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Created
Tue, 21/05/2024 - 00:30
Protecting the in-group from you, the out-group Jonathan Last on Friday made sure readers saw clearly that for Republicans “law and order” has a very, very narrow meaning. Last was commenting on Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s pardon of Daniel Perry, convicted and sentenced to 25 years for the vigilante murder of Garrett Foster during a peaceful Black Lives Matter protest in 2020. Last recounts the details that put Perry, a racist murderer, behind bars, but the key detail is Abbott’s pardon: There is no legal or moral justification for pardoning Perry. His trial was fair. The jury acted reasonably. The laws he broke were well-defined and serious. He is not a good guy who had one bad moment. There is no indication that he has repented and become a different man than the one who fantasized about murder and then carried it out. The only reason to pardon Perry is political. Pardoning Perry creates political gain for Gov. Abbott because his constituents like Perry. And these voters like Perry precisely because of who he murdered.
Created
Mon, 20/05/2024 - 23:00
Also sprach Tom Cotton International alliances are sometimes untidy affairs. Some are built on ideological or cultural common ground. Others on trade or security interests. Or a mix. We Americans like to think of ourselves as the good guys allied with other good guys, but that’s a flattering oversimplification. Our WWII alliance with the Soviet Union under Stalin’s murderous regime was one of strategic necessity that lasted long enough to defeat Nazi Germany, and no longer. When the Saudis murdered and dismembered dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018, Americans expressed appropriate outrage for an appropriate interval and then went about our business. Because the Saudis are good for U.S. business. Now Israel’s war against Hamas terrorists and its toll on civilians in Gaza is straining U.S. relations with its longtime ally. It’s about to get more strained. This is breaking news (New York Times): The International Criminal Court prosecutor, Karim Khan, said Monday that he had requested arrest warrants for the leaders of Hamas and for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel for war crimes and crimes against humanity in relation to the Oct.
Created
Mon, 20/05/2024 - 23:00

Mai Tran began catsitting in 2021 while Tran was on pandemic unemployment, often staying overnight in people’s homes. Tran has now cared for twenty-two cats and traveled to ten apartments all over New York City, observing the interior lives of cat owners and appeasing their neuroses. From home vet visits to black eyes to refugee cats, Chronicles of a Catsitter documents the most memorable days on the job.

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In late 2021, I pick up another gig through the cat rescue Facebook group. The couple I work for lives only a few blocks away, so I arrange to drop in twice a day to hang out and feed the cats rather than stay overnight. The couple keeps four long-haired cats in a one-bedroom apartment. They send me photos of each pet along with detailed bios. The cats’ names, slightly altered for anonymity but the same in essence, are King Fluff, Ding Dong, Pilaf, and Freddy.

Created
Mon, 20/05/2024 - 22:00

Oh my god, hey! How’s it going?

I feel like such a jerk, man. It has been the craziest week. I am literally just seeing this ransom note now.

Ugh, I’m the worst.

Okay, hang on, hang on, I’m just skimming back through—ah, shit. I see you set a meet time two nights ago, right under the old oak tree in Magellan Park. You didn’t end up—

You did? You weren’t waiting long, were you?

A couple of hours? Even though you hadn’t heard from me? Huh, okay. I mean, I would’ve confirmed at least—

No, no, totally fair. I get it, that’s on me.

Wait, that wasn’t the night with all the crazy rain, was it? Man, you must’ve gotten soaked.

How’s my kid holding up, anyway?

Oh, yeah, that sounds like him. Hey, let me ask you a question: Are you giving him a little iPad time at night?

All right, I mean, that’s your call. I know I tried to be a real “no screen time” hardliner at first, but honestly, you’re just punishing yourself. Believe me, I’m not going to tell anyone if he gets a little too much time with Ms. Rachel if it’s going to make your life easier.

Created
Mon, 20/05/2024 - 09:30
You’ll notice at the end of that ridiculous rant he also complains that Biden says he’s a “threat to democracy” plaintively wailing “what did I do?” He says he had “no wars” which is a lie. He didn’t get out of Afghanistan as he promised and his drone war was lethal. He had American troops in war zones all over the world. But be that as it may, asking “what did I do?” to deserve being called a threat to democracy is a very stupid thing to say. He is the only president to have ever illegally tried to overturn an election so that he could stay in office and incite an insurrectionist mob to storm the Capitol and stop the peaceful transfer of power during a joint session of congress. Maybe his cult members in the NRA don’t believe that was a threat to democracy but it most assuredly was. I confess to feeling a little bit disoriented lately by the flagrant gaslighting we are suffering through in this election. It’s worse than ever and it’s hard to force yourself to pay attention to it. I can’t say I blame the average voter for tuning it out. A few more highlights from his NRA speech.
Created
Mon, 20/05/2024 - 08:00
Really? When the greatest crisis of his presidency hit — a global pandemic the likes of which hadn’t been seen in one hundred years — he failed miserably. How anyone can think this man should be back in the White House is mind boggling and once he is dispatched next November, this nation is going to have to undergo some very serious soul searching to figure out what has happened to it and what to do about it.