Politics

The Hobbledehoy collects articles and podcasts from reliable sources of factual reporting, but with a clear, self-acknowledged left-leaning or progressive editorial bias.
Find the most recent articles from historians Timothy Snyder and Heather Cox Richardson, journalist Sarah Kendzior, former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich, former U.S. Senator Al Franken, and the global news program Democracy Now!

Johnny Marr Comments On Morrissey’s Brexit Support

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With Johnny Marr revealing earlier this week, via an excerpt from his upcoming memoir, that a reunion of The Smiths almost happened in 2008, he has now said that Morrissey’s pro-Brexit opinions are another reason why the reunion is very unlikely to ever happen.

Marr revealed that he and Morrissey had met to speak about the possibility of a reunion eight years ago, but contact between the two was soon lost. As FACT reports, Marr appeared last night on Sky News and, when asked about the possibility of a reunion of the band, said that although he does not believe everything that is reported, if it is indeed true that Morrissey is pro-Brexit and a supporter of Nigel Farage, it would put a “slight drawback” on those plans.

Morrissey had called the UK’s decision to leave the EU “magnificent” in an interview last month, while also taking the opportunity to criticise mainstream British media’s coverage of the referendum which took place earlier this year.

READ FULL STORY at Source: The Quietus | News | Johnny Marr Comments On Morrissey’s Brexit Support

Fabric’s Closure & The Rise Of A New British Puritanism

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This past Tuesday evening Islington Council revoked the licence of Fabric nightclub, putting nearly 300 people out of work and ending an institution that has fostered so many musical careers as it brought millions together in the communal joy of the dancefloor. The police naming their surveillance operation inside the club Operation Lenor arguably suggests a gigantic stitch-up, just the latest in a long line of club closures that have blighted London in recent years

READ FULL STORY AT Source: The Quietus | Opinion | Black Sky Thinking | Fabric’s Closure & The Rise Of A New British Puritanism

A big, dirty secret from Donald Trump’s tax returns has been exposed – The Washington Post

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We now know a lot more about Trump’s taxes. It’s much worse than anyone thought.

Unlike past presidential nominees, Donald Trump has declined to release his complete tax returns, which has fostered fervid speculation about what they might contain — especially since the New York Times published a few pages from Trump’s 1995 tax documents last month.

Those documents suggested that the Republican nominee could have avoided paying taxes on as much as $916 million in income. The question was how he could do so legally. Experts had put forward a range of intricate theories, and the new documents disclosed by the Times on Monday point to one explanation for how Trump sheltered the bulk of that money.

It appears Trump gave his creditors shares of his failing businesses to avoid taxes on hundreds of millions of dollars they granted him in debt relief, a practice that has since been explicitly outlawed, the Times explained.

In short, “He made it up,” said legal scholar Edward Kleinbard of the University of Southern California.

Source: A big, dirty secret from Donald Trump’s tax returns has been exposed – The Washington Post

Comey was concerned publicly blaming Russia for hacks of Democrats could appear too political in run-up to elections

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FBI Director James B. Comey advised against the Obama administration publicly accusing Russia of hacking political organizations on the grounds that it would make the administration appear unduly partisan too close to the Nov. 8 election, according to officials familiar with the deliberations.

But he supported the administration’s formal denunciation last month as long as it did not have the FBI’s name on it, they said. Comey was sensitive not only to his agency appearing to influence the election but also to seeming biased while it was conducting an investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, said the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal discussions.

At the same time, the bureau works with Russian services on a variety of terrorism and criminal matters.

Source: Comey was concerned publicly blaming Russia for hacks of Democrats could appear too political in run-up to elections – The Washington Post