Churches burnt as thousands mark Chile protest movement anniversary
BURNING IS NOT VIOLENT IT IS VANDALISM

Issued on: 19/10/2020
Santiago (AFP)

The spire of a church set on fire topples during a protest against Chile's government, on the one-year anniversary of the protests and riots that rocked the capital in 2019, in Santiago, Chile, October 18, 2020. © REUTERS - Ivan Alvarado

Two churches were torched as tens of thousands of demonstrators gathered Sunday in a central Santiago square to mark the anniversary of a protest movement that broke out last year demanding greater equality in Chile.

The demonstration comes just a week before Chileans vote in a referendum on whether to replace the dictatorship-era constitution -- one of the key demands when the protest movement began on October 18, 2019.

While the morning brought a largely festive atmosphere to the protests at Plaza Italia, there were several incidents of violence, looting and vandalism in the afternoon.

One church close to Plaza Italia was burnt to the ground as hooded protesters cheered, while a second place of worship was looted and also suffered fire damage.

Firefighters managed to get that blaze under control, though.

The small Church of the Assumption that was totally destroyed is known as the "artists' parish," according to local press.

There were clashes between groups of football hooligans in one Santiago neighborhood, while protesters in Plaza Italia doused a statue with red paint.

The communist mayor of a neighborhood near the central square, Daniel Jadue, was hounded out of Plaza Italia by protesters.

Yet it was a different feeling in the morning when demonstrators, many wearing masks to protect against the coronavirus pandemic, held up banners, sang and danced. Police even gradually pulled back from the Plaza Italia.

"It's great, very good and positive. They're pure good things for Chile in everything from here," demonstrator Viviana Donoso, 43, told AFP as she and a group of people danced to drums.

"The people of Chile need to unite, and we have to believe that we can do things."

Some even turned up to the demonstration in fancy dress.

- Hopes of a 'fairer Chile' -

For Victor Hugo de la Fuente, a journalist and manager at the Chilean edition of Le Monde Diplomatique, happiness reigned amongst protesters "due to the possibility of progressing and achieving a fairer and more democratic Chile."

Demonstrators also called for their countrymen to vote to "approve" the proposed constitutional change.

"This is the opportunity to say enough! We're here and we're going to vote for 'Approve,'" Paulina Villarroel, a 29-year-old psychologist, told AFP.

The government of President Sebastian Pinera -- one of the protesters' main targets -- called on demonstrators to be peaceful and to respect coronavirus restrictions.

The deadly outbreak has left 13,600 Chileans dead with more than 490,000 infected.

Protests broke out a year ago initially as a response to a hike in metro fares, before mushrooming into a general demonstration against inequality and the government.

On one night of unrest, a dozen metro stations were set ablaze, bus stops were smashed, supermarkets looted, buildings vandalized and protesters clashed with riot police who fired tear gas and used water cannons.

© 2020 AFP

Churches burnt as Chile anniversary rallies turn violent

Issued on: 19/10/2020 - 

Text by:NEWS WIRES

Demonstrators set a police vehicle on fire during clashes between security forces and protesters marking the first anniversary of Chile's social unrest over inequality 

Martin BERNETTI AFP

Tens of thousands of Chileans gathered in the central square of Santiago to mark the one-year anniversary of mass protests that left over 30 dead and thousands injured, with peaceful rallies on Sunday devolving by nightfall into riots and looting

People gathered early in the day in demonstrations downtown and in cities throughout Chile that gained size and fervor through the evening. Many touted signs and rainbow colored homemade banners calling for a "yes" vote next Sunday in a referendum over whether to scrap the country's dictatorship-era Constitution, a key demand of the 2019 protests.

The demonstrations, while largely peaceful early on, were marred by increasing incidents of violence, looting of supermarkets and clashes with police across the capital later in the day. Fire truck sirens, burning barricades on roadways and fireworks on downtown streets added to a sense of chaos in some neighborhoods.

Interior Minister Victor Perez spoke late in the evening, praising the early, peaceful rallies while blasting the late-night mayhem. He called on Chileans to settle their differences by voting in the upcoming Oct. 25 constitutional referendum.

"Those who carry out these acts of violence do not want Chileans to solve our problems through democratic means," Perez told reporters, vowing to punish those who crossed the line Sunday.

Early in the day, an angry mob jeered and threatened a Communist Party mayor. Later, masked individuals firebombed a police headquarters and church. Vandals attacked another Santiago church in the early evening, setting its spire aflame and choking side streets with smoke.

More than 15 metro stations were temporarily closed amid the unrest. Police fired tear gas and water cannons in skirmishes with sometimes violent, hooded and masked people.

Last year's protests, which began Oct. 18, raged until mid-December as Chileans gathered nationwide to call for reforms to the pension, healthcare and education systems.

Rioting and looting resulted in billions of dollars in damage and losses to the country's businesses and infrastructure. The unrest saw the military take to the streets for the first time since the rule of dictator Augusto Pinochet.

Police estimated that Sunday's rally in Santiago attracted around 25,000 people by 6 p.m., far smaller than the largest protests of 2019.

In the past few days, small-scale demonstrations and isolated incidents of violence have nonetheless resurfaced in Chile, as the capital's 6 million citizens emerge from months of confinement following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Most demonstrators on Sunday wore masks, but many could be seen in tight groups, raising concerns about a potential health risk.

(REUTERS)

Thousands take to Chile streets to mark protest movement anniversary

Issued on: 18/10/2020 - 

Santiago (AFP)

Thousands of demonstrators gathered Sunday in a central Santiago square to mark the anniversary of a protest movement that broke out last year demanding greater equality in Chile.

The demonstration comes just a week before Chileans vote in a referendum on whether to replace the dictatorship-era constitution -- one of the key demands when the protest movement began on October 18, 2019.

There was a festive atmosphere on the Plaza Italia as demonstrators, many wearing masks to protect against the coronavirus pandemic, held up banners, sang and danced.
There were isolated clashes with police, who gradually pulled back from the central square.

"It's great, very good and positive. They're pure good things for Chile in everything from here," demonstrator Viviana Donoso, 43, told AFP as she and a group of people danced to drums.

"The people of Chile need to unite, and we have to believe that we can do things."

For Victor Hugo de la Fuente, a journalist and manager at the Chilean edition of Le Monde Diplomatique, happiness reigned amongst protesters "due to the possibility of progressing and achieving a fairer and more democratic Chile."

Demonstrators also called for their countrymen to vote to "approve" the proposed constitutional change.

"This is the opportunity to say enough! We're here and we're going to vote for 'Approve,'" Paulina Villarroel, a 29-year-old psychologist, told AFP.

The government of President Sebastian Pinera -- one of the protesters' main targets -- called on demonstrators to be peaceful and to respect coronavirus restrictions.

The deadly outbreak has left 13,600 Chileans dead with more than 490,000 infected.

Policing without consent: Why French police are ill-equipped to ‘reconquer’ Paris suburbs

Issued on: 13/10/2020 -

French police hold paper shooting targets following an attack on the police station in Champigny-sur-Marne, east of Paris, on October 12, 2020. 

© Lucien Libert, REUTERS

Text by:Sarah LEDUC|Benjamin DODMANFollow

Brazen attacks on French police have highlighted the divide between law enforcement and youths in France’s most deprived suburbs. Analysts say bridging the chasm requires changing the entrenched culture of a police force that is answerable to the state, not the people.

With its fresh coat of paint, refurbished offices and supplementary cells, the revamped police station in Champigny-sur-Marne, east of Paris, was hailed as a “showcase” of the government’s suburban policing strategy when it reopened earlier this year following a €4.4 million facelift.

Surrounded by the shabby concrete blocks typical of the French capital’s poorer suburbs, Champigny’s commissariat de police lay at the heart of a newly designated “territory of Republican reconquest”, one of 30 run-down districts across the nation to receive extra police and investment in a highly publicised campaign to drive out street gangs and drug dealers.

The extensive renovation included the construction of a bullet-proof sally port at the front of the building – a crucial addition that may have saved two officers from being lynched in the early hours of Sunday when several dozen youths suddenly attacked the precinct with fireworks and metal bars, smashing windows and damaging police cars parked outside.

Hours after the audacious assault, senior officials were on the spot voicing outrage and vowing to crack down harder on the perpetrators, who were yet to be identified. Valérie Pécresse, the right-wing head of the Île-de-France region, which encompasses Paris, spoke of “scenes of war” at the police station in Champigny, urging the government to deploy more reinforcements in “neighbourhoods hit hardest by organised crime”.

“The little bosses impress no one and won’t discourage us in our fight against drugs,” added Gérald Darmanin, France’s new get-tough interior minister, linking the attack, without evidence, to his crackdown on drug trafficking. “The police are the Republic and the Republic is the police,” the minister sentenced – a choice of words that says a lot about France’s intractable policing problem.

‘Great savageness’

The spectacular assault in Champigny, which rattled officers but caused no injuries, was the latest in a string of attacks against police, and sometimes firefighters, that Darmanin says are a sign of the “great savageness” undermining French values. It came just days after two police officers in civilian clothes were pulled from their vehicle in another Paris suburb and shot multiple times with their own guns. One officer remains in serious condition.

On Monday, scores of police officers staged protests outside the station in Champigny, calling for respect, reinforcements and exemplary punishments. Police are the “last bulwark of the Republic” in France’s roughest suburbs, said one union representative; the Champigny attack proves that officers “are at risk of attack even on their doorstep”, raged another. Darmanin, who met with union leaders in Paris on Tuesday, promised new measures to protect officers in talks with President Emmanuel Macron later this week.
'Savage' attack on police station near Paris sparks calls for government action

French statistics on crime and delinquency are notoriously a subject of dispute, with talk of “rampant insecurity” often overshadowing the hard numbers. This leaves ample scope for tough-talking politicians and union representatives to shape the narrative.

According to the most recent study by the National Observatory of Delinquency (ONDRP), the number of police officers killed or injured in action rose sharply in 2018 after ebbing in previous years – an upsurge analysts attribute in large part to the fierce clashes with Yellow Vest protesters that peaked late that year. Judging by the number of complaints filed by police, assaults on officers continued to rise throughout 2019, a year also marked by civil unrest.

In another indicator of the strain on France’s police force, deaths by suicide among officers have risen steadily in recent years, to the point they now outnumber deaths in the line of duty. A parliamentary inquiry, made public last year, has listed a multitude of reasons, including overwork since a series of terrorist attacks that started in January 2015. Other sources have pointed at the entrenched hostility that has driven a wedge between police and segments of the public, and the government’s inability – or unwillingness – to address a negative spiral of hatred and violence that hurts the police as much as the public.

Warring mentality

Touching on the subject on the eve of his election to the French presidency, back in May 2017, Macron promised to “change the culture, the management and the recruitment of French police” once in office. “When there is manifestly a problem, the police hierarchy must be challenged,” the future president told news website Mediapart. But three years on, the only tangible change is the widened gulf between French police and swathes of the public.

While surveys suggest a broad majority of the French have confidence in the police, months of fierce clashes between riot police and Yellow Vest protesters shed light on the fearsome weaponry and tactics used by law enforcement in France, alienating segments of the public that previously bore no grudge against the police. More recently, the focus has shifted back to the festering issue of police racism and brutality in the immigrant-rich suburbs of France’s largest cities, on the heels of the global protest movement triggered by the George Floyd killing in the US.

>> Racism, sex abuse and impunity: French police’s toxic legacy in the suburbs

At the height of those protests, Jacques Toubon, France's human rights ombudsman, raised the alarm over a "crisis of public confidence in the security forces" in a wide-ranging report that made for grim reading. He urged a reversal of what he described as a "warring mentality" in law enforcement.

That warring mentality is reflected in the language used by both government and police officials when referring to Champigny and other “territories of reconquest”, says Mathieu Zagrodzki, a researcher at the Centre for Sociological Studies on Penal Institutions (CESDIP). Violent incidents like the one in Champigny are “a consequence of decades of hostility and negative stereotyping on both sides”, Zagrodzki told FRANCE 24. “The police see youths in the rougher suburbs as uniformly hostile, while on the other side officers are seen as the enemy. In both cases, the enmity is nurtured early on.”

‘As a kid, I dreamt of being a cop. Who would play the cop now?’

Zouhair Ech-Chetouani, a social worker and spokesperson for the Collectif Banlieues Respect, based in the northern Paris suburb of Asnières, says police have every right to be angry and feel abandoned by a state that “asks them to make up for its own failings”. He argues that both officers and the public are victims of politicians’ misguided view of policing and their preference for repression over crime prevention.

“We must stop considering poor districts as enemies of the Republic, as territories that need to be reconquered,” he said. “The police should serve the public, not political interests. How can they work against the population when they are supposed to protect the population?”

Analysts say the antagonism between French police and youths in deprived areas reflects a structural reluctance to engage with local communities. The establishment of community policing, at the turn of the century, marked a short-lived attempt to bridge the gulf with residents of the banlieues. But the so-called police de proximité (proximity police) jarred with the tough “law and order” rhetoric of conservative firebrand Nicolas Sarkozy, who disbanded the unit after becoming France’s interior minister in 2002.

“You’re not a social worker,” Sarkozy famously told an officer who had helped organise a football tournament for youths in a poor suburb of Toulouse.

Ever since, left-wing politicians have regularly floated the idea of reintroducing some form of police de proximité. But former President François Hollande’s Socialist government made no such attempt. Instead, to the dismay of minority youths singled out by police, Hollande’s administration reneged on a campaign promise to introduce a form of written receipt for all identity checks carried out by officers – a measure long advocated by campaigners against racial profiling.

“When I was younger, the cops and I knew each other, there was a measure of respect,” said Ech-Chetouani. “As a kid, I dreamt of becoming a policeman. That’s unthinkable now. Who would dream of playing the cop here?”

The community worker says the heart of the problem is a lack of police training and the practice of deploying rookie officers from faraway regions in some of the toughest neighbourhoods. “The young officers who get sent here have no knowledge of the banlieues, they often don’t know people from [racial] minorities,” he explained. “They’re sent here like it’s some kind of war zone, with 40 kilos of military hardware. But they simply don’t have the skillset to deal with situations they cannot understand.”

Beholden to the state, not the people

Though police unions generally plead for more hardware, some also point the finger at misguided recruitment policies and a lack of training.

Flavien Bénazet, of the SNUITAM-FSU union, called for “more comprehensive training, which brings in relational skills, psychology and sociology”. He added: “We need more officers, because at present we simply don’t have the time and manpower to build relationships with communities.”

Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin meets police officers outside the police station in Champigny-sur-Marne on Sunday, hours after they they were attacked with fireworks and metal bars. © Thomas Samson, AFP

Like many analysts and community workers, Bénazet also called for the reinstatement of the police de proximité, arguing that Sarkozy’s decision to scrap community policing did great damage to relations between the force and the public. “We need officers out on the street, not in their cars. And we need a permanent contact and presence,” he added. “People say this costs a lot of money, but so do other public services that are useful to society.”

While referring to police as a public service is a no-brainer in much of the West, some analysts say the notion is debatable in France, where there is no equivalent of the Anglo-Saxon principle of “policing by consent”.

In France, “the state designed the police force to surveil and control its citizens. It’s a different concept from the Anglo-Saxon idea of a police that is drawn from civil society,” said Zagrodzki. “This is still reflected in different policing cultures today. In France, we have a focus on repression, whereas in Germany and Britain the police forces are designed to solve conflicts.”

Solving conflicts requires specific skills and training, says Sébastian Roché, a research director at the National Center for Scientific Research who specialises in police systems. In the French case, it would also require a radical change of thinking, he adds, noting that French recruits undergo an eight-month training – enough to practise chokeholds but not to learn mediation – against two to three years of instruction in northern European countries.

“French police are beholden to the state, not the people. They need the trust of the government, not the public,” he said, describing this as the “fundamental flaw” that poisons relations between law enforcement and segments of the public, and impedes meaningful reform. “Over the past four decades we’ve seen many reports identifying the structural problems with French policing,” Roché added. “But finding solutions is necessarily a long and complex process – and politicians have no time for this.”

Lebanon marks first year of uprising, sees long road to change

Protesters throw stones at riot police during clashes in central Beirut, Lebanon, on December 15. The uprising has been going on for a year, with no government reform in sight. File Photo by Nabil Mounzer/EPA-EFE

BEIRUT, Lebanon, Oct. 16 (UPI) -- A year after protests broke out against the government in Lebanon, activists have raised hope for change and shaken the political leadership -- but not enough to bring down the ruling elite.

"This is a long road, which will not succeed only by going to the streets once or twice or even for a year," Makram Rabah, an activist and lecturer of history at the American University of Beirut, told UPI.

The demonstrations were triggered by a government decision to impose a new tax on WhatsApp calls and soon turned into an unprecedented popular uprising before being slowed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Anger, frustration and despair over the country's deterioration and the leaders' failure to address the acute economic crisis and financial collapse deepened after the Aug. 4 blast at the Beirut port, which killed nearly 200 people and left 300,000 homeless.

"After everything we have seen, including the port explosion massacre, it is a matter of life and death for us. Throwing rocks and wishing the politicians sickness or death... this is a simple act of resistance," Nizar Hassan, a political activist, told UPI. "When all channels of change are blocked, you just wish your oppressor would vanish from existence."

Although the uprising attracted people from all sectarian backgrounds, breaking the confessional system in place and foiling the leaders' counterrevolution attempts to revive sectarianism will take more.

Hassan noted that the pressures exerted by the protesters in the streets, including the disruption of institutions and economic activity, were temporary.

"We are dealing with an extremely stubborn ruling class who prioritizes its continuity over the survival of Lebanon and its people," Hassan said. "It is clear that the political leaders have no problem in accelerating the country's crises and financial meltdown by hanging to the status quo and refusing to pass the urgently needed laws and reforms."

Adopting reforms is the only way out for the bankrupt country. Without them, donor countries and the International Monetary Fund will not provide financial aid.

"It is true that the ruling establishment still holds all links to power. However, something really important has been achieved, which is basically destroying the idea that the system is too big to fail or that there is an invisible safety net that can always catch the economy of this country," Rabah said.
RELATED Lebanon's acting prime minister resigns, endangering reform



The uprising, which some still prefer to call a revolution, has created a strong desire for change, according to many activists.

Pierre Issa, Secretary-General of the National Bloc Party, referred to a recent study, which revealed that 74% of the Lebanese population oppose the ruling elite and support change; a percentage that has increased after the Beirut explosion.

However, creating an organized political opposition front that would challenge the well-established traditional ruling parties, headed by former warlords of the 1975-90 civil war, is no easy task.

"They have been in power for 45 years, abused everything and prevented any opposition," Issa told UPI. "Would it be possible to have an opposition and create a credible and trustworthy alternative [to the ruling power] in just one year?"
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Some groups within the uprising have been active and organizing their ranks; others need more time, he said.

"We want an effective democracy, a new social-economic system that secures social justice and creates job opportunities, a fair distribution of wealth, a new foreign policy that guarantees sovereignty and stability as well as a supervised early parliamentary elections," Issa said.

To Hassan, the infrastructure of political opposition is still in its infancy, and a lot of groups remain informal or based around a few individuals. "With only a handful of serious political organizations, creating a clear political alternative is hard," he said.

But the country is running out of time to avoid total collapse and another cycle of violence that would push the people again to seek protection from their own sectarian leaders.

"We are not heading to a civil war because Lebanon is no longer as important as it was in 1975," Rabah said. "Certainly, there is always such a risk because simply the political parties will get a kind of a bailout if a civil war breaks out. They are very much versed in using sectarian identities and collective memories to mobilize their own community. At the moment, the only people who can actually benefit from a civil war is Iran and Hezbollah."

Feeding a population of 2.7 million poor Lebanese and more than 1.7 million Syrian and Palestinian refugees will be a challenge to those who are still in power.

"They don't have the luxury of time. Wait and see how they will provide food for all those people," Issa said.

Amy Coney Barrett And The Cult Of Conservative White Womanhood

White Christian mothers have historically succeeded in carrying out the work of white supremacist patriarchy by dressing it in a prettier, more feminine package.

Shannon Keating Senior Culture Writer & Editor
Posted on October 16, 2020

Pool / Getty Images
Supreme Court nominee Judge Amy Coney Barrett

This week’s Senate confirmation hearings for Amy Coney Barrett, Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, feel very different from the Kavanaugh spectacle of 2018.

The biggest distinction, of course, is that Brett Kavanaugh, the first of Trump’s nominees to make his senatorial case for a seat on the bench, was credibly accused of sexual assault. Those hearings were extraordinary. Raw. Kavanaugh, red-faced and raging, remains “indelible in the hippocampus” to so many assault survivors who watched the vile pageantry unfold before us those few days, we who have grown up in a society in which boys’ feelings and ambitions are so often prioritized at girls’ expense.

Judiciary Committee Republicans were eager for a more “civil” process this time around. In his opening statement earlier this week, Sen. John Kennedy described 2018 as a “freak show,” choosing a head-scratching metaphor: “It looked like the cantina bar scene out of Star Wars.” Not only were emotions then running sky-high on both sides of the aisle, but protesters had flooded the hallways surrounding the hearing room, some of them wearing the red robes of handmaidens; others sought out senators in other halls of government and pleaded with them to consider their experiences, going viral as a result.

This year, the coronavirus pandemic has left those halls silent. What’s more, as Intelligencer’s Ed Kilgore points out, “this time the nominee’s character and personal background are assets, not handicaps.” While both nominees were Roman Catholics and Federalist Society members, Kilgore writes, “Barrett’s background has served as both shield and sword for her proponents in a way that Kavanaugh’s did not.” Though Republicans tried defending Kavanaugh as a family man, a “father of daughters” — referencing his time as a girls basketball coach — it wasn’t to nearly the same effect.

Conservatives have long accused Democrats of harboring anti-Catholic bias against Barrett, as they claimed was the case during her 2017 hearings for a spot on the 7th Circuit. It’s a clever move for Republicans, who can cry religious bias should any Democratic senators try to investigate any possible connections between Barrett’s ardent faith and her views on, say, abortion and marriage equality. (The faith group with which she’s associated, People of Praise, opposes abortion and expels members for gay sex; Barrett also gave talks to anti-abortion groups in 2013, which she initially failed to disclose to the Senate ahead of her hearing.) The other, perhaps more significant part of her personal background that works quite nicely as both sword and shield: Barrett is a mother. And not just any mother, but a mother who works, returning at the end of the day to a house of seven children, two of whom were adopted from Haiti.

Nearly every Republican senator during the hearings mentioned Barrett’s large brood in an awe-inspired way. She is “remarkable,” the senators told her — a “superstar.” Barrett, for her part, has embraced the supermom narrative. She brought most of her large family to watch the hearings and made clear on the day of her nomination that while she’s a judge at work, she’s “better known back home as a room parent, carpool driver, and birthday party planner.”


Conservative pundits and columnists have crowed that the hysterical, naggy Democrats weren’t able to "Kavanaugh" a superwoman. The glorified, even fetishized ideal of conservative, religious white womanhood made Barrett an ideal candidate, even before she was memed for not taking any hearing notes, supposedly evidence of her brilliance.

The two Republican women on the committee went so far as to insinuate that Barrett’s Democratic critics were, in fact, being anti-feminist in daring to oppose her nomination. Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa told Barrett that the Dems were “attacking you as a mom and a woman of faith” with accusations that are “demeaning to women … that you, a working mother of seven with a strong record of professional and academic accomplishment, couldn’t possibly respect the goals and desires of today’s women.”

Slate’s Christina Cauterucci captures the narrative’s “insidious sexism”:


Ernst’s implication, that being a mom with a job makes Barrett a friend to women, regardless of how her jurisprudence affects their lives, is exactly the kind of narrow reading of feminism anti-feminists would like to promote: one that encourages prolific motherhood for some while stigmatizing it for others; one that would force women into unwanted childbirth, then abandon them and their children once they’ve left the womb; one that disregards the unearned privileges and social forces that allow some women to thrive while keeping others in a state of precarious struggle; and one that points to the advancement of certain individual women as evidence that gender discrimination does not exist.

This is the conservative savvy of a pick like Barrett: “She is the perfect combination of brilliant jurist and a woman who brings the argument to the court that is potentially the contrary to the views of the sitting women justices,” Marjorie Dannenfelser, the president of the Susan B. Anthony List, an anti-abortion political group, told the New York Times last month. Even though, by 2020, we should know better than to assume that a single representative of a demographic will always best represent that demographic, Democrats would have to tread carefully were they to so much as insinuate that Barrett, a woman, might not ensure the best futures for most (nonwhite, non-Christian, not straight or cis, not financially comfortable) women, a majority of whom want to keep abortion legal.

So too were Barrett defenders able to wield her motherhood status when it came to where she stands on racial justice. Earlier this week, when Sen. Cory Booker asked her if she condemns white supremacy — noting that the president who appointed her has failed to do so in a straightforward way — he was slammed on the conservative internet for what was apparently a deeply offensive question, given that, as the Blaze and many other conservative outlets pointed out, Barrett is the mother of two Black children. (She answered Booker in the affirmative.)

Though the grown children of transracial adoption will readily tell you that being the adoptive parents of kids of color doesn’t magically make white people not racist (and can even help mask their racism), it’s automatically assumed of white, partnered, religious mothers — in the way it isn’t for Black mothers, or single mothers, or poor mothers, many of whom tend to be vilified rather than lionized — that they can do little wrong.


Samuel Corum / Getty Images
The daughters of Supreme Court nominee Judge Amy Coney Barrett look on as she testifies during her confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on October 13, 2020.

To be clear, I don’t know anything about what kind of mother Barrett is, and in all likelihood she’s a good and loving parent. But she’s given the benefit of the doubt in the way that I can’t at all imagine a single Black mother of seven children would have. What’s more: It’s assumed that her particular brand of motherhood would actually make her a better justice. To deflect Democratic worries that Barrett’s confirmation could threaten the status of the Affordable Care Act, which has occupied a large chunk of the hearings, Sen. Charles Grassley suggested that “as a mother of a seven, Judge Barrett clearly understands the importance of healthcare.”

Meghan Daum, who’s written extensively about the stereotypes leveled against childless women, wrote in her column for GEN this week that both Barrett and vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris, who’s frequently emphasized her role as a stepmother and aunt, or “Momala,” on the campaign trail, are evidence of an “assumption ... that female leaders can’t really be trusted unless they’re mothers. Or, at the very least, they can’t be trusted by campaign strategists to be relatable to the public at large.”

“It’s that tightrope that women have to walk that men don’t,” Christine Matthews, a Republican pollster who focuses on female voters, told the New York Times in a story this week about the “freighted expectations for women” holding public office. Men typically aren’t subjected, as Barrett and so many other working mothers have been, to questions about how they can possibly do it all. (Barrett has mentioned that her husband does “more than” his fair share of work at home, and that they have “friends and fearless babysitters” helping out. While we don’t know her specific arrangements, other families of means tend to employ other women, often women of color, to do a lot of the gruntwork of childrearing behind the scenes, and they’re typically overworked, underpaid, and subjected to a constant state of precarity.) Still, Matthews noted, Barrett seems well primed to walk that rope. “The Republican members of the judiciary are introducing her as a legal titan who drives a minivan. They are in some ways daring Democrats to step all over a minivan mom.”

Now that the hearings have ended, all signs point to the minivan mom emerging triumphant. The national outrage that swelled during the 2018 hearings is more or less absent now. To be fair, it’s 2020; everybody’s exhausted and pretty much confined to their homes. And we don’t have a figure like Christine Blasey Ford, whose testimony about the sexual assault she experienced as a teenager gave a sense of real, human gravity to Kavanaugh’s confirmation.


During the Barrett hearings, Democrats have trotted out anecdotes and photos of constituents who are terrified that they’ll lose their healthcare — the Supreme Court will be hearing a case about the Affordable Care Act a week after Election Day — but the most powerful image to have emerged from this week has been that of Barrett herself, brandishing her empty notepad or else simply sitting there, withstanding hours of questioning, so very close to becoming the youngest justice on the bench. At 48, she has the power to shape American law for decades.

While the mood of these hearings might be a lot more “civil” than 2018’s, the stakes couldn’t possibly be higher. If confirmed, Barrett will cement a 6–3 conservative majority on the court, making it, according to one Washington Post analysis, the most conservative SCOTUS since 1950. Not to mention that Republicans have, in classic fashion, violated their own precedent against ramming an appointment through during an election year; meanwhile, millions of Americans are desperate for immediate relief during a catastrophic period in American history, and unlike Amy Coney Barrett, they’re just going to have to wait for whatever cruelly underbaked stimulus package manages to eke by in the Senate.

Booker was among the more passionate Democratic members of the Judiciary Committee, making clear that he didn’t see all this as another business-as-usual hearing in which the Dems play by the rules that Republicans set and, when it suits them, are all too happy to break. During his opening statement, Booker condemned the “charade,” repeating that “none of this is normal and we cannot normalize it.”

But sounding the alarms over what a great existential threat Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation would be to healthcare, abortion rights, and LGBTQ rights (to name a few) isn’t easy when besmirching the purity and goodness of Christian white womanhood is treated as a grievous sin in this country — far greater a sin, according to conservatives, at least, than leaving millions uninsured, or condemning pregnant people to illness or deepening poverty if they’re forced to give birth against their will, or denying trans children the right to lives free of harassment and violence.


The supposed moral purity and goodness of white motherhood has consistently enabled conservatives who’ve combined large families with high-profile careers, like Sarah Palin and anti-ERA activist Phyllis Schlafly, to carry out the extraordinarily damaging work of white supremacist patriarchy in a prettier, more feminine package. Barrett, with her “near-perfect performance” at this week’s hearings, is only the latest in a long, long line of white women whose pleasant, down-home family values have successfully masked her ability — and her will — to do extraordinary damage to families that don’t look like hers.

And it’s terrifying. ●

Shannon Keating is a senior culture writer and editor for BuzzFeed News and is based in New York.

USA

Why Does The Electoral College Still Exist?

The founders laid out a system for electing the president in the Constitution. But today, it means some voters are much more powerful than others.

Addy Baird BuzzFeed News Reporter
Reporting From Washington, DC
Posted on October 16, 2020

Jonathan Drake / Reuters
North Carolina's Electoral College representatives give a thumbs-up after they all affirmed their votes for Donald Trump, Dec. 19, 2016.

WASHINGTON — More than 14 million Americans have already voted in the presidential election — but none of them actually voted directly for the president.

Because of the Electoral College system in the United States, you’re not actually voting for former vice president Joe Biden or President Donald Trump; voters cast their votes for electors, who in turn cast their votes for president.

The Electoral College system is laid out in the Constitution and was envisioned by the founders as a system of voting in a time when there was little mass media, when many Americans would not have access to much information about the candidates. But on five occasions, the winner of the popular vote and the winner of the Electoral College have not been the same: It happened in 2000, it happened in 2016, and it could easily happen again in 2020.

Polls have consistently found that a majority of Americans dislike the Electoral College and would prefer to elect the president by popular vote.

But because the system is laid out in the Constitution, it’s pretty difficult to change. Doing so would require a constitutional amendment, approved by two-thirds of both the House and the Senate as well as three-quarters of the states. (Another option for amending the Constitution is having two-thirds of state legislatures call for a constitutional convention and then get three-quarters of the states to sign off on the amendment, but that’s never happened in US history.)

Since the Bill of Rights was ratified in 1791, there have been 17 amendments added to the Constitution. The most recent addition was the 27th Amendment, passed in 1992. Because of the extremely high threshold for passing an amendment, it’s unlikely that abolishing the Electoral College would be successful in Congress at all, especially given that the system has tended to benefit Republicans in recent decades.

The Electoral College has meant that voters in rural areas — usually white people — and smaller states have significantly more influence at the ballot box than voters in big cities, where more people of color live and vote. For example, as the Washington Post has reported, about 586,000 people live in Wyoming, and the state has three electoral votes. More than 39 million people live in California, but the state has just 55 electoral votes, meaning that one voter in Wyoming has about 3.6 times more power than one voter in California.

The issue became a hot topic during the Democratic primary — though Biden broke from many of his fellow Democrats and said he did not support abolishing the Electoral College.

Some states are trying a new tactic to end its use: So far, 15 states and the District of Columbia have entered into an agreement called the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC).

The idea is that, rather than awarding their electoral votes to the winner of the state’s popular vote, the group of states will give them to the winner of the national popular vote. (The agreement is currently suspended in Colorado, however, and there’s an initiative on the ballot in the state to decide whether it will stay in the coalition.)

According to the NPVIC, including Colorado’s Electoral College votes, the coalition currently represents 196 electoral votes. If enough states joined — representing more than 270 votes, the number needed to win the Electoral College — the group could essentially guarantee the winner of the presidency is the winner of the popular vote.

How The Electoral College Favors White Voters

Non-white voters are more likely to live in "safe" states, sapping their electoral power.

John Templon  BuzzFeed News Reporter

Posted on November 7, 2016

The Electoral College system gives more voting power to some races over others.

The average white non-Hispanic voter could have nearly two times the influence on this election than the average Asian voter, according to a BuzzFeed News analysis. Why? Geography. The high concentration of Asian voters in certain “safe” states, ones that are almost certain to break for one party or another, means that they have less influence on the ultimate outcome of the election.


John Templon/BuzzFeed News

Note: Some demographic groups in this analysis overlap.

We conducted an analysis of the relative strength of each registered voter by race by combining data from the U.S. Census’s Voting and Registration data by state and race with FiveThirtyEight’s “Voter Power Index.”

It’s important to note that this analysis does not account for who actually voted, only who was registered in 2012. Also, the demographics of each state have likely shifted in the four years since. Still, this analysis shows the outsized influence that certain demographics have on the electoral process.

BuzzFeed News also analyzed other dimensions, such as gender, education, and income, but the differences were not as significant as just looking at race alone. Even though much has been made about Donald Trump’s white, non–college educated base, this analysis suggests that those voters will not have any more of an impact on the election than the typical white voter.

According to FiveThirtyEight, “The ‘Voter Power Index’ is the relative likelihood that an individual voter in a state will determine the Electoral College winner.” Swing states that could potentially tip the election (such as New Hampshire, Nevada, Colorado, North Carolina, and Michigan) have high “Voter Power Index” scores, whereas states with large Democratic or Republican majorities (such as Wyoming, West Virginia, Oklahoma, Maryland and Massachusetts), are at the other end of the scale.

Our analysis found that every registered white non-Hispanic voter in 2012 has the influence of about 1.05 registered voters. For registered Asian voters it was just 0.58, and for Hispanics it was 0.87.

In 2012 registered Asian voters were concentrated in “safe” states such as New York, California, Texas, New Jersey, and Illinois, all of which are not projected to have a big influence on the 2016 election.

But the system does present problems: If, for example, a Republican wins the popular vote, Democratic strongholds like California and New York (both of which have entered into the coalition) would have to award their votes to someone whom the majority of the state voted against.

Carter Center details its first-ever monitoring of an American election
By
David Hawkings, The Fulcrum

Former President Jimmy Carter's Carter Center has monitored 111 elections in 39 countries since the 1980s and decided after the party conventions in August that the presidential contest merited similar treatment, citing a "backsliding" of American democracy. File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo

Oct. 16 (UPI) -- The Carter Center, which Jimmy Carter started after his presidency in part to assure fair elections in the developing world, is making explicit its plan for watchdogging an American contest for the first time.

The organization has unveiled one video explaining the basics of voting rights and balloting logistics, and another video encouraging patience if the presidential result is not known soon after the voting stops Nov. 3 because millions of mailed ballots will still need to be counted. It's also finalizing arrangements for unprecedented on-the-ground observation by volunteers in places with histories of voter suppression, in neighborhoods surrounding the center's Atlanta headquarters and in other mostly Southern states.

The details underscore the degree of concern by human rights organizations about the adequacy of months of preparation for a safe and comprehensive Election Day that yields trustworthy results.

The Carter Center has monitored 111 elections in 39 countries since the 1980s and decided after the party conventions in August that the presidential contest merited similar treatment, citing a "backsliding" of American democracy that started a decade ago and has accelerated during the Trump administration.

"We've focused on places where democracy is either poised to take a step forward or in danger of taking a step backward," the head of the nonprofit's democracy program, David Carroll, wrote last week in sketching some of the coming efforts on the center's website. He said the nations where election observers have gone before almost all have domestic stresses similar to those in the United States now: "Countries characterized by political polarization, ethnic or racial divisions and fears that election results won't be accepted or seen as credible."

Since the center made the decision only six weeks ago, it decided it would be too ambitious to deploy volunteer observers nationwide -- in part because that would require getting permission from as many as 10,000 election administering jurisdictions, many of which would likely resist on the grounds that the monitors would have partisan bias because the former president is a Democrat.

President Donald Trump, who is trailing in the polls to former Vice President Joe Biden, has repeatedly questioned the integrity of the election and refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he's defeated -- mainly by alleging, without evidence, that an unprecedented use of absentee ballots in response to the coronavirus pandemic will assure widespread fraud

Carter co-chaired a bipartisan commission that in 2005 described mail-in ballots as the easiest way to commit election fraud. But in May he announced he had changed his mind because the steady expansion in remote voting, and improved ballot security, had proved the process almost immune to cheating.

The former president reiterated that view last month after both Attorney General William Barr and the White House cited the 15-year-old report in efforts to discredit the practice. "I approve the use of absentee ballots and have been using them for more than five years," Carter said.

Part of the Carter Center's work this fall has been collaborating with the National Vote at Home Institute on a report on how local election officials can make the absentee ballot process more transparent -- and with the National Conference of State Legislatures on a report explaining election observer rules in all 50 states.

The other nations where Carter elections teams are working this fall are Côte d'Ivoire, Myanmar and Bolivia.

Carter turned 96 two weeks ago and is the oldest person ever to have been president. He was defeated by Ronald Reagan after a single term in 1980 and he and his wife, Rosalynn, started the humanitarian, peacekeeping and global democracy promotion organization two years later.

This article originally appeared at The Fulcrum.

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M 

Olympics: French prosecutors believe Singaporean Tan Tong Han played a role in bribing voters for Tokyo 2020

French prosecutors investigating corruption in global sports suspect that Mr Tan Tong Han played a role in bribing Olympic voters for Tokyo in 2013.PHOTO: ST FILE

PUBLISHED OCT 15, 2020, 5

TOKYO/NEW YORK (REUTERS) - Dentsu Inc donated more than US$6 million (S$8.1 million) to Tokyo's successful campaign to host the 2020 Olympics, according to bank records seen by Reuters, and it lobbied members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on behalf of the city, according to three people involved in the lobbying.

The activities created a potential conflict of interest for the Japanese advertising company, which had a separate contract with the IOC to market the games.

To assist in its effort, Dentsu endorsed the hiring of a Singaporean consultant by the Tokyo Olympic campaign.


The company's role is laid out in transcripts of interviews company executives gave to investigators appointed by the Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC) to examine whether there had been any wrongdoing in the course of Tokyo's campaign.

French prosecutors investigating corruption in global sports suspect that consultant, Tan Tong Han, played a role in bribing Olympic voters for Tokyo in 2013, according to two people familiar with the French probe.

Tan did not respond to requests for comment from Reuters.

However, he was sentenced to one week’s jail by a Singapore court in January last year for giving false information to the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau, which was probing the flow of funds in and out of his company, Black Tidings.

The Singapore-based consultancy has also been linked to allegations that the vote to hand the upcoming Olympics in 2020 was rigged.

Until now, Dentsu Inc, part of Dentsu Group Inc, has played down its involvement with the Tokyo campaign.

In answer to questions from Reuters, the company said its employees only provided advice, when asked, on "several experts and consultants in the sports field," including Tan.


But in the months leading up to the IOC vote to award the Olympics in 2013, Dentsu played a much more active role, according to the three people involved in lobbying and campaign bank records, even as it maintained its longstanding business relationship with the IOC.

That placed it on both sides of a competitive bid, a possible conflict under IOC guidelines.

Article 10 of the IOC's rules of conduct for cities vying to host the games states that its top tier of advertisers and marketing partners "shall refrain from supporting or promoting any of the cities" in order to "preserve the integrity and neutrality" of the bidding process.

The IOC told Reuters last month that Dentsu was not a marketing partner between 2011 and 2013, when Tokyo was bidding to host the 2020 Olympics and therefore not subject to that rule.

However, Kiyoshi Nakamura, a senior Dentsu executive, told JOC investigators in 2016 that his company was an IOC marketing partner at the time of the bid, according to the transcript of his interview seen by Reuters.

The IOC did not respond to questions from Reuters on whether its ethics commission, the body which would make a ruling on any conflict of interest, looked at Dentsu's activities during Tokyo's 2020 bid.

Nakamura told Japanese investigators that the IOC had what he called an "adult understanding" of Dentsu's role in working directly with the Tokyo campaign.

"They (the IOC) told us not to do it publicly," Nakamura told investigators, according to the transcript of his 2016 interview seen by Reuters and not previously reported.

He did not specify who at the IOC told the Tokyo campaign that. In 2013, Dentsu transferred US$6.2 million into the Tokyo campaign's sponsorship account, according to bank records seen by Reuters.

The previously undisclosed contribution was more than 10% of the total that bid sponsors provided. In a statement to Reuters, Dentsu confirmed the payment, but declined to specify the amount.

"We provided a donation in response to a request for support from the bid committee, after an adequate internal corporate process," Dentsu said in a statement.

It did not say how the money was used.

Dentsu said its staff had provided "advice and information to the bid committee" when requested but had no official consulting role.

The company said its activities during Tokyo's campaign adhered to the IOC's rules of conduct and, to its understanding, did not infringe on the rule that prohibited IOC sponsors and marketing partners from supporting or promoting any candidate cities involved in an Olympic bid.

The IOC told Reuters that Dentsu had been "contracted by the IOC to deliver services which were not linked to the candidature of any city." Winning the Olympics for Tokyo was one of Shinzo Abe's signature accomplishments as prime minister.

The Tokyo Olympics, originally scheduled to take place this summer, has been delayed to July 2021 because of the pandemic.

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, who succeeded Abe last month, has said he would do "whatever it takes" to host the event next year.

The question of whether bribes were paid to secure the Tokyo games remains a focus for French investigators, who are scrutinising Dentsu's role, according to a person with knowledge of the probe.

Emmanuelle Fraysse, secretary general of France's National Financial Prosecutor's Office, declined to comment on an ongoing investigation. Dentsu said it had not been contacted by French prosecutors.

The IOC declined to comment on whether bribes were paid in relation to Tokyo's 2020 Olympic campaign.

It said it was co-operating with the French investigation.

Dentsu stood to benefit from an Olympics on its own turf. It played a central role in planning and promoting the Tokyo games and has raised a record US$3 billion-plus in corporate sponsorship for the event, according to the IOC, putting it in a position to collect large commissions on the amounts paid by sponsors.

The investigators hired by the JOC to look into whether any corruption took place in the Tokyo bid found no wrongdoing in a final report made public on Sept 1, 2016.

The records from the JOC probe, including the transcript of interviews, were never given to French prosecutors, people with knowledge of that probe said.

The JOC told Reuters that it was not able to share materials from the investigation with French investigators.

Former JOC chief Tsunekazu Takeda was put under "formal investigation" by French prosecutors, a French judicial source told Reuters last year, because he signed off on hiring Tan, the Singaporean consultant.

Takeda stepped down from both the IOC and the JOC last year. Takeda's lawyer, Stephane Bonifassi, said Takeda denied any wrongdoing.

Nakamura, who ran Dentsu's sports business at the time of the campaign, told JOC investigators that Dentsu "knew the most"about IOC members and wanted to assist the Japanese cause.

Dentsu oversaw the lobbying of some IOC members for their votes, three former Tokyo bid lobbyists told Reuters, focusing on IOC members affiliated with swimming and track and field federations for which Dentsu already provided marketing services.

One of the lobbyists, Haruyuki Takahashi, who was formerly Nakamura's boss at Dentsu and himself a member of Tokyo's campaign, told Reuters that Nakamura was in charge of securing the support of Uruguay's Julio Cesar Maglione, an IOC member and the head of the international swimming federation, and Ukrainian former pole vaulter Sergey Bubka, a senior vice president at the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), the global governing body for track and field.

Nakamura did not directly respond to questions from Reuters sent through Dentsu's representatives, while Dentsu said Nakamura did not approach Maglione or Bubka.

Maglione said in an e-mail to Reuters that he exercised his responsibilities "without any pressure."

Bubka said he was not involved in Tokyo's bid to win the Olympics. "I have always acted correctly and ethically," he told Reuters.

One of the questions the French are seeking to answer is how the consultant Tan came to work for the Tokyo bid.

Two people familiar with the French probe told Reuters that investigators suspect the US$2.3 million Tokyo's campaign committee paid Tan was then sent by Tan to Papa Massata Diack, the son of IOC member Lamine Diack, to buy votes for Tokyo.

At the time, Lamine Diack also served as the president of the IAAF, which has since been rebranded as World Athletics.

Papa Massata Diack has denied wrongdoing and told Reuters he was not cooperating with any investigation regarding the Tokyo Olympics.

Simon Ndiaye, a lawyer for Lamine Diack in France, told Reuters Diack had nothing to do with allegations of bribery in the games. Lamine was convicted in France on Sept 16 in a separate case for covering up Russian doping in return for bribes.

He was sentenced to at least two years in jail. His son, Papa Massata Diack, is living in Senegal, which refused to extradite him to France to stand trial in the doping case. France's probe into the Tokyo bid is continuing.

Nakamura, the Dentsu executive, told JOC investigators in 2016 that he was asked for his opinion on Tan by two members of Tokyo's campaign.

Nakamura said he replied that Tan had done good work on other major sports events and he conveyed his support for hiring the consultant to Nobumoto Higuchi, at the time the secretary general of the Tokyo bid.

The transcript of Nakamura's interview shows he also told the JOC investigators that Tan could "secure" certain IOC members, including Bubka, although he said he did not share that observation with Higuchi.

In interviews with Reuters, both Higuchi and his deputy, Kohei Torita, said Dentsu's input was key to Tan's hiring.

According to the transcript, Torita told investigators: "We wanted to do this after Mr. Nakamura said, "this guy is very good".

Dentsu denied it played an active role in hiring Tan or coordinated contact with him.

In a statement to Reuters, Dentsu said: "It is not true to say that our company was coordinating communication between the bid committee and Tan."

In a joint statement, Tokyo bid officials Higuchi and Torita said the committee's relationship with Dentsu was appropriate. They did not respond to detailed questions about what they and others told the JOC investigators.

After retaining Tan in July 2013, Torita said officials involved in Tokyo's campaign had no direct communication with him.

"After that, Dentsu stepped in as an intermediary," coordinating on communications and invoices, the former Tokyo campaign official told JOC investigators, according to transcripts of interviews seen by Reuters.

Both Torita and Nakamura from Dentsu told the investigators Dentsu had frequent contacts with Tan's company, Black Tidings.

At the end of July, Takeda approved the first payment to Black Tidings, a transfer of nearly US$1 million, bank records seen by Reuters show.

Shortly after Tokyo won the Olympics in September 2013, Dentsu contacted officials working for Tokyo's campaign to relay Tan's request for additional payment, Torita said, without identifying the officials.

A month later, Tan received a second payment of US$1.3 million from Tokyo's campaign committee, bank records show.

Torita, who created the contract for the payment, told JOC investigators it was a "success fee" paid to consultants after Tokyo clinched the Games.

The contract, dated Oct 4, 2013, seen by Reuters, says the payment was for a report analysing the campaign. It does not mention a success fee.

MORE ON THIS TOPIC

Singapore's CPIB says it is helping French with probe into Japan's Olympic bid

Singaporean says he was told to lie about money trail in Russian doping scandal

Black Tidings: The Singapore connection in Olympics probe

Olympics: Japanese probe finds no bribery in Tokyo 2020 bid

Athletics: French investigators focus on Dentsu partner in sports corruption probe

Japan stirs controversy with huge Covid-19 aid contract for ad giant Dentsu

Olympics: Ex-athletics chief Lamine Diack back before Paris judge in votes-for-cash inquiry

Athletics: Former Athletics chief Lamine Diack gets 2-year jail sentence for corruption

Olympics: Japan Olympic chief denies bribery after France corruption indictment

Olympics: Japan committee chief Tsunekazu Takeda to step down, resign from IOC

Singaporean linked to major Russian doping scandal jailed one week for lying to CPIB

President of Singapore company linked to Olympic probe charged with lying to CPIB officer

Olympics: Ad giant Dentsu only gave input on consultancies, says spokesman as it distances itself from 2020 bid scandal

Annie Lennox warns right-wing extremism in America has taken it to brink of fascism

Scottish singing star and human rights activist Annie Lennox has warned that a surge in right-wing extremism in the United States has taken the country to the verge of fascism.

By Brian Ferguson
Sunday, 18th October 2020, 

Annie Lennox pictured during her last live show in Scotland, at the Clyde Auditorium in Glasgow last year.

The Aberdeen-born singer-songwriter, who now lives in Los Angeles, has told of her dismay at how “incredibly divided” America has become just weeks before the Presidential election.

Speaking in an online discussion with the Indian activist and writer Satish Kumar, Lennox spoke of her fears over the denial of climate change and told how the coronavirus pandemic had forced her to rethink how many flights she would normally take around the world.

She also revealed how her long-standing involvement in activist on issues such as feminism, human rights and the environment had taken a toll on her mentally, saying: “Anger can eat you up and truly destroy you.”

Annie Lennox is one of Scotland's most successful singer-songwriters of all-time.

Lennox was speaking just over a year after she hit out at the “madness and corruption” of the modern generation of political leaders during her first live event in Scotland for a decade.

Speaking during the online discussion, which was streamed on her Facebook page, Lennox spoke about the lack of process made in the United States to tackle the country’s race divisions.

She said: "So many things could have been done in terms of racial justice. The fact they haven’t really appals me.

"Living here, my eyes have been opened to many things. There is a sense of extreme right wing, to the point of almost fascistic sensibility, that is growing in this country.

Annie Lennox has combined her musical career with activism since the 1980s.

Picture: Press Association

“It is very extremely divided between those who support this populist view and those who are against this hard-core perspective.”

Lennox suggested the “genie is out of the bottle” over the climate emergency.

However she added: "Hopefully we can pull back on the accelerated climate emergency. There are definitely things that could be done.

“I am living in California now and we are now smelling the toxic air here from the fires here. It’s something we are living with.

“Anyone who thinks that the climate emergency isn’t happening is living in a kind of flat earth conception. It is just simply happening, it is a fact and we shouldn’t even be talking about that. We are so beyond that.

“What worries me is that politicians here are so invested in self-interest and have no interest in the ecological crisis. At one point it is going to really, really tip.

“It is incredible that it took something like coronavirus to actually take the planes down from the sky.



"I have to hold my hands up and admit that I was on planes continuously. I was thinking: ‘How can I speak about ecology when I have actually been using this form of transport for years?’

"Now I am not going anywhere and I am grateful for this strange outcome. It's a terrible outcome, because hundreds of thousands of people have died and millions of people have been affected. That is the kind of climate emergency it takes for people to wake up.”

Lennox said she was “horrified” at the levels of “injustice, criminal neglect, abuse and exploitation” which still existed around the world.

She said: “Anger can eat you up and truly destroy you. You come to the point where you are so angry that you feel ill.”

Lennox added: “Activists have to cultivate an inner philosophy. I am sort of on the fence. I’m not really committed to any particular religion.

“But I constantly read and try to absorb teachings that sort of resonate with me to help me not tip down and cultivate peace within myself.

“If I don’t have that peace and I’m working from a place of anger or despair or frustration it’s a bit self-destructive.”

BEN ZUDDHISM 

UPDATE

Thai protesters take to streets in new show of defiance

Pro-democracy protesters gathering at the Victory Monument in Bangkok on Oct 18, 2020.PHOTO: AFP

BANGKOK (REUTERS, AFP) – Thousands of Thai anti-government protesters took over key intersections in Bangkok on Sunday (Oct 18), defying a ban on protests for the fourth day with chants of "down with dictatorship" and "reform the monarchy."

Demonstrations have persisted despite the arrest of dozens of protesters and their leaders, the use of water cannon and shutdowns on much of Bangkok’s metro rail system in a bid to quell over three months of street action.

The youth-led movement has suffered several blows this week, with scores arrested after demonstrators surrounded a royal motorcade and flashed “democracy salutes” at Queen Suthida. 

The government reacted with emergency measures – including banning gatherings of more than four people in Bangkok – and the arrest of protest leaders who have called for the removal of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-Cha, a former military chief brought to power in a 2014 coup. 

"Free our friends", the protesters called out as they stood in a rain, a mass of colourful ponchos and umbrellas. Some held up pictures of detained protest leaders.

Thai Lawyers for Human Rights said at least 80 protesters had been arrested since Oct 13 with 27 still being held. 


Police have given no full breakdown.

“I cannot let the students fight alone,” said 24-year-old Phat, a first-time rallygoer at Bangkok’s Victory Monument. 

National Police spokesman Yingyos Thepjumnong warned protesters earlier on Sunday that no rallies “causing unrest and disorder” would be allowed. 

“If they defy it, police will do whatever is necessary to enforce the law,” he said. 

Pro-democracy protesters carry sections to make a metal barrier through the crowd during an anti-government rally at Victory Monument in Bangkok, on Oct 18, 2020. PHOTO: AFP


But police kept a low-key presence on Sunday as local media said more than 20,000 people descended on the landmark from late afternoon shouting “Free our friends” while carrying posters of those arrested.

"We are committed to maintain peace and order. In order to do so we are bound by laws, international standards, human rights," police spokesman Kissana Phathanacharoen told a news conference.

Demonstrators nonetheless distributed helmets and goggles to protect them during any attempt to disperse them by force. 

Protesters say Prime Minister Prayut engineered last year’s election to keep power he seized in a 2014 coup – an accusation he denies. 

The demonstrations have also become more openly critical of King Maha Vajiralongkorn’s monarchy, breaking a longstanding taboo, demanding curbs to its powers despite potential jail terms of up 15 years for anyone insulting the king. 

MORE ON THIS TOPIC

Thailand protest: Former PM Yingluck reminds Prayut of her predicament 6 years ago

Thousands occupy Bangkok streets in 4th day of anti-government protests

Thai PM calls for tougher crackdown on protests after clashes

During demonstrations by tens of thousands of people at multiple points across Bangkok on Saturday, protesters painted a flag on the road with "Republic of Thailand" written across it.  The writing was painted out overnight. 

The Royal Palace has made no comment on the protests but the King has said Thailand needed people who love the country and the monarchy.

Once-taboo in Thailand, the demands for royal reform is one of the biggest challenges facing the kingdom’s conservative military-aligned government. 

“There are groups of people claiming the monarchy for their own benefit and to get rid of their political opponents,” said a 24-year-old graduate who asked not to be identified. 

“We will not get true democracy if there’s no monarchy reform,” he told AFP.

Across Thailand, demonstrations were being organised in at least 19 other provinces in solidarity on Sunday. 

Pro-democracy protesters showing the three-finger salute as a police vehicle drives by, during a rally in Bangkok on Oct 18, 2020. PHOTO: REUTERS


Solidarity protests were also being held or planned in Taiwan, Denmark, Sweden, France, the United States and Canada.

Victory Monument, one of Bangkok’s busiest thoroughfares, was blocked off by protesters, but they made way for emergency vehicles and sent supplies down human chains formed along streets leading to the roundabout. 

Since the movement started in July, the social media-savvy protesters have harnessed unorthodox ways of spreading their messages, sending alerts through newly formed groups on Telegram – a secure messaging app – and borrowing tips from Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protests. 

Another protest site in Asok, a popular shopping and restaurant district, drew a smaller group of protesters. 

Gatherings were planned across the country – from Phuket in the south to Khon Khaen in the north-east, where students held up a portrait of Mr Prayut with the words “Get out” scrawled on it.

Links have grown between protesters in Thailand and Hong Kong in a so-called Milk Tea Alliance referring to drinks popular in both places.

Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong tweeted in support of Thai protesters. 

"Their determination for #Thailanddemocracy cannot be deterred," he said.

Thai protesters take over key Bangkok intersections
Demonstrations in solidarity held across the country in at least 19 other provinces

A Buddhist monk and other protesters giving the three-finger salute - a symbol of the pro-democracy movement - during a rally in Bangkok yesterday as they defied a ban on protests for the fourth day. PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE


BANGKOK • Tens of thousands of anti-government protesters took over key intersections in Bangkok yesterday, defying a ban on protests for the fourth day with chants of "down with dictatorship" and "reform the monarchy".

Demonstrations have persisted despite the arrest of dozens of protesters and their leaders, the use of water cannon and the shutdown of much of Bangkok's metro rail system, in an effort to quell over three months of street action.

Thai Lawyers for Human Rights said at least 80 protesters have been arrested since last Tuesday, with 27 still being held.

"Free our friends!" the protesters called out as they stood in the rain in a mass of colourful ponchos and umbrellas.

Some held up pictures of detained protest leaders.

"I cannot let the students fight alone," said 24-year-old Phat, a first-time rallygoer at Bangkok's Victory Monument.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha is concerned about the spreading protests and the government wants to talk, his spokesman said.

Across Thailand yesterday, demonstrations were held in solidarity in at least 19 other provinces, including Nonthaburi, Chonburi and Khon Kaen.

National Police spokesman Yingyos Thepjumnong warned protesters earlier yesterday that no rallies "causing unrest and disorder" would be allowed.

But police kept a low-key presence yesterday as more than 20,000 people, according to local media, descended on the Victory Monument.

"We are committed to maintaining peace and order. In order to do so, we are bound by laws, international standards, human rights," police spokesman Kissana Phathanacharoen told a news conference.

Protesters say Mr Prayut engineered last year's election to keep the power he seized in a 2014 coup - an accusation he denies.

The demonstrations have also become more openly critical of the monarchy, with protesters demanding curbs to its powers despite potential jail terms of up to 15 years for anyone insulting the King.

During demonstrations by tens of thousands of people at multiple points across Bangkok on Saturday, protesters painted a flag on the road with "Republic of Thailand" written across it. Overnight, the writing was painted over.

The Royal Palace has made no comment, but King Maha Vajiralongkorn has said Thailand needs people who love the country and the monarchy.

Solidarity protests were also being held or planned in Taiwan, Denmark, Sweden, France, the United States and Canada.

The Thai protesters, who have adopted the fast-moving tactics of Hong Kong activists, kept the police guessing about where demonstrations would be held with a slew of social media posts.

Links have grown between protesters in Thailand and Hong Kong with a so-called Milk Tea Alliance, referring to drinks popular in both places.

REUTERS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, BLOOMBERG