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L3Harris hired a former senior Pentagon official who managed defense contracts after antitrust crusader Lina Khan was confirmed as Federal Trade Commission chair.

The post After Blocking Lockheed Martin Acquisition, FTC Allows Another Defense Firm to Close the Deal appeared first on The Intercept.

Before a military coup removed Gabon’s hopelessly corrupt President, Ali Bongo, from office, he was courted by Obama and feted from Washington to Davos. The US war on Libya which destabilized the region may not have succeeded without him. When a military junta arrested President Ali Bongo Ondimba on August 30, Gabon became the ninth African nation to depose its government through a military coup. As citizens of Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali did before them, crowds of Gabonese poured […]

The post ‘Obama’s man in Africa’ under house arrest as popular coup rocks Gabon first appeared on The Grayzone.

The post ‘Obama’s man in Africa’ under house arrest as popular coup rocks Gabon appeared first on The Grayzone.

Oh Tucker, you really are a jackass: Donald Trump can boast all he wants about his interview with Tucker Carlson being “the Biggest Video on Social Media, EVER” (it’s not), but it sure seems like Carlson is missing Fox News. He’s, uh, not doing great based on a recent chat with Adam Carolla on The Adam Carolla Show podcast. When asked by the former The Man Show host if “they” are going to let Trump be president (“they” is probably everyone who doesn’t roast their nuts in the sun), Carlson answered, “No, of course. I mean, look, if, you know, they protested him, they called him names. He won anyway. They impeached him twice on ridiculous pretenses. They fabricated a lot about what happened on January 6 in order to impeach him again,” etc. You get the idea. But then Carlson predicted Trump will get assassinated if he becomes president. Carlson wasn’t done.

Sam Roggeveen’s Echidna Strategy rightly challenges Australia to act as a diplomatic powerhouse, not a military one. Sam Roggeveen’s basic storyline in The Echidna Strategy – that the China threat is grossly exaggerated, and that Australia should not, and need not, rely on America for our security protection – is causing predictable conniptions in our Continue reading »

Like Paul Keating, Australians should be angry. Australia’s security is at risk. No other nation is so foolish, so self- delusional, so divorced from the basics of statecraft, nor so feckless with its citizens’ security in pursuit of America’s objectives. Shouldn’t we be white hot with rage at this government’s abdication of sovereignty? Australia’s security Continue reading »

When corruption really gets into the bones of a society the damage it does to institutions can take generations to heal. Speech at the National Integrity Summit, Transparency International Australia, Melbourne, Wednesday, 30 August 2023. I acknowledge the people of the Kulin Nations, the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we gather today. I Continue reading »

“Humanity created its current dire trajectory. It is now time to change course with a binding global treaty designed to empower individuals, institutions, and policymakers, and through this shared effort, reduce the existential threats to civilisation. The Earth Systems Treaty is potentially a major step forward, a step towards a healthy future for all.”–Paul R. Continue reading »

You have only to walk into Canberra’s fixed-site pill testing site to have one of the chief criticisms of such schemes palpably refuted. The criticism is that permitting drug testing sends a message that illicit drug use is not only OK, but safe as well. The messages at the city-centre site – in text on Continue reading »

Pearls and Irritations has been a source of enlightenment since its foundation in 2013. It has progressively increased in importance. What began as an interesting addition to the Australian media landscape has become an irreplaceable source of ideas and distinctive interpretations provided by a large collection of authoritative experts few of whom have access to Continue reading »

Do you have information about revolving door appointments involving Australia’s weapons industry? It’s time to speak up and contribute to a new database set to expose corruption. The long-term goal of creating a database that reveals the extent of the revolving door in Australia between the weapons industry and the government/military/public service is set to Continue reading »

Julian Assange could hardly be blamed for considering a possible plea deal that would alleviate the immense suffering he has endured since becoming the object of state persecution. Terms less brutal than those he potentially faces – anywhere up to a 175-year prison sentence in the cell of a US supermax – can only be Continue reading »

Two years after the heart-breaking Kabul Moment that saw the withdrawal of US-led Western troops from their illegal invasion and occupation, the United States has been urged to assume liability for humanitarian sufferings of Afghanistan people. Amid chaos that caused civilian casualties directly from leaving US military planes, the United States pulled out its final forces from Continue reading »

My daughter Ava has written a new essay about autism, trauma, and the mysteries of socialization.

The post Through Your Tears & Sorrow appeared first on Zeldman on Web and Interaction Design.

She’s the party’s Hillary Clinton, but don’t mistake her for a feminist.

The post Nikki Haley Brings the GOP’s Gender Politics Home appeared first on The Intercept.

Dearest Lydia,

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a gentleman is never more attractive than when he drops his exquisitely toned posterior down, on beat, and into the splits.

With one’s four elder sisters married to three strappingly mutton-chopped men and one pianoforte, I shall admit regretting the time I’ve spent yearning for companionship. Years have slipped by during which I’ve dreamt most ardently of the right man to come along, grasp my hand, look deeply into my eyes, and pop his big juicy dump truck down to the floor.

However, I am delighted to write, my sweet sister, that this very eve, such a man appeared before me.

In case you were still wondering, this is Mark Meadows’ strategy: To get his case “removed” to federal court, Meadows needs to establish three things. The first, that he was a federal officer at the time of the alleged offense, is not in dispute. The second is that the conduct alleged against him has a “causal connection” to federal office. The third is that he has a colorable federal defense against the charges. To satisfy the third prong, Meadows has asserted a federal defense called Supremacy Clause immunity, which shields federal officers from state prosecutions arising from conduct they subjectively and reasonably believed to be “necessary and proper” in carrying out their federal duties. I had been under the impression until this week that only state law would apply to a case that had been “removed” to federal court. But no. The Supremacy Clause immunity is the big enchilada. The author of that paragraph Anna Bower of Lawfare was in the courtroom and ran down the entire proceeding. It’s quite interesting.

My very amateur photos of some magnificant creatures in the French Alps. By George Monbiot, published on monbiot.com 31st August 2023 All these pictures were taken on my phone in August, in the Massif des Cerces. Clouded yellow: The enormous Violet carpenter bee: Meadow fritillary: Juvenile Great green bush cricket: Common blue: Furry blue: Rose […]

Quick round-up of books I read for fun over the summer. I’m mostly reading books about ecology and network design for other things, so perhaps my fiction brain isn’t quite optimised for full immersion at the moment, but I’ve not really sunk deep into anything I’ve read for some time. ‘You made a fool of […]

Bringing the fight Another storm was brewing in Chapel Hill, NC on Wednesday even as Hurricane/Tropical Storm Idalia traversed the lower part of the state (WSOC): A shooting that left a faculty member dead and frightened students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has galvanized gun safety advocates and local Democrats, who rallied the grieving campus community Wednesday to fight for stricter state gun laws. About 600 students held protest signs on a large lawn in the heart of campus and bowed their heads during a moment of silence as the iconic campus Bell Tower rang in honor of the deceased associate professor, Zijie Yan. Yan, who led a research group in the Department of Applied Physical Sciences, was fatally shot Monday by one of his graduate students inside a science lab building at the state’s flagship public university, authorities said. NC Democrats’ state chair, Anderson Clayton, 25, lit into the state’s Republican-controlled legislature for failing to address gun violence, calling for “a reckoning in our state capital.” Rep.

I remember the first time I heard of Francis Fukuyama’s “The End of History”, and I remember thinking “no one can be stupid enough to believe that.”

But I knew I was wrong, because it kept popping up. The article became a book, even, and fools further down the intellectual stupidity chain made careers out of sub-theses, like Thomas Friedman’s “the world is flat”.

The thesis of the “End of History” was that the ideological wars were over: democratic market capitalism had won, everyone knew it, and history was in effect over because the great ideological war of the 20th century between capitalism/democracy, communism and fascism/democracy had ended. Everyone admitted that democratic capitalism had won and was the best system and now inevitably it would sweep the world and usher in an era of prosperity and relatively good government.

Sunak's Government is throwing out plans to get dirty money out of the UK

Sitting on the banks of the River Trent, the market town of Rugeley in Staffordshire has a rich industrial history. In 1777, it benefited from the construction of the Trent and Mersey Canal, which enabled the smooth transportation of fragile potteries and created a thriving industry. Cooling water from the mighty Trent later made it […]

Mitch McConnell freezes up again Sen. Mitch McConnell, whatever parts are failing him, is yet another entry into the decline of the Washington, D.C. gerontocracy (Washington Post): Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) appeared to freeze for more than 20 seconds Wednesday while taking questions from journalists in an incident that mirrored another occasion when he abruptly stopped speaking in late July. McConnell took questions from reporters in Covington, Ky., after talking with a local group. A reporter asked him about running for reelection in 2026, then repeated the query twice when McConnell said he couldn’t hear, according to video of the incident. McConnell, 81, chuckled and said, “Oh, that’s, uhh —” and stopped speaking. After about seven seconds, an aide approached and asked the senator if he had heard the question. She was covering, clearly, to make it appear his problem was hearing. McConnell stared straight ahead, and the aide asked reporters to give them a minute. Another aide then walked over and spoke to McConnell, who signaled that he was fine.