After decades of bureaucratic delays, corruption and opposition from environmental groups, sea walls designed to protect Venice from ‘acqua alta’, or high water, went up on Saturday, testing their ability to combat the city’s increasingly threatening floods.
Officials said that by 10 am, all 78 floodgates securing three inlets to the Venetian lagoon had been raised, and even when the tide reached as high as four feet, water levels inside the lagoon remained stable.
Alvise Papa, the director of the Venice department that monitors high tides said that there wasn’t even a puddle in St Mark’s Square, and he said that had the flood barriers not been raised, approximately half the city’s streets would have been under water, and visitors to St Mark’s Square, which floods when the tide nears three feet, would have been wading in a foot and a half of water.
Luigi Brugnaro, Venice’s recently re-elected mayor said with pride and joy that everything was dry.
Designed some four decades ago to help protect Venice from flooding, the mobile barrier system was stalled by cost overruns, corruption, and resistance from environmental and conservation groups.
The cost of the system tripled from initial estimates, and a 2014 bribery scandal led to the detention of the then-mayor, Giorgio Orsoni, and dozens of others, including politicians and businessmen involved in the project.
Giorgio Orsoni and some of the others charged were exonerated.
Giuseppe Fiengo, one of the commissioners who had led the project since 2014 said that it was an extremely challenging situation, but gradually they’ve been able to settle things, but he said that for the first time, with high water, Venice didn’t flood.
The floodgates had been tested several times over the past summer, but under less threatening weather conditions than those on Saturday.
Alberto Scotti, the engineer who designed them said that this time they raised them to defend Venice.
The system is not quite operational yet – some infrastructure still needs to be completed, and workers haven’t yet been thoroughly trained, so Saturday’s procedure was technically a test.
Alberto Scotti said that the test had a purpose – to ensure the safety of the city.
The construction firms building the system have until December 2021 to complete the work.
When it’s completely operational, the floodgates will be activated whenever the tide reaches three and a half feet. Until then, the floodgates will be utilised when the tide reaches four feet, as it did on Saturday.
However, will reducing its short term effects sidestep a fatal outcome for the city? Or is it just a temporary solution to more damaging tides due to advancing sea levels, warmer oceans and increased incidence of more robust weather storms?
But I’m sure Noah and his Arc would be extremely proud, and it’s probably only a matter of time before it’s an aquatic attraction.
How do you make the nation’s most selective high school into something more than an intellectual playground for clever Asian and White kids from wealthy families?
At a meeting on Thursday, the Fairfax County School Board will endeavour to respond to that question for its renowned 35-year-old magnet, the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology.
The administration of the Northern Virginia school district is ashamed to have a public high school where only 1.7 per cent of the pupils are low income and only 5 per cent are Black or Hispanic.
It’s an atypical place and the annual data collecting since 1996, Thomas Jefferson High School usually has the highest SAT score average for any US school, public or private.
Fairfax County school officials have a bold proposal to alter the school’s entrance strategy, yet the details of their strategy are not as revealing as an early item, ‘History of Admission Changes’, in their September 15 report on Thomas Jefferson High School.
They list six earlier endeavours at reform. A new outreach specialist position in 2011 – holistic review, that means looking at the whole kid in 2013 – lower minimum semifinalist requirements in 2014 – a new problem-solving essay in 2015 – cutting back the outreach specialist to a half time position in 2016 and new entrance tests in 2017.
At the base of that page, in boldface letters, the district acknowledges that the modifications haven’t made a substantial impact on the application pool or admitted student demographics.
Their next endeavour is a drastic step. They want to increase the minimum core academic class grade point average for admittance to Thomas Jefferson High School from 3.0 to 3.5. Then they want to select the lucky winners in Fairfax County and four other participating districts based not on entrance test results, teacher recommendations and other quality measures, as they did before, but on random lotteries.
This has produced gasps in the Jefferson community and numerous people don’t think education should be run like a church bingo game.
Lotteries to pick students usually only employ the most prevalent public charter schools in areas like the District of Columbia (DC), where numerous Northern Virginians would never send their children to school.
There would be separate Jefferson lotteries in each of five similar regions in Fairfax County and in the other participating districts and the district’s report reveals that if it had been used when this year’s freshman class was chosen, 7 per cent of the admittees would have been Black, 8 per cent Hispanic and 10.3 per cent low income.
The question goes beyond the ‘who gets in’ but more a question of ‘How are these children prepared to go to these schools?’ And what we’re talking about is the middle school preparation of these students to succeed, not the actual high schools themselves.
In numerous schools, pupils are allowed to apply to any high school and are accepted, not on their ethnicity, creed or colour, but on their across-the-board performance academically, behaviorally and the readiness to learn are critical parts to entrance to schools, and it seems that school districts need to concentrate on the middle school preparation for high school to bring these numbers up.
One of the dark sides is the parental involvement or absence thereof and it’s a heartbreaking fact that parents for multiple reasons aren’t directly involved in their children’s education and this has a tremendous impact on everything.
Among the Trump faithful, the president’s hospitalisation for the coronavirus changed little in their worldview – of the virus, his handling of the pandemic and their unquestioned support for him.
“I’m just going to be glued to the TV tonight and tomorrow,” said Sal Linzetto, 79, a citizen of Atkinson, N.H, outside a store that sells Trump paraphernalia. “I’m going to be watching to hear that [Trump] is just wonderful, and every day just gets healthier, and can get back on the trail in seven to 10 days.”
Now that his COVID 19 diagnosis has made Donald Trump the face of the global pandemic a month before Election Day, some of his most devoted followers said he’s handled the situation as well as could be expected, and they’re not ditching their candidate at his hour of reckoning.
“I’m not saying that he purposely got it, but maybe he’s trying to show the public that it’s serious but not as serious as the left would try to make it out to be,” said Tom Anderson, who lives in Salem, which backed the Republican Trump over his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, in 2016.
Trump “did a great job” confronting the virus, Anderson said. “What else could he have done to prevent this?” he asked.
On Saturday afternoon, Donald Trump tweeted about his condition from the Walter Reed National Military Medical Centre, where he was hospitalised Friday evening on the recommendation of his physicians.
“Tremendous progress has been made over the last 6 months in fighting this PLAGUE,” wrote Donald Trump, who applauded the doctors and nurses treating him. “With their help, I am feeling well!”
Approximately 30 minutes later, Donald Trump tweeted that the country needs “WANTS & NEEDS STIMULUS.”
Earlier on Saturday, Donald Trump’s physicians and a top aide presented a confusing portrait of the president’s condition at a briefing outside the Walter Reed Medical Centre in Maryland.
One physician said that Donald Trump wasn’t experiencing complications and had been fever free for more than 24 hours, but the President’s chief of staff, Mark Meadows, later told reporters that the next 48 hours would be crucial in determining the President’s recovery, according to media reports.
Meanwhile, another media outlet, quoting two people close to the White House, reported Donald Trump had trouble breathing on Friday and that his oxygen levels had fallen, and that before leaving for the hospital, the newspaper said that Donald Trump received supplemental oxygen at the White House.
There are just no words for this stupidity and America’s handling of the pandemic has been clearly horrendous, but that isn’t so apparent to some.
Of course, this might all be a diversion, and then suddenly he will be magically cured and he’ll glorify himself and the treatment he was given and then call himself victorious, saying that he’s saving American lives, and his huckleberry yeehaw dingdong devotees will lap it up.
But some people prefer the failed real estate tycoon, you know, the one that’s filed bankruptcy six times to keep his brand going, but his next venture has begun, yanking every piece of honour and wealth that the US once had.
An endearing video showing Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis all asking questions to Sir David Attenborough about wildlife has been released by Kensington Palace.
It’s the rare opportunity for fans of the Royal Family to hear the children speak, and to see how much they’ve grown and it’s thought to be the first time Prince Louis has ever been captured talking on camera.
The adorable footage was released by Kensington Palace and belongs to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
In the video, the three royal children take it in turns to ask Sir David Attenborough their questions and looking into the camera with his hands dashingly behind his back, Prince George, seven, goes first, saying, “Hello David Attenborough, what animal do you think will become extinct next?”
Next is Charlotte, five, who looks shyly past the camera as she says, “Hello David Attenborough, I like spiders, do you like spiders too?”
And then it’s the turn of little Louis, two, who asks the veteran broadcaster, “What animal do you like?”, although it comes out sounding a little more like “amimal”.
Of course, Sir David Attenborough responds to all their questions with incredible detail.
The footage was recorded at Kensington Palace last month.
The video comes as Sir David Attenborough met with William and Kate, both 38, Prince George, seven, Princess Charlotte, five, and two-year-old Louis at Kensington Palace.
He attended a private viewing of his new environmental documentary with the Duke of Cambridge, which was held in the palace’s grounds.
In the images released last week, Sir David Attenborough presented Prince George with a 23 million-year-old shark tooth.
The young prince was photographed handling the fossilised tooth from an extinct Charcharocles megalodon, one of the most feared predators to have swum in the seas, and the young prince looked fascinated.
Then, William and the veteran broadcaster watched ‘A Life On Our Planet’, a revealing and powerful first-hand account in which Sir David Attenborough reflects on both the defining moments of his life as a naturalist and the devastating transformations he’s witnessed.
Socially distanced in the open air, the Duke of Cambridge and Sir David Attenborough were offered directors chairs with their names printed on the back, but in a change of plan, they sat in each other’s seats.
I must confess, it was nice seeing something nice and normal again – talking about fascinating things with impressive illuminating answers that weren’t too busy and as you look into those dark deep eyes of George, there’s his father, clear as day – great parents, great children and great David Attenborough.
Gorgeous children that are intelligent and well behaved, perhaps a new baby will join them.
George showed his charm and firmness in the question, Charlotte the sweetness of her mother and Louis is adorable, but how fast they grow up.
At the end of the day, they’re just children who didn’t know what family they were being born into, but luckily seem to have parents who cherish them and keep them as normal as possible, and they were excellent questions from the little ones and Sir David Attenborough is a living legend and let’s hope that these children grow up to go on and do amazing things with their lives, and hopefully, they’ll preserve wildlife instead of hunting it, unlike other Royals, and they should be kept as far away from Prince Andrew as possible.
Republic is an organisation that campaigns for the abolition of the monarchy and for Queen Elizabeth II to be superseded with an elected, democratic head of state.
Graham Smith, the organisation’s CEO told a news outlet that the UK taxpayer doesn’t owe Princess Anne, Prince Andrew or Prince Edward a home and Graham Smith said that there are more than 20 royal residences and we pay for round the clock security for all of them and that needs to come to an end.
He said there are some queries over who owns Balmoral and Sandringham and that it’s sufficiently recognised that they’re private properties, but they purchased them with our money.
Buckingham Palace could be a world-class tourist destination as an art gallery or museum if they opened up all the rooms and gardens to sightseers all year round.
It already houses one of the biggest art collections in the world, yet most of it is hidden away and it’s the same with Windsor Castle, which could be run at a profit, just like the Tower of London and there’s no reason why that shouldn’t happen.
The Republic CEO said that as for all the other residences around the country – we don’t owe Princess Anne a home, she can go and buy her own home and that we don’t owe Prince Andrew or Prince Edward a home, they can go and get their own houses.
However, he said that we keep giving them these enormous, excessively plush, elegant homes in London and elsewhere at the taxpayer’s expense, which they then need huge spending on security and there just isn’t any rationale for that whatsoever.
Mr Smith also told the Queen that she can’t remain as the head of state for the United Kingdom as she’s not autonomous or accountable and he said that the function of the head of state should be to defend the Constitution and serve as a referee in the political process.
People say that it’s a great tourist attraction in having the Royal Family, but how many sightseers even see the Queen? And having Buckingham Palace as a museum where people can truly trek the whole of it would be much more of an appeal to tourism and an added money earner for the nation.
And the only reason they’re in the position they’re in now is that they’ve descended from the biggest cluster of desperados of the past and they’re a total waste of space and our taxes to keep them in the indulgence neither they nor we can afford.
Just let them have one house so that they can live in it together like other impoverished families have to, just so they know precisely how it feels and the artworks et cetera should be on permanent public view, not loaned out at some wealthy geriatrics whimsy.
However, getting rid of Royal Families has occurred in some countries and it’s just paved the way for even more destructive fools and oppressors.
However, members of the Royal Family who want their independence should be ousted of their titles and any benefits they had, or those of the Royal Family that has brought embarrassment to them.
However, there are numerous members of the Royal Family that do work hard, so perhaps getting rid of them would not be of any benefit to the United Kingdom or society, and if the Queen can’t be independent in doing her duties any longer because of her age, then maybe she should hand down those responsibilities to Prince William.
The Duke of Sussex has not always been a model of racial awareness, but a broad smile from his wife, who has a black mother and a white father, he spoke out about his own awakening to the lack of opportunities for people from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities.
The duke said that he wasn’t aware of so many of the problems and so many of the issues within the United Kingdom and also globally as well. He said he thought he did, but that he doesn’t.
But then does he know anything about deprivation as well – he’s not short of a penny or two and neither is his wife whose continually got her arm up his behind coaching him.
I’m sure that there will be a lot of posh people out there that will not agree, but Prince Harry knows nothing about deprivation or race. He went to a posh school, but what’s wrong with the local comprehensive school? Unless you believe in an exhausted education system where some children are brought up with an advantage over other children.
There’s nothing wrong with children earning their success, but saying that, people who come from great privilege or are advantaged, they frankly do need to reflect on the disadvantaged in our society.
And people like Prince Harry never speak out because the system works perfectly well for them and they have little or no interest in changing it, but there are many that work actively to preserve it.
Prince Harry should be encouraged to speak out because deprivation and race is still a battle which needs fighting, rather than freeloading around drinking champagne and shooting grouse all day, like he could have opted to do.
But he’s never been faced with the true understanding of how being impoverished works and how it negatively impacts people, but he shouldn’t be shouted down before he’s taken a few steps, just because he’s not fighting all the battles at once – he’s a novice in terms of being a campaigner for social justice.
Saying that, there is a lot of middle-class white kids that have a big brain and a healthy body and a fancy degree, many of which grew up in a stable, loving home with smart, educated parents who didn’t drink, do drugs or commit crimes or bash each other up.
However, they’re very well aware of how fortunate they are compared to many other people. You can’t help the life that you were born into, but there are people out there that will speak up for the people that are less fortunate and the biggest problem is people’s understanding of poverty and race.
Allies of Jeremy Corbyn are hunting a mole among friends of the ex-Labour leader after the emergence of a photograph showing him breaking coronavirus constraints.
Jeremy Corbyn has been mortified by a picture of him at an assemblage of nine people, violating the rule of six that is written in law, which was squealed to a news outlet on Tuesday night.
Publication of the photo started a quest for the turncoat among the seven friends of Jeremy Corbyn who were at the dinner bash, which he attended with his wife, Laura Alvarez.
But to be honest, how can you punish Jeremy Corbyn and not Dominic Cummings?
The SNP politician is different, she knew that she had symptoms and then tested positive, yet still chose to travel, and for that, she needs to be sacked as an MP and prosecuted.
However, this speaks volumes about Dominic Cummings that had to drive that distance to find someone willing to care for his son, when most children make friends and develop support networks close to where they live.
But it appears that everyone is dishonest and complicit in this Government, no matter who they are, they simply don’t care who they hurt along the way, and they don’t seem to care what laws they break, as long as they’re doing it to serve themselves.
And now Jeremy Corbyn’s at it – undoubtedly, he believes he’s above the law as well, but they will all have blood on their hands and everyone knows it, but let’s hope he doesn’t lose a loved one or his own life due to such selfishness.
But it seems that our Government, Conservative and Labour are making a pig’s ear of it and they seem to be customising the rules, and they can because they’ve been applied so erratically.
However, the only thing that these rules do is confer control over our lives through a Government that is incompetent and I’m not going to defend either of them because it seems they all have hatred for the average person.
And you know Jeremy Corbyn’s a hypocrite when he said he was going to go after billionaires, but multi-millionaires are okay, considering he’s worth three million pounds (Last Updated: 10.03.20).
It would appear that one thing that politicians of all parties seem to share is that it’s one rule for them and another for us ordinary folk, but then they expect us to vote for them.
I would love to condemn Jeremy Corbyn so that I could point the finger at him and laugh – he knew he was disobeying the rules and therefore he should expect the same focus and condemnation as Dominic Cummings did.
He shouldn’t have done it and now it’s been leaked and they’re trying to find the mole when Jeremy Corbyn is the one that should be disciplined, not the mole, although this so-called mole shouldn’t have been at the gathering either, and whoever took the photograph must have been at the gathering as well.
It just seems that the whole of our Government is complicit – perhaps they should be sent to a re-education centre so that they can learn about the rules the rest of us peasants have to obey.
An ex-pastor and BBC television presenter has been imprisoned for 10 years, and four months after he confessed to abusing boys and men for over almost three decades.
Mold crown court in north Wales heard that Ben Thomas, 44, carried out many of his aggressions while his victims were sleeping at Christian camps and conferences.
Sentencing Ben Thomas for 40 sexual crimes involving 33 boys and men, the judge, Timothy Petts, said that for almost 30 years, Ben Thomas concealed a dark secret, namely that he was a prolific sex abuser.
The vast preponderance of Ben Thomas’s victims were teenage boys and Judge Petts said that Ben Thomas used his position as an esteemed church leader to pinpoint his victims.
Judge Petts said Ben Thomas, who started the sexual abuse when he was 14 or 15, had a mask of respectability, but was a dangerous criminal, and ruled he would be on the sex offender register for life.
Ben Thomas worked for BBC Wales as a presenter on Ffeil, the Welsh language news programme for young people, and as a correspondent on Wales Today.
He left the BBC in 2005 to sermonise on the streets of London before returning to Wales in 2008 as the pastor of the Criccieth Family Church in Gwynedd.
His offending came to light when one victim came forward and Ben Thomas was reported to the police.
When questioned by the police, Ben Thomas, of Flint, initially replied ‘no comment’, but three weeks later he requested to be re-interviewed and confessed to crimes against victims aged between 11 and 34 in North Wales, Shropshire, London and Romania.
The court heard that multiple victims were clueless they’d been abused until they were traced by police after Thomas’s admission and not all of those he confessed to abusing have been found.
Ben Thomas, who has a wife and children, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to crimes including sexual activity with a child, sexual assaults, attempted sexual assaults, indecent assaults, voyeurism and making inappropriate videos of children.
The court heard that he once concealed his phone in a wash bag at an outdoor centre to film boys going to the toilet or showering and on some occasions when his victims awoke to find him in their room, he would pretend to be sleepwalking.
And one man who woke as he was being assaulted described his bed shaking and being excessively frightened, as he thought ‘dark spirits’ were attacking him and in a statement read to the court, another victim described feeling enraged, hurt, disgusted, let down and violated and he said the man’s face will never leave his thoughts.
But the painful fact is that this beast abused his victims for 30 years and only got a ten-year sentence, which doesn’t make any sense at all.
Ben Thomas acted like a wolf in sheep’s clothing and for 30 years he committed 40 sexual crimes involving 33 boys and men, yet was given such lenient sentencing, but he deserves a much harsher punishment than this.
There were so many victims here, including his wife and children – imagine the stigma they will face and this man sought out his position so that he could exploit boys and men.
The sentencing should have been per offence and ten years in jail is an affront to those victims, but then I suppose all this man has to do is say sorry to the invisible sky fairy and all is forgiven, with them believing that their place in heaven is guaranteed.
The church is respected in numerous ways and being a paedophile appears to be a prerequisite to enter the brotherhood – is this really how the corrupting influence of the church really works? And all in the name of religion, and it seems that all institutions are corrupt.
And it seems at our justice system only cares about crimes concerning money, but rape, marital or sexual abuse they really don’t care about but commit fraud and they’ll put you in the clink forever.
International markets dropped early Friday after President Trump said that he and the first lady had tested positive for the coronavirus, with European markets opening more than 1 per cent lower in early trading, although they clawed back some territory later in the morning and were drifting at around half per cent lower.
Futures tracking Wall Street initially likewise indicated US stocks would open nearly 2 per cent lower before coming back and of late morning in Europe, they were indicating Wall Street would open as much as 1.5 per cent lower.
The volatility indicated that investors will still be parsing how strongly to react to the news and Donald Trump’s disclosure infiltrated a tremendous amount of apprehension into financial markets, and serendipity is what investors like least.
It throws the political leadership of the world’s biggest economy into doubt and it also raises questions about his campaign for re-election against ex-Vice President Joseph R Biden Jr, his Democratic opponent – the election is set for November 3, a little more than a month away.
Paul Donovan, the chief economist at UBS Global Wealth Management, said in a note to clients that after an initial reaction the news is only likely to have an ongoing market impact if it’s seen as impacting the election outcome or public health, as the market moved early to reflect those jitters.
Investors aspired to put money in acquisitions that were traditionally considered safe havens and the prices increased for the United States Treasury bonds, sending yields lower.
Gold prices also increased, as did the value of the Japanese yen against other currencies.
Investments that are more susceptible to economic and policy changes dropped fast and oil futures slid along with stocks, while other commodities plunged too.
In Japan, where the news broke late on the trading day, stocks were about 0.7 per cent lower after spending most of the day in positive territory. Most other Asian markets were closed for the autumn holidays.
President Trump announced that he and the first lady, Melania Trump have tested positive for coronavirus, throwing the US leadership into uncertainty, but I must say, it didn’t take the coronavirus diagnosis for most to be sceptical about Donald Trump’s administration.
But then has he put this out there because he doesn’t want to face a debate with Joe Biden – it’s not like he’s not fibbed before and it seems that he wants to drum up sympathy from his base and then, he will rise like a Phoenix out of the proverbial ashes.
Sadly, there’s a lot of people in the US that don’t trust their President anymore and they’re becoming extremely distrustful of him.
Is he dodging debates? Is he dawdling to delay the vote? Is he actually sick? And if he is sick, do the public feel compassion for him or do they feel vindicated? But it’s more likely he’ll pop back up in two weeks and say he beat it and it’s no big deal and his disciples will eat that up.
However, if he really is sick, which many people question that he is, then Mike Pence won’t have time to do anything but wring his hands and Trump’s base will lose interest if their God isn’t out there yelling his baloney at rallies – although this is the perfect opportunity for Don Jr to finally shine – he can then get all coked up and be centre stage.
Members of the far-right organisation, Proud Boys, posted jubilant messages on social media after Donald Trump appeared to support their activities during the first presidential debate, telling the group to stand back and stand by.
Asked to denounce white supremacy, Donald Trump initially replied ‘sure’, before saying that everything he saw was from the leftwing, not the rightwing.
When pressed further, the US president asked the moderator for a name, prompting Joe Biden, his Democratic opponent, to mention the Proud Boys, an organisation that the Southern Poverty Law Centre has designated as a far-right hate group.
Donald Trump’s response prompted condemnation from Democrats and a few Republicans.
It echoed his comment in 2017 when he spoke of ‘fine people on both sides’ in referring to a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville.
The Proud Boys, a self-proclaimed fraternal organisation founded in 2016 when Donald Trump was running for president, refers to its members as ‘western chauvinists’.
Joe Biggs, a Proud Boys member, wrote on Parler, an alternative social media network, in a reference to extreme anti-fascist protesters that President Donald Trump told the Proud Boys to stand by because someone needs to deal with ANTIFA who is a political protest movement incorporating autonomous groups affiliated by their militant opposition to fascism and other forms of extreme right-wing ideology.
Proud Boys was barred from Facebook in 2018 but has continually tried to revamp its base on the platform.
The group is best known for street fighting, bizarre rituals and wearing black and yellow Fred Perry polo shirts.
The movement has branches across America and elsewhere, including the United Kingdom.
Facebook removed a network of accounts connected to the group in June.
Oren Segal, an expert on extremism at the Anti Defamation League, said membership of the group ranged from white supremacists to ethnic minorities, who had increasingly converged around the concept of being the frontline in the battle against the extreme left.
Donald Trump has repeatedly asserted that Joe Biden supports anarchists and radical protestors in his campaign for re-election.
After returning to the White House on Wednesday, Donald Trump sought to distance himself from his own comments, claiming he was not familiar with the group and he said that he didn’t know who the Proud Boys were and that whoever they are, they need to stand down.
Joe Biden and campaign surrogates kept up the pressure, however, Mr Biden retweeted a post by a journalist who had posted screenshots of rapturous remarks from members of the group, including Mr Biggs.
Joe Biden, who has previously said his decision to run for president was partly a response to the way Donald Trump had responded to the situation in Charlottesville three years ago, tweeted that this was Donald Trump’s America.
These Proud Boys need to get a job, don’t we all wish we had time to hang out on the streets all day and they’re all grown-ups and they might want to think of themselves as men and not as boys, although they do all seem to have the intelligence of children.
And what are they proud of, their douchebagness? Yet groups like these are permitted to live out their fantasies.
But does anyone actually take these Proud Boys seriously, it all seems a bit niche to me and reminds me of Germany before the second world war? And hoodlums will find any vision for a speck of attention.
The Proud Boys are a far-right and neo-fascist, male-only organisation that encourages and engages in political violence. It’s based in the United States and has a presence in Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom.
The Proud Boys emerged as part of the alt-right, but McInnes started distancing himself from the alt-right in early 2017, saying the alt right’s focus was about ethnicity.
The group believes men, especially white men and the Western culture is under siege and their views have elements of the white genocide conspiracy theory.
Officially, the group rejects white supremacy, although it has significant links with white supremacist groups.
Its members have partaken in numerous racist events and events centred around anti-left violence, with ex-members organising the Unite the Right protest in Charlottesville, and the organisation glorified violence and the Southern Poverty Law Centre has called it an alt-right fight club.
Remember, it only took two white American supremacists to execute the Oklahoma City Bombing, killing 168 Americans, including 19 small children and injuring another 500.
No one had ever heard of them before and no one should be encouraging these groups, let alone the President and the abiding impression of Donald Trump’s remark was that he considers himself the commander in chief of the Proud Boys and that they would obey his orders.
He clearly made no attempts to estrange himself from them, and in the context of his remarks following the Charlottesville violence, I believe we can safely conclude that he considers himself as their commander in chief.
And regardless of which side people might support, the formation of armed militias on the streets of US towns and cities further destabilises a fraught situation and contributes to greater fear and violence.
And we would expect any credible politician to indeed condemn any escalation of threat or violence, but Donald Trump doesn’t seem the least bit interested in even containing the situation and more interested in blaming one side and validating the other.
The measures he’s taken, sending in various Federal forces seem to have done nothing but fan the flames of discord.
In the context of that, and the manner in which Donald Trump responded to the invitation to condemn white supremacists appears to be implicit acceptance of them.
And there has been global anger at his acceptance of jackbooted fascism and Donald Trump is frequently forced to explain his verbosities, when it’s pretty evident that his first utterance on a matter is the one he usually means.
THE MONTHLY MOSQUITO 