Reading

Created
Tue, 07/05/2024 - 23:30

It was the jokes about Trump’s rumored flatulence in the courtroom that pushed me toward despair. And don’t think it was disgust with the subject matter either. After all, I’ve lived with teenagers and I wasn’t all that surprised by yet another Trump-inspired trivialization of a critical civic institution. What appalled me was the possibility that — let’s be clear here — such stories would somehow humanize the monster, that his alleged farting and possible use of adult diapers would win him sympathy. I even wondered whether such rumors could be part of a scheme to win him votes. So, yes, Trump can make you that crazy. Or maybe it’s something about important trials, about the slow unspooling of evidence... Read more

Source: Donald Trump and O.J. Simpson appeared first on TomDispatch.com.

Created
Tue, 07/05/2024 - 23:00
The degenerating saga of the GOP’s mind virus The best minds of the MAGA generation were not destroyed by madness. They’re empowered by it, revel in it, slather themselves in it. The T-partiers were pikers by comparison. They pretended that their beef with Barack Obama was taxation and his birth certificate. Alt-right street fighters tacked “based” to the front of their monikers to signify their antipathy towards their fellow Americans. The Party of Trump is an orgy of debasement. The talent competition at Donald Trump’s VP pageant over the weekend involved limbo. How low could they go? Lick his shoes? Lick the bottom of his shoes? Digby profiled some of the contestants on Monday. Then we come to the dog-executing, based governor of South Dakota, Krispi Gnome, and her latest memoir. And its anecdotes and edits. And her “Face The Nation” interview.
Created
Tue, 07/05/2024 - 23:00

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The world has changed in the hundred years since A. A. Milne introduced us to Winnie-the-Pooh and his pals, but that doesn’t mean our lovable friends haven’t adapted to life in the twenty-first century. This heartwarming, laugh-out-loud parody—by frequent McSweeney’s contributor Jennie Egerdie—takes us along for some marvelous misadventures as the gang grapples with modern life’s headaches and pesky predicaments. Today, we’re happy to offer an excerpt from Oh, Bother.

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Session 1

Deep in the Hundred Acre Wood, in a sensibly furnished den, Eeyore shared feelings of inadequacy with his therapist, Dr. Festinker.

Created
Tue, 07/05/2024 - 22:27

Alan MacLeod explains how the Biden administration periodically leaks stories to friendly journalists in order to distance themselves from the violence they clearly are supporting, helping wash their hands of any culpability.

The post Biden Is Deeply Concerned About Israel’s Behavior, Media Claims appeared first on MintPress News.

Created
Tue, 07/05/2024 - 22:00

“Gen Z has been mocking millennial style with so much glee in the last few years that doing so has become its own TikTok trend.” — New York Times

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I’m a millennial, and the media has been talking about how young and cool I am for over twenty years. Then, seemingly overnight, I’m old?

I didn’t even know Gen Z existed until a few months ago. And some of them are already adults? I recently interviewed applicants for a new position in my office. As I was introducing myself, one woman began LOLing. She then continued to ROTFL. I asked her what she was doing, and she said, “IJBOL because of your hair. Side parts are out.”

What was “IJBOL”? And which part of my hair was in? And why don’t I know?

I told my supervisor what happened. He shrugged his shoulders and said, “Young people.” I found this confusing, because I thought I was “young people.”

Created
Tue, 07/05/2024 - 20:39
April 19, 2024 ROBERT SKIDELSKY George Orwell’s great contribution to dystopian literature was not his depiction of the modern surveillance state, but rather his insight that if everyone used only state-approved language, surveillance would become redundant. The difference today is that Newspeak has emerged from the mechanisms of liberal democracy itself. LONDON – Language shapes … Continue reading The Language of Political Control
Created
Tue, 07/05/2024 - 20:27
March 21, 2024 ROBERT SKIDELSKY Faced with a choice between parasitic capitalism and emerging neo-fascism, it is no wonder that Western societies are increasingly pessimistic. While pessimism has pervaded previous eras, today’s mood is sustained, and partly defined, by the absence of a redemptive vision. LONDON – In 2003, the literary critic Fredric Jameson famously observed … Continue reading Post-Capitalist Pessimism
Created
Tue, 07/05/2024 - 19:26

It was once the second-richest city in Europe, known for its hosiery, knitwear, shoe, and light engineering industries. ‘Leicester clothes the world,’ some said. By the 1970s, however, the Midlands metropolis saw its major manufacturing giants collapse as recession kicked in and unemployment rose.  It was to this Leicester, suffering serious economic downturn, that 11,000 […]

Created
Tue, 07/05/2024 - 08:30
Trump cares nothing for the party, only himself: You may have heard about this:  Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) and his wife were indicted last week on conspiracy and bribery charges. The Justice Department alleged that Cuellar took nearly $600,000 in bribes from an Azerbaijani government-controlled oil company and a Mexican bank. In return, prosecutors allege that Cuellar agreed to “influence U.S. foreign policy in favor of Azerbaijan” and advance the bank’s interests in the U.S., per the indictment. You would think that would make Trump very happy and he’d be calling for Cuellar to resign immediately in order to help the GOP congress maintain their at least a two vote margin. (They only have one at the moment.) But no. Axios reports: Trump’s rare defense of a vulnerable Democratic lawmaker runs counter to Republicans’ desire to pressure Democrats to call for Cuellar’s removal. The National Republican Congressional Committee plans to accuse Democrats of a double standard if they stay mum on Cuellar following their pressure on ex-Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) to resign, Politico reports.