A cool guide to belligerents in the Syrian civil war
https://redd.it/1h9p9xc
@coolguides

How women’s basic rights and freedoms are being eroded all over the world | The Conversation

"From Iraq to Afghanistan to the US, basic freedoms for women are being eroded as governments start rolling back existing laws."

• Afghanistan

"Just a few months ago a ban on Afghan women speaking in public was the latest measure introduced by the Taliban, who took back control of the country in 2021.

[...]

Women can no longer attend universities or receive a degree certificate nationally, or follow midwifery or nursing training in the Kandahar region. Women are no longer allowed to be flight attendants, or to take a job outside the home. Women-run bakeries in the capital Kabul have now been banned. Women are mostly now unable to earn any money, or leave their homes. In April 2024, the Taliban in Helmand province told media outlets to even refrain from airing women’s voices.

[...]

Many diplomats discuss how important it is to “engage” with the Taliban, yet this has not stopped the assault on women’s rights. When diplomats “engage”, they tend to focus on counter-terrorism, counternarcotics, business deals, or hostage returns. Despite everything that has happened to Afghan women over a short period, critics suggest this rarely makes it onto diplomats’ priority list."

• Iraq

"on August 4 2024, an amendment to Iraq’s 1959 personal status law which would possibly lower the age of consent for marriage to nine years old from 18 (or 15 with permission from a judge and parents) was proposed by member of parliament Ra’ad al-Maliki.

[...]

This change could not only legalise child marriage but also strip women of rights related to divorce, child custody and inheritance."

• United States

"women’s access to abortion has been eroded significantly in the past few years. In late 2021, the US was officially labelled a backsliding democracy by an international thinktank.

Six months later, the landmark US Supreme Court ruling of Roe v Wade, which had safeguarded the constitutional right to abortion for nearly 50 years, was overturned. This led to a cascade of restrictive laws, with more than a quarter of US states enacting outright bans or severe restrictions on abortion.

[...]

in the US a sexual assault occurs every 68 seconds. One in every five American women has been the victim of an attempted or completed rape. From 2009-13, US Child Protective Services agencies found strong evidence indicating that 63,000 children per year were victims of sexual abuse.

[...]

there could be further erosion of women’s rights in [Donald Trump's] second presidency. During his previous term there were significant attempts to weaken healthcare access, with his foreign policy reinstating the “global gag rule” restricting access to women’s reproductive healthcare worldwide via funding conditions."


>>> Article link <<<

Older adults are more likely than younger cohorts to engage with unreliable new sources, their susceptibility does not stem from an inability to identify false content. Instead, heightened partisan bias and entrenched political identities appear to drive their engagement.

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#OlderAdults #MediaLiteracy #PoliticalBias #FactChecking #Misinformation

In Germany, rising local rents increase support for radical right parties. The effect is especially pronounced among long-term residents and among voters with lower household income. The results suggest that housing precarity is an important source of economic insecurity with political implications.

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#GermanyRents #RadicalRight #HousingPrecarity #EconomicInsecurity #PoliticalImplications

Song of the Day 🌇🌃: https://open.spotify.com/track/6JCgsaJ9VJlEYRpgcl9ync

Although Assad has fallen, the tragedies in Syria continue. The Syrian National Army, a Turkish proxy force, has captured the city of Manbij and aims to storm Kobane next.

Turkey intends to conquer all Rojava and carry out ethnic cleansing there.

In 2014, with the tacit support of the Turkish government, the Islamic State took over most of northern Syria, carrying out massacres as they gained ground. In the town of Kobane, locals managed to halt their advance only a few miles from the Turkish border.

Now, Kobane is at risk once again.

In Rojava, multiethnic militias including anarchist volunteers from around the world did most of the fighting and dying in the struggle against the Islamic State. Now the international community is preparing to look away while they are massacred.

We must not let this happen. As in 2019—the last time Turkey mounted a major offensive against Rojava—solidarity actions are urgently needed.

https://crimethinc.com/RojavaSolidarity

Die Pendler der Zukunft teilen Autos, die ganz von allein fahren https://www.watson.ch/!326285874

Good Idea: Unity

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-main-ingredient/202407/stop-fighting-and-embrace-the-power-of-unity

Being faced with exploitation and injustice, often leads to thoughts of violent action against the powerful, such as targeting a shrewd CEO. However, while individual actions may seem noble, true change requires unity among all lower classes, transcending divisions created by culture wars. These culture battles often serve to distract from the more critical issue: the exploitation of workers and the imbalance of power.
Importantly, we do not need idols like Robin Hood, Luigi Mangione, Greta Thunberg, Che Guevara or whoever you adore, onto whom we project our ideals and hopes, because perfection does not exist, and we will always be disappointed by flawed leaders.

If we unite in collective struggle, we may discover alternatives to violence, where solidarity, organization, and mutual support create pathways for systemic change that benefit all, not just a few.

Further reading on the culture war:
https://academyofideas.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/letters-on-liberty-beyond-culture-wars-pdf.pdf

Luigi's manifesto has been released
https://redd.it/1hbdezi
@r_interestingasfuck

Greenhouse gas emissions from tourism have been growing more than two times faster than those from the rest of the global economy. The study tracked international and domestic travel for 175 countries to find tourism's carbon footprint is 9% of the world's total emissions.

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#TourismImpact #ClimateCrisis #SustainableTravel #CarbonFootprint #EnvironmentalAwareness