«The Republican argument makes no sense if you understand what’s really at stake in this fight, or know anything about the history of health care reform in America.»

https://www.thebulwark.com/p/how-to-debunk-republicans-shutdown-talking-points-health-care

Ok, so this right here is the problem. “IF you understand.” “IF you know the history.”

These if’s do not hold for a very large fraction of the electorate, and any assumption that they do is going to lead to bad journalism. It’s all inside baseball and impenetrable.

«Does this all sound vaguely illegal? Yes. Reductions-in-Force have their own legal basis, which does not include mass layoffs because of budget disagreements. But neither the Supreme Court nor the White House seem too bothered by legal niceties when it comes to assaults on the administrative state.

Indeed, the Supreme Court has largely sided with the hostage takers. A consistent pattern has emerged. The Trump administration does something illegal, lower courts try to stop it, the Trump administration asks the Supreme Court to bless their illegality, and the Court duly obliges with hastily written emergency orders.»

https://donmoynihan.substack.com/p/shutdown-hostage-taking

I’ve heard some noise about this on Mastodon:

«In a new research note, as Fortune reports, the international finance giant Deutsche Bank is warning that AI spending can’t continue to increase exponentially. And if spending were to slow down without realizing the tech’s outsize promises, the analysts caution, it could reveal an economy in tatters — marked by unemployment, lower household incomes, and inflation — that had been hidden by an irrational optimism in the power of AI.»

https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/deutsche-bank-grim-warning-ai-industry

Role-playing game character, honestly:

«Our medic—who is an expat living in Norway, was a combat medic in Ukraine and a musician-artist and former orthodox priest.»

https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/veterans-boat-gaza-flotilla

I LOVE IT!

«“What can I do for you, Mr. Sounder?”

I play dull on instinct.

“There’s been a problem in the building, the official police are investigating, but they’ve asked me to step in and advise on some technical issues. I need to ask you a few background questions.”

“What kind of a problem?”

“I’m a specialist in socio-medical criminal investigations.”

Which sounds very white-collar, pushes everyone to think of liability and doctors making side money selling oxy, and they get happy and forthcoming. That is not what happens if you say there is a corpse on the other side of the hall.»

Titanium Noir Nicholas Cornwell https://bookshop.org/p/books/titanium-noir-a-novel-nick-harkaway/0a5cf3e6736c92a3?ean=9780593535370&next=t

«I look Rufus in the eye and I offer him cash. Rufus says it happens he is having a particularly bad month owing to some poor financial investments in the field of canine athletics. I help out with this shortfall.»

– Titanium Noir (Nicholas Cornwell) https://bookshop.org/ebooks/quotes/b18b6529-c0ff-4ed3-8fac-49b4dbbaeeae

Another fun bit. I’m used to accepting bizarre stuff in sci-fi/cyberpunk, which this sort of is, so it took me a few seconds to realize what this was.

«In 1144 Zengi appeared outside Edessa with troops, siege towers, and professional diggers. The miners tunneled beneath the city walls while artillerymen used giant catapults known as mangonels to bombard the citizens from above. It did not take long for the Turks to break Edessa’s resistance. When they broke in, civilians panicked and women and children were crushed to death in a stampede to flee. For Zengi this was a useful victory. But for the crusaders it was a disaster. The territorial loss was one thing. Much worse was the sense that nearly half a century on from the victories of 1096–99, God had ceased to smile on them.

When news of Edessa’s capitulation filtered back to Europe, it prompted general dismay. Yet it also presented an opportunity. Pope Eugene III was not enjoying a peaceful papacy. He was struggling with a continuing schism and attempts to set up antipopes against him. Communards had been rioting in the streets of Rome.» (Emphasis mine.)

This stuff goes way back.

Powers and Thrones Dan Jones https://bookshop.org/p/books/powers-and-thrones-a-new-history-of-the-middle-ages-dan-jones/2251acba6dca3057?ean=9781984880888&next=t

https://bookshop.org/p/books/lucky-loser-how-donald-trump-squandered-his-father-s-fortune-and-created-the-illusion-of-success-russ-buettner/21003443?ean=9780593298640&next=t

Maybe snag a copy before it becomes the first book banned and burned by the current government.

«Under the landmark Supreme Court case New York Times v. Sullivan, defamation of a public figure requires “actual malice,” defined as proof that the speaker either knew that that the statement was false, or spoke with reckless disregard for the truth.»

https://www.publicnotice.co/p/trump-lawsuit-new-york-times-15-billion

Don’t forget that some members of SCOTUS want to take Sullivan down.

«Giles Gratton, sick as a dog from nineteen years spent sleeping in the off hours between bloody murder rooms and the aldermen’s bullshit, doesn’t knock.

“Get your coat,” he says.

“Hi, Captain.”

“Yeah, all that.”

I get my coat and hold the door for him.

“Hi, Cal,” Gratton says.

We go down the stairs together. No need to waste a perfectly good bit of bad news with conversation.»

I love a good opening. I bet authors put special effort into their openings. I can only dream of stuff this good.

Like… the entire first chapter of Cold Mountain. Or the opening of Moby Dick.

(Titanium Noir, by Nick Harkaway)