Expanding the Legacy
Think Trump is Weird? Meet His North Carolina Friend
Some people move so far beyond the pale and descend so deep into the unfathomable depths of surrealism that even the most gifted raconteur would have to accept the limits of his/her imagination and recognise the inadequacy of language to sketch and covey such departure from human sense and reason. Meet Mark Robinson. He’s the Republican Party’s nominee for the governorship of North Carolina and a self-proclaimed ‘evangelical christian’ who sports not only the obligatory stars-and-stripes pin on the lapel of his jacket, but also a cross which is now his to carry.
Campaign Fun Facts
The Republican campaign for the presidency is being shredded by an epic catfight between Trump groupies vying for the love and attention of their idol. Get the popcorn! Also: Kamala Harris Takes Advice from Chinese Sage and American Cheapskates Fail to Pay Up for Defence of Ukraine.
UK Riots About More Than Just Immigration
About three quarters of Britons consider far-right extremism, racism, and religious polarisation serious issues. About half also believe that the UK is currently unsafe for muslims. However, the riots that shook the country last week do not at all represent the values espoused by Britons (73%). The rioters’ ways and means may be almost universally despised and rejected, that does not necessarily mean that most people feel safe and well in their green and pleasant land. Research by More in Common has found that popular opinion cannot be conveniently divided into opposing camps. The research group tries to map and understand the forces that undermine social cohesion and find common ground.
The Folly of ESG and Other Hypes
Corporates of all sizes used to crave recognition for their embrace of wholesome ESG values. Environment, Social, and Governance were deemed all important to woo both customers and investors. Promises and commitments were made, examples set, and case stories published - all to great acclaim. Now, just a few years later, the hype has thankfully abated. As a concept or philosophy, ESG has been exposed as mere window dressing. It also proved the downfall of that most maligned of corporate events, the World Economic Forum. The annual fest turned into a platform of smoke and mirrors used by grandstanding CEOs to establish their ESG credentials: they would care for the environment, combat inequality, and offer full transparency - all the while offering investors ever higher returns.
Donald Trump Firmly Rooted in US Political Tradition
A new survey from press agency Reuters found that 87% of Americans are concerned about a rise in political violence. Over two-thirds of respondents fear an outburst of violence following the November 5 presidential election. A significant majority also deplores the lack of civility in public discourse. Yet, in a quirk of the American character hard to explain, slightly under half of the US electorate is apparently willing, if not eager, to dispatch a man to the White House who has redefined incivility and made it into his personal brand. To call Donald Trump uncouth is a gross, if not monumental, understatement.
Making Republicans See Red
It takes the gumption of a hero to identify as a socialist in the United States, and something of a miracle to get elected to public office under a red banner. But that is what 29-year-old Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez did when she pulled off a massive upset in the 2018 midterm elections, beating incumbent Joe Crawley in the primaries and thus ejecting the chair of the Democratic Caucus from the House of Representatives.
‘Father of the Internet’ Looking for Ways to Preserve His Work
He had absolutely no idea that his creation would be hijacked by big business, encourage tunnel vision, and spread misinformation. Vinton Cerf just wanted to build a medium that allowed for the sharing of useful information. To that end, Mr Cerf and his colleague Bob Kahn at the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency came up with both the Internet Protocol (IP) and the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) in the early 1970s: technologies that underpin – and made possible – the internet.
Mercedes-AMG: The Need for Speed
Visions of the autobahn – the surrounding countryside reduced to a fast forward flash, propelled along by the drone-like beat of Kraftwerk (‘Weiser Streifen, Grüner Rand’) – whilst marvelling at the absence of speed limits. Germany, land of free drivers and petrolheads on steroids, is of course also home to...
Shaping a Multipolar National Debate
A prolific writer, publishing some sixty books over a career spanning four decades, German philosopher Peter Sloterdijk recently celebrated his seventieth birthday. Europe’s leading intellectuals and academics flocked to Mr Sloterdijk’s native Karlsruhe to pay tribute. Chancellor Angela Merkel chipped in with a congratulatory letter praising Germany’s most controversial thinker for his contributions to culture.
Teenager vs. Superpower
At the sharp end of the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong, student activist Joshua Wong is getting up close and personal with the Chinese powers-that-be who are in no mood to permit or tolerate political dissent. He may be just 21 and baby-faced, but it so happens that Mr Wong is quite headstrong and refuses to give up on his goal - democratic reforms for the former British colony, now a special administrative region of the People’s Republic.
