Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 01/13/26
Source: Antiwar.com
“US Airstrikes Against Iran ‘On the Table,’ IDF Destroys 2,500 Gaza Buildings Since ‘Truce,’ and More.” (01/13/26)
US trashed Somalia, can we really scold its people for coming here?
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Ahmed Ibrahim
“The relatively small Somali community in the U.S., estimated at 260,000, has lately been receiving national attention thanks to a massive fraud scandal in Minnesota and the resulting vitriol directed at them by President Trump. Trump’s targeting of Somalis long preceded the current allegations of fraud, going back to his first presidential campaign in 2016. A central theme of Trump’s anti-Somali rancor is that they come from a war-torn country without an effective centralized state, which in Trump’s reasoning speaks to their quality as a people, and therefore, their ability to contribute to American society. It is worth reminding ourselves, however, that Somalia’s state collapse and political instability is as much a result of imperial interventions, including from the U.S., as anything else.” (01/13/26)
Immigration Lightning and Thunder in Minneapolis
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger
“People across America are lamenting the killing of a nice woman in Minneapolis named Renee Nicole Good at the hands of an ICE agent named Jonathan E Ross. Ross was standing on the side of the car Good was driving when he fired three shots at her and killed her. After the killing, someone exclaimed, ‘Fucking bitch.’ Predictably, federal officials have labeled Good a “terrorist” and have immediately rallied to the defense of the ICE killer. Make no mistake about it: No matter the facts of the case, there will be no criminal prosecution of Ross. Under the immigration police state under which we live, ICE agents, Border Patrol agents, military personnel, and other immigration-enforcement goons wield omnipotent authority to kill anyone they want. That’s the type of country in which we all live. Everyone just needs to get used to it.” (01/13/26)
https://www.fff.org/2026/01/13/immigration-lightning-and-thunder/
NE: McKeon resigns from legislature amid accusations of inappropriate behavior
Source: SFGate
“State Sen. Dan McKeon tearfully announced his resignation from the Nebraska Legislature on Tuesday ahead of scheduled debate to expel him from the body after accusations that he made a sexually charged comment to a legislative staffer and touched her inappropriately during a session-end party last year. McKeon, a Republican from rural south-central Nebraska who had served only a year before his resignation, announced his resignation and apologized on the legislative floor just minutes before debate that would certainly have included harsh condemnation of McKeon. ‘My words and actions were careless, regardless of the intent,’ McKeon said. ‘I accept my responsibility for the impact of my words and my actions. This past year has humbled me. It requires reflection, listening and learning. Accountability is not only acknowledging my mistake but committing to grow from it. I take that responsibility seriously.'” (01/13/25)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/tearful-nebraska-state-sen-mckeon-resigns-amid-21292637.php
Starlinking Iranian Protest
Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob
“In June 2025, Elon Musk helped protesters in Iran by providing free access to his Starlink satellite service. The service restored a means of communicating with each other and the rest of the world that had been blocked when the Iranian government shut down the country’s Internet. The mullahs tend to do that when the pressure on their regime reaches a certain pitch. As has certainly happened again over the last few weeks. Some 500 protesters have been killed so far, according to the group Human Rights Activists in Iran, as the unrest spreads. Again, the Iranian government has shut down the country’s Internet. Is Musk stepping in?” (01/13/26)
https://thisiscommonsense.org/2026/01/13/starlinking-iranian-protest/
US: Judge rules firm can resume wind project halted by Trump
Source: CNBC
“Shares of Danish renewables giant Orsted rose nearly 5% on Tuesday morning, shortly after a U.S. judge cleared the company to resume work on its nearly finished Revolution Wind project. … The White House halted five major offshore wind developments at the end of last year, including Orsted’s project off the coast of Rhode Island. Officials cited national security concerns identified by the Pentagon as the reason for the suspension. Orsted filed a legal challenge to the Trump administration’s decision earlier this month, saying that the lease suspension would cause ‘substantial harm’ to the Revolution Wind project. In a hearing on Monday, U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth said the Court should be ‘very skeptical of the government’s true motives’ for putting a stop to the project, according to Reuters news agency.” (01/13/26)
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/01/13/orsted-trump-wind-power-revolution-wind.html
System Update, episode 564
Source: System Update
“The U.S. Does Not Want ‘Liberation’ for Iran; Plus: Jasmine Crockett Rejuvenates Identity Politics Apology Rituals from Bowen Yang.” (01/12/26)
Trump 2.0, Year 1: A Libertarian Nightmare
Source: Reason
by Brian Doherty
“A decade into his capture of our political attention spans, there is no longer anything new that can be said about Donald Trump in a big-picture way about his nature as a person or his larger meaning as a political phenomenon. His audacity, so bold at first, and so lubricated in his second go-round, can no longer shock or surprise; his crudeness, so initially colorful, just fades into the dark background of his actions; his bottomless sea of toddlerish willfulness and grievance, so curious and compelling in 2015–16, becomes as notable as water to a fish. We all swim in Trump now, surrounded by his turbulent, turbid murk, descending to fathomless depths, his surface marking the end of what we can know. Near the end of the first full year of his second administration, Donald Trump has demonstrated his core authoritarianism so completely and consistently that his personal character and comportment peculiarities lose significance.” (01/12/26)
https://reason.com/2026/01/12/trump-2-0-year-1-a-libertarian-nightmare/
Argentina: Regime repays $2.5 billion bailout to US Treasury
Source: United Press International
“Argentina has repaid $2.5 billion to the U.S. Treasury, returning funds it received in October under a $20 billion currency swap agreement, authorities from both countries said. Argentina’s central bank said in a statement the repayment was completed Friday, using resources from multilateral financial institutions, without naming them. Some analysts said part of the funds may have come from the Bank for International Settlements, based in Basel, Switzerland, though there was no official confirmation. Argentina only used $2.5 billion from the swap because the credit line functioned as an emergency backstop, not as a loan that had to be fully drawn.” (01/13/26)
“Say Her Name” becomes radical rallying cry for Democrats’ mob rule
Source: Fox News Forum
by Jonathan Turley
“‘Say her name!’ From Portland to Philadelphia, the mantra is being used by politicians to fuel anger over the shooting of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis. While many of us have noted that the shooting appears to fall within Supreme Court guidelines for the justified use of lethal force, there is an effort to make Good the personification of a so-called ‘resistance movement.’ Across the country, Democrats are holding ‘I am Spartacus’ moments, resembling a low-budget casting call for B-grade actors — chest-pounding calls for everything from defunding ICE to the arrest of law enforcement officers.” [editor’s note: Okay, I will … Ashley Babbitt – SAT] [additional editor’s note: As video in both cases establishes, Babbitt made the poor choice of engaging in violent criminality, while Good became a murder victim while fleeing violent criminals – TLK] (01/13/25)