Rebels in Congo used containers to hold journalists in brutal conditions, advocacy group says

Source: SFGate

“A rebel group in eastern Congo has detained civilians, including two journalists, in metal shipping containers without light or ventilation, an advocacy group said Tuesday. Reporters Without Borders, or RSF, said the Rwanda-backed M23, which controls parts of eastern Congo, used the containers in the city of Goma as makeshift detention cells under ‘inhumane’ and ‘degrading’conditions. … As many as 80 detainees at a time were placed inside a container, without light or ventilation and allowed out only once a day. Witnesses said they received minimal food, while some reported routine beatings. According to the testimonies, conditions were extreme — suffocating heat by day and cold at night — with deaths reported. Survivors were often held for weeks before being transferred to other locations.” (03/24/26)

https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/rebels-in-congo-used-containers-to-hold-22093305.php

The Fed Already Has What It Needs to Navigate Supply Shocks

Source: Macroeconomic Policy Nexus
by David Beckworth

“It is not easy being a central banker in a world plagued by supply shocks. These disturbances push economic activity and inflation in opposite directions, forcing difficult tradeoffs between full employment and price stability. Fed officials now face such a challenge with the war in the Middle East. The resulting reduction in oil production could dampen economic activity while temporarily raising inflation. In this environment, it may be tempting to ease monetary policy to cushion the blow. But doing so would risk further stoking inflation. And if the public were already sensitive to inflation, such easing could unanchor expectations and make matters worse.” (03/24/26)

https://macroeconomicpolicynexus.substack.com/p/the-fed-already-has-what-it-needs

The American Gulag 2026: People Die While Companies Profit

Source: TomDispatch
by Rebecca Gordon

“The March 4, 2026, edition of the Arizona Daily Star put the facts succinctly: ‘A Haitian asylum seeker held for four months at Florence Correctional Center died Monday at a Scottsdale hospital due to complications from an infected tooth.’ It seems the infection spread from his tooth to his lungs, and he developed the pneumonia that killed him. In other words, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) allowed a prisoner to die of a toothache. His name was Emmanuel Damas. He was 56 years old and the father of two. And we can only expect medical treatment at ICE centers to deteriorate further.” (03/24/26)

https://tomdispatch.com/people-die-while-companies-profit/

NASA plans $20 billion moon base, but pauses lunar space station project

Source: CBC News [Canadian state media]

“NASA is cancelling plans to deploy a space station in lunar orbit and will instead use its components to construct ‌a $20 billion US base on the moon’s surface over the next seven years, its new chief Jared Isaacman said on Tuesday. Isaacman, who was sworn in at ​the agency in December, made the announcement ​at the opening of a day-long event at NASA’s Washington headquarters at which he outlined a raft ​of changes he is making to the agency’s ⁠flagship moon program ⁠Artemis. … The Lunar Gateway station, largely already built with contractors Northrop Grumman and Vantor, formerly Maxar, was meant to be a space station ‌in a lunar orbit. Repurposing the craft for a lunar surface base is not simple.” (03/24/26)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/nasa-lunar-gateway-9.7140073

Reassessing European Contact: Insights from Spanish America

Source: Isonomia Quarterly
by Daniella F Bassi

“There’s no doubt that the Americas were irrevocably changed by European contact. The decimation and sociopolitical transformation of the Western Hemisphere was so thorough that many scholars speak of an indigenous genocide — the intentional destruction of native societies. But there’s also no doubt that the story is not so simple.” (03/24/26)

https://isonomiamag.substack.com/p/reassessing-european-contact-insights

Trump restores GOP as party of defense and deterrence

Source: Fox News
by Hugh Hewitt

“As the fourth week of the battle with Iran opened, President Donald Trump announced a window of opportunity for negotiations. With whom, no one outside of the president and his closest advisors knows. The president did not halt strikes on Iran, and Israel continued to pound its long list of military targets as well as the regime’s massive apparatus of repression while the U.S. focuses on degrading the military-industrial capacity of the mullahs. Iran is a country with shattered defenses and no ability to project targeted force. This was accomplished in three weeks. No wonder someone wants to negotiate even as others tell our left-wing media that Iran is winning. … No ‘takes’ matter. The conflict will be judged twice: when major combat operations conclude and a year thereafter.” (03/24/26)

https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/morning-glory-trump-has-restored-gop-party-defense-deterrence

Chile: Regime Withdraws Backing for Former President Bachelet as UN Secretary-General

Source: US News & World Report

“Chile on ⁠Tuesday ⁠said it was ⁠withdrawing its backing for the candidacy ​of former President Michelle Bachelet as Secretary-General of the ‌United Nations, ahead of ‌an election that will decide its leader ⁠for ⁠a five-year term starting in 2027. The withdrawal of Chile’s ​support comes weeks after the swearing in of President Jose Antonio Kast, marking the South American country’s ​sharpest shift to the right in decades. Kast has repeatedly ⁠criticized ⁠Bachelet’s presidency and said ⁠his ​leftist predecessor Gabriel Boric ‘made a mistake’ when he supported ​her nomination, alongside ⁠Brazil and Mexico, for the leadership of the U.N. Bachelet was considered a frontrunner for the race.” (03/24/26)

https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2026-03-24/chile-withdraws-backing-for-former-president-bachelet-as-un-secretary-general

Can’t We Just Pick One?

Source: The Erick Erickson Show
by Erick-Woods Erickson

“The reason we have stayed with fall back and spring forward is because southern states want permanent daylight saving time, and northern states want permanent standard time. It benefits northern states in the winter to have standard time and benefits southern states to have daylight saving time in the summer. But, as a nation, we only have standard time for four months. Daylight saving time is the default for eight months. The reality is that standard time makes a lot of sense. … Regardless, Congress should just pick one.” (03/24/26)

https://ewerickson.substack.com/p/cant-we-just-pick-one