Lona Goudswaard

COVID-19 Fact and Fiction #3

Posted by Lona Goudswaard at 2:51 am Politics

May 012020

The world is dealing with an unprecedented health crisis caused by a new virus. With new insights in the way COVID19 spreads, in the way the virus behaves and in the way to deal with the pandemic every day, it is now more important than ever to safeguard the information we share is accurate and fact-based. We have to inoculate ourselves against the fake news and misinformation that infect our newsfeeds and timelines at this crucial moment by fact-checking.

For the duration of the pandemic, I will try to give you an overview of the main issues in CoronaCheck, an Australian email newsletter with the latest from around the world concerning the coronavirus.*

AUSTRALIA’S TRUMP AND HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE

Australian billionaire businessman and former federal MP Clive Palmer took out back-to-back full-page advertisements in the Murdoch press this week announcing that his foundation had purchased 32,900,000 doses of the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine and that he’s donating them towards Australia’s fight against COVID-19.

In his advertisements, Mr Palmer implied that there is a link between a decision taken by Health Minister Greg Hunt four weeks ago to make hydroxychloroquine available to doctors who are treating COVID-19 patients and Australia’s death rate since then from the virus. Mr Palmer claimed that it was the “lowest in the world” while acknowledging “the [infections] curve has flattened”. The Australian government, however, credited the low infection and death rates to basic hygiene measures.

Hydroxychloroquine received global attention after US President Donald Trump tweeted that it would be a “game-changer” in the fight against the coronavirus, based on small, preliminary trials in China and France, and maintained that the federal government had purchased and stockpiled 29 million pills of the drug. Since then Mr Trump’s attention has shifted first to internal cleansing with antiseptics and now to Remdesivir, an anti-viral drug, something Mr Palmer seems not to have caught up with.

As for hydroxychloroquine, Australian Medical Association federal vice-president Zappala said the published evidence remained “very mixed” and it was unclear whether the drug would be effective beyond its current approved limited use, which includes treatment of lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. In a recent US study, researchers essentially found a higher death rate in patients treated with hydroxychloroquine alone, while the drug also risked serious side effects, especially for people with pre-existing heart conditions.

Some background to Clive Palmer may make his actions a little clearer. Billionaire Palmer has iron ore, nickel and coal holdings; by 2019 his estimated wealth had increased to A$4.09 billion. Besides mines, Mr Palmer owns real estate and several golf courses.

Mr Palmer created the Palmer United Party in April 2013, winning the Queensland seat of Fairfax in the 2013 Australian federal election and sitting as an MP for one term. During that term, he was the least-attending MP.

In 2009, he bought Queensland Nickel and the Palmer Nickel and Cobalt Refinery when it was about to be closed. In the first year after purchasing the refinery, Palmer gifted staff 50 Mercedes Benz cars and thousands of overseas holidays after the refinery turned a huge profit. On 18 January 2016, Queensland Nickel went bankrupt. Palmer refused to pay the entitlements of workers who lost their jobs, stating that “I have no personal responsibility, I retired from business over three years ago”. He also blamed the administrators for sacking the workforce. This forced the Federal Government to cover the workers’ entitlements.

In 2018 Clive Palmer tried to return to politics as a Senator in the Federal Parliament. He did not succeed but by pumping millions in campaign ads, he made sure the Labor Party lost its foothold in Queensland and the election. At the moment, Labor has a slim majority in Queensland’s State Parliament; in November new elections will be held in Queensland but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it is unclear what form they are going to take. But one thing is clear: Clive Palmer has donated 32,900,000 doses of the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine to Australia…

WAR ON BILL GATES

Microsoft founder, philanthropist and world’s third-richest man Bill Gates has the subject of a overwhelming volume of misinformation related to COVID-19. It started in January with claims the Gates Foundation had predicted 65 million deaths in a pandemic simulation (it didn’t) and have been followed with claims that a Gates Foundation-funded vaccine paralysed nearly 500,000 children (also false) and that Mr Gates is being sued by India (wrong again).

In another example, a Facebook post claimed Mr Gates was freely able to prescribe drugs. However, given Mr Gates is not a medical doctor, the claim was rated false by fact-checkers at Lead Stories. Mr Gates is also not trying to “microchip” the world’s population through a coronavirus vaccine, nor is he using invisible tattoos and monitoring bracelets to track Americans.

And the Gates Foundation, despite helping the vaccine search with up to $250 million in funding, doesn’t hold a patent for such a jab.

FACEBOOK PRACTICES ARE STILL LACKING

In the same week that Mark Zuckerberg boasted that his company had “taken down hundreds of thousands of pieces of misinformation related to COVID-19”, reporters at The Markup were allowed to place ads on both Facebook and Instagram targeting an ad category of 78 million users who were deemed interested in pseudoscience, “advantage of this sort of vulnerability that a person has once they’re going down these rabbit holes, both to pull them further down and to monetise that”, according to Kate Starbird, a professor at the University of Washington.

Facebook has since removed the pseudoscience category from its ad manager.

NewsGuard, an online trust tool, also found Facebook’s misinformation-fighting practices to below par, identifying 31 Facebook pages, with an audience of 21 million people, as “super-spreaders” of coronavirus misinformation spreading “blatant misinformation”, even where there was evidence of coordinated inauthentic behaviour, which violates Facebook’s policies.

FROM AMERICA, STILL

Image source: Facebook

Trump supporters have taken to social media to defend his musings that “powerful light” and disinfectant could be used to kill the novel coronavirus inside human bodies.

One such Facebook post claims that Mr Trump was referring to “Ultraviolet Radiation” administered into the body when he talked of internal disinfectant. “Just because it’s called a ‘disinfectant’ doesn’t mean it’s Pine-Sol,” it claimed. “Ultraviolet Radiation” is a method that kills bacteria and has been “used for a while now”, according to the post.

PolitiFact found that while the post may be referring to a treatment called “ultraviolet blood irradiation”, used mainly in the alternative-medicine community, there was no evidence such treatments could kill viruses or bacteria.

FROM WASHINGTON, D.C.

According to Politico, a report by the US State Department warned that Russia, China and Iran were using the coronavirus pandemic to launch a “disinformation onslaught” against the US by echoing one another.

Messages spread by the three include that the coronavirus is an American bioweapon, that the Chinese response to the virus was superior to that of the US, and that the US economy wouldn’t be able to handle the crisis, and they were pushed by state-run media outlets, as well as governments themselves. In one example, a website run by the Russian Defence Ministry is said to have promoted a conspiracy theory that Bill Gates had a hand in creating the virus.

The State Department reported the coronavirus pandemic had accelerated the convergence of disinformation narratives.

Things that don’t cure and/or prevent COVID-19**

#19: : Herbs and spices such as oregano, licorice, elderberries and fennel “Some of these purported [COVID-19] remedies include herbal therapies and teas. There is no scientific evidence that any of these alternative remedies can prevent or cure COVID-19.” The National Institutes of Health (US), as quoted by Reuters

*The facts in this article are derived from the Australian RMIT ABC Fact Check newsletters which in turn draw on their own resources and those of their colleagues within the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN), of which RMIT ABC Fact Check is a member.

COVID-19 Fact and Fiction #2

Posted by Lona Goudswaard at 12:36 am Politics

Apr 292020

SHE’S ALIVE

Image source: News Break NG

Elisa Granato, one of the first recipients of a trial vaccine for COVID-19 at the University of Oxford, has been the subject of false reports that she had died shortly after receiving the vaccine last week, Full Fact and Reuters have found.

However, Dr Granato (she’s a scientist herself) tweeted at the weekend that she was “doing fine” while the university stated in response to a Reuters’ query which confirmed that she was “alive and well”. The UK Department of Health and Social Care also tweeted that the news was “completely untrue”.

Dr Granato is one of the 800 participants who will either receive the trial vaccine or a control vaccine as part of the study.

ANTI-VAXXERS ON THE WARPATH AGAIN

Image source: Facebook

The Facebook post, which was shared in the US, Canada and Australia, offered advice on “how to legally decline a vaccine” but has been debunked by fact-checkers at AFP and Lead Stories.

The post suggests people should ask whether a vaccine (and presumably any future COVID-19 vaccine) contains “MRC-5” and whether it this could lead to an “iatrogenic reaction”. If the doctor administering the vaccine answers in the affirmative, as their Hippocratic Oath compels them, then a person apparently has the right to decline. “This is how we can legally (and respectfully) decline their offered mandated services and there is absolutely NOTHING they can do about it!”

But AFP found that while there were ways to refuse a vaccine legally in either the US, Canada or Australia, they were not those listed. For example, some Australian states mandate vaccinations for children enrolling in childcare or school, however, the vaccination itself is not compulsory and people maintain the right to choose whether to receive a vaccination.

SCAMMED

In Australia, digital scammers are using the coronavirus pandemic to con them into buying goods, sharing personal information and installing malicious software on their computers. This may well be the case in other countries too.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) says that since the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak, it has received more than 1000 reports of bogus coronavirus-related schemes by scammers impersonating banks, retail stores, and the Tax Office, while the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) has warned of scams involving fake Post emails.

In one case study detailed by the centre, a US-registered cyber attacker managed to send text messages to Australian phones looking as if to have come from official ‘myGov’ sources. The link in the message led to a website hosting a banking Trojan known to target Android phones to steal personal financial information.

FROM AMERICA

Image source: YouTube: Fox News

Comparisons between the coronavirus and various causes of death have been rife around the world with commentators, politicians and CEOs pushing for economies to reopen and for a return to business-as-usual.

One such comparison was made by TV’s “Dr Phil” — real name Phil McGraw —claiming during a Fox News interview that 45,000 Americans die every year in road accidents, 480,000 from smoking and 360,000 in swimming pools. The first two numbers were correct but, in reality, only 3,709 drowned in 2017, including those people who drowned in natural bodies of water and baths, not just swimming pools. An overstatement US by almost 10 times the actual figure, as PolitiFact found.

However, these apples-and-oranges comparisons are beside the point according to Arthur Caplan, the founding head of the division of medical ethics at the New York University School of Medicine.
“The issue isn’t how many people die of car crashes or swimming pool accidents or strokes or whatever. The question is whether they all happen at once and overwhelm the healthcare system.”

Given the massive amount of attention already given to Mr Trump ponderings whether disinfectant could be injected into the body to kill off the virus, or whether “very powerful” light could be a potential treatment, I will refrain from a detailed debunking of his suggestions here.

Things that don’t cure and/or prevent COVID-19**

#18: A few drops of hydrogen peroxide in the ear canal “This does not sound plausible. Liquids won’t penetrate the eardrum. In fact, it seals off the middle ear and prevents that from happening. Some drugs can be absorbed through the skin, but hydrogen peroxide is not one of them.” Dr Mark Prince, quoted by Lead Stories

A note about Tom from Wendy

Posted by Lona Goudswaard at 7:26 pm Politics

Apr 252020

Hi there,
WWW here on Tom’s behalf. Wanted to let you all know that Tom was admitted to the hospital last night for dehydration and a possible infection in his intestines. Of course, it took them 7 hours to make that decision – so we were both in a fine mood when it finally came. They tested him for trump virus and the results have not come back yet. Because of this, he is in isolation and is unable to receive visitors or any belongings from home. As you can imagine, that put him in an even more cranky mood. They are giving him yet another trump virus test today because they feel he is at high risk for the virus. He is anxious to get home back to his cat box. Unfortunately, I think this is the beginning of some yucky side effects to the chemo. We will both appreciate your kind thoughts and prayers for a quick return home. If need be, I will post another update but am hoping he will return home tomorrow.
Kind regards,
Wendy

COVID-19 FACT AND FICTION #1

Posted by Lona Goudswaard at 2:25 am Politics

Apr 232020

RACISM

Image source: Twitter through RMIT ABC Fact Check

A video of an altercation over a repeat of a surplus purchase of tins of baby formula in a Melbourne Big W store that went viral is now being used to spread a claim that Chinese nationals have been banned from Australian supermarkets, according to AFP Fact Check. But in these times of fear for the coronavirus, the video is now being shared alongside false claims that “Chinese are banned in Australia[n] supermarkets”.

A spokesperson for Woolworths told AFP they welcomed anyone wishing to shop at their stores while a Coles spokesperson said the claims were “absolutely untrue”.

ANTI-VAXXERS ALREADY ON THE WARPATH

Image source: Twitter through RMIT ABC Fact Check

Scientists are rushing to develop a coronavirus vaccine and may be on the brink of testing it on humans, so anti-vaccination campaigners have taken to social media to spread misinformation and fear.

One claim, that seven children died after being vaccinated against COVID-19 in Senegal, has been comprehensively debunked by at least six independent fact-checking organisations; PolitiFact, Lead Stories, Snopes, Reuters, factcheck.org and AFP Fact Check all found the claim, made in the voiceover of a video shared on Facebook, to be false. A spokeswoman for Senegal’s health ministry also rejected the claim as “fake news”.

The video contains news footage of an incident in Senegal which never happened, in which two people were allegedly arrested for falsely claiming they were health ministry officials, there to vaccinate children. In reality, it was a man selling cosmetics door to door, arrested after joking that he had vaccines while wearing a health ministry T-shirt.

Anti-vaxxers are taking advantage of people who only follow news on Facebook and Twitter and who are oblivious to the fact that scientists are only on the verge of testing possible vaccines and that no one is being vaccinated at this point.

YOU CAN CUDDLE YOUR PETS

Image source: Facebook through RMIT ABC Fact Check

A Facebook post suggested that hand sanitiser contains ethylene glycol, which is found in antifreeze and is toxic to humans and animals. But hand sanitizers sold in Australia contain 60 to 95 per cent alcohol in the form of ethanol or isopropyl alcohol and a small amount of some other chemicals. A hand sanitizer would only be dangerous to pets if they licked the hands of someone who had just applied the rub, something most animals would be averse to doing unless they like alcohol.

AND THEN THERE’S RUSSIA

Researchers at Myth Detector in Georgia have determined that the bulk of coronavirus misinformation and disinformation, such as stories that the virus was man-made in the US, that the EU had “abandoned” Italy, and that only authoritative countries like Russia and China could handle the outbreak, which is spreading throughout the country is political and being spread by “openly pro-Russian” news websites.

BRITISH CONSPIRACY THEORISTS

Rumours have appeared online that the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson didn’t have the disease he says he’s now recovering from.

One post, shared widely, claims staff at the hospital where Mr Johnson was treated were forced to sign the “Official Secrets Act”. Two doctors apparently refused to do so and said they didn’t believe the Prime Minister was actually ill. But that post was originally written as satire, according to fact-checkers at Reuters, who spoke to the author. Full Fact also found the post to be based on satire.

But the truth doesn’t seem to matter and the rumour that the PM faked his illness continues to spread on Twitter.

Things that don’t cure and/or prevent COVID-19**

#1: Boiled orange peels with cayenne pepper are NOT an effective treatment for Coronavirus. – Lead Stories
#2 Drinking and gargling water: “It’s incorrect to suggest that people who have COVID-19 could cure themselves (either during this initial period or at any other time) by drinking water or gargling.” – F ull Fact
#3 Bathing in hot water: “Taking a hot bath will not prevent you from catching COVID-19.” – The World Health Organisation
#4 Tea: “At present, there is absolutely no evidence or data to support the claim that tea can cure coronavirus.” – Dr Neeraj Jain, as quoted by The Quint
#5 Bitter gourd (bitter melon): “This message is false, there is no such information issued by Bihar health department nor there is any evidence that bitter gourd juice can cure COVID-19.” — Dr Naveen Chandra Prasad, quoted by BOOM
#6 Drinking hot liquids and avoiding ice cream: “Neither drinking hot liquids nor eating cold foods will have a bearing on the body’s core temperature, so would not affect the chances of fighting off the virus.” — Reuters
#9 Alcoholic drinks: “False reports are circulating that say drinking alcohol can reduce the risk of COVID-19. THIS IS NOT TRUE.” — Saint Luke’s Hospital of Kansas City, quoted by Rappler
#10 Garlic: “Garlic is a healthy food that may have some antimicrobial properties. However, there is no evidence from the current outbreak that eating garlic has protected people from the new coronavirus.” — World Health Organisation
#11 Putting antibiotic ointment up your nose: “It’s an antibiotic, not an antiviral and does not have activity against viruses.” — Dr Carrie Kovarik, an associate professor of dermatology at the University of Pennsylvania, quoted by AP
#12 Cannabis: “Killing coronavirus is not included in the known benefits of cannabinoids.” — As listed by the US government’s National Institutes of Health, Rappler
#14: Silver solution (colloidal silver): “Often [colloidal silver] is peddled as an immune-boosting, disease curing dietary supplement, but there is no scientific evidence to back up these claims.” – PolitiFact
#17: Tonic Water and Zinc: “There is no scientific evidence that tonic water and zinc can prevent or treat COVID-19. As of mid-April 2020, there is no specific treatment or vaccine for the illness.” – Reuters

** I’ve gathered all the “things” from previous issues I could find, but #13, 15 and 16 seem to have disappeared from the internet. In future posts, I will only report on any new myths.

As Seen from Afar 01/04/2019

Posted by Lona Goudswaard at 8:59 pm Personal, Politics

Jan 032020

ICONIC CLIMATE CHANGE PICTURE?

Cath Bowdler and Jack Egan lost just about everything when their North Rosedale home, south of Bateman’s Bay in coastal New South Wales, went up in flames. ABC NEWS 4 December 2020.*

After a few harrowing hours during which they didn’t know if the other had survived the ordeal, they returned to where their home had stood to survey what was left of their property after the blaze that hit on New Year’s Eve.

The pair made it through the emergency alive, but their home was reduced to a mass of warped iron, scorched wood and ash. Only a sign Mr Egan made to campaign for climate action somehow survived the blaze.

“I didn’t expect the sign to make the point so strikingly as it does now,” Mr Egan noted and he had asked Ms Bowdler take a photo of him by the sign with the remains of their home in the shot to make a point.

I think this foto may well turn out to become the most iconic and poignant Climate Change picture of 2020.

* Bushfire destroys couple’s North Rosedale home but climate change sign survives

Update
I know there’s a limit to how many NYT articles you can read per month, but I can highly recommend this opinion article: Australia Is Committing Climate Suicide. As record fires rage, the country’s leaders seem intent on sending it to its doom. By Richard Flanagan, a renowned Australian author.

As Seen from Afar 04/05/2019

Posted by Lona Goudswaard at 2:41 am Politics

Apr 052019

BREXIT IS GETTING HILARIOUS

No matter what British Prime Minister Theresa May has tried in the past two years, she wasn’t able to unify the MP’s in the Lower House behind any of the versions of her Brexit Plan. And no matter how much pressure her political opponents put on her, she wouldn’t quit either. If May doesn’t come up with some miracle solution, Britain is going to crash out of the European Union on April 12, crash meaning no deal whatsoever. The British public can do nothing but wait and, in the meantime, does what it usually does: bear it all with a stiff upper lip, protest, or make fun of it.

As usual British born John Oliver puts his finger on the sore spot in a humorous way two weeks ago (for Brexit watch up to 2:10):

However, some protesters have had it with their government thrown in absolute disarray and spending all of its time debating Brexit, and Brexit only. (New York Times) Of course, they did it with some humor too: they stripped nearly naked in the public gallery, proclaiming that climate change, not the stalemate over Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union, was the real emergency facing the country.

When PM May’s Brexit Plan was voted down for the third time (ABC news), opposition politicians declared the deal as good as dead. Labour Party legislator Ian Murray likened it to the dead parrot in a Monty Python comedy sketch.

“Her deal is no more,” he said. “It has ceased to exist. It is bereft of life. It rests in peace. It’s a deal that has been nailed to its perch. It’s an ex-parrot, it is an ex-deal.”

Even the iconic parliament buildings are straining under all this pressure. British Parliament is falling apart. No, literally (ABC News). For months, political pundits have questioned whether British Parliament is falling apart in the wake of months of Brexit chaos — and a leaky roof, it would seem, is doing little to quell those concerns.

The sheer lunacy of the Brexit process doesn’t escape the New York Times when it reports:

Politico reported the other day that the French European affairs minister, Nathalie Loiseau, had named her cat “Brexit.” Loiseau told the Journal du Dimanche that she chose the name because “he wakes me up every morning meowing to death because he wants to go out, and then when I open the door he stays in the middle, undecided, and then gives me evil looks when I put him out.”

If you can’t take a joke you shouldn’t have come to London right now, because there is political farce everywhere. In truth, though, it’s not very funny. It’s actually tragic. What we’re seeing is a country that’s determined to commit economic suicide but can’t even agree on how to kill itself. It is an epic failure of political leadership.

Well said, I’d say.

Cross-posted on Care2 HERE

As Seen from Afar 12/11/2018

Posted by Lona Goudswaard at 12:54 am Politics

Dec 112018

A SOFT, A HARD OR NO BREXIT? THAT IS THE QUESTION, AGAIN.

Today, Tuesday 11/12/2018, should have been the day British Prime Minister Theresa May would have put the Brexit deal, which she has been negotiating for two years with the EU in Brussels, to the vote of the MP’s in parliament. However, at the last moment, the British government decided yesterday to postpone the House of Commons vote indefinitely. Mrs May had come to the same conclusion as everyone else: the current agreement would receive insufficient support in parliament. Dozens of Conservative MPs had been planning to join forces with Labour, the SNP, the Lib Dems, Plaid Cymru and the DUP to vote down Mrs May’s deal. Especially the status of Northern Ireland and border with Ireland is a problem.

Mrs May announced that she still intended to put her deal to MPs, but she would first ask the EU for more “reassurances”. To get these “reassurances” she has started her round of talks with European leaders this morning at the Catshuis in The Hague, where she’s met with Dutch PM Rutte. The relations between the Netherlands and the United Kingdom are very good despite the Brexit plans. Within the EU, the two countries often draw together.

After that, Mrs May is to meet with German PM Angela Merkel. It is unclear if Mrs May will meet with other European leaders in the coming days. Several of them have already said that there is little more to negotiate and EU-president, Donald Tusk has confirmed this on Twitter:

Tusk’s statement means that no letter will change to the agreement made between the British government and the EU last month. However, a passage may be added in the accompanying political statement to clarify certain points in the agreement.

At this point in time, the Irish border backstop proposal seems to be the largest bone of contention. It concerns the border between Northern Ireland, which will leave the EU as a part of Great Britain, and the Republic of Ireland, which will of course remain. After Brexit, it will become the only land border between the UK and the European Union. (Although Spain-Gibraltar is also a topic still under discussion)

The backstop proposal is intended to be a safety net, a way of avoiding (the return of) a hard border in Northern Ireland, if appropriate customs arrangements cannot be agreed by the EU and UK in time for the end of the transition period in December 2020. The EU believes the backstop should mean Northern Ireland to stay in the single market for goods and the customs union until the UK comes up with solution to the border issue. Mrs May wants a backstop that would see the whole of the UK staying in the customs union for a limited time after the transition period, something the EU has said is unacceptable.

Adding to the problem, Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said it was not possible to renegotiate the Irish border backstop proposal without “opening up all aspects” of the Brexit withdrawal agreement. The British Tory rebels and the DUP do not like the Northern Ireland “backstop”, because it is a legally-binding proposal for a customs arrangement with the EU, which would come into force indefinitely if the two sides cannot agree a future relationship which avoids the return of customs checkpoints on the Irish border.

But to be frank, the backstop is only one problem the British can’t agree on; it is impossible to negotiate a deal with Brussels that will please everyone. So, for now there is a array of possible outcomes, ranging from a disorderly Brexit with no deal to another referendum on EU membership. Staying in the EU has now become an option again as the European Court of Justice ruled the UK can cancel Brexit if it wants

The question is of course if Mrs May will be the one to initiate the next step. Leading Conservative Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Moggis is trying to get enough Tory MPs to submit letters of no confidence in the PM to trigger a leadership contest. Crispin Blunt became the 26th MP to do so on Monday, but as 48 Conservative lawmakers must submit letters for any challenge to be initiated, it’ll take a while before they make the numbers, to the dismay of Boris Johnson who has been looking to fill Mrs May’s quirky shoes for a long time. Boris Johnson stated in interviews that he could make a much better deal, without a backstop, than Theresa May, but later on that the UK should withhold payments to Brussels and prepare to leave the EU without a deal Which led the former foreign secretary, Sir Alan Duncan to note that Mr Johnson was the “last person on Earth who would make any progress in negotiating with the EU at the moment.” Let’s hope that most Tories see the value of that remark and that Mrs May is safe for now, unless the Labour Party tables a vote of no confidence in the PM.

The fact that US President Trump is also stirring the pot, pushing for a hard Brexit with no deals, by taking back his promises of “great trade negotiations with Britain” because Mrs May’s deals are too soft to his liking, doesn’t give either Britons or Europeans much confidence in a good outcome either.

Sources:

Theresa May calls off MPs’ vote on her Brexit deal

Brexit: Theresa May to meet EU leaders in bid to rescue deal

May heeft ‘brexit-ontbijt’ met Rutte

Brexit vote postponed by British Prime Minister Theresa May, plunging deal into turmoil

Boris Johnson: Go forward with Brexit deal but remove the backstop

Posted to Care2 HERE

UPDATE 12/13/2018

I was quite wrong. Theresa May wasn’t safe for long at all; in fact her leadership was challenged the next day. However The PM won the ballot on her leadership by 200 votes to 117 on Wednesday night. (GMT). She’s now heading to Brussels for an EU summit, less than 24 hours after surviving that vote of confidence. Again Mrs May is seeking legally binding pledges from EU leaders on the Irish backstop. It is understood the EU will not renegotiate the deal but may be willing to give greater assurances on the temporary nature of the backstop.

As Seen From Afar 09/14/2018

Posted by Lona Goudswaard at 1:40 am Politics

Sep 142018

WHAT’S ALL THE FUSS WITH NATIONAL ANTHEMS ABOUT?

We all are familiar on Politics Plus with the controversial kneeling protests of NFL players during the national anthem in the US, initiated by quarterback Colin Kaepernick in 2016. Kaepernick and his fellow players kneeled while the American anthem played as a silent protest against police brutality and racism.

Now new headlines are made by someone who refuses to stand when an anthem is played, but this time it’s a nine-year-old girl in Australia who protests against the content of the anthem itself. The schoolgirl was given detention last week for “blatant disrespect” over her failure to participate with classmates during assembly when the song was rendered at Kenmore South State School in Brisbane.

Harper Nielsen has stirred controversy after refusing to stand for Australia’s national anthem in protest to “institutional racism”; she claimed the song “Advance Australia Fair” ignored the nation’s indigenous people, taking issue with the opening lyrics to the anthem, which read: “Australians all let us rejoice, for we are young and free. “When it says ‘we are young’ it completely disregards the Indigenous Australians who were here before us for over 50,000 years,” she said. “When it was originally written, Advance Australia Fair meant advance the white people of Australia,” she added.

Harper’s parents, father Mark Nielsen, Associate Professor at the School of Psychology at the University of Queensland and mother, Yvette Miller, Associate Professor in Public Health at Queensland University of Technology, both said they were “proud” of her for showing “incredible bravery”, when she felt it was time to “raise awareness and get people thinking”. The Year 4 student said the decision to take a stand was made “mostly” by herself but the subject had been discussed with her parents.

The fact that this very intelligent girl had discussed her actions with her obviously very well-educated parents led controversial right-wing senator and One Nation Party leader Pauline Hanson to posted a video response on Facebook labeling Harper a “brat” and “disgraceful”.
“Here we have a kid that has been brainwashed and I tell you what, I would give her a kick up the backside,” the 64-year-old said. “We’re talking about a child who has no idea,” she says, adding: “This kid is headed down the wrong path, and I blame the parents for it for encouraging this — no, take her out of the school.”

Jarrod Bleijie, Queensland’s shadow minister for education from the center-right Liberal National Party, also felt obliged to criticized Harper’s parents and called their daughter’s actions a “silly protest”.

But others, such as Australian journalist and television host Georgie Gardner, praised Harper for her “strength and character”.
“I do applaud her for considering the words of the national anthem, a lot of people just rattle it off and don’t consider the meaning,” she said.

Perhaps more importantly, Brisbane Aboriginal community elder Sam Watson said Harper’s parents should be congratulated. “They’ve obviously raised a very bright and vivacious young woman and this one is going to grow up and do big things in her life,” he said.

Mr Watson further praised Harper, calling her “wise and courageous” for rightfully pointing out the nation is not young and free. “Here’s a young girl who could have simply mouthed the words … but she pointed out that she didn’t believe in the lyrics, she didn’t accept the contradiction, so she’s going to make a statement in her own way so I say congratulations to that young girl,” Mr Watson said.

On Twitter, users posted messages of support using the hashtag #HarperNielsen, calling the schoolgirl “Australia’s most fantastic and brilliant brat” and “the hero Australia doesn’t realize it needs”.

Perhaps at this point in the story it is fitting to point out that Australia is the only Commonwealth country that does not have a treaty with its indigenous populations and that it had a somewhat lukewarm relationship with its anthem. Most Australians feel “fairly apathetic” towards the anthem, with people often accusing it of having dated language. Which isn’t so strange considering the anthem’s history. Until 19 April 1984, Australia never had its own national anthem; it was Britain’s “God Save the Queen” until then. Advance Australia Fair – written and composed by Peter Dodds McCormick in 1878 won a 1977 referendum to select a new anthem with only 43% of the vote. It took seven more years for the Australian government to proclaim it as Australia’s official national anthem.

Since then voices were raised to replace this anthem by “I am Australian” (or “We are Australians”) written in 1987 by Bruce Woodley of The Seekers and Dobe Newton of The Bushwackers. Its lyrics are filled with many historic and cultural references, such as to the “digger”, Albert Namatjira and Ned Kelly, among others, incorporating everything that is Australian to all Australians. The song was sung in federal parliament when last year’s plebiscite on same-sex marriage resulted in a resounding “yes”, and the national broadcasting company ABC has adopted the version below as its signature song.

I’m sure Harper would be proud to stand and sing it, and so would I, but the Pauline Hansons and Jarrod Bleijies of Australia will certainly prevent that from happening for some time to come.