The Taliban Banned Chess
“Since retaking power, the Taliban has banned certain music, barred women from parks, and now outlawed chess.”
https://reason.com/2025/06/03/the-taliban-banned-chess/
Tag: tyranny
First They Came for the Samnites
Sulla broke republican norms in an attempt to make Rome great again, paving the road for Julius and Augustus to later end the Roman Republic.
Sulla had purges, starting with the most vulnerable. People didn’t join together to stop Sulla until it was too late, hoping that Sulla would stop after Sulla was done persecuting other groups.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eh4LLvpr-7g
The First Signs of Tyranny, From People Who Missed Them | NYT Opinion
Sam Harris TAKES DOWN Ben Shapiro’s Most DELUSIONAL Claims
Ben Shapiro is in denial about the differences between Trump’s attempt to overthrow U.S. democracy and Democrats complaining about Russian interference.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wmfxA8J2B8
Trump has not been exonerated, special counsel Jack Smith declares in final report
Trump has not been exonerated, special counsel Jack Smith declares in final report
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/01/14/jack-smith-trump-report-00198025
‘I Think Things Are Going to Be Bad, Really Bad’: The US Military Debates Possible Deployment on US Soil Under Trump
“Trump has repeatedly said he might use the military to suppress a domestic protest, or to raid a sanctuary city to purge it of undocumented immigrants, or possibly defend the Southern border. Some in the military community say they are especially disturbed by the prospect that troops might be used to serve Trump’s political ends.”
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2025/01/12/trump-military-immigration-domestic-deployment-00195609
Syria & the Fall of Bashar al-Assad – Why Assad’s military folded and what’s next
By 2024 Assad’s army was significantly weakened by multiple causes, and so were Assad’s allies.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOzXlat-TcE
Is Xi’s China the new Soviets?
Chinese economic growth has slowed despite not yet being a rich country.
Instead of allowing free market actors to flourish, the Communist Party is clamping down so that private actors won’t be a threat to their control. This will damage their attempt to return to high economic growth.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GayROZqY15U
America’s looming election crisis, explained in 3 charts
Trump supporters thrive in falsity and anti-democratic attitudes.
“If Trump loses, about a quarter of Republicans said they think he should do whatever it takes to ensure he becomes president anyway, according to a September PRRI poll.”
“among Republicans, Trump proved by far the most trusted source of information about election results, well above local and national news outlets. In an Associated Press/NORC/USAFacts poll from earlier this month, more than 60 percent of Republicans said they believe Trump himself is the best place to get the facts about results.”
“Trump’s long-running insistence that he won in 2020 appears to be having an effect over time, with several surveys measuring greater buy-in of his lies about the election from voters today than in the past. A December Washington Post/University of Maryland poll found that 36 percent of US adults did not believe Biden was legitimately elected, compared to 29 percent two years prior. And in a Pew Research poll conducted earlier this month, 27 percent of US adults said that Trump did nothing wrong in trying to overturn the election results, up from 23 percent in April.”
https://www.vox.com/politics/372863/2024-election-lies-trump-overturn-harris
Venezuela’s Repression Is Modeled on Horror Movies
“As part of “Operación Tun Tun” (Operation Knock Knock), the regime is showcasing its crusade against dissent on social media and national television. Videos typically begin with footage of a protester, followed by music from A Nightmare on Elm Street and scenes of heavily armed officers detaining the individual. Reports indicate that detainees have been subjected to torture, cruel treatment, and drugs to extract false confessions.”
https://reason.com/2024/08/09/venezuelas-repression-is-modeled-on-horror-movies/