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Hiya, Frank—T. J. Eckleburg here, from the optometry practice you did the ad campaign for. Listen, it’s been a while since the billboard went up, and to be honest with you, I’m not thrilled with the results.

The thing is, it hasn’t actually brought in any new business. Yes, I appreciate that your market research shows there’s been a significant uptick in people questioning the ethics of their actions even as they continue to debauch themselves—that, underneath the revelry, they feel an undercurrent of shame. And that’s… fine, I guess. But at the end of the day, it doesn’t really translate into people seeking out my vision care services.

Whenever I introduce myself now, people say, “Oh, T. J. Eckleburg? Aren’t you the guy with the creepy billboard that represents God?” And sure, I guess I’m thankful for the name recognition, but it’s not exactly the image I’m trying to project. I wish they would say, “Oh, T. J. Eckleburg? Aren’t you… the optometrist? Who offers quality care at a great value?”

My Name is Aaron Bushnell. I am an active duty member of the United States Airforce. And I will no longer be complicit in genocide. (Caution: Graphic Content) For more on this topic, P&I recommends: Continue reading »

It must be regarded as one of the most despicable and morally repugnant actions ever taken by an Australian parliament since 1901 when, in the first week of February this year, it refused by a huge majority to demand a ceasefire in Gaza as Israel prepared for a military assault on Rafah, where they had Continue reading »

There has been much talk about nations’ and corporations being complicit in the war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide being committed by Israel in the wake of Hamas’ horrific attacks on October 7. Much of this discussion, and in fact action, has been taken in the context of governments approving the export of arms Continue reading »

As opposition to AUKUS grows, the nuclear submarine project does not stand up to expert scrutiny. There is no doubt that opposition to the AUKUS agreement is growing within the Australian public. The more people see through the secrecy and obfuscation; the more they learn about the project’s far-reaching implications for them and the nation, Continue reading »

The Australian government has decided to ignore critics of Aukus in parliament and the community. Rather it has moved to embed the idea of Aukus directly into the Australian psyche. We Australians consider ourselves a straightforward lot. We prefer to speak our minds simply and honestly. We do not readily embrace ideas such as weapons Continue reading »

On Feb 17, aged 93, Norwegian Johann Galtung, polymath Professor of Peace Studies died. In a world riven with conflicts, whose leaders appear to know more about weaponry, destruction and murder than about peace making, Galtung‘s teaching offers a penicillin for peace, an antidote to the arms trade and to persistent violence. Galtung’s significance derives Continue reading »

We must speak to people who require assistance and listen to their needs instead of speaking over them. In the case of Australia’s refugee policy, we wasted billions on toxic cruelty when we could have done much better by cooperating internationally and supporting people humanely. One of the “greatest pre-resettlement programs in the world” for Continue reading »

Ansar Allah has made it clear that they don't plan on abandoning their support for the Palestinian cause in the face of mounting pressure on Yemen.

The post Strategic Escalation: Yemen’s Military Operations Signal a New Phase in the Red Sea appeared first on MintPress News.

In a recent interview with Victorian Health Minister, Mary-Anne Thomas, Melbourne ABC presenter, Raf Epstein, led off with a classic “gotcha” question: “I know it’s not your portfolio area, but how many Victorian homes are still without power since last week’s catastrophic storms?” Credit to Thomas’s political smarts (and probably good staff work) she shot Continue reading »

This week Sky News reported it had a list with the personal details of 500 Palestinian people who had obtained visas to flee overwhelming violence in Gaza, 81 of whom are in Australia. The Jewish Council of Australia is concerned for the safety of the Palestinian people who have had their identities exposed to Sky Continue reading »

Palestine protest organisers believe senior Government officials are placing heavy pressure on police to clamp down on their demonstrations

Big Finish Productions released details on Dark Gallifrey: Morbius, the opening trilogy of audio dramas kicking off an epic Doctor Who event.

“Abortion trafficking” bills and a new study of rape-related pregnancy contribute to the “awfulization” of abortion.

The post An Abortion-Seeker Is Not a Victim appeared first on The Intercept.

Here we are again looking right down the barrel of a government shutdown because one half of one of the three branches of government is completely dysfunctional under GOP leadership. We’re talking about the Republican House of Representatives of course. They are simply incapable of passing legislation. In fact, 2023 was the least productive year since the Great Depression with congress passing just 27 bills that became law. (In 1948 President Harry Truman famously called the legislative branch the “do nothing congress” because they only managed to pass 511 bills.) This is the third time in six months that the country has been on the brink of a shutdown because the hard right in the House is holding their breath until they turn blue. It’s not clear what they want except perhaps to cause more chaos. The last time it cost Speaker Kevin McCarthy his job and the same fate may very await Speaker Mike Johnson as well. There’s nothing in his performance so far that suggests he has the skill or the desire to finesse this situation. There’s no need to reiterate the saga that continues over the Ukraine and border funding.

  Gonna tell you right off the bat that this was delicious.  And super-easy. I marinated the flank steak the night before, hard-boiled the eggs for the salad, and made the cream cake roll that morning (that will be detailed in a later post). I’m happy to report that No. 168 started at 5:20 pmContinue reading 168. Skewered Flank Steak →

Of camels’ noses and tents We’ve warned plenty about the New Apostolic Reformation and the Seven Mountains people. Long before us, Richard Hofstadter warned about the paranoid style in American politics in 1964 in the wake of the McCarthy era. The paranoid style in American religion is closely related. In the late 1970s, Republican operatives decided on mobilizing useful idiots on the religious right for conservative political purposes. They invited the camel to poke its nose under the tent. And in the fullness of time we got QAnon and Trump and MAGA. ALL ONE, like the pepermint soap. Of camels’ noses and tents Axios reports this morning that while Christian nationalism is on the rise, it still remains widely unpopular: How fringe are Christian nationalists?

“I have been complicit in the violent domination of the world and I will never get the blood off my hands.”

The post Aaron Bushnell, Who Self-Immolated for Palestine, Had Grown Deeply Disillusioned With the Military appeared first on The Intercept.

‘How would you like to be remembered?’ a fresh-faced David Frost asks the soon-to-be Swedish Prime Minister, Olof Palme, calmly draping his arms around his chair. ‘I don’t mean that you’re going to die tomorrow, thank God you’re not, but what would you like your obituary to say?’ Gazing into the middle distance, Palme responds, […]

Simon sums it up The press loves a horse race like the kid in the story assumes in a room full of manure there must be a pony. Naturally, the Washington Post reports “warning signs for Biden, Trump and Haley” in the Michigan primary results from Tuesday night. The race is on! And it’s a nail-biter! President Biden and former president Donald Trump won the Democratic and Republican primaries in Michigan by huge margins Tuesday night — but there were serious problems for both candidates lurking under the surface. Trump crushed Nikki Haley by over 40 points. Biden, meanwhile, won the Democratic primary by an even more overwhelming margin — but 13 percent of voters marked their ballots “uncommitted” following a campaign to persuade voters to not to support Biden in protest of his support for Israel and his refusal to call for a cease-fire in Gaza. The protesters want a cease-fire. They don’t want Biden to call for one. Biden and his team have been pressing Israel’s Bibi Netanyahu unsuccessfully for a cease-fire for weeks. The press wants to build suspense, though.

In this column, Kristen Mulrooney writes letters to famous mothers from literature, TV, and film whom she finds herself relating to on a different level now that she’s a mom herself.

Dear Mrs. George,

I hope this letter finds you well and I’m not interrupting the buzz from your afternoon daiquiris.

I’m sorry, that probably came across as judgy, and I promise I’m not here to judge you. I’m writing because as I acclimated to motherhood, I thought often of something you said:

“I’m not like a regular mom. I’m a cool mom.”

You’re the last person I ever thought I’d find common ground with, mainly because I wouldn’t be caught dead in a Juicy Couture tracksuit and I don’t believe in supplying alcohol to minors, but when you said you’re not like a regular mom, I felt that. I never saw myself as a regular mom either, and I had my anxieties about entering #MomLife, because I was afraid I’d have trouble finding my place there.