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Showing posts from April, 2024

How The Myth Of the 'Uniparty' Shut Down The House

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    Republicans’ House speaker morass continued Tuesday with a little help from former President Donald Trump. Yet   another lawmaker with support from most House Republicans –  Rep. Tom Emmer  of Minnesota, who was picked as their party’s nominee – failed to get the support of nearly all Republicans. He  dropped out of the running Tuesday afternoon , leaving Republicans again back at square one.   Late Tuesday, the GOP conference selected a fourth nominee, Rep. Mike Johnson, who faces a floor vote Wednesday. Emmer, who supports military aid to Ukraine and who voted to certify the 2020 election, saw his chances fade in the most bizarre possible way hours after being picked. Trump lobbied against Emmer with a social media post that hit while Emmer was trying to convince a few dozen skeptics on Capitol Hill and Trump was inside a New York courtroom facing civil fraud charges. Trump later told reporters outside the courtroom, “It looks like he’s finished.” After one fired speaker and thre

Right-Wing Media Is Divided Over Marjorie Taylor Greene's Threat To Remove Mike Johnson

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  Marjorie Taylor Greene has exposed the fault lines in right-wing media. As the extremist Republican congresswoman threatens to oust House Speaker Mike Johnson’s over his support for Ukraine aid, a rift has ruptured wide open in the MAGA Media landscape, separating the hardline and absolutist faction from the establishment wing. On one side are outlets controlled by media mogul Rupert Murdoch. His powerful media properties — Fox News, The Wall Street Journal, and the New York Post – have spent the last two weeks leveling blistering criticism against Greene and those who support challenging Johnson’s authority over the House leader’s move to pass funding for Kyiv. As the extremist Republican congresswoman threatens to oust House Speaker Mike Johnson’s over his support for Ukraine aid, a rift has ruptured wide open in the MAGA Media landscape, separating the hardline and absolutist faction from the establishment wing. While The Journal has showered Johnson in glowing praise, Fox News an

Johnson's Role As Speaker Is In Jeopardy As The Threat Of Ouster Looms

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    House Speaker Mike Johnson pushed to pass a major foreign aid package  over the objections of hardline conservatives . Now, the Louisiana Republican will have to face the fallout. On Monday evening, the House returns to session following a weeklong recess after the chamber’s consequential move to  pass billions of dollars in aid  for Ukraine, Israel and the Indo-Pacific region. Looming over Johnson as lawmakers come back to Washington is the question of whether he will face a vote over his ouster. The speaker’s decision to move the aid package won significant praise on both sides of the aisle, with many Republicans and Democrats  commending Johnson  over the assistance to key US allies. Johnson has defended his leadership in the face of the growing threats, saying that  he will not resign  and warning that a vote to oust him  could cause chaos in the House. A number of conservatives, however, opposed the legislation — and sending further aid to Ukraine in particular. GOP Rep. Marjo

Sexsomnia: An Embarrassing Sleep Disorder That No One Wants To Discuss

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  A 38-year-old man repeatedly tries to force his wife to have sex in the middle of the night but has no memory of his actions when he wakes up. A married woman in her mid-20s often tears off her clothing and masturbates but remembers nothing when her partner rouses her. For a dozen years, a 31-year-old man masturbates while asleep, at times injuring his groin. Embarrassed due to his unconscious behavior, he avoids relationships for eight years. These are all clinically  documented cases  of sleep sex, or  sexsomnia , part of a family of sleep disorders called parasomnias that include sleepwalking, sleep talking, sleep eating and sleep terrors. While it may seem as if people are acting out dreams, many parasomnias occur when the brain is not in a dream state, said Dr. Carlos Schenck, a professor and senior staff psychiatrist at the Hennepin County Medical Center at the University of Minnesota. “These are disorders of arousal,” said Schenck, who has studied parasomnias for decades. “The