“The U.S. Supreme Court allowed Donald Trump on Monday to keep a Democratic member of the Federal Trade Commission away from her post for now, temporarily pausing a judicial order that required the reinstatement of the commissioner who the Republican president has sought to oust. The court’s action, known as an administrative stay, gives the justices additional time to consider Trump’s formal request to let him fire Rebecca Slaughter from the consumer protection and antitrust agency prior to her term expiring.” (09/08/25)
“The Supreme Court on Monday cleared the way for federal agents to conduct sweeping immigration operations for now in Los Angeles, the latest victory for President Donald Trump’s administration at the high court. The conservative majority lifted a restraining order from a judge who found that roving patrols were conducting indiscriminate stops in and around LA. The order had barred immigration agents from stopping people solely based on their race, language, job or location. The court’s 6-3 decision followed a pattern of at least temporarily allowing some of the Republican administration’s harshest policies, while leaving room for the possibility of a different outcome after the legal case plays out fully.” (09/08/25)
“In March, Democrats faced a decision: shut down the government over the litany of lawless actions and usurped spending powers by the Trump administration, or fall in line. They decided not to fight, reinforcing the fundamental fault lines in current-day Democratic politics between weakness and fortitude. Fast-forward six months and Democrats have the same decision. The government spending that was extended for the full fiscal year by a continuing resolution in March runs out at the end of the month. Twelve appropriations bills aren’t going to be passed in a few weeks, so some stopgap continuing resolution will probably be offered for a vote. Any spending bill, needed by September 30, will require 60 votes in the Senate (because of the Senate filibuster), meaning Democrats will have to supply some of them if it’s going to pass.” (09/08/25)
“On face value, many observers took Trump’s pledge to mean a more hawkish posture by this administration with some on the left and right having a negative reaction to the possible change. He also appears to associate the old name with winning, like a talisman. Unfortunately, aside from Persian Gulf I, most Americans associate World War II as the last time they associate America with ‘winning’ a major war. But for others, even non-interventionists and foreign policy realists, the name change is just more honest.” (09/05/25)
“In countries ruled by a powerful political elite, the daily struggles of ordinary people are often overlooked. Not so in Indonesia over recent days. Street protests that began Aug. 25 in the capital against excessive perks for lawmakers spread nationwide a few days later. The cause of the new outrage: A police vehicle ran over a motorbike delivery rider caught up in one of the protests. People in the world’s fourth-most-populous nation rely heavily on nearly 3 million ride-hailing drivers to deliver packages and passengers. Known as ojol, they are visible symbols of the urban lower class. They are often seen hanging together in green jackets near roadside food stalls, waiting for their next online trip request. The reaction to the killing, in a country already distrustful of the police and the elite, was both swift and unusual.” (09/05/25)
“AI is everywhere. But its powerful computing comes with a big cost to our planet, our neighborhoods, and our wallets. AI servers are so power hungry that utilities are keeping coal-fired power plants that were slated for closure running to meet the needs of massive servers. And in the South alone, there are plans for 20 gigawatts of new natural-gas power plants over the next 15 years (enough to power millions of homes) just to feed AI’s energy needs. Multibillion dollar companies like Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and Meta that previously committed to 100% renewable energy are going back to the Jurassic Age, using fossil fuels like coal and natural gas to meet their insatiable energy needs.” (09/06/25)
“In the anti-free speech community, the most intolerable form of speech often seems to be humor. For thousands of years, satire and parody have proven to be the most penetrating – and at times, irritating – forms of political speech. Even with absolute rulers, court jesters were often the few figures who could challenge a king. As Shakespeare wrote in ‘King Lear’: ‘jesters do oft prove prophets.’ In the case of comedian Graham Linehan, he has unwittingly become a prophet for the death of not just free speech but also humor in the United Kingdom.” (09/06/25)
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“He hung up a sign that said Secretary of War, / snapped a picture for the socials, shut the door, / took a swig of Jameson straight from the bottle, / then sat down and fondled the revolver in his desk drawer / like a little boy playing with his penis. / Visions of cruise missiles danced through his head, / aircraft carriers and nuclear submarines / and tiny middle eastern bodies blown to bits by glorious inventory. / Mushroom clouds flashed in his eyes / as he caressed the trigger with an index finger. / ‘They call me the Secretary of War,’ he said. ‘They call me the Secretary of War.’ / He did not feel the robins in his chest / or hear the red-winged blackbirds trilling in his hair. / The electricity of the flesh was a stranger to him. / Exuberance was a deadbeat dad who never called.” (09/06/25)
“Over a recent two-year period, the Pentagon funded hundreds of projects done in collaboration with universities in China and institutes linked to that nation’s defense industry, including many blacklisted by the U.S. government for working with the Chinese military, a congressional investigation has found. The report, released Friday by House Republicans on the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, argues the projects have allowed China to exploit U.S. research partnerships for military gains while the two countries are locked in a tech and arms rivalry. ‘American taxpayer dollars should be used to defend the nation — not strengthen its foremost strategic competitor,’ Republicans wrote in the report. ‘Failing to safeguard American research from hostile foreign exploitation will continue to erode U.S. technological dominance and place our national defense capabilities at risk,’ it said. The Pentagon and didn’t immediately respond to an Associated Press request for comment.” (09/05/25)
“Maybe we do need a Civil War 2.0 – with guns. Our politics has become so partisan and so nasty, using guns to settle our national political differences may soon end up being the only solution. It’s bad enough no one agrees with what the other side is saying anymore. But now when one side says something spectacularly horrible or ‘subtly’ wishes harm on their opponent (and I’m thinking specifically about the prancing governor of Minnesota), no one on their side has the common decency to criticize them for it. Tim Walz made a goofy loser of himself last fall as Kamala Harris’s VP pick. And on Labor Day, he showed why he’s still the reigning buffoon of the Democratic Party.” (09/06/25)
