AS THE RUBBLE THREW UP DUST, TRUMP REFUSED FOOD AID TO AS MANY AS 40 MILLION AMERICANS ~ Louis Further ~ With the usual caveat that anarchists attach scant value to voting and elections, it’s of concern that last month the US Supreme Court significantly undermined Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965; this contains measures to ensure that electoral districts in any one state are arranged in rough proportion to its racial demographics. The Court has ruled that Louisiana cannot make such adjustments. Black votes now count for less. Elsewhere Republican-voting states are redrawing their electoral maps to favour white voters so actively and speedily that some legal commentators and ‘SCOTUS-watchers’ fear that this ruling could effectively result in permanent electoral majorities for the Republican (which now means far right/fascist) Party. The president is also widening his moves to overwrite the past—in this case by pardoning both more of those who tried to overturn the 2020 election in his favour and many of those found guilty of associated crimes. As the Court heard concluding oral arguments in this landmark voting rights case, the country’s president was publicly expressing major concerns about the way in which Time magazine had represented his haircut. He was also paying for the partial demolition of the White House with funds from supporters of genocide and abduction of non-whites by ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement), whose actions become ever more ferocious and sadistic. As the rubble threw up dust, Trump proved what a good Christian he is by refusing—illegally—to use the (non-charitable) resources mandated to feed perhaps as many as 40 million residents going hungry because of his government shutdown. This was quickly blamed on immigrants and trans people. Trump did, though, find the money to refurbish a bathroom in what he now seems to regard as his permanent home. Other signs of the extent to which Trump/MAGA cult is out of control (despite the fact that there is still little public contextual recognition of what is happening) are the sacking of those who refer to his attempted Putsch on January 6 2021 in a way of which he disapproves. Similarly, those who publicly criticise US support for Israel’s genocide often lose their jobs. Fascist senators like Ted Cruz (Texas) have legislation further to criminalise dissent. The media, of course, is feebly—if at all—trying to fend off blows from Trump, as he widens his reach to silence critics abroad. Correspondingly few are any murmurs that—although Trump is immune from legal consequences as president—those who ‘carry out his orders’ are not. MAGA cult members know that they need to stay in office indefinitely to retain that immunity. Judges’ demands for ‘accountability’ from ICE as it abducts and traffics non-whites across the country are being ignored. The ‘No Kings’ demonstrations on 18 October were estimated to have attracted more protesters than their equivalent in June by nearly 50%… seven million—or over 2% of the total population of the United States. Some sources are beginning to talk about the ‘2.5% rule‘. It would also be nice if such varied demonstrations do more than induce feelings of solidarity amongst those attending. But criticism of MAGA/Trump remains too ‘soft’ and disparate to make much impact; and lacks awareness of either the historical or geopolitical import of this resurgence of fascism. Trump’s response was characteristically vulgar. RACISM Trump and the MAGA merchants (some of whom now openly display Nazi flags) have surprised few recently by delivering themselves of a swill of offensive opinions. That slavery is and was a good thing; that racism is OK too. Vance, US vice president, stood up for such racism as this in his party and said that nobody wants to live next door to someone whose first language isn’t English; and that foreign nationals who criticised Charlie Kirk should be deported. Other forms of official government sadism include diminishing the support offered by what remains of the Department of Education responsible for young people with special needs by sacking those workers. Prosecutions for those abusing animals are also falling. Hatred is ever-present among Trump’s loyalists and ‘partners’: holocaust denier and antisemite Nick Fuentes, for instance, was given supportive exposure by prominent far right commentator Tucker Carlson—an event quickly endorsed by The Heritage Foundation, which is responsible for Project 2025, the blueprint of this administration. HEALTH ‘Policy’ in those government agencies formerly responsible for public health is increasingly based on the assumption that only the fittest deserve to survive This time last month 1,300 employees at the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) were sacked—by email, without warning, without reason. This is a trend demoralising and frightening career professionals for months. Everyone has gone from the team that uses data of outbreaks in reports and guidance for the public. So have ‘epidemic intelligence service officers’ who detected and tracked emerging threats so as to mitigate their effects. And so on and so on, despite the by now familiar uncertainties and chaos around Scotch mist re-instatements. An estimated third of all employees at the CDC have now lost their jobs—on top of an expected additional 50% cut in budgets next year. Some commentators see this as a cruel experiment in just how far the deliberate and frenzied withdrawal of vital public health services from a society can go before collapse ensues. This is almost certainly only the first ‘act’ though… several ‘directives’ in Project 2025, which at first sight appear to be advocating [pdf] greater ‘efficiency’ are actually destructive and sinister; they envisage the replacement of dismissed staff (who are almost all highly experienced experts) with toadies, whose key attribute is not medical but loyalty to the fascist dogma which holds MAGA together. The way that Trump and his cabinet, including RF Kennedy Junior (who appeared the ‘flee the scene’ of a recent medial emergency), are stuffing their team, and diluting science with right-leaning anti-health dogma is alarming in the extreme.   The post Notes from the US: The fascist bathroom appeared first on Freedom News.

L'amministrazione Trump vuole creare un sistema di sorveglianza di massa per scoprire gli immigrati irregolari analizzando i contenuti sui social media. L’amministrazione Trump ha previsto di creare un team di sorveglianza che aiuterà l’ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) a trovare immigrati clandestini attraverso la scansione dei contenuti pubblicati sui social media. La scorsa settimana, Apple e Google hanno rimosso dai rispettivi store alcune app che permettevano di segnalare la posizione degli agenti dell’ICE. In base ai documenti pubblicati sulla piattaforma per gli appalti, l’agenzia federale cerca fornitori privati per un programma di sorveglianza. Un team di 28 esperti, che lavorerà nelle sedi dell’ICE in Vermont e Sud California, avrà il compito di analizzare i contenuti pubblicati su Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Reddit, YouTube e altri social media per raccogliere informazioni utili all’individuazione di immigrati clandestini. Ovviamente verrà anche utilizzata l’intelligenza artificiale. Articolo qui

Quanto mi piacciono i libri dai quali esco sapendone qualcosa in più rispetto a quando ci ero entrato! Volevo fosse il caso dello spillato di Federico Fubini, omaggiato dal “Corriere della Sera” del trenta giugno. Titolo: Dazi. Sottotitolo: Il secolo della guerra economica. In copertina: guantone a stelle strisce contro guantone a stelle europee, perché l’immaginario italo-americano resta affezionato allo Stallone di Balboa, e nel sottopancia un istogramma in dissolvenza, come fossero grattacieli lynchiani.  In effetti i guantoni, il sinistro sulla destra che cozza col destro sulla sinistra, potrebbero essere dello stesso pugile, per cui il dubbio: è una guerra autolesionista, e schizoide, se non proprio l’ennesimo show per un pubblico pagante pago di vedere gli altri darsi apparenti botte da orbi, in pieno stile wrestler, restando cieco di fronte all’evidenza che a finire pestato più di tutti resterà lui, pubblico spettatore, e non certo i proprietari dell’arena, i fornitori, i preparatori atletici, i lottatori in scena, gli sponsor dell’evento, le emittenze varie e eventuali? L’estenuante guerra vinta dai ricchi che continuano a dichiararne, terrorizzati come sono dall’idea di esserlo meno. Guerre combattute dai poveri, magari lo fossero solo di spirito, contro i poveri di volta in volta convinti di averlo finalmente trovato il ricco che renderà ricco anche loro, alla faccia di chi povero lo resterà anche stavolta perché avrà puntato sul ricco sbagliato, neanche l’errore madornale non fosse continuare a stare nello stesso gioco della guerra su cui si fonda la straricchezza di quei ricchi che sanno arruolare i poveri con la sola promessa di ricchezza, guadagnandoci pure, arricchendosi assecondando la propria natura, del resto i poveri non stanno tanto a sottilizzare tra una povertà e una ancora peggiore. Almeno per un po’ si saranno illusi di qualcosa, un altro niente di fatto è pur sempre meglio del solito niente di prima.   Metti il dazio, togli il dazio, questo dazio qua spostalo là e quello là mettilo qua, la politica doganale trumpiana è esilarante, è il gioco degli “assetti del potere” che sta creando “ostacoli al commercio internazionale” facendo barcollare nella sola Europa “trenta milioni di posti di lavoro”, ciò non toglie non serva un Dario Fo per metterla in opera buffa: sembra proprio di stare nella favola dell’imperatore che brontola nell’attesa di quel bimbo che lo punterà a dito per dirgli quant’è nudo, stufo – l’imperatore – di dover continuare a andare in giro chiappe all’arie rischiando di buscarsi polmoniti, alla sua età!, attorniato da comprimari il cui massimo sforzo critico è civettare un Presidente, ma quanto le dona la calzamaglia color carne! Che lo scenario economico e quindi geopolitico mondiale sia favoloso lo scrive Fubini stesso, ricordando come degli “organismi internazionali dalle regole condivise quali il Fondo monetario internazionale, la Banca mondiale o l’Organizzazione mondiale del commercio” ormai resta “quasi solo il guscio: vuoto come la corazza del Cavaliere inesistente del romanzo di Italo Calvino.” L’avverarsi delle ambizioni della sinistra più antagonista, per opera del suo antagonista più spavaldo e beffardo.  Di macroeconomia e dunque del nocciolo della politica cosa mai ne posso capire io lettore di letteratura, in particolar modo di quegli scrittori che tante volte provocano tali buchi a bilancio cheppoi va da sé gli editori debbano stampare chef, tiktoker, ex-presidenti del Consiglio e giallisti tinti di nero per non doversi riciclare del tutto in copisterie di catena? Non ho le carte, non faccio deal, sono profano al punto da trovare brillante una sintesi associativa che immagino del tutto usurata per indicare gli effetti dell’economia finanziaria su quella reale, “da Wall Street a Main Street”, e da mandare giù come pillola prescritta dello specialista la descrizione di stablecoin: le chiamiamole valute “digitali private sostenute da depositi, per lo più in dollari, di valore equivalente”.   Sono il corrispettivo italiano di quegli americani, stimati il 38% del totale, “che non possiedono azioni quotate alla Borsa di New York e che non hanno altro che debiti”, convinti – erroneamente – “di avere poco a che fare con l’andamento di Wall Street e molto da perdere dalla globalizzazione”, dico erroneamente perché se il 38% di americani azioni non ne ha, il restante 62% sì, e se si rovinano economicamente due americani su tre, il terzo non si arricchirà certo a loro spese, anzi: loro le spese le ridurranno, potendosele comunque permettere, e sarà proprio il terzo, ulteriormente colpito dalle contrazioni del mercato, a rimetterci il poco che aveva e vedere ancora più lontana la possibilità di acquistarla una Ferrari, ora che l’azienda “ha alzato i suoi listini del 10% prima ancora che entrassero effettivamente i vigori i dazi al 25% sulle auto in arrivo negli Stati Uniti.” Per dire: le conseguenze della guerra dei dazi non potranno mai essere le stesse per chi dovrà rinviare all’anno prossimo l’acquisto di una Ferrari e per chi già da ora deve pagare “spesso anche il 28% sulle loro carte di credito: interessi da mafia dei colletti bianchi, che in Europa verrebbero puniti per il reato di usura”. Da lettore non specialista ho l’ambizione anti-economica che Vollmann rielabori in centinaia e centinaia di pagine psichedeliche il materiale che Fubini precipita nel capitolo che in Dazi ne conta soltanto tredici: La storia nelle vite di tre uomini: Clinton, Stiglitz e Vance. Per essere più sintetici di Fubini: Stiglitz, nato in una steel town 82 anni fa, aveva capito per tempo “che la globalizzazione beneficia i detentori di capitale e i lavoratori con diplomi di college o con master in università prestigiose, nei Paesi avanzati; ma svantaggia chi non ha né qualifica né capitali” e aveva fatto in modo che il messaggio arrivasse a Clinton quando era lui il Presidente. Clitton il 20 aprile del 1999 dalla libreria della Casa Bianca disse: “Questo è il momento di agire per impedire che le crisi finanziarie raggiungano livelli catastrofici in futuro.”  Dopodiché non si agì affatto, e qui entra in scena Vance, nato in una steel town circa quaranta anni dopo Stiglitz, solo che Vance non diventa un economista anche premio Nobel e saggista prolifico tanto acquistato quanto ignorato come Stiglitz: Vance a 32 anni pubblica Elegia americana prima di diventare vicepresidente degli States a 40, rappresentando in pieno la narrazione dell’elettorato di Trump: uno che non ci crede più ai rimedi macroeconomici di uno Stiglitz, uno che rivuole la fabbrica in casa anche se da casa sua sta espellendo i migranti indispensabili per coprire la forza lavoro richiesta. Vance vuole riscatto ovvero vendetta subito, Promuovendo l’America Grande Ancora, il cui acronimo un italiano forse rende meglio l’idea. E se sostituissimo Promuovendo con Costruendo?  Riflessione: lo scrittore di autofiction Vance ha e ha avuto un effetto sul mondo cosiddetto reale molto più sensibile dello stimato e inascoltato saggista Stiglitz. Dipende dai lettori che raggiungi, da come li raggiungi, da cosa gli racconti, se quello che racconti a quegli stessi lettori piaccia doverlo sentirselo dire, dopo essersi dovuti prendere persino l’impegno di leggerlo, per ascoltarlo.   E cosa dovrebbe gridare il bambino europeo al petulante imperatore nordamericano che lascia indizi peggio di Pollicino, sbottando ogni tanto un vagamente depistante meglio un jockstrap in filo spinato che un fottuto kimono di seta cinese? Scrive Fubini: chiamare col suo nome la coercizione economica fra Stati che è l’ultima moda del commercio internazionale, poiché  > “In sostanza Trump e Bessent [il Segretario del Tesoro] potrebbero stare > cercando di mettere l’Europa davanti a una brutale alternativa: comprare > debito americano man mano che viene emesso – e comprarlo malgrado rendimenti > contenuti – oppure rischiare di perdere l’accesso al mercato dei consumatori > americani e a quel che resta dell’ombrello di sicurezza del Pentagono.”  Che gli unici valori realmente difesi dalle civiltà egemoni odierne o meno, quelli per i quali sono disposte ad architettare aggressioni verso tutto e tutti dalle soft alle ultrahard, siano quelli che ci stanno in una borsa, specialmente se la Borsa è la loro, per capirlo mica bisognava aspettare il ventunesimo secolo e leggere Fubini! Bastava l’Ottocento e leggere Balzac. O Bel Ami di Maupassant, che secondo me è la più bella biografia mai scritta sui normalissimi uomini di potere, e dei secoli precedenti al 1885, anno in cui fu pubblicato, e di quelli a venire. Per le mire dell’America made-in-Trump verso la per nulla virginale Europa può valere il trattamento che George Duroy riservò alla ammansita, cavalcata e pussata via signora Walter: lei  > “D’un tratto, smise di lottare e, vinta, rassegnata, si lasciò spogliare.” antonio coda L'articolo Letteratura da manuale. Per capire i dazi bisogna leggere Maupassant (mica Fubini…) proviene da Pangea.

EVEN MORE PREDICTABLE THAN THE RISE OF FASCISM AROUND THE GLOBE HAS BEEN ITS SHARP DESCENT INTO INFIGHTING AND BICKERING ~ Sourdough ~ The coalitions that had propelled the far right resurgence have begun to break down. With of Elon Musk recent split from Trump, the tech right is acting like a microcosm of how fascism cemented once again within state power will work. Having failed to successfully cut the federal government’s spending by his intended $2 trillion —–and jumping ship to rescue his flailing stock prices—the rapid deterioration of Musk and Trump’s relationship has become something of public laughingstock. What likely began as a feud over electric vehicle subsidies, and ostensibly the budget, deficit soon climaxed in Trump’s top campaign donor accusing him officially of being a paedophile, and top Trump stooges calling for Musk’s deportation. Following this blow-up and subsequent celebration, however, there has been a period of détente, and it grows increasingly likely that the feud will simply be paved over and forgotten to allow the right to be re-integrated. So what does this mean for those of us without the carefully calibrated amnesia of a fascist? The first takeaway is that the fascists are not as secure in their position as they may seem. The brutality they so often express outwardly will repeatedly turn inward once their self-styled ‘drive for action’ becomes momentarily unsatisfied. Fascism thrives on conflict. By perpetuating conflict and a general state of warfare against the human race and human mind, fascism may distract from its immiseration of even its most fervent supporters, an outsourcing campaign of diversion, whether cultural, ideological, or based on external  features. To fuel its forward propulsion, fascism must continually cannibalise itself and its supporters. No easier can this be seen than in the Nazi’s ‘Night of the Long Knives’, when the brownshirts who had done their utmost for fascism to gain power were liquidated by the same monster they had helped to create. Although not its first victims, the fascists themselves will inevitably be their regime’s last. The second takeaway is that fascists have no solidarity, or if they do it is the solidarity of vultures. The world is for now their rotting corpse, and they are only allied so long as it helps them pick it clean. In a worldview where opportunism and strength overwhelm all other urges, constant backstabbing and jockeying for power are inevitable. Fascism is foremost an ideology of victimhood—at the hands of foreign and internal enemies. By victimising others, and outsourcing their suffering to someone lower on the ladder, fascists overcome their own humiliation as well as ensuring their inevitable place among future victims. Rather than banding together in solidarity, fascism teaches survival of the fittest and permanent war. It is the perfect ideology for capitalism’s de-classed: increasingly isolated, materially impoverished, and always angry. Instead of solidarity fascism teaches a sort of ‘individualism of fools’: you are special and unique, and yet something is foiling your flourishing, and therefore you must outsource your agency to these great men who now control your fate, squabbling on television. The struggle for the liberation of humanity—for a stateless, classless society—must also include liberating people from the hold of these dangerous ideologies. Not out of sympathy, but simply as a byproduct of our desire to free all humanity from all forms of oppression. As our enemies engage in warfare amongst themselves, they demonstrate how un-sustainable their own system is. No doubt this infighting will continue to grow, even if for now it is hastily forgotten and contained. The death of fascism will come by a thousand cuts, many internal. The more they struggle to enact and shape their despotism, the more they will fall on and victimise each other. We must continue to resist in any way possible. Give nothing, and you give them the weapons to harm themselves. The way forward is through the mouth of the fascist beast together, while it chases its own tail. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Image: Parrhesiastes CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 The post The fascists eat themselves appeared first on Freedom News.

THE SLIPPAGE FROM CONTAINING WMDS TO CALLS FOR REGIME CHANGE RINGS ALL TO FAMILIAR — BUT WARS’ MAIN FUNCTION IS STILL TO PRESERVE REGIMES ~ Simon, Andy and Uri discuss this weeks headlines, including the scorching weather, the mountain-to-molehill cheapening of terrorism charges, direct action in Germany, and ruling-class realignment in Britain and the USA The post Anarchist News Review: Israel-Iran war, Kneecap and attacks on Amazon appeared first on Freedom News.

ALTHOUGH THE ROLE IS SYMBOLIC, KAROL NAWROCKI WILL CONTINUE TO BLOCK ANY LIBERAL REFORM WHILE FASCISM GAINS GROUND ~ Nikita Ivansky ~ After the first presidential election polls were published on Sunday, it seemed like Polish society had just dodged the bullet—the far-right Karol Nawrocki trailed the centrist Rafał Trzaskowski by only 1%. Several hours later it became clear that the far-right had won, which means the governmental deadlock in Poland will most likely continue until the next parliamentary elections. To a certain extent, Nawrocki is the Polish version of Trump: an inexperienced politician surrounded by dozens of scandals that don’t affect his popularity among conservatives. Unlike the US president, however, the Polish president has very limited power, mostly symbolic. The only thing that makes Nawrocki problematic is his presidential power of veto, which will continue to block any reforms proposed by the current liberal conservatives running the country. The current prime minister, Donald Tusk, had similar problems with the outgoing far-right president, Andrzej Duda. Of course, anti-migrant legislation continues to be passed by the current government without the far right placing any obstacles. For example, the recent revocation of the right to asylum passed by the ruling coalition was signed quickly by Duda. This only reinforces the crisis of liberal politics, which has failed to develop a reasonable response to the rise of the far right. On the other hand, the Polish government failed to pass a law that would legalise abortion in the country, which was one of their major promises ahead of their 2023 victory. In fact, parts of the parliamentary majority voted with the right against legalisation. Nawrocki’s victory was also made possible by US conservative support. At the beginning of May, Donald Trump met with Nawrocki to boost his political career. Just a couple of days before the elections, the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) was held in Warsaw. The results show all of these efforts managed to sway public opinion.  Like elsewhere in Europe, Polish liberals and social democrats are now caught between Russian-funded fascists and US-supported far-right political parties. Anti-authoritarians who work to organise grassroots resistance and mobilise society against these authoritarian forces cannot rely on them as allies. The post Poland: Presidential victory for Trump’s candidate appeared first on Freedom News.

TRUMP’S PRESIDENCY IS STILL NOT WIDELY SEEN FOR THE FASCIST COUP THAT IT IS ~ Louis Further ~ Be honest and ignore your ‘scepticism’ about the ‘decency’ of politics in the United States: would you have believed it, had you been told ten years ago, that its president would be a twice impeached convicted felon, nevertheless elected with a healthy majority for a second term (and who is considering an illegal third term)? Would you have thought that a serial rapist, a failed businessperson notorious for not paying debts—a bankrupt even; an avowed white supremacist, misogynist, anti-Semite; a notorious liar; someone without a basic grasp of history and science—could become the most powerful person in the world?  Could a US president really build a fascist movement of such strength as to do what Trump/MAGA/Musk are doing: effectively (and illegally/unconstitutionally) dismantling multiple agencies of government, as this site chronicles; and potentially crashing the world economy because he has a fetish for half-understood tariffs? Education is a prime target of fascism. So perhaps—like climate denial—you foresaw universities being wrecked by defunding them (the latest huge withdrawals of funds (a total of US$1.8 million/£1.4 billion) from Northwestern and Cornell); their curricula steered to fall in line with far right dogma; and their accreditation procedures ‘interfered’ with. Incidentally, lawmakers in states like Oklahoma have a poor grasp of what constitutes good education: their latest exploit requires pupils to ‘learn’ that Trump unfailrly lost the 2020 election. Children in Maine will be worse off because some schools tolerate transgender pupils. In Florida teachers can now be sacked for respecting pupils’ identities. But were you ready to watch the removal of meteorological (for forecasting), geological and oceanic services—as well as of other scientific data? Would you ever have imagined that the staff and resources of authorities to ensure air traffic and airport safety would be depleted? Could you have seen a wholly unqualified anti-vaccine quack at the head of the equivalent of the NHS in the UK, Robert F Kennedy Jr Secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services? Like all Trump’s appointments, he had the backing of a majority of Congresspeople. One of Kennedy’s first acts was to push Vitamin A as an effective and appropriate ‘solution’ to the growing measles epidemic in the US; it isn’t. This was endorsed by the once-venerable CDC (Centers of Disease Control), which last week became unable to help schools in Milwaukee deal with unsafe lead-levels on their sites… lack of resources due to DOGE’s cuts. Children are now being brought to A&E with liver failure caused by an excess of Vitamin A. Kennedy is also conniving in the closure and defunding of health authorities in—of all places—the very heart of that outbreak. Could you have expected thousands of staff sacked whose job is to oversee and promote public health—HIV prevention, the asthma and air quality team, environmental hazard response, gun violence prevention, worker safety, reproductive and disability health; TB prevention; blood disorder projects, national surveying of drug use and mental health; lead poisoning prevention and water safety; the tobacco control division?  All gone. In the US over a third of people say they are unable to meet their healthcare needs. Worldwide the number of children who will die because of cuts to foreign aid is estimated to be in the millions. Never mind, though: if you have $1,000 (£763), you can buy ‘supernatural blessings’ on the White House’s own website from Trump’s chief ‘faith adviser’. PROJECT 2025 You won’t be surprised by any of if you have read Project 2025, which made most of this clear well before the Trump/MAGA victory of November. This ‘tracker’ shows how quickly and comprehensively its objectives are being achieved. Less attention is so far being paid to what comes next after government agencies are destroyed.But it too was stated clearly and explicitly before the election; and by vice president Vance well before that: illegally dismissed staff in those agencies are to be replaced with MAGA loyalists. Amongst Project 2025’s most frightening plans is the crackdown on opponents of Trump; while anecdotal evidence has begun to appear of national book bans. INCOMPETENCE Professionals with hundreds of years of experience and expertise are being replaced with incompetent, dishonest and ignorant amateurs – for instance from a far right TV channel. Surprised? Maybe not: any government can be incompetent in carrying out its actions. The level of incompetence in this one, though is staggering. For instance, Pete Hegseth from Fox runs the ‘Defense’ Department—an arm of the élite fanatically praised and supported—not to mention disproportionately overfunded – by those who delight in maiming and slaughtering non-whites. But the error which has inevitably come to be called ‘Signalgate’ (but dismissed by Trump/MAGA/Musk) when members of the administration used semi-public and hackable systems on their phones to discuss the first of several illegal terrorist attacks on Yemen last month and invited a journalist antipathetic to MAGA in on their plotting. Other examples of this are legion. Many of the aforementioned Kennedy’s actions with healthcare show gross incompetence. As do many of the precipitate actions with deportations; in both these—and other—cases dismissed staff have had to be rehired; but no-one bothered to keep a record of their whereabouts, which is making that impossible. It took other cult members to point out to Trump the negative impacts on bonds (needed to keep the government financed) for him to reverse most of the tariffs imposed a few days earlier. It was the rather bilious Peter Navaro—another convict and long-time economic advisor to Trump—who ‘invented’ a source, the non-existent ‘Ron Vara’ (an anagram of his name), to advance the cause for economically unsound tariffs and push it Trump’s way – because the latter had long had a fetish for them. Even the fake ‘formula’ for how much to impose on other countries so that America could become ‘great again’—including on two islands inhabited only by penguins—was actually mathematical nonsense… two of the variables cancelled each other out. RACISM Supremacism continues to play a major part in the administration’s sadism. The process of removing references to non-Whites on public sites and in government communications continues; evidence of the role of Harriet Tubman in the Underground Railroad was removed from a page on the National Parks website. The world-renown Smithsonian Museum complex has been instructed to remove exhibits explaining racism and the very history of non-Whites in the United States. More disturbing, though, is the ‘rationale’ offered for this by Trump: what’s ‘wrong’ with those whose existence is being suppressed is their biological impurity. To underline ‘racial purity’ you must segregate: in the past companies could be targeted by Equal Opportunities agencies for discriminatory practices. In Trumpworld they are attacked because they are not discriminating. Covert until now, a recently-issued public memo from the General Services Administration (the body which sources and provides billions of dollars of products and services to and for the federal government – properties and equipment, for instance) specifically excludes any requirement in contracts and agreements with anyone providing such facilities to the government that they not segregate their own eating areas, waiting rooms, transportation and drinking fountains and so on. In other words it will no longer be illegal, say, for a firm renovating a federal property to bus its black and white workers to the site in separate vehicles and use segregated facilities while they work there.  Trump’s executive order ending racial toleration repeals a regulation dating from 1965 which sought to introduce equal opportunities. References to the Holocaust are to be removed from the Pentagon’s website; Trump attacked Senate minority leader Schumer along Jewish/gentile lines. Even the MAGA antisemitism gang seems confused. As long as what’s happening is still not seen for the fascist coup that it is, though, too many people will fail to see the hypocrisy and discrepancy of appearing to fight anti-semitism while at the same time Trump allies himself with, for instance, Charlie Kirk whose promotion on Fox ought to make Fox ‘News’ unwelcome in Trump/MAGA/Musk circles. Illegal deportations of non-whites continue (indeed, may be increasing in number) without the required due process – in contravention of judges’ orders and injunctions. Several of the kidnappings are obviously punishment for the views held by the deportees – despite the fact that they have committed no crime; unidentified government gangs are now snatching non-whites off the streets. And, of course, because of misidentifications – not so far put right. Also increasingly being punished are labour leaders while company after company is removing all traces of even the merest nods to equity from their annual reports and mission statements. LEGAL Many—though not all—now believe that the legal system represents the best, last and only block to the régime. But three things suggest that this is unlikely. In the first place rulings by the Supreme Court have begun to go Trump’s way (on deportations and re-instatement of illegally dismissed staff). Secondly, it seems likely that court rulings not in the MAGA/Trump/Musk cult’s favour will be ignored. Indeed, several already have—like this one on the retention of documents relating to the illegal ending of foreign aid; and this one on deportations. More and more law firms are giving way to Trump’s illegal extortion moves… “Drop cases which I disapprove of or I’ll slap you with an Executive Order”. Or arrest you. Lastly, legislation is passing through Congress which would make it easier for politicians to dismiss adverse judges and their rulings. What may have been the first use of physical violence happened this time last month when members of Musk’s so-called ‘department of government efficiency’ (DOGE) illegally forced their way into the US Institute of Peace (USIP, its website has been suppressed). This ought to please the discredited Erik Prince, who is back at the White House. ENVIRONMENT Frighteningly, Musk/Trump/MAGA has yet to turn its attention to large scale environmental destruction. But they have begun: general protections are going, water regulation is under attack (although you can now expect to use unlimited quantities of water when bathing because Mr Trump does) and coal-fired power stations are being encouraged. The man who is also in favour—when it suits him—of passing authority and decisions to the individual states recently issued an order preventing them from implementing measures to address the climate emergency. The post Notes from the US: Surprised? Maybe not appeared first on Freedom News.

“Siate dunque decisi a non servire mai più e sarete liberi. Non voglio che scacciate i tiranni e li buttiate giù dal loro trono; basta che non li sosteniate più, e li vedrete crollare, […] come un colosso a cui sia stato tolto il basamento”. Étienne de La Boétie, "Discorso sulla servitù volontaria", 1576. Giorgio vive a Roma ed è un militante a tempo pieno. Fa parte di un sindacato di base della scuola, è segretario del circolo di uno dei tanti partiti della diaspora della sinistra, è femminista, appassionato praticante dell’inclusione dei suoi allievi con disabilità e non. La sua vita, a parte i rari momenti in cui riposa o in cui si dedica ai suoi genitori molto anziani, è dedicata a cercare di ricostruire quel “tessuto collettivo” in cui è cresciuto, negli anni tra il sessantotto e il settantasette, e che lo ha visto prendere parte poi, giovanissimo, al movimento ecologista e nonviolento dei primi anni 80. La sua non è solo nostalgia: è convinto (a ragione) che solo un approccio collettivo ai nostri problemi potrà portare a uscire dalle convulsioni che sta vivendo la nostra società, soprattutto a quelle della democrazia, che osserva preoccupato. Nonostante tutto questo, una delle mani che sta girando la chiave della nascente tirannia automatizzata di cui parlava Edward Snowden è anche la sua. Per comprenderne il motivo bisogna ricostruire alcuni eventi. Praticare la “servitù cibernetica volontaria” non è questione di stupidità o malafede, semmai di essersi persi quelli che, di primo acchito, sembrano dettagli. Giorgio era nella seconda metà dei suoi vent’anni quando l’avvento del World wide web sembrò aver dato vita a Internet. In realtà, Internet esisteva dagli anni Sessanta e il web la stava solo rendendo un po’ più sexy. Ecco il primo importante dettaglio. Quel cambiamento meramente “estetico” ha promosso la nascita dei primi siti “di movimento”, che replicavano via Internet dinamiche molto simili a quelle delle radio libere che avevano invaso l’etere dal 1976 in avanti, facendo sognare alla generazione precedente quella di Giorgio che l’autogestione dei media da parte del movimento studentesco, fuori dal controllo Rai, sarebbe diventata la norma. Secondo dettaglio: purtroppo quello è rimasto un sogno. Un sogno simile è tornato a essere coltivato nei confronti del web. Gli entusiasti di quella stagione, però, hanno commesso un errore più grave del confondere il web con Internet: hanno confuso l’avvento di una tecnologia compatibile con la redistribuzione del potere con l’effettiva redistribuzione dello stesso. Terzo dettaglio: Internet non ha mai smantellato la burocrazia degli Stati-nazione, tanto meno l’organizzazione economica capitalista, che inizialmente esce addirittura rafforzata dalla bolla delle dot-com (nel 1995). Infatti, nei trent’anni successivi, le burocrazie statali e private hanno lavorato in sinergia alla riconfigurazione della rete, per renderla uno strumento di sorveglianza e controllo. Per questo oggi Peter Thiel, noto sociopatico di ultradestra, dopo aver promosso la “transizione al trumpismo” dei suoi techbros, ha finalmente intravisto le condizioni per realizzare il suo sogno distopico: abolire la democrazia a favore della “libertà” della Silicon Valley. Libertà di agire senza rispondere delle proprie azioni, s’intende. Questa è la prospettiva che rende l’immagine della cerimonia di insediamento del secondo ciclo di Donald Trump, un evento da lasciare senza fiato. All’indomani, lo stesso Bill Gates (Microsoft) ha dichiarato di essere “stupito dalla svolta a destra della Silicon Valley”; una svolta suggellata dalla presenza di Google, Amazon, Meta e Apple all’evento. Microsoft era l’unica impresa della rosa "Gafam" assente, sia all’insediamento, sia al party esclusivo tenutosi proprio a casa di Peter Thiel pochi giorni prima (ma Gates aveva fatto visita a Trump nella sua residenza in Florida appena pochi giorni prima). Forse Gates pensa che gli interessi delle aziende nate grazie al web siano meglio tutelati difendendo la Rete (com’era stato nei primi anni duemila), che non cercando di prendere tutto il potere in un colpo. I colpi di mano possono fallire mentre la strategia di diffondere un “sogno americano” in salsa cibernetica aveva fin qui trionfato. Quarto dettaglio, che potrebbe costar caro ai miliardari della Silicon Valley, una volta tanto. Il tentativo di prendere il totale controllo dei dati “sensibili” dei cittadini americani da parte del (Department of government efficiency, Doge), sotto la guida del suo caudillo Elon Musk, sono state lette dagli analisti informatici come un vero e proprio attacco hacker portato al cuore del sistema burocratico del governo statunitense. Un colpo di Stato senza spargimento di sangue, come scrive Salvaggio su TechPolicy Press. Stati e imprese, infatti, sono ormai completamente digitalizzati: funzionano grazie a enormi quantità di dati captati, non sempre con il consenso degli interessati. Una volta che le informazioni che ci riguardano divengono dati registrati digitalmente, qualsiasi abuso diviene tecnicamente possibile: è sufficiente un comando impartito a un terminale da un attore senza scrupoli. Il realizzarsi o meno degli scenari peggiori è questione politica. Infatti l’unica resistenza che, per ora, sta rallentando il Doge è quella legale. In prospettiva, però, le leggi possono cambiare, soprattutto sotto spinte populiste. Per questo la società civile dovrebbe darsi come obiettivo urgente la cancellazione dei dati e lo smantellamento degli apparati atti a captarli, almeno fino a che non si sia raggiunto un nuovo patto sociale su questa nuova forma di potere, compatibile con la sopravvivenza di un sistema democratico. È in questo senso che le mani che girano la chiave nella toppa della tirannia automatizzata sono quelle di Giorgio, quella di chi scrive, di chi legge, quella di tutte e tutti noi che abbiamo fornito e continuiamo a fornire i nostri dati. L’errore capitale è continuare a vedere il digitale come uno strumento neutrale o -peggio- “roba da esperti, informatici o tecnici”, anche dopo che questo è stato usato ripetutamente contro di noi, in maniera così plateale. Se non si comprende questo, ogni sforzo verso una società migliore rischia di essere spazzato via dalla tirannia automatizzata, quella che riconosce i migranti con sistemi di controllo satellitari da miliardi di euro piazzati a ogni confine e ne incrocia i dati con sistemi di riconoscimento biometrici, per braccarli con una precisione di dieci metri, anche nel mezzo di un deserto. Queste tecnologie possono essere utilizzate in qualsiasi momento contro giornalisti, oppositori, semplici cittadini. Anzi, stanno già venendo utilizzate oggi, come mostra il "caso Paragon" che ha fatto emergere sistemi di sorveglianza illegale a danno di giornalisti, preti e attivisti. Da questo punto di vista le cose in Europa vanno leggermente meglio. Nonostante il progetto ideale europeo sia naufragato in una struttura burocratica, cieca e sorda a tutto e funzionale alla finanza più che ai popoli, qualcosa si salva. La normativa sul trattamento dei dati (Gdpr) ci permette ancora di vivere l’avvento di personaggi come Trump e Musk con un barlume di speranza in più, rispetto ai cittadini americani. È molto probabile che i nostri governi stiano, sottobanco, abusando dei nostri dati (vedasi il caso Invalsi), ma per lo meno lo stanno facendo in maniera illegale e, se provassero a usare i dati in tribunale, potrebbero vedersela brutta. Forse potremmo ripartire da questa semplice osservazione, mentre proviamo a costruire un approccio al digitale basato sull’autogestione e sulla convivialità, invece che sul sogno di controllare (magari via norme) megastrutture impossibili da controllare per design. Il futuro non è ancora scritto, a patto di cominciare oggi stesso. Scatole oscure. Intelligenza artificiale e altre tecnologie del dominio” è una rubrica a cura di Stefano Borroni Barale. La tecnologia infatti è tutto meno che neutra. Non è un mero strumento che dipende unicamente da come lo si usa, i dispositivi tecnici racchiudono in sé le idee di chi li ha creati. Per questo le tecnologie “del dominio”, quelle che ci propongono poche multinazionali, sono quasi sempre costruite come scatole oscure impossibili da aprire, studiare, analizzare e, soprattutto, cambiare. Ma in una società in cui la tecnologia ha un ruolo via via più dispositivo (e può quindi essere usata per controllarci) aprire e modificare le scatole oscure diventa un esercizio vitale per la partecipazione, la libertà, la democrazia. In altre parole: rompere le scatole è un atto politico. Stefano Borroni Barale (1972) è laureato in Fisica teorica presso l’Università di Torino. Inizialmente ricercatore nel progetto EU-DataGrid (il prototipo del moderno cloud) all’interno del gruppo di ricerca dell’Istituto nazionale di fisica nucleare (Infn), ha lasciato la ricerca per lavorare nel programma di formazione sindacale Actrav del Centro internazionale di formazione dell’Ilo. Oggi insegna informatica in una scuola superiore del torinese e, come membro di Circe, conduce corsi di formazione sui temi della Pedagogia hacker per varie organizzazioni, tra cui il ministero dell’Istruzione. Sostenitore del software libero da fine anni Novanta, è autore per Altreconomia di “Come passare al software libero e vivere felici” (2003), una delle prime guide italiane su Linux e altri programmi basati su software libero e “L’intelligenza inesistente. Un approccio conviviale all’intelligenza artificiale” (2023). © riproduzione riservata L'articolo Chi sta girando la chiave della contemporanea tirannia automatizzata? proviene da Altreconomia.

AFTER THREE YEARS OF FULL-SCALE WAR, WE NOW FACE AN AUTHORITARIAN WORLD ORDER ~ Nikita Ivansky ~ Russia started its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, believing in it’s own imperial myth of military strength. It hoped to swiftly take over Kyiv and the rest of the country and establish a puppet regime. But the Russian army choked on the scattered forces of Ukrainian army, volunteer battalions, and small groups who took action against the invaders. The Ukrainian people became the mud in which the Russian war machine began to sink.  Now, we face a new world order where Putin’s friend in Washington has started blackmailing the Ukrainian government into a colonial-style deal intended to extract as much resources from the region as possible. Meanwhile, European countries are struggling to get some space for future discussions of what Trump and Putin have been agreeing behind closed doors. With all of this, the interests of ordinary people in Ukraine and Eastern Europe are being left behind. We are once again in the age of global empires that use brute force to batter people into submission. This fits in perfectly with the MAGA narrative that Trump has been pushing so hard to US voters for almost a decade. And while the “free” world was inspired by the resistance of the Ukrainian people in the first months of the invasion, more and more people in Europe and the US are tired of the war as it threatens their first world comforts.  After a drone attack in Sumy, Ukraine, 30 January Ukrainians are now in peril of being left on their own, with very limited possibilities to resist the Russian invasion. Grassroots solidarity won’t be able to provide as many resources as necessary to fight back. Trump understands this perfectly. The new “king” of the USA, as he called himself, understands the power he has over the Ukrainian state at this point of history, and through this power he is trying to benefit from this war without all these conversations about protecting the free democratic world from authoritarianism. Trump himself wants to have the same power dynamics between the state and the people as they currently have in Russia or China.  That is why those who shout for “peace” at right-wing rallies around the world are actually repeating the Kremlin’s propaganda. They are not in favour of peace, but against a war from which they do not profit. Fascism is not an ideology of peace. It is an ideology of conflict, and it benefits from creating chaos and confusion to establish and maintain its rule. Except for a very few groups and organisations, anarchists and anti-authoritarian leftists have so far failed to develop a common platform to approach this crisis. We are in the darkest of times on this planet. The new world order is being built by forces that have little regard for human life or freedom. It is easy in these moments to drown in self-pity and sadness, to abandon political engagement, or to find safety in social media bubbles. But now is the time when the struggle matters most. It is not the time for despair, but rather for anger and hope, because history has shown that darkness can be scattered by the brave souls who dedicate themselves to the struggle for a better world. It is our turn to pick up that torch. The post Putin’s friend blackmails Ukraine appeared first on Freedom News.

PERHAPS AN ANTI-LABOUR SENTIMENT IS NO SURPRISE COMING FROM AN ANARCHIST OPINION COLUMN, BUT MY ATHEISM, THIS SHOWER OF SPINELESS REJECTS FROM CENTRIST CENTRAL CASTING HAVE HAD NO COMPUNCTION AT ALL IN SUCKING UP TO THE NEWLY-INSTALLED IMPERIAL ORANGE. ~ Rob Ray ~ After a furtive half-minute in a back room tickling Trump’s earhole last week Sir Prime Minister  Keir is smoothing his hair out for an in-person conversation on Thursday, at which he seems to hope that the so-called special relationship can be rekindled. For a party that prides itself on not being the Tories (little else can be said of their principles) there certainly seems to have been a rush to be as much like the Maga Republicans as possible recently. Just this month there’s been Rachel Reeves doing her best impression of a poundshop Musk by announcing (yet another) audit of regulators aimed at “removing red tape” – including on arms sales. Even the previously vaunted AI safety ideal is on the chopping block. Over at the Home Office meanwhile it’s time for another round of the “how harsh can we be to migrants” show as an effort is made to deny citizenship to refugees arriving by “dangerous routes.” You might ask how refugees, who cannot claim asylum without being here but aren’t allowed visas, might arrive without taking a dangerous route. Yes, quite. Labour’s disinterest in repealing the Tories’ anti-protest laws has been covered in this column before, but its insistence on fighting the legal case for keeping climate and Gaza protesters in jail for as long as possible during a prison crisis has been particularly cruel. And most damning of all is the use of upcoming welfare cuts to fund increased defence spending – a measure tailored specifically to appeal to the whims of the US president, and useless for any other consideration. Billions of pounds that could have gone to saving lives in Britain, destined to adorn a balance sheet when bragging at a G8 dinner. Hardly surprising, in this atmosphere, is the disinterment of Blue Labour, a monumentally thick-headed idea in its first 2010s incarnation and a worse one now, trying the same “chase the rabbit down the hole” tactics that gave Reform its big break in the first place. And yet all of this, the “hey look we’re like you” of audits and migrant bashing, the mealy-mouthing around topics like Gaza and Ukraine (where just days prior there had been sabre-rattling bellicosity towards Putin and promises of a 100-year partnership), the selling of whatever minimal principle still remained in hopes of being “the adult in the room” with Donnie are as nought. The US does not care whether Labour is pre-emptively grovelling, and Trump will humiliate his poodle regardless.  It’s perhaps the most numbingly pathetic part of this “strategy” for Reform shoe-stealing and Trump placating that it doesn’t even work on its own terms. People who have turned to Reform may be self-defeating, many or most may be bigots, or even willing dupes. But this isn’t the same thing as being stupid. Farage is a grifter, but he’s been banging his drum for decades. His politics are consistent. Labour on the other hand … everyone knows this lot. Their policies are weathervane. Making a big song and dance of performative cruelty only pushes the boundaries of what’s acceptable, or even desirable, in the body politic.  And Trump will simply tell Starmer what to do with menaces, sounding vaguely magnanimous about it if Labour sucks up hard enough. This is looking likely to be party politics for the next four years. Labour chasing Reform domestically, and Trump on the world stage. Which is a departure from what was being suggested by liberals and even much of the left as we entered the new government last year, that we’d at least be spared more Tory mess.  Turns out the anarchists were right, and we’re getting largely the same Tory mess. Dogend neoliberalism washed down with a slug of watery Faragism.  While centrists do what they were always going to, there has been at least some acceptance on the left, at long last, that hopes of an electoral route for progressive reform through Labour are now dead. And inevitably there has been recent talk, on the left, of starting a new party, or of trying to capture the Greens.  Either would be a waste of time.  The problem is not that we lack a party, it’s that any left party would lack a constituency. Labour gets away with this stuff because there’s no counter power to scare them out of it. They had election results in 2017 and 2019 showcasing this very fact, in which the public, offered a social democratic model by Corbyn and McDonnell, looked at it and said “nah, not plausible.”  And of course it wasn’t. The left Labour machine was almost solely electoral, it had no economic muscle in the absence of a serious trade union or social movement and was getting its arse kicked by the media even before putting a foot in Downing Street. The public was correct to be sceptical and will continue to be so until we, collectively, have something of substance to offer. And that doesn’t start in Parliament.  For those of us who give a damn, the next four years should not involve worrying about what’s in the polls. Our concern should be for building the networks and community resilience that we failed to build ten years ago. Overtly and constructively fostering cultures of solidarity to reverse the alienation which has produced so many of the stupid ideas which currently infest our body politic. That’s what underpins Reform’s rise, along with MAGA in the US. And given both climate change and the resumption of belligerent geopolitics, we need to have a sense of urgency about doing so. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The post Labour’s rose is as ash and smoke appeared first on Freedom News.