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Sat, 20/01/2024 - 10:00
Will Barrett and Roberts save Chevron? Ian Millhiser has a tiny bit of hope: Four justices appeared absolutely determined, on Wednesday, to overrule one of the most consequential Supreme Court decisions in the Court’s entire history. Chevron v. National Resources Defense Council (1984) is arguably as important to the development of federal administrative law — an often technical area of the law, but one that touches on literally every single aspect of American life — as Brown v. Board of Education (1954) was important to the development of the law of racial equality. Chevron is a foundational decision, which places strict limits on unelected federal judges’ ability to make policy decisions for the entire nation.
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Sat, 20/01/2024 - 09:00
The Supremes blocked his most comprehensive student loan relief policy but it hasn’t stopped them from doing what they can. He should get some credit for it: The Biden administration on Friday announced another $5 billion in debt forgiveness for 74,000 student loan borrowers. Although the Supreme Court blocked Biden’s signature student loan forgiveness plan, his administration has found alternative ways to provide relief to more than 3.7 million people. The batch of debt cancelation announced Friday stemmed, in part, from his administration’s changes to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program. The majority of borrowers who will benefit from the latest round of forgiveness are teachers, nurses, firefighters and other public service professionals, per a White House release. The remaining borrowers who will benefit have repaid their loans for at least 20 years but never got the relief they were entitled to under their income-driven repayment plans.
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Sat, 20/01/2024 - 07:00
I know you’ll be shocked to hear this, but it turns out that corporations have been massively profiteering over the pandemic. A new report claims “resounding evidence” shows that high corporate profits are a main driver of ongoing inflation, and companies continue to keep prices high even as their inflationary costs drop. The report, compiled by the progressive Groundwork Collaborative thinktank, found corporate profits accounted for about 53% of inflation during last year’s second and third quarters. Profits drove just 11% of price growth in the 40 years prior to the pandemic, according to the report. Prices for consumers rose by 3.4% over the past year, but input costs for producers increased by just 1%, according to the authors’ calculations which were based on data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis and National Income and Products Accounts. “Costs have come down substantially, and while corporations were quick to pass on their increased costs to consumers, they are surprisingly less quick to pass on their savings to consumers,” Liz Pancotti, a Groundwork strategic advisor and paper co-author, told the Guardian.
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Sat, 20/01/2024 - 05:00

I know, I messed up. I didn’t claim a spot for you at Camp Half-Blood, and now they’re saying it’s full, and you have to join the waitlist. I realize you had your heart set on that camp. It’s just the winged messenger came around heralding registrations were open so early, and I wasn’t prepared to shell out for it when he arrived. Who knows what their summer plans are in winter? What if we wanted to go on a vacation that conflicted with the dates? And then I sort of forgot about it, and now it’s too late.

Honestly, Camp Half-Blood would have been a stretch for our family anyway. I know these summer programs can be expensive, but have you seen the fees? A Staff of Caduceus? The Aegis Shield? I always suspected your friends’ families were better off than we are, but I had no idea they’re weaponry-so-golden-foes-get-distracted-in-battle rich. And that’s not even for a whole day! What do all the other demigods do when camp lets out at three?

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Sat, 20/01/2024 - 04:58
In response to South Africa’s suit before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) charging Israel with genocide in Gaza, Australian politicians have refused to support a significant international means of ending this slaughter of Palestinians. Instead, party leaders search for words to disguise cowardice, to camouflage the lack of courage required to avoid offending Israel Continue reading »
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Sat, 20/01/2024 - 04:57
The ‘United Nations Command’ provides the US with the perfect camouflaged vehicle for a global military alliance against China and North Korea. Over the past couple of years there has been a flurry of activity linking NATO, and some of its constituent countries with the states of American East Asia, principally Japan, South Korea, Australia Continue reading »
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Sat, 20/01/2024 - 04:56
General Soeharto who ruled Indonesia for 32 years last century used to stage a ‘Festival of Democracy’ every five years. This was export quality irony – the results were known before the poll papers were printed. That’s not the case this year as the Republic now has an apparently independent Komisi Pemilihan Umum, (General Elections Continue reading »
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Sat, 20/01/2024 - 04:55
The contested concept of ‘impartiality’ lies at the heart of running battles between unionised staff and news organisations in Australia over coverage of Israel’s genocidal onslaught. A rash of Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) staff departures and the suppression of journalists critical of their organisations’ reporting on Gaza has been called a betrayal of the role Continue reading »
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Sat, 20/01/2024 - 04:53
Evidence for a 520 km diameter impact crater, 3 times larger than the Chicxulub crater left from the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs, has been discovered in Deniliquin, Australia. Close analogies exist between the atmospheric effects of large asteroid impacts and those of greenhouse-induced climate change in terms of initial clouding by aerosols, consequent cooling, Continue reading »
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Sat, 20/01/2024 - 04:52
This report reveals how US intelligence agencies and CSIS (Canadian Security Intelligence Service) manufactured an inflated “China Threat” in 2018 that mutated over the next five years to become Canada’s “China Panic” with far reaching implications. This discussion paper reveals how CSIS and the Five Eyes manufactured a “China Threat” in 2018 that turned into Continue reading »
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Sat, 20/01/2024 - 04:51
Every time I visit Gaza, I witness how people have sunk further into despair, with the struggle for survival consuming every hour. In the south, around Rafah, makeshift structures of plastic sheeting have mushroomed everywhere including on the streets, with people trying to protect themselves from the cold and rain. Each one of these flimsy Continue reading »
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Sat, 20/01/2024 - 04:50
“Geopolitical divides are preventing us from coming together around global solutions for global challenges,” said United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres. At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Wednesday, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres warned that multilateralism that includes often overlooked governments in the Global South is the only solution to the rapidly developing Continue reading »
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Sat, 20/01/2024 - 04:00
The Second Most Important Story In The World

If you pull way back and take the historical perspective, a lot of stories, aren’t.

I stand second to few in my abhorrence of the Israeli project to ethnic cleanse and genocide Palestine, but it’s been ongoing for a long time and involves about five million Palestinians plus various supporters of genocide and people trying to stop genocide. It’s moving towards the end-game, as Israel loses deterrence because of its military’s sheer incompetence and changing military technology, but it’s playing out more or less as expected: the tiny colonial enclave surrounded by hostile natives is in decline as its super power sponsor is in decline.

Created
Sat, 20/01/2024 - 04:00
The relentless wail of Donald Trump How dare Nikki Haley use his own strategy to beat him: Former President Donald Trump might owe Sen. Ted Cruz an apology. And no, it’s not about the long list of things Trump has said about Cruz and his family. Rather, it’s about how Cruz and his allies complained in 2016 about how non-Republican voters helped hand the nomination to Trump. They even tried to formally change the party’s rules to incentivize states to move away from elections that allowed independent and possibly even Democratic voters to weigh in on the Republican presidential race. Trump ran away with the 2016 Republican presidential nomination in part due to his sheer dominance in these so-called “open primaries.” While at the same time, Cruz struggled to keep up by winning in closed primaries and caucuses. Now, Trump is sounding the alarm at the possibility that former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley could use his old playbook against him.