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Germany
Germany

David Duke Booted Out Of Germany After Attempting To Rally Right-Wing Group

German authorities interrupted a gathering of right-wing extremists in Cologne, and took the notorious former KKK leader into custody, and told him to leave the country. Though he is persona non grata in Europe, he continues to try to spread his message t

Duke in Belgium in 2008 (Wikipedia)
Duke in Belgium in 2008 (Wikipedia)
GermanyGeopoliticsSourcesDIE WELTCountries

*NEWSBITES

COLOGNE – David Duke, the notorious former Ku Klux Klan leader and onetime candidate for U.S. Senate and President, was arrested in Cologne, where he had tried to meet with German right-wing extremists, Die Welt has learned.

Some 60 men and women from Germany's rightist movements had come last Friday evening to Cologne to hear a speech by Duke, 61. But before the event could get underway, German authorities moved in to stop it. Some 100 police officers carried out identity checks on those gathered, as well as the guest speaker. Duke was taken into custody, and ordered to leave Germany immediately.

According to information acquired by Die Welt, Duke only had transit status in Germany, which means that he is only entitled to travel through the country, not to stop there. Switzerland, which is part of Europe's open-border Schengen agreement, had previously issued a ban that would make it illegal for Duke to stay anywhere in the European member countries.

On Duke's official website, the American confirms his arrest: "I was imprisoned by a gross twisting of travel laws in a blatant attempt by the government to prevent a private and peaceful gathering of about a 100 German citizens eager to hear my message of heritage and freedom."

Duke had also been arrested in the Czech Republic in 2009 on suspicion of Holocaust denial, and ordered to leave the country. Charges were later dropped.

From 1974 to 1978, Duke was a leading member of the racist Ku Klux Klan (KKK) in Louisiana. He later left the Klan to become an activist for the "National Association for the Advancement of White People" (NAAWP) which supported separation of the races. He later served in the Louisiana House of Representatives, but failed in bids for the US presidency, U.S. Senate and governor of Louisiana.

Duke has since openly supported German Holocaust denier Ernst Zündel. In December 2006, the American, who believes that Jewish lobbyists and Zionists have "infiltrated" the United States, took part in the "Holocaust Conference" organized by Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

European security officials view Duke as a dangerous "connecter" for right-wing radical groups and the driving force behind the right-wing Altermedia Internet site.

Read the full story in German by Florian Flade

Photo- Wikipedia

*Newsbites are digest items, not direct translations

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DIE WELT
Die Welt ("The World") is a German daily founded in Hamburg in 1946, and currently owned by the Axel Springer AG company, Europe's largest publishing house. Now based in Berlin, Die Welt is sold in more than 130 countries. A Sunday edition called Welt am Sonntag has been published since 1948.
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Ideas
social media

Look At This Crap! The "Enshittification" Theory Of Why The Internet Is Broken

The term was coined by journalist Cory Doctorow to explain the fatal drift of major Internet platforms: if they were ever useful and user-friendly, they will inevitably end up being odious.

A photo of hands holding onto a smartphone

A person holding their smartphone

Gilles Lambert/ZUMA
IdeasSpainSourcesSocietyfeatured-postLA MAREACountriesUnited States
Manuel Ligero

-Analysis-

The universe tends toward chaos. Ultimately, everything degenerates. These immutable laws are even more true of the Internet.

In the case of media platforms, everything you once thought was a good service will, sooner or later, disgust you. This trend has been given a name: enshittification. The term was coined by Canadian blogger and journalist Cory Doctorow to explain the inevitable drift of technological giants toward... well.

The explanation is in line with the most basic tenets of Marxism. All digital companies have investors (essentially the bourgeoisie, people who don't perform any work and take the lion's share of the profits), and these investors want to see the percentage of their gains grow year after year. This pushes companies to make decisions that affect the service they provide to their customers. Although they don't do it unwillingly, quite the opposite.

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Annoying customers is just another part of the business plan. Look at Netflix, for example. The streaming giant has long been riddling how to monetize shared Netflix accounts. Option 1: adding a premium option to its regular price. Next, it asked for verification through text messages. After that, it considered raising the total subscription price. It also mulled adding advertising to the mix, and so on. These endless maneuvers irritated its audience, even as the company has been unable to decide which way it wants to go. So, slowly but surely, we see it drifting toward enshittification.

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