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Fri, 23/06/2023 - 09:00
Cutting Medicare and SS is in their DNA I’m sure you remember that moment. [S]etting aside the noteworthy yet individual promises from Republican politicians, earlier this year, in a quick-witted maneuver, President Joe Biden got dozens of Republicans to collectively agree they would not cut funding for Medicare or Social Security during his State of the Union speec “Instead of making the wealthy pay their fair share, some Republicans want Medicare and Social Security to sunset. I’m not saying it’s the majority,” Biden said. Republicans quickly cut him off with shouts of “No!,” coupled with visible head shakes and thumbs downs. Your favorite heckler Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) even stood up to shout, “Liar!” at Biden. He continued, going off script,“So folks, as we all apparently agree, Social Security and Medicare is off the books now, right?” Republicans began applauding in response to his question.  “Alright, we got unanimity!” Biden replied.
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Fri, 23/06/2023 - 07:00
And the other one has always been intellectually and morally challenged. Now….? The networks don’t seem to realize this. Or they don’t care: In the week following President Joe Biden’s April campaign launch, CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC continuously emphasized Biden’s age, mentioning it 588 times, while mentioning former President Donald Trump’s age only 72 times. On April 25, Biden announced his reelection bid for 2024. Biden, largely focused on campaigning to protect “freedoms” against “MAGA extremism,” has long dealt with right-wing criticism of his age. In the week following his campaign announcement, Biden’s age and mental “fitness” were repeatedly topics of conversation across cable news. CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC often described Biden’s age as his campaign’s biggest hurdle.
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Fri, 23/06/2023 - 05:30
From 538: When Theresa M. started attending a support group for breast cancer survivors, she didn’t expect political issues like abortion to be a part of the conversation. But since last summer, when her home state of Florida — freed from the requirements of Roe v. Wade by the Supreme Court — began imposing new abortion restrictions, younger women who were newly diagnosed with breast cancer started to voice concerns. “They worry if you find out you’re pregnant, you might have to stop your cancer treatment,” said Theresa, who is 58 and asked that her full name be withheld for personal reasons. “For some kinds of cancer, that’s a death sentence. But not an immediate death sentence, so you don’t get an abortion.” Like many other Americans, Theresa’s views on abortion crystallized in the aftermath of last summer’s ruling, becoming sharper and harder to reshape. An issue that was once seen primarily as a mobilizing force for the religious right has risen to the forefront at the state and national level.
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Fri, 23/06/2023 - 04:55
A recent article by Ben Bradley in The New Yorker magazine, ‘Daniel Ellsberg’s life beyond the Pentagon Papers’ made me think again about the fate of the two courageous anti-American whistleblowers, Edward Snowdon and Julian Assange. Daniel Ellsberg, who is regarded as the first whistleblower in United States, died recently at the ripe old age Continue reading »
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Fri, 23/06/2023 - 04:54
Gambling is normalised and celebrated which has led to the highest levels of gambling losses per capita in the world – 40 per cent higher for poker machines and 20 per cent higher for online gambling – well ahead of any other country. I have not met a parent who is not horrified by the Continue reading »
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Fri, 23/06/2023 - 04:53
How different it might have been if the Catholic Church had kept out of it. If, instead of clergy expressing institutional male outrage, it had been Little Company of Mary Sisters (LCM), in the sensible attire of modern nuns, with SRN, and perhaps even, MBA and MBBS, after their names, saying, “This is our hospital. Continue reading »
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Fri, 23/06/2023 - 04:51
Why does Washington believe they have the right to conduct joint military exercises off the Chinese Pacific coast, but will not tolerate even the barest hint of those activities by China and Cuba in ‘their’ maritime neighbourhood? American suspicions that China is militarising Cuba has been met with the Chinese response that ‘they are jumping Continue reading »
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Fri, 23/06/2023 - 03:30
Following up on Tom’s post below, here’s Jonathan Chait who takes John Durham downtown: Former special counsel John Durham, who tried and utterly failed to prove that the Russia investigation was a vast anti-Trump conspiracy, testified Wednesday before the House about his work. Durham’s hearing interestingly revealed a possible explanation for why he threw away a sterling reputation to work with William Barr fruitlessly pursuing a right-wing conspiracy theory: The man seems to have become so hopelessly brain-poisoned by Fox News he has lost all touch with facts outside the Republican information bubble. More specifically, Durham seemed to be unaware of the major factual elements of the alliance between the Trump campaign and Russia. This ignorance came through in several awkward exchanges with Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee panel.