“At this year’s National Football League Super Bowl, the Trump regime could not resist politicizing the event by attacking the halftime performance of Bad Bunny, a celebration of Puerto Rican musical culture conducted entirely in the Spanish language. President Donald Trump endorsed an alternative country western streamed halftime program of Kid Rock, which was dedicated to the conservative icon Charlie Kirk. It was the president and his party inciting the MAGA base to campaign for congressional Republicans. The two shows represent two radically different cultural streams in America, roughly approximating the struggle over ethnic, gender, and racial representation in public life. On a more material level, however, the unfulfilled day to day needs of working people caught up in this ideological divide suggests that rhetorical claims about the culture wars are not grounded in the quotidian realities and material demands of most people.” (03/26/26)
“Vile Philadelphia protestors cheered as a masked ringleader celebrated the death of US service members in shocking new footage – before calling for Hamas rockets to explode across American homes. ‘For every US soldier that returns home in a casket, we cheer,’ the provocateur shouted outside Philadelphia’s city hall, according to footage filmed by local conservative activist Frankie Scales. ‘Until we have done everything in our power to bring the United States to its knees, let us not lose sight of the enemy,’ the man yelled, with the crowd cheering loudly at each hateful invocation.” [editor’s note: There’s an easy way to end the cheering … bring the troops home. “Problem” solved – TLK] (03/26/26)
“Google once had a motto: ‘Don’t be evil’. In its reorganization in 2015, the motto was changed to ‘Do the right thing’. According to a California jury this week, neither motto stuck. In a historic verdict against both Google and Meta, a jury found that the companies maliciously designed their social media products to addict children, including the plaintiff, who was known only as Kaley or KGM. The jury heard testimony of efforts to ‘target’ young users and feed an addiction to social media and YouTube. The jury awarded Kaley $3 million in compensatory damages divided between Meta (70%) and Google (30%). It then awarded another $3 million in punitive damages. Those damages are nothing to companies worth billions. However, the verdict was like a dinner gong for plaintiffs lawyers.” (03/25/26)
“European Union regulators are investigating Snapchat over concerns the platform isn’t doing enough to protect kids and exposing them to risks such as increased vulnerability to child predators or recruitment by criminals. The 27-nation EU’s executive Commission said Thursday it was opening a formal investigation into Snapchat under the bloc’s sweeping rule book known as the Digital Services Act that’s designed to [censor the Internet]. The European Commission said that Snapchat requires users to be at least 13 to use the platform but it suspected that the company’s ‘age assurance’ system is ‘insufficient’ at keeping them off. Regulators said the platform is also exposing teens to inappropriate content because it’s not properly checking whether a user is under 17. And they worried that age checking systems aren’t preventing adults from posing as minors.” (03/26/26)
“A court in Paris has sentenced prominent Islam scholar Tariq Ramadan to 18 years in jail for raping three women, two years after he was given a jail term for a separate rape offence in Switzerland. The French rape case unfolded in 2017, when two of the three women came forward during the Me Too campaign against sexual abuse and harassment. Ramadan, a 63-year-old former professor of Islamic studies at St Antony’s College in Oxford, did not attend the trial in Paris, although he has always denied the charges. His lawyers said he was being treated in the Swiss city of Geneva for multiple sclerosis and condemned the trial as a farce. Judge Corinne Goetzmann told the court that a warrant had been issued for Ramadan’s arrest, however Switzerland does not have an extradition treaty with its neighbour..” (03/26/26)
“For the second time in as many days, Meta has been found liable in court for negligence. On Wednesday, a jury in Los Angeles decided that Meta and YouTube, owned by Google, did not warn users of harms related to constant use of their platforms. That followed a jury verdict on Tuesday in New Mexico, fining Meta $375 million for failing to protect adolescent users from predatory adults on its social media platforms Facebook and Instagram. You can look at these rulings a couple of ways. Meta made $60 billion in revenue just last quarter: $375 million is about half a day. Extrapolating that fine to the entire U.S. population, it’s an entire quarter of revenue, which is significant, but that would take a long time and this federal government, which just appointed Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg to a council on AI policy, isn’t about to make that happen.” (03/26/26)
“Former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife were back in a New York courtroom Thursday as they seek to have their drug trafficking indictments thrown out over a geopolitical dispute over legal fees. The hearing opened with the defense and prosecution arguing over whether Maduro should be allowed to use Venezuelan government funds to pay for his defense. The defense has insisted that the U.S. is violating the deposed leader’s constitutional rights by blocking government money from being used for his legal costs. Maduro lawyer Barry Pollack contended that if Maduro got public defenders, investigating and preparing his case would sap legal resources meant for people who can’t afford their own attorneys, and that doesn’t make sense in ‘a case where you have someone other than the U.S. taxpayer standing ready, willing and able to fund that defense.’ Prosecutor Kyle Wirshba argued against letting Maduro use Venezuelan government funds.” (03/26/26)
“I hate these people, I really do. When was the last time you actually thought a Democrat politician had your back on something? I mean, really had your best interest in mind, even if only in words and not deeds? I’ll wait. I can’t think of one. Maybe on 9/11, from the moment of the attack, through the spontaneous singing of God Bless America on the steps of the US Capitol, and for about a week after that. Then the wheels came off and they started to return to, well, themselves. They asked: ‘What did we do to deserve this attack?’ And it was off to the races ever since. How a party that actively roots against the best interests of the people who elect them, and enacts policies to harm them, manages to win elections is a mystery (I know people are into masochism, I just didn’t realize there were that many people into it).” (03/26/26)
“Days after Maine Gov. Janet Mills released her first attack ad against her rival in the Democratic Senate primary, Graham Platner, focusing on comments he made about sexual assault victims online 13 years ago, Emerson College Polling conducted the latest survey of likely primary voters regarding their support for the two candidates. Between March 21-23, the polling group surveyed 1,075 Maine Democrats and found that 55% expressed support for Platner, while just 28% supported Mills—giving the first-time political candidate, oyster farmer, and combat veteran nearly a 2-to-1 advantage. When asked about a hypothetical general election matchup with Republican Sen. Susan Collins, respondents gave both Democratic candidates an edge over her, but Platner had a more comfortable lead. Forty-eight percent supported him over Collins, while 41% backed Collins and 12% said they were undecided or supported another candidate. Mills had the backing of 46% of voters compared to Collins’ 43%, and 11% were undecided.” (03/26/26)
“Kari McCaw was flying with co-workers to attend a conference in Las Vegas last month when Southwest Airlines employees stopped her at the ticket counter. The agents’ message was clear: either buy a second seat for herself or don’t fly. McCaw is not alone in her experience. In January, Southwest’s popular ‘customer of size’ policy changed, and flyers have taken to social media to share their frustrations. Flyers report that customer service agents have singled them out for their appearance and forced them to buy another seat to be accommodated, something they’ve never needed to do before.” [editor’s note: It’s not about “appearance,” it’s about size. If you require two seats, they’re going to charge you for two seats because space is a scarcity factor – TLK] (03/26/26)
