Of cultural interest
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Canada PM Carney, speaking to the ruling class at Davos, speaks the truth…
…which politicians almost never do. It’s fair to say he has risen to the occasion! Some excerpts: It’s a pleasure — and a duty — to be with you at this turning point for Canada and the world. I’ll speak today about the rupture in the world order, the end of the pleasant fiction and the…
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Profiles in real courage: Franca Viola
She defied Sicilian custom, and refused to marry her rapist, instead taking him to court, changing both Italian mores and law.
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Profiles in real courage: Frank and Beatrice Lumpkin
This is an inspiring read about an interracial, working class couple, united by politics and love, who spent the bulk of their activist careers in and around Chicago.
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On Trump’s neo-mercantilism: the Christian Right meets Silicon Valley
This is an informative interview.
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Elise Stefanik: Good riddance!
A humorous farewell to a despicable politician.
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“Grumpy Chinese Guy”
Somehow I fell upon this guy on FB (the link is to his YouTube page). He does sensible class-based analysis of various topics in the news, and he’s pretty good! Some readers may enjoy this.
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Here’s a little holiday cheer: really wicked book reviews!
Quite a collection.
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The fake war on anti-semitism, Massachusetts edition
Political theorist Alex Gourevitch comments. What he says applies equally to the fake war on anti-semitism in the universities.
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Mass shootings, American and Australian (CORRECTED)
Two students murdered by a gunman at Brown University, nine others wounded, some seriously. Because America is not a civilized country, two other Brown students, who were not shot, witnessed the second mass shooting of their young lives. Meanwhile, two attackers opened fired on a Hannukah celebration at Bondi Beach in Australia. Because Australia is…
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The case for lottocracy
An interview with philosopher Alex Guerrero (Rutgers) at Jacobin.
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A mother of young children, a terminal diagnosis…
…and a cousin who is the imbecile RFK Jr. This is a good, but very sad, read.
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Farewell Larry Summers…
…I, at least, will not miss him after his evisceration by the Harvard Crimson. Senator Warren, who was a law professor at Harvard before election to the Senate, got it exactly right: For decades, Larry Summers has demonstrated his attraction to serving the wealthy and well-connected, but his willingness to cozy up to a convicted sex offender…
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An amusing takedown of the NY Times (related to Mamdani’s campaign in NYC)
Nicely written, and it made me laugh at various points. An excerpt: Like so many other bits of Times coverage, the whole of the piece is structured as an orchestrated encounter. Some people say this; however, others say this. It’s so offhand you can think you’re gazing through a pane of glass. Only when you stand a little…
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There are many things to like about Singapore…
…but caning online “scammers” has to be way up there. (Singapore inherited caning as a punishment from the British, just for some context.)
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Yesterday’s U.S. elections were good news for the Democrats
Democrats scored victories in California (with voter approval of redistricting to counter Trump’s efforts in Texas and elsewhere), New Jersey (a boring centrist beat a Trump acolyte), and Virginia (where another less boring centrist beat a somewhat nutty Trumpista for the governorship, but, more importantly, Democrats swept almost all the state races). In NYC, of…
Everything you say is true, but what is the alternative? I don’t think people are advocating a return to in-class…