kjlevy | 100 seconds to midnight

"It’s useful to recall the experience of our predecessor in global dominance. An island off the coast of Europe, Britain’s primary concern was to prevent unification of Europe into a force beyond its control. Similarly, though magnified far beyond, the U.S. and its western hemisphere domains can be regarded as an “island” off the coast of the Eurasian land mass — which is the basis for world control according to the 'heartland theory' of Halford Mackinder, a founder of modern geopolitics, whose thoughts are now being revived by global strategists. Extending the logic of imperial Britain, then, we would expect the U.S. to be seeking to prevent unification of the “heartland” as an independent force, not subject to U.S. domination. The self-defense operations at the western and eastern ends of the heartland also fall into place." full interview at Truthout

A good, brief summary of the bill's effects, including criticisms. kjl “'The tax provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act denote a historic turn in tax policy towards greater fairness,” said Co-Director Eileen Appelbaum , addressing how the act will rein in Wall Street profiteers. 'The near doubling of Internal Revenue Service staff, plus resources to upgrade IT capacity, means the agency will be able to investigate potential tax fraud in complex Wall Street firms. IRS campaigns to crack down on private equity firm’s improper use of management fee waivers for investors and monitoring agreements with portfolio companies will no longer be stymied by a lack of resources." full article at CEPR

"We need to talk sensibly about the potential of a nation like the U.S. for serious political violence, but this isn’t easy to do so.  'It can’t happen here' is obviously too glib and complacent, while 'It will happen here' is alarmist and demoralizing.  The questions that most need thoughtful discussion are these:  What are the most important causes of serious political violence in wealthy nations like the United States?  Can these conditions be altered so as to make civil war less likely?  If so, how do we go about preventing the violence?"   full article at CounterPunch.org