Reading

Created
Wed, 24/01/2024 - 09:30
Is Steve Garvey California’s Herschel Walker? There was a Senate debate last night in California. It didn’t go well for the aging baseball player whom the Republicans believe will electrify the voters here. The 75 year old Garvey first played with the Dodgers in 1969, moved over to the Padres in the 80s and retired from there in 1987. How many people even remember who he is? Steve Garvey was less a heavy hitter on Monday night’s Senate debate stage and more often a punchline. Garvey, a Republican and former Dodgers star, rocketed to the top three in the polls to replace the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein soon after entering the race in October. But his first public debate was a rough showing. Over the course of the 90-minute debate at the University of Southern California, Garvey struggled to provide details of his policy ideas, was repeatedly laughed at by people in the audience and saw himself ganged up on by his Democratic rivals: Democratic Reps. Katie Porter, Barbara Lee and Adam Schiff.
Created
Wed, 24/01/2024 - 07:30
It’s a good one It may just be that a meaningful faction of Republicans have permanently soured on Trump: Donald Trump has a problem no matter what happens in New Hampshire on Tuesday night: There’s a whole swath of the Republican electorate and a good chunk of independents who appear firmly committed to not voting for him in November if he becomes the nominee. It’s an issue that became starkly apparent in polling ahead of the Iowa caucuses, when an NBC News/Des Moines Register/Mediacom poll of voters in that state found that fully 43 percent of Nikki Haley supporters said they would back President Joe Biden over Trump. And it’s a dynamic that has been on vivid display as the campaign shifted this week to New Hampshire. “I can’t vote for Trump. He’s a crook. He’s too corrupt,” said Scott Simeone, 64, an independent voter from Amherst, who backed Trump in 2016 and 2020. “I voted for him, and I didn’t realize he’s as corrupt as he is.” Primary elections can create intra-party divisions that, in the moment, seem impossible to heal.
Created
Wed, 24/01/2024 - 05:30
It’s coming from inside the house (and the Senate) That’s a US Senator passing on Fox News lies on twitter. It happens every day on every issue. In fairness, Blackburn may not know any better. She’s very dim. Maybe you have already seen this, but I hadn’t until yesterday. It’s Taylor Swift telling her father that she’s going to speak out against Blackburn. Did I mention that Blackburn is dim?
Created
Wed, 24/01/2024 - 05:00

Remember me? I’m that gift card some clueless Secret Santa gave you months ago, maybe years. You used me once, then forgot all about me. Oh, you might stumble on me now and then when you’re so bored you decide to clean out your wallet, and then you look at me and think, “Huh, I wonder what’s left on this?”

Forget it. You’ll never know. You won’t be anywhere near a Starbucks or a Walgreens at the time. You’re not going to stop what you’re doing to go fill up at Texaco. You’ll make a mental note, that’s it. You might say to yourself, “I should check the balance on a website. Is that even a thing?” You have no clue. But you won’t find out, for even if it is a thing, you know you’d be forced to register, and then you’d be bombarded by emails begging you to “Celebrate the Season of Pumpkin Spice” or “Save 20 percent on Jorts.”

No, you’ll just stare at me, ponder my mysteries, then back into the wallet I’ll go—not even a front flap, but tucked into some hidden sub-flap with the loyalty cards and the gym membership.

Created
Wed, 24/01/2024 - 04:57
Australian Citizenship should be revived as a positive unifying element in a cohesive multicultural society. The Australia Day citizenship ceremony controversy is just a sideshow. The real issue is the completely unacceptable waiting times for processing Australian citizenship applications. The Abbott/Turnbull/Morrison government trashed the good work of previous Coalition and Labor governments by pursuing regressive Continue reading »
Created
Wed, 24/01/2024 - 04:55
In the indictment brought against Israel by South Africa in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) Blinne Ní Ghrálaigh KC asserted it was, ‘the first genocide in history where its victims are broadcasting their own destruction in real time in the desperate, so far vain hope that the world might do something.’ Not only that Continue reading »
Created
Wed, 24/01/2024 - 04:54
Ukraine is now being urged to make 2024 a year of consolidation of abilities before launching a new offensive in 2025. But the reality is that Ukraine will NOT force Russia out of its territory, and its time to draw some lessons in regard to the West’s aggressive policies toward China. Put simply, the West Continue reading »
Created
Wed, 24/01/2024 - 04:52
As Australia Day looms it’s not surprising that Peter Dutton has yet again found another culture war to prosecute – this time against Woolworths’ decision not to stock Australia Day themed goods. The approach worked with the Voice campaign but if this is going to be his main tactic in the year or so to Continue reading »
Created
Wed, 24/01/2024 - 04:51
The US military paid $300 million to divert an Australian undersea communication cable to Oman through Diego-Garcia, writes Phil Miller, as facilities at a UK GCHQ surveillance station in the Middle Eastern country have been upgraded ahead of a potentially devastating new war with Iran over Israel. A base for British spies near Iran has Continue reading »
Created
Wed, 24/01/2024 - 04:50
On Monday the US launched its eighth wave of airstrikes in its new war against Yemeni forces, which it has now formally titled “Operation Poseidon Archer”. The strikes are aimed at breaking a Red Sea shipping blockade which the de facto authorities in Yemen have implemented to pressure Israel and its allies into ceasing the Continue reading »
Created
Wed, 24/01/2024 - 04:49
Yemen is a country that’s been grappling with war and siege since 2015. As part of Saudi Arabia’s denigrating campaign, anyone in the country, except for ousted President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi and his small group of protégés, have been unjustly portrayed as uncultured and underdeveloped individuals with little to contribute to their nation and the Continue reading »
Created
Wed, 24/01/2024 - 04:30
South Carolina … It’s true, by the way: South Carolina Republican lawmakers are considering a bill that would make a person who has an abortion eligible for the death penalty. The bill, titled the South Carolina Prenatal Equal Protection Act of 2023, would change the state’s criminal code and redefine “person” to include a fertilized egg at the point of conception. According to the bill, the change would “ensure that an unborn child who is a victim of homicide is afforded equal protection under the homicide laws of the state.” Under South Carolina law, that includes the death penalty. The bill provides exceptions for pregnant people who had an abortion if they were “compelled to do so by the threat of imminent death or great bodily injury” and also provides an exception if the abortion was done to save the life of the mother. There are no exceptions for rape or incest. Big of them to allow an exception to save the life of the mother. Anyone else should be killed. This is what they believe. These throwbacks are just saying it out loud. Kill women. That’s what we’re talking about.
Created
Wed, 24/01/2024 - 03:58

A State Department official said a drone strike that killed 120 Nigerians was no “attack” and urged press to focus on “fun” aspects of the secretary of state’s tour.

The post Blinken Visits Nigeria as Questions Swirl About Civilian Deaths and U.S. Security Ties appeared first on The Intercept.