Amerikanska nyhetsanalyser: september 2015

onsdag 30 september 2015

USA kritiska till ryska flyganfall i Syrien

Ryssland har inlett flyganfall i Syrien. Man säger att man anfaller ISIS och Al Nusra, men USA är kritiska, och anser att anfall riktas mot Fria syriska armén, och att syftet primärt är att skydda Assad. Här CNN:

Här CBS:

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Här Fox News:

Källor: CBS, DN, CNN

Se även tidigare inlägg:

USA:s problem med att träna syriska rebeller 20150930

Bill Clintons roll i Hillarys kampanj

CNN diskuterar här vilken roll Bill Clinton har i sin hustrus presidentkampanj:

Se även tidigare inlägg:

MtP: Hillary Clinton och Carly Fiorina 20150927

NASA: Vatten på mars

NASA rapporterade i måndags att man funnit bevis på existerande vatten på mars. Här CBS:

View More: Video News|Politics News|Live News|More News Videos

Källor: ABC, Los Angeles Times

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Planet Kepler 452-b och NASA:s comeback 20150725

USA:s problem med att träna syriska rebeller

USA:s lösningar för Syrien har varit ytterst bristande. Vad som diskuterats på Capitol Hill är de miljonkostnader som uppgått för att träna bara en handfull anti-Assad-rebeller. Här ett inslag på CBS en del av problematiken:

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Se även tidigare inlägg:

Obamas tal i FN, om Syrien 20150928

Grover Norquist positiv till Donald Trumps skatteplan

Te-party-rörelsens anti-skatt-guru Grover Norquist är positiv till Donald Trumps skatteplan. Här intervjuas han på CBS:

View More: Politics News|Live News|More News Videos

Källa: New York Times

Se även tidigare inlägg:

60 Minutes: Donald Trump om sin skatteplan 20150928

Donald Trump låter sig nu intervjuas av Fox News

Donald Trump gjorde en temporär bojkott av Fox News. Nu har han dock återvänt och lät sig igår intervjuas av Bill O Reilly, om den diskussion om islam han med sin icke-kommentar drog igång; om Marco Rubo, etc:

Se även tidigare inlägg:

60 Minutes: Donald Trump om sin skatteplan 20150928

Snöboll i rullning: Obamas "muslimska tro" blir debatt om muslimskt presidentskap 20150921

Obamas anti-terror-möte i FN

President Obama håller ett anti-terror-möte i FN. Fd FN-ambassadör John Bolton pratar här på Fox News om hur han inte anser att något kommer att komma ur samtalen:

Se även tidigare inlägg:

Obamas tal i FN, om Syrien 20150928

Dödsdömd kvinna i Georgia avrättas, trots påvens vädjan

Efter många pauser avrättades igår Kelly Gissendaner, som på 1980-talet dömdes för att ha beställt ett mord på sin make. En av dem som vädjade till Georgias benådningsstyrelse att inte verkställa dödsstraffet, var påve Franciskus. Igår avrättades hon dock. Här CBS:

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Här CNN:

Källor: CBS, NBC, CNN

Se även tidigare inlägg:

HD godkänner kontroversiell drog för avrättningar 20150630

Kevin McCarthy om hur han skulle skilja sig från John Boehner

Republikanernas majoritetsledare Kevin McCarthy som kandiderar till ordförandeposten i Representanthuset pratar med Sean Hannity om hur han skulle skilja sig från John Boehner:

Se även tidigare inlägg:

Kevin McCarthy kandiderar till Representanthusets ordförandepost 20150929

Marco Rubio om den verklighetsfrånvända politiska eliten

Marco Rubio pratar med Sean Hannity om FN-talen, amerikansk utrikespolitik och den verklighetsfrånvända politiska eliten:

Se även tidigare inlägg:

ABC TW: Donald Trump, Marco Rubio, Påvens besök 20150921

tisdag 29 september 2015

Ateism, Kommunism, Nazism: Finns en koppling?

Varför hatar kommunister religion? Och hur är deras religionshat relaterat till nazisternas hårda reglering av religiösa aktiviteter? Och varför hatade egentligen nazisterna judar, och hur är det relaterat till kommunisternas hat mot överklassen? Läs artikeln nedan så får du veta.

***

Everyone is familiar with the term "Godless commies", a popular insult in the McCarthy era USA. It is common knowledge that communism rejects God; one of the most famous quotes from Marx is after all "religion is an opium for the people". This quote is widely misunderstood; Marx was referring to religion being a painkiller, a distraction in times of misery, rather than a drug which is what we know opium as today.

None the less, Marx viewed religion as something negative to get rid off, and his followers certainly tried their best, criminalizing religion and killing millions of people of faith.

However, rarely does anyone ask; why exactly do communists not like religion? Sure they don't believe in it, but that's not a reason for such visceral, genocidal hatred. And even if religion was just a silly mental painkiller, that again is not a reason to kill anyone for using it.

Where does nazism fit into all this? First, let me explain why communists hate religion, and I'll get back to nazism in a moment.

Communists hate religion for one simple reason: Communists believe that the state is the ultimate moral authority. Sure, they may use another term for it - the "People" or "Workers" or "Central planning committee" or whatever, but what it boils down to is that there is no truth and no right, other than what the state says is true or right.

Communists hate God because God competes with the state for the power over people's lives.

For me as a Christian, the Bible is the ultimate moral authority. This means that if the State says one thing, and the Bible says another thing, I will believe and act in accordance to what the Bible says. That, obviously, is something that cannot be tolerated in a communist state. Anything that competes with the State for the position as the ultimate moral authority has to be removed.

This is also why communists hate the nuclear family - children tend to view their parents as moral authorities, and parents in turn will protect their children more than they will protect other workers or the state. Weakening the family unit is essential in achieving the worker's utopia.

Which brings us to the other connection between communism and atheism: Utopia, and how it must exist in this world. One central belief of communism is that essentially all ills in the world can be resolved; there is no "fallen human nature" preventing paradise on earth. We are only a few five-year plans away from recreating the garden of eden - although we should really say "creating the garden of eden" since communists don't believe the first garden of eden ever existed.

While atheism does not cause a belief in utopianism, without utopianism atheism is quite depressing, in particular if you're poor or otherwise miserable: Not only does your life suck now, it will never get better. There is no God to pray to for consolence, and there are no pearly gates in the sky that you'll get to walk through once you've drawn your last breath.

If you reject the notion of a God, it certainly must be tempting to believe in utopia. If there is no paradise after life, then we have to create one here and now. And in the futile struggle for utopia, humans have shown themselves willing to give up even the most basic rights.

Now, let's turn to nazism. There are significant differences between nazism and communism that we cannot overlook; the nazis for example were social conservatives (well, with the exception of eugenics...). While communists blame all the world's ills on the rich, the nazis blamed them on the jews. What a lot of people forget is that in Germany at the time of Hitler's election, those two were pretty much the same thing - while not all jews were rich, they were definitely overrepresented in the upper class. And for a good reason I might add; Jewish culture encourages a strong work ethic, entrepreneurship, and education - some of the essential keys to success.

Nazism and Communism both rely on jealousy to recruit supporters. At the core there is a feeling among supporters that they are worse off because someone else is better off. That "someone else" may be all the rich, or it may be just the jews specifically, but that someone else is better off, and the supporters believe that the reason they are worse off is because of those who are better off. It's the "fixed cake" fallacy all over. Nazis, like communists, do not seek to improve their own situation by changing their own behavior, but prefer to take from those who are more successful.

Once you understand that nazism is basically just a specialized form of communism, with the rich-hatred focused on a certain segment of the rich (the jews), it's also easy to see why nazism must devolve into communism over time. Imagine that, God forbid, Hitler had been successful in eradicating the jews. What would he have done then? After all, eradicating the jews wouldn't have created any kind of paradise society in Germany (quite the opposite), so what would he have done once he didn't have the jews to blame any more? Why, find another group to blame of course. Exactly which group this would have been we'll never know, but my bet would be catholics - another minority group that was relatively wealthy (the richest region in Germany is catholic).

In the end, the Nazis would have to get rid of all the rich people - Aryan or not - except for the party elite. Nazism, like fascism, operates under corporatism - basically the means of production are owned by corporations (like in capitalism), but there is no free competition; rather, the state chooses which corporations are allowed to exist and who is allowed to start a company. Over time, this evolves into communism, with the corporations indistinguishable from the "central economic planning committees" that we know from communist states.

What about religion? Nazism, like communism, believes in the state as the ultimate moral authority. As such, nazis too have to get rid of religion. Nazi Germany however didn't ban it - they actually, on the surface, embraced christianity. The nazis, rather than getting rid of the churches, successfully took (most of) them over, infiltrated them and corrupted them. A sunday service in Nazi Germany looked quite different to say the least from what it would look like in any other country - the churches were made propaganda tools of the nazi state, and any christians who refused to get in line usually found themselves next to the jews in the gas chambers. As such, Christianity lost it's anti-totalitarian property; that of a moral compass independent of the state. Communists and nazis may disagree about how to deal with religion, but the end goal is the same: To rid the world of this powerful threat to absolute state authority. With no moral authority, the churches would soon have become irrelevant and died out - we are seeing this with liberal churches like the Church of Sweden, who have no other gospel than that of whatever happens to be the politically correct at the moment. Combine this with the nazi's strong endorsement of social darwinism (which, while not something Darwin believed in, uses the theory of evolution as a justification) and it's obvious any nazi state will eventually become an atheist state.

Now I imagine some of you reading this may be balking at the notion of Christianity as a protection against totalitarianism - after all, democracy is a relatively recent invention, and Christianity was the official religion of the very non-democratic dark age Europe. However, what these people forget is that up until the reformation, normal people - commoners - were not allowed to read the bible by themselves. Bibles were for priests & monks to study only. Officially, the reason was because the bible was too complicated for regular people to understand and interpret. But, it's not exactly a wild guess that the real reason was to preserve power: If peasants were allowed to read the Bible, they would soon figure out that the authorities weren't really obeying it very closely, and they'd hold them to account. By restricting what the peasants knew about the gospel, the authorities effectively prevented the gospel from threatening their power. Whatever left-winged historians would have you believe, it's not a coincidence that Europe's long march towards democracy started after the reformation (which, among other things, led to the Bible being available to commoners) and that protestant countries were the ones to lead that march. And with that came capitalism, the industrial revolution, and eventually smartphones. Isn't it amazing the blessings that come with reading the word of God?

I know some communists will object to the idea that they view the state as the ultimate moral authority - after all, in the "final stage" of communism, the state is supposed to be dissolved. However, no communist country has ever reached this final stage, and in the meantime, the state is in fact the ultimate moral authority (also, anarchism is really just a simplistic version of fascism, so there's another similarity between communism and nazism/fascism).

As much as you may not like to think about it, there are really only three options: Either God is God, or the Individual is God - this is known as objectivism, advocated by Ayn Rand & her following of libertarian neckbeards - or the State is God. Communists and nazis alike pick the third option. They are not the same by any means, but as you can see in this post, they have more in common than either side would ever admit.

Thank you for reading.

/ John Gustavsson

Kevin McCarthy kandiderar till Representanthusets ordförandepost

Representanthusets republikanske majoritetsledare Kevin McCarthy kommer att kandidera till ordförandeposten efter John Boehner. Här Fox News om saken:

Källa: Politico

Se även tidigare inlägg:

ABC TW: Ben Carson, Boehners avgång, Påvens besök 20150927

Podd 113: Västvärldens möte med Militant Islam - Del 1: En Fredens religion?

måndag 28 september 2015

60 Minutes: Donald Trump om sin skatteplan

Donald Trump lät på gårdagens CBS 60 Minutes presenterar sin skattepolitik. Här inslaget:

View More: 60 Minutes News|Live News|More News Videos

Källa: CBS

Se även tidigare inlägg:

South Park om Donald Trumps anti-immigrationsretorik 20150927

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Podd 101: Konservativ ekonomi i behov av förnyelse 20150821

Podd 83: Presidentvalet 2016 - Del 8: GOP-kandidaternas ekonomiska valprogram 20150516

Talibanerna intar Kunduz

Talibanerna har intagit staden Kunduz i norra Afghanistan, som är landets femte största stad. Det är också den första stora stad talibanerna lyckas ta över sedan de fördrevs av USA 2001. Här Fox News om saken:

UPPDATERING:

Här skriver Atlantic om hur Afghanistans president Ashraf Ghani lovar att ta tillbaka staden.

Och här Washington Post om hur USA nu utför lufträder mot staden, vilka dock måste begränsas då det är svårt att bomba städer utan att det drabbar civila.

UPPDATERING: 2015-10-01:

Här CNN om hur Afghanistans regering nu meddelar att de tagit tillbaka Kunduz.

Källor: Time, Newsweek, Global Post, Washington Post

Se även tidigare inlägg:

ISIS-ledare dödad av amerikansk drönare i Afghanistan 20150713

Obamas tal i FN, om Syrien

Obama talade idag inför FN där han presenterade sin syn på Syrien och gick i polemik mot Vladimir Putins syn. Här hela talet:

Källor: Washington Post, New York Times, Politico

Se även tidigare inlägg:

Obamas tal i FN om ISIS och internationella utmaningar 20140924

Pat Condell: EU:s kollaps och misslyckade invandringspolitik

Pat Condell har gjort en ny utmärkt video, om EU:s totala haveri ifråga om flyktingströmmarna:

Se även tidigare inlägg:

Daniel Hannan: Euron och Schengens misslyckande 20150923

Podd 109: Europas flyktingkris - del 1 20150914

Karantän: Ett nytt förhållningssätt till invandring 20150614

John McCain om Putins stora spel

John McCain, en av USA:s mest klarsynta utrikespolitiker, om Putins stora spel i Mellanöstern:

Se även tidigare inlägg:

Putin besöker Krim - konflikten med Väst trappas upp 20150819

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Podd 45: Putin och Rysslands nya imperialism 20140628

Podd 112: Katalonien - del 3: Katalonien röstar ja till självständighetsprocess

Podd 112. Igår den 27 september 2015 höll Katalonien regionalt parlamentsval, ett val där utgången skulle avgöra huruvida Katalonien nu skulle sätta i gång processen att på allvar förklara sig självständiga från Spanien.

John Gustavsson, som engagerat sig för den katalanska självständighetsrörelsen i två års tid, valvakade och kommenterar kvällen och analyserar sedan valresultatet.

Alla avsnitt hittas i poddarkivet.

Se även tidigare inlägg:

Tidigare poddavsnitt om Katalonien:

Podd 108: Katalonien - del 2: Inför självständighetsomröstningen den 27 september 20150911

Podd 32: Katalonien - del 1: Den osynliggjorda frihetskampen 20140205

John Gustavssons artiklar om Katalonien:

Därför bör Katalonien lämna Spanien 20150927

Bör Katalonien gå med i EU? 20140427

Katalonien, EU, och den spanska självmordsbombaren 20140201

Secession: Catalonia And The “Bad Precedent” Argument 20140125

Fascismens återkomst till Spanien 20140103

Blir Rand Paul näste man att avsluta sin kampanj?

Rick Perry och Scott Walker har lämnat banan. Det är inte omöjligt att Rand Paul följer härnäst. Paul är den kandidat som förberett sig allra längst för denna presidentvalskampanj, och vars libertarianska approach till utrikespolitik lockade under Obamas första mandatperiod.

Nu är han i många avseenden bortglömd och övergiven och hans utrikespolitik framträder i allt större utsträckning verklighetsfrånvänd på samma sätt som hans far Ron Pauls inställning till utrikespolitik gjorde.

McClatchy skriver här om Rand Pauls dalande presidentkampanj och skriver efter att ha knostaterat att hans medel i RealClearPolitics opinionsmätningar bara är 2,3%:

It has been death by a thousand cuts for Paul’s campaign: reports of staff infighting, the federal indictments of two longtime aides, lackluster fundraising, the improbable and unpredictable rise of Donald Trump, and a Republican Party that appears to be returning to its roots on foreign policy.

Nu till veckan kommer i att få se om Rand Paul fått ihop tillräckligt mycket pengar för att hålla sin kampanj levande (det intressanta med Perrys och Walkers avhopp var ju att Super PAC:s helt enkelt inte räcker för att hålla kampanjerna vid liv).

Paul kör dessutom en dubbel strategi. Han kampanjar inför 2016 både till president, och till sitt omval i Senaten samtidigt.

UPPDATERING:

Här också Lexington Herald Leader om saken - en tidning från Rand Pauls egen hemstat Kentucky.

Källa: McClatchy

Se även tidigare inlägg:

Podd 111: Presidentvalet 2016 - Del 20: Avhoppen har börjat 20150923

FtN: Hillary Clinton och Rand Paul, Påvens USA-besök 20150921

Katalonien röstar ja till självständighet

Igår röstade katalanerna i det regionsval som ämnar påbörja processen att bryta sig loss från den spanska monarkin. Man röstade ja till en majoritet i det katalanska parlamentet som förespråkar detta. Däremot fick man "bara" 48% av folkrösterna som röstade ja. Men innebörden är likväl tydlig. Katalonien kommer nu att sätta igång med en process som inom 18 månader kan komma att innebära en självständighetsförklaring. Här CNN inför omröstningen:

Och här ett inslag på BBC:

Källor: CNN, SVD, DN, BBC

Se även tidigare inlägg:

Därför bör Katalonien lämna Spanien 20150927

Påve Franciskus i USA - del 6: Besök i fängelse

Under sitt besök i Philadelphia besökte påve Franciskus även ett fängelse. Här besöket:

Jesus, i Matteusevangeliet:

När Människosonen kommer i sin härlighet tillsammans med alla sina änglar, då skall han sätta sig på härlighetens tron. Och alla folk skall samlas inför honom, och han skall skilja människorna som herden skiljer fåren från getterna. Han skall ställa fåren till höger om sig och getterna till vänster. Sedan skall kungen säga till dem som står till höger:

’Kom, ni som har fått min faders välsignelse, och överta det rike som har väntat er sedan världens skapelse. Jag var hungrig och ni gav mig att äta, jag var törstig och ni gav mig att dricka, jag var hemlös och ni tog hand om mig, jag var naken och ni gav mig kläder, jag var sjuk och ni såg till mig, jag satt i fängelse och ni besökte mig.’

Då kommer de rättfärdiga att fråga: ’Herre, när såg vi dig hungrig och gav dig mat, eller törstig och gav dig att dricka? När såg vi dig hemlös och tog hand om dig eller naken och gav dig kläder? Och när såg vi dig sjuk eller i fängelse och besökte dig?’

Kungen skall svara dem: ’Sannerligen, vad ni har gjort för någon av dessa minsta som är mina bröder, det har ni gjort för mig.’

Se även tidigare inlägg:

Påve Franciskus i USA - del 5: Mässa i Philadelphia 20150926

söndag 27 september 2015

ABC TW: Ben Carson, Boehners avgång, Påvens besök

MtP: Hillary Clinton och Carly Fiorina

NBC:s Meet the Press gästas av partiernas två kvinnliga kandidater; Hillary Clinton och Carly Fiorina.

Hillary Clinton:

Carly Fiorina:

Se även tidigare inlägg:

CNN:s SotU: Ben Carson 20150927

CNN:s SotU: Ben Carson

CNN:s söndagsshow State of the Union gästas av Ben Carson, som allt tydligare tar in på Donald Trump. Här hela intervjun:

Se även tidigare inlägg:

MtP: John Kasich och Ben Carson 20150920

FNS: Jeb Bush, Boehners avgång

Fox News Sunday gästas denna vecka av Jeb Bush. Därtill diskuteras John Boehners avgång.

Del 1: Jeb Bush:

Del 2: Kongressmän Tom Cole och Mick Mulvaney om John Boehners avgång:

Se även tidigare inlägg:

FtN: John Boehner 20150927

Jeb Bush talar inför Hispanic Chamber of Commerce 20150923

FtN: John Boehner

CBS Face the Nation gästas av Representanthusets avgående ordförande John Boehner. Därtill intervjuas både Bernie Sanders och John Kasich:

View More: Full Episodes News|U.S. News|Live News|More News Videos

Se även tidigare inlägg:

John Boehner går i pension 20150926

South Park om Donald Trumps anti-immigrationsretorik

Senaste avsnittet av South Park hette "Where my country gone?" och tog sig på ett roligt sätt an Donald Trumps hårda anti-immigrationsretorik, när Garrison bestämmer sig för att bygga en mur mot Kanada för att hålla alla illegala borta. Här en preview:

Källa: Atlantic

Se även tidigare inlägg:

Pro-immigrations-ad hänvisar till Reagan 20150913

Därför bör Katalonien lämna Spanien

Katalonien röstar imorgon (söndag) i ett regionalval som i princip är en folkomröstning om självständighet. I det här inlägget beskriver jag den rådande situationen, och varför jag tycker att Katalanerna bör välja att lämna Spanien.

***

Catalonia is set to vote tomorrow (Sunday). For those of you who are unfamiliar with Catalonia, it's a region in Spain, most famous for Barcelona and its soccer team.

Normally, a regional election anywhere wouldn't really be worthy of a post, but this is an exception. The reason is very simple: Catalonia is not simply voting on its next regional government. This election is, in effect, a referendum on independence.

Those of you who have followed CT for a while may remember that I covered the separatist movement in Catalonia last year, and explained why I support Catalonia's right to self-determination, and why I think it would be a good idea for Catalonia to secede. In november last year, an unofficial referendum was held in which a massive majority (80 %) voted Yes, but this referendum was boycotted by most loyalists and ignored by the Spanish authorities.

So why would it end any different this time around? If the Spanish authorities can ignore a referendum, why couldn't they just ignore a regional election?

This election determines who gets to form the regional government in Catalonia. Originally, there were loads of parties running in the election, but now the two biggest parties supporting independence have joined together in a coalition (despite one of them being right-winged and the other left-winged), and if they together with another pro-independence party were to receive a majority of the seats in the election, they have promised to declare independence - unilaterally if necessary - within 18 months. This is a change of tone from the Catalan separatists, who previously have talked mainly about getting a mandate for dialogue, but once this election was called (this is a snap election), it's been clear that they have more or less given up hope of engaging in a dialogue with the Spanish government and are fully prepared to declare independence unilaterally if that's what it takes.

Failure to declare independence within 18 months would render the coalition between the right-winged and left-winged pro-independence parties absolutely pointless, and would effectively end the political careers of all the leaders in the respective parties.

Now, the Catalans have no delusions about what independence means - they know that to actually achieve independence, they'll first and foremost need to collect their own revenue instead of sending it to Madrid. They'll also need their own armed forces. Preparations have already been made for both. The current Catalan government, which is pro-independence, have long since made plans for the transition, to the point where they'll be able to tell Spain "We're leaving now, you'll have to kill us to stop us".

And the problem is, Spain just might decide to do that.

There is no doubt that Spain has the military capacity to crush Catalonia, even if we were to assume that every single soldier stationed in Catalonia and the local police force pledged their allegiance to the newly formed Catalan state. However, a military intervention is not without its drawbacks: First of all, Catalonia is likely to get the sympathy of the world in that situation, and Spain would be destroying its economic engine (by the time the civil war is over, there might not be anything in Catalonia worth keeping). A military intervention of any kind would solidify the support for independence, just like the British over-reaction against the Eastern rising turned Irish separatism from the relative fringes of the political spectrum into the mainstream.

Hence, it would make sense for Spanish politicians to avoid intervening militarily - but they might not have a choice in the matter. See, the Spanish constitution provides the armed forces with the task of preserving the unity of Spain, which at least in theory means that a Spanish general could order his troops into Catalonia without the permission of the Spanish parlament or government. Some Spanish military officials have in fact voiced such thoughts, though no-one knows whether they are serious or whether it's just scare propaganda. If in fact a Spanish regiment invaded Catalonia, the Spanish government would be under pressure to support them even if they didn't issue the order, as otherwise the government may be seen as weak and disloyal towards the armed forces of the country.

Most likely, what Spain will do is withdraw some or all of the powers of the regional government, as "punishment" for Catalonia voting for independence. This will of course be completely counterproductive, especially as Catalonia due to the preparations that have already been made, are pretty much ready to become an independent state anyway and does not need Spain's permission (and, just like with a military intervention, this would only increase support for independence). And Catalonia has an ace up its sleeve: As a net contributor to the Spanish state, it can force Spain to default on its debt by simply refusing to forward any revenue to Madrid and forcing to take on a proportional share of Spain's debt. Basically, Catalonia would be telling Spain "Recognize our independence, and we'll take a share of your debt proportional to our population share. If you don't, good luck paying it back yourself".

This would be enough to reignite the Eurozone crisis, just a few months after Greece nearly defaulted. This is the very last thing the EU wants. Everybody knows that the Eurozone is fragile and the blow of a run on Spanish bonds and the likelihood of a civil war breaking out in western Europe could well be the final push that causes the house of cards to fall. In that scenario, the EU is likely going to force Spain to concede.

While it seems very likely according to opinion polls that the separatist parties will receive a majority of the seats tomorrow, it is still unclear whether they will also get a majority of the votes. While technnically a majority of seats is enough, a majority of votes would give a much stronger mandate when negotiating, as no-one would be able to claim that the outcome is just a result of a malfunctioning seat allocation system. I believe chances are good that the separatists will get a majority of the votes, if only because they are so much more prone to actually turn out and vote, but it cannot be taken for granted.

: A pro-independence demonstration. Photo credit: Toniu via Flickr (Attribution 2.0)

What should Spain do? If I were advising the Spanish government, I would tell them to change tactic immediately: Recognize Catalonia's right to independence, and then immediately start to campaign against it. If the separatists win tomorrow, Spain's best strategy would be to issue a statement along the lines that "We respect the Catalan people's right to self-determination, however we believe that the recent election do not provide a definite mandate for independence, and we will instead hold an official referendum on this issue on [Date]". The separatists - who until very recently were nagging on Spain to let them hold a referendum - would have no choice but to accept the offer.

While the Catalans were waiting for the referendum, they'd be governed by the separatist coalition I mentioned previously, which consists of a right-winged and a left-winged party, and these two parties have literally nothing in common except the goal of independence - suffice to say, this government would be quite unstable and may well become unpopular (which, unfortunately, may affect the popularity of the independence movement as a whole). Polling shows that Catalans are quite evenly divided on the topic of independence, so it certainly is not impossible that Spain & the loyalists could win a referendum - the problem is that so far, they have refused to campaign and make their case to the voters, as they believe that if they did so, they'd legitimize the issue of independence. If they instead recognized that the independence issue already is legitimized by the people of Catalonia, their odds would be so much better. While I believe the case for independence is stronger than the case for remaining a part of Spain, I recognize that a case for staying in exists and that if it were made, there is a chance (risk) that voters would agree with it. Especially considering that the loyalists would likely have multiple times as much funding as the separatists.

Then why won't Spain do that? Why won't they take the British route and say "Fine, we'll give you independence if you want it, but before you choose to go, please consider X, Y and Z"?

The answer lies in Spain's political DNA, which even 35 years after Franco's death still has significant traces of Fascism. The Spanish establishment cannot accept that the people have the ultimate right to decide their own destiny. This goes against a fundamental doctrine of Fascism, which states that the state is the ultimate moral authority; while conservatives believe the State is responsible for upholding the rights granted to individuals by God, fascists believe that the State, not God, is granting the rights - and can withdraw them if it so wishes.

Interestingly, this is also the main reason why I support Catalonia's independence movement: It makes no sense for a region with a western, democratic culture to remain part of a country that has hardly left the 1930's behind. It makes no sense for a region with a strong sense of work ethic & animal rights to remain part of a country most famous for taking naps (siesta) and bullfighting. And it makes no sense for any region with self-respectt to remain in a country where their culture will never be treated as equal.

That is why I hope and pray that Catalonia votes for independence tomorrow. Polls close 2 PM eastern time. Thank you for reading.

John Gustavsson

Se även tidigare inlägg:

Podd 108: Katalonien - del 2: Inför självständighetsomröstningen den 27 september 20150911

lördag 26 september 2015

Påve Franciskus i USA - del 5: Mässa i Philadelphia

Påve Franciskus är idag i Philadelphia, där han för några timmar sedan höll en stor mässa, som kan ses här:

Se även tidigare inlägg:

Påve Franciskus i USA - del 4: FN, Mässa och 9/11-Memorial i New York 20150926

Values Voters Summit 2015

I helgen pågår Values Voters Summit 2015 i Washington D.C, med en rad kända konservativa profiler, såväl som en mängd republikanska presidentkandidater närvarar. Här några av talen:

John McCain:

Marco Rubio:

Ted Cruz:

Sam Brownback:

Steve Scalise:

Rick Santorum:

Kelly Shackelford:

Donald Trump:

Dr. Mark Smith:

Rick Perry:

Mike Huckabee:

Ben Carson:

Gary Bauer:

Bobby Jindal:

Louie Gohmert:

Oliver North:

Lindsey Graham:

UPPDATERING: 2015-09-27:

Ted Cruz vann konferensens straw poll, en behövlig och intressant opinionsuppgång för honom. Här Fox News om saken:

UPPDATERINGAR FÖLJER ...

Se även tidigare inlägg:

Values Voters Summit 2014 20140927

Obama - videovecka 347

President Obama talar denna vecka om missbruk av utskrivna läkemedel, vilket skördar tusentals liv per år, och kan leda till tyngre missbruk.

Transkribering:

Hi, everybody. Today, September 26th, is “National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day.” It’s a day where you can safely, conveniently, and responsibly dispose of expired and unwanted prescription drugs at collection sites in your community.

Here’s why this matters. More Americans now die every year from drug overdoses than they do in car crashes. And most of those deaths aren’t due to drugs like cocaine or heroin – but rather prescription drugs. In 2013 alone, overdoses from prescription pain medications killed more than 16,000 Americans. And most young people who begin misusing prescription drugs don’t buy them in some dark alley – they get them from the medicine cabinet.

If that’s not a good enough reason to participate in “National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day,” here’s another. Many prescription pain medications belong to the same class of drugs as heroin. In fact, four in five heroin users started out by misusing prescription drugs. And over the course of just one year, between 2013 and 2014, we saw a 33% increase in the number of heroin users.

All of this takes a terrible toll on too many families, in too many communities, all across the country – big and small, urban and rural. It strains law enforcement and treatment programs. It costs all of us – in so many different ways.

That’s why, four years ago, my Administration unveiled a Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention Plan. We’ve been partnering with communities to combat overdoses, and we’re seeing some promising results. That’s why the budget I put forward this year would build on those efforts. It would make critical investments in things like drug monitoring programs, equipping more first responders to save more lives, and expanding medication-assisted treatment programs – including in our prisons.

In fact, getting smarter about how we address substance use disorders is a vital part of reforming our criminal justice system. Rather than keep spending billions of taxpayer dollars on needlessly long prison sentences for nonviolent drug offenders, we could save money and get better outcomes by getting treatment to those who need it. And we could use some of the savings to make sure the brave men and women of law enforcement have the resources they need to go after drug kingpins and violent gangs, disrupt the flow of drugs into our country, and address the real threats to our communities.

With no other disease do we expect people to wait until they’re a danger to themselves or others to self-diagnose and seek treatment. So we should approach abuse as an opportunity to intervene, not incarcerate. And we all have a role to play here. Parents, we have to understand how important it is to talk to our kids, and to safely store medications in the house. The medical community has to be engaged, too – because better prescribing practices will make a difference.

And as a country, we have to keep working to reduce drug use through evidence-based treatment, prevention, and recovery. Because research shows it works. Courageous Americans show it works, every day. That’s why the man I named to head the office of National Drug Control Policy – Michael Botticelli – is a man in long-term recovery himself. He talks about it openly and honestly, precisely to strike down the shame and stigma that too often keep people from seeking care before it’s too late.

This is something I’ll be talking about more in the weeks to come, in communities across the country. Because it’s a challenge we can solve if we work together.

Thanks, and have a great weekend.

Se även tidigare inlägg:

Obama - videovecka 346 20150920

Påve Franciskus i USA - del 4: FN, Mässa och 9/11-Memorial i New York

Igår var påve Franciskus i New York, där han höll en stor mässa på Madison Square Garden med 20 000 församlade.

Här CBS om dagen:

View More: U.S. News|Live News|More News Videos

Här besöket vid 9/11-Memorial:

Här talet inför FN:

Här hela mässan på Madison Square Garden:

Källor: New York Times, Washington Post

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Påve Franciskus i USA - del 3: Talet inför Kongressen 20150924

John Boehner går i pension

John Boehner pålyste idag att han kommer att gå i pension i oktober. Boehner är den som böjd in och välkomnade påve Franciskus, ett besök han verkat för i 20 år. Nu går han i pension, här Fox News om saken och presskonferensen där Boehner pålyser sin pensionering:

Här diskuteras saken på Fox News:

Källor: The Hill, Politico, Washington Post

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Påve Franciskus i USA - del 3: Talet inför Kongressen 20150924

torsdag 24 september 2015

Påve Franciskus i USA - del 3: Talet inför Kongressen

Påve Franciskus höll nyss ett historiskt tal - han blev den förste påve i historien att tala inför den samlade amerikanska Kongressen. Här är talet:

Här ocskå Fox News sajt om hela påvens besök.

Källor: Time, Politico, New York Times, Washington Post

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Påve Franciskus i USA - del 2: Vita Huset, Mässa i Washington D.C 20150924

Påve Franciskus i USA - del 2: Vita Huset, Mässa i Washington D.C.

Det blev igår en fullspäckad dag för påve Franciskus. Som utöver välkomnande på Andrew Airbase, besökte Vita Huset, höll ett bönemöte, och en mässa i Washington DC där han kanoniserade Junípero Serra. Här mottagandet i Vita Huset:

Här CBS om bönemötet:

Och här hela mässan som hölls i the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, i Washington DC:

Källor: Washington Post, TIME

Se även tidigare inlägg:

Påve Franciskus i USA - del 1: Ankomsten 20150922

USA:s presidentval och vad vi kan lära av världens öppnaste politiska system

Jag skriver på den borgerliga sajten Det Goda Samhället idag artikeln "USA:s presidentval och vad vi kan lära av världens öppnaste politiska system". Här några axplock:

Ingen kan ha undgått att det är presidentval i USA. De två partierna, Demokraterna och Republikanerna, befinner sig i primärvalsprocessen där en kandidat från respektive parti ska utses, vilka nästa höst ska tävla om presidentämbetet.

... Det är värt att betona att kampen om positionen som ”världens mäktigaste person” sker helt inför öppna ridåer.

... Det finns mycket med USA som går att kritisera. Och när Donald Trump syns i svenska TV-rutor är det lätt att anmärka på hans diviga självgodhet och även på alla andra kandidater som uttrycker sig på sätt som aldrig skulle kunna göras i Sverige.

... Det är dock värt att som svensk ta ett djupt andetag och tänka på följande: USA:s politiska system är mycket öppnare än Sveriges;

LÄS FORTSÄTTNINGEN HÄR. Och dela gärna artikeln i sociala medier.

Se även tidigare inlägg:

Amerikanska Nyhetsanalyser - Sveriges bästa rapportör om USA-valet 2016 20150323

onsdag 23 september 2015

Jeb Bush talar inför Hispanic Chamber of Commerce

Jeb Bush talade i måndags inför the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce i Houston, Texas. Han förklarade där det han pratat om länge, att han stöder en fungerande immigrationsreform och en möjlighet för Dream Act-barnen att få medborgarskap. Här talet:

Källa: Washington Post

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Jeb Bush: Hur katolicismen förändrade mitt liv 20150923

Podd 111: Presidentvalet 2016 - Del 20: Avhoppen har börjat

Podd 111. Del 20 i vår serie om presidentvalet 2016. I detta avsnitt diskuterar John Gustavsson avhopparna - dvs de kandidater som nu börjat hoppa av sina presidentvalskampanjer, den 11 september hoppade Rick Perry av, och i går den 21 september hoppade även Scott Walker av. Vad det innebär, diskuteras i detta avsnitt.

Alla avsnitt hittas i poddarkivet.

Se även tidigare inlägg:

Amerikanska Nyhetsanalyser - Sveriges bästa rapportör om USA-valet 2016 20150323

Kinas president Xi Jinping besöker USA

Kinas president Xi Jinping är på besök i USA. Ett viktigt besök mellan de två stormakterna, där friktionen i många avseenden ökat på senare år. Här NBC om Xi Jinpings första dag i USA:

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Och här ett inslag på CNN om den besvärliga relationen mellan Kina och USA:

Källor: New York Times, SVD, Commentary, CNN, Washington Post, CNN

Se även tidigare inlägg:

Donald Trumps kritik mot Kina blir högaktuell 20150831

Det växande hotet från Kinas militär 20150706