Must reads: Baghdad bombing, Brexit, Nexit, Rio Olympics, and naked bike rides

We start the week on a somber note with multiple terrible attacks across the world — a reminder of the grim, broad reach of terrorism in a global community. Yet, what these attacks should show us is that we have a great deal in common with each other — Muslim and Christian nations alike fear Daesh, anyone can be caught in a terror attack while going to the market or enjoying a meal. If these don’t act as a signal for the urgent need to cooperate on an international level, it’s unclear what will. Our recommended reading this week comes from all corners of the world, exploring issues from the Olympics to the Baghdad bombing.

‘America’s Most Patriotic Bike Ride Is Also Its Most Naked‘ (Pacific Standard)

In the United States, people have a strange fixation with going pantsless on public transit, naked during marathons, and topless on the beach. This piece chronicles a fascinating event in Minneapolis that’s part Pride parade, part celebration of the human body, and part just having fun pantsless on bicycles.

The Freedom From Pants riders appeared to me for the first time in 2013, looking like the Minneapolis chapter of the cult of Dionysus. Most of the women wore red, white, and blue bikinis — and in some cases thongs, granny panties, and pasties — and the couple hundred bicyclists lounged about in a park in downtown Minneapolis. Music played, people danced, and bikes were strewn every which way. Legs and thighs were conspicuously on display.

‘Following the Brexit vote, I fear tolerant Britain is lost for ever‘ (The Guardian)

A sudden jump in hate crimes and reports of abuse targeting not just immigrants, but Britons who don’t look ‘British enough,’ is making many fear for the future of their nation. Xenophobia was a driving force behind the ‘leave’ vote, and now that it’s been validated, things are getting very ugly.

It’s hard to pinpoint exactly when the change started but it has come in small steps rather than substantial leaps. The slow souring as multiculturalism stopped being something to be celebrated, becoming instead a watchword for an ill-advised dalliance with something dangerous; the spreading view that racism and prejudice were issues for individuals after all, and not institutional and systemic as the inquiry into the botched investigation of Stephen Lawrence’s brutal murder had established. the increasing hostility towards British Muslims in all parts of British society; and the heightened fear of migrants and refugees, which reached fever pitch during the campaign. Now that reports of race hate crime are soaring, it seems undeniable that the vicious and irresponsible rhetoric of politicians and media in the days and weeks leading up to the referendum has fostered toxic sentiments.

‘Interview with Geert Wilders: Why Dutch Populists Want to Leave the EU‘ (Der Spiegel)

Just when we thought Geert Wilders could slip into obscurity, Brexit has emboldened the European right wing and Wilders along with it. Now, this Dutch politician explains in this hatred-laced interview why he’s pushing for a ‘Nexit’ that would bring the Netherlands out of the EU.

We’d finally get our national sovereignty back, as well as our autonomy in matters of monetary and immigration policy — just like Switzerland. That’s my favorite example: a country in the heart of Europe, that even has individual trade agreements with China and Japan. The British too — Germany’s third-largest trading partner — will reach an agreement with the EU.

‘Baghdad bombing: Isis’s most deadly attack in weeks is the one the world probably cares about least‘ (The Independent)

In an era when every act of violence is met with an immediate social media outpouring of insipid hashtags and flag overlays on profile pictures, how is the world responding to a horrific bombing in Baghdad that killed over 200 people and counting? Baghdad has been torn apart by violence repeatedly over the last decade, and yet the West remains indifferent.

For years now, we have become almost numb to the violence in Baghdad: Deadly car bombings there conjure up no hashtags, no Facebook profile pictures with the Iraqi flag, and no Western newspaper front pages of the victims’ names and life stories, and they attract only muted global sympathy.

‘Brazil’s Massively Militarized Olympics‘ (War is Boring)

The escalating absurdity of Brazil’s Olympic Games is reaching new heights. While conditions in Rio were grim from the start, when the destruction of the favelas displaced the city’s poorest and most vulnerable, in recent weeks we’ve seen problem after problem developing in the troubled nation. Is Brazil going to be able to pull this off?

In the most brazen attack, 20 CV-affiliated criminals stormed the Souza Aguiar hospital in downtown Rio armed with assault rifles and grenades to rescue a local crime boss under police guard in the facility. The attackers killed a patient in the process. The hospital had previously been designated as one of the five recommended facilities to treat tourists during the games.

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Photo: John/Creative Commons