“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)
“Police in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo fired shots in the air after angry crowds attempted to reclaim the bodies of loved ones who had died at an Ebola treatment centre in Mongwalu, two local journalists told the BBC. Sunday’s unrest continued throughout the day, the reporters said. The treatment centre, in a hospital compound, was the same place that was targeted overnight on Friday into Saturday, when an isolation tent was set ablaze. The body of a dead Ebola victim is highly infectious and can lead to the virus spreading further when prepared for burial. There have been more than 900 suspected Ebola cases in the current outbreak and 220 suspected deaths, officials say. According to Mongwalu General Hospital’s medical director Dr Richard Lokudu, Sunday’s attackers demanded the bodies of two people be given to their families.” (05/25/26)
“Anger is growing over alleged safety violations in the wake of China’s worst mining disaster in more than 15 years. At least 82 people were killed and more than 120 injured after an explosion on Friday at the Liushenyu coal mine in Shanxi province, the heart of China’s huge mining industry. For many in China, the tragedy harks back to the 2000s, a period of regular, deadly coal mining disasters, which is widely thought to have been left in the past. Those concerns are now reignited and playing out on China’s tightly-controlled internet, with people calling for justice and questioning how this happened: ‘It’s so heartbreaking, so many precious lives lost. When will we truly put safety first?’ Authorities say the cause of the disaster is still under investigation, but initial findings show Tongzhou Group, the company operating the privately-owned coal mine had committed ‘serious illegal violations’.” (05/25/26)
“The Democrat’s 2026 midterm electoral strategy remains essentially the same as it was during the melted-down 2024 presidential election: Focus on President Donald Trump’s obvious character flaws and failings rather than highlight the critical issues and offer progressive alternatives. Waiting for Trump to shoot himself in the foot is not a winning campaign strategy. Neither are abstract ideas about defending democracy and saving the nation from autocracy or fascism. Voters want practical approaches to everyday challenges of rising food costs, prohibitively expensive and inadequate health insurance, skyrocketing medical costs, exorbitant childcare and pre-K expenses, and spiraling energy pricing. Since the last quarter of the 20th century, establishment Democrats and their leaders have slid so far to the political right that progressive, populist initiatives are undermined by fear of taxes and debt.” [editor’s note: If this is true, may this be the death knell of that war party wing – SAT] (05/25/26)
“The deal being discussed between the U.S. and Iran fails to achieve any of Israel’s goals for the war, Israel’s opposition leader Yair Lapid said on Monday, as he accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of failing to influence a better agreement. Lapid, who is part of an alliance attempting to unseat Netanyahu in elections this year, said details of the emerging deal are ‘disturbing’. ‘The deal is bad for Israel, bad for the region, bad for the citizens of Iran,’ Lapid told reporters in Jerusalem. Israel and the U.S. launched the war on Feb. 28 vowing to destroy Iran’s ballistic missile program, end its support for proxy militant groups across the region and end Iran’s ability to pursue a nuclear bomb. Both Netanyahu and President Donald Trump also said they hoped to create conditions to topple Iran’s government..” (05/25/26)
“Everyone’s angry with Donald Trump. It’s true that things are getting ragged with just over five months left until the midterms. The president’s agenda is being stymied in the courts and in Congress by bloody-minded Democratic obstructionism, and by a handful of lily-livered naysayers in his own bare-majority party. His poll numbers are as bad as they’ve ever been, apart from a rough patch in the aftermath of Jan. 6, 2021. The war with Iran has hit gas prices and exacerbated the cost of living. It may be heading to some sort of deal, but cheerleaders are thin on the ground. His enemies at home are desperate for Trump to fail, even if it means America is dealt a savage blow.” (05/24/26)
