RationalWiki:What is going on in the blogosphere?/January 2017

January 2017
Trump aide Steve Bannon could be using the immigration ban and bogus voter fraud charges as part of a larger scheme. “This Is the Violence of Which I Approve”: A short history of the political violence that helped Mussolini attain power. A counterpoint to the previous post: Weak and Incompetent Leaders Act Like Strong Leaders The Trump regime's consolidation of power: a trial balloon for a coup? BBC: Regarding the global diversity of cognitive styles, communalism vs. rugged individualism may not be influenced so much by East vs. West as by more localized factors like the placement of a river between two towns, or the crops grown by previous generations. George Monbiot, writing for The Guardian, tells us that the thing we should be most afraid about with Der Orangenführer is not white supremacy or fake news but the opaque network of front groups behind many of his administration's people. Americans are very strong in their opinions about abortion, but they are very nuanced. BBC: The hidden danger of euphemisms. This sneaky language is the enemy of clarity, from George Orwell to your office. The Intercept: "Executive Orders Are Normal; Trump's Are Only Appaling Because of What They Say". The pitfalls of translating Donald Trump's rambling, inarticulate comments into other languages. Trump sold America a miracle cure, but he won't be blamed if it fails. Jacobin: Betsy DeVos and John Lewis: birds of a feather. Actually reasonable reasons for one person having voted Trump (don't worry, it's from a college essay published in Mother Jones). The Intercept: "Kentucky's New Fetal Pain Law Like Most Abortion Restrictions Is Based on Junk Science". Vox: A piece about how Trump's razor thin victory and Congressional headbutting could make him the right wing Jimmy Carter. Gwyneth Paltrow probably has a sign at her house: &#91;0&#93; DAYS SINCE LAST VAGINA WOO PRONOUNCEMENT Hard Style: We Interviewed the Actor Who Plays Milo Yiannopoulos The Intercept: "Obama's pardon of Gen. James Cartwright is a new twist in the war on leaks". (Obama has been letting out Bush-era leakers, but not Obama-era ones.) Cracked: "7 Things You Only Find Out as a Lawyer to the Poor". [https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/9753/tolerance Is Tolerance a One-Way Street? Reflections on the second anniversary of the Charlie Hebdo terror attack.] You suspected it was true all along. An Icelandic study suggests that educational interests are selected against by natural selection. A Cracked study finds the Trump Campaign used fake Twitter accounts as an excuse for more Trump tweets to share. Requiem for a Lightweight (Markos Moulitsas). How Barack Obama paved the way for Donald Trump. [http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2017/01/15/obama-s-legacy-the-imperial-presidency-that-he-passes-on-to-trump.html Obama’s Legacy? The Imperial Presidency That He Passes On To Trump] What Happened in Aleppo? Paul Krugman on how republics end, drawing comparisons between the Trump era and the Roman Empire. Trump and the Dangers of Secret Law: how classified legal decisions regulate the US government's use of surveillance, detention and torture. It's Time to Take Sexism Seriously as a Political Force, exploring how Assange, Putin and Trump are united by their attitudes to women. ObamaCare: a rogue goat David Horowitz: "A Most Brilliant Individual". The Guardian: "Buzzfeed was wrong to scoop us publish the Trump rumours. Here's why". The Guardian: "Intelligence sources vouch for credibility of Russia dossier author Christopher Steele." [http://gizmodo.com/4chan-idiots-claim-they-invented-the-trump-piss-report-1791067589 Gizmodo: 4chan trolls spin elaborate story about how they are the origin of the "Pissgate" scandal. Don't take their word for it.] "The Deep State Goes to War with President-Elect, Using Unverified Claims, as Democrats Cheer" Glenn Greenwald details how The New York Times publishes falsehoods about Edward Snowden. Reason contrasts Donald Trump today to Elizabeth II in the time of Netflix's Emmy-winning The Crown, and both to George Washington. Massachusetts Should Reject Naturopaths: Letter to Gov. Charlie Baker New York Times: How to Destroy the Business Model of Breitbart and Fake News And then, ironically, Breibart and Infowars call New York Times fake news. U.S. Decline to Banana Republic Accelerates as Trump Places Son-in-Law Jared Kushner in White House. Fake news is a scapegoat. Blaming it alone is not the answer to a democracy in crisis. RT news reacts to DNI reacting to RT. Was 2016 really especially dangerous for celebrities? Social Instability Lies Ahead, according to researcher at University of Connecticut [https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trump-opponents-find-an-ally-republican-incompetence/2017/01/03/4056347a-d1fb-11e6-9cb0-54ab630851e8_story.html?tid=sm_tw&tid=sm_tw&tid=sm_tw&utm_term=.6417d9476ca1 Opponents of the sweeping Republican agenda have an unexpected ally: right-wing legislative incompetence. ] Reason: "Hey Media: Let’s Not Turn Russian Hackers into the Next WMDs, Okay?" + "The Other Way the Debate About Russian Hacking is Like the Debate About WMDs". Sorry West Virginia, but Hillary Clinton was on to something: solar power may be cheaper than coal within a decade.