Reading

Created
Tue, 07/11/2023 - 02:30
If only there were cameras The head of the Trump Organization takes the stand this morning in its Manhattan civil fraud trial. You can say a lot that will roll of this odd duck’s back, but questioning Trump’s net worth cuts to the core of his pathologically insecure self-image. He’s prone to lash out at those who do. We know that here from experience. The 2019 post that drew a threat letter from one of Trump’s lawyers commented on MSNBC reporting that Trump’s real estate empire was in such shaky financial shape that he had hostile foreign powers backstopping his loans. Hullabaloo got caught in the backlash. Former Trump personal attorney, Michael Cohen, thinks Trump will respond just as poorly to having his financial condition questioned to his face on the witness stand. He won’t be able to keep his cool, Cohen told CNN anchor Phil Mattingly (Raw Story): “At the beginning, he’s going to try.
Created
Tue, 07/11/2023 - 01:00
and the royalist style in American politics The reason people chose an authoritarian for president in 2016 was not economic anxiety, although that was there. And it was not racism, although that was there too. Robert P. Jones, founder and president of the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) spoke with Chauncey DeVega about the apocalypticism behind White Christian nationalism and the desire to restore “traditional American values.” With violence, if need be. Jones discusses his findings in “The Hidden Roots of White Supremacy and the Path to a Shared American Future.”  Results of a recent American Values Survey reveal, says Jones (Salon): Three-quarters of Americans believe that the future of democracy is at stake in the 2024 presidential election. It’s one of the few things that Republicans and Democrats agree on, 84% of Democrats and 77% of Republicans. Now, of course, they mean very different things in terms of their concerns about “democracy.” There is also great pessimism about the country.
Created
Tue, 07/11/2023 - 00:00

Dear Residents,

While this elevator was being serviced yesterday, the emergency phone was inadvertently disabled.

We are taping this note to the elevator to let you know that should you become trapped, you will not be able to call for help.

We are working on getting this fixed. Thank you.

—CoolWater Apartment Building Manager

- - -

Dear Residents,

Unfortunately, someone removed the previous warning note taped here.

One of our residents, Janice in #613, became trapped in this elevator last night and unknowingly tried to use the emergency phone.

Another resident waiting for the elevator overheard Janice screaming, “Help! I’m trapped in this stupid elevator! Why won’t you answer the phone? Oh god, my ice cream cake is melting!”

Please do not scream into the broken emergency phone. Quiet hours in our building are from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m.

If you hear screams coming from the elevator shaft, report it during business hours. Please do not remove this sign. Thank you.

—CoolWater Manager

- - -

Dear Residents,

Created
Mon, 06/11/2023 - 21:36

‘Our cells have turned into dungeons.’ Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails and detention centres have slowly been able to relay harrowing stories of the Israeli Prison Service’s brutal crackdown on them since 7 October. They are sharing chilling testimonies in the few opportunities they have to make contact with the world outside their cell — […]

Created
Mon, 06/11/2023 - 21:18
In contrast to its attitude to private debt, which it ignores, mainstream economics obsesses about government debt. But this volte-face doesn’t besmirch its record of being 100% wrong. This is the first half of chapter nine of my draft book Rebuilding Economics from the Top Down, which will be published later this year by the … Continue reading "It’s a Mixed Credit-Fiat World"
Created
Mon, 06/11/2023 - 20:28
Silicon Valley companies began life with the Fairy dust of 1960s dreams sprinkled on them. The revolution that 1960s activists dreamed of had failed, but the personal computer movement carried that dream onto the early personal computer industry. Hobbyist fairs, a communitarian language, and the very place of their birth encouraged this fantasy. Nevertheless, it […]