Published on 2026-02-28
]]>Published on 2026-02-28
Tags: commentary, politics
Al Jazeera Staff on 2026-02-28:
The United States and Israel have struck multiple locations across Iran, including the capital, Tehran, in what US President Donald Trump described as “major combat operations”.
It was not fun to wake up this Saturday to the news that the US has attacked Iran yet again. I am hoping that this is only another one-off strike against Iran, as has happened twice before [1] [2] under Trump, or like the attack on Venezuela.
Having lived through the manufactured war in Iraq, motivated in part by improving the president's approval rating, my immediate reaction to the news is "here we go again 😩". If this attack against Iran becomes a war, as seen on Bluesky: every Republican president since before I was born has wrecked the economy and started a war in the Middle East. Sigh. We have no good reason to be attacking a country on the other side of the globe — this is a transparent attempt to boost his failing approval ratings.
]]>Published on 2026-01-28
]]>Published on 2026-01-28
Tags: politics, quote, society
]]>Adam Serwer for The Atlantic on 2026-01-26:
The secret fear of the morally depraved is that virtue is actually common, and that they’re the ones who are alone. In Minnesota, all of the ideological cornerstones of MAGA have been proved false at once. Minnesotans, not the armed thugs of ICE and the Border Patrol, are brave. Minnesotans have shown that their community is socially cohesive—because of its diversity and not in spite of it. Minnesotans have found and loved one another in a world atomized by social media, where empty men have tried to fill their lonely soul with lies about their own inherent superiority. Minnesotans have preserved everything worthwhile about “Western civilization,” while armed brutes try to tear it down by force.
Published on 2026-01-03
]]>Published on 2026-01-03
Tags: politics
]]>Regina Garcia Cano and Konstantin Toropin for the Associated Press on 2026-01-03:
The United States captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and flew him out of the country in an extraordinary nighttime operation that was accompanied by a flurry of strikes following months of escalating Trump administration pressure on the oil-rich South American nation.
...
The legal authority for the attack was not immediately clear. The stunning American military action, which plucked a nation’s sitting leader from office, echoed the U.S. invasion of Panama that led to the surrender and seizure of its leader, Manuel Antonio Noriega, in 1990 — exactly 36 years ago Saturday.
Published on 2026-01-03
]]>Published on 2026-01-03
Tags: art, economics, politics, quote, society
Ursula K. Le Guin delivering her acceptance speech for the National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters.]]>Ursula K. Le Guin on 2014-11-19:
We live in capitalism, its power seems inescapable — but then, so did the divine right of kings. Any human power can be resisted and changed by human beings. Resistance and change often begin in art. Very often in our art, the art of words.
Published on 2026-01-03
]]>Published on 2026-01-03
Tags: commentary, economics, energy, environment, politics, quote
Tim Quinson for Bloomberg on 2026-01-02:
Wall Street’s biggest banks made more money financing green projects than they did from working with fossil fuel companies for a fourth straight year, even as they faced ongoing pressure to pull back from the business.
Lenders generated roughly $3.7 billion of revenue from climate-related loans and bond underwriting in 2025, compared with about $2.9 billion from oil, gas and coal, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
It continues to be more profitable to get on the sustainability train than to try to cling to fossil fuels.
]]>Still, the $3.7 billion is a drop from the $4.2 billion banks collected for their work on green initiatives a year earlier. That decline came as many lenders abandoned the Net-Zero Banking Alliance — a group dedicated to helping lenders reduce their carbon footprints — in an effort to shield themselves from increasing political pressure as Donald Trump returned to the White House.
Published on 2025-11-20
]]>Published on 2025-11-20
Tags: politics, quote, rss
Wikipedia Featured Article on 2025-11-20:
The Nuremberg trials were held jointly by the United States, Soviet Union, France, and the United Kingdom against representatives of the defeated Nazi Germany in the aftermath of World War II.
From the featured article RSS feed — 🤔 wondering if a Wikipedia editor has something on their mind regarding current American politics...
]]>Published on 2025-10-15
]]>Published on 2025-10-15
Tags: commentary, corruption, politics, seattle
Ryan Packer for The Urbanist on 2025-10-07:
South Seattle traffic safety advocates have been trying to piece together what happened behind the scenes to cause Seattle Parks and Recreation to quietly cancel a set of planned safety upgrades along Lake Washington Boulevard this year. The traffic calming measures, which had been announced in 2024, were the result of a long community process around the future of the park boulevard, but they were abruptly removed from the project’s website in July.
I'll add on a little more context. During Covid (July-October 2020), as part of the Stay Healthy Streets/Keep Moving Streets program, a good chunk of Lake Washington Boulevard was closed to non-local car traffic, encouraging walking and biking along the stretch of street, as were many other non-arterial streets throughout Seattle. The long community process referred to above began out of public sentiment formed during that program's run:
]]>Published on 2025-09-20
]]>Published on 2025-09-20
Tags: amazon, commentary, politics, software-eng
Trump to impose $100,000 fee per year for H-1B visas.
]]>Leaked Amazon Memo on 2025-09-19:
If you have H-1B status and are in the U.S.: Stay in the country for now, even if you have travel planned for the immediate future. We will continue to provide updates as more details are available.
If you have H-4 dependent status: We also recommend you remain in the U.S., though the proclamation doesn't specifically mention H-4 dependents.
If you have H-1B or H-4 status and are outside the U.S.: Try to return before tomorrow's deadline if possible. We realize this is short notice but returning soon is advisable and you should make every effort possible to clear U.S. customs before 12:00 a.m. EDT (9:00 p.m. PDT) on Sunday, September 21, 2025.
At this time, if you have an H-1B or H-4 status and are unable to return before the deadline, we advise that you do not attempt to enter the U.S. until further guidance is provided.