Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Celerity
Celerity's Journal
Celerity's Journal
September 28, 2022
https://thebanter.substack.com/p/the-rights-pedophile-problem-is-getting
You’ve heard it over and over from the right. A constant drumbeat of fake moral panic. Pedophiles are everywhere. Groomers in your schools. Men dressed like women in your bathrooms. A secret cabal of blood-drinking monsters controlling the world and trafficking children. But, as I never got tired of reminding you, our beloved readers, every Republican accusation is a confession. The right is swarming with actual pedophiles and the problem is getting worse by the day. Furthermore, we are starting to get a clearer picture of just how baked into right-wing thought this is becoming.
Mainstreaming monsters
I have not been at all surprised by the language coming from Republicans in recent years because I have spent far more time white nationalist forums than would be considered healthy. I do so to keep tabs on where mainstream Republicanism is heading because on the right, the fringe does not remain the fringe for long. In the GOP’s never ending quest to further radicalize their base, they turn to more and more extreme rhetoric. This was originally a calculated strategy, the marriage of establishment politics with conspiracy nuts and religious fanatics, but has now become a runaway chain reaction. The lunatics are very much running the asylum and only the craziest and most cynical operators can exert any control whatsoever.
In practice, what this means is that what was once considered unspeakable in mainstream politics is rapidly becoming Republican orthodoxy: White nationalism, antisemitism, political violence, and fascism. But that is where we are now. Part of my job here at The Banter is to try and understand where we are heading. I don’t always enjoy this part because it leads to some very dark places. Judicial tyranny. Widespread terrorism. Theocratic dystopia. And that isn’t the worst of it. The very ugliest corner of the right that I am forced to revisit over and over is the Manosphere. Everything about it sets off every single mental alarm I have and as time goes by, those alarms are getting louder and more urgent. This is the new fringe of the right and this is where the right will be a decade from now. You’d be forgiven for thinking misogyny is already a core Republican value so how much worse can it get? If only that were true.
Misogyny is for beginners
It is very hard for people to really wrap their head around how deeply MRAs and Incels and the rest of the Manosphere loathe women. Most of us (all of us) can intuitively grasp racism. It’s the air we breathe whether we like it or not. Feeling a bone-deep hatred for anyone with a uterus, though? Our mothers, our sisters, our daughters? That’s a little harder to comprehend. Less so for women who are constantly subjected to harassment and both physical and psychological violence, but it’s still something of an alien concept. I find it helpful to frame it like this: If sexism is the rough equivalent of racism and misogyny is the rough equivalent of white nationalism, the Manosphere is the rough equivalent of Nazis. Each escalation reaches a new height of moral depravity and violence.
snip
The Right's Pedophile Problem Is Getting Worse
This is where the right is heading and forewarned is forearmed.https://thebanter.substack.com/p/the-rights-pedophile-problem-is-getting
You’ve heard it over and over from the right. A constant drumbeat of fake moral panic. Pedophiles are everywhere. Groomers in your schools. Men dressed like women in your bathrooms. A secret cabal of blood-drinking monsters controlling the world and trafficking children. But, as I never got tired of reminding you, our beloved readers, every Republican accusation is a confession. The right is swarming with actual pedophiles and the problem is getting worse by the day. Furthermore, we are starting to get a clearer picture of just how baked into right-wing thought this is becoming.
Mainstreaming monsters
I have not been at all surprised by the language coming from Republicans in recent years because I have spent far more time white nationalist forums than would be considered healthy. I do so to keep tabs on where mainstream Republicanism is heading because on the right, the fringe does not remain the fringe for long. In the GOP’s never ending quest to further radicalize their base, they turn to more and more extreme rhetoric. This was originally a calculated strategy, the marriage of establishment politics with conspiracy nuts and religious fanatics, but has now become a runaway chain reaction. The lunatics are very much running the asylum and only the craziest and most cynical operators can exert any control whatsoever.
In practice, what this means is that what was once considered unspeakable in mainstream politics is rapidly becoming Republican orthodoxy: White nationalism, antisemitism, political violence, and fascism. But that is where we are now. Part of my job here at The Banter is to try and understand where we are heading. I don’t always enjoy this part because it leads to some very dark places. Judicial tyranny. Widespread terrorism. Theocratic dystopia. And that isn’t the worst of it. The very ugliest corner of the right that I am forced to revisit over and over is the Manosphere. Everything about it sets off every single mental alarm I have and as time goes by, those alarms are getting louder and more urgent. This is the new fringe of the right and this is where the right will be a decade from now. You’d be forgiven for thinking misogyny is already a core Republican value so how much worse can it get? If only that were true.
Misogyny is for beginners
It is very hard for people to really wrap their head around how deeply MRAs and Incels and the rest of the Manosphere loathe women. Most of us (all of us) can intuitively grasp racism. It’s the air we breathe whether we like it or not. Feeling a bone-deep hatred for anyone with a uterus, though? Our mothers, our sisters, our daughters? That’s a little harder to comprehend. Less so for women who are constantly subjected to harassment and both physical and psychological violence, but it’s still something of an alien concept. I find it helpful to frame it like this: If sexism is the rough equivalent of racism and misogyny is the rough equivalent of white nationalism, the Manosphere is the rough equivalent of Nazis. Each escalation reaches a new height of moral depravity and violence.
snip
September 28, 2022
Alpine Negroni
https://www.diffordsguide.com/cocktails/recipe/5414/alpine-negroni
September 28, 2022
https://progressivepost.eu/standing-up-for-abortion-rights-is-standing-up-for-democracy/
While abortion has always been a contested issue, we have recently witnessed a renewed activism aiming to erode women’s human right to right to control their body. The ongoing concerted action to undermine abortion laws needs to be analysed and countered decisively. Including the right to abortion in the EU Charter on Fundamental rights could be an important step.
In a few short years, Polish women have gone from an already very repressive abortion regime to a de facto ban, with several women paying the ultimate price by losing their lives. American women woke up in late June of this year to discover that their Supreme Court had taken away what had been a constitutionally guaranteed right to abortion since 1973. While just a few weeks ago, in Hungary, the government of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán adopted a series of medically unsound measures aimed at humiliating and intimidating women into abandoning recourse to abortion.
These developments reveal two disturbing truths: first, the gains we thought we had achieved in many countries regarding women’s rights back in the 1960s, 70s and 80s are not safe and may be reversed. Second, the ones who wish to roll back human rights are not just the same social and religious conservatives who have personal convictions on some ethical issues, but ambitious and savvy political actors who don’t always share our common values of liberal democracy and the rule of law.
Are our human rights in danger?
A first point to clarify is the long-held assertion of many conservative actors that ‘there is no right to abortion in international law’. This argument is a red herring as, indeed, there is a whole body of international law, jurisprudence and normative guidance which provide explicit guarantees for women’s access to health, privacy and empowerment, which include safeguards to access to safe and legal abortion. Two recent examples: the first comes from the European Parliament, with the report of S&D colleague Predrag Fred Matić on the Situation of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) in the EU, adopted in June 2021. Matić’s report specifically urges “the member states to decriminalise abortion, as well as to remove and combat obstacles to legal abortion”. Notably, his report was adopted by a broad political consensus, with only the far-right voting en bloc against it. A separate development are the guidelines on abortion issued in March 2022 by the World Health Organization (WHO). The WHO Abortion Care Guidelines specifically call for “the full decriminalisation of abortion” and emphasise that “abortion be available on the request of the woman, girl or other pregnant person”. Likewise, these guidelines “recommend against laws and other regulations that restrict abortion by grounds” or “based on gestational age limits”.
snip
Standing up for abortion rights is standing up for democracy
https://progressivepost.eu/standing-up-for-abortion-rights-is-standing-up-for-democracy/
While abortion has always been a contested issue, we have recently witnessed a renewed activism aiming to erode women’s human right to right to control their body. The ongoing concerted action to undermine abortion laws needs to be analysed and countered decisively. Including the right to abortion in the EU Charter on Fundamental rights could be an important step.
In a few short years, Polish women have gone from an already very repressive abortion regime to a de facto ban, with several women paying the ultimate price by losing their lives. American women woke up in late June of this year to discover that their Supreme Court had taken away what had been a constitutionally guaranteed right to abortion since 1973. While just a few weeks ago, in Hungary, the government of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán adopted a series of medically unsound measures aimed at humiliating and intimidating women into abandoning recourse to abortion.
These developments reveal two disturbing truths: first, the gains we thought we had achieved in many countries regarding women’s rights back in the 1960s, 70s and 80s are not safe and may be reversed. Second, the ones who wish to roll back human rights are not just the same social and religious conservatives who have personal convictions on some ethical issues, but ambitious and savvy political actors who don’t always share our common values of liberal democracy and the rule of law.
Are our human rights in danger?
A first point to clarify is the long-held assertion of many conservative actors that ‘there is no right to abortion in international law’. This argument is a red herring as, indeed, there is a whole body of international law, jurisprudence and normative guidance which provide explicit guarantees for women’s access to health, privacy and empowerment, which include safeguards to access to safe and legal abortion. Two recent examples: the first comes from the European Parliament, with the report of S&D colleague Predrag Fred Matić on the Situation of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) in the EU, adopted in June 2021. Matić’s report specifically urges “the member states to decriminalise abortion, as well as to remove and combat obstacles to legal abortion”. Notably, his report was adopted by a broad political consensus, with only the far-right voting en bloc against it. A separate development are the guidelines on abortion issued in March 2022 by the World Health Organization (WHO). The WHO Abortion Care Guidelines specifically call for “the full decriminalisation of abortion” and emphasise that “abortion be available on the request of the woman, girl or other pregnant person”. Likewise, these guidelines “recommend against laws and other regulations that restrict abortion by grounds” or “based on gestational age limits”.
snip
September 28, 2022
https://www.thedailybeast.com/12-year-old-allegedly-shoots-her-dad-then-herself-in-murder-plot-with-another-kid
A 12-year-old Texas girl shot her dad and then herself in an apparent “murder plot” made with another child to kill their own families, authorities said. The shooting took place last Tuesday in Weatherford, according to the Parker County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies arriving at the scene found the girl lying in the street with an apparent gunshot wound to her head and a handgun underneath her. Her father, 38, was found inside the family home with a gunshot wound in his abdomen. Both were rushed to local hospitals via air ambulance; their condition was not known on Monday morning.
“Sheriff’s investigators said the juvenile is believed to have shot her father, fled the scene, and later shot herself,” the sheriff’s office said in a news release. Investigators also discovered the alleged shooter had “planned for several weeks to murder her family and pets and had been in contact with another juvenile female from Lufkin, TX, regarding the murder plot,” the sheriff’s office said.
Lufkin is over 200 miles southeast of Parker County. The Lufkin girl did not go through with her own plans to kill her father, authorities said.
Read it at CNN
Texas 12-Year-Old Allegedly Shoots Her Dad Then Self in 'Murder Plot' With Pal
https://www.thedailybeast.com/12-year-old-allegedly-shoots-her-dad-then-herself-in-murder-plot-with-another-kid
A 12-year-old Texas girl shot her dad and then herself in an apparent “murder plot” made with another child to kill their own families, authorities said. The shooting took place last Tuesday in Weatherford, according to the Parker County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies arriving at the scene found the girl lying in the street with an apparent gunshot wound to her head and a handgun underneath her. Her father, 38, was found inside the family home with a gunshot wound in his abdomen. Both were rushed to local hospitals via air ambulance; their condition was not known on Monday morning.
“Sheriff’s investigators said the juvenile is believed to have shot her father, fled the scene, and later shot herself,” the sheriff’s office said in a news release. Investigators also discovered the alleged shooter had “planned for several weeks to murder her family and pets and had been in contact with another juvenile female from Lufkin, TX, regarding the murder plot,” the sheriff’s office said.
Lufkin is over 200 miles southeast of Parker County. The Lufkin girl did not go through with her own plans to kill her father, authorities said.
Read it at CNN
September 28, 2022
This should not even be up for discussion. Nick Clegg and Mark Zuckerberg must put global democracy and the safety of millions above profit.
https://globalextremism.org/post/no-trump-facebook/
There is no question that Donald Trump used Facebook to incite violence, embolden and give directives to hate and extremist groups, spread disinformation and conspiracy theories, and falsely undermine our election system to his roughly 35 million Facebook followers.
Trump violated Facebook’s community standards over and over. He constantly broke the rules we all have to follow. It took the violence and lawlessness of the January 6 Capitol insurrection for Facebook, and other social media platforms, to do the right thing and ban him. Facebook must hold Trump and other politicians to the same standards as all users. The company never should have provided loopholes for Trump and other politicians in the first place and letting him back on now will further the irreparable harm to our democracy that will take years to recover from, if at all.
We know the damage that Trump is capable of causing. On Truth Social, Trump continues to lift up extremism, push QAnon conspiracies, and spread the ‘big lie,’ threatening communities and undermining trust in our democracy. Why would Facebook’s Nick Clegg, vice president of global affairs and Zuckerberg whisperer, think Trump would change his behavior if he were back on Facebook? And why does Clegg believe that he and Mark Zuckerberg should reverse the decision that violence, death, and public pressure forced them to finally make in the first place. Clegg recently said “if we think there is content on our platform which will lead to real-world harm –physical harm –then we feel we have a clear responsibility to act against it.”
Of course they do. But will they? Trump recently sent a signal to his followers to commit violence if he is indicted by the Department of Justice. To even suggest that Trump might deserve to be on Facebook is absurd and irresponsible. There is absolutely no doubt that Trump’s postings will lead to more real-world harm to people and communities and to democracies around the world. If Facebook truly cares about the future of democracy and the safety of people everywhere, and if it recognizes the unique and global power it has, they must not allow Trump back onto the platform.
Facebook Must Not Allow Trump Back on the Platform
This should not even be up for discussion. Nick Clegg and Mark Zuckerberg must put global democracy and the safety of millions above profit.
https://globalextremism.org/post/no-trump-facebook/
There is no question that Donald Trump used Facebook to incite violence, embolden and give directives to hate and extremist groups, spread disinformation and conspiracy theories, and falsely undermine our election system to his roughly 35 million Facebook followers.
Trump violated Facebook’s community standards over and over. He constantly broke the rules we all have to follow. It took the violence and lawlessness of the January 6 Capitol insurrection for Facebook, and other social media platforms, to do the right thing and ban him. Facebook must hold Trump and other politicians to the same standards as all users. The company never should have provided loopholes for Trump and other politicians in the first place and letting him back on now will further the irreparable harm to our democracy that will take years to recover from, if at all.
We know the damage that Trump is capable of causing. On Truth Social, Trump continues to lift up extremism, push QAnon conspiracies, and spread the ‘big lie,’ threatening communities and undermining trust in our democracy. Why would Facebook’s Nick Clegg, vice president of global affairs and Zuckerberg whisperer, think Trump would change his behavior if he were back on Facebook? And why does Clegg believe that he and Mark Zuckerberg should reverse the decision that violence, death, and public pressure forced them to finally make in the first place. Clegg recently said “if we think there is content on our platform which will lead to real-world harm –physical harm –then we feel we have a clear responsibility to act against it.”
Of course they do. But will they? Trump recently sent a signal to his followers to commit violence if he is indicted by the Department of Justice. To even suggest that Trump might deserve to be on Facebook is absurd and irresponsible. There is absolutely no doubt that Trump’s postings will lead to more real-world harm to people and communities and to democracies around the world. If Facebook truly cares about the future of democracy and the safety of people everywhere, and if it recognizes the unique and global power it has, they must not allow Trump back onto the platform.
September 28, 2022
Amid burgeoning crises, Robert Misik writes, the left finds itself assuming the mantle of responsibility.
https://socialeurope.eu/reasonable-left-irresponsible-right
Throughout the history of mankind, there have been catastrophes. In modern times, there have also been media representations of catastrophe, including worked-up or even imagined catastrophes. More than 60 years ago, the German author Friedrich Sieburg wrote about the ‘lust for doom’, which, strangely enough, has a tremendous appeal especially in eras perceived as stable: ‘The everyday life of democracy with its dreary problems is boring, but the impending catastrophes are highly interesting.’
Now that we have had no shortage of real catastrophes in the past 15 years, we no longer have to conjure them up. First came the global financial crisis, which threatened to topple banks and other financial institutions—even states—as if houses of cards. Later the pandemic arrived and then the military invasion of the second largest country in Europe by the largest. Its shockwaves are devastating half the world, with energy crisis, broken supply chains, price explosion, food shortages, impoverishment and destitution.
And all the time comes the onrushing climate catastrophe, whose consequences are already apparent and which intersects with the current geopolitical crisis. The global electricity markets are going crazy because there is a lack of gas from Russia, but also because the rivers are drying up, the hydroelectric power plants are empty and nuclear power plants have to be shut down because the cooling water in the rivers is becoming too scarce—even the coal-fired plants are having problems where coal can no longer be shipped.
In any case, disaster is not now something we frivolously imagine because we are bored. It is there—very real for many and at least felt by most. Not only does it colour political debates but an atmosphere of pessimism, insecurity and fear has settled over most societies. This is so even, perhaps especially, in the affluent societies of the west, which had become accustomed to stability and relative prosperity. A sentiment is spreading: the whole machinery no longer works, it is broken—and the political elites have no plan.
snip
Reasonable left, irresponsible right
Amid burgeoning crises, Robert Misik writes, the left finds itself assuming the mantle of responsibility.
https://socialeurope.eu/reasonable-left-irresponsible-right
Throughout the history of mankind, there have been catastrophes. In modern times, there have also been media representations of catastrophe, including worked-up or even imagined catastrophes. More than 60 years ago, the German author Friedrich Sieburg wrote about the ‘lust for doom’, which, strangely enough, has a tremendous appeal especially in eras perceived as stable: ‘The everyday life of democracy with its dreary problems is boring, but the impending catastrophes are highly interesting.’
Now that we have had no shortage of real catastrophes in the past 15 years, we no longer have to conjure them up. First came the global financial crisis, which threatened to topple banks and other financial institutions—even states—as if houses of cards. Later the pandemic arrived and then the military invasion of the second largest country in Europe by the largest. Its shockwaves are devastating half the world, with energy crisis, broken supply chains, price explosion, food shortages, impoverishment and destitution.
And all the time comes the onrushing climate catastrophe, whose consequences are already apparent and which intersects with the current geopolitical crisis. The global electricity markets are going crazy because there is a lack of gas from Russia, but also because the rivers are drying up, the hydroelectric power plants are empty and nuclear power plants have to be shut down because the cooling water in the rivers is becoming too scarce—even the coal-fired plants are having problems where coal can no longer be shipped.
In any case, disaster is not now something we frivolously imagine because we are bored. It is there—very real for many and at least felt by most. Not only does it colour political debates but an atmosphere of pessimism, insecurity and fear has settled over most societies. This is so even, perhaps especially, in the affluent societies of the west, which had become accustomed to stability and relative prosperity. A sentiment is spreading: the whole machinery no longer works, it is broken—and the political elites have no plan.
snip
September 27, 2022
Living with downstairs neighbors.. 😅
https://twitter.com/buitengebieden/status/1574498706098995200
September 25, 2022
Claudia Sahm is an American economist, leading the Macroeconomic Research initiative of the Jain Family Institute. She was formerly director of macroeconomic policy at the Washington Center for Equitable Growth, and a Section Chief at the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, where she worked in various capacities from 2007 to 2019.
Sahm specializes in macroeconomics and household finance. She is best known for the development of the Sahm Rule, a Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED) indicator for identifying recessions in real-time.
She was a member of President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisors from 2015-2016.
https://twitter.com/Claudia_Sahm/status/1572911301311201280
https://twitter.com/Claudia_Sahm/status/1572911911150448641
https://twitter.com/Claudia_Sahm/status/1572952218562863109
https://twitter.com/Claudia_Sahm/status/1572953981432872961
https://twitter.com/Claudia_Sahm/status/1572956127255728128
https://twitter.com/Claudia_Sahm/status/1572959000429199361
https://twitter.com/Claudia_Sahm/status/1572960828663517185
https://twitter.com/Claudia_Sahm/status/1572962944098377729
https://twitter.com/Claudia_Sahm/status/1573202659934633986
Claudia Sahm (former Obama/Fed economist) Today's talk. Inflation. (the Fed's dangerous rate raises)
It is inexcusable, bordering on dangerous for the Fed to be raising rates so aggressively. Is 4 percentage points on US core inflation really worth destabilizing Europe and pushing us into a global recession? No, it is not.
Claudia Sahm is an American economist, leading the Macroeconomic Research initiative of the Jain Family Institute. She was formerly director of macroeconomic policy at the Washington Center for Equitable Growth, and a Section Chief at the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, where she worked in various capacities from 2007 to 2019.
Sahm specializes in macroeconomics and household finance. She is best known for the development of the Sahm Rule, a Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED) indicator for identifying recessions in real-time.
She was a member of President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisors from 2015-2016.
https://twitter.com/Claudia_Sahm/status/1572911301311201280
https://twitter.com/Claudia_Sahm/status/1572911911150448641
https://twitter.com/Claudia_Sahm/status/1572952218562863109
https://twitter.com/Claudia_Sahm/status/1572953981432872961
https://twitter.com/Claudia_Sahm/status/1572956127255728128
https://twitter.com/Claudia_Sahm/status/1572959000429199361
https://twitter.com/Claudia_Sahm/status/1572960828663517185
https://twitter.com/Claudia_Sahm/status/1572962944098377729
https://twitter.com/Claudia_Sahm/status/1573202659934633986
September 25, 2022
https://archive.ph/g50HE
This light, garlicky soup is popular in monasteries and convents in Italy, France, Spain and Portugal, writes Brother Victor-Antoine d’Avila-Latourrette in his best-selling 1996 cookbook, “Twelve Months of Monastery Soups.”
Because of its monastic origins, this recipe is thrifty, especially if made with water, but we recommend Brother Victor’s note to enrich it by using vegetable or chicken broth, and by adding more wine to taste. The original recipe calls for using your oil of choice, but we suggest olive oil, for richer flavor.
snip
Monastic Garlic Soup
https://www.washingtonpost.com/food/2022/09/20/garlic-soup-recipe/https://archive.ph/g50HE
This light, garlicky soup is popular in monasteries and convents in Italy, France, Spain and Portugal, writes Brother Victor-Antoine d’Avila-Latourrette in his best-selling 1996 cookbook, “Twelve Months of Monastery Soups.”
Because of its monastic origins, this recipe is thrifty, especially if made with water, but we recommend Brother Victor’s note to enrich it by using vegetable or chicken broth, and by adding more wine to taste. The original recipe calls for using your oil of choice, but we suggest olive oil, for richer flavor.
snip
September 25, 2022
Label: Paper Recordings – PAP 044
Format:
Vinyl, 12", 33 ⅓ RPM
Country: UK
Released: 20 Apr 2000
Genre: Electronic
Style: House, Deep House
Crazy Penis - Do It Good (Tom Middleton's Cosmos 'Do Un Goodur' Mix) (2000) UK Deep House 💊⚗️
Label: Paper Recordings – PAP 044
Format:
Vinyl, 12", 33 ⅓ RPM
Country: UK
Released: 20 Apr 2000
Genre: Electronic
Style: House, Deep House
Profile Information
Gender: FemaleHometown: London
Home country: US/UK/Sweden
Current location: Stockholm, Sweden
Member since: Sun Jul 1, 2018, 07:25 PM
Number of posts: 43,317
