Reading

Created
Wed, 03/01/2024 - 05:47


Our 7th most-read article of 2023.

- - -

Originally published August 11, 2023.

- - -

You were riding during rush hour.
Why were you riding then? There are way too many cars on the road. If you were commuting, you should have contacted your boss and politely asked to work from 3:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. instead.

You were riding at night or in the early morning.
There’s no way drivers can see you. Remember: if you’re one of those people who rides bikes because it keeps the mental darkness at bay, the best time to do so is in the middle of the workday.

You were riding in the middle of the workday.
The only people who should ride their bikes during the workday are bike messengers, who I also dislike. They weave, they bob—it’s inappropriate. Bike messengers need to do what drivers do: go straight, get pissed off, and hate everyone.

Created
Wed, 03/01/2024 - 05:30
Stephen Miller will be a very important influence in Trump 2.0 Judd Legum talks about the Trump threat in his newsletter today. I thought I would highlight just one little passage for those who think it might be useful to punish Biden and the Democrats by letting Trump have another term. It’s pretty clear it won’t just be the Democrats who suffer at Trump’s hands.
Created
Wed, 03/01/2024 - 04:58
In this series, I explore how US narratives on the ‘China threat’ have become entrenched in Western security communities and how a ‘China threat’ narrative has been constructed by Republicans and Democrats in the United States in an attempt to create a “rally round the flag” effect designed to internally unite a deeply divided America. Continue reading »
Created
Wed, 03/01/2024 - 04:56
At the end of this war, Israel will find itself in a worse situation than when the war began. Israel has become a pariah state. Even if Israel is able to realize its goals, which appear to be receding, the country’s situation will be worse than before. Since the moral aspects of this war hardly Continue reading »
Created
Wed, 03/01/2024 - 04:55
The latest Roy Morgan Most Trusted & Distrusted Leaders research has bad news for Anthony Albanese but worse news for Peter Dutton. … and the political class as a whole also has deep problems with Michelle Levine, Roy Morgan CEO, saying that overall trust is down and deep and toxic distrust has increased. Albanese recorded Continue reading »
Created
Wed, 03/01/2024 - 04:55
The old adage “Beware of Greeks bearing gifts” is a warning not to take things at face value.  If caution is abandoned, the consequences may be dire. In Tokyo, at a special summit from Dec 16-18, Japan and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) marked their 50 years of official ties. The host, Continue reading »
Created
Wed, 03/01/2024 - 04:52
Instead of thinking through and independently acting in Australia’s best interests, Prime Minister Albanese has followed in the footsteps of his discredited predecessors and outsourced defence and foreign policy to the US. The Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, is a provincial man with a strong social conscience. He understands issues of health, education and infrastructure and Continue reading »
Created
Wed, 03/01/2024 - 04:50
The judgment of history awaits as we continue to witness the nightmarish visions of innocents being vaporised because of Washington’s unconditional backing of the Israeli blitzkrieg against the people of Gaza. The humiliation of the U.S. government, which is actively complicit in providing the weaponry, funding, and UN vetoes backing the Israeli government’s attack on Continue reading »
Created
Wed, 03/01/2024 - 04:34
Wayne LaPierre is going on trial. As further evidence of the total corruption of the conservative movement, despite being shown to have ripped off the membership in the millions LaPierre was welcomed back into the fold. But this could be the end of him, God willing: For decades, Wayne LaPierre, the National Rifle Association’s longtime leader, has been a survivor. He has endured waves of palace intrigue, corruption scandals and embarrassing revelations, including leaked video that captured his inability to shoot an elephant at point-blank range while on a safari. But now, Mr. LaPierre, 74, faces his gravest challenge, as a legal showdown with New York’s attorney general, Letitia James, goes to trial in a Manhattan courtroom. Ms. James, in a lawsuit filed amid an abrupt effort by the N.R.A. to clean up its practices, seeks to oust him from the group after reports of corruption and mismanagement. Much has changed since Ms. James began investigating the N.R.A. four years ago. The organization, long a lobbying juggernaut, is a kind of ghost ship.
Created
Wed, 03/01/2024 - 02:30
Section 3 of the 14th Amendment isn’t the only one forgotten Move over Section 3. Michael Meltzner reminds readers of The American Prospect that America should not treat Section 2 of the 14th Amendment as a dead letter either. There is another lawsuit pending based on it: About a year ago, I reported in the Prospect on a pending lawsuit filed on behalf of a citizens group by former Department of Justice lawyer Jared Pettinato. The suit asks that the Census Bureau be required to enforce Section 2 of the 14th Amendment, enacted in 1868 to strip congressional representation from states that disfranchise voters. The text applies to general methods states adopt that keep people from voting and is not limited to racial discrimination. The proportional loss of congressional representation would also reduce the votes that states would get in the Electoral College. The Section 2 case is now moving toward resolution. Briefs have been filed, and oral argument is expected shortly before the court of appeals in Washington, D.C It’s another one of those constitutional sections that seems to have been ratified and quickly forgotten.
Created
Wed, 03/01/2024 - 01:00
Walking the crooked and narrow path “We’ve reached the part of the campaign where Trump destroys Nikki Haley’s career and she then thanks him for it,” LOLGOP (Jason Sattler) posted this morning at Blue Sky. The former South Carolina governor has gained ground on Donald Trump in recent polling but has checked herself from launching direct attacks against TFG. Politico’s Burgess Everett is also pondering the how swiftly 2024 Republican presidential also-rans and other Republican Trump critics will have their come-to-Donald moments. With the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary held within the month, it will happen faster than the demon made Linda Blair’s head spin. Trump has already contacted Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.) about an endorsement. Hoeven had endorsed fellow North Dakotan Gov. Doug Burgum before Burgham dropped out: The Hoeven call shows how Trump’s campaign for Capitol endorsements is accelerating as he nears the first GOP nominating contest in Iowa. He won five endorsements from Republican senators during December alone, after snagging just three of them over the preceding four months.