Category: Opinion

Why the Ceasefire is Doomed

Source: The Chris Hedges Report
by Chris Hedges

“It is highly unlikely, unfortunately, that the ceasefire agreement brokered by Pakistan will endure. This is due to two principal impediments. First, Israel is adamantly opposed to a cessation of the bombing of Iran’s infrastructure. This bombing campaign is part of the Israeli effort to turn Iran into a failed state. Israel has the ability to sabotage the agreement. Indeed, Israel is already doing so by refusing to halt its attacks on Lebanon. Secondly, the minimal demands being made by Iran remain unacceptable to the U.S. and Israel. The demands will only be achieved by creating more pressure, which Iran can generate by continuing to block oil and gas shipments through the Strait of Hormuz and targeting vital infrastructure in the region.” (04/08/26)

https://chrishedges.substack.com/p/why-the-ceasefire-is-doomed

Thomas L. Knapp

Posting Past Armageddon

Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob

“Buried in his book about being a wheeler-dealer, Mr. Trump notoriously advances a notion eerily similar to Nixon’s Madman strategy. Trump likes to keep those with whom he is negotiating ‘guessing.’ He says this often. We cannot be shocked, then, if we’re all kept guessing about his Iran strategy. His litany of flip-flops from early March to the present day has been breathtaking, even for Trump.” (04/08/26)

https://thisiscommonsense.org/2026/04/08/posting-past-armageddon/

Thomas L. Knapp

Ignorance and Ignominy

Source: Paul Krugman
by Paul Krugman

“So the world’s greatest military power went to war with a poor, medievalist theocracy. It was an incredibly uneven match. … Yet Iran won. The Iranian regime has emerged far stronger than it was before, controlling the Strait of Hormuz and having demonstrated its ability to inflict damage on both its neighbors and the world economy. The U.S. has emerged far weaker, having demonstrated the limitations of its military technology, its strategic ineptitude and, when push comes to shove, its cowardice. We’ve also destroyed our moral credibility …” (04/08/26)

https://paulkrugman.substack.com/p/ignorance-and-ignominy

Thomas L. Knapp

Welding the skilled trades to dignity

Source: Christian Science Monitor
by staff

“The rapid adoption of artificial intelligence in workplaces across the United States is automating a wide range of administrative, managerial, and even specialized high-tech tasks. Employers and employees alike are understandably concerned. Yet, the same AI boom is also driving demand for workers in professions long seen as declining in prestige and pay scales: the skilled trades or blue-collar jobs that helped build America’s middle class. As the cost of a college education increases, and as young people seek less debt, enrollment in vocational community-college programs and private trade schools has increased by about 6% annually in recent years. Still, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than 400,000 skilled trade jobs remained unfilled in 2025. Paradoxically, these economic and social pressure points highlight new possibilities for expanding pathways to prosperity.” (04/08/26)

https://www.csmonitor.com/Editorials/the-monitors-view/2026/0408/Welding-the-skilled-trades-to-dignity

Steve Trinward

Salah Sarsour: A Pillar Taken, A Community That Will Not Yield

Source: In These Times
by Dr. Hatem Bazian

“There are people you meet in the struggle for Palestine and justice who leave a mark not because of titles they hold or platforms they command, but because of who they are — quietly, consistently, and without asking for anything in return. Salah Sarsour is that kind of person. And the fact that he is sitting tonight in a detention facility, torn from his family and his community by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents who pulled him over with no legitimate cause, is an injustice that demands that every one of us speak. I first met Salah over thirty years ago, when I was beginning to organize for Palestine on a national level and found myself visiting the Muslim community in Milwaukee. He was already a key leader then — grounded, trusted, and beloved.” (04/09/26)

https://inthesetimes.com/article/salah-sarsour-a-pillar-taken-a-community-that-will-not-yield

Steve Trinward

What Comes From the Failure to Confront Insanity

Source: The Contrarian
by Jennifer Rubin

“It is not hard to see how we got to where we are. The temptation now will be to rationalize this brush with disaster, even for Republicans to cheer Trump’s ‘negotiating prowess’ or ‘restraint.’ That would be a grotesque error. Dodging one calamity but ignoring the underlying pathology and serial failures that brought us to this point will ensure we have other such incidents. We must not forget that Trump’s threats in and of themselves are war crimes, grounds for impeachment, and a flashing siren that all the enablers, rationalizers, and opportunists who have refused to blow the whistle on a deranged president need to snap out of it.” (04/08/26)

https://www.contrariannews.org/p/what-comes-from-the-failure-to-confront

Thomas L. Knapp

Unhinged Trump Needs a Congressional Intervention

Source: Independent Institute
by Ivan Eland

“[G]iven Trump’s threat of inducing civilizational genocide, the American people need to wake up and demand a constitutional solution to this clearly demented president. Things are likely to get worse in the next three years as he ages. The danger of such a rogue executive is why the American founders, in the Constitution, assigned the power to initiate war to Congress, not the president. In a republic, they didn’t think such a grave and solemn decision should be left to one person; instead, it should be voted on by representatives of the people before it is undertaken.” 904/08/26)

https://www.independent.org/article/2026/04/08/unhinged-trump-congressional-intervention/

Thomas L. Knapp