Reading

Created
Sat, 26/10/2024 - 04:58
“Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy everything that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.” That is from the Facebook page of the deputy commander of Israel’s 749 Combat Engineering Battalion (the 749) Lieutenant Colonel Adi Bekore. Did Continue reading »
Created
Sat, 26/10/2024 - 04:57
The failure of last year’s referendum still troubles the country. The focus on the Voice to Parliament took attention away from the far more consequential question of truth telling, while paradoxically displaying how much it is still needed. The intense and prolonged debate displayed how historical interpretation still divides the country rather than providing the Continue reading »
Created
Sat, 26/10/2024 - 04:56
“The events since October 7 have been absolutely overwhelming. And that means they are overwhelming for everybody, but particularly for the people who are experiencing them, those who are suffering. The victims. It’s regularly said that October 7 represented the greatest killing of Jewish people since the Holocaust. And that’s correct. What’s said less frequently Continue reading »
Created
Sat, 26/10/2024 - 04:55
A lot has been written in the past few days about Senator Lidia Thorpe and her courageous act of speaking truth to power when she confronted coloniser, King Charles, in the colonial halls of Parliament. Yet amidst the commentary, one voice remains absent: the voice of the criminalised community. As a formerly incarcerated woman, I Continue reading »
Created
Sat, 26/10/2024 - 04:54
The world’s biodiversity crisis gathers pace and any effective action depends on the reduction of economic growth. High-level leadership is needed to explain the fundamental conflict between economic growth and biodiversity conservation which threatens humanity possibly sooner than the ravages of climate change. COP16 on biodiversity commenced on October 21 with the role to explain Continue reading »
Created
Sat, 26/10/2024 - 04:30
I would really like to see some follow-through on this if Harris wins. (Needless to say, Trump will make sure it never happens if he does.) Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (D-M.D.) called today on Attorney General Merrick Garland to appoint a special counsel to investigate possible violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) by Jared Kushner, son-in-law and former senior White House advisor to ex-President Donald Trump. As part of investigations launched last Congress by House and Senate Democrats, Senate investigators have uncovered that since the end of the Trump administration through mid-2024, Kushner’s firm Affinity Partners has received as much as $157 million in fees from foreign clients—including $87 million from the Saudi government—while generating no return on investment, paying zero earnings to investors, and investing only a small fraction of funds it has received from the sovereign wealth funds of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates.
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Sat, 26/10/2024 - 04:01

A new exposé reveals how Britain’s military and political elites aid Israeli attacks on Gaza. Matt Kennard’s investigation with Lowkey uncovers covert U.K. military operations, arms supplies, and intelligence sharing that facilitate Israeli aggression.

The post How the UK Powers Israel’s War on Gaza: Matt Kennard Reveals Hidden Connections appeared first on MintPress News.

Created
Sat, 26/10/2024 - 03:30

Halloween

Michael Myers breaks through your front door. He informs you that your son volunteered you to bring a “homemade sweet treat” to the kindergarten holiday parade, which is in two hours.

Psycho

You hit it off with a cute guy and agree to move in with him. He neglects to tell you he lives with his Mother.

Rosemary’s Baby

You’re pregnant with the devil’s baby. Your husband won’t stop saying, “We’re pregnant with the devil’s baby.”

Us

You meet your exact double—almost. She’s slightly taller and prettier than you. She just got engaged to a more handsome version of your boyfriend. The rock on her finger is enormous.

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre

Leatherface careens toward you with his rusty chainsaw. He gives you lopsided microbangs.

A Nightmare on Elm Street

Against your will, you fall asleep. Freddy Krueger makes you dream about the time you dinged the car mirror and your dad yelled at you.

Created
Sat, 26/10/2024 - 03:00
Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee sent out a statement this week drawing attention to the fact that the Trump campaign is dragging its feet with respect to the presidential transition process in which both candidates are expected to participate in anticipation of a possible win in November. Generally they start months ahead of time to get a head start on vetting people for staffing the large number of political appointee jobs throughout the administration and coordinating with the current staff to ensure a smooth transition to the new presidency. So far, the Trump team has missed two important deadlines to sign agreements to get it started. Trump, you may recall, doesn’t respect this process very much, having fired his first transition team right after the election in 2016. And he prevented the Biden team from accessing the process in 2020 while he contested the election dangerously delaying them from getting started. However, one might think it’s a bit odd for them to do that this time since once you sign the papers you have access to money and services that make the whole thing easier.
Created
Sat, 26/10/2024 - 01:51

Facing a manpower crisis, the Israeli army struggles with low morale and desertion as soldiers question objectives in Gaza, while reports surface of a possible ceasefire with Hamas.

The post ‘The Platoons Are Empty’: Israeli Army Battles Low Morale, Soldier Defections appeared first on MintPress News.

Created
Sat, 26/10/2024 - 01:30
Tyler Perry’s analogy We are a quilt in this country, Tyler Perry told a Kamala Harris rally in Atlanta on Thursday. A nation of immigrants. “We are all shapes, sizes and colors, but we are one.” Look, unless you are a Native American, you and your people came from somewhere else. And even indigenous people on this continent came from somewhere else. Just over 20,000 years before Donald Trump and his America Firsters arrived. I mean, if we’re claiming privilege based on who was here first? But no. MAGA wants it all. Perry launched a pointed barb against Donald Trump and his MAGA movement, saying he voted for a candidate who understands that America is a quilt. “And I could never stand with a candidate who wants America to be a sheet.” Perry paused to let the dual meaning sink in. The crowd didn’t miss it in Atlanta, Georgia.
Created
Sat, 26/10/2024 - 01:12

The riots that gripped the UK this August were heavily inspired by anti-Muslim agitator Tommy Robinson. His rise to prominence is largely the product of the North American Zionist lobby, representing a clear break with traditional far-right British activism. A wave of anti-Muslim and anti-migrant riots which consumed British society in racist violence this August were fomented almost entirely by a self-proclaimed “counter-Jihad” activist who goes by the moniker Tommy Robinson. This October 26, Robinson will return to the public […]

The post How the Israel lobby fueled the rise of Britain’s top anti-Muslim chaos agent first appeared on The Grayzone.

The post How the Israel lobby fueled the rise of Britain’s top anti-Muslim chaos agent appeared first on The Grayzone.

Created
Sat, 26/10/2024 - 00:55
Quick Takes: US Naval Decline, ASML’s Fall & More

Some topics deserve a mention but not a full article and that’s what quick takes are for.

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This blog is for understanding the present, making educated guesses at the future, and telling truths, usually unpleasant ones. There aren’t a lot of places like this left on the Web. Every year I fundraise to keep it going. If you’d like to help, and can afford to, please Subscribe or Donate.

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I’ve written about US ship building problems before, but it’s not just about that, the Navy is retiring ships faster than they are being built. (And yes, China is building them way faster than it is retiring them.)