The United States is in the moment after Wile E. Coyote runs off a cliff, but before he looks down.
I keep getting spam at work with the subject line “EMPLOYEES FROM HELL.” I feel seen.
Ezra Klein: How Tucker Carlson is helping modern Nazis — “Groypers” — go mainstream in the Republican Party.
To call them Nazis is not hyperbole. These guys see Jews as enemies within America, and are not shy about saying so. No dog-whistling here.
We paid El Salvador to torture, abuse, and rape completely innocent Venezuelans so that [Secretary of State] Marco Rubio, [White House deputy chief of staff] Stephen Miller, and Donald Trump could claim they were tough on immigrants.
The economy is faltering and Americans know it.
Bloomberg reports that 62% of Americans they polled say the cost of everyday items has climbed over the past month and that 55% of employed Americans say they’re worried about losing their job. It also notes, as CNBC economic commenter Carl Quintanilla pointed out, that international stocks are outperforming the U.S. S&P stock index by the widest margin in 16 years. Yesterday the University of Michigan consumer confidence survey hit its lowest reading in 65 years.
"Transforming a human necessity (housing) into an asset is a *terrible* idea"
Transforming a human necessity into an asset is a terrible idea. Governments work to increase the price of assets owned by actors in their economy. But increasing the price of housing only benefits the minority who own houses, while everyone else – everyone who needs a roof over their head – suffers. For a comparison, imagine if our governments instituted a policy of making some other necessity as expensive as possible, say, food or water. Transforming shelter into an asset class was always going to end badly.
— How to fix the UK housing crisis, by Cory Doctorow @pluralistic@mamot.fr
I have decided to make a drastic life change: I am throwing out all empty boxes, no matter how sturdy, clean and perfectly sized they are (with the exception of the original packaging for expensive electronics). I will trust in the universe to provide boxes when boxes are required.
Please pray for me during this difficult transition.
Here’s something I saw while walking the dog: The first lawn Santa of the season.
Here’s something I saw while walking the dog: The Goodyear Blimp
If Back to the Future was made today, Marty would be going back to 1995.