The unilateral coercive sanctions Australia and its allies impose on Syria make us complicit in a war on the people of Syria, and arguably complicit in policide, if not genocide. To lift the cruel sanctions, we must come to the realisation that Syrians are human, like us. In 1998, the United Nation’s humanitarian coordinator in Continue reading »
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In the latest instance of the Australian media’s deluge of propaganda geared toward manufacturing consent for war with China, Nine Entertainment-owned newspapers The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age have brought together a panel of “experts” to assess how well-prepared Australia is for a hot war with its primary trading partner. The question of if Continue reading »
I saw a comment about the drop in the U.S. Federal debt-to-GDP ratio, which reminded me that I wanted to discuss it once the data started to settle down. As can be seen in the above chart, the public debt-to-GDP ratio went from 135% in 2020Q2 to 120% in 2022Q3 (latest figure on FRED). A drop of (roughly) 15% in the ratio without some kind of “austerity” policies might seem surprising — but it is only surprising if you look at debt dynamics the wrong way. That wrong way is relying on “real” variables — real GDP growth, real interest rates — as well as thinking too much about long-term “steady state” or “equilibrium” values.Bond Economics
The reliance on “real analysis” (ha ha) leads to silly things like charts of the U.S. debt/GDP ratio marching in a straight line towards 200%. (Yes, CBO, I am not laughing with you.) This framing also leads to neoclassical economists going on about the question: is r greater or less than g?...
Debt/GDP Ratio: Beware "Real Analysis"
Brian Romanchuk
On 28 February 2023, the Danielle Smith government tabled Alberta’s 2023-2024 budget. Projecting a $2.4 billion surplus for the coming fiscal year, the budget announced some spending increases; but many are effectively cuts when one accounts for both inflation and population growth. Here are 10 things to know: In sum. When one accounts for both inflation and population growth, this [...]
Ouch Jezebel: As a follower of Florida Gov. and likely presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis’ (R) varying moral crimes against queer kids, marginalized people, and even books that dare to mention LGBTQ+ issues, I feel obligated to direct your attention now to the irony of him continually wearing high heels. You see, American presidents tend to be tall. We rarely elect presidents under six feet tall, actually—a fact pointed out by Burlington County Times, which coldly quipped that “manlets” (ostensibly men under six feet) “need not apply” to the office. This is deeply intertwined with the fact that America has never elected a woman president: Voters still seem to be hanging onto this idea that a president has to appear manly and strong, though masculinity and physical strength literally have nothing to do with the job description. Enter DeSantis, whom varying sources approximate to be in the height range of 5’8” to 5’10”.
Conspiracies about voter fraud put our country in danger Navigator is out this morning with new polling: Nine in ten Americans are concerned about the spread of misinformation. 90 percent of Americans say they are worried about misinformation, framed as “false or inaccurate information, especially that which is deliberately intended to deceive those who read or hear it.” This includes overwhelming majorities across party lines: Democrats are most concerned about misinformation (95 percent), but more than four in five Republicans (86 percent) and independents (82 percent) say the same. Cold War babies called this propaganda. But Americans associated propaganda with the Ruskies, with communists. Nowadays, more anodyne terms apply lest we paint Real Americans™ with the same brush. They might take offense. Respondents report encountering misinformation most often on social media and from Fox.
How a word like "equality" has become a bit of a minefield.
Doctor Who showrunner Russell T. Davies made it clear that he's not going anywhere anytime soon; Katy Manning (Jo Grant) discusses spinoffs.
Cesspit of Labour right regime again on show Keir Starmer has posted a tweet welcoming Mike Gapes back to the Labour party. Gapes was one of the handful of Labour right lightweights who quit the Labour party to start the disastrous and racism-linked ‘Change UK’ and worked to prevent a Labour victory in the 2019 […]
Maggie Millner’s debut, Couplets, is a novel in couplets, but also a lyric in lithe but taut paired lines. Better maybe to say that it gestures at the novel, particularly the great love stories—and misadventures—of the nineteenth-century novel. It’s not so much a narrative as the remains of a narrative, as if the set-up and emplotting have been removed, as if the sentences had been stretched sometimes, or compressed, working their way into a long-lined rhythm that suits the rhyming couplets well. The rhymes are often muted, made so by their off-kilter relationships, like “sex” and “transgress” or “husband” and “Casaubon.” There are occasional prose poems, too, but mostly what unfolds unfolds—and disintegrates—across this book-length sequence of two-lined stanzas: a voice detailing its own undoing. The voice tells of a relationship with a man that falls apart as the speaker falls in love with a woman, first with the man’s encouragement, then despite his resistance.
Schwarzenegger keeps trying God knows we all have our flaws, our blind spots and weaknesses. The Austrian immigrant who became an international superstar and California governor has his. One thing wealth and fame have not erased is the memory of what World War II did to his father and to the broken men of his father’s generation who served the Nazi cause. Arnold Schwarzenegger filmed a 12-minute sermon on how the path of hate eats the soul: Schwarzenegger’s rhetoric was couched in terms of a motivational pep-talk for those with prejudice: “Nazis? Losers. The Confederacy? Losers. The apartheid movement? Losers. I don’t want you to be a loser. I don’t want you to be weak … despite all my friends who might say, ‘Arnold, don’t talk to those people. It’s not worth it.’ “I don’t care what they say. I care about you. I think you’re worth it. I know nobody is perfect … I can understand how people can fall into a trap of prejudice and hate.” Schwarzenegger is not talking just about antisemitism but, in the subtext, about the kind of venom being spewed at CPAC and by Gov.
So many crises — from war to mass species die-offs to climate meltdown — afflict our world that we often don’t take time to draw insights from what generally passes for the small stuff, the things that happen all too close to home, including aging. Most of us don’t relish the prospect of getting old, much less watching our parents approach their deaths, something that’s even worse if you’re dying poor. Having a parent die, whatever the circumstances, is bound to be wrenching. The best we daughters and sons can hope for is that our parents finish out their lives on their own terms and where they want to be — with loved ones nearby and suffering as little as... Read more
Source: A Tale of Two Mothers appeared first on TomDispatch.com.
Many countries fail to protect, or even actively exploit, their coastal marine reserves – how will new initiatives be different?
The UK Government must do more to stand against the curtailing of democracy by Beijing in the former British colony – and fulfil its legal and moral responsibilities, writes Lord Alton
Lauren Crosby Medlicott reports on Rishi Sunak's new law banning people entering the UK 'illegally' from claiming asylum or re-entering in the future
After years of corruption scandals and concessions to the auto industry, the UAW finds itself on the precipice of radical new leadership.
The post United Auto Workers on Brink of Unprecedented Leadership Upset appeared first on The Intercept.
Listen up, brother. I am here to tell you what real men already know: a REAL man can only reach peak masculinity when he’s gape-mouthed—his dental amalgam straight-up gleaming—ripping yawns like a legend. Don’t believe me? Have you ever seen anything as majestic as a fully grown adult man, arms crossed atop his belly, unfurling a yawn with dazzling guttural vibrato? That, son, is grade-A silverback. I’m talking apex virility in motion.
Let me explain something to you. Alpha men are hard-wired to do three things: a) hock loogies, b) only talk about protein intake, and c) yawn in public with the intensity of an apoplectic grizzly bear.
In today's BCTV Daily Dispatch: BCTV is a Scott Adams/Dilbert-free zone. Plus, James Gunn/Henry Cavill, The Last of Us, South Park & more!
In 2022, 3,754 women were killed in Mexico, but only 33.7 percent were investigated as femicides. We need to build a movement that fights against misogynist violence.
The post Heading Into International Women’s Day in Mexico: Let’s Be Thousands in the Streets against Femicide and Violence appeared first on scheerpost.com.
The US seems obsessed with China, yet effectively admits it is behind and unlikely to catch up. And it too quickly dismisses Russia.
"We are going to carry out an anti-inflation plan of mutual aid for growth, for commercial and economic exchange with Latin American countries."
In an interview with the Chamber of Commerce, US Ambassador Nicholas Burns referred to China as a “threat”, “great challenge”, and “very difficult government”, stating arrogantly, “The United States is staying in this region. We’re the leader in this [Indo-Pacific] region”.
The post US Ambassador Arrogantly Lectures China ‘Threat’: ‘We’re the Leader in This Region (Asia)!’ appeared first on scheerpost.com.
By Unicorn Riot Dekalb County, GA – At least 30 people were arrested on Sunday evening in the South River Forest during a ‘week of action’ music festival taking place near the location of the proposed controversial ‘Cop City’ facility. UPDATE: 3/6/23 – According to the Atlanta Police Department press release, there were at least 35 […]
The post Police Raid Atlanta Forest After ‘Cop City’ Opponents Overrun Security Post appeared first on scheerpost.com.