“The Hong Kong government on Tuesday proposed issuing 10,000 new vehicle permits for drivers to work for online ride-hailing services like Uber, less than half the amount that industry representatives were hoping for. Hong Kong has about 18,000 licensed taxis and caps private service car-hire permits at 1,500, and these drivers can be summoned through ride-hailing apps. But the additional drivers who operate through those apps technically are outside the law and in the past have faced arrest, though they are prevalent in the city. The Hong Kong government unveiled details of a regulatory framework last summer to bring the industry under formal regulation, following years of pressure from taxi companies. Smart Transportation Alliance, whose members include ride-hailing firms and other transportation companies, had proposed in May that 20,500 new car permits be allowed in an initial phase.” (05/26/26)
“It was his last show and it was the only episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert I’ve ever watched. Yes, I’d seen clips, but I had honestly never watched a full episode ever. I never actually watched an episode of The Colbert Report either, or The Daily Show for that matter. Watching liberals pretend to be honest brokers on the news of the day never appealed to me. But Colbert’s last show did, mostly because I wanted to see one fresh before it was too late and I figured he and his ample staff would bring their A-game. Boy, was I wrong.” (05/26/26)
“A school assistant will go on trial in Paris on Tuesday accused of sexual mistreatment of young children in his care. It is the latest case in a year-long scandal that has shaken the school system in the French capital, where some 15,000 such assistants (known as animateurs) are employed as non-teaching staff. Currently enquiries are under way at nearly 100 Paris crèches, kindergartens and junior schools where animateurs have been accused of inappropriate, aggressive or sexualised behaviour. Trials in three other cases are to take place over the summer, and a verdict is due in a fourth which was held earlier this month. More are likely to follow. Last week police detained 16 people after a swoop at three schools in the 7th arrondissement or district. Three people were subsequently charged with sexually inappropriate behaviour to children.” (05/26/26)
“Federal judges on Tuesday blocked Alabama’s plan to use a congressional map that could give Republicans an advantage in a key U.S. House race in the midterm elections. A three-judge panel in the state’s long-running redistricting case issued a preliminary injunction that prevents the state from switching maps, ruling that the Republican-backed plan ‘intentionally discriminated based on race’ by including only one [b]lack-majority district. The judges instead required Alabama to continue using a court-ordered map in place for the 2024 elections that includes two districts where [b]lack residents compose a majority or close to it. ‘Ultimately, we cannot see our way clear to requiring Alabamians to cast their votes in the 2026 elections under a districting plan tainted by intentional race-based discrimination,’ the judges wrote.” (05/26/26)
“Last New Year’s Eve, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) posted an image online of an inviting, deserted beach with a classic mid-20th-century car parked on the sand. In the sky were the words ‘America After 100 Million Deportations,’ and above the image was a caption, ‘The peace of a nation no longer besieged by the third world.’ This fantasy scenario, the removal of more than a quarter of the U.S. population, didn’t come from a random online troll. It was posted on X by the official feed of the federal agency charged with immigration enforcement. The driving force behind the Trump administration’s efforts to stop the ‘third world’ from ‘besieging’ the United States is Stephen Miller, the president’s deputy chief of staff for policy and homeland security adviser.” (05/26/26)
“It’s getting tougher and tougher not to wish ill on Democrats, as they promise to trample the Constitution and commit to treating all Americans like we’re a young starlet and they’re Harvey Weinstein at the height of his powers. They are telling us what they’re going to do to us; how they’re going to force their will on us in any way they like, and each of them is taking things further and further down the rhetorical toilet. Maybe we should take failed 2024 Democratic presidential nominee and former Willie Brown side-piece Kamala Harris up on her proposal to implement a series of ‘bad ideas’ before they have the chance to do it to everyone else?” (05/24/26)
“Earlier this year, President Donald Trump surveyed his top military brass on the prospect of making war in Iran. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine urged caution, presciently predicting that a ramped-up campaign against Iran could lead its leaders to close the Strait of Hormuz. However, Pete Hegseth, Trump’s self-styled ‘Secretary of War’, jumped at the prospect of such a conflict. ‘Pete, I think you were the first one to speak up,’ Trump recently recalled at a press event. ‘And you said, ‘Let’s do it, because you can’t let them have a nuclear weapon.” Americans join the military for any number of reasons: to serve their country, gain economic stability, or simply join a community. For Hegseth, a thirst for martial victory and a desire for a masculine metamorphosis seemed to surpass all else.” (05/24/26)
“The financial world is atwitter over public stock offerings expected to be issued soon by SpaceX, OpenAI, and other mega tech companies. ‘A welcome tribute to the U.S. capitalist system’ is how The Wall Street Journal describes this moment. And The Economist calls SpaceX’s journey toward a listing ‘a marvel of free markets.’ At the other end of the scale from trillion-dollar valuations, an estimated 19 million home-based businesses across America are also economic and social marvels. They embody the hustle, creativity, and vision of lauded tech startups, but without deep-pocketed investors. Home-based food enterprises, in particular, provide families with a financial boost and communities with essential services. And, by serving as low-risk incubators, they offer economic mobility in a system that rewards innovation and effort.” (05/22/26)
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“International flotilla activists say they were subjected to torture and sexual assault by Israeli forces after being abducted in international waters while attempting to bring aid to Gaza. A statement from the Global Sumud Flotilla reports that the IDF held the activists on a makeshift ‘torture boat’, asserting that ‘At least 12 sexual assaults have been documented on that vessel alone, including anal rape and forcible penetration by a handgun.’ This comes after a New York Times report on Israel’s systemic use of sexual torture in its prison camps sent hasbarists howling in outrage for days, and after a Haaretz report on the Israeli military’s internal findings that sexual assault is soaring among its own ranks. If you knew someone who was constantly being accused of rape by different people on a daily basis, at some point you’d have to conclude that that person is a rapist.” (05/24/26)
“Americans know something is broken in healthcare. Premiums keep rising, deductibles keep climbing and medical bills often arrive with charges no one can explain. Behind those frustrations is the fact that we operate within a healthcare system built around secrecy. On May 18, President Donald Trump took on drug pricing with the expansion of TrumpRX, a first-of-its kind platform designed to allow Americans to find their drugs for less in a system styled to work like Airbnb or Priceline.com. Next, he should set his sights on hospitals and insurance companies. Healthcare remains one of the most expensive and least transparent sectors of the American economy. Hidden prices, opaque billing systems and layers of middlemen cost taxpayers and working families hundreds of billions of dollars each year through fraud, waste and abuse.” (05/25/26)
