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A man Ben Smith from Semafor calls a “MAGA Intellectual” (a contradiction in terms) has been tapped for Assisstant Secretary of State: Beattie has been a vocal critic of broad swathes of American foreign policy and represents a dramatic step away from the establishment Republicanism Rubio long embodied:  In a widely-circulated essay on the site he founded, Revolver, Darren Beattie compared the “color revolutions” that Western democracies backed in Eastern Europe in the 1990s and 2000s to “the coordinated efforts of government bureaucrats, NGOs, and the media to oust President Trump.” Beattie, who has a PhD in political theory from Duke University, where he also taught, was fired in 2018 after attending a conference with white nationalists. He was appointed by Trump in 2020 to a the Commission for the Preservation of American Heritage Abroad, a move that the CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, Jonathan Greenblatt, called “outrageous” at the time. (Greenblatt declined to comment Sunday.) The commission works with other governments to preserve sites related to World War II and the Holocaust.

Let’s deal with the big, almost certain effects first.

This is the beginning of the end of  the American alliance system, empire and world economic system.

Peter Dutton’s muse, Gina Rinehart, has declared that Australia would be a much better place if it were all mine. In an off camera rant, allegedly recorded at a McDonald’s drive thru. ”I stand by what I said, this country... Read More ›

What are the philosophical and empirical dimensions of the association of neoliberalism with free markets and why are they so hard to shake off? My latest articles argue that we need to dispel the neoliberalism = free markets couplet and re-evaluate how we assess neoliberalism.

The post All that has never been true: the dismal ruins of the neoliberalism = free markets assumption appeared first on Progress in Political Economy (PPE).

Many of us are aghast at the unprecedented dismantlement of the US administrative state. Mass terminations. Website erasure. Removal of watchdogs. Unchecked access to the treasury. All around me, people are trying to connect what’s happening to historical events. Is this fascism? A hostile corporate takeover? A coup? People want a frame both to understand […]

Since the fall of Bashar al-Assad, Turkey and its militias have cut off the Kurdish city of Kobane from the rest of Syria.

The post Twelve Days in Kobane, Where Syrian Kurds Are Under Attack by Turkey appeared first on The Intercept.

“More than 50 interviews with Democratic leaders revealed a party that is struggling to define what it stands for, what issues to prioritize, and how to confront a Trump administration that is carrying out a right-wing agenda with head-spinning speed.” — New York Times

In these terrifying times, the Democratic Party would like to assure you that there is nothing we hold more dear than democracy. Our nation’s core values are under attack, and standing up for what’s right takes bravery and courage. That’s why we, the Democrats, have decided to stay seated until we can figure out what to do.

We might take a stand at some point. A bold response isn’t completely off the table, but unfortunately, Elon Musk locked us out of the room with the table, and we haven’t been able to come to a consensus on which locksmith to call. Also, unfortunately, that’s the room with all of the Treasury Department’s payment information.

Donald Trump’s “snatch-and-grab” foreign policy rejects the belief in US primacy and exception that was sliding towards a military confrontation with China. Some have been surprised by the speed with which President Donald Trump is moving on his agenda. Yet, his chief of staff, Susie Wiles, served notice only days after last November’s election, declaring Continue reading »

During the last election economics were on everyone’s minds. Despite the greater economy being healthy with an extraordinary job market not seen since the 1960s, people told pollsters that they were extremely upset about the high cost of living that had been brought on by the disruption of the pandemic and took a couple of years to finally sort out. In poll after poll, Americans said that inflation was the biggest problem facing the nation. When asked what he planned to do about this, then candidate Donald Trump’s only answers were “tariffs!” and ” growth.” It was the cure all for every economic pain that ailed you. Here he is answering a question about what specific legislation he would propose to deal with the high cost of child care. Yes, you guessed it. Tariffs. He promised over and over again that he was going to lower the cost of living and he made it clear that the way he planned to do it was with his beloved tariffs. Well, we’re about to find out how that’s going to work.

Here we go JV Last at the Bulwark provides a handy guide to what’s happening this morning in the financial markets. The question is will the drop stay below 7 percent? The Dow plunged over 600 points right out of the gate. Donald Trump just launched the “dumbest trade war in history.” Thus saith the Wall Street Journal. While people are screaming for more affordable housing, Trump dramatically increased the price of lumber out of Canada just ahead of the spring building season. That’s on top of the “five-alarm fire” Trump started in firing inspectors general and FBI agensts from coast to coast. Oh, and Mr. America First allowing Elon Musk to shut down USAID: In Washington, USAID’s headquarters was closed for the day, with employees told in an email to remain at home. Logos and photos of its aid work have been stripped from building walls. And its website and social media accounts have gone dark, replaced with a reduced version of its webpage on the State Department’s website.

When the snake oil bites…. Trump is counting on you to be one of his rubes. Fans of Trumpism, even its operators, are going to feel its impacts very, very soon. Oh, and all y’all as well. The snake behind the oil is about to bite. CNN: Just about everyone thought it was a bluff. Top analysts from the biggest banks on Wall Street said it was highly unlikely. Stocks were trading like it wouldn’t happen. Some companies built contingency plans, but they weren’t exactly rushing to make changes. But the tariffs are coming — in full force. President Donald Trump announced Saturday that a massive 25% tariff on all goods from Mexico and most imports from Canada will go into effect Tuesday. An additional 10% tariff on Chinese goods will be enacted the same day. Trump in a message posted on Truth Social Sunday said, “We don’t need anything they have.

“Elon Musk’s government-slashing crew, the ‘department of government efficiency,’ has been given access to the federal payment system, exposing the sensitive personal data of millions of Americans as well as details of public contractors who compete directly with Musk’s own businesses, an influential US senator has confirmed.” — The Guardian

1. Find a functioning light bulb in a busy work area.

2. Strike the light bulb with a private-sector-manufactured hammer or other hard object.

3. Note any employee who pauses work at the noise or gets distracted. Refer them for Justice Department investigation.

4. Fire the first five people who try to sweep up the shards of glass. They are obviously Biden dead-enders who just want to maintain the wasteful and ineffective status quo.

5. Document the waste, fraud, and abuse of federal workers as they stumble around slowly in the dark, often bumping into each other and the walls of cubicles.

In animations that evoke the fog of memory, Susan returns to her childhood in Korea, speaking a language she no longer knows

- by Aeon Video

Watch at Aeon

More than any other conflict, Israel/Palestine has provoked extraordinarily fervent emotion throughout the world. Why?

- by Derek Jonathan Penslar

Read at Aeon

Once maligned by philosophers, metaphors are a key communication tool for extending the power of literal speech

- by Elek Lane

Read at Psyche

Politicians are refusing to take meaningful action to resolve the perma-crisis in our health service, writes NHS Doctor, David Oliver