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Thu, 09/02/2023 - 06:00
It was very, very bad. When she wasn’t talking about herself she was casting very ugly aspersions on her political rivals and then telling an interminable story about flying to Iraq on Christmas without ever saying Donald Trump’s name. These speeches are almost always bad but this one was for the books. Here’s how it started: Trump had a rebuttal too. Oy vey: This video campaign of his is bizarre. The dilated pupils (which appear in all of them) are very suspicious. Maybe it’s just the lighting or something but they’re weird. I think he and Huckasanders are pretty representative of the GOP in general. And that’s frightening.
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Thu, 09/02/2023 - 05:26
Yesterday, the Reserve Bank of Australia lifted the interest rate target for the ninth consecutive time (they didn’t meet in January) claiming that they had to do this to stop inflation accelerating and restoring price stability. Except inflation already peaked in the March-quarter 2022 as a result of the driving factors abating. Further, none of the major driving factors are remotely sensitive to domestic interest rate movements. The RBA’s excuse is that there are dangerous domestic demand pressures that need to be curtailed. Except the evidence for that claim is lacking. Most of the demand measures are in retreat. So what gives? Well there is a massive income redistributing being engineered by the RBA from poor to rich and if they keep going unemployment will certainly rise, in part, because the lame Australian government is claiming it has to engage in fiscal restraint to ensure the RBA doesn’t hike rates even more than they are. It would be comical if it wasn’t damaging the prosperity and solvency of tens of thousands of the most vulnerable Australians. Disgraceful.
Bill Mitchell – billy blog
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Thu, 09/02/2023 - 05:00

“The House on Thursday approved a resolution denouncing socialism in a bipartisan vote that fractured the Democratic caucus.” — The Hill, 2/2/23

“US military fighter jets shot down the suspected Chinese surveillance balloon over the Atlantic Ocean … the operation ended a remarkable public drama that prompted a diplomatic fallout between Washington and Beijing, as the American public tracked the balloon from Montana all the way to the Carolinas.” – CNN, 2/4/23

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Thu, 09/02/2023 - 04:59
The announcement of the Australian Government’s decision on the purchase of nuclear powered submarines is looming and it is timely to take a cold hard look at the “facts” rather than the inevitable spin. The more Prime Minister Albanese maintains this will be a momentous decision for Australia the more it should have been the Continue reading »
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Thu, 09/02/2023 - 04:57
The foundational story of the United States of America is its fight for freedom against tyranny. Every schoolchild learns of how the American revolutionaries fought bravely to be freed from the tyranny of King George III of England. They learn the indomitable freedom fighters’ heroic sayings, such as “Give me liberty or give me death!” Continue reading »
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Thu, 09/02/2023 - 04:56
While alliances and treaties offer some protection against an aggressor, they cannot be counted upon. Australia needs to maintain an independent military capability to deter possible future threats to our independence – not least because we cannot rely on the US in all possible future circumstances. Today Part 2 of this series on Australia’s national Continue reading »
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Thu, 09/02/2023 - 04:55
NSW needs a government prepared to bell the cat when it comes to the ongoing provision of public funding to grossly over-resourced private schools. Funds provided on the grounds of assumed entitlement are funds diverted from distribution according to demonstrated need. Political pressure forced the Whitlam government to include high-fee, high-resource schools in its 1970s Continue reading »
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Thu, 09/02/2023 - 04:53
Like the environment itself, discussions of our collective future are becoming heated. They are also contradictory, polarised and – in my case, at least – increasingly pessimistic. No doubt my views about climate change say as much about me as they do about the problem itself. Given incontrovertible and inescapable evidence of climate change, however, Continue reading »
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Thu, 09/02/2023 - 04:52
Hardly a month goes by without a new media report (and here) of alleged scandalous conduct of some doctors who call themselves ‘cosmetic surgeons’ but who lack recognised specialised surgical training. These reports have tended to focus on the harm done to patients and generally failed to explain to the public how and why the Continue reading »
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Thu, 09/02/2023 - 04:50
Richard Woolcott leaves a legacy that all modern diplomats could emulate. Richard Woolcott, generally known as Dick, died on 2 February in Canberra aged 95. He is survived by two sons, Peter and Robert. Woolcott was one of the last great Australian diplomats, in the wake of those like Sir Arthur Tange and Sir James Continue reading »
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Thu, 09/02/2023 - 04:49
. In mainstream economics, both logic and mathematics are used extensively. And most mainstream economists sure look upon themselves as “twice blessed.” Is there any scientific ground for that blessedness? None whatsoever! If scientific progress in economics lies in our ability to tell ‘better and better stories’ one would, of course, expect economics journals to […]
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Thu, 09/02/2023 - 04:30
Biden’s State of the Union address was a triumph Last weekend Donald Trump gave a speech in South Carolina where he announced his state leadership team. Among them was Republican Congressman Joe Wilson, whom he introduced by saying: A friend of mine — that voice, that voice was so beautiful as he called it out in Congress, Congressman Joe Wilson. That was done from the heart, that was — I don’t know if you know or not but at the time people loved you for that because it showed honesty, dedication and the love of your country, right? He was referring to Wilson’s notorious outburst at the 2009 State of the Union address in which he shouted “you lie” at Barack Obama when the former president denied that his health care plan would cover undocumented immigrants. (It was not a lie.) The pundits all called for the smelling salts and Wilson was later reprimanded by Congress and subsequently issued an apology. At the time, it was a shocking breach of decorum that stunned the nation.
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Thu, 09/02/2023 - 04:12
Open rights Group has responded to the Shawcross review of Prevent, which was published today Policy Manager, Sophia Akram said: Open Rights Group and other other NGOs previously raised concerns about Sir William Shawcross’s ability to be objective given his history of making disparaging comments about Islam. Today’s review of Prevent confirms those fears. The […]
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Thu, 09/02/2023 - 03:43
Elon Musk has been making a lot of comments on government debt recently, and though I have a lot of respect for what he’s done in electric vehicles and space travel, I couldn’t restrain myself from ridiculing his views on government debt: That led to another tweeter having a go at me, because obviously someone … Continue reading "Just Because You Know How to Make Money, That Doesn’t Mean You Know How to Make Money"
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Thu, 09/02/2023 - 03:30

By Patrick Lawrence / Original to ScheerPost O.K., you have a speech of 7,000–odd words to deliver to Congress. It ought to run about an hour as these things go. But you have nothing to say.  Call Joe Biden.  He certainly got the job done Tuesday evening. But I am confused as to our 46th […]

The post Patrick Lawrence: No, Joey, It Still Isn’t Morning in America appeared first on scheerpost.com.

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Thu, 09/02/2023 - 02:44

Join Lowkey for a special episode with Darin J. Sallam, creator of the Netflix film "Farha". Sallam and Lowkey discuss the Israeli government's efforts to silence the film, which tells the true story of a Palestinian girl's fight for survival during the Nakba.

The post Farha: The Netflix Film the Israeli Government Fears, with Darin Sallam appeared first on MintPress News.

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Thu, 09/02/2023 - 02:30
No agenda except trolling I missed this observation but Marcy didn’t: Former House Speaker Nacny Pelosi told CNN that the GOP heckling during the State of the Union Address was “showbiz” to cover putting Medicare and Social Security “on the table.” Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) told reporters after the SOTU that he considers Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) “a sick puppy” who had no business being there. Cameras caught their exchange on the House floor but not the dialogue. It’s who they are. It’s all they have left. Talk about waste, fraud, and abuse, we’re paying their salaries.
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Thu, 09/02/2023 - 02:27

Annexation of the Jordan Valley, which makes up approximately 30% of the occupied West Bank, is back on the agenda with the return of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his right-wing extremist coalition.

The post As Israel Pushes to Annex the Jordan Valley, Is the Threat Already Here? appeared first on MintPress News.