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Back in August of this year Cheryl Sandberg stepped down as Chief Operating Officer of Meta, . I’d been keeping a lazy eye of Facebook and Meta for a while: the organization felt sick to me, not in terms of ethics, but in terms of health. Sandberg jumping was a sign: the most important insider other than the founder and CEO leaving.

Then, this week:

Is riddled with the inconsistency that is the hallmark of this so-called government. We have train fares going up by ‘only’ 5.9% in March – less than the the usual ‘in line with inflation’ increase because actual inflation would dictate a rise of double that. So we have rail workers offered a 4% pay increase... Read more

While US attorneys twisted the Vienna Conventions to fit their case against Alex Saab, a bizarre exchange highlighted the judge’s apparent bias and confusion about U.S. Venezuela policy. MIAMI, FLORIDA – The trial of Venezuelan diplomat Alex Saab continued on December 20, when U.S. District Judge Robert Scola heard closing arguments in an evidentiary hearing concerned with whether or not the concept of diplomatic immunity applied to his case. The diplomat was arrested on June 12, 2020, while en route […]

The post Prosecution in Saab case threatens to undermine the principle of diplomatic immunity appeared first on The Grayzone.

The Grayzone intercepted Volodymyr Zelensky’s Ukrainian diaspora delegation outside the US Capitol and encountered Natalie Jaresko, the corporate operative who helped guide Wall Street’s pillaging from Kiev to Puerto Rico. Jaresko indignantly justified Zelensky’s banning of his political rivals as a necessary wartime measure. Steel fencing and police barricades ringed the perimeter of the US Capitol Building hours ahead of the arrival of Volodymyr Zelensky. The Ukrainian president appeared in Washington DC in the early afternoon on December 21, 2022, […]

The post Zelensky’s diaspora delegation led by economic hit-woman who led plunder of Ukraine appeared first on The Grayzone.

The return of Lula and the challenges facing the Brazilian economy post-Bolsonaro, both domestically and in relation to geopolitics and geoeconomics with the heavy hand of the US in the background. In the larger picture, US hegemony means control of the world's resources, which means subjugating the large resources holders, Russia, China, Brazil, Indonesia, India, and the African continent — that is, most of the Global South and east — while keeping Europe in state of vassalage. This is the principal dynamic of this ear. The rest is just details, e.g., hybrid warfare as a means to this end. This dynamic is the prism through all else on the world stage must be viewed in terms of the present state of the world system, which is now in flux. Lula is cast in the role of a major player in "the Great Game" being played on the global chessboard. Pepe Escobar elaborates.

One not so good item in the package of retirement fund provisions in the omnibus funding bill raises the age for mandatory distributions from retirement accounts from 72 to 75. This is phased in over a decade, but it does go up immediately to 73 in 2023. It had already been raised from 70.5 years […]

The post Quick Note on Minimum Age for Mandatory Retirement Fund Distributions appeared first on Center for Economic and Policy Research.

If you want to know what happens next in the UK, you'd be better off flipping a coin than listening to most political pundits, argues Adam Bienkov

Earlier this month I hosted my annual Christmas party, The Holly Ball (a.k.a the Ball Party). At the Holly Ball, all the food is ball-shaped. This was the 4th Holly Ball*** (5th if you count the inaugural party, A Very Manny Christmas–a celebration for my friend Manny’s 50th birthday). Speaking of Manny, I am usingContinue reading Holly Ball 2022 →

It has reached Wales. (Thanks to pharmaross)

The Satisfaction of Mathematically Efficient Christmas Cookies (Thanks to Allen at Division)

After receiving the call, a dispatcher described the scene to responding officers as “a male standing outside. He is naked. He has a robe covering part of his body. He is exposing himself, and he has a hose between his...

Gisele Bündchen's witch powers, the reason for Tom Brady's terrible year? (Thanks to Asher Scheiner) Apparently she also has it in for the Jets.

Salman Butt comes hard on Pant and wants him to focus on fitness (Thanks to Unholy Slacker)

3:52 p.m. Some strange men entered a laundromat and began to play Disney movies. (Thanks to pharmaross)

FCC proposes record $300M fine for ‘auto warranty’ robocalls (Thanks to pharmaross)

Prolific academic Vijay Prashad joins "The Most Censored News With Lee Camp" to discuss empire, coups, censorship and his latest book co-written with Noam Chomsky, “The Withdrawal: Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan, and the Fragility of U.S.”

The post Gaining Power in the Struggle for a Better World, with Vijay Prashad appeared first on MintPress News.

There is no alternative. Once again, that is the mantra coming from Tory ministers. This time it’s about pay cuts for working people. It’s the same Thatcherite excuse wheeled out during every one of neoliberalism’s deep crises this century. There was no alternative to austerity after the banking crisis. There was no alternative to handing […]

This piece has been adapted from Covid Year Three, an episode of Death Panel released earlier this month. It presents an incomplete timeline of the sociological production of the end…

This year’s Christmas arrives amid freezing weather and widespread hardship. For many, the cost of living crisis that’s been a fundamental part of our national landscape for almost a year means scaled-down festivities, perhaps dependent on what’s been donated to the local foodbank recently. Years of stagnant pay and growing inequality that go beyond that […]

in his editorial from the December print edition of Byline Times Peter Jukes says the tumultuous events of the last year may have been shocking, but not a complete surprise

From Partygate to Trussomics, the death of the Monarch, and the humiliation of Vladimir Putin, OttoEnglish's review of the year takes us on a roller coaster of major fails and meteoric falls

Exeter University announces new, five-year funding arrangement with Shell, as students urge campuses to divest from fossil fuel interests, reports Max Colbert

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky outside Kyiv, on April 4, 2022.

This live performance remains unequaled to this day. Jussi Björling — the greatest of them all.