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So, the American military can’t make its enlistment quotas:

According to widely-reported leaks the US Army missed its recruiting target by an enormous amount in FY23 and will shrink by some 24,000 people going into 2024 – over 5% of its end strength. Apparently most of the positions being cut are already empty.

It’s no mystery why this is happening – most of the recruiting crisis is attributable to a catastrophic drop in accessions among white men. This is a huge demographic which disproportionately seeks to join the combat arms, so the impact to the Army’s combat power is disproportionately large even in comparison to those bleak numbers.

The result of the 2024 general election in Pakistan was considered a foregone conclusion. With former Prime Minister Imran Khan sentenced to prison on spurious charges, most pundits didn’t give his party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) much of a chance. After all, many of its political heavyweights and even supporters in the media were forced to […]

‘It’s a chaos with some order’ – step into the spectacular clutter of a Portuguese secondhand bookshop in its waning days

- by Psyche Film

Watch at Psyche

Ryan Grim speaks to Stuart Reid about his new book, “The Lumumba Plot.”

The post Fatal Neutrality: Lumumba, the CIA, and the Cold War appeared first on The Intercept.

When we discovered that the brain contained a map of the body it revolutionised neuroscience. But it’s time for an update

- by Moheb Costandi

Read at Aeon

Fed resources offer a view of women in economic history, from their participation in the labor force to their leadership in the economics field.

I’m doing a few solo poetry shows this year, starting this month with Chester, Lincoln & Scarborough. I’ll be in Falmouth, Totnes & Launceston in April. And Belfast & Dublin in October. If you fancy coming along to a show, you can get tickets here: https://brianbilston.com/events/

If Capital One is allowed to acquire Discover, it’ll gain access to a government loophole allowing it to raise prices and reduce competition.

With one word economics lurched into fantasy Steve Keen Human society is energy blind. Like a fish in water, it takes for granted the existence…

As Rishi Sunak talks of 'mob rule', political and media discussion of the violence in Gaza appears to be triggering an increase in hostilities towards Muslims here in the UK

As Australia’s net zero transition threatens to stall, rooftop solar could help provide the power we need Anna Bruce, Baran Yildiz, Dani Alexander and Mike…

Ecological economics and modern monetary economics need each other Steven Hail Here are three things that ecological economists often do not get quite right about…

Rethinking banking as a public franchise Offering economists a more accurate metaphor – Tom Foster Australians are very familiar with the concept of a franchise…

A future threat has become a present reality and time is against us Jamie Morgan This short article is extracted from, and summarises, much of…

“Complexity” in economics Maria Alejandra Madi This blog has been extracted by the author from her longer article which appeared in Real World Economic Review,…

Battery prices are falling again And that’s a good thing – Dan Gearino Cheaper batteries add to the economic case for electric vehicles, even if…

Lessons from Australia in solving Argentina’s economic crisis Steven Hail With Argentina facing dire economic challenges, Steven Hail offers recommendations for recovery based on lessons…

Is it just fear because of the Dominian lawsuit? Has Rupert sent down the word? I just don’t know. But there is a shift at Fox News: Doocy and Cavuto are among the few who are doing this. Hannity and In graham and the rest are still fervently licking Trump’s boots, including letting him and his allies flog the Big lie. But the network has obviously made a decision to allow these other views on the network which is new. And they cover Haley pretty thoroughly too. I don’t know that this will penetrate the cult but it’s worth noting.

From the FrameLab Newsletter: While Putin has stalled in Ukraine, he appears to be making significant gains here in the United States of America. On February 20, federal authorities revealed that the man at the heart of scurrilous allegations against the President Biden — Alexander Smirnov — admitted to having lied about Biden at the […]

A new report has found it will take 55 years for those living in the north-east to have the same healthy life expectancy now enjoyed in London and the south-east of England

With the Government refusing to say how much the controversial asylum plan would cost, MPs commissioned the NAO to produce its own report