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Exhausted Australians, many of whom are limping their way to the finish line that is the end of the 2023 working year, have woken up to Opposition leader Peter Dutton being plastered wall to wall on the Nation’s TV networks... Read More ›

Let’s hope it goes better than it did 23 years ago The Republican party’s descent into post-ideological madness has been well documented over the years, here and elsewhere. Those of us who have been around a while started seeing it back in the 1980s when Newt Gingrich and his gang started to adopt scorched earth tactics to destroy their political opponents and it gained steam during the Clinton years with a tabloid strategy designed to titillate the electorate and offend the allegedly pious right wing Christians. But it shifted into something more dangerous in the 2000 election when they decided that there were no holds barred when it came to holding on to power. I was reminded of all that yesterday when this popped up in my social media feeds: I assume that you all know what went down in that case so I won’t belabor it. In a nutshell, when the Republicans pulled out every shady stop in a state run by the candidate’s brother to ensure that recounts were stopped so that his rival would never go ahead in the election, we should have known that our democracy was more fragile than we thought.

The Stephen Dixon Award for Short Fiction recognizes an emerging fiction writer who is experimenting with form and expanding the boundaries of storytelling. Our winner is Kristina Ten with “ADJECTIVE” published in issue 72 of McSweeney’s Quarterly.

Day one at your new job, your coworker wants to know are you really an immigrant.

In its effort to speed up arms sales to Israel, the Biden administration dismissed concerns about harm to civilians in Gaza.

The post Pentagon Taps “Tiger Team” to Rush Weapons to Israel appeared first on The Intercept.

Dreamy Paul Ryan has some thoughts about Donald Trump The Guardian has a write up on his comments on a podcast from last month that’s only now making the rounds. He doesn’t say anything we all didn’t already know but it might mean something to a few swing voters who remember him as a normal Republican: Ryan, from Wisconsin, left Congress in 2019 and now sits on the board of Fox Corp, parent company of Fox News. He was speaking to Kevin Kajiwara, co-president of Teneo Political Risk Advisory, in a podcast interview recorded in November but widely noticed this week. Voices on both sides of the main political aisle have criticised Ryan for not strongly opposing Trump when he ran for the Republican nomination in 2016, or through four chaotic years in the White House that ended in the deadly January 6 attack on Congress. When stepping down Ryan praised Trump’s 2017 tax cuts, widely blamed for increasing inequality and the national deficit, as one of his biggest achievements along with increasing defense spending.

Facebook and Instagram’s wartime content moderation practices have “exacerbated violence and failed to combat hate speech,” the senator says.

The post Sen. Elizabeth Warren Questions Meta Over Palestinian Censorship appeared first on The Intercept.

Adventuring Farmhand

I’m sore for home, Mister Barts. The first thing I’m going to do when I get back is start a family. I’m going to hold hands with my lady Evyelynne for six hours, and as soon as that’s over, I’ve got a ring ready for the proposal. It’s just the simple life for me from here on out. By the way, I’ve got something incredibly important to tell you about the meaning of life. I’ve been thinkin’ a lot actually, and you know—nah, it’s just silly stuff, never mind. Doy!

Outspoken Woman in an Oppressive Regime

I don’t know about you, but I’m not going to live another day as a repressed member of this misogynistic cult. You keep watch, Barts. You’re the indispensable hero of this operation. And here, hold onto my Michael Kors fanny pack. It reminds me of my mother, in the before-times. She always loved MK. I’ll be back to reclaim it before you can say “feminism.”

In all of the heated, political imbroglio that has surrounded the discussion of the release of some 150 asylum seekers from immigration detention recently, one crucial perspective has passed almost without public discussion. It’s really important. It’s about the relevant constitutional law. Without a reasonable understanding of the reasons for the High Court’s decision that Continue reading »

As the death toll in Gaza from Israel’s bombardment and siege reaches well over 17,000 people, the Australian Government is slowly and belatedly taking steps towards ending the nightmare for the people there. On Wednesday Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced, with his counterparts in New Zealand and Canada, support for “urgent international efforts towards a Continue reading »

It appears that James Comer is quite the financial operator Roger Sollenberger at the Daily Beast broke a story about Comer’s shady financial dealings with his brother a couple of weeks ago. When confronted with it in a hearing by Florida Congressman Jared Moskowitz, he got so mad he lost control and called Moskowitz a smurf. Now the AP has filled in some more blanks on Comer’s finances: Rep. James Comer, a multimillionaire farmer, boasts of being one of the largest landholders near his rural Kentucky hometown, and he has meticulously documented nearly all of his landholdings on congressional financial disclosure documents – roughly 1,600 acres in all. But there are six acres that he bought in 2015 and co-owns with a longtime campaign contributor that he has treated differently, transferring his ownership to Farm Team Properties, a shell company he co-owns with his wife. Interviews and records reviewed by The Associated Press provide new insights into the financial deal, which risks undercutting the force of some of Comer’s central arguments in his impeachment inquiry of President Joe Biden.

by Gary Gardner

Well, COP 28 ended yesterday with (seeming) agreement to (sort of) walk down the fossil fuel ladder toward a (not for a while) sustainable future. Geez! It’s almost 2024, more than half a century since Limits to Growth was published, and the human family is in a pouting mood. Why is it like pulling teeth to do the right thing, sustainability-wise? Why are we sleepwalking toward a cliff?

The post Time to Make a Material Difference appeared first on Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy.

As usual, conservative commentators have damaged their own feet. They do not have any appreciation of the political stances adopted by people of conscience and their faux outrage provides the best publicity protestors can have. Latest to benefit from this narrow mindedness is the courageous Australian cricketer Usman Khawaja. Mainstream news bulletins make it clear Continue reading »

The Biden administration “must respond to the reported execution-style massacre of women, children, and babies,” said the spokesperson of a U.S. Muslim advocacy group. Eyewitness testimony reported Wednesday by Al Jazeera accused Israeli troops of massacring forcibly displaced women and children sheltering at a school in northern Gaza, an allegation that prompted a leading U.S. Continue reading »

Infectious diseases are tearing through Gaza, whose healthcare system has been rendered almost nonexistent, and people are beginning to starve in massive numbers. All of this is due to concrete policy decisions made by Israel in its horrific assault on the Gaza Strip. In an article titled “Gaza’s health system is ‘on its knees’ as Continue reading »

In a rebuke to Obama’s effort to normalize relations with Cuba, Biden is sticking with Trump’s policy, even as a Cuban migrant crisis racks the border.

The post State Department Stuns Congress, Saying Biden Is Not Even Reviewing Trump’s Terror Designation of Cuba appeared first on The Intercept.

Scotland Yard and News UK are continuing to investigate serious allegations about the conduct of Dan Wootton following this newspaper's special investigation into the journalist and presenter

Israel is systematically targeting and killing Gaza’s journalists one by one. Mnar Adley pays tribute in their honor. 

The post Israel Is Wiping Out Gaza’s Journalists: A Tribute appeared first on MintPress News.

Paul Ryan on MAGA Howie Klein (Down With Tyranny!) posts this morning on former speaker Paul Ryan’s interview from two weeks ago. “The entertainers took over Congress,” Ryan told Teneo Insights [timestamp 2:10]. When “a handful of nihilists who go to Congress not to legislate but to be provocative entertainers, this is what happens.” The Party of Trump was not amused, Howie observes: Mediaite adds: Ryan has been on Fox Corporation’s board of directors since 2019. This has been a recurring point of contention for Trump, his allies, and Trump media backers like former Fox News host Tucker Carlson have accused Ryan of meddling behind the scenes. Maybe yes, maybe no. But why not get well paid for doing it, eh? Somewhere recently I read that once the war against the Axis powers was over, people all over France began claiming they were part of La Résistance against the Nazis and the collaborationist Vichy régime. A national case of stolen valor. So it may be in this country once MAGA is no more. Cheney and Kinzinger earned their plaudits for standing up to Donald Trump while they were still in office.

Doctor Who showrunner Russell T. Davies revealed the TRUE story behind Janis Goblin's name - and he might owe a certain Muppet an apology.