“Hundreds of garment factories in Bangladesh are facing disruptions as worker protests over low pay and the rising cost of living rock the country’s industrial hubs. There was a heavy police presence in the Mirpur industrial area of Dhaka on Monday and reports of protests taking place for the third day in the Savar, Ashulia and Gazipur areas, Al Jazeera’a Tanvir Chowdhury reported from the capital. About 500 factories were temporarily shuttered after the protests began on Saturday. Thousands of workers have taken to the streets, facing tear gas and sound grenades from police.” (11/02/26)
“Solid red South Carolina hasn’t elected a Democratic senator this century. But in the race between Republican. Darline Graham and her Democratic challenger, it’s now a draw. The New York Times called the race a toss-up on Wednesday, with Graham, the sister of the late Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, and Democrat Annie Andrews both receiving 48% in their latest poll. Fox News made the same call on Thursday. Democratic Senate candidates in the state don’t tie Republicans. But against the backdrop of Donald Trump’s war and escalating energy and food prices, all bets appear to be off.” (11/02/26)
“While a unified Democratic government has tended to see the fastest growth in government spending since World War II, government grows faster overall under Republican presidents than Democratic ones. And the only real decreases in the size of government spending happened during those six years where there were Democratic presidents and Republican majorities in Congress, first with the post-war build-down under Harry Truman (1947-48), and next after modest cut-backs from the bloated spending of the financial and COVID crises under Barack Obama (2009-10) and Donald Trump (2020), respectively.” (11/02/26)
“I’ve gotten nearly 2,000 campaign fundraising texts that were meant for someone else. I tried to find out why—and uncovered a labyrinth of politicians, data brokers, and shady tactics.” (11/02/26)
“A federal judge’s latest ruling has denied xAI’s request to dismiss a lawsuit that alleges its data center campus in Memphis, Tennessee is running turbines without proper permits and violating the Clean Air Act. The decision, from US District Judge Debra M. Brown, allows the lawsuit, which was filed by the NAACP, to move forward. The organization filed its legal action against xAI in April, accusing the company that’s now known as SpaceXSI of using unpermitted methane gas turbines to power data centers in the Memphis area.” (11/01/26)
“Sarah from New Mexico says there’s going to be 74 polling locations just in her county! :: Dave in CO tells us about a NH Journal journalist kicked out of a NH Democrat meeting, says he should have gotten video :: Psychedelic nose spray beats depression :: Drama on what actress Sophia Bush said on Call Her Daddy :: Sydney Sweeney hot or ugly? :: Did Trump shoot down a private plane? :: NY to regulate how AI chatbots interact with children :: 2026-11-01 :: Hosts: Bonnie, Riley O’Bill, Rich E Rich.” (11/01/26)
“Courts have already ruled against two avenues President Donald Trump used to impose his tariff regime. That hasn’t stopped his efforts to attempt to deploy obscure or outdated trade law provisions to justify new import levies. His latest tool is the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930, the notorious legislation that gravely exacerbated the Great Depression. … Even if Section 338 is still operative, Trump’s tariffs on Canadian goods violate its requirements.” (11/02/26)
“Agnes was who I was on the inside before the abuse, before being me became just too painful to consciously bare, and she has haunted me throughout my life, with terrifying flashbacks and a deep sense of guilt over some confusing notion that I had left something or someone behind. For a long time, I didn’t know what she was. I would get repeated waking visions of a little girl in pigtails and a black velvet party dress smashing all the stained-glass windows in my church. I took to calling her the little girl with the hammer, but it was only when I gave her the name Agnes and decided to listen to what she had to say that she began talking back to me …” (11/01/26)
