“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)
“Our political battle lines fall increasingly along our growing educational divide, in which young women are advancing, and young men are falling behind.” (05/22/26)
“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: Foundation for Economic Education
by Katrina Gulliver
“Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) have reached a merger agreement, where Paramount will acquire WBD for $110 billion at $31 per share in cash. (The final terms of the deal have yet to be approved by the DOJ and the FCC.) But assuming it goes ahead, report author Jeff Ferry suggests: ‘At a time when the industry is struggling, the proposed merger of Paramount Global and Warner Bros. Discovery stands out as the most significant opportunity for renewed growth in years.’ The merger will create Hollywood’s largest studio, churning out 30 movies a year, and their analysis finds that if this commitment is fulfilled, it could add almost $1 billion to Hollywood’s annual investment in movie production within Los Angeles.” (05/24/26)
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)
“If kids should place their education as a high priority, the messages and actions of administrators, teachers, and parents they observe should clearly reinforce that importance. Using the Appearance of Safety as a convenient foil to avoid responsibilities and making hard decisions undermines that message completely. Just because public education isn’t paid for directly like gymnastics competition fees doesn’t mean it should get a pass. Otherwise, we will continue to accept less and get less value, and our kids will pay even more for our carelessness in the future than they already have.” (05/24/26)
“Iran may or may not agree to exercise restraint in its control over the Strait of Hormuz and its nuclear program. But as Donald Trump of all people should know, agreements can be broken. At a fundamental level Trump, who began by demanding UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER and trying to impose a subservient new regime, is now slinking away, leaving Iran’s hard-liners empowered — and America’s reputation shattered.” (05/25/26)
“The regional buy-in — and the fact that Trump announced the agreement only after speaking with a wide array of key regional leaders, including those of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, and Bahrain, in addition to a separate call with Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu — is highly significant. This regional anchoring affords Trump a degree of political insulation in Washington. Faced with inevitable accusations from hawks that the agreement amounts to defeat or that it betrays Israel, he can point to broad regional support as evidence that America’s principal partners in the Middle East prefer diplomacy to escalation. … Judging by the public panic now emanating from Washington’s war hawks and pro-Israel circles, however, the next 30 days are likely to be politically brutal for Trump.” (05/23/26)
“As a religious Jew, I refuse to stay silent while political actors fuse my beautiful religion and an ancient people to the actions of a modern nation-state and its lobbying apparatus. Judaism is not synonymous with militarism, censorship, collective punishment, or blind loyalty to any government. Many Jews are horrified by the devastation in Gaza, alarmed by the suppression of dissent, and concerned about the growing perception that American politics is being shaped by interests that appear increasingly disconnected from the American public itself. … If Jewish Americans truly care about our long-term future in this country, then now is the time to speak honestly, reject tribalism and authoritarianism, and stop allowing criticism of a government to be conflated with hatred of a people.” (05/22/26)
