As Democrats continue with their perennial handwringing over the election and media bigfoots write the 3,785th article about why, despite polls showing a tied election. Joe Biden should drop out it’s interesting to note that the recently convicted felon heading up the other party’s ticket is being deliriously embraced by voters and officials alike. Not even one Republicans has suggested he step down. Not one newspaper or right wing columnist. Nada. The Huffington Post’s S.V. Date takes a look at the GOP’s total unwillingness to even consider dumping Trump: Eight years after a credible effort to dump Donald Trump as their presidential nominee because of his vulgarity, Republicans today appear stuck with the newly convicted felon for November, with no realistic means of taking the nomination away from him at their convention next month, even if they wanted to. “There will be no move to, no mechanism for and no interest in removing Trump at the convention,” said Richard Porter, a Republican National Committee member from Illinois.
Reading
Ten books we loved this year.
The post Introducing the Nautilus Summer Reading List appeared first on Nautilus.
Simon Rosenberg has a good one today. He shows that Biden has made some slight gains in the polls in the wake of Trump’s conviction although it’s still essentially tied. He also notes: 538 unveiled its 2024 forecasting model this morning and it gives Biden a 53% chance of winning the election. The key to how we win in this model is our strength in MI, PA, WI, the blue wall states which get us to 269 Electoral College votes, or check as I’ve been calling it. He also notes that we have reports in the last week or so showing that the economy is rolling, crime is way, way down and (I would add, border crossings are also much lower in the last 6 months.) Rosenberg concludes: In the last few weeks we’ve gotten repeated confirmation of the success of the Biden Presidency – inflation is down, food prices are down, crime and murder rates are way down, gas prices are down, the flow to the border is down.
Prediction usually boils down to figuring out essentials.
I’m committed to finding out the 20% which explains 80%. Despite what one might think, that involves quite a lot of work, I’ve read thousands of books over the years, and don’t just get my info on twitter and from news media but I often cover current events and that requires current info, not carefully thought out books. (As an example, I’ve read books on Hezbollah.)
I find a few determined priorities/ideology/power + resource constraints tend to create most apparent complexity (most, not all.) Complexity is mostly in execution, not in ideation or decision.
Much of Fed rate policy from 79 to the 00s, for example, can be explained by a simple commitment to crush wage based inflation. Add in a commitment to increase asset prices and you have two theses which worked very very well predictively at the time and which still have a great deal of utility.
Unpacking Trump’s reelection plans to doom the planet.
This is very good news: The Biden administration Tuesday willannounce rules to block medical debt from being used to evaluate borrowers’ fitness for mortgages and other types of loans, people familiar with the matter told The Washington Post. The proposed rules from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau arrive less than five months before Election Day and are poised to be part of President Biden’s closing argument that he is addressing pocketbook issues as voters rank the economy as their top concern.The White House has repeatedly focused on the issue of medical debt, saying it disproportionately harms low-income Americans and communities of color. “This is going to be an enormous relief for so many people battling bills when it comes to medical visits,” CPFB director Rohit Chopra said Tuesday on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” teasing the forthcoming rules. The rules set to be announced Tuesday would ban credit reporting agencies from incorporating medical debt when calculating credit scores, said the people with knowledge of the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private discussions.
The Opposition’s shadow minister for home and foreign affairs, Barnaby Joyce, has launched a nation wide campaign to encourage all Australians to pull out. ”Trust me, I know the consequences of not pulling out,” said the member for New England.... Read More ›
2024’s biggest story you’ve never heard about That’s just fascinating. But this is the only place I’ve heard about it. I’m going to guess that the Biden campaign doesn’t want to say anything ab out it for fear of it backfiring. But it’s something that history will surely record.
We, the undersigned, urge the Australian Government to pursue a policy towards the Israeli-Hamas war which is more transparent, consistent and principled than currently is the case. We are not enemies of Israel. Most certainly, we hold no sympathy for Hamas, whose brutal attacks on 7 October 2023 unleashed another bout of Israeli-Palestinian bloodletting. To Continue reading »
Premier Li Qiang is the second most powerful person in China, after President Xi Jinping. He is expected to visit Australia and New Zealand in the next few days. Meetings in Canberra will present an opportunity for leaders to set the seal of approval on tentative measures already under way for stabilisation of the bilateral Continue reading »
Since October 7th last year more than 9,500 Palestinians including 635 minors from the West Bank and Occupied Jerusalem have been held in Israeli jails. More than 3,400 Palestinian detainees, including women and children, have also been placed in administrative detention under the pretext of secret evidence. All prisoners and detainees have been subjected to Continue reading »
“The United States of America is in competition with China, but not ideologically. Who initiated the first agreements with China to outsource factories if not the United States of America themselves? They cannot tell us that it is a fight for freedom… It’s [ ] because China is becoming the world’s leading power, and from Continue reading »
Meet a young family of gentle Palestinians living in Gaza. The family has subsisted on tinned food from aid organisations. They cook with wood and iron posts over a besser block fireplace. Prior to October 2023, the family worked in information technology and accounting for an animal welfare charity. They are all degree holders (architects Continue reading »
Australia is the only western liberal democracy without a mandated charter of human rights. It’s now closer than at any time in 40 years. There are certain basic rights that are essential in any liberal democracy and, without them, a country is neither liberal nor a democracy. They include habeas corpus, free speech, the right Continue reading »
Global rates of resource consumption and ecological impact are now far beyond levels that are sustainable, or that all people in the world could rise to, or that technical advance could make sustainable. This is steadfastly ignored by all governments and the economics profession and the consuming masses. Few realise how great the degrowth would Continue reading »
In an open letter, a group of self-described Apple workers, former employees, and shareholders are calling on the company to halt donations to nonprofits linked with Israel’s war effort.
The post Apple Matches Worker Donations to IDF and Illegal Settlements, Employees Allege appeared first on The Intercept.
Your next jacket might be made of mushrooms.
The post The Leather of the Future appeared first on Nautilus.
Dan Osborn, running as an independent, has racked up endorsements in a race that could help determine Senate control in 2024.
The post UAW Endorses Nebraska Underdog Threatening to Unseat a Republican Senator appeared first on The Intercept.
courtesy Taylor Miller It was dusk for kilometers and bats in the lavender sky, like spiders when a fly is caught, began to appear. And…