Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“Under capitalism [sic], humanity exists to serve the interests of the corporation. We are all livestock; beasts of burden used to carry margin expansion forward from quarterly statement to quarterly statement. Enjoyment of life has no value other than the extent to which it can be used to increase the net worth of the shareholders. That’s why everyone’s so unhappy. We’re not living with purpose. We’re not working together to build a better world and a better future, we’re just pulling levers to turn gears to make the arrow line go up on the graph in the conference room. It’s a hollow, pointless way for people to live. It makes our whole culture vapid and soulless.” [editor’s note: Johnstone is often great on foreign policy, but nearly always completely clueless on economics – TLK] (06/12/26)
Source: Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting
by Ari Paul
“More than a decade ago, a video (Mondoweiss, 8/7/14) showed Jodi Rudoren, then The New York Times’[s] Jerusalem bureau chief, having a casual and friendly meeting with Abe Foxman, head of the Anti-Defamation League. The cozy relationship in the video was telling enough, but when the video captured Foxman complaining that ‘the Arabs’ had taken over a famous New York City hotel, and Rudoren shrugging it off, many skeptics viewed this as a window into the Times’[s] pro-Israel bias. The recently deceased Foxman (Jewish Telegraphic Agency, 5/12/26), famous for promoting the pro-Israel viewpoint and insinuating that critics of Israel were antisemitic, wasn’t Rudoren’s source in this video; they were pals. Emmaia Gelman’s new book, The Anti-Defamation League and the Racial State, is a history of the group, framing it not as a racial justice organization but as a deputy sheriff for the US empire.” [editor’s note: Is ADL just as messed up as SPLC? Film at eleven – SAT] (06/14/26)
“Some people just like classic Coke. Others insist on the original Reese’s recipe. New York Times reporter Jodi Kantor went on CNN to explain why Democrats can vote for Maine senatorial candidate Graham Platner despite multiple women coming forward to denounce him: This is really not the classic #MeToo allegations that Kantor and others seem to prefer for outrage. Kantor won a Pulitzer Prize for her reporting on Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein’s sexual abuse and was called forth by CNN to explain why it is OK for liberals to support an alleged abuser of women. A prior girlfriend has accused Platner of physically abusing her and even locking her into a room overnight. He is also accused of sexting women and dismissing rape victims. None of that, however, necessarily presents a barrier for those who want to retake power by any means necessary.” (06/14/26)
“This film presents a synthesis of my father’s book The Doomsday Machine. His book depicts the evil murderousness of nuclear war plans, and the particular dangers posed by intercontinental ballistic missiles, or ICBMs, with their first strike capability, intended to be launched on warning. He believed that with these weapons both the US and the USSR, now Russia, had constructed Doomsday Machines, capable of destroying most life on Earth—machines that are particularly dangerous because neither side acknowledges this reality but continue to proceed as if there were some circumstances in which it was possible to win a nuclear war. The epigraph from Dad’s book is from Nietzsche: ‘Madness in individuals is something rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule.'” (06/14/26)
“‘What the hell is wrong with these people?’ I heard someone ask as a clip of Jasmine Crockett played on the television at the restaurant bar the other day. What was Crockett talking about? Her sympathy for the murderer named Karmelo Anthony because he’s black. Yes, that’s why she cares, or at least pretends to care, about the fate of the man who’ll spend at least the next 17.5 years of his life in prison in Texas. How could anyone, real or not, go on camera and express sympathy for a murderer, at the expense of the murder victim and his family, no less? There’s really only one possibility: the cancerous cultural rot Democrats have forced and enforced on the black community. … How do you address a problem if you aren’t willing to talk about it honestly?” (06/14/26)
“Suddenly my cynicism vanished and things started making sense… America started making sense, from past to present. I was already in the process of writing this column — hey, the nation’s 250th birthday is coming up — and had never felt more lost. Where, where, where am I going with this? What am I trying to say? My words had no core, no soul. I felt like I had given myself the random rubble of a bombed-out building to write about. Then a friend sent me a link to a New York Times opinion piece. I decided to give it a quick read. I don’t necessarily trust the Times. It can be smugly wrong. But I took a look — it was by literary critic A.O. Scott — and I couldn’t stop reading it.” (06/14/26)
“The grotesque sexual misconduct involving Democratic politicians (from New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to California Rep. Eric Swalwell) has finally put #MeToo to rest. We were reminded of its demise when it was revealed that Maine senatorial candidate and socialist heartthrob Graham Platner had been discovered to possess a long social media history of crude and pornographic put-downs of women. The demise of Black Lives Matter offers another example of a recurring left-wing phenomenon: movements that begin as moral crusades and end as self-parodies. Almost every BLM cause célèbre has proved fraudulent, following a long tradition that stretches from Al Sharpton’s Tawana Brawley myth to the Duke lacrosse scandal. The aftermath of the death of George Floyd did lasting damage to the country that still reverberates. The current leftist habit of urban intersection takeovers, statue-toppling, name-changing, and violent demonstrations is a legacy of that summer of lawlessness.” (06/14/26)
“It turns out that I have found something to agree with Keir Starmer about. During Ramadan this year, the prime minister described Muslims as ‘the face of modern Britain.’ I think that is correct. Whether it is also something to be happy about is another question. The PM, for his part, couldn’t be more pleased. Muslims in Britain, he went on to say, are ‘a success story when it comes to diversity.’ Was that qualification (‘when it comes to diversity’) just a nod to reality? Or was it merely his capitulation to some sort of self-imposed linguistic quota according to which he must punctuate two out of three pronouncements with the word ‘diversity’ or go without his pudding? The jury is still out on that.” (06/14/26)
“The lapsed authorization Friday night of a key national security surveillance provision that aims to prevent terrorist acts underscores the complex role of government in protecting the lives of U.S. citizens – and their constitutional right to privacy. Although the Senate and the House recently voted down a third short-term extension of the provision, Americans need not worry that national security or their individual safety has been massively compromised. Earlier this year, a specialized federal court renewed the annual certification of the tool – Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) – until March 2027. So, standard intelligence-gathering will not stop. However, some members of Congress, as well as political analysts, indicate that they’re ready for partisan wrangling and division around this issue to stop.” (06/12/26)
“On Thursday, Donald Trump belatedly reacted to the revolt (which included several key Republicans) over his preposterous installation of uber-loyalist Bill Pulte, who has not a shred of national security experience, as acting director of national intelligence, by nominating Jay Clayton for the position. But he has no such experience either. Clayton, SEC chair in Trump’s first term, was a longtime Wall Street lawyer at the power-law firm Sullivan & Cromwell. He now serves as U.S. attorney in Manhattan. Some Democrats were quick to take the bait, which matters at a time when the party is allowing a key warrantless wiretapping provision of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) to expire today, because of the Pulte appointment.” (06/12/26)
