“Simon Kuper is 56 now. His first memory of a World Cup, if not his first-ever vivid memory — for many of us who grew up outside the United States, the two are often the same — was the 1978 final between the Netherlands and Argentina. ‘I recall that night as vividly as almost anything else in my childhood,’ he writes in World Cup Fever. ‘A World Cup is like Proust’s Madeleine. Each new World Cup reminds you of past World Cups, and the people you watched them with.’ The book is a history of the World Cup through a few dozen madeleines. For Americans, it’s as good a guide as any to a tournament of paradoxes, this too-big-to-fail quadrennial festival of corruption, cheating, profiteering, nationalist chauvinism, and mostly crappy soccer that nevertheless can hypnotize and transport to a utopia of competition as idealized and convincing as Pelé’s deification of the sport as ‘the beautiful game.'” (06/17/26)
“As Israeli officials lash out against a preliminary deal to end the war in Iran, President Donald Trump is returning the favor. ‘I’m not happy with the way Israel has handled themselves with Lebanon,’ Trump said Tuesday. ‘Israel would have been blown up a long time ago had I not gotten involved.’ The comments represent a nadir in U.S.-Israel relations under Trump. The dispute is fundamental. Trump is determined to end the war with Iran, and Iran has made clear that a peace deal is only possible if Israel halts its operations against Hezbollah, an Iranian ally, in Lebanon. … Israel, for its part, believes its interests are best served by continued war with both Hezbollah and Iran, and it’s insisting that it won’t be bound by the terms of any deal negotiated between Tehran and Washington alone.” (06/17/26)
“African and Commonwealth nations called Tuesday for a swift implementation of a landmark treaty protecting the high seas, warning that despite record commitments to marine conservation, much of the world’s ocean protection still exists only on paper. The call to action was issued at the 11th Our Ocean Conference in Mombasa, the first time an African nation has hosted the major annual event, which focuses on addressing critical ocean issues, including climate change, biodiversity and pollution. Hundreds of delegates from Africa, the United States, the European Union, and climate-vulnerable Caribbean and Pacific island nations are taking part in the conference, where leaders have sought to position Africa as a driving force in global ocean governance.” (06/16/26)
“I recently attended a webinar sponsored by the Working Families Party, entitled Winning Back the Working Class. Everyone attending seemed to share the view that the working class has drifted away from the Democratic Party and that Democrats must change their messaging in order to win these voters back and prevail against MAGA Republicans. The presenters provided sophisticated polling analyses, looking closely at the issues that matter most to working-class voters and what turns them off about the Democratic Party. The bottom line was that the Democrats needed to put forward a strong, progressive economic-populist agenda. While I share the desire to derail MAGA in the coming elections, I find the ‘winning back’ framework problematic. For starters, why do Democrats need to be convinced that a progressive economic platform should be adopted?” (06/17/26)
“Americans say they want to bring back industry. President Donald Trump ran on reindustrialization and won. But when it comes to actual building, mining, and developing, people too often shut it down. Build, they say, just not in my backyard. Peter Thiel put his finger on this pathology over a decade ago. ‘We wanted flying cars,’ he wrote, ‘instead we got 140 characters.’ His point wasn’t merely about venture capital timidity. It was about a society that stopped building physical things, retreating into digital abstraction while factories closed, supply chains migrated to China, and infrastructure crumbled. Now, we are making the same mistake again, in real time, with higher stakes.” [editor’s note: Actually, the US builds more “physical things” than it ever has before — it just doesn’t use as much human labor to do so – TLK] (06/17/26)
“Cuba’s powerful Communist Party, or PCC, called an extraordinary plenary session Wednesday, days after President Miguel Díaz-Canel’s announced an economic reform package aimed at opening up the struggling island’s economy. Also Wednesday, in a surprise move, the National Assembly was also convened for Thursday to follow up on the party meeting. Both sessions come at a critical time for Cuba, as it grapples with the effects of a U.S. energy blockade aimed at forcing a change in the island’s economic model. The deepening economic crisis that has gripped Cuba for the past years — intensified by the energy embargo enacted under U.S. President Donald Trump — continues to disproportionately affect the island’s most vulnerable. Persistent blackouts, cuts to the state-run food ration system, and severe shortages of water and medicine have transformed daily life into an ordeal for many of the island’s nearly 10 million residents.” (06/17/26)
Source: The American Prospect
by Whitney Curry Wimbish
“To the casual observer, the two candidates vying for the Democratic nomination in New York’s Seventh Congressional District to replace retiring 16-term stalwart Nydia Velázquez may look indistinguishable. New York Assemblymember Claire Valdez and Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso are both Democrats, and both intend to abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), fund affordable housing, institute health care for all, and end Israel’s war on Palestine, which they agree is a genocide. Both candidates have substantial endorsements from powerful figures and organizations. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani backs Valdez, a fellow Democratic Socialists of America member, as do DSA-NYC and Justice Democrats; Rep. Velázquez, the New York Working Families Party, and state Attorney General Letitia James back Reynoso.” (06/17/26)
“Of all the reasons that the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran has ceased, leading to a tentative deal, at least one had a common thread: Each nation seemed to worry more about internal political ruptures than about winning the war. In each country, then, a desire to keep hold of national cohesion might have helped silence the guns – and could influence the difficult negotiations still to come. In Israel, for example, a newly released poll showed some 55% of the public sees internal political polarization as the most dangerous threat to the country’s existence – far more than threats of violence from Iran. That widespread concern over domestic friction also carries some hope for national unity. ‘It is possible to cultivate space of agreement in Israeli society, but it requires a practical action plan aimed at that, and not at defeating the identity-based rival,’ Yedidia Stern, president of the Jewish People Policy Institute that conducted the survey, told The Jerusalem Post.” (06/16/26)
“I run the organization New York is trying to shut down. A few days ago, at the tail end of its legislative session, Albany lawmakers passed a bill giving Attorney General Letitia James sweeping new powers to investigate and fine any organization — even those based in other states — for communications she determines to ‘falsely impersonate’ a union. The fine is $1,000 per incident: $1,000 for every mailer or email my group, the Freedom Foundation, sends to tens of thousands of workers annually. The bill claims it’s meant to stop the impersonation of union representatives, but its real purpose is to stop groups like mine from telling public employees what their unions don’t want them to know: That they have a constitutional right to decline union membership and dues without losing their jobs.” (06/17/26)
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“Everyone’s talking about the Memo of Understanding that has been reached between the US and Iran, set to be signed on Friday. All the most fanatical Zionist warmongers are rending their garments in heartbreak over the development, which is always a good sign, but it remains to be seen how much of this thing actually happens and for how long. One major sticking point in the deal is ending Israel’s assault on Lebanon, which Tehran remains adamant about, warning of an Iranian military response if the IDF doesn’t cease its constant attacks on the country. This could easily end up tanking the whole thing. Either way, I personally can’t see a whole lot to get excited about right now. Any ‘peace deal’ with Iran is at best a temporary pause in the US/Israeli efforts to topple Tehran while the US pursues other war agendas like regime change in Cuba.” (06/17/26)
