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October 2084

It’s time to confess. It’s my fault that every presidential election for the past sixty-four years has been Biden vs. Trump.

It started back in 2020. I was wandering masked and alone through an abandoned Costco parking lot, hoping to find a discarded packet of yeast, and consumed with worry about the possibility of Trump winning a second term when I saw it: a monkey’s paw.

A single finger remained open—the middle one. I picked it up, and the words flew from my mouth. “I wish for Biden to beat Trump!”

The finger slowly curled shut, a clap of thunder rang out from the sky, and a chill ran down my spine.

Lo and behold, that November, Biden won. Yes, Trump’s supporters attacked our nation’s capitol and tried to hang Mike Pence, but at least Biden was president.

Jessica Buxbaum investigates the partnership between X and an Israeli tech company run by former intelligence officials, highlighting its potential impact on surveillance, censorship, and digital rights.

The post Identity Verification or Data Exposure? Twitter Using Israeli Tech Firm Headed by Ex-Military Officials to Verify Users appeared first on MintPress News.

One of the reasons Guido Imbens and Joshua Angrist won the 2021 ‘Nobel prize’ in economics is their LATE approach used especially in instrumental variables estimation of causal effects. Another prominent ‘Nobel prize’ winner in economics — Angus Deaton — is not overly impressed: Without explicit prior consideration of the effect of the instrument choice on […]

The petrochemical industry is lobbying for “advanced recycling” as a solution to plastic pollution, but a new report reveals a troubling track record at U.S. facilities.

The post Unproven “Advanced Recycling” Facilities Have Received Millions in Public Subsidies appeared first on The Intercept.

Photos from the Mütter Museum’s newly searchable collection.

The post Five Curiosities From Medical History appeared first on Nautilus.

Could we ban cell phone photography in museums and at performances?

To think that tiny little Gaza is the spark that has refocused the energies of the whole region is a political miracle that many political scientists will find difficult to understand, let alone explain.

The post The Gaza Manifesto: Why America’s Old Middle East is Crumbling appeared first on MintPress News.

Reacting to the terrorist attacks by the Palestinian militant group Hamas that killed more than 1,400 Israelis, Americans have been remarkably focused on whether we should support Israel or the residents of Gaza. In either case, we act as if Israel’s only possible decision was whether or not to launch a war against Gaza. In the country that waged a disastrous 20-year “global war on terror” in response to the 9/11 attacks, it seems strange that there’s been so little discussion about what such a decision might mean in the long term. Going to war is just that — one decision among many possibilities, including taking steps to strengthen and democratize the states where such armed militias may otherwise flourish.... Read more

Source: What’s Not Being Said appeared first on TomDispatch.com.

Son, I’m trying my best not to lose my temper here, but it’s tough when there’s a hole the size of a Ford Taurus in our roof and no logical explanation for how it got there. So I’ll ask you one more time, and don’t give me any more of that witch crap. What the fuck happened to our house?

As far as your mother and I are concerned, last night was a perfectly normal Halloween night in Salem. The weather was chilly but calm. There were no tornadoes, or blizzards, or even a drop of rain. So imagine our surprise when, after spending the night dancing at that wicked good party at City Hall, we walk back home in the morning only to look up at our humble abode and see a big-ass gap where the crow’s nest used to be.

Admittedly, it was irresponsible to leave you kids unattended all night. But in our defense, after those three ladies sang that bangin’ rendition of Screamin’ Jay Hawkins’s “I Put a Spell on You,” the party really kicked into high gear, and we couldn’t tear ourselves away no matter how hard we tried. Besides, can you really blame us for wanting to have a night out to ourselves for once?

In today's BCTV Daily Dispatch: Friends/Matthew Perry, SAG-AFTRA, Doctor Who, IWTV, Fear TWD, Star Trek: Lower Decks, Patrick Stewart & more!

‘We know the sacrifices they underwent — some of them lost their jobs…But what struck us most was the fact that members of the labour movement so many thousands of miles away from us felt this sense of commitment to the struggle against racial oppression in South Africa.’ That’s how Nelson Mandela described the brave […]

The MVC team unpack the muddled propaganda of the 2007 animated children’s film Bee Movie.

Conjuring memories, mimicking babies, evoking threats – to understand why music moves us, look at what it means to be human

- by Aeon Video

Watch at Aeon

It’s often said that a successful picture ‘captures the essence’ of a subject. But a great photograph does so much more

- by Daniel Star

Read at Aeon

Long-held beliefs in an ‘Otherworld’ inhabited by wrathful fairies are now driving a resurgence in Irish eco-activism

- by Juju Lane

Read at Psyche

Fani Willis is using headline-grabbing RICO cases to boost her national image as a liberal crusader. In Fulton County, Georgia, her critics tell a different story.

The CEO of one of the world’s leading tech conferences was forced to resign after criticizing Israel’s assault on Gaza. He was quickly replaced by one of the industry’s most prominent US government-affiliated regime change specialists.  Europe’s biggest tech conference, Web Summit, has appointed a veteran US regime-change operative named Katherine Maher as its new CEO, just days after founder Paddy Cosgrave stepped down from the position following an industry-wide backlash to his suggestion that Israel forces have carried out […]

The post US regime change activist named Web Summit CEO after founder forced out for condemning Israeli ‘war crimes’ first appeared on The Grayzone.

The post US regime change activist named Web Summit CEO after founder forced out for condemning Israeli ‘war crimes’ appeared first on The Grayzone.