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Sat, 06/05/2023 - 08:30
He already did Bill and you helped. For four long years we put up with his antics and he’s trying for another four (or more.) And Bill Barr as much as anyone in the whole GOP establishment helped him do it. The way he handled the Mueller Report and the various cases against Trump associates showed him to be a top henchman and accomplice. He’s right, of course. But most of us have known that from the beginning. Barr thought he could use him to advance his own pet causes so he was willing to put with it. Then he lost and staged a coup and Barr said to himself, “Huh, maybe I should desert this sinking ship before I go down with it.” He has a whole lot to answer for and just stating the obvious isn’t going to do it.
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Sat, 06/05/2023 - 08:30
Here it is: During the October deposition, Carroll’s attorney Roberta Kaplan showed Trump a late-1980s photo of him with his then-wife Ivana, Carroll and her then-husband John Johnson. Referring to Carroll, Trump said, “It’s Marla,” referring to his second wife, Marla Maples. “That’s Marla, yeah. That’s my wife,” he said, before being corrected, and told it was Carroll. The writer sued Trump for defamation and battery after he said she “made up” allegations that he raped her in a New York City department store in the mid-1990s. Trump has adamantly denied the allegations and claimed Carroll “is not my type.” The picture is not blurry: The court released his deposition today and there will be more excerpts released throughout the day. That one is a doozy. So are these: We all know he’s a disgusting pig. But it still has the power to shock to see just how much of a pig he is.
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Sat, 06/05/2023 - 08:08

BEN NORTON: Hi, everyone. I’m Ben Norton, and this is the Geopolitical Economy Report. Today, I have the pleasure of being joined by Michael Hudson, the brilliant economist and author of many books. Michael is also the co-host of a program here, Geopolitical Economy Hour, that he does every two weeks with friend of the Continue Reading

The post The Hard Iron Financial Fist first appeared on Michael Hudson.
Created
Sat, 06/05/2023 - 07:00
That should be the headline. But it isn’t: There is also no reason that the following piece does not explain that Democrats have never held the debt ceiling hostage and voted to extend it without any drama in the Bush and Trump years. This kind of coverage without the context to understand the dynamic means those Independents who blame both parties probably don’t understand what really going on. A Washington Post-ABC News poll finds Americans divided on who they would blame if the nation’s debt ceiling is not raised and the government goes into default, a potentially devastating outcome that could happen as soon as June 1. The poll finds 39 percent of Americans say they would blame Republicans in Congress if the government goes into default, while 36 percent say they would blame President Biden and 16 percent volunteer that they would blame both equally. (That dynamic is similar to the 2011 debt limit showdown, when 42 percent said they would blame congressional Republicans and 36 percent said they would blame President Obama.
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Sat, 06/05/2023 - 04:57
Or will it  fiddle around the edges like the Rudd/Gillard Governments? After seven years of struggle against the AMA and others ,Gough Whitlam and Bill Hayden launched Medibank/Medicare in 1975. Bob Hawke and Neal Blewett then put Medicare back in place after Fraser tried to destroy it. Despite a lot of good intentions and bold Continue reading »
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Sat, 06/05/2023 - 04:56
Bipartisan secrecy and Defence’s poor record with Indigenous groups at Woomera are red flags for consultations over an AUKUS nuclear waste dump. Human rights experts say government must establish an Indigenous veto right. Part one of a two-part series The federal government had no public mandate for any of the AUKUS decisions: no mandate to Continue reading »
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Sat, 06/05/2023 - 04:55
It is about being subjects rather than citizens. It is about ancient oaths of loyalty and fealty. It is about pomp and ceremony paid for by the state. The coronation of King Charles III is a further step towards an Australian Republic. That may seem counter-intuitive because a coronation is an unrivalled opportunity for any Continue reading »
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Sat, 06/05/2023 - 04:54
In Asian Media this week: South Korea nuclear guarantee ‘better than NATO’. Plus: Thaksin party just hangs on to poll lead; Asia tops world growth, with China the driver; Indian court’s progressive sex-gender rulings; Russia sees AUKUS as NATO-style alliance; Asian war ‘far worse than Ukraine’; woman arrested over Thailand serial killings As the 70th Continue reading »
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Sat, 06/05/2023 - 04:53
Calling for a Menzies to rescue the Liberal Party from Dutton; The Reserve Bank: was it economic malice, enslavement to a simple formula, or a misreading of inflation?; and, National Cabinet: is it the best way to handle federal matters?  Read on for the Weekly Roundup of links to articles, reports, podcasts and other media Continue reading »
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Sat, 06/05/2023 - 04:50
Ukraine war and new cold war against China have accelerated the re-emergence of the old non-aligned movement of developing nations. Yanis Varoufakis was late to the game. In a keynote speech given in Cuba early this year, the former Greek socialist finance minister called on the Global South to build a new non-aligned movement in Continue reading »
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Sat, 06/05/2023 - 04:00
For some reason he seems to think this is a great campaign message I know there is a constituency for this blood-thirsty rhetoric but he doesn’t do it with the cartoon-like, WWE glee that Trump does so I suspect even some of Trump’s people may find it just plain icky to hear him say it. Trump has the ability to make violence sound fun even to people who normally might have a tiny bit of conscience. They think it’s schtick. This guy sounds as serious as a heart attack. I don’t think that plays nearly as well.
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Sat, 06/05/2023 - 03:05

“The Writers Guild of America is seeking to restrict the use of artificial intelligence in writing film and television scripts. Hollywood studios, battling to make streaming services profitable and dealing with shrinking ad revenues, have rejected that idea.” – Reuters

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Four Bathrooms and a Urinal

Dirk runs up to Daphne, a human woman who wears sexiness like a coat made of teen models.

DIRK: Here are flowers. They are not a secret anymore.

Dirk is tall.

DAPHNE (giggles three times): Not like my other secret flowers.

Daphne winks. Her mascara is spidery.

DAPHNE: Why are you here, Dirk? Is it the bathroom problem again?

DIRK: No, I have a toilet this week, thank you.

Dirk puts one foot on a chair like a sports guy giving a speech about winning.

Created
Sat, 06/05/2023 - 02:30
Not bloody likely. But it’s probably all we’ve got. The Court has gone rogues and the entire GOP supports it. It seems as though the press is dropping a new Clarence Thomas corruption scandal every day. Yesterday we got two. First, Pro-Publica published yet another story about Thomas’ wealthy benefactor Harlan Crow passing on a lavish gift to his pal which Thomas once again failed to report. This time, it was private school tuition for the grand-nephew Thomas and his wife Ginni have said they raised like he was their own son since he was 6 years old. By evening, we found out that Federalist Society guru Leonard Leo instructed longtime GOP operative Kellyanne Conway back in 2012 to have her polling firm bill his nonprofit group “another $25,000” but give the money to Ginni Thomas — adding, with “no mention of Ginni, of course.” What the hell is going on here? It’s bad enough that Ginni Thomas is a hardcore far-right Republican activist who even participated in the coup attempt of 2020 and spouted QAnon conspiracy theories.