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He’s full of it: Vivek Ramaswamy is once again Just Asking Questions about what happened on 9/11. In an interview with the Atlantic, the GOP presidential candidate spontaneously turned to the subject during an exchange about whether Americans know the “truth about what really happened” during the January 6 assault on the Capitol. “I don’t know, but we can handle it,” said Ramaswamy. “Whatever it is, we can handle it. Government agents. How many government agents were in the field? Right?” He then pivoted to September 11, 2001, when terrorists hijacked four jetliners and crashed them into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania — killing close to 3,000 people. “I think it is legitimate to say how many police, how many federal agents, were on the planes that hit the Twin Towers,” he said. “Maybe the answer is zero. It probably is zero for all I know, right?” “I have no reason to think it was anything other than zero.

Government ministers and senior officials are conditioning Australians to become frightened, very frightened. The Home Affairs minister Clare O’Neil warns they face a “dystopian future” from cyber-crime, foreign interference and threats to our democracy. What she didn’t say is that Australia can no longer be called a liberal democracy because it has numerous harsh laws Continue reading »

Since the Robodebt saga there have been many calls for a more independent public service that can be trusted to provide competent advice frankly and fearlessly. In that case a key issue is how departmental secretaries are appointed and dismissed. The Robodebt saga has prompted numerous articles discussing the need for an independent Australian Public Continue reading »

I hesitate to stray into the florid world of military strategists, senior public servants, cabinet ministers and assorted think tanks, but what on earth is going on with Australia’s so-called defence policy? The Albo government seems hellbent on turning Australia into a militarised outpost of the US whose ‘pivot’ to the Asia-Pacific region has led Continue reading »

Pearls and Irritations is a beacon of thoughtful, thought provoking, thoroughly researched and expertly presented, articles about issues so often ignored by the mainstream media. There is always something to be learned, independent perspectives that no one else will report, or an unexpected take on an old story. Pearls and Irritations never disappoints. For more Continue reading »

Mothers, grandmothers, aunties, sisters, daughters, and allies, you are out here on a chilly winter’s day because of your love and rightful concern for children and the next generation’s future. I wish to honour your concern by introducing you to a bold approach. In the context of the extreme changes in the climate system we’ve Continue reading »

There are solid grounds for suspecting that the appointment of Ms Kathryn Campbell, of Robodebt notoriety, to the Department of Defence’s AUKUS division did not meet the normal standards required for other appointments in the public service. Those responsible for the appointment of Ms Campbell and the suspension of her salary have got little to Continue reading »

The central and tragic truth of the Israel-Palestinian conflict is that two peoples, the Jewish people and the Palestinians, have deep, centuries-long historical ties to a territory no larger than half of Tasmania. Both peoples want their political independence and to live in peace and freedom. It would be contrary to the great principle of Continue reading »

‘Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad’ What a pity it is that we no longer believe in capricious gods because that would offer a good explanation for the otherwise quite perplexing habit of governments, with intelligent and informed people theoretically at their disposal, to embrace policies which are manifestly an example of Continue reading »

There has been a major backlash to the party's attempts to pass off campaign leaflets as independent local newspapers

Based on the BBC's website, it looks like we might be getting the BBC & Disney+'s Doctor Who Series 14 sooner than we expected next year.

Aka “I know you are but what am I” The following discussion is hardly anything new to those of you who’ve been following the netroots, blogs, online left, what-have-you for the past couple of decades. There was once an obsessive focus in those groups on “messaging” and how to combat what seemed to be the right’s mastery of the form. Nobody talks about it much anymore but it’s still an issue and this article is a decent reminder of that: By almost any measure, the struggle for political dominance in the US seems deadlocked between Republicans and Democrats. At times, the two parties resemble a pair of punch-drunk boxers, slugging away at one another in a contest that neither can end. But there is one political battleground where Republicans triumph virtually every time — and control of this arena could determine who wins the White House in 2024. Republicans are masters of verbal jiu-jitsu. It’s a form of linguistic combat in which the practitioner takes a political phrase or concept popularized by their opponent and gradually turns into an unusable slur.

Introducing CarbonCore BoroTex with GroundToClouds Terra-Teflon Technology. What’s it mean? It means if you don’t have it, you’re not ReallyOutdoors.

It’s finally here, even though we can’t describe what this bullshit really is. We’re kidding, totally fucking around with you; we can tell you exactly what it is. It’s an uncompromising flex that won’t bend. It’s soaking wet but bone dry. It’s long but short, hot but cold. It’s faster speed with slower torque than ever before. It’s a total contradiction at all times; totally the same and totally different. Simply put, it is everything we say it is, plus the opposite of that, in case you want that instead.

They’re doubling down: Just two days after the Georgia indictment, one of Trump’s most enthusiastic backers took the stage at a conference in Missouri to again spread election misinformation. Mike Lindell, the owner of MyPillow who is a vocal promoter of the myth that the 2020 presidential election was stolen, kicked off an event on purported election crimes with a video about fraud. It included footage from November 2020 that purported to show a Fulton County, Georgia, election worker pulling a briefcase of ballots from under a desk to surreptitiously add them to the tally. As evidence has since shown, the worker, Ruby Freeman, was simply doing her job — pulling out a standard government container full of real ballots that had to be counted. Three different counts of the Georgia vote, including one by hand, showed the ballots were tallied properly and the results were accurate. But Freeman and her daughter, who also worked in the elections office that night, were targeted by Trump and his allies and accused of helping throw the election to Biden, compared to drug dealers and deluged with threats. The women testified before the congressional Jan.

“a friendlier Nazi Germany” Amanda Moore went undercover in late 2020 as a far-right extremist. She attended the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) and Turning Point USA’s Student Action Summit. By August 2021, she was attending a Proud Boys riot in Portland with a neo-Nazi. The far-right threat, Moore felt, was “misunderstood by much of the press and far more dangerous than what was being reported.” What began as an idea for a podcast and a couple of blog posts became an 11-month journey into the heart of American darkness. The press underestimates the white-nationalist threat because these groups are careful to conceal their real agenda. They work as congressional campaign staffers and work to form congressional caucuses, all while “meeting with leaders of far-right political parties in Italy and Hungary” and heading up local Young Republican clubs. “Some have worked hard to scrub themselves from the Internet or to curate their online personas; others operate in the shadows, so that people do not even know to look for them,” Moore explains in The Nation.

A bad potboiler is not made better by stylish writing; it is made worse. 

Blame Donald Trump and all too many of his followers, but don’t just blame him or them. Yes, he was indeed responsible for the nightmare of January 6, 2021, and, in his own fashion, for the incitement of right-wing militia (terror!) groups like the Proud Boys. (“Stand back and stand by!”) But in this country, in this century, violence has become as all-American as apple pie. In these years, it’s been violence and more violence all the way, literally in the case of the Pentagon. But let me start a little more personally. Having lived several years in rural Maryland along the Virginia border, I’ve watched the local political landscape gain ever-deepening fault lines (as is true in the United... Read more

Source: How War Divides Us appeared first on TomDispatch.com.

It’s complicated. And that’s good.

The post Your 🧠 On Emoji appeared first on Nautilus.

Lie-lie-lie-lie-lie-lie-lie So, okay, Donald Trump is not being booked the day of the GOP debate (AP): Former President Donald Trump says he will surrender to authorities in Georgia on Thursday to face charges in the case accusing him of illegally scheming to overturn his 2020 election loss in the state. “Can you believe it? I’ll be going to Atlanta, Georgia, on Thursday to be ARRESTED,” Trump wrote on his social media network Monday night, hours after his bond was set at $200,000. This will be Trump’s fourth arrest since April. When defendants arrive at the building, they typically pass through a security checkpoint before checking in for formal booking in the lobby. During the booking process, defendants are typically photographed and fingerprinted and asked to provide certain personal information. Since Trump’s bond has already been set, he will be released from custody once the booking process is complete. Unlike in other jurisdictions, in Fulton County, arraignments — where a defendant first appears in court — are generally set after a defendant completes the booking process and do not happen on the same day.

Doctor Who is a show that often pioneered representation ahead of its time, and Jodie Whittaker's Thirteenth Doctor was an LGBTQ champion.

Okay, sweetie, just stay calm and don’t panic. I SAID DON’T PANIC. You’re making me nervous.

Now, to do this the RIGHT way, we need a portable X-ray unit. Of course, your father always forgets the portable X-ray unit. He remembers the dog’s birthday. He remembers to refill the hummingbird feeder. He remembers the name of every horse in every Western ever produced in the history of cinema. But he forgets the portable X-ray unit. I have to do everything. Anyway, it’s time to locate the detonator.

Do you have a protective suit, honey? I bet you look so precious in a protective suit. It’s not patronizing—what does that even mean? Well, I suppose if you don’t have a protective suit, you can tape a bunch of throw pillows to your head and torso. I have about two dozen on that loveseat in the front room. I sure hope it’s enough. Let’s see if I can get a look at the battery on this thing. That reminds me: the TV remote needs new batteries. I’ll let your father know by shouting.

In today's BCTV Daily Dispatch: Rick and Morty, Drag Race, Adult Swim, James Gunn/DCU, Ahsoka, Creepshow, Doctor Who, AHS, One Piece & more!