Japan: Growing backlash over Trump’s use of anime characters

Source: BBC News [UK State Media]

“A backlash is growing in Japan over US President Donald Trump’s use of popular anime and manga characters in his posts on social media. Upset has been brewing since March, when fans started noticing the president using images of – and in some cases depicting himself as – iconic Japanese animation characters like Pikachu, Naruto and Yu-Gi-Oh!. Almost 20,000 people have now signed an online petition, arguing he does not share the values of the characters, and that using them for political reasons could infringe the creators’ rights. Pokémon Company International has condemned Trump’s use of its imagery. The BBC has contacted other rights holders and the White House for comment. The petition calling for Trump and the White House to respect Japanese manga was first launched in March, when a couple of posts caught the attention of some fans.” (06/10/26)

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cdx7vynyl4eo

Steve Trinward

Section 224: How Far Should America’s Security Commitments to Israel Go?

Source: Antiwar.com
by Timothy Hopper

“Buried deep within the thousands of pages of the annual U.S. National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), a single provision labeled Section 224 has quietly become one of the hottest political flashpoints in Washington this year. On the surface, it looks like standard bureaucratic language — just another push to strengthen technological and military cooperation between the United States and Israel. But the intensity of the reactions it’s sparked, from both supporters and fierce critics, reveals something much bigger at play. For many watchers, Section 224 isn’t merely a technical tweak; it’s become a symbol of larger, often uncomfortable questions about Israel’s role in U.S. foreign policy, how far America’s security commitments should go, and where the Republican Party is headed in this new era.” (06/10/26)

https://original.antiwar.com/timothy_hopper/2026/06/09/section-224-how-far-should-americas-security-commitments-to-israel-go/

Thomas L. Knapp

The Freedom Caucus Is Cooked

Source: The Bulwark
by Joe Perticone

“The House Freedom Caucus, a group of former congressional rebels who have over the past few years evolved into Trump lackeys, is on the verge of total irrelevance. In a scenario where House Republicans become the minority, the caucus will lose whatever semblance of leverage it has, and current members know it; half a dozen of them will be leaving Congress at the end of the year.” (06/09/26)

https://www.thebulwark.com/p/the-freedom-caucus-is-cooked

Thomas L. Knapp

US FDA expands sunscreen options, adds bemotrizinol

Source: United Press International

“The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday added bemotrizinol to the list of permitted active ingredients in over-the-counter sunscreens, the first addition to that list since the 1990s. … The FDA said the ingredient has low levels of absorption through the skin and into the body and is generally recognized as safe and effective for adults and children 6 months old and older. The American Chemical Society said that BEMT blocks ultraviolet A and ultraviolet B light rays and was first used in sunscreens in the European Union in 2000, with Canada, Australia and some countries in Asia following suit soon after.” (06/09/26)

https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2026/06/09/fda-adds-bemotrizinol-to-sunscreen-list/5271781042817/

Thomas L. Knapp

Feds Charge 8 Pro-Palestinian Activists With Conspiring to Intimidate U of Michigan Officials

Source: US News & World Report

“Federal prosecutors unsealed an indictment Wednesday against eight pro-Palestinian activists who are accused of conspiring to run a criminal intimidation campaign against University of Michigan officials while trying to force the school to cut financial ties to Israel. The indictment also describes vandalism against some companies that operate in Michigan and against the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit. … The document highlights several incidents that made headlines in the past few years, including fake bloody corpses that were placed on an elected university board member’s lawn and the spray-painting of anti-Israel messages at the home of the school’s president at the time, Santa Ono.” (06/10/26)

https://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2026-06-10/feds-charge-8-pro-palestinian-activists-with-conspiring-to-intimidate-u-of-michigan-officials

Thomas L. Knapp

The law faculty who self-censor the least are not the ones you think

Source: Expression
by Nate Honeycutt

“When discussions turn to free expression in higher education, a common assumption is that those with the lowest amount of job security feel the least free to speak. Junior faculty, adjunct instructors, and others without tenure are often presumed to be the most cautious, while senior professors are presumed to enjoy and exercise greater freedom to study, teach, or debate whatever they want without fear of reprisal. And survey data does support this. For example, among faculty in the academy at large non-tenured faculty are more likely to self-censor than tenured/tenure-track faculty. But results from FIRE’s 2026 survey of nearly 2,000 law faculty suggest the reality may be more complicated.” (06/09/26)

https://expression.fire.org/p/the-law-faculty-who-self-censor-the

Thomas L. Knapp