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I realize that we are all concerned about Biden’s recent inability to communicate clearly and what appears to be his frailty which is accelerating. I am concerned too. But I hope that regardless of whether he stays in or there’s a big fight, that we can all keep at least some perspective on the fact that his opponent is even worse. Yes, his character flaws are immense and his agenda is toxic. But with all this talk about communication and cognitive problems I think it’s important to recall that Trump is also falling apart which makes him a much greater risk in a second term than Biden, even on his worst days. It certainly makes him a bigger risk than the VP or, really, any Democrat no matter how debilitated they might be. This is not a comedy act. It’s a man whose mental faculties are much chaotic and disturbed than Joe Biden’s Eugene Robinson wrote this a month ago, before the debate but it holds just as true today: We in the media have failed by becoming inured to Trump’s verbal incontinence — not just the rapid-fire lies and revenge-seeking threats, but also the frightening glimpses into a mind that is, evidently, unwell.
I stare at Linoleum Snopes across the net, hating him. “It don’t bounce proper,” I say. “It don’t hardly bounce at all.”
He studies the service line at his feet, furious. The sun is hot.
It don’t bounce proper. It just.
“Eight-three-one,” he says. “You best back up some.”
I don’t budge. I look back at Varse, my partner, daring him to boss me. He don’t.
Lin swings hard, like he’s beating a carpet, like he’s angry but can’t say nothing. The ball gets bigger coming at me. I stick the paddle up thoughtless and the ball skips back across the net and catches Rayleen Butters in her pink soft gut, just below the knot she’s tied in her blouse to show off her tummy.
“You gotta let it bounce,” Lin says, his voice urgent, fierce. “The two-bounce rule.”
“It don’t bounce,” I say. “I seen cow-flop with more bounce.”
Rayleen hunches over like she been shot, low to the ground moaning but careful not to get dirt on her little white tennis costume.
Varse trots hangdog up to the net. “You all right?” he says to Rayleen.
“‘Course she’s all right,” I say. “She got more meat on her than you do.”
Violence fueled by social media hysteria and deep-seated resentment marks a crucial moment as Ankara and Damascus edge closer to re-establishing ties.
The post Violence Sweeps Northern Syria and Turkey Amid Diplomatic Shifts appeared first on MintPress News.
“You are a headline writter [sic] for The New York Times,” says a prompt for the paper, which is suing OpenAI for copyright infringement.
The post New York Times Experiments With a New Headline Writer: OpenAI appeared first on The Intercept.
The fascist threat is global. France stopped them yesterday. Will we? In the first round of the French snap elections called by President Emmanuel Macron last month, the far right came in first, scaring les pantalons off of everyone in Europe. Not since the Vichy government in the 1940s had France been led by the authoritarian far right. But it looked very possible, especially considering the right wing surge in the European Union elections in the country, which precipitated Macron’s call for elections in the first place. As recently as three days ago, polls showed that the second round would likely lead to such an outcome. But a funny thing happened on the way to that run-off. The parties of the left formed a National Popular Front party and they joined with the center to block the right. Many of the candidates in each district had to make the hard choice to leave the race so that the stronger member of the opposition could defeat the right.
Former US Special Forces Soldier Greg Stoker reveals how think tanks, heavily funded by the military-industrial complex, shape US foreign policy towards Russia, driving endless conflict for profit.
The post Consent for War: Think Tanks and the Russia-Ukraine Conflict appeared first on MintPress News.
Joe Biden, just-a wrote them a letter President Biden in a letter to Democratic colleagues this morning writes that he is not blind to concerns people have expressed about his stamina since the first presidential debate. But, “We had a Democratic nomination process and the voters have spoken clearly and decisively. I received over 14 million votes, 87% ofthe votes cast across the entire nominating process. I have nearly 3,900 delegates, making me the presumptive nominee of our party by a wide margin.” He’s not going anywhere. After Republican Donald Trump tried to throw out the 2020 election, Biden alludes, throwing out the votes of those primary voters is a bad look for Democrats. “The voters – and the voters alone – decide the nominee ofthe Democratic Party. How can we stand for democracy in our nation if we ignore it in our own party? I cannot do that. I will not do that.” Despite what the press, pundits, big donors, and groups of individuals may insist. “The question of how to move forward has been well-aired for over a week now. And it’s time for it to end,” Biden insists. But it won’t end. Not yet.
Throughout European history the idea of the human being has been expressed in contradistinction to the animal. The latter’s lack of reason is the proof of human dignity. So insistently and unanimously has this antithesis been recited … that few other ideas are so fundamental to Western anthropology. The antithesis is acknowledged even today. The behaviorists […]
Join former US Special Forces Soldier Greg Stoker on State of Play to explore how Israel plans to maintain its grip on Gaza while facing rising resistance and global condemnation.
The post The Ghettoization of Gaza: Civilian ‘Bubbles’ and Plans for Post War Administration appeared first on MintPress News.
In February 2006, when I was 22, I went to Tony Benn’s house on Holland Park Avenue in Notting Hill, London, to interview him about the War on Terror which was then at its violent height. As everyone says, he was unbelievably friendly and engaged, and we chatted for hours in his basement surrounded by […]
The bases are under heightened threat by Hezbollah amid calls for greater transparency around how they are being used
Like the rest of the deathcore band of Americans who live with perpetual nimbus clouds of trepidation over their hanging heads, I watched CNN’s presidential debate. I was hoping (which is a rare thing for me) that there might be a thin wisp of a silver lining tucked somewhere in the thick, dark gray. There was none, only a thunderclap followed by a streak of lighting. A tempest was brewing—its cumulonimbus wings spread wide open, blocking out the sun. The two most powerful men in the free world ended the night debating their golf games. At that moment, anyone without a penis, white skin, a country club membership, or an investment portfolio needed to run and take cover: storm’s a-coming.
Hurricane Beryl slams into Texas The Washington Post reports this morning, “Hurricane Beryl is approaching western parts of Houston after making landfall near Matagorda, Tex., around 4 a.m. Monday, the National Hurricane Center said.” We’ll come back to that. Friends who worry that the Democrats’ August convention in Chicago will be a replay of 1968 remember the violent clashes in the streets between Vietnam War protesters and Chicago Police. Things did not go smoothly inside the convention hall either. Lost in their furrowed brows is how the 1968 election turned out after President Johnson bowed out of the presidential race at the end of March that year. Democrats lost. In a landslide. Take a deep breath and think carefully. The very public navel-gazing among Democrats overJoe Biden’s capacity for the last ten days has overshadowed the Biden comms team’s flooding social media with attacks on Donald Trump’s Project 2025 plans. The Heritage Foundation-led Project 2025 means to lobotomize government agencies by replacing mission-driven, career civil servants with far-right ideologues loyal to Dear Leader.
“Following the debate, the Beltway class is counting Joe Biden out. If we see changes in polling, it won’t be the first time overblown media narratives have driven dips in polls.” — Jen O’Malley Dillon, Biden-Harris Campaign Chair
In today's BCTV Daily Dispatch: Terminator Zero, Paramount/Skydance, Arrow, Ahsoka, The Boys, Peacemaker, Doctor Who, Crunchyroll, and more!
As with the microplastic crisis, the economic market responsible for these catastrophes still insists that we do not let it influence our consumer habits
The salaries of specialist probation officers who manage sex offenders are being cut - and 77% say they plan to leave the job