Reading

Created
Thu, 15/05/2025 - 14:25

In an era when landlords have been redefined as ‘working people’, a polemical book on abolishing them could not have been more apposite. Nick Bano’s Against Landlords is one of many recently published texts to fill this gap in the market (to coin a phrase). In just the last few months, Tracy Rosenthal’s and Leonardo […]

Created
Thu, 15/05/2025 - 13:17
Last month’s labour force data for Australia revealed a sluggish labour market, seemingly on the cusp of contraction as other indicators were pointing in that direction. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released the latest labour force data today (May 15, 2025) – Labour Force, Australia – for April 2025, which revealed that employment growth…
Created
Thu, 15/05/2025 - 09:30

“Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Wednesday sidestepped a question about vaccines and whether he would choose to vaccinate his children today against a number of diseases, saying, ‘I don’t think people should be taking medical advice from me.’” — NBC News

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We’ve heard many complaints about our handling of the largest measles outbreak in the United States since the disease was eradicated. Let us make this perfectly clear: Our official policy on measles is that it can’t hurt us if we’re all already dead.

Created
Thu, 15/05/2025 - 09:00

Journalist Jeremy Loffredo travels to Puerto Rico to investigate how a new wave of U.S. crypto billionaires and wealthy transplants are reshaping the island. Drawn by tax breaks and lax regulations, these elites are buying up land, displacing locals, and transforming the entire Latin American country. Through on-the-ground reporting Loffredo unpacks how this economic invasion is eroding the island’s sovereignty under the guise of “investment,” echoing earlier eras of U.S. dominance—most notably the island’s long history of American military presence.

The post VIDEO: How the rich are remaking Puerto Rico first appeared on The Grayzone.

The post VIDEO: How the rich are remaking Puerto Rico appeared first on The Grayzone.

Created
Thu, 15/05/2025 - 08:34

The current “Pax Bukele,” a state of emergency in which constitutional rights have been invalidated, was only made possible by a secret deal between President Nayyib Bukele and some of the country’s most violent gangs, which actively assisted Bukele’s rise. The Grayzone spoke with veteran Salvadorean journalist Walter Raudales about the stunning revelations of Bukele’s covert arrangement with the cartels, and interviewed human rights lawyer Alejandro Diaz about the corruption and cruelty underlying Bukele’s notorious CECOT mega-prison project.

The post VIDEO: Bukele’s secret deal with the devil exposed first appeared on The Grayzone.

The post VIDEO: Bukele’s secret deal with the devil exposed appeared first on The Grayzone.

Created
Thu, 15/05/2025 - 05:07
Capitalists Only Respond To Threats

Stumbled on this chart recently:

Kind of tells its own story.

It’s worth reading the Communist manifest. People have weird ideas about it, but a lot of it is really unexceptionable. For example, Marx and Engels demanded pensions for old folks.

Capitalists looked at this and said, “oh, we can do this if the alternative is worse” and introduced them. Someone as hard headed as Bismarck responded this way.

Created
Thu, 15/05/2025 - 04:35

Nayib Bukele may be Palestinian, but the dictatorship he built in El Salvador is made in Israel. From weapons to spyware, Alan Macleod examines the Israeli support behind the man who calls himself “the world’s coolest dictator.”

The post Nayib Bukele’s El Salvador Dictatorship: Made in Israel appeared first on MintPress News.

Created
Thu, 15/05/2025 - 03:00

“Progressives have long pined for another FDR. Here in the first couple of months of 2025, they’ve gotten one.” —Rich Lowry, National Review

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We know, it’s alarming that Trump is talking about running for a third term. But FDR did it, and he ended the Great Depression. Well, it ended on his watch. I guess what I’m saying is if FDR did it, it can’t be that bad.

Sure, he’s intentionally driving us into a recession. However, there was a recession in Reagan’s first term, too, and he went on to oversee one of the greatest economies in US history. Sort of. At least according to the New York Times op-ed section. If Reagan did it, it can’t be that bad.

Okay, the serial abuse of women is a problem. But ever heard of a guy named Bill Clinton? Bill Clinton, who left office with the highest approval rating in modern history?? If Clinton did it, it can’t be that bad.

Created
Wed, 14/05/2025 - 22:00

Thanks for coming to the read-through of my new film. There’s pizza and pasta for after—that’s right, the good stuff, so that should keep you in the seats. Even if my dialogue isn’t quite al dente enough for your taste, the spaghettini will be.

Which is maybe a good time to remind everyone—well, thanks again for coming and sharing your thoughts, I want and need your thoughts, feedback, reaction, takes, and any lines or ideas you may have, but also, it’s a good time to set the table I think for the kinds of notes I need at this fragile stage of the project.

You are all here because you are willing to say the hard things, which is definitely what I need, as I said in the email.

But looking at all of you now, um, and with the trip to the shaman a bit further in the past, the voice in my head is saying that I am not so interested in what you don’t like about the piece.

The part about wanting all your feedback, while true, is more sort of true. I really mostly hope you laugh in the right spots.

Created
Wed, 14/05/2025 - 21:31

Washington claims China is creating genetically engineered cyborg soldiers. But with no proof, critics say the U.S. is exploiting the fear to launch its own dystopian biotech program.

The post The Pentagon Is Using a Fabricated Chinese Threat to Build Genetically Engineered Soldiers appeared first on MintPress News.