Reading

I know, I messed up. I didn’t claim a spot for you at Camp Half-Blood, and now they’re saying it’s full, and you have to join the waitlist. I realize you had your heart set on that camp. It’s just the winged messenger came around heralding registrations were open so early, and I wasn’t prepared to shell out for it when he arrived. Who knows what their summer plans are in winter? What if we wanted to go on a vacation that conflicted with the dates? And then I sort of forgot about it, and now it’s too late.

Honestly, Camp Half-Blood would have been a stretch for our family anyway. I know these summer programs can be expensive, but have you seen the fees? A Staff of Caduceus? The Aegis Shield? I always suspected your friends’ families were better off than we are, but I had no idea they’re weaponry-so-golden-foes-get-distracted-in-battle rich. And that’s not even for a whole day! What do all the other demigods do when camp lets out at three?

In response to South Africa’s suit before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) charging Israel with genocide in Gaza, Australian politicians have refused to support a significant international means of ending this slaughter of Palestinians. Instead, party leaders search for words to disguise cowardice, to camouflage the lack of courage required to avoid offending Israel Continue reading »

The ‘United Nations Command’ provides the US with the perfect camouflaged vehicle for a global military alliance against China and North Korea. Over the past couple of years there has been a flurry of activity linking NATO, and some of its constituent countries with the states of American East Asia, principally Japan, South Korea, Australia Continue reading »

General Soeharto who ruled Indonesia for 32 years last century used to stage a ‘Festival of Democracy’ every five years. This was export quality irony – the results were known before the poll papers were printed. That’s not the case this year as the Republic now has an apparently independent Komisi Pemilihan Umum, (General Elections Continue reading »

The contested concept of ‘impartiality’ lies at the heart of running battles between unionised staff and news organisations in Australia over coverage of Israel’s genocidal onslaught. A rash of Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) staff departures and the suppression of journalists critical of their organisations’ reporting on Gaza has been called a betrayal of the role Continue reading »

Evidence for a 520 km diameter impact crater, 3 times larger than the Chicxulub crater left from the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs, has been discovered in Deniliquin, Australia. Close analogies exist between the atmospheric effects of large asteroid impacts and those of greenhouse-induced climate change in terms of initial clouding by aerosols, consequent cooling, Continue reading »

This report reveals how US intelligence agencies and CSIS (Canadian Security Intelligence Service) manufactured an inflated “China Threat” in 2018 that mutated over the next five years to become Canada’s “China Panic” with far reaching implications. This discussion paper reveals how CSIS and the Five Eyes manufactured a “China Threat” in 2018 that turned into Continue reading »

Every time I visit Gaza, I witness how people have sunk further into despair, with the struggle for survival consuming every hour. In the south, around Rafah, makeshift structures of plastic sheeting have mushroomed everywhere including on the streets, with people trying to protect themselves from the cold and rain. Each one of these flimsy Continue reading »

“Geopolitical divides are preventing us from coming together around global solutions for global challenges,” said United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres. At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Wednesday, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres warned that multilateralism that includes often overlooked governments in the Global South is the only solution to the rapidly developing Continue reading »

If you pull way back and take the historical perspective, a lot of stories, aren’t.

I stand second to few in my abhorrence of the Israeli project to ethnic cleanse and genocide Palestine, but it’s been ongoing for a long time and involves about five million Palestinians plus various supporters of genocide and people trying to stop genocide. It’s moving towards the end-game, as Israel loses deterrence because of its military’s sheer incompetence and changing military technology, but it’s playing out more or less as expected: the tiny colonial enclave surrounded by hostile natives is in decline as its super power sponsor is in decline.

The relentless wail of Donald Trump How dare Nikki Haley use his own strategy to beat him: Former President Donald Trump might owe Sen. Ted Cruz an apology. And no, it’s not about the long list of things Trump has said about Cruz and his family. Rather, it’s about how Cruz and his allies complained in 2016 about how non-Republican voters helped hand the nomination to Trump. They even tried to formally change the party’s rules to incentivize states to move away from elections that allowed independent and possibly even Democratic voters to weigh in on the Republican presidential race. Trump ran away with the 2016 Republican presidential nomination in part due to his sheer dominance in these so-called “open primaries.” While at the same time, Cruz struggled to keep up by winning in closed primaries and caucuses. Now, Trump is sounding the alarm at the possibility that former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley could use his old playbook against him.

Nabanita Sircar examines the fanfare surrounding the opening of what is being called the 'Hindu Vatican', the new Rama temple in Ayodhya and how the ruling BJP are using it to garner votes

Biden bridges it in N.C. President Joe Biden visited North Carolina on Thursday to remind Tar Heel State citizens what his infrastructure plan has already delivered: Who remembers, you know, during the pandemic when schools were shut down and … the kids weren’t able to attend schools. They had to go online. How many of you spent time in McDonald parking lots tapping into their Internet so you could do the homework with your kid? Look, think of all the workers who need Internet to do their jobs when they’re working from home. So many are working from home — have to work. Small businesses need Internet to reach more customers here at home and literally around the world. And our seniors who need it in connection with their doctors through telemedicine because they can’t make it to the doctors in person. High-speed Internet isn’t a luxury anymore, it’s an absolute necessity. It’s an absolute — (applause) — no, it really is. And yet, when I became president, around 24 million Americans didn’t have access to affordable high-speed Internet. And for millions more, their Internet connection was limited or unreliable.

MAGA Republicans don’t want to fix the border Republicans no longer have abortion to run on in 2024 thanks to Donald Trump and his SCOTUS appointments. They’re running away from abortion. With good cause. They have lost everywhere abortion rights have been on the ballot in election after election since SCOTUS overturned Roe in June of 2022. So they’ve latched onto scare-mongering about brown-skinned immigrants, the real ones at the southern border and the even scarier Others they can conjure in the minds of their voters. Immigration is too good a campaign weapon to lose before November. Laura Ingraham claimed on her show Wednesday that she’d spoken with Trump and he’s adamant that House Republicans reject the bipartisan immigration bill passed by the U.S. Senate. Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson is on board (Meidas Touch): Republican Speaker Mike Johnson admitted to Laura Ingraham on Fox News Wednesday night that he has been talking to Donald Trump “pretty frequently” about a possible deal being negotiated to fix problems at the border.

Mai Tran began catsitting in 2021 while Tran was on pandemic unemployment, often staying overnight in people’s homes. Tran has now cared for twenty-two cats and traveled to ten apartments all over New York City, observing the interior lives of cat owners and appeasing their neuroses. From home vet visits to black eyes to refugee cats, Chronicles of a Catsitter documents the most memorable days on the job.

It’s late August, and I’m lugging a duffel bag to the Bronx to stay with my friend M. for a week. She’s recovering from a breast augmentation, and I’ll be taking care of her cats and helping out with the groceries and household chores until she can lift things.

I arrive at night, the same day of the surgery. M.’s friend E., a beautiful actress on strike, lets me in and takes me up to see M. She’s groggy but has enough energy to show me her new boobs, which look great, as all boobs do. We order delivery from a chain burrito place, and E. explains UFO conspiracy theories to us until she has to leave, which is when M. gets up to explain her house to me.

European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde launched a stinging attack on the economics profession on Wednesday (17 January), accusing analysts of having “blind faith” in their models, which often bear little connection to reality. Speaking at an event entitled “How to Trust Economics” at the World Economic Forum in Davos, the ECB chief also suggested […]

Dear Mister Poe,

At the end of this month, we will be reaching the conclusion of your one-year lease. I wish I could say that I am sorry to see you go.

I’ll admit that I was initially impressed by your literary credentials and surprisingly fine taste in furniture. Due to your patterns of negligent and disruptive behavior, however, I am unable to return your security deposit.

Within the past three months alone, the violations of your lease and our community standards have included:

Rather than adapting to a new political landscape, leaders are laying roadblocks in place, writes Emma DeSouza

An award-winning investigative journalist contextualizes The Lever’s critical reporting on Boeing.

Eight out of ten voters want a shift in direction but fear there is little difference between the two major parties, according to a new poll for Byline Times.