“Israel launched its war with Iran last week with what it called a ‘preemptive strike.’ Iran — according to the Israeli government — was dangerously close to producing a nuclear weapon, and Israel needed to carry out a series of assassinations of military leadership, bombings in residential neighborhoods, and attacks on nuclear production sites to stop them. … Israel is calling on the U.S. to join the war and launch a series of attacks end Iran’s nuclear threat. But according to the U.S. intelligence community, that threat is not real.” 906/17/25)
Source: In These Times
by Phyllis Bennis & Khury Petersen-Smith
“Israel’s attack on Iran last week has opened a stark danger — a predictable pattern of escalation ushering in a new phase of the long-standing crises roiling the Middle East region. Certainly Israel has a long history of attacking Iran — including bombing raids; assassinations of political and military leaders as well as nuclear scientists; cyberattacks; assaults on Iranian allies in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Yemen, and beyond — and Iran has on occasion struck back. But while it is too soon to know exactly how this latest assault will fully play out, it now holds the prospect of full-scale war between the two strongest military forces in the region, one of them backed by the strongest military power in the world..” (06/16/25)
“Clay Risen, a New York Times reporter who has written several volumes of popular history, has now tackled the familiar story of the Second Red Scare — the period after World War II, when the nation’s institutions mobilized against the Communists believed to be burrowing into American society. But his new book, Red Scare, doesn’t stick to that era: It also aims to comment on contemporary American politics.” (06/17/25)
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“‘OMG nuclear weapons!’ Shut up, idiot. If you’re a grown adult with internet access still swallowing this load of bull spunk in the year 2025 you’re either stupid or evil. President Donald Trump is now saying he has no intention of seeking or facilitating a ceasefire with Iran …. ‘I’m not too much in a mood to negotiate,’ Trump said. Asked by the press if he’s worried about US troops being targeted by Iran in the coming days, the president said ‘We’ll come down so hard if they do anything to our people. We’ll come down so hard. The gloves are off. I think they know not to touch our troops.’ This is a stupid, crazy lie. Iran has explicitly said it will strike US bases in the region if the US attacks Iranian territory. If you punch someone, you expect to be punched back.” (06/17/25)
“I didn’t go to the rally with any particular issue on my mind. I didn’t make a sign to wave, or take advantage of any of the offerings of signs hitting on various subjects. While it’s fair to say that I’m ‘anti-Trump’ both in general and on any number of specifics, my goal (and, I think, my friend’s) wasn’t so much to express that sentiment as to ‘take the temperature.’ What issues would enjoy the loudest support/opposition? Would MAGA counter-protesters show up? Would the protesters, the counter-protesters, or the police engage in violence? … The simplest ‘temperature’ measure, of course, was opposition to the presidency of Donald Trump. Nobody (or at least nobody I encountered) seemed to disagree with that. Why? Well, that’s where the crowd got all over the place.” (06/17/25)
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Artis Shepherd
“The Trump administration is spending more than the Biden administration, compared to the same period last year. This is no small feat, as the proxies that stood in for the senile and incontinent former president spent at an extravagant pace in their final year, even by federal government standards. … And yet, many believe the Trump administration remains sincere about their overtures toward substantial spending cuts, also known as ‘draining the swamp.’ Stubbornly ignoring reality, some even believe they have delivered on such promises. By their lights, the administration has already made — and continues to make — substantial spending cuts while shrinking the size and scope of government.” (06/17/25)
Source: Jake Porter’s Analysis & Investigations
by Jake Porter
“We have U.S. Senators who are more concerned about social media engagement than they are for the truth. They obviously have no shame in blaming potential victims in assassination plots and then have the audacity to make jokes about assassination attempts when they could potentially be targeted themselves as we head down the dangerous and violent path for the country. By spreading lies about opponents, we make it more likely that violence will be committed against them.” (06/17/25)
“Israel has long pursued a strategy to remain the Middle East’s sole nuclear-armed state, using military force to preempt or prevent other regional powers from acquiring nuclear-weapons capabilities. But Israel’s strikes on Iran risk backfiring, with a wounded foe more determined than ever to acquire the nuclear bomb. … Tehran could emulate North Korea’s playbook: withdraw from the NPT, eject IAEA inspectors and weaponize its nuclear assets at speed. North Korea withdrew from the NPT in 2003 and tested a nuclear bomb just three years later, becoming a de facto nuclear-weapons state. Iran, heavily sanctioned and increasingly isolated, may now conclude that it has little to lose from following suit.” (06/17/25)
“News about global efforts to end child labor – and ensure each child’s growth, protection, and innocence – is encouraging. A new report shows the number of children put to work has declined by 22 million in the past five years. This latest drop is part of a 25-year trend that’s seen a 44% decline, aside from an upward blip during the pandemic. In 2000, there were an estimated 245.5 million child laborers. The progress stems not only from better laws and enforcement but also from expanding economies and access to education. In 1990, an international treaty on the rights of children … came into force. After a decade of campaigns against the use of child workers by international companies, new trade rules began to curb the practice. Yet, according to Kailash Satyarthi, an activist against child labor and corecipient of the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize, something else is going on.” (06/16/25)
“President Trump has fended off Republican criticisms of his ‘big, beautiful [budget] bill’ by declaring that a vote against it is a vote for ‘the biggest tax increase’ in American history, an estimated $4 trillion over a decade. The hidden irony is that, as the late Milton Friedman warned a half century ago, even if 2017 tax rates do not lapse, the ‘big, beautiful bill’ will raise the country’s ‘true taxes.’ Why? The bill includes substantial increases in federal deficit spending, which will be a drag on economic growth that would otherwise have been gr eater because of his tax-rate reductions and deregulation policies.” (06/17/25)
