Reading

Created
Fri, 26/05/2023 - 20:37

There was uproar earlier this month when the Metropolitan Police pre-emptively arrested several people planning to protest the coronation of Charles Windsor. Those arrested and held in custody for as long as sixteen hours included Graham Smith, chief executive of anti-monarchy pressure group Republic, which nevertheless successfully mounted a protest with a turnout estimated at […]

Created
Fri, 26/05/2023 - 19:45
May 25, 2023 ROBERT SKIDELSKY Amid the growing excitement about generative AI, there are also mounting concerns about its potential contribution to the erosion of civil liberties. The convergence of state intelligence agencies and surveillance capitalism underscores the threat that artificial intelligence poses to the future of democracy. LONDON – With investors pouring billions of dollars into … Continue reading Creeping Toward Dystopia
Created
Fri, 26/05/2023 - 18:46
Although somewhat critical of its reductive elements, Foucault found certain attractive features in the ideal or programmatic form imagined by American neoliberalism, namely, that it envisages a kind of regulation outside sovereign, disciplinary, and biopolitical forms, that it regulates without the fabrication of subjectivities and in a manner that optimizes difference and tolerates minority groups […]
Created
Fri, 26/05/2023 - 15:39
Cooking time: 15 mins. frying, 25 mins. bakingPreparation time: 15 mins.Main cooking utensil: either skillet or roasting panOven temperature: 400-425°F.Oven position: above center For 8 people you need:1 lb. ground beef1 medium-sized potato2 medium-sized onionspinch mixed herbsseasoning1 egglittle fat8 sandwich buns Garnish:rings raw onionslices applelemon juiceoliveschopped scallionsyogurtcandied cherriesparsley TO SERVE: Hot with knives and forks […]
Created
Fri, 26/05/2023 - 10:00
Some Texas pols are apparently surprised to learn that the state Attorney General is a crook: The head of a Texas House panel was aghast Tuesday after investigators laid out wide-ranging corruption allegations against scandal-soaked Attorney General Ken Paxton, calling them “alarming to hear.” “It curls my mustache,” said Rep. Andrew Murr, a fellow Republican, who no doubt was already familiar with the accusations that have swirled around Paxton for years. Paxton, a staunch conservative in his third term as the state’s top prosecutor, now finds himself facing possible impeachment proceedings—on top of an ongoing FBI investigation and a long-stalled indictment. His response has been to attack House Speaker Dade Phelan, accusing him on Tuesday—when word of the probe emerged—of drinking on the job. On Wednesday, after the litany of allegations was unveiled during a three-hour hearing, Paxton claimed Phelan, a Republican, is a “liberal” who wants to “sabotage my work.” The investigators led the House committee through years of alleged misconduct that they believe broke the laws Paxton is sworn to uphold.
Created
Fri, 26/05/2023 - 09:51

“Origins of debt: Michael Hudson reveals how financial oligarchies in Greece & Rome shaped our world,” Ben Norton, Geopolitical Economy Report, May 25, 2023.  BEN NORTON: Hi, everyone. I’m Ben Norton of Geopolitical Economy Report, and today I have the great pleasure of speaking with a friend of the show, the economist Michael Hudson, and Continue Reading

The post The Arc of Time: Pro-Creditor History first appeared on Michael Hudson.
Created
Fri, 26/05/2023 - 08:30
I know that’s hard to believe but here it is It’s a fact: An analysis of the President’s first 30,000 words uttered in office found Mr Trump speaks at a third- to seventh-grade reading level – lower than any other President since 1929. Mr Trump’s vocabulary and grammatical structure is “significantly more simple, and less diverse” than any President since Herbert Hoover, the analysis found. The comparison is based on interviews, speeches and press conferences for every president dating back to 1929, compiled by online database Factba.se. Analysts at Factba.se studied the “off-script” remarks of all 15 men – essentially, everything but their prepared speeches – to compare and contrast their speaking skills. The most explosive claims from a new book about Trump’s white house Analysts ran the records through eight different tests for vocabulary complexity, diversity, and comprehension level. In every single test, Mr Trump scored the lowest. Mr Trump averaged significantly fewer syllables per word than the last 14 Presidents, and used significantly fewer unique words.