| Time |
Event |
| 7:47a |
Political violence, justice in Rwanda
*Hotel Rwanda's Paul Rusesabagina to be
released from prison*
in response to US pressure. The US considers his trial for "terrorism"
to be unfair. |
| 8:32a |
|
| 8:32a |
|
| 8:32a |
|
| 8:32a |
Another weakened bank: regulations "unnecessary"
*Only
months before its troubles,
First Republic pressured bank overseers to preserve the status quo.*
|
| 8:32a |
Trying Putin's war crimes
The US Congress supports
trying Putin for war crimes. That is what he
deserves — but so do some American politicians.
This is an instance of hypocrisy: the US supports doing justice in one
case and opposes it in another similar case. In the Putin case, the
US stance is correct — in the Dubya case, the US stance is wrong.
There are people who would argue that this hypocrisy is a reason not
to punish Putin. That is misguided reasoning. The proper response to
hypocrisy is to change the conduct in the case where it is wrong (US
war criminals), not to change it in the case where it is right
(Putin).
I support trying and punishing Putin, all else being equal. But I
think we may end up in a situation where a just peace (Putin
relinquishes the territory and Ukrainians that the Putin forces have
seized, and ends the fighting) is possible
but only in exchange for
not trying to cature and try Putin.
If this happens, I say we should take that deal.
|
| 8:32a |
A dictator's killing machine
A plane which the Argentine military used for
throwing protesters into
the sea
is being returned to Argentina. It will be kept in a museum
to help make the dictators' murders real to today's Argentines.
|
| 8:32a |
The bully tells his prosecuters
The wrecker is trying to intimidate US prosecutors out of arresting
him by threatening that his followers will start
violence in response.
So far, it has worked. But if we allow such a plan to go
unpunished, it will keep escalating.
|
| 8:32a |
Sober-state creativity rules
*Drugs and alcohol do not make [people] more creative,
research finds.
Travel, meditation, training and exposure to culture have a greater effect on artistic output.*
*People who took psilocybin felt they were more creative while on the
drug, but were actually underperforming relative to their sober state.*
Those results are statistical. There can be occasional exceptions,
such as *if you have a vision on hallucinogenics and paint a beautiful
picture inspired by it.*
|
| 8:32a |
Gov. mismanaged river an ecological disaster, AU
Inland reaches of Australia's longest river, the Murray, are suffering
a
continuing ecological crisis.
From what I have read before, it has to do with taking too much water
out of the river for irrigation.
|
| 8:32a |
Parents rights, school politics
Republicans in Congress passed a bill to help
right-wing
parents pressure schools
to remove books from the library and subjects from the curriculum.
It is designed to attack sex education and education about treatment
of minorities.
|
| 9:02a |
The bully tells his prosecutors
The wrecker is trying to intimidate US prosecutors out of arresting
him by threatening that his followers will start
violence in response.
So far, it has worked. But if we allow such a plan to go
unpunished, it will keep escalating.
|
| 9:02a |
Parents' rights, school politics
Republicans in Congress passed a bill to help
right-wing
parents pressure schools
to remove books from the library and subjects from the curriculum.
It is designed to attack sex education and education about treatment
of minorities.
|
| 9:02a |
Urgent: Julian Assange charges dropped
US citizens: phone your congresscritter and ask per to sign on
to Rashida Tlaib's letter to Merrick Garland calling for
dropping charges against Julian Assange.
The Capitol Switchboard numbers are
+1-202-224-3121,
+1-888-818-6641 and
+1-888-355-3588.
If you phone, please spread the word!
|
| 6:47p |
Does Netanyahu Have an Exit Strategy
Netanyahu is desperate to subject the Israeli judiciary to his power
so that it cannot convict him of corruption. The army won't stand for
that change, and the defense minister (a former general) called on
Netanyahu to compromise. Instead he fired the minister. Meanwhile,
100,000 protesters came out and pole-wielding thugs
attacked them on
horseback.
A general strike has
been announced.
I've predicted this confrontation for many years. Ultra-orthodox Jews
have special privileges which they use to increase their numbers, and
they have joined with the extreme right-wing. That increase, across
the decades, has brought the right-wing to a position where control of
the state is in the balance. Even if the supporters of democracy win
this time, the demographic trand will sooner or later deliver victory
to the right-wing.
The only path I see for its survival is for the democratic Jews and
the Palestinians to unite to support liberal democracy. But I don't
see how there could be enough trust between them for that to happen.
Maybe Uri Avnery could have united them if he lived, but it would have
been a tall order even for him.
If Israel's democracy falls, many Israeli Jews will have to search for
countries to move to where they can be safe from repression.
|
| 6:47p |
Russian soldiers say commanders used ‘barrier troops’ to stop them retreating
An elite Putin forces unit, made up of Russian veterans of the 2014
invasion of Ukraine, suffered great losses and tried to retreat.
Other units of the Putin forces were ordered to
threaten to kill them.
They made a video to denounce this treatment.
|
| 6:47p |
It’s not perfect, but the Labor-Greens climate deal should limit emissions and fossil fuels. That matters
The Australian Labor and Green parties have made a disappointing
compromise which will allow some new fossil fuel developments but
could cap total fossil fuel extraction and
total gross greenhouse
emissions.
|
| 6:47p |
I live near the East Palestine chemical spill. Officials who say we’re safe are lying
*I live near the East Palestine chemical spill. Officials who say
we’re safe
are lying.*
|
| 6:47p |
Demonstrating Our Commitment to Anti-Racism Through Programming and Events
The Society for
Personality and Social Psychology
states in its home page that it is an academic scientific society
that aims to advance a field of science.
However, that has changed. The organization has taken up
anti-racism
so intensely that campaigning against racism is its primary purpose
and research is secondary.
It is proper for any organization to try to avoid racism in its
activities. It is proper for any organization for research about
human beings to try to study a variety of groups of humans, because
not all humans are alike. In particular, not all societies are alike,
and in any one society people with different roles may be
systematically different.
However, the SPSP seems to have decided that every research project is
supposed to campaign against racism, and research which doesn't do
that is not worth publishing.
That is going too far, because it means that the ostensible purpose of
the organization is now of minor importance.
I could support an organization whose sole purpose is to campaign
against racism — depending on what methods it uses to do so. But we
should not convert a scientific organization into a political
campaign.
|