, another 84 signatures have been added to the petition since its publication.
Not many names but they are local politicians signing it, not the general public.
I may be far off the mark but somehow I got the feeling that this story is linked to both the reports of Iran supplying Russia with weaponry and the impending agreement talks on nuclear power.
No mention of the USA shooting down Iran 655 by USS Vincennes. The U.S. government issued notes of regret for the loss of human lives, but never formally apologized or acknowledged wrongdoing.
The crew of USS Vincennes were awarded Combat Action Ribbons for completion of their tours in a combat zone. The air warfare coordinator on duty received the Navy Commendation Medal. Captain Rogers was awarded the Legion of Merit “for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding service as commanding officer”
Labour Party suspends politics
Wealthy European countries, which have provided roughly half the funding for UN Sustainable Development Goals program, a 15-year-long UN development drive to tackle global issues, are running low on aid money due to the cost of the Ukrainian conflict, Bill Gates said.
“The Ukraine war is stretching their budgets with defense costs, refugee costs, electricity subsidies and shipping costs,” the billionaire told the Financial Times.
I said I would take action to keep this topic on thread.
I have unapproved the last three messages from Moviemento Socialista, True Scotsman, and Lizzie 45 (who being a latecomer to the forum may have inadvertently not been aware of the full background)
14. Rule enforcement is the responsibility of the moderators, not of the contributors. If you believe a post or private message violates a rule, report it to the moderators. Do not take it upon yourself to chastise others for perceived violations of the rules.
The next level is to suspend posters that infringe the forum rules. So again be warned
When the Queen passed away so did 600 Royal Warrants, a branding that enhanced their advertising and reputation.
These businesses must now reapply for their warrants.
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-62891159
(I personally recall the disastrous re-branding of Royal Mail to become Consignia)
An essay that offers a civil-disobedience approach to resisting Israeli occupation
https://www.commondreams.org/views/2022/09/13/peaceful-resistance-turns-military-might-weakness
“…Violence plays into Israel’s hands. Civil disobedience and general strikes by Palestinian laborers, boycotts, and mass peaceful demonstrations at check points and the borders would paralyze Israel. That’s the genius of peaceful resistance—it turns military might into a weakness and can turn worldwide public opinion into a powerful weapon for change.”
Always good for a read. Yaris Varoufakis on the energy crisis.
https://www.commondreams.org/views/2022/09/13/europes-energy-system-scam-against-its-own-people
“If you really want an indication of what the matter is besides the fact that prices are going up, that there’s a war in Ukraine, supply chains have been interrupted… look at the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom is a very good case in point because it is self sufficient.
“More than 50% of Britain’s electricity needs are covered by wind power… producing electricity at zero marginal cost—just the cost of maintaining the windmills and nuclear. As for the gas reliance, which is around 35% of British electricity, UK electricity is produced using natural gas. All of it comes from the North Sea, more or less.
“So in other words, the UK doesn’t need Russian gas, doesn’t need Texan LNG, it doesn’t need to import anything. And yet you’ll see that the new Thatcher look-alike, prime minister Liz Truss, is promising to do something to cap the cost of electricity. Now, why is the cost of electricity in the UK rising as fast as it is rising here in Greece where we have no natural gas that we produce or Italy for that matter?
“The reason is Thatcher—because Thatcher privatised the electricity system in the UK and introduced the idea that privatisation is a good thing for the people—not for the oligarchs, but for the people, the idea being that the market knows better how to reduce costs than the state—state bureaucracies, state owned and run electricity grids and power stations are stuck at high costs…”
More details of a republican arrest
https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/anti-royal-monarchy-protester-edinburgh-police-arrest-legal/
In Hungary women seeking abortions will be forced to listen to the fetal “heartbeat” before doctors can go ahead with the procedure.
The “fetal heartbeat” is something of a misnomer, as the heart is not yet fully formed and the fluttering sound where a heart might develop comes long before limbs grow and brain activity begins.
https://www.dw.com/en/hungary-enshrines-fetal-heartbeat-abortion-law/a-63105339
More details on the rise of the right
“Paralleling other right-populist movements, the party sought to portray itself as “advocating for ‘ordinary people’ against a corrupt elite at the height of a global recession,”
“They keep a hidden agenda.” He believes the party merely put a compassionate face on its neo-Nazi ideology in order to make it more socially acceptable”
” its defense of “Swedishness” brings results.
“Especially undereducated people feel a threat from the cheap labor of immigrants,” he said. “They think [the governing] Social Democrats are not representing their interests anymore.”
We are well aware of the propaganda war being waged by the pro-Ukrainian media. Less so the propaganda the Russian public is subject to.
Maxim Alyukov, a postdoctoral fellow at King’s Russia Institute, led a quantitative study of Russian television and social media coverage of the war to find that the number of television stories on Ukraine has decreased by half compared with February and March.
Russian TV managers are reintroducing shows that had been cancelled to make time for war propaganda.
Alyukov told Al Jazeera, “It’s back to normal – back to a pre-war style of reporting, with a balance of propaganda and entertainment … because if you lose [viewers], you lose control of them.”
Alyukov also found that mention of a key Russian justification for the war – “de-Nazifying” Ukraine – has decreased by a factor of six on TV.
“They almost abandoned this idea,” he said.“[The Kremlin] used four very specific ideas to justify the invasion: de-Nazification, demilitarisation, protecting the Donbas population and NATO expansion,” Alyukov said.
“They all fit into the general idea of fighting the West and restoring Russia’s greatness … but the idea of de-Nazification is something people struggle to comprehend.”
Despite being outlawed as a term for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the word “war” is used on social media almost four times more often than on TV, including by government supporters, Alyukov found.
Russia claimed to have destroyed Leopard 2 tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles, equipment Ukraine has not yet received.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/9/7/ukraine-celebrates-counterattack-success-russia-retaliates
Senator Lindsey Graham proposed legislation on Tuesday for a nationwide 15-week abortion ban
The proposal by Graham, a hardline South Carolina Republican, will be called the “Protecting Pain-capable Unborn Children from Late-term Abortions Act”.
It is seen by analysts as an attempt to frame the discussion around abortion, with fewer than 60 days until the midterms.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/sep/13/republican-national-abortion-ban-lindsey-graham
