Source: Chicago Tribune
“BP announced Tuesday night that it will initiate a lockout for more than 800 United Steelworkers Local 7-1 employees as the two parties still haven’t come to a contract agreement. In a Tuesday update, the company said it provided notice to cancel the 24-hour rolling contract extension, provided lockout notice, and sought commitment from the union to help facilitate a safe handover of operations. The lockout becomes effective at midnight Thursday. … BP has trained replacement workers — consisting of current and former employees — to operate the refinery safely and in compliance with regulatory requirements, and the company doesn’t expect disruptions to its operations or production.” (03/18/26)
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/03/18/bp-to-lockout-usw-employees-as-still-no-deal-reached-in-negotiations/
Source: SFGate
“A Brazilian police operation in Rio de Janeiro favelas on Wednesday killed seven presumed drug traffickers, including a gang chief, as well as a local resident caught in the crossfire, law enforcement officials said. Claúdio Augusto dos Santos, a drug-trafficking boss and member of the notorious Red Command criminal organization, was among those killed in the operation in central Rio, Secretary of the Military Police Col. Marcelo de Menezes said in a press conference. In retaliation, police said ‘criminals’ set fire to a bus and blocked roads in Rio’s central zone, leading to four arrests. Márcio Sousa, the driver of the bus set alight, reported that the attackers boarded the vehicle with two bottles of gasoline.” (03/18/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/brazilian-police-operation-in-rio-favelas-leaves-22083835.php
Source: National Public Radio [US state media]
“The race for a safe Democratic House seat offers clues about the party’s future.” (03/17/26)
https://www.npr.org/2026/03/17/nx-s1-5750404/the-race-for-a-safe-democratic-house-seat-offers-clues-about-the-partys-future
Source: The Price of Liberty
by Nathan Barton
“Irish history is lost in the infamous mists of time (so Irish) and buried under the bright green of the island’s sod (again, so Irish). Popular history speaks of Celts as being the ‘indigenous’ people of an Eire (Ireland) who were colonized and disinherited by evil Norman and English invaders (aided by their minion warriors and settlers of Scotland). It is much more complicated, of course. The history of Eire is indeed very much like that of North America (Turtle Island): a constant series of invasions, occupation, colonization, and war.” (03/17/26)
https://thepriceofliberty.org/2026/03/17/the-irish-saga-stolen-land-and-the-blame-game/
Source: The American Prospect
by Ryan Cooper
“The SAVE Act is coming up for a Senate vote soon, having passed the House back in February. On Tuesday, it cleared its first hurdle, advancing a motion to begin debate on a 51-48 vote that fell mostly along party lines; that’s well short of the 60 votes needed to clear a filibuster and ultimately pass. This bill is probably the most sweeping abrogation of voting rights since Jim Crow. As the Brennan Center explains, it would require both voter ID and proof of citizenship to vote, as well as force the states to send their voter files to the Department of Homeland Security. Tens of millions [sic] of U.S. citizens do not have ready proof of their citizenship, and tens of millions more [sic] don’t match with the documents they do have (for instance, married women who have changed their last name).” (03/18/26)
https://prospect.org/2026/03/18/senate-democrats-should-kill-filibuster-save-act-trump-republicans/
Source: The Guardian [UK]
“Illinois lieutenant governor Juliana Stratton won the Democratic primary race to succeed Illinois’[s] US senator Dick Durbin, beating out US representative Raja Krishnamoorthi. With nearly 90% of the vote tallied, Stratton was leading Krishnamoorthi by more than six percentage points on Tuesday night, according to the Associated Press. … Stratton, a progressive with the support of governor JB Pritzker, had been behind Krishnamoorthi in polling until recent weeks, when an infusion of cash from the governor and a hardening sentiment on immigration pushed aside the relatively moderate congressman. Stratton also faced competition on her left from congresswoman Robin Kelly, which threatened to split the progressive vote. Kelly drew less than 20% of the vote, according to the Associated Press. Durbin, 81, is retiring after service five terms in the Senate.” (03/18/26)
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/mar/18/illinois-democratic-senate-primary-race-juliana-stratton
Source: Libertarian Institute
“Matt Hoh: The Iraq War Playbook Is Back — This Time for Iran.” (03/17/26)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/blog/the-kyle-anzalone-show-guest-matt-hoh-the-iraq-war-playbook-is-back-this-time-for-iran/
Source: Independent Institute
by Walter E Block
“[A]s a matter of history, the BMT and the IRT were originally built, owned and operated by private companies. That ought to put paid to the notion that there is a ‘market failure’ going on in this sector of the economy, and that free enterprise, which has done so much for our prosperity … is an utter failure here, and, necessarily so. Nonsense on a pogo stick. If the marketplace is so great, why, then, are these NYC subways under government control? The market couldn’t hack it after all? Not a bit of it. These two subways were in the process of raising their fares from a nickel to a dime, and the government authorities were horrified! So, in 1940, they nationalized these entities, or, rather, municipalized them (soon afterward, they doubled the fare that had so horrified them when under private control).” (03/17/26)
https://www.independent.org/article/2026/03/17/historical-lesson-bay-area-transit-crisis/
Source: Newsweek
“The U.S. dropped several 5,000-pound ‘deep penetrator’ bombs on the Iranian coast looking out onto the Strait of Hormuz, the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said, as the threat of Iranian attacks on commercial vessels keeps the vital waterway effectively shut for tankers carrying oil and gas. The U.S. military said the munitions targeted protected Iranian sites housing anti-ship cruise missiles posing a danger to international shipping in the strait. … Iran has vowed a ‘decisive’ response to the killing of Tehran’s top security official, Ali Larijani, in an Israeli strike on Tuesday, and targeted Israel with new missile strikes. … Israel launched fresh attacks on the Lebanese capital Beirut, and ordered parts of southern Lebanon to evacuate ahead of operations against the Iran-backed political and militant group, Hezbollah.” (03/18/26)
https://www.newsweek.com/iran-war-live-latest-updates-ali-larijani-killed-tehran-retaliates-us-fores-weapons-strait-hormuz-11694515
Source: Garrison Center
by Thomas L Knapp
“I doubt the Iranian regime WANTED the US and Israeli regimes to escalate the region’s long-standing tension, constant low-intensity fighting, and occasional flare-ups to full-on war for the second time in less than a year … but now that it’s happened, the Iranians seem intent on extracting a real price for the blunder instead of negotiating another lull or, as some keep putting it, giving Donald Trump an excuse to ‘declare victory’ and take an ‘off-ramp’ back to the status quo ante. Can you blame them? … Getting out won’t be quite so smart and easy. We’re seeing.” (03/17/26)
https://thegarrisoncenter.org/archives/20452
