“ou recall how the Covid lockdowns began. It was a soft and slow drumbeat that began in late January 2020, with growing amounts of panic and a faster tempo, increasing for several weeks. The US President and the UK Prime Minister resisted extreme reactions. Most governments did and so did most public health authorities. … Six years later and nearly to the day, this new attempted lockdown seems to be going the same way, not concerning infectious disease but energy use. Isn’t it remarkable how the officially recommended methods of managing these completely different realms bear so much in common? They both come down to restricting your liberty, rationing your consumption, redirecting your attention, and shouting down critics.” (03/26/26)
“On the last day of testimony in the federal ‘“Prairieland’ trial (wherein nine activists faced charges related to a protest outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center), the government called its star witness back to the stand. Kyle Shideler, director of counterterrorism research at the right-wing think tank Center for Security Policy, had been key to the prosecution’s case that ’antifa’ (the loose network of activists defined by their ‘opposition to fascism’) is a violent, criminal organization bent on overthrowing the U.S. government. Shideler, an imposing figure with a cleanly shaven head and full beard, had attended nearly the entire trial, even sitting in the overflow room during jury selection. At the stand, Shideler read aloud the government’s definition of antifa, as well as an excerpt from President Donald Trump’s executive order declaring antifa a domestic terrorist organization — issued in September, less than two weeks after the assassination of right-wing pundit and activist Charlie Kirk.” (03/26/26)
“The biggest problem with the ‘justice system’ (judicial system) is that it is filled with lawyers. Including all but a very small number of judges. And a big part of that problem with judges is that they know what side their bread is buttered on. Their income, their working places, their prestige is all tied to the government apparat that pays for all of that. And that protects them personally. Let us look at three cases which illustrate that judges today are creatures of the State, of government.” (03/25/26)
Everything costs more. Everything is monitored. Everything feels like it’s designed to take—from your wallet, your time, your freedom. That’s because it is. The government has turned everyday life into a revenue stream—funding endless wars, bloated agencies, surveillance systems, and profit-driven policing… all on your dime. You’re not just paying taxes. You’re paying to be watched. Paying to be policed. Paying to be controlled. This isn’t government. It’s a business model.” (03/25/26)
“Privacy is important. Not because you have anything to hide, but because it’s no one’s business. Otherwise, let’s get rid of restroom doors, curtains, or anything else that might shield our activities from everyone else’s eyes. Companies that help government spy on people are doing wrong. Digital ID. Flock cameras. Age verification. TSA scanners. Government’s co-conspirators are not the good guys. Not all surveillance is a bad thing, though. You should know everything about anyone who holds a government office. At the same time, they shouldn’t be able to learn anything about you. As long as those offices are allowed to exist — and they shouldn’t be — the standard should be that while you hold any government job, your life is an open book.” (03/25/26)
“Once you acknowledge the truism that AI output is speech, almost all regulation of AI is ipso facto illegal. Government has no more legal right to regulate AI than it has to regulate the New York Times. Even if you’re a convinced doomer, you have to admit that the danger of existing LLMs is not ‘clear and present,’ much less ‘imminent.’ If the Supreme Court has an iota of consistency, the AI industry will be able — barring an anti-AI amendment to the Constitution — to fend off virtually all regulation with ease. Does the Supreme Court have an iota of consistency? Based on past performance, the jury is still out.” (03/25/26)
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“There’s another giant ‘No Kings’ protest scheduled for this weekend, and right now all I can think about is how disgusting it is that this is the closest thing to a mass-scale antiwar protest in the United States right now. The problem with the ‘No Kings’ protests is right there in the title. They’re saying ‘We don’t want a king, we want a president!’ But Donald Trump is not a king. He is a president. And that’s the real problem: US presidents are extremely evil men who do extremely evil things. Donald Trump is a US president who is doing US president things. US presidents consistently murder people with unforgivable acts of mass military violence, mistreat immigrants and marginalized communities, and promote tyranny for the benefit of corrupting special interests in defense of the US empire and the capitalist status quo. That’s what their job is.” (03/25/26)
Source: The American Conservative
by Kelley Beaucar Vlahos
“This is not a partisan affair. Experts in military strategy, regional history, and current power dynamics in the Middle East — as well as American politics and geoeconomics — are struggling to make sense of the U.S.–Israel war launched on February 28 and warn that its escalatory spiral is spinning out of control. But just like when the bloom was off the rose in late 2003, when the insurgencies and sectarian violence started emerging in Iraq and it was becoming clear that the Bush administration had no plan for ‘what’s next,’ the cheerleaders and shills are rushing to battle stations today to do everything to maintain some sort of rationalization for the disaster unfolding right before our eyes. This time, these messaging force-multipliers, tied directly or otherwise to the political and military machinery behind this war, shouldn’t get off so easily.” (03/25/26)
“Last week, the chair of the Federal Communications Commission threatened to rescind the broadcast licenses of media entities that do not relate events in Iran or Ukraine as the Trump administration would like them to be related. He also attacked The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times for the same reasons. This followed by one day a verbal attack on CNN by the Secretary of Defense who made known his bitter unhappiness with CNN’s coverage of the Iran war. Yet, CNN is not regulated by the FCC, which only regulates broadcast media — not cable or streaming; and newspapers, thanks be to God, are totally unregulated. So, what’s going on here? What’s going on is chilling.” (03/25/26)
“Many nations that have emerged from internal conflict – Rwanda, Colombia, Indonesia, to name a few – have anchored their national reconciliations in acts of mercy. In its own peculiar way, Venezuela might now join this group, nearly three months after the United States removed its dictator, Nicolás Maduro, by force and charged him with narcoterrorism and drug trafficking. Most of Mr. Maduro’s colleagues remain in power in a deal made with U.S. President Donald Trump in the name of stability and a sharing of oil wealth. Yet the regime has also begun releasing political prisoners – just how many is in dispute. … Many of the political prisoners violated no law, or at least none based on democratic rights. And the proceedings for their release from prison are conducted in front of judges tied closely to the regime.” (03/24/26)
