Source: The Guardian [UK]
“Donald Trump pardoned Texas Democratic representative Henry Cuellar and his wife in a federal bribery and conspiracy case on Wednesday, citing what he called a ‘weaponized’ justice system. Trump, who has argued that his own legal troubles were a partisan witch-hunt, said on social media that the congressman and his wife, Imelda Cuellar, were prosecuted because the representative had been critical of Joe Biden’s immigration policies. … Federal authorities had charged Cuellar, 69, and his wife with accepting thousands of dollars in exchange for the congressman advancing the interests of an Azerbaijan-controlled energy company and a bank in Mexico. Cuellar is accused of agreeing to influence legislation favorable to Azerbaijan and deliver a pro-Azerbaijan speech on the floor of the US House.” (12/03/25)
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/dec/03/trump-pardons-democrat-henry-cuellar
Source: SFGate
“A blackout hit Havana and the rest of the western half of Cuba on Wednesday, leaving millions of people without power on an island struggling with chronic outages blamed on a crumbling electric grid. Lázaro Guerra, general director of the Ministry of Energy and Mines, said the massive outage was caused by a failure on a transmission line that connects two major plants. He said power would be restored gradually. In Havana, dozens of police officers were trying to direct traffic while many students who were already in school were sent back home. Small businesses that have generators resumed their sales, especially of food. Some areas had intermittent internet service, so many residents were left wondering what had happened. ‘There’s no connection. No one knows why the power is out. … They’re not saying anything; it’s all silence,’ grumbled Raúl Calderón, an 82-year-old retiree, as he waited to hear official reports on the radio.” (12/03/25)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/massive-power-outage-hits-cuba-s-western-region-21220643.php
Source: The Bulwark
by Will Saletan
“Donald Trump’s war on immigrants has crossed another line. First, he targeted illegal immigrants. Then he went after legal immigrants. Now, he’s attacking naturalized Americans: citizens of this country who were born elsewhere, particularly in what Trump contemptuously calls the ‘third world.’ He’s trying to turn white Americans against nonwhite Americans.” (12/03/25)
https://www.thebulwark.com/p/trump-threatening-naturalized-american-citizens
Source: Common Dreams
by Kevin Martin
“Mark Twain allegedly quipped, ‘God created war so Americans would learn geography.’ Whether or not he actually said that, might it not be a good test, that the world’s most mighty military power be prevented from waging war if a majority of Americans failed to find the alleged enemy on a world map? Frivolity aside, this should not need to be said, but the United States has no legal authority to attack Venezuela (nor Iran, Sudan, Somalia, or any other country), nor engage in covert action to overthrow its government. Should the US do so, it will be opposed by everyone south of the Rio Grande …. Whatever one thinks of the current government, nearly 30 million people live in Venezuela, and they don’t deserve to be demonized or threatened for the policies of their president, as Venezuela poses no threat to the United States.” (12/03/25)
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/no-war-in-venezuela
Source: Underthrow
“Building Hong Kong in Honduras with Niklas Anzinger.” (12/03/25)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S38TFOsGZ48
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Jack Hunter
“Republican President Donald Trump ran on an ‘America First’ platform yet now seems on the verge of a U.S.-led regime change war in Venezuela. Republican Congressman Thomas Massie (Ky.) has questions about this. During the government shutdown last month, Massie asked a practical, very America first question, ‘How is it that we have money for regime change in Venezuela but not money to pay air traffic controllers in our country?’ It was a good point. Trump, who once vowed to ‘expel the warmongers’ in Washington, prefers to attack Massie on a regular basis. The Kentucky lawmaker is not alone. Massie appeared in June on CBS News’ Face the Nation with his friend and frequent ally, Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna (Calif.).” (12/03/25)
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/khanna-massie-war/
Source: SFGate
“The Republican-led House Judiciary Committee has subpoenaed former Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith for a closed-door interview later this month even though he had earlier volunteered to appear for an open hearing about his prosecutions of President Donald Trump. Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, the committee’s Republican chairman, directed Smith in a letter dated Wednesday to appear for a private deposition on Dec. 17 as part of the panel’s investigations into the prosecutor’s work. ‘Due to your service as Special Counsel, the Committee believes that you possess information that is vital to its oversight of this matter,’ Jordan wrote. He also asked Smith to produce records to the committee in addition to his testimony. A lawyer for Smith, Peter Koski, said in a statement that Smith had offered nearly six weeks ago to appear before the committee in an open hearing but would nonetheless appear as requested for the deposition.” (12/03/25)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/house-republicans-subpoena-jack-smith-for-21221263.php
Source: Independent Institute
by Alex Tokarev
“For over two centuries, the Western Hemisphere has been a cul-de-sac where the United States has parked its foreign policy. The principle behind this is known as the Monroe Doctrine, named after James Monroe (1758-1831). (A refresher for those who slept through their high school American history classes: He’s the fifth U.S. president and the only one whose surname sounds like a type of cheese you’d politely refuse.) In recent months, the Monroe Doctrine has made a comeback — like the whale tail on the plumber who came to fix my kitchen sink. And the man at the center of this shift is none other than Donald J. Trump. … Trump isn’t just an American President. He’s also the hemisphere’s new father figure. NATO officials are already calling him ‘daddy,’ a term most people agree should never be used outside of very specific circumstances.” (12/03/25)
https://www.independent.org/article/2025/12/03/monroe-doctrine-redux/
Source: Seattle Times
“If two-day or even same-day delivery is too slow for you, a new feature from Amazon might have you covered. The Seattle-based e-commerce giant on Monday launched Amazon Now, a delivery offering with a promise to deliver groceries and other household items in 30 minutes or less. … Amazon is testing the program in certain areas of Seattle and Philadelphia, the company said. … The move puts Amazon into direct competition with companies like Instacart and Uber, the latter of which delivers food and groceries through its Uber Eats service. It also builds on Amazon’s push to become a widely recognized grocery retailer with a robust delivery service.” (12/03/25)
https://archive.is/24XVk
Source: The New Republic
“Trump Tirades at Media Darken as MAGA Bloodlust on Bombings Boils Over.” (12/03/25)
https://newrepublic.com/article/203887/trump-seethes-darkly-media-maga-bloodlust-bombings-boils
