Source: The Bulwark
by Joe Perticone
“We have about one week until government funding runs out — eight days and nine hours, to be exact. While it’s hardly a surprise that the Republican-led House of Representatives is marching toward a shutdown — their chronic, besetting dysfunction is well known at this point — things feel a bit different this time. That’s because Democrats are less inclined than ever to come to the rescue.” (03/06/25)
https://www.thebulwark.com/p/knives-out-the-united-states-congress
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
“Implosion at the White House.” (03/06/25)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOkXe0DLKyw
Source: Yahoo! Finance
“President Donald Trump on Thursday night authorized the creation of a strategic bitcoin reserve and a separate US stockpile of other digital assets, fulfilling a campaign promise he made to an industry that is gathering at the White House Friday for a ‘crypto summit.’ The bitcoin reserve will be seeded with bitcoin already owned by the federal government taken as part of criminal or civil asset forfeiture proceedings, Trump’s crypto czar David Sacks said in a post on the social media platform X. … Sacks said the U.S. will not sell any bitcoin once it is in the reserve and that it will be kept as a store of value.” (03/07/25)
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/trump-creates-bitcoin-reserve-ahead-of-white-house-crypto-summit-090057235.html
Source: Cato Institute
by Ryan Bourne & Sophia Bagley
“President Trump’s decision to suspend all pending Biden-era federal regulations means his administration can decide which aspects to keep and which to discard. One change that he should scrap altogether is former President Biden’s attempt to eliminate the subminimum wage. The subminimum wage allows certain employers to pay workers with significant cognitive, developmental, and physical disabilities below the hourly federal minimum wage. … Like it or not, individuals with severe disabilities will always be on the margins of the labor market. Big minimum wage spikes, like those suggested by the Biden administration with its proposal to abolish subminimum wages, would result in significant job loss and reduced labor force participation for these disabled workers. The effects on the quality of life for the workers and their families could be devastating.” (03/06/25)
https://www.cato.org/commentary/president-trump-should-keep-subminimum-wage
Source: NBC News
“President Donald Trump said he told his Cabinet secretaries during a meeting Thursday that staffing decisions will be left up to them, not Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency. Trump said he instructed Cabinet members to work alongside DOGE on spending and workforce reductions while clarifying that final job cuts will be at the discretion of the department leaders. … Several members of Trump’s Cabinet bristled when Musk recently ordered federal employees to outline their work or face termination, with multiple agencies and departments initially fending off the effort.” (03/06/25)
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/doge/trump-cabinet-meeting-new-limits-elon-musk-backlash-doge-cuts-rcna195259
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“In a statement addressed ‘to the People of Gaza,’ President Trump warned on Wednesday that ‘A beautiful Future awaits, but not if you hold Hostages. If you do, you are DEAD!’ Again, this was explicitly addressed to the entirety of Gaza’s population, not only to Hamas. US presidents kill civilians all the time, but it’s highly unusual for them to explicitly threaten a civilian population with extermination in a statement addressed directly to them …. At the same time, Israel is reportedly preparing a ‘hell plan’ in which it will resume its genocidal onslaught and cut Gaza off from electricity and water if Hamas refuses to accept Israel’s revised terms for the ceasefire deal in the coming days. The plan to cut off water is especially terrifying, as it would lead to mass civilian deaths relatively quickly.” (03/06/25)
https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2025/03/06/trumps-demented-gaza-threats-and-other-notes-from-the-edge-of-the-narrative-matrix/
Source: Politics Politics Politics
“Has DOGE Been Leashed? How the Stock Market is Reacting to Trump’s Tariffs (with J.D. Durkin).” (03/06/25)
https://www.politicspoliticspolitics.com/p/has-doge-been-leashed-how-the-stock
Source: Astral Codex Ten
by Scott Alexander
“Neuron number predicts animal intelligence better than most other variables like brain size, brain size divided by body size, ‘encephalization quotient,’ etc. This is most obvious in certain bird species that have tiny brains full of tiny neurons and are very smart (eg crows, parrots). Humans with bigger brains have on average higher IQ. AFAIK nobody has done the obvious next step and seen whether people with higher IQ have more neurons. This could be because the neuron-counting process involves dissolving the brain into a ‘soup,’ and maybe this is too mad-science-y for the fun-hating spoilsports who run IRBs. But common sense suggests bigger brains increase IQ because they have more neurons in humans too.” (03/06/25)
https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/why-should-intelligence-be-related
Source: Barron’s
“Sudan has filed a case against the United Arab Emirates arguing that the Gulf state is complicit in genocide over its alleged support for Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, the International Court of Justice announced Thursday. Khartoum contends the UAE is ‘complicit in the genocide on the Masalit (community in Sudan) through its direction of and provision of extensive financial, political, and military support for the rebel RSF militia,’ the ICJ said in a statement. ‘The United Arab Emirates fuels the rebellion and supports the militia that has committed the crime of genocide in West Darfur,’ the Sudan submission to the court said. The UAE has repeatedly denied supporting the RSF.” (03/06/25)
https://www.barrons.com/news/sudan-files-case-against-uae-at-top-un-court-over-complicity-in-genocide-ed46f348
Source: Quillette
“Christianity and the American Polity.” (03/06/25)
https://quillette.com/2025/03/06/podcast-274-christianity-and-th-american-polity/
