HOW STABLE ARE DEMOCRACIES? 'WARNING SIGNS ARE FLASHING RED'

TOP OF THE NEWS:

- How Stable Are Democracies? ‘Warning Signs Are Flashing Red’ (NYT) "But since 2005, Freedom House’s index has shown a decline in global freedom each year. Is that a statistical anomaly, a result of a few random events in a relatively short period of time? Or does it indicate a meaningful pattern? Mr. Mounk and Mr. Foa developed a three-factor formula to answer that question. Mr. Mounk thinks of it as an early-warning system, and it works something like a medical test: a way to detect that a democracy is ill before it develops full-blown symptoms. The first factor was public support: How important do citizens think it is for their country to remain democratic? The second was public openness to nondemocratic forms of government, such as military rule. And the third factor was whether 'antisystem parties and movements' — political parties and other major players whose core message is that the current system is illegitimate — were gaining support. According to the Mounk-Foa early-warning system, signs of democratic deconsolidation in the United States and many other liberal democracies are now similar to those in Venezuela before its crisis. Of course, this is just one paper. And the researchers’ approach, like all data-driven social science, has limitations. 'Look, this stuff is already going on in other places,' Mr. Mounk added. 'If there’s one task that we have as journalists, as academics, as thinkers, it’s to drive the stakes of this home for people.'"

BUSINESS/FINANCE:

- Steps to take to ensure a satisfying retirement (WaPo) "What exactly makes the difference between a happy retirement and an unhappy retirement? Those who are happiest have a vision of what their retirement will look like, says John Gajkowski, of Money Managers Financial Group in Oak Brook, Ill.: 'They have given it a lot of thought. When they quit work on Friday, on Monday they are not walking into a giant abyss.'"

CYBER SECURITY:

- SF’s Transit Hack Could’ve Been Way Worse—And Cities Need to Get Ready (Wired) "The city and its residents got off lightly, even if Muni did lose a few days of revenue. Attacks like this could happen anywhere and wreak far more havoc. And they almost certainly will, because the American public transit systems that make daily life possible for millions are an easy target." and San Francisco’s light-rail system was held hostage by hackers (WaPo)

ENTERTAINMENT:

- Don Henley says the Eagles are done. It was always Glenn Frey’s band. (WaPo) "'It would just seem like greed or something,' says Henley. 'It would seem like a desperate thing.'"

NEWS:

- Trump takes heat for wanting to outlaw flag burning -- but Clinton wanted the same in 2005 (Fox) "In 2005, Clinton co-sponsored the Flag Protection Act which, while it did not call for the stripping of citizenship, made flag burning with the intent to incite violence or disturb the peace punishable by a year in jail and a $100,000 fine. The bipartisan bill, introduced by Clinton and then-Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, never made it out of the Judiciary Committee, but was floated as a compromise to a proposed constitutional amendment that would ban flag burning. Clinton was criticized for her stance then, although the criticisms leveled at her targeted Clinton's perceived political slipperiness, rather than her representing a threat to constitutional liberty. A New York Times piece accused the senator of being 'in pander mode.'"

- Another Arab awakening is looming, warns a UN report (Economist) "A new UN report shows how few lessons have been learnt since the Arab spring. Regimes in the region ruthlessly suppress dissent, but are less attentive to its causes. The Arab world, home to just 5% of the world’s population, accounts for about half its terrorism and refugees. The Arab youth population is growing, but unemployment and poverty are growing faster."

- Trump’s Challenge to American Democracy (New Yorker) "Everything about him suggests that when he enters the White House he will continue gleefully transgressing democratic norms, berating his opponents, throwing out blatant falsehoods, and seeking to exploit his position for personal gain. That’s what he does. If anything, the isolation and pressures of the Oval Office might further warp his ego and exaggerate his dictatorial tendencies. Surrounded by yes-men, he could well be tempted to try to expand his powers, especially when things go wrong, as they inevitably do at some point in any Presidency. The real danger, as Colgan and others have pointed out, is that we will witness a gradual uprooting of the system’s foundations. Broadly speaking, this is what we have witnessed in Russia and Turkey during the past fifteen years. When Putin was elected, in 2000, following a decade of chaos, he claimed a mandate to restore order. It was only over time that he concentrated power in his hands, harassed and imprisoned his opponents, and cracked down on many forms of dissent. Using a rationalization for repressive measures that dates back at least to the French Revolution, the Russian President cited national-security imperatives, such as the need to confront Chechen terrorism."

- Protecting Journalism from Donald Trump (New Yorker) "It nonetheless warrants remembering that there is nothing normal about what we are witnessing. In the past two weeks, the President-elect has settled a fraud lawsuit over Trump University and assailed the cast of 'Hamilton' on Twitter, while the neo-Nazi National Policy Institute held a gathering in Washington, D.C., at which some of its attendees offered the Nazi salute in praise of Trump. The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum has issued a statement reminding Americans that the Holocaust “did not begin with killing; it began with words. Two years ago, any one of these events would have been seen as extraordinary. In the current crush of the absurd, they come dangerously close to blending into the background in the way that police sirens can become ambient noise in New York City. Last month, Sandra Mims Rowe, the board chair of the Committee to Protect Journalists, released a statement declaring Trump an unprecedented threat to freedom of the press. This was not only on account of his own behavior toward the media—ridiculing a disabled reporter, denying press credentials to outlets that have been critical of him, threatening to sue the Times—but also for its ripple effect. There’s a reason authoritarians typically begin by assailing the press." and Sean Hannity: People Don’t Need ‘Fake News’ Corporate Media Anymore; Landscape Shifting to Breitbart, Drudge, Talk Radio (Breitbart) "'Things have changed dramatically, with Breitbart, and Drudge, and cable news, and talk radio, and social media – Twitter, Instagram, Facebook. People are getting information very differently than they did,' Hannity reflected." and Exclusive — Under the Hood: How Donald Trump Has Cut Around Corporate Media to Reach Millions Directly Online (Breitbart) "It [social media] offered Americans a window into who Trump really is, and allowed him to essentially bypass the failing and corrupted corporate media—most of whom essentially proved themselves with their actions to essentially be trying to tank the Trump campaign.

POLITICS:

- Combative, Populist Steve Bannon Found His Man in Donald Trump (NYT) "Mr. Bannon told a colleague in multiple conversations during the presidential campaign that he knew Mr. Trump was an 'imperfect vessel' for the revolution he had in mind. But the upstart candidate and the media entrepreneur bonded anyway. As a filmmaker, Mr. Bannon, 63, has cited both the Nazi propagandist Leni Riefenstahl and the left-wing documentarian Michael Moore as models. Interviews with two dozen people who know him well, however, portray a man not easily labeled, capable of surprising both friends and enemies, with unshakable self-confidence and striking intensity."

- How Bernie Sanders Will Stick It to Trump (Ozy)

TECHNOLOGY:

- Donald Trump’s tech troubles (Economist) "Silicon Valley cheered the election of Barack Obama in 2008. But the Republican party’s ties with the tech industry are getting tetchier. In 2000, 36 of the 100 counties with the most tech workers voted Republican. In 2016 just 19 did. This century, employment in high-tech industries has grown by over 35% in Democratic-leaning counties. But in Republican-leaning counties, it fell by 37%"

BOTTOM OF THE NEWS:

- Pooping in deep space has NASA stumped. The ‘Space Poop Challenge’ is your way to help. (WaPo) "How NASA solves this problem in part depends upon you. The agency tapped crowdfunding platform HeroX to source a system that can collect up to 75 grams of fecal matter and 1 liter of urine per day, for six days. It must be hands-free, operate in microgravity and prevent leaking precious oxygen. The reward is up to a $30,000 bounty, plus the knowledge that the fruits of your mind may one day gird an astronaut’s loins."

- The World’s Best Drummers Make Some Noise (Wired)

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