Author: nick

[ad_1] Long live the King! In 2020, something near the centre of the Milky Way switched on and off six times in radio waves, then disappeared from every follow-up search in X-rays and infrared. How seriously should we take the threat of mirror life? Early Homo sapiens may have lived in rainforests, new clues suggest — and it could overturn our understanding of human evolution. What Disclosure Day gets wrong about the search for aliens. Also: How a stop-motion animation genius pioneered the flying saucer movie. Life at the end of the metaverse: Mark Zuckerberg built a future that nobody…

[ad_1] Going into the illegal war against Iran, U.S. President Donald Trump had four key goals: regime change, ending Iran’s nuclear program, eradicating Iran’s missile program, and cutting Iran off from its proxies. He promised that all four would be achieved quickly without compromise: “There will be no deal with Iran except UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!” Iran did not surrender, and there has been plenty of compromise in making a deal. Not one of those four goals was accomplished on the battlefield. And little more was won at the negotiating table. That does not mean that extending the ceasefire under the compromise…

[ad_1] Gavin Newsom and Joe Biden in Mather, California, 2021. Photo by Adam Schultz, White House. There is a fault in contemporary left politics that is easy to miss because it looks like a virtue. The new new left is rich in moral clarity about ends and strangely indifferent to means, treating the winning of office and the announcement of good intentions as the substance of politics while neglecting the unglamorous business of delivery. It legislates aspirations and then loses interest in whether the housing actually gets built, the train actually runs, the benefit actually reaches the person it was…

[ad_1] The Iran War may be entering its final phase, though the durability of any ceasefire remains uncertain. So who won? It’s complicated. Much of the discussion of the war’s meaning, even as it drags on, focuses on how it has already damaged Donald Trump politically. But the talk now is almost exclusively about how the war’s failure will help Democrats crush the Republicans in November. That misses at first that any missteps, any failures, and any successes are America’s to reckon with from now on, not simply some trite shot at a hated president. Wars belong to the nation,…

[ad_1] In a few days, Americans will celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. There will be fireworks, concerts, speeches, and millions of backyard barbecues. But what precisely are we celebrating? Most Americans know that on July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress approved the Declaration of Independence, explaining why the colonies were “dissolving the political bands” connecting them to Great Britain. Far fewer know that the actual act of separation took place two days earlier, when Congress approved Richard Henry Lee’s resolution declaring the colonies “free and independent States.” More importantly, few Americans understand what those words meant.…

[ad_1] Understanding the MOU Most of the critical commentary on the Trump administration’s memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Iran centers on the specific commitments each side is supposed to have made and intends to carry out. But the MOU is not a peace agreement; it is a framework for a potential agreement. Therein lies one of its central problems: the actual terms of a contractual arrangement between the US and Iran governments are matters for future negotiations, whereas the only firm arrangement is for an opening of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran in return for an end to the…

[ad_1] President Donald Trump was “mad as a murder hornet” at the handful of Senate Republicans who voted to defy him on Iran war powers. So said Sen. John Kennedy, the quotable Louisiana Republican, of the Senate GOP luncheon that by all accounts devolved into a foodfight.  Trump had kinder words for his Iranian negotiating partners after the meeting than he did for Republican senators who refuse to pass the SAVE Act. Some Republicans, including anti-interventionist stalwart Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, agreed to change their votes to bolster Trump’s bargaining position now that the White House is seemingly committed…

[ad_1] U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is interviewed on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” with host Joe Kernen. JOE KERNEN, CNBC ‘SQUAWK BOX’ HOST: The, I guess maybe this is one of the most important. Fourth principle that you outlined is financial leadership in terms of currency, I think in terms of the dollar and I don’t, people haven’t seen perhaps the rebound in the dollar in recent months is kind of, has gone unnoticed because the demise was greatly exaggerated. I think we have a chart where we can, we can look at that. It might not be for all the…

[ad_1] Support for the Memorandum of Understanding entered into by the United States and Iran to end Operation Epic Fury relies on intentionally imprecise drafting and pronouncements made by the president and vice president that conflict with the MOU and Iran’s view of it, alignment with Iran, or a desire to see Donald Trump fail. The MOU was poorly drafted to obtain Iran’s acquiescence. Trump wanted an off ramp, while Iran was a reluctant participant brought along by promises of money, time, and a winnowing of U.S. demands. In the week since I wrote about the MOU, both parties have…

[ad_1] Taiwan President Lai Ching-te (William Lai) appears to be missing signs from multiple sources that he lacks both international and domestic support for pursuing a more assertive policy regarding the island’s de facto independence.  Taipei heavily depends on two protectors, Japan and the United States, for firm political support against Beijing’s periodic bullying tactics.  In the event of a military crisis, Taiwan would be even more reliant on those two powers for armed defense. However, Tokyo and Washington seem to be moving in opposite directions with respect to their longstanding, albeit informal, security commitment to Taipei.  With the Liberal…