Tuesday, December 28, 2021


What’s fueling America’s political rage?

Kevin Drum has an article in "Mother Jones" trying to explain the furious political polarization that has evolved in America today. It is too long to reproduce so I will comment on it only.

One expects simplistic thought from Leftists and Drum gives us a prime example of that. He makes a case that is well-argued and worth reading but his conclusion is in the end risible: He blames it all on Fox News!

He is undoubtedly right in identifying the importance of Fox News but to blame a vast demographic change on on one media outlet is risible.

A demographic change needs a demographic explanation. And if I can risk being ass simplistic as Drum, my explanation is: Hispanics.

America's two major minorities are very responsive to the brainless arguments of Leftists and one of those minorities has steadily become much larger than it was. The size of the Hispanic population has reached a tipping point where it has a big effect on election outcomes.

And because Hispanics have until very recently been thoroughly "rusted on" to the Democratic party, that has enabled the Left to take less care to farm other population segments. To put it blunltly, the white vote matters less to the American Left these days.

Some whites will always vote Left can takes a fair slice of the white vote for granted. If their policies are unpalatable to other whites, the Left don't need to care about that. They have always got the minority votes to prop them up.

So in the circumstances, the Left can be what Leftists all want to be: Radical. Communism is their ideal and they want to get as close to that as they can. In the Soviet era they excused Soviet brutality by saying that the Soviets were just "reformers in a hurry" and to this day they excuse the Cuban regime.

So it is the Left who have changed, to the horror of many reasonable people who don't want their country to be turned on its ear. The Left have by their policies and actions generated in many normal people a great dislike of themselves and that has made them return the compliment. It infuriates them that the wonderful reforms that they have finally accomplished are not universally acclaimed.

A San Diego State University dean recently called conservative ideas a 'stench'. Since when has that been civilized discourse? How is that respect for others? There is no mistaking the furious hate that pervades the current American Left. They have abandoned restraints that once kept them civilized and reasonably moderate. People like that have got to be very hard to talk to

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BBC only just behind Hamas in respected Jewish organisation the Wiesenthal Center's antisemitic 'list of shame'

The BBC has been branded anti-semitic by one of the world’s most respected Jewish organisations.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center –named after the famed Nazi-hunter – has placed the BBC at No 3 on its annual ‘Global Antisemitism Top Ten’ list.

Last night, Rabbi Marvin Hier, head of the centre, told The Mail On Sunday: ‘People might be surprised to see the BBC on our list but the decision to place the BBC at No 3 came after months of intense debate and discussion.

‘We believe the BBC has been guilty of several incidences of anti-semitism during the past year.

‘People might assume we would put neo-Nazi groups on our list but the BBC is there because when a globally recognised organisation allows antisemitism to creep into its reporting, it makes it all the more insidious and dangerous.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center ¿named after the famed Nazi-hunter ¿ has placed the BBC at No 3 on its annual ¿Global Antisemitism Top Ten¿ list +2
The Simon Wiesenthal Center –named after the famed Nazi-hunter – has placed the BBC at No 3 on its annual ‘Global Antisemitism Top Ten’ list

‘People around the world trust the BBC and rely on it for truthful reporting of world events.’

The Rabbi singled out the Corporation’s reporting of an attack on a busload of Jewish teenagers by a group of men who chanted anti-Israel slogans.

The incident took place in London’s Oxford Street last month as the teens celebrated the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah.

‘The BBC falsely reported that a victim on the bus used an anti-Muslim slur. But what was heard on tape was a distressed Jewish man speaking in Hebrew appealing for help,’ Rabbi Hier said.

The Mail on Sunday understands the BBC has investigated the reporting and maintains the alleged slur was included to ensure the fullest account of the incident.

The BBC issued a statement earlier this month saying the story was a ‘factual report’ that ‘overwhelmingly focused on the individuals the police want to identify; those who directed abuse at the bus’.

The Wiesenthal Center report, which will be released on Tuesday, lists Iran – whose leaders deny the Holocaust and have pledged to ‘annihilate Israel’ – at No 1 on the list and the Palestinian terror group Hamas at No 2.

The report condemned former BBC reporter Tala Halawa who posted a series of tweets including ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘Zionists can’t get enough of our blood’ in 2014. Ms Halawa no longer works for the BBC.

It also criticised the Corporation for ‘often’ referring to Israelis as ‘settlers’ and cited a video tweeted by senior BBC producer Alaa Daraghme captioned: ‘An Israeli settler ramming a Palestinian man near the Lions’ Gate.’

Rabbi Hier said: ‘In fact, the car drove on to the pavement after an attempt by Palestinians to lynch the Jewish driver who lost control of the vehicle.’

A BBC source said the original tweet had been posted when there was ‘some confusion’ over the incident. Mr Daraghme later published another tweet clarifying what had happened.

The US-based Simon Wiesenthal Center’s top ten also includes ‘social media giants’ (for allowing hate to spread online) and the Unilever corporation, which owns Ben & Jerry’s ice-cream. Ben & Jerry’s board boycotted East Jerusalem and the West Bank.

A BBC spokesman said last night: ‘Antisemitism is abhorrent. The BBC strives to serve the Jewish community, and all communities across our country, fairly with accurate and impartial reporting.’

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Switzerland to allow people to legally change gender through self-identification from 2022

The Swiss will be able to change gender legally by self-declaration at a civil registry office from Saturday.

The country will be among a handful in Europe to grant legal weight to gender self-identification. Ireland, Belgium, Portugal and Norway are the only other nations on the continent to allow someone to legally change gender without hormone therapy, medical diagnosis or further evaluation or bureaucracy.

Anyone aged 16 and above not under legal guardianship will be able to do so. Younger people and those under adult protection will require guardian consent.

Current rules are dependent on region. Some require a certificate from a medical professional confirming transgender identity.

Others require a person to undergo hormone treatment and some ask for proof that the person’s new name has already been in use for several years.

Greater Manchester's Gender Based Violence Campaign #IsThisOK
While some other European nations, including Denmark, France and Greece, have removed the requirement of medical procedures – such as sex reassignment surgery – they require further steps or conditions.

In June, the Spanish government approved the draft of a bill that would allow anyone over the age of 14 to change gender legally without a medical diagnosis or hormone therapy.

In the UK, a report from the cross-party Women and Equalities Committee, says transgender people should be allowed to declare their own gender without “unfair and overly medicalised” scrutiny.

They argued that transgender people should no longer be required to have a gender dysphoria diagnosis from doctors to be legally recognised.

Proposals had been developed under Theresa May’s government to allow people to self-identify by signing a statutory declaration and without having to provide evidence of a medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria but the plan was scrapped.

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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis set $8 million in his 2022–23 budget to transport illegal immigrants out of The Sunshine State

He proposed the spending in the Freedom First Budget (pdf) to protect against harms resulting from illegal immigration. The spending may include the transportation of unauthorized aliens located within Florida to other states or the District of Columbia.

“In yesterday’s budget, I put in $8 million for us to be able to transport people illegally [in the United States] out of the state of Florida,” he said during a press conference on Friday.

The Republican governor listed Delaware, President Joe Biden’s hometown state, and Martha’s Vineyard, where former President Barack Obama owns a mansion, as potential destinations to relocate the illegal immigrants.

“If you sent [illegal immigrants] to Delaware or Martha’s Vineyard or some of these places, that border would be secure the next day,” he said.

The White House and The Obama Foundation didn’t respond immediately to requests for comments from The Epoch Times.

DeSantis also encouraged more counties to participate in the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) 287(g) program, under which individuals who have been arrested on criminal charges and are being booked into the county jails are asked about their immigration status.

Other proposed measures to reduce the harms of illegal immigrants include listing convicted illegal aliens on a public website.

DeSantis threatened to send illegal immigrants to Delaware back in November. He said his office is looking at legal avenues after his administration alleged that about 70 flights of illegal aliens were sent to Jacksonville, Florida, after being picked up by agents along the U.S.–Mexico border.

“We’re going to get together and figure out what we can do in the immediate term to protect folks in Florida,” DeSantis told reporters, noting that his options are limited because the federal government controls the immigration policies and actions.

But “if they’re not doing that,” DeSantis added, “then clearly the state should be able to come in and provide protection, and so that’s what we’re going to be looking to do.”

“If they’re going to come here, we’ll provide buses,” DeSantis said, before proclaiming, “I will send them to Delaware.”


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My other blogs. Main ones below:

http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM)

http://edwatch.blogspot.com (EDUCATION WATCH)

http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)

http://australian-politics.blogspot.com (AUSTRALIAN POLITICS)

http://snorphty.blogspot.com/ (TONGUE-TIED)

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