Beginning to think countries should treat military spending more like welfare spending - dedicated CapEx procurement budget refilled from a specific tax line.

"Online Rent-a-Sage" Bret Devereaux@bretdevereaux.bsky.social · 4h ago

I know it sucks, but Dems have got to be prepared to inherit a munitions-and-readiness hole that is going to be expensive to fill, but which will need to be filled. Hardly the only such hole, but it will be a big one.

There's the Dooming About Cleaning Up After Trump phase, the Dooming About The Environment phase, the Dooming About The 2028 Election phase, the Dooming About IR phase, and the Dooming About Our Fallen World phase as a capstone. We just loop this week after week after week.

My full take on Boots discourse is that neither Stancil, nor his critics, have read enough Pratchett to have a take.

I meant to post this last night but if you’re mad about any of the primary results you got 24 hours to bleed, try not to say anything you’ll regret in 48, and then it’s Blue No Matter Who.

13 points is an awful lot.

G Elliott Morris@gelliottmorris.com · 10h ago

What is truly "shocking" about the polling miss in Michigan is that it is completely average for a primary "The expected error on the margin between two primary candidates in a race for governor or U.S. Senate is a whopping 13.0 points." blog.fiftyplusone.news/p/2026-texas...

btw if you’re ticked at AIPAC for whatever reason them spending a maximum amount of money to barely lose is ideal, 10/10, just as a pure matter of don’t-know-ball and forward outcome for them as an organization. this cycle has been catastrophic for them purely in terms of inputs and outputs

As usual, Dani is right. This one is worth the (quick) read.

Dani Rodrik@drodrik.bsky.social · 10h ago

My thoughts on where Andy Burnham’s (and the Left’s in general) priorities on the economy should be futureoftheleft.substack.com/p/the-left-m...

speaking of consent. everybody hear this. you don’t force yourself on anyone. period. for any reason.

socialists 🤝 liberals "what, exactly, is that current affairs article"

What in the name of Adorno is this?

Current Affairs@currentaffairs.bsky.social · 2d ago

oh hey we're doing degenerate Jewish art but leftishly.

Current Affairs@currentaffairs.bsky.social · 2d ago

The Sea Peoples returning from Iran

Robert Farley@drfarls.bsky.social · 21h ago

I have questions.

I think Nolan makes Circe and Penelope much more interesting characters and makes Calypso and Athena considerably less interesting.

I think my TLDR take on the Wilson-Nolan discourse is that Nolan's messaging is too Protestant in the details, and Wilson's critique is too "1800s imperialism decolonial" in the understanding of Greece.

This is a better critique than the first one, and I think gets at the core of Wilson's problem w/ Nolan - which is obvious from the intro to her translation - about the Greek colonization element of the original work. That said, I do think she reads too much 1800s colonization backwards to 600+BCE

EMILY WILSON@emilyrcwilson.bsky.social · yesterday

I wrote about the Trojan horse, and what we can learn from her mouth about different cultural attitudes towards deception and violence. As someone comments below, the phrase GIFT ARTICLE is pretty scary in this context.

Clearly the only answer is that think tanks stop writing about everything, thereby making all problems instantly soluble. Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.

BeijingPalmer@beijingpalmer.bsky.social · yesterday

palmer's rule: the chance that the U.S. government will solve a problem is inversely proportional to the number of think tank papers produced on it.

The Odyssey is very good. Maybe the exposition dialogue was a little much, but - regardless of Wilson's criticism - I kinda like Odysseus as "prophet of his (and Greece's) own failures." Inaccurate, probably. But also it's hard to think of another hero who could fill that role.

First the scaremongering about the NDAA, and now this? Congrats, AOC, I will not vote for you in any primary. You've lost a vote.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez@ocasio-cortez.house.gov · 2d ago

There is pervasive corruption across our healthcare and agricultural systems that defy party lines. I meet with MAHA activists because a lot of their concerns are bipartisan issues that major corporations paint as partisan. The fight isn't left and right, it's top and bottom.

Literally this

Easiest way to see this is US commercial inventories. Low, especially compared to the last 10y, but very much not apocalyptic.

Nikolas Gvosdev@fpriorbis.bsky.social · 2d ago

This also speaks to commodities traders having Ali Baba caves of supplies … follow the use of tankers as floating storage … www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...

Cocoa futures +10% today.

Really nice to see how Trump's bullying/primary politics has sparked some actual opposition - this kills both the Jan 6 fund, and restricts the IRS immunity to previous investigations.

Blanche rescinds fund for Trump allies after GOP senators threaten to block his attorney general bid

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has issued a formal order terminating President Donald Trump’s $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization fund” to compensate his political allies.

apnews.com

Only 20% - come on, UK,up your game. This is a perfect protest vote and the rare time they actually work. Go for it. MAKE HISTORY.

Sky Marchini@sky.skymarchini.net · 3d ago

I’m sorry, 20% of voters intend to back the trashcan?? www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/08...

This is a fair point. I lived in San Diego for six years, and at the beginning everything was fine, but by the end, the wildfires would run into the outer city down the gorges, which were still full of brush-fuel.

Glonzo the Bureaucrat 🇬🇱 🌹@snarkranger.bsky.social · 3d ago

Suburban sprawl in the West is having a reckoning. What we are learning is that half-city, half-wild is a recipe for conflagration. You have to either build a city, or not a city at all. Otherwise you're just providing the fire a new fuel type.

So let's just say when King Elessar decides to pronounce the Shire an autonomous region under his protection rather than, like, trying to invade it, your thought is, "oh thank Eru..."

Vituperative Erb@vituperativeerb.bsky.social · 4d ago

If you’re a Gondorian soldier your experience with hobbits is a tiny guy shows up with a wizard and is immediately taken in the Steward’s counsel. He saves Faramir when the Steward goes mad. A second tiny guy arrives with the Rohirrim and kills the Witch King. The first one then goes on campaign …

like, "yes a bunch of people provided unharnessed LLMs and no guidance have cooked themselves" is not a particularly interesting observation. nor is "therefore the tool cannot be used for useful purposes" derived from that

Yep. Was still part of Emily Post when all that got drilled into my head by my upwardly mobile grandparents. It never really clocked because I'm right-handed, but it leads to a lot of rules about where its OK to rest the knife, etc.

Lesley Carhart@hacks4pancakes.com · 5d ago

I thought everyone knew this but .... Neurodivergent story time! In the era of French aristocracy, American culture was just starting to get posh. And Americans (colonists then citizens) at the time decided great high class table manners meant copying high French fashion.

holy shit, FUN KNIFE AND FORK USAGE FACTS:

Lesley Carhart@hacks4pancakes.com · 5d ago

I thought everyone knew this but .... Neurodivergent story time! In the era of French aristocracy, American culture was just starting to get posh. And Americans (colonists then citizens) at the time decided great high class table manners meant copying high French fashion.

Reflecting Pool lessons: 1. Trump administration lying is routine and pervasive. Nothing they say or do should have a "presumption of regularity." 2. They spend our money to prosecute innocent people. Congress should cut and restrict funds and hold liars accountable. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/31/u...

Charges Dropped Against Ex-Olympian David Hearn Accused of Damaging Reflecting Pool

A former Olympian will not face trial after federal prosecutors acknowledged that the Trump administration’s claims of vandalism were false.

nytimes.com