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You have been found guilty of being basic during the month of October. For your heinous act, you have been sentenced to a pumpkin patch, where you will consecutively serve one weekend a year, or possibly two or three weekends a year, in October, until you are eligible for parole.

Before transport, you will dress yourself in such clothing as long-sleeve flannel, sweaters, vests, and hoodies as if a cold shall descend upon you, only to find a hot blaring midday sun throughout your stay. During transport, a teenage attendant will force you to weave through uneven, muddy terrain until you dent a fender trying to park between a Dodge Megacab and a Chrysler Pacifica.

You are required to pay all fees and unforeseen expenses in accordance with your stay, including the parking fee, entrance fee, pumpkin fee, pony ride fee, pony ride insurance waiver fee, and food and beverage costs. You must trek again through the mud back to your vehicle upon learning that only cash will be accepted.

The bipartisan effort spearheaded by Reps. Jim McGovern and Thomas Massie follows another led by Rep. Rashida Tlaib last spring.

The post Members of Congress Make New Push to Free Julian Assange appeared first on The Intercept.

Political Scientist Rachel Bitecover: The first time I posted about the harsh reality of America’s collapsing democracy, it seemed like many folks were genuinely surprised to see that America is not actually the Greatest Democracy on Earth. According to the democracy index compiled by the EIU and published annually by The Economist, America is actually a “flawed” democracy. The United States was downgraded from “full” to “flawed” democracy after half of America handed the keys to the White House to a wannabe dictator-con man who immediately began to roll back civil liberties and ignore the rule of law. That’s why the very second I saw the topic Steve Levitsky’s and Daniel Ziblatt’s latest book, Tyranny of the Minority I knew I had to get them onto the show.

We all heterodox economists who have chosen the road ‘less traveled by’ know that this choice comes at a price. Fewer opportunities to secure ample research funding or positions at prestigious institutes or universities. Nevertheless, I believe that very few of us regret our choices. One doesn’t bargain with one’s conscience. No amount of money […]

The mass release and shooting of pheasants trashes our ecosystems – and our humanity. By George Monbiot, published in the Guardian 6th October 2023 It’s one of the bluntest expressions of class power in the United Kingdom. Like all expressions of class power, it has become normalised until we treat it as a fixed fact […]

While Israel is so far militarily dominant over its neighbors and captive population, it is losing the battle for public opinion in the West. As Alan Maclead reports, it has taken to Twitter's Community Notes function, hoping to turn the tide.

The post Propaganda War: Pro-Israel Trolls Are Mobbing Twitter’s Community Notes appeared first on MintPress News.

It’s only straight talk when the press doesn’t do it Sen. John McCain dubbed his campaign bus the “Straight Talk Express” during his 2000 presidential run. Voters claim to prefer straight talk to mealy-mouthed answers from their politicians. Donald Trump, the MAGA cult claims, “tells it like it is.” “He’s outspoken. Other candidates wouldn’t tell you how it is, but he does.” – Betty Tully, August 2015 But straight talk is in the eye of the beholder. Straight talk from popular Fox News celebrities consists of xenophobia, homophobia, transphobia, and branding anyone to the left of Germany’s WWII dictator as hating America. Shy about being branded the enemy of the people, the straight press often shuns straight talk. Maybe that’s one of the many reasons the news business is in such a slump. The press danced around calling Trump’s lies lies for years. When finally they began, of course, and whenever he didn’t like his coverage, Trump declared them the enemy of the people and invited his cult to hurl invective at reporters. Voters are fickle about what they consider straight talk.

Thanks very much to everyone who braved the elements to come and see me in Banbury, Stamford, Pocklington, Liverpool and Otley last week. Your dedication is to be much admired. This week I’m mainly in Wales – in Caerphilly on Thursday and Crickhowell in the Brecon Beacons on Friday. There are a few tickets left…

Sometimes the right wing in this country seems like a riddle wrapped in an enigma encased in a conundrum. Do they want to strengthen the government in line with the once-fringe doctrine of the “unitary executive,” concentrating most official power in the hands of a president who would then rule more or less by fiat? That’s the fascist position.  Or would they prefer to destroy the government, to “starve the beast,” something anti-tax activist Grover Norquist used to call for decades ago? “I don’t want to abolish government,” he declared. “I simply want to reduce it to the size where I can drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the bathtub.” That’s the anti-government nihilist position. You might... Read more

Source: Republican Contradictions appeared first on TomDispatch.com.

Loki director Kate Herron & Briony Redman (Pont Brec) have co-written a Doctor Who episode for Ncuti Gatwa's new series; new #WhoSpy image

Trump vs. Cohen today Donald John Trump won’t be armed and he won’t be standing in the middle of Fifth Avenue when he and his former fixer Michael Cohen meet today at the former president’s state fraud trial in Manhattan. Trump plans to be there, mug-shot glare at the ready (The Guardian): “I look forward to the reunion,” Cohen, once Trump’s lawyer, said. “I hope Donald does as well.” Now in its fourth week, Trump, his adult sons and their family business have been found liable for inflating the value of Trump’s assets to routinely and repeatedly deceive banks, insurers and others. Judge Arthur Engoron is using the hearings to decide on punishment, which could include a huge fine and probably means the dissolution of the Trump’s New York property empire. Over a dozen witnesses, many former Trump Organization employees, have testified in the trial so far. But Cohen’s testimony is seen as crucial to the case. Trump has a schedule full of court cases, indictments, and a lengthy list of complaints about how unfairly he’s being treated.

The MVC team unpacks the monetary policy allegory baked into The Wizard of Oz.

Lying to a court is a crime with a prison sentence. Lying to Parliament can lead to a temporary suspension.

Dear viewers,

At our news network, we have received a number of complaints about our current political coverage. Some of you have insisted that we are sacrificing our journalistic integrity for views. That could not be further from the truth. We believe that in order to stay fair and balanced, we must give equal airtime to the incumbent Democrat and the guy who wants everyone to drink their own piss.

We are not alone—nearly every other network has also speculated that this race will come down to the wire. And sure, technically, that prediction has yet to come true in any way. But if we say it enough, it might! As journalists, it is our job to treat all your options with equal weight: keeping your current president, or drinking a Slurpee-sized cup of your own urine every morning.

As for the nation’s most hotly contested Senate race, we aim to show our audience the benefits of both sides: the sitting Democratic senator, and the innovative challenger who wants to replace all music with chalkboard-scratching sounds. We understand voters have an incredibly difficult decision to make.

In today's BCTV Daily Dispatch: Frasier, Good Omens 3, Stranger Things 5, Doctor Who, Squid Game, Fallout, Star Trek: Lower Decks, and more!

In September this year, the largest unitary local authority in Europe effectively declared bankruptcy. Birmingham Council, which serves over a million people, issued a Section 114 notice on 5 September, meaning it can’t fund its forecast spending for the next twelve months. The consequences for the residents of England’s second city are dire — the council […]

On 8 September, the Department for Transport unveiled a minor funding programme for green public transport. It came with a claim that the government is cementing the UK’s position as ‘a world leader’ in ‘climate resilience’, and that the Conservative Party’s measures are ‘helping us keep our transport network resilient into the future’. What Transport […]

When it comes to the limits of Labour’s ambitions for economic change, it is hard to know where to begin. In just a few weeks leading up to the Labour conference, the party has backtracked on three fundamentals that once underpinned its programme: green industrial investment, reforms to workers’ rights, and tax justice. In all […]