Corduroy Academy

( Mostly) radical thoughts, ideas, and links from late stage colonial capitalism.

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    Aidan
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    U.S. claims it won’t support ‘unplanned’ ground operation in Rafah, Israel escalates attacks anyway

    the U.S. has so far done little to meaningfully use its leverage in the region — even though Netanyahu threw out a proposed ceasefire earlier this week.   

    Alarmingly, the Israeli military continues to intensify its attacks across the Gaza Strip. Over the past 24 hours, Israeli airstrikes have targeted several homes across Gaza City, as well as homes in Deir al-Balah and Rafah. Just last night, Israeli snipers gunned down at least 17 people outside of the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, in an example of an increasing trend of targeted attacks. 

    Meanwhile, the humanitarian crisis across the Gaza Strip is only getting worse

    Just a friendly reminder: Israel is an illegal, genocidal, colonial state supported by your country. They won’t stop. They are evil. They are killing unarmed civilians because they are hellbent on ethnic cleansing.

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    Ghana artifacts looted 150 years ago by British have been returned by a U.S. museum

    Seven royal artifacts looted 150 years ago by British colonial forces from Ghana’s ancient Asante kingdom and kept by a United States museum have been returned and presented to the kingdom on Thursday, the latest of a series of stolen treasured items being repatriated to several African countries.

    Looted from British-colonized Ghana in the 19th century before being transferred to Fowler Museum at the University of California, Los Angeles, in the 1960s, the artifacts included an elephant tail whisk, an ornamental chair made of wood, leather and iron, two gold stool ornaments, a gold necklace and two bracelets.

    The stolen story, culture, and experience through the colonial project is an ongoing violence against humanity. Objects, stories, and findings need to be returned to communities for them to determine what to do.

    The international GLAM treadmill only continues the colonial project.

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    Meta Considering Increased Censorship of the Word “Zionist”

    Facebook and Instagram’s parent company, Meta, is contemplating stricter rules around discussing Israeli nationalism on its platforms, a major policy change that could stifle criticism and free expression about the war in Gaza and beyond, five civil society sources who were briefed on the potential change told The Intercept.

    “Meta is currently revisiting its hate speech policy, specifically in relation to the term ‘Zionist,’” reads a January 30 email sent to civil society groups by Meta policy personnel and reviewed by The Intercept. While the email says Meta has not made a final determination, it is soliciting feedback on a potential policy change from civil society and digital rights groups, according to the sources. The email notes that “Meta is reviewing this policy in light of content that users and stakeholders have recently reported” but does not detail the content in question or name any stakeholders.

    “As an anti-Zionist Jewish organization for Palestinian freedom, we are horrified to learn that Meta is considering expanding when they treat ‘Zionism’ — a political ideology — as the same as ‘Jew/Jewish’ — an ethno-religious identity,” said Dani Noble, an organizer with Jewish Voice for Peace, one of the groups Meta has contacted to discuss the possible change. Noble added that such a policy shift “will result in shielding the Israeli government from accountability for its policies and actions that violate Palestinian human rights.”

    Censorship just keeps liberals comfortable.

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    Trump wins Nevada caucuses

    Donald Trump easily won the Nevada Republican caucuses on Thursday, drawing closer to a fall rematch with President Joe Biden.

    Trump was expected to claim most or all of Nevada’s 26 delegates to the GOP’s presidential nominating convention in Milwaukee, bolstering his standing as the contest moves to South Carolina later this month and Super Tuesday in March.

    They really haven’t learned.

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    Global temperatures breach 1.5C limit for 12 consecutive months

    Storms, drought and fire have lashed the planet as climate change, supercharged by the naturally-occurring El Nino phenomenon, stoked record warming in 2023, making it likely the hottest in 100,000 years.

    The extremes have continued into 2024, Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) service said, confirming that February 2023 to January 2024 saw warming of 1.52 degrees Celsius above the 19th century benchmark.

    I’d like to get off the capitalist ride now.

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    Taylor Swift is demanding this college student stop tracking her private jet

    When it comes to dealing with a Florida college student who uses public data and social media to track the private jets of billionaires, politicians and other celebrities, Taylor Swift apparently can’t just shake it off.

    In late December, Swift’s camp hit Jack Sweeney, a junior studying information technology at the University of Central Florida, with a cease-and-desist letter that blamed his automated tracking of her private jet for tipping off stalkers as to her location. In the letter, attorneys from the law firm Venable accused Sweeney of effectively providing “individuals intent on harming her, or with nefarious or violent intentions, a roadmap to carry out their plans.”

    Oligarchs doing anti human things. I’m not surprised these corrupt extractive capitalists are once again against freedom. Thanks for starting the self own, Elon. And well done for unmasking tay tay.

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    Closing the Gap will fail without ‘fundamental change’

    The Closing the Gap agreement on improving Indigenous outcomes will fail without fundamental changes, the Productivity Commission has warned, adding that successive governments have “failed to fully grasp” the challenges.

    In a scathing report, the Productivity Commission has called for urgent changes to rescue the landmark agreement, accusing the federal government of “weak” action on key areas, not fulfilling its promises and a “disregard” for the suggestions of Indigenous communities. It says efforts to eliminate institutional racism in areas such as justice and health have “received little effort”.

    Maybe work from a cultural strengths model, rather than a deficit approach from the get go, and there’s hope for better outcomes. As it stands, CTG is much too easily deployed as an assimilation and colonial weapon rather than a tool for transformation and community controlled services.

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    Senegal riot police fire teargas to break up protests over postponed election

    Riot police fired teargas to break up crowds trying to gather outside Senegal’s national assembly on Monday to protest against the president’s abrupt postponement of elections over the weekend.

    As protesters shouted slogans, parliament began debating a bill that would reschedule the 25 February vote for 25 August and extend Macky Sall’s mandate as president until his successor is installed.

    Just regular democratic behaviours.