Reading

'It is a scandal that, in so many constituencies, people did not really have a choice of MP – as the real choice lay with a party machine that can foist MPs upon them'

The former President's path to a second term in office just got a lot tougher

It’s the Wednesday pot-pourri – British politics, self promotion, events, sport and music. Politicians invariably claim that the situation they inherit when they take office following an election is untenable and that the ‘public finances’ are worse than they had initially thought. Of course, the idea that ‘public finances’ can be good or bad or…

A monthslong investigation unpacks a false warning and an Israeli airstrike in the deadliest war for journalists on record.

The post Israel Falsely Warned It Would Bomb a Media Office. The Actual Airstrike Killed Journalists on a Nearby Street. appeared first on The Intercept.

I am proud of the Economic Sociology and Political Economy community blog and social media becoming a source of knowledge and learning, in various forms, for students at all levels. It is also gratifying to see the ES/PE websites links appear in syllabi. In this context, one of the common questions I receive from lecturers […]

Most lawmakers explained their boycott by focusing on the Israeli prime minister himself as a bad actor, rather than the system he represents.

The post Dozens of Lawmakers Are Protesting Netanyahu — but Have Little to Say About Israel’s Systemic Abuses of Palestinians appeared first on The Intercept.

Source - Patreon

Source - Patreon

Source - Patreon

Josh Marshall notes that even though the Democrats are now hugely enthused about the election, the naysayers who wanted Biden to drop out are still unhappy: [A]lready we’re hearing that this rush of support for Harris is yet another bad thing. Democrats have only just changed the last terrible thing pundits said they were doing only to be told that their solution is also a disaster in the making or at least a mistake. I don’t want to pick on anyone but this piece by Graeme Wood seems to capture this whole new storyline. In a way the argument is just a continuation of the Thunderdome craze of the last six months: a contested convention, blitz primaries, and the like. The new terrible mistake is rallying around Kamala Harris too quickly. Because this just compounds what Wood and seemingly many other pundits and columnists feel is the belief that “Democratic politics felt like a game rigged by insiders to favor a candidate of their choice, and to isolate that candidate from the risk associated with campaigning.” I wish I understood this reflex to stomp all over Democratic hopes from pundits who claim to be liberals.

This fall, I am teaching a course, “Politics Through Literature,” which still has spaces available for students to register. The course meets on Mondays and Wednesdays from 9:30-10:45. You can register whether you are an undergraduate at Brooklyn College, another college in the CUNY system, or at any college in the New York area. Please reach out to me for information on how to register if you are an undergraduate outside the CUNY system. There is no online component; all instruction is in-person. The course is cross-listed: if you want to register for it as a political science course, it’s POLS 3440; if you want to register for it as an English course, it’s ENGL 3293. Below is the course […]

The contrast between both of these people and that Orange Monster is just so profound.

The Coalition has today announced that West Australian Senator, Linda Karen Reynolds, has been appointed shadow minister for suing women. In a move designed to shore up the Coalitions standing with the female voter. ”Linda is perfectly suited to this... Read More ›

Anil Ananthaswamy’s 3 greatest revelations while writing Why Machines Learn.

The post The Elegant Math of Machine Learning appeared first on Nautilus.