“A mostly forgotten figure today, [Louis] Marshall (1856-1929) was a prominent lawyer and activist who argued and won a series of significant legal victories during the Progressive Era …. Marshall was a leading reformer during the Progressive Era, but he was no Progressive. Rather, he was a classical liberal. He championed property rights and economic liberty in regulatory cases while championing the rights of racial, ethnic, and religious minorities in civil rights cases.” (11/18/25)
“As Donald Trump continues to ramp up his immigration raids and slash social programs, one theme is consistent through his press conferences and executive orders: class war. Not just the one enforced by ICE raids, mass kidnappings, and deportations, but one that he is aiming to invade and bomb Venezuela, Mexico, and now Colombia in the so-called ‘war on drugs.’ These attacks on the working class are part of the same imperial system, and they must be opposed with equal force, organization, and clear politics.” (11/18/25)
“Laura Loomer has never been subtle about her support for Israel. Just a few months ago, she described the diminutive state as a ‘wall protecting the U.S. from mass Islamic invasion.’ So it came as something of a surprise last week when, seemingly out of nowhere, Loomer called for the U.S. to end all aid to Israel. But her logic is fairly straightforward. … In Loomer’s view, the financial support amounts to ‘golden handcuffs’ — a needless restriction on Israeli actions that also acts as a ‘constant source of agitation’ in the U.S. … It’s probably safe to say that, these days, most advocates of cutting off aid to Israel are motivated by anger at Israeli policies in Gaza. But skepticism toward aid has never been limited to Israel’s critics.” (11/18/25)
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“The dolphins are getting Alzheimer’s from algae blooms caused by warming waters and toxic runoff / and you could see the bloodstains in Sudan from space. / The cobalt is mined by children and the music is made by robots / and the grownups are wondering
where the fireflies went. / It is an elephant with an eyepatch and a prosthetic leg. / It’s a freshly emptied bed in the nursing home. / A hand offers you pills to numb the dissonance, / but you swat it away and howl naked in the thorns. / Somewhere there’s an ibis on a piano in a junkyard in the rain. / Somewhere else there’s a small boy who has just learned the word ‘treasure’. / ‘Look! Buried treasure!’ he tells his dad. / ‘No. That’s just glass worn smooth by the sea.’ / ‘Is that treasure?’ / ‘No, that’s just a shiny candy wrapper shimmering in the sun.’…” (11/17/25)
“The 60-vote supermajority the United States Senate needs to end debate and vote on legislation is a small‑r republican measure, not a small‑d democratic one. Reasonable people can disagree over its merits, certainly, but I like the greater consensus it requires. What I don’t like is that the party in control of the Senate can at any time change the filibuster rule in any way it wishes, including ending it altogether. Rules shouldn’t be this easy to junk. Make the Senate filibuster not just a rule, but constitutional law.” (11/18/25)
Source: The American Conservative
by John J Mearscheimer
“Europe is in deep trouble today, mainly because of the Ukraine war, which has played a key role in undermining what had been a largely peaceful region. Unfortunately, the situation is not likely to improve in the years ahead. In fact, Europe is likely to be less stable moving forward than it is today.” (11/18/25)
“Terrorism is indiscriminate violence intended to sow fear, thereby advancing political objectives. Drug trafficking is for-profit commerce. ‘Narco-terrorists’ is a self-contradictory neologism coined to turn crime (drug trafficking) into war, thereby enabling lethal kinetic stuff by the war secretary. … Channeling his inner Humpty Dumpty (”When I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said in a rather scornful tone, ‘it means just what I choose it to mean — nothing more nor less”), Donald Trump has decided that this hypothetical fentanyl from Venezuela might be a ‘chemical weapon’ (like mustard gas or sarin?). An odd one, that Americans pay for and ingest.” (11/17/25)
“The buzzword of the month is ‘affordability,’ and based on the election results from New York, New Jersey, and Virginia, voters think that’s declining. Democrats think they’ve found a winning issue here to win back the hearts and minds of voters after the Trump sweep last year. It’s true that people are angry about prices. Steaks and hamburgers are more expensive than ever. So are coffee and rents, and medical care. Many Americans are about to see a 10%-20% increase in their health care premiums starting in January. But who’s to blame? President Donald Trump said he would bring prices down; that hasn’t happened. His tariffs have nudged up prices on certain products like coffee and cars. But since Trump came into office in January, the inflation rate has fallen.” (11/18/25)
“There is one simple answer to why housing costs rise faster than inflation and incomes — restricted supply mated with subsidized demand. In many locales the supply of housing is restricted by the government (rent control, growth limits, expensive and time-consuming permitting, etc) and in every part of the country housing is subsidized by the government (mortgage loan guarantees, tax deductibility of mortgage interest, section 8 housing vouchers, etc). The net result HAS to be rising rents and home prices. I bring this up because we are in the insane situation that both the Left and Right are proposing to attack housing affordability by …. subsidizing demand and restricting supply.” (11/17/25)
“I was duped into thinking President Donald Trump was considering advocating for 15-year car loans, but when put into context it’s hard to blame me. A fake image of a White House statement circulated social media last week saying that Trump had tasked Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick with making ‘vehicle ownership for all a reality by introducing 15 year car loans!’ … I was one of many people to fall for it. Big if true, as they say. Of course it wasn’t, but it’s hard to tell these days. After all, the fake 15-year auto loan news came right on the heels of real announcements that Trump was considering 50-year mortgages and a $2,000 tariff refund (which he called a dividend). All of these ideas are ridiculous.” (11/17/25)
