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Created
Tue, 12/09/2023 - 23:26

It’s an ocean of conflict and ecological decline. Despite its vast size — 1.3 million square miles — the South China Sea has become a microcosm of the geopolitical tensions between East and West, where territorial struggles over abundant natural resources may one day lead to environmental collapse. While the threat of a devastating military conflict between China and the United States in the region still looms, the South China Sea has already experienced irreparable damage. Decades of over-harvesting have, for instance, had a disastrous impact on that sea’s once-flourishing fish. The tuna, mackerel, and shark populations have fallen to 50% of their 1960s levels. Biologically critical coral reef atolls, struggling to survive rising ocean temperatures, are also being buried... Read more

Created
Tue, 12/09/2023 - 23:00
They’re making every effort to prove it First thing this morning, up pops a Kaitlan Collins CNN interview with Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.). Collins posts: Rep. Nancy Mace says she supports a House impeachment inquiry. Asked isn’t it supposed to be the evidence that leads you to pursue an impeachment inquiry, Mace responds, “That’s what the inquiry is for, to get more evidence.” Marcy Wheeler (@emptywheel from Ireland) responds: BREAKING: @NancyMace admits, 1) She hasn’t read Biden’s tax releases, which unlike Trump, Biden releases 2) she’s willing to engage in a constitutional abomination of impeaching BECAUSE there’s no evidence of wrongdoing. Trump wants his retribution NOW Let’s cut to the chase. Digby summarized what’s behind this nonsense on Monday: It’s absolutely the case that they are doing this for Trump because he has demanded it. That goes without saying. But since they are all bent on destroying democracy and the constitutional order, de-legitimizing the impeachment process is a no brainer.
Created
Tue, 12/09/2023 - 22:00

My son is ten, and recently he asked me something about racism.

And in the middle of it, he farted.

“Dad, with racism, are there like, y’know, different typ—BRRRRRrrrrRRRRppp.”

Breaker of winds, first of his name, my son has no self-consciousness about producing some natural energy. For him, the sound of flatus rippling flesh is a precious gift, an “easy button” for laughs when bored. Of late, he has taken to using his booty as a weapon, pointing it at me and firing whenever I do something he doesn’t approve of. Say, “iPad time is over,” for example, and blocka-blocka, he lets his nine-millimeter heinie spray that potent tear gas. Give him Nacho Cheese Doritos instead of Cool Ranch for a snack, and you’ll receive a rapid-fire rat-a-tat-tat rat-tat-tat.

Created
Tue, 12/09/2023 - 18:47
When people hear the word “complexity,” they respond in different ways. Some think “complicated” or “messy,” not being able to see the forest for the trees. Others think of a clutter of matter going this way and that with no chance to get a purchase on its behavior, to take hold of the “blooming, buzzing […]
Created
Tue, 12/09/2023 - 09:30
Think again A children’s book about a lion raised by two men has been banned in Florida because right-wing activists suspect the men might be gay – despite nothing in the book suggesting they have any romantic relationship, according to a report. The Florida Department of Education released new information about books that were banned or temporarily removed pending investigation in various county school systems as part of the state’s new laws making it easier to challenge material in a school library, reported the Tallahassee Democrat. One of the books was “Christian, the Hugging Lion.” According to the report, schools in Manatee County, a conservative community just south of Tampa, withdrew the book that’s based on the true story about a pair of men who raise a lion in their London apartment, then are lovingly remembered by the animal when they go to Africa to see him years later. Nothing in the book indicates the two men are in a same-sex relationship — but activists speculated that they might be, which was enough for a complaint about the book.
Created
Tue, 12/09/2023 - 08:35

After four years of frontline reporting and research, The Grayzone’s Anya Parampil unveils her forthcoming book, Corporate Coup: Venezuela and the End of US Empire.  Based on four years of original investigative work and interviews with diplomats from across the globe, Corporate Coup uses the case of Venezuela to examine the West’s blueprint for modern regime change war: the hybrid diplomatic assaults, economic terrorism, covert destabilization tactics, and information warfare that the US and its allies unleash against all governments […]

The post Announcing ‘Corporate Coup: Venezuela and the End of US Empire’ by Anya Parampil first appeared on The Grayzone.

The post Announcing ‘Corporate Coup: Venezuela and the End of US Empire’ by Anya Parampil appeared first on The Grayzone.

Created
Tue, 12/09/2023 - 08:00
The looming impeachment has a grander purpose Noah Berlatsky writes: Republicans have openly admitted that their efforts to impeach President Joe Biden — which will begin in earnest this week as House members return to DC from summer break — are in bad faith. They don’t just want to tarnish Biden. They want to tarnish the impeachment process itself. As the GOP has become increasingly authoritarian and anti-democracy, Republicans have become increasingly committed to undermining and mocking forms of democratic accountability. A nakedly partisan and clownish impeachment is useful because it signals to voters that all impeachments are clown shows, and all impeachments are partisan. That exculpates former President Donald Trump and delegitimizes resistance to him should he win the presidency again. It’s absolutely the case that they are doing this for Trump because he has demanded it. That goes without saying. But since they are all bent on destroying democracy and the constitutional order, de-legitimizing the impeachment process is a no brainer.
Created
Tue, 12/09/2023 - 07:04
Osama Bin Laden: The First Great Man Of The 21st Century

Let’s get the obvious out of the way: Osama Bin Laden was not a good man.

Great is not a synonym for good. Genghis Khan was a great man. Hitler was a great man. FDR was a great man. Ivan the Terrible was a great man. Queen Elizabeth the first was a great woman. Of the five, only FDR was a good person.

Bin Laden didn’t quite win (though the jury is out), but he did accomplish much of what he wanted. His theory was simple: the US, the far enemy, was why when pious Muslims tried to reform their societies, they lost. The US supported the local governments or conservative/sell out forces, and with that support, the governments won.

This theory is a good one: it’s mostly true.