“In the advertising world, there is an old adage that there are times when you take a pitch and ‘run it up the flagpole to see who salutes.’ That expression came to mind Wednesday when President Donald Trump signed an order to punish flag burning. The president may be hoping the Supreme Court might salute and reverse long-standing precedent declaring flag burning to be protected speech under the First Amendment. If so, he is likely to be disappointed. The proposed prosecutions would be unconstitutional and, absent an unlikely major reversal of prior precedent by the court, flag burning will remain a protected form of free speech. The Supreme Court has repeatedly, and correctly, declared flag desecration to be protected speech in such cases as Texas v. Johnson (1989) and United States v. Eichman (1990).” (08/26/25)
“Google has warned most of its 2.5 billion Gmail users to update their passwords and strengthen their account security as password hackers have carried out a significant amount of ‘successful intrusions’. It is advising users to be on high alert for suspicious activity and add extra security measures, like two-factor authentication, if they have not already. Hackers often access Gmail passwords by sending emails with links to fake sign-in pages, or by tricking users into sharing their two-factor authentication codes. While most users have strong, unique passwords, only a third regularly update these keys, according to Google data. Separately, Google has also advised customers to ramp up their security measures after a breach of its own Salesforce database.” (08/27/25)
“The Democratic National Committee is holding its summer meeting in Minneapolis. There is a lot to talk about. The party, of course, is suffering through a major slide in popularity. A Wall Street Journal poll a few weeks ago found that voters’ approval of the party is its lowest in 35 years. A New York Times report this month found that, ‘Of the 30 states that track voter registration by political party, Democrats lost ground to Republicans in every single one between the 2020 and 2024 elections — and often by a lot.’ Democrats have also shown a knack for getting on the unpopular side of a number of issues, like the border and crime. They’re also deeply divided on Israel and Gaza. And they’re in a terrible money crunch …” (08/27/25)
“Those hoping that Democratic Party leaders have finally learned some lessons in the political thrashing they received in last year’s elections are not yet done fighting for a resolution they argue would put the party back on the right side of moral history and also improve its prospects going forward against an increasingly authoritarian Republican Party led by President Donald Trump. A day following a failed vote in the resolutions committee, members of the Democratic National Committee and grassroots groups demanding the DNC to take a stronger stand against US complicity with Israel’s genocide in Gaza are not giving up, pushing now for a full floor vote to take place Wednesday on a resolution which calls for an immediate ceasefire, an arms embargo, and suspension of military aid to Israel.” (08/27/25)
“Scientists for the first time have spotted the insides of a dying star as it exploded, offering a rare peek into stellar evolution. Stars can live for millions to trillions of years until they run out of fuel. The most massive ones go out with a bang in an explosion called a supernova. Using telescopes that peer deep into space, researchers have observed many such explosions. The cosmic outbursts tend to jumble up a dying star’s layers, making it hard for scientists to observe the inner structure. But that wasn’t the case for the new discovery, a supernova called 2021yfj located more than 2 billion light years from Earth. The collapsing star’s outermost layers of hydrogen and helium had peeled away long ago, which wasn’t surprising. But the star’s dense, innermost layers of silicon and sulfur had also shed during the explosion.” (08/26/25)
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese has announced that Canberra will be expelling the Iranian ambassador and legislating to list Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist group. Albanese says the move is because an assessment by the intelligence agency ASIO has concluded that Iran used ‘a complex web of proxies’ to orchestrate two antisemitic arson attacks in Australia in order to ‘undermine social cohesion and sow discord.’ As you might expect, not one shred of evidence has been provided for this assertion, much less the giant mountain of rock-solid proof required for intelligence agency credibility in a post-Iraq invasion world. This hasn’t stopped the Murdoch press from going ballistic and framing the assertion as a ‘bombshell revelation’ of an established fact.” (08/27/25)
“Fort Lauderdale city leaders will host an emergency meeting Wednesday to discuss how to respond to the state’s order to remove rainbow-colored crosswalks and other street art throughout Florida, with deadlines to comply looming. The Department of Transportation under Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis ordered communities to remove the crosswalks and other street art by early next month or risk millions of dollars in state funding. Many of the painted crossings celebrate gay rights and LGBTQ+ pride, while others are tributes to [b]lack people and the police. DeSantis'[s] critics said it was just the latest attack by his administration, as well as the Republican-controlled Legislature, against LGBTQ visibility …” [editor’s note: The “attack” effects are side effects. The actual purpose is to energize the GOP base by “owning the libs” – TLK] (08/27/25)
“On Monday, President Trump signed an executive order ending cashless bail nationwide and creating rapid-response National Guard units that can be deployed to any city in need. Chicago, which Trump has aptly said ‘is a killing field right now,’ is one of the candidates. Send in the feds, Mr. President. Those forces should include ATF, DEA and FBI agents and other Department of Justice resources, as well as federalized National Guard troops if necessary. It’s high time to act against the dereliction of duty we’ve seen from Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker.” [editor’s note: In English, Caldwell is saying “unleash the same kinds of thugs who killed my brother” – TLK] (08/26/25)
“Former special counsel Jack Smith responded through his lawyers on Tuesday to news that a government watchdog had opened an investigation into his two prosecutions of President Donald Trump, calling the inquiry baseless. Smith’s attorneys at Covington & Burling wrote in a letter obtained by Fox News to the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) that the predicate for its investigation was ‘imaginary and unfounded’ and that Smith followed all the Department of Justice’s rules and principles in his work. ‘Mr. Smith’s actions as Special Counsel were consistent with the decisions of a prosecutor who has devoted his career to following the facts and the law, without fear or favor and without regard for the political consequences, not because of them,’ his attorneys wrote. The Office of Special Counsel is an independent agency unrelated to the DOJ or the special counsels, such as Smith, who have worked there.” (08/27/25)
“Immigration advocates gather like clockwork outside Seattle’s King County International Airport to witness deportation flights and spread word of where they are going and how many people are aboard. Until recently, they could keep track of the flights using publicly accessible websites. But the monitors and others say airlines are now using dummy call signs for deportation flights and are blocking the planes’ tail numbers from tracking websites, even as the number of deportation flights hits record highs under President Donald Trump. The changes forced them to find other ways to follow the flights, including by sharing information with other groups and using data from an open-source exchange that tracks aircraft transmissions. Their work helps people locate loved ones who are deported in the absence of information from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which rarely discloses flights. News organizations have used such flight tracking in reporting.” (08/27/25)
