For many questions in the social sciences, a research design guaranteeing the validity of causal inferences is difficult to obtain. When this is the case, researchers can attempt to defend hypothesized causal relationships by seeking data that subjects their theory to repeated falsification. Karl Popper famously argued that the degree to which we have confidence […]
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Breaking the power of the Lawn Industrial Complex.
Week-end Wrap – Political Economy – March 26, 2023
by Tony Wikrent
“U.S. Announces Plans To Reclassify Everyone’s Race Based On Net Worth”
[The Onion, via Naked Capitalism Water Cooler 3-25-2023]
He can’t condemn paying hush money to porn actresses, of course, because to do that would be a betrayal of his Dear Leader. Instead, he makes shit up about the DNC and Hillary Clinton using gibberish, which is really all he knows how to do. Bill Barr’s very special prosecutor (who is still in business for some reason) took a case to trial pertaining to that charge and the person accused of being the supposed conduit was acquitted. I don’t think McCarthy even knows what really happened anymore because he and the rest of these liars have created such a convoluted conspiracy theory that they can’t keep it straight in their own minds. But let’s ask ourselves just how lame it is to compare Trump’s sordid little tryst with an adult film actress and his attempts to keep it quiet to the Democrats hiring a firm to do oppo research on their opponent (the same firm that the Jeb Bush campaign had used.) It’s so stupid it makes my head hurt. But then, this is Kevin McCarthy, a man who will be remembered for making deals to sell out his party and his country to a rump group of lunatics in order to become Speaker.
New research shows 116 new government-approved fossil fuel projects due to start before 2030 will emit 4.8 billion tonnes of emissions by then. That amount is vastly more than proposed reduction in emissions; ‘clearly, Australia’s climate policies are not working’. Australia’s newly approved fossil fuel projects and government policies that permit pollution will make it Continue reading »
Dear Labor MPs, I write to convey my deep disappointment in the Labor Government, of which you are part, specifically in relation to the AuKUS submarine deal but more generally in relation to military strategy and foreign policy. The United States’ China containment strategy is designed to shore up US economic hegemony but being sold Continue reading »
Plus ça change… Attention! A squadron of fierce red rats is swarming down the map from a blood-red China towards Australia! Eager scarlet claws scrabble at our coastline; greedy little rat-faces snarl with the excitement of it all. This was the sinister political poster that in the 1950s menaced us from walls in my hometown Continue reading »
Since 1901, the often-self-appointed gatekeepers of Australia’s defence and diplomacy have had the greatest difficulty with the idea of accountability. So much so, they always seem to operate as if it is an absurdity for their own actions and decisions to be exposed to the light. When their dishonesty and opportunism etc. is occasionally exposed, Continue reading »
On some level it is straightforward for a Neo Nazi protest to be easy for police to handle. As we saw on the streets of Melbourne last weekend, and repeatedly over recent years, a high five for white supremacist protesters is an easy gesture for some police officers. It’s not just that there can be Continue reading »
Recently, Australia’s Defence Minister, Richard Marles said “Our alliance with the United States is completely central to our national security and to our worldview”. This raises three questions: 1. Does our relationship with the US enhance Australia’s sovereignty? 2. Does Australia share US values? 3. Does Australia face a “China threat”? The Australian government gives Continue reading »
The criticisms of the AUKUS arrangements announced by the government are entirely warranted, as is the outrage that has accompanied them, but, strangely, they miss a point which should have preceded them. And that has to do with the political complexion of the United States itself; in brief, it faces the world as a troubled Continue reading »
India holds this year’s presidency of the Group of 20 and has boldly stated its vision as Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (One Earth, One Family, One Future). This is a departure from the previous (and often dry) themes of the G20 which are dominated by geopolitical issues and economic priorities of Western powers. India’s tagline demonstrates the Continue reading »
I confess that I thought I had followed this story as closely as humanly possible and I totally forgot about this woman: TWITTER WENT WILD after former President Donald Trump posted to Truth Social that he expected to be arrested on Tuesday. (Surprise: It turned out to be false.) The potential indictment against Trump stemmed from a hush-money payoff to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. From the moment news of the alleged 2006 extramarital tryst between Trump and Stormy came to light, the public instantly formed their opinions and chose a side. You had those who were curious and believed in the possibility of truth beyond the gossip, while the other side of the grass was littered with Trump supporters who chose to believe the desperate words of denial from both the former president and his then-lawyer/fixer, Michael Cohen. As the story grew, I knew exactly which side of the lawn I was on. I had firsthand knowledge of that fateful night in Lake Tahoe, but the story was moving faster than even I could keep up with. Lake Tahoe is a scenic, touristy town that isn’t exactly known for being popular among adult film stars.
Achievement unlocked: we found with the Pepper&Carrot community Fa BD Comic, the publisher of the worst derivations of Pepper&Carrot made so far.
Unfortunately, the product's are published under my name and also in the name of artists who sent fan-arts of Pepper&Carrot... That's why I write this article to describe a bit this scam and desktop publishing carnage happening right now on Amazon and inform the audience of Pepper&Carrot to not buy them.
Brace yourself, cause we are going in the territory of the zero absolute of quality, graphic designs horrors, colorimetry nightmares and bad layout.
By Patrick Lawrence / Original to ScheerPost Now that Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping have concluded their summit in Moscow– an unusually long series of meetings over three days–are those purporting to lead the United States prepared to drop their wishful thinking, their miscalculations, and their illusions as to the significance and durability of the […]
The post Patrick Lawrence: What Just Happened in Moscow Is Big appeared first on scheerpost.com.
By Adam Schwartz and David Greene / Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) Freedom of speech and association include the right to choose one’s communication technologies. Politicians shouldn’t be able to tell you what to say, where to say it, or who to say it to. So we are troubled by growing demands in the United States […]
The post Government Hasn’t Justified a TikTok Ban appeared first on scheerpost.com.
We honor The Avengers' early years & Honor Blackman's Cathy Gale, one of the first live-action heroines to grace our television screens.
Every Sunday, I blog about the geek-friendly radio shows the BBC are putting out in the forthcoming week! All of the following can be either listened to live or downloaded afterwards for free on the BBC Sounds app, no matter where you are in the world. Please note: I don’t include later episodes of most […]
Kentucky’s 1st District sent this idiot to Congress Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), chairman of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, insisted to CNN’s Jake Tapper this morning that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is improperly conducting a federal investigation. “He’s investigating a presidential candidate, not to mention a former president of the United States, for a federal election crime,” Comer said repeatedly. In fact, Bragg is investigating Donald Trump for falsification of business records under New York state law. “It should be done by the Department of Justice on the federal level,” Comer insisted. BS. Comer Bragg doesn’t believe Trump should be investigated at all. He has a B.S. in Agriculture, BTW. As Aaron Rupar tweeted, the interview did not go well. “We just want the government out of our elections,” Comer said later without recognizing how that sounded. “We believe the local DAs need to be focused on business crimes, on burglary, on theft …” Again, Bragg is investigating Trump for falsification of business reords.
The Federal Reserve is shielding banks from the interest rate hikes it’s inflicting on workers — and the banks couldn’t be happier.
“Fiction is just as good, maybe better, in the attention economy” The attention economy powers the internet. It made cable news a 24-hour affair. It makes talk radio infotainment. It makes “influencer” a job description. It makes YouTubers money. It makes TokTok TikTok. It makes Trump Trump. It makes us all stupider and more vulnerable to those who would deceive for their own ends. It killed Ashli Babbitt. God knows how A.I. will metastasize the attention economy. We can see it coming and as feel powerless to stop it as we were to learn from its past predations. Michael Kruse interviews Abraham Josephine Riesman on the release of Ringmaster: Vince McMahon and the Unmaking of America on how professional wrestling has, as someone else observed of the New Age Movement, dissolved external reality. The result in liberal “choose your own spiritual journey” circles was to make conflict impossible, or at least unlikely. The result among black-and-white thinkers is just the opposite.
En gång i tiden var ledstjärnan för den ekonomiska politiken att mildra konjunktur-svängningarna och kapa de djupa dalarna och höga topparna. Nu vill Riksbanken skapa en ekonomisk nedgång för att få ner inflationen samtidigt som finanspolitiken passivt ser på. Penningpolitiken ser ut att kunna sänka den svenska ekonomin. Riksbanken balanserar kort sagt på en knivsegg. […]
"A nation can’t be bombed, humiliated and sanctioned, then bombed again, and then told to become a democracy,” writes Ghaith Abdul-Ahad.
The post After Tide of Memoirs From Americans, an Iraqi Journalist Offers Inside Account of War’s Destruction appeared first on The Intercept.