[Non-US] News That Makes You laugh/cry/neither...

[tussock]

http://www.crikey.com.au/2013/10/22/how ... iticising/

Aussie bush fire season getting a roaring start in yet another record-breaking hot year, as new PM chucks away one of the only functional carbon-trading schemes in the world in favour of doing nothing about that.

Which is exactly why the good people of Australia voted him into office. Well, that and the Labour party acting like a bunch of drunk muppets for the preceding four years I suppose.

[Koumei]

As far as actual policies and laws go, Labor did really well over the past four years. It's just that they decided to go for two separate coups, and the news (being owned by Fairfax and Murdoch, both backing Abbot) elected to only focus on the infighting and not any of their actual achievements.

The useless shits of Australia presumably (barely) voted Abbot in because of debt fears and the expensive media campaign. What's interesting is that Labor ran anti-Coalition ads (more than they actually ran pro-Labor ads), Greens ran pro-Greens ads and anti-Coalition ones (with some amount of derision towards Labor), Coalition ran anti-Labor-and-Greens ads (viewing them both as The Enemy), and several other groups that aren't even parties ran anti-Coalition ads ("We don't really care who you do vote for, just don't vote for Abbot").

And well, technically, Abbot didn't cause this hot season and wave of bushfires. He hasn't had enough time to do that kind of damage. What has caused it is our long history of helping climate change happen. By throwing out the carbon tax/emissions trading scheme and basically taking a dump on the environment, he's decided that we are going to continue making it worse - so in two years, five years, ten years, twenty years... when the heatwaves come earlier and hotter then, and the country burns down again, then it actually will be his fault (on top of those who came before him).

[PhoneLobster]

It's worse than that. It's his plan to cut the only functional carbon tax, prevent the carbon trading scheme, and do so as fast as possible before some arguably very big deal later aspects of the plan kick in. edit: Oh yeah AND retroactively refund a huge pile of cash to a whole bunch of the biggest polluters in the country.

And then to replace it with a bullshit pretend scheme that will cost more and do approximately nothing. Using a method of carbon pollution reduction that... they refuse to ever explain or even mention.

Assuming that scheme survives all the government cuts that will be coming shortly which they still said just a matter of a week ago were labor party lies and which as of now are promising are going to be widespread and "unpopular".

And for all this bullshit about "how dare you politicize these fires by pointing out we are causing more of them!" the right meanwhile is...

...OPENLY ACCUSING THE GREENS OF CAUSING AUSTRALIAN BUSHFIRES.

No. REALLY. That is the propaganda they are spreading, mostly through the national party right into the waiting maws of hook line and sinker chumps around the nation.

So in the midst of Fedral liberals axing climate change policy, and NSW state liberals axing actual rural fire fighting services. After a record short winter (ie, no burning off season) with no resources to do any burning off, in record hot dry windy conditions where burning off wouldnt even be enough to stop the fires even if we COULD have done it. They are accusing "The Greenies" of preventing burning off. Even though... yeah that never fucking happened, no one ever even tried to make that happen, "Greenies" can't even stop them logging the Tasmanian forests and dredging the great barrier reef so like hell they ever stopped anyone burning a pile of dead leaves next to a suburb, and in fact yeah the Greens have actual power over fire hazard reduction schemes approximately nowhere and at approximately no level of government.

Hell there is a national party member running around openly blaming the fires on the Greens because they were against allowing cattle grazing in protected national parks. That particular claim being especially insane on MANY levels, but I feel the most notable one being that fuck it, the QLD Liberal-National government went ahead and allowed it ANYWAY, because again the greens can't effect shit.

[Koumei]

Oh that's right, I read articles last night about their plans to privatise more services (because that never worked out bad, right?)

I just forgot, and sort of hoped it was a terrible dream.

I must admit, the day I revoke my citizenship, I will refuse to admit to having ever been Australian, and will laugh at the people that voted these kinds of people in.

[PhoneLobster]

Oh that's right, I read articles last night about their plans to privatise more services (because that never worked out bad, right?)

The wording was something along the lines of they're setting up an audit commission with a strong suggestion that it look into "user payment" schemes, "User co payment schemes" and "user self service provision". Or something like that. Which reads to "Pay for it yourself when you never paid before", "pay for some of it yourself when you never paid before", and "screw you we don't even OFFER this service anymore go do it for yourself".

And then they described the as yet supposedly not-made findings of this commission and their as yet supposedly not even drafted budget supposedly based off these findings as something that a lot of Australians will "really hate" and "feel the pain" of the cuts. It's all very strong signalling language for Austerity, which they promised they totally weren't doing as little as a week ago.

Mind you they also raised the debt ceiling massively and at some point Joe Hockey made some vague motherhood statement about stimulation spending. So bullshit repeatedly incorrect over optimistic Australian political pundits are claiming that fuck it the liberals were "only" lieing through their teeth about the "budget emergency" and were adopting the labor strategy and the cuts will be nothing.

Those guys clearly aren't paying attention. MY prediction is the commission will be an excuse used for sweeping cuts in all the things conservative fuckers hate and the motherhood statements about stimulation spending will be excuses to then ALSO go into debt for all the things conservative fuckers like (so tax cuts and pork barreling for the wealthy, free money for polluters and miners etc...).

That of course being the worst possible outcome that is less stimulating for the economy and destroys the middle class and causes the most suffering.

Why the hell anyone would predict anything less from Tony Abbot and the Liberals is beyond me.

[Koumei]

Given we "use" politicians, I really hope that's the first thing to be cut - we can pay for our own politicians if we really want them, but other than that, they don't get to use taxpayer money on salaries and crap.

[Username17]

So which is the most likely source of this funding?
A) Wealthy individuals associated with said parties because they're aristocrats/big business billionaires (as seen in America and Australia)
B) Mafia (or other criminal organisations)
C) The CIA is, as usual, putting their dick money into keeping countries right-wing
D) Space Lizards

I'm assuming A with a side of B here, but honestly, the track record on C has been pretty good so far as well.

Considering that one of the new insurgent right wing parties is a creation of a Slovakian Billionaire, and another is the creation of an Austrian Prince, I'm guessing A with a side of B. Simply put, these parties have the motive and ability to circumvent campaign finance rules by hiring astroturf agitators. So the fact that someone obviously is hiring astroturf agitators on their behalf is not terribly surprising.

Still, last election cycle someone was doing much the same thing on behalf of a slightly different collection of brand new right wing sock puppet parties, and it turned out the hand up their ass was the Yugoslavian Mafia. So there's a not inconsiderable chance that some of the right wing money is coming from people who made their fortunes off the Srebrenica Massacre somehow.

-Username17

[Josh_Kablack]

So, are the allegations of current Roma child snatching the inevitable appearance of racism to distract from the disaster caused by austerity policies or is there something deeper going on here?

[Username17]

So, are the allegations of current Roma child snatching the inevitable appearance of racism to distract from the disaster caused by austerity policies or is there something deeper going on here?

As far as I can tell it is totally groundless and basically just blood libel being thrown up to distract people from poor economic performance.

-Username17

[Starmaker]

In good local news, (1) Onishchenko*'s shelf life expired, and (2) a whole bunch of people whose idiocy got me fired less than a year ago were "caught" embezzling, are now under arrest and will probably serve time.

[Morat]

So, are the allegations of current Roma child snatching the inevitable appearance of racism to distract from the disaster caused by austerity policies or is there something deeper going on here?

As far as I can tell it is totally groundless and basically just blood libel being thrown up to distract people from poor economic performance.

-Username17

Yeah, the kid "rescued" in Ireland got DNA tested and the results proved that those evil Roma claiming to be her parents kidnapped her...oh, wait, they were a perfect match.

[Maj]

There are two Roma cases in the news - the one in Greece (where the girl's DNA doesn't match), and the one in Ireland (where the DNA does match).

[Username17]

The one in Greece is an adopted child. She's blond and very obviously not her parents' genetic offspring. She is however, an adopted child, and the police have no fucking business snatching her. It's all very crazy.

-Username17

[sabs]

It's been confirmed, the Blood kid in Greece was abandoned by her biological parents because they couldn't feed her. They left her with the Roma couple who was raising her/was arrested.

It's all anti Roma discrimination and bigotry.

[Maxus]

It's been confirmed, the Blood kid in Greece was abandoned by her biological Roma parents because they couldn't feed her. They left her with the Roma couple who was raising her/was arrested.

It's all anti Roma discrimination and bigotry.

Fixed that for you.

[sabs]

The report I read just said Bulgarian.. but i guess that's even worse. Blond Roma do exist. They're just rare. (except in Ireland)

[ishy]

Yeah, the kid "rescued" in Ireland got DNA tested and the results proved that those evil Roma claiming to be her parents kidnapped her...oh, wait, they were a perfect match.

That hurts to read.

“They hope that no other family has to go through the experience that they have just suffered.”

A 21-year-old sister of the child, who can not be identified for legal reasons, said she didn't want any family to suffer a similar ordeal.

"Everyone was very sad," she said. The sister said she hoped no other family would have to go through a similar ordeal.

"The most important thing now is that my sister is coming back," she said. The sister said she supported calls by human rights campaigners for an independent investigation into the cases.
[...]
She said she hoped no other family would have to go through the same experience.

Asked if she supported Pavee Point’s call for an independent investigation into the incident, she said “yes of course”.

I got it the first time, no need to repeat yourself over and over.

[Blade]

It's all anti Roma discrimination and bigotry.

It's the discrimination that nearly every European countries and political parties are ok with.

[TiaC]

It's all anti Roma discrimination and bigotry.

It's the discrimination that nearly every European countries and political parties are ok with.

And Americans just go "Roma, is that like, people from Rome?" "Oh they're gypsies you say, I thought that those haven't existed since the middle ages."
Then they'd be confused by the racism, as while America is racist, the american view of race is not very nuanced and so the Roma would probably be classified as white here.

[DSMatticus]

The American view of race is white, black, asian, latino, arab, and oh yeah indians native Americans. Most white Americans don't hold an identity deeper than being white and just mistakenly assume the rest of the world works the same way. Remember: we (white Americans) are all a bunch of immigrants, and we've only been here a few hundred years, and you can seriously travel 2000 some miles here and still end up in a region dominated by people who consider you a part of their ethnicity (white and American). We aren't old enough to claim an ethnicity of our own, we aren't homogenous enough at the macro level to claim lineage with an ethnicity that already exists, and we aren't homogenous enough at the micro level to maintain distinct ethnicities amongst ourselves (major metropolitan areas have exceptions, of course). It doesn't really sink in very often that all those things make us an exception to the rule.

[angelfromanotherpin]

That's a relatively recent view. There are whole American novels written about how the Irish and the Slavs are too inherently criminal to accomplish anything, so there should be no fear of them out-breeding Anglo-Saxons.

[Maj]

Most white Americans don't hold an identity deeper than being white and just mistakenly assume the rest of the world works the same way.

Is this actually true, or did you just pull this out of somewhere? I don't have anything but my personal experience to go on, but I would have said the exact opposite.

My mother's family is Italian, and some of our extended family members were interred during World War II. Growing up, she faced a lot of discrimination - to the point where her mother actively tried to suppress the Italian-ness (when my mom went to Italy, her mother went on a screaming rant about the ingratitude and going back to the place she left). Nonna failed to squash the Italian-ness, though - my mom picked up a lot of family recipes and traditions from other relatives that weren't trying so hard to be indistinguishable Americans (and Nonna, herself, couldn't shake them all).

My dad's family came over on the Mayflower, but other lines of the family stayed in England (and in contact). I could technically register as a Daughter of the Revolution because we have family that fought for American Independence. The Protestantism runs strong with them - they are the consummate WASPs. When my father and mother got married, my father's parents were absolutely pissed that my father was marrying an Italian Catholic. I didn't realize the depths to my paternal grandparent's bigotry until after they died, but they certainly considered themselves to be superior to all other white people - almost like they were blue blood Americans.

Ess' parents also have some sort of identification with their heritage. His father's family is Norwegian (his dad is second generation American). When Ess graduated from college, his father flew out to celebrate with us. We went out for Thai food, and his dad looked at the menu completely baffled. He asked us to order him something as close to meat and potatoes as he could get because he has never eaten much outside of his Norwegian diet.

Ess' mom has the weakest link to her heritage, but she still totally identifies as being Scottish. She's looked up her family's clan in Scotland, and frequently uses her heritage as a justification for lots of things (like miserliness and various health issues common to Scots).

Personally, because my father was not a major part of my life and I was steeped in my mom's culture, I identify as Italian. I have always attributed the homogeneity of being "white" to the civil rights movement because it seemed to change the discourse from being about heritage to being about skin color.

[sabs]

DS,

You're an idiot.
White Americans hold much deeper indentities. Both Regional, and Ethnic and Cultural.
Southerners and New Yorkers are very different culturally. I grew up in a North Jersey town where we were 1/2 Jewish, 1/4 Irish and 1/4 Italian. And they were clearly not identifying as just white americans.

That kind of Whiteys all the same is just as bigotted as black people all look the same. Because they don't.

[DSMatticus]

stuff

My father is older than the Voting Rights Act. My grandmother grew up during the Great Depression. I know one step up the family tree doesn't seem like a lot, but it actually is. Commercial internet probably wasn't a thing when you were born, but smartphones are older than your son by what is likely a decent margin. Your parents' experiences growing up are going to seem wildly out of place in today's world, and your grandparents' even moreso, and your son is going to find your's downright baffling some day.

I've never met anyone my age who actually cared what brand of white they were. They can answer if asked (I'm mostly German with a hint of non-practicing Catholic "from somewhere"), but it's not a core part of their identity. I understand that if I went to a major metropolitan area (especially the east coast) I could just walk through a bunch of neighborhoods that are basically all Italian/Irish/Scottish/Greek/Jewish/so on, and if I pushed I could even find some in the places I've lived. But there's a whole lot of country outside of those communities, and it's a lot harder to hold onto your identity when it doesn't mean anything in relation to your environment. There has never been a time in my life when asserting my Germanness would have gotten me anything more than (politely hidden) confused looks - the people I know do not know what being German American entails. It just doesn't mean anything to them. Or me, for that matter.

Southerners and New Yorkers are very different culturally.

You might be able to argue that Southerners are their own ethnicity, though I'm inclined to call bullshit. It's more like a (forced) meme. Lots of Texans are really big on being from Texas, and Texas has enough cultural weight to throw around that they can make the rest of the country understand that they're special. New York's in a similar position, though it's far less internally homogeneous. But this is seriously a country the size of Europe where you can pick up everything you own and move to the other side of it and (if you're white) still find yourself included in the dominant ethnic group, no questions asked. The internal boundaries in the U.S. are a lot weaker than the ones in Europe, and the result is that we're a lot more fluid and open with our identities across regions and we place less emphasis on them. Being Texan instead of Californian is not nearly as defining as being French instead of German.

I grew up in a North Jersey town where we were 1/2 Jewish, 1/4 Irish and 1/4 Italian. And they were clearly not identifying as just white americans.

What on earth makes you think New Jersey is typical of anything else in America? It's an exception because it is right next to New York and Ellis Island. If there's any place in the country where you could have enough immigrants of ethnicity X to band together and form a community in order to retain their identity it's that part of the country. And sure enough, that's basically what's happened. But the rest of the country doesn't live next to Ellis Island or a concentrated immigration hub, and that happens less often and to less success.

[...You Lost Me]

DSM probably lives in the west coast, because that seems to be a prominent thought here. I feel very similar, and need to remind myself that there are people in the US who don't all have the same accent and still have some sort of ethnic roots.