“It’s increasingly difficult for U.S. political commentators to neglect the centrality of socialism to the country’s affairs. We now see a spate of polling results and other commentary testifying to the popularity of socialist ideas, if not the label, as well as to the prospects of rising political stars like Mayors Zohran Mamdani in New York City and Katie Wilson in Seattle, as well as State Senator Omar Fateh in Minneapolis. Whenever democratic socialism has a moment in the mainstream media, as it is having now, pundits and reporters ponder what ’democratic socialism’ really means. Those on the Left speculate on how, if at all, it differs from ‘social democracy’ — generally taken to refer to the more egalitarian economic arrangements observed in the Nordic countries, and to a lesser extent across Western Europe.” (03/17/26)
“Steve Hilton, a legal immigrant and political newcomer running as a Republican for governor of California, said the ‘absolute failure on every front’ by current Gov. Gavin Newsom and Democrats means the GOP has a real shot at pulling off an upset in the Golden State. Though California has long since been written off by many as a progressive stronghold, the most recent polling indicates Hilton may be right. On Wednesday, Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies released a poll showing Hilton leading California voter preferences at 17 percent. Another Republican, Riverside Sheriff Chad Bianco, follows at 16 percent. Both Republicans are ahead of the two top Democratic names, Rep. Eric Swalwell [D-CA] and former Rep. Katie Porter, who are each at 13 percent.” (03/18/26)
“Susan Rice, who played leading roles in the Obama and Biden administrations, has broken a Washington code of silence by threatening that anyone who plays ball with the Trump administration will suffer payback the next time Democrats take control. ‘When it comes to the elites, you know, the corporate interests, the law firms, the universities, the media, it’s not going to end well for them,’ she said on a podcast. ‘They’re going to be held accountable by those who come in opposition to Trump and win at the ballot box,’ she added. She is no stranger to dirty tricks, having been involved in the Obama administration’s spying on Trump’s 2016 White House campaign. And she was in the top ranks of the Biden White House when its Justice Department broke with two centuries of history by indicting and trying to convict Trump …” (03/17/26)
“A Chinese man and his Kenyan associate have been charged with illegally dealing in wildlife species after they were caught trying to smuggle more than 2,000 live queen garden ants out of Kenya. Zhang Kequn was arrested at the international airport in the capital Nairobi last week after authorities discovered the large consignment of ants in his luggage – each of them either stashed in a test tube or wrapped in tissue. On Tuesday, a court in Nairobi heard that Zhang bought the ants from Charles Mwangi at 10,000 Kenyan shillings ($77; £58) for every 100 of them. Kenyan authorities have been warning about of a growing demand for garden ants in Europe and Asia, where collectors keep them as pets. Officials have not said if this were the case for the insects Zhang tried to bring out of the country, but his luggage was bound for China.” (03/18/26)
“A Brazilian police operation in Rio de Janeiro favelas on Wednesday killed seven presumed drug traffickers, including a gang chief, as well as a local resident caught in the crossfire, law enforcement officials said. Claúdio Augusto dos Santos, a drug-trafficking boss and member of the notorious Red Command criminal organization, was among those killed in the operation in central Rio, Secretary of the Military Police Col. Marcelo de Menezes said in a press conference. In retaliation, police said ‘criminals’ set fire to a bus and blocked roads in Rio’s central zone, leading to four arrests. Márcio Sousa, the driver of the bus set alight, reported that the attackers boarded the vehicle with two bottles of gasoline.” (03/18/26)
“The SAVE Act is coming up for a Senate vote soon, having passed the House back in February. On Tuesday, it cleared its first hurdle, advancing a motion to begin debate on a 51-48 vote that fell mostly along party lines; that’s well short of the 60 votes needed to clear a filibuster and ultimately pass. This bill is probably the most sweeping abrogation of voting rights since Jim Crow. As the Brennan Center explains, it would require both voter ID and proof of citizenship to vote, as well as force the states to send their voter files to the Department of Homeland Security. Tens of millions [sic] of U.S. citizens do not have ready proof of their citizenship, and tens of millions more [sic] don’t match with the documents they do have (for instance, married women who have changed their last name).” (03/18/26)
“Jeffrey Epstein was not only a rapist and a child predator, but also — wait for it — a White supremacist. While some speculate that the Epstein issue is just a distraction from President Trump’s virulent and endless racism, others feel that the video the president posted at the beginning of Black History Month of Barack and Michelle Obama as apes was meant to divert attention from the growing Epstein fallout. Well, as it turns out, the two crises are not as far apart as you might imagine. Bombshell articles in The Atlantic, Mother Jones, and at MS Now pulled the covers off Jeffrey Epstein’s noxious racism.” [editor’s note: I will leave it to the reader to decipher this mess of lies and context drops – SAT] [additional editor’s note: Probably a good idea, SAT … I suspect they’ll do a better job than your note indicates you did – TLK] (03/17/26)
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“This is Zionism put into practice. The wars. The massacres. The bombed-out schools and hospitals. The millions of displaced individuals. The invasion of Lebanon. The explosions carpeting Tehran. The hollowed-out moonscape of Gaza. The horrific pogroms in the West Bank. The child amputees. The smell of rotting corpses. The assassinated doctors and journalists. The blackened sky and the poisoned water. The nonstop deluge of brain-melting propaganda. The aggressive promotion of Islamophobia and anti-Arab racism. The erosion of free speech rights throughout the western world. The corrupt warmongering politicians. The legions of online hasbara trolls. The soaring fuel prices. Money which could pay for social services buying bombs for Israel instead. All the death, destruction, instability and suffering that’s being visited upon countless civilians throughout west Asia. This is Zionism.” (03/17/26)
“I’m not one of those people tapping their foot saying, ‘When is the war going to end? It’s been dragging on and is a disaster!’ No, those people are idiots actively hoping the United States is damaged because of who the President of the United States is. Nor do I think the Iranian regime didn’t deserve to be wiped out; those who used to be in charge (and alive) were evil and them no longer existing is a great thing for humanity. But what comes next isn’t up to us, it’s up to the people of Iran to act. And there is still an open question about what it is they want, so we have to consider the possibility that most of them simply don’t want to be ‘free.'” (03/17/26)
“I’m traveling to Cuba for the first time on March 21 to be in Havana with the Nuestra América Convoy, in which people from dozens of countries representing a variety of organizations will break the blockade, bringing much-needed supplies to the island. CODEPINK is bringing 6,300 pounds of medical equipment and medicine with help from Global Health Partners and others. These supplies will be given to clinics, hospitals, and maternity centers as Cuba deals with the latest horrifying crime against humanity perpetrated by the United States. The US is blockading oil, seizing and chasing away Cuba-bound tankers in the Caribbean. No oil whatsoever has entered the island since early December. Trump characterized Cuba as an ‘unusual and extraordinary threat,’ paving the way for more unilateral coercive measures (so-called sanctions).” (03/17/26)
