Reading

Ms Assistant Secretary General of the United Nations, Esteemed colleagues, Ladies and Gentlemen, before I address the question of taxing serious wealth seriously, I you forgive my inability to proceed without an acknowledgement of the human tragedy in the Middle East. As Secretary General Goutières correctly put it, nothing happens in a vacuum, nothing is […]

The post How should we tax wealth & multinationals globally? Speech at UNDP, New York 14th NOV 2023 appeared first on Yanis Varoufakis.

If she can do it there, she can do it anywhere Greg Sargent on the latest accomplishments of Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer: Few Democrats would deny that the party must win back working people. Yet one of the party’s long-term conundrums is whether they can pursue ambitious efforts to combat climate change without threatening those very workers’ wages or jobs. In coming days, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is set to sign a package of bills that would transition the state to 100 percent clean electricity by 2040. The bills — which also include robust provisions for workers — are among the most ambitious efforts undertaken by any state to move toward a carbon-free future in a manner that is actively good for working people. Significantly, Democrats are testing this approach in a swing state in the heart of the industrial Midwest. […] Climate action tends to expose cracks in the Democratic coalition precisely because it aggravates existing tensions between the goals and interests of environmentalists and workers.

Judge rules that he will instruct the jury that there is no aspect of duty that allows the accused to act in the public interest contrary to a lawful military order, reports Joe Lauria. The judge in the case of Australian military whistleblower David McBride dealt the defendant a serious blow on Wednesday when he Continue reading »

James Hansen claims that climate scientists have been too slow to ring the alarm bells. Not so, says Michael Mann. International climate treaties are booming post-Paris. Putting trousers on a starfish. Tackling climate change: are we already too late? The heat is rising among climate scientists. In part about the research evidence and its interpretation; Continue reading »

On UpFront, interviewed by Marc Lamont Hill on Europe’s historic responsibility and current role in the Israel-Gaza war.    

The post On Europe’s historic responsibility for the war crimes in the ancient land of Palestine – Al Jazeera appeared first on Yanis Varoufakis.

Theology has long been used to justify war. Unsurprisingly, perhaps, it’s happening again in the Middle East. The defining difference between the warring parties in the Middle East is religion. Indeed, in many ways this is a depressingly old-fashioned conflict. So are its grizzly dynamics and rationales. Benjamin Netanyahu was clearly appealing to the highest Continue reading »

Much has been written about the International Cricket Council’s World Cup competition being played in India, but relatively few of the words have been about the incredible achievements of the Afghanistan team. Against a backdrop of poverty, war, political turbulence and natural disasters, the team performed magnificently. Afghanistan is surely one of the world’s most Continue reading »

The excessive use of consultants and contract labour was one of the most damaging injuries sustained by the Australian Public Service in the 10 years or so before the 2022 election. It was self-inflicted, arranged by departmental secretaries, agency heads and the Public Service Commission with the tacit approval of Ministers. An excuse has been Continue reading »

Australia’s penal colony culture has continued into the fabric of all our public administrations, but most particularly Health, Education, Community Services and Justice. ‘Don’t challenge the System. Learn to do what you’re told, and to know your place,’ could be the mottoes of many arms of government. In the field known as ‘Alcohol and Other Continue reading »

Hamas’ Oct 7 attack on Israeli citizens was horrific. There are 2 things to bear in mind – firstly it didn’t happen in a vacuum and secondly the scale of the retaliations, the punishment, far outweighs the crime. Firstly the history of Israel’s oppression of the Palestinian people is well documented. Below are a few Continue reading »

Podcaster/geek expert Tyrell Charles offers a "Doctor Who 101" in the first of a new BBC video series that helps new fans get into the show.

Fight the wind or ride the balloon Thomas P.M. Barnett’s “The Pentagon’s New Map” (2004) outlined how the sources of conflict in the world are concentrated in the non-integrating “gap” areas under cultural stress and disconnected from the broader economy. As in Barnett’s past work, “America’s New Map: Restoring Our Global Leadership in an Era of Climate Change and Demographic Collapse” (2023) looks to a future worth creating. The cultural stress in the U.S. these days, Barnett tells James Fallows on his podcast this week, is connected to America “losing its whiteness.” But that’s more connected to climate change than Americans of the Baby Boom generation care to admit. Fallows writes: Barnett is crystal-clear about climate change as a central driver of world politics, economics, and strategic tensions. And he emphasizes two related aspects of particular importance to the United States. —One is climate’s role as driver of migrations—mainly south-to-north around the world, since that’s more feasible than east-west migration across the broad oceans.

Plus, wages are going up across the auto industry, Big Oil’s hopes for an oil train run into trouble, and Michigan passes an ambitious climate plan.

Kicking the 14th Amendment down the road Whistling past a graveyard. Tiptoeing through a minefield. Neither the courts nor election officials nor Congress want to touch ruling Donald Trump ineligible to serve as president. Colorado Politics: A Denver judge on Friday found Donald Trump remains eligible for the state’s 2024 presidential ballot even though he engaged in an insurrection, joining courts elsewhere that have rejected attempts to disqualify the leading Republican candidate. District Court Judge Sarah B. Wallace determined the provision of the 14th Amendment barring insurrectionists from holding office does not apply to presidents and, therefore, does not disqualify Trump. “While the Court agrees that there are persuasive arguments on both sides, the Court holds that the absence of the President from the list of positions to which the Amendment applies combined with the fact that Section Three specifies that the disqualifying oath is one to ‘support’ the Constitution whereas the Presidential oath is to ‘preserve, protect and defend’ the Constitution,” Wallace wrote.

The Doctor Who/BBC Children in Need sketch "Destination: Skaro" is a hilarious sign of things to come when the show officially returns.

In today's BCTV Daily Dispatch: Doctor Who, Elon Musk/Twitter, Bosch: Legacy, Invincible, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Rick and Morty, SNL & more!

We don't know if Steven Moffat is returning for Doctor Who, but we do know that his new show is a comedy-drama called Douglas is Cancelled.

An unredacted 2019 tax filing reveals the donors to AIPAC’s charity arm — some of whom give to other hawkish, pro-Israel causes.

The post Meet the Secret Donors Who Fund AIPAC’s Israel Trips for Congress appeared first on The Intercept.

Europe is in significant decline and has been for some time. The standard chart compares European GDP versus American but I won’t use it, because I don’t believe in GDP at this point, the numbers are both manipulated and unrepresentative of actually national economic ability which matters. That Russia with its tiny GDP was able to massively ramp up weapon production and the US and the EU with much larger GDPs were not is a good example.

In a leaked tape of an all-staff meeting, the head of New York’s Legal Aid Society also said four law firms had threatened to pull funding over the statement.

The post Public Defenders Get Restraining Order to Block Their Own Union From Voting on Gaza Statement appeared first on The Intercept.

The soothing sounds of Steely Dan to ease your way into the weekend. You’re welcome. Steely Dan, guitarist Walter Becker and singer-pianist Donald Fagen are masters of irony and erudition. They grew up listening to Bill Evans, Charles Mingus, Sonny Rollins, Charlie Parker and Duke Ellington. Since the late 1960s, they have been a musical Rubik’s Cube, continually honing their integration of jazz and rock. The pair performs Steely Dan hits “Josie” and “Chain Lightning” as well as standards “Mood Indigo” and “Hesitation Blues.” Originally recorded July 23, 2002. Originally aired in 2003.

Source - Patreon

Source - Patreon

Source - Patreon