Behind every Trump attack is self-revelation. Every counterpunch is a self-punch. @gtconway3d: “Because he fears being revealed as a fake or deranged, he’ll call others fake or deranged. Because he fears losing, he’ll call them losers instead.”

Opinion | How to Punish Voters via Instapaper https://ift.tt/2yFNRbK

NYC subway conductor returning to work after recovering from COVID: “The conditions created by the pandemic drive home that essential workers keep social order from sinking into chaos. Yet we‘re treated with the utmost disrespect, like we’re expendable.”

All your questions about the pandemic, answered. Sort of. Mr. Eggers is a novelist and journalist. via Pocket

May 8 would have been his 26th birthday.

May 8 would have been his 26th birthday.

By WADNER PIERRE

For too long, people paid by Haitian people to do their job have not been held accountable. Now, it’s the time for the Haiti’s electoral officials – the Conseil Electoral Provisoire (CEP) – to either fix the electoral mess or go to jail.

It is despicable that a CEP official threatened to shut down the whole electoral process instead of collaborating with a government-backed commission to investigate massive electoral frauds that they fail to avoid. Marie Carmelle Paul Austin, a member of the electoral council, told a radio in Haiti’s capital that the electoral council members are ready to depart in bloc “If this commission’s purpose is to redo or verify the work that the CEP has already done, the council members will resign.” What Madame Austin did not say is that when you betray your people, violate your country’s laws and contribute to social and political destabilization you should be in jail.

For too long, Haitian people have been struggling for participative democracy and social justice. They’ve been ignored by Haitian officials who primarily seek to satisfy the interest of their international backers like the United States, Canada and France by either plotting electoral coups. Although the Martelly administration finally established a commission to address the latest electoral disaster, it is uncertain that anything will come of it.

Martelly himself was a beneficiary of an electoral fiasco. How can one believe he will accept any recommendation asking the removal of his handpicked candidate? This move reminds me of an article by Haiti’s renowned author Edwidge Danticat: Sweet Micky and the Sad Déjà Vu of Haiti’s Presidential Elections.

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What sort of person can’t decide who to vote for, but can rate how much they like whatever they’re hearing out of five, and wants to sit there tapping a button accordingly?

As the general election scuttles closer, the campaign grows more confusing by the moment, so it’s good that last week’s seven-way leaders’ debate brought some much-needed mayhem to the situation. Not so long ago we were bemoaning the lack of choice in a two-party system. Now we’ve got option paralysis.

It had its moments. Nigel Farage complained about foreigners with HIV who enter Britain and immediately start wolfing down expensive medicine: greedy as well as sick. You’d think Farage might welcome immigrants with grave illnesses on the basis that they’re less likely to hang around as long, but apparently not. Say what you like about him – say it, write it down, daub it in 3ft-high cherry-red letters up the side of a prominent overpass on his regular commute if you must – but it’s undeniably refreshing to see a politician determined to speak his mind, indifferent to the absurd constraints of spin or basic human empathy. Never mind HIV sufferers – how much is Britain spending on refugees with cancer? Maybe he could put that statistic on a sandwich board and patrol the country in it, perhaps while ringing a bell and loudly commanding passersby to picture a nation under his command.

Since when is it a good idea for the president of the United States to encourage political leaders to cave in to demands by armed protesters?

Senate confidentiality requirements leave us with a 'he said, she said' standoff between Joe Biden and Tara Reade.

John Ratcliffe is a Trump loyalist who now promises to speak truth to power.

The history of the Trump Justice Department doesn't inspire confidence.

A writer criticized atheist activist Ron Reagan. In a sign of the times, that letter drew howls of protest from readers.

Rarely does any group of people draw so many howls of protest from readers as the anti-lockdown demonstrators.

Sprinkled in the deluge of negatives letters are uplifting tales of gratitude, humanity and service. This is a selection of those letters.

Letter writers who criticize the president are brushing off accusations from Trump's defenders that they suffer from some kind of insanity.

Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh has long advocated for player freedom in college football. His latest proposal involving NFL draft is his most radical.

Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh's proposal on rules for college players thinking NFL could help reduce talent base at programs like Ohio State, Alabama.

Wheels turning toward college football in the fall, but no one is in charge. Expect summer chaos with push to return, few answers on coronavirus risk.

6 November 2019 , Volume 95, Number 6

Getting feedback from people who use NHS services is essential to assessing their value - and improving their quality. Hospitals and general practices widely post information about patient's satisfaction with their services on their websites, but approach tells us little about how feedback changes things on the ground . In this podcast, James...

Citizenship and integration policies are often thought of as markers for whether a country is welcoming to immigrants. Yet research suggests that public opinion and political rhetoric play a bigger role in immigrants' sense of belonging. This article explores how boundaries between "us" and "them" are drawn through popular conceptions of nationhood and political rhetoric, and their impact on immigrants' belonging.

A digital-savvy historian discusses his popular @HistOpinion Twitter account

<span class="topsy_trackback_comment"><span class="topsy_twitter_username"><span class="topsy_trackback_content">12 Cool India Facts [For President Obama's Visit] – RantRave ...: Washington Post12 Cool India Facts [For Presid... http://bit.ly/dmozLC</span></span>

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When Elizabeth May, parliamentary leader of the federal Green Party, proclaimed on Tuesday that "oil is dead," she was correct in a philosophical sense. But not in a practical, real world sense.

The following is a guest post from Music Reference Specialist James Wintle. Let me begin with a personal anecdote. My parents are or were both musicians – my father was a composer – and so my appreciation for classical music was probably equal parts nature and nurture. So, when I entered graduate school as a […]

Before I head to a new assignment, here are some final words on a few topics.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that institutional investors in South Africa and across the globe are starting to take their ownership rights more seriously.

IRAQ’S prime ministerial merry-go-round continues to spin apace. Spy chief Mustafa al-Kadhimi, director of the country’s National Intelligence Service, is now the third prime minister designate this year, following the withdrawal of the two previous prospective candidates.

YOU could call it state-sponsored sanctimony. In times of crisis or national emergency we’re all urged to pull in the same direction and put partisan politics behind us. How dare you talk about inequality and the plight of the disadvantaged at a time like this? Those who tend to be loudest in rebuking these social pariahs are often those who stand to benefit most from any suspension of scrutiny.

STRANGE things you never thought would come to pass. Queueing to enter a supermarket. Being thrilled by the sight of the bin lorry arriving. Making your own surgical mask. These days. But the oddest thing of all? Being glad to see politicians.

ONE trusts the stork’s passage across London was peaceful, its job of delivering Baby Johnson to his delighted parents made easier by the emptiness of the skies. Congratulations and welcome, young man.

WHAT’S a little distancing between us? Go on, stick your nose closer to the page or screen. Let’s snuggle in a little closer.

IN the years BC (Before Covid), my morning routine was consistent. First, perusal of the paper, starting with the sport followed by the death notices. Continued absence from the latter represented a pretty good start to the day. Omnipresent coronavirus has reversed that order. Now, my first port of call is the ever-expanding family notices. Worryingly, for a man in his eighth decade, the deaths section lengthens daily. Equally concerning, is my proximity to the average age of those whose demise

CAN I tell you how I feel? I feel, sometimes, like everyone in my life has suddenly been reduced to flat, distant images on a computer screen, like we’re in Star Trek. And I don’t like it.

THE most recent onslaught on Scotland’s farmed salmon industry has come from The Sustainable Inshore Fisheries Trust, who commissioned a report from Salmon & Trout Conservation Scotland claiming that the value of farmed salmon to the Scottish economy, and the number of people it employs, are both massively overestimated by a staggering 251%. The success of Scotland’s aquaculture industry and its employment of large numbers in remote, rural parts, has always rankled with the industry’s crit

GLUMNESS settles on a large part of the nation whenever the subject of comedy comes up now. The lockdown has led to a more frenetic search for entertainment, and the current state of humour hasn’t wanted for critics. This week, Royle Family star Ricky Tomlinson, 80, said it was dire, and listed several comedians, adding: “They should be done under the Trade Description Act.”

Allon Raiz is CEO of business incubator Raizcorp. In this series of articles, he offers entrepreneurs advice on surviving a crisis.

Banks can be as powerful and valued as the big technology firms. Yes, those trillion-dollar titans.

Stokvels are an important strategy for financial survival, so it's crucial to find a way to make them work during the pandemic, says Dr Norman Chivasa.

Now, more than ever, we need to be listening for market signals and ensuring that our businesses are primed to both take advantage of opportunities and to mitigate risks, says Allon Raiz.

For companies to survive and even thrive beyond the coronavirus pandemic, they’re going to have think more like the millennial generation, says Dr Anushka Bogdanov.

There’s always been massive inequality in South Africa, but those who have the money and power still aren’t getting it, says Carmen Williams.

The future choices made by airlines matter a great deal for the oil market, say Liam Denning and Brooke Sutherland.

Handyman Vincenzo Perugia walked out of the Louvre with a rolled-up painting under his smock. What ensured should be a lesson to us all, says Hannes Viljoen.