I like biscuits. I like this song by Kacey Musgraves called Biscuits too.
Kacey Musgraves – Biscuits (Official Music Video) (K A C E Y M U S G R A V E S – YouTube)
Author: Scott Boehmer
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What Is Israel’s Endgame In Iran?
What I did not imagine was that Israel would act alone, even assuming a “green light” from Washington. Isn’t Iran, even weakened, 10 times Israel’s population and 75 times the landmass; doesn’t it graduate five times the number of engineers a year? With the planet’s fourth largest reserves of oil, has it no staying power? This isn’t Hezbollah.
Bernard AvishaiOpinion | The Endgame of the Iran Attacks Isn’t Clear, Even in Jerusalem (Politico)
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Read Past the Headlines
This video from Molly White is a good example of why it is important to not just trust news headlines.
Reading past the headlines: WSJ story about Democratic wariness sourced to Republican strategist (Molly White – YouTube)
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A Bad Week for the Army
“This has been a bad week for the Army for anyone who cares about us being a neutral institution,” one commander at Fort Bragg told Military.com on the condition of anonymity to avoid retaliation. “This was shameful. I don’t expect anything to come out of it, but I hope maybe we can learn from it long term.”
Konstantin Toropin, Steve BeynonBragg Soldiers Who Cheered Trump’s Political Attacks While in Uniform Were Checked for Allegiance, Appearance (Military.com)
President Trump announced Tuesday that he will restore several more Army base names that originally honored Confederate military figures, undoing a renaming process ordered by Congress and completed under President Biden – though the bases will officially recognize other service members, not Confederates, going forward.
Joe Walsh, Eleanor WatsonDonald Trump’s less than subtle commandeering of the Army’s 250th anniversary celebration was an obnoxious, high security spectacle of absurd self-gratification. Instead of allowing citizens to get educated about the role the armed services played in the founding of the country, and its current function, the National Mall was covered in the same high fencing used to secure the Capitol after the January 6th insurrection so helicopters and APCs and various small arms could be staged for photo ops.
The whole thing culminated in a rather dreary parade with tanks, drones, flyovers, parajumpers. And it all just happened to fall on Trump’s birthday.
Dominic GwinnTrump’s Single Finger Salute to America (Wonkette)
It was apropos to drive tanks over something named for the Constitution. It’s a perfect metaphor for what the birthday boy and his gang of thugs do every day.
A.R. MoxonShows of Weakness (The Reframe)
“Despite the threat of rain, over 250,000 patriots showed up to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army,” White House communications director Steven Cheung wrote on X. “God Bless the USA!”
Outside estimates, meanwhile, suggest there were far fewer in attendance than the 200,000 people expected to view the parade, which coincided with the president’s birthday.
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In terms of sheer numbers, the “No Kings” events that took place the same day as the parade dwarfed the Trump administration’s event, drawing between four and six million people, according to an estimate from data journalist G. Elliot Morris and outside analysts. The event’s organizers have put the number at more than 5 million.
Trump’s team claims 250,000 supporters watched his military parade. ‘No Kings’ protests drew at least 4 million, experts say (The Independent)
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It Matters
“Who cares? It doesn’t matter anyway.” I’ve come to expect these words in my social media replies to my own work, and elsewhere in response to other journalists doing critical reporting on the abuses of the Trump regime.
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And these aren’t just a few social media responses, they’re expressions of a much broader resignation I’m seeing on- and offline: That caring is somehow naive. That documenting the truth is pointless. That hope is for fools.
Let me be clear: It fucking matters. Truth matters. Documentation matters. Fighting corruption matters. That accountability seems out of reach right now doesn’t change that.
Molly WhiteIt matters. I care. (Citation Needed)
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Vacation
I recently heard about a local artist-run recording company called Psychic Hotline, and I’ve been listening to some of their artists to check them out. I bought Alex by Daughter of Swords, and Vacation from it is one of the songs that I’ve added to my regular rotation.
Vacation | Daughter of Swords (Bandcamp)
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There’s No Such Thing As a Smart Fascist
This post is a couple of years old now, so it is framed on Ron DeSantis who was at the time struggling to launch his campaign to be the Republican candidate for 2024.
Ronald was supposed to be that great man of myth and legend, the darkest fear of the left and deepest dream of the right: the Competent Fascist. The Smart Trump. The one who deeply understood the system and thus could manipulate it to his liking. The one who really and truly did play 5D chess while the rest of us dinked around with checkers.
Catherynne M. ValenteThere’s No Such Thing As a Smart Fascist (Welcome to Garbagetown)
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This is How Universities Die
If American universities remain the envy of the world in 2025, the question must be: for how long?
William C. KirbyThis is How Universities Die (Harvard Magazine)
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The Myth of Artificial General Intelligence
Claims of “AGI” are a cover for abandoning the current social contract. Instead of focusing on the here and now, many people who focus on AGI think we ought to abandon all other scientific and socially beneficial pursuits and focus entirely on issues related to developing (and protecting against) AGI. Those adherents to the myth of AGI believe that the only and best thing humans can do right now is work on a superintelligence, which will bring about a new age of abundance.
Alex Hanna, Emily M. BenderThe Myth of AGI (TechPolicy.Press)
Scott Boehmer 