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Week-end Wrap – Political Economy – August 20, 2023

by Tony Wikrent

Climate and environmental crises

‘This Is Huge’: Judge Sides With Montana Youths in Historic Climate Ruling 

[Common Dreams, via Naked Capitalism 8-15-2023]

Climate Jurisprudence Gets a New Blueprint 

Gabrielle Gurley, August 17, 2023 [The American Prospect]

And this time, it’s a fatal error:  [A] key focus of the Trump campaign as it looks ahead to a possible rematch with Mr. Biden: getting both men onstage. Mr. Trump has repeatedly said publicly that he wants debates with Mr. Biden, and Mr. Trump’s advisers view face-offs with the incumbent president as vital to Mr. Trump’s chances of winning. They thought that last time too. It didn’t work out the way they thought it would: The third debate? President Donald Trump was rated the most improved performer at Thursday’s debate, but a panel of debate experts said Joe Biden was more effective with his arguments. The three experts all agreed that the faceoff was more informative than the chaotic first debate in Cleveland last month, but one noted, “That’s a very low bar.” While Trump’s strategy of interrupting less and letting Biden speak more in hopes of provoking a gaffe was sound strategy, the experts said Biden didn’t make the type of major mistake Trump probably needed to change the race. Here are their report cards.

Film Stories is bringing the life of Doctor Who star Sylvester McCoy to the screen in the upcoming film Sylvester: Who’s The Real McCoy?

What in the hell are we going to do about this? It represents tens of millions of fellow Americans.

Doctor Who Russell T. Davies offered love & praise to Seventh Doctor Sylvester McCoy in a video message honoring McCoy's 80th birthday.

A constitutional crisis in progress Legal scholars William Baude and Michael Stokes Paulsen argued a few weeks ago that Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment means “Donald Trump cannot be president — cannot run for president, cannot become president, cannot hold office — unless two-thirds of Congress decides to grant him amnesty for his conduct on Jan. 6.” No “legislation, criminal conviction, or other judicial action” is necessary to invoke the post-Civil War amendment. It is not a dead letter. What is required of citizens at any level of government who have taken an oath to uphold the Constitution is to declare Trump ineligible when the matter of his eligibility presents itself to them. What made the Baude-Paulsen analysis more impactful was that it came from scholars associated with the conservative Federalist Society. Now, J. Michael Luttig and Laurence H.

It all began when Irish physicist John Tyndall proposed in a “false flag” operation that variations in atmospheric composition could cause changes in the climate.

The post A Brief History of China’s Global Warming Hoax, From 1863 to Right Now appeared first on The Intercept.

Hate speech has consequences After months of Republicans vilifying gay and transgender people, and after they pass laws in multiple states targeting them, teachers, and drag queens, guess what? Shop owner shot, killed over rainbow flag outside clothing store near Lake Arrowhead San Bernardino Sun: The owner of a clothing shop in Cedar Glen was shot and killed Friday night, Aug. 18, after a person made several disparaging comments about a rainbow flag displayed outside the store, authorities said. The suspect was found nearby by arriving deputies, who shot and killed him, San Bernardino County sheriff’s officials said. Deputies responded to the Magpi clothing store on Hook Creek Road around 5 p.m. and found the victim, identified as Laura Ann Carleton, 66, outside the store suffering from a gunshot wound. Carleton was pronounced dead at the scene. Footwear News describes Carleton as “a fashion and footwear industry veteran“: According to the Magpi website, Lauri Carleton’s career in fashion began early in her teens, working in the family business at Fred Segal Feet in Los Angeles while attending Art Center School of Design.

In today's BCTV Daily Dispatch: IASIP, WWDITS, Twitter X/Elon Musk, James Gunn, Doctor Who, TWD: Daryl Dixon, Power Rangers, and more!

Chicago’s new Mayor Brandon Johnson rode into office on a decade of teacher organizing, proving a strong labor movement can deliver political results.

The Assassination Bureau (Arrow Video) – This comedy-adventure from eclectic British director Basil Deardon (Sapphire, The League of Gentlemen, Victim, All Night Long) isn’t for all tastes; it’s one of those 1960s psychedelic trains wrecks with a huge international cast and an elusive central theme that is nonetheless compelling…if only for its sheer commitment to weirdness. Adapted by Michael Relph from an unfinished Jack London novel, the story is set in 1908. Diana Rigg (fresh off her 2-season tenure with The Avengers) plays a feminist journalist who is assigned by her editor (Telly Savalas) to investigate a secret organization led by Oliver Reed that specializes in assassinating oligarchs (not willy-nilly, they do have a moral code…of sorts). Granted, it’s draggy in spots, but there are some imaginative set pieces; particularly a battle royale that takes place aboard a zeppelin. The mashup of 007 and steampunk recalls the 60s TV series The Wild Wild West. Nicely shot by Geoffrey Unsworth. Also featuring Curd Jürgens, Phillipe Noiret, and Beryl Reid.

Source - Patreon

Source - Patreon

America First is getting downright weird.

It’s the “stop grooming our children” sign next to the giant penis that really sells it… Ron Hedlund displayed a massive penis sign with the words, “Biden Sucks” written across it at a youth baseball game at RF&P Park in Henrico County, Virginia. In a video captured at the event, Hedlund, who is listed as a Virginia GOP Central Committee Representative defended his sign after a community member said it was inappropriate because there were children present. On social media, one user wrote that police came and made Hedlund put away his massive penis sign displayed directly across from children playing baseball at the park. However, Hedlund then reportedly displayed “fuck Biden” signs and the police refused to come back out. Ron Hedlund posted video to YouTube describing the sign as 16 feet long and a caricature and linked it to his personal protests against school boards offering sex education and affirming transgender students.

Use to discuss topics unrelated to recent posts.

Sommaren går mot sitt slut här ute på ön och på vår hamnkrog var det ikväll en spelglad duo som körde ett nostalgipotpurri med svenska örhängen. Ett av dem var den här låten, som onekligen väckte en del gamla minnen till liv:

Today, I signed up for Bluesky and Threads, taking a brief look at each of them, and announced my final departure from Twitter, to take place when Musk removes the Block feature[1]. Meanwhile I’m still using Mastodon as my main microblog along with CT and my personal blog for long-form blogging. I’m trying to maintain […]

Waiting for a man in a red fleece vest Ed Kilgore on the yearning for Youngkin: One of the best signs that Ron DeSantis’s 2024 presidential candidacy is circling the drain is the renewed enthusiasm some Republicans have for a late entry in the 2024 race who can save them from the Donald Trump and his unsatisfying rivals. This recent valentine to Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin from the New York Post’s Miranda Devine is a good example of the longing for Mr. Right on the right: You get the sense that Devine still imagines that once Youngkin has saved his state for good this fall, he can turn his magnificent visage and towering figure toward the needs of his nation. It’s probably not coincidental that Devine’s boss is News Corporation’s Rupert Murdoch, who in July was reported to have been shifting his affections to Youngkin from the disappointing DeSantis.

On one side of the discussion there was a disparate collection of people expressing concerns about a profound policy shift which has a multitude of troubling — and unanswered — questions attached to it. On the other, a cabinet full of ministers who, before September 15, 2021, when it was announced by Scott Morrison, had never Continue reading »

Burning of all fossil fuels continues to increase. Gas is not better for the climate than coal but the myth continues and companies increase production. The fertile crescent is no longer fertile. Fossil fuels still burn brightly The bees in my bonnet began buzzing briskly when they saw the two graphs below. Look at the Continue reading »

How is it that the Uluru Statement from the Heart is even slightly controversial? How is it that the request for better listening which shapes the request for ‘Voice’ is found problematic? I have brought these Australian perplexities with me this week to the Parliament of World Religions in Chicago. Time and again, it is Continue reading »

Michael Leunig perfectly captures the challenges of current issues in Australian politics and the nation’s loss of sovereignty to the US. Continue reading »