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Pakistan’s election was so thoroughly corrupted that the U.S. should not recognize the coalition claiming to be able to form a government, according to 31 members of Congress.

The post Members of Congress Demand Biden Withhold Recognition of Coalition Claiming Power in Pakistan appeared first on The Intercept.

They decided to take the immunity case so they’ll hear oral arguments two months from now despite what everyone believes is a bulletproof appellate decision. They didn’t need to hear it and if they did, they sure as hell could have made that decision weeks ago. It’s pretty clear they’re going to slow walk this thing so there’s little chance of a trial before the election. Former Judge Michael Luttig happened to be on MSNBC when this came down and he said that the fact that they’ve decided to hear this case indicates that there are dissents from the appellate decision. (Gee, I wonder who that could be?) As a result, there is every likelihood that if their ultimate decision is that a president can’t be a blatant criminal with total immunity, there will be dissents and they will take their sweet time. Recall, it didn’t used to be that way: It was on [July 24] in 1974 that the U.S. Supreme Court dealt a fatal blow to President Richard Nixon’s presidency, in a decision that led to the release of the Watergate tapes. The case of United States v.

Trump really did say his rambling is “total genius” and “if I were cognitively impaired, I think I’d know about it.” How about this? He has been addled for years. But whether it’s encroaching dementia of some kind or just his panic and distraction over the legal and financial problems he’s facing, he’s getting worse. I know I don’t have to point out what would happen if Joe Biden said anything like that.

In the new book Purpose, a Yale psychiatrist argues Darwinian forces are divinely guided.

The post Evolution Is Going According to God’s Plan appeared first on Nautilus.

The Australian Greens have held a sad drum circle today after their offers to Opposition leader, Peter Dutton, to join were strongly rebuffed. ”We thought that after we took Peter’s side against Albo to make sure no new houses were... Read More ›

Even as the vast majority of Americans reject it Axios reports on the latest PRRI poll on Christian Nationalism. Surprise! Most Americans aren’t for it: This once-fringe ideology has become prevalent in some deeply red states at a time when the nation overall is increasingly diverse and less religious. The new data from the nonpartisan Public Religion Research Institute’s American Values Atlas come days after the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos should receive legal protections as “unborn life” — and cited Christianity in its reasoning. 7 out of 10 Americans said they were rejecters (30%) or skeptics (37%) of Christian nationalism, the PRRI survey said. In California, New York and Virginia, more than 75% of respondents said they were rejecters or skeptics.  In five deeply red states, at least 45% of respondents said they were adherents or sympathizers of Christian nationalism: North Dakota (50%), Mississippi (50%), Alabama (47%), West Virginia (47%) and Louisiana (46%).

By Chip Gibbons: Jacobin.com In Julian Assange’s ongoing extradition battle in the UK, the United States is asserting its right to track down any journalist anywhere in the world, seize them, haul them to the US, and throw them into a US prison.

Asteroid defense gets serious.

The post Here to Save the Day! appeared first on Nautilus.

Bye Mitch: I don’t think anyone who reads this blog needs me to recite chapter and verse of what this man has done to America with his “ends justify the means” tactics. We all know what he’s done. But even he isn’t hardcore enough for the MAGAs. He says that he knows the politics of his party and he knows that they have become so extreme that they will no longer tolerate him. He’s lost control of them. God help us if Trump wins another term and gets a congressional majority.

Is there anything interesting in the latest report from PRRI on Christian nationalism in the...

They insisted that an embryo’s stem cells represented a human with full human rights. Of course IVF is on the chopping block This was the reason that those “fetal personhood”laws were all passed originally — to placate the extremists who would rather see actual people suffering and dying than allow embryos or fetal tissue to be used for life-saving research. Every time a Republican has been in the white house it’s been a huge controversy. IVF wasn’t discussed much on the right and when it was they turned to the far right Evangelicals who call the embryos “snowflake babies” and insist they should be adopted and implanted. (Considering how many of them there are it would obviously take a “Handmaids Tale” level of forced pregnancies to make that happen.) Now that they got Roe overturned, the chickens have come home to roost. Here’s Greg Sargent on the GOP’s dilemma on the IVF issue: When Donald Trump attacked the recent Alabama Supreme Court ruling that frozen embryos should be considered children, it was widely seen as a glaring indicator of a new political reality.

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 »