World News Thread

[RoseMorninStar]

Frelga, thanks for the PSA. Geez..as if we don't have enough to be worrying about!

[Frelga]

I don't think it's dangerous or anything (the link, not the fires. The fires are hella dangerous.) It just irks me that Facebook is tracking people who are not even on Facebook.

[RoseMorninStar]

Frelga, I agree. I have FB container and try my best to set up all sorts of anti-tracking/privacy controls, but it seems one just can't keep on top of it.

[elengil]

I don't think it's dangerous or anything (the link, not the fires. The fires are hella dangerous.) It just irks me that Facebook is tracking people who are not even on Facebook.

Oh it's worse than that, Facebook tracks what you do off Facebook, too. But then, we knew that didn't we.

Go to Settings
-> Your Facebook Information
-> Off-Facebook Activity (click 'view')
Then, off to the right -> Manage Your Off-Facebook Activity

Clear your history and turn off the feature.

[Jude]

Canada just had its biggest-ever mass shooting. I'm curious, is the news being reported outside of Canada?

At least 19 dead, and we've been warned that that's likely to rise.

[Inanna]

Yes, Jude, I read it on NYTimes.

[RoseMorninStar]

Yes, I saw it on my phone last night. I'm so sorry Jude (and Suny & all of our other neighbors to the North).

[Frelga]

I did see it but only in passing.

[Túrin Turambar]

Yep, it's big news everywhere.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

I would say that it is being reported as big news here, but not as big as if it were in the U.S.

I was horrified by the news.

[Túrin Turambar]

Part of it might be that the gunman's motive is still a total mystery, and there's been no manifesto or social media posts for the media to write articles on. If there were, it might conform to an existing narrative and be bigger news.

It might also be bigger news had it been in the U.S. because of the gun control debate. That's less of a hot-button issue in Canada because there's a general consensus in favour of the existing gun laws (not that there isn't ongoing debate, but nowhere near to the extent of the U.S.).

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Agreed on all accounts.

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[RoseMorninStar]

I get quite a few daily newsletters (NYT, WaPo, Buzzfeed, CNN, etc..) that have the top stories of the day. The shooting in Canada made all of them. Also in the Buzzfeed top 5: Australia Is Going To Make Facebook And Google Pay For The Journalism They Use

[Túrin Turambar]

An interesting documentary on the ABC's Foreign Correspondent program about the recent rise of traditionalist Catholicism and nationalism in Polish politics. It's possible to overstate the influence of the Law and Justice Party, but it's also a trend I've seen referred to before:

[Impenitent]

I also watched it, and while I knew much of that beforehand, seeing it sewed into one cloth really made me heart-sick. Actually, I kept wondering what Madzia/Rodia would be feeling.

But then, the same patterns are happening in many parts of the world: extremist religious elements meld with nationalist politics to create a socio-political environment that is toxic to diversity. Look at the USA, India, Turkey, The Philippines, Indonesia...it is evident even in the posterboy liberal democracies such as The Netherlands, Denmark, France...

We are in massively changing times.

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[Voronwë the Faithful]

We are in massively changing times.

I would say, rather, that we are in the flow of history. Much as we would like history to move in a straight line of progressive progression, that is not how it works. What is happening now is more or less consistent with the flow of history.

[Inanna]

IAWV


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[RoseMorninStar]

We are in massively changing times.

I would say, rather, that we are in the flow of history. Much as we would like history to move in a straight line of progressive progression, that is not how it works. What is happening now is more or less consistent with the flow of history.

True but oh so discouraging.

[elengil]

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-minn ... 3Q2GE?il=0

Looks like the UN is finally going to scrutinize the US.

[Túrin Turambar]

As a follow-on from my previous post, the Law and Justice Party has narrowly been re-elected in Poland. This is pretty big news, as it shows the resilience of the party's nationalist populism, combining re-distributive economic policies and uncompromising social conservatism. There's concerns that Poland will slide into Hungary-style authoritarianism. At the same time, though, it's also worth remembering that democracy in these countries is very young.

ETA: For more colour, here's an Op-Ed critical of the Law and Justice Party.