It is a familiar story. When the US is preparing for war with some country that has been designated as an enemy, it follows a pretty standard method. It first applies all manner of non-military pressure using its clout to impose economic sanctions, boycotts, and diplomatic isolation on that nation. Then it creates military pressure by ostentatiously sending its troops into the region (even though it already has military bases pretty much everywhere) and even imposing blockades. And then it waits for the inevitable ‘provocation’, some act by that nation that can be interpreted as a hostile attack that justifies war.
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She had already declared that all her full-time staffers’ salaries would start at $52,000 thus freeing them from having to work second jobs just to pay the rent in expensive Washington DC. Interns would be paid $15 per hour plus benefits. She has now said that her staffers would also get three months full pay parental leave.

I’d like to share another “unusual” (but shouldn’t be) part of my office policy w/ you all: Parental Leave!

Three members of our small team are expectant or new parents in the first 6 mos of my term.

In my office, *every* new parent receives 3 mos paid leave – including dads.

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) May 10, 2019

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Curfews have been reintroduced in Sri Lanka as a result of violence aimed at Muslims presumably in retaliation for the deadly Easter Sunday attacks by Islamists that killed 253 people and injured hundreds more.

Sri Lanka has imposed a nationwide curfew for the second night in a row after a wave of anti-Muslim violence in the wake of the Easter bombings.

A Muslim man was stabbed to death while rioters torched Muslim-owned shops and vandalised mosques during Monday’s attacks.

Police have arrested 60 people, including the leader of a far-right Buddhist group.

The United Nations has called for calm and a “rejection of hate”.

A nationwide curfew, declared for the second night running, will come into effect at 21:00 (15:30 GMT) on Tuesday.

The country’s North-Western province, where the worst violence flared, will be shut down for longer, police said.

This kind of retaliatory violence against innocent people that leads to increased tensions between communities is of course exactly what the bombers want. They want to destabilize societies by inflaming sectarian passions and those who are behind these new attacks are playing right into their hands.

CBS News correspondent David Martin sent out this alarming tweet.

NEW: Iran or Iranian-backed proxies used explosives to blow holes in four ships — two Saudi oil tankers and two others — near the Strait of Hormuz, according to an initial assessment of the U.S. team sent to investigate, @CBSDavidMartin confirms.

— CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) May 13, 2019

Notice how he starts out as if stating an incontrovertible fact “Iran or Iranian-backed proxies used explosives to blow holes in four ships — two Saudi oil tankers and two others — near the Strait of Hormuz” before adding a bit of information that undermines the whole thing: “according to an initial assessment of the U.S. team sent to investigate.” In other words, this is what the US government, that has been demonizing Iran as a prelude to war, has simply asserted via anonymous sources with no supporting evidence. He ends by saying he “confirms” it. But what has he confirmed? That Iran was behind a bombing? Or that anonymous US government sources say so? There is a big difference between the two.
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The field of Democratic candidates for the 2020 election have embraced many of the ideas that Bernie Sanders ran on back in 2016, even though back then those same plans were denounced by the party establishment as too radical and unrealistic for voters, as part of their strategy to have neoliberal Hillary Clinton be the nominee. We know the result. Clinton lost to possibly the worst presidential candidate in the last century. And now we are being told that Joe Biden, who is pretty much Clinton 2.0 (or Clinton 3.0 if you consider Bill Clinton to be version 1.0) as the ‘moderate centrist’ who can win over Trump voters. Yes, they are running the same old losing playbook that they ran last time.
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State after state, including Ohio, are passing extremely restrictive laws on abortion, hoping that at least one of them will lead to the US Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade. Here is what Georgia’s law says .

The law, which bans abortion as early as six weeks into a pregnancy—or just a week or two after a woman discovers her period is late, let alone that she is pregnant—was enacted Tuesday by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and will surely be challenged in court.

Calling it a “draconian bill,” Oliver explained that the legislation gives a fetus “natural person” status, allowing it to be entitled to child support, claimed as a dependent on tax returns, and included in Georgia’s population. And the only exceptions to the bill—or the only cases where people would be allowed to have abortions—are due to fatal deformity, if the mother’s life is in jeopardy, or cases of rape and incest (corroborated by police report).

John Oliver brings us up to date on these developments. (If you can’t see the embedded video, click on the above link.)