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Trump hopes to gut birthright citizenship via executive order. In lawsuits filed across the country, immigrants seek to stop him.

The post The Pregnant Immigrants Fighting Trump’s Bid to End Birthright Citizenship appeared first on The Intercept.

Trump is too stupid and narcissistic to even vaguely understand or care what this man is up to. But it’s where the real action is going to be taking place. If he gets away with it the federal government will be turned into the corrupt patronage system that the oligarchs have always dreamed of. I wrote this about Vought many months ago: Over the weekend, the Washington Post’s Beth Reinhard published an excellent article about one of Donald Trump’s most visionary advisers, an obscure figure named Russ Vought. He was a boring Republican bureaucrat who served as director of the Office of Management and Budget from July 2020 until Trump left office. He previously served as deputy director and acting director at OMB and prior to his stint in the White House worked at Heritage Action, the activist arm of the Heritage Foundation, where he was budget director for the Republican Study Group in Congress.

Seems like in all the chaos after the power transition in the US, this was largely missed: Musk-led “Department of Government Efficiency” will have access to all unclassified US government records.

It’s always the unassuming, irrelevant looking stuff like that that people need to pay attention to.

The rise of Joseph Stalin as the leader of the Soviet Union really got going when he became the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. At the time, the position was what it said on the can, a purely administrative job with no real political power.

Throughout the history of the Soviet Union, a position of Premier (roughly a “Prime Minister”) existed. Premiership was the ultimate post in the government and whoever held it was the leader of the country. At least initially.

A groundbreaking study finds doctors affiliated with hospitals and private equity firms are charging billions more annually than independent general practitioners.

Lasers reveal hidden details of ancient body ink

The post This Mummy’s Tattoos Are Better Than Yours appeared first on Nautilus.

Supermarket chain Coles has announced that following on from the success of its mini collectable grocery items it will be releasing a series of mini collectable sea creatures that have choked on discarded plastic shopping bags. “Shoppers will be able... Read More ›

Sadly, my first thought when I saw what she said yesterday was, “I hope they are providing her with security.” I mean it. That’s where we are now.

But whatever. Trump’s just blathering about the “valve” Make it stop. Please.

By denying funding to the Climate Justice Alliance over Palestine, Biden went after Trump’s political opponents for him.

The post Biden Attack on Nonprofit Over Palestine Stance Made Trump’s Job Easier appeared first on The Intercept.

Back in 2021 when Biden was elected, a lot of people were still working from home so they were able to watch the inauguration. But the same thing was true yesterday. It was a national holiday and most people were home and could have watched Trump’s restoration. They did not. Nielsen found that ratings across ABC, CBS and NBC’s coverage of Trump’s swearing in as 47th president on Monday hovered around 26.05 million viewers on average from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m (ET), reported The Hollywood Reporter. According to Nielsen’s ratings, viewership for the two previous inaugurations, which includes Trump’s first term, faired much better by around 32 percent. Around 39.87 million people tuned in to watch Biden take the oath of office in 2021. A hair behind Biden, Trump’s first inauguration in 2017 pulled in an average 38.35 million viewers. However, THR reported that viewership then was measured from 11:45 a.m.-12:15 p.m. (ET). In terms of where audiences tuned in to watch the presidential fanfare, Fox News overwhelming held the most viewership. During the 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

“There were angry reactions across Europe to Elon Musk’s apparent use of a salute banned for its Nazi links in Germany, where some condemned it as malicious provocation or an outreach of solidarity to far-right groups.” — The Guardian

1. Have the wealthiest man on Earth (ideally someone who has gone out of his way, perhaps on a social media platform that he purchased, to lend credibility to even the most shocking hate speech) “accidentally” perform the gesture on stage at a victory rally for the fascist autocrat that he spent hundreds of millions of dollars to elect.

2. Put out a press release claiming that the gesture was accidental, or an unrelated and totally benign gesture, or can be attributed to his “well-known neurological condition.” Also, isn’t criticizing him—a person with a condition they can’t control—for this accidental gesture a little ableist?

We have all condemned fake news, and the lies continually spread on social media, but do we recognise that our political leaders and responsible journalists fail to promote truth telling in significant political debates which reflect the kind of society we have become? For fifteen months Australians have watched the relentless bombardment of innocent civilians Continue reading »

Much has been said about the impending trade war amid Donald Trump’s threats to implement new tariffs against China, Mexico and Canada. But while many fear this could exacerbate tensions between China and the United States, we could find China is not as impacted as first thought. As Trump’s second presidential term begins, there is Continue reading »

Wearing his clearly marked press vest, and flanked by his older colleagues, 22-year-old former soccer commentator and `accidental journalist’ Abubaker Abed earlier this month indicted the negligence and hypocrisy of international media organisations regarding reporting of the genocide in Gaza: `You’ve seen us killed in every possible way. We’ve been immolated, incinerated, dismembered, and disembowelled. Continue reading »

Informed observers are amazed that the blackened legacy of Ferdinand E. Marcos has been sanitised to such an extent that his only son Bong Bong Marcos could become the 17th elected president of the Philippines in June 2022. Who on earth can take the Philippines seriously ever again? One such observer is Australian journalist Keith Continue reading »

The Israeli government has been accused of War Crimes including the murder and genocide of the Palestinians of Gaza. They should be indicted for the murder of Israeli civilians too. Israeli prime-minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant have recently been charged as war criminals by the International Criminal Court for genocide against Continue reading »

The current housing crisis is not an accident. It is the logical outcome of transforming homes into investment vehicles. And it has been decades in the building. The only thing unique about the present crisis is that it is now destabilising both the major political parties – in that sense the housing crisis is now Continue reading »

Anniversaries are not harbingers of doom. Twenty-five years back, Walter Marks of Oakland Capital, which now manages $US200 billion, had warned his clients that the dot.com boom was a bubble about to burst. On March 23 that year, the market peaked. From there, the Millennium Bug was not in the race to the bottom. This Continue reading »

Climate Politics: Causation can be complex, often multi-layered, multi-faceted and with links between its elements. In the context of weather-related disasters, it has to be attributed with great care, and in recognition of the complicated thing that is the environment whether natural or human. And we need to note the motives of those who attribute Continue reading »