Source: The Nation
by Yotam Marom
“It sowed the seeds for a new era of social movements—but its politics of powerlessness should act as a cautionary tale.” (08/12/26)
https://www.thenation.com/article/activism/occupy-wall-street-anniversary-social-movements/
Source: CNBC
“A key inflation reading Wednesday showed prices moderating across a range of goods and services, possibly taking the urgency out of an imminent interest rate hike. The consumer price index, part of the Federal Reserve’s inflation dashboard, showed a seasonally adjusted increase of 0.1% during July, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Excluding food and energy, the so-called core CPI rose 0.2%. On an annual basis, the inflation rates were 3.4% and 2.5%, both down 0.1 percentage point from June.” (08/12/26)
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/08/12/cpi-inflation-report-july-2026.html
Source: The Dispatch
“What Happened to Liberal Democracy? | Interview: Daron Acemoglu.” (08/12/26)
https://thedispatch.com/podcast/remnant/what-happened-to-liberal-democracy-interview-daron-acemoglu/
Source: The Daily Economy
by Richard Menger
“California’s unionization campaign reveals the economic and institutional shifts away from physician ownership and professional autonomy.” (08/12/26)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/from-profession-to-trade-why-californias-doctors-are-unionizing/
Source: Christian Science Monitor
by staff
“In a region that’s a flash point for unrest, Turkey has taken a key step toward calming domestic as well as cross-border tensions – and it’s one that could lead to new conceptions of national identity that transcend ethnic or linguistic differences. On Monday, the country’s parliament overwhelmingly voted for a landmark bill aimed at conclusively ending more than 40 years of conflict with its substantial Kurdish ethnic minority. The legislation outlines processes for conditional amnesties and the reintegration of thousands of Kurds, including armed combatants who have lived or operated from strongholds in neighboring Iran, Iraq, and Syria for decades. Turkey’s separatist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) – designated a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States, and the European Union – abandoned the goal of full independence a few decades ago. And in May 2025, it announced it would disband and disarm, thus putting the onus on the Turkish government to move the process along.” (08/11/26)
Source: CBC News [Canadian state media]
“Tens of thousands of Canadians have signed a petition calling for U.S. President Donald Trump’s representative in Ottawa to be kicked out of the country. The online petition, which is set to be presented in the House of Commons in the fall, says Pete Hoekstra should be declared persona non grata and the Canadian government should request his removal as U.S. ambassador to Canada. Nearly 60,000 people had signed the petition as of Wednesday morning, almost double the number of signatures 24 hours earlier. The petition accuses Hoekstra of making statements that undermine the Canada-U.S. diplomatic relationship and of ‘making repeated interventions in Canadian political discourse inconsistent with diplomatic protocol.’ It says the Liberal government should also direct a parliamentary committee to review U.S. diplomatic interference in Canadian affairs.” (08/12/26)
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/petition-ambassador-hoekstra-removed-from-canada-9.7303372
Source: The UnPopulist
by Shikha Dalmia
“If liberal democracy isn’t rebuilt in the land of its birth, it will struggle to survive anywhere else.” (08/13/26)
https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/a-new-american-reconstruction-is
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Man Basharzad
“The mindset that governments must immediately regulate AI may prove more dangerous than AI itself. Markets generally adapt to technological change. When genuine market failures emerge, there is a case for government intervention. But where, exactly, is the market failure in AI today that demands immediate regulation?” (08/12/26)
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“Joe Biden’s cancer is moving into the advanced stages, according to the former president’s son Hunter. … I’ve seen a lot of people on social media expressing sadness and grief at the news of Biden’s situation, and I agree it is very sad that this is happening. Joe Biden shouldn’t be sitting at home dying of cancer, he should be sitting in a cell at The Hague dying of cancer. The world is a mess because men like Joe Biden get to die peacefully in their homes of cancer. They live long lives free from consequences for their monstrous actions. They don’t spend their final days rotting in a cage for war crimes. Nobody makes them pay for what they did.” (08/12/26)
https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2026/08/12/joe-biden-should-be-dying-of-cancer-in-the-hague/
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“Lebanon’s parliament has approved a general amnesty law that is expected to benefit thousands of convicted prisoners, detainees and wanted people. The legislation passed Wednesday in a ‘show-of-hands vote’, reported Lebanon’s official National News Agency. It is the first law of its kind since 1991. … Long demanded by numerous Lebanese political factions, the amnesty law aims to reduce overcrowding in prisons, where many inmates await trial for years. However, it has faced backlash from some family members of Lebanese soldiers and servicemen killed in attacks, who fear the perpetrators could receive undue leniency.” (08/12/26)