Riksbanken har en nästintill oinskränkt makt över penning-politiken, en politik som i hög grad styr inflation, sysselsättning och ekonomisk stabilitet. Denna makt bör vara föremål för större demokratisk övervakning för att säkerställa att den överensstämmer med vad vi som samhällsmedborgare har för intressen. Riksbanken verkar över tid ha utvecklat en slags ‘policybias’ där inflationskontroll prioriteras […]
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Photo by barnilsson During my first ten years travelling back and forth between Lund and Berlin, it was still there, even when this photo of yours truly — leisurely reading taz — was taken at Café Einstein back in the summer of 1988. Had anyone told me then that the wall would soon come tumbling down, […]
California just voted in harsher penalties despite low crime rates, thanks to TV news, a $16 million campaign, and a slow defense by criminal justice advocates.
The post How California Got Convinced to Lock More People Up appeared first on The Intercept.
In the wake of Trump’s second victory, we could have expected the usual triumphalism from America’s growing contingent of right-wing extremists, and the usual handwringing from liberal commentators. These two groups have set about attacking one another online, with American liberals lamenting the fact that half of their country is either evil or stupid, and […]
After a few days of emotions running wild—some feeling like shattered glass and others bubbling with joy—the time has come to pull oneself together and look for sound analyses to understand what happened and why. The point is that there was really no need to search… The reasons for Trump’s victory are well known, especially […]
For all the childless cat ladies a little ray of sunshine. It’s from last January but it illustrates that humans aren’t all bad: BLASDELL, N.Y. — Ten Lives Club has now received over $270,000 in donations in support of Buffalo Bills kicker Tyler Bass, and the organization shared that every dollar will be going right back to saving more cats. “I was crying on the phone today, I just can’t believe it,” said Ten Lives Club Public Relations Manager, Kimberly LaRussa. “I’m just so happy for the cats.” These kittens were born the day before the Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills playoff game and have never known a day without Tyler Bass helping them out. These three kittens have now watched over $270,000 in donations come in since Monday night. “We are all speechless at Ten Lives Club and can’t believe this is happening,” Kimberly said. “I hope it brings him a smile to know how many cats he is saving right now,” Kimberly said. Kimberly shared this has been their largest amount ever received by far, topping even their largest fundraiser ten times over.
Why Donald Trump was able to shatter the Democratic coalition — and what needs to be done to rebuild it.
George Conway responded: Bill is right There are plenty of micro-explanations and micro-excuses for what happened in the presidential election of 2024. And on the margins, any number of them—indeed, almost certainly, a combination of them—made the difference. But their impact was only on the margins. Don’t get me wrong—small margins and the factors that move them do matter, a lot, in elections—particularly in America in the 21st century. They deserve careful analysis, but only to a point. For the bottom line is that these considerations are not what we must focus on first and foremost today. What deserves the lion’s share of our attention are the facts that a major political party could have even considered nominating Trump despite his manifest criminality, moral depravity, psychological derangement, and cognitive deficiencies and deterioration—and that nearly half the country would have voted for him no matter what he did or said and no matter whom he had run against. That was the ultimate problem in this election, and remains so. We suffer from a deep sickness in our national polity.
It seems so: The most chilling moment of the election night carnage came a little before 1 a.m. ET. It wasn’t yet confirmed that Donald Trump would win, but the writing was on the wall. Assessing the newly transformed MAGA-friendly political landscape, the pro-Trump lobbyist and political commentator David Urban said on CNN: “Democracy is a luxury when you can’t pay your bills.” Democracy as a luxury. Democracy in good times only. Democracy when it suits you. This mindset – a precursor to fascist regimes in other countries – is why it feels like a white-wash to ascribe Trump’s victory to economic issues. It feels like a safe, socially acceptable reason to cite for rejecting Kamala Harris and the Biden baggage she carried. It’s easy for political reporters and TV commentators to slip into gentle analysis of the election results by focusing on the economic factors (to the exclusion of misogyny, racism, and host of other drives of the electorate). But it doesn’t necessarily follow that Biden-era inflation and post-pandemic backlash means jettisoning democracy. That’s a choice.
The great problem with Trump, predictively, is that he’s fickle. He often doesn’t do what he says he’ll do. Even if he was sincere he’s easily handled by flatterers. The best model for Trump is an arrogant and touchy king who wants to be made to feel he’s amazing.
This means that court games matter even more than in a normal Presidency, and those who play them best have the most power and influence.
But even a good courtier can step wrong with Trump and be pushed out. The limelight has to stay on Trump himself. A courtier can have great power, but the credit and the media must flow to the top. The last thing any courtier wants is to have people saying publicly that they’re the power behind the throne.
Watch what they watch, hear what they hear Brian Beutler wrote an excellent piece about the Democratic Party and the working class that you should read in its entirety. I think his analysis of the dysfunctional relationship is spot on. But the piece is called “Democrats PLEASE Try To Fix This Problem — If they ignore the media environment in their 2024 post-mortems, it will be the first major error of the second Trump era” and this is why: There may be much for liberals to learn walking in the shoes of working class or rural midwesterners, but few Democratic officials would find the experience shocking. They know, at least on an intellectual level, all the ways working class life can be a slog. The talking points they write don’t misdescribe the struggle.
“The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.”
— Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
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The arc of the moral universe is feeling pretty stiff this morning.
The arc of the moral universe overslept.
The arc of the moral universe didn’t sleep at all.
The arc of the moral universe just walked into the kitchen but forgot what it was looking for. It mindlessly opens the refrigerator as if the answer might be sitting next to the milk. All the shelves are empty.
The arc of the moral universe says, Goddammit.
The arc of the moral universe is buffering.
The arc of the moral universe has passed the same Pizza Hut three times. It can’t read a map for shit.
The arc of the moral universe is rocking back and forth in the bathtub.
The arc of the moral universe is out of ideas.
The arc of the moral universe wants you to please wait. Your call is important to it.
The arc of the moral universe is being talked over by your worst uncle.
The arc of the moral universe called in sick today.
On the trail of an extinct mustelid in Maine.
The post A Mink Tale appeared first on Nautilus.
Norwegian author Karl Ove Knausgaard on the inspiration for his latest novel and his turn to sci-fi.
The post Don’t We Belong to Nature? appeared first on Nautilus.
Get ready for the deportation grift. It’s going to be epic: President-elect Donald Trump told NBC News on Thursday that one of his first priorities upon taking office in January would be to make the border “strong and powerful.” When questioned about his campaign promise of mass deportations, Trump said his administration would have “no choice” but to carry them out. Trump said he considers his sweeping victory over Vice President Kamala Harris a mandate “to bring common sense” to the country. “We obviously have to make the border strong and powerful and, and we have to — at the same time, we want people to come into our country,” he said. “And you know, I’m not somebody that says, ‘No, you can’t come in.’ We want people to come in.” As a candidate, Trump had repeatedly vowed to carry out the “largest deportation effort in American history.” Asked about the cost of his plan, he said, “It’s not a question of a price tag. It’s not — really, we have no choice.
Your guide to what the hell just happened in the election and what’s ahead.