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[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. 

The Mechanics of a Bond Market and its Impact on the Banking Crisis
Michael 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

Geopolitical Economics
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.

The post How the US and EU Can Rewrite Trade Rules to Fight the <span class="dewidow">Climate Crisis</span> appeared first on Roosevelt Institute.

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 […]

Empresa São Cleófas Energias Renováveis prevê a instalação de 372 aerogeradores no sertão do Seridó, onde há bens arqueológicos de 9 mil anos e comunidades quilombolas.

The post Projeto de energia eólica ameaça destruir passado e futuro do Brasil numa tacada só appeared first on The Intercept.

The cultivation of taste, in morals as well as in art, is neither snobbish nor elitist.

The post Doctor Who Magazine 587 winners appeared first on Doctor Who Magazine.

The post Doctor Who Magazine 586 winners appeared first on Doctor Who Magazine.

A recurring row has broken out over the island of Rockall, an uninhabited rock in the Atlantic whose ownership is disputed between the UK and Ireland. The Scottish government, under whose jurisdiction Rockall falls, has banned Irish vessels which traditionally fish there from doing so. This is an article in the Derry Journal today: Donegal […]

The post Sweet Rockall appeared first on Craig Murray.

The collision is a cover story Associated Press: A Russian fighter jet struck the propeller of a U.S. surveillance drone over the Black Sea on Tuesday in a “brazen violation of international law,” causing American forces to bring down the unmanned aerial vehicle, the U.S. said. But Russia insisted its warplanes didn’t hit the MQ-9 Reaper drone. Instead, it said the drone maneuvered sharply and crashed into the water following an encounter with Russian fighter jets that had been scrambled to intercept it near Crimea. “Struck the propeller” of the MQ-9, says the Pentagon. Seriously? Without actually crashing into it and bringing down both aircraft? The AP report adds: The U.S. European Command said two Russian Su-27 fighter jets intercepted the drone while it was operating within international airspace. It said one of the Russian fighters struck the propeller of the MQ-9, causing U.S. forces to bring it down in international waters. Prior to that, the Su-27s dumped fuel on the MQ-9 and flew in front of it several times in “a reckless, environmentally unsound and unprofessional manner,” the U.S.

The post How 2018 Regulatory Rollbacks Set the Stage for the Silicon Valley Bank Collapse, and How to <span class="dewidow">Change Course</span> appeared first on Roosevelt Institute.

Peter Dorman files a report from radical subjectivity land so you don't have to go there.

The shadow of U.S. war crimes in Iraq hangs over the Pentagon's refusal to support probes into Russian atrocities in Ukraine.

The post Biden Administration Splits on Prosecuting Russia for War Crimes in Ukraine appeared first on The Intercept.

Why the Bank Crisis is Not Over The crashes of Silvergate, Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank and the related bank insolvencies are much more serious than the 2008-09 crash. The problem at that time was crooked banks making bad mortgage loans. Debtors were unable to pay and were defaulting, and it turned out that the Continue Reading

The post The Mechanics of a Bond Market and its Impact on the Banking Crisis first appeared on Michael Hudson.

Maybe Ivermectin will cure it? Okay, wokesters, remember when teens tossed out “like” every other word? Adults lampooned this verbal pandemic decades before COVID-19. The legendary Frank Zappa’s only top-40 hit came in 1982 with a largely spoken-word Valspeak performance by his then-14-year-old daughter, Moon Zappa. Valspeak launched Whoopi Goldberg’s acting career. Wikipedia: Linguistic characteristics of valleyspeak are often thought to be “silly” and “superficial” and seen as a sign of low intelligence. Speakers are also often perceived as “materialistic” and “air-headed”. And your point is? Conservatives don’t have one, MSNBC’s Chris Hayes observed Tuesday evening. Wokety-woke rhetoric aimed at blaming women, gay people, and minorities for conservatives’ comically pervasive sense of victimization is “equal parts offensive and preposterous” and not meant to persuade anyone, but to keep their base in line, Hayes said. They are not being serious. Their aim is deflection.