RACE SET TO DOMINATE DECADE

America is not an inherently racist society, as the dominant ethnic group is working hard on eliminating itself.

Note this from Wikipedia:   “As a result of its changed makeup and rapid growth, new immigration since 1965 has altered the nation’s racial and ethnic composition.   In 1965, 84% of Americans were non-Hispanic whites. By 2015, that share had declined to 62%. Meanwhile, the Hispanic share of the U.S. population rose from 4% in 1965 to 18% in 2015.”  (posted Sep 28, 2015).   By now, the white population is well under 60%.   A sudden recent drop in the birthrate means that they will soon be a minority themselves.  This means that race related matters are set to dominate our news in the next few years.  Schools are already majority non-white.

Nor does the United States discriminate in jobs and income.  There are non-white ethnic groups that have done very well in the US.  Our daughter lives in a nice, modern suburb where there are lots of Indians, people who have moved from the sub-continent, many for computer related jobs.   The Chinese and Japanese have also done well.   Before them, the Jews, also a minority, were very successful.

Minneapolis itself, where the death of George Floyd took place, is home to a large Somali community.   A few years ago, the BBC asked many Somalis if they were happy there.  None of them were and all said they would rather live in an Islamic society.

So, how then do you explain the riots and demonstrations that are affecting the country now?

The incident that sparked the riots was the murder of George Floyd when a policeman had his knee on his neck for nine minutes.   Incidents like it have happened all too often, but they happen to white people, too.

On February 28th, 2015, Deven Guilford, a 17-year-old white kid was shot seven times by a white policeman in Eaton County where we live in Michigan.   The difference between George Floyd and Deven?   The media did not think Deven’s death warranted any coverage.  The death of a black man at the hands of white police is always national news, but the death of a white kid in a similar manner is not!

America has been hit by a triple whammy the last three months.   First, there was the corona virus; secondly, the collapse of much of the economy, with 40 million unemployed; and third, racial problems which have resurfaced.   The riots are out of all proportion to the death of George Floyd, whose brother has called for people to stop rioting.  There were reports of people being bussed in to the big cities to riot; and  of mysterious piles of bricks left on street corners for people to throw.   There has been speculation that much of it has been orchestrated from outside.   When you consider that over 16% of all the people living in the US are foreign born, it’s not too unbelievable that some may be agents of foreign governments.

With some groups doing exceptionally well, whites in the middle and others left behind, it’s impossible to achieve total equality no matter what changes are made.   Almost 2,000 years ago, the early Christians experienced a problem, which involved two ethnic groups.  One group believed they were being discriminated against by the other.

“Now in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplying, there arose a complaint against the Hebrews by the Hellenists, because their widows were neglected in the daily distribution” (Acts 6:1).  Because the early Christians were such a small group, they were able to resolve this by appointing deacons who distributed food and clothing more evenly.

Later, in Galatians 2 we read of an incident where the Apostle Peter was guilty of what today would be called racism.  Peter showed favoritism to the Jewish converts over those from a gentile background.

If they couldn’t achieve total equality, how can we?

One final thought:   Even in African countries, where black Africans rule, black people are treated badly.  Clearly, millions of Africans would rather live in the United States than stay at home!

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ATTACKS ON ASIANS INCREASING

Attacks on East Asian people living in the US have shot up during the pandemic, revealing an uncomfortable truth about American identity.

Though she was not born in the US, nothing about Tracy Wen Liu’s life in the country felt “un-American.”   Ms, Liu went to football games, watched Sex and the City and volunteered at food banks.

Before the Covid-19 pandemic, the 31-year-old didn’t think anything of being East Asian and living in Austin, Texas.   “Honestly, I didn’t really think I stood out a lot,” she says.

That has changed.  With the outbreak of the pandemic that has killed around 100,000 people in the US, being Asian in America can make you a target – and many, including Ms Liu, have felt it.

In her case, she says a Korean friend was pushed and yelled at by several people in a grocery store, and then asked to leave, simply because she was Asian and wore a mask.

In states including New York, California, and Texas, East Asians have been spat on, punched or kicked – and in one case even stabbed.

Whether they have been faced with outright violence, bullying or more insidious forms of social or political abuse, a spike in anti- Asian prejudice has left many Asians – which in the US refers to people of east or southeast Asian descent – wondering where they fit in American society.

“When I first came here five years ago, my goal was to adapt to American culture as soon as possible,” says Ms Liu.

“Then the pandemic made me realise that because I am Asian, and because of how I look like or where I was born, I could never become one of them.”   (by Helier Cheung & Zhaoyin Feng & Boer Deng, BBC News, 5/27/20)

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DESIGNATE ANTIFA A TERRORIST ORGANIZATION?

Responding to the riots that have wracked America for close to a week, President Trump stated that he would designate Antifa as a domestic terrorist organization.

Between local and federal law enforcement agencies, there appears to be ample evidence that outside agitators belonging at least in part (if not wholly) to Antifa, a Far-Left group, have played a huge part in transforming what began as peaceful protests against the murder of George Floyd at the hands of police into the violent rioting that is being seen today in the streets of American cities.

One Clarion source in Minneapolis reported how he watched the protests turn from demonstrations to organized riots, and how Antifa brought weapons to the protests.   He estimated there were possibly between 10-12 outside groups.   As Antifa is an amorphous group, it is hard to know how many of these groups were affiliated with Antifa.

Trump’s vow to designate Antifa as a domestic terrorist organization has been met with derision from the Left (which was predictable) as well as criticism from those who would also like to see white supremacists and neo-Nazi groups equally designated, as these groups are also dangerous, violent and act like terrorist organizations.

Yet today it is Antifa at the forefront.   If we hadn’t seen the group’s true colors before (which we did), its current manifestation in the 2020 riots is one of violence and instigation to more violence.   In fact, the group believes that their use of violence is actually justified as a self-defensive measure.   (Clarion Project, 6/2/2020)

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FOREIGN VIEWS

How is it playing abroad?   Not so well for the US.   Solidarity protests have erupted outside US consulates and embassies in London, Berlin, and Milan.   Meanwhile, several authoritarian countries that have recently gotten an earful from Washington over their own repression have gleefully shot back at the White House: Turkey’s president decried the US’ “racist and fascist” police, Iran’s supreme leader let off a tweet in Spanish about the perils of being black in America, while the country’s ultraconservative former president allowed himself a provocative Tupac quote.   China, for its part, had a field day in light of recent criticism of its crackdown on Hong Kong.

Meanwhile, Russia and China seem to be doing their best to further inflame political tensions over the protests – not that the US needs much help on that score at the moment.  (Gzero Signal, 6/2/2020)

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RUSSIAN REACTION TO RIOTS

Russia’s political establishment drew satisfaction at seeing American pretensions to lecture others on human rights punctured by the killing of George Floyd and the massive demonstrations that it triggered.   This satisfaction was somewhat tempered by the knowledge that liberal voices in the United States, for example George Soros, were not Russia’s friends and some commentators even endorsed the theory that the Democrats had instigated and were trying to capitalize on the riots.   Russia’s wariness about the Democrats was also reflected in the quick reaction to remarks by Obama’s National Security Adviser, Susan Rice, that insinuated that Russia had a hand in the riots.   Russian press commentary also speculated on how the disorders would impact on the November 2020 presidential elections in the United States.   Below is a survey of Russian reactions to the events in the United States:

Russian officials, surrogates and state-controlled outlets expressed satisfaction at America’s discomfiture and the discomfiture of Russian liberals, who disdained their government and looked up to the US. Senator Alexey Pushkov tweeted:   The US is starting to crumble.  This is visible in Syria and Afghanistan, in the disaster with Covid-19 within the USA itself, in the [US’] inability to help its European allies at the peak of the pandemic, in the hysterical but sketchy accusations against China, in the racial rebellion, in the internal schism.   The US has entered an era of turmoil.  (MEMRI, 6/2/2020)

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FOREIGN REPORTS:

Lebanese Intl Affairs Expert: US Is Heading Toward Bloody Civil War, Disintegration (MEMRI, 6/1/2020)

German Foreign Minister says the protests are more than legitimate.  (BBC, 6/2/2020)

The US is dealing with three crises at once:   corona virus, a downturn in the economy and the racial problems that have plagued the country for decades.   (Jon Sopel, BBC, 6/2/2020)

The US can no longer lead the western world.  (Jon Sopel, same interview).

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MONASH GIVES ITSELF OVER TO FEMINISM

Monash University in Melbourne was named after Sir John Monash, a famous World War I general.   He was certainly no feminist.

The Australian Defence Force is planning to train its personnel with a Gender, Peace and Security Course to be run by Monash University.   The $12,000-a-head course will be run by two of their feminist professors who allegedly believe masculinist policies are to blame for many of our current political problems.

Monash University is arguably the most woke university in the southern hemisphere and was all too keen to install trigger warnings and safe spaces on their campuses.

In the space of two weeks, we have had Clementine Ford’s tweet about men not dying quickly enough with the coronavirus and now the government has given two feminists a platform in our defense force.

Clementine Ford, for now, still has her City of Melbourne ratepayer grant to spew her misandrist dribble.   Toxic masculinity is another theory that gets plenty of taxpayer funds as does feminism, Marxism, gender studies and other such very productive things. Whinging opinions which have no relevance.   These feminists are quacks just like the socialists.

If getting taxpayer funds at universities were not bad enough, the feminists can now take on our Defense Force.   And once again, spineless politicians don’t take any action.   The ADF allows its personnel to march every year in uniform in Sydney’s Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. Chief of Army David Morrison was made Australian of the Year in 2016 for his feminist rantings which included telling us not to use the term “guys.”

In the US, President Obama turned the military into a bastion of social justice, diversity, and inclusiveness.   He spent the last six months of his presidency thinking about how to get transgenders into the army and into the restrooms of their choice.   Obama purged the military and retained only those who kissed his feet to be social justice warriors.   (Philippe Armstrong, The Unshackled, 5/29/2020)

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TWO COVERS ON THE ECONOMIST

We have two covers this week.   In most of our editions, as America records 100,000 deaths from covid-19, we ask how it has coped. Many Americans think their president has handled the epidemic disastrously, that their country has been hit uniquely hard and that there is a simple causal relationship between the two.   This is not supported by the numbers.   Or, at least, not yet.   The official death rate in America is about the same as in the European Union.  Overall, America has fared a bit worse than Switzerland and a bit better than the Netherlands, neither of which is a failed state.   That is because America’s handling of the virus reflects its strengths, as well as its weaknesses – and in particular its devolved system of government.

In our Asia edition we look at how China’s decision to impose a security law on Hong Kong threatens a broader reckoning with the world—and not just over Hong Kong’s future as a global financial centre, but also over the South China Sea and Taiwan.   The new law, written in Beijing, will create still-to-be-defined crimes of subversion and secession, terms used elsewhere in China to lock up dissidents, including Uighurs and Tibetans.   Hong Kong will have no say in drafting the law, which will let China station its secret police there.   The message is clear.   Rule by fear is about to begin.   (The Economist, 5/29/2020)

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The Epoch Times is a new conservative newspaper, published weekly.

STATES DEMANDING BIGGEST BAILOUTS DO LEAST TO CONTROL SPENDING, DEFICIT  (headline in the Epoch Times, 5/28/2020)

“When Illinois legislators approved a $42.8 billion budget for the coming year, during an emergency session over the Memorial Day weekend, official revenue projections were only for $36.8 billion.

“Lawmakers weren’t worried about the resulting deficit, however, because they assumed the state would borrow at least $5 billion to close the revenue gap.

“So they also voted themselves a tidy $1,800 pay raise on top of the $1,900 hike they gave themselves in 2019; state employees also got $261 million in scheduled pay raises.

“A few weeks earlier, state Senate President Don Harmon told the state’s congressional delegation that Illinois needed $42 billion in federal bailout funds, only $2.6 billion of which was attributable to unforeseen public health costs associated with the (virus).

“The biggest single chunk of the requested bailout was the $15 billion that Harmon said was needed “to stabilize the state budget.”  Harmon’s Democratic colleagues outnumber Republicans, 40-19.  Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker is a Democrat, and Democrats control the state House of Representatives, 74-44.

“Illinois isn’t unique in demanding billions of bailout dollars from federal taxpayers.   California’s Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, pointing to a $54 billion budget deficit, is demanding a federal bailout, while New York’s Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo, seeks nearly $62 billion.”   (Mark Tapscott, The Epoch Times, 5/28).

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GERMAN ARMY EXPANDS IN WEST AFRICA

With today’s decision to extend and expand the Bundeswehr’s deployment in Mali, Berlin is once again boosting the region’s militarization.   The attempt to defeat Sahel insurgents and jihadis by force has been a failure since troops from Germany and other European countries began their mission in Mali in 2013.   Since then, the war has been spreading because of socio-economic conflicts – first in Central Mali, then in Burkina Faso at Mali’s southeastern border.  Instead of taking preventive action with resolute economic support, Germany and other EU powers have continued to militarize the conflict.   This has simply made matters worse, and only helped push the region closer to the brink of the abyss, experts note in view of developments leading to a growing number of ethnically motivated massacres in several Sahel countries.   It was a European war, in the first place, that lit the spark to armed conflict in Mali.(German Foreign Policy, 5/29/2020)

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HISTORY:   67 YEARS AGO TODAY  (June 2^nd)

The coronation of Elizabeth II took place on 2 June 1953 at Westminster Abbey, London.   She acceded to the throne at the age of 25 upon the death of her father, George VI, on 6 February 1952, being proclaimed queen by her privy and executive councils shortly afterwards.

The coronation was held more than one year later because of the tradition of allowing an appropriate length of time to pass after a monarch dies before holding such festivals.   It also gave the planning committees adequate time to make preparations for the ceremony.   During the service, Elizabeth took an oath, was anointed with holy oil, invested with robes and regalia, and crowned Queen of the United Kingdom and her other realms and territories.”

Elizabeth, born in 1926, was the first-born daughter of Prince George, the second son of King George V.   Her grandfather died in 1936, and her uncle was proclaimed King Edward VIII.   Later that year, however, Edward abdicated over the controversy surrounding his decision to marry Wallis Warfield Simpson, an American divorcee, and Elizabeth’s father was proclaimed King George VI in his place.   (Wikipedia and History.com)

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TO THE POINT

• “I do not use social media, so books are my salvation.  Television is unwatchable, full of sci-fi rubbish and superhero garbage.  How people can enjoy watching such trash is beyond me.  If I ruled Sky or the BBC, I would order only golden oldies – black and white films where men wore double-breasted suits and hats and women slinky décolleté dresses.  At least it would show our present braindead youth how sweet life was when people had manners.”  (Taki, aged 83, The Spectator, 3/21/2020).
• Britain said it would extend visa rights to every resident of Hong Kong who is eligible for a British National (Overseas) passport.  That would be around 2.9m of Hong Kong’s population of 7.4m. On Thursday Britain had indicated it would do so for the 350,000 who already held BNO passports, providing each with “a pathway to future citizenship.”   (The Economist, 5/30/2020)
• Scandinavian borders are slowly opening again.   From June 15th Norway and Denmark will permit each other’s tourists to visit, with certain restrictions.  But they will continue to shun Swedish visitors.  Sweden’s coronavirus lockdown was noticeably less strict than its neighbors’—it kept schools open, for example.   Its covid-19 infection rate remains much higher.  (The Economist, 5/30/2020)
• Iran would be willing to help Americans in their revolution. (MEMRI 6/2/2020)
• WITH so many “conservative” MPs obsessing over climate “emergencies” while also championing late-term abortions, LGBTQ schooling and softer bestiality laws, even those on the Left have had enough, telling Coalition MPs to get serious. (Politicom, Australia, 6/2/2020)
• Germany, which takes over the six-month rotating EU presidency on July 1, has announced that it will prioritize relations with China.   German Chancellor Angela Merkel is particularly determined to proceed with a major EU-China summit to be held in the German city of Leipzig in September.   She is reportedly under intense pressure from German automobile manufacturers, who are concerned about maintaining their access to the Chinese market.   (Gatestone, 6/2/2020)
• I’ve been reading an old (1979) book on travel in what was then the Soviet Union.   Interestingly, the term the Russians then used for western consumerism was veshchism, which meant literally, thingism.   (“No travel Like Russian Travel,” by Nora Beloff)