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Mon, 13/01/2025 - 10:00
Not these guys So the GOP California House delegation hurried to Mar-a-Lago this weekend for an audience with Dear Leader while fellow Californians were trying to get through an epic firestorm. But why not? Their constituents won’t care. It’s just a bunch of Los Angelenos. Let ’em burn. The rest of the world is not as callous: Here are some locals with more compassion than GOP leaders:
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Mon, 13/01/2025 - 09:33

In recent weeks, political soothsayers have speculated about a wide variety of odious new policies the incoming Trump administration and its allies in Congress may or may not pursue. No one can predict with certainty which of those measures they will inflict on us and which they’ll forget about.  But we can make one prediction with utter confidence. The White House and large bipartisan majorities in Congress will continue their lavish support for Israel’s war on Gaza, however catastrophic the results.    Washington has supplied a large share of the armaments that have allowed the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) to rain death and destruction on Gaza (not to speak of Lebanon) over the past year and a quarter. Before October... Read more

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Mon, 13/01/2025 - 08:30
Oh my, my. Steve Bannon has declared war on Elon Musk: “I will have Elon Musk run out of here by Inauguration Day,” Bannon told the Italian daily Corriere della Sera this week. “He will not have a blue pass to the White House, he will not have full access to the White House, he will be like any other person.” “He is a truly evil guy, a very bad guy. I made it my personal thing to take this guy down,” Bannon added. “Before, because he put money in, I was prepared to tolerate it; I’m not prepared to tolerate it anymore.” Bannon’s still beating the H-1B visas conflict, obviously banking on being able to continue his grift on the hardcore racist MAGA base. And he’s cleverly doing it by turning the racism on to the tech-bro Mafia that’s infiltrated the upper reaches of MAGA. Does he have his finger on the pulse? He said, “This thing of the H-1B visas, it’s about the entire immigration system is gamed by the tech overlords, they use it to their advantage, the people are furious. No blacks or Hispanics have any of these jobs or any access to these jobs.
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Mon, 13/01/2025 - 07:00
The DOGE is operating in complete secrecy, speaking only on Signal and guarding against leaks. The NY Times did get some information about it, however. It’s not good. But parts of the operation are becoming clear: Many of the executives involved are expecting to do six-month voluntary stints inside the federal government before returning to their high-paying jobs. Mr. Musk has said they will not be paid — a nonstarter for some originally interested tech executives — and have been asked by him to work 80-hour weeks. Some, including possibly Mr. Musk, will be so-called special government employees, a specific category of temporary workers who can only work for the federal government for 130 days or less in a 365-day period. The representatives will largely be stationed inside federal agencies. After some consideration by top officials, DOGE itself is now unlikely to incorporate as an organized outside entity or nonprofit. Instead, it is likely to exist as more of a brand for an interlinked group of aspirational leaders who are on joint group chats and share a loyalty to Mr. Musk or Mr. Ramaswamy.
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Mon, 13/01/2025 - 06:16
Week-end Wrap – Political Economy – January 12, 2025

Week-end Wrap – Political Economy – January 12, 2025

By Tony Wikrent

Strategic Political Economy

The Lost Memos That Predicted This Era

David Sirota, January 07, 2025 [The Lever]

THE PLUTONOMY MEMOS: As we welcome in 2025, it’s worth noting that this year is the 20th anniversary of the release of the so-called Plutonomy Memos — a series of Nostradamus-like reports that predicted much of the world we live in today.

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Mon, 13/01/2025 - 04:59
The June 2025 UN Conference on Palestine can be the long-awaited turning point for the region. The UN, on its 80th birthday in 2025, can mark the occasion by securing a lasting solution to the conflict in the Middle East, by welcoming the State of Palestine as the 194th UN member state. The upcoming UN Continue reading »
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Mon, 13/01/2025 - 04:58
What do Panama, Canada and Greenland have in common? Could Donald Trump be getting the US back to brass tacks, to a core strategy of dominating the Western Hemisphere? Possibly, and he may be blowing away the fraudulent rhetoric about rules-based international order, territorial integrity, international law and the crusade to expand democracies.  Trump said Continue reading »
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Mon, 13/01/2025 - 04:56
When it comes to nuclear radiation, there is a clear disconnect between the medical evidence and the views of the Coalition. Since the 1950s we have known there is a link between X-rays in pregnant women and leukemia and other cancers in their children. It is not for nothing there are signs in every radiology Continue reading »
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Mon, 13/01/2025 - 04:55
Ice Hockey Australia’s decision to withdraw from hosting a lower-tier men’s world championship event citing safety concerns, has been denounced by Jewish and Israeli organisations as antisemitic, yet there’s no evidence of this. What is evident is that red flags are now appearing when Israeli national teams seek to participate in international sporting events. This Continue reading »