reACTIONary
reACTIONary's JournalAn 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.”
Republicans turn on Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as he launches independent bid
Attorney Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s pivot Monday to an independent run for president met immediate resistance from Republican leaders, who have concluded that his new effort threatens to cannibalize their vote share next year, helping to reelect President Biden.
https://wapo.st/3rIIUxC
Fox News Speaker 'Debate' Off After Republicans Decry 'Horrible Idea'
Steve Scalise and Jim Jordan reportedly called it off amid growing anger from GOP colleagues that the Fox News event will make the speaker’s race into a “circus.”
https://www.thedailybeast.com/fox-news-bret-baier-to-moderate-gop-speaker-candidate-debate
What? It's not already a circus?
He was arrested for a covid joke. It was free speech, court rules.
Bailey’s Facebook post joked that the sheriff’s office had issued an order to shoot people infected with the coronavirus.... Bailey said he was trying to find a moment of levity amid the national emergency. He compared the pandemic to the zombie apocalypse from “World War Z,” a 2013 movie starring Brad Pitt.
A few hours later... about a dozen SWAT team members... arrived ... home with weapons and bulletproof vests. Officials arrested Bailey without a warrant... They later argued that Bailey’s post was a terroristic threat.
There “were no facts that would lead a reasonable person to believe that Bailey’s post caused sustained fear,” the judges wrote. “No members of the public expressed any type of concern. Even if the post were taken seriously, it is too general and contingent to be a specific threat.”
Bailey can continue pursuing legal action against the sheriff’s office employees, the court ruled.
https://wapo.st/3R1ta2X WaPo, No Paywall
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