“You won’t find archomania listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, but you should. While it often manifests in the same ways as other manias (kleptomania, an irresistible urge to steal; oniomani, a compulsion to shop; etc.), archomania is a distinct disorder. Its symptoms include a compulsive urge to rule others, distress at the prospect of not being allowed to rule others, and a narcissistic belief in one’s unique qualifications to exercise such power. The colloquial term for an archomaniac is: Politician. Gerontocracy is just the result of coddling and empowering archomaniacs. Their hair grays, their gaits slow, their minds wander … but the compulsion remains, as does the grip on power seized back when muscles were stronger and hands less arthritic.” (07/19/26)
“The American Empire is the safest country in history. Among other things, we sport more than the 5,000 nuclear warheads shielded from outside inspection; a multitrillion-dollar military-industrial-security complex; nonstop surveillance of the entire population; special forces in 70–80 countries; NATO and defense pacts with Japan, South Korea, Australia, and the Philippines; a de facto alliance with Israel; and pioneering AI to optimize the lethality of weapons. Nobody goes to bed in the United States fearing an invasion or military attack. Yet we are poised to hike Pentagon spending to $1.5 trillion annually, excluding the VA budget, which approaches $500 billion. … Since the American Empire confronts zero existential threats, we summon them into being to justify a national security state that crushes liberty and the march of the mind while exalting force of arms. Thus, Secretary of State Marco Rubio has decreed that ‘antifa’—i.e., antifascism—is a global, terrorist threat.” (07/18/26)
“Since returning to office, President Donald Trump has escalated his campaign against ‘narcoterrorists,’ treating drug smuggling as an ‘armed attack’ and blurring the line between criminal enforcement and war. His administration has described foreign drug cartels and other criminal gangs as ‘non-state armed groups’ or ‘unlawful combatants,’ a term introduced during the Bush era to deny suspected terrorists protections afforded under the Geneva Conventions. In August of last year, Trump signed a secret directive authorizing military strikes on narco-terrorists. By September, U.S. forces were bombing alleged drug boats in the Caribbean. In December, the administration followed with an executive order classifying fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction …. The narco-terrorist label keeps expanding. In May, the State Department added the PCC and Red Command to its terrorism blacklist, designating them as foreign terrorist organizations. But what has that accomplished for drug control?”
“[I]f Europeans spend more on defense, it doesn’t necessarily mean the United States will cut back its mammoth defense budget. Instead, Trump has outrageously proposed ballooning it by more than 50 percent. In light of this reality, his browbeating of allies on defense spending may seem to relieve allies’ snookering of the United States, but it doesn’t help the United States address its gaping budget deficits and spiraling national debt. A better alternative would be for Trump to announce a gradual U.S. withdrawal from NATO over a two-year period. The European Union now has a GDP about 8.5 times that of its principal rival—a Russia that has been severely weakened by the bloody, drawn-out quagmire against the surprisingly resilient Ukraine. There has never been a better time to pull the plug on a Cold-War-era alliance.” (07/17/26)
“200-page policy report argues that global public health is no longer being driven by the needs of countries, but by financial incentives. At the centre of that argument is Professor Ramesh Thakur—a former Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations and principal writer of Kofi Annan’s UN reform report. He spent years inside the system helping shape it. Now, he argues that in public health, global authority has gone too far. Thakur says decisions have shifted away from national governments and towards international institutions—particularly the World Health Organization.” (07/18/26)
“Lipton Matthews is an independent scholar, author of many notable essays and reviews. Born and first educated in Jamaica, Busting African Delusions is his most ambitious work. In it he argues that Africa is losing its chance to succeed China as the. workshop of the world. That is because it declines to pursue growth and wealth as it could and should. Africa is attracting foreign investment from China and elsewhere because of its relatively low wages and the incentives it offers to investors. Kenya, for instance, has created a special economic zone in Tatu City, and industrial parks are sprouting across the continent. To Matthews, however, African leaders and entrepreneurs seldom reach out as they could to appeal to foreign investors seeking new opportunities. Mostly, Africa looks backward, not ahead.” (07/18/26)
“Election deniers have spent years promoting the idea that the 2020 election was stolen. They believe Donald Trump’s speech finally proves them right.” (07/17/26)
“Several recent stories in the news underscore that, when it comes to the American judicial system and the mainstream media, President Trump and various Republicans are going to be continually painted in the worst light possible. These partisan portrayals create an advantage for the Democratic Party and all of its policies, grievances, grudges and campaigns.” (07/18/26)
“I know that the opposition party traditionally responds only after the State of the Union address. But that’s been a tradition only since 1966 (of course, it was the Republicans who started it, when Lyndon Johnson was president). There’s no reason Democrats shouldn’t demand equal time from the television networks and respond to Trump’s lies as soon as he’s done spewing them. … Of course, mounting a response would require the Democrats to be an organized political party with a self-preservation instinct and an ability to think creatively about how best to combat rising authoritarianism. And, well, ‘lmao @ Dems,’ as the kids say.” (07/17/26)
“The Spanish Civil War began 90 years ago. On 18 July 1936, General Francisco Franco, alongside fellow general Emilio Mola, led a right-wing military revolt against the democratically elected Popular Front government of the Second Spanish Republic. … George Orwell arrived in Spain in December 1936. He was prevented from joining the International Brigades, and instead joined up with a militia organised by the Workers’ Party of Marxist Unification (POUM). It was a decision that would change the course of his thinking and creative output. He travelled to Spain as an ardent anti-fascist and returned as a determined anti-Communist, or more precisely, an anti-Stalinist.” (07/19/26)
