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Created
Mon, 25/12/2023 - 01:00
“Utterly bizarre” Is this a joke? Clarence Thomas: The Best and Most Incorruptible Supreme Court Justice in U.S. History This Friday encomium to Clarence Thomas, is it Steven Calabresi’s or The Volokh Conspiracy’s idea of a joke? Justice Thomas’s brilliance, and commitment to originalism shine through in all of his opinions. He is more consistent, steady, and reliable than any other justice on the Supreme Court. He almost never follows precedent, but he always follows the original public meaning of the text of the Constitution. He is the very best justice out of 116 to have ever served on the U.S. Supreme Court better even than my old boss Justice Antonin Scalia. Justice Thomas not only talks about the importance of being an originalist; he practices originalism in every majority opinion, concurrence, or dissent that he writes. That’s some bad-ass weed.
Created
Mon, 25/12/2023 - 00:40

Evil is rarely a solo project. Horrors and atrocities of the past may provide context for the horrors and atrocities happening right now in Gaza and the Congo. United States war crimes: Gosh, where to begin? Widespread rape by U.S. servicemen of Japanese, German, and French women; human experiments on non-white U.S. enlisted men “to […]

The post Operation Paperclip (and other crimes) appeared first on Zeldman on Web and Interaction Design.

Created
Sun, 24/12/2023 - 22:03
A round-up of the legal, policy and campaigning work of Open Rights Group during 2023. What a year! The UK government pursued legislation that weakens our digital rights, biometric surveillance expanded exponentially and World leaders attempted to grapple with (and exploit) the emergence of AI. – ORG fought them every step of the way with […]
Created
Sun, 24/12/2023 - 20:08

Είμαι ο Γιάνης Βαρουφάκης, μ’ ένα μήνυμα εκ μέρους του ΜέΡΑ25 για τη χρονιά που φεύγει και με ευχές για αυτή που έρχεται. Ήταν σκληρή χρονιά το 2023. Τι να θυμηθεί κανείς; Τα άψυχα κορμιά των νέων μας στα Τέμπη; Τους εκατοντάδες των πνιγμένων υπό το ψυχρό βλέμμα της Ελληνικής Ακτοφυλακής στα ανοικτά της Πύλου; […]

The post Ευχές για το 2024 στα στερνά του σκληρού 2023 appeared first on Yanis Varoufakis.

Created
Sun, 24/12/2023 - 19:49

This is Yanis Varoufakis with an end of year message to you all on behalf of DiEM25 – our paneuropean democracy in Europe movement. This year’s festivities come at a time of a genocide that will stigmatise our generation. Yes, we must look after our loved ones, celebrate their achievements, take care of the ones […]

The post Wishes for 2024 in the midst of a genocide – a message on behalf of DiEM25 appeared first on Yanis Varoufakis.

Created
Sun, 24/12/2023 - 19:33

Against the backdrop of the new cold war between the United States and China, the European Union’s top brass seems to be adding to the pressure on China by issuing credible threats in response to four grievances. Alas, the Chinese authorities are probably more amused than alarmed. ATHENS – On the December 7, the presidents […]

The post Europe’s Bad China Bluff – Project Syndicate op-ed appeared first on Yanis Varoufakis.

Created
Sun, 24/12/2023 - 10:00
(He’s not a horse…) I wrote about this the other day but it’s nice that the NY Times is putting this information into wider circulation. I hope they don’t just leave it at that. It’s evidence of Trump’s naturally fascistic personality and more people should know about it. It informs all his recent Nazi rhetoric: In 2020, President Donald J. Trump gave a campaign speech in Minnesota railing against refugees and criticizing protests for racial justice. Toward the end, he wrapped up with standard lines from his stump speech and praise for the state’s pioneer lineage. Then, Mr. Trump stopped to address his crowd of Minnesota supporters with an aside seeming to invoke a theory of genetic superiority. “You have good genes, you know that, right? You have good genes. A lot of it is about the genes, isn’t it, don’t you believe?” Mr. Trump told the audience. “The racehorse theory, you think we’re so different? You have good genes in Minnesota.” Mr.
Created
Sun, 24/12/2023 - 08:30
How much longer are we going to have to put up with these infantile temper tantrums? They’re children: Three Republican lawmakers from battleground states are trying to kick President Biden off their states’ ballots to “showcase the absurdity” of the Colorado Supreme Court’s decision to ban former President Donald Trump from the state’s ballot. The Colorado Supreme Court ruled this week that former President Donald Trump engaged in “insurrection” and is ineligible to appear on the state ballot.  “The absurdity of radical Democrat judges removing Donald Trump from the ballot in Colorado will be a stain on the American political system for decades,” state Reps. Aaron Bernstine of Pennsylvania, Charlice Byrd of Georgia and Cory McGarr of Arizona said in a press release.
Created
Sun, 24/12/2023 - 07:00
Laura Ingraham has a new theory. She thinks “the left” is torturing Dear leader with all this nasty “accountability” in order to get his followers so darned mad that they start to riot, giving “us” the excuse to declare martial law and crack down on them. I’m serious: “Given what we are seeing in the courts, at the DOJ, and even in state AG offices, and given Democrats’ ‘Trump is Hitler’ rhetoric—is it not logical, at least to consider, maybe even to assume, that some on the left are hoping to spark some type of civil unrest here?” Ingraham said. “Which would be followed, of course, by a mass crackdown on civil liberties, or the declaration of maybe a nationwide emergency? This isn’t a novel idea, of course. It’s exactly what Trump wanted to do during the George Floyd protests and what they planned to do if their fake elector scheme worked and the supporters of people who actually won the election took to the streets.
Created
Sun, 24/12/2023 - 05:30
Donald Trump told Hugh Hewitt that he would observe the peaceful transfer of power next time. Just as he did before. “Of course,” Trump responded to Hewitt when asked if he would hand over power peacefully if reelected. “And I did that this time. And I’ll tell you what. The election was rigged, and we have plenty of evidence of it. But I did it anyway.” Uhm, no he didn’t. Just look at that video above. I happened upon a piece in Just Security from February 2021 about the fascist parallels with Trump’s coup and the fascist themes in that film they showed at the ellipse to gin up the crowd. It seems newly …. relevant: Fascist thought Chapter 2 of Mein Kampf, Hitler’s first and most famous book, is entitled “Years of Study and Suffering in Vienna.” In it, he documents what he describes as his gradual realization that behind the various institutions of power were the Jews.
Created
Sun, 24/12/2023 - 04:59
Is there any light in the Christian message in the face of the horrors in the Ukraine and Gaza? Apart from wishing peace on Earth does Christian belief actually change anything? Well, along with Nick Cave, I don’t believe in an interventionist God. At least not a God sitting above our lives pulling the strings Continue reading »
Created
Sun, 24/12/2023 - 04:58
Out of our hearts can come thoughts that are pure and beautiful or “evil intentions, murder…” What we think and let influence our thinking shapes our words and actions, for good or ill. How important therefore are the choices we make! The choice to nurture love with words and actions that bring healing as compared Continue reading »
Created
Sun, 24/12/2023 - 04:57
…our list is a genuine plea for you to bring us a greatly improved integrity-related system that addresses all the shortcomings in the current arrangements. Dear Santa, I am writing this wish list on behalf of the vast majority of Victorians. Please don’t think we are being greedy as that is not our intention. Rather, Continue reading »
Created
Sun, 24/12/2023 - 04:56
Despite what we have we seen and learnt during 2023, the COP meeting failed again to take strong action on fossil fuels. Is nature for nature or only for humans?   COP out on phase out again The demand from climate activists at the recent COP28 meeting in Dubai was for a ‘Fast, Fair, Full, Continue reading »