Corduroy Academy

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

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    Aidan
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    Hurricanes are getting so intense, scientists propose a Category 6

    When meteorologists began using the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale to measure hurricane intensity in the 1970s, a Category 5 storm represented oblivion. Such a cyclone, with sustained winds of at least 157 mph, could flatten any structure of the era, so there was no reason to give the most ferocious tier of hurricanes an upper bound.

    But as the planet warms, storms are increasingly surpassing what was once considered extreme, according to research published Monday. Now, two scientists are proposing a new label they say a growing number of storms already merit: Category 6.

    Everything is completely fine. The inaction on climate change is totally rational. Fuck this, I want to eject the oligarchs into space – hurry up you self selecting assholes.

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    Aidan
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    Thai prosecutors say former PM Thaksin is being investigated for royal defamation

    State prosecutors in Thailand said Tuesday they have revived an investigation into whether former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra almost nine years ago violated the law against defaming the monarch, a crime punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

    Thaksin had been charged in 2016 with violating the law on royal defamation — also known as Article 112 — for remarks he made to journalists the previous year when he was in Seoul, South Korea, said Prayut Phetcharakun, a spokesperson for the Office of the Attorney General, at a news conference.

    Monarchies – constitutional or semi-democratic, whatever you prefer to call them – are just dictatorships with a semblance of “autonomy”.

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    Aidan
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    King Charles diagnosed with cancer

    King Charles has been diagnosed with cancer. Doctors discovered it while he was receiving treatment for an enlarged prostate, though it’s a “separate issue” to that, and he’s begun treatment as an outpatient. We don’t know the stage of cancer yet, BBC notes, nor the prognosis, though he attended church on Sunday. Doctors told him not to attend public events but he will continue to work on state business and official paperwork, Buckingham Palace said. The monarch wanted to share the diagnosis “in the hope it may assist public understanding for all those around the world who are affected by cancer,” the statement ended.

    Old white guy – extractive and oligarchical as they come – gets a tiny tiny bit of karma.

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    Aidan
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    Biden Executive Order on West Bank violence more likely to be used against Palestinians than Israeli settlers

    There have been mixed reactions to the Biden Administration’s decision to place economic and travel-based sanctions on four Israeli settlers on Thursday, February 1. Some have been cautiously optimistic that the sanctions—which came in the form of an Executive Order—would bring long-absent accountability for Israeli settler violence in the West Bank. Others have criticized the sanctions as a cynical move to whitewash the Biden Administration’s own crimes and win over disillusioned Arab, Muslim, and Palestinian voters, whose support for Biden has substantially plummeted as a result of his unwavering support for Israel’s onslaught on the Gaza Strip. 

    It’s always a diversion.

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    Aidan
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    Reviews under way after 13-year-old autistic boy with Islamic State fixation targeted in undercover operation

    The Australian federal police have confirmed there are multiple reviews being conducted into an undercover counter-terror operation which targeted a 13-year-old autistic boy with a fixation on Islamic State, as calls grow for a public inquiry into the case.

    Guardian Australia revealed on Saturday that the boy, known by the pseudonym Thomas Carrick, was granted a permanent stay on terror-related charges last October, after a magistrate found police further radicalised him during the operation and “doomed” his efforts at rehabilitation.

    AFP deputy commissioner Ian McCartney, appearing before the parliamentary joint committee on law enforcement on Monday, said the force accepted the magistrate’s decision, and there were a “range of reviews” into the matter.

    this. country.

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    Paris votes on SUVs: voters back proposal to triple parking fees for SUV drivers

    Paris voters on Sunday, February 4, backed a proposal from the city’s socialist mayor Anne Hidalgo to triple parking charges on hefty SUV-style cars, according to official results from city hall. Parisians voted 54.55 percent in favor of charging cars weighing 1.6 tonnes or more 18 euros ($19.50) per hour for parking in the city center, or 12 euros further out. But only 78,000, or 5.7 percent, of the 1.3 million eligible voters bothered to vote at the 39 voting stations set up around the French capital.
    Fully electric cars will have to top two tonnes to be affected, while people living or working in Paris, taxi drivers, tradespeople, health workers, and people with disabilities will all be exempt. Environmental group WWF has dubbed SUVs an “aberration”, saying they burn 15 percent more fuel than a classic coupe and cost more to build and purchase.

    Great, but could we also just have, globally, liveable, walkable, public transport, accessible transport options in our cities?

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    Aidan
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    El Salvador votes in presidential election that the ‘world’s coolest dictator’ has clear path to win

    Salvadorans voted in presidential and legislative elections Sunday, with many expressing willingness to forego some elements of democracy if it means keeping gang violence at bay.

    With soaring approval ratings and virtually no competition, Nayib Bukele was almost certainly headed for a second 5-year term as president. After voting, he jousted with reporters, asserting that the election’s results would serve as a “referendum” on his administration.

    This really doesn’t signal good things on a global political landscape.

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    After U.S. and UK strikes in Yemen, Iran warns against targeting suspected spy ships

    Iran issued a warning Sunday to the U.S. over potentially targeting two cargo ships in the Mideast long suspected of serving as forwarding operating bases for Iranian commandos. The warning came just after the U.S. and the United Kingdom launched a massive airstrike campaign against Yemen’s Houthi rebels.

    The statement from Iran on the Behshad and Saviz ships appeared to signal Tehran’s growing unease over U.S. strikes in recent days in Iraq, Syria and Yemen targeting militias backed by the Islamic Republic.

    Say “Manufacturing Consent” with me folks. The fact that we are in a position where there is a manufactured spy scandal, well it just speaks to hegemony.