Labor’s Defence and Foreign policies are increasingly pushing away party ‘true believers’ writes Wayne Ryan, Life Member of the ACT Labor Party branch. Dear Fellow Labor Party Members, “ALP Branch Member Disappointment at Labor Defence Policies”, Letter to ACT Politicians Katy Gallagher, Andrew Leigh and Alicia Payne I am becoming increasingly depressed at the Labor Continue reading »
Reading
We live in an age where there has never been greater access to information, nor greater doubt about its accuracy. An information explosion risks blowing apart the foundational workings of our democracy. Where we source our information from, who we listen to, who we trust, has changed. You just have to look at your social Continue reading »
In a recent speech, the Federal Treasurer hastily bundled together three things that he felt superannuation funds ought to invest in: renewable energy, defence and housing. It was a classic ‘sandwich’ communication: bracket the unpleasant item between two that sound good. I agree that super funds investing in renewable energy makes good investment sense and Continue reading »
What has become very apparent in public policy over the past twenty years is the extent to which the “short-term” is given precedence over the “long-term”. Both major political parties live to win the next election, and the mainstream media joins in rapturously because it treats politics as a binary competition that is most sensationally Continue reading »
The US has become a more dangerous nation and Donald 2.0, with his instinctive aversion to war, may even be less threatening to the world. Joe Biden’s presidency has very little to write home about. When it comes to foreign and trade policies, he has not only continued his predecessor’s, but also maximised them. While Continue reading »
Three and a half hours. Three and a half hours from Jenin to Tul Karm. In three and a half hours you can fly to Rome, or drive to Eilat. But in the occupied West Bank today you’re barely able to drive between two nearby cities. That’s the time it took us this week to Continue reading »
The Biden campaign is out with a stark new ad featuring a woman talking about traveling out of state to receive an abortion due to Texas’ strict abortion ban. It’s the latest in their push to put reproductive rights front and center in the 2024 race. It will be playing: -during the The Bachelor season premiere -on HGTV, TLC, Bravo, Hallmark, Food Network & Oxygen -during NFL championships – on digital This is very good. But it’s just a start. They need to keep it up.
A quick refresher People don’t know what they don’t know. That’s tautological, but true. One reason I publish ForThe Win every two years (the 5th edition isn’t quite ready) is to give less-experienced Democratic county chairs in under-resourced counties a “cookbook” for assembling a countywide get-out-the-vote program in support of their candidates. State parties assume chairs have already learned the nuts and bolts by the seat of their pants. They instead provide sometimes overly thick manuals focused mainly on party administration. “Where’s the part about electing Democrats?” is my usual reaction. In presidential years, people unfamiliar with local party operations start calling the headquarters here in West Cackalacky (or your Cackalacky). Some have basic election questions. Others want to discuss policy or something they just saw on the news. Angry others want to chew the ears of retiree volunteers who answer the phone as though local committees are part of the Collective with a subspace connection to decisions made in the West Wing. That’s not how this works.
More breaking reporting on the unfolding Boeing debacle, and other news, from The Lever this week.
Depends on which war you mean The race is on to see who burns out on Donald Trump first, Trump Himself or the rest of us. With his shuttling furiously between court apearances and campaign appearances, Trump can no longer tell his Nikkis from his Nancys. “I am your retribution” has turned into “IMMUNITY NOW, IMMUNITY TOMORROW, IMMUNITY FOREVER.” Although neither as smart nor as clever nor as intellectually agile as George Wallace, Jamelle Bouie nonetheless believes Wallace’s “legacy in national politics … is very clearly Trump.” I need a break. Make that “break.” The Russians are still bombing Ukraine. The Israelis are still bombing Gaza. Vladimir Putin is still directing the former and Benjamin Netanyahu, the latter. Al Jazeera provides a rundown of events on Day 697 of the war on Ukraine: “Meat grinder” (Business Insider): Russian marines and paratroopers are refusing to launch certain types of assaults due to concerns over the huge losses other troops are suffering, a Ukrainian official said, the Kyiv Post reported.
Ainsi, la crise de 2008 a créé la surprise dans les rangs des économistes influents, qui croyaient voir le monde entrer au XXIe siècle dans le temps de « la grande modération » – c’est-à-dire la prévention des mouvements économiques erratiques grâce au pilotage « scientifique » des politiques monétaires … Cet épisode a sans […]
In today's BCTV Daily Dispatch: Blue Eye Samurai, Our Flag Means Death, Reacher, Doctor Who, SNL, Star Trek: Lower Decks, and more!
On college campuses around the country, administrators are responding to peaceful sit-ins with sanctions and criminal charges.
The post Amid Gaza Protests, Universities Are Cracking Down on a Celebrated Protest Tactic: Sit-ins appeared first on The Intercept.
The Post Office Scandal. The contaminated blood scandal. Hillsborough. Orgreave. Time and time again, we have witnessed unforgivable episodes in modern British history that demonstrate the total disregard those in position of power and influence have for the lives of ordinary working-class people. Profits and furthering personal careers take priority while working-class communities are forced […]
I’ve been reading Maylis de Kerangal’s Réparer les vivants (oddly available in two different English translations as Heart (US) and Mending the Living (UK)), which I highly recommend. De Kerangal’s speciality is writing about people at work and this is the saga of a heart transplant over 24h, from the beginning of the donor’s day […]
Roger Stone must be proud In case you were wondering who the guy is who’s pushing this scandal about Fani Willis having an affair with her co-prosecutor, it’s this guy. (Article from 2016) Donald Trump’s “election protection” effort will be run by Mike Roman, a Republican operative best known for promoting a video of apparent voter intimidation by the New Black Panthers outside a polling place in 2008. Roman is to oversee poll-watching efforts as Trump undertakes an unprecedented effort by a major party nominee by calling into question the legitimacy of the popular vote weeks before election day. The Republican nominee has insisted, without evidence, that dead people and undocumented immigrants are voting in the United States. Trump has long claimed that the 2016 election is rigged but has amplified his claims of voter fraud in recent days. On Monday he tweeted: “Of course there is large scale voter fraud happening on and before election day. Why do Republican leaders deny what is going on?
There are exceptions:
Use to discuss topics unrelated to recent posts.
It should be good news for Biden. Generally presidents benefit from good economic “vibes.” But who knows? He’s old so they may just hate him no matter the reality. It appears Americans are finally feeling better about the economy. Consumer sentiment, a window into the nation’s financial mood, jumped 13 percent in January to its highest level since mid-2021, reflecting optimism that inflation is easing and incomes are rising, according to a closely watched survey by the University of Michigan. Since November, consumer sentiment has risen 29 percent, marking the largest two-month increase in more than 30 years. Gas prices, often a key driver of sentiment, have fallen 40 percent since June 2022, to just over $3 a gallon. Weekly jobless claims are at their lowest level in more than a year. Sales of cars, clothing and sporting goods all picked up during the holidays, as consumers felt confident enough to keep spending. Meanwhile, the stock market is surging to new records, with the S&P 500 closing at an all-time high on Friday.
Philip Bump did a necessary deep-dive into James Comer’s mendacity about those transcripts. It’s truly astonishing that they are able to get away with this: One of the arguments offered by attorneys for President Biden’s son Hunter when responding to a subpoena from the House Oversight Committee for a closed-door deposition was that the committee had shown a pattern of cherry-picking what would be presented to the public. This is unquestionably true. Over and over and over and over and over, committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) has made debunked and unsubstantiated public statements that cast the president and/or his son as dishonest or has rushed to release unsubstantiated claims or information that similarly collapse under scrutiny. The first year of his investigation into the Bidens made extremely little progress as a result — except where it matters, in the right-wing media universe. Clearly, though, this has not gone unnoticed by those enmeshed in Comer’s sprawling investigation. There was that letter from Hunter Biden’s lawyer Abbe Lowell in November.
We have all heard that 2023 was the warmest year ever for the world, by some margin. We have heard things like this before. What, on the face of it, was worthy of huge headlines got a mention but not a great amount of attention. The IPCC and many competent authorities tell us acting resolutely Continue reading »