World News Thread

[RoseMorninStar]

Thanks for the reply Túrin.

Too many words seem to be stretched a lot in the political realm; labeling Democrats as 'pedophiles' seems to be de rigueur here in the US while Moscow calls anyone who isn't willing to be all-in with a Russian invasion/take-over a Nazi--to deadly consequences.
In the immortal words of Inigo Montoya, "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."

[Túrin Turambar]

We're in the midst of a federal election campaign now. It's been pretty dull so far, but some of the more interesting characters have started coming out of the woodwork.

[Dave_LF]

US politics could do with more animal impressions and less... everything else

[Sunsilver]

Gosh, he does a pretty good imitation!

[Frelga]

Maybe there's a bit of hope left, especially after Le Pen's defeat.

[Anduril]

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/son- ... -rcna27931

Son of Philippines dictator Marcos headed for presidency with huge election lead

The massive lead bolsters the chances of a once unthinkable return to rule of the Marcos family, 36 years after its patriarch’s overthrow in a “people power” revolution

-- Reuters

Ferdinand Marcos Jr. looked on course for a huge victory in the Philippines presidential election on Monday, after an unofficial tally of two thirds of the votes showed the son of the notorious late dictator surging ahead of his nearest rival.

The massive lead bolsters the chances of a once unthinkable return to rule of the Marcos family, 36 years after its patriarch’s overthrow in a “people power” revolution and his family’s humiliating retreat into exile.

Marcos Jr had 21.7 million votes, more than double the 10.3 million votes for Leni Robredo, the vice president, with 66.1 percent of the number of eligible ballots counted, according to an unofficial tally by the Commission on Elections (COMELEC)...

Despite its fall from grace, the Marcos family returned from exile in the 1990s and has since been a powerful force in politics, retaining its influence with vast wealth and far-reaching connections.

Marcos has served as a governor, congressman and senator, his sister, Imee, is currently a senator and mother Imelda, the influential power-broker and widow of the late dictator, served four terms in the House of Representatives.

Marcos, 64, has presented no real policy platform but his presidency is expected to provide continuity from outgoing leader Rodrigo Duterte, whose ruthless, strongman approach proved popular and helped him to consolidate power rapidly.

The results so far demonstrate the huge success of Marcos’s massive social media operation, which critics say has sought to discredit historical accounts of cronyism, plunder and brutality during the two-decade Marcos rule, about half of which was under martial law.

The Marcos family denies siphoning off billions of dollars of state wealth during its time at the helm of what its opponents say was one of Asia’s most famous kleptocracies. Many of Marcos’s supporters, born after the 1986 uprising, are convinced those past narratives were invented by his opponents.

Late on Monday as the unofficial votes were counted, a small group of supporters gathered outside the Marcos campaign headquarters, chanting “Marcos, Marcos, Marcos” ecstatically...

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/ ... r-sons-win

Philippines election: torture survivors from Marcos era in shock after son’s win

Factcheckers say Ferdinand Marcos Jr was overwhelming beneficiary of a flood of online disinformation before poll

-- Rebecca Ratcliffe

Survivors of the brutal regime of the late Philippines dictator Ferdinand Marcos have described his son’s apparent landslide presidential election victory as the product of trickery and disinformation, warning it is unlikely the billions stolen by his family will be recovered, and that human rights in the country will be weakened.

Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr had won more than 30.8m votes in a highly divisive presidential election by Monday, according to an unofficial count. His vote tally is more than double that of his closest challenger, the human rights lawyer and current vice-president, Leni Robredo, who had campaigned based on transparency and good governance.

Marcos said he would bridge political divides in his country...

His message has not convinced survivors who were tortured, imprisoned, or whose relatives were killed, during his father’s 20-year rule. Nor is it likely to win over critics who want the family to return the vast sums it took from state coffers. As much as $10bn was plundered.

Bonifacio Ilagan, convener of Campaign Against the Return of the Marcoses and Martial Law, said Marcos Jr’s calls for unity were “empty and self-serving for as long as he does not address the basic questions concerning his father’s dictatorship, of which he was very much a part”. Ilagan was tortured and imprisoned as a student, and his sister was disappeared.

“I for one – and I think I can represent a lot – will never accept a president who continues to be the chief administrator of an estate that embodies plunder,” Ilagan said.

On Tuesday in Manila, crowds, many wearing black, gathered in front of Commission on Elections office to protesting against the return of the Marcoses, alleging cheating and questioning why results had appeared so quickly.

Election officials have rejected claims of rigging and said results were processed more quickly than in previous years because equipment had been upgraded.

The results were in line with the findings of opinion surveys conducted by pollsters in the run-up to the election.

Activists say that, either way, Marcos did not conduct his campaign fairly. “He flooded social media with historical distortions and refused to engage the media to answer the painful questions that we wanted him to address,” said Ilagan, who said the campaign was based on “trickery and historical distortions”.

Although Marcos Jr has denied the existence of any organised online campaign, he was the overwhelming beneficiary of false claims circulating on social media. The majority of disinformation was either designed to undermine Robredo’s reputation or enhance the images of the Marcoses, according to analysis by the factchecking coalition Tsek.ph, which monitored disinformation in the run-up to the election.

Cristina Palabay, the secretary general of Karapatan, a human rights NGO, said Marcos and his running mate, Sara Duterte, the daughter of the outgoing president, Rodrigo Duterte, “represent the worst brand of traditional politics and governance in our nation’s history”.

“Under Duterte, the human rights crisis has spiralled with extrajudicial killings, arrests and detention, forcible evacuation and other human rights violations, including violations on press freedom and freedom of association,” Palabay said.

Marcos has said he will not allow prosecutors of the international criminal court to visit the Philippines to investigate Duterte’s “war on drugs”, shielding him from prosecution.

Survivors of the Marcos regime fear public understanding of the period, already distorted by online misinformation, will be further damaged.

“Although there are efforts now to try to put the correct version in the textbooks of the children, I don’t think that’s going to be continued,” said Doris Nuval, who was imprisoned for nearly five years under Marcos, the longest of any female political prisoner at the time. “It’s just a sad fact that the young Filipinos will never learn of what’s happened until after his term.”

“[Marcos Jr] has absolutely no concept of human rights,” added Nuval.

He's already indicated that he plans to have school textbooks rewritten to remove the "lies" against his family. Also even the sitting president, a fellow monster (but also his lackey/ally) who needs to answer for his bloody crimes, has said he's a cocaine addict. He didn't even attend any presidential debates, he relied on his online machinery of propaganda, historical revisionism and trolls. This cannot be borne. We're well and truly screwed over here.

[RoseMorninStar]

I was really sorry (and shocked) to hear about the elections in the Philippines. I truly think people have lost their minds. Propaganda works far too well and not enough people use critical thinking.

[Frelga]

I've seen posts on social media from Philippines explaining that this is in no way reflects the will of the people.

These are dark times in many places.

[RoseMorninStar]

NYT: Major Donation to U.K. Conservative Party Was Flagged Over Russia Concerns

The cash was part of a fund-raising blitz that helped propel Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s party to victory in 2019. Records track $630,225 to a Russian bank account.

The first couple of paragraphs:

It is illegal for political parties to accept donations of more than 500 pounds from foreign citizens who are not registered to vote in Britain. Mr. Kopytov is not listed on the national voter register, records show. It is not clear why the Barclays alert arrived three years after the donation, or whether the authorities had investigated it.

It is no secret that wealthy Russian industrialists have given heavily to the Conservative Party over the years. Mr. Johnson once played a game of tennis with the wife of a Russian former minister in exchange for a $270,000 donation. But those donors were British citizens, while documents filed in Mr. Sheleg’s case say the money came from a foreign source.

For decades, Russian wealth has poured into the London economy, enriching the lawyers, accountants and real estate brokers who ironed out the details. British leaders looked the other way, even as the Kremlin sowed disinformation, meddled in elections and tried to co-opt politicians.
(...0[/url]

[Túrin Turambar]

I voted pre-poll this morning at the local Scout Hall. It was drizzling but warm for May, and I ran the usual gauntlet of booth volunteers waving brightly-coloured how-to-vote cards in my face and eager to explain just why only the Liberals/Labor/Greens/some fringe Monty-Pythonesque group can be trusted with my vote, joined the queue, and was in and out fairly quickly. Most of the booth workers were friendly to potential voters and each other, and this lack of partisan rancour at ground level is something I appreciate about politics in this country.

I always take voting seriously, mindful of how many hundreds of millions of people around the world don’t get to do it, but I also like our calm approach to it. I talked about this for a few minutes with a volunteer from the Greens and the man behind me in the queue, who described ours aptly as a “sausage-sizzle democracy”. Sadly, as I voted pre-poll and at 9am, I miss out on a democracy sausage again. I might swing by a polling place next weekend just to get one so I have the complete experience of Australian citizenship.

There was a bit of disruption from the Victorian Socialists, who seemed reluctant to take ‘no’ for an answer, and I overheard one of their candidates haranguing would-be voters over why we need a thirty-dollar minimum wage. Even the Greens were tut-tutting. The Socialists didn’t get the adage about catching more flies with honey.

We had some fringe right-wing candidates on our ballot paper too, but nobody was game enough to hand out their collateral in my urban and progressive neighbourhood.

[Eldy]

I thought "democracy sausage" was some sort of metaphor at first but then I Googled it and now I'm jealous. Our polling places are so boring in comparison.

[RoseMorninStar]

Democracy sausage! How novel. We might be offered an 'I voted' sticker.

Túrin, when you mention 'booth volunteers', do you mean poll workers or do you mean people vying for your vote for their party outside of the polling places? That's not allowed here on voting day. Are the polls in Australia open more than one day? That would be nice.

I wish the US had a more vibrant multi-party system. Or, at least I think that might be better than the (basically) 2 party system we currently have.

[Túrin Turambar]

They are volunteers for the different/parties candidates. We have preferential voting for both houses of all parliaments, state and federal, so voters number the candidates in their order of preference. This can get complex, so parties print how-to-vote cards which usually have a picture of the candidate, a slogan, a summary of policies, and instructions on how the party wants its supporters to number the boxes in each electorate. Volunteers then hand them out outside polling places, although they need to keep a certain distance from the door. You don't have to follow the party how-to-vote card - I usually know what my preference between the candidates is - but people will often take them. This is from Wikipedia, a how-to-vote card issued by the Greens for the seat of Canning in the House of Representatives:

Greens HTV card.png (257.56 KiB) Viewed 2191 times

[RoseMorninStar]

Interesting. Thanks for explaining. Does this take place over multiple days (so that you can go back and get your democracy sausage)?

[Voronwë the Faithful]

What can you tell us about the Pirate Party, Túrin? Is it a significant player?

[RoseMorninStar]

Whoa. I hadn't read the names of the parties. Some of them sound pretty.. interesting.

[Túrin Turambar]

Interesting. Thanks for explaining. Does this take place over multiple days (so that you can go back and get your democracy sausage)?

There is pre-poll voting, but only one actual election day (unlike in France, where the Presidential election is in two stages). But election day itself is this coming Saturday, so I'm in with a chance.

What can you tell us about the Pirate Party, Túrin? Is it a significant player?

It was a fringe group that has since folded. There's pirate parties in different countries with similar platforms - they're bigger in Europe.

[Túrin Turambar]

Then there's this, which I'd put in the 'unfortunate typos' thread except I don't consider it particularly unfortunate. The One Nation Party (a right-wing populist party, hence their "We've got the guts to say what you're thinking slogan") are encouraging their supporters to cast votes in the division of Hawke which will be invalid as there's no '8' and two '10s'. I struggle with numbers too, but I'd make sure to double-check this.

ONP HTV card.png (325.63 KiB) Viewed 2141 times

[RoseMorninStar]

Oh, I doubt they know what I'm thinking...

[Túrin Turambar]

Polling day today! For much of the past six years major events in the U.S. and U.K. have taken up a lot of my attention, and COVID led to a lot more focus on state government than usual, so I actually haven’t been all that invested in Australian federal politics for a while. But I’ve found my old enthusiasm back this time around.

There seems to be an unofficial contest for which polling booth can come up with the wittiest menu. I found this one on Twitter which is probably in the lead so far – it features references to MPs Tony Burke, Josh Frydenberg, and Anthony Albanese, the Animal Justice Party (AJP), and not-so-subtle digs at Deputy PM Barnaby Joyce and right-wing populist Pauline Hanson. Plus a pointed comment about why they’re raising the money.

Polling Booth Menu.png (358.33 KiB) Viewed 2030 times