One sure change in Venezuela. It has not been one of those countries polarized between a far right and a Marxist left. Since 1958, it mainly had a democratic left which after 2002 gave way to a revolutionary (and then authoritarian) left. Its right was moderate centrist Christian Democrats. Not now

I don’t think Machado realizes that engineering an installation by Trump without a democratic process is going to sink her legitimacy and credibility and turn a good share of the non-Chavista Venezuelan people against her pretty fast. It’s the ultimate Faustian bargain

The global politics of “There, I fixed it,” with all that expression’s implications

On top of that, “worthless biotrash from the four corners of the globe combined with every failson and faildaughter from Cul-de-Sac County, Wisconsin” describes literally every New Yorker of note of the last 250 years, including almost all the greatest Americans

Yup. Musk created a CSA image generator, specifically programmed to make this and hate speech allowable, and the appropriate response is not to interview the software

Trump has normalized and popularized antisemitism to the point that 43% of his party now either welcome Jew-haters or hold such views themselves

We‘ll get there, but we dawdled for too long

A List of Predictions Made in 1926 About 2026 🧵

This is a widespread sentiment — think of the expression “La France profonde” as it’s used. Of course, most citizens and the most characteristic culture of any country are found in the larger cities, but this animosity is used by politicians, ie Trump, who owe their office to un-populated areas

As for me I’m spending the week babysitting this kitten (who’s already larger than his brother, a full-grown cat)

For the first time in 15 years, my end-of-year essay strikes an optimistic note -- not for the year that's ended, which was catastrophic, or the one ahead. But I observe that our condition will necessitate an era of great growth, invention, employment... www.theglobeandmail.com/gift/e33036f...

A dad-intelligent coffee maker would let you put in the number of beans you want but then tell you it would have used more (or less) but that’s ok, do it your way.

See, here's the difference between current LLM tech and actual intelligence, which remains elusive. An actually intelligent trivet or coaster would perform some sophisticated thinking and realize that the ideal place to position itself is WHERE I GODDAMN PUT IT BECAUSE I WANTED IT TO BE THERE

Well clearly they're doing this to screw up mail-in voting.

An optimistic piece by @dougsaunders.bsky.social. Yet, recent events echo more closely the 1910s and 20s than the 1930s and 40s. It feels more like the Hoover years than the Truman years. Gen Z may become a great generation but not for the reasons supposed. www.theglobeandmail.com/gift/b6403fe...

"The big question is whether we have a sane majority." Geez, @dougsaunders.bsky.social A gift link for my friends here:

We had congressional hearings when parents just suspected heavy metal was leading some kids to suicide.

Un appel à la génération Z, "Ne perdez pas espoir, écrit Doug Saunders. Vous n'assistez pas à la fin du monde, vous êtes sur le point d'en construire un nouveau" Traduction d'un article du Globe and Mail, 2025.12.27 www.gillesenvrac.ca/carnet/appel...

What we used a Tomahawk cruise missile to accomplish in Northwest Nigeria (which is *not* where Christians have been attacked): "A farmer’s hut had been set on fire, but nobody was hurt, [the resident] said. He added that he did not know of any terrorist camps in the area"

Speaking on behalf of all the haters, I believe we did indeed have a happy Christmas

France is still pretending that legal weed is a “medical” thing, and will continue to do so for three more months

You do love to see it, but unfortunately these Muskian ridiculosities have badly set back the mass adoption of electric vehicles for private transportation in the most populated countries, which is by far the most important development to prevent a climate disaster

For those of us who are observing, with some dismay, the ideological splintering of Nepal’s “Gen Z” movement into centrist, populist, & right-wing factions, a hopeful note on what this generation can—and must—get done globally, by @dougsaunders.bsky.social. www.theglobeandmail.com/gift/b6403fe...

I failed to understand the business model behind this place, which as its name suggests contains wooden bins of random stuff. Want some fuel-tank senders? Packs of thermal tape? Well it was Wednesday so they’re $5.99. Are the same things 99 cents on Friday, or do they sell different stuff each day?

Everyone gather 'round the fireplace, Bluesky. It's Christmas story time! Let me tell you of a heartwarming incident while I was in my heyday journalist years. It'll guarantee a laugh.

There’s actually a strong case for *raising* property taxes on paid-off SF houses, to incentivize the huge number of single elderly people living in 4- or 5-bedroom houses to sell down to more appropriate housing snd allow those homes to become multiple-family

Imagine interviewing a victim of torture and independently confirming the details of his torture and then being told you can’t broadcast it because the people who ordered the torture wouldn’t give their side of the story.

Russian "liberation"...

The arc of the Bari Weiss story spiking thing is wild. From spike to leak and making the story a much more massive, viral thing (versus just another horrible part of Trumpism). She's had this job for what, a month, and already the hubris is melting her wings in such high profile ways.

The fact that he has uttered this sentence basically renders it untrue

Not only is the head of US intel aping Russian propaganda, it doesn’t make a lick of sense. NATO/EU want to pull the US into direct war with Russia?!? The US is in NATO. The Russia-Ukraine war has been going for nearly 4 years. NATO could’ve gone to war but didn’t. If anything, been quite cautious.

If we want to improve our economy’s productivity— and we should — we’d be better off learning from Western and Northern Europe than from the United States. (Though we have to infer ours from “northern North America” in this) (Via @adamtooze.bsky.social)

I wrote about why AI is a useless novelist, and also thank you for buying a book this year www.thestar.com/opinion/star...

I enjoyed their album with the Visigoths

It should be, but a) it’s a lot harder and more time-consuming and expensive to restore something than it is to wreck it — the latter cans be done near-instantly, the former often takes years; b) the “regain their democracy” is likely to be only partial, and Poles will tell you how that goes

Oops

Most Washingtonians still won’t call National Airport by that other president-based name it picked up 27 years ago, so I wouldn’t worry too much about anyone calling it anything other than the Kennedy Center

My business plan for the next several years is to cover the lost revenues from nobody reading books anymore using my revenues from class-action suits against AI companies whose LLMs have illegally ingested all my books

Current headlines about a population downturn are misleading. Canada has 100s of 1000s of former temporaries within its borders, pre-screened and integrated; growth can be achieved by naturalizing them. After ~2027 PR intake above 1% will be needed to keep economy growing

I say we make Manhattans and have a nationwide toast to America's resistance cities.

When I’m in the US it still mildly surprises me that almost nobody knows that a country of 40 million has permanently pulled US products, especially liquor, from store shelves in response to Trump threats. There’s a national debate about what to do with all the no-longer-sold US booze

Our tiny Rob Reiner connection, via @lizrenzetti.bsky.social

He carefully considered other options and decided that this should be his Christmas message

Trump: “One year ago, our country was dead!” The Economist, one year ago:

He honestly thinks it’s his house.

Current television makes me aware that my man Montagu bears a certain resemblance, in countenance and certain aspects of disposition, to the late Chester A. Arthur

So RFK Jr is paying nuts in Denmark to go to one of the poorest places on earth, tell half their group their children are in line to get vaccinated for free with something that’s been saving lives for decades and is already fully proven safe, and not actually vaccinate them.

Lots of Canadians suggesting the Liberals would benefit from keeping Poilievre in office. But the last 30 years of elections seem to show that the Liberals lose power not when the Tories are well led but when the NDP is. They should be stealth supporting not PP but the Yves Engler campaign

Current television makes me aware that my man Montagu bears a certain resemblance, in countenance and certain aspects of disposition, to the late Chester A. Arthur

@dougsaunders.bsky.social A better way to manage the border after the collapse of the Safe Third Country Agreement multiculturalmeanderings.com/2025/12/16/i... via @Andrew_Griffith More practical than most other ideas floated. Biden administration's similar approach was starting to deliver results