It has now taken over the GOP host Josh Marshall wrote this last night and I think it’s the only way to properly frame what’s happening in the US Congress right now. It’s bigger than the speakers race. It’s simply the way the Republican party operates now in every way: Just moments ago news broke that Steve Scalise had withdrawn his bid to be Speaker of the House. This is a genuinely stunning development, even though I semi-predicted it earlier today. I said it half in jest. But we live in an age when half-jokes often come to pass rapidly. I had a conversation this evening that allowed me to clarify some of my own thinking about these developments. After Scalise won the caucus Speakership vote you had a slow trickle of members saying “I’m still for Jim Jordan.” Then later you had news reports asking, “Can Steve Scalise get to 217?” There’s a category, conceptual breakdown here that is kind of hiding in plain view. What do these members mean they’re still for Jim Jordan? He lost. It’s over. Scalise is the Republican Speaker candidate. End of story.
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Settlers and soldiers have killed 51 Palestinians in the West Bank since Saturday. At least two Palestinian villages have been entirely depopulated.
The post Israeli Settlers Take Advantage of Gaza Chaos to Attack Palestinians in West Bank appeared first on The Intercept.
The new estimate for how much heat we can tolerate makes rising global temperatures even more alarming.
The post Humid Heat Can Kill Us Much Faster Than We Thought appeared first on Nautilus.
And she might just win it There’s a new “crazy Nancy” in town and she is very, very weird: When former President Donald Trump lined up his top supporters at a hot and sticky rally in South Carolina’s Lowcountry two weeks ago, one of the state’s most visible GOP politicians was notably not in attendance. Despite her ubiquity on TV and social media, Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) wasn’t even an intro speaker. In a sense, Mace’s absence wasn’t surprising. In 2021, her first year in office, she went from harshly criticizing Trump over Jan. 6 to groveling in a self-filmed video in front of Trump Tower after the former president endorsed her 2022 primary challenger, Katie Arrington. A week after the South Carolina rally, Mace’s vote to end Kevin McCarthy’s speakership—and her confusing justification for it—may have obliterated whatever relationships she had left in the GOP.
Here's a look/listen to the new theme for Ncuti Gatwa's Fifteenth Doctor from BBC Radio 2's Doctor Who @ 60: A Musical Celebration.
There is a ton of good writing out there on the war in Israel. It’s so fraught with emotion and complex morality that it’s hard to keep up. I admit that I’m starting to flag a bit. There have also been some good television discusions. This was one of them and I’m glad Josh Marshall caught it: Very good discussion and worth listening to all the way through https://t.co/xEA03nmYuY — Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) October 13, 2023 Here are a few links I’ve bookmarked. I don’t endorse all the ideas within them necessarily but they’re all thoughtful and interesting: The NRRB: Heading toward a second NakbaDissent: Toward a humane leftThe Nation: The Catastrophic Moral Failing of Those Who Won’t Condemn HamasHaaretz: Israel’s new concept of Hamas and Gaza is doomed to fail just like the last oneNYT Kristof: Seeking a Moral Compass in Gaza’s WarNYT Goldberg: The Massacre in Israel and the Need for a Decent LeftThe Guardian: How should the US respond to the Israel-Palestine crisis?
After Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel, IDF forces responded with airstrikes, leveling Gazan buildings. The violence so far has claimed the lives of more than 2,500 people. Western media, however, show far more interest and have much greater sympathy with Israeli dead than Palestinian ones and have played their usual role as unofficial […]
The post Propaganda Blitz: How Mainstream Media Is Pushing Fake Palestine Stories appeared first on MintPress News.
Israel has bombed three regions in 5 days: Gaza, Lebanon and Syria. Little reporting has been seen on this in the media, but one thing is certain: Western politicians from are cheering on Israel’s actions with an eye on drawing Iran into the conflict. Daniel McAdams and Vanessa Beeley break it down.
The post Panel: These are the Western Politicians Escalating Israel’s Regional War in the Middle East appeared first on MintPress News.
Israel has avoided ruling Gaza on the ground — but Hamas may have forced it to try.
The post Hamas Is Dragging Israel Toward the Abyss appeared first on The Intercept.
Mark Wallace, head of United Against Nuclear Iran, seems to have forgotten how things worked out in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The post Washington Hawk’s Call to Bomb Iran Cites Disastrous 9/11 Playbook appeared first on The Intercept.
The domestic policing comes amid reports of harassment against Muslims and Palestinians around the country.
The post FBI Targets Muslims and Palestinians in Wake of Hamas Attack, Civil Rights Advocates Warn appeared first on The Intercept.
Will Australians take their divine constitution off its pedestal? Continue reading »
Will Australia today say Yes and agree to alter the Constitution to recognise the First Peoples of Australia by establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice? Or will we reject the request made to us by representatives of First Nations communities in the Uluru Statement from the Heart? Over recent weeks and months, our Continue reading »
The Voice campaign has revealed how much Dark Money is distorting our political debates. But will proposed reforms of money in politics crush the independents? One of the most crucial decisions about the shape of our democracy is about to be resolved. The Coalition and the ALP appear to have reached a decision to block Continue reading »
The depressing, crushing spectacle of extreme violence and mayhem unleashed across Israel and Palestine over recent days is a reminder of the depths to which humanity can sink. To see complex historical, cultural and geopolitical questions – let alone humanity and decency – reduced to a ceaseless cycle of hatred, death and destruction is hard Continue reading »
On 14 October, my attention will wander between three unconnected stories as they unfold in real time. I will be in New Zealand on that general election date. Polls indicate the Labour government will be replaced by a centre-right coalition. But the peculiarities of the electoral system make election results and the outcome of post-election Continue reading »
Terrorism: “(adjective) unlawfully using violence and intimidation, especially against civilians, in pursuit of political aims.” Has any term more fully captured what the state of Israel inflicts on Palestinians? The descriptive of ‘terrorist’ is bandied about regularly and without consideration of the ramifications on the individual, group or country. The average reader of any news Continue reading »
Dear distinguished readers, in response to the terrible situation in Palestine, please support an urgent appeal from the Palestinian Australian New Zealand Medical Association (PANZMA), to purchase badly needed medical supplies for the besieged people of Gaza. The Palestinian Australian New Zealand Medical Association (PANZMA) was established in 2020 by a group of healthcare professionals Continue reading »
“This is gonna be dope,” he said.
Michael Hirsh has just published a withering review, in Foreign Policy, of the lead-up to horrific war now underway between Israel and Hamas entitled “Netanyahu’s Road to War”. Hirsh argues convincingly that Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has, over an extended period: malevolently undermined all Palestinian peak bodies; artfully wooed Arab states; and (more recently) Continue reading »