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Spectral Threats: China, Russia and Trump’s Greenland Rationale
The concerns about China and Russia seizing Greenland retells the same nonsense President Donald Trump promoted in kidnapping the Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife. Looking past the spurious narcoterrorism claims against the former leader, it fell to the issue of who would control the natural resources of the country. If we don’t get […]
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Conceptual Model of State Collapse
Summary A minimalist conceptual model of the state is presented in which the fundamental basis of state existence and continuity is the flux of produced resources between producers and the needed state apparatus, while contending with powerful domestic non-state actors and foreign challenges. External conditions that reduce per capita production threaten state continuity, and the […]
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Venezuela: It’s Much More Than Oil
As the US openly discussed schemes to add Greenland to its list of conquered territories, it became abundantly clear that “Alternative Energy” (AltE, solar, wind, hydro power) joined fossil fuels at center stage.1 Corporations which pull the puppet strings of governments are well aware that oil production will cease long before none remains in the […]
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Festival of Cowardice: The Cancellation of Randa Abdel-Fattah

Randa Abdel-Fattah Boards of directors are a funny bunch. Often lacking expertise, claiming knowledge they do not have and insight that never illuminates, its members can make the cockup the stuff of legend. Instead of minding their own business and leaving the Adelaide Writers’ Week to take place without incident as part of the 2026 […]
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A Not-so-Tongue-in-Cheek “Trumpian Traumatic Stress Disorder”

No doubt like many others who awoke to the news that President Maduro of Venezuela and his wife, Cilia Flores (a serving member of the Venezuelan National Assembly with a distinguished career in government), had been ‘captured’ or ‘seized’ by the US and were being transported to NYC to stand trial, my initial reaction was […]
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“Teaching Students to Think for Themselves” Starts with Political Self-Awareness
My nomination for the most predictable platitude invoked by university professors when describing the essence of their job is “teaching students to think for themselves.” During my 26 years at the University of Texas at Austin, where I was sometimes accused of politicizing the classroom, I repeated that phrase many times, not as a dodge […]


