Reading

Course Overview

This course is designed to introduce students to classic literary works. Class time will be primarily discussion based. Those discussions should remain focused on literary works. They should never become a platform for students to pitch the professor on a business that, in theory, looks pretty lucrative, but in practice turns out to be a pyramid scheme that leaves the professor with a garage full of expensive, nootropic-colostrum-infused wellness shakes.

Let’s get one thing straight from the outset: Israel’s annihilation of Gaza is no isolated military assault or act of self-defence. Rather, it is the unquestionable and horrifying culmination of a brutal story of settler colonialism dating from the zenith of the British Empire. An aggressive process of ethnic-cleansing, dispossession, and systemic violence — and […]

Exclusive: At least 12 newly elected Reform UK councillors in Durham did not declare costs for mass mailings from party leader that attacked local council's spending

Lewis Holden Over 95% of banks’ emissions are ‘financed emissions’. These are indirect emissions from households and businesses who banks lend to or invest in (banks’ asset exposures). Banks disclose these in line with regulations designed to help markets understand their exposure to climate-related risks and their impact on the climate. But emissions disclosures vary … Continue reading Same firms, different footprints: making sense of financed emissions →

Central banks around the world tightened interest rates starting late 2021 in some places and there was a systematic period of hikes over the next year or more despite the inflationary pressures mostly showing signs of abatement as a result of factors that were not sensitive to the rising interest rates. In Australia, the RBA…

Texas Democrats say Trump’s maps expose a nationwide attack on democracy.

In a world of high policy uncertainty, central banks are relying more on soft information sources to complement traditional economic statistics and model-based forecasts. One valuable source of soft information comes from intelligence gathered through central bank liaison programs – structured programs in which central bank staff regularly talk with firms to gather insights. This paper introduces a new text analytics and retrieval tool that efficiently processes, organises, and analyses liaison intelligence gathered from firms using modern natural language processing techniques. The textual dataset spans around 25 years, integrates new information as soon as it becomes available, and covers a wide range of business sizes and industries.

“After days of intense backlash, most recently from President Donald Trump, Cracker Barrel is scrapping its new minimalist logo.” — CNN

I should have known corporate didn’t have my back from the jump—that busy mess of an old logo was stamped with a registered trademark symbol, while I got branded with a bet-hedging regular trademark symbol. That said, I didn’t think they’d cave in less time than it takes an antsy five-year-old to dump an entire carafe of maple syrup into his mother’s purse. Message received, boss.

You jerks sure like your logos hokey and redundant, don’t you? I mean, it says “Cracker Barrel” and there’s a picture right next to it of a cracker and a barrel. Well, I guess it’s your lucky day, because the powers that be have decided if it’s ’70s-era wood-paneled schlock you want, then by golly, it’s ’70s-era wood-paneled schlock you’ll get. God forbid any of you CB loyalists would have to update your tattoos.

The Coalition have announced today a new policy whereby every Australian will be made to pay a levy, which will cover them in case they offend former Senator Linda Reynolds in anyway in the future. ”A Coalition Government wants to... Read More ›

Peeking inside deep-sea rocks has offered a clearer timeline for an oxygen-fueled burst of animal evolution

The post When Ancient Sea Monsters Emerged appeared first on Nautilus.

High temperatures can alter our bodies at the molecular level

The post Extreme Heat Will Change You appeared first on Nautilus.

A new study predicts massive population declines in the Arctic

The post Reindeer Are Vanishing appeared first on Nautilus.

I understand I am responsible if my child renders her Chromebook a paper weight by mercilessly and giddily jamming a Bic pen into the power jack, creating a beautiful flash across the screen, and, if the TikToks are accurate, a slight puff of acrid smoke emanating from within.

I will replace my child’s Chromebook screen if she slams it over the corner of her desk or on the back of her chair, as if the future of civilization depends on her, a seven-year-old child, creating a pile of electronic waste out of a learning device that operates as the very thing that stands between her and peace of mind.

If, under any circumstances, my daughter douses her school-issued Chromebook in lighter fluid, setting it ablaze to summon evil spirits during the pledge of allegiance, I will furnish the school with a new device.

Regulators say banks could take on significant risk by “safekeeping” consumers’ cryptocurrency assets.

Book recommendations from staffers.

The post What The Intercept Is Reading appeared first on The Intercept.

The right is desperately seeking to make a martyr out of Lucy Connolly in order to distract from the real victims of the hate she helped to spread, argues Otto English

Every day, we’re makin’ it slappy here at Slappy Mike’s, and now, we’re finally revealing our secrets. So here’s how we make our crowd favorite: the classic, the one-and-only OG Slappy Sando by Slappy Mike.

First, we get ourselves a fresh, crispy fried chicken fillet. We throw it on a ciabatta roll, pack on some shredded mozzarella, and toss that sucker in a five-hundred-degree oven till it’s all bubbly brown. Then we pull that bad boy out, hit it with some pickled peppers, jicama slaw, and a big ol’ Big Boy Drizzle of Slappy Mike’s Super Secret OG Slappy Sauce.

Oh, but we’re not done.

Once it’s all Slappy’d up, we take the whole-ass sando and top it with sliced onions and five slices of American cheese. We slap it on the griddle and aggressively smash that baby down with a brick. Boom!

Next, we take the smashed sando, wrap it in twenty-five more slices of American cheese, dip the whole thing into Mike’s OG Sriracha Corn Dog batter, and throw that sucker in the deep fryer. Hell yeah.

The “Block the Bombs” bill’s supporters are presenting it as a litmus test for the 2026 midterms.

The post Even Former AIPAC Democrats Are Signing On to Block Arms Sales to Israel appeared first on The Intercept.

Vigilantes with links to Neo-Nazi groups are whipping up fear about migrants while soliciting donations for accompanying children to supposed safety

Roads in Gaza no longer lead to safety or life, but rather to danger and death. One of the most notorious of these roads is the route to Zikim in the northwestern part of the Strip, which in recent months has turned into a bloody scene that repeats itself daily. Thousands of hungry people rush […]