Source: The Anarchist Experience
“Rich, Lori, and Riley talk about pickles, selling pickles, pickling, Portuguese pickles, and the troll chimes in to misunderstand the theme of The Jones Plantation.” (08/21/25)
https://theanarchistexperience.wordpress.com/2025/08/22/the-anarchist-experience-542/
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“A Bangkok court has acquitted controversial billionaire and former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was accused of insulting the monarchy. The charge related to an interview he gave to a South Korean newspaper ten years ago. He would have faced up to 15 years in jail if convicted. Thailand’s lese majeste law forbids insulting its monarchy. But critics say it is often used to target activists and political opponents.” (08/22/25)
Source: We Are Libertarians
“Why becoming American was ‘the best day of my life’ for Agustina Vergara Cid.” (08/21/25)
https://www.chrisspangle.com/p/why-becoming-american-was-the-best
Source: San Diego Union-Tribune
“A pair of federal lawsuits filed in San Francisco and New York this week accuse Delta Air Lines and United Airlines of misleading passengers by charging premium fees for window seats next to blank walls. A New York law firm brought the cases as proposed class actions on behalf of any passengers who say they wouldn’t have selected or paid more for their reserved places if they had known the seats did not include a window. … Alaska Airlines and American Airlines also sell such seats but disclose the information when customers choose their seats, the lawsuits assert.” (08/21/25)
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2025/08/21/airlines-windowless-seats/
Source: System Update
“Israeli Official Caught in Pedophile Sting Operation Allowed to Flee; Israeli Data: 83% of the Dead in Gaza are Civilians; Ukrainian Man Arrested over Nord Stream Explosions.” (08/21/25)
https://rumble.com/v6xwj4m-system-update-show-503.html?e9s=src_v1_ucp_a
Source: RealClearPolitics
by W Joseph Campbell
“The Trump-Putin meeting in Alaska contrasted sharply with another president’s visit this month – that of Karin Keller-Sutter, president of Switzerland. She hurried to Washington, D.C., to trim or forestall a staggering, 39% tariff ordered by Trump on most Swiss exports to the United States. Unlike Putin, Keller-Sutter received no red-carpet treatment, no effusive welcome. She didn’t even see Trump, conferring instead with Secretary of State Marco Rubio before returning home empty-handed. The 39% tariff, one of the steepest U.S. levies in the world, took effect August 7. Trump’s behavior during the respective presidential visits was asymmetrical – but unsurprising. He has a tendency to cozy up to powerful leaders while, at least on occasion, insulting or ignoring leaders of smaller, weaker, more out-of-the-way countries. The Swiss-tariffs episode is an illustration of that impulse – and it’s hardly the only such example.” (08/21/25)
Source: Brennan Center for Justice
by Michael Waldman
“After his Friday meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, US President Donald Trump bragged that the dictator had backed one of his conspiracy theories. According to Trump, Putin said, ‘You can’t have an honest election with mail-in voting’. (You don’t need to be a former KGB agent to know how to woo our chief executive.) Then on Monday, perhaps emboldened by his encounter with a real-life autocrat, Trump announced a major effort to seize control of American elections. In a Truth Social post, he declared that he would sign ‘an EXECUTIVE ORDER to help bring HONESTY to the 2026 Midterm Elections’ and ‘lead a movement to get rid of MAIL-IN BALLOTS.’ We’ve all grown used to the president’s wild claims about elections. We might be tempted to roll our eyes now, but we shouldn’t. It’s appalling.” (08/21/25)
https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/voting-power-grab-nod-putin
Source: Wall Street Journal
“North Korea has a heavily fortified, covert military base that could house its newest long-range ballistic missiles, which are potentially capable of striking the U.S. mainland, according to a new report. The Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, has identified what it believes is a secret base near the village of Sinpung-dong, about 17 miles from the Chinese border. According to CSIS, construction of the base started around 2004 and it became operational a decade later. Until recently, however, the site remained undisclosed. CSIS used interviews with informed sources, as well as declassified documents, satellite images and open-source information, to identify the base.” (08/21/25)
Source: The Bryan Hyde Show
“It’s been a few years since I last visited with Jeanette Finicum, the widow of LaVoy Finicum who was murdered in 2016. Nine years after LaVoy’s unnecessary death, the FBI has awarded Medals of Bravery to the agents who took part in killing this great man. Jeanette and her daughters Tean and Tierra Belle join me to discuss why the lies that accompany the awarding of these medals are an affront to justice.” (08/21/25)
Source: mint [India]
“Home-purchase contracts in the US were canceled at a record rate for July as jittery buyers got cold feet. About 58,000 agreements fell through last month, equivalent to 15.3% of homes that went under contract, according to Redfin. It was the highest cancellation rate for a July in data going back to 2017, the brokerage reported. It’s not just that the housing market’s expensive, with mortgage rates still elevated and home prices that have soared 50% since early 2020. Buyers are also pulling back more than usual now because of uncertainty over the economy. Plus, with more listings to choose from in many parts of the country, there’s less urgency. Cancellations were especially high last month in construction-heavy areas where inventory has piled up. San Antonio, Texas, where almost 23% of purchases fell through, led the way, followed by Florida’s Fort Lauderdale and Jacksonville, and Atlanta.” (08/21/25)