politics

Political figures, histories, and current events in the whole scope of modern and past politics. Work place politics.

Campus as a Political Battleground: How Affective Polarization is Undermining Higher Education
Colby College sociologist Neil Gross said that the level of political division on American college campuses was not just a headline; it was a personal surprise. Despite years of research into scholarly habits and intellectual pluralism, Gross admitted in a recent interview with the Harvard Gazette that he underestimated the depth of the current crisis. “I didn’t realize how far it had gone,” said Gross, who is currently a fellow at the Radcliffe Institute. “I think that was the biggest surprise, just the extent of it.”
By Mark Lim 13 days ago in Journal
Ukraine Fault Line: How War in Europe is Redefining Italy’s Electoral Battle
The debate over Italy’s role in the conflict has intensified following remarks by Giuseppe Conte at the Il Fatto Quotidiano festival, where he explicitly ruled out continuing weapons shipments to Ukraine under any future government led by his party. “We cannot have [Elly] Schlein or another candidate win tomorrow and then start sending weapons to Kyiv by the truckload, fueling a military escalation that is taking us closer to a third world war day after day,” Conte stated. His message was stark: the Five Star Movement (M5S) will not sign onto a political platform that continues the current foreign policy trajectory set by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
By Mark Lim 13 days ago in Journal
Loke Calls for PH Presidential Council Meeting to Address Political Fractures
Speaking to the media on Monday, September 14, after inspecting a newly accredited private vehicle inspection center, Loke did not mince words about the current state of affairs. He described the recent public posturing by certain component parties as "not conducive to political stability," warning that such disunity sends mixed signals to both the domestic public and international investors.
By Mark Lim 14 days ago in Journal
Banco Master Crisis
On the night of November 17, 2025, Brazilian federal agents intercepted banker Daniel Vorcaro on the tarmac of São Paulo’s Guarulhos Airport as he attempted to board a private jet. Initially detained as a flight risk, Vorcaro was arrested months later on charges of bank fraud, corruption, and money laundering. His detention marked the beginning of the unraveling of what is now known as the "Banco Master crisis," a scandal that has shaken Brazil’s financial system and exposed deep rot within its political institutions.
By Mark Lim 14 days ago in Journal
SUPP Youth Chief Calls for Apology Over "Insensitive" Religious Remarks at Umno Assembly
The controversy centers on a speech delivered by a prominent UMNO leader at the party’s recent assembly, where a narrative involving a Catholic priest and a nun was woven into a political argument, accompanied by a reference to Psalm 129 from the Bible. While the speaker likely intended the story as a metaphorical device or a form of political humor, the reception among Malaysia’s Christian community, and particularly within SUPP, which holds significant support among Christians in Sarawak was one of deep offense and concern.
By Mark Lim 14 days ago in Journal
Sweden’s Post-Election Standoff: Andersson Begins Arduous Coalition Talks as Right-Wing Influence Lingers
Sweden entered a period of intense political uncertainty on Monday as Social Democrat leader Magdalena Andersson began the arduous process of trying to form a new government. Although full results from Sunday’s election are not expected until overseas votes are counted on Wednesday, projections with 95% of ballots tallied show the centre-left bloc holding a narrow but growing lead of 176 seats to the right-leaning parties’ 173. While this margin appears to halt the far-right Sweden Democrats’ march toward direct government power for the first time, their ideological footprint remains deeply embedded in Swedish politics, complicating Andersson’s path to a stable majority.
By Mark Lim 14 days ago in Journal
A Drummer’s Take
Guitars get the posters. Singers get the interviews. Drums get the room. That is the part of Gen X metal that still does not photograph well and still decides whether a record feels like a band or like a file. The era this series has been walking through was a golden stretch for players who treated the kit as a lead instrument without turning the song into a clinic. Dave Lombardo. Mike Portnoy. Danny Carey. Add the people standing next to them. Lars Ulrich on the records that taught radio to accept a metal snare. Vinnie Paul on the records that taught the backbeat to clench. Matt Cameron on the records that made weird time feel natural. Sean Kinney on the records that made the beat sound tired on purpose. The common thread is physical information. You can hear the stick. You can hear the decision.
By Overdrive Records15 days ago in Journal
What Gen X Inherited
Every generation likes to believe it invented volume. Gen X did not. We inherited a working set of tools from the 70s and then spent twenty years arguing about which tools were still legal. Black Sabbath gave us the riff as law. Judas Priest gave us the silhouette and the twin guitar engine. Zeppelin, Purple, Humble Pie, UFO, Thin Lizzy, and AC/DC gave us the rest of the vocabulary. Song length. Groove. Showmanship. The idea that a guitar could be both a rhythm instrument and a lead character. By the time we were old enough to buy our own records, the language was already there. We just changed the accent.
By Overdrive Records15 days ago in Journal
Soundgarden Was Never Just Grunge
The word grunge did Soundgarden a favor and a disservice at the same time. It put them on magazine covers. It also filed them next to bands that did not share their engine. Nirvana wrote like a wrecking ball with a melody. Pearl Jam wrote like a stadium that had just learned to feel. Alice in Chains wrote like a minor key family secret. Soundgarden wrote like Black Sabbath had gone to art school and then joined a punk band that still practiced scales. That is not a side note. That is the whole plot. While Seattle became a brand, they kept the heavy riff in working condition.
By Overdrive Records15 days ago in Journal
Rob Zombie and White Zombie
Some bands sell records. Some bands sell a world. White Zombie and the Rob Zombie solo years did both, but the world was the real product. The riffs were catchy. The samples were sticky. The image was a moving carnival of grindhouse film, comic books, choppers, and cheap neon dread. Gen X did not just hear this music. We saw it. That is why it lasted in a decade that already had enough sad young men with guitars.
By Overdrive Records15 days ago in Journal
Alice in Chains
Seattle gets remembered as a uniform. Flannel. Quiet verse, loud chorus. A generation suddenly famous for being tired of being famous. That story is too small for Alice in Chains. They came from the same city and the same moment, but they brought a heavier bloodline. Sabbath in the riffs. Hair metal residue in the twin vocals. Something colder in the lyrics. Facelift in 1990 and Dirt in 1992 are the two records that made that difference impossible to miss. Together they are one of the most complete statements Gen X ever got about sickness, loyalty, and the cost of staying alive long enough to hear the chorus.
By Overdrive Records15 days ago in Journal
The Post Grunge Bands We Actually Grew Up With
There is a polite version of the late 90s and early 2000s rock story. In that version the serious people finished with Nirvana and Soundgarden, smirked at everything that came after, and moved on to whatever indie record made them feel selective. That story leaves out the music that actually lived in the truck, the shop radio, the night shift, and the first apartment with a cheap stereo. Staind and Puddle of Mudd belong to that second story. So do a handful of their neighbors. Call it post grunge if you need a filing cabinet. Just do not pretend the filing cabinet was empty.
By Overdrive Records15 days ago in Journal