Stigmabase | North America

McGill's half hearted email is an insufficient response to neo-nazism - In late November, flyers were posted near McGill’s downtown campus, with the words “tired of anti-white propaganda? It’s time to make Canada great again!” emblazoned over a maple leaf. The posters included links to white supremacist websites and crossed-out symbols that represent Islam, communism, and homosexuality. In response, Christopher Manfredi, McGill’s VP Academic, sent out an email on December 12 (“Flyers posted near downtown campus”) which denied any association between the posters and the University. The email stated: “To the best of our knowledge none of the flyers appeared on campus; nor do we have any information to indicate that the flyers are associated with any member of the McGill community. Nevertheless, I want to state unequivocally that the message communicated by the flyers, both in their text and the pictograms appearing on them, is contrary to McGill University’s values and firm commitm

Donald Trump's America : A Roman reversal? - THE CONNECTION one can draw between the United States and the ancient Roman Empire are hard to miss . Military power in every corner of the known world. A currency used as the standard for all forms of trade. One unifying language. A seemingly intractable empire. Powers like this are hard to forget. Every day, there are fewer and fewer Australians alive who remember what it was like before the United States was our big brother that could scare off bullies. The same was probably true for Western Europe in the 5th century CE. I have no doubt that before the collapse of the Roman Empire's western half, no one would remember life before the existence of the Empire or the Republic that preceded it. Rome's collapse wasn't sudden. Years of barbarian invasions, corrupt bureaucratic practices, a shrinking population (perhaps due to the movement of the Imperial capital to Constantinople in 330 CE), and a rapidly deteri

13 Reasons Why We Should Be Talking About Teen Suicide - The premise—in which the suicide has already been completed when the series begins—imparts a mistaken sense of inevitability to suicide, despite evidence that suicide is preventable, and its causes are treatable. Schools and professionals across the nation have warned parents against letting teenagers view the show alone, and have pointed out that, for some vulnerable viewers, seeing graphic depictions of suicide may increase the risk that they will act on suicidal thoughts. Nevertheless, the series is the most talked about series of the year on Twitter, and we are faced with a critical opportunity to open up the discussion and deepen the understanding of teen suicide. The loss of a young person to suicide is a tragedy. As a parent, my heart aches at the painful truth that more than a dozen families in the US will lose a loved one under the age of 25 tomorrow.

The Legacy of the Summit of the Americas : Achieving Prosperity with Equality -  Americas—which included Cuba for the first time—marked the beginning of a much-needed discussion for the countries of our hemisphere: how can we work together to ensure more prosperous and equitable societies? Economic growth and prosperity that privileges exclusively a few people is not only an extremely unfair situation; it also leads to political and social instability that, at the end of the day, affects our societies as a whole. In this sense, the urgency of generating “prosperity with equality”, the theme of the Summit, has become an imperative for all its participants.

Maybe this is how democracy ends - The election of Donald Trump has triggered as much wonderment abroad as it has in the United States. David Runciman, a professor of politics at the University of Cambridge, has written in the  London Review of Books  a provocative reflection on the nature of democracy in the age of Trump: “Is this how democracy ends?” There is much to praise in his essay, including his heavy qualification that we really don’t know for sure if what we are seeing is the end phase of mature Western democracies since we do not have the appropriate historical precedents to be certain. Runciman is correct; as an admirer of Karl Popper, I believe that there is no such thing as historical determinism, either in the form of the Marxist dialectical process, or in the guise of its mirror image, the invisible hand of  laissez-faire . Accordingly there is no surefire way to tell in advance whether Trump, Marine Le Pen or Geert Wilders would spell the end of democracy as

Your new iPhone's features include oppression, inequality and tax avoidance - Whatever marvels have been shoved into the new iPhones, the devices serve to increase the gulf between the super-rich and the rest of us, deny countries of rightful tax revenues, and oppress Chinese workers even while depriving Americans of high-paying jobs. Arrogant towards critics and governments, glutted with cash and yet plainly out of ideas, Apple is elegant shorthand for a redundant economic system. One of those attempted suicides, a 17 year old called Tian Yu, flung herself from the fourth floor of a factory dormitory and ended up paralysed from the waist down. Speaking later to academic researchers, she described her working conditions in remarkable testimony that I then covered for the Guardian. She was essentially a human battery hen, working over 12 hours a day, six days a week, swapped between day and night shifts and kept in an eight-person dorm room. When the historians of globalisati

Republicans Are Making America Sad Again - America is a prosperous nation, but not a super happy one. That's been true for a while. But the policies of President Donald Trump and the Republican Party are making matters worse. That's according to the latest "World Happiness Report," which is put together by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network in conjunction with the United Nations. Per capita income in America has tripled since the 1960s, but we are no happier now, collectively, than we were then. "Per capita GDP is still rising, but happiness is now actually falling," writes Columbia University economist Jeffrey Sachs, one of the report's authors. Indeed, in 2007 America ranked third in happiness among the 35 member nations of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. By 2016, we were down to 19th place. A rising per capita GDP, after all, doesn't mean much in a nation with rapidly growing inequality. To get t

Psychologists have a duty to warn the country about Trump - In most cases, I would agree that psychiatric diagnosis is not a parlor game for celebrity gossip columns. But it is also in the ethical code of every mental health profession, and the law in all but a handful of states, that we must warn a potential victim of violence or harm, even if that requires us to violate the sacred principle of patient confidentiality. How much greater an ethical burden must we carry if the potential victims are in the millions, and the risk is to both to their lives and our way of life? As we learned in the 1930s, silence is a sin when a dangerously disturbed leader is on the rise. Defying the APA, and risking the loss of the licenses that allow them to practice their profession, 55,000 people have signed our petition for mental health professionals stating that Donald Trump is mentally ill and must be removed under the 25th Amendment.

The real story of income inequality - Income inequality refers to the distribution of average income in a country. The argument presented by the left is that a plurality of the wealth is concentrated among the highest of income earners, and that this is unfair to the average worker. Many will say that this is a serious problem for the country, and cite the top 20 percent of income earners control nearly 80 percent of the nation’s wealth. However, this argument is misleading and does not tell the full story. Thomas Sowell, an economist and former Stanford professor, argued that the full story is not being addressed and that income inequality is not a problem.

Trump's Budget Is a Blueprint for a Banana Republic - The Trump Administration has officially unveiled its proposed budget to "Make America Great Again," and by all accounts it’s a total flop. Most news outlets are ignoring are the greater implications of what is proposed in the budget itself—the society America would become if the Trump budget became official. The specific elements of the proposal highlight severe cuts to programs that support the middle class and the poor, like the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, or food stamps), a move that is worthy of disdain on its own. However, the general sentiments of the proposal suggest a perspective and intention that is far more disturbing and could transform America's constitutional Republic into a de facto military junta. Is this Trump’s true vision for American greatness?

Why You Need To See The Movie Kiki - The new documentary film Kiki tells the story of those people, and the lives they lead as members of New York’s underground ballroom community. Kiki picks up over two decades after Paris Is Burning introduced mainstream audiences to the performative practice of voguing and balls. This update to the genre focuses specifically on the Kiki scene, which “was created within the LGBTQ youth-of- color community as a peer-led group offering alternative family systems (“houses”), HIV awareness teaching and testing, and performances geared towards self-agency” according to the film’s website. These performances of gender, which often include “stylized femininity,” are put on display at local balls. What separates Kiki from Paris Is Burning is that the story is finally told to the outside by those on the inside.

It's time to call it – the American Dream is dead - For nearly a century, the narrative within the United States has been a consistent one: Through hard work and egalitarianism, Americans are afforded the chance to succeed. Born in the shadows of the Great Depression and an extension of exceptionalism, the American Dream has shaped this country’s economic ideologies since the term was coined in the early 1930s. When James Truslow Adams initially wrote about the American Dream in his book, The Epic of America, he argued the U.S. is “a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement.”

No one else is going to speak for us': LGBTQ media rise in age of Trump -  Everything was quiet in New York City the day after the 2016 election. The city was stunned into silence. Matthew Breen remembers people crying randomly on the street, comforted by friends and strangers. “We were totally blindsided,” Breen says. “People were trying to look kindly on one another. It was such a raw and fragile moment.” Breen, now the editorial director of LOGO, was in his final weeks at The Advocate , where he worked for nearly six years as the editor in chief. Having publicly endorsed Hillary Clinton, Breen says that the LGBTQ publication was “totally blindsided,” and his last issue as EIC wasn’t the one he expected. The December cover of The Advocate depicted an American flag in which two of the stripes have fallen off. Meanwhile, a man and a woman stare out helplessly into the distance, struggling to figure out what’s next.

Ellen Page and Ian Daniel Find the Hope in a Post-Trump Nation with Gaycation Special “United ... - I don’t think it’s a new movement, it’s just a coalescing,” says Viceland’s Gaycation cohost Ian Daniel of the post-President Trump resistance that has seized the nation across identities, geographies, and communities. From immigration bans to the overturning of President Obama’s directive allowing transgender children to use the school bathrooms that correspond with their gender identity, Trump’s first 100 days in office have been a traumatic rollback of fundamental rights—but they’ve been met with powerful grassroots opposition at every turn. The strength of these voices are the focus of “United We Stand,” a special Gaycation episode capturing the organization and activation that immediately followed Trump‘s Inauguration. Daniel and actress Ellen Page, both co-executive producers, best friends, and outspoken queer advocates, took their Emmy-nominated series to Washington

The government is failing the most vulnerable – and doesn't care ... Some will argue that the increase in the numbers of people who are socially excluded is the inevitable result of the recession. But the over-riding test for any government is how well it treats the most vulnerable in society and the truth is that the ...

Trump and the Goldwater Rule: When is it OK to voice a professional opinion about the mental ... - Since Donald Trump became president, commentary about his public statements, tweeting habits, predilections and even his personality have become something of a national pastime. Some in the professional psychiatric community have been moved to join in, offering their own expert analysis on why the president says what he says and does what he does. But should they? Not according to the American Psychiatric Assn., which years ago adopted a rule for its 37,000 licensed members against offering a public opinion about the mental health or general psychological makeup of a public figure. It’s known as the Goldwater Rule, and in the era of President Trump, it’s suddenly the subject of vigorous discussion — most recently at a meeting of the American Psychiatric Assn. last month in San Diego.

From the closet to the forefront of the gay rights movement  - Stephen Snyder-Hill gained national attention in 2011 when he submitted a question via YouTube to a GOP debate while he served from Iraq. In his question, he asked about the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy and the candidates’ intentions to either uphold its repeal, or reinstate it. Immediately after asking the question, boos could be heard from within the crowd. While the boos came from a handful of people, what spoke even more was that no candidate thanked a currently overseas, in the field soldier for his service. Steve can now can be found by simply searching “booed soldier.”

This Flash Mob In Delhi Shattered LGBTQ Stereotypes Through Dance & Drum Beats - It wasn’t just another Saturday evening at Hauz Khas Village for the Delhiites who went about their weekend activities, be it enjoying EDM at a cafe or hanging out with friends. There was a surprise waiting for them – a flash mob by members of the LGBTQ community! The mob danced to dhol beats as curious passers-by looked on. The video above perfectly captures the essence of the event. It covers the joy, the emotions, the courage, and most importantly, the pride of all the participants of this spontaneous dance. There was even a beautiful proposal during the dance that will definitely melt your heart.

Trump's budget: Big gifts for the rich, big cuts for the poor - Mick Mulvaney, Trump's budget director, spelled it out clearly for reporters on Monday. The largest savings in the budget come from these items: 1. Cuts to Medicaid (Over $600 billion in the next decade) 2. Cuts to food stamps, known as SNAP ($193 billion over 10 years) 3. Cuts to student loans ($143 billion over 10 years) 4. Cuts to federal worker retirement programs ($63 billion over 10 years) Mulvaney probably should have added a fifth bullet: Disability programs also get a massive haircut. Advocates for the poor are stunned at the magnitude of the cuts. It's a "reverse Robin Hood agenda" agenda, says the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a left-leaning think tank that is one of the top voices for low-income Americans in Washington.

LGBTQ rights supporters win second victory at the United Nations - After a first defeat Nov. 21 in the General Assembly’s human rights committee, African nations led by Burkina Faso attempted again to suspend the work of LGBT expert during the final General Assembly vote. But the result was almost identical. The Africans urged the 193-member world body to delay implementation of a resolution adopted by the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva in order to determine “the legal basis” for the expert’s mandate. They also sought to suspend the expert, Vitit Muntarbhorn of Thailand, who was appointed on Sept. 30 and has started his work.