Reading

Created
Wed, 13/12/2023 - 06:00

The Stephen Dixon Award for Short Fiction honors the extraordinary work and life of long-time McSweeney’s author Stephen Dixon. The prize recognizes emerging fiction writers experimenting with form and expanding the boundaries of storytelling. The inaugural winner of this year’s award is Kristina Ten for her story “Adjective.” We’re also pleased to announce Maz Do as the first runner-up for her story “When the Moths Came.”

Created
Wed, 13/12/2023 - 05:58
1 tablespoon butter¼ pound dried beef, shredded1 can (10½ ounces) condensed cream of mushroom soup¼ cup white wine½ cup shredded process American cheese2 tablespoons snipped parsley1 tablespoon chopped pimientoPopovers (below) Melt butter in saucepan; cook and stir meat in butter 3 minutes. Mix soup and wine; stir into saucepan. Cook , stirring constantly, until creamy. […]
Created
Wed, 13/12/2023 - 05:30
He doesn’t have the requisite gaudy glamour but he’s got something else. Just look at the arrogance of this conspiracy addled freak show saying that someone else isn’t living in reality: Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) on Monday dug into Sen. JD Vance’s (R-Ohio) recent remarks against sending further aid to Ukraine, calling the Ohio Republican’s comments “total and unmitigated bull‑‑‑‑.” Vance, in an interview with former White House aid Steve Bannon earlier Monday, claimed some lawmakers are looking to cut Social Security benefits for more aid to Ukraine that he argued will be used so one of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s ministers “can buy a bigger yacht.” When asked about Vance’s remarks later on Monday, Tillis told reporters, “I think it’s bull‑‑‑‑.” “If you’re talking about giving money to Ukrainian ministers — total and unmitigated bull‑‑‑‑,” Tillis continued.
Created
Wed, 13/12/2023 - 05:00

Ingredients

  • 425 ml of Marley’s Spirit or Dandelion & Burdock Fizz
  • 225 grammes of jellied eel blood (harvested by the muck swallows and mud larks that live under the Thames; if you can’t harvest fresh eel, store-bought is fine)
  • 50 grammes of strong flour
  • 50 grammes of piddling flour
  • 110 grammes of charming foppish stutter
  • 1 ml of dried mayonnaise soaked in Pimms
  • Candied rummy jubblers
  • 225 ml of Posh Spice
  • 110 grammes of London copper saying, “What’s all this then, eh?” (crumbled by hand by a chimney-sweep)
  • 110 grammes of upper lip (stiffened into peaks)
  • Zest of blood sausage
  • 275 ml of bovine spongiform beef suet (In a pinch, Artful Dodger grease will do)
  • A sprinkling of Welsh corgi
  • Sultanas

Instructions

Known as plum puddly-dunks or Christmas pudding, “figgy” pudding is a traditional British dessert served on Bonfire of St. Clive’s Day. (“Pudding” in the United Kingdom is what “dessert” is called elsewhere.

Created
Wed, 13/12/2023 - 04:57
A visceral emphasis on fear over engagement has marked Australia’s approach to China since 2015. Only 17 Australians graduated with Honours degrees in China Studies between 2017 and 2021 across the entire country. This year no grants were awarded by the Australian Research Council for China-related research or collaborative research involving Chinese institutions. Will the Continue reading »
Created
Wed, 13/12/2023 - 04:56
For truly effective measures to counter climate change, governments need to break from the ideological clutches of classical free market economics. Systemic change must be led by governments with requisite political power and intent, well-defined objectives, and authority to act without fear. Just a week before Cop28, global “one-day temperatures” breached the 2 degrees Celsius Continue reading »
Created
Wed, 13/12/2023 - 04:55
At a minimum Australians expect ministers in the Defence portfolio to display a basic knowledge of defence matters. The Minister for Defence Industry Pat Conroy’s address to the National Press Club is particularly worrying as justification for “the greatest industrial undertaking Australia has ever attempted”. Conroy’s comments on the AUKUS submarines (SSN-AUKUSs) are simplistic to Continue reading »
Created
Wed, 13/12/2023 - 04:53
Pearls and Irritations’ weekly roundup this week commented on the paucity of analysis regarding the House of Representatives Select Committee’s report Rebuilding Employment Services. This is not surprising given the number and complexity of its recommendations. However, it is hard to pin down many specifics in the report other than the current system is useless. Continue reading »
Created
Wed, 13/12/2023 - 04:51
“The world looked away during the World War, and Jews, 6 million of our people, were murdered in that looking away…  It is incumbent upon humanity to look at what is happening in Gaza now and to say we will not accept this. We will say no. Not in our name.” – Louise Adler The Continue reading »
Created
Wed, 13/12/2023 - 04:50
The revelations in recent weeks of Indian government involvement in the assassination in Vancouver of a Sikh separatist – and in a conspiracy to murder another in New York – may turn out to be what those in the diplomatic business call “manageable.” The United States and India need a relationship in working order. But Continue reading »
Created
Wed, 13/12/2023 - 04:44
In the last few days, I’ve read poems in Ely, Birmingham, St Andrews, Edinburgh and Brighton; each event was lovely and special in its own way. A big thank you to everyone who came along to them, and indeed, to all the 15,000 people who have dragged themselves to my 59 shows this year. In…
Created
Wed, 13/12/2023 - 04:33

In light of recent events in Gaza, MintPress News brings you our original 2022 documentary, Gaza Fights Back. Filmed on the ground with exclusive access to the Palestinian resistance, the film offers valuable context to the current state of affairs in Gaza.

The post Watch the MintPress News Documentary Film: Gaza Fights Back appeared first on MintPress News.

Created
Wed, 13/12/2023 - 04:00
And these are just for starters Judd Legum came up with a good Top 10 Trump dictatorial promises. I might have put invading Mexico and destroying NATO in the top 10 but that’s just me. Anyway, the first is his explicit promise to be a dictator on Day One. The following are the other nine: Trump says election fraud in 2020 gives him the power to “terminate” the Constitution On December 3, 2022, Trump posted the following message about the 2020 presidential election on his social media platform, Truth Social: Following a backlash from some Republican elected officials, Trump later claimed reports that he was open to terminating the Constitution were “fake news.” Trump says he will issue “full pardons” to January 6 insurrectionists Trump has promised to issue pardons to those involved in the January 6, 2021 Capitol insurrection.
Created
Wed, 13/12/2023 - 03:25

What's happening in Sarajevo provides a uniquely palpable demonstration of the enfeebling impact and influence of Western NGOs abroad, which offers obvious and grave lessons for developing countries everywhere, Kit Klarenberg reports.

The post Enslaved by Nonprofits: How NGOs Colonize Developing Countries appeared first on MintPress News.