Reading

Created
Wed, 31/07/2024 - 04:55
New analysis by the Productivity Commission of donations to school building and other funds highlights how antithetical private school funding is to the concept of needs-based funding. A new report by the Productivity Commission on Philanthropy has highlighted defects in the funding of private schools. The report shows that private schools receive millions of dollars Continue reading »
Created
Wed, 31/07/2024 - 04:52
Following the 7 October Hamas outrage Australia has been suffering an outburst of race and religious hate. Lawyer Jillian Segal has been made a “special envoy” to counter antisemitism. A similar appointment is expected to confront Islamophobia and challenge the alleged linkage of Muslims with extremism and terror. Indonesia has more citizens following Islam than Continue reading »
Created
Wed, 31/07/2024 - 04:51
Yingyao Wang opens the black box of the Chinese bureaucracy to reveal the agency of the men and women who designed and redesigned Chinese economic policy. The People’s Republic of China is not a monolithic entity, and here is a new book delving into the intricate world of Chinese bureaucracy, highlighting the pivotal roles played Continue reading »
Created
Wed, 31/07/2024 - 04:50
The thing I hate about western electoral politics in general and US presidential races in particular is that they take the focus off the depravity of the US-centralised empire itself, and run cover for its criminality. In the coming months you’re going to be hearing a lot of talk about the two leading presidential candidates Continue reading »
Created
Wed, 31/07/2024 - 04:38

The Grayzone’s publication of an embarrassing phone call with a National Endowment for Democracy VP triggered an institution-wide meltdown at the US government’s regime change laboratory. Following the call, the group’s founding president privately admitted the “fiasco” exposed major “problems beneath the polished surface.” Now, leaked emails obtained by The Grayzone reveal the organization has since descended into chaos, with two senior officials fired due to the fiasco, and remaining staff engaged in civil war between the neocon old guard […]

The post The Grayzone caused ‘biggest PR fiasco in history’ for US govt regime change arm, leaked emails reveal first appeared on The Grayzone.

The post The Grayzone caused ‘biggest PR fiasco in history’ for US govt regime change arm, leaked emails reveal appeared first on The Grayzone.

Created
Wed, 31/07/2024 - 03:00

Support for WNYC is brought to you by: It Needs More Lemon. Taste this chicken for me, will you? It’s missing something. Yep, more lemon. Okay, taste it again. Better? Use code MORELEMON at checkout for 50 percent off your first order. Wait, now it’s missing salt.

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Created
Wed, 31/07/2024 - 02:00
In this piece yesterday, I mentioned Trump’s meeting at the Bitcoin convention and his newfound love for crypto. As you can see from the above clip by Rachel Maddow, he’s just pretty much selling out all policies to the highest bidder these days. Here are a few other policies he’s put on the auction block: Here are just a few of the policies he is selling to donors. $1bn from oil companies At a lavish dinner at Mar-a-Lago in April, the former president gathered with around two dozen executives from the biggest oil companies in the country. His campaign was facing a sizeable cash shortfall against his opponent, President Joe Biden, and he was desperate to make up the difference. As the executives complained about how the Biden administration’s environmental regulations were hurting their business, Trump made a starkly transactional pitch: raise $1bn to send me back to the White House. If he won, he said he would immediately reverse dozens of Biden’s environmental rules and policies. The $1bn would be a “deal” for the companies, he added, because of the money they would save from deregulation.
Created
Wed, 31/07/2024 - 01:27

While American politicians and media predictably denounce the socialist victory in Venezuela, dozens of American electoral observers on the ground endorsed the process. MintPress reports from Caracas. 

The post Venezuela: While US Politicians Call Fraud, American Election Observers Endorse Results  appeared first on MintPress News.

Created
Wed, 31/07/2024 - 01:13
Will Kamala Harris Be A Worse President Because She Doesn’t Have Children?

Here’s the case, put relatively well:

Moral superiority aside, a somewhat general rule of thumb is that if you have children AND they live in the same country, then you have a HIGHER vested interest in the wellbeing of your country.

I’ll take “wellbeing of your country” to mean wellbeing of the residents of your country, though it doesn’t have to mean that.

Now, this argument is one that’s true sometimes. But only sometimes. It also assumes that parents care about the wellbeing of their children, which isn’t always true, but we’ll assume it is for now.

Created
Wed, 31/07/2024 - 00:30
“It’s an incel platform, dude” MAGA Republicans: Totally not weird. If you’ve watched Democrats flounder for years to find messaging that actually catches on, that actually smacks down Republicans’ vapid posturing over family and patriotism, you’re not alone. Remember Rep. Steny Hoyer’s (D-Md.) stillborn effort to sell how you can make it in America if we “make it in America”? I winced. Well, with a new generation comes more facile minds, quicker wits, and sharper tongues. Consider if you will, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and his response to Sen. J.D. Vance’s suggestion that Americans without children have “no physical commitment to the future of this country.” Buttigieg responds, “When I was deployed to Afghanistan, I didn’t have kids back then. But I will tell you, especially when there was a rocket attack going on, my commitment to this country felt pretty, pretty physical.” And the crowd goes wild. Republicans’ economic populism is just posturing, Buttigieg argues. It’s more body language than policy. It’s an act.
Created
Tue, 30/07/2024 - 23:39

Palestinian election observers in Venezuela reveal shared resistance against imperialism. MintPress explores the unwavering support between the two nations.

The post Solidarity from Palestine to Venezuela: Meet the Palestinians Observing Venezuela’s Elections appeared first on MintPress News.

Created
Tue, 30/07/2024 - 23:33

For months, we’ve all been able to stay reasonably informed about the wars in Gaza and Ukraine. But there’s another horrific war that’s gotten so little coverage you could be excused for not knowing anything about it. What we have in mind is the seemingly never-ending, utterly devastating war in Sudan. Think of it as the missing war. And if we don’t start paying a lot more attention to it soon — as in right now — it’s going to be too late.  After 15 months of fighting in that country between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), experts in food insecurity estimate that almost 26 million people (no, that is not a misprint!), or... Read more

Source: Starvation in Sudan appeared first on TomDispatch.com.

Created
Tue, 30/07/2024 - 23:14

In this episode of The Watchdog, Lowkey catches up with Alan MacLeod to hear about his latest investigations, including his exposure an Israeli intelligence-linked group spreading fake news about Lowkey and other pro-Palestinian figures.

The post Israeli Spies Plant Fake News In The Media with Alan MacLeod appeared first on MintPress News.

Created
Tue, 30/07/2024 - 23:00
Heather Cox Richardson on our state of play Signals abound that the political ground has shifted to the Democrats. The Kamala Harris Zooms, for example. The latest last night, “White Dudes for Harris,” raised $4 million in three hours. Jeff Bridges, “the Dude,” dropped by along with 180,000 others. “Harris leads Trump 44% to 42% in US presidential race,” blares a Reuters headline from Thursday. I cited some local signs on Monday. Republicans are experiencing a “weird” problem they’re having trouble shaking. Trump, The Man Who Never Laughs, is making fun of Harris for having a sense of humor. Eugene Robinson notes, “Think about it: We’ve heard Trump snarl and mock, we’ve seen him smile, but can anyone remember him laughing out loud? I can’t. Kind of weird, no?” Sen. J.D.
Created
Tue, 30/07/2024 - 22:00

We are thrilled to announce our upcoming season, which absolutely must dig us out of the red or it will be our last season! But no one is stressed, because ART! We are excited to share this rich and extremely safe collection of shows with you, our patrons.

Hurry now to order your subscription package for next season, so you can be sure to lock in your tickets for five or six times the price of a “day of” rush ticket, which you would absolutely be able to get, because, dear god, we cannot fill these seats. But the more subscriptions you buy, the fewer rush tickets will be available for our poorer, less desirable patrons—so order now!

The Tempest, by William Shakespeare
September 21–October 31

Join Prospero and Caliban as they… okay, look, we know you don’t want to see this, and we don’t want to do it. But it’s public domain so we don’t have to pay any playwrights, and our unpaid intern, Micah, can basically sell this out to school groups, who also don’t want to see it. With any luck, some of you will come, too, because we all know we should like Shakespeare, right? Come feel smart for an evening!