**Introduction**

As you all know, /r/neoliberal recently became a market success when Draco decided to leak controversial personal messages and then step down from his moderator position. This was known as "Drexit", and is easily searchable on the meta subs. Since then, this subreddit has become more and more active with the primary hub of activity being the daily Discussion Thread (the DT), which is meant for the habitual visitor and is within certain limits respectable and understandable. However, this has started to change due to transitions in the moderator team causing them to become more fash. This backfired; in response, the DT is now full of shitposts, copypasta, partisanship, and inside "jokes" (they're not funny) that may not be immediately clear. I decided to write this Guide on the DT so that no one from the community has a problem with integrating into the community. Many of you may remember I also wrote a guy last year. There are almost no changes whatsoever except for the fact that I'm now a moderator, so this thread can be branded as "official" instead of "unofficial". Treat it as a moderator approved example of a copypasta if you wish.

**Basic Characteristics**

The DT is full of shitposters and undergrads so do not expect any serious information or constructive opinions. An integral part of the DT are hot takes. Any take can be judged on a spectrum from cold to hot. However, the correctness of the take is also a major factor in judging its overall worth and contribution to the DT. Thus, it is very important to internalize [this chart](http://i.imgur.com/AhFaI0O.png). The first quadrant, Q1, is the uppermost quadrant. Thus, a take that is hot and good is Q1. The quadrants are counted counterclockwise. Thus, a Q4 take is cold and good.

The DT tends to "snowball". Which means that if someone writes anything, and I mean *anything*, someone may copypasta it. If someone else makes a copypasta out of *that*, then a torrent of copypastas will flood the DT until the fash mods ban the copypasta. This is known as fash cooling, as it cools down the DT.

If you want to throw money out of the window while still helping the global poor, you can donate $5 to charity in May. If you donate enough money you can get some nice perks, including custom flairs! More details will be coming soon. There's also a website or podcast or something that the mods have been allegedly working on but most DT regulars are confident that it doesn't exist.

**Basic Customs**

1- Genuine discussion

Genuine discussion is a becoming a dying breed these days. Typically it will take the form of someone asking a genuine question in good faith, or linking a news article/opinion piece with thought provoking commentary.

*Example*:

cdstephens: Hey, I had a question about some basic supply and demand stuff. If the supplier of a good enacts perfect price discrimination, does that just convert consumer surplus into producer surplus?

papermarioguy02: Yep that sounds about right.

2- Takes

As mentioned before, takes are vital in the DT, so much so that people will post naked takes without any provocation or context. It is important that you label your takes, calling it "hot", "cold", or something else indicating temperature.

*Example*:

cdstephens: Hot take, Donald Trump is bad

Agent78787: Good job, you just solved global warming.

3- Shitposts

A shitpost can take many forms, even that of genuine discussion. It's hard to accurately describe the quality of a shitpost, but you'll know it when you see it.

*Example*:

cdstephens: If you have goose tacos, you don't have a country.

FuturesaurusRex: /u/Gustacho BTFO

4-  Inside jokes

The DT has a plethora of inside jokes or phrases that are recognizable to the DT regulars but indecipherable to the average person. Below is a list of examples; it is by no means comprehensive.

 >Insert funny quote here

- Milton Friedman

This but ironically

 This but unironically

 Why do you hate the global poor?

 Fellas, is it gay to play football? You're literally touching another man.

 🅱

 Oonts.

 Wow infrastructure week really isn't going so well.

 We're all Webby alts and gl0betrotter alts, except for /u/Erra0 who's a cdstephens alt

 Let me R1 you real quick.

 DAE Belgium isn't a country

 The DT is overrun with succdems

 The DT is overrun with soccons

 The DT is overrun with weebs

 Purge the succs/weebs!

 WTF I love Trump now

5- Strawpolls

A classic thing to post in the DT is a strawpoll. For a strawpoll to be considered valid, it can't be an obvious question (e.g. "Do you like Obama more than Trump?") and it **MUST** contain a Jill Stein option. [Here](https://www.strawpoll.me/15489805) is an example of an acceptable poll.

6- Schisms

A schism is when a controversial disagreement occurs in the DT. Contrary to popular belief, it's usually not a community-wide schism. Rather, it's typically 1-3 regulars arguing for a controversial opinion.

*Example*:

cdstephens: Hot take, Bernie isn't that bad.

Everyone else: WTF did you just say?

7- Live blogging

Many DT regulars treat the DT as a liveblog. This can be anything from talking about you're recent date, to complaining about class, to talking about your sex life (try not to do this please).

*Example*:

uraniumkore: Someone in this history class just asked what the Bolshevik revolution was. And someone else responded with it was at the end of WWII

8- Mod/User exoduses

Sometimes you get fed up with the DT. Other times, it starts to encroach on your normal life. Maybe you don't like the direction of the subreddit and think it's getting too left/right/weeb. It might reach the point where you stop posting in the DT altogether. You can't, however, just leave, as people are familiar with who you are as a person. Many regulars will announce or tease their leave, and then delete their account altogether.

*Example*:

FunctionalAesthetics: Here's a list of copypastas that I really like also I'm leaving cause of this long list of reasons k thanks.

9- Flairs

Flairs comprise of a picture of something, and a text. There are a list of default flairs where the accompanying text will be the flair label. However, there are a variety of special flairs that people can get under certain circumstances (including the upcoming charity drive!).

*Example*:

cdstephens - Richard Feynman - Who let this shitlord into grad school?

10- Copypasta

Last but not least is copypasta, a specific type of shitpost. A copypsata is where you take a comment and change the words around to become "allegedly" humorous.

*Example*:

cdstephens: Trump chuckled. "You mean the global poor?"

**NAZI MODS**

The moderators range from pretty cool to OK, but they are all **FASH**. Do **NOT** give the Nazi mods an inch. They've done terrible things ranging from banning copypasta outright to removing shit memes on the subreddit. Any friendly interactions with the mods will be considered autocrat apologia and banned on sight.

**SWEDES**

The Swedes range from pretty cool to OK, but they are all **SUCCS**. Do **NOT** give /u/lusvig alts an inch. They've done terrible things ranging from advocating for social democracy outright to complaining about Swedish genocide on the subreddit. Any friendly interactions with the Swedes will be considered autocrat apologia and banned on sight.

**Conclusion**

Thank you for reading this Guide and I hope you already understand the DT and you won't panic because of misunderstanding it. If this guide did not help you or you don't like the DT community, do not read the DT at all. If you do decide to partake, the DT can get rather overwhelming at times with the number of people. Some of us maintain Excel spreadsheets to cope, and I suggest you do the same. I can add some more content in the future, just comment on this guide if you want to see something new, but I probably won't get to it because I'm in grad school and spend most of my time shitposting. Peace.

**Addendum**

Here is a more complete list of memes and schisms, courtesy of /u/recruit00 (RIP)

*Memes*

X chuckled, Tony Blair, shrimp and frozen shrimp, hey I can answer that question, epidermis slabs, the spreadsheet, oonts, childmod breaking everything, chili, ripple, weeb hate, Goolsbae, thank mr bernke, Goolsbee quotes, what's your model, hydration, real neoliberal hours, shitpostsonlyaccount, 🅱, emojis in general, did a child write this?, unban dan, unban darkaceAUS, darkaceAUS, DanFromBurgerKing, children, don't let this X distract you from Y, Wumbo and the essay, bone throne, beans, this but ironically, this but unironically, there's absolutely zero difference between x and y, users ruining bot commands, pings, webby, draco, macron, this is why Macron won, soros, should old ravens obey someone, Milton Friedman quotes, pencils, the wonk, dabbing, the SOMC, larping, QE, why we have no women here, commie wrigglingnorms, bugboi, fuck x that's my blunt message, gift economies, PK The Ivory Tower, jill stein, "Socialism is when the government does things, and the more things the government does, the more socialistier it is" - Carl Marks, x and y are my homeboys, succ dems, succ cons, Krugman, why nations fail, capitalism and freedom, free to choose, radical centrism, nick Clegg, vince cable, the milk man, the needle, party parrot, gif comments, send cat pics, mayocide, infrastructure week, NIT, LVT, EITC, carbon tax, hippehoppe, taco trucks on every corner, Mutti booty, Niiyo-chan, secret Hitler, bee movie script, that's a Koch brothers proposal, cube bot, the attribute of person, you know what? Fuck x, sigh I'm actually x, this is my alt account, musician x or musician y, if you rearrange the letters of x it spells y, immanentizing the eschaton, a friend of me asked why I care so much about x, x is creepy... stop upvoting this garbage, NL posters are all bots, what qualifies as a sandwhich, in the world of veggie tales..., I'll be honest, I have no clue what x is, what's next, a license to x?, how to get downvotes in NL: point out that x, imagine believing in x lol, this is why NL is a joke, isn't this why x is seen as a joke, NRA bots, mod me and I will make x look like y, rate this insult: "x" context is weird don't ask, China apologia to attract zhairen, I hate x, I can't stand it, don't copypasta this, mitt romney 4 gif, girthers, papermarioguy02 birthday, xincels, x is a globey alt pass it on, PK's "ban", roasts, if you're over the age of x, you're too old to y, NL meet up locations, list of schisms followed by an item followed by 🤔🤔🤔, x state solution but y, avenatti, I have all the tools to be a chad, is x part of the midwest, seatedliberty alts, kanyewest2020 quotes, cheese, I'm easy to dox, video game name to the polls, x/y unity ticket, during the course of debate research, I have unironically become an X, baby Hitler, Why are you laughing? I feel like this comment has been made in a bad faith and I will not engage with you any further

*Schisms*

Campus speakers, beans, hate speech laws, pizza, Pittsburgh/PA/Filthadelphia, fruits, rap music, Drako, Soc dems, soc cons, Google man, NK, Dem support, eugenics, Webby, guns, abortion, Hillary flairs, Thatcher/Reagan flairs, politician flairs, single payer, Corbyn, Mutti booty, Wumbowall, SOMC policy, Booker/Harris healthcare tweets, minimum wage, UBI vs NIT, Rubio, neocons, affirmative action, weebs, that guy from that sub that hates us, FDR, Reagan, Thatcher, Krugman, ketchup, mustard, condiments, day of absence, mayo jokes, p words, Star Wars, school vouchers, blocking people, Commodore Obvious, masculinity , Catholic church, schisms, leaving the discussion thread, the patriarchy, punching Nazis, talking about your sex life, darkaceAUS, civil rights bargaining, restriction of free speech, poetry, Catholicism again, tearing down statues, FDR, the Bannon vs Trump tweet, veganism, Kissinger, sugar tax, neocons again, gender transition and age, temperature units, kinks, Taylor Swift, is Dubya a good president, Beatles, Niiyo-chan, plug.dj, apparently footskin?, darkaceAUS again, Hillary again, darkaceAUS again, conscription, Islam, terrorism, Belgium, eugenics (really?), voting age, Bernie vs Kasich, abortion, #Notallmen, Linda Sarsour, the discord, brutalism, libraries, English ban, mormonism, excess partisanship, you know what this schism was, Dan vs darkaceAUS, college majors, ranking presidents (again), BLM, oatmeal, HRT and SRS, god and religion and denominations, abortion again, gun control again, Star Wars again, gun control again again, Christian denominations again again, the coup of britmod, maybe 🅱?, abortion again, Draco starting shit, religion again?, is paul ryan a neoliberal?, IQ tests, Charles Murray, Iran vs Saudi Arabia, the mod coup, what's an SJW, aborting gay fetuses, onions, the formation of /r/centerleftpolitics, cultural appropriation, Disney, Is Israel an ethno state, rape victim blaming (this fucking sub I swear), the civil rights act (for fucks sake people...), height, contractionary too early, darkaceAUS being a terrible person, a drunk guy causing problems, globetrotter and his shit takes, 85397 and his shit takes, heretics celebrating the anniversary of heresy, rurals, brutalism again, neocons, the DSA, rurals again, politician flairs removed, gay cakes, drunk Zhairen (maybe?), Christmas songs, hippehoppexit, why women don't show up part infinity, survey results and succdems, the needle, contrarianism, Daniel Shaver, Star Wars again again again, rape (we can't do anything to get women to come here), Te-Nahisi Coates, Romney, Baby it's Cold Outside, affirmative action, gods don exits, Iraq war, username pings I guess, sandwiches, the burgerdan PM, Romney vs Bernie, debating a Trump supporter, government shutdown and who to blame, neocons, x chuckled, "you mean the y?", Iraq war, incest again, copypasta ban, /r/metaNL, shrimp and halfdime, eating ass, cats vs dogs, abortion, Anglo American Heritage, gun control, drinking age, fish fucking, hate speech laws, living wage supporters, shkreli, parenting license, ass wiping, burqa bans, zhairen and childmod exit, krautmod exit, pasta killing bot, Israel vs Palestine, is Kanye a good musician, Star Wars yet again, copypasta bans, vegans, porn, pmgexit, libraries again, ketchup vs mayo, tipping again?, mayocide and jokes about white people, squibblededoo being banned, banning runic letters, dominicj trying to start an Israel schism, ketchup vs mayo again, meat vs vegan, demographic survey results/succs, succs again, circumcision again, star wars again (be interesting for once), 2016 election takes, another circumschism, kanyewest2020 defending kavanaugh, cheese, the NL 5, ban rule changes, revenge of the circumschism, Warren and race, AOC, the quadruple schism of conservatives vs nazis and anti Muslim immigration and Israel vs palestine and organ selling (again...), Israel vs palestine again, gated communities

The Official Guide to the /r/neoliberal Discussion Thread

Introduction

As you all know, /r/neoliberal recently became a market success when Draco decided to leak controversial personal messages and then step down from his moderator position. This was known as &quot;Drexit&quot;, and is easily searchable on the meta subs. Since then, this subreddit has become more and more active with the primary hub of activity being the daily Discussion Thread (the DT), which is meant for the habitual visitor and is within certain limits respectable and understandable. However, this has started to change due to transitions in the moderator team causing them to become more fash. This backfired; in response, the DT is now full of shitposts, copypasta, partisanship, and inside &quot;jokes&quot; (they&#39;re not funny) that may not be immediately clear. I decided to write this Guide on the DT so that no one from the community has a problem with integrating into the community. Many of you may remember I also wrote a guy last year. There are almost no changes whatsoever except for the fact that I&#39;m now a moderator, so this thread can be branded as &quot;official&quot; instead of &quot;unofficial&quot;. Treat it as a moderator approved example of a copypasta if you wish.

Basic Characteristics

The DT is full of shitposters and undergrads so do not expect any serious information or constructive opinions. An integral part of the DT are hot takes. Any take can be judged on a spectrum from cold to hot. However, the correctness of the take is also a major factor in judging its overall worth and contribution to the DT. Thus, it is very important to internalize this chart. The first quadrant, Q1, is the uppermost quadrant. Thus, a take that is hot and good is Q1. The quadrants are counted counterclockwise. Thus, a Q4 take is cold and good.

The DT tends to &quot;snowball&quot;. Which means that if someone writes anything, and I mean anything, someone may copypasta it. If someone else makes a copypasta out of that, then a torrent of copypastas will flood the DT until the fash mods ban the copypasta. This is known as fash cooling, as it cools down the DT.

If you want to throw money out of the window while still helping the global poor, you can donate $5 to charity in May. If you donate enough money you can get some nice perks, including custom flairs! More details will be coming soon. There&#39;s also a website or podcast or something that the mods have been allegedly working on but most DT regulars are confident that it doesn&#39;t exist.

Basic Customs

1- Genuine discussion

Genuine discussion is a becoming a dying breed these days. Typically it will take the form of someone asking a genuine question in good faith, or linking a news article/opinion piece with thought provoking commentary.

Example:

cdstephens: Hey, I had a question about some basic supply and demand stuff. If the supplier of a good enacts perfect price discrimination, does that just convert consumer surplus into producer surplus?

papermarioguy02: Yep that sounds about right.

2- Takes

As mentioned before, takes are vital in the DT, so much so that people will post naked takes without any provocation or context. It is important that you label your takes, calling it &quot;hot&quot;, &quot;cold&quot;, or something else indicating temperature.

Example:

cdstephens: Hot take, Donald Trump is bad

Agent78787: Good job, you just solved global warming.

3- Shitposts

A shitpost can take many forms, even that of genuine discussion. It&#39;s hard to accurately describe the quality of a shitpost, but you&#39;ll know it when you see it.

Example:

cdstephens: If you have goose tacos, you don&#39;t have a country.

FuturesaurusRex: /u/Gustacho BTFO

4-  Inside jokes

The DT has a plethora of inside jokes or phrases that are recognizable to the DT regulars but indecipherable to the average person. Below is a list of examples; it is by no means comprehensive.

Insert funny quote here

Milton Friedman

This but ironically

This but unironically

Why do you hate the global poor?

Fellas, is it gay to play football? You&#39;re literally touching another man.

🅱

Oonts.

Wow infrastructure week really isn&#39;t going so well.

We&#39;re all Webby alts and gl0betrotter alts, except for /u/Erra0 who&#39;s a cdstephens alt

Let me R1 you real quick.

DAE Belgium isn&#39;t a country

The DT is overrun with succdems

The DT is overrun with soccons

The DT is overrun with weebs

Purge the succs/weebs!

WTF I love Trump now

5- Strawpolls

A classic thing to post in the DT is a strawpoll. For a strawpoll to be considered valid, it can&#39;t be an obvious question (e.g. &quot;Do you like Obama more than Trump?&quot;) and it MUST contain a Jill Stein option. Here is an example of an acceptable poll.

6- Schisms

A schism is when a controversial disagreement occurs in the DT. Contrary to popular belief, it&#39;s usually not a community-wide schism. Rather, it&#39;s typically 1-3 regulars arguing for a controversial opinion.

Example:

cdstephens: Hot take, Bernie isn&#39;t that bad.

Everyone else: WTF did you just say?

7- Live blogging

Many DT regulars treat the DT as a liveblog. This can be anything from talking about you&#39;re recent date, to complaining about class, to talking about your sex life (try not to do this please).

Example:

uraniumkore: Someone in this history class just asked what the Bolshevik revolution was. And someone else responded with it was at the end of WWII

8- Mod/User exoduses

Sometimes you get fed up with the DT. Other times, it starts to encroach on your normal life. Maybe you don&#39;t like the direction of the subreddit and think it&#39;s getting too left/right/weeb. It might reach the point where you stop posting in the DT altogether. You can&#39;t, however, just leave, as people are familiar with who you are as a person. Many regulars will announce or tease their leave, and then delete their account altogether.

Example:

FunctionalAesthetics: Here&#39;s a list of copypastas that I really like also I&#39;m leaving cause of this long list of reasons k thanks.

9- Flairs

Flairs comprise of a picture of something, and a text. There are a list of default flairs where the accompanying text will be the flair label. However, there are a variety of special flairs that people can get under certain circumstances (including the upcoming charity drive!).

Example:

cdstephens - Richard Feynman - Who let this shitlord into grad school?

10- Copypasta

Last but not least is copypasta, a specific type of shitpost. A copypsata is where you take a comment and change the words around to become &quot;allegedly&quot; humorous.

Example:

cdstephens: Trump chuckled. &quot;You mean the global poor?&quot;

NAZI MODS

The moderators range from pretty cool to OK, but they are all FASH. Do NOT give the Nazi mods an inch. They&#39;ve done terrible things ranging from banning copypasta outright to removing shit memes on the subreddit. Any friendly interactions with the mods will be considered autocrat apologia and banned on sight.

SWEDES

The Swedes range from pretty cool to OK, but they are all SUCCS. Do NOT give /u/lusvig alts an inch. They&#39;ve done terrible things ranging from advocating for social democracy outright to complaining about Swedish genocide on the subreddit. Any friendly interactions with the Swedes will be considered autocrat apologia and banned on sight.

Conclusion

Thank you for reading this Guide and I hope you already understand the DT and you won&#39;t panic because of misunderstanding it. If this guide did not help you or you don&#39;t like the DT community, do not read the DT at all. If you do decide to partake, the DT can get rather overwhelming at times with the number of people. Some of us maintain Excel spreadsheets to cope, and I suggest you do the same. I can add some more content in the future, just comment on this guide if you want to see something new, but I probably won&#39;t get to it because I&#39;m in grad school and spend most of my time shitposting. Peace.

Addendum

Here is a more complete list of memes and schisms, courtesy of /u/recruit00 (RIP)

Memes

X chuckled, Tony Blair, shrimp and frozen shrimp, hey I can answer that question, epidermis slabs, the spreadsheet, oonts, childmod breaking everything, chili, ripple, weeb hate, Goolsbae, thank mr bernke, Goolsbee quotes, what&#39;s your model, hydration, real neoliberal hours, shitpostsonlyaccount, 🅱, emojis in general, did a child write this?, unban dan, unban darkaceAUS, darkaceAUS, DanFromBurgerKing, children, don&#39;t let this X distract you from Y, Wumbo and the essay, bone throne, beans, this but ironically, this but unironically, there&#39;s absolutely zero difference between x and y, users ruining bot commands, pings, webby, draco, macron, this is why Macron won, soros, should old ravens obey someone, Milton Friedman quotes, pencils, the wonk, dabbing, the SOMC, larping, QE, why we have no women here, commie wrigglingnorms, bugboi, fuck x that&#39;s my blunt message, gift economies, PK The Ivory Tower, jill stein, &quot;Socialism is when the government does things, and the more things the government does, the more socialistier it is&quot; - Carl Marks, x and y are my homeboys, succ dems, succ cons, Krugman, why nations fail, capitalism and freedom, free to choose, radical centrism, nick Clegg, vince cable, the milk man, the needle, party parrot, gif comments, send cat pics, mayocide, infrastructure week, NIT, LVT, EITC, carbon tax, hippehoppe, taco trucks on every corner, Mutti booty, Niiyo-chan, secret Hitler, bee movie script, that&#39;s a Koch brothers proposal, cube bot, the attribute of person, you know what? Fuck x, sigh I&#39;m actually x, this is my alt account, musician x or musician y, if you rearrange the letters of x it spells y, immanentizing the eschaton, a friend of me asked why I care so much about x, x is creepy... stop upvoting this garbage, NL posters are all bots, what qualifies as a sandwhich, in the world of veggie tales..., I&#39;ll be honest, I have no clue what x is, what&#39;s next, a license to x?, how to get downvotes in NL: point out that x, imagine believing in x lol, this is why NL is a joke, isn&#39;t this why x is seen as a joke, NRA bots, mod me and I will make x look like y, rate this insult: &quot;x&quot; context is weird don&#39;t ask, China apologia to attract zhairen, I hate x, I can&#39;t stand it, don&#39;t copypasta this, mitt romney 4 gif, girthers, papermarioguy02 birthday, xincels, x is a globey alt pass it on, PK&#39;s &quot;ban&quot;, roasts, if you&#39;re over the age of x, you&#39;re too old to y, NL meet up locations, list of schisms followed by an item followed by 🤔🤔🤔, x state solution but y, avenatti, I have all the tools to be a chad, is x part of the midwest, seatedliberty alts, kanyewest2020 quotes, cheese, I&#39;m easy to dox, video game name to the polls, x/y unity ticket, during the course of debate research, I have unironically become an X, baby Hitler, Why are you laughing? I feel like this comment has been made in a bad faith and I will not engage with you any further

Schisms

Campus speakers, beans, hate speech laws, pizza, Pittsburgh/PA/Filthadelphia, fruits, rap music, Drako, Soc dems, soc cons, Google man, NK, Dem support, eugenics, Webby, guns, abortion, Hillary flairs, Thatcher/Reagan flairs, politician flairs, single payer, Corbyn, Mutti booty, Wumbowall, SOMC policy, Booker/Harris healthcare tweets, minimum wage, UBI vs NIT, Rubio, neocons, affirmative action, weebs, that guy from that sub that hates us, FDR, Reagan, Thatcher, Krugman, ketchup, mustard, condiments, day of absence, mayo jokes, p words, Star Wars, school vouchers, blocking people, Commodore Obvious, masculinity , Catholic church, schisms, leaving the discussion thread, the patriarchy, punching Nazis, talking about your sex life, darkaceAUS, civil rights bargaining, restriction of free speech, poetry, Catholicism again, tearing down statues, FDR, the Bannon vs Trump tweet, veganism, Kissinger, sugar tax, neocons again, gender transition and age, temperature units, kinks, Taylor Swift, is Dubya a good president, Beatles, Niiyo-chan, plug.dj, apparently footskin?, darkaceAUS again, Hillary again, darkaceAUS again, conscription, Islam, terrorism, Belgium, eugenics (really?), voting age, Bernie vs Kasich, abortion, #Notallmen, Linda Sarsour, the discord, brutalism, libraries, English ban, mormonism, excess partisanship, you know what this schism was, Dan vs darkaceAUS, college majors, ranking presidents (again), BLM, oatmeal, HRT and SRS, god and religion and denominations, abortion again, gun control again, Star Wars again, gun control again again, Christian denominations again again, the coup of britmod, maybe 🅱?, abortion again, Draco starting shit, religion again?, is paul ryan a neoliberal?, IQ tests, Charles Murray, Iran vs Saudi Arabia, the mod coup, what&#39;s an SJW, aborting gay fetuses, onions, the formation of /r/centerleftpolitics, cultural appropriation, Disney, Is Israel an ethno state, rape victim blaming (this fucking sub I swear), the civil rights act (for fucks sake people...), height, contractionary too early, darkaceAUS being a terrible person, a drunk guy causing problems, globetrotter and his shit takes, 85397 and his shit takes, heretics celebrating the anniversary of heresy, rurals, brutalism again, neocons, the DSA, rurals again, politician flairs removed, gay cakes, drunk Zhairen (maybe?), Christmas songs, hippehoppexit, why women don&#39;t show up part infinity, survey results and succdems, the needle, contrarianism, Daniel Shaver, Star Wars again again again, rape (we can&#39;t do anything to get women to come here), Te-Nahisi Coates, Romney, Baby it&#39;s Cold Outside, affirmative action, gods don exits, Iraq war, username pings I guess, sandwiches, the burgerdan PM, Romney vs Bernie, debating a Trump supporter, government shutdown and who to blame, neocons, x chuckled, &quot;you mean the y?&quot;, Iraq war, incest again, copypasta ban, /r/metaNL, shrimp and halfdime, eating ass, cats vs dogs, abortion, Anglo American Heritage, gun control, drinking age, fish fucking, hate speech laws, living wage supporters, shkreli, parenting license, ass wiping, burqa bans, zhairen and childmod exit, krautmod exit, pasta killing bot, Israel vs Palestine, is Kanye a good musician, Star Wars yet again, copypasta bans, vegans, porn, pmgexit, libraries again, ketchup vs mayo, tipping again?, mayocide and jokes about white people, squibblededoo being banned, banning runic letters, dominicj trying to start an Israel schism, ketchup vs mayo again, meat vs vegan, demographic survey results/succs, succs again, circumcision again, star wars again (be interesting for once), 2016 election takes, another circumschism, kanyewest2020 defending kavanaugh, cheese, the NL 5, ban rule changes, revenge of the circumschism, Warren and race, AOC, the quadruple schism of conservatives vs nazis and anti Muslim immigration and Israel vs palestine and organ selling (again...), Israel vs palestine again, gated communities


Poland leaves interest rates unchanged


Romania's outgoing president quits to pre-empt impeachment bid before election re-run


Belarus labels Polish Radio profiles “extremist,” citing alleged harm to state


Trump’s Tariffs Make Currency Trading Cool Again After Years of Decline


Trump admin ordered National Center for Missing & Exploited Children to remove all mentions of transgender kids


Macron unveils plans for €109 billion of AI investment in France


The [discussion thread](https://neoliber.al/dt) is for casual and off-topic conversation that doesn't merit its own submission. If you've got a good meme, article, or question, please post it outside the DT. Meta discussion is allowed, but if you want to get the attention of the mods, make a post in /r/metaNL ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^[](https://i.imgur.com/cu8BHQU.png)

## Announcements

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Ecuador will choose its next president in a runoff election after conservative incumbent Daniel Noboa and leftist lawyer Luisa González garnered enough votes Sunday to beat 14 other candidates.

The contest, set for April 13, will be a repeat of the October 2023 snap election that earned Noboa a 16-month presidency.

Noboa and González are now vying for a full four-year term, promising voters to reduce the widespread criminal activity that upended their lives four years ago.

The spike in violence across the South American country is tied to the trafficking of cocaine produced in neighboring Colombia and Peru. So many voters have become crime victims that their personal and collective losses were a determining factor in deciding whether a third president in four years could turn Ecuador around or if Noboa deserved more time in office.

Noboa, an heir to a fortune built on the banana trade, and González, the protégée of Ecuador’s most influential president this century, were the clear front-runners ahead of the election.

Figures released by Ecuador’s National Electoral Council showed that with 80% of ballots tallied, Noboa received more than 3.71 million votes, or 44.43%, while González earned over 3.69 million votes, or 44.17%. The 14 other candidates in the race were far behind them.

Ecuador's conservative incumbent and a leftist lawyer advance to presidential runoff


Why India isn’t winning the contest with China


Prominent House Republicans are privately warring over how to advance tax cuts that are expiring and President Donald Trump’s long list of other tax demands — with Budget Chair Jodey Arrington and deficit hard-liner Rep. Chip Roy locked in a struggle against Ways and Means Chair Jason Smith and other senior Republicans.

The dispute is hindering Speaker Mike Johnson ’s plan to advance a budget blueprint this week, as different GOP factions continue to squabble over the costs of the tax plan, how to offset them to reduce their deficit impact and possible cost-saving changes to programs including Medicare and assistance for low-income Americans.

The unrest is reigniting House GOP leaders’ concerns that Roy and other hard-liners are trying to burn time to undercut the leaders’ preference for a single bill that would include taxes, border policy, energy provisions and national security measures, according to two Republicans familiar with the conversations. The Senate favors a two-track strategy, that would include the border, energy and defense measures in one bill and leave taxes for later, in a separate bill.

Centrists and even some more conservative Republicans are also increasingly alarmed that Arrington keeps raising Medicare reforms as a potential spending offset, according to three Republicans familiar with the ongoing talks. Trump made it clear on the campaign trail that he doesn’t want to touch Medicare, but Arrington has suggested a variety of changes to the program that would lower costs in the Ways and Means’ jurisdiction.

House Republicans from corn-growing states are also infuriated that Arrington has his eye on slashing tax incentives for biofuels, after a similar move almost blew up former Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s 2023 debt ceiling deal. Many agriculture-state Republicans are already irritated at Arrington for declining to help them press the Congressional Budget Office for additional revenue for the farm bill last year, and tempers are flaring again.

Republicans are also planning to include enacting the first-ever work requirements for Medicaid in the package, according to two people familiar with the ongoing talks. They’re also planning to expand work requirements for SNAP food aid benefits that help feed more than 40 million low-income Americans and a smaller cash assistance program known as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.

Inside the House GOP clash over tax cuts


Nippon Steel will not take majority stake in U.S. Steel: Trump


A federal judge barred the U.S. government on Sunday from sending three detained Venezuelan men to the Navy base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, according to a lawyer for the migrants.

Lawyers for the men, who are detained at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in New Mexico, asked the court on Sunday evening for a temporary restraining order, opening the first legal front against the Trump administration’s new policy of sending undocumented migrants to Guantánamo.

Within an hour of the filing, which came at the start of the Super Bowl, Judge Kenneth J. Gonzales of the Federal District Court for New Mexico, convened a hearing by videoconference and verbally granted the restraining order, said Baher Azmy, the legal director of the Center for Constitutional Rights, which is helping represent the migrants.

According to the filing, the men are being held in the same ICE facility, the Otero County Processing Center, where previous groups of men who were flown to Guantánamo in recent days had apparently been held. The men recognized the faces of some of those detainees from government photographs provided to the news media, the filing said.

The filing also said that the men had heard rumors that more such transfers were coming, and that they “fit the profile of those the administration has prioritized for detention in Guantánamo, i.e. Venezuelan men detained in the El Paso area with (false) charges of connections with the Tren de Aragua gang.”

That lawsuit argues that the men cannot be held in perpetual detention and so must be freed. Their filing says that any transfer to Guantánamo would make it difficult for them to continue to communicate with their lawyers and could open the door to the government’s arguing that the court no longer has jurisdiction.

Court Blocks U.S. From Sending 3 Venezuelan Migrants to Guantánamo


Trump announces the end of the Penny


Trump says Canada’s and Mexico’s responses to his tariff threats are ‘not good enough’


Trump says US may have less debt than thought because of fraud


Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania said on Sunday they had successfully synchronized their electricity systems to the European continental power grid, one day after severing decades-old energy ties to Russia and Belarus.

Planned for many years, the complex switch away from the grid of their former Soviet imperial overlord is designed to integrate the three Baltic nations more closely with the European Union and to boost the region's energy security.

After disconnecting on Saturday from the IPS/UPS network, established by the Soviet Union in the 1950s and now run by Russia, the Baltic nations cut cross-border high-voltage transmission lines in eastern Latvia, some 100 meters from the Russian border, handing out pieces of chopped wire to enthusiastic bystanders as keepsakes.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, herself an Estonian, earlier this week called the switch "a victory for freedom and European unity."

The IPS/UPS grid was the final remaining link to Russia for the three countries, which re-emerged as independent nations in the early 1990s at the fall of the Soviet Union, and joined the European Union and NATO in 2004.

The three staunch supporters of Kyiv stopped purchases of power from Russia following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 but have relied on the Russian grid to control frequencies and stabilize networks to avoid outages.

Baltic states switch to European power grid, ending Russia ties

Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania said on Sunday they had successfully synchronized their electricity systems to the European continental power grid, one day after severing decades-old energy ties to Russia and Belarus.

Planned for many years, the complex switch away from the grid of their former Soviet imperial overlord is designed to integrate the three Baltic nations more closely with the European Union and to boost the region&#39;s energy security.

After disconnecting on Saturday from the IPS/UPS network, established by the Soviet Union in the 1950s and now run by Russia, the Baltic nations cut cross-border high-voltage transmission lines in eastern Latvia, some 100 meters from the Russian border, handing out pieces of chopped wire to enthusiastic bystanders as keepsakes.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, herself an Estonian, earlier this week called the switch &quot;a victory for freedom and European unity.&quot;

The IPS/UPS grid was the final remaining link to Russia for the three countries, which re-emerged as independent nations in the early 1990s at the fall of the Soviet Union, and joined the European Union and NATO in 2004.

The three staunch supporters of Kyiv stopped purchases of power from Russia following Moscow&#39;s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 but have relied on the Russian grid to control frequencies and stabilize networks to avoid outages.


Donald Trump loves big oil. Does big oil love him back?


Trump says he is serious about Canada becoming 51st state in Super Bowl interview


Elon Musk Is Working His Hardest to Make a Chinese Century


🏈🏈 Super Bowl Megathread 🏈🏈

:feynman: Fusion Shitmod, PhD :genderfluid:


U.S. intelligence, law enforcement candidates face Trump loyalty test

:place-22: r/place '22: Neoliberal Battalion


Vance and Musk question the authority of the courts as Trump’s agenda faces legal pushback


Some U.S. lawmakers are pushing back against Trump's tariffs — and they hope Canada notices


Corporate America’s diversity wars are just getting started


Trump vows to cut billions of dollars from US defence spending


'The End of History' - by Neal Stephenson


Posting this question as I saw recently several posts criticizing some organizations (NYT, FT, The Economist) on discussion threads lately, for reasons I didn't really know before; like NYT apparently being really bad about covering trans issues.

So I am curious what else could be associated with it or others from this sub's POV.

Can you guys talk about news&articles sources and why you like or dislike them?

Posting this question as I saw recently several posts criticizing some organizations (NYT, FT, The Economist) on discussion threads lately, for reasons I didn&#39;t really know before; like NYT apparently being really bad about covering trans issues.

So I am curious what else could be associated with it or others from this sub&#39;s POV.


Court Cases Update - All set up for a constitutional crisis


The Big Myth About China’s Low Consumption


‘Things have changed’: Minister Champagne says Canada may need West-East pipelines


Trump’s Shameful Campaign Against Transgender Americans


Allies will not appease Donald Trump for ever


US and China teeter on edge of trade war as tariff deadline looms


Liechtenstein's Vaterländische Union win national elections


China's top economic planning agency said on Sunday it was taking steps to scale back subsidies for renewable energy projects after a boom in solar and wind power installations.

China broke its own records for new solar installations in 2024 with installed capacity up 45% from the previous year. China now has almost 887 GW of installed solar power, more than six times the capacity of the United States, according to data from the International Renewable Energy Agency.

The surge in installations meant China hit its 2030 target six years ahead of schedule, underscoring the speed of its clean energy rollout at a time when President Donald Trump has pulled the United States out of the Paris climate deal for a second time and pledged to make it easier to drill for oil and gas.

China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said together with China's energy administration it had issued "market-oriented" changes to policies intended to encourage clean energy projects.

China to roll back clean power subsidies after boom

China&#39;s top economic planning agency said on Sunday it was taking steps to scale back subsidies for renewable energy projects after a boom in solar and wind power installations.

China broke its own records for new solar installations in 2024 with installed capacity up 45% from the previous year. China now has almost 887 GW of installed solar power, more than six times the capacity of the United States, according to data from the International Renewable Energy Agency.

The surge in installations meant China hit its 2030 target six years ahead of schedule, underscoring the speed of its clean energy rollout at a time when President Donald Trump has pulled the United States out of the Paris climate deal for a second time and pledged to make it easier to drill for oil and gas.

China&#39;s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said together with China&#39;s energy administration it had issued &quot;market-oriented&quot; changes to policies intended to encourage clean energy projects.


The week Canada remembered what it stands for


Polish justice ministry unveils proposals to review judges appointed after 2017


Iran's threat to assassinate Donald Trump during the 2024 campaign was far more serious than publicly known


Polish president suggests EU could interfere in elections to choose his successor


How Trump's USAID shutdown threatens the world’s climate goals | The agency was a key player in renewable energy and disaster protection around the world


The United States Secret Service has tapped blockbuster movie director Michael Bay to create a recruiting advertisement that is expected to be unveiled in the stadium on Super Bowl Sunday, according to multiple NFL and Secret Service sources.

The ad cost an estimated $2 million for the Secret Service to produce, according to two sources familiar with the project — a hefty price tag that comes amid massive budget cuts and layoffs at other government agencies.

One source told CNN the estimated $2 million budget is about double what was spent on previous Secret Service recruiting ads.

The ad is expected to air during the pregame show on a jumbotron inside New Orleans’ Superdome stadium, according to a source close to the NFL. The ad time is being donated, so the Secret Service will not have to pay an additional fee. Ad buys during Super Bowl Sunday typically cost millions of dollars, with a 30-second ad airing on television costing up to $8 million this year.

The ad’s purpose of recruitment comes at a crucial time, as the Secret Service has been wracked with low morale, burnout, staffing and retention issues. The thrust of the ad showcases the Secret Service’s role in protecting the nation’s leaders and points out the very game the audience is attending is secured by the agency, according to sources familiar with the ad.

According to sources familiar with the ad, it includes images of Secret Service agents as well as former presidents, including possible historic footage of John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan. There is also expected to be an image of Trump from the day of last year’s assassination attempt against him in Butler, Pennsylvania. However, it is not clear what will make the final edit.

The Secret Service will own the ad for five years and plans to use it on social media to drive future recruitment for years to come.

Exclusive: Secret Service airing recruitment ad from Hollywood director Michael Bay during Super Bowl | CNN Politics


As Republicans in Congress look for ways to slash spending, some legislators are floating new taxes on college scholarships, an end to student loan repayment plans and a big hike in taxes on university endowments.

On the chopping block potentially are several plans students can opt into to repay their students loans, including the SAVE plan introduced by the Biden administration. That plan doesn’t require borrowers to make payments if they earn less than 225% of the federal poverty line — $32,800 a year for a single person — and prevents interest from adding to balances as long as borrowers make their monthly payments. The SAVE plan was already put on hold after Republicans challenged it. Some plans do not appear to be targeted, including one that caps loan payments based on borrowers’ income level.

Another possible change would give borrowers additional opportunities to recover from defaults. While they currently can rehabilitate their loans just once, allowing them to make a certain number of consecutive payments to get out of default, the proposal would allow them to go through that process twice. The committee projected the new process could save the government millions of dollars but did not spell out how.

Scholarships and fellowships have been exempt from taxes as long as they are used for tuition and related expenses. That would change under another proposal that’s up for consideration.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act currently requires some private nonprofit colleges and universities to pay a 1.4% tax on income from their endowments, which raised about $244 million from 58 institutions in 2022. The committee suggests increasing that to a 14% tax and expanding which colleges would have to pay it.

Also being considered among hundreds of other ideas in circulation are fines for colleges and universities that violate students’ rights under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which protects against discrimination toward students of shared ancestry. Such investigations often have been resolved through settlements calling for training and policy updates. Title VI is currently what is being used to investigate complaints of antisemitism on college campuses across the U.S.

House Republicans mull taxes on scholarships and changes to student loan programs


We have all seen the solar forecast-reality chart, but VR headsets seems to be the opposite


EU “will take into account” Poland’s support for Ukrainian refugees when implementing migration pact


German election 2025: What's in the party programs?


Leaders across Africa call for end to DR Congo conflict


The EU cable drama getting stuck in the loading screan would be the power struggle nobody asked for. But who pulled the Plug?


Britain’s path to renationalisation emerges


The [discussion thread](https://neoliber.al/dt) is for casual and off-topic conversation that doesn't merit its own submission. If you've got a good meme, article, or question, please post it outside the DT. Meta discussion is allowed, but if you want to get the attention of the mods, make a post in /r/metaNL ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^[](https://i.imgur.com/cu8BHQU.png)

## Announcements

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## Links

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## Upcoming Events

* Feb 13: [Advance Huntsville + YIMBY Happy Hour](https://cnliberalism.org/events/advance-huntsville-yimby-happy-hour)

Discussion Thread

The discussion thread is for casual and off-topic conversation that doesn&#39;t merit its own submission. If you&#39;ve got a good meme, article, or question, please post it outside the DT. Meta discussion is allowed, but if you want to get the attention of the mods, make a post in /r/metaNL

Announcements

The charity drive has concluded! See our wrap-up thread here. If you&#39;re waiting on a donation incentive, please send us a modmail

Links

Ping Groups | Ping History | Mastodon | CNL Chapters | CNL Event Calendar

Upcoming Events

Feb 13: Advance Huntsville + YIMBY Happy Hour


Federal Financial Watchdog (CFPB) Ordered to Cease Activity


Sam Nujoma, Founding President of Namibia, Dies at 95


Getting "Greater" by the day


Trump administration shakes up funding formulas for rail projects


Reproductive rights are now enshrined in the state constitution, but Missouri’s main abortion provider is fighting legal hurdles to resume offering the procedure. Meanwhile, anti-abortion lawmakers strategize to prevent a return of abortion services.

Three Months After Missouri Voted to Make Abortion Legal, Access Is Still Being Blocked


JD Vance and Vice Signaling (Racist DOGE Staffer Incident)


All But 10 Senate Democrats Voted for a Defense Bill With an Anti-Trans Healthcare Ban


australia's price gouging duopoly


Buckle up. Tough ride ahead


China’s Trump Strategy


A Tent City Is Rising at Guantánamo Bay


The federal hiring freeze implemented by President Donald Trump has affected the hiring of a crucial group of federal workers: firefighters.

The freeze comes at a critical time, when fire departments across the country would typically onboard thousands of seasonal federal firefighters in preparation for wildfires in the spring and summer.

Federal firefighters are an essential part of the nation’s firefighting capability. The Department of the Interior employed 5,780 federal wildland fire personnel in 2024, while the US Forest Service employed over 11,300.

The freeze means that fire trucks in Utah could be left with two people per truck instead of four or five – and some trucks won’t be staffed at all, according to CNN affiliate KSL.

The effect on firefighters comes because the White House has not said that firefighters fall under those “essential services” and thus warrant an exemption from the freeze, according to McLane.

Similarly, Gutierrez said, “We haven’t heard anything from the agency, whether they had filed an exemption or not, because there’s been no communication,” referring both to the Department of Interior and the Department of Agriculture.

Trump’s federal hiring freeze halts onboarding of federal firefighting crews ahead of wildfire season | CNN


Trump’s Deportation Dragnet Widens and Puerto Ricans Are Getting Caught in It


Britain is lost in Trumpland


Narendra Modi’s BJP wins in Delhi polls for first time in almost 3 decades


The U.S. Department of Agriculture has frozen some funding for farmers as it goes through a sweeping review, despite assurances from the Trump administration that programs helping farmers would not be affected in the government overhaul.

The impact has been immediate and wide-ranging, from cash assistance for ranchers to fix cattle watering systems to help for corn growers wanting to plant cover crops that curb wind erosion.

Some of the money that has been frozen is tied to environmental conservation programs that were funded by former President Joe Biden's signature climate law, the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, which included about $19.5 billion for farm programs over 10 years.

The White House said its January 27 proposal to freeze federal loans and grants would not affect programs for farmers. The administration rescinded its proposal and it has been temporarily blocked in court. The White House did not respond to a request for comment on Friday.

Rob Larew, president of the National Farmers Union, told the Senate Agriculture Committee on Wednesday that the group was hearing from farmers across the country who were not receiving expected payments from USDA conservation programs.

USDA freezes farmer funding for some programs, conservation contracts

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has frozen some funding for farmers as it goes through a sweeping review, despite assurances from the Trump administration that programs helping farmers would not be affected in the government overhaul.

The impact has been immediate and wide-ranging, from cash assistance for ranchers to fix cattle watering systems to help for corn growers wanting to plant cover crops that curb wind erosion.

Some of the money that has been frozen is tied to environmental conservation programs that were funded by former President Joe Biden&#39;s signature climate law, the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, which included about $19.5 billion for farm programs over 10 years.

The White House said its January 27 proposal to freeze federal loans and grants would not affect programs for farmers. The administration rescinded its proposal and it has been temporarily blocked in court. The White House did not respond to a request for comment on Friday.

Rob Larew, president of the National Farmers Union, told the Senate Agriculture Committee on Wednesday that the group was hearing from farmers across the country who were not receiving expected payments from USDA conservation programs.


Trump wants to deregulate. Progressives should help him.


At the grocery in front of eggs.


This post is less about data and stats and more of a tangent and thought experiment.

Choosing to not doom about the western world, specifically what’s happening in America, is really tough right now. We’re seeing realtime validation of some very bad case scenarios- institutions are being crushed, and foundational laws are being ignored in a way that’s unprecedented by the executive office and the Muskivites.

We’ve already seen evidence that Trump is comfortable subverting democracy. We’ve already seen evidence he’s shored up bulletproof support among his party.

We’ve now also seen evidence that he has the new tactical ability to tangibly steamroll his way to what he wants- much more predictably than ever before.

My main question is: If we zoom out, is this battle already over? And when is it pragmatic to fight a different battle?

Of course that doesn’t mean it’s time to stop organizing, or voting, or donating to the voices and politicians that push back and stand up to have another go in two & four years. But that path is becoming incredibly narrow.

We probably haven’t come to terms that there are now thumbs on the scale of social media, and how the majority of winnable voters access their information & are influenced more strongly than we can understand- even if we see the obvious on twitter. There’s a “good” chance that liberals and progressives are already a mile behind with a broken leg. The eventual groundswell of support we all assume will come might just never show up.

The reality is that illiberal actors have functionally unlimited resources (Musk), sycophants controlling the mechanisms for “consequence”, and years to do whatever the hell they want with America.

Even if it’s always worth fighting for liberal values and principles, the battle for America feels more like a landslide than a descent. 2024 was the battle you had to win, and you didn’t.

So If you were to arrive at this conclusion, what comes next?

Let’s, for this argument, write off what the democrats can do in the next four+ years as some amount of “stalling” and mitigation during the avalanche.

Why do we believe in Liberal values? Why do we think they’re correct?

I think it usually comes down to empathy. Liberals aren’t the only people with empathy obviously, but I believe it plays a huge role in why we see some of smartest people stand up and fight to take a harder road to bring home better outcomes, basically the antithesis of populism.

I think we are motivated by capitalism and the good we can do in the framework because of the 10% decreases in poverty, or 5% increases in quality of lives lived, and the freedom you have to express your ideas because they might be better ones we haven’t considered.

This is why it sucks to see institutions that do real good get crushed, and why we’re so disgusted by populism.

If we’re assuming that MAGA has won with some kind of permanence, the most pragmatic way to advance those values might be different than sliding down the avalanche.

Parties, people, and movements change. Right now there is a big absence of empathy in MAGA and in America, and I feel that’s an element at play. Maybe there are more levers here, and maybe it’s more pragmatic to try to pull them.

What can we do now culturally to drive more empathy? If we can do that, does liberalism or elements of it become some sort of eventuality? Can it be lateral to politics? Are we seeing signals this can happen anywhere right now?

What I want to try to understand more is if there’s a lever for MAGA / Conservatives and America as a country to become more influenced by empathy. And even if that’s a narrow road, if it’s more feasible and pragmatic in getting us back to the fight for good outcomes than the fight for what could be the dying breath of an unorganized opposition to a new regime.

Maybe being radically kind to folks in your life who don’t deserve it could be more powerful over the curve of the next 15 years than anything you could do for the Democrats today. Maybe there’s more value in finding new ways to communicate classic principles, even separate from politics, in a way that resonates with new generations even if it’s not about immediate policy. Or learning how to start painting the picture of what we had yesterday, and what good liberalism did for so many people for so long in a way that gives everyone ambition & hope for the future when things get tough.. even if their vehicle to be ambitious and hopeful isn’t the Democratic Party or the institutions you’d recognize from today.

The future needs smart people, that’s a constant. And they’re always going to have some sort of power. They’ll also have new tools to action it that we can’t imagine yet.

Smart people are always going to be interested in solving hard problems. That part, in my view, is not going to change.

Just riffing- trying to find a different road for hopium and outlook on how to do good in a world that seems to want to reject it.

Edit: a few folks think I’m talking about changing strategy in messaging.. I’m talking about the pragmatic way liberalism or parts of it can survive even if the battle for *Democracy* is already lost. How good attributes and values can make their way into whatever the future state is through other levers even if it’s not functioning democracy. Republican / MAGA doesn’t have to be the same entity forever even if the vehicle of the party captures the system and ends democracy.

When is it Pragmatic to Fight a Different Battle?

This post is less about data and stats and more of a tangent and thought experiment.

Choosing to not doom about the western world, specifically what’s happening in America, is really tough right now. We’re seeing realtime validation of some very bad case scenarios- institutions are being crushed, and foundational laws are being ignored in a way that’s unprecedented by the executive office and the Muskivites.

We’ve already seen evidence that Trump is comfortable subverting democracy. We’ve already seen evidence he’s shored up bulletproof support among his party.

We’ve now also seen evidence that he has the new tactical ability to tangibly steamroll his way to what he wants- much more predictably than ever before.

My main question is: If we zoom out, is this battle already over? And when is it pragmatic to fight a different battle?

Of course that doesn’t mean it’s time to stop organizing, or voting, or donating to the voices and politicians that push back and stand up to have another go in two &amp; four years. But that path is becoming incredibly narrow.

We probably haven’t come to terms that there are now thumbs on the scale of social media, and how the majority of winnable voters access their information &amp; are influenced more strongly than we can understand- even if we see the obvious on twitter. There’s a “good” chance that liberals and progressives are already a mile behind with a broken leg. The eventual groundswell of support we all assume will come might just never show up.

The reality is that illiberal actors have functionally unlimited resources (Musk), sycophants controlling the mechanisms for “consequence”, and years to do whatever the hell they want with America.

Even if it’s always worth fighting for liberal values and principles, the battle for America feels more like a landslide than a descent. 2024 was the battle you had to win, and you didn’t.

So If you were to arrive at this conclusion, what comes next?

Let’s, for this argument, write off what the democrats can do in the next four+ years as some amount of “stalling” and mitigation during the avalanche.

Why do we believe in Liberal values? Why do we think they’re correct?

I think it usually comes down to empathy. Liberals aren’t the only people with empathy obviously, but I believe it plays a huge role in why we see some of smartest people stand up and fight to take a harder road to bring home better outcomes, basically the antithesis of populism.

I think we are motivated by capitalism and the good we can do in the framework because of the 10% decreases in poverty, or 5% increases in quality of lives lived, and the freedom you have to express your ideas because they might be better ones we haven’t considered.

This is why it sucks to see institutions that do real good get crushed, and why we’re so disgusted by populism.

If we’re assuming that MAGA has won with some kind of permanence, the most pragmatic way to advance those values might be different than sliding down the avalanche.

Parties, people, and movements change. Right now there is a big absence of empathy in MAGA and in America, and I feel that’s an element at play. Maybe there are more levers here, and maybe it’s more pragmatic to try to pull them.

What can we do now culturally to drive more empathy? If we can do that, does liberalism or elements of it become some sort of eventuality? Can it be lateral to politics? Are we seeing signals this can happen anywhere right now?

What I want to try to understand more is if there’s a lever for MAGA / Conservatives and America as a country to become more influenced by empathy. And even if that’s a narrow road, if it’s more feasible and pragmatic in getting us back to the fight for good outcomes than the fight for what could be the dying breath of an unorganized opposition to a new regime.

Maybe being radically kind to folks in your life who don’t deserve it could be more powerful over the curve of the next 15 years than anything you could do for the Democrats today. Maybe there’s more value in finding new ways to communicate classic principles, even separate from politics, in a way that resonates with new generations even if it’s not about immediate policy. Or learning how to start painting the picture of what we had yesterday, and what good liberalism did for so many people for so long in a way that gives everyone ambition &amp; hope for the future when things get tough.. even if their vehicle to be ambitious and hopeful isn’t the Democratic Party or the institutions you’d recognize from today.

The future needs smart people, that’s a constant. And they’re always going to have some sort of power. They’ll also have new tools to action it that we can’t imagine yet.

Smart people are always going to be interested in solving hard problems. That part, in my view, is not going to change.

Just riffing- trying to find a different road for hopium and outlook on how to do good in a world that seems to want to reject it.

Edit: a few folks think I’m talking about changing strategy in messaging.. I’m talking about the pragmatic way liberalism or parts of it can survive even if the battle for Democracy is already lost. How good attributes and values can make their way into whatever the future state is through other levers even if it’s not functioning democracy. Republican / MAGA doesn’t have to be the same entity forever even if the vehicle of the party captures the system and ends democracy.


The populist phantom • Democracy erodes from the top


Trump must dump 'One China' policy and recognize 'free' Taiwan, House Republicans say


Canada seeks stronger EU trade ties in face of Trump tariffs


New York lawmakers moving to deny House GOP a key vote – A new law would allow Gov. Hochul to delay NY-21 special election to November


Polish constitutional court chief launches legal action against government for “coup d’état”


Liberal leadership hopefuls are turning away from some of Justin Trudeau’s policies. Here’s what they say they’ll actually support


The U.S. Economy Is Racing Ahead. Almost Everything Else Is Falling Behind | New York Times


Trump just named himself CEO of the Kennedy Center


The Cancer Scams That Foreshadowed MAHA


The NIH’s drastic cut to indirect cost rates is a critical threat to U.S. research infrastructure


Europe's ever-closer Union accelerated by Draghi and Letta with broad support across the political spectrum, including Meloni. All 27 states agreed with further integration

Watch "Letta/Draghi accelerate ever-closer Union" on Streamable.


Polish justice minister requests lifting of opposition deputy leader’s immunity from prosecution


Evan Lieberman (2022, Princeton UP): South Africa’s post-Apartheid democracy has improved the lives of millions without resorting to political extremism. Citizens have gained access to basic services, housing, and dignified treatment to a greater extent than during any prior period.


Javier Milei Ended Rent Control. Now the Argentine Real Estate Market Is Coming Back to Life.


Why Donald Trump’s protectionist zeal has only grown


The Trump administration’s aggressive push to cut government jobs is reverberating in the early stages of this year’s race for governor in Virginia.

The fast-moving effort by Republican President Donald Trump to overhaul the federal workforce could have a sweeping impact in the state, home to some 145,000 federal employees and many more government contractors. Virginia, which along with New Jersey is picking a new governor in 2025, is already regarded as something of an early indicator of voter attitudes between presidential elections and seems certain to attract closer attention as the contest takes shape.

Whether that view is widely shared will be tested in Virginia, where a former Democratic congresswoman, Abigail Spanberger, and the Republican lieutenant governor, Winsome Earle-Sears, are the leading contenders for governor. The primaries are in June.

Earle-Sears said taxpayers do not want to pay more than is needed for their government, and that what Trump is doing should come as no surprise.

Democrats are quick to point out that Trump has never carried Virginia in his three runs for the White House. And dating to 1977, every time a new president has been elected, the following year Virginia has voted in a governor from the opposite party.

Spanberger, who left Congress to run for governor and has built up a fundraising advantage, said Trump had contempt for federal jobs and that will cause damage across the state.

Trump chops away at the government and the fallout is felt in the Virginia governor's race


https://blakegendebienforcongress.com/

https://www.joshweil.us/

https://gayforcongress.com/

3 special election seats could give democrats the house back. Josh Wheel and Gay Valimont in FL and Blake Gendebien in NY.


Republicans managed to flip the Virginia governorship in 2021 largely on an education platform, focusing on parents’ concerns over peak-pandemic public school closings and race-based curricula.

Four years later, the party is aiming to retool its “parents’ rights” campaign in its bid to hold on to the office in the blue-leaning state in a post-Covid era.

Republicans in recent years have sought to expand their education and cultural playbook in Virginia and around the country. While Republicans once zeroed in on critical race theory, the target is now diversity, equity and inclusion policies. And they’ve broadened their focus to preventing transgender students from competing in girls’ and women’s sports.

This fall’s governor’s race, which both parties will look to as a bellwether of the broader political environment, will provide a major test of the message’s staying power.

Youngkin is term-limited, leading to open primaries on both sides, but there are already clear front-runners for both parties. On the Republican side, Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears is the only serious candidate. For Democrats, former Rep. Abigail Spanberger is the only declared candidate, although Rep. Bobby Scott is thought to be exploring a run.

While economic issues and reproductive rights promise to feature prominently in the race as well, Republicans say they’ll double down on parents’ rights and education.

Republicans retool their 'parents' rights' playbook for the Virginia governor's race


Two months ago, the Biden administration announced an initiative to share satellite data with Central American countries including Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador to help them prepare for severe storms.

The goal was twofold. In a region vulnerable to hurricanes and other calamities made worse by a warming climate, reducing the damage would help ease suffering. It would also relieve the pressure to migrate to the United States. And at $6.6 million, the project, run by the U.S. Agency for International Development and NASA, cost a tiny fraction of what the federal government spends on border security.

That program, along with a suite of other development projects designed to reduce the flow of people from Central America to the U.S. border, now seems to be over. The day he took office, Mr. Trump signed an order freezing U.S.A.I.D. spending; on Friday, he proposed closing the agency entirely. The State Department has assumed responsibility for the agency, which is set to lose 97 percent of its staff.

The State Department did not respond to questions about whether it planned to continue the climate adaptation programs in Central America — and if not, whether it had alternative plans for reducing migration pressure from the region.

In other words: Climate shocks wouldn’t compel so many people to leave the country if they could better protect themselves financially against extreme events.

As the link between climate change and migration in Central America was becoming clearer, the Biden administration began helping to make those countries more resilient to extreme weather.

U.S. development programs aimed at increasing climate resilience were not in place long enough to show evidence of success, said Gillian Caldwell, the chief climate officer at U.S.A.I.D. during the Biden administration, but “it stands to reason that these make incredible contributions to reducing out-migration.”

U.S. Aid Agency’s Climate Programs Aimed to Curb Migration. Now They’re Gone.


DEI Didn’t Change the Workforce All That Much. A Look at 13 Million Jobs | For all the controversy that diversity programs stir up, most senior managers are still white men


EU court upholds a €320m rule-of-law fine issued against Poland under former government


British “equal value” lawsuits have become an absurd denial of markets


Poland to remove Russian tanker that has spent eight years in Polish port and demand compensation


A surge of immigrants boosted the labor market and helped cool inflation during Joe Biden’s administration. Under Donald Trump, the flow of new workers could become a trickle.

A striking percentage of the job growth under Biden consisted of immigrant workers, economists say — with one major bank recently estimating they accounted for as much as two-thirds of the net gains over the last year. If Trump delivers on his pledge to shut down the border and conduct mass deportations, a critical supply of workers would be shut off.

Trump says his sweeping agenda of deregulation, increased oil production and lower taxes will unlock growth and beat back inflation — an argument strongly endorsed by the American people in the election. But a broad-based crackdown on immigrants could slow the economy’s expansion and choke off a supply of workers that Kansas City Fed researchers and others say have alleviated staffing shortages and eased wage pressures.

'Game changer': How an immigration crackdown could upend the job market


In light of Trump’s anti-DEI order and funding instability, Philadelphia-area scientists question their future in the US


Arvind Kejriwal concedes defeat in Delhi elections; takes responsibility for AAP's loss to BJP.


The real threat to American prosperity: Nobel-winning economist Daron Acemoglu on trade wars, tech industry hubris — and how loss of faith in US institutions could spiral


Ishiba praises Trump for being ‘chosen by God’ after shooting


Trump says Nippon Steel to "invest heavily" in, not buy U.S. Steel


DR Congo crisis: What roles are Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda playing?


Mark Carney was made for this moment


Discussion Thread


Trump orders U.S. to prioritize refugee resettlement of South Africans of European descent


Donald Shoup (author of The High Cost of Free Parking) has died, aged 87


The inside story of a high-stakes call between Justin Trudeau and Donald Trump as the tariff deadline loomed


Lawyers representing hundreds of people being held in immigration detention around the country say that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has been arbitrarily singling out asylum-seekers from post-Soviet countries, detaining and keeping them locked up for extended periods of time — in violation of federal law and internal policies.

In a suit against the agency filed in November, 276 immigrants  from former Soviet countries including Russia, Georgia and Kazakhstan — nearly half of whom are being held in Louisiana — claim that they are being wrongfully denied release from ICE detention. The reason, according to the suit, is an “unwritten policy” of categorically denying release requests from Russian-speaking asylum-seekers who originate from countries that were once part of the Soviet Union in an alleged attempt by the agency to deter others from the former Soviet bloc from the attempting to enter the United States.

Their attorneys call it the “Russian Detention & Deterrence Scheme.”

In some cases, the alleged scheme has left detainees separated from their children — who have been taken to separate facilities — for months.

If the plaintiffs’ claims are true, the agency’s actions would violate federal laws meant to safeguard against arbitrary and capricious enforcement, the plaintiffs’ due process rights under the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and an internal government policy meant to guarantee fairness in asylum proceedings, according to the lawsuit.

On Friday, Feb. 14, the plaintiffs will ask a federal judge in California to issue a preliminary injunction that would require individual reviews of each plaintiff’s release request.

Immigrants sue ICE over alleged 'Russian Detention & Deterrence Scheme' • Louisiana Illuminator

Lawyers representing hundreds of people being held in immigration detention around the country say that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has been arbitrarily singling out asylum-seekers from post-Soviet countries, detaining and keeping them locked up for extended periods of time — in violation of federal law and internal policies.

In a suit against the agency filed in November, 276 immigrants  from former Soviet countries including Russia, Georgia and Kazakhstan — nearly half of whom are being held in Louisiana — claim that they are being wrongfully denied release from ICE detention. The reason, according to the suit, is an “unwritten policy” of categorically denying release requests from Russian-speaking asylum-seekers who originate from countries that were once part of the Soviet Union in an alleged attempt by the agency to deter others from the former Soviet bloc from the attempting to enter the United States.

Their attorneys call it the “Russian Detention &amp; Deterrence Scheme.”

In some cases, the alleged scheme has left detainees separated from their children — who have been taken to separate facilities — for months.

If the plaintiffs’ claims are true, the agency’s actions would violate federal laws meant to safeguard against arbitrary and capricious enforcement, the plaintiffs’ due process rights under the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and an internal government policy meant to guarantee fairness in asylum proceedings, according to the lawsuit.

On Friday, Feb. 14, the plaintiffs will ask a federal judge in California to issue a preliminary injunction that would require individual reviews of each plaintiff’s release request.


Trump administration disbands task force targeting Russian oligarchs


I think we all (or most of us) agree overhead rates are crazy,  especially for the top universities, but capping at 15% is going to wreck university research.  And applying this to already awarded grants is just cruelty. This is for NIH but this will likely follow with the NSF.

I've watched the US University ecosystem, and research lead, killed in the last 3 weeks. Time for Chinese lessons.

National Institutes of Health radically cuts support to universities

I think we all (or most of us) agree overhead rates are crazy,  especially for the top universities, but capping at 15% is going to wreck university research.  And applying this to already awarded grants is just cruelty. This is for NIH but this will likely follow with the NSF.

I&#39;ve watched the US University ecosystem, and research lead, killed in the last 3 weeks. Time for Chinese lessons.


'Beyond betrayal.' Venezuelans in Florida are angry at Trump immigration policy


The woke new Syrian government is talking about climate action, Syria has fallen


President Trump signed an executive order Friday to establish a White House Faith Office in an effort to empower faith-based entities.

The office will be part of the Domestic Policy Council and headed by a senior adviser tasked with consulting with various faith and community leaders in an effort to defend religious liberty and combat antisemitism, anti-Christianity and other anti-religious bias, according to the order.

In the order, Trump directed the office to identify ways to reduce burdens on the free exercise of religion and direct all federal agencies to designate a “faith liaison” within 90 days.

The office inside the White House would coordinate with Attorney General Pam Bondi, who Trump earlier this week said would be named the head of a task force to “eradicate anti-Christian bias.”

The office will also advise on policies that can enable faith-based entities, coordinate with other agencies on training and education for faith-based entities to procure grants, and support agencies in development training on religious liberty exceptions and accommodations.

Additionally, it will be tasked with consulting with private businesses on charitable giving and payroll deductions while also coordinating with agencies on promoting grant opportunities for nonprofit faith-based entities.

Trump signs order to establish White House Faith Office


Canada’s Trudeau Says Trump Might Be Serious About 51st State


The Trump administration is moving forward with restarting the detention of migrant families, including those with young children, which could mean an increase in arrests of children and teens, according to three sources familiar with the planning.

The sources said Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is preparing to publish in the coming days a “Request for Proposal” that will ask private prison companies to bid for contracts to restart detention facilities intended specifically for families.

The Obama and first Trump administrations detained parents with their children, but the Biden administration ended that in early 2021. Under the terms of a 1997 court settlement, ICE is prohibited from holding families with children in regular ICE detention settings and must hold them for less than 21 days.

The Biden administration allowed undocumented immigrant families making their way through the immigration system to live in the United States while the head of the household was enrolled in a geolocating monitoring program, such as through an ankle monitor, even if the family was slated to be deported.

Since President Donald Trump took office again last month, most of the arrests by ICE that have been publicized have been of single adult men.

That could soon change once family detention centers are brought back online. The two existing facilities ready to take in migrant families are in Karnes, Texas, which has previously been run by GEO Group and has the capacity to hold over 3,000 people and in Dilley, Texas, which can hold up to 830 people and was previously run by Core Civic, according to the facilities’ web sites. Dilley is currently closed but being maintained while Karnes is currently holding adult ICE detainees and would have to change over to a family facility again.

Trump administration preparing to restart immigrant family detention


Khamenei of Iran Denounces Negotiation With U.S. but Seems to Leave Door Ajar


Trump Says He Will Dismiss Kennedy Center Board Members and Install Himself as Chair


Trump orders freeze of aid to South Africa, citing country's land expropriation law


Hakeem Jeffries met privately with Silicon Valley donors in bid to ‘mend fences.’


Trump’s FBI Pick Kash Patel Took Up to $5M in Stock From Chinese Ecommerce Giant Shein | Patel told senators he has no plans to divest his shares, which his financial disclosure form says were received in exchange for consulting services.


Judge pauses Trump plan to put USAID staff on leave


Democratic members of Congress denied access to Department of Education


Washington's Debt Delusion: Economic Growth Cannot Fix the Deficit


Trump says Nippon Steel dropping US Steel bid to make investment instead


A group of centrist House Democrats met privately with Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and asked him to keep giving them room to vote for GOP messaging bills, Axios has learned.

Democrats see an opportunity to win back the House majority in 2026, but the swing-district lawmakers who are key to that effort feel they need to be able to break away from their party at times to secure reelection.

Jeffries huddled for about 30 minutes Friday with the 10-member Blue Dog Coalition, a group of the most centrist Democrats in the House.

The discussion around winning back the majority, according to one House Democrat who was present, centered on giving centrist and swing-district Democrats "flexibility to take certain votes."

Democrats' losses in the 2024 election appear to have made them more sensitive to the downsides of voting against what are known as "messaging bills."

The lawmakers told Axios they feel Jeffries — known as a coalition builder who tends to lead with a light touch — has been receptive to their pleas.

Scoop: Hakeem Jeffries' centrists press him to let them keep voting for GOP bills

A group of centrist House Democrats met privately with Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and asked him to keep giving them room to vote for GOP messaging bills, Axios has learned.

Democrats see an opportunity to win back the House majority in 2026, but the swing-district lawmakers who are key to that effort feel they need to be able to break away from their party at times to secure reelection.

Jeffries huddled for about 30 minutes Friday with the 10-member Blue Dog Coalition, a group of the most centrist Democrats in the House.

The discussion around winning back the majority, according to one House Democrat who was present, centered on giving centrist and swing-district Democrats &quot;flexibility to take certain votes.&quot;

Democrats&#39; losses in the 2024 election appear to have made them more sensitive to the downsides of voting against what are known as &quot;messaging bills.&quot;

The lawmakers told Axios they feel Jeffries — known as a coalition builder who tends to lead with a light touch — has been receptive to their pleas.


US President Donald Trump has suspended tariffs on small packages from China, after his sudden order ending duty-free treatment for shipments worth less than $800 left the US postal service and other agencies scrambling to comply.

The postal service temporarily stopped accepting packages from China as a result of the order, only to reverse course a day later.

The chaos left many in the US wondering about the fate of packages ordered from companies such as Shein and Temu, which had used the exemption for low-value packages to expand rapidly in the US.

Trump made the change last weekend as part of a wider decision raising border taxes on goods from China by 10% on 4 February.

His revision to the order on Friday said tariff-free treatment for packages from China worth less than $800 would remain in place until "adequate systems are in place to fully and expediently process and collect tariff revenue".

Trump delays tariffs on small packages from China

US President Donald Trump has suspended tariffs on small packages from China, after his sudden order ending duty-free treatment for shipments worth less than $800 left the US postal service and other agencies scrambling to comply.

The postal service temporarily stopped accepting packages from China as a result of the order, only to reverse course a day later.

The chaos left many in the US wondering about the fate of packages ordered from companies such as Shein and Temu, which had used the exemption for low-value packages to expand rapidly in the US.

Trump made the change last weekend as part of a wider decision raising border taxes on goods from China by 10% on 4 February.

His revision to the order on Friday said tariff-free treatment for packages from China worth less than $800 would remain in place until &quot;adequate systems are in place to fully and expediently process and collect tariff revenue&quot;.


Trump Says He Will Announce Reciprocal Tariffs Next Week


The Trump administration agreed Friday not to publicly release the names of FBI agents who played a role in investigations tied to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack without providing two days’ notice.

Sixteen FBI agents who worked on the probes sued the government soon after the agency’s Tuesday deadline to turn over responses to a survey about employees’ work on the more than 1,500 cases stemming from the riot. They claimed the review laid the groundwork for retaliation following President Trump’s vows for retribution against his perceived political enemies.

As part of the agreement, the Justice Department (DOJ) said the government would not disseminate the list of names to the public “directly or indirectly” pending the outcome of the lawsuits without giving two days’ notice, at which point attorneys for the FBI agents could argue for a temporary block on its ability to do so.

The deal was not easily reached.

Justice Department lawyers on Thursday insisted that the DOJ itself had not authorized the public release of the names and had no plan to, nor had it given a formal go-ahead to share the list of names with other government entities.

But when asked to represent that other government entities — like the White House or the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) — would not publicly share the names if they gained access, the government lawyers demurred.

Trump admin agrees not to publicly release names of FBI agents on Jan. 6 probes


The Government’s Computing Experts Say They Are Terrified


MAGAT brother sent me a meme on account of me being a Vet. Decided to fix it.


In a letter to US president Donald Trump, 162 Syrian and international organizations, including Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR), call for easing the sanctions imposed on Syria


Online scams may already be as big a scourge as illegal drugs


U.K. orders Apple to let it spy on users’ encrypted accounts


Republicans say they are nearing deal on Trump's tax cuts, divided on cost


Trump considering allowing sale of U.S. Steel to Nippon Steel


Trump energy secretary allowed 23-year-old DOGE rep to access IT systems over objections from general counsel


'We love Japan,' says Trump as he welcomes Ishiba amid simmering trade tensions


India to cut tariffs on 30 products including luxury cars and bikes, before PM Modi’s US trip


Trudeau tells business leaders at economic summit Trump's 51st state threat 'is a real thing'


Americans, including Republicans, now fear higher inflation this year


Trump carries out his 'flood the zone' strategy, creating a week of whiplash


If federal immigration officers show up on New York City property, a one-page memo distributed by City Hall lawyers last month has instructions for how city employees should respond: Take their information, ask if they have a warrant and call a city lawyer to deal with the matter.

But the memo also says that workers should comply with the officers’ requests or let them in if the workers feel “threatened” or fear for their safety. And it warns that actively harboring an undocumented immigrant is a federal crime.

The wording seems to give leeway to city workers — including at migrant shelters, schools and hospitals — to allow federal immigration agents to enter city property under certain conditions, even without a warrant.

The memo reflects how New York City officials are grappling with how to balance their status as the country’s largest sanctuary city with Mayor Eric Adams’s stated desire to work with President Trump as he carries out his crackdown on undocumented immigrants.

City Hall officials stressed that the memo was crafted to provide uniform guidance for employees across city agencies, and with the safety of frontline workers in mind, especially if a visit by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents escalated and turned violent.

But some unions, immigration activists and legal service providers criticized the guidance, arguing that it was too permissive and could pave the way for ICE to easily access migrant shelters without proper authorization.

N.Y.C. Officials Give City Workers Leeway to Yield to ICE Agents


Ivanka Trump used USAID money for events, records show


It was never really about trade at all | Did Biden’s international economic policy fail… or did it never really even try?


Like an episode of The Wire: Brussels gang wars spiral out of control


The Zero-Sum Rule of MAGA


It’s not over: Donald Trump could still blow up global trade | Ideology, complacent markets and a need for revenue may still lead to big tariffs


The Moral Psychopathy of DOGE


Never mind Gaza or global trade. President Donald Trump has been using his negotiating skills on something perhaps closer to his heart: golf.

PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan and player-director Adam Scott met with Trump in the White House this week for help working out an investment deal with the Saudi-backed LIV Golf Tour — and appear to have made some progress.

The PGA and Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund have been working on the details of an investment deal since June 2023, when they announced an agreement to end the legal battle sparked by the launch of the LIV professional men’s tour two years prior.

The 2023 agreement called for a deadline of December of 2023 that came and went with no finalized deal.

Trump’s involvement isn’t surprising given his well known affection for the game, ownership of golf courses around the world and relatively friendly relations with Saudi Arabia — whose de facto leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was the first foreign leader the president called after taking office in January (MBS, as he’s known, was also the first foreign leader Trump visited in his first term).

Trump steps in to help resolve the golf war


https://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm

Consensus forecast (per AP / FactSet) was for +170,000 jobs and for UR to remain at 4.1%, so actual figures surprised on the low side for both measures.

Monthly revisions to data on total nonfarm payroll employment resulted in November being revised up by 49,000, from +212,000 to +261,000, and the change for December was revised up by 51,000, from +256,000 to +307,000. With these revisions, employment in November and December combined is 100,000 higher than previously reported.

Annual revisions were also released today. The seasonally adjusted total nonfarm employment level for March 2024 was revised downward by
589,000. On a not seasonally adjusted basis, the total nonfarm employment level for March 2024 was revised downward by 598,000, or -0.4 percent. Not seasonally adjusted, the absolute average benchmark revision over the past 10 years is 0.1 percent.

The over-the-year change in total nonfarm employment for March 2024 was revised from +2,900,000 to +2,346,000 (seasonally adjusted).

[FRED graph of monthly change (in thousands) in nonfarm payroll employment levels since Jan 2021](https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=1fhmC).

[FRED graph of unemployment rate since Jan 2021](https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=1fhng).

January 2025 BLS jobs report: payrolls grew by 143,000 jobs. Unemployment rate fell from 4.1% to 4.0%.

https://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm

Consensus forecast (per AP / FactSet) was for +170,000 jobs and for UR to remain at 4.1%, so actual figures surprised on the low side for both measures.

Monthly revisions to data on total nonfarm payroll employment resulted in November being revised up by 49,000, from +212,000 to +261,000, and the change for December was revised up by 51,000, from +256,000 to +307,000. With these revisions, employment in November and December combined is 100,000 higher than previously reported.

Annual revisions were also released today. The seasonally adjusted total nonfarm employment level for March 2024 was revised downward by
589,000. On a not seasonally adjusted basis, the total nonfarm employment level for March 2024 was revised downward by 598,000, or -0.4 percent. Not seasonally adjusted, the absolute average benchmark revision over the past 10 years is 0.1 percent.

The over-the-year change in total nonfarm employment for March 2024 was revised from +2,900,000 to +2,346,000 (seasonally adjusted).

FRED graph of monthly change (in thousands) in nonfarm payroll employment levels since Jan 2021.

FRED graph of unemployment rate since Jan 2021.


US farmers ‘prepare for the worst’ in new Trump trade war


Indonesian authorities have ordered the halting of development of a tourism project affiliated with U.S. President Donald Trump over water management and environmental issues, officials said Friday.

The 3,000-hectare (11.6-square-mile) project is the brainchild of Trump’s Indonesian business partner, billionaire and politician Hary Tanoesoedibjo, who attended Trump’s inauguration in Washington last month.

Indonesia orders the halting of tourism projects linked to Trump over environmental issues


A bloody youthquake in Mozambique is another sign of the crumbling of the old order in Africa


Spain, the red-hot tourist destination that’s rivaling America’s economic growth | CNN Business


White House budget proposal could shatter the National Science Foundation


Europe has no escape from stagnation


Rebels are continuing their march in eastern Congo – what is their long-term goal?


Europe’s Four Different Ways of Handling Trump

:asean: Association of Southeast Asian Nations


Some Census Bureau data now appears to be unavailable to the public


When did rebel groups start holding large rallies again?

Rwanda-backed rebels tell residents of captured eastern Congolese city they are safe