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He was once the wingnuttiest of wingnuts. Now he’s the establishment. Did he change or did the party? A little bit of both: You’re going to read that the 18-year House veteran is the “adult in the room” compared to other GOP hard-liners — a pragmatist who’s ready to govern and even has Democrats clamoring for him to run the House. But it wasn’t always that way. Part of the reason the North Carolina Republican has any lingering cred with the far right — though it’s fading in the Matt Gaetz era — is that he used to be one of them, even before the rise of the GOP tea party movement. McHenry entered Congress in 2005 at 29 and soon made his name as a self-described “bomb-thrower.” He rose through the House GOP ranks by attacking the government’s economic rescue plans in the wake of the global financial crisis, helping sink the Bush administration’s initial attempt to bail out Wall Street — a failed vote that triggered a market crash.

Meeting up at Doctor Who @ 60: A Musical Celebration, Steven Moffat, Chris Chibnall & Russell T. Davies discuss music's role in the show.

This is what happens when the monster you created turns on you: In the closed-door meeting, several GOP members urged Rep. Jim Jordan to drop his bid for the speakership, but he is resisting those calls, according to two sources familiar with the matter. Jordan, who sources say scrapped a third vote today after failing to get enough to win the speakership in his first two ballots, is is now leaning toward backing a resolution to expand interim Speaker Patrick McHenry’s powers, sources said, but he wants to see how today’s House GOP conference meeting goes.  Here’s how it went: A closed-door meeting of the House GOP Conference turned heated today, multiple sources tell CNN, a further sign of chaos as Republicans struggle to elect a speaker.  At one point, Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, who led the effort to oust Kevin McCarthy as speaker, was told to sit down by McCarthy but refused.

Israel, which always seeks to blame Palestinians for the atrocities it carries out, is the least trustworthy source about the bombing of the hospital in Gaza. Israel was founded on lies. The lie that Palestinian land was largely unoccupied. The lie that 750,000 Palestinians fled their homes and villages during their ethnic cleansing by Zionist Continue reading »

Make no mistake, had the Australian Government not changed last year, Chen Lei would still be languishing in her miserable detention cell, denied access to her children, relatives, and friends. From the outset, the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister made it clear that they would change the tone of the relationship with China which, by Continue reading »

We had high hopes Continue reading »

As a postscript to Caitlin Johnstone’s piece in yesterday’s P&I, I wish to comment further on who is responsible for the attack on al-Ahli Arab Hospital on the 17th October. It seems odd to me that Israel, which is admittedly bombing Gaza relentlessly, would claim that Palestinians did it by allowing a rocket to malfunction, Continue reading »

The Victorian government has just acted to ensure that the Independent Broad-based Anti-Corruption Commission (IBAC) is neutered by a subtle gambit in the crafting of the advertisement seeking applicants for the position of Commissioner. The first requirement in the ad was for a “leader with demonstrated experience and exceptional capability in: public sector leadership and Continue reading »

If you are a critic of Anthony Albanese’s Labor government, stop whining about it. Do something instead. You can find leverage in the political opportunity structure to pressure the Labor party on three key demands: recognising Palestine; withdrawing from the AUKUS submarine deal, and stopping new fossil fuel projects. Here’s how. Phase 2 of the Continue reading »

Environmental and some health organisations are requesting urgent legislative action to amend part of the EPBC Act of 1999, to include shale and tight gas so it can be applied to assessments of the Beetaloo shale gas development. In 2012, the Australian Government established the Independent Expert Scientific Committee on Coal Seam Gas and Large Continue reading »

The scars from mean words and actions can last a long, long time. After the outcome of the Voice Referendum, and as the suffering in Israel and Gaza intensifies, can the choice to heal rather than to reciprocate harm take us out of a spiralling set of retaliations which just cause more suffering? Perhaps we Continue reading »

by Daniel Wortel-London

The catastrophe unfolding in Israel and the Gaza Strip is the product of many factors, including colonialism and religious fanaticism. But another impulse driving this disaster deserves discussion: competition over growth and the natural capital—particularly energy, water, and land—that ensures it. These resources provide the basis for economic and population expansion in the Middle East and elsewhere. As nations continue to recklessly pursue this expansion in a finite world we will see more and more struggles over fewer and fewer resources.

The post The Crisis in the Middle East is a Crisis of Growth appeared first on Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy.

Touring again. Guest appearance​​ in Berlin. When there, yours truly always visits Walter-Benjamin-Platz (close to Kurfürstendamm, between Leibnizstraße and Wielandstraße). Interesting architecture and a couple of excellent restaurants and cafés. Regular blogging to be resumed next week.

Amid rising attacks on Muslims in the UK, the former Faith Minister launches a thinly-veiled broadside against Sunak's Government, and calls for a new civil rights movement in Britain

“Sara, You Should Smile More”

Baby hair with a woman’s eyes (but not in a creepy way)
You can feel me watching you in the night
All alone with me and we’re waiting for your Uber (his name is Derek—4.93 stars)

Sara, you should smile more
Oh, won’t you smile until your Uber arrives, Sara

If you feel like leaving, you know you can go take the E
But why don’t you stay until tomorrow?
If you wanna be free
You know all you gotta do is call the NYPD

“Upper-Middle-Class Girl”

You’re an upper-middle-class girl, and you’ve gone too far
’Cause you need to take your Lexapro
You can’t rely on the old man’s money
You can’t rely on the old man’s money (he finally cut you off)

Rent’s a bitch girl, but it’s gone too far
’Cause you know it matters to your landlord
Say money, but it won’t get you too far (your checking is overdrawn)
Get you too far (maybe Williamsburg)

Fox News' John Roberts: If Democrats were in the majority, how long would it take Hakeem Jeffries to get to 218 votes? Jason Chaffetz: "Well, Hakeem Jeffries has now lost 17 races in a row. So 17 times in a row, he's been put up for Speaker and he's lost." pic.twitter.com/a6xlkCd7sp — Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) October 19, 2023 It’ doesn’t get any more asinine than that. Oh wait: Scott: Democrats knew what they were doing when they took McCarthy out of the Speakership Keilar: They didn’t take him out. Scott: Sure they did Keilar: You guys are in the majority. pic.twitter.com/lR71iYbSzQ — Acyn (@Acyn) October 18, 2023

Two years ago, I was proud to be elected as a Labour councillor for Notting Dale, the ward in North Kensington, London, where I grew up. Since then, I have had the privilege of serving the community here and acting as deputy leader of the Labour group. Yesterday, I submitted my resignation from the party […]

Upday, an app owned by the German media giant Axel Springer, is instructing journalists to cover the war in Gaza with a pro-Israel bent.

The post Europe’s Largest News Aggregator Orders Editors to Play Down Palestinian Deaths appeared first on The Intercept.