Feds reduce troop presence in Portland, Chicago occupations

Source: Seattle Times

“Hundreds of National Guard troops deployed to Chicago and Portland are being sent home, and those who will remain will continue to stay off the streets amid court battles over their domestic mission by the Trump administration, a defense official said Monday. The withdrawal of soldiers — sent from California and Texas — is part of a larger change to troop deployments after President Donald Trump began his immigration crackdown in various cities with Democratic leadership. The official was not authorized to publicly discuss the issue and requested anonymity. U.S. Northern Command said in a statement Sunday it was ‘shifting and/or rightsizing’ units in Portland, Los Angeles and Chicago, although it said there would be a ‘constant, enduring, and long-term presence in each city.'” (11/18/25)

https://archive.is/8NDJ0

Thomas L. Knapp

Peaceful Protest (Not Polarization) Is the Recipe for Saving Our Democracy

Source: Common Dreams
by Rebecca Winter

“On a cloudy Wednesday in mid-April, Jared and Laurie Berezin, a couple in their 40s from Maynard, Massachusetts, pulled their car into the Macy’s parking lot at the Burlington Mall. Carrying a sign that said, ‘Just Say No To Harassing Immigrants, the two stood by themselves outside Immigration and Custom Enforcement’s New England Regional Headquarters. One week later, there were five people. Six weeks after that, there were 60. Earlier this month, at the 29th consecutive Wednesday protest, there were more than 700. Singing and chanting, the crowd of grandmothers, ministers, war veterans, nuclear physicists, retirees, and many others offered hope and support as a handful of immigrants arrived for their deportation hearings. Using bullhorns, they decried injustices happening inside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility where hundreds of immigrants, many with no criminal records, have been detained for multiple days since January.” (11/18/25)

https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/peaceful-protest-to-save-democracy

Steve Trinward

Summers quits public roles amid Epstein emails: “I am deeply ashamed of my actions”

Source: mint [India]

“Former US Treasury Secretary and former Harvard President Lawrence H. Summers announced on Monday that he would be ‘stepping back from public commitments’ following the release of communication documents between him and the late convicted sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein. Summers, a current Harvard University Professor, stated that while he will ‘continu[e] to fulfill my teaching obligations,’ the withdrawal from public roles is ‘one part of my broader effort to rebuild trust and repair relationships with the people closest to me.’ … The documents revealed that Summers and Epstein continued to exchange messages until July 5, 2019 — just one day before Epstein’s arrest on new sex-trafficking charges.” (11/18/25)

https://www.livemint.com/news/us-news/exharvard-president-larry-summers-quits-public-roles-amid-epstein-scandal-i-am-deeply-ashamed-of-my-actions-11763472892373.html

Thomas L. Knapp

Vietnam and the US at the Negotiating Table

Source: Foundation for Econic Education
by Jake Scott

“Global trade patterns are continuing to shift, and increasingly Eastward. As Gulf nations diversify and broaden their highly oil-dependent economies, ASEAN nations seem to be deepening theirs, focusing more on what they are good at while pursuing stability alongside. In this vein, Vietnam and the United States are now closing in on what may become one of the most strategically important bilateral trade agreements either has attempted in decades. … Two features of the emerging agreement stand out as especially consequential. The first is the pursuit of structured reciprocity, a model far more formal (and couched in the language favored by President Trump) than previous phases of US–Vietnam engagement. … The second is the macro-financial consultation mechanism.” (11/18/25)

https://fee.org/articles/vietnam-and-the-us-at-the-negotiating-table/

Thomas L. Knapp

Trump gives a lesson in how not to handle a scandal

Source: The Hill
by Bill Press

“There’s nothing Washington likes more than a scandal. Most quickly fade away. But every once in a while, there’s a scandal that takes root, that just won’t go away. President Nixon had Water-gate, President Bill Clinton had Whitewater and President Trump now has Geoffrey Epstein. But what’s unique about the Epstein-gate scandal is that this is not something Democrats laid on Trump. From the start, this scandal was entirely of Trump’s own creation. He brought it on himself. He created it, he fanned the flames, and now he can’t get out from under it. Forget the politics. Just stand back for a moment and review how Trump’s mishandled the Epstein matter. It’s been one ham-handed mistake after another. Either he or whoever is advising him on how to deal with Epstein should be fired for incompetence.” (11/18/25)

https://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/5610187-epstein-scandal-trump-fallout/

Thomas L. Knapp

Australia: Prisoner sues for his “human right” to eat Vegemite

Source: ABC News

“A prisoner is challenging an Australian state’s ban on inmates eating Vegemite, claiming in a court suit that withholding the polarizing yeast-based spread breaches his human right to ‘enjoy his culture as an Australian.’ Andre McKechnie, 54, serving a life sentence for murder, took his battle for the salty, sticky, brown byproduct of brewing beer to the Supreme Court of Victoria, according to documents released to The Associated Press on Tuesday. Most Australians revere Vegemite as an unfairly maligned culinary icon, and more than 80% of Australian households are estimated to have a jar in their pantries. But inmates in all 12 prisons in Victoria are going without.” [editor’s note: I suspect Vegemite is an acquired taste. After giving it a try, I decided I don’t really want to acquire it – TLK] (11/18/25)

https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/australian-prisoner-sues-eat-vegemite-127619232

Thomas L. Knapp