Reading
~ Today's Water Cooler ~
Speaking out strongly against AUKUS at the Press Club yesterday, Paul Keating’s concern is that Australia’s security has been laid limp upon the altar of small target politics by the two key Ministers – Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Defence Minister Richard Marles. Australians have been denied knowledge and debate on existential matters, by Labor Continue reading »
Whilst much has been made of the extremely intemperate attempt by the Channel Nine newspapers to stir up fear against China, and their lauding of the AUKUS agreements and the massive amounts to be spent on nuclear submarines, little has been said about how this has been a distraction from fundamental issues the country is Continue reading »
Iraq’s trauma is regarded in some quarters as an ill-gotten remnant of the past: something to be air-brushed from history. But not so for those experiencing the ravages of imperial power. On the 20th anniversary of the US invasion of Iraq – March, 20, 2023 – the people of Iraq await a historical reckoning. How Continue reading »
Regular readers of this journal will be dismayed at the breakneck speed at which Australia is party to the goading of a potentially catastrophic war in our region. With Western mainstream media in anti-China mad dog mode, both sides of the aisle in Canberra sleepwalking, and with nothing at all to win and everything to Continue reading »
Before the election I wrote our leaders were dancing on the edge of calamity shutting their eyes to the obvious gap between the Commonwealth’s revenue stream and its growing spending commitments. Decades of giving long term tax reductions funded by short term spurts of revenue, usually from mining, had come home to roost. Albanese, spooked Continue reading »
Rex Patrick’s analysis of the government’s AUKUS nuclear-powered submarine decision (Michael West Media 14 March 2023) illustrates the one-sidedness of this insane deal. Patrick also sets out a rational and cost-effective alternative to the expensive and inappropriate nuclear subs which serves to highlight some of the significant opportunities lost by the wasteful and ill-considered over-spend. Continue reading »
At exactly the same time as proclaimed “experts” from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute are telling us to prepare for war with China within three years or so, people who have done proper research on the situation with China studies are saying our record is disappointing, indeed getting worse, not better. Early in March Continue reading »
Among the breathless press announcements coming out of San Diego on 14 March was that the spent nuclear fuel reactor cells for our submarines would have to be stored in Australia. This on top of the unexplained escalating costs of the subs, estimated delivery not until 2042, and three hand-me-down stop-gap Virginias possibly available around Continue reading »
A spotlight on the personal life of the trailblazing philosopher.
The post When Mary Wollstonecraft Was Duped by Love appeared first on Nautilus.
Well, Trump and DeSantis anyway You know the presidential primary campaigns have begun in earnest when political reporters start trudging around Iowa and hanging out in diners to find out what the Real Americans are thinking. This week we got our first dose of this quadrennial ritual when both Donald Trump and his closest rival Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis showed up to give speeches and mingle with the hoi polloi. According to the Washington Post, Trump remains his “freewheeling” self while DeSantis is tightly scripted, which is not exactly news. But there are some subtle changes. For instance, Trump is making a point of showing up unannounced at some local businesses to pretend to be a regular guy in order to contrast himself with DeSantis who is known to be cold and off-putting. DeSantis, meanwhile, is sticking to his prepared speeches in order to appeal to Republicans who are sick of Trump’s incendiary rhetoric and want to hear a normal political speech. In other words, it’s all about style because when it comes to policy, they are clones of each other, furiously pandering to the base, each of them trying to out MAGA the other.
Sam has worked on the London Underground as a member of station staff for decades. ‘I remember when we hit one million passengers in 1996. We had double the number of staff. We now have around 4 million passengers and half as many staff,’ he tells Tribune. When Sam started working on the London Underground, […]
[The Roman Senate is gathered at the Curia Pompeia, the senate house of the Roman Republic. The Roman general MARK ANTONY addresses the group.]
MARK ANTONY: Friends, Romans, co-workers, lend me your ears! It is once again time to enter the senate office pool for the annual Tournament of Gladiators. Sixty-eight teams from around the empire will compete, single-elimination (losers die) for the coveted City-State Championship Trophy. There are many exciting matchups to keep an eye on this year. Will the number VII seed Spartans go all the way, or will the number X seed Trojans be the tournament spoilers? Only time will tell…
[Two of the Romans, CASSIUS and BRUTUS, whisper to each other as Mark Antony gives his speech.]
CASSIUS: My money is on the Spartans.
BRUTUS: Oh please, the Spartans couldn’t land a death blow down the stretch if their lives depended on it, which they do.
The transitory view of the current inflation episode is getting more support from the evidence. Yesterday’s US inflation data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (March 14, 2023) – Consumer Price Index Summary – February 2023 – shows a further significant drop in the inflation rate as some of the key supply-side drivers abate. All the data is pointing to the fact that the US Federal Reserve’s logic is deeply flawed and not fit for purpose. Today, I also discuss the stupidity that is about to begin in Europe again, as the European Commission starts to flex its muscles after it announced to the Member States that it is back to austerity by the end of this year. And finally, some beauty from Europe in the music segment....William Mitchell — Modern Monetary Theory
US inflation falling fast as Europe prepares to go back into a deliberate austerity-led crises
Bill Mitchell | Professor in Economics and Director of the Centre of Full Employment and Equity (CofFEE), at University of Newcastle, NSW, Australia
A market valuation problem is not a fraud problem this time around.
Michale Hudson explains the big difference between this crisis and 2008.
Michael Hudson — On Finance, Real Estate And The Powers Of Neoliberalism
The Mechanics of a Bond Market and its Impact on the Banking CrisisMichael Hudson | President of The Institute for the Study of Long-Term Economic Trends (ISLET), a Wall Street Financial Analyst, Distinguished Research Professor of Economics at the University of Missouri, Kansas City, and Guest Professor at Peking University
See also
Michael Hudson: Why the US banking system is breaking up
Ukraine is a pawn for militarists intent on degrading Russia and, ultimately, China in a self-defeating quest to ensure US global hegemony. The end of this war, like most proxy wars, will be ugly.
The post Chris Hedges: Ukraine’s Death by Proxy appeared first on MintPress News.
Buried in the Chancellor's Statement is news the UK will suffer a sustained period of low growth, high taxes and a record-breaking fall in living standards, reports Adam Bienkov
Alan Macleod wades into murky waters to uncover the troubling relationship between the CIA and Georgetown University, one of the nation's most prestigious institutions of higher education.
The post From Georgetown to Langley: The Controversial Connection Between a Prestigious University and the CIA appeared first on MintPress News.
SEC accepts US$3m settlement over charges Blackbaud failed to disclose full extent of data loss Blackbaud, the company at the centre of the first of two major Labour party data breaches in consecutive years, has agreed to pay the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) three million US dollars to settle the SEC’s charges that it […]