christian schwägerl – Vanishing Act: Why Insects Are Declining and Why It Matters

Every spring since 1989, entomologists have set up tents in the meadows and woodlands of the Orbroicher Bruch nature reserve and 87 other areas in the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The tents act as insect traps and enable the scientists to calculate how many bugs live in an area over a full summer period. Recently, researchers presented the …

Yves Smith – Brexit Empty Threats: The UK’s Fantasy of Becoming a Big Tax Haven

One noteworthy feature of Brexit coverage is British commentators and even worse, officials, reassuring themselves and their audiences that the EU’s firm insistence that the UK will not be able to cherry-pick will melt when they understand that the UK has real bargaining leverage. Based on the arguments I have seen so far, the Eurocrats aren’t at any risk of …

Britain is plunging towards an economic nightmare, and it isn’t just because of Brexit.

On Monday morning, Markit released its latest set of data on the state of the UK’s construction sector, and to say things didn’t look good would be an understatement. The sector slipped into contraction for the first time since April 2013, hitting just 46.o, a shock fall from an already poor base last month, and the biggest single month fall since …

The Labour coup is unravelling fast, and unwittingly hands the party back to those who built it

Jeremy Corbyn has lost a Vote of No Confidence, with 172-40 Labour MPs voting against him remaining as leader of the party. But celebrating MPs might wish to put the champagne back in the fridge, because this is more likely the beginning of their end, not Corbyn’s. When Jeremy Corbyn first stood for leader of the party, these MPs told us he …

John Michael Greer – Outside the Hall of Mirrors

The outcome of last week’s vote concerning Britain’s membership in the European Union has set off  anguished cries and handwaving across much of the internet and the mass media. The unexpected defeat of the pro-EU camp, though, has important lessons to offer, and not just for those of my readers who live in Britain; the core issues underlying the Brexit referendum …

Jack Rasmus – Brexit as Working Class Rebellion against Neoliberalism and “Free Trade”

Class, nationalist, and ethnic elements are all involved in the Brexit vote in a complex integration of protest.  Press and media emphasize the nationalist and ethnic (immigrant-anti-immigrant) themes but generally avoid discussing or analyzing the event from a class perspective. But that perspective is fundamental. What Brexit represents is a proxy vote against the economic effects of Free Trade, the …

Yanis Varoufakis – Brexit won’t shield Britain from the horror of a disintegrating EU

Leave won because too many British voters identified the EU with authoritarianism, irrationality and contempt for parliamentary democracy while too few believed those of us who claimed that another EU was possible. I campaigned for a radical remain vote reflecting the values of our pan-European Democracy in Europe Movement (DiEM25). I visited towns in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, seeking to convince …

Guy Faulconbridge – Brexit Bedlam: U.K. Ponders Uncertain Future After Historic ‘Leave’ Vote

LONDON (Reuters) – To leave, or not to leave: that is the question. Still. After Britain’s historic vote to leave the European Union, there is no indication that a so-calledBrexit will happen soon. It maybe never will. Prime Minister David Cameron, who is resigning, has said he will not take the formal step to an EU divorce on the grounds …

Brian Chappatta – The $100 Trillion Bond Market’s Got Bigger Concerns Than Brexit

In some ways, it really didn’t matter to Steven Major whether the U.K. voted to stay or to leave. Sure, as a Brit, Major followed the U.K.’s surprising decision to break with the European Union. And, of course, the 51-year-old Londoner voted (though he politely declined to say whether he was in the “Remain” or “Leave” camp). But when it comes …

GARY LEUPP – On “Islamic” and “Islamist Terrorism”

Donald Trump declares that the Orlando nightclub massacre shows that he “was right on Islamic terrorism” all along, once again chiding Obama for avoiding that label. Hillary Clinton for the first time uses a similar term in an interview with Savannah Guthrie on NBC New’s Today Show. She says, “To me, radical jihadism, radical Islamism, I think they mean the …