emancipation is less about removing obstacles than about looking at them in the right way
The far-right Alternative for Germany party has reached a record 28% support, surpassing the ruling CDU/CSU bloc for the first time, according to an Insa poll for Bild am Sonntag published Sunday. - Polish Radio
RIPPING ART FROM THE FRAMES: A former debutante groomed for a life of country houses, Rose Dugdale rejected her privileged background and joined the IRA. In April 1974, reported the BBC, she took part in “one of the largest art heists in history”. Born into privilege in 1941, Bridget Rose Dugdale looked destined for a life of comfort and convention. Taught by a French governess, educated at elite European finishing schools and ushered into high society as a debutante presented to the Queen, she was groomed for a life of country houses and social duty with a suitable husband of impeccable breeding. …When she appeared in court for sentencing, she declared herself "proudly, incorruptibly guilty". She was jailed for nine years for receiving the stolen paintings, with another nine years to run concurrently for the helicopter hijack. - BBC
For job seekers who have yet to enter the workforce, the challenges are even more severe. Lu, 20, is one of the 12.7 million Chinese university graduates set to leave campus this summer. As AI replaces entry-level roles, the number of available positions for her has declined. Meanwhile, with AI augmenting existing jobs, the skill requirements for those positions are steadily rising. Although Lu is a humanities graduate, many of the positions she applied for require skills like AI-assisted programming or graphic design. “If you don’t know how to use AI, you won’t even get an interview,” she said. - BT
Blackouts in the Philippines as power bills soar
China on Monday said that the EU’s Industrial Accelerator Act (IAA) poses “serious” investment barriers and constitutes “institutional discrimination,” warning that Beijing will take countermeasures to “firmly” safeguard its “legitimate rights and interests.”..The spokesperson said that China is willing to engage in dialogue with the EU on the issue. “However, if the EU disregards China’s comments and pushes ahead with enacting the legislation, causing damage to Chinese companies’ interests, China will take countermeasures to firmly safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises,” the spokesperson said. - AA
Thai Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow told the Washington Post that Thailand is approaching Russia and China for economic assistance after receiving no help from the United States, even though the country has been a U.S. treaty ally since 1954. “This war should not have taken place,” he said. - Dropsite
BP profits more than double as Iran war sends oil prices higher
I think that alienation should not be thought of as an oppressive situation. And I understood that this was going really against the doxa of a lot of leftists, and I wasn’t trying to be perverse [laughs], in the sense of just transgressing the thing that everybody else says. But I think there really is something to that experience of alienation, and the oppressive situation is trying to get you to not think of yourself as alienated. Simone de Beauvoir was one of the key thinkers for me in coming up with the idea, because she has this great point where she says – she doesn’t use the term ‘substance’ – that man wants to consider himself a subject and then he wants to slough off substantiality onto the woman to make her into a substantial entity. That’s her theory, that’s the way sexist oppression functions. I was rereading The Second Sex (De Beauvoir, 2015 [1949]) – I don’t know, five years ago, during the pandemic – and that was the first time I thought: ‘Oh, okay, wait a minute, that’s totally different than I thought feminist objection to patriarchy would be’. And that then made me think that maybe with capitalism it’s the same thing; maybe with racism it’s the same thing. Then that led me to think, or rethink, about Fanon, and I found the same idea in Fanon. When I was thinking about capitalism, I thought: ‘Well, that’s the capitalist promise for sure’; if you find the right commodity, or accumulate enough commodities, you’re going to overcome your alienation. And that made me think: ‘Wait a minute, what if the whole thing about oppression is actually not being alienated; it’s the attempt to overcome it that’s oppressive?’ - Todd McGowan
The unindicted war criminal Kaja Kallas said Europe has been the strongest supporter of the Palestinian people "anywhere in the world." The same Europe that armed, funded & supported Israel as it slaughtered hundreds of Palestinians a day for 2years. the chutzpah. - Palestine Nexus
A superyacht linked to one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s key allies has sailed through the Strait of Hormuz, despite the ongoing blockade of the critical shipping channel. - BBC
Indiana residents are paying $600, $700, $800 a month in electric bills. Indiana is being hit with some of the biggest rate increases in the U.S. Data centers are driving up costs, BlackRock just bought one of the utilities, and people are demanding regulators step in. - More Perfect Union
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on April 27 that Ukraine might lose territory to secure a peace deal with Russia, but hinted that doing so could help open the door to EU membership. - Kyiv Independent
DUBAI, April 28 (Reuters) - The United Arab Emirates said on Tuesday it was quitting OPEC and OPEC+, dealing a heavy blow to the oil exporting groups and their de facto leader, Saudi Arabia, at a time when the Iran war has caused a historic energy shock and unsettled the global economy. The loss of the UAE, a longstanding OPEC member, could create disarray and weaken the group, which has usually sought to show a united front despite internal disagreements over a range of issues from geopolitics to production quotas. - Reuters
PHOTOGRAPHY AND MEMORY: There is something philosophically vertiginous about these findings. We have built an entire culture around the idea that documenting an experience is equivalent to preserving it, that a photograph is a surrogate for memory. The science suggests this is not only wrong, but that the act of documentation may be actively consuming the memory it was meant to protect. - Every Photo You Take
Coffee is up 30.8 percent year-over-year. Beef is up 16.8 percent. The average family is spending $1,600 more a year on groceries than they were before the pandemic. Canada now outpaces the United States on food inflation, and five chains still control 79 percent of the market. The Grocery Code of Conduct that took effect January 1 won’t change that. It governs how retailers treat suppliers, not how they price milk. - Walrus
Today’s spring economic statement fails to meet the moment at a time when Canadians are getting crushed by the rising cost of everything. While it was sold by the government as a plan to address affordability, the update contains virtually no new measures to bring down the cost of living — it tinkers around the edges and re-announces existing initiatives. Meanwhile, there’s not a single new measure to bring in new revenue by taxing excessive corporate profits. - NDP leader Avi Lewis
Japan Airlines will trial humanoid robots for baggage handling and aircraft cleaning at Tokyo's Haneda Airport starting in May, citing workforce shortages and rising tourist numbers. - Reuters
There is growing support for socialism in the United States. Workers and youth look at the war in Iran, Trump’s deployment of ICE thugs, mass layoffs and spiraling inequality, and conclude that the country is run by gangsters and criminals. They are beginning to recognize that a fundamental transformation is needed. - WSWS
