Sam Ratner

All Guns and No Butter on a Burning Planet The insatiable demands of the military industrial complex are a barrier to human flourishing on a livable planet.

Increasing military budgets as part of rising great-power competition is a disaster across multiple fronts: for the victims of wars, for an already burning planet, and for workers who don’t see real benefits from military conflict. New from me & @transitionsec.bsky.social co-director Khem Rogaly

"If a terrorist designation doesn't authorize the president to take military action, what does it do?"

This is a question I have received a few times as small speedboats continue to be targeted by the US military with the justification that they contain designated "terrorists." 🧵

Thomas Pynchon character alert

58% of Americans - including half of Republicans - think the president should send armed troops only to face external threats, a sign of unease as President Donald Trump increasingly deploys National Guard troops to police American cities, a @reuters.com poll found.

www.reuters.com/world/us/mos...

Is this why Bibi keeps recycling “Axis of Evil”?

(Yes, I did just watch Andor S2E5)

Wookiepedia entry for “Frantz Fanon”

I don't think you can impose a thousand year reich if even the Chicago cops hate your regime but you never know

Christmas Adventurers Club-ass judiciary

a) Kudos to the NYCBA for putting this strong statement out.

b) If only there was some way for bar associations to discipline lawyers who use their social position to sanction illegal executions...

To the ABA officials who rolled their eyes when wiser heads urged the disbarment of John Yoo et al -- hope you're happy!

"Peace president" Trump living George W Bush's wildest dream: OLC saying he can effectively execute anyone anywhere without even the patina of due process or congressional approval.

Nearly 20 Percent Fewer International Students Traveled to the U.S. in August The data shows the steepest decline in August international student arrivals since the pandemic.

The number of international students arriving in the U.S. in August fell by 19% this year compared with last year — the largest decline on record outside of the pandemic.

43% of Democrats (52% of 18-29 voters) say foreign policy and Israel will play a role in their vote in the 2026 primaries. (81% say the economy and healthcare, of course.)

80% want to reduce support for Israel
74% want an arms embargo
72% say it's a genocide
65% want sanctions

President Trump has decided that the United States is engaged in a formal “armed conflict” with drug cartels his team has labeled terrorist organizations and that suspected smugglers for such groups are “unlawful combatants,” the administration said in a confidential notice to Congress this week.

This is an EXTRAORDINARILY dangerous development. Immediately, we need all forces of government and civil society to shut this down.

From there, it is IMPERATIVE to fully excavate the precedent and infrastructure of the War on Terror that will keep haunting us until it's gone.

Democrats Pull Away From AIPAC, Reflecting a Broader Shift

“AIPAC is becoming an increasingly toxic brand for some Democrats”

“Three Democratic members of Congress who had previously relied on AIPAC as a top campaign contributor have said over the past few weeks that they would no longer accept donations from the group”

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/u...

Item from Zitamar News: Violence in Cabo Delgado could reach record levels this year. Violence in Cabo Delgado province could reach a record high in 2025, with 519 attacks reported by the end of August, compared to 448 in 2022, according to a report by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). The report says that most incidents, which include the use of improvised explosive devices, are attacks against civilians. The escalation of conflict and violence affects the districts of Ancuabe, Balama, Chiure, Macomia, Mocimboa da Praia, Montepuez and Muidumbe, Nangade in Cabo Delgado, Memba in Nampula province and some regions of Niassa province, according to OCHA.

Awaiting any sort of public introspection from the various faux experts who pronounced this conflict over in the last couple years.

"The method of struggle dictates the shape of success" part one million.

Good and important article!

Anyone on here have a working PACER account and an inclination to do me a quick favor?

yeah, this is hegseth straightforwardly announcing that it is free play time for bigots in the ranks. and together with his comments on standards, he clearly wants to purge as many women, black and brown people as he can from the armed services. a white man's military.

This is a good point broadly, but I want to shout out the phrase "ridley scott's mogadishu" in particular -- what a good way of evoking the white US imaginary of a terrifying and barbaric Africa without engaging in those stereotypes.

And it's also a community so free from accountability or critical thought that its members will brag about Kissinger liking their Star Wars books in a public forum.

There's been a lot of discourse over the years about how to define what "the Blob" actually is.

Today, the debate is over. "The Blob" is the process of discovering Henry Kissinger's essential humanity when he's nice about your Star Wars book.

We’re gonna need a bigger reconstruction.

Military lawyers have warned that President Trump's strikes on two drug boats might not have been legal, possibly raising risks for the service members involved, "but believe they are being ignored or deliberately sidelined."

www.wsj.com/politics/nat...

Seems like “you can’t buy homeowner’s insurance on your house anymore because there are too many floods and fires” would be a kitchen-table issue

I want the hot doggest suit you’ve got

Today, we’re expanding our NotWhatYouSignedUpFor.org campaign — which connects service members to resources for responding to unlawful and immoral orders — to two major active duty military installations: Fort Bragg and Camp Lejeune.

when the guy crashing out is wearing the tie of a Premier League team that I do not support: Wow, this is emblematic of their entire fanbase.

WEB DuBois wrote this inscription, posted at Harper‘s Ferry