President Donald Trump revealing a covert U.S. strike against what he said was a drug-trafficking facility in Venezuela raised new questions about how far he is willing to go to pressure the regime of Nicolas Maduro. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/12/31/world/politics/trump-venezuela-steps/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #worldnews #politics #donaldtrump #venezuela #us #usmilitary #southamerica #congress
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung will make a state visit to China from Jan. 4 to 7 and meet his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, the Blue House said, as it aims to keep up momentum to restore ties. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/12/31/asia-pacific/politics/south-korea-lee-visit-china/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #asiapacific #politics #southkorea #china #leejaemyung #xijinping #supplychains
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday that Kyiv was discussing with Washington a possible presence of U.S. troops in Ukraine as part of security guarantees. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/12/31/world/politics/zelenskyy-trump-us-troops-ukraine/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #worldnews #politics #russia #ukraine #russiaukrainewar #volodymyrzelenskyy #vladimirputin #us #donaldtrump #usmilitary
Tressa Burke, (CEO, Glasgow Disability Alliance) has turned down an MBE, saying the UK Govt. was 'fuelling hatred, blame & scapegoating of people with disabilities'.
She also identifies misinformation & negative framing by the Govt. undermining the rights of disabled people & prompting scepticism about their benefits.
She also notes, the MBE was individualising the collective achievements of the organisation she has worked with for two decades!
#disability #politics
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/dec/30/campaigner-turned-down-mbe-over-scapegoating-of-people-with-disabilities
" #Republicans effectively rewrote the 2021 #infrastructure bill (they voted against) to ensure that billions of dollars in taxpayer-funded broadband grants (intended to be spent on affordable, next-generation fiber) was stolen from local communities, and instead given to #ElonMusk & #JeffBezos...
It’s a coordinated hijacking of taxpayer money that will actually undermine affordable #internet access."
https://www.techdirt.com/2025/12/30/the-wall-street-journal-applauds-republicans-corrupt-illegal-theft-of-billions-in-taxpayer-dollars/
#GOP #Corruption #Politics #Tech #Technology #News #US #UnitedStates
Lottocracy: Democracy Without Elections
#HackerNews #Lottocracy #Democracy #Elections #Politics #Innovation
Tressa Burke, (CEO, Glasgow Disability Alliance) has turned down an MBE, saying the UK Govt. was 'fuelling hatred, blame & scapegoating of people with disabilities'.
She also identifies misinformation & negative framing by the Govt. undermining the rights of disabled people & prompting scepticism about their benefits.
She also notes, the MBE was individualising the collective achievements of the organisation she has worked with for two decades!
#disability #politics
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/dec/30/campaigner-turned-down-mbe-over-scapegoating-of-people-with-disabilities
" #Republicans effectively rewrote the 2021 #infrastructure bill (they voted against) to ensure that billions of dollars in taxpayer-funded broadband grants (intended to be spent on affordable, next-generation fiber) was stolen from local communities, and instead given to #ElonMusk & #JeffBezos...
It’s a coordinated hijacking of taxpayer money that will actually undermine affordable #internet access."
https://www.techdirt.com/2025/12/30/the-wall-street-journal-applauds-republicans-corrupt-illegal-theft-of-billions-in-taxpayer-dollars/
#GOP #Corruption #Politics #Tech #Technology #News #US #UnitedStates
Tetsuzo Fuwa, a former Lower House lawmaker and a longtime leader of the Japanese Communist Party, died at age 95 of acute heart failure on Tuesday, the party announced. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/12/30/japan/politics/japanese-communist-party-ex-head-obituary/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #politics #tetsuzofuwa #jcp #obituary
A real estate expert on a panel set up by the Cabinet believes the government is better off regulating how land is used rather than who is allowed to own it. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/12/29/japan/politics/foreign-national-policy-real-estate/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #politics #realestate #nationality #personalinformation #expats
Thailand has accused Cambodia of violating a newly agreed ceasefire, reached after weeks of deadly border clashes, by flying more than 250 drones over its territory. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/12/30/asia-pacific/politics/thai-army-cambodia-drones/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #asiapacific #politics #thailand #cambodia #borderclashes #drones #asean #us #china
I have a pet theory that the West's ideological rejection of material dialectics fundamentally shaped Western approach to economics. It required a new, idealist theory the eschewed the idea of systemic behavior, resulting in a modern economic understanding utterly divorced from material reality.
"I’d like to believe that the horrific darkness of this past year is a necessary prelude to a brighter and saner future":
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/dec/29/american-reckoning
Reasons to be cheerful: "Democratic candidates have won just about every special election and every mayoral and gubernatorial contest, and a remarkable number of down-ballot races in bright red states and cities. Maga is coming apart. Trump’s polls are tanking."
copy: @renewedresistance #politics #HeresToABetter2026 #HappyNewYear
"I’d like to believe that the horrific darkness of this past year is a necessary prelude to a brighter and saner future":
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/dec/29/american-reckoning
Reasons to be cheerful: "Democratic candidates have won just about every special election and every mayoral and gubernatorial contest, and a remarkable number of down-ballot races in bright red states and cities. Maga is coming apart. Trump’s polls are tanking."
copy: @renewedresistance #politics #HeresToABetter2026 #HappyNewYear
Who Paid the Pipers of Western Marxism explores why so much “radical” theory in the West feels strangely safe, polite, and totally disconnected from actual revolutionary movements.
It’s a forensic breakdown of how the CIA, the State Department, and big capitalist foundations actively funded, promoted, and shaped the kind of Marxism that became acceptable in Western academia.
Tens of thousands are fleeing violence in oil-rich Kordofan, where the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces — locked in a brutal war since April 2023 — are vying for control. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/12/29/world/politics/sudanese-escape-kordofan-fighting/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #worldnews #politics #sudan #rapidsupportforces #kordofan #darfur #civilwar #internationalorganizationformigration #worldhealthorganization #un
Beijing says Thailand and Cambodia plan to rebuild mutual trust and gradually consolidate a ceasefire after weeks of border clashes, following talks in southwestern China. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/12/29/asia-pacific/politics/thailand-cambodia-ceasefire-talks/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #asiapacific #politics #thailand #cambodia #china #borderclashes #wangyi #donaldtrump #anwaribrahim #asean