"The infrastructure-building, law-codifying, biopolitical states of antiquity are not the starting points of universal history for Scott, as they were for both Marx and liberal historians. They are instead a kind of usurpation of a longer and quite possibly richer human practice of mobility and freedom."
"Save the Children says more than 50,000 youngsters are believed to have already lost their lives so far this year. The organisation has said a blockade by the Saudi-led coalition fighting Iran-backed Houthi rebels will almost certainly make things worse. The World Health Organisation, UNICEF and the World Food Programme said seven million people are on the brink of famine. More than 10,000 people have been killed in the conflict since March 2015 and three million have been displaced."
"For many of today’s children, the time they spend in forced schooling environments is both cruel and hazardous to their health. Gone are the oppressive factories, but in their place are oppressive schools. Where is the outrage?"
"In a televised address early on Wednesday morning, military spokesperson, Major General SB Moyo, said the army was seeking to 'pacify a degenerating, social, and economic situation' in the country. The army spokesperson said that once the military's objectives have been achieved, the situation in the country would return to normal, before urging Zimbabweans to continue with their lives as usual."
"Every single major world central bank is either raising rates, cutting QE, or both."
"The difference between bulls and bears hasn't been this high in 30 years, according to Investors Intelligence. The last time investor sentiment was this far apart, stocks rallied – until they didn’t. The Dow Jones Industrial Average collapsed 22 percent on Oct. 19, 1987, the worst one-day selloff in history. Euphoria is a dangerous stage in the market cycle -- when investors feel invulnerable and start to overpay for stocks. They become complacent with the expectation that they can sell their stocks to a 'bigger sucker.'"
"These are all, by definition, conspiracy theories – but they are also all things done by the other. Conspiracies happen over there. They are done by the bad guys. We don’t do them. ….except of course, when we do."
"The declassified memos and briefings from NSA confirm that this was more than just an intimidation tactic or a passing thought - the NSA had truly wanted to jail a journalist for his use of public records. When the Agency determined that this was unlikely to happen, they moved on to exploring other legal avenues which could be used to punish Bamford for his FOIA work."
"The most serious problem with a special counsel is that when a prosecutor is appointed to examine closely the lives and affairs of a pre-selected group of targets, that prosecutor is almost certain to stumble across multiple actions that might be deemed criminal under the sprawling and incredibly vague federal criminal code."
"Amending the charter’s pacifist Article 9 would be hugely symbolic for Japan. Supporters see it as the foundation of post-war democracy but many conservatives view it as a humiliating imposition after Japan’s defeat in 1945. It would also be a victory for Abe, whose conservative agenda of restoring traditional values, stressing obligations to the state over individual rights and loosening constraints on the military, centers on revising the constitution."