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Peter Zeihan – The Wagner Group: Russia’s Flunkies [Peter Zeihan, Zeihan on Geopolitics]

By William McClain
In Peter Zeihan [Zeihan on Geopolitics]
February 22, 2023
287 views
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  • Wagner: A Russian paramilitary group controlled by a man named Pragueism and provides the Russian government with plausible deniability on military activities.
  • Ukraine War: Wagner has been involved in Battle of Bakfit with a minimum of 10,000 casualties and potentially up to 40,000.
  • Recruitment: Wagner recruits from former military officers and prisons, however with the Russian military expanding there is no longer a pool of skilled military recruits for Wagner to pull from.
  • Implications: The implications for the Ukraine war are limited, however elsewhere in the world the implications are significant as the Kremlin has been using Wagner to generate influence in Africa. If Wagner cannot maintain its current staffing levels, it is only a matter of time before one country decides that Wagner is more trouble than it’s worth.

Published February 20, 2023
Visit YouTube to watch Peter Zeihan’s original vlog Peter Zeihan – The Wagner Group: Russia’s Flunkies

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February 21, 2023 [Heather Cox Richardson, Letters from an American]

By William McClain
In Heather Cox Richardson [Letters from an American]
February 22, 2023
278 views
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  • President Biden continued to defend the democratic way of life against rising authoritarianism in his speech at the Royal Castle in Warsaw, Poland.
  • Vice President Kamala Harris called out Russian atrocities in Ukraine as crimes against humanity.
  • Biden noted that Kyiv stands strong, proud, and free, despite the attempted Russian invasion.
  • Biden noted that autocrats have grown weaker while democracies have grown stronger.
  • Biden challenged the world to choose between chaos and stability, between building and destroying, and between hope and fear.
  • Poland has taken in 1.5 million Ukrainian refugees.
  • Extremist Republicans have introduced a “Ukraine Fatigue” resolution calling for an end to U.S. aid to Ukraine.
  • Right-wing media has attempted to spin Biden’s trip to Kyiv and speech in Poland to distract from the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio.
  • The Biden administration seeks to create safer cars, paid sick leave for railroad workers, and larger crew sizes.
  • Right-wing media has attempted to spin the Ohio disaster as an issue of racial malice.
  • Filing in the Dominion Voting Systems defamation case against FNC has established that FNC is a propaganda arm of the Republican party.
  • House speaker Kevin McCarthy apparently released the U.S. Capitol video clips from January 6, 2021, to Fox News Channel personality Tucker Carlson.
  • The Georgia grand jury recommended a number of indictments related to the attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

Published February 22, 2023
Visit Letters from an American to read Heather Cox Richardson’s original post February 21, 2023

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Florida teacher fired for video of empty bookshelves after DeSantis complaint [Judd Legum, Popular Information]

By William McClain
In [Popular Information]
February 22, 2023
239 views
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  • Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) signed a “”Curriculum Transparency”” bill into law in March 2021 that requires all library books to be chosen by a certified media specialist.
  • Brian Covey was a full-time substitute teacher in Duval County, Florida. He posted a video of empty bookshelves at his school to social media, which was seen by millions.
  • Covey was fired the day after DeSantis called his video a “”fake narrative”” and “”not true.””
  • Duval County Public Schools (DCPS) interpreted the law to apply to library books and classroom instruction, and has only approved 6,000 books out of 1.6 million titles.
  • Media specialists are now reviewing books to determine if they comply with the STOP Woke Act and Parental Rights in Education Act, also known as the “”Don’t Say Gay”” law.
  • The Best Man, a novel for children, has been reviewed and banned from schools in Duval County for featuring two men marrying and having a ring bearer, which DiBias determined was “”portraying sexual excitement and is damaging to students.””
  • In August 2021, DeSantis announced an effort to address the teacher shortage in Florida by allowing military veterans to receive a teaching certification without a college degree, which has resulted in the hiring of 10 teachers statewide.

Published February 21, 2023
Visit Popular Information to read Judd Legum’s original post Florida teacher fired for video of empty bookshelves after DeSantis complaint

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February 20, 2023 [Heather Cox Richardson, Letters from an American]

By William McClain
In Heather Cox Richardson [Letters from an American]
February 22, 2023
228 views
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  • Biden’s Visit to Kyiv: President Joe Biden made a five-hour visit to Kyiv, Ukraine, to pledge the US’s “unwavering and unflagging commitment” to Ukraine’s sovereignty, democracy, and territorial integrity. The US notified Russia of the visit, causing an MiG-30 to fly from Belarus during the visit, triggering air raid sirens.
  • Russia’s Failed Invasion: A year ago, Russian president Vladimir Putin and Chinese president Xi Jinping pledged a partnership with “no limits” to counter US global leadership. On February 24, 2022, Russian tanks rolled across the border into Ukraine, but have since lost half of the territory they once occupied.
  • Biden’s Coalition: Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken held a coalition together and presented a united front with Zelensky and allies and partners in defense of democracy. Biden pledged another $460 million in aid to Ukraine, emphasizing that US support for the country is bipartisan.
  • Marjorie Taylor Greene: Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) called for dividing the nation, echoing the 1850s elite southern enslavers who resented majority rule. Former representative Liz Cheney (R-WY) reminded Greene that secession is unconstitutional.
  • Munich Security Conference Report: The Munich Security Conference reported that the Russian war on Ukraine is a war of authoritarianism on a rules-based international order. Vice President Kamala Harris said the US had determined that Russia has committed crimes against humanity.
  • Fox News Channel Propaganda: Fox News Channel personalities are trying to spin Biden’s visit to Ukraine as proof that he doesn’t care about the train derailment in Ohio, acting as a propaganda outlet for Trump. A filing in Dominion Voter Systems’ lawsuit against FNC revealed last week that they knowingly lied to their viewers about the legitimacy of the 2020 presidential election.
  • Putin’s Speech: Putin is scheduled to address the Russian Federal Assembly tomorrow. Russian forces have taken severe losses in their recent stalled offensive in eastern Ukraine near Bakhmut. Biden’s speech in Poland will follow later in the day.

Published February 21, 2023
Visit Letters from an American to read Heather Cox Richardson’s original post February 20, 2023

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February 19, 2023 [Heather Cox Richardson, Letters from an American]

By William McClain
In Heather Cox Richardson [Letters from an American]
February 20, 2023
226 views
F
  • The Advanced Placement course on African American studies changed between February 2022 and February 2023, when the word “systemic” was removed. The College Board says this was not in response to its rejection by Republican Florida governor Ron DeSantis.
  • The far right opposes the idea that the United States has ever practiced systemic racism, and Trump’s 1776 Commission sought to refute the 1619 Project. Since Trump left office, far-right activists have worked to remove books and prohibit teachers from talking about patterns of racism.
  • On March 2, 1942, General John DeWitt issued Executive Order 9066, which led to the forced removal of about 125,000 Japanese, German and Italian aliens, or persons of Japanese ancestry, from their homes and held in camps around the country.
  • This order was rooted in a 1790 law limiting citizenship to “free white persons”, and the 1923 Supreme Court decision in *United States v. Bhagat Singh Thind* solidified this. Asian immigrants were excluded from citizenship based on the argument that they were not “free, white persons.”
  • This exclusion led to Chinese Exclusion Act, the Gentlemen’s Agreement of 1907, and other laws discriminating against Chinese immigrants. Japanese-Americans were also discriminated against, and in 1942, were forced into internment camps.
  • The WWII changed U.S. calculations of who could be a citizen, as Japanese-American soldiers fought for the nation, and Congress overturned Chinese exclusion laws and made natives of India eligible for U.S. citizenship. Japanese immigrants gained the right to become U.S. citizens in 1952.

Published February 20, 2023
Visit Letters from an American to read Heather Cox Richardson’s original post February 19, 2023

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February 18, 2023 [Heather Cox Richardson, Letters from an American]

By William McClain
In Heather Cox Richardson [Letters from an American]
February 20, 2023
241 views
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  • Republican leaders are recognizing that the sight of Republican lawmakers heckling the president of the United States didn’t do their party any favors. This behavior called attention to the fact that Republicans have repeatedly suggested cuts to Social Security and Medicare, or even the elimination of these programs, in speeches, news interviews, and written proposals.
  • Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) told The Hill that Republicans should stick to “reasonable and enduring policy” proposals. This reflects the Republican Party’s problem of not having clear policies that voters support.
  • Cutting Social Security is a centerpiece of the ideology the party adopted in the 1980s. This economic vision has cut services and neglected infrastructure while dramatically moving wealth upward.
  • Republicans have combined their economic vision with a culture war. This has created a new ideology that is based in Christian nationalism, which insists that the United States is a Christian nation and our laws should be based in evangelical Christian values.
  • Mitch McConnell and other Republicans are now condemning this new ideology. This is resulting in a rift within the Republican party.
  • The extremists are on the same side as authoritarians like Viktor Orbán and Vladimir Putin. The United States is traditionally committed to global affairs and opposing autocracies, and this is reflected in Vice President Kamala Harris’s remarks at the Munich Security Conference.
  • Mitch McConnell went to Munich to demonstrate U.S. commitment to global affairs. He promised that the Republicans will continue to support Ukraine, demonstrating that the party is not the “crazies” seen in the headlines.

Published February 19, 2023
Visit Letters from an American to read Heather Cox Richardson’s original post February 18, 2023

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February 16, 2023 [Heather Cox Richardson, Letters from an American]

By William McClain
In Heather Cox Richardson [Letters from an American]
February 17, 2023
250 views
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  • Dominion Voting Systems is suing Fox News Corporation for defamation after the network’s personalities claimed that the company’s voting machines had corrupted the final tallies in the 2020 election.
  • The filing suggests that FNC personalities didn’t believe what they were telling their viewers, and made those groundless accusations because they worried their viewers were abandoning them to go to channels that told them what they wanted to hear: that Trump had won the election.
  • FNC went to “war footing” to “protect the brand” when one of its reporters accurately fact-checked a Trump tweet, and the filing claims that not a single witness from FNC testified they believed any of the allegations they were making about Dominion.
  • The report of the special purpose grand jury investigating possible criminal interference in the 2020 election in Georgia was released today, and it found “by a unanimous vote that no widespread fraud took place in the Georgia 2020 presidential election.”
  • A bipartisan group of 28 former officials who were part of the Church Committee wrote an open letter to Representative Jim Jordan (R-OH) today, reminding him that while the chair of the committee had been a Democrat, its work had been carefully bipartisan, and it protected ongoing intelligence and law enforcement operations.
  • They warned Jordan that if he wanted to claim the mantle of that committee, he would need to move forward with the “same spirit of cooperation and bipartisanship.”

Published February 17, 2023
Visit Letters from an American to read Heather Cox Richardson’s original post February 16, 2023

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UPDATE: College Board scrubs website to cover up deceptions about AP African American Studies course [Judd Legum, Popular Information]

By William McClain
In [Popular Information]
February 17, 2023
291 views
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  • The College Board recently deleted a statement from their website defending revisions to the AP African American Studies course.
  • The revisions removed lessons on Black queer studies, Black feminism, mass incarceration, reparations, and the Black Lives Matter movement, as well as important Black writers such as Kimberlé Crenshaw and bell hooks.
  • The revisions tracked concerns expressed weeks earlier by the Florida Department of Education and Governor Ron DeSantis (R) who said the pilot version of the course was “political” and “lack[ed] educational value.”
  • The College Board initially lied about when the revisions were made and then again in a February 11 press release, claiming there were “”no negotiations about the content of this course with Florida.””
  • The College Board’s revisions appear to be politically motivated to appease right-wing critics, which has backfired as DeSantis has used the issue as a political cudgel.

Published February 16, 2023
Visit Popular Information to read Judd Legum’s original post UPDATE: College Board scrubs website to cover up deceptions about AP African American Studies course

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February 15, 2023 [Heather Cox Richardson, Letters from an American]

By Spencer Chen
In Heather Cox Richardson [Letters from an American]
February 16, 2023
278 views
F

• President Joe Biden visited the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 26 in Lanham, Maryland to celebrate his administration’s investment in the economy.
• Biden praised union labor and said that the nation’s investment in green energy would mean “good-paying jobs for electricians, plumbers, pipefitters, laborers, carpenters, cement masons, ironworkers, and so much more.”
• Biden’s economic plan is in stark contrast to the Republican’s “top-down, trickle-down economics” and their 2017 tax cut that has already added $2 trillion to the federal deficit.
• The economy continues to perform better than expected in 2023, with retail buying increasing 3% in January and the job market remaining strong.
• Biden accused the Republicans of proposing measures that would raise the deficit, while he wants to address it with taxes on wealthy Americans and corporations.
• The derailment of fifty Norfolk Southern train cars near East Palestine, Ohio, released highly toxic chemicals into the air, water, and ground, causing a massive fire and forcing about 5,000 nearby residents to evacuate.
• Republican Ohio governor Mike DeWine has refused federal assistance from President Biden, while Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, said that Norfolk Southern had botched its response to the accident.
• The Trump administration got rid of a rule imposed by the Obama administration that required better braking systems on rail cars that carried hazardous flammable materials.
• Ohio’s new far-right Republican senator J. D. Vance blamed the Biden administration for the accident on the Fox News Channel show of personality Tucker Carlson.

Published February 16, 2023
Visit Letters from an American to read Heather Cox Richardson’s original post February 15, 2023

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Peter Zeihan – Why the Fed Is Shrinking the Balance Sheet [Peter Zeihan, Zeihan on Geopolitics]

By William McClain
In Peter Zeihan [Zeihan on Geopolitics]
February 16, 2023
268 views
P
  • U.S Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell has indicated that he plans to shrink the balance sheet down to zero over the course of the next couple of years.
  • The Federal Reserve uses interest rates and money operations to manipulate the financial system to regulate the flow of capital, the cost of capital, and the wider world.
  • From 2008 to two years ago, the Federal Reserve printed currency and used it to purchase Bonds on the second Market.
  • The economy is on sounder footing with record low unemployment levels and moderate to strong growth for three years in a row.
  • As a result, the Federal Reserve is getting out of this business and getting back to normal at three to four times the speed they built the balance sheet up.
  • Typically, this should mean slower economic growth and less funding for emerging technologies and projects that don’t make sense from a cost/benefit analysis.
  • The economy should be more efficient overall, but this is not necessarily good for each individual piece.
  • The Federal Reserve is not done raising rates, and is expected to go up another full percentage point (or more).
  • The Baby Boomers are retiring, which means their money is rapidly draining away from the system, and at the same time the Federal Reserve is tightening policy.
  • Over the next two to three years, this will result in a global reduction in available capital of at least a third, and a similar number of people employed in the financial sector in the U.S.

Published February 16, 2023

Visit YouTube to read Peter Zeihan’s original vlog Peter Zeihan – Why the Fed Is Shrinking the Balance Sheet

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