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DeSantis should be held liable for this malfeasance Will Bunch takes on the latest far-right GOP plot to kill Americans. That’s not really hyperbole. The way they behave about public health is a crime. It’s one thing to tell people to be practical and do what they can to protect themselves and others without requiring lockdowns or mandates. That seems to be the consensus as we go into this new surge. But to say the vaccines are dangerous is just plain evil. They just don’t give a damn about the vulnerable people in our country. I guess that’s nothing new. But it’s never been more obvious. The initial, overrepeated mantra of Gov. Ron DeSantis’s presidential campaign was that “Florida is the state where ‘woke’ goes to die.” Now, a growing number of scientists and public-health experts are worried that the governor of America’s third-largest state may be adding a second risk of death to that list. His own citizens.

by Jean-Louis Laville* Two major lessons emerge from the 19th and 20th centuries. Firstly, the promotion of a market society underpinned by a concern for individual freedom has increased inequality; secondly, the subjugation of the economy to political will under the pretext of equality has led to the suppression of freedoms. These two solutions have […]

On the 5th of September 2023, more than 130 local and state government professionals participated in the Spotlight on Greater Melbourne Economy webinar where we highlighted key findings from the 2023 State of the...

I keep hearing the right wingers bellow that “they’re coming for your children” and “keep your hands off my kids!” Uh huh: While right-wing groups are mobilizing angry mobs to yell at school board members that parents have the right to control what their children are taught, evangelical pollster George Barna told religious-right activists at the Family Research Council’s “Pray Vote Stand” summit Thursday that it is their duty to try to indoctrinate other people’s children into a “biblical worldview.” Barna, one of the first senior fellows at FRC’s recently established Center for Biblical Worldview, specializes in studying what he calls “SAGE Cons”—Spiritually Active Governance Engaged Conservative Christians. What is most striking about FRC and Barna’s “worldview” project is how few people—and how few conservative evangelicals—measure up to their right-wing “biblical worldview” standard.

A nation-wide shortage of white pillow cases has caused the ‘No campaign’ to cancel their upcoming rallies, a move which has inconvenienced 10’s of people. ”Really disappointed to have to cancel the rallies, a lot of people have put a... Read More ›

Timothy Snyder on the dangers of the fantasy that the oligarchs will save us: The Silicon Valley oligarch, perhaps the richest man in the world, extends a hand to his fellow oligarch, the man who has his finger on Russia’s nuclear button. They share a secret about the foolishness of the masses, and take action to save us all from ourselves. Thanks to the two of them, the world is saved from Armageddon. Not the precis of a favourably reviewed work of dystopian fiction but a scenario presented as though it happened, in a biography of Elon Musk and its press campaign. Although neither Musk nor his biographer can get the story straight, it is true that the multibillionaire CEO of X (the platform formerly known as Twitter) refused to extend the coverage of his Starlink satellite communications for the Ukrainian armed forces last autumn. Musk did so because Russians (sometimes he says Putin) told him that a Ukrainian attack on part of Ukraine’s own territory (the Crimean peninsula, occupied by Russia) would lead to a Russian nuclear response.

How ironic that mainstream newspapers and conservative commentators should lambast former prime minister Paul Keating for living in the past when he denounced the AUKUS agreement and the Labor government’s fulsome support of it. It was, of course, the AUKUS agreement itself, entered into by Scott Morrison, Boris Johnson and Joe Biden in 2022, that Continue reading »

The intellectual space for revolutionary new thoughts accompanies social change and inevitably the revolution is a surprise and incomprehensible to elites when it comes. Social, economic, and political disruption is accelerating because of climate change, new advanced technologies, economic stress, and geopolitics. The space for revolutionary thought is growing. The rejection of liberalism and democracy Continue reading »

“The evidence is compelling that human exceptionalism is a deeply-flawed construct – a grand cultural illusion – that has led modern techno-industrial societies into a potentially fatal ecological trap.” William Rees, Author, The Human Ecology of Overshoot. The long-standing, gender-dominant human cultural course has come to its final dark expression. The question now is, will Continue reading »

This is a story of what a voice can achieve and how easily it is undone by external forces. A little over 35 years ago I was Council Clerk and CDEP Coordinator for a small indigenous community in the far reaches of the Northern Territory tablelands. I saw my task was to act as the Continue reading »

Of the proposition that he was the greatest there can be no doubt. Ronald Dale Barassi, 87, was the most prominent name in our great indigenous game for 70 years. The numbers can’t be disputed: 17 grand finals for 10 premierships. “17410” was the number Barass put under his signature. Of course, it adds up Continue reading »

On 10 September 2023, at the end of refugee Neil Para’s marathon 1014 kilometre walk from Ballarat to Sydney, it was made public that Neil, his wife, Sugaa, and two daughters, Nivash and Kartie, had been granted permanent visas (his youngest, Nive, was born in Australia, and she was made a citizen when she turned Continue reading »

Is war inevitable? The short answer, for any peace activist or anyone wanting to inhabit a world that can sustain life must be no! Is war an imminent possibility, then the short answer is, regardless of the hopes, wishes and desires of the people, an unfortunate yes. Building a movement that makes war not imminent Continue reading »

The China threat has much more to do with the insecurity and indecision of the West towards the country, the emerging multipolar world and the erosion of Western dominance. First it was a big fat balloon observable from many kilometres from the ground that was supposedly spying on the United States. Now, a 20-something parliamentary Continue reading »

Week-end Wrap – Political Economy – September 17, 2023

by Tony Wikrent

 

Civic republicanism

The Pedagogy of Power

Chris Hedges, September 10, 2023 [scheerpost.com]

The press decided to pivot to Old Brandon Dan Pfeiffer in his newsletter today takes it to the media for their coverage of Biden’s age. After watching Meet the Press today, I’m fed up: Here’s how the self-proclaimed paper of record decided to report on President Biden’s grueling 5-day trip to Asia. Nearly every line of the story is rage-inducing, but this might be the most annoying part: I promise you that the apparatchiks at the Trump campaign are high-fiving over the fact that they got the New York Times to push their chosen narrative about Biden even though the entire trip undermined that narrative. It’s not just the New York Times, the Associated Press recently headlined a story on their new poll with this atrocity: “Trump has problems of his own.” Hmm, I wonder what those could possibly be. Do people not like his policy platform? Are they concerned about his position on Social Security? Or maybe Trump’s problems have something to do with the fact that HE HAS BEEN CHARGED WITH 91 FELONIES IN FOUR CASES IN FOUR JURISDICTIONS!

“We don’t have the evidence now, but we may find it later” — McCaul is what passes for a “serious Republican” these days pic.twitter.com/bPMX1YPOec — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 17, 2023   Nancy Mace on ABC insists that there’s evidence Biden was bribed — but notably, she can’t seem to cite any! pic.twitter.com/steI1pOWML — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 17, 2023   the call where Trump threatened to withhold aid to Ukraine unless the government there helped him dig up dirt on Joe Biden? is DeSantis’s position that extorting a foreign government is fine if it happens on the phone? https://t.co/uIqghdNLAi — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 17, 2023   the call where Trump threatened to withhold aid to Ukraine unless the government there helped him dig up dirt on Joe Biden? is DeSantis’s position that extorting a foreign government is fine if it happens on the phone? https://t.co/uIqghdNLAi — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 17, 2023

I’m pleased to share a ‘save the date’ for study tour: London (UK) in May 2024. Here’s the link: https://cihcanada.ca/calendar-by-month/calendar-by-list/ For this particular event, there will be two components: a housing tour for 2.5 days, and then a homelessness tour for 2.5 days. We expect some people will choose to register for both, while others will pick just one. The [...]

From the “I Can’t Even” files If not for Tucker Carlson and ball tanning, I’d think this was a joke (Washington Post): It’s been almost 2,000 years since the Roman Empire reached the historic peak of its power. But many men still contemplate it — quite a lot. A new social media trend prompting women to ask the men in their lives how often they think about ancient Rome reveals that it crosses the minds of many men on a weekly basis. Even daily. Or more — to the surprise and confusion of their loved ones. “Three times a day,” answered one woman’s fiancé in a TikTok video. “There’s so much to think about,” he explained, eliciting a stunned look into the camera from his soon-to-be wife. “They built an entire world-dominating society,” another man exclaimed when asked by a bewildered-looking woman to justify why he contemplates ancient Rome. Domination. Got it. @listenwithbritt #stitch with @HapaGirl learning new things after 13 years.

Another day brings another #WhoSpy clue for the upcoming three-episode Doctor Who 60th Anniversary event - this one featuring the TARDIS.

Don’t listen to the Sirens. Don’t look at Medusa. It’s the GOP’s trusty “Benghazi, Benghazi, Benghazi” tactic. They’re gonna “But her emails” Joe Biden from here to next November. With help from a compliant, both-sides press again. The GOP’s goal of course is to repeat unsubstantiated allegations often enough that they are the first impression that comes to mind when people think about the opposing candidate. Take for instance this word cloud Gallup assembled this time seven years ago: It’s a variant of poisoning the well. Newt Ginrich taught them well. In the Trump era, the GOP has abandoned “Optimistic Positive Governing Words.” (Governing is no longer their aspiration.) But Republicans are still hell at “Contrasting Words.” Republicans desperate to distract attention from their front-runner’s two impeachments, four indictments and an insurrection will flood the zone with “old,” “senile,” “corrupt,” “Hunter,” and “impeachment.” A little baseless impeachment here, a ton of innuendo there, and voila! Biden is damaged goods.

Enligt Elinor Odeberg borde Sverige, precis som en del andra länder, ha agerat mer direkt. Hon tar upp Spanien som ett exempel. – Trots att Spanien hade ett väldigt starkt beroende av rysk energi, till skillnad från Sverige som inte hade någon import av rysk energi att tala om, så har Sverige betydligt högre inflation […]