Week-end Wrap – Political Economy – February 26, 2023
by Tony Wikrent
War
How The U.S. (And UK) Sabotaged Peace In Ukraine
[Moon of Alabama, via Naked Capitalism 2-23-2023]
Reading
Corruption watch. (h/t Naked Capitalism)
Glenn GreenwaldNew SBF Indictment Exposes How Washington Really Works. Plus, Investigative Reporter Lee Fang In-Studio!
Eschaton
Everything Is Corrupt
Atrios
Dud. The weapon failed to explode and to the degree it did detonate, it was a direct hit on US allies in Europe.
AntiWar
White House Believed ‘Economic Nuclear Weapon’ Would End Russian War in Ukraine
AntiWar
White House Believed ‘Economic Nuclear Weapon’ Would End Russian War in Ukraine
Kyle Anzalone
AP classes were cool Ron DeSantis was an AP student back in the glory days when it was all white males, before the you know what’s history and beyotch studies were taught in school. When America was great: When Florida Governor Ron DeSantis floated the possibility of eliminating Advanced Placement classes from his state’s curriculum, he conveniently left out an important fact. DeSantis was once the “AP US History student of the year,” according to his high school yearbook, pages of which were obtained by The Daily Beast. Before turning on AP classes in his latest culture war skirmish, the governor not only benefited from the rigorous courses as a high schooler at Dunedin High School, he also praised the Sunshine State’s top three placement for students in AP courses in February 2020, calling the program “a gateway to achieving success in college, career and ultimately in life.” Now DeSantis is trying to sell a populist pitch that APs aren’t worth the trouble, despite benefiting from the highly sought-after curriculum on his way to an Ivy League education.
China called for an immediate cease-fire in Ukraine so that negotiations can begin for peace and rebuilding. It called for respect for sovereign borders – which seemed like advice to Russia to withdraw. But it also called for respect given to security concerns – which seems like acknowledgement that the west should fulfil earlier promises Continue reading »
The trajectory of mainstream economics can be understood in terms of how the discipline historically responded to moments of crises by attempting to “theoretically fix” the understandings related to five core “questions” of capitalist political economy – namely land, trade, labour, state, and legal-institutional framework. This involved legitimising improvements in land that led to the dispossession and the destruction of the commons, justifying free trade based on comparative advantage as opposed to mercantilist state intervention, reducing labour to a factor of production that was supposedly rewarded based on its marginal productivity and hence not being exploited, legitimising state intervention to stabilise capitalism and developing a legal-institutional framework to protect markets from popular democratic pressures. These “theoretical fixes” served to ideologically legitimise, preserve, and perpetuate the core content of capitalist social relations even as it corresponded with the modification of the surface-level appearances of capitalism.
Brian Toohey (Pearls and Irritations, 14 February 2023) makes a number of criticisms of the recent four-part series on national security by Michael Keating and myself that was published in Pearls and Irritations earlier this month. He contends that we have made “assertions that should not go unchallenged”, particularly in regard to our support for Continue reading »
The AUKUS deal for nuclear submarines by 2050 indicates that government has little grasp of the likely chaotic state of the world after current trajectories on climate and environmental change have played out for the next 27 years. In turn this engenders insecurity over their knowledge and ability to deliver appropriate policies on these threats. Continue reading »
Election night TV coverages blur into one big indigestible mass as the years go by. Yet every now and again a few stand out. For progressives it was the sinking feeling as Scott Morrison won in 2019 and the clear early indication from Penny Wong’s body language. For Victorians it was probably the sight of Continue reading »
According to Newsweek, a toxic chemical cloud has reached a radius of 100-miles around East Palestine, the scene of a devastating train crash and chemical burn-off. If true, the people of Cleveland, the State capital 90-miles away, are now at risk of exposure. At the same time, Cleveland residents are reeling from another explosion at Continue reading »
The discussion on TikTok and Hikvision infiltration in Australian government departments has centred inarticulately and dogmatically on the country of origin. But there are other more realistic and probable security threats lurking in plain sight. The possibility of the Chinese government accessing Australia’s sensitive and national security information has been in the headlines again in Continue reading »
The Saudi-led coalition and its allies on the ground have been accused of systematically targeting Yemen’s cultural heritage through indiscriminate strikes and looting campaigns. First published by The Cradle News Desk February 20, 2023 The head of Yemen’s General Authority for Antiquities, Manuscripts, and Museums, Dr. Obbad bin Ali Al-Hayyal, visited several historical and archeological sites Continue reading »
Even the responses not (yet) hidden by Unite GS are overwhelmingly negative – but those she has hidden are even more damning Unite general secretary Sharon Graham has long been criticised for being too ready to cosy up to anti-worker Labour party leader Keir Starmer – chummily referred to as ‘Keir’ – particularly since she […]
Motion condemns Starmer party’s attack on democracy Members of a Labour front-bencher’s local party passed a motion last week condemning the regime’s shameless rigging of party democracy and demanding to be allowed to select their candidates without interference. Hornsey and Wood Green members voted strongly for the following emergency motion: Selection of Candidates HWG CLP […]
On 26 February 1970, scores of Trinidadians, mostly trade unionists and students, took to the streets across the country, and slogans of ‘Power to the People’ reverberated through the crowds. Fists were outstretched in a gesture which had become the worldwide symbol of a radical phenomenon sweeping the globe: ‘Black Power!’ was the protestors’ cry. […]
On rail safety, the partisan ghost is still haunting the media machine.
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 ... Read More
On the 1st of February, 500,000 workers went on strike in the UK’s biggest day of industrial action in more than a decade. Teachers, university staff, train drivers, bus drivers and civil servants stood side-by-side to protect each other from low pay and defend the public services upon which we all rely. The wave of […]
Carlson’s job is to make money for Fox, not tell the truth.
The post Tucker Carlson Deserves a Raise for His Shameless Lies appeared first on The Intercept.
Drivers claim they were conned into voting for below-inflation package trumped by Unite general secretary as big win, according to WSWS Sharon Graham has been slammed by bus drivers for claiming Unite won them an 18% pay rise – and for her reps deceiving them into voting for a deal in fact worth much less […]
You see it all the time in studies. “We controlled for…” And then the list starts … The more things you can control for, the stronger your study is — or, at least, the stronger your study seems. Controls give the feeling of specificity, of precision. But sometimes, you can control for too much. Sometimes […]
By Eve Ottenberg / CounterPunch Riled up against China, GOP congressmembers have long felt that Washington’s new cold war needed a special venue. So as soon as the baton passed to Republicans in the House, they set up a select committee on China. This is majority leader Kevin “Trump’s the Man” McCarthy’s baby, and if […]
The post A Dangerous Fishing Expedition: The Select Committee on China appeared first on scheerpost.com.