January 1, 2026
he already-meager federal support for childcare is being suspended indefinitely...
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I’ve been doing a series of interviews over the past day or so on the the protests in Iran. Here are my main talking points:
* the protests are significant in that the bazaaris, traditionally a backbone of support for the regime, have been in the leadership of the resistance
* there is significant poor and working class participation in the protests, unlike some previous movements which have been disproportionately students, middle class, etc.
* U.S.-led sanctions are unjustifiable and are hurting the economy, but the regime’s corruption, mismanagement, and lack of accountability are the bigger problem
* the economic problems are systemic, so changes at the Central Bank and minor adjustments in fiscal policies will not satisfy most protesters
* the protests are already going beyond economic issues; most Iranians do want at minimum much greater democratization/accountability within the current system and an increasing number want regime change
* the U.S. and Israel will try to take advantage of the situation, but the protests are homegrown and not the result of imperialist machinations
* threats of military action by the U.S. and Israel with likely strengthen the regime, since people tend to rally around the flag in case of outside threats and most Iranians across the political spectrum do not trust either country
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The anti-intellectualism that CBS is embracing may be related to the fact that 90% of academics specializing in the Middle East opposed the invasion of Iraq and Israel’s war on Palestinian civilians.
Repost from Jeffrey St. Clair:
Bari Weiss is the elite working for a company owned by the 2nd or 3rd richest man in the world, depending on the daily vagaries of the market, who gets to decide which "Average American" gets to give CBS viewers their "analysis" of what's going on...
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Repost from Jenifer Turpin:
“And now let us believe in a long year that is given to us, new, untouched, full of things that have never been.”— RAINER MARIA RILKE
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The already-meager federal support for childcare is being suspended indefinitely. The Guardian
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From David Solnit:
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Which door will you choose in 2026?
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Happy New Year! Click link for a short great concert.
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This past August, after rejecting resolutions supporting recognition of Palestinian statehood and an arms embargo on the Israeli government, DNC chair Ken Martin promised to appoint a task force to study Democratic Party policy towards Israel. As we move into 2026, there has been no word about this task force or its members.
Democratic Leadership Still Hasn’t Caught Up to the Party’s Base on Gaza
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For the past fifteen years, Nanlouise has been part of the Threshold Choir, in which the singers share specially composed songs to cultivate an environment of love and safety around those on their deathbed. Here's a short documentary on one of the groups based in England.
Threshold: the choir who sing to the dying - documentary
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Trump’s approach to Africa: more trade deals, less democracy and human rights
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The U.S. and Israeli governments are finding ways to kill Palestinian civilians in other ways, such as banning aid organizations.
The Israeli government has effectively banned dozens aid groups from Gaza, including Doctors Without Borders, Save the Children, Oxfam, Caritas, Action Aid, the International Rescue Committee and World Vision. This is a direct violation of the ceasefire agreement, but Trump insists that "Israel has lived up to the plan, 100%"
Sources:
Israel to ban dozens of aid agencies from Gaza as 10 nations warn about suffering
and
Israeli ban on aid agencies in Gaza will have ‘catastrophic’ consequences, experts say
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Trump’s assault on wind energy has included grossly exaggerated claims of bird deaths. From The Guardian:
“Even while on holiday at his Florida resort, Donald Trump has refused to take a break from his unrelenting war on wind energy.
Late Tuesday, the US president posted an image of a dead bird beneath a turbine on social media, accompanied by the lament: ‘Windmills are killing all of our beautiful Bald Eagles!’
The post was immediately amplified by an official White House account on X with more than a million followers.
Unfortunately for Trump’s effort to sow outrage among American patriots at what he proclaimed to be an image of the national bird laid low, closer inspection reveals the photograph does not show a bald eagle and was not taken in the United States. The image actually shows a falcon that was killed at a wind farm in Israel eight years ago.”
