Trump vs. his China hawks
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Connor Echols
“The president ushered in a bipartisan push for confrontation with Beijing in his first term. Is he now trying to usher it out?” (02/11/26)
Category: Opinion
Shakespeare in Love and Grief
Source: Quillette
by Mallory Young
“It appears that people now find comfort in the idea that the life of even the greatest of writers is no more satisfying than their own.” (02/11/26)
https://quillette.com/2026/02/11/shakespeare-in-love-and-grief-hamnet-upstart-crow-review/
When the Oligarchs Don’t Need You Anymore
Source: CounterPunch
by Kathleen Wallace
“We have a group of men who are actively preparing themselves for a societal collapse. In fact, by their own writings, they invite it. They build bunkers to hurriedly protect themselves from the fallout of their own actions. They seem to only want enough humans around to serve them in ways that AI cannot and even that looks to be an infinitesimally small number. … In a nation flush with cash, but not for you, millions are cast off on Medicaid, in what can only be considered a premeditated murder of the masses. But you see, they don’t care. It’s not an unfortunate side effect or a required austerity measure in a time of crisis. It is a class of individuals who do not see themselves as one of us.” (02/11/26)
https://www.counterpunch.org/2026/02/11/when-the-oligarchs-dont-need-you-anymore/
Our Leaders Couldn’t Fix Our Problems, Even If They Wanted To
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“Our leaders are not going to fix the worst problems in our world. They couldn’t if they wanted to. And they don’t want to. [They] are not wise or insightful. They’re not even particularly intelligent. Our society is led by plutocrats who only know how to make more money, by unelected empire managers who only know how to dominate and control, and by elected politicians who only know how to say the right words and make the right bargains in order to get themselves elected. … Even if they weren’t a bunch of evil sociopaths who are only in the positions they’re in because of their willingness to collaborate with the agendas of oligarchy, war, militarism, imperialism, ecocide, exploitation, oppression and planetary domination, they don’t even have the personal characteristics necessary to do things like end poverty, rescue our biosphere, bring about world peace or give rise to human thriving.” (02/11/25)
Gen Z’s Problem with “Fake” News
Source: Washington Monthly
by Anne Kim
“In the eyes of today’s teens, journalism and the media are doomed. In two major surveys of US teens conducted over the last two years, the nonprofit News Literacy Project found deep levels of mistrust and misunderstanding of the news …. The root of this distrust is the lack of ‘news literacy,’ argues Charles (‘Chuck’) Salter, the News Literacy Project’s President and CEO. Teens aren’t currently taught how to be savvy consumers of the information that flashes across their screens. They don’t know what makes good journalism and how to tell if a story is credible. As one result, far too many teens are falling into the trap of conspiracism and misinformation.” (02/11/26)
https://washingtonmonthly.com/2026/02/11/gen-zs-problem-with-fake-news/
The Heavy Pot Taxes Favored by The New York Times Would Undermine Legalization
Source: Reason
by Jacob Sullum
“The newspaper’s plan to address marijuana abuse would compound the disadvantages that state-licensed suppliers face in competing with the black market.” (02/11/26)
Political Backflow From Europe
Source: Astral Codex Ten
by Scott Alexander
“The European discourse can be — for lack of a better term — America-brained. We hear stories of Black Lives Matter marches in countries without significant black populations, or defendants demanding their First Amendment rights in countries without constitutions. Why shouldn’t the opposite phenomenon exist? Europe is more populous than the US, and looms large in the American imagination. Why shouldn’t we find ourselves accidentally absorbing European ideas that don’t make sense in the American context?” (02/11/26)
https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/political-backflow-from-europe
War and “Covert Action” Are Not How to Deal With Iran
Source: The American Conservative
by Jakob Brown
“The prospect of President Donald Trump pursuing regime change in Iran has animated the most hawkish voices in the establishment. But American war-weariness has forced the usual suspects to refine the art of apologetics. Rather than calling for ‘boots on the ground’ to liberate the Iranian people, many now argue the same result can be achieved through covert methods. Some assert, without a shred of evidence, that a large-scale strike can topple Tehran’s rulers without American troops ever setting foot in the country. Others avoid the question of what regime change would look like altogether, fearful that Americans will not be pleased with the answer.” (02/11/26)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/war-and-covert-action-are-not-how-to-deal-with-iran/
Trump: Just Leave Venezuela Alone
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger
“President Trump and the U.S. national-security establishment had no business invading Venezuela, kidnapping the country’s president, and forcibly carrying him back to the United States to stand trial for supposedly violating U.S. drug laws and U.S. gun-control laws. They also had no business killing Venezuelan citizens and others on the high seas near Venezuela. But what’s done is done. The question is what should Trump, the Pentagon, and the CIA do now? They should leave Venezuela alone.” (02/10/26)
https://www.fff.org/2026/02/10/trump-just-leave-venezuela-alone/
Sensitive Places Require Government-Provided Armed Security
Source: Independent Institute
by Stephen P Halbrook
“History teaches that government must provide security if serious about a mandatory ‘gun-free zone.'” [editor’s note: As if government “security” should ever be trusted – TLK] (02/11/26)