I think there's a crossover to when unions started to lose power and everyone running for office had to lean into the notion that all of Montana is populated by rugged cowboys, when the truth is we have far more realtors.
Violence might be politically popular here in the old home state where candidates are compelled to film themselves shooting things the minute they decide to run for office.
Regarding Montana politics and a US Senator unnecessarily involving himself in breaking a retired Marine's arm over a peaceful protest, don't forget, we also have a second-term governor who assaulted a reporter for asking a question.
It is so damning of US news media that so many outlets refuse to just straight up say that Senator Tim Sheehy assaulted an activist.
He did not "help" Capitol police. They did not need his help. He wanted to assault the guy and did. He should resign.
Thank you!!
I just bought it a couple of days ago. Haven’t started yet but I’ll let you know.
Thank you! Am halfway through Kaplan right now (and really enjoying it). Will add these to my list.
Please recommend to me the best books about the Balkans. Nonfiction or fiction, whatever you like!
Updates at both our jobs today have me thinking, "Man, neither of us is even eligible to sell plasma."
But anyway, the U.S. economy is FINE, clearly.
As the laid off Middle East News Editor, I concur. Management eliminated the positions of every single staff correspondent and bureau chief in the Middle East.
Please take a moment to think about what this illegal and unjustified war on Iran mean to the basic moral fabric of our nation.
newrepublic.com/article/2071...
Saving the people of Iran from being massacred by their government in the streets by massacring elementary schoolgirls from the air.
apparently!
The backlash against AI and data centers has been entirely predictable, when the promise of AI thus far has been "We're going to steal your work, eliminate your ability to make a living and make art and you can't do anything to stop it."
I spent reporting time in the camps in Myanmar when the anti-Rohingya campaign was escalating and it's stayed with me since. To survive that horrific ordeal then die like this says really awful things about us.
The level of cruelty is sickening.
The Washington Post's description of the bodycam video of his arrest last year, and the translation of Mr. Shah Alam's comments, is gutting. Remember, he was entirely blind in one eye and could only see three feet in the other, and he spoke virtually no English.
He spent a year in jail for this.
This story is going to haunt me: a disabled man escaped the genocide in Myanmar, came to the US as a refugee seeking asylum, then died, alone, as a direct result of actions of the American government.
I love this!
Everything else aside, I just keep trying to imagine winning an Olympic gold medal and immediately wanting to party down with...the head of the FBI?
Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai's daughter will be a guest at tonight's SOTU. To understand the context, the story of repression and censorship in Hong Kong and some lessons on creeping authoritarianism in the US, read my new interview with author Louisa Lim, out now substack.com/home/post/p-...
The journalists-on-social-media discourse is fascinating because when I quit twitter in 2024 I was liberated from regular posting and mostly forget to do it now. This is an excellent thing!
Maybe these are two separate characteristics, but the *brazenness* of it all is the thing that's shocking.
"So grave is the scale, nature, systematic character, and transnational reach of these atrocities against women and girls, that a number of them may reasonably meet the legal threshold of crimes against humanity," UN experts said. www.reuters.com/world/allega...
Thanks!!
When I decided to do a series of interviews with smart folks about surviving this current moment in America,
@garrettbucks.bsky.social was one of the first people I wanted to hear from.
We all need some optimism to get us through and he has it, authentically. kemc.substack.com/p/theres-jus...
I can smell it from here and just that is giving me a hangover.
If you read her work once, I don’t know why you wouldn’t want to read @kemc.bsky.social as much as possible.
I’ve been in this business a long time. You know the real deal when you see it.
kemc.substack.com/p/ten-years-...
Related to this, Blood Money: The Story of Life, Death, and Profit Inside America's Blood Industry by @kemc.bsky.social is a book that I think about all the time. If you haven't read it: www.simonandschuster.com/books/Blood-...
