“Sorry, I give up. In past elections, I’ve covered every single candidate for governor of California, from the incumbents all the way down to the cranks. In 2022 there were twenty-six of them, and I covered them all. But sorry, I give up. This year there are sixty. It’s too many. I can’t disambiguate them all into unique individuals with their own personalities, hopes, and dreams. So as consolation for the list I’m not giving you, here are the basic types, and a few examples of each.” (05/19/26)
“When Donald Trump was about to miss an interest payment for his dying Trump Castle casino in 1990, his father Fred bought nearly $5 million worth of poker chips to save him from default. When Trump was indicted for inciting the January 6 insurrection, the Supreme Court ruled that he could not be charged …. As inflation spikes, gas prices surge, and the world teeters on the brink of a recession, congressional Republicans are demanding a billion dollars to build the gilded ballroom after Trump bulldozed the East Wing of the White House without collecting enough corporate bribes to cover the project. For nearly 80 years, someone has always saved Trump from himself. With the Strait of Hormuz, the president has finally created a mess so big that no one can save him. No one is coming to the rescue. NATO can’t and China won’t.” (05/18/26)
“Seven states hold their primaries on Tuesday, including two — Alabama and Georgia — where Republicans are working to change electoral maps as soon as possible. Polls will start closing before dusk in eastern Kentucky. The night will end with the year’s first West Coast primaries, in Oregon. Here’s an hour-by-hour guide with what to watch, and close looks at what’s at play in each state.” (05/19/26)
“The Trump administration on Monday intensified its pressure campaign against Cuba’s government, issuing sanctions on three government agencies and 11 top officials. Those targeted included three generals and communist party officials associated with the Cuban security apparatus. Such sanctions, usually used against accused drug traffickers, human-rights violators and terrorists, freeze any property and bank accounts they may have in the United States. While it is unlikely that any of the Cubans targeted have U.S. assets, the move is an important escalation in the Trump administration’s campaign to force the communist government to overhaul is economic and political system.” [editor’s note: If it has no effect, how is it “important” in “forcing” anything? – TLK] (05/18/26)
“The relationship between poverty and crime has been a longtime policy debate. A common narrative — particularly on the left — is that poverty drives people to crime, positing that those who live in tough neighborhoods have little choice but to survive through lawbreaking. This treats crime as a passive outcome of economic hardship — almost like a disease — rather than a choice. But a deeper look at the data, and differences across communities, suggests the opposite: that crime instead causes poverty. Irrespective of the causation order one accepts, there is certainly a relationship between the two.” (05/18/26)
“Israeli [pirates] have raided a Gaza-bound aid flotilla, with video showing numerous vessels being boarded and crews [abducted] despite being in international waters. The Global Sumud Flotilla, the international movement heading the mission, said Israeli military personnel boarded several boats off Cyprus on Monday, as the convoy tried to reach the besieged Gaza Strip. … More than 50 vessels sailed from the Turkish port city of Marmaris last week, in what organisers described as the final stage of a journey aimed at challenging Israel’s blockade of the Palestinian enclave.” (05/18/26)
