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Join MintCast for a hilarious conversation with James Rehwald as he discusses anti-imperialist comedy, the limitations of mainstream media, and the rise of political satire on social media.

The post From TikTok to Taking on the CIA: The Resurgence of Cutting Political Comedy with James Rehwald appeared first on MintPress News.

It looks like we’re going to find out I don’t know if it’s morning in America, exactly, but we can at least see the faint glimmer of dawn on the horizon. Even the relentlessly negative media has started to make note of it — some of them, anyway. We are still seeing headlines by newspapers and cable networks which seem to be determined to temper any positive developments with caveats and forewarnings. But the coverage has shifted a bit in the past couple of weeks which must be a welcome development for the Biden administration. Take, for instance, the Politico Playbook from Thursday which starts off with this encouraging paragraph: “President JOE BIDEN is having a good week. A really good week, actually.” It goes on to lay out a whole bunch of good economic news, starting with the fact that the inflation number is now down to 3%, the lowest its been since March of 2021 and observing that in Washington and on Wall St., a consensus is building that the economy may have turned the corner.

Following Saudi Arabia’s purchase of the PGA Tour, a new Senate report revealed the dictatorship’s ballooning share of the American economy.

The post Saudi Arabia’s Huge U.S. Investments Lose Money — but Buy Influence appeared first on The Intercept.

What better way to end a work week then with a fresh look at Ncuti Gatwa's Fifteenth Doctor from the new series of the BBC's Doctor Who.

The nose knows ‘The judge said it best in one word: Wow,” tweeted Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse this morning. Michael Ponzer, a senior judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts comments on the U.S. Supreme Court’s ethics stink. “What has gone wrong with the Supreme Court’s sense of smell?” Ponzer asks in the New York Times. He has had to abide by a written code of conduct since 1984, before any of the sitting justices were on the bench. In those years, he’s had a few complaints filed against him, but so far none found to have merit. Ponzer’s colleagues know not just to stay inside the ethical lines, but well inside them. But the Roberts court? The recent descriptions of the behavior of some of our justices and particularly their attempts to defend their conduct have not just raised my eyebrows; they’ve raised the whole top of my head. Lavish, no-cost vacations? Hypertechnical arguments about how a free private airplane flight is a kind of facility?

BBC Books announced that the three specials making up the Doctor Who 60th Anniversary event will be getting Target novelizations.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson dons an apron “No one should be too poor to live in one of the richest cities — Chicago — in one of the richest countries — America — at the richest time in the history of the world,” Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, the opening keynote speaker, told the Netroots Nation 23 conference on Thursday. “There is literally more than enough for everybody. Everybody. No one should lose at the expense of someone else winning.” “Now, the soul of Chicago was on full display tonight because you see, and you can feel it in the air,” said Johnson, 47, a former public schoolteacher. “This multicultural intergenerational movement that has propelled us into this moment where we don’t have to shrink and we don’t have to hide from our values. We can actually run on our principles and values and win.” After the speech, Johnson and other officials spent an hour serving food and drinks to several thousand attendees as part of his effort to promote new legislation that would raise pay for tipped workers in the city.

“Disney CEO Bob Iger Says Writers and Actors Are Not Being ‘Realistic’ With Strikes: ‘It’s Very Disturbing to Me’” – Variety

Ever since I married Cinderella’s father I’ve only ever asked her to cook and clean and obediently serve myself and her stepsisters. But is she happy meekly toiling away at endless chores while we live the high life? I dare say she is not. That ungrateful girl is constantly asking for free time to go to a ball, and God knows what else simply for doing all the domestic work we require. It’s as if she believes she is entitled to her share of her parents’ inheritance or at least some sort of recompense for her labor. Cinderella is simply not being realistic with her expectations, and it’s very disturbing to me.

Janet Fielding returns in the special short episode, "Tegan's Surprise Reunion," to help promote the Doctor Who Season 20 Blu-Ray boxset.

The new Palestinian generation has buried the ghosts of the past and moved on. And now, they are ready to speak for themselves and to fight for themselves. Jenin is just the start. 

The post Jenin is Just the Start: A New Generation of Palestinians Has Finally Buried the Ghosts of the Past appeared first on MintPress News.

In the nineteenth century, a sprawling network of railways was constructed across Britain. Since its inception in the Industrial Revolution, the railway has been central to the country’s political, economic and social life. But now, more than any time in its history, its future is in doubt.  In the 1990s, privatisation turned Britain’s railway into […]

‘Dress as a form of protection, a way of concealing the soul’: the fantastical, wearable Soundsuits by the US artist Nick Cave

- by Psyche Film

Watch at Psyche

Filosofiprofessor Kathleen Stock har under lång tid varit engagerad i de pågående diskussionerna om könsidentitet och transrelaterade frågor. I dessa diskussioner har hon uttryckt skepticism och oro över vissa aspekter av transideologi, särskilt i relation till könsidentitet och dess konsekvenser för kvinnors rättigheter och utrymmen. Stock har argumenterat för att konceptet könsidentitet suddar ut betydelsen […]

How the trees of China – fir, camphor, ironwood and nanmu – were used to build an empire that lasted for centuries

- by Ian M Miller

Read at Aeon

The Democratic Unionist Party had an outsized voice in Westminster during Britain's Brexit negotiations.

Episode 11 of my – Podcast – Letter from The Cape – is now available. In this episode we reflect on the recent Royal Commission report in Australia into the Robodebt scandal where conservative government ministers and senior public servants designed and implemented a scheme that was knowingly illegal, and, which imposed untold harm on…

Daily climate disaster: The new normal?

Cars, chimerical colors, and cash.

As US cluster munitions arrived in Ukraine, a bi-partisan vote struck down an effort to stop the internationally banned weapons’ transfer. Meanwhile, every House Democrat and a majority of Republicans voted down a measure to strip $300 million of Ukraine aid from the NDAA. The House on Thursday night voted down an amendment to the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act that would have prohibited the transfer of cluster munitions to Ukraine. The amendment was led by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene […]

The post House votes down amendment to block cluster bomb shipments to Ukraine first appeared on The Grayzone.

The post House votes down amendment to block cluster bomb shipments to Ukraine appeared first on The Grayzone.

COFFS Harbour pop-rock band Unison has achieved a remarkable milestone as their singles ‘Rollin’ and ‘Get out of Bed’ have made it to the UK’s Heritage Top 50 chart. Bass guitarist and singer Marty Bouma attributed the overseas success to the band’s drummer. Advertise with News of The Area today. It’s worth it for your...

The post Unison hits the charts appeared first on News Of The Area.

HIGH school students are invited to enter a short, one-minute, film competition that gets them thinking about how government works. Called Parli-Flicks the film-making competition is open to years 7 to 12 with entries required by midnight Friday 7 August 2023. Advertise with News of The Area today. It’s worth it for your business. Message...

The post Highschoolers invited to enter Parli-Flicks short film competition appeared first on News Of The Area.

PERSONAL stories have seeded the creation of artworks at the new exhibitions showing at Nexus Gallery, Bellingen. The official opening welcomes visitors at 2pm Sunday 16 July, with a month-long show closing on Friday 11 August. Advertise with News of The Area today. It’s worth it for your business. Message us. Phone us – (02)...

The post Local artists unveil new works in exhibitions at Bellingen’s Nexus Gallery appeared first on News Of The Area.

The Coffs Harbour Creative Arts Group (CHCAG) will host its annual fundraiser for the Coffs Harbour & Clarence CanDo Cancer Trust at 2pm on Sunday 16 July, at the Coffs Harbour Showground Gallery. One hundred percent of the proceeds generated by the event will go to help support CanDo’s activities. Advertise with News of The...

The post Mad Hatters Tea Party – annual fundraiser by Coffs’ art group appeared first on News Of The Area.