Identity politics works differently in Eastern Europe than it does in United States, but it is definitely present, and is tightly woven into the political discourse. Instead of race, identity politics in Eastern Europe is centered on language and culture.

Herd immunity is how vaccines stop contagious diseases. If enough of the population is immune, typical individual infection runs its course before it had a chance to jump to another vulnerable host, and even unvaccinated individuals are protected. Without herd immunity, even vaccinated individuals are at risk. It works the same way in politics and in computer security.

I’ve been trying very hard to keep my mouth shut about Sanders since Sunday, but his statements about Venezuela are the last straw. I must rip that band-aid off.

Any seasoned professional worth their salt is going to recognize Clapper as a peer, sharing organizational wisdom of five decades of service. The book starts a bit slow, but by the time it gets to 1991 it becomes a proper nailbiter, especially when you understand the stakes in the events it describes.

The political spectrum has never been about left, right, center, progressive, conservative, liberal, socialist, or fascist. Fundamentally, it is always about justice and courage: How much injustice are you willing to ignore? How much change are you willing to risk to address it?

Многие мои друзья думают, что конституционный кризис в США их не касается, и с раздражением воспринимают мой поток постов на английском о нюансах взаимоотношений между Трампом, Конгрессом, Верховным Судом, Мюллером и Путиным. Ну не то чтобы совсем не касается. Вот например.

Choice of words matters. If you cut away euphemisms and hedging, here is how it is. Russia is waging war on America and has launched a series of attacks that are still ongoing (e.g. recent “walkaway” tag amplification by Russian bots). Russian organized crime controls the Russian government since 1990-s, and is now taking over control of the US government. White supremacism, white nationalism, nativism, alt-right extremism are euphemisms for fascism and have directly caused a sharp increase of terrorist attacks within US.

I can’t decide whether Chris Hedges is a fool or a tool, but I know that his articles have done a great deal of harm to the progressive cause in America, and his latest piece, “The Coming Collapse”, aims to do harm once again, at a very fragile moment in American history. I never had much patience for fools, and this one is prominent enough to benefit from a thorough putdown. Enjoy.

With 2020 primaries already in sight, it is important to review what we learned in 2018. The outcomes of the California races that I analyzed in my Tactical Voter’s Guide last year (search for #TacticalVotersGuide on Facebook to find my original posts) matched my predictions almost perfectly, I think this makes my conclusions worth revisiting.

Две очень похожие трагедии произошли недавно в России и в Америке: пожар в Кемерово и расстрел школы в Паркленде. В обоих случаях погибли дети. В обоих случаях причины – типичные, давно известные проблемы, которые общество уже отчаялось пытаться исправить. В России – коррупция. В Америке – огнестрел. Даже реакция элит – одинаковая. В России – “господу помолимся”, в Америке – “thoughts and prayers”. В России – на этом и закончилось. В Америке – нет.