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Here’s the rundown from Ian Millhiser: The Supreme Court spent about an hour and a half on Tuesday morning arguing over whether to make it much harder for the Justice Department to prosecute hundreds of people who joined the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol. It appears, after Tuesday’s arguments, that a majority of the justices will side with the insurrectionists — though it is far from clear how those justices will justify such an outcome. The case, known as Fischer v. United States, involved a federal law which provides that anyone who “obstructs, influences, or impedes any official proceeding, or attempts to do so” commits a very serious federal felony and can be imprisoned for up to 20 years — although, as Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar pointed out during Tuesday’s argument, actual sentences against January 6 defendants convicted under this statute have been much shorter, normally ranging from a little less than one year to slightly over two years. According to the Justice Department, more than 1,265 people have been arrested for playing some role in the attack on the Capitol.

I’m sure you’ve heard that Mehdi Hassan was let go from MSNBC. It was a mistake. He’s opinionated and I don’t always agree with him but I do respect him. His interviews are among the best in the business. Anyway, he has a new media venture called Zeteo.com, (which you can subscribe to here) and has a Youtube channel here. I thought this was especially good: Here’s how it opens: If you’re one of those people even on the left who isn’t that concerned by the prospect of a Trump second term that it won’t be that bad, that we survived Trump the first time round then this next segment is for you. See I need you to hear me out and I need you to picture the scene. It’s January 20th 2025, inauguration day. You turn on the TV and Donald J Trump with his hand on his own God Bless the USA Bible is being sworn in as 47th president of the United States. Now the quadruple indicted new president makes his way back to the Oval Office and begins to make America great again again. And based on team Trump’s own words own proud promises here’s how his first 100 days could very well turn out.

Trump is exhorting his cult to buy Truth Social stock. Here it is today: On March 27th it went to 79. A whole lot of MAGA cultists are losing their red, white and blue Trump shirts. Yahoo Finance reports: Truth Social Stock Crashes as Donald Trump Maneuvers to Sell His Own Shares Pulling the Ripcord Shares of Donald Trump’s social media meme stock tumbled yet again today, sinking over 16 percent Monday morning. The timing of the latest shellacking is particularly interesting: it comes after Trump made the first moves to cash out, likely leaving investors — who have already seen their holdings crumble — out to dry. As Bloomberg reports, Truth Social owner Trump Media & Technology (TMTG) filed to register shares, including ones that are linked to warrants — a sign that Trump and other executives are looking to cash out far sooner than September, at which point the obligatory six-month hold on sales would be over.

Doctor Who Showrunner Russell T. Davies on how the "Timeless Child" influences Ncuti Gatwa's Fifteenth Doctor & Millie Gibson's Ruby Sunday.

You’re not seeing a huge change in rhetoric from the right wingers about those stats. Imagine that. In fact, Trump is out there every day screeching that US is a dystopian nightmare of “migrant crime” and people can barely leave their houses without being assaulted. Nothing new there. But the facts are clear. JV Last makes the case for Biden on this issue: The “Biden crime wave” was always proffered in bad faith because the “crime wave” appeared in 2020, while Donald Trump was president: 2020 saw the largest rise in the murder rate in American history. Now just because Biden inherited a problem doesn’t mean he gets a pass on its existence. When you’re president, you’re supposed to solve everyone’s problems, not just the ones that crop up during your administration. And here’s the data: All crime is down under Biden, with one exception. Violent crimes like murder and rape? Down. Property crimes like burglary and theft? Down. Crime in cities? Down. Crime in rural areas? Down. The lone exception is that car theft in metropolitan areas has gone up. That’s it. Like the man said: Take the W.

Opposition leader (for now), Peter Dutton, has lashed out at what he calls left-wing media who didn’t understand his speech that compared a non-violent protest at the Sydney opera house with the death of 35 people at the Port Arthur... Read More ›

When the Supreme Court decided Griswold v Connecticut in 1965, Clarence Thomas was 16 years...

A humble steam engineer put humans in the driver’s seat.

The post The Part-Time Climate Scientist appeared first on Nautilus.

Biden campaign co-chair Rep. Veronica Escobar co-led a congressional letter questioning the administration's compliance with its own arms transfer memo.

The post Democrats Question U.S. Claims That Israel Isn’t Violating International Law Using American Weapons appeared first on The Intercept.

It appears that Mike Johnson’s pilgrimage to Mar-a-Lago to obtain Trump’s protection didn’t get the job done: Speaker Mike Johnson took the extraordinary step this morning of publicly announcing that he was “not resigning” after a second conservative GOP hardliner called for his ouster in a closed House Republican Conference meeting. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) stood up in the private meeting in the Capitol and said Johnson should “clean the barn” — clear out all pending controversial legislation — and announce he’s resigning so House Republicans can choose a new speaker. Massie also said he would support Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s (R-Ga.) motion to vacate resolution, which the Georgia Republican introduced several weeks ago. Greene has not sought to make it privileged, which would trigger a vote over whether to oust Johnson. This was the same process used to dump former Speaker Kevin McCarthy last year. The current wave of angst is due to Johnson’s introduction of a package of bills to send aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.

Some days I wake up and don’t recognise the country we have become. It is not the country I grew up in. It is not a country I can be proud of. It is not a country that has a bright future under current leadership. Today was such a day. Iran launched its much-anticipated strikes Continue reading »

Paul Collins interviews former Australian Ambassador to Israel, Peter Rodgers, on the history of the Israel-Palestine conflict, the Zionist movement and the creation of the Israeli state, and the ongoing crisis in Gaza. Continue reading »

The leader of South Africa’s Palestine Solidarity Alliance insists that the ruling of the International Court of Justice ‘requires the whole world to play their part to stop genocide unfolding in Gaza.’ Playing a part means what? Death and destruction are usually stopped when courageous people intervene between victims and perpetrators. Regarding Israeli forces’ taste Continue reading »

Australian leadership is no longer an embarrassment at UNFCCC COPs. Nonetheless, Australia’s participation in the fossil fuel industry, including through new projects, is not putting us on the fastest path to net zero. Will we miss our “brief and rapidly closing window” to secure a liveable future? The UNFCCC COPs reflect the ‘international rules-based order’ Continue reading »

Much has already been said and written about the recent tragic stabbings at Bondi Junction. Daily, we are also exposed to stories about the ravages of war, hopefully neither suppressing nor being overwhelmed by them. As a funeral celebrant, I am familiar with, but never complacent about death and suffering – indeed, it is a Continue reading »

The changes will be particularly helpful for women living with conditions including epilepsy, breast cancer, type 2 diabetes, inflammatory bowel diseases and more. Are you a young woman who deals with a complex and ongoing medical condition or several at the same time? Me too. In fact, it’s something a lot more of us go Continue reading »

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to win a third consecutive term in office in general elections in which voting begins on April 19 and runs over seven days. The results will be known only on June 4, given that 960 million Indians are eligible to vote. April 26, May 7, May 13, May Continue reading »

‘New era for alliance’ headlined the right wing Japan Times after the Japan-US summit talks in Washington this week between President Biden and Japan’s prime minister, Fumio Kishida.. But not everyone was so enthused. Moscow repeated its warnings going back to 1960 that it could not sign a formal end to World War Two if Continue reading »

Despite challenges, including the lingering impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and structural concerns, voices from within the business community underscore a robust economic outlook. Having lived in Beijing, China’s capital, for more than 10 years, it does not surprise me to see people hurry to work with cups of Starbucks coffee. The coffee-drinking culture has Continue reading »