Apparently Kneecap came out and said they do not, in fact, support Hamas or Hezbollah.

While a little disappointing, I do believe (and UK comrades can correct me if I’m wrong), that expressing verbal support for “designated terrorist groups” actually can land you in jail in the UK.

So if that’s true, I at least kinda understand why they’re saying it.

I believe - and I think there’s a tremendous amount of evidence that supports me - that the stock market is “efficient” in the sense that all information is processed nearly instantly (that doesn’t mean stock markets lead to efficient allocation of capital, that’s a very different thing). So that begs the question, the market is NOT pricing in an economic crash. Why?

It’s reasonable to conclude that market makers are not on the Trump Train and don’t actually believe he will restart American manufacturing or bring in hundreds of billions in tariff revenue.

OK, so that means the market thinks the tariffs won’t have much of an impact. Given the broad consensus among economists of all stripes about tariffs, it’s also reasonable to conclude that it’s not that the market anticipates there will be no impact from tariffs.

Thus, I think that right now the market assumes these tariffs won’t stick, and that they’ll actually disappear fairly soon. Market makers are not blind acolytes of capitalism, though. They have a laser focus on making money. So IMO, I think they have reliable inside information that the tariffs won’t stick. Like, I wouldn’t be surprised if Bessent is begging China to just give Trump the most nominal, pointless win so he can fold. And the market - looking back on the past - thinks China will end up being the rational grown-up and will spare any economic pain for giving Trump is cookie.

And… they might be right. Or at least, I see why this is the response from bourgeois capitalists. But I think if the market ever gets the notion that the tariffs might actually stick then I think you will see the market crash hard and fast. Maybe not as bad as 1929 because I think the market will hold out hope that the tariffs will be lifted (and why would anyone destroy the economy on purpose?) if things get really bad.

Jon Elmer. I’ve watched him on EI’s livestream for over a year now. Highly recommend it. It’s on Thursday mornings or you can watch previous ones on their channel (his segment is called “The Resistance Report” and usually starts about 2/3rds of the way through)

He lived in the West Bank and Gaza too I think for several years, so it’s not like he’s just some western OSINT guy without any experience on the ground. From the start until the ceasefire, Jon would constantly explain how the Resistance was fighting in Gaza. He was a lone voice that was (correctly IMO) pointing out how the IOF was completely unable to hold any ground in Gaza, and how even in places they tried to cut off they would face stiff local resistance.

That said, I don’t think he has quite the knowledge or experience about Yemen as he does Palestine. Not that he’s wrong on anything, but just that he doesn’t have quite the same connection and background there.

I get that LotR has its problems but the fact that these hyper ghouls strip something from that beautiful text and wear it like a mask is absolutely disgusting to me, and I have no doubt Tolkien (despite his flaws) would be horrified.

and with the far right on the rise worldwide

This is some “only the Global North really matters” type of thinking (I mean the author of the article, not you OP). Sure, fascism is on the rise in the US and Western Europe (and maybe some adjacent areas like Argentina or Poland)… but this isn’t necessarily true in the rest of the world. And I think the Catholic Church is pivoting to the Global South anyway. It’s sound logic that they may not want a further reformer, but I don’t buy the argument I quoted.

I had to spend the weekend in Trumpland. His supporters already have their excuses locked and loaded. No matter how bad the economy gets - 20% unemployment, 1929 stock market crash, whatever - the US economy was already fundamentally broken because of democrats and their “loony lefty” socialistic policies over the last few decades. However bad it gets, the suffering was “necessary” because our entire economy was built on a shaky foundation - not because of capitalism, of course. But because we didn’t do ENOUGH raw, uncut capitalism.