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Musk is trying to shut down the agency probing his company’s equipment — and now workers are pushing back with a longstanding privacy law.
The freeze is still on, at least in some places. Republicans have learned that the courts have no power to top anything, not even a blatantly criminal president who stole classified documents and refused to give them back. So issuing a “restraining order” is a nice symbolic act but I’m not sure anyone thinks it means much anymore. Once you take a wrecking ball to every norm and law in the country you end up standing on the courthouse steps saying “Yeah? You and what army?” and the whole thing falls apart. One week after the Trump administration ordered a pause on federal grants and loans, many Head Start programs in Wisconsin are still unable to access needed funds and are facing uncertainty about whether they can stay open. While the White House publicly rescinded the memo announcing the freeze, nonprofit organizations around the state are reporting they remain locked out of the payment systems that they use to pay staff and keep operations running.
In accordance with our informal tradition of updating documents every thirty years, whether they need it or not, our university is pleased to present this updated org chart that most accurately captures our system of governance (which management scientists term “Kafkaesque bureaucracy meets Lord of the Files,” though no one understands these references since we cut our literature requirements). Please click the image to enlarge for viewing, and if you don’t find yourself represented, definitely know that the exclusion was intentional.
Click image to enlarge.
The times may be captive, but the thinking has to remain free.
In the upcoming federal election, there is no real choice. The Labor Party and the Liberal Party have become virtually indistinguishable, offering voters nothing, but well-rehearsed sound bites, nothing to believe in, nothing to fight for, and certainly nothing to get excited about. Both parties tiptoe around hard truths. Both prioritise economic appeasement over bold Continue reading »
China today is not the China of the pre-COVID age, but many commentators think it is still an economy based on cheap manufacturing. Several weeks ago, Thomas Friedman, diplomatic editor of The New York Times, travelled to China and published his impressions in a syndicated article on the country’s “staggering manufacturing muscle”. He concluded that Continue reading »
The early Quakers knew that a deep understanding of the Bible was critical to recognising when they were being fed bullshit cloaked in religious language. By knowing Scripture well, they resisted manipulation and propaganda, ensuring faith remained a force for justice rather than a tool of power. The story of the widow’s mite (Mark 12:41–44) Continue reading »
The re-election of the Albanese Government cannot be taken for granted. That is inspite of several credible achievements by Treasurer Chalmers. Recent opinion polls suggest support for the ALP Government is insufficient for even a minority government win. Given the stunning election win by Trump, a similar disaster could happen in Australia. The approach by Continue reading »
The foundation of Australia’s alliance with the US is that there is a shared commitment to the rule of law and constitutional democratic government. We are faced with the choice of waiting until there cannot be a shred of doubt that the US is committed to a dictatorship or beginning the process of cutting our Continue reading »
Intelligent and compassionate people can change the world, so let us get on with this. As I draw much closer to becoming an octogenarian early next year, I have found myself finding it more and more difficult to feel hopeful for our world going into the future. I most likely will not be here to Continue reading »
In the 1860s, as the new colony of Victoria boomed following the discovery of gold, First Peoples were being moved onto missions and reserves, where their lives were tightly controlled. The date of 19 November 2024 marked the 190th anniversary of Edward Henty’s arrival on, an event that began a legacy of dispossession, violence and Continue reading »
This is because journalists have discovered the names of the young boys who are now running roughshod over the US government at Elon Musk’s behest. Wired revealed the name of one last night who appears to have been given way beyond “read only” ability and he’s changing code. Josh Marshall has more on that today: I’m told that Elez and possibly other DOGE operatives received full admin-level access on Friday, January 31st. The claim of “read only” access was either false from the start or later fell through. The DOGE team, which appears to be mainly or only Elez for the purposes of this project, has already made extensive changes to the code base for the payment system. They have not locked out the existing programmer/engineering staff but have rather leaned on them for assistance, which the staff appear to have painedly provided hoping to prevent as much damage as possible — “damage” in the sense not of preventing the intended changes but avoiding crashes or a system-wide breakdown caused by rapidly pushing new code into production with a limited knowledge of the system and its dependencies across the federal government.
Mainstream economists often hold the view that Keynes’ criticism of econometrics resulted from a sadly misinformed and misguided person who disliked and did not understand much of it. This is, however, nothing but a gross misapprehension. To be careful and cautious is not the same as to dislike. Keynes did not misunderstand the crucial issues […]
I’ve just published Chapter 10 of my open access textbook. This chapter focuses on homelessness experienced by older adults. A ‘top 10’ overview of the chapter can be found here: https://nickfalvo.ca/homelessness-among-older-adults/
Survival tips for Trump 2.0 “Hard not to feel like we’re all losing our minds when it’s just plain as day that what Musk is doing is obviously, flagrantly illegal,” writes Chris Hayes on Threads. So, self care is going to be important especially for the near future. There’s a lot to take in. Others have already tuned out. But I have enough Irish on both sides that my attitude comes from the old joke, “Is this a private fight, or can anyone join?” Tuning out is not an option. That way lies helplessness, and I loathe feeling helpless. Action is the antidote. Europeans accustomed to taking advice from the U.S. have some for their American friends facing an authoritarian regime. Watch for all those little changes that amount to big changes: “I never liked the metaphor of the frog in a slowly boiling water, but it applies very well to our situation,” Srđan Cvijić at the Belgrade Centre for Security Policy said. “One decision at a time, our regime has stripped Serbia of its democratic system. It didn’t come overnight.
It didn’t take long for the border and immigration enforcement industry to react to Donald Trump’s reelection. On November 6th, as Bloomberg News reported, stock prices shot up for two private prison companies, GEO Group and CoreCivic. “We expect the incoming Trump administration to take a much more aggressive approach regarding border security as well as interior enforcement,” explained the GEO Group’s executive chair, George Zoley, “and to request additional funding from Congress to achieve these goals.” In other words, the “largest mass deportation operation in U.S. history” was going to be a moneymaker. As it happens, that Bloomberg piece was a rarity, offering a glimpse of immigration enforcement that doesn’t normally get the attention it deserves by focusing on... Read more
He’s a wholly owned subsidiary of Musk Industries “Calling Musk the ‘shadow president’ may be underselling the severity of the situation,” writes Amanda Marcotte this morning at Salon. Indeed. Elon Musk and his youthfoul band of arsonists are gleefully burning every agency in Washington they can force their way into. It’s a hostile takeover of the United States happening in full view of the world. It’s also happening in full view of Democrats down the street just now waking up and smelling the accelerants. Donald is in the Oval Office sharpie-signing whatever executive orders underlings drafted for him to sign and show off for the cameras like a child’s finger-painting. Donald loves signing things. (Except checks to porn stars.) Does he know what’s in them or is he too far into deepening dementia to care? But while Donald is busily sharpie-signing, Elon Musk, another overaged adolescent, is running about unsupervised. It seems the White House doesn’t really know what he’s doing with the government Trump was elected to run into the ground.
The American tradition of airstrikes against Somalia is continuing into Trump’s second term.
The post Trump the “Peacemaker” Ramps Up America’s Forever War in Somalia appeared first on The Intercept.