I didn't realize there was a Concordia University except the one in Seward, Nebraska.
"Concordia University" is the Lutheran equivalent of Loyola University. They're everywhere. The first one I knew about was the one in Kenosha.
To make it more confusing, the one in question is a Quebecois public university and not a part of the Lutheran chain.
The Chinese treatment of the Uighur is reprehensible. America should push back against it.
Perhaps I should have highlighted:
Other Canadian universities that have featured speakers critical of China's policies in Xinjiang and Tibet have also faced pressure from Chinese students on campus who have coordinated their campaigns with Chinese officials, Matthews said. The Washington Post reported in February that Chinese students at McMaster University in Ontario attempted to disrupt a talk by an Uighur filmmaker, he said.
And didn't Columbia University cancel an event about press freedom in Turkey?
Not just "a" massive internment camp. There are, at last count, several dozen such camps. There is panopticon surveillance in Kashgar (and probably other cities), not to mention the ever-popular "get the kids to rat out their parents" strategy in schools ("Does your mother read the Koran?")
I'm kind of just presuming you guys all know about the Xinjiang horrors, so I've stopped harping about it, but I haven't seen anyone mention the mandatory boarding of politically trusted Han with Uyghur families. It's a thing.
I just don't know what to do about it. Not that I can do anything about most things, but I'm afraid even complaining about it to elected officials is far more likely to give ideas/justification to America's current leader's worst impulses than have them try to restrain China.
Maaaan, I wish a motherfucker would make abortion a capital crime in Texas. You see? What have I always said about "heightening the contradictions"? There's no need for our side to even worry about that, the fucking fash will do just fine on their own.
10: There's plenty of bipartisan stirring in Congress. It's perfect because liberals, racists, and Cold Warriors can all get behind it.
More pertinently, those of you in universities can do plenty about United Front work by Chinese students.
I once slapped a car driven by what was probably a Chinese student.
But I've not heard of any pro-commie Chinese politicking here. There was a very active Falun Gong ground about five years back, which caused me a bit of awkwardness.
OP Guatemala piece is very interesting, thanks LW. I've long thought independently, maybe internationally, financed investigative agencies could make a huge difference in developing countries (and, I don't know, Italy), and here on the face of it that approach seems to be working. Also interesting for the activism/advocacy people is that what made the difference wasn't special tribunals or "transitional justice" for war criminals but regular prosecutions of regular white collar crimes.
13: There's a whole report from Hoover I haven't read.
Also, America could speak with more authority here if your ambassador for religious freedom wasn't Sam Brownback. Just saying.
I think it's Pakistan, and to a lesser extent the rest of the Muslim world, that needs to step up. I'm not sure we're the most effective or credible actor here. Of course fucking Imran Khan is being a coward and a bitch,so...
Holy shit. That's his actual job title. I had no idea.
Anyway, I know a fair number of people in Kansas and I'm very glad he doesn't have a real job anymore.
11: It's a little close to home for me. Thank god I'm in California, but even so, I had to fly to New Mexico to get the abortion I needed (the first time).
(Have to head home, am not trying to be all dramatic and leave, but will also not be back online until tomorrow.)
11: It's a little close to home for me. Thank god I'm in California, but even so, I had to fly to New Mexico to get the abortion I needed (the first time).
(Have to head home, am not trying to be all dramatic and leave, but will also not be back online until tomorrow.)
We don't even have ambassadors for whole bunches of important countries, including Pakistan.
16: Certainly more effective than any Muslim country. I think the US and West have an opportunity to gain credibility by contrast with the craven Muslim autocrats. Pakistan and Kazakhstan I'm more forgiving actually. It's an impossible situation for them.
Impossible how? Pakistan is very important to China, both in its own right and as a bridge to the rest of the Muslim world. It's extremely important for BRI. If we can tell China to go fuck themselves over some nonspecific Trump bullshit, Pakistan can over the preeminent human rights issue of our time. But of course they won't, and neither will we.
23: China is Pakistan's sole reliable ally wrt India, and to UNSC cover for Pakistan's own crimes in terrorism and internal security*. And Pakistan has little to no leverage: Xi will let BRI hang before yielding anything on domestic affairs; if he cared about "bridges" to the Muslim world he wouldn't be doubling down on genocides against Muslims; Pakistan is profoundly in debt and needs Chinese money, an emergency balance-of-payments loan a couple of months ago just for one. The alternative to Chinese money attached to Xinjiang is IMF money attached to SAPs. That's what I mean by impossible. Holding Pakistan, a semi-failed state in China's orbit, to the US, a superpower on the other side of the Pacific, is absurd.
Also, as I said there are in fact indications of US political backbone forming on this issue; your cynicism serves nothing at this point.
*Not to say those should be Pakistan's top priorities, but for the security services (as opposed to Khan, who only runs the country at their sufferance) they are.
"to the same standard as the US"
24: Well, BRI is the only point of leverage I see, and Beijing does care about it, rather a lot. They're not going to back down from a public fight, but if the situation was threatening BRI they'd make it go away. Hell, half the reason Chen Quanguo is in XJ in the first place is they decided they needed it sinicised to ship shit west.
Maybe the G77+China should kick out China.
Looks like Bashir may be out in Khartoum.
And Assange out of the embassy and in custody. Today is a good day.
And Bouteflika in the nursing home. Arab Spring 2.0! Can't wait!
So, the president of Ecuador is named "Lenin"?
The face of the coup in Khartoum is the kindliest-looking gentleman in a slightly-too-big suit.
Never mind, they've got another guy with the customary beret and fatigues.
Ok, if Assange is being held on a US warrant and is to be extradited and tried under the Espionage Act that is not good news at all.
He kind of looks like Santa Claus after a drinking problem.
He's been arrested for bail violation in the UK and arrested again pursuant to a US extradition request. The Swedish prosecutor's office will issue a statement shortly - they may want him as well.
Arab Spring 2.0! Can't wait!
We've got another decade or so, judging by historical precedent; the Prague Spring was followed by years of repression and inertia, as was the 1848 Springtime of Nations.
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Giant letters along a county road spell out "PhSO3H" - an acid compound produced here - like an art deco lawn sculpture.|>
Two years for a transitional government is way too long.
26. I'm not sure the BRI was why China decided to sinicize Xinjiang, but it is definitely the case that things were much less 1984-ish eight to ten years ago. My take is that it's all Xi's doing: his whole regime reminds me of the periodic "rectification of names" that emperors do now and then, going back nearly two thousand years.
30. Bouteflika wasn't really running things any more; he was just a front for a cabal of military and business types. Or so I have read. They will find another puppet and go on as before. As one does.
41: Sudan? Two years is totally reasonable, too short even, assuming everyone is acting in good faith. Which presumably they aren't.
42.1 is correct. Internal security comes first, always.
One puppet after another until death.
Poetic justice would be well served if Assange were extradited to Trump, whose election he did all he could to ensure. Real justice, however, demands his extradition to Sweden, where he actually committed a real crime.
Apparently Sweden has dropped charges, so it's off to the tender caress of William Barr he goes.
It's striking that Trump, who was singing the praises of Wikileaks during the campaign, now claims never to have heard of them. Dementia? Panic? Who knows? I only know that the Democrats and the left will make no capital out of it due to incompetence.
It's not like the Democrats jumped in there and dragged him out. I don't see what capital there is to make. There's basically nobody who doesn't know that Trump is a liar. It's just a plurality that's ignoring it.
48: Not all charges; only the minor ones. I think he's still wanted for rape until 2020
I thought they weren't seeking extradition anymore though?
According to the Ecuadorians, he was smearing feces on the walls. That's more of a vibe for the prisons in the English speaking world.
53 explains why Jeremy Corbyn and Diane Abbott have been speaking out in his defence today. That and the beard obvs.
Does Assange hate Jewish people? I don't really want to google that from work.
55: Apparently. Andrew O'Hagan's hilarious account of being his ghostwriter certainly mentions anti-semitic remarks. He also believes that London has no-go areas where sharia law is imposed by street gangs, and where it isn't safe for non-Muslims to get out of their cars.
https://www.lrb.co.uk/v36/n05/andrew-ohagan/ghosting
Is that the one were he eats lasagna with his bare hands?
I only know that the Democrats and the left will make no capital out of it due to incompetence.
You see this so often that it's barely even annoying to me any more, but I feel the need to say: It's not up to the Democrats or the left to make capital out of this. In the absence of a functioning media and without an electorate composed of decent, honest people, there's nothing the Democrats can do. The Democrats' job here is to sit back and watch Trump self-destruct. It's the job of the media and the electorate to notice.
It's says that he ate lasagna, baked potatoes, and jam pudding, but only that he ate the last two with his hands.
58: Yeah, it's hard to criticize Democratic messaging, these days; there's always room for improvement but they are saying what need's to be said. The media is diligently filtering it out.
56 is an interesting article. I'm still working my way through it.
Actually, I stopped reading about half way through. It guy kind of repetitive.
Sigh. Have you read The Farthest Shore at least?
Taking this as the going current affairs thread.
Forgive me if this has been mentioned already, but regarding asylum seekers entering the U.S. from central America, this is concerning: U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr is setting up a new system among immigration judges to essentially fast-track asylum 'hearings',
making it possible for appellate judges to rule against asylum-seekers en masse, without ever giving them individual hearings.
64: Is that where the mouse meets God?
66: Sigh. You didn't want to read the first two but you enjoyed them, remember. Better than meatless airport food, even.
65: Coupled with a major purge at DHS because apparently Nielsen just wasn't enthusiastic enough about violating people's rights.
They heated the pita chips. It was a nice touch.