A few ‘takes’ from recent headlines

1. Here’s a simple rule. If you didn’t support Kaep when he protested police brutality at home, then don’t blame LeBron when he doesn’t protest normal policing abroad. Actually, on second thought, don’t blame LeBron at all. He actually puts his money where his mouth is.


2. Speaking of China: it’s not just the cars, stupid. It’s the infrastructure.


3. Few things move me further into the Tulsi camp than watching her give massive rhetorical body-checks to people who clearly deserve them. Case in point: Hillary Clinton, who should have known better than to comment on the Democratic nomination after having basically tossed the last election – and certainly should have known better than to call one of the trailing candidates a ‘Russian asset’. Congresswoman Gabbard also has repeatedly called the sitting president a ‘bitch’ for supporting Saudi Arabia in Yemen. Again, completely deserved. She’s a jock, but she sure knows how to pick her fights – it’s a pity she doesn’t support Medicare for All as strongly as she might. As it is, I’m still on-the-fence between her and Bernie.


4. EDIT (20 Oct 2019): Beto O’Rourke, Andrew Yang and Marianne Williamson, by defending Tulsi Gabbard against the ‘Russian asset’ smear, have proven that they are at least decent human beings, even if I disagree with much of their platforms. If treatment of ‘outsiders’ is a measure of character, then they have proven that they have it. Cory Booker, Kamala Harris and Julián Castro have revealed that they do not.


5. A horrific, genocidal Turkish invasion of Syria is probably not the best time to say ‘I told you so’ about the FSA, which is busy carrying out the dirty work of said horrific genocide. But yes: the supporters of Baššâr al-’Asad (even as the least-worst option) have been right about the ‘moderate rebels’, if not from day one then pret-near close to it. The American betrayal went far deeper than Trump’s quasi-pullout, and few people know that now better than the Kurds themselves.


6. What the hell kind of country decides it’s a good idea to shoot more whales when vanishingly few people at all, and certainly nobody in their right mind, wants to eat whale meat? Whales are sentient. It’s long past time for the ‘civilised’ world to stop butchering them.