reACTIONary
reACTIONary's JournalForget the ticker-tape parade. Mike Johnson is no hero.
Foreign policy commentators and proponents of aid to Ukraine spent days gushing over House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) for finally bringing to the floor a bill for aid to Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan. Give him credit! He came around! What courage! That praise ignored the immense damage that Johnson and MAGA House Republican pro-Russian propagandists inflicted on America’s beleaguered Ukrainian allies.
When the vote on Ukraine aid finally came, it was overwhelming, 311-112. That raised the question: Why in the world did such a popular measure take so long? It could have been done long ago, when President Biden requested the aid in October, had Johnson simply ignored the histrionics from pro-Putin House members who take their cues from Donald Trump.
https://wapo.st/3vZhk1f
Senate passes $95 billion Ukraine, Israel aid package amid GOP divide
Source: WaPo, no paywall
The Senate passed a $95 billion national security package to aid Israel, Ukraine and other U.S. allies early Tuesday after a months-long debate that has deeply divided congressional Republicans.
Read more: https://wapo.st/3SBl4gA
The Kids Talk Back....
.... as well they should.
Online safety legislation is opposed by many it claims to protect https://wapo.st/47X7UAl
More than 100 human rights and LGBTQ groups have condemned the bill, saying it would endanger minors, especially LGBTQ youth. First Amendment lawyers and organizations focused on protecting free speech also have lambasted the proposal and similar state laws, saying they would place dire restrictions on free speech and expression.
“What we’re seeing is a rash of legislation that both doesn’t do what it thinks it’s going to do, will be used to do bad things specifically, and also will impact the First Amendment rights of adults and minors alike,”
“The whole hearing was a joke; it was a sham,” said May, the 26-year-old Michigan activist who created the Discord server in hopes of rallying opposition to KOSA. She agreed to speak to The Washington Post on the condition that she be identified by first name only. “The way they were attacking political content that they disagree with, it’s obvious they’re using this bill to censor speech.”
“What we are seeing is the same exact thing as when people said comic books were causing kids to commit crime and juvenile delinquency, or when they said TV is melting kids’ brains, or that Dungeons and Dragons is causing an unprecedented mental health crisis,” Cohn told The Post. “Every new form of media has at some point been declared to be destroying the mental fabric of American youth.”
Business Insider story on Harvard antagonist's wife draws owner's scrutiny
https://wapo.st/3vyjdRINeither Ackman nor Oxman, whose companies didn’t respond to requests for comment, have pointed to any factual errors in the articles.
“While the facts of the reports have not been disputed, over the past few days questions have been raised about the motivation and the process leading up to the reporting — questions that we take very seriously,”
In a Sunday afternoon email to employees that was reviewed by The Washington Post, Business Insider global editor in chief Nicholas Carlson appeared to push back on the idea that the stories needed a review. Carlson wrote that he would “welcome” the review but argued for the news value of the stories given Oxman’s position as what he called a “well-known academic” and start-up founder.
An Apple a Day...
A fearless fighter and a man of deep faith, Lai could have fled at any time before his arrest but refused to abandon Hong Kong to save himself.... In June 2020, he was charged with “incitement to knowingly take part in an unauthorized assembly” for lighting a candle in Hong Kong’s annual Tiananmen Square vigil. He wrote to the court: “If commemorating those who died because of injustice is a crime, then inflict on me that crime and let me suffer the punishment of this crime, so I may share the burden and glory of those young men and women who shed blood on June 4 to proclaim truth, justice and goodness.”
Jimmy Lai, founder and publisher of Apple Daily
https://wapo.st/3NvEl1h
"Why are you going to the United States?"
“Why are you going to the United States?” someone asks a Chinese immigrant. “Aren’t you satisfied with your pay, your benefits and your life?” The immigrant responds: “Yes, I’m satisfied. But in the U.S., I will be allowed to say that I’m not satisfied.”
Joe Biden: The U.S. won't back down from the challenge of Putin and Hamas
https://wapo.st/47jWaICBy Joe Biden
November 18, 2023 at 2:01 p.m. EST
U.S. Bets on Small Nuclear Reactors to Help Fix a Huge Climate Problem
The dream of reviving nuclear power in the U.S. rests on a new generation of smaller reactors meant to be easier to build. But major obstacles loom. the great hope for the future of nuclear power is to go small.
Nearly a dozen companies are developing reactors that are a fraction of the size of (current reactors), betting that they will be quicker and cheaper to build. As the United States looks to transition away from fossil fuels that have underpinned its economy for 150 years, nuclear power is getting renewed interest, billions of dollars from the Biden administration and support from Republicans.
One reason is that nuclear plants can run at all hours, in any season. To those looking to replace coal and gas with wind and solar energy, nuclear power can provide a vital backstop when the air is calm or the sky is cloudy.
(No Paywall) https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/11/12/climate/nuclear-reactors-clean-energy.html?unlocked_article_code=1.-Ew.SZXm.dZO9M1JRR68P&smid=url-share (No Paywall)
Ukrainian military officer coordinated Nord Stream pipeline attack
Source: Washington Post (No Paywall)
Roman Chervinsky, a colonel in Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces, was integral to the brazen sabotage operation, say people familiar with planning.
A senior Ukrainian military officer with deep ties to the country’s intelligence services played a central role in the bombing of the Nord Stream natural gas pipeline last year, according to officials in Ukraine and elsewhere in Europe, as well as other people knowledgeable about the details of the covert operation.
Roman Chervinsky, a decorated 48-year-old colonel who served in Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces, was the “coordinator” of the Nord Stream operation, people familiar with his role said, managing logistics and support for a six-person team that rented a sailboat under false identities and used deep-sea diving equipment to place explosive charges on the gas pipelines. On Sept. 26, 2022, three explosions caused massive leaks on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines, which run from Russia to Germany under the Baltic Sea. The attack left only one of the four gas links in the network intact as winter approached.
Read more: https://wapo.st/40AKnmx
Sick of Cancel Culture? One Man Has a Surprising Solution.
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/10/21/greg-lukianoff-cancel-culture-00121817
The North Star of many civil libertarians was the ACLU’s 1976 decision to represent a neo-Nazi group that wanted to march through Skokie, Ill., a Chicago suburb where many Holocaust survivors made their home. Elevating the poignancy and indelibility of the defense was the fact that the lead lawyer, David Goldberger, was Jewish. Longwell said the “reachables,” who tended to be older, drew a direct connection to Skokie. “They had a real reverence for free speech,” Longwell said. “The nobility of ‘I don’t have to like what you’re saying, but this is how civil liberties are achieved.” By contrast, Longwell added, “young people did not think Nazis should be able to march.”
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