Reading

COVID-19 temporarily re-made fiscal politics. States responded to the health threat by enacting a sudden and far-reaching contraction of the private sector, partly compensated by an unprecedented expansion of the public sector. The moves proved temporary, with a swift return to fiscal and monetary constraint. However, the COVID response potentially provides lessons for understanding broader changes in capitalism.

In part I of our post, we used Schumpeter’s theory of the tax state to trace how changes in the organisation of capitalism had their ‘fiscal reflection’ in changing fiscal accounting practices. In this part II of our discussion of the tax state, based on a journal article recently published in Critical Perspectives on Accounting, we identify a new set of ‘hybrid’ fiscal tools, built prior to, but used during COVID, that could point to a more enduring shift in fiscal politics beyond neoliberalism [...]

As many of you know, I will be embarking on a tour over the coming months, on which I shall be reading some of my poems in front of mildly perplexed and bewildered audiences around the UK. I thought I would take this opportunity to answer some of the most common questions I get asked…

1 8-ounce can sauerkraut, drained and snipped¼ teaspoon caraway seed½ of a 12-ounce can (1 cup) corned beef, chopped½ cup shredded process Swiss cheese (2 ounces)1 tablespoon snipped parsley2 frankfurters, thinly sliced¼ cup chopped dill pickle½ cup mayonnaise or salad dressing2 tablespoons chopped green pepper1 tablespoon chopped pimiento1 tablespoon sliced green onion1 tablespoon chili sauce2 […]

An example from last night’s Nikki Haley town hall on CNN: TAPPER: So it’s — I mean, do you have an opinion, though? I mean, would a — if a six-week ban theoretically came to your desk, would you sign it? HALEY: But why — why — I will answer that when you answer — when you ask Kamala and Biden if they would agree to 37 weeks, 38 weeks, 39 weeks. Then I’ll answer your question. (APPLAUSE) No one asked them that. No one asked them how late they’re willing to go. What I’m saying is why go and put the American people through that? Why do that? Why not talk about what’s the truth? And the truth is where can we get 60 votes? I just gave you the consensus about where I think we can come together. TAPPER: I think Biden and Harris have been pretty clear that they don’t support any restrictions. I mean, that’s — that’s their… HALEY: They said abortion up until the time of birth, right? TAPPER: I don’t think that’s the language they used, but, yes, I mean, they — theoretically, they don’t support restrictions. They say it should be up to a woman, her doctor and her God.

Australians are more used to pointing the accusing finger at other countries than having it pointed at us. Many Australians criticise China for allegedly engaging in genocide against its Uighur population and harvesting their organs. We have for decades been expressing concern about Myanmar’s treatment of Rohingya and the repression of women in Iran, Saudi Continue reading »

Interpretations are being offered about prime minister Albanese’s speech to the so-called Shangri La Dialogue in Singapore. This sounds like an Asian event but is hosted each year by the International Institute for Strategic Studies of London, an august and AUKUSian institution of such eminence that I was once invited to join. I declined. Life Continue reading »

The World Health Organisation’s No Tobacco Day last month had Australia announcing tough new ways to get smokers to quit. Next door the fag makers were doing the opposite. Health Minister Mark Butler wants warnings on the smokes and even more gruesome images on the packets. Around 12 per cent of Australian adults smoke; the Continue reading »

I do hope that the Catholic Church remains closely involved in providing health care to Canberra citizens, particularly the poorer ones, after the takeover by the government of Calvary public hospital. Indeed I suspect it could be making for itself, and Canberra citizens, greater treasure in heaven if it got entirely out of the provision Continue reading »

Monday 5 June 2023 was World Environment Day. The campaign this year is for action to eradicate plastics in all its forms which pollute and destroy. The campaign is led by the United Nations Environment Protection agency (UNEP) with the title and hashtag of #BeatPlasticPollution. The UNEP website and its social media messaging proclaim: This Continue reading »

Diplomatic initiatives led by Western actors have counter-productively entrenched the anti-democratic forces now fighting for control in Sudan. To drive real change, the West needs to empower Sudan’s democratic movement and undermine the power of armed factions. On 15 April 2023, the Sudanese people woke up to find themselves embroiled in a debilitating civil war. Continue reading »

If you watch western news media with a critical eye you eventually notice how their reporting consistently aligns with the interests of the US-centralised empire, in almost the same way you’d expect them to if they were government-run propaganda outlets. The New York Times has reliably supported every war the US has waged. Western mass media Continue reading »

“Sometimes I’m irrationally mad at younger women,” wrote the acclaimed television critic and Pulitzer Prize...

I wonder why? While all the other candidates were in Iowa running around in motorcycle gear and ppressing the flesh, Trump was at his gold club doing … this.

With Doctor Who: Doom's Day kicking off its multimedia run beginning today, check out the James Goss-penned "HOUR ONE" here.

So, Prigozhin captured a Russian Colonel (after what appears to be a real firefight), and interrogated him and made him “admit” that Russia troops had fired on Wagner mercenaries.

On this week’s episode of The Audit, Naomi Klein joins to investigate PragerU's masterclass in climate denialism.

Ruggles: Puli, named by the kids. Tolerates (barely) their “Ruggles snuggles.”

Wonderland: Retired greyhound.

Amory: Papillon whose owner does not know how to spell “amore.” Or “Papillon.”

Kendall: Afghan hound with her own Instagram.

Chelsea: Pomeranian with her own Instagram. Has beef with Kendall.

Charles: Border Collie who has his own chair at the table. Seems to understand more English than he lets on.

Davis: Husky who only howls in the Dorian mode.

JFK: Yellow Lab. Has visited Martha’s Vineyard more times than you have.

Wellington: English Cream Golden Retriever. Has spent more hours on a yacht than you have.

Maverick: Doberman. Has enough flight hours to get his pilot’s license.

Bowdoin: Maine Coon cat. Not a dog, but like a dog, in the same way Bowdoin is like a “little Ivy.”

MintCast co-host Alan MacLeod reveals how the military exploits teens' horniness, exposing the military's influence in video games, movies, and partnerships with influencers. Unveiling a hidden agenda in this eye-opening discussion.

The post Thirst Trap Nation: How E-girls Are Luring Young Boys Into Joining Army, with Alan MacLeod appeared first on MintPress News.

No-one knows how explosions work (yet)

For years, he has wisely refused to dine alone with any woman other than his wife, fearing the havoc that his overpowering pheromones could wreak.

Complaining workers are lazy has a history “As always, those insulated by wealth and comfort are willfully blind to the hardships they demand others cheerfully endure in service of their luxury,” writes Mark Frauenfelder at Boing Boing: People who don’t have to work have complained for centuries that other people don’t like doing poorly paid, dangerous, dull work, the kind that makes the lives of the affluent comfortable and convenient. This collection of quotes, dating back to 1894, all say the same thing — “Nobody wants to work anymore” — as if there was a time when people relished shoveling shit for the upper class. Members of the affluent class, who don’t have to work in the traditional sense, have unlimited choices about their activities and careers. Their wealth allows them to pursue interests, hobbies, and jobs that are personally fulfilling, enjoyable, and safe. When they criticize those who avoid bad jobs, they ignore their privilege and the role it plays in their own choices and opportunities. Snopes verifies the authenticity of the clippings from a search of newspaper archives.

But they’re cagey about saying so A friend who knows I’m into this sort of esoterica sent along this tale of GOP insincerity in its fight to restore confidence in an electoral system Republicans have worked for decades to undermine. Their particular election bogeyman shifts with the season. It’s dead people voting this time, double voters the next, voter impersonation, rigged machines, stuffed ballots, etc., and Black people. Always Black people. “Election integrity” means Republicans always win, dontcha know. Each GOP loss spikes complaints, demands, and election law tweaks meant to boost integrity by tilting the playing field more in their favor. An organization created to identify double voting, bad addresses, dead voters. etc., and to make election officials’ jobs easier is the once-obscure, nonprofit voter list maintenance consortium named the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC). Or it was obscure until a three-part “expose” in January 2022 by Gateway Pundit that I wrote about in March. The post went viral on Gettr, Gab, Parler, Telegram and Trump’s Truth Social.