I think this creeps me out more than anything I’ve seen in recent days. A Hollywood desperate to make money at the dying box office is sure to see this and decide that we need more of it: Type the words “sound of freedom” into Twitter (decent people who wish to live good, happy lives should under no circumstances actually do this) and the search will yield dozens of triumphant reports crowing about the improbable victory of a film by that title over the likes of Indiana Jones at the box office this week. That’s not, strictly speaking, accurate – Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny had already been out for five days, the first three of which out-earned Sound of Freedom’s opening-day take, when the new independent thriller came to theaters on Tuesday. But for a fleeting moment this past Fourth of July, while the intended audience of Indy’s latest outing was presumably spending time with their families and friends at barbecues or in other social situations, an unoccupied fandom rallied by the star Jim Caviezel claimed the day with a $14.2m gross versus Dial of Destiny’s $11.7m.
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“My country, the U.S., is unrecognisable. I’m not sure who runs the country. I do not believe it is the president.”, says Jeffrey Sachs in a speech at a Saving Humanity and Planet Earth (SHAPE) seminar, Melbourne, Australia. “U.S. actions are putting us on a path to war with China in the same way that Continue reading »
When states says that they support the rules-based international order, they are pledging their support for American empire. No more, no less. Since the lamentable Russian Federation invasion into eastern Ukraine, there has been much talk about defending democracy, international law and the rules based international order from the collective West led by Washington. For Continue reading »
The International Atomic Energy Agency has just concluded that the proposed release over the next 30 years of over 1.3 million metric tonnes of cooling water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear reactors into the Pacific is ‘safe’. Many international experts and officials, and the fishing communities from surrounding countries disagree. The sequence of events at Continue reading »
Climate change poses major threats to the health of all people globally. Australia has been slow to recognise this. In an assessment of the health-related content of 58 nations’ plans to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions in line with the Paris Agreement, Australia scored zero. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) requires Continue reading »
Alan Finkel guides us on our national path to green energy; Linda Burney asks us to take the next step in reconciliation; and an introduction to our newly-minted National Anti-Corruption Commission. Read on for the weekly roundup of links to articles, reports, podcasts and other media on current political and economic issues in public policy. Continue reading »
The New York Times has in recent years tried to redeem its reputation with a mea-culpa admission over its coverage of the blatantly transparent Iraq Weapons of Mass Destruction myth that enabled the 2003 invasion of Iraq. But over its key role earlier in cementing the Tiananmen Square horror story we have as yet had Continue reading »
A major purpose of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to China was, in his words, to reestablish communications to reduce “ misunderstandings and miscommunications” to prevent or manage incidents between the two militaries. The 3 June near collision of China and US warships in the Taiwan Strait is a prime example. But Blinken Continue reading »
I watched that whole interview and found his excuses appalling. I know this guy is a defense lawyer and he’s just making his best case for his client but the gaslighting was so extreme I found myself screaming at the TV. The whole world saw what happened on January 6th. That these people think they can persuade us that we didn’t see what we know we saw is astonishing. Philip Bump takes a look: Kenneth Thomas was convicted last month for his participation in the pro-Trump riot at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. As he awaits his sentencing later this year, he sought permission to travel to Missouri to participate in a festival dedicated to defendants in Capitol riot cases, permission that the judge overseeing his case denied. On Thursday night, Thomas’s attorney John Pierce joined CNN’s Abby Phillip to discuss the judge’s decision, with which he predictably disagreed. But over the course of the conversation, Pierce made a broader point about the events of that day: that Jan. 6 was not the violent event that so many have argued. “January 6th was a very complex event,” Pierce told Phillip.
This piece is a comment, by Purple Library Guy, elevated from the comments with their permission.
You know, it occurs to me that the cops, both in France and North America, are headed for a problem similar to Israel’s. That is, they’ve gradually shifted from being bipartisan supporters of the establishment in general to partisan supporters of the hard right, and other parts of the establishment are gradually noticing.
The Court of Criminal Appeals has repeatedly ignored evidence of Reed’s innocence. Its latest ruling borders on the absurd.
The post Dozens of Witnesses Say Rodney Reed Is Innocent. Texas Court Says They’re All Wrong. appeared first on The Intercept.
Yesterday morning, we disrupted Keir Starmer as he launched his fifth and final ‘mission’ for the next Labour government. Why? Because we desperately want to see a Labour government committed to protecting people here and across the world from the climate crisis. And to remind the Labour Party that to really stand up for young […]
Connolly, a state representative and longtime democratic socialist, is vigorously defending himself against allegations that he crossed a red line for the organization.
The post Boston DSA Is Moving to Expel One of its Success Stories. Here Are the Charges Against Mike Connolly, and His Defense. appeared first on The Intercept.
It seems that every conversation I have about politics these days begins with someone making a breathless observation that “OMG! Joe Biden is soooo oooooold!” I get it. He is old. And he looks his age. Anyone but movie stars who have had extensive plastic surgery look old at 81 and they usually just look weird. He walks stiffly and he’s losing his hair — again. (He had a receding hairline before he was 30 and famously had hair transplants.) He also stumbles over his words and rambles when he’s speaking spontaneously, but as someone who’s been watching the guy for decades I can tell you that he’s always done that. Everyone knows now that he’s been fighting a stutter all his life but he’s also one of those garrulous old-style East Coast politicians who tells stories and flits from subject to subject. Still, there’s no getting around the fact that he’s the oldest president we’ve ever had and he’s running for another term, so people are going to be concerned.
FDA approves Alzheimer’s treatment Whatever your age now, you’ll be old sooner than you’d like. Old age carries risks. Joints wear out and bones get brittle. Live long enough and cancers of various kinds may catch up with you. Cancer claimed Joel Siberman, a media trainer and friend, one of progressives’ brightest lights, five years ago. But perhaps the most frightening of scaries is mental decline. Particularly from Alzheimer’s. Watching it claim the mind of someone you love is tragic enough. For the first time, the FDA has approved a medication for Alzheimer’s. Not a cure, but a drug shown to “modestly” slow the disease in its early stages (Associated Press): U.S. officials granted full approval to a closely watched Alzheimer’s drug on Thursday, clearing the way for Medicare and other insurance plans to begin covering the treatment for people with the brain-robbing disease. The Food and Drug Administration endorsed the IV drug, Leqembi, for patients with mild dementia and other symptoms caused by early Alzheimer’s disease.
The U.S. health care system is broken and corrupt — our coverage shows we can fix it.
The families of profoundly learning-disabled people are involved in a continuous struggle for their most fundamental rights and dignities, writes Stephen Unwin
Is Kari Lake coming on too strongly? Kari Lake’s oh-so-unsubtle efforts to audition as Donald Trump’s 2024 running mate may be backfiring. Sure, she came in first for VP in CPAC’s straw poll this year. But the failed Arizona gubernatorial candidate and championship election-denier seems not to know to avoid upstaging The Donald. Lake has spent more time at Mar-a-Lago than Melania Trump lately, a source told People, in “a suite there that she practically lives in.” The Daily Beast reports that Lake is falling out of Trump’s favor: “She’s a shameless, ruthless demagogue who wants power and will do whatever she has to do to get it,” a Trump adviser told The Daily Beast. This adviser added that, in recent months, Trump has been less enthusiastic about Lake himself. Two Trump advisers who spoke to The Daily Beast said the heart of Trump’s frustration with Lake is that, in his eyes, she always wants attention. As one of the advisers put it, she’s a “spotlight hound.” People called Bill Clinton “the Big Dog.” But nobody had better stand between Trump and center stage.
Steering the horsecart
Priming the generator
Drawing in the day’s catch
Bongo drum solo
Vulcan greeting
Praise the Lord
I surrender
Marcel Marceau wall push
Six-in-ten voters don't trust the Government's promise to keep the National Health Service in public hands