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One of the more arcane developments in contemporary trade policy is the recently tabled US proposal for reform of the arrangements for managing trade disputes between members of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). It is a landscape marked by statistics, legal texts, and arguments. However, reflected in the microcosm is a wider universe featuring the Continue reading »

The biggest risk to the success of the referendum on Aboriginal recognition is the Albanese government’s lack of resolution. It has strongly promoted the voice, successfully in parliament, but far less effectively within the broader community. There is a serious prospect that the various proponents of the No case will win by default, mostly because Continue reading »

In one of his last posts on this site Dennis Argall contributed an extraordinary insight which needs to be kept, explicitly and unapologetically, at the forefront of all discussions about AUKUS and its bastard child, the Defence Strategic Review. The title of his piece was: “The Defence Strategic Review is a claim to command civil Continue reading »

If truth is the first casualty in war, then truth-seekers are surely next. Radio New Zealand (RNZ) Digital Editor Mick Hall has been suspended for what are called ‘inappropriate edits’ to foreign-sourced materials, mainly from Reuters. RNZ chief executive Paul Thompson said that “It’s so disappointing that this pro-Kremlin garbage has ended up in our Continue reading »

The so-called Global South does not feature much in Australian discourse. It should. It will impact on us. The group has origins in the Non-Aligned Movement of the Cold War and in the Group of 77, a coalition of developing nations in the United Nations whose objective is to remedy global imbalances in wealth. The Continue reading »

There’s a frenzied rush by the Australian political/media class to both propagandise Australians as quickly as possible into supporting preparations for war with China, and to ram through legislation that facilitates the censorship of online speech. Australia’s Communications Minister Michelle Rowland is set to release draft legislation imposing hefty fines on social media companies who Continue reading »

Media Mzatters took a deep dive into this tragic relationship. It’s not pretty: Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon has spent nearly two years promoting anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist and Democratic presidential primary candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on his War Room podcast in a mutually beneficial relationship that could have disastrous public health consequences for the country and the world.  Both men have used their substantial platforms to spread incorrect information about vaccines and COVID-19, which could now reach an even wider audience given Kennedy’s longshot campaign.  Bannon reportedly encouraged Kennedy to run against President Joe Biden in the Democratic Party primary, believing he could be “both a useful chaos agent in [the] 2024 race and a big name who could help stoke anti-vax sentiment around the country,” according to CBS’ Robert Costa. Other right-wing pundits have similarly exploited Kennedy’s run as an attempt to undermine Biden’s support among Democrats with the aim of weakening him in the general election.

Clue: You have a favorite TV detective and are prepared to defend your choice with specific supporting details.

Catan: You enjoy asking whether anyone would trade wood for some sheep. Who cares if you’ve asked it for the tenth time tonight and your resource management strategy is completely unsustainable?

Ticket to Ride: You insist on describing yourself as a cool, chill, go-with-the-flow person, but all your friends have seen your competitive side, even those who weren’t there for the table-flipping incident of ’19.

Charades: You’ve never been to a game night before, but you have seen one on TV.

Jenga: You have a steady hand, an indomitable spirit, and an extra set in the car in case the host’s labradoodle runs off with fallen blocks again.

Uno: One of your friends is mad at you.

Risk: Most of your friends are mad at you.

Game of Thrones Risk: All of your friends are mad at you.

A deal made by Alito’s wife with an energy company paints recent Supreme Court decisions on the environment in a damning light.

The post Samuel Alito’s Wife Leased Land to an Oil and Gas Firm While the Justice Fought the EPA appeared first on The Intercept.

Well, that was quite a weekend wasn’t it? For a while there it looked as if Russian president Vladimir Putin might be overthrown by a monstrous mercenary warlord named Yevgeny Prigozhin. If that wasn’t strange enough, after taking over a couple of cities en route to Moscow, the plan was abruptly aborted and the warlord was quietly sent packing to Belarus while his mercenary troops were cordially invited to join the Russian army. Nobody knows why. Now it just remains to be seen if the Putin regime has been permanently damaged or whether it was just another surreal moment in the increasingly surreal era. Meanwhile, back in the equally surreal USA, the Republican presidential candidates all attended the annual conservative evangelical gathering, The Faith and Freedom Coalition Conference. By all accounts the crowd was very excited to see all the candidates make their pitch, but the keynote speech by former president Donald Trump was the star event by a mile.

Last week the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) hiked interest rates to five percent, with money markets predicting rates to reach six percent by the end of the year. This brings rates to the highest level since before the 2008 financial crisis, significantly increasing the risk of recession. When asked whether he endorsed the […]

After being tasked with editing David Ricardo’s Collected Works in 1930, Sraffa, with the assistance of Maurice Dobb, published them between 1951 and 1973. This work earned him the 1961 Söderström Gold Medal from The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. For the edition, Sraffa wrote an interesting and thought-provoking introduction. Its purpose was to demonstrate […]

The first jungle gym was meant to hack kids' brains

The former TV anchorwoman warned Russian state media against questioning her claim to the Wagner helm.

Uncover the hidden truths behind America's empire as historian Aaron Good delves into the history of US dominance, the role of the CIA and NATO, and the looming challenge posed by China, revealing the fragile nature of America's military might and the power dynamics shaping our world.

The post The CIA, NATO and the US Empire with Aaron Good appeared first on MintPress News.

The right’s dictator references are nothing new After the Hamilton County, Indiana, chapter of the “extremist” Moms for Liberty placed a Hitler quote on the front page of its June newsletter, they received unwanted attention and blowback. The Hill: The quote, believed to be from a 1935 speech by Hitler, reads, “He alone, who owns the youth, gains the future.” The Nazi Party trained young people through school and summer camps to indoctrinate them into Nazi ideology. Paige Miller, chairwoman of the chapter, apologized in an updated version of the newsletter after initially giving an explanation that the quote “should put parents on alert.” “We condemn Adolf Hitler’s actions and his dark place in human history,” Miller said. “We should not have quoted him in our newsletter and express our deepest apology.” Maybe not so deep. Maybe not so sincere. I asked last week why the MAGA right keeps Hitler quotes so handy. “Moms” are not alone. Hitler resurfaced again over the weekend at the Faith & Freedom Coalition’s “Road to Majority Policy Conference” at the Washington Hilton.

There are a few possible answers to this question, but one comes out of a conversation I just had with a friend. He observed that replies suggest westerners don’t like the idea of arcologies:

My answer? “No. Well, it doesn’t really matter. Soon enough it will be “Arcologies, bitches, or you all die.”

Discover the visionary solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as Lowkey interviews British-Palestinian intellectual Ghada Karmi," discussing her groundbreaking book and exposing the disturbing realities behind the cancellation of their London book launch.

The post Surviving the Nakba, a One State Solution and Being Cancelled, with Ghada Karmi appeared first on MintPress News.

The team gets physical with PragerU and discusses sex, dogma, and the obsession with wokeism.

I’m delighted to announce a series of new shows* coming in early 2024 – alongside the brilliant Henry Normal. We’re coming to Bath, Bexhill, Bury St Edmonds, Exeter, Ilkley, Leeds, London, Monmouth, Nottingham, Oxford, Salford, Stroud, Sunderland, Warwick and Wolverhampton. Tickets will go on general sale at 10am this Friday. I’ll send around links to…

Many academics in both Ukraine and the UK are horrified by the Putin-enabling posturing of far-left factions within the UCU

Open letter to the UK government from over 80 national and international civil society organisations, academics and cyberexperts raising concerns about the serious threat to the security of private and encrypted messaging posed by the Online Safety Bill. To: Chloe Smith, Secretary of State, Department for Science, Innovation and Technologycc: Tom Tugendhat, Minister of State […]