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by Mark Cramer
Every four years, the Summer Olympics present a rare opportunity for friendly competition and collaboration among nations. The public has an opportunity to witness a myriad of sports that otherwise never make the headlines. Talented athletes get a rare chance to display their skills before an international audience.
The Olympics offer a venue for peaceful, international solidarity. Yet they also present a seemingly insurmountable ecological challenge. To begin with,
The post The Olympic Spirit: Friendly Competition or Unsustainable Growth? appeared first on Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy.
It pains us to admit that in today’s fast-paced world, there is constant pressure to be stylish and relevant. Take blue jeans for instance - the never-ending list of new trends or the infinite number colours, cuts and styles seem to justify our temptation. We are pressured to be new and different, yet forced to conform.
Amidst this desire, many of us are aware that the costs of our purchases are much more than the dollar sum at the check-out. The thought that our new pair of jeans is likely produced by an impoverished, underpaid labourer in South-East Asia lies dormant at the back of our minds, as does the knowledge that its production will emit somewhere between 33 and 80 kilograms of CO2 into the atmosphere. However, the vast distance between our everyday lives and the reality of hot sweaty factories and smoggy skies renders the gravity of our purchase insignificant. After all, what’s the hurt in just one more pair?
The post Blue Jeans appeared first on Progress in Political Economy (PPE).
Over at Responsible Statecraft there is a symposium on the Ukraine’s Kursk Incursion and what it means down the road. I read all the entries and there is a general consensus that in the long run the incursion is more likely than not a strategic mistake. And then every single on of the commenters adds their “but” to the conversation. Obviosuly, I tend to see the world as John Mearsheimer does, but found the symposium a useful tool to gauge the thoughts of International Relations scholars across the spectrum. As I said, there is a general consensus. Give it a read, it’ll only cost you 15 minutes, tops.
As Israel intensifies its brutal assault on Gaza, the systematic use of rape, torture, and psychological warfare seeks to break Palestinian resistance.
The post Why Israeli Soldiers Rape appeared first on MintPress News.
Oh my god, hi!! I am SO sorry to do this, but we have your wife Jenna, and if you don’t pay us $20 million in unmarked bills by tomorrow night, we are gonna have to kill her. So sorry about this!!
We are a group of private individuals who disagree with your amoral business practices and have kidnapped your wife, because four of us are Scorpios, and you know how we are when we get together—you better be glad we didn’t make a worse mess of this, LOL. We follow your public stock holdings and know you have the money. Please follow our instructions to the letter if you want to see your wife again, and I know you do because she is super pretty!!
Just to say it again: SO sorry about this, I know this is annoying, ugh.
To prove that we have her, we’ve enclosed some hair—that’s right, we gave her bangs. She is going through a tough time right now because she is kidnapped, and everyone agreed that letting her get bangs would make her feel free and in control of her own future. She looks SO cute!!!! You should absolutely pay us so you can see the bangs.
Donald Trump is all too literally the candidate from hell and, yes, he’s threatening to take the United States and the world to — no place else! — hell and back. He’s the greatest danger to this planet imaginable. And I’m not even thinking about what else he’d do, were he to win election 2024 and return to the Oval Office, having reassured his religious voters that, should they opt for him this November, they’ll never have to do so again. (“Get out and vote, just this time… You won’t have to do it anymore. Four more years, you know what? It’ll be fixed, it’ll be fine, you won’t have to vote anymore, my beautiful Christians.”) Forget all of that,... Read more
Source: The Candidate from Hell appeared first on TomDispatch.com.
Last week’s far-right riots brought chaos to communities across the country, perhaps most notably in parts of the North East. The pattern of locations might initially have seemed random, but it quickly became clear that there was a concerted effort to seize upon some of the country’s most deprived areas to drive a racist agenda. […]
Reproductive justice advocates warn that stopping at enshrining Roe’s protections would allow abortion bans and restrictions to flourish.
The post By Vowing to Codify Roe, Kamala Harris Ensures Continued Government Meddling in Abortion Care appeared first on The Intercept.