Collateral Damage, episode 7
Source: The Intercept
“Dirty Information: The NYPD’s Shock Tactics and the death of Alberta Spruill.” (11/19/25)
https://theintercept.com/2025/11/19/collateral-damage-episode-seven-dirty-information/
Bondi: US Justice Department will release Epstein files within 30 days
Source: Reuters
“The U.S. Justice Department will release files from its investigation into the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein within 30 days, Attorney General Pam Bondi said on Wednesday, after Congress voted nearly unanimously to force President Donald Trump’s administration to make them public. The material could shed more light on the activities of Epstein, who socialized with Trump and other notable figures before his 2008 conviction on charges of soliciting a minor for prostitution. The scandal has been a thorn in Trump’s side for months, partly because he amplified conspiracy theories about Epstein to his own supporters. Many Trump voters believe his administration has covered up Epstein’s ties to powerful figures and obscured details surrounding his death, which was ruled a suicide, in a Manhattan jail in 2019 as he faced federal sex trafficking charges.” (11/19/25)
Penny symbolic of useless government
Source: Eastern New Mexico News
by Kent McManigal
“Where do you stand on the penny issue? Are you pro-penny, anti-penny, or do you not care one way or the other? Did you even know there was a ‘penny issue?’ On Nov. 12, the U.S. Mint stopped issuing pennies; it minted its final one-cent coin. Maybe. Some people are upset by this development; others think it’s long past due. The problem with pennies is two-fold: due to the devaluation of the dollar (‘inflation’), each penny costs over three cents to make and distribute. In addition, the rampant creation of inflated U.S. dollars by the Federal Reserve — which I consider the largest counterfeiting operation in world history — has made them useless. Other than psychologically, I suppose.” (11/19/25)
Gaza: At least 28 dead in latest Israeli ceasefire violations
Source: CNN
“Israeli strikes across Gaza killed at least 28 Palestinians on Wednesday in the latest escalation of violence since the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took effect. The Israel Defense Forces said it carried out the strikes on Hamas targets after ‘several terrorists’ fired on Israeli soldiers operating in Khan Younis in southern Gaza. … Hamas condemned the strikes as ‘a dangerous escalation’ and rejected the IDF’s account, accusing Israel of trying to ‘justify its ongoing crimes and violations.'” (11/19/25)
https://www.cnn.com/2025/11/19/middleeast/israel-strikes-gaza-escalation-latam-intl
The Case Against Property Taxes
Source: Bluegrass Institute
by Vance Ginn
“Property ownership is the cornerstone of a free society. It reflects the natural right of individuals to control what they create, earn, or voluntarily exchange with others. From that right flows responsibility, independence, and the ability to build a legacy. Yet today, homeowners must pay the government every year simply to keep what they already own. Property taxes are not a reasonable price for local services — they are an outdated, overly coercive, and economically destructive way to fund government.” (11/19/25)
https://www.bluegrassinstitute.org/the-case-against-property-taxes/
DOJ says full grand jury in Comey case didn’t review copy of final indictment
Source: Maryland Daily Record
“The Justice Department acknowledged in court Wednesday the grand jury that charged former FBI Director James Comey was not presented with a copy of the final indictment, a concession that may further imperil a prosecution already subject to multiple challenges and demands for its dismissal. The revelation is the latest indication of a troubled presentation of the case to the grand jury by an inexperienced and hastily appointed U.S. attorney named to the job just days earlier by President Donald Trump. Concerns about the process surfaced earlier in the week when a different judge in the case said there was no record in the transcript he had reviewed of the grand jury reviewing the indictment that was actually presented against Comey.” (11/19/25)
https://thedailyrecord.com/2025/11/19/comey-indictment-grand-jury-errors-doj/
Why Blaming Walmart and Amazon for Public Assistance Is Misguided
Source: The Daily Economy
by Christopher Freiman
“With SNAP funding in the news, we’re seeing a revival of a familiar complaint against big business. The reason millions of Americans need public benefits like SNAP, critics say, is that their employers don’t pay them enough. … this complaint is morally confused. To see why, let’s start with a simple point: an employer is a buyer of labor. So when critics say that big corporations should raise their employees’ wages to the point where they don’t need public assistance, what they’re really saying is that corporations should pay more for what they buy. But we shouldn’t assume that merely buying something from someone obligates you to pay them so much that they never need public assistance, rather than simply paying them the mutually agreeable price.” (11/19/25)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/do-employers-shift-labor-costs-onto-taxpayers/
China suspends Japanese seafood imports in Taiwan comment fallout
Source: United Press International
“China will suspend importing Japanese seafood products after a diplomatic spat brought on by recent comments by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. According to Japanese new media, China’s rationale to suspend the imports was to enable Chinese authorities to monitor wastewater from Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Takaihi’s statements ‘fundamentally damaged the political foundation of China-Japan relations,’ Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Wednesday. Mao added there there was ‘no longer a market for Japanese seafood.’ … Takaichi told lawmakers Japan could use its military to intervene in any conflict that might occur in the Taiwan Strait, which separates Taiwan from mainland China.” (11/19/25)
Profiteering, Protection Rackets, & a Pay-to-Play Presidency
Source: CounterPunch
by John W Whitehead & Nisha Whitehead
“Pay-to-play schemes. Protection rackets. Extortion. Corruption. Self-enrichment. Graft. Grift. Brutality. Roaming bands of thugs smashing car windows and terrorizing communities. Immunity for criminal behavior coupled with prosecutions of whistleblowers. This is how a crime syndicate operates — not a constitutional republic. What we are witnessing today is the steady transformation of the federal government — especially the executive branch — into a criminalized system of power in which justice is weaponized, law is selectively enforced, and crime becomes a form of political currency.” (11/19/25)
https://www.counterpunch.org/2025/11/19/profiteering-protection-rackets-a-pay-to-play-presidency/
Lawful checks on cocaine traffickers
Source: Christian Science Monitor
by staff
“In a referendum on Sunday, voters in Ecuador – where some 70% of global cocaine flows – soundly rejected the idea of foreign bases in the country to help fight the drug trade. And in the last three months, as the United States military has built up forces near Venezuela and conducted lethal strikes against alleged drug-carrying boats – dubbed by the White House as ‘narco-terrorists’ – cries have grown louder that such attacks might violate international law. Meanwhile, amid this forceful approach, one country in the Caribbean, the Dominican Republic, has received a largely unnoticed accolade for an alternative tactic to dealing with crime – whether it is petty theft or international drug runners coming to its shores.” (11/18/25)