And inevitable A Bulwark column by Will Selber (“retired spook”) takes on the Trump administration’s frenzied effort to purge the military of the miniscule number of transgender persons in the services. A casual observer might think it the greatest problem facing the Pentagon. As a commander, Selber had to deal with a lot of personnel issues from vaccine refusal to sexual assault charges. But his training provided little guidance for how to counsel an airman who wanted to transition. Still, his primary responsibility was to ensure his unit “was in tip-top shape at all times.” I asked, “You sure you want to do this?” The answer was yes. I must admit, I had some reservations. For old men like me, transgenderism is a foreign concept. So I read up on it. However, what really convinced me to approve the airman’s request was the airman. Imagine how much courage it took to come into a commander’s office and request such a procedure. That’s courage. And we need more of that in the military. If these team members were otherwise met standards for service, so what if they identify as transgender?
Reading
Your fruit bowl comes to the rescue, traffic tax hits the jackpot, anti-abortion activists get buffered, and the Granite State goes green.
“The United States has changed teams” Russian dissident Gary Kasparov spoke at the Principles First conference in Washington last weekend, writes Michael Tomasky. Kasparov “uttered a very simple line that chilled the thousand or so people in the room: ‘The United States has changed teams.’ ” The hell it has. I resent being told the United States of America switched sides because the White House is in the grip of a band of lawless sociopaths. Donald Trump’s country-wreckers have changed teams, certainly. Most of the Republican upper echelons has. Many MAGA foot soldiers have as well. How many have aligned with Vladimir Putin’s “might makes right” geopolitics simply because Trump has is unclear. How many would snap out of it after he’s gone is even less clear. The lean toward Russia on the Christian right comes from the ludicrous proposition that there people live under biblical law because the nation is heavily white and Putin is hostile to LGBT people. One conservative Christian couple from Canada moved to Russia to be free from “LGBT ideology” and quickly found themselves free from being free.
Why are you wallowing in negative rumours about Doctor Who from the British tabloids and unnamed sources when they're not even true?
Mathilda Mallinson was one of two pro-immigration cast members on the controversial Channel 4 show. She explains what the show taught her
GOP lawmakers said that they couldn’t enforce bathroom bans with the civil rights protections on the books.
The post Iowa Becomes the First State to Repeal Civil Rights Protections for Trans People appeared first on The Intercept.
It’s the End of the World and I Don’t Feel Fine Pete Dolack Fredric Jameson is no longer here to remind us that imagining the…
Donald Trump has upended the narrative on the Ukraine War. But what does it mean for the future of Europe? Plus a lot more on NATO, China, the US dollar, technofeudalism and our duty to stop the Palestinian genocide while fighting antisemitism. 0:00 – Intro to Yanis Varoufakis 2:26 – Did Ukraine Lose the War? […]
The post Ukraine, Europe, China and Technofeudalism – in conversation with Cyrus Janssen appeared first on Yanis Varoufakis.
Superannuation is complicated A guaranteed government income in retirement would be simpler – Brendan Coates and Joey Moloney Stress prompts many to under-spend superannuation For…
Busting the ‘natural rate of unemployment’ myth Lars Syll Sixty years ago Milton Friedman wrote an (in)famous article arguing that (1) the natural rate of…
Building humane alternatives to homo economicus Asad Zaman Introduction: As discussed in my recent article on self-knowledge as the key to understanding society (see ERA…
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Universities: dead, buried and cremated? Geoff Davies In the late nineties, the management of the Australian National University was attacking its academic staff. That may…
Trade isn’t money for nothing Stephanie Kelton On 16 December 2024, the president-elect Donald Trump returned to a familiar grievance: accusing our trading partners of…
In praise of government consumption Merijn Knibbe DOGE, a new branch of the U.S. government, does not escape the Iron Law of Bureaucracy. It is…
Sloth bear cubs! Bear-y exciting news ðŸ»ðŸ¤Ž First-time mama Shala welcomed two sloth bear cubs in early December, and after several weeks bonding in their private den, the shaggy-haired sweethearts are making their debut. pic.twitter.com/1q3oSofOXF — San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance (@sandiegozoo) February 13, 2025 First-time mama Shala welcomed two sloth bear cubs in early December, and after several weeks bonding in their private den, the shaggy-haired sweethearts are making their debut. Sloth bears Melursus ursinus live in hot, dry grasslands and forests in Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka. They have distinctive chevron-shaped or U-shaped chest markings, a long muzzle (longer than that of other bears) with an elongated snout, lips that can form a tube shape, allowing them to feed by noisily suctioning ants and termites right out of their nest mounds, nostrils that they can close when feeding on termites and ants (to avoid inhaling dirt), and prominent ears covered in long hair. Sloth bears’ upper incisor teeth are effectively missing, which helps them to more easily vacuum up insects.
It will be interesting to see how people interpret today’s events in the oval office with Zelensky. Overall, 30% of American adults say the U.S. is providing too much support to Ukraine in its war with Russia. That’s up slightly from 27% in November 2024, just after the U.S. presidential election. At the same time, the share of adults who believe the U.S. is not providing enough support to Ukraine has increased slightly: 22% say this, up from 18% in November. These shifts mean that U.S. opinion about support for Ukraine is now closer to preelection levels. About one-in-five Americans (23%) say the level of U.S. support for Ukraine is about right, down slightly from 25% in November. Another 24% say they are not sure, down from 29% over the same period. That was three weeks ago. I suspect that it won’t change substantially due to today’s events. My only hope is that the viral clip of Trump ranting incoherently about Hunter Biden’s bathroom breaks through the cacophony and brings a few of those people who weren’t sure over to the right side. Not that it matters. This country is now a Russian ally whether we like it or not.
Badly confused trade policy: the story of supply and demand Dean Baker Donald Trump is the world’s leading expert in getting things wrong and one…
With the increasingly bizarre compliance of the US President to the Russian President, Zarina Zabrisky wonders if the KGB/FSB tradition of assassination and mafia-style intimidation may be key
There is a ton going on today, but this is the big story and I’m sticking with it for now. I’m just so appalled… The “reporter” that asked that is Marjorie Taylor Greene’s boyfriend. L’il Marco pondering his future and his legacy. Was it worth it? *record scratch* Yep, that's me. I bet you're wondering how I ended up in this situation… pic.twitter.com/1LrNox4Nh7 — The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) February 28, 2025 Guess what? Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth last week ordered U.S. Cyber Command to stand down from all planning against Russia, including offensive digital actions, according to three people familiar with the matter. Hegseth gave the instruction to Cyber Command chief Gen. Timothy Haugh, who then informed the organization’s outgoing director of operations, Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Ryan Heritage, of the new guidance, according to these people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the matter’s sensitivity. The order does not apply to the National Security Agency, which Haugh also leads, or its signals intelligence work targeting Russia, the sources said. Also this.
Matt and Mercedes Schlapp opened this year’s CPAC by celebrating: “Last year I said globalism...