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In the state of nature, if someone does you wrong, it’s up to you and your mates to deal with it. This often means violence.

For most of English history there was no police force. Republican Rome had no police. There was law, but it was often privately enforced and often families and friends would take vengeance for wrongs. This led to rather a lot of violence and death, as well as feuds, where violence would continue long beyond the original offense.

Private justice; private vengeance thus comes with huge downsides, so in many societies we give up our right to use violence to right wrongs. We give that right to government in some form, and we reap the benefits of safety and that, in principle, stronger groups can’t bully those who are too weak to obtain their own justice.

While The Lever team is on holiday break, we’re offering subscribers a selection of our best reporting this year.

A mysterious group linked to Patagonia has been accused of making what appear to be illegal “straw donor” contributions.

The post Patagonia’s Ties to a Dark-Money Operation Bankrolling Democratic Candidates appeared first on The Intercept.

As this year draws to a close, it is an opportune time to highlight and praise some of the best books in Economic Sociology and Political Economy that have been named and recognized by several major associations in our field. These are extraordinary studies, in their empirical innovation and theoretical contribution. Above all, they are […]

This live performance remains unequalled to this day. Jussi Björling — the greatest of them all. As Luciano Pavarotti once said: “Don´t compare me with Jussi Björling. I`m only human.”

Suspending industrial action only gives the government breathing space and prolongs the inevitable showdown with the Minns government.

The post Rail bans suspended for New Year’s Eve, but workers willing to fight first appeared on Solidarity Online.

Curtis Yarvin, darling authoritarian ideologue of many tech billionaires, is back in the news, along with his deep links to J.D. Vance, via Peter Thiel. It’s no secret that plutocrats tend to be off-the-charts economic libertarians, with extreme hostility even to wildly popular programs such as Social Security and Medicare, which cost them nothing. So, […]

For the second year in a row, the Christmas season passes while Gaza remains under genocide. While the entire world bids farewell to 2024 and celebrates the arrival of 2025, Palestinians continue to suffer under Israeli aggression, which kills, starves, and displaces civilians in Gaza with brutal cruelty. In Gaza, candles are not lit for Continue reading »

A new Fed study warns that most expected flood losses are uninsured — and the lack of protection is more acute among Republican locales.

A brilliant star hangs above a stable in Bethlehem, like a giant Google Maps pin. The three kings arrive.

“We have brought gold, frankincense, and myrrh, gifts befitting the King of the Jews,” declared Melchior, bowing to the Holy Family.

“Actually…” said Balthazar.

“Oh, no,” replied Gaspar. “You forgot the myrrh?”

“Didn’t forget it,” answered Balthazar. “Just went in another direction.”

“We agreed on gold, frankincense, and myrrh. We’re the Three Kings—these gifts reflect on all of us.”

“Now, now, Melchior, we should have faith in Balthazar,” offered Gaspar. “He is a wise man, after all. Surely, he got a gift of great dignity and reverence.”

“Thank you, Gaspar,” said Balthazar, handing Mary a Papa John’s box. “Merry Christmas, Happy Birthday, whatever.”

“Hmmm,” said Mary, shaking the enormous rectangle.

“What does it say on the box?” asked Joseph.

“It says, ‘We created the Shaq-a-Roni to feed big appetites and make a big impact. With eight foldable Shaq-sized slices, loaded with extra cheese and covered in over sixty pepperoni from edge to edge, pizza gets bigger when you Shaq-a-Roni.’”

Source - Patreon

Source - Patreon

Source - Patreon

Source - Patreon

Nate Cohn at The Upshot makes a useful observation in his newsletter today (gift link) There’s a lot about politics that’s hard to predict, but there’s something you can count on every four years: One party loses a presidential election, and the recriminations begin. Every four years, the post-election fight seems to play out the same way. Every move of the losing campaign is questioned and scrutinized. The party’s center blames the activists for alienating swing voters. The activists blame the center for failing to mobilize the base. And no matter what, you’ll find each pundit concluding that the party’s way forward is to do exactly what that pundit has been arguing for all along. While you might not guess it from my tone, these debates do matter. They shape the strategy of the next midterm campaign, they can change the policies supported by elected officials, and they even influence how ordinary voters cast their ballots in future presidential primaries. Still, there’s a reason you could probably tell my eyes roll at the prospect of most election postmortems. In hindsight, they don’t usually look great.

It’s what psychologists call self-continuity, and can improve your health and well-being.

The post Making Friends with Your Past and Future Selves appeared first on Nautilus.

As I had hoped, Joe Biden commuted the death sentences of all but three federal prisoners to life without parole. Considering that he is a committed Catholic and the pope himself petitioned him to do it, I’m not surprised. He left three heinous mass murderers (Tree of Life, Boston Bombing and the Charleston Church) on death row which is disappointing for those of us who believe that the principle at stake is that the state should not be in the business of killing people. But I can understand why he would do it, particularly considering the inevitable blowback for the commutations, which is fierce. Salon reports: President Joe Biden heeded the calls of anti-death penalty campaigners and spared all but three federal prisoners from the threat of execution on Monday, commuting a total of 37 sentences to life in prison without the possibility of parole. In a statement, Biden, who has overseen a moratorium on federal executions even as federal prosecutors continue to seek the death penalty, cast the move as an act of mercy.

The House Ethics Committee released the Gaetz report today. It was even worse than we thought: Former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., paid for sex with a 17-year-old who “had just completed her junior year in high school,” according to a House Ethics Committee report that accuses the one-time attorney general nominee of potentially spending more than $90,000 on sex and drugs while a member of Congress. A draft of the final report, first obtained by CBS News and other outlets, was made public following a committee vote earlier this month to release the panel’s findings. Gaetz, who was investigated for alleged sex trafficking by the Department of Justice, has not been charged with a crime. “The Committee determined there is substantial evidence that Representative Gaetz violated House Rules and other standards of conduct prohibiting prostitution, statutory rape, illicit drug use, impermissible gifts, special favors or privileges, and obstruction of Congress,” the report states, per CBS News.

Thanks again, friends. I am so very grateful for your support after all these years. I can hardly believe it, to tell you the truth. It’s a Christmas miracle every year. It means we can keep going over the next year as we confront whatever this weird political zeitgeist is about to bring us. I wanted to take a moment today to say thank you to my good friend Tom Sullivan. He has been holding down the morning shift for many years here at Hullabaloo and I thank my lucky stars every day that I asked him to contribute here all those years ago. I had liked him the minute I met him and his lovely wife Sarah at a Netroots confab back in the day and I especially liked his writing and commentary. He’s a natural blogger, someone who understands the form (and yes, there IS a specific form) and executes it perfectly. I couldn’t ask for anything more in a co-blogger. But Tom is also doing God’s work down in North Carolina which has become a petri dish for right wing electoral shenanigans.

On September 16th, 1919, the already world-famous physicist, Albert Einstein, was conducting a seminar with graduate students at Princeton University in the United States. Suddenly one of his colleagues in the Physics Department burst into the room brandishing a telegram. It was from the Royal Society in London, from his friend and fellow physicist, Hendrik Continue reading »

Why do American Christian evangelists support Israel’s genocide in Gaza? At this time of year many Christians express ‘tidings of comfort and joy’ toward their friends, family and even complete strangers. Good for them. No doubt it’s just what we need in these increasingly troubled times. There are some noteworthy exceptions to this upsurge of Continue reading »

The below is an excerpt from my essay, “The Sin of Cosmocide,” for Renovatio, the literary magazine of Zaytuna, the Muslim liberal arts college in Berkeley, Ca. It underlines how both Jewish and Muslim spiritual teachings forbid the killing of innocents who are guilty of no crime, and equate this deed to killing all humankind — Continue reading »