Monocle on Saturday Podcast (March 16, 2024): Though voting has begun in Russia to elect the country’s next president, the results are unlikely to come as a surprise. However, there is resistance bubbling under the surface.
Join Georgina Godwin and Russia specialist Charles Hecker to discuss the run-up to the election. Plus: Tory donor Frank Hester’s racist comments, Boris Johnson’s unofficial talks in Venezuela and Monocle’s Fernando Augusto Pacheco interviews Lauro Andrade, founder of DW! São Paulo Design Week.
The National Association of Realtors will pay $418 million in damages and will amend several rules that housing experts say will drive down housing costs.
Another Gaza Aid Convoy Ends in Violence, With at Least 20 Killed
The Gaza Health Ministry accused Israel of a “targeted” attack. Israel’s military denied the accusation, blaming Palestinian gunmen for the violence.
The once-highflying payments company now trades at a valuation more suitable for a midsize bank. The good news: The path to a comeback is simpler than the Street expects.
Being middle class in America used to mean something—something socially transformative, something even revolutionary. The American middle class represented a form of national social order never before seen on this earth—cultural domination not by the very rich and very educated, or the political domination either by tyrants or the mob, but by a mass of people, relatively well-to-do, who felt themselves fortunate in their circumstances. That was what made the American middle class different from the French or English bourgeoisie. Its members believed, and the country believed, that they were the nation’s backbone, its true governing class, and its moral compass.
President Joe Biden and former president Donald Trump squared off four years ago and are on track for the first major-party rematch since 1892. Biden and Trump are the oldest presidential candidates in history, and each man has an established political brand. Biden first won federal office in 1972, and it’s been over a decade since the GOP nominated someone other than Donald Trump. The 2024 election is like all the SIRIUS XM oldies stations—Classic Vinyl, Classic Rewind, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Radio—rolled into one.
If you had never heard of Candace Owens until recently, you aren’t alone. Less than a decade ago, she was an unknown college dropout working as a marketing professional in New York, writing pieces for her company’s website about the “bat-s—t crazy antics of the Republican Tea Party.” Then, suddenly, she claimed to have experienced a political conversion. She told the libertarian political commentator Dave Rubin in 2017, “I became a conservative overnight. . . . I realized that liberals were actually the racists. Liberals were actually the trolls.”
The top Senate Democrat, the highest-ranking Jewish elected official in the United States, spoke from the Senate floor to condemn Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and call for elections to replace him.
Mainstream parties are changing laws to protect government institutions. Critics say the changes risk undermining democracy.
Snakes in the Grass — and Under the Piano, by the Pool and in the Prison
Business is good for snake catchers in Australia, as the period of brumation, a sort of hibernation for reptiles, is shrinking — a result of the warming earth.
The legislation received wide bipartisan support, with both Republicans and Democrats showing an eagerness to appear tough on China.
They Sell Candy Instead of Going to School. New York Isn’t Stopping Them.
Letting children work in the train system during school hours breaks several laws and rules. But a series of agencies said it was not their place to stop the practice.
Nature Magazine – March 13, 2024: The latest issue cover features ‘Burning Question’ – How drought conditions are driving overnight fires in North America…
The de-extinction company Colossal is the first to convert elephant cells to an embryonic state, but using them to make mammoths won’t be easy, say researchers.
At a hearing, Republicans peppered Robert K. Hur about his justifications for not charging the president, and Democrats rebuked him for broad assertions about Mr. Biden’s memory.
Trump Courts Black Voters Even as He Traffics in Stereotypes
The former president traffics in stereotypes about Black Americans, yet he is counting on them, and aggressively courting them, in seeking to return to the White House.
Jamming’: How Electronic Warfare Is Reshaping Ukraine’s Battlefields
Drones have become a critical weapon for both sides, but a lack of coordination among troops has put Ukraine at a disadvantage.
News, Views and Reviews For The Intellectually Curious
Nature Magazine – March 13, 2024: The latest issue cover features ‘Burning Question’ – How drought conditions are driving overnight fires in North America…
Boomers Daily 