“In the aftermath of the big layoffs at The Washington Post, there has been an explosion of commentary — again — about the decline and often the death of newspapers. But if you are reading this, it came to your attention via some means other than a subscription to a legacy newspaper. And there, in a sentence, is the dilemma for legacy ‘news,’ and indeed any written product for which a reader has to pay: There is so much ‘free’ content that it is very, very difficult for a high-overhead text product that depends on subscriptions to succeed. By ‘succeed,’ I mean at least break even.” (02/10/26)
Source: National Priorities Project
Lindsay Koshgarian
“This week, members of Congress are negotiating funding levels for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, and Customs and Border Protection, or CBP, after public opposition soared when federal agents killed Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis. As of January 25, ICE held more than 70,000 people in detention, and claimed more than 352,000 deportations. In 2025, at least 32 people died in ICE custody, and so far in 2026, at least eight people have died in the custody or at the hands of ICE and CBP ….ICE is now holding an average of 170 children in detention each day. They can do all of this because ICE and CBP are flush with money from last year’s Big Ugly Bill that stripped health insurance and food assistance from Americans while padding the budgets of ICE, CBP, and the Pentagon.” (02/10/25)
“Yes, there is. You might have to look hard to find it, but it’s there. Actually, the best news is right before our eyes, but most people refuse to look at it. I confess, as I have before, to being a bit of a cynic (no, a lot of a cynic, not terribly optimistic). That may partly come from the clinical depression I fight every day of my life, but it also comes from history, Bible study, and current events. How can a person not be somewhat of a cynic when viewing the modern, evil, putrid Democratic Party? I look at the NFL now and want to barf; I used to be a devoted fan of the league, but then they left me with their woke, racist, anti-American, promiscuous-promoting pig slop, and I haven’t watched an NFL game in years (or MLB or NBA, either).” (02/10/25)
“Last week, the US government announced it would be sending $6 million in aid to Cuba, on top of the $3 million it sent in January after Hurricane Melissa. This aid package might appear contrary to the significant escalation of the 66-year-long US criminal blockade, which has expanded to an all-out fuel blockade since December, with attacks on Venezuela, but it is in fact a core tenet of it. This maneuver seeks to exploit the US-manufactured energy and fuel crisis to bolster opposition groups, substantiate propaganda against the Cuban government and revolution, and force the island into total dependency and submission to the United States. This frankly genocidal strategy closely mirrors that of the US and Israeli ‘Gaza Humanitarian Foundation,’ and the weaponization of starvation and aid for colonial and imperialist ends.” (02/10/25)
“Maryland’s Democratic Gov. Wes Moore, widely believed to have White House ambitions, is facing questions over the accuracy of a story about his family’s background involving being forced to flee the state of South Carolina due to threats from the Ku Klux Klan. ‘I am literally the grandson of someone who was run out of this country by the Ku Klux Klan, right?’ Moore told Time magazine in 2023 in a conversation about how he ‘reconciles Patriotism’ with the country’s ‘racist past.’ … Moore has frequently referenced his grandfather, James Thomas, as the figure in this story, including during a 2020 appearance on the Yang Speaks podcast titled ‘Wes Moore on how the KKK ran his family into exile,’ where he detailed how his grandfather was a minister in Winnsboro, South Carolina, who fled to Jamaica after being threatened by the klan.” (02/10/25)
“More and more Americans feel our national unity is growing fragile. Conspiracy theories and misinformation are eroding trust, stoking hate and tearing at the very fabric of our society, often with tragic consequences. At American Jewish Committee, we’re seeing those consequences up close — and our new report on ‘The State of Antisemitism in America,’ out Tuesday, reveals how these divisions are affecting the Jewish community, and us all. Every day, Jews across this country must consider wrenching questions of personal safety: * Should I wear my kippah today, or will that make me a target? * Can I hang a mezuzah on my door, or am I affixing a bullseye? * Is today the day someone throws a brick through the kosher supermarket’s window? * Will taking my kids to synagogue put them in a shooter’s crosshairs?” (02/09/25)
“The House Oversight Committee is launching an investigation into reports that a key swing state could have noncitizens both in its jury pools and voter rolls. Committee Chairman James Comer [R-KY] is sending a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi alongside Rep. John James [R-MI], asking whether a specific county in the Detroit metropolitan area is giving rights exclusive to U.S. citizens to others residing there — which could potentially violate federal law. ‘Non-citizens have appeared in the state’s jury pool, and in some instances, have been registered to vote. The Committee is requesting a briefing to understand the U.S. Department of Justice’s role in investigating such matters, and the potential for similar issues to be occurring nationwide,’ the letter said.” (02/10/25)
“The Trump administration is expected this week to revoke a scientific finding that long has been the central basis for U.S. action to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and fight climate change, according to a White House official. The Environmental Protection Agency will issue a final rule rescinding a 2009 government declaration known as the endangerment finding. That Obama-era policy determined that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases endanger public health and welfare. A White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly ahead of an official announcement, confirmed the plans, which were first reported by The Wall Street Journal. ‘This week at the White House, President Trump will be taking the most significant deregulatory actions in history to further unleash American energy dominance and drive down costs,’ White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement Tuesday.” (02/10/25)
“Last week, the Supreme Court declined to review the California Republican Party’s request to prevent new congressional maps for the midterms, which passed after a public referendum last November: 64 percent of voters approved the measure. California’s congressional redistricting, which could net Democrats five pickups in the House, was a response to Texas, which at President Trump’s demand added up to five new Republican districts last summer. Unlike Texas, California actually made this decision through the expressed will of the public in a ballot measure,’ says Kareem Crayton, vice president of the Brennan Center’s Washington, D.C., office. ‘You could argue this isn’t just the electeds running amok.’ The Supreme Court didn’t explain the early-December order.” (02/10/25)
“On February 5th, with the expiration of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or New START, the only bilateral arms control treaty left between the United States and Russia, we are guaranteed to find ourselves ever closer to the edge of a perilous precipice. The renewed arms race that seems likely to take place could plunge the world, once and for all, into the nuclear abyss. This crisis is neither sudden nor surprising, but the predictable culmination of a truth that has haunted us for nearly 80 years: humanity has long been living on borrowed time. In such a context, you might think that our collective survival instinct has proven remarkably poor, which is, at least to a certain extent, understandable.” (02/09/25)
