“A Pennsylvania-linked manufacturer has been stripped of control over its Russian operations under a Kremlin order, raising fresh risks for Western companies as Moscow courts renewed economic ties with the United States. CANPACK, a global aluminum beverage can manufacturer owned by a Pennsylvania-based holding company, operates in multiple countries across Europe and North America and said its Russian business — valued at roughly $700 million — was placed under state ‘external administration’ by a Dec. 31, 2025, decree signed by President Vladimir Putin, effectively transferring control of 100% of its shares to state-appointed managers. CEO Peter Giorgi said the company lost all operational authority after administrators arrived in mid-January.” (04/11/26)
Source: The American Prospect
by David Dayen & Whitney Curry Wimbish
“It was the first Rental Ripoff hearing and people were pissed. Set up by Mayor Zohran Mamdani and attended by leaders of his administration and 150 city workers across multiple departments, the hearings gave tenants a chance to describe conditions their landlords refuse to fix: rats, mold, dangerous constructio — along with a spate of unnecessary and hidden fees. They had three minutes each to share their experiences. But they also got to do something unexpected: set policy priorities for one of the largest cities in the world. Arrayed around the room were posterboards, which not only asked tenants what problems they faced but sought their input on policy proposals brainstormed by staff, like fining landlords who don’t make repairs, making it easier to form tenant unions, or enabling the city to take over buildings when there are serial violations.” (04/10/26)
“A new poll offers insight into a traditionally Republican part of California. In Orange County, a coastal pocket of the state known for conservative views, independents make up the largest percentage of voters, according to a recent poll from UC Irvine. Not only that, but among those independents, 66% think the country is on the wrong track. The poll, released Wednesday by UC Irvine, was conducted as part of an annual survey of Orange County adults to keep track of social, economic and political issues. Even with its right-leaning reputation, the area is still deeply purple, the poll found. Orange County is home to a fair share of Democrats, with 34% of respondents identifying with that party. Republicans made up 30%, and independents made up 36%. This, the pollsters concluded in a report accompanying the results, is why the county remains a very competitive district.” (04/12/26)
“I have been pounding this for literally decades and I’m going to continue to pound it as long as the good Lord gives me breath and the ability to do so: our Founding Fathers created a limited government, but one that required virtuous people. And the latter is FAR more important than the former. And today’s America has very little of either, on either side of the aisle. Democrats are certainly the greatest problem America has right now, but they aren’t the only problem. I see far too many foul-mouthed, promiscuous, pleasure-oriented, unvirtuous Republicans in the country now to ever make the nation great again. Some people need to get the logs out of their own eyes before they start talking about the specks in other people’s eyes.” (04/12/26)
“The far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party is riding high in the opinion polls in the eastern German state of Saxony-Anhalt and could win an outright majority in regional elections there in September. It would be the first time a far-right party has held power in a German state since World War Two. This weekend the AfD officially adopted what has been described as a ‘radical’ and pro-ethnic German government programme for Saxony-Anhalt at a party conference in the central city of Magdeburg. The AfD’s leading candidate in the state, Ulrich Siegmund, a TikTok star who was given a standing ovation by the delegates, said it was an historic moment, not just for Saxony-Anhalt.” (04/12/26)
“A 20-year-old man was arrested early Friday after allegedly throwing an incendiary device at a North Beach home belonging to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Open AI spokesperson Jamie Radice confirmed to SFGATE that Friday morning, Sam Altman’s North Beach home had been attacked with a ‘Molotov cocktail’ and threats had been made against the company’s San Francisco headquarters. … San Francisco police responded at 4:12 a.m. on April 10 to a North Beach residence for a reported fire investigation, SFPD spokesperson Allison Maxie told SFGATE in a statement. ‘At the scene, officers learned that an unknown male subject threw an incendiary destructive device at a home, causing a fire to an exterior gate,’ Maxie said. ‘The suspect then fled on foot.'” (04/11/26)
“Less than 24 hours after the U.S.-Israeli coalition bombed oil depots around Tehran on March 7, blanketing the city of 10 million with smoke that blotted out the sun, Brenda — 6,300 miles away in South Baltimore — found out she had lost her food stamps. She had checked the status of her SNAP benefits after I had first interviewed her a few days prior about the United States spending billions on war with Iran while Americans like her struggle to eat. When she logged in to the online portal, she discovered her food stamps had been terminated. She’s tried to stay positive in the weeks since. … But it stings that she can’t afford to give her 13-year-old daughter healthy options, like fresh fruits and vegetables.” (04/10/26)
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“Israel is already aggressively sabotaging the Trump administration’s two-week ceasefire with Iran by slaughtering huge numbers of civilians in Lebanon …. The US and Israel are trying to claim that Lebanon is not part of the ceasefire agreement, but Pakistan, whom the US appointed to mediate the agreement, says this is false. The New York Times reports that the White House took part in Pakistan’s public messaging which explicitly included Lebanon in the ceasefire conditions, before changing its tune after Israel attacked. Iran has reportedly responded to these violations by again halting traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. This serves as yet another reminder that the world can have peace or it can have Israel — but it cannot have both. Israel is a genocidal apartheid state whose entire existence is premised upon a strategy of unceasing violence and abuse in the middle east.” (04/09/26)
“A few weeks before the 2020 presidential election, I wrote ‘An Open Letter to My Old Tribe’, urging ‘every reporter who is covering this election at any level’ to focus on a crucial question — whether the public would trust the election procedure and the losing candidate would accept the result as legitimate. ‘It does not seem an exaggeration,’ I wrote then, ‘to say that the future of American democracy, perhaps its very survival, depends on the answer.’ More than five years later, with less than seven months to go before the midterm elections, that question is before us again, but in far starker terms than I could have imagined in 2020. So, here’s an updated letter to the media tribe I once belonged to, with suggestions broadly similar to those I made five years ago, but with a far sharper sense of urgency, even fear.” (04/09/26)
Source: Fox News
by Lt. Col. Robert Maginnis, (USA, ret.)
“The Iran ceasefire was less than three hours old when missiles began flying from Iran toward Israel and the Gulf states. That detail — documented in real time — tells you more about the durability of this agreement than any official statement. A pause is not peace. A handshake in Islamabad is not a settlement. And a region that has been at war for 40 days does not stand down because two governments issued parallel social media posts. The two-week ceasefire brokered by Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Army chief Gen. Asim Munir is genuinely welcome. It stepped both sides back from a precipice with real humanitarian and strategic consequences. But Vice President JD Vance himself called it a ‘fragile truce.’ That is the most honest thing anyone in this administration has said about it. Hold that phrase.” (04/09/26)
