@robertscotthorton.bsky.social
Contributing editor, Harper's Magazine; Lecturer, Columbia Law School; Attorney. Previously lived in Munich, New York, Moscow and London, now lives in Santa Fe, NM. Husband of Carol, groomer of Aisha.
Donald Trump says he is no longer that interested in a Nobel Prize, despite openly campaigning for one throughout much of his second term. The president is also unsure how the ongoing Iran war will impact his future chances of getting one. www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...
Trump today: "Jobs are coming in through the roof and we have factories being built all over the country. We've taken in $18 tr plus in 11 months." The actual numbers:
Contrary to statements from Scott Bessent and other administration spokesmen, the Iranians are in fact laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz. And more, from WSJ. www.wsj.com/livecoverage...
Trump bails out Putin. An excellent graphic.
This is Pete Hegseth's Pentagon chaplain. He vehemently hates Catholics. Episcopalians, too. And let's not get started with Mormons, Jews and Muslims, who are going straight to hell.
that it could be from the US Treasury,” he added, noting that the government has previously intervened in other markets, such as currencies. The speculation has been borne out.
Tim Skirrow, head of derivatives at Energy Aspects, said the consultancy had been fielding calls this week on whether the government was behind a series of large unexplained trades in recent days. “We were being pushed by clients as to who the big seller was,” Skirrow said. “The speculation was
Ruby Cramer looks at the DHS agents engaged in operations in Chicago, who target innocent US citizens with the wrong skin color. Charles Exum, the agent who shot Marimar Martínez 5 times, texted a group chat with fellow agents: “I fired 5 rounds and she had 7 holes. Put that in your book boys."
The countries that Americans like all feel dissed by Trump. As a result the likes are not reciprocated.
Ken Dilanian: The convicted ISIS sympathizer who carried out today’s shooting at Old Dominion U. was released from prison in December 2024. Why wasn’t the FBI monitoring him? Why wasn’t he, as a native of Sierra Leone, denaturalized and deported by the Trump Admin?
At the center of every nuclear pore lies a mystery. Here, clumps of proteins wiggle disordered tails around like seaweed. How do they drive a molecular machine that moves so many molecules in and out of the nucleus efficiently, with little room for error? www.quantamagazine.org/disorder-dri...
Nearly four years after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, a majority of Americans continue to say abortion should be legal in all or most cases (60%).
Read our full report on abortion here: www.pewresearch.org/...
Pew Research Center establishes again that in nearly all states in which the GOP has pushes through legislation outlawing, and sometimes criminalizing, abortion, they have done so against the strong will of the people, which opposes such measures (the sole exception being Arkansas).
Not to mention that he exhibits clear signs of being a drug addict.
America's healthcare system: the most expensive on the face of he planet, by far, and the system that delivers the least healthcare to the fewest people of all developed nations. But it makes insurance executives and their shareholders very rich.
Assassinations continue to figure prominently in Israel's tactics for Iran. Israel’s prime minister Netanyahu has issued a veiled threat to kill Iran’s new supreme leader, as he used his first press conference since the start of the war to defend his joint military assault with the US against Iran.
Morten Mørland, The Times
I've updated the Climate Dashboard to use the new 11-model ENSO multi-model mean to help predict 2026 temperatures.
It caused the 2026 estimate to jump from 1.45C to 1.51C, reflecting the much higher likelihood of a strong El Nino developing: dashboard.theclimate...
UK Defence Secretary John Healey: We clearly see Russia's hand behind tactics being deployed against US forces in Iran. "No one will be surprised to believe that Putin’s hidden hand is behind some of the Iranian tactics and potentially, potentially some of their capabilities as well."
A truly shocking case of a bipartisan initiative headed by Elizabeth Warren and Tim Scott to address a serious issue, affordable housing, receiving overwhelming support in the Senate. In the past, such initiatives were commonplace. Now they're shockingly rare. www.nbcnews.com/politics/con...
moved to Antioch, where she joined St Jerome to share a hermit’s life. Lorrain’s painting depicts her departure, offering an imaginary recreation of the port of Ostia. The canvas includes an inscription clarifying the subject, not a common one and therefore difficult to identify
Claude Lorrain (Claude Gellée), The Embarkation of Saint Paula (Rome 1639) A noble Roman widow and mother of five children, Saint Paula decided to retreat to the desert and abandon her worldly ways in favour of a life of prayer and penitence. In 285 CE she abandoned Rome with her son, Eustace, and
The most obvious immediate beneficiary of Trump's war on Iran is Russia... let's run the numbers.
After running a leading state legislature candidate who raised money from drug dealers and hired hit men to assassinate his Democratic opponent, the New Mexico GOP is so thoroughly discredited that it has all-but disappeared. www.nationaljournal.com/s/731201/mia...
Essential reading for anyone who wants to understand what Peter Thiel is up to: "My technology will take political capital away from your greatest enemies—liberal women with degrees—and give one of your favorite demographics to patronize—working class men—more political power to transfer to you."
Here Jim Cramer appears to be advocating the carpet bombing of Iran, which would be a war crime. He apparently thinks that Pete Hegseth is too woke and wimpy, and we can never really bomb enough girls' schools.
The Israeli military says it is dropping charges against five soldiers who were accused of sexually abusing a Palestinian detainee. Under the doctrine of command responsibility, criminal accountability for these crimes now passes up the chain of command, whose conduct appears to condone them.