A Republican president waged an unpopular war in the Middle East and threatened to erode civil liberties at home. He was also jacking up federal spending, expanding the welfare state, and running large deficits. “We have a responsibility that when somebody hurts, government has got to move,” this president told union workers in Ohio, whose […]
Watching the credits roll on Apple TV’s gonzo alternate-reality comedy Brothers, I looked hard for the name of Charlie Kaufman. Surely the Oscar-winning screenwriter of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) and other surrealist classics was involved in Apple’s unhinged send-up of family, politics, and the contemporary celebrity experience. After all, Kaufman’s screenwriting debut, […]
It would be a stretch to say that the release of a Ben Affleck movie ever qualified as an event. Even in the late 1990s and the early 2000s — the post-Good Will Hunting window during which he was most plausibly anointed for stardom — Affleck tended to be recklessly productive in a way that […]
Because it’s a day ending in “y,” the French are rioting again. Nominally, the latest crusade to corral union workers, pensioners, students, and Greta Thunberg on the streets is something about education. Really, it’s a not-so-veiled threat to the government that it better not dare to reform France’s truly disastrous fiscal order. It’s also an […]
It has been a busy week for outrage. On Oct. 9, President Donald Trump announced that Russian President Vladimir Putin would release Russian diesel to the world market, 300,000 tons at once and millions more to follow. The Trump Treasury Department issued a temporary license. On Oct. 11, Trump announced an energy ceasefire, “effective immediately,” […]
On Oct. 10, North Korea marked the 81st anniversary of the founding of the Workers’ Party of Korea. Unlike last year’s large-scale military parade for the party’s 80th anniversary, which drew senior foreign dignitaries, this year’s event in Pyongyang featured celebratory performances rather than a military parade. Leader Kim Jong Un attended with his wife, […]
President Donald Trump’s recent diesel agreement with Russia has sparked backlash from Ukraine and a bipartisan group of senators. Under the agreement, Russia has pledged to supply more than 300,000 metric tons of diesel to U.S. and global markets to ease rising fuel prices. As lawmakers press the administration to withdraw from the agreement, Nigeria […]
The cost of his life is $40,000. Garry Kasparov, a former chess world champion and one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s fiercest critics, was targeted by a Russian assassination plot on American soil this summer. U.S. prosecutors have charged five Russian intelligence agents in relation to the case. Authorities warned Kasparov this summer that Russian […]
On Oct. 7, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner opened an investigation into Wells Fargo over its pledges to increase black homeownership. He said the bank’s conduct was “immoral, unethical and un-American” even if it broke no law. Raising black homeownership is a Republican goal, and a Republican administration is investigating a bank for […]
Still reeling from President Donald Trump’s surprise deal lifting sanctions on Russian diesel fuel, Ukraine discovered on Wednesday that its access to a vital American satellite internet service had been abruptly throttled. The disruption’s cause remains unclear, but it comes as Washington is pressuring Ukraine to swallow a one-sided truce protecting Russian oil refineries. Ukraine […]
