Covering $300 billion of Non-FDIC-insured deposits at the failed Signature Bank and Silicon Valley Bank was an easy decision for the leaders of a capitalist system that prioritizes profits over people.
Ted Rall’s Latest Books:
Magnificent Anti-American Jihadis
Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank and other distressed banks have been done in by rapid increases in interest rates by the Federal Reserve Bank. These commercial banks had long positions in Treasury obligations that lost value as interest rates went up. With monetary friends like these…
It’s a Very Confusing Life
In the classic film “It’s a Wonderful Life,” actor Jimmy Stewart plays a banker who explains why he doesn’t have the money to fulfill the demand during a bank run. Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank collapsed in a different era, one of confusion.
Will You Be the Next Issue Awareness Martyr?
The train derailment in Ohio is the latest example of a situation where the danger was known all along, but nothing was done about it because no one had died yet, or at least the right people hadn’t died yet.
We Still Identify As a Democracy
The Biden Administration has decided to continue the Trump Administration’s policy of requiring transgender women who were assigned at birth as male to register under the Selective Service System for military service.
Kojak, Jr.
Between facial recognition software, drones, police databases, cellphone data, license plate, scanners, and remote control vehicles, it has never been easier, or more boring, to be a police detective.
Validation Culture
In cancel culture, people who do something offensive find themselves out of work. Shouldn’t it work the other way around too? Why not reward incompetent people with great jobs if it turns out that they are nice outside of work? Or are we just a bunch of negative people?
Don’t Worry, There’s a Winner
The Russo-Ukrainian war entered its second year amid expert predictions that nothing much will change on the battlefield except that more people will be killed and more things will be destroyed.
That’s What Cancel Culture Is
Controversy that followed race-baiting by cartoonist Scott Adams that led to the cancellation of the iconic comic strip “Dilbert” included numerous people denying the meaning of words and terms involved. Those who were angry and wanted action against him. But they didn’t want to be seen as taking action.
We Have Seen the Future, and It Is Stupid
Open AI’s ChatGPT has captured the imagination of the American public with the prospect that artificial intelligence has finally arrived at the high level promised by science fiction. But many tests find that the product is more inferior than one might expect.
“The Stringer”
graphic novel
by Ted Rall & Pablo G. Callejo
“Political Suicide: The Fight for the Soul of the Democratic Party”
by Ted Rall
“Bernie (Revised 2020 Edition)”
by Ted Rall
DMZ America Podcast #94 (Audio or Video): Is TikTok a Threat? France is Burning! The Non-Arrest of Donald J. Trump
•
Editorial cartoonists Ted Rall (Left) and Scott Stantis (Right) debate breaking news across the nation on a busy week. Congress grilled the CEO of the Chinese-owned social-media app TikTok, reminding Ted of the PMRC hearings of the 1980s, another moment when Congress worked hard to appear anti-fun and out of touch. Scott calls China a “threat”; Ted prefers to see them as a “challenge.” What do we have to fear from TikTok, other than becoming even stupider? France is burning in the wake of President Emmanuel Macron’s sop to the neo-liberal class: raising the national retirement age from 62 to 64. Scott asks Ted, a French citizen, why younger Frenchmen are demonstrating in solidarity with older people they have to support in old age? Ted addresses the fact that pension reform might have been greeted differently from a different, more populist president. Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg didn’t file charges against Donald Trump last week, but next week might be different.…
Read MoreDemocrats and Republicans Agree: Better to Lose Than to Shut Up
•
“When you surround an army,” Sun Tzu counseled in The Art of War, “leave an outlet free. Do not press a desperate foe too hard.” Partisans on both sides of America’s everything-looks-like-a-hammer politics have forgotten this basic tenet of strategy—and are likely to pay for it. Donald Trump announced that he expects to be arrested in New York and indicted in connection with charges that media reports say are about to be filed by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. Democrats greeted the news with characteristic gloating. “[Trump] cannot hide from his violations of the law, disrespect for our elections and incitements to violence,” tweeted former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The New York charges concern the allegation that he misappropriated campaign funds in order to pay hush money to Stormy Daniels, who says she had sex with the former president. They have nothing to do with denying the result of the 2000 election or the January 6th Capitol riot.…
Read MoreDMZ America Podcast #93: Trump Says He’s About to Be Arrested
•
Former President Donald Trump announced that he expects to be arrested this Tuesday by the Manhattan district attorney in connection with charges related to misappropriation of campaign funds to pay hush money to porn star stormy Daniels, who alleges that she had an affair with him. In this special edition of the DMZ America podcast in which left-leaning editorial cartoonist Ted Rall debates politics with right-leaning editorial cartoonist Scott Stantis, they go over the social, legal and political implications of what appears to be an imminent indictment, the first of its kind against a former President of the United States. Is political violence inevitable? Will there be an uprising near the New York courthouse similar to January 6? Will Trump-weary republicans close ranks behind the former president? Does this hurt him or help him in his election campaign for 2024? Spoiler alert: Democrats should be careful what they have long wished for. You can also watch the Video…
Read MoreWar for Taiwan? It Would Be Our Craziest War Ever
•
America and the West have begun promoting the idea of a war against China over Taiwan. If China invades Taiwan, President Biden has said, the U.S. would go further than it has in Ukraine, sending American ground troops as well as weapons. 37% of American voters agree with Biden. But how do you go to war to defend a country from invading itself? According to the U.S., the U.N. and most of the world—including Taiwan itself—Taiwan is part of China. Can the U.S. invade Ohio? Like many other nations places, Taiwan is in a tough spot caused by decisions made by U.S. policymakers many years ago. Until 1945 Taiwan was a Japanese colony. The birth certificate of my former father-in-law, an ethnic Taiwanese, read “Taipei, Japan.” The end of World War II brought a breather. Occupation forces withdrew. The Taiwanese expected independence as part of postwar decolonization. But America had other plans. Across the Taiwan Strait,…
Read MoreDMZ America Podcast #92 (plus Video Version): Are SVB and Signature Bank Just the Beginning? When Did the GOP Become the Peace Party? Things Seem Unreal Since Reality is Now Subjective
•
Internationally-syndicated cartoonists Ted Rall (from the Left) and Scott Stantis (from the Right) discuss the week’s pressing issues. In Segment One they break down the banking crisis, weighing the causes of the Silicon Valley Bank and Signature failures and what the repercussions may be. (Ted also congratulates Scott on his warnings that the Federal Reserve Board was pushing its anti-inflation rate increases far too hard, with the bank failures being the early results of those policies.) Next, Scott and Ted get you up-to-date on the most recent events in Ukraine. Which raises the question: will Ted join the Republican Party because of its ever growing antiwar stance on the Russia-Ukrainian conflict? Lastly, the boys discuss the growing notion that reality is subjective since we all seem to subscribe to our own version of what is real. A far-reaching and incredibly interesting DMZ America Podcast. If you liked the Audio version above, you may also enjoy the Video…
Read More