Brussels Attacks: Callous Brexit Tweeters Will Lose The Battle For Hearts And Minds

Commuters react to the Brussels attacks. Anthony Devlin / PA Wire/Press Association Images

By Thom Brooks, Durham University

Within minutes of the first reports of the Brussels attacks hitting the internet the Twittersphere reacted – with grief at the reported casualties, speculation about the extent of the carnage and, sadly but predictably, political point scoring. While world leaders expressed shock and called for calm, some people thought this would be a good time to help promote their political causes in a shocking display of carelessness and a toxic mix of insensitivity and self-righteousness.

Quick off the mark was Daily Telegraph columnist Allison Pearson, who tweeted at 7.45am – only about 20 minutes after news of the attacks had first started to emerge and before news of the attack on the Metro line had been reported – calling Brussels “the jihadist capital of Europe” and mocking what she called “Remainers”.

Pearson was not alone and her tweet was merely the first of many as others leaped at the chance to exploit a still unfolding painful tragedy for partisan political gain.

The UK prime minister, David Cameron, and other party leaders sent messages of support to the people of Brussels. Meanwhile UKIP leader Nigel Farage retweeted Pearson’s message on Twitter, noting his fears for the future just in case someone had the mistaken impression he could act like a statesman.

And, finally, no such moment could be overlooked by the Daily Mail’s columnist Katie Hopkins, who thought now was the time to blame the dead and injured for an unprovoked terrorist attack in a more chilling act of nonsensical chutzpah.

It’s easy to mock America’s pro-gun lobby for its mantra that: “Guns don’t kill people, people kill people” – maybe someone should remind Hopkins that innocent people don’t cause terrorist atrocities, terrorists cause terror. It should be an easy point to grasp, but it appears to have evaded her.

Morally bankrupt
The EU referendum is a very big deal – a once in a generation vote about Britain’s place in Europe, arguably the biggest single issue affecting the British people. As such it causes passions to run high on each side. It’s also an argument that cuts across traditional party lines.

But there is a time and a place for this debate – and most people would consider it morally bankrupt to try to exploit a tragedy such as this even while the body count was still going on. Nor is it appropriate to use such a human tragedy to satisfy personal, political ambitions.

No doubt Brexit campaigners such as Pearson, Farage, Hopkins and the rest will hope that their tweets will have resonated with some people. And make no mistake that there will be some that share their views about Brexit and the EU referendum. But these messages will not influence the way most people think. Such crass “dog whistling” is seen by most people for the political opportunism that it is.

For many people, these tweets are an irresistible – and regrettable – reminder of what can happen when cynicism trumps good sense, something famously seen in 2001 when a spin doctor sent out a message to her department in the wake of the 9/11 attack in New York that: “It is now a very good day to get out anything we want to bury.” There was more than a flavour of this in the Brussels tweets. Lessons have not been learned by all.

Fair-minded people who remain undecided on whether to support the UK’s continued EU membership may share concerns about security in light of events like today, but Brexit campaigners must keep in mind that it’s not just the message that wins, but the messenger. If the public views supporters of one side as political opportunists willing to exploit and twist any tragedy to suit their political ambitions, it will more effectively repel voters than win them over. There remains plenty of time left to draw conclusions about Britain’s place in Europe. But let’s first let the dust settle on this tragedy in Brussels and gather the facts so we can make an informed decision in our collective national interest.

Brexit campaigners have made a big deal out of the way the prime minister is using what they call “Project Fear” to scare people into voting their way. Judging from the Twittersphere, the Brussels attacks have made a lot of them hypocrites.


About Today's Contributor 
Thom Brooks, Professor of Law and Government, Durham University

This article was originally published on The Conversation. 

UNICEF: Climate Change And Lack Of Sanitation Threaten Water Safety For Millions

A woman with a girl toddler fills a jerrycan at a community water point in Ouéréguékaha Village in Côte d'Ivoire. After four years, households again have access to safe, piped water, thanks to a UNICEF programme. (c)UNICEF/UNI94496/Guoegnon (CNW Group/UNICEF Canada)

#ClimateChain Instagram campaign will highlight water and the environment

On World Water Day, UNICEF said the push to bring safe water to millions around the world is going to be even more challenging due to climate change, which threatens both water supply and water safety for millions of children living in drought- or flood-prone areas.

In 2015 at the end of the Millennium Development Goal era, all but 663 million people around the world had drinking water from improved sources – which are supposed to separate water from contact with excreta. However, data from newly available testing technology show that an estimated 1.8 billion people may be drinking water contaminated by e-coli – meaning there is faecal material in their water, even from some improved sources.

"Now that we can test water more cheaply and efficiently than we were able to do when the MDGs were set, we are coming to terms with the magnitude of the challenge facing the world when it comes to clean water," said Sanjay Wijeserkera, head of UNICEF's global water, sanitation and hygiene programmes. "With the new Sustainable Development Goals calling for 'safe' water for everyone, we're not starting from where the MDGs left off; it is a whole new ball game."

One of the principal contributors to faecal contamination of water is poor sanitation. Globally 2.4 billion people lack proper toilets and just under one billion of them defecate in the open. This means faeces can be so pervasive in many countries and communities that even some improved water sources become contaminated.

Safety concerns rising due to climate change

When water becomes scarce during droughts, populations resort to unsafe surface water. At the other end of the scale, floods damage water and sewage treatment facilities, and spread faeces around, very often leading to an increase in water-borne diseases such as cholera and diarrhoea.

Higher temperatures brought on by climate change are also set to increase the incidence of water-linked diseases like malaria, dengue – and now Zika – as mosquito populations rise and their geographic reach expands.

"Climate change is one of the greatest threats of our time, whose impact is being felt more acutely around the world," says David Morley, President and CEO of UNICEF Canada. "Children and young people are especially vulnerable to its destabilizing impact."

160 million children in areas at high risk of drought

According to UNICEF, most vulnerable are the nearly 160 million children under five years old globally who live in areas at high risk of drought. Around half a billion live in flood zones. Most of them live in sub-Saharan Africa and in Asia.

UNICEF is responding to the challenges of climate change by focusing on disaster risk reduction for water supplies. For example:

• Nearly 20,000 children in Bangladesh now have access to climate and disaster-resilient sources of water through an aquifer-recharge system which captures water during the monsoon season, purifies it, and stores it underground.
• In Madagascar, UNICEF is helping local authorities make classrooms for 80,000 children cyclone- and flood-proof, and provide access to disaster-resilient sources of water.
• In drought-prone Kiribati, new rainwater-harvesting and storage facilities are improving communities' access to safe drinking water.

Government of Canada tackles climate change

Last year, the Government of Canada committed $2.65 billion to take action on climate change. Canada is also providing humanitarian assistance funding to address climate related humanitarian emergencies. This includes a $4 million contribution to support UNICEF's efforts in Ethiopia to help improve access to safe water and sanitation for drought affected households, and protect children who face increased vulnerability due to drought.

"We are in a race against time to stop a bad situation from becoming worse," says Morley. "We're pleased by the Government's efforts to lead the charge against climate change, and encourage Canada to continue to support investments that prioritize children and young people, and strengthen the resilience of the poorest and most vulnerable."

A new agenda for action

In a recent publication, Unless We Act Now, UNICEF has set out a 10-point climate agenda for children. It sets out concrete steps for governments, the private sector and ordinary people to take in order to safeguard children's futures and their rights.

Starting on World Water Day and ending with the signing of the Paris Agreement on 22 April, UNICEF is launching a global Instagram campaign to raise awareness of the link between water, the environment, and climate change.

Using the #ClimateChain hashtag, UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake, UN General Assembly PresidentMogens Lykketoft, UN climate chief Christiana Figueres, and other prominent figures will figuratively join hands with members of the public in a chain of photographs intended to urge action to address climate change. The images will be presented at the signing of the Paris Agreement.

About UNICEF 

UNICEF has saved more children's lives than any other humanitarian organization. We work tirelessly to help children and their families, doing whatever it takes to ensure children survive. We provide children with healthcare and immunization, clean water, nutrition and food security, education, emergency relief and more. 

UNICEF is supported entirely by voluntary donations and helps children regardless of race, religion or politics. As part of the UN, we are active in over 190 countries - more than any other organization. Our determination and our reach are unparalleled. Because nowhere is too far to go to help a child survive. For more information about UNICEF, please visit www.unicef.ca.  

For updates, follow us on Twitter and Facebook or visit unicef.ca.

SOURCE: UNICEF Canada

Five Ways A Trump Presidency Would Impact Australia – For The Worse

A Trump presidency may be the right time for Australia to distance itself from the US. (Reuters/Joe Skipper)

By Benjamin Isakhan, Deakin University and Zim Nwokora, Deakin University

To Australians, American politics can appear to be a glitzy and protracted soap opera, played out on the other side of the world with few consequences for us “down under”.

But Australians ought to be deeply concerned – for five key reasons – about Donald Trump’s seemingly unstoppable rise to be the clear frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination.

Immigration
Australia is facing complex challenges relating to immigration and refugees. What Australia and the world urgently need is compassionate but decisive leadership that is able to manage the mass humanitarian problem with financial and cultural sensitivity.

However, while Australian politicians have often used a “dog whistle” on immigration, Trump uses a loudspeaker. He zeroed in on immigration from Mexico in June 2015:

When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best … They’re sending people that have lots of problems … They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists.

A Trump campaign commercial claimed that, as president, he:

… will stop illegal immigrants by building a wall on our southern border that Mexico will pay for.

A Trump ad on immigration.

Following the San Bernardino terrorist attack in California last December, Trump called for:

… a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our county’s representatives can figure out what the hell is going on.

These statements suggest that, as president, Trump might like to see the US become more insular, to impose walls along its borders and to judge migrants on the basis of their religious beliefs.

This could matter in Australia too. Australia rightly prides itself on its peaceful multiculturalism, but its success in this area is fragile. In particular, it is threatened by fringe movements like Reclaim Australia (and pandering by mainstream politicians). Trump’s moves could embolden such movements and lend legitimacy to their aims.

Foreign and military affairs
The US is a vital strategic ally to Australia. The two countries have a long – if problematic – history of foreign policy collaboration, including joint military engagement. But they are facing two significant foreign policy challenges that require nuanced and delicate leadership – the exact opposite of Trump’s style.

In the South China Sea, China, the Philippines, Vietnam and others are locked in a dispute about who owns certain territorial waters and the resources below them. The Obama administration has taken on the role of assertive mediator and managed to prevent an escalation thus far.

For his part, Trump has made indelicate statements about China and its moves to build:

… a military island in the middle of the South China Sea.

China no doubt views such statements as provocative. But despite his concern over the South China Sea, Trump has said he wants to reduce America’s military presence in the Asia-Pacific region. That might encourage China to move ahead on its reclamation activities. It might also lead to further destabilisation if China’s rivals respond.

Any such destabilisation in the South China Sea would have serious consequences for Australia. It is not only in close proximity to Australia, but is also a major shipping route for Australian businesses. And China is Australia’s largest two-way trading partner.

The other key foreign policy challenge facing the US and Australia is their ongoing efforts to defeat Islamic State (IS) in the Middle East. Australia is a key player in President Barack Obama’s coalition to “degrade and ultimately destroy” IS.

Trump has said he:

… would knock the hell out of ISIS … when you get these terrorists, you have to take out their families.

This is a possible future president advocating war crimes. IS targets innocent women and children. The suggestion by a presidential candidate that he might do the same ought to cause international condemnation. It will certainly fuel IS’s propaganda machine.

Australia has a problematic legacy of following the US into ill-conceived wars that end in disaster. During George W. Bush’s presidency, Australia committed to military interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq. Both failed to achieve their goals and the countries remain hotbeds of violence and instability.

Trump’s preference for indiscriminate force could create a real risk that Australia is dragged into another war in the Middle East. Past experience suggests that any such war is likely to be hugely costly and difficult to “win”.

Trade and economic ties
The US is one of Australia’s largest trading partners. The Australia-US Free Trade Agreement has eliminated barriers to trade between the countries, further deepening their economic ties.

Trump, a brash New York real-estate mogul and entrepreneur, might seem like the perfect fit for a US economy still recovering from the 2007-08 global financial crisis. But appearances can be deceiving. He inherited a fortune from his father and early successes escalated his net worth.

Since then a series of failed start-ups has repeatedly crippled Trump. Overall, his business empire survives on a diet of risky investments. Economic brinksmanship may pay off for a private individual, but it is not the approach of a prudent president looking to steer a massive economy.

Some of Trump’s economic thinking was laid bare when he announced his income tax proposal. He declared that he would significantly reduce taxes for those earning under US$100,000, but left it unclear how the shortfall in revenue would be made up. The plan would reportedly cut federal revenues by $9.5 trillion over a decade, presumably leaving the states to fill this gap with new borrowing or unprecedented spending cuts.

It is easy to see why the prospect of a Trump presidency is causing alarm on Wall Street. One only has to look back at the ripple effects of the global financial crisis across Europe to see that a Trump presidency might have disastrous economic consequences for Australia.

Climate change
World leaders continue to fumble in their attempts to confront climate change. In Australia, political leadership on this issue has ranged from denying the problem exists to short-sighted election promises followed by little concerted action.

It is hard to imagine a Trump presidency that contributes positively on climate change. In one of his Twitter tirades, Trump announced:

The statement is not only offensive to the Chinese, but it flies in the face of scientific consensus that climate change is happening, and that the US is a major contributor.
Having a climate-change denier in the White House would provide a crutch for Australian politicians desperate to avoid taking decisive action on this issue.

Popularity and polarisation
The final reason Australia should worry about Trump is simply that he is so popular.

Millions of Americans back Trump despite – or perhaps because of – his style and policies.
 Some hold placards that say:

I’m ready to work on the wall.

Others read:

Thank you Lord Jesus for President Trump.

Trump represents, more than any other candidate, both the fears and aspirations of white working-class Americans who are exhausted by dramatic changes to their country over recent decades.

These Americans certainly want no more prudence in economic affairs and pragmatism in foreign policy. They want to call December 25 “Christmas”; they want to win wars; they want Americans to speak English. They want, in the words of Trump’s campaign slogan, to “make America great again”.

These ambitions may sound appealing, but they could lead to deeply problematic policies.
It is impossible to know for sure what a Trump presidency would be like. But there are sensible reasons to suspect it could be disastrous – not only for the US but also for Australia. A Trump presidency may prove to be a unique opportunity for Australia to carefully distance itself from the US.


About Today's Contributors 
Benjamin Isakhan, Associate Professor of Politics and Policy, Deakin University and Zim Nwokora, Lecturer in Politics and Policy, Deakin University

This article was originally published on The Conversation. 

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The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Wins 14 NAVGTR Awards

The National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers, a 501(c)(3) non-profit media organization, has announced winners for its 15th annual awards program honoring video game art, technology, and production. 

The biggest winner is The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt with 14 wins, falling just short of The Last of Us' record 15 wins from two years ago.  Rise of the Tomb Raider and Tales from the Borderlands were the second biggest winners with 4 wins each. 

Three games won three awards each: Star Wars Battlefront, Splatoon, and Life is Strange.  Four games won two awards each:  Super Mario Maker, Rocket League, Crypt of the Necrodancer, and Bloodborne. 

By developer, CD Projekt Red led with 14 awards.  Nintendo won six.  Telltale, Gearbox, and Crystal Dynamics won four awards each.  Other top developers were Electronic Arts, Dontnod Entertainment, Psyonix, From Software, and Brace Yourself Games. 

By publisher, CD Projekt led with 14 awards.  Square Enix and Nintendo won seven each.  Other top publishers were 2K, Telltale, Electronic Arts, Warner Bros, Sony Computer Entertainment, Psyonix, and Brace Yourself Games.

Fifty-six creative, technical, and genre award categories recognize achievement in animation, art direction, character design, controls, game design, game engineering, musical score, sound effects, writing, and more as seen at navgtr.org

This year's Honorary Award recipients are Toru Iwatani, creator of Pac-Man, and Mark DeLoura, for developing programs for children to explore coding.

NAVGTR strongly supports the IGDA Developer Credit special interest group (SIG) at igda.org/devcredit to improve crediting practices.

NAVGTR AWARDS logo. (PRNewsFoto/NAVGTR CORP.)

The general voting body of reviewers, journalists, analysts, and writers includes contributors for such varied outlets as Austin American-Statesman, Break, Chicago Sun-Times, CNN, Futurenet, Gamespot, GamesRadar, Gaming Illustrated, Geek, IGN, Los Angeles Times, Machinima, MMO PRG, Moody's, NBC, New Gamer Nation,New York Times, Nintendo World Report, The Ottawa Citizen, PC Gamer, Polygon, Salon, San Jose Mercury-News, Terminal Gamer, USA Today, The Vancouver Sun, Wired News, and hundreds more.

SOURCE: National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers

Michael Mann, Oscar-nominated Filmmaker And Bestselling Author Don Winslow Team Up For Mann Books' First Project

Michael Mann (The Insider, Heat, The Last Of The Mohicans)

Mann / Winslow Tell Epic Organized Crime Tale In A Novel; Major Film To Follow

In his multi-media project under the Michael Mann Books imprint, Mann has teamed up with internationally bestselling author, Don Winslow, author of The Cartel, to co-create an original novel about the complex relationship between two Organized Crime giants, Tony Accardo and Sam Giancana. Mann will produce and possibly direct the film. The film will be based on the novel and a pre-existing screenplay Mann co-wrote with Shane Salerno. The novel's anticipated breadth will be on the scale of Winslow's Cartel.

Winslow will begin work late spring after delivering his next book.

Discussions with publishers will begin shortly and the book will be released in 2017. 

Tony Accardo ran the Chicago Outfit – an efficient, unified and massive organization that was the single most powerful criminal enterprise in America.  In 1959, LIFE magazine estimated that the Chicago Outfit's revenue constituted 6% of the U.S. national income. From Frank Nitti's suicide in 1943, Accardo ran the Outfit. His extraordinary career spanned eight decades from the 1929 St. Valentine's Day Massacre through the Reagan era.

Giancana – mentored and installed by Accardo to front the Chicago Outfit from 1957 to 1966 – elevated the Outfit onto the New Frontier with bold moves that converged national commerce and industry with politics, Vegas, the music industry, Hollywood, and co-ventures with the CIA.

His megalomania elevated him to heights never dreamed possible and to exposure that became radioactive. Giancana was brutally murdered in 1975.

Mann has acquired rights and previously undisclosed material from the Accardo family.

Mann has directed, produced and written or co-written the crime genre classics Heat, Public Enemies, Thief and Manhunter as well as the Oscar-nominated dramas Ali and The Insider and the classic The Last of the Mohicans. 

Winslow's The Cartel is a major international bestseller and was named one of the best books of 2015 by numerous publications, including The New York Times. It was sold to Twentieth Century Fox in a multi-million dollar package and is to be directed by Ridley Scott. In addition to The Cartel, Winslow's The Power of the Dog, Savages, and The Winter of Frankie Machine have won major writing awards, including the Raymond Chandler award in Italy, the Maltese Falcon Award in Japan and the RBA International Prize for crime writing in Spain. 

SOURCE: The Story Factory