Source: In These Times
by Ruthy Gourevitch & Batul Hassan
“From battling extreme heat on the job to flooding at home, the working class is on the frontlines of extreme weather this summer, fueled by an escalating climate crisis. This crisis is also making life more expensive, from higher utility bills in poorly insulated rental units to medical bills resulting from treatment after days spent in the dangerous heat. But at a time when the federal government is dismantling the social safety net and climate investments, working class movements are not sitting back and waiting for their bosses, landlords or politicians to act. Instead, labor and tenant unions are taking matters into their own hands, creating a blueprint for how to organize around both the climate and cost of living crises at the same time.” (08/05/25)
“A frequent diplomatic success in recent years has been persuading armed militias to give up their weapons and focus on peaceful politics. Examples can be found in Northern Ireland, Colombia, the Palestinian territories, and, lately, in Turkey. On Tuesday, Lebanon headed down this road. For the first time in decades, the country’s highest executive body took up the issue of a timetable to disarm the Shiite militant group Hezbollah. Lebanon’s collective identity as a nation, as well as its ability to rebuild after a 13-month war with Israel, depends on Hezbollah acknowledging that the state must have a monopoly over the use of force. Or, as President Joseph Aoun said last month, the Lebanese army ‘alone reflects the Lebanese people’s desire to see their country free, sovereign and independent.'” (08/05/25)
“As a retired U.S. Air Force officer, I firmly believe in civilian control of our military. This country should be a nation of laws — not of special interests, oligarchs, or kings. Before committing our forces to battle, Congress should always declare war in the name of the people. Our military should indeed be a citizen-soldier force, not an isolated caste driven by a warrior ethos. And above all, the United States should be a republic ruled by law and shaped by sound moral values, not a greed-driven empire fueled by militarism. Yet when I express such views, I feel like I’m clinging to a belief in the tooth fairy, the Easter Bunny, and Santa Claus. It feels idealistic, naïve, even painful to think that way.” (08/05/25)
“California Democrats are once again trying to rig the system, overturn elections and steal congressional seats from Republicans. Gov. Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta are planning to redraw California’s congressional maps in 2025 or 2026, halfway through the decade and years before the next census. This isn’t about ‘fairness’ or ‘democracy.’ It’s a blatant, unconstitutional power grab designed to silence millions of voters and cement one-party rule in California. Democrats are already trying to rewrite the history of this redistricting fight, claiming it’s just retaliation for Republican maps in Texas. But let’s be clear: California started this.” (08/05/25)
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“It’s not okay to be a grown adult with internet access in August 2025 and still believe that what we are seeing in Gaza is not a genocide. It’s not okay to be a grown adult with internet access in August 2025 and still believe this mass atrocity is about self-defense. It’s not okay to be a grown adult with internet access in August 2025 and still believe that people in Gaza are not being deliberately starved by Israel. It’s not okay to be a grown adult with internet access in August 2025 and still believe that Israel destroyed Gaza’s entire healthcare system because there were Hamas bases in every part of that healthcare system. It’s not okay to be a grown adult with internet access in August 2025 and still believe that Israel is banning foreign journalists from entering Gaza because it is concerned for the journalists’ safety.” (08/05/25)
“This morning, the state of Tennessee executed convicted murderer Bryon Black. You’ve probably been inundated with news coverage of this man’s petitions to get off death row, but do you know the details of what he actually did? In 1988, Black was convicted of murdering his girlfriend and her two young daughters. … Experts testified that while one of the deaths was instantaneous, the other two were not. ‘Bullet holes and blood stains on the bed indicated that she was lying in bed when shot and had moved from the bed to the floor after being shot,’ reads a court opinion. ‘There were bloody finger marks down the rail running from the head of the bed to the foot of the bed.’ So, why all the aggressive coverage of this man’s attempts to dodge his sentencing with so little detail about his crime?” (08/05/25)
“Texas Republicans have voted for the arrest of dozens of Democratic legislators who fled the state in an attempt to block a plan to re-draw electoral boundaries. Republican Governor Greg Abbott ordered state troopers ‘to locate, arrest, and return to the House chamber any member who has abandoned their duty to Texans’. Abbott has also threatened to charge the absent Democrats with bribery if they raised public money to cover the daily fine they incur for boycotting the chamber. The re-drawn congressional map would create five more Republican-leaning seats in the US House of Representatives in Washington DC, where Republicans hold a slim majority. At least two-thirds of the 150-member state legislative body in Texas must be present to proceed with the vote. The quorum became unreachable after more than 50 Democratic lawmakers left the state.” (08/05/25)
“U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he had removed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent from consideration for an open seat on the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors, but said he would ‘very shortly’ announce his choice. In an interview with CNBC, Trump said Fed Governor Adriana Kugler’s decision to vacate her seat early was a ‘pleasant surprise.’ The departure of Kugler, whose term would have ended on January 31, appears to have accelerated Trump’s planning for the U.S. central bank, giving him an immediate opening to fill with a person who could also be promoted to the top policymaking role when Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s term ends in May. ‘It’ll be one of four people,’ Trump said, adding that he considered both current White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett and former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh as ‘very good’ possibilities.” (08/05/25)
“Our understanding of an historical event’s meaning is a function of two factors. The first is what we choose to identify as the starting point leading up to the event. The second is the lens through which we view it. This should be obvious, but unfortunately it is not, and the failure to acknowledge or understand it has consequences in everything from public policy to personal relationships. This truth can be ignored due to thoughtlessness, blindness to one’s biases, or just plain ignorance. On some occasions there can be malign intent, including efforts to deliberately hide what one knows to be an event’s antecedents for political or personal reasons. Before examining the issue that prompted this column, I want to share an example. The comedian Dick Gregory once noted that despite what we were taught in school, ‘Columbus didn’t discover America, because it wasn’t lost.'” (08/05/25)
“The Trump administration has dismissed five out of seven members on Puerto Rico’s federal control board that oversees the U.S. territory’s finances, sparking concern about the future of the island’s fragile economy. The five fired are all Democrats. A White House official told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the board ‘has been run inefficiently and ineffectively by its governing members for far too long and it’s time to restore common sense leadership.’ Those fired are board chairman Arthur Gonzalez, along with Cameron McKenzie, Betty Rosa, Juan Sabater and Luis Ubiñas. The board’s two remaining members — Andrew G. Biggs and John E. Nixon — are Republicans. The board confirmed in a brief statement that the five were terminated and noted that the board would continue to fulfill its mandate and work ‘in the interest of the people of Puerto Rico.'” (08/05/25)
