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In Asian Media this week: Chinese see Biden Admin as ‘incompetent and ignorant’. Plus: China ready to sign no-nuke zone treaty; spending on nuclear weapons surging; Beijing, Delhi expel each other’s journalists; ambassador slams Seoul’s foreign policy; China passes 50pc non-fossil fuel power supply Anthony Albanese warned of the dangers of the diplomatic deep freeze Continue reading »

Having witnessed the last days of my parents and in-laws, I don’t delude myself – as they did – that I’ll be able to avoid being carted off to an old people’s home. Sorry, an aged care residential facility. Actually, I dream of dying in the saddle. My last, half-finished column would be the announcement Continue reading »

The recent Stan Grant controversy threw up a host of important issues, among them the way in which the ABC supports its staff, diversity in the newsroom and racism. But it also raised the tricky issue of where the ABC draws the line between analysis and opinion, and whether ABC journalists are being given too Continue reading »

Another 60,000 houses needed; It’s corporate power, not wages, driving inflation; and, Why would anyone want to migrate to Australia? Read on for the Weekly Roundup of links to articles, reports, podcasts and other media on current political and economic issues in public policy. Economics We need another 60,000 houses, we have the resources to Continue reading »

The late writer, broadcaster and wit Clive James formulated what he called the ‘Barry Manilow Law’: ‘Everyone you know thinks Barry Manilow is absolutely terrible. But everyone you don’t know thinks he’s great.’ (James, cited Martin Amis, ‘Inside Story,’ Vintage, 2020, e-book, p.74) A Media Lens version of this might read: ‘Everyone you know thinks Continue reading »

If you ever wondered how it came to be that people loathed and despised Hillary Clinton on such a visceral level, this is how. They did this over and over and over again for eight years screeching about “the rule o’ law!” and calling them the Clinton Crime Family. It’s very effective. It makes people who don’t have strong feelings about the person or knowledge of the facts figure there just must be something to it. In the face of Trump’s obvious criminality, it also has the effect of feeding into the cynical “they all do it” attitude which leads to apathy. The Republicans spent decades degrading Clinton and it was only by a fluke that she lost the election in 2016. And, yes, misogyny played a part. But the constant drumbeat that she was a criminal going all the way back to the 90s took its toll and Donald Trump, the instinctive asshole that he is, took advantage of it. And too many Democrats and independents bought into it. Luckily Biden is an incumbent president and Trump is going to be on the ballot so those dynamics are not going to be very strong. But never think it’s just a reflexive reaction to the charges against Trump.

In an interview before his death, the Pentagon Papers whistleblower urged the media and the government to be more honest about America’s bombing of civilians.

The post Daniel Ellsberg Wanted Americans to See the Truth About War appeared first on The Intercept.

Donald Trump gave them an opening It stands to reason that once the Republicans succeeded in corrupting the Supreme Court confirmation process to pack it with far right justices they would turn their attention to the Justice Department. What good is having a partisan High Court if the Justice Department is going to refuse to do the bidding of whatever Republican is in the White House? If you want to corrupt a democracy you need to do it holistically to ensure that all the levers of power are working together. It’s been a long time coming but it looks like they believe they’ve finally found their moment. They’re openly announcing their intention to discard all the rules and norms that have governed the arms length relationship between the president and the DOJ for the past 50 years. Donald Trump made that clear in his speech at his Bedminster Golf Club on Tuesday night: Donald Trump has always said he intended to do this, of course.

1. You totally have a beautiful and famous girlfriend, but she’s not around at the moment for far-fetched reasons.

2. The animals are too cute to hunt.

3. You can start a fire, but you catch on fire too.

4. Your idea of a sporting good time is prancing around on a horse you call Sir Haunches.

5. You don’t know how most of your tools work, and they break as soon as you try them.

6. Your handiwork is just a bunch of shit glued together.

7. You can get to where you’re going but only by checking the map every twenty seconds.

8. You run away from fights to spend the day looking for new clothes everyone is talking about.

9. You boil steak.

10. When you see a flower you say, “Oooh!” and run to pick it.

11. You listen attentively to everyone’s whining and moaning without telling them what to do.

12. You change outfits four times per day.

13. You float from job to job and transport others to make extra on the side.

14. You’re a freegan.

Zelda: 1-14
Disappointing your father: 1-14

One problem in applying skepticism and critical investigation equally is that heterodox and mainstream theories use extremely different methodologies. Generally speaking, mainstream macro uses math, while heterodox macro uses literary text with no math … Which means that if we judge each theory using its own methodology, mainstream macro will have to pass rigorous quantitative […]

Next week’s primaries will show whether progressive populists can win the same way they did four years ago: by rejecting corporate cash.

The post Virginia’s Democratic Party Is Letting Energy Money Back In appeared first on The Intercept.

“Scientists and sailors say orcas, also known as killer whales, are stepping up ‘attacks’ on yachts along Europe’s Iberian coast, with one skipper who’s been pursued by the marine mammals on two separate occasions suggesting that their tactics are becoming more stealthy.” — NPR

Congratulations, seafarer. You’ve taken a crucial step in protecting your already excessively costly and least reliable asset by investing in supplemental yacht insurance for orca revenge attacks.

In these uncertain times and unfamiliar waters, it’s prudent to hold on to what’s important: being rich, listening to Seals & Crofts, and acting with complete disregard for the world around you.

That’s why we at Sons of Ahab Insurance are proud to provide comprehensive yacht coverage designed to keep you afloat—come whale or high water. Here’s what’s included with the orca attack supplemental package:

2012? Bring back 1220, bro! If you follow The Daily Wire, you may know this guy. I don’t, but David Simon of The Wire does. This clown below would like to see western civilization return to the customs and mores of 1220. Because only RINOs want to return to the 1950s. Only fauxnies like Grover Norquist (he married a Muslim!) want to return to the McKinley era. Real men, ball-tanning men, men who embody manly virtues (Tucker Carlson? Josh Hawley?) want to “get medieval on your ass,” America. So much of the reactionary right is fueled by performative, over-the-top, in-your-face rejection of what the rest of us in Well-Adjusted America™ consider normal. MAGAs and incels tune in to shows like this for the rhetorical equivalent of WWE, monster trucks, and nitro-powered funny cars. Anything to get a rise (pun intended). The problem is, as with professional wrestling and Trump rallies, some of the fans take the kayfabe seriously.

During a visit to Chile in 1976, Kissinger met the dictator Augusto Pinochet and offered no objection to his violent rule.

The post How Henry Kissinger Paved the Way for Orlando Letelier’s Assassination appeared first on The Intercept.

Abortion, Jan. 6, and your freedom are on the line Here in our fortress of progressivism, it sometimes seems as if the rest of the country — the left-leaning part, anyway — is oblivious to broader trends at work behind current events. News junkies know, but that’s because we are news junkies. Forward scouts, I tell legislators engaged in trench warfare with authoritarians in the capitol. Movement conservatism propelled the American right from the 1970s through the Reagan years to George W. Bush’s two terms. We might call what followed movement authoritarianism. Anat Shenker-Osorio, host of the podcast Words to Win By and messaging authority, found signs in a recent survey that the public has caught on (Slate): In May, the Research Collaborative, a group that I advise, fielded a 1,400-person survey with Lake Research Partners on the Supreme Court.

Nationalekonomi som vetenskap har världen över förlorat otroligt mycket i prestige och status under senare år. Inte minst på grund av dess oförmåga att analysera och förklara ekonomiska och finansiella kriser och på grund av dess avsaknad av konstruktiva och hållbara förslag på att ta oss ur dessa kriser. Hur återskapar vi förtroendet för nationalekonomin? […]

Kit Klarenberg reveals how much of the hysteria surrounding 'Chinese police stations' in the West is being fueled by a shadowy CIA-linked organization called Safeguard Defenders.

The post False Witnesses and Sinister Plots: Exposing the CIA Connection in the ‘Chinese Police Station’ Narrative appeared first on MintPress News.

With a mendacious former Prime Minister now returning to work for the press which enabled his rise, the moral bankruptcy of the media-political class is complete

Tracey never expected the work she does to be easy, but she did expect to be adequately remunerated for it.   A healthcare assistant at Arrowe Park Hospital in the Wirral, Tracey does permanent nights on the ward, supporting vulnerable patients suffering severe mental health problems, dementia, Alzheimer’s and alcohol and drug withdrawal symptoms. She’s […]

On this week’s MVC, Rivka and Frank discuss the 1999 sci-fi masterpiece The Matrix.

Boris Johnson's new job at the Daily Mail is the perfect example of how failure is rewarded in British political and media life.