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Antisemitism, like all forms of racism, is a scourge and Australia has not been immune to it. Traditional antisemitism is not hard to identify or call out whether it is in graffiti, slogans or slurs. However, when it comes to debate over Israel and Palestine, what is or is not antisemitic is a highly political Continue reading »

Seventeen months ago the US State Department officially declared the US will “NEVER” recognise Crimea as part of Russia. Three months ago Ukrainian President Zelensky vowed to “take back” Crimea. Is this possible? In June 2016, I visited Crimea with a delegation from the Center for Citizen Initiatives. This is a US organisation which has conducted Continue reading »

The real reason for the AUKUS submarine deal might well have been the U.S. wish for a port and base in Australia from where it can send its own nuclear submarines to harass China. The offer to Australia to buy nuclear submarines was likely only made to remove Australian public resistance to the stationing of Continue reading »

(Some thoughts on the efforts to regulate children’s use of social media) Have you noticed how many people ages 65+ watch television every day? According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, almost 90% of those in this age bracket watch TV Every.Single.Day!!!! ::gasp:: And that data was collected before the pandemic! By <hand-waving logics of a […]

~ Today's Water Cooler: Open Thread ~

Mifepristone is safer than aspirin. Much safer. The FDA approved the drug for early abortions...

Mastering the art of omelet-making is a must for serious after-dinner entertainers. With a little practice you will quickly have the expertise to prepare 20-30 individual omelets, right in front of your guests, in a matter of minutes. This dessert omelet is an easy one and requires no special talents; it is finished in the […]

The last 24 hours I’m not saying he’s having a mental breakdown because I think he actually believes this is a good strategy. But it’s still startling to see how it looks one right after another:

“When Republican megadonor Harlan Crow isn’t lavishing Justice Clarence Thomas with free trips on his private plane and yacht, he lives a quiet life in Dallas among his historical collections. These collections include Hitler artifacts, plus a garden full of statues of the 20th century’s worst despots.” — The Washingtonian

Welcome to my home. Did you have much trouble finding it? I realized that “take a left once you pass the skull on a spike” was sort of vague. Yes, there are multiple heads on spikes. They’re simply a reminder of the atrocities of which humanity is capable.

So, what do you think of my place? It’s difficult to find a mansion that’s been bathed in blood, but I told my realtor I just needed a house with character. How about a quick tour?

Straight down this hallway, you’ll find the kitchen, and next to that is the sitting area. Across the hall is the library and, of course, the bedrooms are upstairs.

Does it matter? New polling: With former President Donald Trump now formally charged on criminal charges, a majority of Americans (53%) believe he intentionally did something illegal, according to a new ABC News/Ipsos poll. An additional 11% say he acted wrongly but not intentionally. Only 20% believe Trump did not do anything wrong, and 16% say they don’t know, per the ABC News/Ipsos poll conducted using Ipsos’ KnowledgePanel. As part of the Tuesday charges against the former president, Manhattan prosecutors alleged that Trump engaged in a “scheme” to boost his election chances during the 2016 presidential race through a string of hush money payments made by others to boost his campaign, and then “repeatedly and fraudulently falsified New York business records” to conceal that criminal conduct. A “statement of facts” paired with the 34-count indictment alleges that Trump discussed the scheme while he was in the Oval Office and made reimbursement payments to his lawyer for a year while in office. Trump pleaded not guilty to all 34 felony counts and has long denied any wrongdoing.

Newbon inquest rules suicide – but the right are targeting the one man who wasn’t even mentioned Right-wingers, including the ‘Labour’ right, have again joined with the media in harassing renowned Jewish author Michael Rosen for daring to complain about the racist bastardisation of his work, after Dr Peter Newbon, who published a disgusting image […]

By Kevin Cooper / Original to ScheerPost As a man of African American descent who has studied and learned the truth about American history— the real truth about the real history of this country—I have learned about the death penalty—how it was and continues to be used and misused on poor and Black people especially.  […]

The post Kevin Cooper: An Undeniable Truth appeared first on scheerpost.com.

This tiny hovercraft went viral.

A couple of years ago, Robert Lucas gave an outline of what the new classical school of macroeconomics thought about the latest downturns in the US economy and its future prospects. After stating his view that the US recession that started in 2008 was basically caused by a run for liquidity, Lucas then goes on […]

Tiffany Dover is ready to exit the shadows The conspiracy caucus’ legacy may linger long enough to bite us the next time a nasty virus appears. Brandy Zadrozny interviews Tiffany Dover, a Tennessee nurse unwillingly placed by anti-vaxxers at the center of their conspiracy theories (NBC News): I’d been following Tiffany since that day, Dec. 17, 2020. Like thousands of others, I first saw her on a livestream during the national rollout of Covid vaccines to front-line workers, where Tiffany became one of the first people in the U.S. to get a shot. I was also watching when she fainted immediately after, launching a wave of misinformation and conspiracy theories that would eventually unravel her life.  The modern anti-vaccine movement was powered by unverified stories of the dead and damaged. Tiffany wasn’t the first person to be swallowed up in an anti-vaccine propaganda campaign, and she wouldn’t be the last.  The unsettling thing about it — to me and the more well-meaning conspiracy theorists who took up an interest in Tiffany’s case — was that she seemed to just disappear. Imaginations ran wild.

They’ll have Trumpism without so much Trump in it The persistent Mr. Frank Luntz delights us with yet another look into the minds and desires of Trump voters. He finds them, curiously, outside rural diners. He doesn’t specify how he selects his focus groups — more than two dozen! — and gets them to sit still for him. Some things haven’t changed. Like their sense of victimization (New York Times): Many felt ignored and forgotten by the professional political class before Mr. Trump, and victimized and ridiculed for liking him now. Like Republican primary voters nationwide, the focus group participants still respect him, most still believe in him, a majority think the 2020 election was stolen, and half still want him to run again in 2024. Others want Trump without so much Trumpiness in a 2024 presidential candidate. They want “a candidate who champions Mr. Trump’s agenda but with decency, civility and a commitment to personal responsibility and accountability.” Um, no, they don’t. That’s the difference between Luntz reporting what Trump voters say they want and considering what their choices actually reflect.

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1. You’re wearing pajamas—not sexy or cute ones.

2. When a friend visits, you’re drinking a beer on the couch.

3. You’re not wearing makeup.

4. You don’t really feel like going to the party. When you do, you feel awkward and alienated, and you leave early.

5. You’re wearing baggy sweat clothes (but not training for a boxing match).

6. Your apartment is messy.

7. You’re smoking a cigarette.

8. You don’t really feel like going to the party. When you do, you drink too much and jump up on the coffee table to sing a song, and everybody’s awkwardly amused, except your one irritatingly earnest friend who’s concerned about you.

9. Your hair is not styled in any particular way. It’s not perfectly straight and shiny, or fixed into an updo, or big and bouncy. It’s just sort of limp and wavy.

10. One shirttail is untucked in the front.

11. You bring a six-pack of beers to a friend’s house and crack one open right away when you get there.

12. No one’s heard from you in a while, maybe three days.

13. You didn’t shave, and you have a bit of stubble (face or legs).

14. You’re watching television.

So, back on March 16th I wrote an article about the Chinese brokered Iran-Saudi Arabia peace deal. At the end of the article I wrote:

I am most interested to see if this will mean some sort of peace can be worked out in Yemen, or if it means the Iranians will abandon the Houthis, which would be sad.

Turns out peace with Yemen was almost certainly part of the deal:

Saudi Arabia has decided to end the war in Yemen . A Saudi delegation will travel to Sana’a next week to conclude an agreement with Yemen, Reuters reported

In today's BCTV Daily Dispatch: Yellowjackets, Star Trek: Picard, Doctor Who, Always Sunny, Obi-Wan Kenobi, The Boys, Ahsoka, and tons more!

Greece’s worst rail disaster ever is the result of the same corporate cost-cutting and deregulation that led to East Palestine and Lac-Mégantic disasters.