July 12, 2024 ❧ Furries vs. fascism, Eric Adams' $1m trash can, and private equity may be a bubble

Plus: New York may be competitive in 2024, Trump may have a "secretary of retribution," new reporting on Gaza, and incredible swimming lions! 

“I opened the window to listen to the news, but all I heard was the establishment’s blues”

STORY THAT SHOULD BE BIGGER

A Bloomberg economist says the private equity “bubble” may burst soon

Here at Current Affairs, we’ve written a lot about private equity. It’s the sector of the economy where gigantic firms like Blackstone, the Carlyle Group, or Bain Capital buy up companies, slash their workforces to the bare minimum and load their ledgers with debt, and then take the profits and run, often driving the companies into bankruptcy. (Aaron Wistar’s Current Affairs article on this subject from last year is worth a read.) Now, a prominent economist warns in Bloomberg that “the industry is due for a reckoning.”

As Allison Schrager writes, the core problem is that private equity firms and hedge funds have been “flooded with money” all at once. This is a common feature in economic bubbles, in which the on-paper value of a market climbs far higher than what the underlying assets are actually worth. As Schrager points out, “the value of North American private equity assets under management was estimated to be $3.5 trillion” last year, “more than 10 times what it was two decades earlier.” But it seems highly unlikely that the actual companies and institutions private equity firms buy and sell increased tenfold in value during that time. (Although it’s hard to know for sure, since the private equity industry is notoriously secretive and non-transparent, which is a problem in itself since it allows all kinds of risky and unethical behavior to go on undetected.) 

Schrager claims the sector has become a “bubble” that could pop at any time, much like the one around subprime mortgages did in 2008. That would have catastrophic results for the economy—and for ordinary people’s lives, especially since private equity firms are now heavily involved with pension and retirement funds. 

Graph: Bloomberg

Notably, Schrager is a senior fellow at the right-leaning Manhattan Institute, and Bloomberg is a financial news service, so this isn’t even a socialist take. But as Noam Chomsky always points out, you can learn a lot from the business press, which tends to be “less constrained by external power and external influences” since it’s intended for capitalists and not the general public. If even Bloomberg is ringing the alarm bells, it could well be that trouble’s ahead. 

Private equity executives that cause economy destroying speculative bubbles should be forced to wear these as punishment. (From Issue 40 of Current Affairs Magazine, Jan./Feb. 2023)

PRE-ORDER THE BOOK!

Speaking of Chomsky, his upcoming book The Myth of American Idealism—co-written with Current Affairs editor-in-chief Nathan J. Robinson—was just named one of Literary Hub’s “Most Anticipated Books of 2024.” Have you pre-ordered your copy yet? What about a backup copy in case the first one gets damp at the pool? You can’t be too careful about these things. 

FIGHTING BACK

"Gay Furry Hackers" vs. Project 2025

Project 2025, the nearly 900-page document from the Heritage Foundation which outlines an authoritarian vision for a second Trump administration, has finally been getting a lot of buzz this week. Emily Galvin-Almanza, a public defender and the founder of the legal advocacy group Partners for Justice, has a terrific thread on Twitter breaking it down section by section with page numbers, which we highly recommend reading. 

The document lays out a full-frontal assault on the rights of gay and transgender people, proposing to erase any mention of the terms “sexual orientation” or “gender identity” from federal legislation and requiring the federal government to formally recognize sex as something assigned at birth and unchanging. It supports removing anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ people. It says that purveyors of pornography “should be imprisoned,” specifically singling out librarians. (In practice, “pornography” tends to mean any book that contains a gay character or mentions sex.) Project 2025 also includes detailed plans to surveil and prosecute women who get abortions, ban abortion pills, and make it much harder to obtain contraception.

With a rambling and incoherent Joe Biden as our only bulwark against the imposition of Christian authoritarianism, it has begun to feel as if all hope is lost. But the left still has one powerful weapon in its corner: furries.

On Tuesday, per Rolling Stone, a group of self-described “gay furry hackers” known as SiegedSec announced that they were releasing two terabytes worth of data that they’d stolen from Heritage Foundation servers, including “full names, email addresses, passwords, and usernames” of those connected to its affiliated news website the Daily Signal. In response to the growing scrutiny on Project 2025, the furries say they launched this cyberattack in an effort to increase “transparency to the public regarding who exactly is supporting” Heritage, which is known to receive loads of dark money.

The last line of defense against fascism. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

These furries are experienced political “hacktivists,” having previously infiltrated the transphobic far-right outlet Real America’s Voice and government agencies in states that have instituted anti-trans laws. They’ve even managed to hack NATO systems and a U.S. nuclear lab, which they demanded begin research into “creating IRL catgirls.”

But they seem to have struck a nerve with Heritage. After the hack was announced, former Trump Homeland Security official Mike Howell, who is now the Executive Director of the Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project contacted them. Chatlogs authenticated by the Daily Dot show him going on an unhinged tirade at one of the furries named "vio."

[CONTENT WARNING: This gets gross.]

Howell wrote: 

“We are in the process of identifying and outing [sic] members of your group…Reputations and lives will be destroyed. Closeted Furries will be presented to the world for the degenerate perverts they are.”

He began making graphic threats to personally have the furries arrested and sexually violated when the Trump administration takes power: 

Yes, the furry is definitely the “degenerate” in this conversation… for sure, man. 

(Chat logs authenticated by the Daily Dot)

Following this latest bit of attention, SiegeSec says that it is disbanding, which Howell described as a “COMPLETE AND TOTAL VICTORY.” But it seems like the furries accomplished their goal: They wanted to expose “who exactly is supporting” Heritage, and… boy did they ever! It turns out one of the people in charge is a sociopath with violent fantasies about punishing those he considers “degenerate.” And is there any better representation of Project 2025 than that?

CROOKS vs. SICKOS (Or, “What’s going on with our politicians and oligarchs?”)

❧ Donald Trump now has a self-appointed “secretary of retribution” on his side. Seems bad! According to a new report in Raw Story, one of Trump’s most loyal supporters is a man named Ivan Raiklin, a former lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve who’s given himself the “secretary of retribution” label. As investigative reporter Jordan Green writes, Raiklin has been promising to assemble a team of right-wing sheriffs to conduct what he calls “live-streamed swatting raids” against Trump’s political enemies, and has compiled a “Deep State target list” with 350 names on it. 

The targets reportedly include “numerous Democratic and Republican elected officials; FBI and intelligence officials; members of the House Select January 6 Committee; U.S. Capitol Police officers and civilian employees; witnesses in Trump’s two impeachment trials and the Jan. 6 committee hearings; and journalists from publications ranging from CNN and the Washington Post to Reuters and Raw Story” itself. This week, Representative Jamie Raskin (D-MD) has been sounding the alarm about Raiklin and his plans, calling them “deadly serious.” That’s putting it mildly.

Historically, it’s never a good sign when ex-military members start forming right-wing vigilante groups. And Raiklin isn’t just a random crank; he’s a known associate of Michael Flynn, Trump’s former national security advisor, who Trump has promised to “bring back” if he wins this November. It’s not inconceivable that Raiklin could get some kind of government post too, if that happens. This whole thing needs to be nipped in the bud before it becomes a major threat. 

Raiklin during a 2023 interview with Tucker Carlson. He seems like the kind of guy who keeps an enemies list. (Image: Fox News via YouTube)

❧ Joe Biden is polling so poorly right now that even New York may be a battleground state. A Republican has not carried the state since Ronald Reagan’s 49-state landslide in 1984, and it’s been a double-digit blue stronghold since the Clinton era. But according to a Politico piece on Wednesday, “public polls over the last four months found Biden’s lead had winnowed to just eight points across New York — an unusually narrow gap in a state where Democrats outnumber Republicans 2 to 1.” The president carried New York easily in 2020, winning it by 23 points. But now, Biden may actually have to spend time campaigning there to be sure he locks up those 29 crucial electoral votes.

Democrats have been bungling their hold on power in the Empire State for the last decade-and-change through acts of baffling self-sabotage under the Cuomo administration. Most recently, the Democratic state legislature—presented with the opportunity to redraw congressional districts in such a way that it could have single-handedly flipped the U.S. House blue—instead inexplicably approved maps that gave Republicans an additional seat. Losses in New York swing districts are perhaps the single biggest reason why the Republicans have a narrow House majority, and now it could help them win the presidency as well.

It looks like Biden will also have to spend valuable time and resources trying to sure up the state. As Politico points out, New York has the nation’s most expensive media market, and every dollar spent there is another dollar not spent in the six swing states where Biden needs to remain competitive if he hopes to win. The bottom line is that it never should have gotten to this point, but Biden’s incompetence is the reason that it has. There is no answer here other than for him to step aside. 

If you feel like your lead is not safe in this state, then it’s safe to say you’ve already lost. 

(Chart: Electoral History of New York, 270toWin)

In other news…

• Yesterday, Biden introduced Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to a press conference as “President Putin.” In a separate incident, he also described Kamala Harris as “Vice President Trump,” which definitely doesn’t help his case. (Wall Street Journal)
  
  
• A group of Democratic “Superfriends,” potentially including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, President Pro Tempore Patty Murray, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC) is reportedly planning to meet with Biden and try to convince him to bow out of the race. Let’s hope he remembers who they are. (The Daily Beast)

CURRENT-EST AFFAIRS

In a new interview, Cenk Uygur of the Young Turks predicts that “Biden Will Not Be the Nominee”:

• In the New Republic, Indigo Oliver makes the case for United Auto Workers leader Shawn Fain to run for president in Biden’s place.

• South Dakota’s Governor Kristi Noem appears to have deleted her official Facebook and Twitter accounts, after being dogged by controversy all year. (Sioux Falls Live)
  
  
• In a discussion with Briahna Joy Gray, Arab American Institute President James Zogby makes the case for why the Democrats should have an open convention. (Bad Faith Podcast)
  
  
• Can you be exonerated if you were convicted based on junk science? The Supreme Court recently declined to rule on a 1985 case in which a man was convicted of murder based on spurious “bite mark” analysis. This is just one of several bogus forms of forensic "evidence" that have resulted in criminal convictions. (The Intercept)
  
  
• Democrats helped Republicans pass two anti-trans amendments to the latest military spending bill. (Erin Reed)
  
  
• Around the country, state-level and national Republicans are introducing measures to roll back no-fault divorce. (Vox)
  
  
• Teamsters president Sean O’Brien has agreed to speak at the Republican National Convention, a move some of his fellow trade unionists are describing as “unconscionable.” (The Guardian) 

AROUND THE STATES

❧ New York City’s Mayor Eric Adams paid $1 million for a trash can. Or rather, his administration paid roughly $1.6 million to the notorious consulting company McKinsey, who helped Adams plan what he calls “our Trash Revolution.” Apparently, the “Trash Revolution” consists of the groundbreaking idea that you should put trash in a bin, rather than just plopping plastic bags directly onto the street. Starting on November 12, any New York residential building with 1 to 9 living units will be required to buy the “Official NYC Bin” from a website called bins.nyc. The “Official NYC Bin” looks like this:

Ah, yes. Millions of dollars well spent. (Image: BinsNYC.com)

It’s basically just a normal trash can, like the ones you can buy at Walmart any day of the week; the only difference is that it’s slightly cheaper, and has a slot at the front so it can be tipped into a rear-loading garbage truck. But Adams hyped it up like it was genuinely revolutionary, holding an entire press conference to unveil his McKinsey-approved waste receptacle. He strutted proudly down the driveway of his mayoral mansion, wheeling his Official NYC Bin along, and even demonstrated how to use it, like it was the first time he or the audience had seen such a thing. The whole time, Jay-Z’s “Empire State of Mind” played bombastically in the background like Adams’ personal theme music. The footage really has to be seen to be fully appreciated:

Around the world, people were not impressed. For the Guardian, Arwa Mahdawi is politely scathing: 

Did the city really need to spend millions of dollars so that a bunch of highly paid management consultants could make a PowerPoint presentation saying “you might think about putting your loose rubbish in a bin”?

It’s especially annoying when you consider that Adams’ government recently tried to slash funding for public libraries, a move that was only reversed after months of pushback. Apparently, nearly two years of research on trash cans was more important. What a joke. 

Other countries are COOKING us in the YouTube comments.

In other news...

• For New Orleans Public Radio, Drew Haskins argues that giving heat waves personal names like hurricanes might encourage more people to treat them as a serious danger. (WWNO)
  
  
• In case the danger from rising temperatures themselves weren’t enough, “extreme heat” events also make it a lot harder for medical emergency helicopters to fly. (Washington Post)

• Cops in Tennessee have been giving perfectly sober people DUIs—including one man who failed a “field sobriety test” because he’d had two hip replacements and couldn’t stand on one foot. (WZTV Nashville)

POEM OF THE WEEK

“Against the Police” by Miguel James

My entire Oeuvre is against the police

If I write a Love poem it’s against the police

And if I sing the nakedness of bodies I sing against the police

And if I make this Earth a metaphor I make a metaphor against the police

If I speak wildly in my poems I speak against the police

And if I manage to create a poem it’s against the police

I haven’t written a single word, a verse, a stanza that isn’t against the police.

Read the Full Poem at Typo Mag

• Massachusetts voters will get some interesting ballot measures this November, including on whether psychedelic mushrooms should be legalized and whether rideshare drivers can form unions. (For the record, we’re in favor of both!) (Boston Globe)

Arresting people for possessing these has always been kind of ludicrous, when you think about it. (Image: Wikimedia Commons)

• It’s already a bad year for infectious diseases, as 2,500 people in the U.S. have caught dengue fever—five times more than last year. (Mosquitos, it turns out, love the hotter environments caused by climate change.) There’s also a human case of bubonic plague in Colorado! (ABC)
  
  
• After a pro-Israel Twitter account complained about a flight attendant with a Palestinian flag pin (which they called a “Hamas badge”) the official account for Delta Airlines wrote that they found the pin “terrifying” and threatened disciplinary actions. The airline also threatened to remove a passenger if he did not take off his “Jews Say Ceasefire Now” t-shirt. (The Guardian)
  
  
• Two astronauts are stuck aboard the International Space Station and might not return until August because the Boeing Starliner meant to take them home is malfunctioning. (The Independent)

AROUND THE WORLD

⚜ LONG READS: We have a series of horrifying and groundbreaking pieces for you to read about Israel’s ongoing destruction of Gaza, which is now in its ninth month: 

• In May, Israel began its ground invasion into the city of Rafah, where more than a million Palestinians were sheltering. Two months later, the last remaining “safe area” in the Gaza Strip has been reduced to rubble. This past week, Israel allowed foreign journalists to enter the area for the first time, and the scenes they documented were nothing short of apocalyptic. For the Associated Press, Ohad Zwigenberg writes: 

Two months ago, before Israeli troops invaded Rafah, the city sheltered most of Gaza’s more than 2 million people. Today it is a dust-covered ghost town.

Abandoned, bullet-ridden apartment buildings have blasted out walls and shattered windows. Bedrooms and kitchens are visible from roads dotted with rubble piles that tower over the Israeli military vehicles passing by. Very few civilians remain.

• Injuries to children have been made worse by Israeli-created “fragmentation” weapons that Amnesty International and other weapons experts say are designed to maximize casualties. The Guardian reports:

The doctors say many of the deaths, amputations and life changing wounds to children they have treated came from the firing of missiles and shells – in areas crowded with civilians – packed with additional metal designed to fragment into tiny pieces of shrapnel.

Volunteer doctors at two Gaza hospitals said that a majority of their operations were on children hit by small pieces of shrapnel that leave barely discernible entry wounds but create extensive destruction inside the body.

• +972 Magazine, last week, published an extensive investigation detailing how Israeli soldiers were authorized routinely fire at will upon unarmed civilians who enter “no-go zones”: 

The six sources — all except one of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity — recounted how Israeli soldiers routinely executed Palestinian civilians simply because they entered an area that the military defined as a “no-go zone.” The testimonies paint a picture of a landscape littered with civilian corpses, which are left to rot or be eaten by stray animals; the army only hides them from view ahead of the arrival of international aid convoys, so that “images of people in advanced stages of decay don’t come out.” Two of the soldiers also testified to a systematic policy of setting Palestinian homes on fire after occupying them.

• Newly independent journalist Jeremy Scahill, formely of the Intercept, conducted a series of interviews with the leaders of Hamas for his new outlet Drop Site News in an effort to better understand the militant group’s motivations and sense of the conflict:

From Hamas’s perspective, was Operation Al Aqsa Flood a successful operation? Hamas undoubtedly knew that Israeli retaliation would include the killing of many Palestinian civilians, even if the horrific scale of Israel’s assault was unforeseen. Was October 7, then, a collective martyrdom operation launched without the consent of 2.3 million Palestinians? And, for the many people who proclaim their support for the Palestinian cause but reflexively condemn the violence of the October 7 attacks, how can they realistically separate the two? [...]

Some people will inevitably criticize the choice to interview and publish Hamas officials’ answers to these questions as propaganda. I believe it is essential that the public understand the perspectives of the individuals and groups who initiated the attack that spurred Israel’s genocidal war—an argument that is seldom permitted outside of simple soundbytes.

In other news…

• The U.S. will start deploying long-range missiles to Germany in 2026, and Russia has promised a “military response.” So things are going great there. (New York Times)
  
  
• The three military regimes that have taken power in Niger, Burkina Faso, and Mali have left West Africa’s ECOWAS security alliance and formed their own. International relations researcher Dan M. Ford says that the formation of this new bloc signifies “how far these three countries have drifted from the West.” (Responsible Statecraft)
  
  
• In a disappointing step backward for one of those countries, Burkina Faso’s military government has criminalized “homosexuality and related practices.” (Africa News)
  
  
• One of France’s largest labor unions has called for protests at the Paris Olympics if President Macron refuses to allow the left, which won a plurality of seats in last week’s elections, to form a government. They said they haven’t ruled out strikes either. (Associated Press)
  
  
• It’s not just the U.S., Canada exports lots of weapons to dictators and human rights violators too. (Jacobin)
  
  
• Russia’s Wagner Group mercenaries are taking over the diamond and gold trade in the Central African Republic. (Al Jazeera)
  
  
• Fossil fuel companies are trying to convince people that offshore wind farms harm whales. They do not. (Sydney Morning Herald)
  
  
• A man was caught sneaking into China with more than 100 live snakes in his pants. Sometimes that’s just the way it goes. (BBC)

BIG CAT FACT OF THE WEEK

“Africa's most resilient lions” just swam across a 1.5km river!

Named Jacob and Tibu, the lions are brothers, and they’ve been through a lot in the last few years. In particular, the Guardian reports that Jacob has lost a leg to a poacher’s trap, been gored by a buffalo horn, and seen other lions in his family “poisoned for [the] lion body part trade”—something that’s unfortunately a persistent problem in Uganda, where the brothers live. 

Despite all this, the two lions made a daring attempt to cross the Kazinga Channel in hopes of finding mates (and safer conditions in general) on the other side. They made two failed attempts—but succeeded, incredibly, on the third. 

According to Australian scientists who’ve been tracking Jacob and Tibu, this is the longest swim on record by any lions—and through crocodile-filled waters, too. It’s a testament to these big cats’ indomitable spirit. But it’s also a reminder that we humans need to be giving animals a better environment to live in, free from the threat of death at our hands, so they don’t have to do this kind of thing at all.