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Fri, 23/02/2024 - 08:30
Not on your life From Foreign Policy: Two weeks ago, Brazil’s federal police launched a high-profile raid against former President Jair Bolsonaro and more than 10 of his allies, including Brazil’s former navy chief, national security advisor, and ministers of defense and justice. Authorities accused the group of plotting a potential coup after Bolsonaro’s failed 2022 reelection bid. Court documents related to the raid suggest that Bolsonaro personally edited a decree that would have overturned election results and imprisoned a Supreme Court justice; a general loyal to the president confirmed he would provide the troops needed to carry out the coup. Bolsonaro also allegedly pressured his cabinet to more forcefully share disinformation about supposed weaknesses in Brazil’s electoral system. The former president was asked to hand over his passport to authorities and may face decades in jail. The recent revelations suggest that Brazilian coup-mongers’ plans were more advanced than initially believed.
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Fri, 23/02/2024 - 08:00
In an extraordinary barely reported turn of events close to the conclusion of Julian Assange’s two day UK High Court Appeal against his extradition, a gaping hole appeared in plans to shunt him onto a plane to the US. In the final moments of the hearing, Ben Watson KC representing the UK Home Secretary, admitted Continue reading »
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Fri, 23/02/2024 - 07:00
Oh yes, you are Congressman GOPer, whether you like it or not We’ve been warning about this Christian Nationalist theocratic faction in the GOP for a couple of decades now and nobody ever took it seriously. The chickens are coming home to roost. They got Roe banned, now they’re effectively banning IVF in the states, birth control, LGBTQ rights and even “recreational sex” is now openly on the agenda. And these people have power. Even some Republicans are chaffing at the overt proselytizing: Speaker Mike Johnson delivered a presentation at a weekend GOP retreat that — although it was billed as a map to keeping the House majority — took on a surprisingly religious tone, according to two people in the room. Johnson’s private remarks to a small group of Republican lawmakers at Miami’s Mandarin Oriental Hotel over the weekend alarmed both people, who addressed the speech on condition of anonymity. Rather than outlining a specific plan to hold and grow the majority, these people said, Johnson effectively delivered a sermon.
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Fri, 23/02/2024 - 05:30
This is a moderate? Aaaand: “I think what’s really important is to know that the majority of Americans dislike Donald Trump and Joe Biden,” she said. “So we think that there needs to be an alternative.” While critical of both men — who she called “too old” to be president — she said “Biden is more dangerous” due to his management of immigration and the economy. Haley hinted that, if Biden and Trump were to face a rematch, she would back Trump if he wins the Republican presidential nomination. The former South Carolina governor also spoke against what she called “hate, division and chaos” fomented by Trump. She compared the ex-president to a “bully,” and stressed that he failed to obtain significant portions of the electorate in Iowa and New Hampshire. “People don’t like when he goes off the teleprompter and says crazy things like he’d rather take Putin’s side over our allies,” Haley said. “People don’t like it when he mocks the military.
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Fri, 23/02/2024 - 05:01

You good, bro? Are you gonna lower your voice and leave my friends alone, or are we gonna have to take this outside, where the crisp, late-autumn air carries the sweet scent of decay, and in that decay, memories are held?

I swear, if you take one more step toward me, I’ll have no trouble taking this outside. I have absolutely no problem catching the final golden shimmers of the setting sun, taking a breath to feel grateful during that amber moment of transition, and letting the breeze rustle my hair just so, as if in conversation with the universe. No goddamn trouble at all.

You wanna take this behind the bar? Cause you say the word, and we can take this out back behind the bar right now, asshole. There’s a family of robins who nest on a fire escape in the alley, and if you watch them for long enough, admire their tenderness, and share in their vulnerability, their chirps begin to sound like language, as though dreams are universal.

The birds’ dreams are our dreams, motherfucker. You got that? We all want to be held.

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Fri, 23/02/2024 - 04:59
Our leaders have rendered us America’s pawn, contractually. Australia has abrogated the right to choose peace with China. Dumbly. Unnecessarily. Deceitfully. For political ends. We once had a leader who put Australia’s security before the desires of a distant, powerful protector. What is the prospect of chancing upon another of Curtinian quality? Periodically, it is Continue reading »
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Fri, 23/02/2024 - 04:58
A new world war is underway. For those living in developed countries, where gruesome battles remain mere headlines, it may not feel like the earth is burning, but in 2022 a total of 180 military conflicts (defined as resulting in 25 battle-deaths or more in that year) occurred worldwide. The final statistics for 2023 compiled Continue reading »
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Fri, 23/02/2024 - 04:55
Israel has played the victim all along with sighs of sympathy and offers of support from Western governments and audiences. They declared themselves ‘the’ victim, not just The victim but the ‘only’ victim. As such, they are entitled to do to us, the Palestinians under their control, whatever they wish with Impunity. Western governments, especially the Continue reading »
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Fri, 23/02/2024 - 04:53
Despite the strong words being used by Anthony Albanese in conjunction with the Canadian and NZ governments to indicate Australia’s deep concern against a “devastating” and “catastrophic” ground offensive in Rafah in Gaza, or the ongoing proceedings in the International Court of Justice, it is high time that Australia actually went beyond words, and start Continue reading »
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Fri, 23/02/2024 - 04:52
Earlier this month, Reserve Bank Governor Michele Bullock fronted journalists for a media conference. The opportunity to grill the Governor was new. Previously, the media could only divine the Bank’s views after each meeting by scrutinising its monetary policy statements. The change is one of many recommended by an independent review into the Bank’s operations. Continue reading »