Archive for November, 2020

11/11/2020

Trump Is Gone, But Trumpism Remains

Human Wrongs Watch

By Roberto Savio | Other News*

11 November 2020 — Now it is clear that Joe Biden is the new president of the United States. It is unlikely that Donald Trump’s legal manoeuvring will change the election results, as when a conservative Supreme Court in 2000 decided in favour of George Bush over Al Gore, who lost by 535 votes.

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Roberto Savio

Even this Supreme Court, where Trump has six sympathetic members (three appointed by him, quite a record), and only three unsympathetic, will dare to change a result coming from too many states.

Trump is gone, but it is sad to say, Trumpism is here to stay. But is that a specific situation of the United States, or is it a more general phenomenon? We think that, in an era of globalisation, we should attempt a global analysis.

This will leave out a zillion of facts, events and analysis, but this is now the destiny of journalism. Anyone can add what they think is relevant and decide what has been left out. This will be a big improvement over this abridged analysis.

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09/11/2020

EU: Probe Frontex Complicity in Border Abuses

Human Wrongs Watch

By Human Rights Watch*

(Brussels) – The top governing body of the European Union Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) should urgently establish an independent inquiry into allegations of its involvement in unlawful operations to stop migrants from reaching the European Union (EU), Human Rights Watch said on 9 November 2020.

09/11/2020

Millions at Risk in Sahel, Each One With a Story to Tell

Human Wrongs Watch

8 November 2020 (UN News)*Some 13 million people in the central Sahel region of north Africa require urgent humanitarian assistance, due to violence, insecurity and extreme weather events. Behind these stark figures lie personal stories of tragedy, resilience and hope.

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UNOCHA/Michele Cattini | Abdou Salam Djibril, a displaced man from Tessit, in his tent at an informal camp near Gao in Mali.

“We fled because of the ongoing conflict. A lot of people have been wounded. Five of my family members, including my nephew, were killed. We were afraid of reprisals, so we came here”.

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09/11/2020

Crude Impact: Cleaning Up the Ravages of War in Iraq

Each year, 06 November marks the International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict. We report on one of the biggest challenges facing UNEP and its partners – the post-war clean-up of Iraq.

UnknownREUTERS/Ammar Awad / 09 Nov 2020

9 November 2020 (UNEP)* — Vast jet-black plumes of smoke curling upwards into the sky, blocking out the sun. Crude oil flowing through the streets.  These were some of the environmental footprints left by ISIL/Da’esh (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) in northern and western Iraq.

Oil wells and mineral stockpiles were torched, particularly during the Mosul offensive in the spring of 2016. Water barrages were blown up. So thick were the clouds of smoke that for the inhabitants day became night.

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09/11/2020

Why Do Most People Believe Propaganda and False Flag Attacks?

Human Wrongs Watch

By Robert J. Burrowes*

Robert-J.-Burrowes1-e1543331461304

Robert J. Burrowes

In his 1995 book The Demon-Haunted World Carl Sagan lamented as follows:

I have a foreboding of [a] time when… awesome technological powers are in the hands of a very few, and no one representing the public interest can even grasp the issues; when the people have lost the ability to set their own agendas or knowledgeably question those in authority; when, clutching our crystals and nervously consulting our horoscopes, our critical faculties in decline, unable to distinguish between what feels good and what’s true, we slide, almost without noticing, back into superstition and darkness.

The dumbing down… is most evident in the slow decay of substantive content in the enormously influential media… but especially a kind of celebration of ignorance…. The plain lesson is that study and learning – not just of science, but of anything – are avoidable, even undesirable.

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08/11/2020

The Next 100 Seconds

Human Wrongs Watch

By William Becker*

8 November 2020 (Wall Street International)* — “Having children showed me a whole different kind of love that I had never known,” the late musician Scott Wieland said. “It was something that had always been missing. Complete love. I would die for them.”

Today, it is only 100 seconds to midnight
Today, it is only 100 seconds to midnight | Image from Wall Street International.

Comedian Martin Mull had a different view: “Having children is like having a bowling alley installed in your brain.”

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08/11/2020

Eight New Animated Characters to Empower Kids to Take Climate Action and Protect the Planet

Human Wrongs Watch

(UN News)* — Eight new animated characters on a mission to protect the planet, have been pressed into service by the UN to empower children worldwide and boost the drive towards sustainability by 2030.

United Nations | UN campaign empowers kids to take climate action and protect the planet.

The Climate Action Superheroes are the face of a new campaign, to be launched on UN social media platforms this Saturday [6 November 2020], aimed at mobilizing children under 12 to recycle and to save water and energy.

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08/11/2020

‘There Are Fewer Grounds Today than in the Past to Deplore a North–South Divide in Research and Innovation’

Human Wrongs Watch

(UNESCO)* — There are fewer grounds today than in the past to deplore a North–South divide in research and innovation. This is one of the key findings of the UNESCO Science Report: towards 2030 launched on 10 November 2015.

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For two decades now, the UNESCO Science Report has been mapping science, technology and innovation (STI) governance around the world on a regular basis. The report is published every five years, on 10 November, to mark World Science Day for Peace and Development.

Since STI do not evolve in a vacuum, this latest edition summarizes the evolution since 2010 against the backdrop of socio-economic, geopolitical and environmental trends that have helped to shape contemporary STI policy and governance.

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08/11/2020

‘Science for and with Society’ – World Science Day for Peace and Development

Electric cars line up at the official start of the Zero Emissions Race outside the United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG), Switzerland.

Electric cars line up at the official start of the Zero Emissions Race outside the United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG), Switzerland. PHOTO:UN Photo/Jean-Marc Ferré

8 November 2020 (United Nations)* — Celebrated every 10 November, World Science Day for Peace and Development highlights the significant role of science in society and the need to engage the wider public in debates on emerging scientific issues. It also underlines the importance and relevance of science in our daily lives.

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07/11/2020

Economic Trends and What’s Important in Life

Human Wrongs Watch

SYDNEY and KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 2 2020 (IPS)* – US third quarter GDP numbers released two weeks ago delighted stock markets and President Trump. Output had picked up by 7.4%, annualised as 33.1%, the largest quarterly economic growth on record, almost double the old record of 3.9% (annualised as 16.7%) in the first quarter of 1950, seven decades ago.

Anis Chowdhury

Spinning numbers
This news could not have come at a better time for Trump, who is struggling for re-election, as his Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) declared that this affirmed Trump’s claim, “we’re coming back, and we’re coming back strong”.

The CEA spun the White House press release headline accordingly, “The Great American Recovery: Third Quarter GDP Blows Past Expectations”.

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