Alan Eyre

I went on SharqBloomberg yesterday to discuss the MBS visit.

BLUF: Reflectst the strengthened bilat relationship, but results could well be less than meets the eye.

now.asharq.com/clips/178867...

Noteworthy.

An introduction to our runaway military spending and its adverse consequences, with a focus on the institutions that perpetuate this decidedly suboptimal status quo (like Eisenhower's 'Military-Industrial Complex,' but much more pervasive.). Lots of good bits, some areas overlooked.

This May Be the Cruelest, Most Senseless Thing Trump Has Done A conversation with Atul Gawande about the human toll of the dismantling of foreign aid.

“They’re trying to make the loss of life invisible, they’re trying to deny the reality"

@agawande.bsky.social on the Trump administration's devastating, heartbreaking cuts to global aid

www.thebulwark.com/p/this-may-b...

Gaza’s zombie ceasefire Neither an Arab reconstruction plan nor an American one have much chance of success

"The scale of the damage is unprecedented. Start with housing. The UN estimated in August that over 320,000 homes had been destroyed or damaged....Around 1.2m people—60% of Gaza’s population—are homeless. Even tents are hard to find."

www.economist.com/middle-east-...

Good portrait of SCOTUS personalities and dynamics during the Rehnquist & early Roberts eras. Confirms that like the Executive and Legislative branches, this institution is also intrinsically political, and deeply dependent on the collective virtues and flaws of the nine justices serving.

Scholarly yet engrossing look at comparativism in U.S. foreign policy, using Turkiye and Iran. Eminently readable, this book heightened my awareness of the subjective, political nature of comparison in foreign affairs.

Trump Ramps Up Pressure on G.O.P. To Thwart Epstein Vote

Oh the desperation; he's terrified ... Trump summons Boebert to the White House, escalating a campaign to block an Epstein vote www.nytimes.com/2025/11/12/u...

The effort to keep this information out of public view has reached a level of intensity where the American people are clearly entitled to "adverse inference", i.e. you're allowed to assume the worst.

Jeffries: "It's unbelievable that for 7 plus weeks Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva has been denied the ability to serve more than 800,000 people in Arizona because Republicans are running a pedophile protection program."

Is AI eroding our critical thinking? By doing more and more of our "thinking" for us, artificial intelligence may be diminishing our critical thinking skills.

Money quote:

Habitually offloading cognitive tasks to AI could backfire, however.
bigthink.com/thinking/art...

incredible photo that's definitely worth at least 1,000 words from Andrew Harnik of Getty

🚨BREAKING NEWS! The Virginia House of Delegates has not only been defended, but expanded — making VA the nation’s newest pro-democracy trifecta!

Finished. A hard but rewarding book, one I'd been putting off for a while. Loaded with good historical insights about the inevitable social effects of free-market capitalism. Much of the book refers to British history, so it makes me want to learn more about British history from about 1700-1900.

The Epstein Shutdown continues

My god, WHAT is in those Epstein files that has him so terrified of swearing in Vote Number 218?

“I will not bring the House back to session until the Congress negotiates a budget that it needs to pass” is pretty much a pure pi-r-squared circle.

I think Van Hollen is running for Secretary of State and I think he’d be an excellent one

Finished- a GREAT BOOK! Authoritative, engaging expose by @christinewebb.bsky.social of the fallacy of human exceptionalism. The book argues (inter alia) that the 'Great Chain of Being' puts homo sapiens on the highest rung has been a persistent historical mistake w/catastrophic consequences.

The 2025 state of the climate report: a planet on the brink We are hurtling toward climate chaos. The planet's vital signs are flashing red. The consequences of human-driven alterations of the climate are no longer

academic.oup.com/bioscience/a...

ICE is out of control and beyond repair This agency needs to be stripped down to the studs. Dems should start preparing now.

Latest in PN:

Who looks at what’s happening and says to themselves, “I’d love to put on a mask and a bulletproof vest, then go around smashing car windows and tackling terrified housekeepers and landscapers on the sidewalk”?

By @paulwaldman.bsky.social

www.publicnotice.co/p/abolish-ic...

Fascinating, depressing historical examination of how corruption went from being a major concern of the Founding Fathers to something essentially defined out of existence by the current Supreme Court.

California is readying a one-time 5% tax on billionaires for the 2026 ballot that would go toward compensating for Trump's Medicaid cuts. The architects see it as a national model.
It will be announced today.

Finished = Great Book! by @susanzieger.bsky.social Authoritative yet playful look at logistics as a feature of capitalism. The author's ability to posit surprising & profound connections is rare & delightful, and the bibliography is like looking through the window of a candy store.

This is who is paying for the destruction of the White House East Wing, per @wsj.com

Altria Group Inc.
Amazon
Apple Inc.
Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corp.
Caterpillar Inc.
Coinbase Global
Comcast Corp.
Hard Rock International
Google
HP Inc.
Lockheed Martin Corp.
Meta Platforms Inc.
1/3

House Republican Leadership, everyone. They continue to roll out one nutjob after another. bsky.app/profile/atru...

The Trump administration just ordered two Gulfstream luxury private jets for Kristi Noem at a cost of over $172 million.

This comes as Americans can barely afford groceries.

Are we living in a golden age of stupidity? From brain-rotting videos to AI creep, every technological advance seems to make it harder to work, remember, think and function independently …

This article is an excellent introduction to the dangers of AI for one's cognitive capacities.

www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Soros didn’t tell you guys about the attire changes??

He’s getting forgetful in his old age smh

Topics Mike Johnson thinks are serious:

- Super Bowl halftime entertainer
- getting a Nobel Prize for Trump
- terrifying naked bike riders

Topics he thinks are not serious:

- Epstein Files
- domestic violence
- being able to keep the govt open
- the neutering of Congress