Does a threat of doxing constitute blackmail?

Merriam-Webster defines ‘dox’ to mean to “publicly identify or publish private information about (someone) especially as a form of punishment or revenge” and the practice is generally frowned upon. Some of you may be familiar with the recent case involving CNN and the person who modified an old video clip of Trump engaging in a phony wrestling fight with someone. This person had superimposed the CNN logo over the head of the person getting ‘pummeled’ by Trump and Trump had (of course) re-tweeted the clip. CNN uncovered the identity of the person who had created the video and in the process found out that he had also posted racist and anti-Semitic content on the web.
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New revelations on CIA overthrow of Iran’s democracy

The deep suspicion with which the West is viewed in the Middle East can be traced way back to the way that the west, especially the British in the early days, exploited that region’s oil reserves. This culminated in the 1953 coup that was organized by the CIA (and backed by the British) to overthrow the democratically elected leader of Iran Mohammad Mossadeq and replace him with their puppet Reza Pahlavi who was known as the Shah of Iran. His autocratic rule, his secret police that tortured and killed so many, and the lavish lifestyle of his family, laid the ground work for the rebellion led by Ayatollah Khomeini and the subsequent dominance of the Muslim clergy in running the country.
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“Social justice isn’t copyrighted”

Here are highlights of the interview that Naomi Klein of The Intercept conducted with Jeremy Corbyn where he gave a rousing reiteration of his theme of how acting in a collective manner is far better than extreme individualism. See the bit at around the 5:00 minute mark where in a fiery speech in February 2003, like so many of us on the left, Corbyn predicted the spiral of conflict and misery that would ensue if the west went ahead with its plans to invade Iraq.

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No, it is not harder being rich than being poor

The rich share many self-serving conceits. One is that they are rich because they are more clever and work harder than those who are not. They dismiss any idea that luck had anything to do with it, especially the luck that resulted in them being born into a family that, even if not overly wealthy, yet belong to a race, ethnicity, and nationality that automatically put them into the top brackets of income and wealth in the world.
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Great moments in punditry

Clinton partisans among the Democrats are providing their own overheated rhetoric as they seek revenge for what they see as an election victory that was stolen from them by Russians. Paul Begala is a top Democratic insider and close confidante of the Clinton family who served as counselor to Bill Clinton when he was president. He is now a commentator on CNN. On Anderson Cooper’s show, he actually suggested that Donald Trump should “blow up” Russia’s KGB, GSU, or GRU (the intelligence services of that country) because “we were and are under attack by a hostile foreign power” and “should be retaliating massively”.
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Trump and his lawyer make a perfect couple

We are truly plumbing the depths of politics these days, with Donald Trump and members of his family and his administration making bizarre statements. We know that Trump rages against anyone who has the temerity to challenge him or his grandiose claims. But in politics, like attracts like. Take this story about how Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, his lawyer mind you, the person who should be practicing restraint in his speech, responded to a critical email he received from a total stranger.
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Torture victim secretly won case against UAE in 2013

Thanks to leaks of US State Department cables given to The Intercept, we are now aware of a $10 million settlement agreed upon in 2013 paid to a US citizen Khaled Hassen by the UAE. The UAE had fought to keep secret the fact that people at the highest levels of that country, which is a loyal puppet of the US and Saudi Arabia, including members of their royal family had acknowledged being involved in torture.
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Why are these books worth so much?

I have written before of my puzzlement at the huge advances paid by publishers for books by politicians and celebrities because I could not see how these books could possibly be interesting enough to recoup in sales what the publishers seemed to expect. At least when it comes to politicians, there is a ready-made market of their own political parties and partisan groups that may buy these books in bulk as gifts to be given out to loyalists. And when it comes to celebrities in the arts and sports worlds, there does seem to be a fascination with what they are ‘really’ like, an appeal that completely eludes me.
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Another exciting episode of ‘Adventures With Ordinary People’ by David Brooks

In a recent column, David Brooks of the New York Times describes the structural barriers that have been created that separate the rich from the rest of us and prevent the poor from making progress. He starts out reasonably enough.

Upper-middle-class parents have the means to spend two to three times more time with their preschool children than less affluent parents. Since 1996, education expenditures among the affluent have increased by almost 300 percent, while education spending among every other group is basically flat.
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The most important is residential zoning restrictions. Well-educated people tend to live in places like Portland, New York and San Francisco that have housing and construction rules that keep the poor and less educated away from places with good schools and good job opportunities.

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