Daily Archives: June 8, 2017

Jeff Sessions Says Social Media, Encrypted Apps Hamper War on ‘Modern Slavery’ – Reason (blog)

Posted: June 8, 2017 at 11:03 pm

ERIK S. LESSER/EPA/NewscomU.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions told a gathering of more than 1,500 federal, state, and local law enforcement agents that he was ready to follow President Donald Trump's orders and "make our country safe again." For Sessions, that entails "mak[ing] the fight against child exploitation and human trafficking a top priority."

Both were major priorities for the Obama-era Department of Justice and FBI too, so Sessions' bluster is based on a bit of a false premise. But what difference does it makeprioritizing the protection of children and trafficking-victims can't be a bad thing, right?

Alas: When it's done by the likes of the Justice Department, it can be. Beyond all the big talk about saving kids, the agency actually allocates most of its anti-exploitation agenda to arresting adult sex workers and snagging people in stings that involve no actual victims. That is, when it's not aiding in the arrests of exploited children themselves. If Sessions' June 6 speechclosing the National Law Enforcement Training on Child Exploitation meeting in Atlantasignals greater federal investment in status-quo solutions, expect to see even more "human trafficking stings" targeting adults engaged in prostitution, immigrants eligible for deportation, and asset-heavy escort-advertising sites, as well as any broader civil liberties they can plausibly grab along the way.

In Atlanta, Sessions warned of the dangers of "emerging technologies," encrypted-communication platforms, social-networking sites, and "the so-called Darknet." These, he declared, are the tools of such "depraved people" as "child pornographers, sextortionists, and human traffickers."

"We need to help our fellow citizens know what to watch for, and encourage them to tell us when they see something troubling," Sessions urged. "Nothing less than a united effort will be enough to keep our children from becoming victims of exploitation."

Sessions finished his speech by presenting a video on "the importance of recognizing the signs of child sex-trafficking and reporting suspected crimes." It featured the tagline: "Modern day slavery exists. If you see it, report it." Even the aggressively neutral Politico couldn't avoid making drug war comparisons, describing the video as "hearkening back to the D.A.R.E era" with its "hyperbolic language" and its portrait of "a slippery slope of behavior leading to irrevocable consequences."

The idea that every American child is just one smartphone app away from being snatched into sex slavery is absurd, and it bears no relationship to what both anecdotes and data tell us about such matters. But it does make a nice narrative if you want to wage war on pesky encrypted technologies that thwart all sorts of investigators; or to insert more Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security, and FBI agents into community policing; or to get everyone from flight attendants to truck drivers telling federal agents about anyone "suspicious"; or to ensure the continued relevance of an agency whose drug-war glory days are behind it.

As Reason's Matt Welch pointed out in January, the Sessions confirmation hearing featured no lack of hysteria about human trafficking. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-California) began her interrogation by asking about sex trafficking, which she called the second-largest criminal industry in Americaa "factually insane claim that will probably give [Sessions] more power," Welch noted:

In order for "human sex trafficking" to be the second largest criminal industry in the United States, it would at minimum need to supplant illegal narcotics (roughly $100 billion a year, according to a 2014 Rand Corp. estimate), or Medicare fraud (in the ballpark of $60 billion, according to the Government Accountability Office in 2015). So distant is reality from those numbers that even the commonly cited figure of $9.8 billion a year for all trafficking and keep in mind that human smuggling dwarfs sex trafficking was given "four Pinocchios" by Washington Post fact-checker Glenn Kessler.

Senators at the confirmation hearing also grilled Sessions on whether pornography is a public health crisis and how open he is to aggressive use of obscenity laws.

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A Myopic View Of Robert E. Lee – National Review

Posted: at 11:03 pm

For most of the first century following the American Civil War, histories of the wars legacy particularly the Reconstruction era tended to suffer from the myopia of considering only the relationship between white Northerners and white Southerners. As the war neared its end, some in the Union (like Lincoln and Andrew Johnson, though in very different ways) stressed the need for reconciliation between the Union and the defeated Confederates; other Radical Republicans wanted a more vigorous demonstration of vengeance towards the rebels and their leaders for their treason. The result of looking at the war and its aftermath solely through this framework is that waves of revisionism swung back and forth between views sympathetic to the Radicals desire to remake the South and liberal-sounding histories that condemned them as hard-hearted zealots insistent on prolonging the nations divisions, and that painted Reconstruction as a cesspool of corruption. The latter type of history was largely responsible for the bad historical reputation of Ulysses S. Grants Radical-friendly presidency. It also colored denunciations of the impeachment of Andrew Johnson (although Johnson, who was wrong about Reconstruction, was right about the specific dispute at issue in the impeachment.) You can still catch a whiff of this latter view in the chapters on that era in John F. Kennedys Profiles in Courage.

The problem with the how hard should we have been on the Confederates debate is simple: it leaves black people out of the picture. Thats a rather large omission. The Civil War was not, as some would have you believe, fought only over the issue of slavery; it was the culmination of a series of disputes over ideas and policies, and seeing the war as a crusade to free the slaves was never more than the view of a sizeable minority faction in the North. Even Lincoln was willing, all the way to 1865, to make some concessions on the pace of abolition in order to end the war and preserve the Union. But slavery was unquestionably the main cause of the rupture between North and South, without which there would have been no war. The debates and resolutions adopted by Southern states when they seceded made it extraordinarily clear that the South was leaving mainly to protect the institution of slavery. (Moreover, many of the secondary disputes between the two sides were connected to the nature of the Southern slave economy). And in the debates over Reconstruction, the civil and economic rights of the freed slaves were a crucial battleground, one on which Northern Republicans fought long and hard for a decade before exhaustedly surrendering in 1876 in exchange for control of the White House.

If you have only ever read treatments of the life of Robert E. Lee that suffer from the myopic exclusion of black people, Adam Serwers latest piece in The Atlantic could offer you a useful corrective. But Serwer suffers from his own myopia.

Lee was widely revered in his own day even by his adversaries partly for being a great general, and partly as a paragon of a great many virtues valued by the (white) American society of his time. Serwer offers to add to that picture both a reminder that Lee shared the retrograde racial attitudes of his time and that the cause Lee fought for was inseparable in every particular from slavery. (He offers as one example the fact that Lee would not engage in prisoner of war exchanges that treated captured black Union soldiers as prisoners of war rather than escaped property). He also notes that Lees role as a postwar conciliator must be balanced against his continuing opposition to black civil rights, a movement that would mature into the full horror of Jim Crow within a few years of Lees 1870 death. If Serwer stopped there, hed be on solid enough ground.

But intent on attacking every aspect of Lees memory, Serwer keeps going. First, he berates Lee for the grand-strategic decision to wage a conventional war against the Union:

Despite his ability to win individual battles, his decision to fight a conventional war against the more densely populated and industrialized North is considered by many historians to have been a fatal strategic error.

This echoes a May 19 op-ed by Michael Rosenwald in the Washington Post, tendentiously titled The truth about Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee: He wasnt very good at his job, which chose to level the same charge at the same time, probably for the same reason:

Outmanned, Lee should have taken a more defensive posture, drawing the North into difficult Southern terrain. Instead, he was constantly on the offensive, which resulted in heavy casualties and broken spirits.

Its true that the Confederacys grand strategy in the war was badly flawed. Indeed, the decision to wage the war at all was insane: the Confederacy was far less of a match in manpower or industry for the Union than the Thirteen Colonies had been relative to Great Britain in 1775, and unlike the colonists, the Confederacy didnt have an ocean between themselves and their adversaries. The Confederate cause could succeed only if it was vastly better-led than the Union, and thanks in large part to Lee, it managed to pull that off for the first two and a half years of the war.

However, Serwers attack on Lee as a strategist completely ignores two vital points. One, Lee wasnt in charge of grand strategy, and in reality wasnt even a theater commander until June of 1862, when he was put in charge of the Army of Northern Virginia in time to halt a Union advance on the Confederate capital of Richmond. Lee had spent the year before that fighting relatively peripheral battles and supervising the construction of defensive trenches around Richmond. The Confederacy was a democracy, and its elected government was headed by Jefferson Davis, a West Point graduate, former Secretary of War and a colonel in the Mexican War who took an active role in military strategy. It wasnt Lee who decided to locate the new capital so close to the Union lines, necessitating the commitment of extensive resources to defend Eastern Virginia. It was Davis and his government, not Lee, who imposed the political imperatives that drove Confederate strategy.

More broadly, Serwer wholly fails to consider the moral consequences of a purely defensive war of Fabian retreats and guerilla fighting on Confederate turf. Such a war which Lee never wanted during the war, and which he rejected as a path of insurgency after Appomattox would have been one of scorched earth and embitterment, not only wrecking the South even in victory but making any permanent reconciliation vastly more difficult in defeat. The human toll of such a war could be seen from the places where it had erupted during the Revolution, like North Carolina. Sherman would ultimately bring scorched earth to Georgia, and the results hardly recommend a deliberate strategy to invite that for the entire war.

Related to this is how little credit he gives Lees eminence and gentlemanly surrender for preventing a long-term insurgency, avoiding an aftermath like the French Revolution, and enabling the country to return to being a single, functional political whole in time enough to see the vast rise in American prosperity and power between 1870 and 1945. If the old histories of Reconstruction were myopic in forgetting African-Americans, Serwers view is myopic in considering no one else, not even the majority of the population. Looking back at Jim Crow, he cannot see how anything could have been worse, why national reconciliation after the war had any value, or why anyone would have wanted peace in the America of 1865-76. We can use the distance of history to judge the national decision to fight no further, but we should have some understanding of what costs the people of the day had paid already, and what they spared by laying down the sword.

In fact, Lees willingness after the war to subordinate the interests of freed slaves to the cause of union and peace was not so radically different from the view that Lincoln himself took during the war. All the way up to the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment in 1865, Lincoln had held onto the view that some concessions on slavery (albeit fewer as the war wore on) could be exchanged for restoring the nation. That doesnt make Lee the moral equal of Lincoln, but the Americans of that day did not see things in the same terms we do now.

Lee was no hero; he fought for an unjust cause, and he lost. Unlike the Founding Fathers (even the slaveholders among them), he failed the basic test of history: leaving the world better and freer than he found it. And while he was not responsible for the Souths strategic failures, his lack of strategic vision places him below Grant, Sherman and Winfield Scott in any assessment of the wars greatest generals. We should not be building new monuments to him, but if we fail to understand why the men of his day revered him, we are likelier to fail to understand who people revere today, and why. And tearing down statues of Lee today is less about understanding the past than it is a contest to divide the people of todays America, and see who holds more power. Thats no better an attitude today than it was in Lees day.

As much as I value history understanding it is essential to understanding our own world today one should be suspicious of people looking to make a contemporary political cause out of the American Civil War, the most bloody and divisive episode in our nations past. The results are often more racial division and less understanding of history. Serwers interest in attacking General Lee is transparently about the present, not the past. That myopia is how he ends up down a blind alley.

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What Pro Wrestling Would Look Like Under Socialism – Paste Magazine

Posted: at 11:03 pm

Can pro wrestling, a medium with a history of bare-faced antagonism towards leftist politics, exist under socialism?

I think its contingent on the degree to which wrestlers and others in the business identify with the working class.

Its a spectrum. On one end, you have Zack Sabre Jr, who speaks out against neoliberalism and recently raised money for the ACLU. On the other, you have Matt Striker, who was, as I was writing this, using Twitter to mock the reporter assaulted by Greg Gianforte, a Montana Republican who was subsequently elected to Congress, and speak against a living wage for fast food workers.

Where there isnt wrestling, people will create their own. Ive seen enough lips busted on trampoline frames to know this. Whether or not we can develop a class consciousness within this industry will determine whether we have to start from scratch or if that knowledge, training and character that we identify with pro wrestling now will be preserved in this new iteration.

This isnt to downplay the irrevocable influences on wrestling that socialism would have. They are substantial, perhaps even drastic. Still, I think theyre necessary to ensure that the compassionate, sustainable future we advocate for is extended to wrestling (a thing many leftists love, often despite ourselves).

Longer Careers, Shorter Title Reigns

Whatever shape the political apparatus of a socialist America takes, its safe to say that industries and business will be run as worker co-ops, directed and managed democratically by the workers. Theres no reason wrestling would be the exception.

With the abolition of rent and wage labor, the incentive to grind your knees down on multiple house shows a week will be low. And everyone will be involved in local committee projects anyway; theyll need those knees to build houses and plant arugula.

How would you book yourself if you were focused on longevity? More tag matches, triple threats, battle royals. More chances to do spots and wow crowds while getting a few breathers in the corner.

Those add up to a longer, if less illustrious, career. Legacies like Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair and Kazuchika Okada are the result of a singular vision focused on capital. Titles, if they exist, could become a means of collective recognition of labor and talent.

In theory, at least. If you, say, had a habit of defecating in your co-workers gym bags in the previous regime, youre probably gonna be voted to lose. A lot.

The Tag Title Will Become The Top Title

The structures of wrestling reflect our values. The great man babyface perceives that being himself, by himself, reflects American ideals of individualism, distrust of teamwork, and frustration at the weak-willed, ineffectual governing apparatus that exists only to fetter their attempts to win custody of their adopted son.

A collectivist wrestling company living in a collectivist society will reflect that in its booking. An example of this would be CHIKARAs Campeonatas de Parajas, a tag title that preceded its equivalent of a world title by 5 years; I see a correlation in the increasing prestige of a top singles title with the CHIKARA brands transition from that of a local, community-supported indie fed to a destination for indie talent from all over the world.

Its possible this will extend beyond tag teams, and that wrestling promotions will break out into rival factions of varying alignments, like NJPW has right now. For one, it accurately reflects political discourse in a multi-tendency, big tent organization like the DSA.

On that note, it never fails to crack me up to see Bullet Club, a faction formed to antagonize a homogenous, xenophobic society with multiculturalism, in the Twitter avatars of white nationalists.

A Return To Rasslin

Wrestling has long run on a particular cycle of acquisition. The big companies see a trend in the smaller that they want to appropriate, and then buy up all the wrestlers they can who fit that trend, incorporating it into the mainstream style and forcing the remaining indies to find something new. CCK subtly references to this occurring to the new British style in their recent promo for PROGRESS.

Without this engine of imposition, the need for a rapidly developed diversity of hyper-specialized wrestling styles will be low. And some wrestlers, a demographic that leans hard to the right, will just quit the sport entirely. Less knowledge to be passed on to wrestlers who work less matches and travel less.

That will facilitate a return to basics. More rasslin, more catch-as-catch-can, more literal amateur hour.

I think this can be good. Part of what makes Lucha Underground, Hoodslam and Party World Rasslin beautiful is their ability to reach people who dont necessarily identify as wrestling fans by focusing on crafting their own narratives and culture instead of maintaining a certain fluency in current wrestling trends. Another part: they make Jim Cornette mad.

The Revolution At Ringside

What does it mean to distribute wealth? A capitalist might say Its whenever I have $2 and you have $0, you take $1 from me to make it even. Which isnt inaccurate.

A more fleshed out realization of it (in the simplest terms) would be if, whenever you have $2 and I have $0, I take that $1 while we work to abolish the things that require money (rent, lack of food access, etc) and then the money, now evenly distributed, is worthless.

So, in an economy that is in the process of, or has even completed the destruction of currency, who gets the best seats in the house? Maybe its the workers. Maybe its the syndicate or commune that collectively own the stadium.

I like to think that, if we use the Marxist axiom of from each according to their ability to each according to their need, we could start giving those ringside seats to the people who need them mostkids, seniors, disabled people.

Whatever we decide, it means some tall asshole in an nWo shirt who refuses to sit down cant block your view and ruin the show. We call that improving material conditions.

In Soviet America, Ref Bumps You

Pro wrestling referees are the definition of failing upward. Theyre prized for their incompetence, cowardice and impotent biases.They largely exist to prevent the face from achieving their goals or enact justice on heels.

This is what people like Vince McMahon and your neighbor who watches too much Fox News thinks about institutions who want to hold people to playing by the rules: weak-willed, easily circumvented, and unable to do whats necessary to bring the ill-willed to heel.

The process by which we achieve socialism in America would fundamentally change this systemic perception of justice. A bloodless grassroots revolution could lead to referees being heroic mediators who desperately try to keep carnage from all sides from boiling over.

An authoritarian vanguard could mean referees who impose order through force. A multi-tendency revolution could lead to sectarian refs endlessly feuding over slight variations of ideology.

Not all of these outcomes would necessarily make the product compelling. Thats the bad news.

The good news is the abolition of wages means thered be no one to sell contraband t-shirts to, so Earl Hebner can have his job back.

In a capitalist system, projects and institutions exist according to their capacity to generate (and/or extract) capital. If socialism is enacted in the United States, it will fundamentally change the social contract and conditions by which industries and institutions function. Anything you want to preserve amidst such a sea change needs a plan of adaptation.

If the thought of adjusting pro wrestling to accommodate a socialist society fills you with disgust or rage, I think its worth interrogating whether your attachment is actually to wrestling or to the society it reflects (before you answer: remember, we are revolting against that society).

Whatcha gonna do, comrade, when the proletariat dismantles the systems of exploitation running wild on you?

Jetta Rae is a writer and organizer based in Oakland. She runs the leftist food blog FRY HAVOC and can be found on Twitter.

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Stop unnecessary port charges Shipping lines urged – Hellenic Shipping News Worldwide

Posted: at 11:03 pm

The Ghana House of Port Agents (GHOPA), a group of importers, has asked shipping companies at the Tema port to bring an end to excessive charges on imported goods.

According to the group, since the announcement of the abolition of the 1% Special Import Levy by the Akufo-Addo-led government, owners of shipping lines have introduced new charges at the port.

A statement issued by the group said: On 2nd March, 2017, during the maiden budget statement of President Akufo Addos government presented by Hon Ken Ofori-Atta, we [GHOPA] developed a very strong confidence in the government, having the belief that some of the abolished taxes were going to help us unleash our fabulous policies to help redeem the image of businesses in our nation especially at the port in our various fields of work. Ever since those taxes were abolished, there have been a whole lot of unnecessary charges at the port by the shipping lines of which we [GHOPA] and the freight forwarders, as well as the importers, are not happy about.

Some of those charges that we [GHOPA] believe are unnecessary are: cleaning of container charges, container security charges, demurrage on public holidays, Saturdays and Sundays. What saddens our hearts most is the fact that they dont even work on weekends [Saturdays and Sundays] as well as on public holidays, meanwhile GPHA also charges on the same consignment (security fee)

Again, shipping lines like CMA Line, Maersk Line, Pacific International Line (PIL), and Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) always delay in issuance of their invoices especially when their system goes down and at the end of the day we are being charged for their own technical issues which caused the breakdown of their system. And their demurrage charges are too much. They charge as high as USD100 per day which we think is just too much.

In conclusion, we the Ghana House of Port Agents [GHOPA] wish to convey through this press release that we are pleading with the government, Ministry of Trade and Industry, and other bodies concerned to do something to put an end to all the unnecessary charges at the shipping lines in a month else we will advise ourselves either embarking on a massive demonstration against all the bodies including the government or the law court.

In a subsequent interview with Chief Jerry Forson, host of Ghana Yensom on Accra100.5FM on Wednesday, June 7, Prince Kofi Buamah, Public Relations Officer of the group, said: We are appealing to the government to focus its attention on the shipping lines because they are hurting our businesses at the Tema port. We cannot trust the Shippers Council to deal with this issue because we have put several of our issues before them but they havent handled them properly.

Ampadu Siaw, Secretary of the Secondhand Spare Parts Dealers Association, also commenting on the matter, commended the group for raising the matter.

Also speaking on the show, he said: I will commend them, it is a fight that all of us must support because it affects us. The leadership of spare parts dealers will be meeting on this and see how we can also involve ourselves in this matter.

As for Ghana Shippers Council, they are not serving our interests, they are serving their own interests because most of the issues that come before them are not addressed. Source: GhanaWeb

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Corbyn’s quiet revolution – Camden New Journal newspapers website

Posted: at 11:03 pm


Camden New Journal newspapers website
Corbyn's quiet revolution
Camden New Journal newspapers website
... utilities that we all rely on, properly funding both schools that nurture our young and the NHS that cares for us when we're ill, and ending insecurity at work with the abolition of zero-hours contracts and the strengthening of trade union and ...
Generation JezzaJacobin magazine
General Election 2017: What is each party promising?DIGITALLOOK
United Kingdom, Don't You Know There's An Election On?The National Law Review
Channel NewsAsia -Center for Research on Globalization
all 4,437 news articles »

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As sea levels rise, are floating cities the future? – Yale Climate Connections

Posted: at 11:02 pm

Illustration of a seastead, modeled after a local flower to honor the Polynesian culture. Photo courtesy of Joe Quirk/Seasteading Institute.

While some people are planning for life on Mars, theres a new movement of so-called Seasteaders planning to colonize a frontier a lot closer to home.

Quirk: Seasteading is building politically independent cities that float on the ocean.

Thats Joe Quirk with the California-based Seasteading Institute.

He believes that man-made islands will someday be home to independent communities where people can experiment with new forms of government and launch innovative businesses. He says these islands may also have value for places threatened by sea-level rise.

Quirk: The immediate imperative is to provide a solution for these Pacific Island nations that are sinking below sea level.

As its first project, the Seasteading Institute plans to build a cluster of island platforms in a French Polynesian lagoon. Quirk says the technology to build the islands exists, and if all goes well, construction will start next year.

Theres still widespread skepticism about the feasibility of Seasteading, let alone its ability to provide an affordable solution for people displaced by rising sea levels.

But as we face a world changed by global warming, projects like this remind us that there are ground-breaking ideas waiting to be explored.

Reporting credit: Sarah Kennedy/ChavoBart Digital Media.

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Menard introduces new Assistant Principal – KALB News (press release)

Posted: at 11:02 pm

ALEXANDRIA, La. (Holy Savior Menard High School) - Holy Savior Menard Central High School will have a new face helping lead the way when the students return. New to Menard, but not to high quality education, Dwayne Lemoine has over 30 years of educational leadership experience in central Louisiana.

With core beliefs that center around transformative education, civic responsibility and personal empowerment, Menard will benefit from Lemoines strategic background and vision. Menard Principal, Joel Desselle, is looking forward to working with Lemoine because of his proven track record in this region.

As Superintendent of Avoyelles Parish, Dwayne helped create a system for significant academic and social growth of more than 6,000 students and maintained a balanced budget in a district where the per pupil funding is one of the lowest in the state. During his tenure as Principal of Pineville High School, Lemoine led the school to become the highest performing public high school in the district, as well as provided direction and guidance for the design and construction of a new $14 million-dollar school facility.

A Master of Education degree from Northwestern State University and many years of coaching and teaching experience, along with numerous awards and honors make Lemoine a uniquely qualified candidate to join the Menard family and continue raising the standards of excellence that have been established throughout the 125 years of Catholic secondary education in central Louisiana.

According to Lemoine, I am grateful and honored to be given the opportunity to work with the Holy Savior Menard community in advancing the school's mission."

Welcome to the Holy Savior Menard family Mr. Lemoine.

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Heathen community continues the struggle to distance themselves … – The Wild Hunt

Posted: at 11:02 pm

UNITED STATES Whentwo men were fatally stabbed and another injured on a Portland train in May, officials and journalists began to follow the predictable course of profiling the attacker in an effort to understand why he would resort to such actions. After a few short days, severalsources began to speculate on his Heathen religious practice, more specifically on Odinism.

This assumption rests squarely on Facebook posts made the attacker over the past year. On May 9, he wrote, Hail Vinland!! Hail Victory!!

[Photo credit: Paul Walker.]

The term Vinland has more recently become a rallying point for white supremacist groups and has been used in the naming of related organizations, such as the Wolves of Vinland. In a post last fall, the Oregon attacker wrote, I Hereby Solemnly swear to Die trying to Kill Hillary (Herself a filthy Murderess) Clinton and Donald Trump should they be elected to the post of President in my faire country on Vinland [sic].

The ideological meaning placed onVinland in these cases is not entirely dissimilar from the Trump administrations call to make America great again. At their core, both rallying cries center around a false nostalgia, hearkening back to a time whenlife was allegedly better than it is today, and promising that a return tothat illustrious time would fix all modern problems. Although similar, one cry is far more openly extreme than the other.

Along with using Vinland,the Portland attacker has alsoreferenced other Pagan or Heathen terminology, and has suggested that he harbors polytheist beliefs.According to one news report, he was introduced to such religiouspractices while in prison for another crime.

Most recently, in an Apr. 19 post, the stabber wrote, May all the Gods Bless Timothy McVeigh and then quoted William Ernest Henleys poem Invictus. In an earlier post he says hed like to put an end to the monotheist question, threatening to kill All Zionist Jews, All Christians who do not follow Christs teaching of Love, Charity, and Forgiveness.

As the mainstream media continued to follow the line of reasoning that the attacker was indeed an Odinist, various Heathen organizations issued statements in response to theseclaims.

The Trothcondemned the attack, reflecting on the need for in-prison military services.Mallory Brooks, program coordinator for the organizationsIn-Reach Heathen Prison Services, wrote: Our hearts go out to the targets and victims of last Fridays attack. The alleged perpetrator brought shame to our religion and, in the eyes of many, to our gods and goddesses. This is unacceptable.

Heathens United Against Racisms statement offered its support to the family, adding that the Portland Killer is our communitys responsibility, and we must do everything we can to prevent it from happening again.

The Portland Killers actions didnt happen in a vacuum, reads HUARs statement. In an environment where hate-speech is being normalized and promoted, it tends to bubble over into violence.

Both the statements from the Troth and HUAR work from the assumption that the man was indeed Heathen in some way, and send out acall to action to the greater Heathen community to join in the fight to stop theuse of Norse mythology and related modern religions to justify extremist violence. Their pleas are not unlike those often found in the Muslim community.

However, not all Heathens were convinced that this man was actually co-religionist. Wild Hunt writer and author of The Norse Mythology Blog Karl E. H. Seigfried told a reporter that the stabbers various Facebook rants invoke Lilith (Jewish), Tiamat (Babylonian), and Lucifer. His oath to Odin, Kali, Bastet and all other Pagan Gods and Goddesses in my Aryan Theosophical Nucleus concludes by invoking Jesus Christ and Bernie Sanders.

He goes on to argue: This muddles together Norse, Hindu, Egyptian, Christian, and Jewish figures with an unsectarian body of seekers whose founder was baptized in the Russian Orthodox Church.

To pick one thread out of this insane tapestry and declare it to be the religious determiner of [] hate would be nonsensical.

Seigfried makes a point. Over the past year, the stabber posted information aboutancient Egyptian gods and goddesses; he called specifically to Gaia, Kali Ma, and even Jesus. On Apr. 28 he wrote, Until you cross that line then nothing will stop our come to Jesus talk friend or foe. If our come to Jesus talk fails you will face the come to Lucifer talk.

The only term that stands out as repetitive is Vinland, which has become interwoven in contemporarywhite supremacist ideology, independent of religious practice. As Seigfried suggests, this points directly to the question of whether or not this man actually practices any form of religious Heathenry.

Are the stabbers words simply the markings of a supremacist viewpoint? If so, another question arises. Shouldthe use of Norse mythology simply as symbolism or as a coating for extremist ideology, rather than as true religion, be enough to pushHeathens into action? Is the attacker their responsibility, as suggested by HUAR and the Troth?

This is where the proverbial waters are muddied, and the Heathen communitys struggle becomes increasingly difficult. Publicly speaking, connections are being made between the religious practice, the mythology, and extremists acts. Picking them apart is not always easy.

In 2015, the Richmond Dispatcher asked the question: are white supremacists in prison using a Pagan religion to radicalize young men? The article was written after the FBI broke up a ring of men who were plottingto attack a number of synagogues and black churches in Virginia. The article posits that there has been a growing number of Odinists and Asatruar in the prison system, but it also notes that there is a growing number of white supremacists.

The analysis provides no speculation on where the intersections between religious beliefs and extremist views lie, and how the reported statistics correlate. Which ideology is bredfirst? Do white supremacists find Odinism? Or do Odinists find white supremacy? It is a chicken-and-egg question.

In the recent Troth statement, Brooks explains: Racist groups within prisons often engage in bullying tactics to instill fear into inmates who do not hold such views, and the racists rhetoric and dominance cause them to be the Heathens most visible to the correctional officers, chaplains, and administrators, who often do not understand the dynamics at play.

As such, the racists become who defines Heathenry in many of these facilities.

Brooks believes that a better, stronger, and more extensive Heathen prison ministry can help clarify the divide and support inmates, who are genuinely interested in the religion, from getting caught up in the game being played by supremacists.

As suggested by the above article, Heathenry, in these radicalizedforms, is reportedly attracting a large number of young men, which issimilar to reports on Islamic extremism.

Dr. Jennifer Snook, lecturer of sociology at Grinnell college, speculates: White supremacists are attracted to it []sometimes, but often just because theyve seen the show Vikings, and it allows them to enact a hypermasculine performance while appealing to their (imagined) super-white Northern European bloodlines a source of perceived privilege and status when other avenues of power (economic, political, manhood) begin to feel cut off.

It is a way for these young men to find personal empowerment within a contemporary and changing landscape.Snook explainsthat this says more about the supremacists than the religion, and she adds that the connection is nothing new.

There is historical precedent for white supremacists (think: Third Reich) to co-opt images of Germanic warriors, gods and heroes in an appeal to the epic past (think: Wagner). Norse mythology is the cultural inheritance of Northern Europe the whitest of white folks. Its also perceived as untarnished by Christians which is completely untrue (the stories were recorded by monks, after all) which white supremacists view as a desert religion for the racial other. Add to that an overdose of hypermasculinity, and youve got quite a mess.

As Snook suggests, the connection between the extremist ideology and symbolic presence of Norse mythology is obvious when placed in an historical context. However, what about the modern practice of Norse-basedreligions? In the suggested framework, these religions have become victims, being pulled unwittingly into a universe of hate.

Theincrease in white supremacy isnt a Heathen problem, its an American problem, Snook says. It indicates more about the current political climate in the United States than anything that Heathens are doing or saying.

Snooks comment returns to the question of responsibility; a question that canbe posed to any religious subgroup. Are violent extremists, who openly claim or use a religion to justify violence, the responsibility of the rest of that religious community, even if the extremist is not practicing?

As suggested by the recent public statements, the members of both HUAR and the Troth believe that it is their responsibility. Bothpublic opinion and the consistent media focus on the connection between Heathenry and extremism has significantly affected the work and lives of many Heathens worldwide. It keeps Heathen writers such as Seigfried and Snook busy with interview requests from mainstream journalists. This conflation wasthe catalyst for the formation of groups,such as theAlliance for Inclusive Heathenry, Heathens against Hate, and HUAR.

One interviewee who wished to remain anonymouskeeps his religious practice hidden from coworkers and superiors, not because hes worried about being labeled a devil worshiper, but because he is concerned, due to the public opinion, that hell be called white supremacist.

The reality of the situation has placed the Heathen community in the uncomfortable position of perpetual defense, waging a monthly, weekly and sometimes even daily public relations battle to protect and defend their religion against a minority of people who are using Norse mythology to define their ideology, whether or not they practice the religion.

This social problem shows no signs of ending; the Oregon attack is just another example in a long line of similar cases. Heathen organizations continue to remainvigilant with regard to the public relations issues, as well as suggesting proactive strategies to curb the problem.

HUAR is encouraging all Heathen groups and individuals to create and enforce anti-discrimination/anti-harassment statements.

With regard to her prison work, Brooks has said, We ultimately want to be able to bridge a gap to help both the Chaplains and inmates understand that they dont have to give into the hate. There are other ways and they dont have to follow the crowd. This is truly the hardest part of prison outreach.

We will not give up and we will not give in.

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Gina Yoryet: English Language Programs in Guadalajara – The Story Exchange

Posted: at 11:02 pm

Name:Gina Yoryet

Business:Lingua Professional Services

Location:Guadalajara, Mexico

Industry:Education & Training

Reason for starting? My main reason for starting is because I want to help more people achieve their educational goals. One of my main concerns is the immigration issue in the U. S. Many peoples futures are at stake.My main interest is to help minority groups to find a professional and personal purpose through their hidden and many times unrecognized skills. I want to be part of their personal, social, spiritual, professional, and financial empowerment by finding their passion and using it to thrive.

I grew up in California, but thirteenyears ago I had to return to Mxico. Like many Mexicans, I was unfortunately denied permanent residency. When I came to Guadalajara, I was at a loss because my only world was the U. S. Although Mxico is my country of birth, I was oblivious to the system, I didnt know anyone, I went through emotional, financial, professional and personal hardship. My family and I moved to the U. S. in search of a better life. When I had finally defined my professional goals, reality hit me and before I could even react to it, I was told that I could no longer remain in the U. S. When I came to Mxico I was told that all the prior credits/classes didnt count towards my B. A. and I had to retake all my classes with the according recognition here in Mxico. Since I was denied that opportunity, I got motivated to help others. Thats why my business is geared towards education. I am certain that the right time and place to get my degree will come for me.

Related:Read about another entrepreneur working in the education field here.

How do you define success? Success is not simply a matter of skill acquisition. It involves a process of personal deconstruction and reconstruction in dealing with each student, client and individuals case, prior history, needs, priorities and objectives. This means that I must constantly evaluate my personal values, motives and goals, and I must be willing to make any necessary changes in order to evolve as a professional. My goal is to genuinely be of assistance to others, entice them and persuade them to reach towards a better and more promising tomorrow to reach wholeness.

Since 2006 Ive helped hundreds of Middle School, High School, College, University students, as well as entrepreneurs in reaching their goal; to improve their English in order to qualify for scholarships, grants, and be able to study abroad, mainly in the U. S., Canada, or other English speaking countries. We assist many people in Standarized College Testing, Advanced Composition, Medical Writing, Business Writing, Cover Letter, CV writing support, among others.Im very fulfilled because I share an igniting passion thatll help me achieve my own education goal. I am certain that by helping them, I am helping myself by gaining more business, education experience to complete my MBA before 2020 (one of my personal goals). This huge worldwide education need has made me more aware of the needs of our society as a whole, and philanthropy is one of my greatest passions.

Biggest success:Follow my fundamentals. Playing with words (writing) is first and foremost fundamental to my success. Writing was first a dream, then it became a passion and that passion then became areality. One of my testimonials and greatest achievements, is my blogin which all my emotions and achievements are channeled. For me it is a success being able to write in a language that is not my native language and being able to use that passion to help others.

What is your top challengeand how you have addressed it?My top challenge has been the culture and business mindset of people in Mexico. Guadalajara is by far, the most difficult city/state to establish long-lasting business relationships in. Doing business is not as straightforward as it is in the U. S., Canada, or other foreign countries. The bureaucracy involved makes everything take much longer than needed, which makes sales and growing a small business as an individual entity very difficult. I have educated myself through workshops, networking, meetings. I have invested money to learn how to get around that and to further understand the business mentality in this end. I have slowly learned but I still find it difficult.

Although I am Mexican, I am missing that part of how they conduct business. Because although Ive had to cross many barriers, and start from the bottom, I have not been daunted by those hurdles and I have not acquiesced my circumstances to dictate my fate. Also because in spite of not having a college degree yet, I have overturned that and other unfortunate life events, Ive instead invested thousands of pesos in my own education, despite not having a college degree yet. Im TEFL and Teaching English for a Specific Purpose Certified, FPELE Spanish as a Foreign Language Certified. I am also a Professional Translator/Interpreter and Ive published one book through the International Womens Leadership Association. As a result of that, I dont set any limitations when it comes to reaching my goals.And because through my skills, I am able to help others achieve their goals. Part of my work is charity work, so I help those who lack the financial means to accomplish that. Real living is living for others. Realize that anything you want in life can be obtained.

Related: TSE Quick Take: Why Womens Businesses Remain Stubbornly Small

Who is your most important role model?Ive had a role models since my early adolescence. When I was 14, Sandra Pizarro from my Latina Leadership Network Group.Currently, My friend Ann Whiting, an American woman whos lived Guadalajara since 1960 and whos done so much for our society. Shes been the founder of many important institutions here. Nelly Galan from the Adelante Movement andSister Madonna Buderare also role models. Every woman who has undergone constant hardship, but in spite of that, has never given up is a role model for me.

Edited by The Story Exchange

Posted: June 8, 2017

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Gina Yoryet: English Language Programs in Guadalajara - The Story Exchange

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President Trump Tells Evangelical Supporters: ‘We’re Under Siege’ – TIME

Posted: at 11:01 pm

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during the Faith & Freedom Coalition's Road to Majority Conference June 8, 2017 in Washington, DC. Alex WongGetty Images

(WASHINGTON) President Donald Trump sought comfort in the figurative embrace of his evangelical supporters Thursday as the FBI director he recently fired told Congress about their conversations. The president told a religious gathering that "we're under siege" but will emerge "bigger and better and stronger than ever."

Trump made no reference to James Comey in his remarks to the Faith and Freedom Coalition's annual gathering. But hours before the president's first public comments of the day, Comey told the Senate intelligence committee that Trump tried to get him to pledge loyalty and drop an investigation into former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn.

Trump abruptly fired Comey last month. Trump's attorney said the president never asked Comey to stop investigating anyone.

In his remarks to the conference, Trump pledged to always support the right of evangelicals to follow their faith, which some conservatives believe is under attack by government.

"We will always support our evangelical community and defend your right and the right of all Americans to follow and to live by the teachings of their faith," the president told more than 1,000 activists meeting at a hotel across town from Capitol Hill, the scene of Comey's nationally televised testimony.

"And as you know, we're under siege, you understand that. But we will come out bigger and better and stronger than ever. You watch," Trump said. "You fought hard for me and now I'm fighting hard for all of you."

Trump spoke about his actions to safeguard religious freedom and continued, for the second straight day, to label congressional Democrats as "obstructionists" who are blocking his agenda. Yet it is differences of opinion among Republicans, who control both houses of Congress, that are standing in the way of what Trump wants to do on health care and other issues.

Trump mentioned his nomination of federal judge Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, which pleased Christian conservatives. He also has directed the IRS to ease up on using a rarely enforced rule barring partisan political activity by churches and tax-exempt organizations.

"As long as I'm president, no one is going to stop you from practicing your faith or preaching what is in your heart," he said.

Trump won an overwhelming 80 percent of the white evangelical vote in the November election. A recent Pew Research Center survey marking his first 100 days in office found three-fourths of white evangelicals approved of his performance as president. Thirty-nine percent of the general public held the same view.

Trump said restoring freedom also meant repealing and replacing the health care law enacted in 2010 by then-President Barack Obama, saying high deductibles and premiums have turned it into a "catastrophe." But a replacement health care bill has yet to clear Congress despite seven years of pledges by Republicans to scrap the law and start over, and despite the fact that the GOP has full control of the White House and Congress.

The Republican-controlled House passed a bill with the bare minimum of GOP votes and none from Democrats. Senate Republicans are working on their version of the bill, but are divided about the approach.

Trump overlooked the intraparty squabbles and blamed Democrats. He said Democrats have gone so far to the left in terms of opposing him that "they're bad right now for the country." Democrats oppose dismantling Obama's health law.

The president urged the audience to help send more Republicans to Congress in next year's midterm elections, noting the GOP has just a 52-48 edge in the Senate and a slim advantage in the House.

"We have to build those numbers up because we're just not going to get votes" from Democrats, he said. "Sadly, we're going to have to do it as Republicans because we're not going to get any Democrat votes and that's a very, very sad, sad thing."

Trump ignored the fact that three Democratic senators voted to put Gorsuch on the Supreme Court.

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