#and generally some would broadly refer to the soldiers as “russians” when talking about the atrocities

[glory-of-gore]

Something I fucking hate on this site that I don't see anyone talking about: tagging posts calling out war crimes a certain country is committing with "_ culture." When you search "Russian culture" on this site 95% of the posts are about atrocities of the Russian government and how evil the country is. This is hateful and counterproductive.

I agree with posts calling out atrocities, and I think calling out bad things you see and platforming the voice of those being silenced is an honorable thing to do. The war being waged on Ukraine and the suffering of its citizens through bombing, displacement, torture, assault and several other inhumane measures for nothing more than greed is disgusting. But demonizing the culture of a country to get those points across is only done by people who are so consumed by their anger that they blame people and concepts that don't need to be blamed.

Whatever the reason for doing this is - whether it's to reach a wider audience or out of genuine bigotry - it's unnecessary and plain disrespectful. You're already reaching your target audience when you've tagged a post about Ukraine "free Ukraine", "save Ukraine", "fuck Putin", "Ukrainian war", "Ukraine", "Russia", and several other tags that either show empathy for Ukraine, anger at the Russian attacks, or sum up the general topic of discussion. You've added lots of tags, a good tactic for spreading news online. There is absolutely no need to tag it "Russian culture." That's not what you're talking about in your post. You just want to demonize the culture as a whole, and any innocent citizens (or otherwise) who are interested in the culture. Which, hot take, people are allowed to be, without living in shame about their government's crimes 24/7. People can be proud of the good things about a country while acknowledging the bad things. This isn't liberation, it's hate. Liberation is achieved through anger at the system in which these things happen, at the people perpetrating these crimes against humanity. Not by clumping an ethnic group together as evil or terrorists - that makes you no better than the oppressor.

I wouldn't have made such a long post if it was just here and there, but it actually seems to be a trend under the Russian culture tag - and to a huge degree, because I scrolled for like 2 minutes straight and maybe 2 posts were actually about Russian culture, which I found disturbing. It's also burningly similar to other instances I've seen on the internet of people trying to "get back" at a majority group/oppressive country by being discriminatory and thinking it's okay, so I wouldn't doubt this is a bigger issue. I'm not thinking of a country to search up to find out though.

[newstfionline]

Wednesday, March 31, 2021

Leaders of 23 countries back pandemic treaty idea for future emergencies (Reuters) Leaders of 23 countries and the World Health Organisation on Tuesday backed an idea to create an international treaty that would help the world deal with future health emergencies like the coronavirus pandemic now ravaging the globe. The idea of such a treaty, which would ensure universal and equitable access to vaccines, medicines and diagnostics for pandemics, was floated by the chairman of European Union leaders Charles Michel at a G20 summit last November. On Tuesday it got the formal backing of the leaders of Fiji, Portugal, Romania, Britain, Rwanda, Kenya, France, Germany, Greece, Korea, Chile, Costa Rica, Albania, South Africa, Trinidad and Tobago, the Netherlands, Tunisia, Senegal, Spain, Norway, Serbia, Indonesia, Ukraine and the WHO. “There will be other pandemics and other major health emergencies. No single government or multilateral agency can address this threat alone,” the leaders wrote in a joint opinion article in major newspapers. “We believe that nations should work together towards a new international treaty for pandemic preparedness and response,” they said.

Religious membership in the U.S. falls below the majority (Washington Post) The portion of Americans who consider themselves members of a church, synagogue or mosque has dropped below 50%, according to a Gallup poll released Monday. It is the first time that has happened since Gallup first asked the question in 1937, when church membership was 73%. In recent years, data has shown a U.S. shift away from religious institutions and toward general disaffiliation, a trend that analysts say could have major implications for politics, business and how Americans group themselves. In 2020, 47% of Americans said they belonged to a church, synagogue or mosque. The polling firm also found that the number of people who said religion was very important to them has fallen to 48%, a new low point in the polling since 2000. Gallup’s data finds that church membership is strongly correlated with age: 66% of American adults born before 1946 belong to a church, compared with 58% of baby boomers, 50% of those in Generation X and 36% of millennials.

Mexico’s Covid-19 death toll may be 60% higher than officially reported (CNN) Mexico’s government has released a new report that shows nearly 120,000 victims of Covid-19 may have gone uncounted until now—a finding which would raise the country’s death toll from the virus by nearly 60%. The new Health Ministry report suggests that a total of more than 321,000 people have likely died from Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic. This conclusion is at odds with the much lower figures that the same ministry has been reporting every day until now—as recently as Saturday, only 201,429 Covid-linked deaths were reported as “confirmed.” The report, titled “Excess Mortality in Mexico,” measures the number of deaths since the start of the pandemic which exceed projections based on previous years. According to data from this new report, Mexico’s death toll would be higher than Brazil’s and would place the country as second worst-hit in the world, following the US.

Killing of Salvadoran Refugee by Police in Mexico Incites Furor (NYT) The death at the hands of police of a woman who was a refugee from El Salvador has drawn international condemnation and potential embarrassment for Mexico, which on Monday began hosting a United Nations summit focused on gender equality. The woman, Victoria Esperanza Salazar Arriaza, died on Saturday after being detained by the police in Tulum, a resort town on the Yucatán Peninsula. Videos shared on social media show an officer kneeling on the woman’s back as she cried out. Officers can later be seen dragging her limp body into the back of a police truck. Authorities in the state of Quintana Roo confirmed on Monday that the cause of death was a fractured spine, and four officers were arrested in connection with the killing. On Monday afternoon, the mayor of Tulum, Victor Mas Tah, said at a news conference that the city’s chief of police had been removed from his post. “She was treated brutally and killed: It is a fact that fills us with sorrow, pain and shame,” said President Andrés Manuel López Obrador during a morning news conference at which he inaugurated the U.N.’s Generation Equality Forum. Mexico and France are the forum’s hosts this year. The jarring moment in a news conference centered on gender equality highlighted the discrepancy between Mexico’s foreign policy, which has often focused on elevating women’s rights, and its woeful domestic record, with an average of 10 women killed every day in 2020.

Happy Monday? England embarks on major easing of lockdown (AP) It’s been dubbed Happy Monday—the day people could put on a bathing suit and swim in an outdoor pool for the first time in months, or rusty golfers strove to hit their drives down the middle of the fairway. Following a near three-month coronavirus lockdown that along with a rapid rollout of vaccines has seen infections fall dramatically, England embarked on a major easing of restrictions with families and friends able to meet up in outdoor spaces and many sports permitted once again. The other parts of the U.K.—Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland—are taking broadly similar steps. And, as if right on cue, the weather is improving, with temperatures rising to levels more akin to southern Spain at this time of year. Under Monday’s easing, groups of up to six, or two households, can socialize in parks and gardens once more, while outdoor sports facilities can reopen. Though many aspects of everyday life remain off-limits for at least a few more weeks, many people are relishing their new freedoms.

France debates bill cracking down on Islamists (Worldcrunch) France has long struggled with Islamist terrorism. President Emmanuel Macron argues that the solution is to better integrate Muslims into French society, notably by promoting a secular-friendly “Islam of France.” Today French senators begin debating a controversial bill  that many believe will expand state powers to tackle Islamist terrorism. The bill comes as Macron is seeking to poach as many conservative voters as he can from the far-right politician Marine Le Pen, his likely rival in upcoming elections. Some of the most high-profile items in the bill include: No school from home. The bill bans homeschooling for children older than 3. / Watch what you say online. The bill toughens the punishment for those who spread information, online or otherwise, about someone that “allows them to be identified or located,” with the aim of putting them or their family in harm’s way. / Our money, our rules. As a condition of receiving public funds, community groups will need to promise to use the funds “in accordance with republican principles.” France’s left views the bill as an example of unacceptable statist encroachment, while the right thinks it isn’t strong enough. Both sides have until April 8 to amend and debate the bill.

Uncompromising Taliban (NYT) The Taliban’s swagger is unmistakable. From the recent bellicose speech of their deputy leader, boasting of “conquests,” to sneering references to the “foreign masters” of the “illegitimate” Kabul government, to the Taliban’s own website tally of “puppets” killed—Afghan soldiers—they are promoting a bold message: We have already won the war. And that belief, grounded in military and political reality, is shaping Afghanistan’s volatile present. On the eve of talks in Turkey next month over the country’s future, it is the elephant in the room: the half-acknowledged truth that the Taliban have the upper hand and are thus showing little outward interest in compromise, or of going along with the dominant American idea, power-sharing.

Myanmar protesters launch ‘garbage strike’; two killed as death toll tops 500 (Reuters) Rubbish piled up on the streets of Myanmar’s main city on Tuesday after activists launched a “garbage strike” to oppose military rule as the toll of pro-democracy protesters killed by the security forces since a Feb. 1 coup rose to more than 500. At least 512 civilians had been killed in nearly two months of protests against the coup, 141 of them on Saturday, the bloodiest day of the unrest, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) advocacy group. Alongside the protests, a civil disobedience campaign of strikes has paralysed large parts of the economy. In a new tactic, protesters sought to step up the campaign by asking residents to leave garbage at intersections in the main city of Yangon. Pictures posted on social media showed piles of rubbish building up.

China sharply reduces elected seats in Hong Kong legislature (AP) China has sharply reduced the number of directly elected seats in Hong Kong’s legislature in a setback for the territory’s already beleaguered democracy movement. The changes were announced Tuesday after a two-day meeting of China’s top legislature. In the new make-up, the legislature will be expanded to 90 seats, and only 20 will be elected by the public. Currently, half of the 70-seat legislature—35 seats—are directly elected. The move is part of a two-phase effort to reign in political protest and opposition in Hong Kong, which is part of China but has had a more liberal political system as a former British colony. China imposed a national security law on Hong Kong last year and is following up this year with a revamp of the electoral process.

An Alliance of Autocracies? China Wants to Lead a New World Order. (NYT) President Biden wants to forge an “alliance of democracies.” China wants to make clear that it has alliances of its own. Only days after a rancorous encounter with American officials in Alaska, China’s foreign minister joined his Russian counterpart last week to denounce Western meddling and sanctions. He then headed to the Middle East to visit traditional American allies, including Saudi Arabia and Turkey, as well as Iran, where he signed a sweeping investment agreement on Saturday. China’s leader, Xi Jinping, reached out to Colombia one day and pledged support for North Korea on another. Although officials denied the timing was intentional, the message clearly was. China hopes to position itself as the main challenger to an international order, led by the United States, that is generally guided by principles of democracy, respect for human rights and adherence to rule of law. Such a system “does not represent the will of the international community,” China’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, told Russia’s, Sergey V. Lavrov, when they met in the southern Chinese city of Guilin. In a joint statement, they accused the United States of bullying and interference and urged it to “reflect on the damage it has done to global peace and development in recent years.” The threat of a United States-led coalition challenging China’s authoritarian policies has only bolstered Beijing’s ambition to be a global leader of nations that oppose Washington and its allies. It shows an increasingly confident and unapologetic China, one that not only refutes American criticism of its internal affairs but that presents its own values as a model for others.

Japan’s famous cherry blossoms see early bloom amid warming (AP) Japan’s famous cherry blossoms have reached their flowery peak in many places earlier this year than at any time since formal records started being kept nearly 70 years ago, with experts saying climate change is the likely cause. Japan’s favorite flower, called “sakura,” used to reach their peak bloom in April, just as the country celebrates the start of its new school and business year. Yet that date has been creeping earlier and now most years the blossoms are largely gone before the first day of school. This year peak bloom was reached on March 26 in the ancient capital of Kyoto, the earliest since the Japan Meteorological Agency started collecting the data in 1953 and 10 days ahead of the 30-year average. Similar records were set this year in more than a dozen cities across Japan.

The Ever Given international saga (NYT) [The Ever Given] represented a veritable floating—or in this instance, perhaps, “refloating”—United Nations. Consider the mammoth container ship itself: The MV Ever Given was owned by a company in Japan, operated by a container shipping firm based in Taiwan, managed by a German company and registered in Panama. The ship’s journey saw it conveying goods from Asia to Europe, specifically the Dutch port of Rotterdam. It ran aground amid a Middle Eastern sandstorm and was rescued by a multinational coalition that included Japanese and Dutch salvage teams and local Egyptian tugboat operators. Lastly, the ship’s 25 crew members were all Indian nationals, part of a legion of close to 2 million seafarers—many from impoverished backgrounds in South and Southeast Asia—who literally keep international trade moving. Thanks to coronavirus-era border restrictions, hundreds of thousands of sailors have languished aboard their often cramped ships beyond the terms of their contracts, invisible workers in what one captain described to the Financial Times as the “shadow sector” of the global economy.

Terror in Mozambique (Foreign Policy) Thousands are missing and an unknown number are dead following an attack on Palma, a strategically important town home to a facility owned by oil and gas giant Total. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack, which led to the group taking over banks and government offices. The taking of Palma follows a similar assault in August, when militants seized the port of Mocímboa da Praia, 50 miles south of Palma.