Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“We all sense it deep in our marrow. We all know something has gone terribly wrong. If you lived in an alternate reality without wars or poverty, where everyone had enough and governments did what’s in the interests of the people and the ecosystem, it would never occur to you that there was anything odd about it. It would feel completely normal. Things would be more or less how you’d expect them to be. You can’t say the same about the present status quo. The whole thing instinctively scans as weird and counterintuitive. The more you learn about the way the world works, the more insane it all looks to you. Have you ever had to explain war to a young child? It’s terrible. If you’re actually honest with them about what war is and why it is waged, it completely shatters their understanding of the world.” (04/20/26)
“This May Day, I’ll be one of the millions who will peacefully take to the streets to denounce the cruelty and corruption of this administration and the oligarchs it serves. I will march because I believe our lives are worth more than dollars and cents. Every one of us deserves the right to live in dignity with hope for the future. I invite you to join me. May Day began in the 19th century, when industrial workers came together to demand something we now take for granted: an eight-hour workday. At that time, even children worked twelve or more hours straight in factories, every day. We too easily forget how far we have come, and that victories like these were won by organized people.” (04/19/26)
“A recent surprise in China was a survey that found professional women have adapted faster to using artificial intelligence than men. They also show less fear of AI. Yet it was the explanation for this AI gender gap that offered a keyhole into how Chinese women are changing themselves and society from inside the narrow lanes imposed upon them by the ruling party. One insight on the survey came from Poh-Yian Koh, president of FedEx China. She said in the era of AI, the common female traits of flexibility, resilience, empathy, long-term vision, and bridge-building allow women to serve as ‘indispensable ‘interpreters’ who connect technology with humanity.’ ‘Technology can be replicated. Empathy cannot,’ she said. ‘In the age of intelligence, trust is the scarcest resource’” Technology might determine how fast society moves, but ‘humanity determines how far we go.'” (04/18/26)
“Hungarian election winner Péter Magyar on Monday announced the first round of his incoming government’s Cabinet members, including nominees for ministers of foreign affairs, finance and economy, following the first meeting of his party’s parliamentary group. Magyar and his center-right Tisza party defeated Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in a landslide election on April 12, securing a two-thirds majority in Hungary’s next parliament which will make it possible to undo many of the policies Orbán implemented during his 16 years in power. The opposition leader has vowed to restore democratic institutions and the rule of law which eroded under Orbán’s rule, and to hold accountable those who he says were responsible for overseeing and benefiting from widespread official corruption. Magyar’s party gained 141 seats out of 199 in parliament — the largest majority in Hungary’s post-Communist history. Orbán’s far-right, euroskeptic Fidesz party will control 52 seats, down from 135 before the election.” (04/20/26)
“The US government under Donald Trump has twice used disingenuous negotiations with Iran to provide cover for attacking it, in June 2025 and again before launching the current war in February. Now it is trying to do so for a third time. On April 8, the US and Iran began a two week ceasefire, after Trump accepted a 10-point peace plan drawn up by Iran as ‘a workable basis on which to negotiate’. But Vice President Vance and US negotiators rejected Iran’s plan out of hand at talks in Pakistan on April 11, and instead demanded that Iran must give up its right as a member of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (or NPT) to enrich uranium for civilian purposes. The talks ended with no agreement. As the end of the ceasefire on April 22 drew near, Trump claimed that Iran had agreed to US demands on enriched uranium and other matters.” (04/20/26)
“‘If man is not fit to govern himself, how can he be fit to govern someone else?’ – James Madison … A very clear — and truthful — analysis by Mr. Madison, and it explains in a few words, the problem with most governments in history, and that includes the current American government. As I have noted countless times, the American Founders said that the country cannot succeed without a virtuous people electing virtuous leaders. Well, people elected Eric Swalwell, who is the epitome of vice and immorality. Swalwell is human scum, but what does his election to Congress tell us about the people who put him there in the first place? And do we really think the people of his Congressional district are going to learn from their folly and replace Swalwell with a paragon of Christian virtue?” (04/20/26)
“Serbia could lose access to around 1.5 billion euros ($1.8 billion) in European Union funds if it fails to halt democratic backsliding, EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos warned on Monday. International monitors have said they had witnessed violence and irregularities during last month’s local elections in 10 Serbian municipalities. ‘We are increasingly worried about what is happening in Serbia,’ Kos told EU lawmakers. She said the European Commission is ‘assessing whether the country still fulfills the conditions for payments under the EU’s financial instruments.’ Kos said the commission’s concerns range from ‘laws that undermine the independence of the judiciary, to crackdowns on protesters and recurrent meddling in independent media.’ Serbia qualifies for a big slice of an EU fund to promote growth in countries trying to join the bloc if they carry out reforms. Kos said Belgrade has received 110 million euros ($130 million), but that still ‘leaves around 1.5 billion under a question mark.'” (04/20/26)
“On Thursday and Friday, there seemed to be progress toward a war-ending deal. President Trump went along with an Iranian demand that Israel must cease bombing Lebanon as a precondition to talks. … on Friday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi posted on X that the Strait of Hormuz was ‘completely open.’ Trump claimed that a deal was at hand, leading the stock market to jump and the price of oil to fall. In ordinary diplomacy, this is how a deal unfolds. Each side offers the other something constructive, a process that builds confidence and trust, until eventually a firm agreement can be signed. But Trump is not a ordinary diplomat. Only a few hours after Araghchi proclaimed the strait open, Trump closed it again, announcing that the U.S. would continue its own blockade of the strait ‘until such time as our transaction with Iran is 100% complete,’ Trump wrote on Truth Social.” (04/20/26)
“British Prime Minister Keir Starmer acknowledged Monday that he made the wrong judgment when he picked Jeffrey Epstein ’s friend Peter Mandelson as U.K. ambassador to Washington, batting away a barrage of calls to resign over a scandal that has left his leadership teetering. Starmer said he would have withdrawn the appointment if he’d known Mandelson had failed security checks, as he tried to explain why Mandelson was given the U.K.’s most important diplomatic post. Starmer placed blame squarely on Foreign Office officials who he said failed to tell him about the security concerns and approved Mandelson’s appointment despite them. Starmer told lawmakers in the House of Commons that ‘I would not have gone ahead with the appointment’ had he known the truth.” (04/20/26)
“Last week, in Nebraska, Noemi Guzman tried to kidnap a 3-year-old from Walmart. Horrific bodycam footage from the police shows her holding a knife over the boy, slashing him, before cops shot her dead. Two years prior, a judge let Guzman off for a raft of felony charges, including arson and assault, by reason of insanity. One of the most horrific crimes this decade happened last August, when, on Charlotte North Carolina’s transit system, a mentally ill man named Decarlos Brown allegedly stabbed to death Iryna Zarutska, a complete stranger and Ukrainian refugee. Brown suffers from schizophrenia, yet was let go for previous crimes. His mother said she tried to get him involuntarily committed but was refused.” (04/19/26)
