The world outside of the debate
The US stopped for three days, the rest of the world kept on spinning
The US presidential debate was the talk of the town this weekend, but I do not have enough to say to justify a full post. I will, however, copy/paste (and mildly edit) this Note below.
I make an effort to keep the core of A6 apolitical, so take this as a brief opinion before I get into the core of the issue, where I will avoid the election. Enjoy!
Kevin’s opinion about the debate:
My feed is filled with a lot of “I’m still with Biden posts”, and I appreciate the sentiment. Cards on the table: I think Biden is a good president, and I think many of the topics voters complain about are not controlled by the executive branch.
But after a few days and reading many pro-Biden posts from his partisans, I still think the president should step aside. My belief is not about being too old to govern, or worrying about his age over the next four years. But rather, I think he has a 0% chance of winning the 2024 presidential election.
I keep A6 apolitical as a strategy, but I very much worry about the Nazification of MAGA. I met a guy on Friday who was fairly alarming on this front. So, as a voter, my top priority is preventing MAGA from reaching the White House. After the debate, I think Trump cruises if everything stays the same.
That being said, I’m from a red state, and I live in a red state, so I do think I sometimes overestimate MAGA. Maybe the “I’m still with Biden” should be more about defending his legacy in the years to come.
Follow up on A6 Topics
Israel sparks international condemnation over plans to legalize five West Bank settlements
Zelensky issues fresh weapons plea after 7 killed in Russian attack on Zaporizhzhia region
Sudan on precipice of famine ‘beyond imagination’, says outgoing UN aid chief
A6 - Where the World Happens
French far-right dominates first round of elections
French President Emmanuel Macron’s decision to call a snap election appears to have backfired spectacularly as the right-wing Rassemblement National (RN) party dominated the first of a two-round election process.
Macron’s Ensemble alliance finished third, behind the left-wing Nouveau Front Populaire party. The consequence is that France is set for a three-way runoff, which appears to be a big advantage for RN.
The election will not remove Macron as president, but it seems likely he will be forced into a power-sharing agreement. RN leader Marine Le Pen has said her 28-year-old protégé Jordan Bardella would become prime minister and focus on domestic issues while Macron handled foreign policy. However, RN signalled it would challenge Macron’s authority.
Political strategists argue that Nouveau Front Populaire must negotiate with Ensemble to decide which party will step aside to compete with RN during a July 7 runoff.
If RN wins the election, it will be the first time a far-right government has ruled France since the Vichy regime, which was a puppet of Hitler’s Nazi party from 1940-1944.
Le Pen has successfully convinced French voters that Macron is out of touch with regular people and has focused her campaign on cost-of-living issues and anti-immigration policies.
Knife attack in China targets Japanese schoolchildren
A Chinese woman died last week after she successfully stopped a man wielding a knife from going on a rampage on a school bus. A Japanese boy and his mother were injured during the incident.
The attack occurred in Suzhou, a fairly large city about 1.5 hours west of Shanghai. The 54-year-old woman, Hu Youping, apparently saw the knife attack from outside the bus before she rushed into the vehicle to stop it.
Authorities said she was stabbed several times and died from her wounds.
The government proclaimed Hu a national hero and released statements saying she exemplifies the best of Chinese people.
A major feature of this story is that the kids were Japanese. China has a tense relationship with Tokyo because of the atrocities Japanese soldiers committed during World War II.
Anti-Japanese sentiment flares regularly in China, most dramatically in 2012, when protests erupted across 100 cities in the mainland. Japanese businesses were targeted, and the auto industry lost US$250 million in a week.
After the stabbing, authorities went into overdrive to prevent ultranationalist and anti-Japanese sentiment from spreading online. That being said, some people still accused the deceased woman of being a Japanese spy, while others encouraged similar confrontations against Japanese people.
The incident came just a few weeks after four Americans were stabbed in a park in China. They survived the attack.
For an excellent and nuanced analysis of the events, read this post by
.Mass gay weddings held in Hong Kong and Mexico
Over 147 same-sex couples were married in Mexico City on Friday as part of the country’s Pride Month celebrations.
Same-sex marriage is not legal in Mexico, but it is in the capital city, which legalized the partnerships in 2009, making it one of the first places in the world to do so.
These mass weddings may become a tradition in the capital, as the 2024 ceremonies followed a similar event in 2023. Last year, transgender people also completed the bureaucratic process to change their gender during the event.
In Hong Kong, 10 couples were married online in a process that is recognized by the US. The public ceremony, held in a local hotel, was rare in the city, where a strong anti-gay sentiment persists despite a vibrant LGBTQ+ community. (For example, an LGBTQ+ Bazaar was closed because the hygiene department refused to grant them the proper licensing.)
Part of the reason the couples got married is that the city’s court system has proven to be a major ally to LGBTQ+ rights, and gay couples have seen a small but notable increase in their civil rights over the past few years.
While gay marriage seems like a long way off in the city, legitimizing their relationship does make it easier to buy homes as a couple, adopt children, and receive inheritances.
Also of note: Singaporean politicians attended the city’s annual Pink Dot rally (a pro-LGBTQ+ event) on June 29, which is a huge change from even a few years ago when the rhetoric was notably hostile.
Tractor Supple Co. backtracks on DEI efforts after conservative backlash
One of the US’s largest companies targeting rural America said it would no longer sponsor Pride and would cancel its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs moving forward.
The decision comes after a successful online boycott campaign started by Robby Starbuck, a failed politician and right-wing commenter.
In the US, there is a very real pushback against DEI programs from America’s right-wing voters. They blame DEI for corporate failures -- such as Boeing’s recent struggles -- and claim the best candidates are not being hired because of DEI quotas.
That opinion ignores that most of these candidates have equal technical skills and that adding cultural perspectives or multilingualism is a strong advantage when running a successful company.
Regardless of its validity, the anti-DEI movement is real, highlighted by the slogan, “DEI means D-I-E.”
As part of the decision, Tractor Supply Company will no longer provide data to the Human Rights Campaign, an organization that attempts to benchmark how companies are treating LGBTQ+ members of society.
Environment: Netherlands set to tax livestock methane
One of the weirdest realities of our climate crisis is that a major contributor to the problem is methane created by livestock flatulence.
In 2030, Denmark will start taxing farmers for that methane, which it hopes will help reduce greenhouse gases by 70% from 1990 levels.
Experts are dubious that this plan will do much to alter climate trends unless the taxes are leveraged to get people to eat less meat. For example, the government could use the tax revenue from livestock to subsidize vegetable farmers, incentivizing the industry to shift towards a more vegan-friendly agricultural industry.
New Zealand repealed a similar tax this year after pushback from local farmers.
Kevin’s Article: How a beautiful Song dynasty pagoda stood for over 1,000 years in China
From the first three paragraphs:
For more than 1,000 years, a remarkable pagoda stood in Jiaxing in the north of Zhejiang province in eastern China that has become a popular tourist destination thanks to its ancient architecture and urban canal system.
The Dongta Temple area would come to represent the best of Song dynasty (960–1279) architecture, and the pièce de résistance was a beautiful tower that rose elegantly above the nearby creek.
The pagoda stood for over 1,000 years but was destroyed in the 1960s. It is unclear if the demolition came before or after the start of the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976).
Charity to consider: Human Rights Consider
From the About Page:
We’ve spent 40 years creating the most powerful movement for equality our country has ever seen. But despite this progress, our most marginalized are still suffering from violence, discrimination and fear.
Our goal is to ensure that all LGBTQ+ people, and particularly those of us who are trans, people of color and HIV+, are treated as full and equal citizens within our movement, across our country and around the world.
What I am reading
At the Edge of Empire by Edward Wong — from patriotic idealism to disillusionment
For Me, LGBTQ+ Allyship Is A Traditional Family Value
Why You Should Be Concerned About Loper Bright
I agree with you on Biden. I'm mindful that one bad debate doesn't negate all the work he & his admin have done, but the reality is that elections aren't won with rational policy analysis. I can talk all day about infrastructure gains, but will be drowned out by memes of POTUS on the stage Thursday.
Facts tell, stories sell.
I'm sure I don't have to tell anyone here how much is at stake come November--now is the time for Democrats to make a big play.