The Tories' "assessments", to determine whether disabled people are really disabled, are idiotic and ignorant.

The idiocy makes sense when you understand it as one of many means intended to advance the Tories' unstated goal: every penny less for the disabled, the poor, the homeless, and the hungry is one penny more for the elite.

Worldwide use of coal declined 1.7% last year.

If it continues at this rate, in 20 years coal use will decline 30%. I don't think that's enough to rejoice about.

The Secretary of Defense admitted that the US is not winning in Afghanistan.

To recognize the facts is a step forward, but he can't possibly come up with a strategy to defeat the Taliban, because the corrupt Afghan government lacks the capacity to win no matter what the strategy. The US can prop it up by continuing to fight there, but that will not lead to a victory.

I said this many years ago.

The Taliban are perverted enemies of human rights, and I wish it were possible to defeat them conclusively, but we have to recognize that we can't.

Astroturf social media campaigns, to make bullshit appear accepted, are so cheap that any political group can use them.

Tillerson said that Cuba has to improve its respect for human rights.

I agree that Cuba should respect human rights more. However, for Cuba to be as good as the US on that issue, it only needs to wait a few years for Republicans to bring the US down to Cuba's level.