From billionaires bankrolling judges’ luxury trips to the politics of Israeli soccer hooligans, here’s a roundup of our reporting from the past week.
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How the Russia hawks have fallen … for Putin Not that long ago the American right was militarist, love-it-or-leave-it, and rabidly anti-Communist/anti-Russia. To a comical “no more than ten to twenty million killed, tops” and “Bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb Iran” degree, even. Fight ’em over there so we don’t fight ’em over here. War was good business, good politics, and a resume-builder for aspiring politicans. Americans of all political stripes reflexively pulled for the underdogs facing imperialist aggression (unless we were the imperialists). Then came the BIg Shift. Now righties are fans of authoritarians and dictators. They’ve soured on all-American democracy and have turned fascism-curious. Let Russia have Ukraine, whatevs. It’s been in the making since the 1990s. Susan B.
An FOI request has revealed that the data of people who are referred to Prevent is being shared more widely than previously known, including with airports, ports and immigration services. Data is also being re-used after cases have been marked ‘no further action’. ORG uncovered this information when the Met police sent a poorly-redacted response […]
Year-end roundup time…here’s a few more recommended 2023 Blu-ray reissues for your creel: Dance Craze (BFI; Region ‘B’ locked) – In the book Reggae International, a collection of essays compiled by Stephen Davis and Peter Simon, sub-culturalist Dick Hebdige writes about the UK’s short-lived yet highly influential “2-tone” movement of the early 1980s: Behind the fusion of rock and reggae lay the hope that the humour, wit, and style of working-class kids from Britain’s black and white communities could find a common voice in 2-tone; that a new, hybrid cultural identity could emerge along with the new music. The larger message was usually left implicit. There was nothing solemn or evangelical about 2-tone. It offered an alternative to the well-intentioned polemics of the more highly educated punk groups, who tended to top the bill at many of the Rock Against Racism gigs.
One of Obama’s most significant foreign policy achievements was his move toward normalizing relations with Cuba. Trump and Biden have torn that up.
The post In a Major Snub to Obama, Biden Is Sticking With Trump When It Comes to Cuba Policy appeared first on The Intercept.
Another round of Hitler talk for the fascist faithful And some concrete plans to make it happen: Lovin’ those dictators: New promises: Bold predictions: Sure. Remember this? It was November 2, 2020 Not that his followers, enablers and henchmen care of course. It’s just Trump, playing his greatest hits and nothing matters except owning the libs. Dementia: And then there’s just sheer fun for the folks: He hasn’t gotten any better over the years. He’s gotten worse. Oh well, Happy Hollandaise folks. Let’s take a break, shall we?
He has a novel (final) solution for Social Security funding Asked in New Hampshire whether he plans to raise the retirement age he had some great news. It isn’t going broke after all! “What I don’t think people are acknowledging the way they should is that life expectancy in this country is declining. And so, you know, we used to think it was just gonna keep going up. I mean, it’s been a pretty steep decline. So I don’t see how you raise it if life expectancy is declining.” What a relief, huh? The old people are dying early! Whew! DeSantis said that the decrease in lifespans isn’t “just from COVID,” but is “from a lot of other things,” including “deaths of despair, overdoses” and “other things, that have happened that I think the government hasn’t been willing to really be honest about.” Apparently, he didn’t express any particular concern about this decrease. He clearly sees it as a big plus, saving him from having to support raising the retirement age. He’s here to tell you the truth which the government refuses to do! We’re all gonna be dead soon!
The Australian government has declined a US request to send an Australian warship to the Red Sea. A taskforce of ten countries will patrol the area to protect commercial tankers against Houthi attacks.
The post US requests Australian warship to protect Israeli shipping in Red Sea first appeared on Solidarity Online.
Stephen Miller is only 38 years old. He sounds like somebody’s crotchety old grandfather there, living in some pre-1960s world. I suppose he’s speaking to the aging Fox boomer audience but I hate to tell him, purple and pink hair and piercings and tattoos have been around for decades now. We’ve been hearing an awful lot about appropriate dress and proper decorum from Republicans lately. But seriously, don’t you think they should take a look in the mirror? How about whatever this is? Let’s just say that the left doesn’t have a monopoly on wild hairdos and garish fashion. And those Fox News boomers need to take an extra dose of their Prevagen. This is from 1972: Miller’s idea seems to be that liberals and progressives are out of step with mainstream America but that requires a very creative definition of mainstream. Here’s how the dictionary defines it: having, reflecting, or being compatible with the prevailing attitudes and values of a society or group To put this into political terms, all you have to do is look at the popular vote counts since 2016 to see where the mainstream of America really is. Not that this is anything new.
It was only a matter of time I confess I didn’t see this coming. And I should have. Of course the normalization of the narcissistic imbecile Donald Trump would lead inexorably to a Nixon revival on the right. After all, how can you hold him responsible for his crimes if everything Trump has done is perfectly above board? Politico reports: In late August, Republican presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy took a break from his typical campaign events to make a pit stop at an unusual venue for mainstream Republicans: The Richard Nixon Presidential Library. Speaking before a packed house, Ramaswamy was slated to deliver a speech on foreign policy. But his opening remarks served the more provocative purpose of challenging Nixon’s much-maligned status in the annals of conservative history. “He is by and away the most underappreciated president of our modern history in this country — probably in all of American history,” said Ramaswamy, without a hint of irony. Ramaswamy’s homage to America’s most disgraced ex-president perplexed some liberal commentators, for whom Nixon remains the ultimate symbol of conservative criminality.
I really didn’t want to write this article; I’d rather be saying something about the theological meaning of Christmas. Much safer. But John Menadue wrote to me last week with a challenge: “It may look too dramatic, but it would be highly symbolic if the Pope went to Gaza to celebrate Mass on Christmas day Continue reading »
Exmouth Gulf threatened with industrial development. Africa being forgotten as global economies develop. Australia’s emissions reductions likely to stall long before we get to net zero. Read on for the weekly environment update. Living in our environmental bubble Florence Miller is the Director of the UK-based Environmental Funders Network, the aim of which is to Continue reading »
Hymn # 7,000 – “Onward Christian Soldiers, Marching as to War” As Christmas approaches we envisage the serene nativity scene of baby Jesus in Bethlehem. It’s a time of reflection and peace as two billion Christians focus on the reason they have Christmas and stop to celebrate the birth of their saviour. There’s no such Continue reading »
The Atlas Network’s main goal has been to spot and train global talent in the ultra free-market libertarian field and connect it to the free-flowing money that the alliance functions to assist. They now have at least 515 partner organisations in over 100 nations. Secrecy is key for the corporations and plutocrats funding this model, Continue reading »
The results from the OECD’s PISA tests released last week showed that in Australia demography is destiny, revealing that by the time young people reach Year 9 a staggering five years of learning separates students from advantaged and disadvantaged backgrounds. This week, a major report advanced a compelling explanation for our educational woes – and Continue reading »
We’ve never before had a war like this, a war of complete consensus, a war of total silence, a war of blind support; a war without objection, without protest, without refusal to serve, without opposition, neither in the beginning or in the middle. A unanimous war, with wall-to-wall approval – excluding the Arab citizens of Continue reading »
Moms For Liberty, flash in the pan It looks like another vaunted group of culture warriors bites the dust: Moms for Liberty, a national right-wing advocacy group, was born in Florida as a response to Covid-19 school closures and mask mandates. But it quickly became just as well known for pushing policies branded as anti-L.G.B.T.Q. by opponents. So when one of its founders, Bridget Ziegler, recently told the police that she and her husband, who is under criminal investigation for sexual assault, had a consensual sexual encounter with another woman, the perceived disconnect between her public stances and private life fueled intense pressure for her to resign from the Sarasota County School Board. “Most of our community could not care less what you do in the privacy of your own home, but your hypocrisy takes center stage,” said Sally Sells, a Sarasota resident and the mother of a fifth-grader, told Ms. Ziegler during a tense school board meeting this week. Ms. Ziegler, whose husband has denied wrongdoing, said little and did not resign. Ms. Sells was one of dozens of speakers who criticized Ms.
Why did the CDC hand a groundbreaking harm-reduction program over to a new firm with “zero experience” in public health?
The post A Defense-Linked Contractor Took Over a Successful CDC Anti-Overdose Initiative. It Imploded in a Day. appeared first on The Intercept.
A film about the PPE scandal did not declare to some contributors it was being funded by a company that won £203 million in Government PPE contracts