Let’s say Israel succeeds in taking out Hamas. Then what? President Biden will be in Israel tomorrow and his trip has likely been planned with an eye toward holding back the Israeli government from the impulsive, grief-driven decision making that can lead to massive errors in judgement. From what we understand, the US and allies have been pushing Israel to take a breath, consider the humanitarian consequences and think about the day after. If anyone knows the folly of acting out of emotion and/or opportunism after a catastrophic terrorist attack it’s the United States. And the stakes are even higher for Israel. One big demand on the part of the US is apparently that Israel have a plan for a post-Hamas Gaza. It’s unclear that they have one. This piece in the NY Times today by a post-war planner about what needs to be done seems highly relevant: I headed postwar Iraq planning for the U.S. State Department in 2002 and 2003. Once the White House decided in 2002 to remove Saddam Hussein by force, I cautioned my superiors that there needed to be serious planning for what would follow.
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Australia’s biased friendship towards Israel undermines peace and forsakes justice for Palestinians, while serving neither Australian nor Israeli interests, writes Ben Saul. Former prime minister Gough Whitlam wrote in 1985 that while Australian governments always claimed to take a balanced approach to Israeli-Arab disputes before his own government was elected, “in practice they were thought Continue reading »
The deputy prime minister Richard Marles was asked by Insider’s host David Speers if the voters of Australia were right to roundly reject the constitutional recognition of Indigenous peoples and the Voice to parliament. Of course they were right, said Marles, they’re always right. In a press conference and later during question time in parliament, Continue reading »
Six years ago New Zealand’s Sixth Labour Government aimed to make New Zealand a better place in which to live. Its first term of three years was almost a dream run. It didn’t last. Disruption by outside influences including the COVID Pandemic and international inflation, and a disciplined election campaign by the political opposition combined Continue reading »
The high levels of loss of Yes voters to the No camp during the referendum campaign add indicators that the once social democratic contributions to governance are in trouble. Where once policies for fairness were seen as integral parts of good democracies, these have been replaced by neo liberal market models. This shows up too Continue reading »
Following Hamas’s heinous attack on innocent Israeli civilians, senior Israeli military strategists are threatening the ethnic cleansing of Gaza. This would be another Nakba (Arabic for catastrophe), akin to the mass expulsion of Palestinians from their homes and land in 1948. If Israel commits massive war crimes in Gaza in the face of global calls for restraint, Continue reading »
I am glad the article of Professor Trevor Parmenter “Rights are necessary but insufficient for the achievement of the full inclusion of people with disabilities” (P&I Sep 22, 2023) has been published. I am writing to say so, but as I send this off, I realize that I am involved in the very inter-dependent reciprocity Continue reading »
Bridge International Academies was in the midst of a key financing round when allegations of child sex abuse emerged. They fought back hard.
The post Whistleblower: The World Bank Helped Cover Up Child Sex Abuse at a Chain of For-Profit Schools It Funded appeared first on The Intercept.
As the former managing director and editor in chief of The Age newspaper (and founder of the Australian Press Council), this is a hard piece to write. In my view the mainstream media – journalists and commentators – have failed this country during the debate on the Voice. I have needed time to consider this Continue reading »
If we were to believe the UK’s Daily Mail, China should be in mourning, they have lost a crew of 55 and a Nuclear submarine. The Times, historically, a reputable media outlet led with the headline that “China kills own sailors with a trap set for British and US submarines”. But, if we were to Continue reading »
. Making appropriate extrapolations from (ideal, natural or quasi) experiments to different settings, populations or target systems, is not easy. “It works there” is no evidence for “it will work here.” The causal background assumptions made have to be justified, and without licenses to export, the value of ‘rigorous’ and ‘precise’ methods used when analyzing […]
As I sit here in every midwestern diner eating my chicken fried steak and mashed potatoes while drinking a non-woke beer, I have to shoo away the New York Times and Washington Post reporters hanging on my every word. The media elites recognize the real power of the American electorate is centered here in this crude high school art class version of a Norman Rockwell painting. Of course, with a 2020 rematch coming for November 2024, my opinion has never been more valuable.
That said, I’m having trouble deciding between Donald Trump and Joe Biden.
I am not a single-issue voter. In past elections, I have voted for Democrats and Republicans. I just really need to consider who has the right values and intellect to be commander in chief again. Donald or Joe.
They’re not sending their best to the MAGA rallies During a New Hampshire event, Klepper stumped some of the supporters sporting the ex-president’s mugshot t-shirt that read “Never surrender.” “Never surrender to the tyranny,” said a blond young man, pronouncing the word tie-ranny. “What is Trump doing here on this shirt?” asked Klepper. “This is his mugshot,” the man said. “Gotcha. So that was taken when he surrendered to authorities to have his picture taken?” Klepper asked. There was an awkward silence as the man considered the word “Surrender.” “Huh?” is all the man could muster. This is the MAGA cult and while I’m sure there are many who aren’t quite this thick, Donald Trump is equally absurd dozens of times a day and they are willing to make him president of the United States.
On 11 June 1987, Labour suffered an appalling defeat in the 1987 general election. The Conservatives won 376 seats, with Labour on a mere 229: it was the third victory—and the second landslide—for the Tories under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher. But despite being a dark day for British politics, the UK also gained three of its […]
The MVC team discusses Dreamworks’ 1998 animated film about class consciousness in a bugs’ world.
Broadcast radicalization You’ll recall the hissy fit conservatives threw at the FBI’s suggestion post-Jan. 6 that domestic terrorism by “white supremacists, militias and other extremists” was a growing threat in this country. Some years earlier, the Department of Justice was focused on foreign terrorists’ efforts at “online radicalization.” As in “Online Radicalization to Violent Extremism” (2014): Using a combination of traditional websites, mainstream social media platforms, YouTube, and other online services, extremists broadcast their views, provoke negative sentiment toward enemies, incite people to violence, glorify martyrs, create virtual communities with like-minded individuals, provide religious or legal justifications for violent actions, and communicate individually with new recruits to groom them for violent activities I’m wondering today (again) when the DOJ will turn its attention to the threat of broadcast radicalization.
Washington and European governments are cheerleading Israel’s genocidal campaign in Gaza. The failure to intervene to halt the carnage threatens to ignite violence throughout the region.
The post Chris Hedges: This Way for the Genocide, Ladies and Gentlemen appeared first on MintPress News.
Mandatory voter ID rules are expected to cost the taxpayer £120m over the next decade.
John von Neumann’s life ended the way many of those of his intellectual caliber end: in madness.