Source: Cato Institute
by James Bacchus
“Of all the erratic tariffs imposed by President Trump, few have been so vindictive as those meted out to Brazil, which from 1 August has been subject to 50% effective tariffs. And as Brazil subsequently took its case against the US to the World Trade Organization, the question is not whether it will win or lose (it will almost certainly win), but rather: Why have dozens of other countries suffering enormously from arbitrary and illegal US tariffs not joined in the Brazilian case or brought their own cases in the WTO against the US?” (09/15/25)
https://www.cato.org/commentary/wto-exists-times-these-why-not-use-it
Source: Common Dreams
by Fred Wertheimer
“Chief Justice John Roberts is smart and skilled. He will be remembered, however, as a historic failure. This is not a claim to make lightly, but his record compels it, because Roberts’ legacy will be defined by two catastrophic [sic] roles he played. First, Roberts has played the lead role in destroying indispensable rules of our democracy. Second, Roberts has played the lead judicial role in serving as the handmaiden to President Trump’s efforts to turn our democracy into an autocracy. Chief Justice Roberts has taken the lead in writing a series of opinions that have destroyed essential rules governing our democracy.” [editor’s note: This is posted just to remind you how delulu the “left” pundits really are – SAT] (09/15/25)
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/how-will-john-roberts-be-remembered-as-a-democracy-destroyercatastrophic roles he played.
Source: SFGate
“British authorities said Monday they were dropping a criminal case against two men who had been accused of spying for China in Britain, including a former researcher who worked in the U.K. Parliament. Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s office said it was ‘extremely disappointing’ that Christopher Cash, 30, and Christopher Berry, 33, would not face trial, but prosecutors said there was not enough evidence to proceed. Both men have denied wrongdoing. The men had been charged in April 2024 with violating the Official Secrets Act by providing information or documents that could be ‘useful to an enemy’ and ‘prejudicial to the safety or interests’ of the U.K. between late 2021 and February 2023. Cash was a parliamentary researcher who led the China Research Group.” (09/15/25)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/uk-drops-charges-against-2-men-accused-of-spying-21048589.php
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Naman Karl-Thomas Habtom
“In an era of widespread use of economic sanctions, dual-use technology exports, and hybrid warfare, the boundary between peacetime and wartime has become increasingly blurry. Yet understandings of neutrality remain stuck in the time of trench warfare. An updated conception of neutrality, codified through an international treaty, is necessary for global security. Neutrality in the 21st century is often whatever a country wants it to be.” (09/15/25)
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/neutrality-treaty/
Source: ABC News
“Nepal’s prime minister on Monday selected three new ministers to join her interim administration, which is tasked with holding fresh elections in March after violent street protests last week led to the collapse of the previous government. Sushila Karki, the Himalayan country’s first female prime minster, appointed Kalman Gurung as energy minister, Rameshore Khanal as finance minister and Om Prakash Aryal as home minister. … Last week’s massive demonstrations — called the protest of Gen Z — ended with at least 72 people killed and hundreds wounded. The army stepped in to impose a curfew and finally agreed to make Karki the head of an interim government that will hold elections in six months.” (09/15/25)
https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/nepals-pm-appoints-3-new-ministers-interim-government-125577232
Source: The New Republic
“Trump’s Threats Darken on Fox News as MAGA Fury over Kirk Goes Nuclear.” (09/15/25)
https://newrepublic.com/article/200429/trump-threats-darken-fox-news-maga-fury-kirk-goes-nuclear
Source: Liberal Currents
by Joseph Stieb
“On September 5, President Trump issued an executive order rebranding the Department of Defense as the ‘Department of War.’ The order boasted that the U.S. military is ‘the strongest and most lethal fighting force in the world’ and that this department ‘should have a name that reflects its unmatched power and readiness to protect national interests.’ He bizarrely ranted that since Congress consolidated the War Department and the Department of the Navy as the DoD in 1949 that the United States ‘never fought to win’ in the interceding wars. Oddly, Trump’s renaming has attracted support from many analysts and politicians who want a more restrained, less militarized foreign policy. They include both Buchananite nationalist conservatives, leftist commentators, and some mainstream outlets.” (09/15/25)
https://www.liberalcurrents.com/the-warmonger-rebrand/
Source: Common Dreams
“‘Threatening voters and cities over their elections is what authoritarians do,’ said one progressive organizer Monday after US President Donald Trump did just that—suggesting he would rip federal funding away from New York City, and possibly the state, if democratic socialist mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani wins the November election. The president’s threat came after New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, announced her endorsement of Mamdani in an op-ed in The New York Times, after months of pressure from progressives. Trump said Hochul had ‘Endorsed the ‘Liddle Communist’’ and called the governor’s support ‘a rather shocking development. How can such a thing happen? … Washington will be watching this situation very closely. No reason to be sending good money after bad!'” (09/15/25)
https://www.commondreams.org/news/hochul-mamdani
Source: The American Conservative
by Ted Snider
“The war in Ukraine is heading to its inevitable conclusion. It may still take many months, but Russia will win the war on the battlefield, and Ukraine will be without some of its territory and without NATO membership. In such a situation, Kiev has every incentive to make a deal rather than wait for crushing defeat. There is no doubt that Ukraine will require reliable security guarantees …. While Kiev would like its security guarantee to come in the form of NATO membership, the most important guarantee of its future security is the opposite: a credible commitment from Kiev and from NATO that Ukraine will remain neutral and never join the Western alliance.” [editor’s note: Snider seems to think that if he just keeps proclaiming Russian “victory” is inevitable, it will magically come true. And there is not and never was any chance Ukraine would be allowed to join NATO – TLK] (09/15/25)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/to-protect-ukraine-keep-it-out-of-nato/
Source: The American Prospect
by David Dayen
“Democrats have now confirmed what was an open secret last week: They’re going to use their leverage in the upcoming government funding showdown, where their votes are needed to pass anything in the Senate, to ask for health care changes, in particular an extension of enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies that expire at the end of the year. Both House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), along with other legislative leaders, pronounced themselves united on this, insisting that Democrats will put their imprint on the budget deal and reject any ‘clean’ stopgap funding that is negotiated without them. ‘We have broad agreement that the health of the American people should be paramount in this debate,’ Rep. Richie Neal (D-MA), the Democrats’ top member of the House Ways and Means Committee, told Politico.” (09/15/25)
https://prospect.org/politics/2025-09-15-what-would-a-no-kings-budget-look-like/
