Reading

Art by Matt Smith

So the thing is, back in the 1000s, Sweden wasn’t exactly the goddamned shinin’ beacon’ah highly pious Lutheranism as we tend tah think’ah it as bein’ today, even if that image is kindah outdated since the 1800s. Fahr stahtahs, the boundahry’ah the whole country was diff’rent. N’ it wasn’t even Sweden yet, eithah, fahr that fuckin’ mattah. It was Svealand ah Svitjod ah some shit like that n’ pretty much only consisted’ah the Stockholm n’ Uppsala areas, though with no actual Stockholm. It was just some rinky-dink island with trees n’ logs n’ shit on it.

Since 2017, we have witnessed a concerted political campaign to degrade and humiliate trans and gender non-conforming people in public life. For some, Labour’s election victory offered the opportunity for a reset, with senior cabinet members signalling a desire to ‘detoxify’ the debate. In practice, Labour’s paltry offer to LGBTQ+ communities puts it significantly out […]

A renowned lawyer said the proposal, put forward by Lord Walney, shows 'a real misunderstanding' of the Human Rights Act

The growing conflict, an analyst suggests, 'represents a real opportunity to redraw the political map... and dismantle the Axis of Resistance'

‘It’s a beautiful world … when you’re free’: two teens grapple with how to live an authentic life in this vintage short

- by Aeon Video

Watch at Aeon

Regardless of your budget or fashion sense, dressing with more intention can benefit your mindset and performance

- by Dahlia Stroud

Read at Psyche

It’s Wednesday and while I usually have a few topics to discuss, today I am concentrating on the recent disruptions to shipping channels and the likely impact on inflation. I was also hoping to post a video of the recent launch of my new book with Warren Mosler in Melbourne on September 12, 2024 but…

Gabija Zemaityte The Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, among others, has argued that long-term fixed-rate mortgages (LTFRMs) could increase home ownership in the UK. The share of mortgages with longer fixes increased in the UK and internationally over the last decade. Persistently low interest rates over that period have supported demand for longer-fix products, … Continue reading Long-term fixed-rate mortgages through an international lens: could they lead to higher home ownership? →

Why do the mass killers of the fossil fuel industry walk free while the heroes trying to stop them are imprisoned? By George Monbiot, published in the Guardian  1st October 2024 The sentences were handed down just as Hurricane Helene hit North Carolina. As homes were smashed, trucks swept down roads that had turned into […]

Did you know it’s illegal to knowingly broadcast false information about a catastrophe, especially if such communications may cause substantial “public harm?” Public harm includes direct & actual damages to people or property & the diversion of law enforcement or public health & safety authorities from their duties. Link to FCC rules on FALSE INFORMATION/BROADCAST HOAXES https://www.fcc.gov/reports-research/guides/hoaxes But Elon Musk & X are not regulated by the FCC. So, HOW DO WE STOP THIS? Make it illegal, just like we did for broadcast TV and radio. I know that the internet is not subject to the same laws as broadcast radio & TV. But we can create them. We can use the same criteria that the FCC uses, which will protect people who spread the false information unintentionally. But to just ignore it is to abdicate the need to protect people during this vulnerable time. Dash, on Mastodon pointed out some of the reasons why Musk is getting away with this. He also understood that this is a call for a change @CatDragon @spocko because the internet isn’t subject to the same laws as broadcast tv (so he isn’t breaking the law).

Oh look. Here’s Ron DeSantis’s hardcore MAGA spokeswoman discovering that the disinformation culture she has cultivated for years now may not be such a great idea: That stuff is clogging the Twitter sewer right now and the Republican leaders in these disaster area are starting to realize that it’s affecting their own voters. If they’d understood this during COVID, studies show that many lives could have been spared. This is the result of the MAGA death cult exploiting conspiracy theories for their own ends and killing people in the process. For the sake of Florida citizens I hope this time they do not listen.

Source - Patreon

Source - Patreon

Source - Patreon

Meidas Touch reports: After his VP debate, JD Vance went fishing with a pro-Trump trophy hunter group that publishes kills of endangered animals including pygmy hippos like Moo Deng, the adorable and feisty pygmy hippo baby that has gone viral across the internet. The pro-trophy hunting group, Safari Club International (SCI), organized a fishing trip for Vance in Michigan before recording an interview for the MAGA Republican Ruthless podcast. Phony weirdoJD had this to say about the group: “I think something that people don’t fully appreciate, especially far lefties who pretend to care about the environment, is they assume that these guys just want to take, take, take from the environment. Like they want to kill every animal. They want to get every fish out of the lake and they want to take them home and they don’t think about conservation. When in reality the people who are hunting and fishing they care the most about conservation. They care about the balance I think more than people who never spend any real time in the environment.” He is lying.

Death of an elder in the West Bank and the death of children in Al-Nuseirat. Views of Lebanon look like Gaza. John Mearsheimer and Norman Finkelstein comment on October 7, while Media Watch shows up for journalists in Gaza and Lebanon. ABC’s 4 Corners experts give rise to questions for the Coalition. Our five-minute scroll Continue reading »

As Tom mentioned this morning, Bob Woodward has a new book out and its full of juicy revelations as usual. CNN reports that there’s some good stuff about Biden in it — he calls Netanyahu a “son of a bitch” and a “bad fucking guy” which is actually a relief. At least the “unwavering” support for Israel’s ongoing ultraviolence isn’t based upon Biden’s inexplicable regard for Bibi. Biden has also reportedly said that he regrets naming Garland as AG because of the persecution of Hunter which I think is fair enough (although there are other reasons for wishing there had been a different AG during this period as well.) But it’s the Trump stuff that really grabs: The book also contains new details about Trump’s relationship with the Russian president. In 2020, Woodward writes, Trump had “secretly sent Putin a bunch of Abbott Point of Care Covid test machines for his personal use.” During the height of the pandemic, Russia and the United States did exchange medical equipment such as ventilators.

Why the Abraham Accords were never going to bring peace to the Middle East.

Despite Trump’s claim that FBI had “free rein,” his aides limited witness lists and scope of questioning, per a senator’s report.

The post Trump White House Got in the Way of Brett Kavanaugh Sexual Assault Investigation appeared first on The Intercept.

Shock jock, John Laws, has stunned the Nation by announcing his retirement from radio. It was not the news of his retirement that stunned the Nation but rather news that Mr Laws was in fact still alive. “I thought he... Read More ›

He always lies and when caught just doubles down: After Donald Trump was asked in a Monday interview about the future prospects of Gaza, the former president made a curious claim: “You know, I’ve been there, and it’s rough.” There is no public evidence of Trump ever having been to Gaza, which has been governed by militant group Hamas since 2007. He certainly didn’t go to Gaza as president, and CNN, The New York Times and The Washington Post have all found no proof he made a prior visit. Perhaps he merely meant he has been to Palestinian territory, since he did visit the West Bank in 2017? Or maybe he was just talking about having been to the broader region? Nope. Trump’s campaign said Monday night that he meant what he said about having been to Gaza in particular – and the campaign insisted the claim is true. “President Trump has been to Gaza previously and has always worked to ensure peace in the Middle East,” campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told CNN. Leavitt, though, did not provide a single detail about Trump’s supposed trip to Gaza.