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The resemblance isn’t just a comical coincidence

The post Why Do Some People Look Like Their Dogs? appeared first on Nautilus.

More infighting in MAGAworld: Billionaire Trump surrogate Elon Musk defended his decision to strip critics of their ability to monetize content on X after cracking down on dissent on the social network. Responding to a supporter who defended “people getting demonetized for their inexcusable behavior,” Musk declared, “Exactly. The first amendment is protection for ‘free speech’, not ‘paid speech’ ffs.” He demonetized people who criticized him specifically. I don’t know why anyone would be too surprised by that. He’s essentially an employer of people making money on X and employers have every right to muzzle speech on the job. Of course he did that. All you have to do is read his Twitter feed to see what an onanistic, self-indulgent, narcissist he is. In any case, his “free speech” crusade is very contingent on whose speech should be protected, not what or where. He likes to have it both ways.

Simon Wren-Lewis is one of many mainstream economists who staunchly defend the idea that having microfoundations for macroeconomics moves macroeconomics forward. A couple of years ago he wrote this: I think the two most important microfoundation led innovations in macro have been intertemporal consumption and rational expectations …  [T]he adoption of rational expectations was not […]

If you want to be a decent analyst, let alone a forecaster, you need to know how to find real information. A lot of official statistics are either useless (inflation, unemployment numbers) or misleading.

Russia, with assists from Iran and North Korea and China (in non military goods, though often useful for making military goods) is out producing NATO in war material. If you just look at the GDP of NATO vs. Russia/China/Iran/NK you’d predict that couldn’t happen and you’d be wrong and like a lot of people you’d think Ukraine might or would win the war.

A banner 2024 whet the appetites of banks and crypto bros. Now the largest companies are salivating over Trump’s economic policies.

The post Trump’s Tariffs Will Create a Hunger Games Landscape Where the Little Guy Is Guaranteed to Lose appeared first on The Intercept.

Ernie Tedeschi, the director of economics at the Yale Budget Lab who in March wrapped up a three-year stint on the White House Council of Economic Advisers was asked by Business Insider, “was the “vibecession” fake?  He replied:   “The short answer is no. The vibecession was not fake. The long answer is no, but … ,” he said. Perceptions of the economy have to do with more than the economy itself. That doesn’t mean that people were lying or that their answers didn’t have some real economic motivation, but there’s clearly more to it than the material conditions in front of them — it’s also about their ideological leanings and how that shapes what they believe is ahead.”Perceptions of the economy are definitely deeply partisan,” Tedeschi said. That’s right.

“The Australian government and its most senior officials have both failed to prevent or respond to the genocide committed by Israel against Palestinians in Gaza and been complicit in the carrying out of this genocide in a manner which falls squarely within Article 25 (3)(c) and/or (d) of the Rome Statute of the ICC,” state Continue reading »

2024 has been an incredibly difficult year for me. As someone of Palestinian background, I have witnessed the ongoing genocide against my people, including the unimaginable pain of seeing babies and children being slaughtered in front of our eyes. The silence from the so-called international community is both heartbreaking and incomprehensible. I am often left Continue reading »

Who am I? I am an old man. I use a wheelchair. I had polio in 1948. I cannot remember a time when I could walk and run like other people, or when I wasn’t obviously and visibly different. I have lived with pain. But I have had a good and conventionally successful life – Continue reading »

While self-described experts might express surprise about the results of the elections in the USA, the signs of a likely swing to the right have been plain enough. Among many sickening images in 2024, the sight of Congress standing to applaud an Israeli leader responsible for the genocide in Gaza symbolised fascist sympathies. Predictions about Continue reading »

In December, the Albanese government’s budget update had some surprises in it. One of the biggest involved big upward revisions to the size of Australia’s superannuation tax concessions. Let’s take a look at them. Last year, the economist Chris Richardson said our super system was already acting like “a reverse Robin Hood” because it was Continue reading »

Food waste collection services have dominated the discussion around landfill emissions recently. With a lot of things happening in the organic waste sector, I have recently mapped and met with many small-scale composters around Australia, to get an idea of the contribution that decentralised organic waste processing could make towards landfill reduction targets. The pattern Continue reading »

The war about Israel and its right to exist is not really between Israel and the leading terrorist militias whose aim is to destroy Israel. It is now, more clearly than ever, between the US and Iran. Until this is understood, no amount of thumping of chests and gnashing of teeth and blaming of Netanyahu Continue reading »

Dr Steinbock’s new book The Fall of Israel is a stunning look at the longstanding forces undermining the state of Israel and the lives of Palestinians, while fostering genocidal atrocities and regional escalation. His interview offers revealing insights about the ongoing catastrophe. The path to the obliteration of Gaza was paved by a confluence of Continue reading »

Russell T. Davies had nothing but huge praise for the Doctor Who spinoff The War Between the Land and the Sea - but when will we see it?

Not Gonna Happen Trump has a tremendous amount of power as the executive (some of it still subject to judicial interpretation.) But anything he wants to do that requires Congress is going to be an extremely heavy lift. Notus reports: But as Republicans try to shake off a close call with a government shutdown and prepare for Donald Trump’s first 100 days, lawmakers are starting to grapple with a simple reality: They may not be able to do much of anything. “They can’t even extend government funding,” a frustrated Sen. Josh Hawley told NOTUS in December, as the House GOP nearly imploded over a stopgap spending bill. “They’re going to do this all over again in March. There’s a debt ceiling fight coming up,” he said. “Good luck.” Before Trump even takes office on Jan. 20, House Republicans must elect a speaker — a delicate, historically difficult task given the mutiny currently on Mike Johnson’s hands. Republicans then had to agree to a rules package, which was released on Wednesday.

As harrowing new accounts of systemic sexual abuse by Israeli soldiers come to light, the media shifts its focus to amplify Israel's latest claims against Hamas instead.

The post Systemic Rape Allegations Against Israel Meet a Deafening Silence appeared first on MintPress News.

Chuck Schumer weighs in on DNC chair race This is new (Politico): Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer is endorsing Ben Wikler to lead the Democratic National Committee, a boost for the Wisconsin state party leader in a race that has drawn little attention and few big names. Schumer’s endorsement — shared first with POLITICO — comes as Democrats prepare for a month-long campaign to run the DNC, with four candidate forums in January. Following the party’s bruising losses in November, members of the committee will elect their new chair on Feb. 1. Schumer, the most prominent Democrat so far to weigh in publicly on the race, called Wikler a “tenacious organizer,” a “proven fundraiser” and a “sharp communicator” in a statement. He emphasized Wikler’s work in 2024, when Democrats in Wisconsin held on to their Senate seat and flipped 14 state legislative seats, even though Kamala Harris did not win the state. “Ben has what Democrats need right now — proven results — and that’s why I’m backing Ben,” Schumer said. Kudos to Wikler, 43, who I met in 2019.