On Sunday a statue to the 19th century English merchant Edward Colston was seized from its pedestal and violently hurled into Bristol harbour by a group of protestors demonstrating as part of the Black Lives Matter movement. The incident has become the subject of fierce debate ever since. Edward Colston, like many wealthy Europeans of his time, was a slave trader, and the monument has become, for many, a symbol of racism of the type we must eradicate from our society for good.

The slave trade, which saw at least 12 million Africans shipped to North America over a period of 400 years, was a brutal, debased industry founded on the principle of putting profit before human rights. The money amassed from it went towards developing many of our renowned universities and institutions and the construction of towns and cities across the UK. But it was not only the Atlantic slave trade that contributed to our nation's wealth. You cannot walk the streets of Britain today without noticing the hallmarks of our imperialist past. The British Empire exploited people from India to Barbados and the evidence of it is laid bare in the bricks and mortar of our urban architecture and street names. Our country is literally a museum to its imperialist past.

So, what are we to do, start tearing down our town halls, art galleries, and university buildings? How far are we to take the destruction of our material world in order to meet our contemporary standards? We have seen the attempt to rewrite history in recent years in Ukraine, for example, where Lenin statues have been toppled in a bid to wipe the Soviet leader and his Communist dogma, from the pages of history. Or in the Baltic states, where several monuments to the Red Army have been removed as a way of denouncing Soviet rule, despite their purpose being to celebrate victory over Nazism. The past, whether we like it or not, happened. It cannot be erased. There will always be statues that were on the wrong side of history; there will always be some who do not agree with the glorification of a particular figure.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government are facing pushback over plans to annex large swaths of the occupied West Bank as early as next month, with Israeli and Palestinian protestors taking to the streets to voice their opposition to the plans over the weekend.

Thousands of protesters gathered in Tel Aviv on Saturday for a demonstration organized by left-wing activists and NGOs in Israel, under the banner "No to annexation, no to occupation, yes to peace and democracy".

Some protesters waved Palestinian flags, while others held signs reading "Palestinian Lives Matter" and "Stop Apartheid." Demonstrators wore masks and maintained distances between one another in an effort to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

Towards the end of the protest, Israeli media reported that police clashed with a small group of protesters, violently arresting at least five people, and assaulting a Haaretz photographer.

US Senator Bernie Sanders addressed the protesters in a video address, saying "it has never been more important to stand up for justice, and to fight for the future we all deserve."

Americans are deeply troubled by the sadistic killing of George Floyd, but they're also worried about the nationwide protests. According to a recent Wall Street Journal/NBC News survey, 80 percent of those who were polled think the country is spiraling out of control. This is an unsustainable situation. People want justice for Mr Floyd, but they also want an end to the turmoil. How will this will play out politically? No one knows for sure, but it's clear that the progressive push to "defund the police" is only throwing more gas on the fire.

"Defunding the police" is not an issue the Democratic Party supports, in fact, they'd like to sweep the whole thing under the rug pronto. But grassroots activists are not that easily placated. They're not interested in the Democrat's half-loaf reforms, they want a whole new system that eliminates traditional policing altogether. They want to revolutionize the way that communities deal with public safety issues even if it puts citizens at greater risk. Check out this brief exchange between the president of Minneapolis's City Council, Lisa Bender, and CNN's Chris Cuomo on Monday:

Cuomo- "When you say you see someday being police-free that sounds aspirational, a utopian concept where nobody's committing any crime, because as long as these communities are being preyed upon, both from within and without, there's gonna have to be good men and women willing to step up to keep people safe."

Lisa Bender- "I think the idea of having a police-free future is very aspirational, and I am willing to stand with community members who are asking us to think of that as the goal. We recognize that we don't have all the answers about what a police-free future looks like, but our community does. We're committed to engaging with every willing community member in the city of Minneapolis over the next year to identify what safety looks like for you." (CNN)

Apple and Google have trained their AI voice assistants to respond to questions on the Black Lives Matter movement, and to rebut the sentiment behind 'all lives matter.'

On Sunday, sports blogger David Gardner tweeted a video of himself asking his Google Home smart speaker: "Do Black lives matter?"

Google's Assistant, which runs on Google Home, responded: "Black Lives Matter. Black people deserve the same freedoms afforded to everyone in this country, and recognizing the injustice they face is the first step towards fixing it."

The cult is growing and strength and number. Most of our leaders cannot stand against it, being either cowards, true converts, or in on the would-be color revolution.

It is spreading to all areas of life, across most of Western culture. Few countries are escaping or avoiding it. No subject is immune. Not even the glory of popular imagination, Science™.

Following the surrender of the East Precinct of the Seattle Police Department to an Antifa mob and the occupation of Seattle City Hall, a source on the ground in Seattle says that other police precincts around the city are preparing to be the next targets.

The Christopher Columbus statue was torn down by protesters in downtown Richmond Tuesday night.

It happened around 9 p.m. at Byrd Park, following a peaceful demonstration outside of the statue in honor of indigenous people.

Monday on CNN's "New Day," Minneapolis City Council President Lisa Bender defended her council's attempt to disband the Minneapolis police department following the death of George Floyd.

Bender said, "I think in Minneapolis, watching George Floyd's death, and the actions of the four police officers that were involved has been a huge wake-up call for so many in Minneapolis to see what many already knew, which is that our police department is not keeping every member of our community safe. And so I think step one for us is to tell the truth. Nine council members from communities all across the city of all different backgrounds, standing together, to tell the truth, and say, this system isn't working for too many of our neighbors for too long. Our reform efforts have failed, and we have done many, many attempts at reform and new leadership in the department and many things, and we still see this tragic death. And so I think the wake-up of our community is what's driving the city council's announcement yesterday. And now the hard work begins for us to rebuild systems that really work to keep all of our communities safe."

The early draft of the Republican police reform bill that has been leaked to the media seems in tune with mainstream Democrat proposals, while falling short of the 'defund the police' demands of Black Lives Matter.

The two-page document on the letterhead of Senator Tim Scott (R-South Carolina) was published by CNN on Tuesday. Scott is the only black Republican in the Senate, and was entrusted with drafting the police reform proposal by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) earlier this week.

The Just and Unifying Solutions to Invigorate Communities (JUSTICE) Act consists of 10 sections, ranging from conditioning federal funding on reporting requirements and use of body cameras to making lynching a federal hate crime and setting up a "Commission on the Social Status of Black Men and Boys."

Hundreds of protesters swarmed city hall in Seattle Tuesday night to demand Mayor Jenny Durkan's resignation. The crowd chanted "Hey, hey! Ho, ho! Jenny Durkan's got to go!" during the roughly hour-long takeover, led by Councilwoman Kshama Sawant.

Some protesters carried "Black Lives Matter" and "Durkan must go" signs, according to the Seattle Times. "When you talk about black rights, you can't leave out the horrific gentrification in Seattle," Sawant told the newspaper.

She placed the blame on Amazon, which is headquartered in Seattle. "Taxing Amazon is absolutely a part of black rights ... It's about actually putting dollars on the table to address inequities affecting the black community," Sawant said.