Is a taser a tool, or a torture weapon? That’s something Australians should think upon; Late news suggests to me that’s more than just a teaser. Imagine an old grey guy, nicknamed ‘Grumpy Geyser’ – He’s limping his frame across the road, A bread knife in one hand has him slowed. A panicked nurse had Continue reading »
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Bob Katter is not known for his searching socio-economic analysis, but when he rails in Parliament that it is an indictment of Australia’s banana republic economy that Coles and Woolworths have long toppled manufacturing companies as the largest private sector employers in Australia, it is hard to argue with his logic. Australia has the veneer Continue reading »
Thirty-seven countries have imposed economic sanctions on Russia since its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The breadth of this campaign has few precedents in recent history. The sanctions covering finance, energy, technology, travel, shipping, avionics and commodities are aimed at one of the 10 largest world economies. Yet the economic pressure on Moscow is Continue reading »
The Washington Post finally conceded in an editorial recently that the United States must “spend smarter” when it comes to defence. Instead of looking for ways to cut defence spending, however, the Post simply wants to spend differently. It favours more spending on conventional and nuclear-armed submarines, despite the huge U.S. advantage in both power Continue reading »
Week-end Wrap – Political Economy – June 18, 2023
by Tony Wikrent
MY FIFTY YEARS WITH DAN ELLSBERG
Seymour Hersh [via Naked Capitalism 6-17-2023]
Climate and environmental crises
[Watching the World Go Bye, via Naked Capitalism 6-14-2023]
I’m so old I remember when that book caused the religious right to have a hysterical meltdown. Good times. Salon’s Kathryn Joyce takes a look at this emerging coalition of conservative American Muslims and far right Christians protesting gay rights. She notes that one of the hotspots of this activism is oddly in Southern California where there has been a number of large protests. “In covering the far-right in LA and Southern California,” tweeted local photographer and journalist Joey Scott, “[i]t is always the same people who have been fixtures since even before 2020.” Others noted that many of the concerned “conservative parents” cited in media reports didn’t seem to “even know which school district they are protesting.” “From Los Angeles to Glendale, it is clear that organized white-supremacist, fascist forces such as the Proud Boys, the Patriot Front and potentially others are specifically targeting LGBTQ+ students, families and educators,” wrote the labor union United Teachers Los Angeles in a statement.
He’s now calling himself the king. He does act like he’s some kind of dethroned king in exile preparing to take back his throne. Or maybe he’s the golden goose that’s being slaughtered? Or is Fox the golden goose that lived on the prairie? What the hell is he talking about?
Nearly eight months after it was announced, it appears the deal between Disney & the BBC's Doctor Who is paying off in a very important way.
Institute for Public Accuracy
Former President Trump is facing 31 counts under the Espionage Act, the same federal statute that was the basis for the prosecution of U.S. Air Force veteran Daniel Hale, who is now serving a 45-month prison sentence as a drone whistleblower.
Hello everyone! I just want to make a quick announcement that because I’m working on a book and doing several events this summer, my posting schedule will be a bit more sporadic. I’m not disappearing completely, it’s just going to be a bit more touch and go. Enjoy the summer my friends <3
Turn in your hymnals to….. Inflation is down. In fact, it is down to four percent from its four-decade high of 9.1 percent last June, writes John Cassidy in The New Yorker. But that seems not to have penetrated public consciousness. President Biden is getting little credit for the improvement, pushed out of the headlines by the Trump indictment. Perhaps also, Cassidy suggests, because there are lags between numerical improvements and people’s perceptions. Biden’s approval ratings have not recovered like the economic indicators. Egg prices have plummeted since avian flu sent them skyrocketing in 2022. But prices are still more than 80 percent higher than in January 2021. “The price of gasoline is another example. At about $3.70 a gallon, the average price across the country has fallen considerably since last year’s peak of $5.10 a gallon,” Cassidy reports. “But the price is still well above its January, 2021, level, which was about $2.50 a gallon.” Other consumer prices remain higher. Consumers still feel pinched: Figures like these leave the White House in a bind. Even though inflation, job growth, and G.D.P.
The team’s NBA championship victory offers important lessons about solidarity and teamwork.
QAnon seemed mostly harmless too QAnon appeared to be just a loose network of conspiracy crackpots until a bare-chested guy wearing horns and face paint stood on U.S. Senate’s dais on Jan. 6. Fred Clarkson, a senior research analyst at Political Research Associates, has worked to draw attention to another loose network of believers with political designs on the country: The New Apostolic Reformation (NAR). This network of nondenominational churches aligned with Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA has aspirations for replacing our “demon-infested bastions of ungodly government,” he Clarkson writes. Clarkson provides an overview at Salon: The NAR seeks to consolidate those Christians it recognizes as “the Church” in what it believes to be the End Times. Although many NAR leaders have been closely aligned with Donald Trump, they insist that they aim for a utopian biblical kingdom where only God’s laws are enforced. Most therefore hold to a vision of Christian dominion over what they call the “seven mountains“: religion, family, education, government, media, entertainment and business.
I dessa tider — när ljudrummet dränks i den kommersiella radions pubertalflams — har man nästan gett upp. Men det finns ljus i mörkret. I programmet Text och musik med Eric Schüldt — som sänds på söndagsförmiddagarna i P2 mellan klockan 11 och 12 — kan man lyssna på seriös musik och en programledare som […]
Guyana is poised to become Exxon’s top global oil producer. Where the company ends and the government begins is increasingly unclear.
The post How Exxon Captured a Country Without Firing a Shot appeared first on The Intercept.
New York’sTribeca Film Festival wraps up this weekend. However, you can catch up- the festival is offering select titles via the “Tribeca at Home” online portal from June 19th through July 2nd . I have a few more reviews to share with you, so let’s dive in… Cinnamon ** (USA) – Coffy? Meet Cinnamon. Written, directed and executive produced by Bryian Keith Montgomery Jr., this crime thriller marks the first offering under the banner of Village Roadshow Pictures’ Black Noir Cinema, which according to Variety, “…aims to adapt and redefine the Blaxploitation genre and translate its spirit of empowerment to a new generation of Black audiences.” With all due respect, isn’t that an avenue that filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino (e.g. Jackie Brown, Django Unchained) and the Hughes Brothers (e.g. Dead Presidents) have already been traversing for a couple of decades? I’m just asking questions. Hailey Kilgore plays a young woman who works at a gas station and aspires to make it big in the music biz.
“It just felt icky” Some local Iowa news. Lol: Never Back Down PAC, the political action committee supporting Florida governor Ron DeSantis, has caused a stir in early voting state Iowa — but maybe not in the way they had hoped. The PAC is being accused of disrespecting the Black Hawk County Republicans by sending too many activists to the group’s participation in a local parade last weekend. The Black Hawk County Republican chair, Craig Lohmann, sent an email invitation to the campaigns of the GOP primary candidates to walk with them in the annual My Waterloo Days parade. In the email, Lohmann says that campaigns may send “a few” representatives “with shirts with names and some handouts.” He cautioned the campaigns and associated PACs to avoid giving the impression that the Black Hawk County GOP was endorsing any candidate. […] According to April Melton, a Black Hawk County GOP central committee member, the group was taken aback when the Never Back Down PAC showed up with twenty-two activists carrying triple-stacked signs and a large “DeSantis 2024” flag.
The Supreme Court said his innocence didn’t matter. Jones was released thanks to a plea deal between his lawyers and Arizona.
The post After 29 Years on Death Row, Barry Jones Was Dumped at a Bus Station. But He Was Finally Free. appeared first on The Intercept.
It’s not just about CRT Jonathan Chait points out that DeSantis’ rhetoric and policies go way beyond opposition to educational theories. He’s happy to indulge the lowest common denominator: Last week, Florida governor Ron DeSantis promised to rename Fort Liberty after Confederate general Braxton Bragg, a slave owner who fought against the United States whose name previously adorned the base. On Thursday, DeSantis vetoed spending for a Black History Month celebration in Orlando and cut $200,000 for a festival celebrating Florida’s Black Music Legacy. Last year, DeSantis vetoed a $1 million appropriation for Valencia College to create a film about the 1920 Ocoee Election Day massacre, in which a white mob murdered dozens of Black Floridians. There does seem to be a pattern here. DeSantis likes to feature these issues. The message he prefers to emphasize is his fight with the radical left over critical race theory and other abstruse left-wing academic concepts. “We believe in teaching kids facts and how to think, but we don’t believe they should have an agenda imposed on them,” he said earlier this year.