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Sat, 27/05/2023 - 23:00
sto·​chas·​tic (stə-ˈka-stik) stō- “[T]he actual threat to American freedom is coming from the states,” begins Jamelle Bouie’s NYT op-ed: It is states that have stripped tens of millions of American women of their right to bodily autonomy, with disastrous consequences for their lives and health. It is states that have limited the right to travel freely if it means trying to obtain an abortion. It is states that have begun a crusade against the right to express one’s gender and sexuality, under the pretext of “protecting children.” It is states that are threatening to seize the children of parents who believe their kids need gender-affirming care. And it is states that have begun to renege on the promise of free and fair elections. That it is states, and specifically state legislatures, that are the vanguard of a repressive turn in American life shouldn’t be a surprise.
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Sat, 27/05/2023 - 19:30

‘Tackling certain privileges was always going to anger the economic powers. We have implemented a different model for this city — a fairer, more democratic and feminist one… [Within Spain] we are leaders in social spending and public housing. We have increased green spaces and bike lanes, improved public transport and shut thousands of illegal […]

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Sat, 27/05/2023 - 13:23
Interview with Noam Chomsky on the State of the World Noam Chomsky Interviewed by C. J. Polychroniou May 26, 2023. Global Policy. We live in a world facing existential threats while extreme inequality is tearing our societies apart and democracy is in sharp decline. The U.S., meanwhile, is bent on maintaining global hegemony when international collaboration […]
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Sat, 27/05/2023 - 09:30
Urban jungle edition Rick Perlstein sent me this from Chicago: New York, the famous escaped Owl named Flaco: And the latest from here in Los Angeles, some wonderful news: Mountain Lion cubs! World, meet P-113, P-114, and P-115. That’s the designation for three healthy, month-old female mountain lion kittens that biologists recently discovered nestled in a dense patch of poison oak growing around large boulders in the Simi Hills. The sisters belong to P-77, a 5- or 6-year-old lion who biologists captured and radio-tagged in the same area a few years ago. Researchers hope to do the same with the three kittens late next year, just before the girls get old enough to leave their mom. Tagging these lions is part of a National Park Service study that’s been going on in and around the Santa Monica Mountains since 2002, in an attempt to determine how the cats survive — or don’t — and what might help to stabilize their threatened existence. Each year, local mountain lions are killed trying to cross nearby freeways, by poachers, and through exposure to rat poison and other hazards that come with living so close to an urban center.
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Sat, 27/05/2023 - 08:00
I’m a Never GOPer so much of this doesn’t apply to me. But the idea that Ron DeSantis will be a big improvement over Trump is a fallacy and it’s good to see this critique come from those on the center right who see the real threat for what it is. It isn’t just Trump. It’s MAGA, and DeSantis is a first generation MAGA-ite. Tim Miller writes: In 2024, the chosen one will be Gov. Ron DeSantis. It has thus been decreed by the old-guard members of Conservative Inc. Or at least the ones calculating enough to have survived the MAGA takeover. Rupert has dubbed him DeFuture. Republican hedge fund donors have taken their Trump tax cut and run. National Review is indistinguishable from a DeSantis Fanzine, lavishly extolling his virtues and wagging their finger at anyone who dares challenge their precious. Ben Shapiro’s Daily Wire is not any less effusive and is already cashing in on the new bell cow. To be honest, I understand this calculation. DeSantis is the golden ticket.
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Sat, 27/05/2023 - 07:29
Vår främste filmmusikskapare har gått ur tiden. Stefan skrev den sorts musik som glömskan inte rår på. Tack för allt. Vila i frid min vän. Bille Augusts och Ingmar Bergmans mästerverk — med Stefan Nilssons musik, det vackraste och mest suggestiva i filmmusikväg som någonsin gjorts. Pelle Erobreren — baserad på Martin Andersen Nexös episka […]
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Sat, 27/05/2023 - 06:53
A capitalist interviews Noam Chomsky Noam Chomsky Interviewed by Richard McDaniel May 26, 2023. The Sentinel. Usually as a high school journalist, one expects to write their fair share of articles regarding anything from local events to national political issues, which may interest a decent number of students within the school. Rarely does a high school […]
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Sat, 27/05/2023 - 06:30
DeSantis knows these are the new rules and he’s taking advantage of it: Officials who work for Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration — not his campaign — have been sending text messages to Florida lobbyists soliciting political contributions for DeSantis’ presidential bid, a breach of traditional norms that has raised ethical and legal questions and left many here in the state capital shocked. NBC News reviewed text messages from four DeSantis administration officials, including those directly in the governor’s office and with leadership positions in state agencies. They requested the recipient of the message contribute to the governor’s campaign through a specific link that appeared to track who is giving as part of a “bundle” program.  “The bottom line is that the administration appears to be keeping tabs on who is giving, and are doing it using state staff,” a longtime Florida lobbyist said. “You are in a prisoner’s dilemma. They are going to remain in power.
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Sat, 27/05/2023 - 05:00
The Democratic members at least No Labels has long been a malevolent force in American politics since its inception. This conceit of being above all the partisan mucky muck is insufferable. It’s basically a money making operation for its founders and has never accomplished anything. Finally, some of the Democrats affiliated with its equally useless House caucus, the “Problem Solvers” have had enough. It took them trying to put Trump back in the White House to do it: A group of House Democrats with ties to No Labels is turning on the centrist group after it attacked one of their founding members. On Tuesday, No Labels texted people who live in the district of Rep. Brad Schneider (D-Ill.), criticizing the congressman for scoffing at their idea for a unity presidential ticket and claiming it could result in Donald Trump’s return to the presidency. In its message, No Labels said it was “alarmed to learn that your U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider recently attacked the notion that you should have more choices in the 2024 presidential election.” They called Schneider “out of step” with his voters.
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Sat, 27/05/2023 - 04:59
Stan Grant is always intelligent, insightful and provocative. He demonstrated this in his extraordinary farewell piece last Monday night on the ABC’s Q+A. I have enormous respect for Stan Grant. Always intelligent, thoughtful and provocative, he has been an important contributor to intellectual life in Australia. His strength has been to move discussions on from Continue reading »
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Sat, 27/05/2023 - 04:57
When Australia’s Defence Minister, Richard Marles, talks imploringly in support of avoiding the “valley of death” scenario, Australians should listen. That is, until they realise he is not talking about avoiding the horrors of a modern war, but rather supporting the Hunter Class Frigate, a project in such difficulty that the picture of incompetence and Continue reading »