“I don’t especially like Republicans, and I certainly don’t like Democrats. I’m not a fan of government, period, though I realize that, because there are people called ‘Democrats’ on this earth (and other such vile creatures), government is ‘a necessary evil,’ often intolerable, and it has, by far, killed, tortured, oppressed, and robbed from more people, and been the most barbaric institution man has ever created. And it still is. Our government shutdown has finally ended. I, frankly, hoped the government would never open again. If it hadn’t, people would have had to start doing what God and our Founding Fathers intended them to do in the first place: take care of themselves, with families, individuals, and churches.” (11/11/25)
“The USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier moved into Latin American waters Tuesday as the US ramped up its military presence in the region while targeting drug traffickers operating out of Venezuela. The Navy’s 4th Fleet did not specify the Ford’s location Tuesday, but did confirm the vessel was inside the US Southern Command’s (SOUTHCOM) area of responsibility — which includes the waters off Central and South America and the Caribbean Sea. The Ford and its escort of three guided-missile destroyers join eight warships, a nuclear submarine and F-35 aircraft already in the SOUTHCOM region. Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the vessels’ presence would ‘bolster US capacity to detect, monitor, and disrupt illicit actors and activities that compromise the safety and prosperity of the United States homeland and our security in the Western Hemisphere.'” (11/11/25)
“A Virginia transportation security officer is accusing the U.S. Department of Homeland Security of sex discrimination over a policy that bars transgender officers from performing security screening pat-downs, according to a federal lawsuit. The Transportation Security Administration, which operates under DHS, enacted the policy in February to comply with President Donald Trump’s executive order declaring two unchangeable sexes: male and female. According to internal documents explaining the policy change that The Associated Press obtained from four independent sources, including one current and two former TSA workers, ‘transgender officers will no longer engage in pat-down duties, which are conducted based on both the traveler’s and officer’s biological sex. In addition, transgender officers will no longer serve as a TSA-required witness when a traveler elects to have a pat-down conducted in a private screening area.'” (11/11/25)
“Ken Casey carries himself like a man who has no interest in looking for a fight but would have no problem finishing one if the need arose. Glancing at his silvered hair and faded tattoos, you might even assume the stocky musician’s street-fighting days are over now that he’s in his fifties. But you’d be wrong. Right now, Casey’s focused on using everything he’s learned to fight fascism by whatever means possible. As far as he’s concerned, ‘There is no neutral. If you’re neutral, you’re on the wrong side.’ As the kinetic frontman and sole remaining founding member of the Irish American ’Celtic punk’ band Dropkick Murphys, Casey is more likely to be found speaking to crowds of rowdy concertgoers in defense of immigrant rights, in support of Ukraine, and criticizing the Trump regime than bloodying his knuckles, but the man could never be accused of going soft.” (11/11/25)
“I learned basic arithmetic skills in third grade. I wasn’t exceptional; everyone in my public school third grade class learned them. Of course, we all can now use computers to have calculations done for us in a fraction of a second. But still, somehow we have major national debates that show zero understanding of even the most basic arithmetic. The latest example is the $2,000 tariff dividend check that Trump is promising us. The arithmetic here is about as simple as it gets. We have roughly 340 million people in the country. Let’s say 10 percent don’t get the check because they meet Trump’s category of ‘high-income’. That leaves over 300 million people getting Trump’s $2,000 checks. That comes to more than $600 billion. Trump’s tariffs are raising around $270 billion. That means we will be paying out $330 billion more in Trump tariff dividend checks than he is raising in tariff revenue.” (11/10/25)
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“It’s interesting how much the IDF’s constant ceasefire violations in Gaza and Lebanon line up with the way people familiar with Israeli culture say Israelis like to test everyone’s boundaries to find out exactly how much they can get away with. There are two terms, ‘shitat matzliach’ and ‘freier’, which come up over and over again whenever you see people discussing the prevalence of this obnoxious behavior in Israeli society. ‘Shitat matzliach’ translates to ‘successful method’, and basically means trying to exploit people in the hope that they’re naive or not paying attention and then backing off if they call you out. ‘Frier’ roughly translates to ‘sucker’, i.e. the sort of person that shitat matzliach will work on.” (11/10/25)
“This year in Washington so far has been one of gloves-off politics rather than handshake compromises. More than 150 lawsuits have been filed against the Trump administration’s actions. Then, starting Oct. 1, Democrats in the Senate voted 14 times not to fund the government until a key demand on health care was met. The shutdown has been the longest in United States history. On Sunday, however, a gaggle of three former governors (Sens. Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire along with independent Sen. Angus King of Maine) were able to broker a deal and achieve a 60-40 Senate vote that is expected to end the shutdown in coming days.” (11/10/25)
“With everything that the Trump administration is doing to militarize our cities and neighborhoods, it can be easy to forget about all of the damage that Elon Musk has done, and continues to do. He and his Department of Government Efficiency minions destroyed the US Agency for International Development, resulting in incredible misery and thousands of deaths in countries around the world. They fired thousands of dedicated civil servants and embedded themselves in all major government agencies, and combined our personal data in illegal ways that make us all more vulnerable. … he continues to use his vast wealth to subvert democracy both here and around the world, and will continue to do so unless we fight back. One of the pillars of his empire is Starlink, which leverages Musk’s relationship with President Donald Trump to help it acquire additional spectrum licenses and crush its competition.” (11/10/25)
“It’s no coincidence that multimillionaire Michelle Obama is on a self-pity jag as she promotes her latest expensive coffee table memoir as her husband’s Democratic Party succumbs to its socialist fringe. You see it everywhere. Democratic Marie Antoinettes moaning about their plight and the ingratitude of the serfs as the revolution devours their dominion. For the former first lady, a week of softball interviews for her new $50 tome, ‘The Look’, has been dominated by bizarre complaints about her time in the White House with President Barack Obama. She is rewriting history to claim bitterly that, as the first black first couple, ‘we didn’t get the grace that I think some other families have gotten.’ Whom does she think she’s kidding? Martians?” (11/09/25)
“My colleague Bob Kuttner has ably explained the particulars and the political dynamics of the sudden surrender on the government shutdown from eight Senate Democrats (with Chuck Schumer’s tacit support), what I’m calling the Cave Caucus. Senators dissatisfied with this deal are going to deny unanimous consent to draw out the conclusion, in part to let the situation sink in for the House, where the reaction has been sharply negative. But House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) only needs his own party members to get the bill passed, and he has delivered tough votes throughout the year. I don’t think House Republicans will rescue the Cave Caucus. I share a lot of the frustrations expressed all over social media. But the biggest one for me comes on page 12 of the continuing resolution that advanced in the Senate last night.” (11/10/25)
