“A Russian tanker docked Tuesday at the Cuban port of Matanzas laden with 730,000 barrels of oil, marking the first time in three months that an oil tanker reached the island. The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump had allowed the Anatoly Kolodkin to proceed despite an ongoing U.S. energy blockade. Cubans including Energy and Mines Minister Vicente de la O Levy cheered the ship’s arrival. A shortage of petroleum has exacerbated a deep economic crisis that has left the population mired in long blackouts and facing a severe shortage of food and medicine. … Experts say the anticipated shipment could produce about 180,000 barrels of diesel, enough to feed Cuba’s daily demand for nine or 10 days.” (03/31/26)
“Get ready for the next Roe v. Wade — as a new Supreme Court case threatens to split the country, not over abortion, but over ‘birthright citizenship.’ Trump v. Barbara is before the court this week, and with it comes the very question of who is an American. On his first day back in office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order [pretending] that the children of illegal immigrants or temporary residents aren’t American citizens just by virtue of being born on American soil. People born here to at least one citizen parent are automatically citizens, and Trump’s order recognizes the children of lawful permanent residents as birthright citizens, too. But that’s not enough for those who insist the Constitution’s 14th Amendment establishes a radical definition of birthright citizenship.” [editor’s note: It didn’t “establish” anything — birthright citizenship was the case from the beginning of the US, except for slaves, and in England before that – TLK] (03/31/26)
“‘It was pretty soon after James was born that I knew something wasn’t right,’ says Laura. She and her partner, Beth, have two children — James, and their eldest Kate – both conceived through IVF treatment at a clinic in Turkish-occupied northern Cyprus. The two women used their own eggs and carefully chose one anonymous, healthy sperm donor. They told the clinic which ordered the sperm for them that it was important the same donor was used for both babies — so their children would be biologically related. But when James was born, they both noticed that his ‘beautiful’ brown eyes were very different to those of his biological mum, Beth, and the sperm donor the family had requested. … Beth and Laura decided their children should take a DNA test. The results indicated neither child was related to the sperm donor their parents had selected.” (03/31/26)
“The Trump administration is pushing the FBI to look into an old investigation on California Rep. Eric Swalwell, a sitting member of Congress and leading Democratic candidate for California governor, the Washington Post reported last week. Swalwell, a former prosecutor and unsuccessful 2020 presidential candidate, called the FBI probe ‘nonsense’ and suggested last week that the president’s directive is an attempt to influence the California governor’s race in which Swalwell says he is ‘the favorite’. ‘Through great reporting, we now know the outrageous ends the White House will go to target political opponents,’ he said in an emailed statement to SFGATE. ‘As was Trump’s mortgage case against me, this decade-old story is, of course, nonsense.’ FBI Director Kash Patel reportedly has pushed investigators to revisit files from a decade-old investigation into Swalwell and a suspected Chinese operative, the outlet reported, citing three anonymous sources.” (03/30/26)
“The threat of a city government shutdown loomed large in Chicago in December 2025 as the city faced an end-of-year deadline to close a projected $1.2 billion deficit. To counteract the impact of President Donald Trump’s 2025 tax law, Mayor Brandon Johnson had pitched a budget in October that would require some of the law’s biggest beneficiaries to pay more. His proposed payroll tax — on corporations with more than 1,000 employees — would, according to his administration, amount to less than 0.01% of the Trump tax cuts bestowed on companies like Google and Walmart. But a standoff ensued after a group of Chicago City Council alderpersons — led by Nicole Lee, a former United Airlines executive — announced they would refuse to cross a ’red line’: a new tax on the city’s largest corporations, including United. The group raised the specter of businesses fleeing Chicago in droves, despite a Chicago Sun-Times analysis casting doubt on this claim.” (03/31/26)
“Russia has ordered a British diplomat to leave the country over allegations of spying, the latest in a series of expulsions of embassy staff from both sides. The Federal Security Service (FSB) claims the man provided false information when applying to enter the country, as well as trying to obtain sensitive information during informal economic meetings, according to state media reports. The diplomat has had their accreditation revoked and has been ordered to leave the country within two weeks. A UK Foreign Office spokesman called the move ‘complete nonsense’ and accused Russia of an ‘aggressive and co-ordinated campaign of harassment against British diplomats.’ In a statement, they said Russia has been ‘pumping out malicious and completely baseless accusations about their work.’ ‘The UK does not stand for intimidation of British embassy staff and their families,’ they added.” (03/30/26)
“Spain has closed its airspace to U.S. planes involved in the Iran war, its defense minister said Monday, marking the latest step by Europe’s loudest opponent of U.S. and Israeli involvement in the conflict in the Middle East. The country earlier said the U.S. couldn’t use jointly operated military bases in the conflict, which Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has described as illegal, reckless and unjust. Defense Minister Margarita Robles said the same logic applied to the use of Spanish airspace in the conflict. ‘This was made perfectly clear to the American military and forces from the very beginning. Therefore, neither the bases are authorized, nor, of course, is the use of Spanish airspace authorized for any actions related to the war in Iran,’ Robles told reporters, and called the war in Iran ‘profoundly illegal and profoundly unjust.'” (03/30/26)
“This is how Rahm Emanuel eats a salad: He rips open its clear, clamshell container with two hands. He grabs the ramekin of the dressing. He pours it across the salad. Then he picks up the salad container, shaking it with an intensity and ferocity that forces the balsamic throughout, giving no quarter to the greens and the grilled chicken. This is material information, mind you, for his would-be 2028 Democratic presidential primary rivals. Because how Rahm eats a salad is how he does anything and everything: with intent and with verve and without mercy. The next presidential election is more than two years away. But Rahm, 66, is already saturating old (and new) media with his small-bore policy rollouts and white papers, spending hours cultivating Beltway and battleground state reporters with on and off-the-record bull sessions …” (03/30/26)
“Honestly, I can’t believe I’m in this world of ours (or do I mean His?). Yes, this very one and no other! Almost a quarter of a century after, in response to the 9/11 attacks, the U.S. launched its war in Afghanistan that would last a mere 20 years until Donald Trump prepared for and Joe Biden carried out a humiliating withdrawal of the last American troops there, the U.S. is back big time, dumber and more wildly destructive than ever. Whew! That’s a lot of (terrible) history to get into a single sentence! And so, here’s a TomDispatch question for you: What four-letter country, the first three of which are IRA, has the U.S. now been bombing? No, not Iraq! That war began in 2003 and ended a mere eight years later in 2011. And remind me, how did that work out?” (03/29/26)
“The mutants were on the march Saturday, or on the street corners, I should say. No, they weren’t hookers, at least in the traditional sense, but prostitutes nonetheless. Democrats came out of their basements, gave their controllers a chance to recharge, and got a little bit of vitamin D from the sun for the first time since COVID. Suckers, all of them.” (03/30/26)
