The narrative that Warsaw will become the new power center of NATO in Europe and should take western Ukraine and/or fight Russia picks up steam.
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Endless steps in what was, until 1492, the Jewish quarter of Girona and where there is now a wonderful museum dedicated to the city’s long Jewish history.
The Coast reminds us of a dark episode in Australia's past, writes Fi Peel. read now...
by Oleksandr Svitych* We are living in the times of the populist nationalist challenge to the liberal order. This challenge comes in many forms, including reactionary and progressive ones – from Marine Le Pen’s Front National in France to Jobbik in Hungary, to Manuel López Obrador’s MORENA in Mexico and Pauline Hanson’s One Nation in […]
Over the last decade, economic debate in Britain has been dominated by one subject: austerity. The size of a government’s budget deficit and total public debt have always been hot topics among economists, but since the financial crisis these metrics have acquired greater popular significance. Mentions of the word ‘austerity’ in books and articles, for […]
What is “neo-noir”, as opposed to “film noir”? The easiest explanation? Most of your film scholar types generally define the “classic film noir cycle” as cynical, dark, and moody B&W crime dramas produced between 1940 and 1959; consequently, any similar entries going forward automatically get tossed into the “neo” noir bin. Now, there are those who would say (with a certain air of haughtiness) “actually, that’s an oversimplification” (yes, I hear you). But I’m a simple kind of man. I take my time; I don’t live too fast. Troubles will come, and they will pass. So, for the purposes of this study (and to spare you further Lynyrd Skynyrd quotes) I’m just going to dive in with my picks for the top 10 neo-noirs of the new millennium (so far) …suitable for late night viewing, with a stiff shot of your favorite adult beverage on standby. Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead – It’s a testament to the late director Sidney Lumet’s gift that his final film (which he made in 2007, at age 82) was just as vital and affecting as any of his best work over a long career.
In this 2020 article, the late Bruce Haigh, an esteemed diplomat, writer and political commentator, made the case that Peter Dutton was jeopardising Australia's interests and security. read now...
American universities are appendages of the corporate state. Educators are increasingly poorly paid, denied benefits and job security while senior administrators pay themselves obscene salaries.
The post Chris Hedges: Taking Back Our Universities From Corporate Apparatchiks appeared first on scheerpost.com.
Charlie Pierce on the recording obtained by the Tennessee Holler which shows the conversation among those pigs in the legislature after they expelled the two Justins: Much of the first part of the recording consists of a re-education session aimed at Rep. Jody Barrett, who jumped the fence after voting to expel the two Black guys and voted against expelling the white lady. The other members of the congregation jumped all over Barrett allegedly because he didn’t give the GOP leadership a heads-up, but really because expelling the two Black guys and not expelling the white lady made the rest of the House majority look…racist. Rep.Jason Zachary found his dudgeon achieving orbit status. They then dogpiled on Barrett for a while. But the full aria came from Rep. Scott Cepicky, who looked out from the height of his seat representing District 64 and saw armageddon approaching from all sides. Cepicky sought to steel his comrades against the onslaught of wokeness, inconsistent pronouns, and books about gay penguins. And, Lord have mercy on him, he actually resorted to profanity. This, ladies and gentlemen, is the Republican farm team.
Even small rural towns balk at destroying libraries: It isn’t every day that the ruminations of local bureaucrats in a small rural Texas county become national news. But when commissioners in Llano County — population 21,000 — voted Thursday to keep its three-branch library system open, the moment was closely monitored by the biggest news organizations in the country. That’s because Llano County has become a national symbol of local right-wing censorship efforts after officials threatened to close its libraries entirely rather than allow offending materials to remain on shelves. Under intense scrutiny, the commission blinked. Its leader acknowledged feeling pressure from “social media” and “news media.” The commissioners’ apparent reluctance for Llano to be seen as a locus of censorship points to an unexpected development: Skirmishes emanating from book bans at schools and libraries in red states and counties, once localized affairs, are becoming viral national sensations. And the American mainstream appears to be paying attention.
Just a couple of years ago the NRA was on the skids, overwhelmed with scandal and financial malfeasance. Apparently its members are fine with all that. Wayne LaPierre, who stole vast sums from the organization is still at the helm and he spoke to rapturous applause — as did a bunch of others. Some highlights from Aaron Rupar. (You can subscribe to his substack here.) Wayne LaPierre says at the NRA event that "gun hating politicians should never go to bed unafraid of what this association and all of our millions of members can do to their political careers" 😳 holy shit Pence is getting booed loudly at the NRA event "We don't need gun control" — Pence at the NRA forum blames recent mass shooting on trans people and mental illness and tries to absolve guns Pence calls for armed guards in every school in America Pence calls for mass shooters to be put to death within months the NRA forum is not especially pumped about Asa Hutchinson's veiled shots at Trump DeSantis is doing a video message to the NRA forum instead of being there in person. Low energy.
Rich countries and rich people have incredibly high greenhouse gas emissions. Arctic sea ice is shrinking. Tasmanian government plans to make fish farms more environmentally destructive. High income = High emissions I’ve previously discussed how wealthy countries are responsible for a disproportionately huge share of greenhouse gas emission and how rich people, wherever they live, Continue reading »
I don’t indulge in religion, but in this instance and at this particular time of the year, I feel I must. Let us agree from the start that we are all accidents of birth. None of us had a choice as to our parents, in what country we were born or into what religion. This, Continue reading »
The implication of AUKUS is that China constitutes a danger to Australian security. It borders on official Australian policy that China is an aggressive power bent on domination. But the history of the People’s Republic suggests its military is for defence, not aggression and that the cases where it has used external military force are Continue reading »
‘The market’ and ‘life-changing interventions’: two phrases that aren’t normally seen in the same sentence. But increasingly, the market, through innovative design, is leading to life-changing, even life-saving, results. As calls grow for better services and outcomes for Australians, innovative market designs have a key role in providing a bigger bang for the buck in Continue reading »
There is a gap between Kim Beazley’s assurances about how the Australian War Memorial will properly recognise and commemorate the Australian Frontier Wars and what is actually being planned at the Memorial as it continues its $548m redevelopment. Action is needed now to get the Memorial on track. The Honourable Kim Beazley AC has been Continue reading »
Recently a writer for the Sydney Morning Herald claimed to have solved the mystery of why Sr Liguori fled her convent in Wagga Wagga one frosty evening in July 1920. In its day the Liguori affair was one of the most sensational episodes in Australia’s sectarian history. As the Herald writer notes, ‘It seems every Continue reading »
Introduction by Croakey: So much of our day-to-day attention is focused on the problems facing healthcare systems now. Lifting our gaze to envision the likely future challenges – say in 2050 – can help set a course forward. In the first of a two-part series, Croakey editor Jennifer Doggett gazes into a health policy crystal ball, Continue reading »
What fresh hell is this? On Saturday morning, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene launched into a creative explanation for how climate works, providing a graph on fossil fuels in an effort to prove her points. “If you believe that today’s ‘climate change’ is caused by too much carbon, you have been fooled,” Greene wrote on Twitter. “We live on a spinning planet that rotates around a much bigger sun along with other planets and heavenly bodies rotating around the sun that all create gravitational pull on one another while our galaxy rotates and travels through the universe. Considering all of that, yes our climate will change, and it’s totally normal!” She went on the extol the virtues of fossil fuels because they’re “natural. This is the heir to the MAGA movement. She’s even dumber than Dear Leader. Texeira is anything but “antiwar” by the way. But he and Marge are definitely on the same page: The people in the online spaces where Airman First Class Jack Teixeira spent his time and allegedly leaked highly classified documents had many things in common.
Transitioning is 1,500 years old Who knew? DocDawg, aka Bill Busa of EvE Bio.