Reading

To say that Devin Johnston is a master of the sound of poems is to narrow the conversation too much too soon, but it’s useful nonetheless as a starting point for understanding the distinguished power of this poetry. Here’s the beginning of “Tempers,” from Far-Fetched (2015):

Hot days, violent storms,
high clouds, cold rain.

*

Sheets and curtains cast
a white-diamond gloom.

Are you asleep?

Wind heaves
against the glass

and slow breathing
fills the room.

*

Soft pillows, soft
Blankets, soft sheets:

Her kiss? Sweet,
and hard enough
to crack your teeth.

Thank you for calling the office of Dr. Albert Stiener: The Colonoscopy King. Please listen closely as our menu options have changed.

If this is an emergency and you’re in need of immediate medical assistance, please hang up and dial 9-1-1.

If you’re tired of Big Government getting involved in every aspect of our lives and trying to take away our freedoms as well as our medical licenses we never even had in the first place, press the star key now.

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If you’re calling because you’re confused by our slogan, “This ain’t your granddaddy’s colonoscopy,” press the “end call” button, because you don’t get it and you’re not ready for what we’re all about.

Tom Mutch reports from Orikiv in Zaporizhzhia, an area with historic Russian ties, which has turned against Moscow after a reign of torture and terror

John Mitchinson explores what the novelist behind a 1759 masterpiece can teach us about the importance of marketing as a publisher

The Ohio senator quietly delayed the timeline for safer tank cars that regulators say could help prevent train spills like the one in East Palestine.

Recently back from Ukraine, scholar and researcher Rajan Menon shares his observations.

The post Ukraine on the Offensive appeared first on The Intercept.

A postcard from Mars on the logistical, genetic and ethical implications of raising children beyond our home planet

- by Aeon Video

Watch at Aeon

Whether you’re a newbie or an aficionado, these ways to navigate and approach the genre will enrich your experience

- by Lawrence Kramer

Read at Psyche

David and investigative journalist Leslie Kean discuss new revelations about the government’s potential knowledge of UFOs.

Underpaid, overworked, and struggling to hold up a health service in collapse. It was only a matter of time before junior doctors said enough is enough.   Today, junior doctors in England are on strike, their third round of strike action since March, and plan a minimum of three days of industrial action each month throughout […]

With minimal parliamentary scrutiny, the Conservatives pass controversial changes to protest laws that could criminalise any disruptive demonstration

I’m on the SDConCast! Myself and editor Tom Peyer pop up on the video version of one of my favourite podcasts, the SDConCast, the chatty version of The San Diego Comic Con Unofficial Blog, who do great coverage in the run up to SDCC. We’re talking about Con and On, of course, and we appear […]

‘Stopping the boats’ and making immigration a key issue is the only strategy the Prime Minister has to keep a core Conservative base come the next election

The author is alive!

It sure is great that the Saudi royal family bought pro golf!

It’s Wednesday and as usual I consider a few topics in less depth than a single blog post, as a precursor to the music segment. Yesterday’s US inflation data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (June 13, 2023) – Consumer Price Index Summary – May 2023 – shows a further significant drop in the inflation…

Preparation time: 15 min.Chilling time: 1 hr. For busy days, consider this dessert-rum-flavored cream, studded with fruits and nuts, spread with a lavish hand over cake slices. It combines eye appeal with ease of preparation. If preferred, you can use fresh fruit instead of canned, depending on the season. For 4 servings you will need: […]

These cases are not the same If anyone things that Trump is being treated less fairly than Pence and Biden they need to realize that Trump is not being prosecuted for any of the highly sensitive documents he gave back to the government, first on his own and then in response to the subpeona. He is only being charged for the documents they found later when they issued a warrant. Biden and Pence have given back all the documents, no subpoena and no warrant necessary. If they were indicted for retaining those documents they would be being held to a higher standard than Trump. Read this piece by Eric Levitz which shows that the DOJ has actually given Trump an easier time than anyone else who did what he did. He runs down all the reasons the Clinton, Biden and Pence cases and makes the same point I made above. He then cites a particular case of an average citizen: [I]t is helpful to contrast the DOJ’s treatment of Trump with its handling of Asia Janay Lavarello, a former civilian employee of the Defense Department. In 2020, Lavarello was on assignment at the U.S. Embassy in Manila, where she had been researching a classified thesis.

Source - Patreon

Source - Patreon

Source - Patreon

Yes Donald Trump was arrested and arraigned today. But if you were to watch right wing media you’d think it was Joe Biden who was facing a criminal trial. Don’t kid yourself. That story is happening right alongside Trump’s impending trial. Philip Bump takes you through it just so you know what they’re braying about if you happen to hear it: The news release went out on May 3 from the Republican majority on the House Oversight Committee. “Information provided by a whistleblower raises concerns that then-Vice President Biden allegedly engaged in a bribery scheme with a foreign national,” it alleged, quoting committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.). A letter from Comer and Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) to the FBI, seeking the release of documentation of a June 2020 interview, wasn’t similarly hedged. The document, it claimed, “describes an alleged criminal scheme involving then-Vice President Biden and a foreign national relating to the exchange of money for policy decisions.” Over the next month, Republicans pressed the FBI to release the form publicly. Comer threatened to hold FBI Director Christopher A.

Plausible forecasts may help us avert the worst political calamities.