New Zealand mosque shootings: How U.S. racism might be fueling hate around the world

Stephan:  I have been telling my readers for years now that the real terrorist threat we face is not Muslims, but White nationalists, and that it is a spreading crisis in the world. And, because America has been the dominant culture for a century, much of this is happening because of the leadership of America down this dark path. Here is one take on this. It traces directly to Trump, FOX, and Breitbart.

New Zealand police after the massacre at Christchurch mosque

The horrific, racist attack on two New Zealand mosques that killed 49 people was fueled by xenophobic, ethno-nationalistic and anti-immigrant feelings that seem to be rising worldwide— a tide of hatred that is taking many of its cues from the United States, according to human rights leaders.

The movement is being led by a small, but vocal group of Americans, who have sought to craft a narrative that white racial identity is in danger. In an interconnected, Internet-enabled globe, their ideas migrate very quickly from one continent to another.

“The United States is the epicenter of the world in terms of how white identity is seen,” said Karam Dana, a professor of Middle East politics and director of the American Muslim Research Institute at the University of Washington, Bothell, outside of Seattle.

The New Zealand attack comes after recent racial violence in the U.S. Domestic extremists killed at least 50 people in the U.S. in 2018, making it the fourth deadliest year for extremist-related killings since 1970, […]

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Another Marine is being investigated for neo-Nazi ties amid military concerns about white supremacy

Stephan:  Marine Times is a deeply establishment publication for members of the Marine Corps, and various companies and organizations involved with the Marines. I tell you this, to make the point this article is not something written or published in some peripheral inconsequential publication. Quite the contrary. The fact that an article like this is in Marine Times, suggests to me that White nationalism encouraged and stimulated by Trump, Fox, and Breitbart is a bad and growing problem not only in American civilian society but military as well. Trump and his minions are building a 5th column in the United States and, as Trump said explicitly the other day, prepping them for violence.

Military explosives arranged in the shape of a swastika. Tweet from Twitter account @Jacobite_Edward

The recent arrest of Coast Guard Lt. Christopher Hasson, a former Marine who investigators say was a longtime white nationalist, has lawmakers worried that military leaders may not be adequately tracking white supremacy issues within the ranks.

Hasson was arrested on Feb. 15 on drug and firearms charges, but investigators allege he was planning an attack against political and media targets.

Hasson’s arrest underscores a potential threat emanating from the armed forces — the infiltration of the military by violent hate groups or white supremacist organizations seeking to recruit service members with firearms and explosives training.

The FBI sounded the alarm over this issue in an investigation concluded in 2008, which warned that “the military training veterans bring to the movement and their potential to pass this training on to others can increase the ability of lone offenders to carry out violence […]

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Over 1,000 Hate Groups Are Now Active in United States, Civil Rights Group Says

Stephan:  Here is an article outlining the parameters of the growing American 5th column. Perhaps because America has not had major social violence on its homeland in living memory we can't see what is becoming increasingly obvious. How big is it? Well Trump, according to fivethirtyeight, is at 41.4% approval. Not every one of these people are part of it, of course, but many are, either directly or through sympathetic support. Personally, I don't see how anyone can support Trump and the people with whom he surrounds himself. But clearly, millions of Americans do, facts are facts. This trend is a growing crisis like a small erasure size lump in a woman's breast.  If not dealt with it will grow and metastasize into something lethal.

The number of hate groups in the United States rose for the fourth year in a row in 2018, pushed to a record high by a toxic combination of political polarization, anti-immigrant sentiment and technologies that help spread propaganda online, the Southern Poverty Law Center said Wednesday.

The law center said the number of hate groups rose by 7 percent last year to 1,020, a 30 percent jump from 2014. That broadly echoes other worrying developments, including a 30 percent increase in the number of hate crimes reported to the F.B.I. from 2015 through 2017 and a surge of right-wing violence that the Anti-Defamation League said had killed at least 50 people in 2018.

“We’re seeing a lot of bad trends,” Heidi Beirich, the director of the intelligence project at the Southern Poverty Law Center, said in an interview on Wednesday. “There are more hate groups, more hate crimes and more domestic terrorism in that same vein. It is a troubling set of circumstances.”

Ms. Beirich said the increase in extremist activity tracked by her team began in earnest in the early days of the 2016 presidential election, when anxieties over immigration helped propel President […]

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New Zealand reminds us that far-right attacks are on the rise far and wide — including in the U.S.

Stephan:  Those of us who place a priority on wellbeing must take our stand. Nonviolent social transformation is the only form of change that works, and lasts. It is up to each of us to make that happen by the hundreds of small choices we make each day, always choosing the option that is the most compassionate, life-affirming, and fostering of wellbeing. The alternative is violence, misery, and death.

Credit: The Sun Nigeria

The New Zealand mass shooting that left 49 dead is part of a disturbing trend: violent acts perpetrated by racists and far-right extremists.

Though the primary gunman has not been named, he allegedly took pains to link the violent assault on two mosques to his politics. Police said that shortly before the shooting, he released a manifesto describing his hatred for Muslims and immigrants.

“The 74-page document states that he was following the example of notorious right-wing extremists, including Dylann Roof, who murdered nine black churchgoers in Charleston, S.C., in 2015,” my colleagues reported. It was “littered with conspiracy theories about white birthrates and ‘white genocide” and “is the latest sign that a lethal vision of white nationalism has spread internationally. Its title, ‘The Great Replacement,’ echoes the rallying cry of, among others, the torch-bearing protesters who marched in Charlottesville in 2017.”

Elsewhere, there are references to President Trump and Candace Owens, a black conservative activist, mentions that seem designed to troll.

The New Zealand […]

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What do the people of the world die from?

Stephan:  What do people around the world die from, and how do the nations compare one with another? Interesting and important questions, I think, and here are some answers based on well-grounded data.

In 1950, global average life expectancy at birth was only 46. By 2015, it had shot up to over 71.

In some countries, progress has not always been smooth. Disease, epidemics and unexpected events are a reminder that ever-longer lives are not a given.

Meanwhile, the deaths that may preoccupy us – from terrorism, war and natural disasters – make up less than 0.5% of all deaths combined.

But across the world, many are still dying too young and from preventable causes.

The story of when people die is really a story of how they die, and how this has changed over time.

Causes of death around the world

About 56 million people in the world died in 2017.

This is 10 million more than in 1990, as the global population has increased and people live longer on average.

More than 70% die from non-communicable, chronic diseases. These are not passed from person to person and typically progress slowly.

The biggest single killer is cardiovascular disease, which affects the heart and arteries and is responsible for every third death.

This is twice the rate of cancers – the second leading […]

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