Dov Ber
LightNews LightNews
dovber.bsky.social
Dov Ber
@dovber.bsky.social
95 followers 250 following 42 posts
Schlemiel-in-Chief at Luftmensch & Co.
Posts Replies Media Videos
dovber.bsky.social
Trump "fulminates against Maduro" for "drug trafficking" but "openly backs the Honduran political party that has allowed massive drug smuggling into the U.S. Why?" Krugman's "Trump: Pro-crypto or Pro-crime?" illuminates the shadowy reason w amazing clarity.
December 1, 2025 at 10:18 PM
Reposted by Dov Ber
abenewman.bsky.social
People scratching their heads about Thiel and Greenland but that is because stuck in an old model of international politics. This is neoroyalism rather than westphalia.
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
November 24, 2025 at 1:23 AM
Reposted by Dov Ber
abenewman.bsky.social
6/Neo-royalism asks what happens to international politics when small groups of hyper elites (royalist cliques) become the central actor in world politics rather than the state. In short, tribute/extraction and exceptionalism replace rules and sovereign equality. Its all about the squeeze.
November 18, 2025 at 2:12 PM
Reposted by Dov Ber
abenewman.bsky.social
5/Its easy (or difficult to swallow) this as corruption/crony capitalism. But in a new paper w/ @segoddard.bsky.social in IO, we argue these interactions suggest something much more fundamental -- a shift in the international order which we call neo-royalism.
www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/mxthh...
www.dropbox.com
November 18, 2025 at 2:05 PM
Reposted by Dov Ber
abenewman.bsky.social
1/This week has seen a blitz of what looks like corruption sandals: Saudi development deals for US military tech, Pakistani payments to Trump insiders for tariff relief, Swiss gold bars for a trade deal. Far from a payoff, this is a reordering of internat'l system.
www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/mxthh...
www.dropbox.com
November 18, 2025 at 1:59 PM
Reposted by Dov Ber
rabbijilljacobs.bsky.social
My thoughts on why the ADL's political shift hurts Jews in the Jerusalem Post today.

www.jpost.com/opinion/arti...
ADL’s ‘Zohran Mamdani Monitor’ marks a troubling shift | The Jerusalem Post
Today’s ADL has abdicated this responsibility, and the Jewish community will suffer the consequences.
www.jpost.com
November 17, 2025 at 5:45 PM
Reposted by Dov Ber
thomaszimmer.bsky.social
What is really going on in this society that elected Donald Trump president a second time?
 
I wrote about three stubborn myths about Trump’s support – and why America has experienced a de-alignment rather than a rightward realignment.
 
My new piece for @zeit.de – and some thoughts in English:
Unterstützung von Donald Trump: Die Irrtümer über Donald Trumps Rückhalt
Rechtsruck, multiethnische Koalition, Held einfacher Leute: Trump gilt als fest verankert. Doch diese Überzeugung beruht auf drei großen Missverständnissen.
www.zeit.de
November 17, 2025 at 2:46 PM
Reposted by Dov Ber
jamellebouie.net
i want to repeat this: mamdani and spanberger have run similar campaigns tailored to their respective electorates and it is maddening to watch political journalists attempt to create some broad contrast where none exist
jamellebouie.net jamelle @jamellebouie.net · Nov 4
the other thing about this is that there is no reason to pit these candidates against each other? each are good fits for their respective electorates and each shows the value of vigorous campaigns focused on the stated material problems of voters.
November 4, 2025 at 1:37 PM
dovber.bsky.social
"[Ezra Klein seems to Henry] RECOGNIZABLY right...The fundamental message of Ezra’s piece is not that the Democratic party needs to become a moderate party. It is that it needs to become a party that is welcoming to moderates, as to others who don’t completely share its beliefs, if it is to succeed"
November 4, 2025 at 1:17 AM
Reposted by Dov Ber
michellegoldberg.bsky.social
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/03/o...
November 4, 2025 at 12:41 AM
Reposted by Dov Ber
cwarzel.bsky.social
so @matteowong.bsky.social & I wrote on data centers: arguably the most important buildings in the world & are, in a way, holding the economy hostage. Byzantine financial instruments, private equity, depreciating tech, hype, $trillion valuations. it’s all there. an ai crash prob starts here.
Here’s How the AI Crash Happens
The U.S. is becoming an Nvidia-state.
www.theatlantic.com
October 30, 2025 at 10:25 PM
dovber.bsky.social
Interest rates? Ha! Unlimited loans to friends or self AND 'Trump could designate [opponents as] “domestic terrorist threat” &direct Fed to cut off any bank that does business with them..unable to pay employees, manage endowment, or receive funding..get a mortgage from a bank, or pay their bills.'
theatlantic.com The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · Sep 22
Most Fed experts “have never contemplated what could happen if an institution with so much unchecked power came under the control of one man,” Rogé Karma writes. “Perhaps it’s time to start imagining.”
Taking Over the Fed Could Give Trump Unimaginable Power
If Donald Trump takes over the central bank, he will have extraordinary power to reward his friends and destroy his enemies.
bit.ly
September 22, 2025 at 2:46 PM
Reposted by Dov Ber
normative.bsky.social
Reporters, I beg you, please stop using headlines with the form “Trump does X” when X is something the president clearly lacks any legal authority to do.
lewisgoodall.com Lewis Goodall @lewisgoodall.com · Sep 4
NEW: Donald Trump to rename the Department of Defense the “Department of War”

“Restoring the name Dept of War will sharpen the focus of the Dept on our national interest and signal to adversaries America’s readiness to wage war to defend its interests.”
September 4, 2025 at 11:00 PM
Reposted by Dov Ber
yair-rosenberg.bsky.social
Prominent far-right influencers have been attempting to rehabilitate Hitler's reputation. That's not an exaggeration; it's easily documented. I wrote about why they are doing this, what they hope to gain, and what it means for America.
The MAGA Influencers Rehabilitating Hitler
A growing constituency on the right wants America to unlearn the lessons of World War II.
www.theatlantic.com
September 3, 2025 at 5:47 PM
Reposted by Dov Ber
brianklaas.bsky.social
Early reports of a school shooting this morning at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis (I was baptized at the church there). As always: it's the guns. The US is the only country in the world that politically tolerates and legally ensures the routine mass slaughter of its own citizens.
It's the Guns.
America is the only rich democracy that features the routine mass slaughter of its citizens with guns. Why does this happen? The data show a really clear picture: It's the guns. Yes, it's that simple.
www.forkingpaths.co
August 27, 2025 at 2:37 PM
Reposted by Dov Ber
brendannyhan.bsky.social
"many ... wrongly believe there would be one clear unambiguous moment where we go from 'democracy' to 'authoritarianism.' Instead, this is exactly how it happens — a blurring here, a norm destroyed there, a presidential diktat unchallenged. Then you wake up one morning and our country is different."
vermontgmg.bsky.social Garrett M. Graff @vermontgmg.bsky.social · Aug 25
The precise moment when and where in recent weeks America crossed that invisible line from democracy into authoritarianism can and will be debated by future historians, but it’s clear that the line itself has been crossed. www.doomsdayscenario.co/p/america-ti...
America Tips Into Fascism
Today is different than before.
www.doomsdayscenario.co
August 25, 2025 at 4:36 PM
Reposted by Dov Ber
billkristolbulwark.bsky.social
There’s no longer any pretense this has anything to do with crime (there are cities or parts of cities in SC and Ohio that have higher crime rates than DC — send the troops there!). This is about establishing a precedent for Trump seizing control of the nation’s capital when he wants to.
phillewis.bsky.social Phil Lewis @phillewis.bsky.social · Aug 17
WASHINGTON (AP) — South Carolina, Ohio also sending National Guard troops to DC in further escalation of federal intervention in Dem city.
August 17, 2025 at 1:15 AM
Reposted by Dov Ber
stelhami.bsky.social
"For all its sins, however, the Afrikaaner government was never accused of fomenting a genocide. Israel’s government now risks being lumped together with Rwanda’s Hutu regime, Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge, Mao’s China and, yes, Nazi Germany." @dandrezner.bsky.social
www.politico.com/news/magazin...
Opinion | Americans Are Changing Their Views of Israel. That’s a Problem.
Eventually Israel could find it has a lot in common with apartheid-era South Africa.
www.politico.com
August 16, 2025 at 9:11 PM
Reposted by Dov Ber
bgrueskin.bsky.social
So assuming this story is correct -- and the WSJ reporter is excellent -- Trump's chief negotiator on Ukraine is meeting with Putin about how to end the war while also scouting sites for a possible Trump hotel in Moscow.

www.wsj.com/world/russia...
August 12, 2025 at 7:02 PM
Reposted by Dov Ber
yair-rosenberg.bsky.social
Most Israelis oppose annexing or resettling Gaza. But that may not matter, because Netanyahu is not accountable to most Israelis, but rather to the hard-right factions who keep him in power. www.theatlantic.com/internationa...
The Israeli security establishment opposes this land grab. So do most Israelis, surveys have found for years. That dissent spilled into view last week when thousands of settler activists toured the Israeli border region near Gaza. “I hear these things and I’m horrified,” a soldier tasked with protecting the group told a reporter. “It’s revolting, because I know that my friends and younger brother are the ones who will guard those settlements.” Referring to one of the activists, he added: “My greatest fear is that your vision will come true, and that keeps me up whole nights. I don’t want my friends to sacrifice their lives for a goal that sanctifies the death of innocent people.” But popular opinion may not matter, because Netanyahu is not responsive to popular opinion. The prime minister’s coalition received just 48.4 percent of the vote in Israel’s most recent election, and only came to power thanks to support from far-right anti-Arab parties. Without them, Netanyahu’s government would collapse, and he would have to hold elections that polls show he would lose. In other words, the Israeli leader is beholden precisely to those who aim to annex Gaza and the occupied West Bank. The Biden administration worked to combat this influence, but President Donald Trump has not only relieved that pressure—he has joined the other side, calling for Gazans to be relocated to make way for a “Riviera in the Middle East.” The result: The obstacles to the far right’s blueprint for conquest and ethnic cleansing have been removed, and its agenda has effectively become Netanyahu’s policy.
August 7, 2025 at 3:50 PM
Reposted by Dov Ber
kimlanelaw.bsky.social
Perhaps the tide is finally turning inside Israel?
August 3, 2025 at 11:22 PM
Reposted by Dov Ber
annagbusse.bsky.social
Communist regimes insisted on a "propaganda of success," with the media daily and breathlessly reporting ever-higher quotas being met by the heroic workers and massive economic growth. Stalin sent the (few) authors of unfavorable economic reports to the gulag.

This of course is very different.
August 1, 2025 at 9:17 PM
Reposted by Dov Ber
akbarshahidahmed.huffpost.com
NEW— "A lot of children have passed the point of no return...The gut lining has started to auto-digest & will no longer [absorb] water or nutrition. Death is imminent for 1000s"

An American doctor who just returned from Gaza on where US-Israeli policy is taking us:
www.huffpost.com/entry/gaza-s...
‘Past The Point Of No Return’: Doctor Describes How Starvation In Gaza Is Driving Mass Death
"In August and September, there are probably still going to be ... large numbers of deaths because children have already passed the tipping point," Mark Brauner, who volunteered in Gaza last month, to...
www.huffpost.com
July 28, 2025 at 5:01 PM
dovber.bsky.social
Ambitious, profound essay (ok, substack post) by John Ganz @lioneltrolling.bsky.social that adds something new to the discussions about antisemitism, Israel, and the grim future. (It definitely added to MY understanding.) Not to be missed!
lioneltrolling.bsky.social John Ganz @lioneltrolling.bsky.social · Jul 28
The previous owner of my copy of Arendt's "Antisemitism" wrote, "Jewish neoconservatives are the new court Jews" on the cover page.—

www.unpopularfront.news/p/the-fatal-...
The Fatal Embrace
Reading, Watching 07.27.25
www.unpopularfront.news
July 28, 2025 at 11:33 PM
Reposted by Dov Ber
jackjenkins.me
INBOX: Union for Reform Judaism, Central Conference of American Rabbis & American Conference of Cantors issue a lengthy statement declaring:

"Starving Gazan civilians neither will bring Israel the 'total victory' over Hamas it seeks, nor can it be justified by Jewish values or humanitarian law."
Reform Jewish Movement Statement on Starvation in Gaza July 27, 2025 - The ongoing crisis in Gaza is a devastating reminder of the immense human cost of war. Nearly two years into Israel's war against Hamas, Israelis are still waiting for the return of their loved ones held hostage, and innocent Palestinians are caught in a mounting humanitarian catastrophe. Hamas has repeatedly demonstrated its willingness to sacrifice the Palestinian people in its pursuit of Israel's destruction, but Israel must not sacrifice its own moral standing in return. Neither escalating military pressure nor restricting humanitarian aid has brought Israel closer to securing a hostage deal or ending the war. While long-delayed and not-yet-certain to be more effective than previous efforts, we are encouraged by Saturday night's announcement that the Israeli military would revive the practice of dropping aid from airplanes and make it easier for aid convoys, including those from the UN's World Food Program, to move through Gaza along "designated humanitarian corridors," and to temporarily cease fighting in Gaza for a humanitarian pause. No one should be unaffected by the pervasive hunger experienced by thousands of Gazans. No one should spend the bulk of their time arguing technical definitions between starvation and pervasive hunger. The situation is dire, and it is deadly. Nor should we accept arguments that because Hamas is the primary reason many Gazans are either starving or on the verge of starving, that the Jewish State is not also culpable in this human disaster. The primary moral response must begin with anguished hearts in the face of such a large-scale human tragedy. Our tradition teaches that all people are created b tzelem Elohim — in the image of God. One consequence of this is the moral priority, which is affirmed throughout the Bible and rabbinic tradition, of feeding the hungry - both for the individual and for the self-governing Jewish community. More than a few members of t… Despite PM Netanyahu's calls to ignore these full members of his cabinet, their presence in this government has consistently morally compromised Israel's actions. Starving Gazan civilians neither will bring Israel the "total victory" over Hamas it seeks, nor can it be justified by Jewish values or humanitarian law. It's hard to imagine that this tragic approach will bring home the 50 remaining hostages, including the 20 who we pray are still alive. It's imperative that the Government of Israel ensures that the recently announced plans to deliver humanitarian aid succeed as Israel works with international partners to ensure its safe and sustained delivery and do whatever possible to reduce or eliminate the shootings and other injuries sustained at food distribution centers. We applaud Israel's green light for foreign nations to resume providing humanitarian aid to the Gaza population desperate for food and are confident that they will do all they can to ensure that such aid does not fall into the hands of Hamas. As Israel has effective control of 70% of Gaza, with the intent to remain in significant swaths of it, even if only temporarily, it should be directly involved, facilitate and cooperate with the international community, international humanitarian NGOs, and regional friends, to take urgently needed actions, such as these suggested by Israeli Reform rabbi and Member of Knesset Gilad Kariv: • To prevent the alarming number of civilian deaths in and around the food and humanitarian aid distribution sites. • Opening a significant number of food distribution centers at various locations across the Gaza Strip. • Large-scale entry of infant formula (especially liquid formula) and ensuring safe delivery to both functioning medical centers and the few remaining international aid facilities. • Establishing secure methods - potentially through cooperation with regional countries - for delivering food supplies to aid organizations and international agencies. • Resuming su… Finally, while it is imperative that Israel and the U.S. resume diplomacy to bring home all hostages and end this war, denying basic humanitarian aid crosses a moral line. Blocking food, water, medicine, and power- especially for children- is indefensible. Let us not allow our grief to harden into indifference, nor our love for Israel to blind us to the cries of the vulnerable. Let us rise to the moral challenge of this moment. Union for Reform Judaism Shelley Niceley Groff (she/her) North American Board Chair Rabbi Rick Jacobs (he/him) President Central Conference of American Rabbis Rabbi David A. Lyon (he/him) President Rabbi Hara Person (she/her) Chief Executive Officer American Conference of Cantors Cantor Josh Breitzer (he/him) President Rachel Roth (she/her) Chief Operating Officer
July 28, 2025 at 2:01 AM