51st Ward Alderman. Pâtissier. Scoundrel (alleged). "Big Ay Caramba Energy." https://xitter.cf/t.co/Gv9QJOl5rI
TECHNOLOGY!!!
Joined April 2015
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You can’t topple a regime (especially an ideological regime) with an air war if there’s no support in force on the ground.
This was true before Trump began losing wars in the Middle East, and remains true.
Peter Wolf retweeted
Very definition of an impeachable offense
Trump admitted he blocked energy funding to punish blue states he lost in 2024, including $586 million for Illinois.
Courts ruled it illegal. He's still blocking the money.
Bipartisan permitting reform won't work if Trump ignores the law. He must reinstate the grants first.
ALT Screenshot of Duckworth’s letter to the leadership of both the U.S. Senate Committees on Energy and National (ENR) Resources and on Environment and Public Works (EPW), Page 1
ALT Screenshot of Duckworth’s letter to the leadership of both the U.S. Senate Committees on Energy and National (ENR) Resources and on Environment and Public Works (EPW), Page 2
ALT Screenshot of Duckworth’s letter to the leadership of both the U.S. Senate Committees on Energy and National (ENR) Resources and on Environment and Public Works (EPW), Page 3
ALT Screenshot of Duckworth’s letter to the leadership of both the U.S. Senate Committees on Energy and National (ENR) Resources and on Environment and Public Works (EPW), Page 4
Talking about the Cheesecake Factory and snobby liberal elites means less time for stuff about prices or the wars we’re losing
Peter Wolf retweeted
Iraq is a democracy. It absolutely is. What would be more accurate to say is it isn't liberal. Or rather it's illiberal as far as civil liberty is concerned. Though there is more civil liberty compared to when the Tikriti mafia was running the place.
Why is there bias against describing Iraq as a democracy in the Middle East? It's ok to say Israel and Iraq are both democracies in the Middle East.
Iraq has elections that Freedom House says correctly are "regular, competitive elections, and the country’s various partisan, religious, and ethnic groups generally enjoy representation in the political system."
The system has some flaws "democratic governance is impeded in practice by corruption and security threats. In the Kurdistan region, democratic institutions lack the strength to contain the influence of long-standing power brokers. Increasingly, Iran has been able to influence politics in Baghdad. Civil liberties are generally respected in Iraqi law, but the state has limited capacity to prevent and punish violations."
I'm always fascinated by the number of people who don't know Iraq is a democracy with complex and robust elections. It's not perfect. But that's ok. The goal of democracy is to improve. It's never perfect.
“I am neither Jewish nor a woman, but, like many men over the age of 70, I have reached that point in life where I am somehow both.”
Both of these are probably true, and neither will be enough.
Johnson still has loyalist support, and Giannoulias making the DMV not-miserable strikes voters as borderline miraculous
This joke went over great in Gamblers Anonymous. They told me I should find some other group to share it with, which is so supportive 🥹
Peter Wolf retweeted
The Mayoral Campaigns need to address this directly.
Downtown Chicago still has 27% of its office space empty, 1 in every 4 floors is empty.
Well above the national average of roughly 20%.
Companies have been giving back more space than they’re taking for three years straight (net absorption negative), while most of the country is starting to recover.
Chicago’s central business district is lagging.
Peter Wolf retweeted
It goes without saying that on a historic election night for the Arab voters, in which they’ve elected an unprecedented number of MKs, Netanyahu has just totally disregarded them as equal citizens. But that was to be expected. What’s more disappointing (though sadly not very surprising) is that the Jewish opposition leaders didn’t make any gesture in their speeches to the Arabs either, and spoke of a “Zionist” government. They deserve to lose to Netanyahu.
They gotta jail this yentzer, like, yesterday
So no olive branch from Netanyahu to the opposition, but he isn’t claiming either that his coalition is going to win. Instead he’s stressing his camp’s “Zionist” and “Jewish” majority and delegitimising any idea of a government supported by the Arab parties.
It’s not a victory speech. It’s an election speech. The election isn’t over. It could be just beginning.
He still hopes the numbers and a few defectors can somehow add up to a majority, or one of the opposition parties caves, but he’s already preparing the ground for the next election campaign in early 2027.
The other main element in the speech was of course Iran. Which, together with his friend Trump, Israel has a “one-off opportunity” to defeat “once and for all.”
Netanyahu’s strategy now is clear.
1. He’s lost his Knesset majority but he’s going to make sure no-one else can form a government
2. Launch a 3rd war with Iran, which of course will finally topple the regime
3. Then a quick election which he will win handily.
A lot of factors contribute to downplaying Iraqi democracy, the big ones being:
- the influence of Iran and its paramilitaries;
- the widespread corruption;
- it would require some reassessment of the American war in Iraq (which many are loathe to do)
Why is there bias against describing Iraq as a democracy in the Middle East? It's ok to say Israel and Iraq are both democracies in the Middle East.
Iraq has elections that Freedom House says correctly are "regular, competitive elections, and the country’s various partisan, religious, and ethnic groups generally enjoy representation in the political system."
The system has some flaws "democratic governance is impeded in practice by corruption and security threats. In the Kurdistan region, democratic institutions lack the strength to contain the influence of long-standing power brokers. Increasingly, Iran has been able to influence politics in Baghdad. Civil liberties are generally respected in Iraqi law, but the state has limited capacity to prevent and punish violations."
I'm always fascinated by the number of people who don't know Iraq is a democracy with complex and robust elections. It's not perfect. But that's ok. The goal of democracy is to improve. It's never perfect.
Peter Wolf retweeted
And how does Russia treat its African attendees? It sends spies to break into their homes: theins.press/en/inv/298635
From tomorrow, Russia will host its 3rd Russia-Africa summit.
48 (out of 54) African countries will attend - 22 (!) at the level of head of state.
Putin will conduct 24 bilats over coming days.
There will also be a separate Russia-Africa media forum.
vedomosti.ru/politics/articl… /1
