Author: nick

Picture this: you’re an illiterate French sailor pulled from your wedding banquet by royal gendarmes into the office of a deputy crown prosecutor. It’s not a public hearing. You have no written complaint formalizing the charges against you. You have no lawyer. You have no right to confront your accusers. You have no right to present evidence on your own behalf. You have no right to remain silent. Worst of all, you have no judge and no jury! Instead, the deputy crown prosecutor views the evidence, realizes the case implicates his own father, and sentences you to life imprisonment in…

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Photograph Source: The White House – Public Domain A lot of people argue that we Brits should stop obsessing over the United States. After all, we have enough on our plate, not least energy bills set to jump another 20% in July, and a right-wing press determined to see the back of Keir Starmer. But for all our domestic troubles, we are not—yet—the ones most likely to start a third world war. There may be talk here of a war footing—Russia playing silly buggers in the Channel, China accused of sending missiles to Iran. But the eye, inevitably, remains locked…

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From yesterday’s longish decision by Judge Robert Pitman (W.D. Tex.) in Qaddumi v. Davis:Qaddumi challenges his suspension (and the ongoing disciplinary record resulting from it) from UT as a violation of his First Amendment rights. The parties cite record evidence of the following facts. Qaddumi was involved in planning a protest, to include a “walk out of class,” “guest speaker,” and two “teach-in[s],” against ongoing violence in Gaza in April 2024 as a member of the Palestine Solidarity Committee (“PSC”). The planned protest activities were peaceful in nature. UT, however, preemptively ordered the protest cancelled the night before it was…

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White House economists said banning rewards wouldn’t significantly boost banks’ financial health, amplifying the crypto industry view in the Clarity Act debate. What to know: A new study from White House economists downplays the benefit banks would get from banning stablecoin yield — a position that aids the crypto sector’s argument in the ongoing talks over the Clarity Act in the Senate. The White House has been eager to reach the finish line on the bill that would finally establish wide-ranging regulations to govern the U.S. crypto industry, but the legislation has remained in a holding pattern as banks and…

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No need to chase after news briefs like a robot chasing wild boars – we’ve got them all right here for you! Scientists still don’t know how consciousness emerges from the brain. New ideas suggest it may not emerge at all, but instead is a basic feature of reality. Science, stigma, and the search for truth: Researchers investigating UAP-related phenomena face institutional resistance even as new data strengthens their case. Homo erectus‘ tools include stunning geodes and fossils, possibly as a way to connect with the cosmos, study finds Experts no longer believe in photographic memory – here’s what convinced…

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House readies for a vote on warrantless spy powers. Last night, GOP leaders in the House cleared the way for a floor vote on an 18-month clean extension of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) without additional privacy protections some Republicans had wanted. Section 702 of FISA allows the government to obtain the communications of foreign surveillance targets without needing to go to a judge to get a traditional warrant. This section of the law has long been controversial, as the government has wide discretion to decide which foreigners it wants to put under surveillance, and Americans’…

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U.S. President Donald Trump publicly rebuked Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Tuesday, saying he was “shocked” by her refusal to join American and Israeli military operations against Iran. “I thought she had courage, but I was wrong,” Trump told the Italian daily Corriere della Sera. “She’s unacceptable because she doesn’t mind that Iran has a nuclear weapon and would blow up Italy in two minutes if they had the chance.” Trump said that he and Meloni had not spoken “in a long time” and accused Meloni of failing to support NATO efforts in the Strait of Hormuz, again describing…

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