Browsed by
Author: From elsewhere

The new science of death: ‘There’s something happening in the brain that makes no sense’

The new science of death: ‘There’s something happening in the brain that makes no sense’

Alex Blasdel writes: At the time [Jimo] Borjigin [a professor of neurology at the University of Michigan] began her research into Patient One, the scientific understanding of death had reached an impasse. Since the 1960s, advances in resuscitation had helped to revive thousands of people who might otherwise have died. About 10% or 20% of those people brought with them stories of near-death experiences in which they felt their souls or selves departing from their bodies. A handful of those…

Read More Read More

World Central Kitchen staffers from Britain, Australia, Poland and Ireland murdered by Israelis

World Central Kitchen staffers from Britain, Australia, Poland and Ireland murdered by Israelis

Chef José Andrés‘s World Central Kitchen: WCK teams mobilize across Gaza daily to distribute food to displaced Palestinians. Our 60+ kitchens in southern and central Gaza are cooking hundreds of thousands of meals each day like this mujadara, a comforting dish of rice, lentils, and caramelized onions. #ChefsForThePeople pic.twitter.com/zHF3oVlKCJ — World Central Kitchen (@WCKitchen) April 1, 2024 Heroic @WCKitchen staffers from Britain, Australia, Poland and Ireland who were targeted and killed by Israel while on @chefjoseandres’s mission to deliver food…

Read More Read More

First Muslim appellate nominee smeared by Islamophobic senators

First Muslim appellate nominee smeared by Islamophobic senators

Judd Legum writes: Republicans first attempted to sink the nomination of Adeel Mangi, who would be the first Muslim American to serve on a federal appellate court, on allegations that he was an anti-semitic terrorist sympathizer. During Mangi’s December 13, 2023 confirmation hearing, Republican Senators asked Mangi if he “celebrated 9/11” or “condemned the atrocities of Hamas terrorists.” The pretext for these attacks was Mangi’s role as an advisory board member for the Rutgers Center for Security, Race and Rights,…

Read More Read More

The Church of Trump: How he’s infusing Christianity into his movement

The Church of Trump: How he’s infusing Christianity into his movement

The New York Times reports: Long known for his improvised and volatile stage performances, former President Donald J. Trump now tends to finish his rallies on a solemn note. Soft, reflective music fills the venue as a hush falls over the crowd. Mr. Trump’s tone turns reverent and somber, prompting some supporters to bow their heads or close their eyes. Others raise open palms in the air or murmur as if in prayer. In this moment, Mr. Trump’s audience is…

Read More Read More

Trump allies plan to reinterpret civil rights laws so they protect white people with persecution complexes

Trump allies plan to reinterpret civil rights laws so they protect white people with persecution complexes

Rolling Stone reports: Allies of Donald Trump and powerful conservative organizations are preparing to launch an offensive against “anti-white racism” should the former president retake the White House in November. According to a report from Axios, those in Trump’s orbit are gearing up for a widespread re-interpretation of civil rights laws to combat what they perceive as reverse racism against white Americans. According to the report, this would include a mass gutting of government programs and diversity initiatives. “As President…

Read More Read More

The GOP’s extremism problem predates Trump and it will outlast him

The GOP’s extremism problem predates Trump and it will outlast him

David Lurie writes: There’s an old adage that politics has no tolerance for losers. But since 2016, the Republican Party has proven otherwise. Whatever the outcome of the 2024 election, Donald Trump will have realized one unprecedented achievement: Maintaining control over one of the nation’s two major political parties despite a remarkably consistent record of leading the GOP into loss after loss. The possibility that the nation’s democratic institutions could operate to send a candidate back to the White House…

Read More Read More

Iran alerted Russia to security threat before Moscow attack

Iran alerted Russia to security threat before Moscow attack

Reuters reports: Iran tipped off Russia about the possibility of a major “terrorist operation” on its soil ahead of the concert hall massacre near Moscow last month, three sources familiar with the matter said. In the deadliest attack inside Russia in 20 years, gunmen opened fire with automatic weapons at concertgoers on March 22 at the Crocus City Hall, killing at least 144 people in violence claimed by the Islamic State militant group. The United States had also warned Russia…

Read More Read More

In Australia, song has power

In Australia, song has power

Lydia Wilson writes: Deep in Australia’s Northern Territory, there is scant light pollution and the skies are full of stars. I asked my companion, David, to teach me the unfamiliar constellations, so different from those I see in my home in the Northern Hemisphere. An Indigenous Australian from the Central Desert Region of the continent, he was quick to comply. “Up there,” he pointed, “is the head of the emu, see?” I didn’t. He traced a swirl with his finger,…

Read More Read More

Israeli government is misleading the public, says relative of hostage

Israeli government is misleading the public, says relative of hostage

The Observer reports: In further apparent defiance of Washington’s views, the Israeli military are carving out a buffer zone around Gaza’s borders which would take up 16% of the whole coastal strip, according to Haaretz. Israeli public opinion has to date shown itself largely impervious to US and other international pressure, and support for the Gaza war currently hovers at around 80%. Even more concerning for Washington’s hopes of containing the conflict, there is also more than 70% Israeli public…

Read More Read More

UK must restore UNRWA funding ‘without delay’, MPs and peers say

UK must restore UNRWA funding ‘without delay’, MPs and peers say

The Guardian reports: David Cameron has come under pressure to restore funding to the UN’s humanitarian relief agency in Palestine from a cross-party group of more than 50 MPs and peers. The UK was among a group of countries that halted funding to the UN Relief and Works Agency (Unrwa) amid allegations from Israel that some staff members were involved in the 7 October attacks carried out by Hamas. In a letter to the foreign secretary, the MPs and peers…

Read More Read More

Israel lodges proposal with UN for dismantling of Palestinian relief agency

Israel lodges proposal with UN for dismantling of Palestinian relief agency

The Guardian reports: Israel has given the UN a proposal to dismantle Unrwa, its relief agency in the Palestinian territories, and transfer its staff to a replacement agency to make large-scale food deliveries into Gaza, according to UN sources. The proposal was presented late last week by the Israeli chief of the general staff, Lt Gen Herzi Halevi, to UN officials in Israel, who forwarded it to the organisation’s secretary general, António Guterres, on Saturday, sources familiar with the discussions…

Read More Read More

Turkey’s resurgent opposition thumps Erdogan in pivotal local elections

Turkey’s resurgent opposition thumps Erdogan in pivotal local elections

Reuters reports: Turks dealt President Tayyip Erdogan and his party their biggest electoral blow on Sunday in a nationwide local vote that reasserted the opposition as a political force and reinforced Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu as the president’s chief rival. With most of the votes counted, Imamoglu led by 10 percentage points in the mayoral race in Istanbul, Turkey’s largest city, while his Republican People’s Party (CHP) retained Ankara and gained 15 other mayoral seats in cities nationwide. It marked…

Read More Read More

The deaths of effective altruism

The deaths of effective altruism

Leif Wenar writes: I’m fond of effective altruists. When you meet one, ask them how many people they’ve killed. Effective altruism is the philosophy of Sam Bankman-Fried, the crypto wunderkind now sentenced to 25 years in prison for fraud and money laundering. Elon Musk has said that EA is close to what he believes. Facebook mogul Dustin Moskovitz and Skype cofounder Jaan Tallinn have spent mega-millions on its causes, and EAs have made major moves to influence American politics. In 2021, EA boasted of $46 billion in funding—comparable to what it’s estimated the Saudis spent over…

Read More Read More

In countries facing scorching heat, shade trees and cheap cooling strategies gain traction

In countries facing scorching heat, shade trees and cheap cooling strategies gain traction

E&E News reports: When the capital of Sierra Leone launched a major campaign to provide shade amid sweltering heat, officials came up with a catchy slogan of what they hoped the city would become: Freetown the Treetown. The West African city had been denuded by rapid population growth, conflict and unregulated development, increasing its vulnerability to rising temperatures. The tree planting plan uses an app to generate jobs and is helping a fast-urbanizing city fend off the dangers of climate…

Read More Read More