Mark J. Valencia, an internationally renowned maritime policy analyst focused on Asia, passed away on 6 December 2023 in Hawaii, surrounded by his family. A regular author for Pearls and Irritations, Mark was an Adjunct Senior Scholar at the National Institute for South China Sea Studies, Haikou, China; and a Non-Resident Fellow at the Huayang Continue reading »
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Why was Christ born in a stable? Because the Israelis bombed all the houses. Truly. Every year Jesus is born, dies and is reborn. He is reborn into our world – that is part of what makes Christian symbology meaningful. This year Christ is a brown skinned Middle Eastern man about to be born in Continue reading »
A Meditation for Those who are Grieving Loss during this Christmas Season, 2023 To write about grief at any time is difficult. To write about grief, as we migrate into the Christmas season, even more so. The character of Christmas as a season of enchantment, makes grief an ill fit. The character of Christmas as Continue reading »
It’s time for governments around the world to condemn the injustice of Israeli apartheid and its brutal occupation of Gaza and the West Bank, to put sanctions on Israel as they did for apartheid South Africa. Israel’s friends amongst Western governments, including Australia, must stop being complicit in Israel’s moral self-destruction. The US veto of Continue reading »
All sides of Australian politics have sustained pressure on the United States to drop the charges against Julian Assange. While the Cheng Lei experience might provide an instructive lesson on how to negotiate with what is a political charge, this may have to wait until after the 2024 election. 2023 was the year when the Continue reading »
Beatlefan first was published just before Christmas in 1978, so we’re marking its 45th anniversary. Through various landmark anniversaries in the past, Executive Editor Al Sussman, our original New York correspondent, has interviewed Bill and Leslie King about how the … Continue reading
People love to denigrate Joe Biden as being senile and incoherent. Here’s Joe Rogan doing just that. Only he makes a little mistake: Yes, it was Donald Trump who said it. And he is is far more incoherent and weird than Biden has ever been. Here’s my favorite: But really … tell me that this man is all there: I wish I understood why he is given a pass while Biden is harassed for his rather normal verbal stumbles. Maybe it’s the make-up and hairspray obscuring how old Trump really is. Happy Hollandaise!
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Randy Rainbow misses them too But not the 1950s, thank you very much. Take care out there while shopping. Watch out for spree shooters. Happy Hollandaise!
Well, you know that, thanks to Maria’s lovely post earlier this week. I’ll post a long, maybe self-indulgent, remembrance in a week or two (I’ve been overwhelmed by things this week, including the kind of staggering outpouring of affection ad memories on social media, in my inbox (Among the many messages came a lovely email […]
Plus, the EPA introduces limits on the toxic gas in the East Palestine disaster, Starbucks has to reopen union-busted locations, and old trees get new safeguards.
WHAT went viral? They seemed otherwise unstoppable. Then common terrestrial bacteria felled the invading Martians in “War of the Worlds.” Put a pin in that. Could it be important? A week or so ago, this post from Adam Kinzinger popped up and … whut? Whatever prompted that was unclear or I missed it and dismissed it. Then last night this pops up: The story on MeidasTouch includes video “testimony” from former The Apprentice staffer Noel Casler about “Diaper Don”: “The diapers is not a joke,” Casler began. “He would often soil himself on The Apprentice set. He’s incontinent from all the speed, all the Adderall he does, all the cocaine that he’s done for decades…His [bowels] are uncontrollable.” Casler claimed that Trump has been wearing diapers since the 1990s and the he had a chance to witness it firsthand in the late 2000s, while working on the set of The Apprentice. One hellsite user Xitted, “Wonder why Trump hasn’t sued Noel Casler for defamation yet? Prob cause discovery would be wild” “It’s true. Many people are saying,” quipped another X user.
In today's BCTV Daily Dispatch: Rick and Morty, Supernatural, Night Court, Doctor Who, What If...?, Joe Rogan, The Venture Bros., and more!
The highly unusual, English-language order for the Gaza war breaks from the secretive and informal way IDF censorship normally works.
The post Exclusive: Israeli Military Censor Bans Reporting on These 8 Subjects appeared first on The Intercept.
I was walking with my teenage son in a large shop the other day, and we passed by the children’s section. I saw a duvet cover that so much reminded me of Kretk – or, in English translation, the Little Mole. We were recalling which of the Kretk films that we saw we liked most […]
Been there, done that … For those of you who are wondering about how to deal with this problem, here’s a handy video from the cat whisperer, Jackson Galaxy:
I always thought that the official casualty numbers from Israel, both for their own soldiers and for how many Hamas they’ve killed were dubious. But now we’re getting confirmation. Likewise against Hezbollah.
Sure they have:
IDF killed 2,000 Hamas fighters this month, 8,000 since war outbreak, spokesman sayshttps://t.co/Qm1DHWkudi
— The Times of Israel (@TimesofIsrael) December 21, 2023
Against Hezbollah:
Israeli admit their failure to Hezbollah
Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronot:
We have a theory about the hooded figure in an image from the Doctor Who Christmas Special; Ncuti Gatwa shows off his Classic Doctor look.
Sometimes you just have to let things play out for awhile: More than 15 million people have signed up for health insurance plans offered on the Affordable Care Act’s federal marketplace, a 33 percent increase compared to the same time last year, according to preliminary data released by the Biden administration on Wednesday. Federal health officials project that more than 19 million people will enroll in 2024 coverage by the end of the current enrollment period next month. That total would include those who gain coverage through state marketplaces, continuing the record-setting pace. Despite a recent warning from former President Donald J. Trump, the front-runner in the race for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, that he was “seriously looking at alternatives” to the Affordable Care Act, the latest surge in marketplace enrollment is a testament to the law’s enduring power. Legislation passed earlier in the Covid-19 pandemic increased federal subsidies for people buying plans, lowering the costs for many Americans.
These are a few of our favorite things from 2023.
The post The Most Beautiful Science of the Year appeared first on Nautilus.
That would be Christopher Rufo: I had been wondering why there was such out-sized coverage of this issue. I realize that many members of the elite media went to Ivy League schools so it’s of personal interest. But now I see that it’s a right wing hissy fit ginned up by their chief propagandist. Rufo knows exactly what he’s doing. And I have to assume that the mainstream media knows it too. It’s not as if he’s trying to hide it. Keep your eye on this as we go into the election year. These mini-scandals have a way of affecting close elections depending on the timing. I can’t help but think of the Comey sabotage in 2016. Thee is good evidence that if it had happened a week or so earlier, Clinton would have recovered in the polls. (They bounced up and down a couple of points throughout the fall campaign.) These folks know how to get the media excited and they’ll find a way to dominate unless the public remains vigilant and calls them out. Happy Hollandaise!