A war of Trump’s own making. Look at this chart and then look at those pictures of a girls’ school that we’ve destroyed.

No coverage of this war should exclude this context. Ideally it would be upfront. Trump decided, contrary to evidence, that the JCPOA was bad. And now we’re at war.

Regret to inform you that @matthewdownhour.bsky.social is still correct

Make Anti-Trust Great Again.

Once again, in actual democracies, people do not need to engage in permanent litigation & political mobilization to retain the basic right to vote, because none of the major political parties make restricting suffrage the central pillar of their policy platform. We also don't have to live like this.

Pretty surprised to hear Theda Skocpol on NPR this morning talk about Larry Summers’ long overdue retirement as a loss. Good to be part of the club, I guess.

No honor among thieves.

Looking forward to the research that comes out of this! elpais.com/espana/2026-...

FYI, Academia.edu has changed its terms of service to give an irrevocable worldwide license for anything uploaded to its site to be used for generative AI. I do not consent to this and have pulled all my papers.

Looking forward to reading this and maybe buying a few copies for my local city councilors and county commissioners.

There’s an awful lot of snowflakes in Texas for a state that gets no snow.

I truly love teaching this book, @rgalemba.bsky.social! I’ve taught it 4 times now in my grad seminar on illicit economies. Each time I get something new. Each time it really draws my students in and masterfully turns their expectations about smuggling upside down. @stanfordpress.bsky.social

This seems of massive significance to me. They may not be doing it for the reasons I think they should but the fact "95% of UK card transactions are made using payment systems owned by Mastercard & Visa" is a market-domination, national security problem that should've been addressed a long time ago

Co-sign.

We should try to come up with ways to make the ultra-rich contribute to the public goods on which their wealth depends. Any ideas? Anyone? Personally, I’m just stumped. Darn.

“Despite.” What, because we think Steve Bannon is normally the model of strict character standards?

Cautionary tale: I asked Gemini to transcribe a 1-page PDF from The Morning Post from the early 1800s. I was interested in testing its accuracy. It hallucinated a full transcription of book review that doesn't exist and then invented false citations when I asked where the review was from. #AI

Because legally qualified American voters don't want to be harassed and intimidated by masked gunmen as a condition of going to vote. Is that really hard to understand?

It's Mandatory Monday and AI is clearly the future. mandatoryrollercoaster.com/post/8081046...

Seems like “alleged” is a better word than “suspected,” NY Times. Or better yet, “The administration claims without evidence that the people it has killed are smuggling drugs.”

They’re saying very clearly what they plan to do.

These are concentration camps and its our duty as citizens to ensure these things don't get built.

Gonna side with my local theatre on this one. Defund ICE.

This is the 38th time that the U.S. military has unlawfully killed civilians on the orders of Pete Hegseth and Donald Trump. At least 130 people — never charged with crimes, their identities unknown to their executioners — are now dead.

Just had a Super Bowl halftime where the singer: 1) boasts about the poor place he’s from; 2) boosts the value of agriculture; 3) celebrates small town life; 4) highlights the joy of inter-generational celebrations; and 5) promotes marriage. And tomorrow, the MAGA movement will attack it.

Perhaps the best commentary on bitcoin that I’ve seen to-date.

Complicity on the part of NBC.

Clearly symbolism meant to reflect economic anxiety.

Cc: @jeffjacksonnc.bsky.social @joshsteinnc.bsky.social

That silence you hear is the sound of hypocrisy on the part of #ncgop leaders who just a year ago were arguing that the feds should have NO SAY WHATSOEVER in elections b/c they’re purely the domain of states. Maybe they’re in the process of reconsidering.

Please read. Please circulate. Please contact your elected reps. This is shocking.

I’m fairly certain that in my 17 years at NC State that I’ve seen exactly two protests. This is not a campus of radicals or activists. Both protests have been in the last month, targeting ICE and its illegal, thuggish tactics.

Cc: @sarahkbowen.bsky.social

So much making healthy again.

Looking forward to calling my NC reps’ offices tomorrow to express my thoughts regarding their complicity in the execution of Alex Pretti. And for the record, I intend to call them all. Because Rs and Ds alike ought to find this unacceptable.

Thinking today of Jimmie Lee Jackson. “On February 18, 1965, while unarmed and participating in a peaceful voting rights march in his city, he was beaten by troopers and fatally shot by an Alabama state trooper. Jackson died eight days later in the hospital.” en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_...

More confirmation. A straight up state execution. wapo.st/49Zqv1L

Love to see it.

Would you rather: NATO or this illustrious club?

Just insane.

Great @jeffcolgan.bsky.social analysis of Trump's return to petro-imperialism, for @goodauth.bsky.social goodauthority.org/news/trump-m...

Today seems a good day to unveil my theory that Trump II has us living in a re-boot of the 1980s: increasing great power competition, “greed is good,” drug cartels are the biggest threat to national security, and it’s ok to openly invade Latin American countries.

Venezuela this morning. Threatening Iran, while Rubio is chomping at the bit to go into Cuba. Congress had steadily abdicated its war powers even before this Congress gave up its powers over anything. 2026 is going to be a violent one.

“Tell us, old man: what did the end of the US-led global order look like?” Me:

Hey, AI, give me an example of the resource curse. The A.I. Boom Is Driving the Economy. What Happens if It Falters? www.nytimes.com/2025/11/22/b...

I hope I never forget the revolting feeling of standing at the front of a classroom, warning students that they should carry evidence of immigration status or citizenship, and helping them understand how to respond if federal agents try to kidnap them or their friends off the street. #ICE

I’d add that Dems also need to decide who they are, and for whom they are, independent of Trump. Yesterday’s results are another example of Trump’s utter lack of coattails. There’s good reason to think, with a little help from a healthy opposition party, Trumpism goes away with Trump.

For the producers and consumers of research out there: I’m teaching my grad seminar on Global Illicit Economies in the spring. I like to assign whole books. If you’ve published a book recently (or know of one) that fits the topic (broadly defined), I’d love to consider it!

OUTRAGEOUS NEWS!! Far-left anti-ICE protestor uses mustard gas against fed… What’s that? Not gas? Just….mustard? Oh.

Dick Cheney was to George Bush what Russell Vought is to Donald Trump.