Author: nick
Photograph by Nathaniel St. Clair There is something at once profoundly demonic in its cynicism, deeply unsettling, and almost burlesque in Donald Trump’s latest AI-crafted spectacle: a man who spent decades socializing with Jeffrey Epstein—whom he once described as a “terrific guy” with a taste for “younger women”—now reappears as a messianic healer, a kind of white, Protestant-Zionist “Christ,” as though resurrected from the visual grammar of Nazi propaganda about the blond Aryan Übermensch. With an outstretched hand he bestows light upon the afflicted, while in the background loom eagles, fighter jets, and hovering figures that resemble anything but the…
What if I told you that the U.S. government once imprisoned a filmmaker for making a movie about the American Revolution because it depicted British troops in an unflattering light? In today’s edition of the Injustice System newsletter, let’s talk about censorship, freedom of speech, and the infuriating—if aptly named—1917 case of United States v. “The Spirit of ’76.” You’re reading Injustice System from Damon Root and Reason. Get more of Damon’s commentary on constitutional law and American history. When President Woodrow Wilson led the U.S. to war against Germany in 1917, he also vowed to crush all enemies that…
The carefully planned destruction of Iran’s healthcare infrastructure fits into a long history of deliberate U.S. attacks on hospitals, writes Alan Macleod. The aftermath of the attack by the United States and Israel on Tehran’s Gandhi Hotel Hospital. (Hossein Zohrevand / Tasnim News Agency / CC BY 4.0) By Alan MacLeodMintPress News The United States and Israel are systematically targeting hospitals in Iran. In one month of bombing, the two countries have hit at least 307 health centers across the country, according to reports from the Iranian Red Crescent. The carefully planned destruction of the Islamic Republic’s medical infrastructure fits into a…
Tennessee Republican Representative Tim Burchett has claimed that the United States ruling class knows of extraterrestrial beings and is in contact with them. Burchett added that these beings do not pose a threat to humanity; however, if the U.S. releases “what I’ve seen, you’d be up at night worrying about it.” Burchett has emerged as a leading voice on the disclosure of files regarding unidentified aerial phenomena (UAPs) and unidentified flying objects (UFOs), pushing for greater government transparency on the matter. He did clarify that there isn’t an immediate danger of the extraterrestrial beings. “I don’t think we’re in danger…
For the better part of a decade, Republicans ran on a single mantra when it came to health care: repeal and replace Obamacare. When the slogan was conceived, it made political and strategic sense. But Republicans never had a plan for what to replace it with. Multiple proposals at various levels of completion circulated, but there was never any agreement about even the broad outlines of a GOP health care plan, much less the myriad complicated specifics. When pressed, Republicans often defaulted to vague, poll-tested language to describe their ideas, such as “personalized” and “patient centered”—or, in the case of…
President [Donald] Trump’s decision to join Israel in launching a regime-change war on Iran has so far cost the lives of at least 13 American service members. More than 200 have been wounded, dozens seriously enough to require evacuations to military hospitals in Europe and the United States. Among them are individuals who’ve suffered traumatic brain injuries, burns and shrapnel wounds. One was facing potential amputation of an arm or leg. As much as these service members and their families are victims of Iran’s justified retaliation for a surprise attack perpetrated amid ongoing negotiations, they’re victims of a betrayal perpetrated by their president and the…
Photograph by Nathaniel St. Clair One week after posting a profanity-laced Easter message threatening to wipe out the entire civilization of Iran, Donald J. Trump, the 47th president of the United States, spent the night of April 12 and into the early morning hours unleashing a barrage of AI-generated images, threats and insults. One post depicted Trump as Jesus, imbued with divine power, healing the sick. Another imagined a Trump-branded hotel on the Moon. Yet another lashed out at Pope Leo XIV as weak on crime, suggesting he owed his papacy to Trump and “should get his act together as Pope, use Common Sense, stop catering to the Radical…
Political slogans are cheap. Governing is not. “America First” is not a bumper-sticker philosophy. It is a testable claim about priorities: How much debt will we pile up, how many wars will we drift into, and how often will elected officials treat Congress as a ceremonial prop rather than a constitutional branch. Midterm elections are where slogans go to trial. Primaries, especially, are where interests that cannot reliably win a general election try to win the nomination. They do it with money, with media saturation, and with the oldest trick in politics: framing obedience as unity. This year, two Republican…
Stratton in his tent, smiling, in the Eagle Cap Wilderness, Oregon. He was alone. He was unheeded, happy, and near to the wild heart of life. – James Joyce Now I see the secret of making the best persons. It is to grow in the open air, and to eat and sleep with the earth. – Walt Whitman On April 12th, my son, Stratton Matteson, would have been 29 years old. He died February 24th of this year in a massive avalanche while backcountry snowboarding near Joffree Peak Provincial Park in Southwest British Columbia. The day he died was perfect,…
San Diego voters will decide in June whether to approve a tax on empty homes. The $8,000 tax would affect homes that are unoccupied more than 182 days a year. The tax is projected to cover 5,000 homes and expected to bring in as much as $24 million in revenue, which city officials say they will spend on affordable housing projects. The post Brickbat: Home Is Where the Heart Is appeared first on Reason.com. Source link