Insurrection Caucus knocks J6 anniversary off front pages Leaders of the GOP’s House Insurrection Caucus are heavily invested in screen time. Not on their smart phones. On your television and social media feeds. Governing is not what they are in Washington, D.C. to do. Accruing power is. Interviews on Fox News and other outlets (even MSNBC these days) builds a national profile, grows online followers, and expands fundraising opportunities. Personal fame, acquired through political performance, is a more rapid, more certain path to power than the drudge work of crafting sound legislation and shepherding it through Congress. The Insurrection Caucus came to be influencers, not legislators. Donald Trump brought celebrity with him to the job of politics. But the 2020 loser is sidelined in Mar-a-Lago awaiting indictments. Republicans lacking his preternatural skills at self-promotion have discovered that keeping the press focused on themselves involves being destructively and performatively anti-establishment. Sex and drugs and rock and roll was for liberals. Trashing hotel rooms does not get press coverage. Trashing Congress does.
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Dear Republican Members-Elect of the House of Representatives,
Thanks so much for this extension on all the reports I was supposed to prepare for members of the House to start reviewing this week as part of their new committee assignments. I really appreciate it.
I was getting super stressed juggling everything—trying to figure out when or if I’ll ever have to pay back my student loans, waiting on hold with Southwest Airlines, traveling over state lines to get safe prenatal care, and helping my neighbors escape from cars stranded in the snow. Modern life is a lot, you know? Adulting. It’s a lot. And then, on top of everything, I got the triple whammy—COVID, RSV, and the flu. By the way, if you saw me in the building today, you might want to wear a mask for a while, unless your constituents would think that makes you one of the sheeple. No judgment.
. . If you’d like to learn more on the issue, have a look at James Surowiecki’s The Wisdom of Crowds (Anchor Books, 2005) or Scott Page’s The Diversity Bonus (Princeton University Press, 2017).
An exclusive report in collaboration with the Citizens and funded by the European Fund for Investigative Journalism explores the links between a Catholic Nationalist group and the Italian far-right
Sir, Your leading article (“Digital Danger”, Jan 2) warns of the use of Chinese-made surveillance systems to track people in the UK. But neither your editorial nor the surveillance watchdog, Fraser Sampson, seems to have any qualms about British-made equipment being used for the same purpose. In 1786 Jeremy Bentham designed the Panopticon, in which … Continue reading Spying on Citizens
Thomas Perrett reports on the new methods used by big energy associations to influence the media and those in power
Britain joined Russia in blocking a UN Security Council statement condemning the Azeri blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh
"Too many doses, billions in costs – the government [of Germany] wants to cancel the vaccination deal."
Friday Mini-Heap… “I didn’t come here to propose a return to illiteracy in order to recover the knowledge of Paleolithic tribes. I regret all we may have lost, but I never forget that the gains are greater than the losses” — a transcription of part of a 1983 lecture by Italo Calvino on the written word and the unwritten world Epictetus and Epicurus are “resurrected” using AI language, imaging, and video tools to debate the nature of happiness — created by Caleb Ontiveros The subtitle of her first book was “A Little Treatise on the Weakness, Frivolity, and Inconstancy, That Is Wrongly Attributed to Women” — philosopher Gabrielle Suchon wrote it—in 1693—to help women “protect themselves against servile constraint, stupid ignorance, and base and degrading dependence.” Julie Walsh (Wellesley) gives us a tour of her ideas “What is Black existentialism?
New research shows that pharmaceutical companies have spent more on enriching shareholders than drug research and development over the past decade.
A bloody attack on a Ukrainian Orthodox Church priest, close to the Orthodox Christmas, in a church....and sanctioned by the government.
Ultranationalists are in the driver's seat in Israel's new government.
The post Israel’s Rightward Turn appeared first on The Intercept.
In the wake of the George Floyd uprisings, a union of Black security workers and long-time community de-escalators in Minneapolis re-envisioned community safety through an apprenticeship. They’re already saving lives.
Somehow it is Friday.
On this week’s Audit: The study group completes David Axelrod and Karl Rove’s MasterClass.
- by David Bakhurst
Elston Wells Van Steenburgh (“Van”), associate professor emeritus at Northern Illinois University, has died. The following memorial notice was provided by Jason Hanna (Northern Illinois): The Northern Illinois University philosophy department mourns the loss of Elston Wells Van Steenburgh (“Van”), who passed away on Thursday, December 8, 2022, at age 94. Van completed his doctoral dissertation in philosophy at the University of Michigan in 1960, under the supervision of Professor Paul Henle. His doctoral research focused on Berkeley’s theory of meaning. In 1968, Van joined the philosophy department at Northern Illinois University, where he worked until his retirement in 1993. A versatile scholar and charismatic teacher, Van worked on metaphysics, epistemology, perception, philosophy of language, and early modern philosophy. He also served ably as chair from 1976 to 1981, during which time he skillfully instituted several curricular and personnel changes that improved the department’s productivity. After stepping down as chair, Van continued to provide sound leadership.
For those who like legal jousting and elegant drafting, the Kentucky Retirement Systems battle is back, now focused on Regina Calcaterra.
‘Thank you very much for fighting for us. We are very proud.’ Gwen Davis recalls the feeling of solidarity when she and 186 other women went on strike on 7 June 1968. They were working as sewing machinists in Dagenham, in of the most profitable car-production plants in Britain, employed to make covers for car […]
The Sixth Doctor and Mel are on a rescue mission in a brand-new box set of high-stakes full-cast audio dramas, due for release in May 2023 from Big Finish Productions. Colin Baker stars as the Sixth Doctor alongside Bonnie Langford as Melanie Bush in three exciting new adventures in Purity Unleashed, following on from the […]
The post BIG FINISH: The Sixth Doctor Adventures: New release coming May 2023 appeared first on Blogtor Who.
The 800-page gorilla of a report from the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the Capitol seems strangely silent on a few matters that, apparently, were a bit too uncomfortable for the Committee to take on.
So, buckle up for a discomfiting ride with... READ MORE
I have been asked to suggest why I am so confident inflation will fall this year. Let me offer an explanation. First, there is simple
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