This new talking point is just plain weird. It’s all over Fox News that Biden doesn’t care about the Maui fire victims: Okaaaay: For some weird reason, the fact that Biden stopped to talk to a dog handler and pat the dog is being portrayed as more evidence of his cold indifference to suffering. Whatever. This is clearly an official talking point that’s coming out of Republican circles following the old Karl Rove strategy of “attack your enemy’s strength” as they did with John Kerry. But that was attacking him for something he’d done long in the past that couldn’t be verified. This is something that’s happening in real time. Not that it will stop them. They have realized that they can say anything — up is down and black is white — and their audience will believe them because they see nothing else. And if they do happen to see something that refutes the MAGA media, they just think it’s fake news. And honestly, the right is so performative now that it’s really all just a big game show to them. It doesn’t matter if it’s true. All that matters is if it owns the libs.
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Political Economy Seminar
The uncertain foundations of sustainable investing and the politics of risk
Speaker: Dr Claire Parfitt, University of Sydney
Date and time: Tuesday 12 September at 12 noon
Location: Social Sciences Building (A02), Room 650, The University of Sydney
The post Seminar: Claire Parfitt, ‘The uncertain foundations of sustainable investing and the politics of risk’ appeared first on Progress in Political Economy (PPE).
The last time Trump skipped a debate was January 28, 2016. Remember this? Those were the days. I’m going to guess that won’t happen this time. Ron DeSantis has been admonished not to go after Trump and instead take on Vivek Ramaswamy and he’s already sinking like a rock in the polls. Chris Christie will likely be the lone Trump critic and he’ll probably be pretty harsh. But what difference does it make? This debate is basically a death watch pageant to determine who will be in position to step in if Trump is unable to run? Nothing will ever beat this moment, however. He’s so dignified. The good news for Trump lovers is that he’ll be with Tucker Carlson on his Xitter show: The interview between Carlson and Trumpalmost didn’t happen, according to two people familiar with its planning.The men had been talking informally for two months about possibly setting up an event to draw attention away from the Fox-hosted debate.
When those lefty freaks at The (un)Australian tweeted me to ask if I would write for them you could have knocked me over with a feather as I swore I’d blocked them. But then I got to thinking, you know Mark, the... Read More ›
Violence is written in their genes.
The post Elephants Never Forget War appeared first on Nautilus.
Republicans trust their doctors to make health recommendations. That’s good… But nearly 75% of Republicans trust Donald Trump to make health recommendations. They trust him over the CDC. Here’s where we are. Trump pushed Operation Warp Speed and took the vaccine but he isn’t allowed to take credit for it because his people have been brainwashed against them: America’s growing anti-vaxx crisis has been laid bare in a national poll that shows huge chunks of the country believe in conspiracy theories about safe shots. One-quarter of adults said they believe the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine causes autism – a widely studied and discredited claim that emerged in the 1990s. The Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) poll also found that a third of adults believe that the Covid shots caused thousands of sudden deaths in otherwise healthy people. The vaccine-skeptical movement across the country intensified after the Covid pandemic, linked to pushback against Covid vaccine mandates and increased misinformation as people spent more time online.
How a composer is working with NASA scientists to shift our thinking about obsolescence.
The post The Case for a 200-Year Space Mission appeared first on Nautilus.
Former president Donald Trump won’t be appearing at tonight’s GOP presidential debate in Milwaukee Wisconsin. He says he has no need to participate because he’s so far ahead in the polls. And he’s right. He’s also very busy. He needs to get ready to be arrested on Thursday when he turns himself in for booking at the Fulton County jail. He’s got a lot on his plate. It will be interesting to see if any of the challengers will summon up the nerve to attack Trump for failing to show up or go after him for his legal problems. I’m sure we’ll hear something about Hunter Biden since this will be broadcast on Fox and they apparently have some sort of contractual obligation to discuss the “Biden Crime Family” every ten minutes or so. I expect the candidates will all be eager to participate. The question really is whether any of the challengers will take the opportunity to tell the audience about the “Trump Crime Family’s” global pay-to-play operation.
The sexual connotation of support for AUKUS should be obvious. An apparent fascination with phallic symbols as large as nuclear submarines, plus language describing how to dominate and penetrate enemies shows notions of security which reflect a top down, masculine interpretation of power. The AUKUS fanning of an us and them idea of opposing forces, Continue reading »
The morning of the ALP National Conference on 18 August, ABC online news led with two ‘Bad China’ stories. One about whether China is building an airstrip on a contested island, the other likely to cause great discomfort and anxiety to Australians because it showed the level of China’s spying on Australia via hundreds of Continue reading »
Richard Marles said the quiet bit out loud ahead of the ALP conference AUKUS debate while Prime Minister Anthony Albanese seems to have been, er, “economical with the truth”. The Sydney Morning Herald reported that the Defence Minister had been “urging colleagues to back the statement and prove to Australians that Labor is the better party Continue reading »
In the early 1960s, the then USSR started building missile sites in Cuba, near enough to Florida for endurance swimmers. This almost led to the Cold War turning flaming hot. Now Australia is to buy more than 200 US missiles and stage them close to Indonesia. The Arafura Sea is too wide to swim, but the Continue reading »
Australian governments are now amongst the biggest users of external consultants on the planet. Our country has seen the privatisation of core government tasks at an extraordinary level over the past decade along with an increase in spending on private service providers that is hard to believe. While decent public sector jobs have languished in Continue reading »
“Extensive media coverage has suggested… that Mr [Shaoquett] Moselmane was a suspect in serious criminality. This was incorrect. … The committee does not form a view on the propriety or otherwise of the conduct of the AFP or sections of the media. However, in these circumstances, the committee urges the AFP to ensure sufficient resources Continue reading »
The accepted norm of Western dominance of the global order is now over. The difficult matter for those in the West to accept is that the mantle of leadership is not being passed from one Anglo-Western power to another of the same ilk, but rather one neither Anglo, nor Western, and dare I say it, Continue reading »
It is hard to gauge the importance of the Trumpist Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) event that took place in Sydney this weekend. There were more high-profile figures speaking than previously, and several currently serving politicians alongside white supremacists and antisemites. CPAC’s budget did not allow the recreation of the Nazi “odal” rune stage shape Continue reading »
A pharmaceutical company could slow-walk research on medicines Americans need in response to Biden’s recently enacted federal price regulations.
I wake up earlier than usual, fresh-faced and ready to take on the day. I did not spend the entire night tossing and turning, kept up by anxious dreams in which the movers arrived late, the previous tenants in my new place decided they actually didn’t want to move out, and the box filled with all of my precious family heirlooms was struck by lightning as I carried it out of my apartment.
My cats get into their carriers without any fuss. In fact, they’re ecstatic to be in there and wink at me to let me know, after years of wondering, that they actually have human-like intelligence and love me. Very much.
My landlord is sad I’m leaving and compliments me on the alterations I made to the apartment during my two-year stay. “Striped peel-and-stick wallpaper really brightens up the kitchen,” he beams. He gives me back my security deposit in full and refunds me two months’ rent for being “an absolute delight.” We stay in touch and become lifelong friends. I eventually convince him that landlording is unethical, and he gives it up to start a sanctuary for retired carriage horses.
This is just sad: When Gov. Bill Lee of Tennessee began a push in April to address public safety, his family was grieving the loss of two close friends, both educators killed in a mass shooting at a Nashville Christian school. His call for millions of dollars to harden school security was embraced by Republicans in the legislature, who flanked him during a formal announcement. But days later, when Mr. Lee, a Republican, decided to go further and ask for an order of protection law that could temporarily restrict an individual’s access to firearms, he stood alone for the announcement. The legislature would wrap up its work by the end of the month without taking a vote to pass it. Now, Mr. Lee has summoned lawmakers back to Nashville on Monday for a special session on public safety that could include consideration of a limited version of the law. But without the support of most in his own party, that measure appears, once again, destined for failure, underscoring the power dynamics of a Republican supermajority driven by a right-wing base hardened against any potential infringement on gun ownership. They won’t even go for a temporary restriction on firearms.
Gambling companies received 31,500% more in fines than in the same period a decade ago, Byline Times' analysis reveals
The governor’s allies took the first steps toward moves that could upend the election of Democratic prosecutors and even judges.
The post Ron DeSantis’s Next Ideological Coup: “Judicial Gerrymander” in Florida appeared first on The Intercept.