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The pro-Israel lobby donated around $95,000 to Johnson after he led the House passage of an extra $14 billion for Israel.

The post After House Speaker Mike Johnson Pushed Through Israel Aid Package, AIPAC Cash Came Flowing In appeared first on The Intercept.

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LOLOLOLOL!!! Onstage at a New Hampshire campaign event on Wednesday night, former president Donald Trump bragged about many things: his immigration policies, his passage of a tax cut, the unemployment rates during his administration. He also bragged that he correctly identified a whale on a cognitive test when he was president. “I think it was 30, 35 questions,” the former president said of the test, which he said involved a few animal-identification questions. “They always show you the first one, like a giraffe, a tiger, or this, or that, and then: a whale. ‘Which one is the whale?’ Okay. And that goes on for three or four [questions], and then it gets harder, and harder, and harder.” Trump, 77, said he aced the exam, which he said he took to silence the critics who claim he may be too old or cognitively incapable to run for president. Chief among those critics is former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley, who — to gain ground on Trump ahead of the New Hampshire primary — has sharpened her pitch against him by doubling down on questioning his age and cognitive abilities.

Awwwww… London Zoo’s gorilla keepers were carrying out their usual morning duties when they first spotted that Mjukuu was in labour. Giving the experienced mum some space, they monitored her via CCTV cameras installed in the dens.   Moments after giving birth in the privacy of their back dens, second-time mum Mjukuu could be seen gently cradling her newborn, before allowing the troop’s curious youngsters Alika and Gernot to examine the intriguing new arrival. London Zoo’s Primates Section Manager Kathryn Sanders said: “We started our day as normal – we gave the gorillas their breakfast and began our cleaning routines. When we returned to their back dens, we could see Mjukuu was starting to stretch and squat – a sign that she was in labour.

The agency has pumped the brakes on Civil Rights Act investigations out of apparent fear that a Louisiana challenge could make it to the Supreme Court.

The post The EPA Is Backing Down From Environmental Justice Cases Nationwide appeared first on The Intercept.

Source - Patreon

Source - Patreon

Source - Patreon

Will Barrett and Roberts save Chevron? Ian Millhiser has a tiny bit of hope: Four justices appeared absolutely determined, on Wednesday, to overrule one of the most consequential Supreme Court decisions in the Court’s entire history. Chevron v. National Resources Defense Council (1984) is arguably as important to the development of federal administrative law — an often technical area of the law, but one that touches on literally every single aspect of American life — as Brown v. Board of Education (1954) was important to the development of the law of racial equality. Chevron is a foundational decision, which places strict limits on unelected federal judges’ ability to make policy decisions for the entire nation.

The Supremes blocked his most comprehensive student loan relief policy but it hasn’t stopped them from doing what they can. He should get some credit for it: The Biden administration on Friday announced another $5 billion in debt forgiveness for 74,000 student loan borrowers. Although the Supreme Court blocked Biden’s signature student loan forgiveness plan, his administration has found alternative ways to provide relief to more than 3.7 million people. The batch of debt cancelation announced Friday stemmed, in part, from his administration’s changes to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program. The majority of borrowers who will benefit from the latest round of forgiveness are teachers, nurses, firefighters and other public service professionals, per a White House release. The remaining borrowers who will benefit have repaid their loans for at least 20 years but never got the relief they were entitled to under their income-driven repayment plans.

Where natural disasters are getting more deadly.

The post The Landslide Problem appeared first on Nautilus.

I know you’ll be shocked to hear this, but it turns out that corporations have been massively profiteering over the pandemic. A new report claims “resounding evidence” shows that high corporate profits are a main driver of ongoing inflation, and companies continue to keep prices high even as their inflationary costs drop. The report, compiled by the progressive Groundwork Collaborative thinktank, found corporate profits accounted for about 53% of inflation during last year’s second and third quarters. Profits drove just 11% of price growth in the 40 years prior to the pandemic, according to the report. Prices for consumers rose by 3.4% over the past year, but input costs for producers increased by just 1%, according to the authors’ calculations which were based on data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis and National Income and Products Accounts. “Costs have come down substantially, and while corporations were quick to pass on their increased costs to consumers, they are surprisingly less quick to pass on their savings to consumers,” Liz Pancotti, a Groundwork strategic advisor and paper co-author, told the Guardian.

Doctor Who executive producer Joel Collins looked to reassure fans that Russell T. Davies will protect the show from "Disneyisation."

The hardened Yemeni rebel force can’t be deterred without risky and costly U.S. escalations.

The post The Houthis May Have Checkmated Biden in Red Sea Standoff appeared first on The Intercept.

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 »