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Created
Mon, 23/10/2023 - 23:00

To help celebrate our twenty-fifth year of being on the information superhighway, we have reached out to some of our favorite former columnists for check-ins and updates. Today features the glorious return of Tendency legend Ben Greenman, who wrote several fake musicals for us between 2000 and 2012, many of which can be found here. Others can be read in our 2012 collection The McSweeney’s Book of Politics and Musicals.

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[KEVIN McCARTHY, facing a government shutdown, cuts a deal with House Democrats. He is proud while facing cameras, but when he turns away, there is terror in his eyes.]

Created
Mon, 23/10/2023 - 22:38
British Intelligence Says Russian Casualties Up 90% + Palestine Update

I love this sort of thing.

Russian offensive military campaigns in eastern Ukraine have been partly behind a 90% increase in Russian casualties recorded by Ukraine, according to an intelligence update from the UK Ministry of Defence.

Russia has been carrying out offensive operations in the area of Avdiivka, a small city just to the north of Donetsk.

We’ll note first that UK intelligence has been just a wee bit biased. So if they say 90%, well, take it with a tablespoon of salt.

Created
Mon, 23/10/2023 - 22:38

There are few groups in history who have suffered as many waves of dispossession and displacement in such a short period as the Palestinian people. On May 15 1948, over 700,000 Palestinians were driven out of their homeland and over 500 Palestinian villages were destroyed in what is known as the Nakba or ‘catastrophe’. The […]

Created
Mon, 23/10/2023 - 21:27
On October 10, 2022, I realised that there was no hope of ever reforming mainstream economics, since on that date, Ben Bernanke and two other Neoclassicals were awarded the “Nobel” Prize in economics for their work on banking. They assumed the validity of the “loanable funds” model of how banks operate—as Bernanke said in his … Continue reading "Why Credit Money Matters"
Created
Mon, 23/10/2023 - 18:00
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October 23rd, 2023next

October 23rd, 2023: My new book DANGER AND OTHER UNKNOWN RISKS is out and it's getting really good reviews, so hopefully

Created
Mon, 23/10/2023 - 10:30
We’ll give you crazy Rudy says Biden is an Iranian spy: “He’s on Iran’s side and he’s on Hamas’s side. He is not on our side. He’s got a bunch of spies in his Admin. This guy is working for Iran. Why? Maybe because they’ve infiltrated his Admin the way the communists infiltrated FDR’s Admin.” pic.twitter.com/pBudDVycaM — Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) October 22, 2023 This is the man the putative GOP nominee for president hired to represent him. Meanwhile, in MAGA: THIS WEEK IN THE REPUBLICAN PARTY Oct 14 – Oct 21, 2023 pic.twitter.com/9kR7YkCZmL — Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) October 22, 2023
Created
Mon, 23/10/2023 - 09:00
And they aren’t positive I never much cared for Mitt Romney over the years but I did admire his willingness to vote to impeach Trump and sign on to bipartisan legislation from time to time. That’s a pretty low bar but in GOP politics these days it makes him a unicorn. But in his new book he doesn’t hold back about his impressions of his fellow Republicans and I am here for it: Christie, Chris Mr. Romney’s advisers in 2012 suggested that he consider Chris Christie, then the governor of New Jersey, as a running mate, according to the book. But Mr. Romney had reservations about Mr. Christie’s “prima donna tendencies,” and worried that the governor was not “up to the physical demands” of being on the ticket and was plagued by “barely buried” scandals, Mr. Coppins writes. The two also came into conflict in 2016 after Mr. Christie became one of the first establishment Republicans to back Mr. Trump. “I believe your endorsement of him severely diminishes you morally,” Mr. Romney wrote in an email. He added: “You must withdraw that support to preserve your integrity and character.” Evaluating Mr.
Created
Mon, 23/10/2023 - 08:22

In a recent column, the Washington Post’s Richard Cohen wrote, “What Henry Luce called ‘the American Century’ is over.” Cohen is right. All that remains is to drive a stake through the heart of Luce’s pernicious creation, lest it come back to life. This promises to take some doing. When the Time-Life publisher coined his famous phrase, his intent was to prod his fellow citizens into action. Appearing in the February 7, 1941 issue of Life, his essay, “The American Century,” hit the newsstands at a moment when the world was in the throes of a vast crisis. A war in Europe had gone disastrously awry. A second almost equally dangerous conflict was unfolding in the Far East. Aggressors were... Read more

Source: Farewell, the American Century appeared first on TomDispatch.com.

Created
Mon, 23/10/2023 - 07:35

Το DiEM-ΜέΡΑ25 ξεκίνησε συλλογή υπογραφών για την απομάκρυνση της κας Ursula von der Leyen από την Προεδρία της Ευρωπαϊκής Επιτροπής. Υπόγραψε εδώ. Ακολουθεί το βίντεο-μήνυμα του Γιάνη Βαρουφάκη προς την κα von der Leyen. Κυρία von der Leyen, τη στιγμή που προσγειωθήκατε στο Τελ Αβίβ όχι ως υπέρμαχος του άμεσου τερματισμού των εγκλημάτων πολέμου από […]

The post «Κυρία φον ντερ Λάιεν, ώρα να παραιτηθείτε!» Υπογράψτε εδώ το ψήφισμα του DiEM25-ΜέΡΑ25 appeared first on Yanis Varoufakis.

Created
Mon, 23/10/2023 - 07:14

DiEM25-MERA25 has launched a petition for the removal of Mrs Ursula von der Leyen from the Presidency of the European Commission. Below is the text of Yanis Varoufakis’ video message to Ms. von der Leyen. To sign the petition please click here. Mrs von der Leyen, the moment you landed in Tel Aviv, not as […]

The post Sign here DiEM25’s petition: Time for Europe’s greatest liability, Mrs Ursula von der Leyen, to go! appeared first on Yanis Varoufakis.

Created
Mon, 23/10/2023 - 07:00
A very thought-provoking piece from Zack Beauchamp at Vox about the next steps for the Israel war. It’s complicated and well worth reading in its entirety, going into all the global, military and political implications, but this is a taste of the kind of thinking that’s gone into it and I think it’s impressive: The moral case for counterterrorism Bradley Strawser, a former US Air Force captain, has an unusual job: he is a moral philosopher working for the US Navy. His title is professor of philosophy in the defense analysis department at the Naval Postgraduate School; his actual job description is teaching America’s special operators how to fight wars as ethically as possible. When I asked Strawser how he would approach the current conflict between Israel and Hamas, he said that it was essential to hold two ideas in one’s head at the same time. First, that Israel had not only a right but a moral obligation to respond to Hamas’ vicious attack on its civilian population. This may not seem obvious, as a ceasefire would certainly lead to some immediate reduction in civilian suffering.