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There are so many reasons to look forward to Thanksgiving. There’s the food, of course, but there’s also the chance to reconnect with our families and share memorable experiences with our loved ones. It’s not just full bellies and smiles, though. We all have that one uncle who, against everyone’s wishes, against the very fabric of this holiday, must always create an uncomfortable environment. You know, the one who’s always talking about how great Steely Dan is. The self-certified “Dan Fan.”

We shouldn’t expect everyone to have the same values and opinions. Thanksgiving should be an opportunity to respectfully put our differences aside—to laugh about our shared memories and strengthen our familial bonds. Instead, my uncle lectures me about the production quality of the band’s 1977 Grammy Award-winning album Aja. Or he’s force-feeding us other abhorrent cookie-cutter talking points about cameos from the Doobie Brothers’ vocalist Michael MacDonald or the fact that the duo met at Bard College. Completely tone deaf.

“We” are losing the country to “them.” Very recent comments by now-Speaker Mike Johnson brought to mind Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s “God damn America” sermon for the Bulwark’s Tim Miller. Asked if America faces a time of judgment, Johnson replied: You all know the terrible state that we’re in. . . . The faith in our institutions is the lowest it’s ever been in the history of our nation. The culture is so dark and depraved that it almost seems irredeemable at this point. The church attendance in America dropped below 50 percent for the first time in our history since they began to measure the data sixty years ago. And the number of people who do not believe in absolute truth is now above the majority for the first time. One in three teen girls contemplated suicide last year. One in four high school students identify as something other than straight. We’re losing the country. The divergent right-wing outrage over Wright’s sermon and non-response to Johnson’s criticism of America reflects more than a double standard for black preachers and white politicians, Miller finds.

Israel is carrying out a campaign to make Gaza uninhabitable. This campaign includes destroying all of Gaza’s hospitals. The message Israel is sending is clear - Nowhere is safe. If you stay you die.

The post Chris Hedges: Israel’s War on Hospitals appeared first on MintPress News.

When Sam Altman was ousted as CEO of OpenAI, some hinted that lurid depravities lay behind his downfall. Surely, OpenAI’s board wouldn’t have toppled him if there weren’t some sordid story about to hit the headlines? But the reporting all seems to be saying that it was God, not Sex, that lay behind Altman’s downfall. […]

The MVC team discuss Sidney Lumet and Paddy Chayefsky’s biting satire about the television news industry.

That’s gotta be some kind of crime How will the U.S. Supreme Court take to having a lower court essentially invalidate its recent Voting Rights Act decision in Allen v. Milligan? New York Times: A federal appeals court moved on Monday to drastically weaken the Voting Rights Act, issuing a ruling that would effectively bar private citizens and civil rights groups from filing lawsuits under a central provision of the landmark civil rights law. The ruling, made by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, found that only the federal government could bring a legal challenge under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, a crucial part of the law that prohibits election or voting practices that discriminate against Americans based on race. The opinion is almost certain to be appealed to the Supreme Court. The court’s current conservative majority has issued several key decisions in recent years that have weakened the Voting Rights Act. But the justices have upheld the law in other instances, including in a June ruling that found Alabama had drawn a racially discriminatory congressional map. Yeah, that’s bullshit.

In the spring of 1957, in search of a summer job before heading west to graduate school, I answered a classified New York Times ad for an editorial assistant. The personnel clerk at the paper was condescending. Bachelor’s degrees are a dime a dozen, she told me. For their newsroom, she said, they were looking for Ph.D. candidates and Rhodes scholars. Still, sighing at her own generosity, she let me fill out the paperwork. I did so, but not being much of a Times reader then, I quickly moved on. I spent the rest of that day filling out other applications around town. When I got home my mother said, “You had a crank call, Bobby. A man said that,... New York Times Sports Department">Read more

Source: Farewell to the <i>New York Times</i> Sports Department appeared first on TomDispatch.com.

Recently there has been a controversy over Bin Laden’s “Letter to America”, which he wrote in 2002, ostensibly to explain why Al Qaeda attacked America, and what they wanted from America. The Guardian, which ever since British Intelligence made them smash their own servers to destroy Wikileaks documents has been worthless removed the original translation.

Kids on Tiktok had discovered the letter and put up videos saying, in essence, “you know, he made some good points.” Such thinking for themselves is not acceptable and TikTok has also hidden the hashtag.

Gross misconduct still leads to minimal consequences – leaving officers who abuse with their rank and pension intact, writes Jamie Klingler

“An anti-L.G.B.T.Q. group is organizing a boycott of Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade over performances by nonbinary Broadway actors, in the latest attempt to force companies to reverse course on social issues that some far-right groups consider too liberal.” — New York Times

As you may have heard, we at One Million Moms will be boycotting this year’s Macy’s parade because two performers from Broadway musicals are members of the so-called LGBTQ community. As good Christians from Mississippi, we cannot sit by and let a pair of LGBTQ musical theater professionals up there in New York City get away with singing and dancing in flashy costumes to carefully rehearsed choreography.

In today's BCTV Daily Dispatch: Doctor Who, Night Court, Gen V, Invincible, The Walking Dead: TOWL, Squid Game, Rick and Morty, and more!

As Israel wages its propaganda war over Al-Shifa, it is simultaneously laying siege to yet another medical facility.

The post Al-Shifa Hospital, Hamas’s Tunnels, and Israeli Propaganda appeared first on The Intercept.

Being a twin (as our author knows) cracks open our ideas of the perfectly bounded self and might liberate us all

- by Helena de Bres

Read at Aeon

They’re entertaining, of course – but research highlights a deeper psychological reason viewers are drawn to the bad guys

- by Ana Gantman & Jordan Wylie

Read at Psyche

With only a fraction of local government audits now completed on time and a significant decline in their quality, a fundamental pillar of devolution is under threat, leaving communities in the dark on their council finances, experts warn

A battle is brewing in the U.S. Copyright Office over artificial intelligence’s use of copyrighted material — and Big Tech is spending millions to ensure they win.

Climate-conscious voters are locked out by our 'winner-takes-all' electoral system, a new report finds

THE Pokémon craze is alive and well in Sawtell and surrounds thanks to the formation of a club created by Matt Tobin, a year 4 teacher at William Bayldon Public School. The Sawtell Pokémon Club is an evolution of weekly morning sessions Matt held at the school to encourage reading and positive social interactions between...

The post Sawtell Pokémon Club promote social connection and education appeared first on News Of The Area.

‘GARDEN of Life’ is an upcoming ceramic and painting exhibition at Sawtell Art Gallery (SAG), opening at 6pm on Saturday 18 November. This exhibition is billed as a tribute to women in the arts from around the world, celebrating spirit, colour, art and culture. Advertise with News of The Area today. It’s worth it for...

The post Sawtell Art Gallery exhibition pays tribute to women in the arts appeared first on News Of The Area.

THE ORARA Valley Community Hub Action Plan was officially introduced to the public at the Glenreagh markets on Saturday 4 November. The Action Plan represents the culmination of a six-month process involving engagement and consultation with the Orara Valley community to identify their needs. Advertise with News of The Area today. It’s worth it for...

The post Orara Valley Community Hub Action Plan moves forward appeared first on News Of The Area.