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Saw my interview on CNN, did you? The one in which I said a functioning state is an impediment to the Great Tribulation that precedes the Rapture? You’re probably wondering why every Republican administration is like turning over a rock and finding a bunch of weird bugs hanging out right underneath the foundations of our government.

Allow me, a proud Weird Bug and member of the House Ways and Means Committee, to explain.

This is who I’ve always been. I made the local news in 1993 for accusing my neighbors of performing animal sacrifice in their basement. Then I ran for office and had to clean it up a bit.

At least, I assumed I had to. The thing is, I didn’t know shit when I was first elected. For example, I had no idea you could just say you wanted children to starve. I thought you had to talk about government waste and the national debt and hope your constituents understood that “waste” meant “anything that might accidentally help an immigrant” and the debt was the excuse for getting rid of those things.

Oversight laws about foreign influence were already limited. Now the Trump administration is shredding them.

The post How Many Trump Officials Have Taken Money From Qatar? appeared first on The Intercept.

For Mary Midgley, the Western philosophical tradition is shaped by the fact that its greatest practitioners were bachelors

- by Ellie Robson

Read at Aeon

Grief’s ‘double vision’ beholds both the bereaved and dead. Recognising this duality helps explain our ability to move on

- by Berislav Marušić

Read at Psyche

ICE wants to hire contractors to monitor social media for threats. Those who criticize the agency could be pulled into the dragnet.

The post ICE Wants to Know If You’re Posting Negative Things About It Online appeared first on The Intercept.

Around 300 pulp and paper workers at the Opal Paper mill in Maryvale, Victoria have been locked out since mid-January.

The post Locked out paper workers fight pay cuts first appeared on Solidarity Online.

If the Government attempts to mimic the anti-migration politics of Reform it will be a recipe for defeat, argues Jennifer Nadel

Up to 400 Jews and supporters joined an anti-Zionist Jewish rally outside the Victorian Parliament in solidarity with Palestine.

The post Anti-Zionist Jews stand in defence of Palestine solidarity first appeared on Solidarity Online.

Ilan Pappe witnessed his face on a target symbol on TV screens at the airport as he returned to Israel. Australia continues to tug on the “forlock of a fading hegemon”. The ABC calls citing international law antisemitic while Amnesty International calls on German authorities to stop the crackdown on freedom of speech. Ilan Pappe Continue reading »

“Vice President JD Vance attempted to defend an employee of Elon Musk’s cost-cutting Department of Government Efficiency who made racist posts on social media promoting eugenics… ‘Normalize Indian hate,’ one account associated with the employee said.” — Yahoo News

Medieval Catholic theology, as developed by luminaries such as Saints Augustine and Thomas Aquinas, offers us the concept of ordo amoris. We are thereby invited to contemplate a moral hierarchy according to which our love for our families precedes our other commitments.

It is precisely because of my abiding love for my Indian American wife and my Indian American children that I bravely forge a world in which we can normalize Indian hate.

He’s licking his chops: On her first day as attorney general, Pam Bondi launched an investigation of the Biden-era investigators of President Donald Trump that will report its progress directly to the White House. It’s a crossing the Rubicon moment for DOJ independence that is compounded by the fact that Trump has made Stephen Miller the point person on the administration-wide effort to exact retribution for the criminal investigations of the president.  […] Trump’s executive order also instructed his director of national intelligence to launch a similar investigation of the investigators and report back to his deputy chief of staff for policy, which again is Miller. Former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard’s nomination as DNC is still pending in the Senate, but she is expected to be confirmed after narrowly winning the Senate Intelligence Committee approval this week.  “The fact that the DOJ is reporting to someone in the White House itself crosses a rubicon,” noted Gillers, who did not have independent knowledge of Miller’s apparent role. “That’s a major shift.

Source - Patreon

Source - Patreon

Source - Patreon

Source - Patreon

Trump: We’re making our country larger, we’re making our country stronger. And in the case of Canada—if this should happen—I don’t know how they can do it without us. Because without the U.S., Canada really doesn’t have a country. They do almost all of their business with us,… pic.twitter.com/0RN4lyJ5RV — Acyn (@Acyn) February 10, 2025 Trump: We’re making our country larger, we’re making our country stronger. And in the case of Canada—if this should happen—I don’t know how they can do it without us. Because without the U.S., Canada really doesn’t have a country. They do almost all of their business with us, and if we say we want our cars to be made in Detroit, with a stroke of a pen, I can make that happen. And other things, in addition to that, would not allow Canada to be a viable country. With a stroke of a pen he can make all our cars in Detroit? He can make Canada cease to be a viable country? Is he now consciously aping Putin? I’m a little bit concerned that I’m not seeing more commentary about this change in his personality.

Commenting on all the stupid (like Musk’s antics) is tiring sometimes.

I was trying to figure out what to write today. There are about a dozen possible posts, all of which amount to “Trump or Musk are flinging poo at the wall.”

So let’s forget all the stupid little details and cut to the chase.

America is in irreversible decline. If you think otherwise, you are living in a fantasy world. China will even take the lead in Pharma away from the US, probably no later than 2030. The US military can’t even keep the shipping lanes open and Carrier groups no longer have a full support group.

Come on Dems, get this done. When you think about what the Republicans are doing down in North Carolina and, really, all over the country there is no excuse not to do it. They would do it to you in a heartbeat: New York Democrats are poised to delay until November the special election to fill Rep. Elise Stefanik’s House seat — a move that would deny House Republicans a crucial vote in the closely divided chamber. State lawmakers on Friday introduced a bill that would allow Gov. Kathy Hochul to schedule special elections under some circumstances until the November general election. The Democratic-led Legislature is expected to approve the bill Monday, touching off a bitter feud with New York Republicans in a hyper partisan era. President Donald Trump tapped Stefanik to become the United Nations ambassador. Top Albany Democrats are framing the proposal — which follows consultations between state lawmakers and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries’ office — as a way to save money for local governments.

Social relationships might shape a neurological disorder

The post When Other People’s Chewing Causes You Pain appeared first on Nautilus.

Australia’s leading Trump supporter, Gina Rinehart, has sent President Trump a thank you card, after the US President introduced tariffs on Australian imports of steel and aluminium. ”Donald is an amazing President and I’m sure the tariffs he puts on... Read More ›

Reporter: You are going to meet with first responders today, but you pardoned hundreds of people who assaulted first responders. Trump: No, I pardoned people who were assaulted themselves… by our government. I didn’t assault. They didn’t assault. They were assaulted. What I did… pic.twitter.com/LbzrbFM6rb — Acyn (@Acyn) February 10, 2025 Reporter: You are going to meet with first responders today, but you pardoned hundreds of people who assaulted first responders. Trump: No, I pardoned people who were assaulted themselves… by our government. I didn’t assault. They didn’t assault. They were assaulted. What I did was a great thing for humanity. He apparently now believes that the people who broke into the Capitol should have been allowed to march in interrupt the joint session, stop the count, hang Mike Pence and Nancy Pelosi. He condemned the violence the next day under some duress. And he’s defended them as political prisoners treated unfairly by the legal system.