“Illinoisans know the terror the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) can inflict with its unlimited resources and unchecked power. We have been surveilled, threatened, tear-gassed, shot, subjected to warrantless arrest, rammed with vehicles, kidnapped and disappeared. In the time since Donald Trump regained the White House, our communities documented, witnessed and testified to DHS’s abuses. In April, the Illinois Accountability Commission published its final report, which included recommendations that local law enforcement pursue criminal and civil prosecutions against federal agents who used excessive force. One incident highlighted in their report is the violence that occurred on Oct. 3, 2025, in Logan Square at Funston Elementary, when federal agents deployed tear gas close to the recreational area where children were present. The Commission determined what we already knew: Federal agents should be formally investigated for possible violations of agency policy, state and federal criminal laws and individuals’ constitutional rights.” (05/20/26)
“By every reasonable standard of governance, California’s elected politicians have made a mess of the Golden State. Reciting the litany of failures has become so common that it’s hardly worth the trouble. Chaotic, unsafe downtowns. Retail businesses giving up and relocating. Chronic government budget deficits, despite the nation’s highest taxes, set to go higher still. ‘Needle exchanges’ and ‘safe injection sites,’ funded by taxpayers. Kids encounter drug zombies on the way to school. Parents dodge psychopaths in grocery store parking lots. We’ve heard it all. We’ve seen it all. We’re desensitized. We just avoid certain parts of town the best we can and tell ourselves it can’t be helped. When we choose which candidates to support, we know nothing is going to change.” (05/20/26)
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“Thomas Massie has lost his congressional seat against a primary opponent whose Israel lobby funding made the race the most expensive House of Representatives primary in history. Massie has been a rare Republican opponent of Israeli abuses on Capitol Hill. The spending on Massie’s ouster topped out at a staggering $32 million when all was said and done. The second- and third-most expensive House primary races were also heavily slanted by Israel lobby funding, with AIPAC pouring millions into toppling progressive Democrats Cori Bush and Jamaal Bowman. Americans just watched the Israel lobby openly manipulate yet another election, and then in like two weeks they’re going to hear their government tell them they need to regime change another foreign country to bring ‘democracy’ to its people. Americans themselves do not have democracy.” (05/20/26)
Source: Brennan Center for Justice
by Michael Waldman
“On Monday, Donald Trump dropped his sham lawsuit against the federal government. In exchange, the Justice Department under his control will establish a $1.8 billion fund for ‘victims of lawfare,’ as Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche put it. This will be a slush fund for Trump’s allies, presumably January 6 insurrectionists and others already rewarded with a pardon. There is a zone of lawlessness around the Oval Office, erected by the Supreme Court when it granted current and former presidents effective immunity from prosecution if their crimes involved ‘official acts.’ Loot the taxpayers, misuse government power for graft, and you’re off the hook. Last week, the president filed a report with the Office of Government Ethics detailing the stock trades he made this year. It is a novelistic tale of profiteering, recognizable as insider trading in every way except, perhaps, under the law.” (05/20/26)
“Earlier this year a number of participants announced their withdrawal from Australia’s Adelaide Festival’s ‘Writer’s Week’ following the disinviting of Australian-Palestinian author, Randa Abdel-Fattah. The event was subsequently cancelled. This made me think of United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Francesca Albanese’s words, delivered in her Nelson Mandela Lecture: ‘The occupation of Palestine must be understood as part of a broader project of domination. This is not merely about the physical borders of historical Palestine. It is a systematic assertion of permanent supremacy that knows no border …’ Indeed, the impact of the ongoing genocide and occupation not only echo far beyond Palestine, because of our shared humanity, but also because of the impact it is having on freedoms across the globe. The censorship of Abdel-Fattah is yet another example of this, and it is not only happening in Australia.” (05/20/26)
“Scientists have spotted two humpback whales that made separate, record-breaking crossings between Australia and Brazil. The whales were identified by their distinctive tail markings at the two locations about 9,000 miles (14,500 kilometers) apart. They traveled in opposite directions and journeyed farther than any humpback known so far. ‘It’s a very rare event, but it is a really wonderful demonstration of just how wide-ranging these animals are,’ said Phillip Clapham, former head of a NOAA whale research program who was not involved with the new findings. Humpback whales are known for roaming long distances across major oceans in predictable patterns, typically following migration routes learned from their mothers.” (05/20/26)
“They try so hard to convince people how ‘wonderful’ and ‘loving’ they are. And, frankly, countless millions fall for it. You see, folks, it’s ‘loving’ to let a mother murder her unborn child. Or to let a child be mutilated for life. Or to keep people enslaved under government welfare with little hope of ever getting out of it. It’s a wonderful thing to let people sleep on the streets, or to turn criminals loose so they can prey on innocent citizens, or to open the borders of America so that countless people can illegally come to America, live off the hard-earned money of American taxpayers, or take American jobs, or kill and rape American citizens. These are all ‘wonderful,’ ‘loving’ things, aren’t they..” (05/20/26)
“Samsung Electronics’ labor union said Wednesday it’ll hold off on launching a planned strike and put a tentative wage deal with management to a vote, alleviating immediate concerns about the operation of the world’s largest memory chip maker. The announcement was made after a last-minute government-mediated negotiation with management over how much bonus payouts must be provided to employees to reflect soaring profits fueled by the global boom in artificial intelligence. Union leader Choi Seung-ho told a televised briefing that the union agreed not to go ahead with an 18-day strike that he earlier said would start from Thursday. He said union members will vote on the tentative agreement from May 22-27.” (05/20/26)
“James Roscoe, the deputy to Britain’s ambassador in Washington, has abruptly left his role. Foreign Office officials declined to give any explanation for why Roscoe had, as they put it, ‘left his post.’ Until his sudden departure, Roscoe held one of the most senior, high-profile roles in the British diplomatic service, as second-in-command at the British Embassy in Washington. He had also stood in for Lord Peter Mandelson for several months after he was sacked last year. Roscoe was one of those tipped to take over the role, which ultimately went to another official, Sir Christian Turner. He played a key role in President Donald Trump’s state visit to the UK and in King Charles III’s recent visit to the US. The British Embassy declined to comment further about his departure. Roscoe could not be reached for comment.” (05/20/26)
“SpaceX is planning a monster initial public offering (IPO). Elon Musk is reportedly seeking to raise some $75 billion, at a valuation of $1.75 trillion, next month. It will be both his birthday and a moment when Venus and Jupiter will be in alignment. It would be the biggest IPO in history by far, utterly dwarfing Saudi Aramco’s $29 billion figure back in 2019. Musk might sell those shares, too. One reason why, despite the ludicrous valuation, is that stock indices are changing their rules to allow SpaceX to join almost right away and with fewer conditions, thus forcing investors who follow a passive strategy, like index funds and many pension funds, to buy the company’s shares.” (05/20/26)
