…and Barron We used to call Don Jr and Eric Uday and Qusay and it fell out of fashion probably because nobody remembers Saddam Hussein anymore. But Trump’s dictatorial practice of installing family members in political roles certainly should seem familiar to those of us who have been around a while: After years in which his privacy has been fiercely guarded and he has been kept out of the political arena, former President Donald J. Trump’s youngest son, Barron, was chosen to be one of Florida’s delegates to the Republican National Convention. Barron, who turned 18 earlier this year and will graduate high school this month, will be one of 41 at-large delegates at the party’s national meeting in July, when the G.O.P. is expected to officially nominate his father as the Republican presidential candidate. His selection was reported earlier by NBC News. The youngest Trump will be joined in the delegation by his two more politically active brothers, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., both of whom have appeared on the campaign trail or done interviews to support their father’s candidacy. Mr.
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A new report has found the ministry spends £3 billion a year on maternity services but paid out an 'eye-watering' £1.1 billion in claims for 2022-23
The NY Times’ Thomas Edsall looked into this question of why liberals are allegedly so much unhappier than conservatives. Why is it that a substantial body of social science research finds that conservatives are happier than liberals? A partial answer: Those on the right are less likely to be angered or upset by social and economic inequities, believing that the system rewards those who work hard, that hierarchies are part of the natural order of things and that market outcomes are fundamentally fair. Those on the left stand in opposition to each of these assessments of the social order, prompting frustration and discontent with the world around them. Ok. I would put it slightly differently. Conservatives don’t have empathy for anyone who doesn’t look like them. And many of them take joy in their enemies’ suffering so these inequities make them happy since they consider people of color, LGBTQ, feminists etc their enemies. Lots to celebrate if that’s how you see the world.
Stormy Daniels appears to have done very well on the stand today. According to observers I head on TV, she was composed and poised under withering questioning from Trump lawyer Susan Necheles basically slut shaming her and claiming that she’s a nutty, grifter who extorted Trump with a lie. Most people seem to think that may have not landed well. The reason she was called was to testify that the even actually happened which, if Trump had just stipulated that they did have sex, would not have happened. (As Andrew Weissman has said, she was essentially an exhibit in the case, not a witness to actual crime. ) But he couldn’t. He says that none of the women who have accused him of wrongdoing every happened. None of it. They are all liars and so is Daniels. I doubt anyone believes that. The classic moment from the morning: Necheles: You have a lot of experience making up phony stories about sex. Daniels: That’s not how I would put it. The sex in the films is very much real, just like what happened to me in that room.
Jinkx Monsoon's Maestro makes it perfectly clear who she is in a sneak preview for Disney+ & BBC's Doctor Who S01E02: "The Devil's Chord."
Tal Mitnick and Sofia Orr, who are in prison for refusing to serve in Israel’s military, are pleading with Biden to help stop the war on Gaza.
The post Israeli Military Refusers Appeal to Biden: “Stop Arming Israel’s War” appeared first on The Intercept.
How comedy plays on our emotions to fight misinformation.
The post A Scientist Walks Into a Bar … appeared first on Nautilus.
It has been observed that Catholics have a tendency towards excessive guilt, in the same way that Hindu practice devolves towards something close to OCD.
Like a lot of religious practices, the eye of someone familiar with actual spiritual cultivation practices can see what they were intended to do. Rosary practice and bajans, for example, are obvious forms of meditations (Hindus haven’t forgotten that, Catholics often do.)
If you’re riven with guilt or shame, you can’t pass beyond certain points in spiritual practice. A mind which doesn’t “let go” and move freely is an absolute barrier to progress, and as the Buddha noted, spirituality is about freedom. Being hounded by negative emotions is not spiritual.
Not yet… Nikki Haley won 22% of the vote (over 150,000 people) in the Indiana GOP primary this week. It’s an open primary so it’s possible that a bunch of them were Democrats meddling, but that would mean that Democratic turnout was very high. She was out of the race before early voting began so it’s not that. There are Republicans who are still protesting the Trump nomination in pretty high numbers. So what’s Haley up to? Nikki Haley is easing back into public life after dropping out of the Republican presidential race in early March, but has no immediate plans to endorse Donald Trump. The former South Carolina governor is attending a retreat in Charleston, S.C., on Monday and Tuesday to thank about 100 of her biggest donors, a person close to Haley told The Wall Street Journal. She isn’t expected to discuss her political future or encourage them to give to other campaigns. The person said there is no pending endorsement of Trump, the former president and presumptive Republican nominee. The two didn’t speak when she got out of the race on March 6 and haven’t done so since, this person said.
The loss of Western authority as a result of Israel’s genocidal attack on Gaza has merely sped up changes already underway for a generation. It was a coincidence of course. As Australia Day came to an end the seventeen judges of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) were preparing to deliver their preliminary response to Continue reading »
On May 10, all member states should vote to admit the State of Palestine as the 194th member of the United Nations. On May 10, the United Nations’ 193 member states can end the Gaza war and the longstanding suffering of the Palestinian people by voting to admit Palestine as the 194th UN member state. Continue reading »
The Jewish Council of Australia is horrified by what we are witnessing Israel do in Rafah. Israel’s ongoing violence in Gaza and the West Bank is the greatest impediment to peace for Palestinians and Israelis. As Rafah assault continues, Australia must vote yes to Palestine at UN and do more to prevent genocide May 8th, Continue reading »
Foreign Minister Penny Wong conveys Australia’s decision on Friday 10 May to the UN General Assembly on whether Palestine should be admitted as a full member. This, after years of conflict over Palestine between Labor and the Coalition, and disagreement within the ALP, is a definitional moment for Australia. A Palestinian-backed draft resolution seeks to Continue reading »
“I expect a semi-dystopian future with substantial pain and suffering for the people of the Global South,” one expert said. Nearly 80% of top-level climate scientists expect that global temperatures will rise by at least 2.5°C by 2100, while only 6% thought the world would succeed in limiting global heating to 1.5°C above pre industrial Continue reading »
Even good minds can get criminal justice wrong, but usually for only so long. Several years ago, a veteran magistrate was speaking over lunch with a bunch of us criminal-law practitioners. Inevitably, the judicial colleagues came in for some free and frank character analysis, but the most telling comment was about a relatively recent arrival Continue reading »
With Australian defence writers now arguing for society to be reimagined as an ‘input to defence capability’, we are witnessing further incursions in the Democracy – Defence Nexus. A recent article appearing on the website of Defence Connect claims a discovery: the identification of Australian society as a “fundamental input to defence capability.” In a Continue reading »
In times of atrocity, art and reporting are crucial to evidence, to remember and assert moral witness. To paraphrase Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish, who will speak for those who are silenced? As artists across the West find themselves criticised, threatened and silenced for showing support for Palestine, an upcoming Sydney exhibition, Forms of Censorship (11 Continue reading »
The courageous stance of students across the country in defiance of genocide is accompanied by a near total blackout of their voices. Their words are the ones we most need to hear. NEW YORK CITY: I am sitting on a fire escape across the street from Columbia University with three organisers of the Columbia University Continue reading »