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Week-end Wrap – Political Economy – July 2, 2023

by Tony Wikrent

War

The Darkness Ahead: Where The Ukraine War Is Headed

John Mearsheimer [via Naked Capitalism 7-1-2023]

The real casualties of Russia’s ‘civil war’: the Beltway expert class 

Max Blumenthal [The Grayzone, via Naked Capitalism 6-29-2023]

Yikes: In another era of politics, Republican presidential hopefuls may have hesitated before hitching their brands to an organization whose members have harassed and threatened opponents, fantasized about enacting gun violence, mingled with known extremist groups, quoted Nazi leader Adolf Hitler in their materials, and earned a designation as an anti-government hate group. It’s safe to say that time is long gone. Five 2024 candidates traveled to the birthplace of the United States to take turns auditioning for the support of a sold-out crowd of Moms for Liberty activists and rhetorically kissing the rings of the group’s co-founders, former school board members Tina Descovich and Tiffany Justice, at their “Joyful Warriors” conference in Philadelphia this week. It’s little surprise; Moms for Liberty has emerged as a juggernaut in the conservative movement since its inception two years ago.

Alan Arkin was a part of my childhood. He lived in Chappaqua, where I grew up. His son Tony was in my grade. Arkin used to come to our elementary school, I’m guessing, though I can’t remember for sure, for something like career day. He’d be spotted around town. More important to me was “The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming.” Not only was it one of my favorite movies as a kid; it was also one of my dad’s. It’s one of the few movies where I remember my dad laughing out loud. The other was Mel Brooks’s “Spaceballs.” Anyway, I have fond memories of my dad and I laughing through “The Russians Are Coming.” In memory of […]

South Carolina, y’all Yup. Pretty much like this: In which a local deploys a metaphor: Sen. Lindsey Graham is from Central, SC where he once tended bar. Central is just south of Pickens. (I lived in Central, a former mill village, for a stretch in the mid-1980s.) Lindsey seems to have outlived his usefulness to local MAGA foot soldiers. Nobody gets indoctrinated around these parts. Hell, no: Back in the day, the weekly Mountain Monitor of Travelers Rest used to document the weekly car wrapped around a tree and feature (IIRC) articles borrowed from The Thunderbolt (Klan), the apparent voice of truth in America. Since then, T.R. (just north of Greenville) has gentrified some. Pickens, less so, apparently. Southern Poverty Law Center on the National Justice Party.

Feels like another big one Here’s an eye-catching headline: Man cited in Supreme Court LGBTQ rights case says he was never involved. In 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis on Friday, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in favor of Lorie Smith, a Colorado web designer who objected to building a wedding web site for a gay couple … that did not exist. Wait, what?! Washington Post: Lorie Smith filed her initial case to Colorado district court in 2016, arguing that the state’s anti-discrimination law prevented her from including a message on the webpage for her company, 303 Creative, stating that she would not create wedding websites for gay couples. In subsequent court documents, her lawyers cited a query that they said was sent by an individual named Stewart with contact information that matches the person The Post interviewed. The request asked for Smith’s services for Stewart’s forthcoming wedding to a person named “Mike.” “We are getting married early next year and would love some design work done for our invites, placenames etc. We might also stretch to a website,” the message cited in the case read.

The MVC team discusses the military drama about a racially motivated murder during WWII.

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Pro-business politicians embraced the idea of so-called green investing — until the SEC suggested companies should report their full emissions.

The post The Right’s Desperate Push to Tank ESG and Avoid Disclosing Climate Risks appeared first on The Intercept.

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Όπως φαντάζεστε, αυτές τις μέρες δέχομαι συνεχείς προσκλήσεις να σχολιάσω την παραίτηση του Αλέξη Τσίπρα. Πέραν μιας σύντομης ανάρτησης δεν έχω να προσθέσω κάτι. Ίσως όμως βοηθήσει τον δημόσιο διάλογο, ιδίως εντός της Αριστεράς, η αναπαραγωγή ενός κειμένου στο οποίο είχα πασχίσει να καταγράψω, χωρίς κανένα πάθος ή φόβο, όσα κατανόησα για τον άνθρωπο. [Ακολουθεί […]

The post Αντί σχολίου περί παραίτησης Τσίπρα: Δύο σύντροφοι-αινίγματα (απόσπασμα από το ΑΝΙΚΗΤΟΙ ΗΤΤΗΜΕΝΟΙ, 2017) appeared first on Yanis Varoufakis.

Following Greece’s latest election, after which Alexis Tsipras announced his resignation, a journalist asked me: “What conclusion do you draw from this situation?” Here is my answer: The crucial conclusion to be drawn is that radicals are never welcomed for long into the club of the powerful, even if they are willing to betray their […]

The post Alexis Tsipras resigns: lessons for progressives appeared first on Yanis Varoufakis.

YOUTH Leading The World (YLTW) Coffs Coast, organised by OzGREEN, takes place 9am-4pm Wednesday 12 July to 9am-4pm Thursday 13 July at The Link, Toormina. The YLTW gathering is a free two-day event bringing together young people aged 12 to 25 who are interested in the environment and sustainability. Advertise with News of The Area...

The post Youth Leading The World Coffs Coast gather to plan action on social change appeared first on News Of The Area.

SURPRISES reigned at Sunday’s opening of Coffs Harbour Creative Arts Group’s (CHCAG) new exhibition, All Creatures Great & Small. David Bromley, well-known artist, illustrator, printmaker and muralist, was revealed as the judge for this members’ favourite, annual competition. Advertise with News of The Area today. It’s worth it for your business. Message us. Phone us...

The post Prizes and surprises at Coffs Harbour Creative Arts Group exhibition appeared first on News Of The Area.

A MEETING between Agriculture Minister Tara Moriarty and senior Forestry Corporation staffers at Bagawa State Forest has locals suspicious. The locals don’t trust Forestry Corporation. Advertise with News of The Area today. It’s worth it for your business. Message us. Phone us – (02) 4981 8882. Email us – media@newsofthearea.com.au Ms Moriarty visited Bagawa State...

The post Minister Moriarty hosted by Forestry Corporation in Bagawa State Forest appeared first on News Of The Area.

If you were to do an informal poll of conventional progressive opinion—asking where is the public to be found, in acts of speech or in the marketplace—I suspect most liberals, and probably not a few leftists, would say: in acts of speech. Since the eighteenth century, speech has been firmly associated with the public sphere or the public square. “The people’s darling privilege”: that’s how freedom of speech was understood, as the instrument of the people, assembled in their sovereign and public capacity. There’s a long history behind the notion, stretching back to Aristotle, whose justification for the claim that man is a political animal rests upon the fact that human beings, unlike other animals, have the capacity for speech. […]

IPLAY Tenpin City has officially arrived at Coffs Harbour, located in the historic Club300 Bowling & Bar on Grafton Street. Having recently acquired the venue, iPlay Australia is open for business with plans for a huge, community, family fun day opening later in the year. Advertise with News of The Area today. It’s worth it...

The post Press play on fun at Coffs’ new iPlay Tenpin City appeared first on News Of The Area.

Source - Patreon

Source - Patreon

The largest, most historically influential progressive non-profit radio network in America, Pacifica Radio, faces a takeover attempt by Democratic Party elements. Will Pacifica embrace the pro-war logic it was created to oppose? “I can’t imagine the New York Times, flawed as it is in many ways, would be part of some grand conspiracy to implicate Assad.” -Sonali Kolhatkar, A Syrian Speaks Out on Trump’s Latest Bombing, on Pacifica Radio’s KPFA-Northern California, KPFK-Los Angeles, and KPFT-Houston in April 2018 When Pacifica […]

The post The impending pro-war Democratic Party takeover of Pacifica Radio first appeared on The Grayzone.

The post The impending pro-war Democratic Party takeover of Pacifica Radio appeared first on The Grayzone.

What in God’s name did he do to deserve this? He’s the most servile of Trump loving Senators in the government? I don’t get it. Trump pretty much calls him a liberal. What’s he talking about? Graham isn’t happy. This may be a watershed moment for him. There is literally nothing he can do to make himself more of a Trump sycophant and it isn’t enough, They hate him anyway. He is nothing. Update. Ok. I guess it must be Ukraine. I suppose he can try to become a Putin loving symp in a vain attempt to remain “relevant” but that’s all he’s got left. Yikes. This is so fucking sick: Sounds just a little “Auschwitz-y” to me. She knew what she was saying. They all did.

We knew Trump had called Arizona Governor Doug Ducey (remember seeing that video of him getting a phone call with the “hail to the chief” ring tone while he was signing the electoral count paperwork?) We had not heard for sure until now whether Trump was doing what we thought he was doing: In a phone call in late 2020,President Donald Trump tried to pressure Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R) to overturn the state’spresidential election results, saying that if enough fraudulent votes could be found it would overcome Trump’s narrow loss in Arizona, according to three people familiar with the call. Trump also repeatedly asked Vice President Mike Pence to call Ducey and prod him to find the evidence to substantiate Trump’s claims of fraud, according to two of these people. Pence called Ducey several times to discuss the election, they said, though he did not follow Trump’s directions to pressure the governor. The extent of Trump’s efforts to cajole Ducey into helping him stay in power have not before been reported, even as other efforts by Trump’s lawyer and allies to pressure Arizona officials have been made public.

This is just depressing: Six months since the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol completed its work, a far-right ecosystem of true believers has embraced “J6” as the animating force of their lives. They attend the criminal trials of the more prominent rioters charged in the attack. They gather to pray and sing “The Star-Spangled Banner” on the outer perimeter of the District of Columbia jail, where some two dozen defendants are held. Last week, dozens showed up at an unofficial House hearing convened by a handful of Republican lawmakers to challenge “the fake narrative that an insurrection had occurred on Jan. 6,” as set forth by Jeffrey Clark, a witness at the hearing and a former Justice Department official who worked to undo the results of the 2020 election. The 90-minute event was a through-the-looking-glass alternative to the damning case against former President Donald J. Trump presented last year by the Jan. 6 committee.