Since 1883, when the Pendleton Act created a merit-based civil service of experts, the nation thought that life is too short for everyone to inspect their own food. Let the government handle this. But then along came to Trump administration:
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
I Tried to Be the Government. It Did Not Go Well.
My five-month quest to monitor the weather, track inflation, and inspect milk for harmful microorganisms
www.theatlantic.com
January 11, 2026 at 8:17 PM
Since 1883, when the Pendleton Act created a merit-based civil service of experts, the nation thought that life is too short for everyone to inspect their own food. Let the government handle this. But then along came to Trump administration:
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
Reposted by Alex Moody
Chris Murphy: "Let's talk about what's at stake here. The president is spending every single day thinking about invading Greenland, managing the Venezuelan economy, building a ballroom. He's not thinking about the American people at all."
January 11, 2026 at 3:37 PM
Chris Murphy: "Let's talk about what's at stake here. The president is spending every single day thinking about invading Greenland, managing the Venezuelan economy, building a ballroom. He's not thinking about the American people at all."
Reposted by Alex Moody
The message from the White House this morning is that, once again, it falls on ordinary American citizens to remain calm and professional when dealing with the heavily armed agents of the government because they are very emotional and might fly off into a murderous rage at the slightest insult.
January 11, 2026 at 3:19 PM
The message from the White House this morning is that, once again, it falls on ordinary American citizens to remain calm and professional when dealing with the heavily armed agents of the government because they are very emotional and might fly off into a murderous rage at the slightest insult.
Reposted by Alex Moody
Reposted by Alex Moody
Opinion | 'There is no strategy here, no doctrine, no foreign policy theory. There is just the superficial whim of a self-absorbed thug'
🖋 @iandunt.bsky.social
➡️ Read more: trib.al/KK1YuCh
🖋 @iandunt.bsky.social
➡️ Read more: trib.al/KK1YuCh
January 7, 2026 at 8:29 PM
Opinion | 'There is no strategy here, no doctrine, no foreign policy theory. There is just the superficial whim of a self-absorbed thug'
🖋 @iandunt.bsky.social
➡️ Read more: trib.al/KK1YuCh
🖋 @iandunt.bsky.social
➡️ Read more: trib.al/KK1YuCh
Reposted by Alex Moody
Delcy Rodríguez, caught between regime survival and transition in Venezuela - El Pais
#nicolás maduro#delcy rodríguez#chavismo#donald trump
#nicolás maduro#delcy rodríguez#chavismo#donald trump
Delcy Rodríguez, caught between regime survival and transition in Venezuela
The vice president assumes power in the face of Maduro’s ‘forced absence’ and is the figure tasked with managing Chavismo’s relationship with Trump
english.elpais.com
January 4, 2026 at 9:00 AM
Delcy Rodríguez, caught between regime survival and transition in Venezuela - El Pais
#nicolás maduro#delcy rodríguez#chavismo#donald trump
#nicolás maduro#delcy rodríguez#chavismo#donald trump
Reposted by Alex Moody
I feel like I haven’t even been properly lied to about the purposes of this war
January 3, 2026 at 9:13 AM
I feel like I haven’t even been properly lied to about the purposes of this war
Reposted by Alex Moody
If Nicolás Maduro stands trial in the United States and gets convicted of 34 felonies, does that mean he’s qualified to be our next president now?
Just checking what the standards are these days.
Just checking what the standards are these days.
January 3, 2026 at 12:01 PM
If Nicolás Maduro stands trial in the United States and gets convicted of 34 felonies, does that mean he’s qualified to be our next president now?
Just checking what the standards are these days.
Just checking what the standards are these days.
Reposted by Alex Moody
If you are a foreign president who commits crimes overseas, America will come get you, arrest you, and lock you up.
But if you are a US president who commits crimes here in the United States, America will give you immunity from prosecution, reelect you, and bribe you with billions of dollars.
But if you are a US president who commits crimes here in the United States, America will give you immunity from prosecution, reelect you, and bribe you with billions of dollars.
January 4, 2026 at 12:26 AM
If you are a foreign president who commits crimes overseas, America will come get you, arrest you, and lock you up.
But if you are a US president who commits crimes here in the United States, America will give you immunity from prosecution, reelect you, and bribe you with billions of dollars.
But if you are a US president who commits crimes here in the United States, America will give you immunity from prosecution, reelect you, and bribe you with billions of dollars.
Reposted by Alex Moody
This all seems pretty unbecoming of a FIFA Peace Prize winner
January 3, 2026 at 2:42 PM
This all seems pretty unbecoming of a FIFA Peace Prize winner
Reposted by Alex Moody
Nicolás Maduro’s downfall has brought joy to millions of Venezuelans, particularly emigrants. But inside the country caution rules. It is far from clear that his departure heralds the end of the regime
There are many risks to Donald Trump’s plans to run Venezuela
The regime that was led by Nicolás Maduro may well prove tricky to control
econ.st
January 4, 2026 at 11:08 AM
Nicolás Maduro’s downfall has brought joy to millions of Venezuelans, particularly emigrants. But inside the country caution rules. It is far from clear that his departure heralds the end of the regime
“To visit Russia over the past four years has been to observe the consolidation of a dictatorship in real time—to answer the question readers confront in 1984, wondering how Big Brother’s gaze became so penetrating and relentless.“ www.foreignaffairs.com/russia/russi...
Russia’s Descent Into Tyranny
How four years of war have remade society.
www.foreignaffairs.com
January 4, 2026 at 11:45 AM
“To visit Russia over the past four years has been to observe the consolidation of a dictatorship in real time—to answer the question readers confront in 1984, wondering how Big Brother’s gaze became so penetrating and relentless.“ www.foreignaffairs.com/russia/russi...
Reposted by Alex Moody
But what if Maduro’s involvement in the drug trade was an “official act”?
January 3, 2026 at 3:32 PM
But what if Maduro’s involvement in the drug trade was an “official act”?
Reposted by Alex Moody
People are sensitive to the cost of things they buy all the time. However, wages are growing faster than prices up and down the income spectrum on both sides of the Atlantic. In this sense there is no affordability crisis
The truth about affordability
Voters in rich countries are angry about prices. Politicians could make things worse
econ.st
January 4, 2026 at 10:00 AM
People are sensitive to the cost of things they buy all the time. However, wages are growing faster than prices up and down the income spectrum on both sides of the Atlantic. In this sense there is no affordability crisis
Reposted by Alex Moody
Full piece. I won’t hold my breath for any sort of mea culpa from the editorial boards or the likes of Daniel Bessner.
www.liberalcurrents.com/youre-not-cr...
www.liberalcurrents.com/youre-not-cr...
You're Not Crazy. America Has Gone Mad
American politics has become so insane that being reasonable feels like a malady, and MAGA agrees.
www.liberalcurrents.com
January 4, 2026 at 12:19 AM
Full piece. I won’t hold my breath for any sort of mea culpa from the editorial boards or the likes of Daniel Bessner.
www.liberalcurrents.com/youre-not-cr...
www.liberalcurrents.com/youre-not-cr...
The claim is particularly ludicrous in this case, given that Venezuela is not a meaningful producer of fentanyl or the other drugs that have dominated the recent epidemic of overdoses www.nytimes.com/2026/01/03/o...
Opinion | Trump’s Attack on Venezuela Is Illegal and Unwise
www.nytimes.com
January 4, 2026 at 12:18 AM
The claim is particularly ludicrous in this case, given that Venezuela is not a meaningful producer of fentanyl or the other drugs that have dominated the recent epidemic of overdoses www.nytimes.com/2026/01/03/o...
Reposted by Alex Moody
Breaking News: President Trump said that the U.S. captured Nicolás Maduro, the Venezuelan leader, and that he is being flown out of the country. Follow live updates.
Live Updates: U.S. Captures Venezuelan Leader, Trump Says
President Trump announced that U.S. forces had carried out “a large scale strike against Venezuela” and were flying President Nicolás Maduro and his wife out of the country. The Trump administration had been building pressure on Mr. Maduro for months.
nyti.ms
January 3, 2026 at 9:35 AM
Breaking News: President Trump said that the U.S. captured Nicolás Maduro, the Venezuelan leader, and that he is being flown out of the country. Follow live updates.
Reposted by Alex Moody
It is possible that the relationship recession will not correct itself. A striking 7% of singletons say they would consider a robo-romance with an AI companion.
AI is patient, AI is kind and it won’t ask you to clean the bathroom or get a better job
AI is patient, AI is kind and it won’t ask you to clean the bathroom or get a better job
The rise of singlehood is reshaping the world
In good ways and bad
econ.st
January 3, 2026 at 8:00 AM
It is possible that the relationship recession will not correct itself. A striking 7% of singletons say they would consider a robo-romance with an AI companion.
AI is patient, AI is kind and it won’t ask you to clean the bathroom or get a better job
AI is patient, AI is kind and it won’t ask you to clean the bathroom or get a better job
Reposted by Alex Moody
Reposted by Alex Moody
each day on this planet is worse than the last
January 2, 2026 at 3:50 AM
each day on this planet is worse than the last
Reposted by Alex Moody
Oh my goodness, this Wall Street Journal piece about Trump's ailing health that includes an interview with him (gift link). There are a number of ridiculous details in it and I'll put a few of them in this thread. (1/6)
Exclusive | As Signs of Aging Emerge, Trump Responds With Defiance
In an interview, President Trump—the oldest man to assume the office—said he has eschewed some advice from his doctors and regrets getting advanced imaging.
www.wsj.com
January 1, 2026 at 2:57 PM
Oh my goodness, this Wall Street Journal piece about Trump's ailing health that includes an interview with him (gift link). There are a number of ridiculous details in it and I'll put a few of them in this thread. (1/6)
What they’re doing to their own is almost surely lesser torture to what they’re doing to Ukrainians. Nauseating. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
How Russia’s War Machine Brutalizes and Exploits Its Own Soldiers (Gift Article)
Confidential complaints filed by troops and their families reveal patterns of wrongdoing in the ranks that are hidden from the Russian public.
www.nytimes.com
January 2, 2026 at 3:52 AM
What they’re doing to their own is almost surely lesser torture to what they’re doing to Ukrainians. Nauseating. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Reposted by Alex Moody
Slang is not just a bad copy of standard language. It is rich, and capable of carrying whole channels of meaning. We explore the history of the English vulgar tongue
What street talk reveals about Anglophone civilisation
From “strangle-goose” to “skibidi”, colloquial dictionaries struggle to keep up
econ.st
December 25, 2025 at 4:30 PM
Slang is not just a bad copy of standard language. It is rich, and capable of carrying whole channels of meaning. We explore the history of the English vulgar tongue
“If the administration’s refusal to participate [as they refused to comment this time] becomes a valid reason to spike a story, we have effectively handed them a ‘kill switch’ for any reporting they find inconvenient,” the reporter who got screwed by Bari Weiss wrote. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/21/b...
‘60 Minutes’ Pulled a Segment. A Correspondent Calls It ‘Political.’
www.nytimes.com
December 23, 2025 at 10:56 AM
“If the administration’s refusal to participate [as they refused to comment this time] becomes a valid reason to spike a story, we have effectively handed them a ‘kill switch’ for any reporting they find inconvenient,” the reporter who got screwed by Bari Weiss wrote. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/21/b...