Steve Kelman on politics, culture, and life May 28, 2022
More political support for gun control?
ABC TV news tonight emphasizes growing political support for some gun restrictions, including raising the legal age to purchase guns from 18 to 21 -- the story notes the age for buying tobacco was increased a few years ago to 21. Let's see if anything happens.
Alabama senator on murder of kids in Texas
Asked by a reporter what he would say to the parents of the murdered children, Senator Tommy Tuberville said, "I am willing to say that I'm very sorry it happened." Very compassionate .
Return of the insurrectionists?
A North Carolina representative has tweeted, "Try to take away our guns, and you will see why the second amendment was written in the first place." The return of the insurrectionists.
Russian academics against Ukraine invasion
The Times reports today that some Russian academics are organizing to oppose the election to the Russian Academy of Sciences of academics who have supported publicly the invasion of Ukraine. The article notes that 8000 Russian scientists and scientific journalists have signed a petition opposing the invasion. Amazing
China’s “five sphere integrated plan”
China now has a so-called "Five Sphere Integrated Plan to promote coordinated economic, political, cultural, social, and economic advancement," whatever that means. Even someone like me who sort of tries to follow all these slogans and neologisms has a hard time keeping up.
What does China government mean by “rule of law”?
An editorial in Beijing Review this week states that in Hong Kong after 1997, "Many anti-China agitators who held public office exploited their elected positions to openly challenge the rule of law in Hong Kong." I have mentioned this before, but notice how the Chinese government interprets the expression "rule of law." This is NOT protection of citizens against government violations of rights, but the command to subjects, "Obey the laws the government has established." Beware…
American usage in British politics
The Economist has a fun article this week on how the British political class apes American usage. Apparently, some call British local elections "mid terms," and parts of Britain are sometimes labeled "flyover country," despite the small size of Britain. More substantively, some have adapted the slogan "Abolish ICE" as "Abolish the Home Office." The phrase Defund the Police has also come to the UK
Fox interviews with restaurant patrons – all Republicans
Fox has a really annoying regular feature where they send a reporter into a restaurant to interview people. The times I have seen these interviews on Fox I have literally never even once heard a person being interviewed was a Democrat. You think there may be some advance checking on this before the broadcast? ( It helps that the restaurants are almost always in the South.) This is like interviews on CCTV in China.
Abba “concert”
An Abba "concert" in London, with 3000 real people in attendance, consisted of digital avatars of the band members. Weird.
Sweden leading battery manufacturer considering setting up shop in the US
Sweden's leading battery manufacturer is considering setting up a plant in the US. It turns out the US has almost no domestic battery production, and the industry is dominated by China.