Physicist Alan Lightman on evolution and atheism, creativity and spirituality.
The post Why Materialists Don’t Have to Be Atheists appeared first on Nautilus.
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This would be funny if it didn’t mean that Marge Greene could end up being a “mainstream” Republican politician once the smoke has cleared: Tensions inside the conservative House Freedom Caucus have reached the point that some members are floating the idea of purging colleagues from the group. At least two hardliners have discussed — and proposed to Freedom Caucus Chair Scott Perry (R-Pa.) — trying to boot members who no longer meet the group’s standards, according to three Republicans with knowledge of the talks who spoke on condition of anonymity. The lawmakers declined to name who’s behind the ouster calls, underscoring the sensitivity of the situation. While the members suggesting a purge did not specify the people they want to remove, they are signaling that one target of any ejection push is Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.). Some in the Freedom Caucus have focused on Greene, who’s become a close ally of Speaker Kevin McCarthy, to illustrate their fears that certain group members are too aligned with GOP leaders and too outwardly critical of the group when it splits on certain issues.
Miami: Just saying. This is a national problem in cities big and small, red states and blue states. It’s a terrible thing and these ghouls like DeSantis trying to make it into a “woke” issue are lying assholes.
Call it Carr’s law. I’m pretty confident it withstands any testing. It’s simple: find someone talking up war with China and, if they were around 20 years ago, you find they were a supporter of the Iraq invasion. Few learn from error. On the other hand, stupidity is a constant in human affairs. Against it, Continue reading »
While much of humanity was glued to the unfolding drama over one tiny submarine, the Earth we all inhabit is slowly, steadily and implacably imploding around us. Ocean temperatures are raging off the scale, icecaps are melting and seas rising, forests are ablaze across continents, ‘heat bombs’ in heavily populated regions are pushing them into Continue reading »
In an opinion piece published in The Weekend Australian (10 June 2023), Paul Monk offers his response to critics of the AUKUS nuclear-powered submarine agreement. A central focus of his critique is this open letter signed by more than 100 academics. As two of the principal co-authors of the letter, we requested a right of Continue reading »
Australia is the only democratic country in the world without a charter of human rights in either legislation or the Constitution. On 1 July the deadline for submissions will close on the federal government’s current Inquiry into Australia’s Human Rights Framework. In this Inquiry the government is seeking comments on whether the Human Rights Framework Continue reading »
This is a story of five decades, from 1973 to 2023. Diplomatic relations between Australia and the then North Vietnam were established on 26 February, 1973. It has history. Early this year marked its fiftieth anniversary, otherwise mostly ignored. The Commonwealth of Australia had then created political ties with the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (which Continue reading »
Reforming political donations – will Labor and the Coalition do a sweetheart deal to thwart independents?; Ten questions about the Voice answered; and Signs of an impending recession. Read on for the Weekly Roundup of links to articles, reports, podcasts and other media on current political and economic issues in public policy. Where our money Continue reading »
Prosaic economic factors, not politics, are driving the growth in China-Australia trade, ensuring “China will only become more important as Australia’s trading partner of choice,” writes James Laurenceson. Foreign Minister Penny Wong has made clear that Australia’s relationship with China is “not going to go back to where we were”. There will be no “reset”. That’s Continue reading »
Paleotempestology promises to uncover patterns of historical hurricanes—to better predict destructive weather of the future.
The post The Secret Messages in Ancient Storms appeared first on Nautilus.
Donald Trump once told his ecstatic rally goers his philosophy of life: My whole life, you know what I say? ‘Don’t worry about it, I’ll just figure it out.’” It’s worked for him up until now. As it happens one of his top proteges, “My Kevin” McCarthy has adopted the same attitude. Punchbowl reports: Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s long-term strategy is this — he has no long-term strategy. The California Republican has shown, to a remarkable degree, that his day-to-day, week-to-week style in running the House is to essentially push through — to just keep dancing — and deal with problems as they come. Get through today and worry about what happens next when it happens. McCarthy won the speaker’s gavel in January after 15 grueling rounds of voting, granting a host of concessions to the conservatives in the process. These promises put McCarthy on a collision course with President Joe Biden and the Democrats over the debt limit, yet McCarthy had finally become speaker, his longtime goal.
Doctor Who Showrunner Russell T. Davies had more production updates to pass along for the 60th-anniversary special & upcoming new series.
1. “We shall meet in the place where there is no darkness.”
2. “I’m talking about the kitchen—just to be clear—at my food bowl.”
3. “Big Brother Is Watching You.”
4. “I am Big Brother. I am watching you.”
5. “You are a slow learner.”
6. “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”
7. “The essence of being human is that one does not seek perfection.”
8. “I enjoy talking to you. Your mind appeals to me. It resembles my own mind except that you happen to be insane.”
9. “Hunger reduces one to an utterly spineless, brainless condition, more like the after-effects of influenza than anything else. It is as though one had been turned into a jellyfish, or as though all one’s blood had been pumped out and lukewarm water substituted.”
10. “O cruel, needless misunderstanding!”
11. “Nothing exists except an endless present.”
12. “Let’s face it: our lives are miserable, laborious, and short.”
13. “The object of torture is torture.”
14. “Man serves the interests of no creature except himself.”
15. “Four legs good, two legs bad.”
The eclipse of Boris Johnson and Nicola Sturgeon, following Jeremy Corbyn, represents a successful restoration for the British establishment after years of populist challenge. This observation has, in the hands of the British press, quickly acquired the force of banality. The Economist welcomes a ‘great moderation’. Andrew Marr is even more emphatic: ‘Parliamentary democracy is […]
I realize that many people are probably sick of hearing about Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis now that he’s fallen in the polls and looks less like a real threat to win the nomination. He’s an unpleasant person and it’s vaguely uncomfortable to even read about him which is no doubt why his slide has invited what seems like dozens of new entrants into the race. They all now think they could be in second place in case Trump trips on the golf course and breaks a hip. It’s still quite early in the process and DeSantis has a lot of money and is, by all accounts, putting together a serious campaign so it’s too early to write him off. But there’s no need to dwell on his candidacy quite as much now that he’s lost his luster. But I think it’s probably a good idea to continue to keep and eye on him regardless of his presidential ambitions. Of all the candidates, he best represents the next generation of GOP leaders and his political philosophy is something quite new for the Republican party. It’s not the conservatism that dominated the GOP since the 1950s but neither is it Trumpism, to the extent that such a thing even exists without Trump.
It's not just Doctor Who and Blade Runner. Titan Comics does Jimi Hendrix as well in a new graphic novel based on Purple Haze.
Hedge fund of GOP mogul who funded luxury trip is trying to kill financial regs.
On this week’s MVC, a discussion about corporate competition in a ’90s kids movie.
John Eastman’s disbarment proceedings “Hundreds of ordinary people have been convicted of attacking the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, yet not one member of Trump’s inner circle of coup-plotters has faced real accountability for it,” Greg Sargent writes this morning in the Washington Post. That may soon change for attorney John Eastman who pleaded the Fifth Amendment over 100 times during questioning by House Jan. 6 committee. Accountability for Eastman remains professional, for now. He faces disbarment in California: Eastman faces 11 charges from the California State Bar, most concerning his lawyerly lies about election fraud. Importantly, the bar also accused Eastman of advising Vice President Mike Pence that a fabricated legal rationale empowered him to reverse or delay the presidential electoral count in Congress. “No reasonable attorney with expertise in constitutional or election law would conclude that Pence was legally authorized to take the actions that respondent proposed,” the bar states in its charges. It adds that Eastman knew those actions would violate the law and the Constitution.
. Interessante Diskussion, nicht zuletzt Adam Tooze’s Beitrag.
Multinational tech giants Microsoft, IBM, Cisco Systems, and Dell Technologies are complicit in Israel's human rights violations, enabling surveillance, data collection, and control over Palestinians in the occupied territories.
The post Israeli Occupation: How Microsoft, IBM, Cisco and Dell Enable Surveillance and Control in Palestine appeared first on MintPress News.
Following a series of investigations by The Bureau of Investigative Journalism and Vice World News, the Horticultural Committee heard testimony from individuals who have spent time working on the farms