Autocratization In the USA V-Dem lays out the facts on the 'most dramatic decline in American history' - no time for heads in sand

We once thought of the US as the beacon of democracy for the world. We were not #1, but we were 20th. Now we're 51 out of 179, going in the wrong direction, due to Russian-influenced Trump and Republicans. open.substack.com/pub/heidicud...

A violent uprising by long-oppressed Palistenians is not a "genocide". The ongoing murdering of tens of thousands by Israel, with bombs, bullets, starvation, and destruction of homes, most certainly is.

Iran was turned into an enemy by the US, and by Israel, by a long history of hostile policies. Most of the recent protesting by its people was over economic problems created by US sanctions. Its theocratic government reacted very harshly, but that is only made worse by waging war.

Is the Barr Family Blocking The Epstein Investigation Because It Would Expose What's Being Built Right Now? Three threads, fifty years, a 1973 Sci-Fi novel and the architecture of a sovereign class that answers to no one.

Here's an interesting question, with lots of connection evidence to think about. open.substack.com/pub/kaitjust...

The Building Still Works I wrote recently about colonial jails and the unhinged things we did to people in buildings that were basically just someone’s spare room with a padlock.

This prison design of the past would no longer be acceptable, current imprisonment is nearly as cruel and ineffective, emphasizing punishment, not rehabilitation. We need to do better.
open.substack.com/pub/sluttypr...

RFK Jr. is almost always wrong, but he is right about vaping, which is an effective and enjoyable means of quitting smoking. British medical experts have agreed.

Dear MTG: You Could Help Fix This—If You’re Willing If you’re ready to move beyond Trump and tackle what’s actually broken, let’s have the real conversation…

A few Republicans, like MTG, might be capable of actually thinking and learning, rather than blindly obeying Trump and the regressive Heritage Foundation. It would be worth a try.
open.substack.com/pub/thomhart...

Here are some statistics from past wars, prior to the US invasion of Afghanistan. All deaths, and all wars, are tragic, but those we have suffered are far less than those we have inflicted.
www.rationalrevolution.net/articles/cas...

Remember Trump's "I could shoot someone on main street..." boast? I think he's constantly testing just how much he can get away with-- how many red lines he can cross. Insults, lies, threats, actual murderous war crimes... The world is waiting to see what the limit will be.

Did Trump Just Light a Fuse He Can’t Control? The Strait of Hormuz crisis could be following the same path that led to World War I…

He won't listen to the Pope who tells him his aggression is immoral. It is also dangerously STUPID, but who could convince him of that? Probably no one. open.substack.com/pub/thomhart...

I'll be 109 that year. Anyone still using gasoline in 2055 deserves to pay $16.

Never conflate Judaism with Zionism. Just as white people should reject white supremacy, Jews should reject Zionism.

As nightfall does not come at once, neither does oppression. In both instances, there's a twilight where everything remains seemingly unchanged; in such twilight we must be aware of change in the air, however slight, lest we become unwitting victims of the darkness.
- - William O. Douglas

Too many past Presidents and AIPAC-funded politicians did the same, thinking they had no choice. We must make sure she and others learn how wrong they were. Still, no one would have been worse than Trump.

Removing even this worst of all Presidents is hard. Once we do, we should make changes to prevent another despot in the future. My suggestion: www.cosmicrat.com/tripresidenc...

“What I’m Going To Do To You Is Going to be Fucking Disgusting…” Trump makes mob-style threats. Only instead of, “I’m going to mess up you and your family,” it’s now, “A whole civilization will die tonight.” He must be impeached now…

open.substack.com/pub/thomhart...

Is the Department of Thought Crimes Closing In On You? As a new federal pre-crime system begins identifying Americans for what they might do — before any law is broken — the Trump regime is making a list and expanding its network of concentration camps…

open.substack.com/pub/thomhart...

Melania Trump says rumours linking her to Epstein 'need to stop' The first lady has denied any connection to Jeffrey Epstein in a surprise statement, and called on Congress to hear from victims.

Melania defended her "reputation".
www.bbc.com/news/article...

The Most Dangerous Crisis in America Isn’t Political: It’s the GOP’s Intentional Destruction of Trust When people lose faith in government, the result isn’t reform, it’s instability, extremism, and eventual breakdown…

It seems odd to have a government that doesn't want the people to trust it, but that's what Republicans, past and present, have created. open.substack.com/pub/thomhart...

Pentagon Threatened the Pope After He Criticized Trump It was so bad that Pope Leo changed his plans to travel to the U.S.

www.yahoo.com/news/article...

Even more "out of control" than before. The rest of the world has failed to exert needed control for decades.

Epilogue Your weekly excerpt from one of my books. This week: "The Last American President: A Broken Man, a Corrupt Party, and a World on the Brink"

Most of us agree that letting criminals get away with their crimes only encourages them, but we've let Republicans do that for decades, and now we have Trump-- the worst, but not the first. open.substack.com/pub/thomhart...

Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) on Threads "Do you support Israel's 'right to exist'?" It's a 'gotcha' queston and I debunk all the BS surrounding the 'right to exist' propaganda right here:

www.threads.com/@mehdirhasan...

I don't wait for Windows to be doomed; I prefer Linux, and install it immediately.

The Saturday Report 4/4/26 — Vance Targets Blue States as Trump’s New Fraud Czar The Best of the Rest of the News and Opinion

Almost as bad as what Trump IS doing, waging needless war, is the list of things he WON'T be funding to pay for the death and destruction. open.substack.com/pub/thomhart...

Hackers, Bots, Trolls, and Things Over the last few weeks of the 2016 presidential campaign, evidence of Russian collusion with the Trump campaign finally surfaced--but it was buried repeatedly by Trump and Russian active measures.

It is worthwhile reviewing the history of how we were afflicted with Trump. It contains clues to the reasons why Trump is so helpful to Putin's interests. open.substack.com/pub/craigung...

Trump Is Unraveling: Isn’t it Time to Act Before He Destroys the World? His escalating contradictions are forcing a question about congressional and cabinet powers designed for moments like this…

open.substack.com/pub/thomhart...

Bondi's bouncing was good news, but she wasn't fired for being a bad AG, but for not being good enough at being bad.

Alex Jones Didn’t Just Spread Lies: He Helped the Right Wing Weaponize Them to Undermine American Democracy How Republicans turned misinformation into a system for seizing power and reshaping reality, and the damage those lies are doing to our democracy…

Partisan lies used to seize and hold power, and the kind of media that repeat them, destroy our sense of shared reality. without which democracy can’t function.
The basis of division in America today is truth vs. lies.
open.substack.com/pub/thomhart...

Hegseth Is Reviving the Crusades, Spitting on the Founders, and Endangering America The line between church and state is collapsing at the hands of hypocrites and fanatics who use religion to seize power —and history shows the cost...

open.substack.com/pub/thomhart...