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The rise of the right in Germany

Earlier this week, German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced her dual resignation from the leadership of CDU (Germany’s center-right party) and from her post as head of state. Area experts believe some in Germany’s far right are trying to revive an idealized version of a pre-WWI German Empire. Next month, Compact magazine, a publication associated with Germany’s hard-right AfD party, is devoting an entire issue to the 1919 Treaty of Versailles which held Germany financially responsible for WWI. According to police statistics, anti-Semitic attacks are on the rise in Germany, especially in Berlin and Bavaria. German citizens have been subject to vandalism, verbal abuse, and physical attacks. And, in Chemnitz (a town close to the border with Czechia), far-right activists gather to denounce immigrants every Friday.

• The Guardian: I live among the neo-Nazis in eastern Germany. And it’s terrifying

• NPR: Meet The Jews Of The German Far Right

• The Local Germany: 100 years on, German far right seeks to rehabilitate Empire

• Vox: “A collapse of the center”: why fringe movements are winning around

Two generations of humans have killed off more than half the world’s wildlife populations

The WWF conservation group has released its biennial publication, The Living Planet Report, which is expected to have a heavy impact on the environment and legislation. The 2018 edition finds that: “Populations of mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, and amphibians have, on average, declined by 60% between 1970 and 2014…”. According to the report, “Earth is losing biodiversity at a rate seen only during mass extinctions”. The WWF conservation group  report that changes are”being driven by ever-rising food production and increased demand for energy, land and water.”The report underscores the “importance of nature to the world’s economies” and urges policymakers to take action on sustainable development.

• Yahoo: Nature pushed to the brink by ‘runaway consumption’

• BBC: WWF report: Mass wildlife loss caused by human consumption

• WWF: Living Planet Report Official

As Bolsonaro Plans to Merge Environment & Agriculture Ministries, Scientists fear for Amazon’s Future 

On Sunday, Brazil elected Jair Bolsonaro, a hard-right  candidate who has publicly supported torture, rape, and military dictatorships. Bolsonaro’s campaign pledges have alarmed environmentalists and indigenous communities living in the Amazon rainforest. Bolsonaro has pledged to rollback both rainforest and indigenous rights protections–the Amazon is among the world’s largest rivers by volume of discharge. Residents fear that such policies will bring unrest to the Amazon region. Some local reports indicate that Bolsonaro’s campaign and subsequent victory have fostered a sense of impunity among criminal groups that routinely exploit resources on indigenous land.

• Yahoo: Fears for Amazon after Bolsonaro wins Brazil presidency

• France 24: Brazil’s Bolsonaro to merge environment and agriculture ministries

• National Geographic: Brazil’s new leader promised to exploit the Amazon—but can he?

• Scientific American: Conservationists Worry About Amazon’s Fate After Bolsonaro’s Victory 

Political Crisis Looms in Sri Lanka

Last Friday Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena fired Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and replaced him with Mahinda Rajapaksa (a former president he had defeated in a 2015 election) in a ceremony in the capital, Colombo. Since then, massive protests have shaken the country still in healing from a brutal civil war. On Sunday the bodyguard of a former minister shot at a crowd of people who tried to prevent the official from entering his office. At least one man was killed and two others were injured in the gunfire.

• The Guardian: Sri Lanka crisis: activists fear end of human rights investigations

• Al Jazeera: What’s happening in Sri Lanka? All questions answered

• Times of India: India must wait and watch, not meddle in Sri Lankan power politics

Prince Ahmad bin Abdulaziz (King Salman’s brother) Returns to the Magic Kingdom 

The last surviving full brother of Saudi Arabia’s King Salman, Prince Ahmad bin Abdulaziz,  returned to the Saudi capital from London late yesterday. Prince Ahmad return amid outcry and continued fallout over the murder of Khashoggi. Some regional experts are suggesting this return could signal a potential challenge to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, KSA’s de facto ruler. The Crown Prince is also facing a significant hurdle to the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen: US Secretary of Defence, James Mattis, has said that the the Yemen conflict has gone on ‘long enough’ and that he wants a ceasefire and peace talks.

• Al Jazeera: King Salman’s brother ‘returns to Riyadh’ amid Khashoggi crisis

• Middle East Monitor: Mujtahidd: Prince Ahmed bin Abdulaziz returns to Saudi Arabia

• Reuters: Senior Saudi prince returns home amid Khashoggi murder crisis

• Al Jazeera: US defence chief demands Yemen ceasefire; peace talks in 30 days

President Trump Dismisses Pittsburgh Protesters

Yesterday President Trump visited the site of the recent anti-Semitic domestic terror attack. Members of the grieving families, townspeople, and Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto urged the president not to visit Pittsburgh. The local mayor, the state governor, and congresspersons from both parties declined invitations to appear with the president. President Trump’s visit was met by protesters who blamed his inflammatory rhetoric for inciting violence. Several of Pittsburgh’s Jewish leaders wrote an open letter saying that the president would not be welcome until he denounces white nationalism and stops “targeting” minorities. So far, more than 82,000 individuals have signed the letter. Earlier today President Trump sought to minimize the protests and boasted that he was “treated so warmly” during his Pittsburgh visit.

• Buzzfeed: Trump Was Met With Protests As He Visited Pittsburgh’s Synagogue Attack Site

• New York Times: Trump’s Visit to Pittsburgh Divides a City Mourning Victims of Hate

• The Guardian: Pittsburgh suspect indicted on 44 counts including religious hate crimes

• Politico: Trump minimizes Pittsburgh protesters, says he was welcomed warmly 

From Deep State Radio

DEEPSTATE BOOK CLUB: “IF THEY COME FOR US’ – THE BOOK GROUP READING OF ‘HITLER’S WILLING EXECUTIONERS’

Can you make sense of the Holocaust and the actions of those who took part in it? This is the subject of the inaugural book of the Deep State Radio Book Group, Daniel Goldhagen’s ‘Hitler’s Willing Executioners’ (HWE) published in 1996.

HWE proposes that German society was historically so deeply anti-Semitic that the Holocaust was the natural progression of that anti-Semitism. Goldhagen believes this explains not only how the Holocaust happened but why the general German population willingly participated and supported what Goldhagen calls ‘Eliminationist Antisemitism’. Read more here

DEEPTECH: 3 of the 5 UN Permanent Security Council Members Are Building Military AI Centers

Chinese, Russian, & American militaries are trying catch up with the private sector. In May Google Assistant passed the Turing test, and Alexa has learned to recognize whispering. Last year China opened a new center for military-related AI research, and stepped-up state ‘partnerships’ with AI departments in top universities and private companies. Russia’s center, Era, opens next September but is already underfunded. The US effort includes DARPA’s AI Next campaign, which is part of the larger Artificial Intelligence Exploration (AIE) program. Tech experts caution that these 3 efforts are unlikely to show results until fundamental problems with AI applications are sorted. One of the biggest hurdles is that, so far, machines have only been able to understand specific words, not the world. And, an understanding of the world is necessary to make sense of a lot of words. Since no known laboratory has achieved this kind of learning, don’t expect a minatory report anytime soon. Read more here