dominant news early May 2015

In the absence of a slew of posts covering some of the details of the initial advances of Cortes in the Valley of Mexico (which will come later), current news in the current world stacks up on the table.

The last couple weeks the news has been full of detailing the cleanup and rescue work in and around Nepal following the massive earthquakes there where over 7300 people have died.

The latest in a series of boats crowded with migrants was rescued this weekend off Libya. This follows weeks where a number of boats didn't make it and hundreds died in just a few days. From this past April, here is a series of video clips by the BBC documenting the routes, methods, and motivations of migrants. Also, here is a quick bit of context, showing a rundown of topics and party positions in the UK from later February of this year. Notice how much there was already so much to do about migration. But Britain isn't Italy. They are the ones on the forefront of the flows of people desperate to stay alive and find a new place to start over. Aljazeera covered the EU response 24 April.

In the US, the situation in Baltimore took center stage last week. Protests there over the perceived mishandling of a suspect Freddie Gray led to protests across the country, an investigation by the state attorney's office and one by the Federal Deptartment of Justice. The problems are systemic, several decades old and widespread in Baltimore, effecting how every part of the community interacts with authority. The few rioting and looting on a couple occasions, overshadow much of the media's take and therefore the nation's view. Some in turn have used the story to spread stereotypical mischaracterizations and rumors and slander. Others rush to judge and have to resign, like this prosecutor in Wayne county, Michigan. Some have been able to spread word that the reality in too many neighborhoods in Baltimore is that there are no jobs, a failing education system and an out of touch law enforcement system. The mayor declared a curfew for a week and lifted it on Sunday 3 May. There were several arrests over the week of daily protests, and a lot of mudslinging in the media. But no killings there. Then on Friday, the state's attorney handling the case gave a press conference indicting six police officers associated with the man before his death. Here is that press conference .The community took it as a victory in light of what has happened in other cities where excessive violence has also killed. The local paper in Baltimore has been allowed inside the investigation to show a bit of how that is done.

Long term US foreign policy expert and diplomat Richard Haass warns us about the uncertainties of the world. Especially in the mid-East.
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The Federal Exchange Commission says it can't oversee campaign finance in order to regulate it. So we're looking at a real free for all.

FEC Chairwoman Has Given Up on Preventing Campaign Finance Abuse http://t.co/x2FiuP8vaM #UniteBlue pic.twitter.com/2wU3aELKLC

— The Progressive Mind (@Libertea2012) May 4, 2015

Relevant quote from the NY Times:

“What’s really going on,” she said, “is that the Republican commissioners don’t want to enforce the law, except in the most obvious cases. The rules aren’t being followed, and that’s destructive to the political process.”

A mighty important topic covered in a piece from two years ago. Do dishonest campaign finance filers plague the IRS today?

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