Mike Blyth

The Nature of Our Power: A Conversation with Political Scientist Erica Chenoweth "The best study on the subject in my opinion suggests that in the long term, institutions really can’t save us; that civil society and mass mobilization are a more potent check on a backsliding democr...

Interesting article on strategies for resisting autocracy. Note the recommended videos.

"The best study ... suggests that in the long term, institutions really can’t save us; that civil society and mass mobilization are a more potent check on a backsliding democracy ..." bit.ly/3EyMws2

The Democracy Index *An Introduction and an Invitation*

Friends, @joycewhitevance.bsky.social and @contrariannews.org are launching The Democracy Index, and this is 1st post inviting you to follow along. I'll be helping behind the scenes, along with our other friends in the democracy saving space. It will be weekly. open.substack.com/pub/contrari...

Musk’s DOGE Teen Was Fired By Cybersecurity Firm for Leaking Company Secrets Edward Coristine posted online that he had retained access to the firm’s servers. Now he has access to sensitive government information.

2/ Here's the @bloomberg.com report

Musk’s DOGE Teen Was Fired By Cybersecurity Firm for Leaking Company Secrets

(scoop by @jasonleopold.bsky.social @margimurphy.bsky.social @sooophie.bsky.social Jake Bleiberg @anthonycormier.bsky.social)

www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

The ‘Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly’ of the United States Government Elon Musk’s bureaucratic coup is under way.

"Elon Musk is not the president, but it appears that he—a foreign-born, unelected billionaire who was not confirmed by Congress—is exercising profound influence over the federal government of the United States...It is nothing short of an administrative coup."

www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...

Here's my quick hot take on all 79 pages of the opinion. Yes, I read it so you don't have to 😎 open.substack.com/pub/joycevan...

Israel’s war in Gaza amounts to genocide, Amnesty International report finds Human rights group says Israel ‘brazenly, continuously and with total impunity … unleashed hell’ on strip’s 2.3m population

Amnesty is not the only one claiming this, but they have just released a 300 page report documenting their reasons.
www.theguardian.com/world/2024/d...

Former Defense Minister Accuses Israel of Committing War Crimes in Gaza (Gift Article) The comments by Moshe Yaalon were swiftly denied and condemned by allies of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, who said that they would hurt the country and help its enemies.

"When the interviewer at the event asked Mr. Yaalon to clarify whether he thought Israel was on the way to carrying out ethnic cleansing, he responded: 'Why on the way? What’s happening there? What’s happening there?'"
www.nytimes.com/2024/12/01/w...

The Secret Pentagon War Game That ​Offers a Stark​ Warning for Our Times The devastating outcome of the 1983 game reveals that nuclear escalation inevitably spirals out of control.

"It may be that someday in the future a survivor will be able to look back at our times and observe that the greatest tragedy in all of human history is that among current leaders in Russia and the United States, and perhaps other countries, the lesson was forgotten." nyti.ms/4gcZold