If you have the day off and celebrate, I hope you enjoy! Doesn’t seem like much point in a regular post when the majority of readers will probably be otherwise occupied.
Reading
Wherever he travels globally, President Biden has sought to project the United States as the rejuvenated leader of a broad coalition of democratic nations seeking to defend the “rules-based international order” against encroachments by hostile autocratic powers, especially China, Russia, and North Korea. “We established NATO, the greatest military alliance in the history of the world,” he told veterans of D-Day while at Normandy, France on June 6th. “Today… NATO is more united than ever and even more prepared to keep the peace, deter aggression, defend freedom all around the world.” In other venues, Biden has repeatedly highlighted Washington’s efforts to incorporate the “Global South” — the developing nations of Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East — into... Read more
Lincoln’s Second Inaugural address March 4, 1865: “Fellow countrymen: at this second appearing to take the oath of the presidential office there is less occasion for an extended address than there was at the first. Then a statement somewhat in detail of a course to be pursued seemed fitting and proper. Now, at the expiration of four years during which public declarations have been constantly called forth on every point and phase of the great contest which still absorbs the attention and engrosses the energies of the nation little that is new could be presented. The progress of our arms, upon which all else chiefly depends is as well known to the public as to myself and it is I trust reasonably satisfactory and encouraging to all. With high hope for the future no prediction in regard to it is ventured. “On the occasion corresponding to this four years ago all thoughts were anxiously directed to an impending civil war. All dreaded it ~ all sought to avert it.
Nearly half of Brits incorrectly believe that a polling card can be used as ID when voting
Last year China overtook Russia to become Kazakhstan's biggest trading partner, with two-way trade topping $41 billion. In Central Asia, it is Beijing, rather than the West, that has the capacity to end the era of Russian dominance
- by Aeon Video
- by Ljiljana Radenović
- by Pranay Sanklecha
Den värld vi lever i är i grunden osäker och kvantifierbara sannolikheter är undantaget snarare än regeln. Om ”Gud inte spelar tärning” som Einstein hävdade, skulle jag tillägga: inte heller människor. Världen som vi känner den kan endast i begränsad omfattning förstås utifrån antaganden om säker och fullkomlig kunskap. Dess inneboende och nästan obegränsade komplexitet […]
Das Bündnis erlassjahr.de, das sich mit Unterstützung von 500 deutschen NGOs seit Jahren für eine Entschuldung einsetzt, sieht beim IWF und der Bundesregierung als einem der wichtigsten Anteilseigner des Fonds eine Mitverantwortung für die Proteste in Kenia. Und damit auch für die Toten durch Polizeigewalt. Der IWF habe Demonstrationen gegen die massiven Steuererhöhungen vorausgesagt, aber trotzdem […]
More than half of the town of Nelson's population is Muslim – yet a 'lack of unity and tribal rivalry' has split the community over who to vote for
'For the media to be interviewing political leaders and not even asking the questions is shocking'
While we should not expect too much of an incoming Labour government, we should not forget just how dark the last few years have been, writes Chris Grey
The Conservatives are about to pay the price for 14 years of epic misrule. But while a Labour 'supermajority' is in the best interests of the country, it is no guarantee of a return to stability, argues Simon Nixon
Sometimes when I am reading some story or analysis about the economy I sense a sort of glazing over effect – I just read the words as they appear on the paper and it is not until after I have read the entirety that I sort of have to pinch myself and realise that this…
Aaaaand this from someone who has been leading the piranha press pack: That’s where we are right now folks. I just don’t think Biden in his weakened condition can fight both Trump and this rabid media and win. One hope now is that if he drops out that the press will feel at least slightly chagrined and will turn the same laser focus on Trump’s unfitness. I’m not holding my breath.
They are applying “the cackle” to Kamala Harris already. It was a common description of Hillary Clinton. And it wasn’t Republicans who came up with it. From 2008: This just in: Hillary Clinton has been laughing a lot lately. Yes, it’s true — a candidate long accused of being cold and unappealing has taken to emitting a hearty chuckle in public, and on the airwaves. We hope you were sitting down for that one. Actually, in this highly-monitored campaign, the decisions of its most-disciplined and most-focus-grouped candidate are news, and the Hillary Laugh Tactic has been noticeable. Jon Stewart picked up on it in earlier this week, splicing laugh segments together (in a way that, let’s be honest, would make anyone appear manic), but it certainly set up the punchline: Jon fixing the camera with an intense, humorless gaze and saying “I’M JOYFUL.” Frank Rich noted it too: “Now Mrs. Clinton is erupting in a laugh with all the spontaneity of an alarm clock buzzer.” And then, of course, there was The Cackle.