Oh we are so back. After a six month hiatus WTFIGO returns to a world that is no less in peril than it was half a year ago. People are going back into the office, we’re shedding our masks and tossing them into the ocean for whales to choke on. We can once again see the droplets of spit fly out of the Karens’ mouths to fall upon the face of a minimum wage Starbucks employee for forgetting the second pump of caramel in the macchiato. Nature is healing.
Since the last installment in the series Joe Biden has been sworn into the US presidency, Israel has bombed the FUCK out of the Gaza strip and Kamala’s forbidden Guatemalans from cumming.
But while the departure of everybody’s favorite orangutan has led to many sticking their heads back in the sand, the rest of us who haven’t gone back to brunch still need to be informed. So have no fear, Next Gen Thoughts is here to cover the news! Going forward we’ll be maintaining a Monday/Friday posting schedule with intermittent smaller news coverage throughout the week so be sure to follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. With that bit of housekeeping taken care of let’s get into the news.
The Binjamin Netanyahu era in Israel has come to an end. After a 12 year run as Prime Minister, the mercurial head of state ends his historically long tenure as the leader of Israel. He lost a razor thin 60-59 vote (with one abstention) to the new ruling coalition headed by his former ally, turned bitter rival, Naftali Bennett.
Bennett, formerly the Israeli Defense Minister, will serve as the PM and head of an unprecedently broad coalition consisting of 8 political parties. The parties range widely from Bennett’s far-right nationalist Yemina party to various centrist and leftist parties. While the parties forming the coalition have a broad range of views and policy positions, they can all agree on one thing: it was time for Netanyahu to go.
The coalition was made possible thanks to a rather unusual arrangement. Bennett will serve as PM for two years and then the architect of the coalition, Yair Lapid, will take over. Lapid, who currently serves as Foreign Minister, is somewhat of a centrist. He has built a historic coalition which includes the first ever Arab party to be part of the Israeli power structure.
The new heads are unlikely to make any major policy changes, especially when it comes to Israel-Palestine relations. Bennet is arguably even more of a hardliner on Israeli settlements in Palestinian territory, and his Yamina party is popular with Israelis who have settled on the West Bank.
Lapid said the coalitions goals will include unity within the country after the divisive Netanyahu era has spawned ample infighting between the country’s ultra-religious nationalists and the more secular citizens. He also claimed his coalition will seek to broaden its US relations beyond just appealing to Republicans, saying ““My government will make an effort to deepen and nurture relations with our friends in both parties — bipartisan.”
The departing Netanyahu will leave behind a controversial legacy tainted with corruption and war. His tenure saw the Israeli state expand its military and intelligence capabilities significantly, and he will perhaps best be known for his sizable expansion into Gaza and the West Bank.
https://visualizingpalestine.org/visuals/shrinking-palestine/index.html
Bibi, doing his best Trump, refused to allow a traditional power transfer ceremony and has vowed he will be back. He will take position as the leader of the opposition in government.
On the sliding scale of peaceful transition of power to outright coup there is tons of room for variation. There’s the uncomfortable moment you sit in your replacements chair, more or less harmless. There’s telling your supporters to storm your nations capital and hang your second in command (RIP Mike Pence’s manhood,) slightly less harmless. And then there’s Myanmar.
After former leader Aung San Suu Kyi was ousted in a military coup in February, the country that was once well on its way to democracy seems to be falling further into becoming an autocratic state.
After her National League for Democracy party won a landslide victory in last year’s November election, the country’s military arbitrarily detained hundreds of activists, politicians and government employees, including Suu Kyi, in an attempt to seize power and nullify the election.
She now stands accused of corruption over election fraud and other offenses. Human Rights Watch spokesmen Phil Robertson calls the charges “bogus and politically motivated.”
This isn’t the first time Suu Kyi is facing imprisonment. The military, who controlled the country from 1962-2012 placed her on 15 year house arrest after a failed uprising. At 75 years old, she now faces prison for the rest of her life.
Now, despite her status as Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Suu Kyi is no saint. For years she’s been looking the other way while the military commits genocide on the country’s minority Muslim population the Rohingya. But the military’s bold move to take control shows why she thought it was better to let them burn down villages and rape innocents than let them seize absolute power. Unfortunately for her it looks like the stormtroopers are having their cake and eating it too.
Myanmar’s citizens have responded to the trial, as well as many arbitrary arrests and killings by the military, by taking to the streets to protest en masse.
Our last story isn’t a broad national issue nor is it a significant domestic policy topic. It could be nothing more than a tragic example of the western world’s continued failure to provide adequate mental health for those who need it. Or it could be an example of blatant and murderous corruption among the American political elite. I will simply provide the facts and let you be the judge.
Local ABC Alabama affiliate reporter Christopher Sign was found dead in his home in Hoover, Alabama on Saturday morning.
While no official cause of death has been released, Hoover PD Lt. Keith Czeskleba said they are investigating the 45 year old’s death as a suicide.
While all deaths are tragic, the former University of Alabama football player’s passing is particularly depressing. His colleagues say he moved back from his reporting job in Phoenix to be with his family whom he loved very much. While in Phoenix in 2016, Sign reported on a clandestine meeting between then Attorney General Loretta Lynch and former President Bill Clinton in a private plane on the tarmac of Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix.
At the time, Lynch as the AG was probing the private email server of then Secretary of State Hilary Clinton for alleged improprieties. She would go on to dismiss the case and absolve Clinton of any wrongdoing.
Sign went on to write a book about the ordeal and how his family and friends helped him deal with the death threats he received for reporting the story.
Sign told Fox News “My family received significant death threats shortly after breaking this story… Credit cards hacked. My children, we have codewords, we have secret codewords that they know what to do. That’s why I came back to WBMA ABC 33/40 in Birmingham because when I was enduring the death threats it was my former Alabama football family and my teammates, my coaches who circled around me
For all we know, Sign was fighting demons that none of his family or friends knew about. But his death came as a shock to his colleagues.
Sign isn’t the first person to challenge the Clintons or the Bushs and end up dead. Most notably was former Clinton aide Vince Foster.
Chris leaves behind a wife, three young sons, and a legacy of honesty and professionalism.
Well done Rob. I enjoy your writing.