Tag: car culture

Planet Watch

Global revolt against automotive terror

Puglia protestBangladesh has seen huge demonstrations over the past week, as tens of thousands of university students and schoolchildren protest lax traffic enforcement after two young students were killed by a speeding bus. The protests have for days paralyzed Dhaka, with roadblocks erected on major thoroughfares. Meanwhile, in southern Italy's Puglia region, hundreds of African farmworkers downed tools and marched from the fields after 16 migrant workers were killed when their vans were hit by trucks hauling produce. Authorities pledge a crackdown on the "mafia" that controls agribusiness in Puglia, but the farmworkers have continued to press their protests. (Photo:  Dinamopress via El Salto)

North America
CounterVortex

Podcast: Politics of the Second Amendment

CounterVortexIn Episode Four of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg makes the case that the Second Amendment is a non-grammatical muddle of obfuscation—because the issue was just as contentious in 1789 as it is today, and the Framers fudged it. That's why both the "gun control" and "gun rights" advocates can claim they have the correct interpretation—as they each advocate solutions that, in their own way, escalate the police state. In the wake of the latest school massacre, youth activists are pressing the issue, and this is long overdue. But the discussion that needs to be had would explore the social and cultural roots of this peculiarly American pathology. Listen on SoundCloud, and support us via Patreon.

North America

Charlottesville and Barcelona: fearful symmetry

SpainTrump's disparate reactions to the similar attacks in Charlottesville and Barcelona provide a study not only in double standards, but (worse) the president's actual embrace of racist terror. While saying there were "good people" on the side that was flying the Nazi flag and committed an act of terror in Virginia, he used the attack in Spain as an opportunity to unabashedly call for war crimes against Muslims.

North America

Assad’s radical right admirers in Charlottesville

charlottesvilleA curious link to Syria was seen at the white supremacist rallies in Charlottesville: an admiration for  dictator Bashar Assad. James Fields—detained after his car rammed counter-protesters, killing one—featured Assad on his Facebook page. Marchers chanted in support of Assad and wore T-shirts celebrating his barrel-bombs that have killed thousands of Syrians.

North America

Car culture, racism: Charlottesville makes the link

charlottesvilleThe man arrested for ploughing his car into anti-racist counter-protesters at the Charlottesville "Unite the Right" rally is identified as a follower of the Vanguard America hate group. We will now be treated to endless debate about whether he is a "terrorist" or just an angry lone nut—with both sides overlooking the critical role of car culture in the attack.

Europe

‘Car Intifada’ comes to England?

As the commentariat debates whether the London SUV attack was terrorism or the work of an apolitical loner, both sides will overlook the critical factor of car culture.

Central Asia

Anti-terror ‘security state’ in Xinjiang

The Uighur people of China's Xinjiang province are coming under unprecedented surveillance and militarization amid official fears of terrorism in the far-western region.

The Andes

Lima: indigenous squatter camp burns

Shipibo indigenous shanty-dwellers near downtown Lima are pledging to resist forcible relocation after a mysterious fire swept through their community.

The Andes

Bogotá: controversy over urban clearance

Authorities in Bogotá began demolishing a notorious district near the city center locally known as "the Bronx"—but seemingly no plans were made for the displaced residents.