Source: electrek
“In yet another unfortunate setback for Rad Power Bikes, a structure fire has been reported at the company’s Huntington Beach retail store. Rad Power Bikes once held the position as the top-selling electric bike retailer in the US, but has been struggling for some time and recently declared bankruptcy while it works to keep the company afloat. … While Rad Power Bikes has not yet confirmed a fire at its facility, the news is increasingly troubling, given that the Consumer Product Safety Commission recently issued an unprecedented safety warning about fire risks associated with some of Rad Power Bikes’ batteries – a charge the e-bike company strongly denies.” (01/20/26)
https://electrek.co/2026/01/20/fire-reported-at-california-building-housing-rad-power-bikes-retail-store-warehouse/
Source: The New Republic
“Trump’s Rage at Protesters Boils Over as ICE Scandal Takes Worse Turn.” (01/20/26)
https://newrepublic.com/article/205411/trump-rage-protests-boils-ice-scandal-takes-worse-turn
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Jennifer Kavanagh
“The integrity of the 76-year-old alliance appears in the balance here, but the row over Greenland is a symptom, not the cause. Today, NATO faces a deep and existential challenge: a fundamental divide between the United States and the alliance’s European members over the type and extent of the threat posed by Russia. Ultimately, it is this fracture — and not the outcome of the current territorial dispute — that will be the alliance’s undoing.” (01/20/26)
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/nato-trump-greenland/
Source: BBC News [UK State Media]
“The UK has approved China’s plans for a huge new embassy in central London, despite opponents warning it could be used as a base for spying and pose security risks. Security Minister Dan Jarvis said intelligence agencies had been ‘integral’ to the process and he was ‘content any risks are being appropriately managed.’ The decision, which has repeatedly been delayed, had posed a challenge for the government, as it seeks to balance its desire for closer ties with Beijing with warnings of the threat posed by China. It comes as Sir Keir Starmer is expected to visit Beijing early this year, becoming the first UK prime minister to do so since 2018.” (01/20/25)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cm2xwp37dmgo
Source: The Corbett Report
“Mutual Aid.” (01/20/26)
https://corbettreport.com/mutual-aid-solutionswatch/
Source: Liberal Currents
by Toby Buckle
“Liberalism never was hegemonic, neither as an ideology or a set of political structures. There never was uniform belief in core liberal values. Rather, liberalism sometimes served as something of an ideological lingua franca: A conservative in the ‘90s, arguing for creationism in schools for instance, might say children should be ‘taught the debate’ and ‘free to make up their own minds.’ It’s not that they believed in reasoned debate and intellectual freedom, this was simply a useful rhetoric for them at the time. Now, they increasingly prefer to make their case solely in their own language. Liberalism has lost the illusion of controlling the heavens, while actually gaining followers here on Earth. The world is going through a great ideological realignment, but it is better visualized as ‘consolidation’ rather than a ‘sudden shift.’” (01/20/26)
https://www.liberalcurrents.com/liberalism-did-not-fail-conservatism-did/
Source: The American Prospect
by Ryan Cooper
“It has been obvious to informed observers for at least a decade that EVs are where car production as an industry is going to land, sooner or later. They are faster, simpler, cheaper to run and maintain, dramatically more efficient, and most importantly, produce no direct carbon emissions, when stacked up against cars running on fossil fuels. So, the Inflation Reduction Act contained a large subsidy package for the manufacture and sale of EVs. Automakers got a variety of subsidies for building batteries and EVs, while car buyers got a $7,500 tax credit for purchasing them. That way, the Big Three (General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis) could start to catch up with Chinese companies, which stole a march on America the first time Trump threw a wrench into the EV transition.” (01/20/25)
https://prospect.org/2026/01/20/how-trump-doomed-american-auto-industry/
Source: France 24 [French state media]
“French far-right leader Marine Le Pen at an appeals trial on Tuesday rejected her party having had any ‘system’ to embezzle European Parliament funds, as she seeks to save her 2027 run for president. A French court last year barred Le Pen, a three-time presidential candidate from the far-right National Rally (RN), from running for office for five years over a fake jobs scam at the European institution. It found her, along with 24 former European Parliament lawmakers, assistants and accountants as well as the party itself, guilty of operating a ‘system’ from 2004 to 2016 using European Parliament funds to employ RN staff in France. Le Pen, 11 others and the party are appealing.” (01/20/26)
https://www.france24.com/en/france/20260120-french-far-right-leader-le-pen-takes-the-stand-denies-party-had-system-to-embezzle-eu-funds
Source: Gracearchy with Jim Babka
“Does Nick Freitas Think Minneapolis Should Burn?” (01/19/26)
https://rumble.com/v74fx96-ep151-does-nick-freitas-think-minneapolis-should-burn-reaction-video-gracea.html
Source: Cobden Centre
by George Ford Smith
“As a ‘stealth tax,’ inflation requires no legislation to impose, no agency to collect, and diverts responsibility for damages onto politicians’ favorite whipping boys. It gives government the ability to buy almost anything for nothing, while creating endless problems that serve as a pretext for intervention. Inflation is the foundation of arrogant government and a prescription for our own demise.” (01/20/26)
https://www.cobdencentre.org/2026/01/inflation-a-dirty-word-for-accommodation/
