Reading

Thank you Philip Bump for this perfectly illustrated explanation of the question of life expectancy which I have tried to explain to people to no avail. For some reason this concept seems to be hard for some people to accept: One day recently, three old friends met to play pickleball. Alan, 85, had taken up the sport first. Over time, he compelled his old college acquaintances Bob, 80, and Don, 75, to join him, in keeping with the rapidly growing sport’s slow downward trend in the median age of its participants. On this day, though, Bob was preoccupied. “Does it ever bother you guys,” he asked, as they were warming up, “that each of us is above the average life expectancy in the U.S.?” Bob, you see, was well-versed in government data, in part thanks to his willingness to indulge in the natural human inclination to want to understand and explore numbers. And Bob was right. The most recent estimates compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, for the year 2021, put American life expectancy at just over 76 years of age.

Seems a better use of our energies “You don’t get a lot of chances to correct history’s mistakes. You get a few. And when you get them, you damn sure better take advantage of them,” said environmental historian Dan Flores. He wasn’t talking about consigning the MAGA movement to the ash heap of history. He was talking about efforts to restore bison herds on the Great Plains: In 1805, when the Lewis and Clark expedition reached the border of what is now North Dakota and Montana, they found herds of American buffalo so numerous, “the whole face of the country was covered” by them, Meriwether Lewis wrote. Less than a century later, in 1889, the nation’s most majestic animal (whose scientific name is Bison bison) had been reduced from practically uncountable numbers to an easily countable 541, and the species teetered on the edge of extinction. Today their numbers stand at about 350,000, most raised as livestock. Only 20,000 of them are protected in federal and state preserves in what are called conservation herds.

Plus, New York Takes On PepsiCo, Florida’s anti-drag law is stopped, and Starbucks workers walk out.

Some are gospel, others mere suggestions It helps that the Second Amendment has a powerful manufacturing lobby behind it. It helps that the press, churches, and the ACLU stand behind the First. Case after case has reached the U.S. Supreme Court about those. The problem, of course, is that other, better-funded conservative advocacy groups exist to make application of the Constitution’s provisions as selective as possible as Frank Wilhoit so adroitly observed, if only by implication. Poor little 14th Amendment. It’s long as amendments go (the longest). Maybe that’s why its application has been so contested and/or ignored. Too long to read? Or perhaps too radical to enforce. Sherrilyn Ifill writes in the Washington Post: I use the word “radical” deliberately. The 14th Amendment was conceived of and pushed by the “Radical Republicans” in Congress after the Civil War. They were so named because of their commitment to eradicating slavery and its vestiges from American political life.

In 1980, Doctor Who Weekly, published by Marvel UK, included a new comic book strip by Pat Mills, John Wagner, and Dave Gibbons, Star Beast.

In today's BCTV Daily Dispatch: Doctor Who, The Flash, The Walking Dead, Rick and Morty, The Penguin, Star Trek: LD/SNW & Jack Quaid & more!

Eyewitnesses to the October 7 hostage standoff in Kibbutz Be’eri have exposed Israel for misleading the world about the killings of 12-year-old Liel Hetzroni, her family and her neighbors. Update: A video transcript of Yasmin Porat’s testimony translated by David Sheen for Electronic Intifada follows this article. In a desperate bid for international sympathy, the Israeli government has sought to stir outrage over the killing of a 12-year-old girl during the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7.  “This […]

The post Israeli October 7 posterchild was killed by Israeli tank, eyewitnesses reveal first appeared on The Grayzone.

The post Israeli October 7 posterchild was killed by Israeli tank, eyewitnesses reveal appeared first on The Grayzone.

Documents reveal “sensitive weapons and equipment” were taken — and the Pentagon may be unaware of the scope of the thefts.

The post Missiles and Drones Among Weapons Stolen From U.S. in Iraq and Syria appeared first on The Intercept.

By easing virtually all limits on Israel’s use of the stockpile, Biden could undercut U.S. military preparedness and congressional oversight.

The post Joe Biden Moves to Lift Nearly Every Restriction on Israel’s Access to U.S. Weapons Stockpile appeared first on The Intercept.

What inspired you to write The Exorcist Effect? Over twenty years ago, Michael Cuneo wrote...

by Frank Jacob* What is Immanuel Wallerstein’s legacy for the 21st century? Following the closure of the Fernand Braudel Center for the Study of Economies, Historical Systems, and Civilizations that Wallerstein directed at SUNY Binghampton and the discontinuation in 2016 of Review, the journal he founded in 1976, this is an important question. World-systems theory […]

The BBC launched The Official Doctor Who Podcast hosted by Christel Dee, Juno Dawson & Tyrell Charles - with Russell T. Davies contributing.

“White” Rhino baby! The Virginia Zoo is thrilled to announce the birth of a female southern white rhinoceros on November 9, 2023 at 5:40 a.m., bringing their crash up to five. The calf is the second rhinoceros ever born at the Virginia Zoo and the second offspring to 17-year-old father Sibindi and 10-year-old mother Zina, who birthed the Zoo’s first rhino calf, Mosi, in 2021. Zina and Sibindi are a recommended breeding pair by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ (AZA) White Rhino Species Survival Plan® (SSP), which helps to ensure genetic diversity and the continued growth of the southern white rhino population in AZA accredited facilities. The new calf, who will be named by her keepers at a later date, and Mosi’s genetics are considered especially valuable due to their parents’ origin. Zina was born at the Singapore Zoo in 2013 and Sibindi was born in South Africa in 2006. The birth of these offspring marks the first time their genetics have been represented in an American zoo.

Source - Patreon

Source - Patreon

Source - Patreon

Let’s hope people listen … and that the Democrats put some serious money and effort into counteracting what these greed heads are doing. Do they not realize that Trump thinks they all come from shithole countries?

We asked some of our Beatlefan staff members and regular contributors to share their thoughts on The Beatles’ “Now and Then.” In 1996, nearly a year after the rollout of “The Beatles Anthology” project, which included the release of the … Continue reading →

Will they be able to overcome their differences to keep the government open? The Republicans have managed to pass some of the appropriations bills from the floor (although most of them are going to meet heavy resistance in the conference) so they aren’t starting from scratch after the first of the year. But there are a few that they just can’t seem to come to terms on. Here are some of the reasons: Agriculture  House GOP leadership has struggled for months to pass the party’s annual agriculture and rural development funding bill amid divides over spending and measures aimed at restricting abortion access.  The bill was one of the first the party sought to bring to the floor in the summer.

Time for another “quick takes” since half my readers are likely still recovering from Thanksgiving food comas.

One of the more extraordinary videos I’ve seen. Do take the time to watch it, it’s not that long

Say it ain’t so! Oh look: Three Ukrainians who aided the Donald Trump campaign’s efforts to discredit the Biden family have been charged with treason. The 2019 drive was led by former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who was Mr Trump’s personal lawyer at the time. It centred on unproven allegations that Joe Biden had corrupt dealings with Ukraine as vice-president. Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) said the three men charged were paid by Russian military intelligence (GRU). It added that they had used a “tense political situation” to harm Ukraine’s reputation abroad. The three men charged are understood to be current MP Oleksandr Dubinsky, former lawmaker Andriy Derkach and ex-prosecutor Kostyantyn Kulyk. Mr Dubinsky has denied the charges. All three are said to be members of an agent network led by Russian Gen Vladimir Alekseyev, the deputy head of the GRU. The charges allege they pursued “information subversive activities” related to the 2020 US election and were paid $10m (£8m). The men are accused of helping to spread the falsehood that Ukraine, rather than Russia, interfered in the recent US elections.

In this clip from Doctor Who: "The Star Beast," the Doctor explains to Shirley Anne Bingham why Donna can't be allowed to remember.

A recent rally in front of the White House featuring Nazi iconography has been wholly ignored by the same mainstream media outlets pushing the narrative of rising antisemitism. The two DC-based organizations behind the events collaborated with the Biden administration on a similar event last February. This Veterans Day, on November 11, passersby outside the White House gates were met with the sight of protest signs bearing Nazi-inspired Wolfsangels and protesters performing fascist salutes. While the rally may have fallen […]

The post US govt-linked Ukraine activists hold pro-Nazi Veterans Day rally outside White House first appeared on The Grayzone.

The post US govt-linked Ukraine activists hold pro-Nazi Veterans Day rally outside White House appeared first on The Grayzone.