Non-terrorist Palestinian speaker cancelled

The Adelaide festival canceled a speaking invitation to a non-terrorist Palestinian, saying that presenting her would be "culturally insensitive" after a shocking terrorist gun attack on Jews in Sydney.

She rebuked the idea that the mere presence of a Palestinian with political views is somehow offensive in a way that one can at most hint at.

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Chilling effect on lawful protest

*Both Human Rights Watch and the cross-party law reform organization Justice say recent legislative changes have created a chilling effect on lawful protest and should be repealed. Their reports, simultaneously published on Thursday, also say that proposals for more curbs should be halted.*

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Bully wants to impose old imperialist international chaos

What the bully wants to impose is not a "new world order" but a return to the same old imperialist international chaos.

One point in the article is a conceptual confusion:

Yet this is not an administration that wants to colonize; instead it demands compliance. The new bosses in Venezuela are the same old bosses, the same henchmen and yes-men, only now with the No 2 running the show. This isn’t “imperialism”, not a new US protectorate nor some southern principality for son-in-law Jared, but something much cheaper and less onerous to the Oval Office: rule by remote control.

That statement adopts too narrow a definition of "imperialism". US imperialism in the 20th century often operated by working with local strongmen who were, in all but name, vassal rulers. It was different from the kind of imperialism practiced by European countries before 1950, but they often switched over to this new kind with the colonies that they had given independence to.

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Laws that attribute personhood to things which are not people

Robert Reich: we must eliminate laws that attribute personhood to things which are not people, and also the laws that treat some people as less than persons.

We can protect things like species, rivers and forests without falling into those practices.

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Republican politicians in Minnesota

Republican politicians in Minnesota are stubborn magats; they continue to insist on the party lie that Renee Good attacked deportation thugs before one of them killed her.

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Big investors buying single-family homes

*[The bullshitter said] he will ban big investors from buying single-family homes.*

If that were actually done, it would be a substantial good thing. Nowhere enough to compensate for undermining human rights, democracy, and the principle of impartial justice, but good nonetheless.

I don't think he will actually do it. Perhaps, he will drop that proposal when those companies give a few billions to his ballroom fund.

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Indian government arrested climate defense activists

The Indian government arrested climate defense activists for campaigning for India to sign the fossil fuel nonproliferation treaty with support from foreign organizations.

Prohibition of foreign support for humanitarian organizations is a standard fascist policy nowadays, pioneered by Orbán in Hungary.

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Proposing granting legal rights to all sorts of things

There is a fashion these days to propose granting legal rights to all sorts of things — even hypothetical intelligences that some companies predict they will develop any day now.

It is fun to speculate about what life would be like in a world with real artificial intelligences, but it is pure folly to suppose that today's bullshit generators are even remotely like that.

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Pervasive monitoring of children

Medical professionals campaign against pervasive monitoring of children.

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RFK diet advice

RFK jr has started repeating some diet advice that is mostly uncontroversial.

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Magat officials blocking funds for needy families with children

Magat officials have fabricated an excuse to arbitrarily block funds for needy families with children, based on vague accusations of paying support to some families that are not eligible.

Since no human system works perfectly, I am sure that some errors do occur. What the level of error is — whether it is worth a fuss to investigate — I don't know. Perhaps an investigation to stop fraud and error would result in savings enough to justify its cost. Or perhaps it would teach us that the criteria ought to be relaxed so as to legitimize supporting some families that are currently not eligible.

Either way, it is no excuse for stopping everything and demanding proof of a negative.

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Magat officials have taken 1/3 of childhood vaccinations off recommended list

Magat officials have taken 1/3 of childhood vaccinations off the recommended list, based on false assertions and no scientific grounds.

It may be hard for American parents to get their children vaccinations which are not on this list.

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Nations' plans to ramp up coal, gas and oil

*Nations' plans to ramp up coal, gas and oil extraction "will put climate goals beyond reach".* In other words, they will push civilization off the climate cliff.

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NASA closing of research libraries

NASA, driven by magats who don't really like science or historical investigation, is closing more and more of its research libraries.

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Federal judge blocks White House freeze of childcare subsidies

*Federal judge blocks White House freeze of childcare subsidies in Democratic states.*

That is the arbitrary stoppage described here.

Alas, the Supreme Court has a pattern this year of canceling the temporary court orders that have saved Americans from arbitrary punishment by the wrecker and his henchmen.

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US deportation thugs resisted scrutiny for abuse of force

The US deportation thugs have resisted scrutiny for abuse of force, which they do often. Screaming false accusations against the victim is just the first step in that resistance.

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Body cam footage of ICE agent in Minneapolis

Renee Good's wife directed sarcastic criticism at the deportation thugs, but sarcastic criticism is no justification for killing someone. Neither she nor Renee physically attacked them or threatened them.

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FBI "investigation" of killing of Renee Good

The FBI has given us reason to suspect that its "investigation" of the killing of Renee Good will have a result decided in advance by Attorney General Bondi. The FBI is adding to this suspicion by excluding local cops from that "investigation" while denying them access to crucial evidence, including the gun that was used to kill her and the car she was killed in.

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Everyone in Iran cut off from the internet

Everyone in Iran, except the government, has been cut off from the internet in the middle of nationwide protests against religious repression. This will help them hush up news of brutal torture and killings such as the state has applied to previous waves of protest.

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Senate passed war powers resolution

The Senate passed a war powers resolution to stop the bully's use of the US army for bullying.

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