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Created
Wed, 16/08/2023 - 08:39

This chart is going around:

This is a useful chart, in that it shows that we aren’t reducing absolute use of energy sources which increase global warming: the gains you constantly hear about, at a global level (there are country exceptions, such as Germany) are relative, not absolute and it’s absolute that matters.

Created
Wed, 16/08/2023 - 08:00
Just because he wrote it on twitter doesn’t mean it can’t be a crime: Trump is stupid and shameless so he often lied or gave unlawful orders on twitter or some other public forum. He believed that he was totally protected by the first amendment or executive privilege. Those rights are not absolute and if he gave it half a thought (or had half a brain) he would have realized that. Executive privilege (or Article II) does not allow a president to do anything he wants. And when speech is in furtherance of a crime like fraud it’s not protected. You’d think a snake oil fraudster like Trump would have been aware of that. Of course he’s gotten away with it his whole life so I suppose he assumed he always would.
Created
Wed, 16/08/2023 - 06:53

With Ukrainian forces reportedly suffering a level of amputations reminiscent of WWI, a New York Times proxy war propagandist is spinning amputees as sex symbols and painting their gruesome injuries as “magical.” After 18 months of devastating proxy warfare, the scale of the depletion of the Ukrainian military is so extensive that even mainstream sources have been forced to concede the cruel reality. On August 1, The Wall Street Journal reported that “between 20,000 and 50,000 Ukrainians” have “lost one […]

The post Western press fetishizes Ukrainian amputees as limb loss epidemic grows first appeared on The Grayzone.

The post Western press fetishizes Ukrainian amputees as limb loss epidemic grows appeared first on The Grayzone.

Created
Wed, 16/08/2023 - 06:30
This is a good piece about Pence from JV Last. I know I should feel more compassion for the man but it’s really hard. All those years of being a cruel right wing theocrat and then eagerly sucking up to the crude libertine Donald Trump makes it impossible for me to see him as anything but a hypocrite — at best. There is a theory I cannot test, but which I believe to be true: If Mike Pence were to walk through the crowd at a Donald Trump rally—for instance, the recent giant event where 50,000 Trump supporters swamped the town of Pickens, South Carolina—he would need a security detail. He would not be safe without one, and he might not be safe with one either. In fact, I have a hard time believing that any Secret Service team would agree to go along with such an excursion. Enough Trump supporters hate Pence that much. By contrast, I believe Pence could safely walk through the crowd at a Joe Biden event—like his June 17 rally in Philadelphia—without any security.
Created
Wed, 16/08/2023 - 05:00
CNN’s Daniel Dale sets the record straight on Trump’s grotesque insults toward the Fulton County DA: Former President Donald Trump has launched a barrage of attacks, many of them dishonest, against the Georgia district attorney who is prosecuting him over his attempts to overturn his 2020 election defeat in the state. Both before and after he was indicted Monday in Fulton County, Trump targeted District Attorney Fani Willis, an elected Democrat, in speeches, social media posts and a television ad released by his 2024 election campaign, which Trump also posted on social media. Below is a fact check of two of his false claims, an inflammatory claim for which there is no evidence, and a misleading claim from the campaign ad. The legitimacy of the 2020 election Trump has repeatedly accused Willis of refusing to investigate the supposed theft of the 2020 election. He wrote in a social media post on Sunday: “The only Election Interference that took place in Fulton County, Georgia, was done by those that Rigged and Stole the Election, not by me, who simply complained that the Election was Rigged and Stolen.
Created
Wed, 16/08/2023 - 04:58
“At the height of the Cold War, Prime Minister Menzies agreed to the British request for a permanent site to test nuclear weapons… This was a political decision by a government that was subservient to the British government, and today there are parallels, with the Australian government being once again subservient to the decisions of Continue reading »
Created
Wed, 16/08/2023 - 04:57
As Labor heads into the 2023 National Conference in Brisbane I trust there will be movement on two issues close to the heart of every Australian who cares about global justice and peace: the long overdue recognition of Palestine and Australia signing the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. It shouldn’t be too Continue reading »
Created
Wed, 16/08/2023 - 04:56
The 1948 Palestinian catastrophe, known to Palestinians as the Naqba, saw 750,000 of their predecessors driven from their lands, over 500 villages and towns destroyed, the extent of the killings, destruction and dispossession denied and no-one held accountable. How should Australia respond? Powerful countries’ collusion with decades of Israeli governments’ racist based cruelties towards Palestinians Continue reading »
Created
Wed, 16/08/2023 - 04:55
The double standard continues. Russian collaboration with China in naval exercises in the north Pacific are presented in United States media as creating ‘a dangerous world’. But far larger military exercises in the south Pacific by ‘free’ countries are presented as ‘promoting peace, security and stability’ in the Indo-Pacific region. On 8 August 2023 the Continue reading »
Created
Wed, 16/08/2023 - 04:54
Newspapers decry it; yet market-led inflation more broadly is tut-tutted away as a ‘sacred mystery’ central to a free and working capitalist system. Government mandated inflation however, which society must pay to maintain a balanced economy, does not please anyone. As more and more social and economic ‘data’ is captured in society, details of trends Continue reading »
Created
Wed, 16/08/2023 - 04:53
When Barnaby Joyce forced the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) to relocate from Canberra to Armidale, he couldn’t have chosen a more vulnerable, complex or vital institution to damage. APVMA’s job is to safeguard the health and safety of people, animals and the environment by regulating dangerous chemicals used in veterinary medicines, pesticides, Continue reading »
Created
Wed, 16/08/2023 - 04:50
It’s banners and bunting season in Southeast Asia as our neighbours celebrate independence. Singapore finished its wavings on 9 August and Malaysia’s moments of pomp will come on 16 September. Like Australia, both won sovereignty through diplomacy. Next up is Indonesia on 17 August and the 78th birthday party will be brimming with exuberance we’d Continue reading »
Created
Wed, 16/08/2023 - 03:30
Sarah Huckasanders is competing for the vaunted title of most racist governor. Florida, Alabama and Mississippi Govs have early leads but she’s making a real run for it: The Arkansas Department of Education (DOE) abruptly rejected AP African American Studies, saying the course may violate Arkansas law. “The department encourages the teaching of all American history and supports rigorous courses not based on opinions or indoctrination,” Kimberly Mundell, Director of Communications for the Arkansas DOE, told Popular Information on Monday.
Created
Wed, 16/08/2023 - 03:30

“Prosecutors have found racketeering laws to be powerful tools in targeting not only foot soldiers in a criminal enterprise, but also high-level decision makers.” — The New York Times

- - -

Yeah, that’s right, it’s me, Racketeering Charges, and I’m bursting into this ex-president judicial drama like the Kool-Aid Man of inscrutable justice. How bad am I? Very bad. What do I mean exactly? Unclear. But will I get the job done? You better believe it.

Sure, the old president has already been indicted a whole bunch of times. We’ve got some obstruction of justice charges, some false statement charges—but that’s kiddie stuff. Nothing gets the job done quite like me.

What even is racketeering, you ask? Honey, what is air? What is time? I cannot be defined in simple human language, and this only strengthens my powers.

Created
Wed, 16/08/2023 - 03:14
By Thomas Drake Let me first take a moment to express my heartfelt appreciation for your continuing donations. I remain incredibly grateful for all your support since I announced earlier this year how I ended up dealing with a lymphoma cancer diagnosis last Fall. Health is stabilizing and longer-term prognosis is good. Seems the very expensive targeted capsule pills I take daily are really working! Have additional tests in late August and in September that will provide a progress check.