“The Trump administration’s drive to end the war in Ukraine – initially under a plan that favored Moscow’s terms – has hit a big speed bump: American allies in Europe are demanding that Russia be held accountable for war crimes, such as the abduction of Ukrainian children and the execution of prisoners of war. For Ukrainians, real peace demands at least truth-telling if not justice for such violations of international law. For Europe, too, any deal that wipes the slate clean for Russia ‘would be sowing the seeds of the next round of aggression and the next invasion,’ said Michael McGrath, the European commissioner for justice and democracy. ‘We cannot give up on the rights of the victims of Russian aggression and Russian crimes,’ he told Politico.” (12/02/25)
“Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s scramble to avoid responsibility for his order to kill everyone on a boat allegedly transporting drugs, including two survivors treading water and clinging to flotsam after their boat had been blown up in mid-Caribbean, is a violation of law and a moral disgrace, but not without precedent. When things go visibly awry in our nation’s military actions (the key word in that clause is, of course, ‘visibly’), we have a long tradition of laying the blame on the underling. According to The Washington Post, Hegseth specifically ordered the operation’s commander, Adm. Frank Bradley, to have his sailors gun down those two survivors. According to The New York Times, Hegseth gave no such order, but he did issue the initial order to kill the people on that boat, which followed from President Trump’s order to the military to view such boats as enemy warships.” (12/02/25)
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“Just as the news breaks that Trump has issued Maduro an ultimatum to leave Venezuela immediately if he wants to escape with his life, the Murdoch-owned Wall Street Journal has published an amazingly brazen war propaganda piece titled ‘How Venezuelan Gangs and African Jihadists Are Flooding Europe With Cocaine.’ ‘Venezuela has become a major launchpad for huge volumes of cocaine shipped to West Africa, where jihadists are helping traffic it to Europe in record quantities,’ the article begins, going out of its way to note that ‘the Trump administration’s pressure campaign against Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro — who it asserts is heavily involved in drug smuggling — has brought global attention to the country’s role in the drug trade.’ The propaganda piece is plainly aimed at Europeans as well as Americans …” (12/02/25)
“Is it too much to ask for immigrants who love America and its system of government? That’s a question that President Trump has been asking, with an especially high level of vitriol, in the wake of the horrific shooting of members of the National Guard in Washington, DC, the day before Thanksgiving. In a corker of a Truth Social post announcing ‘a permanent pause’ in immigration from Third World countries, Trump went after Minneapolis-area Rep. Ilhan Omar, and for good reason. Omar stands for everything we shouldn’t want an immigrant to be — ungrateful, hostile to the American system as such, and perhaps not above perpetrating immigration fraud. Maybe the next time that Omar is a refugee from a war-torn, desperately poor African country looking for a safe haven in the West, she should try Canada or Australia.” (12/02/25)
“NBA legend Michael Jordan is suing Nascar, the biggest US motorsports company, accusing it of operating an illegal monopoly that has caused financial harm to a team he partly owns. On Monday, he sat in the front row of the courtroom for the first day of the lawsuit’s trial, listening to emotional testimony from Denny Hamlin, the three-time champion in the Daytona 500 and a co-owner of Jordan’s team, 23XI racing. Jordan and Hamlin, along with Front Row Motorsports, are accusing Nascar of illegally making hundreds of millions of dollars by stifling opportunity. Nascar CEO Jim France, who inherited the stock car racing business from his father, Nascar’s founder, denies any wrongdoing. Jordan’s 23XI and Front Row Motorsports, which is led by fast food franchise owner Bob Jenkins, brought the lawsuit in October 2024. The trial in Charlotte, North Carolina, is being presided over by Judge Kenneth Bell.” (12/02/25)
“Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers was banned for life Tuesday from an academic society in the latest fallout over recently released emails showing he maintained a friendly relationship with Jeffrey Epstein after the disgraced financier pleaded guilty to soliciting prostitution from a minor. The American Economic Association, a nonprofit scholarly association dedicated to economic research, said it had accepted Summers’[s] resignation and banned him for life from ‘attending, speaking at, or otherwise participating in’ its events. ‘The AEA condemns Mr. Summers’ conduct, as reflected in publicly reported communications, as fundamentally inconsistent with its standards of professional integrity and with the trust placed in mentors within the economics profession,’ the group said in a statement. A spokesperson for Summers didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.” (12/02/25)
“We have a storytelling problem on the Left, and right now there is an easy story to parrot about the Democratic Party leadership’s profound failure to meet the moment. It’s an old and familiar story that has been written again and again throughout my life. It’s a story where the only updates are changes to names and dates. The MAGA Right has shown its inability to cohere its vision of American authoritarianism and win majorities to it. At the same time, Democratic leaders have shown their inability to lead a political coalition that can defeat the Right. There is no tactical maneuver that will change these fundamental truths. So we should be wary of easy stories that misdirect us, no matter how satisfying it might be to dunk on Chuck Schumer, no matter how crass the Democrats’ latest capitulations feel.” (12/02/25)
“Why did the war in Ukraine start in 2021? As in 2008 and 2012, but unlike 2017 to 2021, Vladimir Putin sensed an American president would not or could not deter him, so he invaded a former Soviet republic. Under past presidents, Putin saw no downside to grabbing Ossetia, the Donbas, and Crimea. Putin was also led to believe the West or Joe Biden would not challenge him following the recent humiliating U.S. withdrawal from Kabul. Biden’s unfortunate remark that a ‘minor’ Russian invasion might not invoke a U.S. response did not help. Based on past experience, Putin saw no real obstacle to a quick victory. ” (12/01/25)
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“It’s the craziest thing in the world that we already have the technological ability to provide a decent standard of living for everyone on earth, but it doesn’t happen because it’s not profitable. We attained the greatest scientific achievement of all time and then did nothing with it. Our society is completely uninterested in it because capitalism is completely uninterested in it. It’s just so insane how this doesn’t sit front and center in our attention all the time. There are people dying of starvation, exposure and preventable illnesses every single day for no good reason. Humanity became more than capable of ensuring that this never happened to anyone ever again, and just rode right past that stunning moment in history without even glancing up from its smartphone. Can you imagine if we did that with any other major technological development?” (12/01/25)
“When we lose a member of our Armed Services to the enemy on the battlefield, we mostly understand that it is part of the accepted risk. However, when Soldiers are ambushed and shot just blocks away from the White House in our Nation’s capital, it shocks us. And so is the case with 20-year-old US Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom of West Virginia, who volunteered to take a Thanksgiving tour of duty to protect the streets of Washington, DC, so that others could enjoy Thanksgiving with family. Sarah was shot in the chest and head, and we lost her. US Air Force SSG Andrew Wolfe is fighting for his life. Both were shot by an Afghan national who was allowed entry into our country, and it appears not properly vetted.” (12/01/25)
