ISW/Taiwan NSB reporting PLA infiltrations of Taiwan via small craft during PLA exercises. understandingwar.org/research/chi...

Every day, I write the same story: Russian strikes claiming lives. One person here, five there, a child, a grandparent... These tragedies have become so routine that the world is growing numb.

Christian Nationalism is a Cult of Convenience

The American gestapo abducted an 85 year-old widow. Was she one of the worst of the worst? No, her step-son, a retired Alabama state trooper, got ICE to put her in a detention center to deport her because he wanted all of his father's inheritance. Sounds like the son is the worst of the worst.

What comes out of [Trump's] mouth is whatever is in his head in the moment that he wants to believe or wants other people to believe"

"[Donald Trump] doesn't care about the distinction between truth and lies. And so does he know he's lying? It doesn't matter to him. Truth has no meaning to him. All that has any meaning to him in any given moment, is whether or not he's receiving praise, or adulation or some kind of a reward. ...

This is not a conservative party. It's a nihilistic party... It's mind-bending to some people in that, I think who are younger may not understand it, but the conservative party today is the Democratic Party. Because as Democrats, we are trying to preserve, to conserve the things that we have created

Someone should ask him why MAGA keeps attracting such losers.

Vance has now seized the top seat in the Death of Expertise Hall of Fame: He has lectured the pope—the pope, the leader of a billion and a half Catholics—about being too sloppy with theology. The queen of all vices: Pride. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

Someone should ask JD Vance: “You warned the Pope to be more careful when speaking about theology. Do you have any criticism for Hegseth who recited a made up Bible quote from the movie Pulp Fiction at a Pentagon prayer service? And why is Hegseth leading prayer services at DOD anyway?”

It’s been overshadowed by Venezuela and especially Iran, but the deadly boat bombing campaign is still going, even though: -There’s no war -The US wasn’t attacked or under threat -Drug traffickers aren’t terrorists -These may not be traffickers -It’s blatantly illegal -With no clear strategy either

Over the past week, the president posted an image of himself as Jesus, the vice president challenged the pope on Catholic doctrine, and the secretary of defense quoted the speech of a fictional hit man and presented it as scripture.

@radiofreetom.bsky.social on the obligations of the House, Senate, and voters as Trump deteriorates in plain sight: "America cannot keep ignoring the dysfunction of the commander in chief, the sole steward of the codes to a massive nuclear arsenal." 🎁 www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

"[We] should be very worried about a commander-in-chief who is trying to govern the country between social-media binges, who attacks religious leaders in narcissistic frenzy and who imagines himself as a deity." -- Tom Nichols (@radiofreetom.bsky.social) at @theatlantic.com [1/2] GIFT LINK ⤵️

THIS IS HOW YOU DO IT

"We have to impeach and remove [Trump], and it's not separate from all the issues that we need to address on an economic level for people here in this district and elsewhere. Because we can't accomplish any of that until he's gone."

This is horrific. A U.S. citizen describes the facility in Arizona that her husband was brought to while he waited to be put on a deportation flight. Dozens of people were crammed into tiny cells, there was a "chain of people vomiting" from filthy toilets, no medical care, and only one meal per day.

This is why Russia is still fighting, why the war continues and why people are dying: Because Trump and Vance encouraged Putin to believe he could win

Just gutter bigotry now, 24/7.

Someone had fun with this headline.

Conditions like these will reliably cause occasional deaths and the ICE agents culpable should face capital trials.

Despicable fucking government.

Who Died And Made The Pope The Boss Of The Catholic Church, Anyway?

"What happened in Hungary is that Magyar, who's now going to be the prime minister, went out in the country and basically explained how the corruption and criminality affected people in their everyday lives. And that's what's happening here."

Yes. Hearings. And reminding their constituents that his continued untrammeled exercise of power is what's at stake this November. And, truth be told, to have more in the media raise this the way the New York Times did this week. We have to stop pretending you can't talk about it.

We can't keep looking away from his emotional and cognitive issues. The attack on the Pope was the beginning of a full night of melting down. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

2/2. Now there is legislation that could protect Haitians in Ohio and elsewhere. Please consider contacting your elected representatives. The attached tells you how to do so. mailchi.mp/haitianbridg...

Fresh off his trip to Hungary where he begged Hungarians to back Viktor Orban, J.D. Vance has decided world leaders shouldn't meddle in other countries' politics.

In case anyone is still confused

The fact that all this is being declared and implemented without congressional debate or approval continues to be a problem. A blockade is very clearly an act of war under international law, and we are explicitly treating it as such - yet Congress has had zero say, the President has acted alone.

Now 14 months in, Canada’s rejection of the U.S. is the most successful tourism boycott in memory.

“Trump is incompetent, he’s capricious, he’s completely erratic and he’s basically psychotic. He has no conception of morality. He’s kind of bored with Iran, he wants to move on and go see UFC fights”

This is very true! And as the research on the issue shows and as the Hungarian example confirms, and the Polish one before that, the key to large turnout is long-term, grass-roots organizational labor that helps people understand how their single vote is a dignified part of a larger transformation.

Cardinal Cupich: "We're dehumanizing the victims of war by turning the suffering of people & killing of children & our own soldiers into entertainment. To splice together movie cuts w/ actual bombings & targeting of people for purposes of entertainment is sickening. This is not who we are."

Octavia E. Butler, 1998:

Wanted to share my interview of @gtconway.bsky.social from Thursday that now has more than one million views! The most of any interview I've ever posted. We talked George's run for Congress, need to remove Trump and Melania's bizarre press conference youtu.be/P_arl2hHosQ?...

Viktor Orbán created the global blueprint for authoritarian populism and became a MAGA hero. Today, Hungarian voters sent him packing after 16 years in power. There is nothing inevitable about these guys. Organize. Vote. Fight back. It works.

Everyone please welcome CBS News Immigration Analyst Viktor Orban.

Trump Warns Iran To Accept His Ultimatum Or Face Wrath Of Next Ultimatum

Trump’s plan to blockade the Strait of Hormuz would halt the nearly 2 million barrels a day of Iranian oil that’s been passing through the waterway, further squeezing global supply and cutting off a vital lifeline for the country.

15. And if you're not willing to pull that trigger, then it would be better not to boldly announce that you are, only to be forced to back down. It only further weakens an already fragile and frustrating position.

14. I've criticized Team Trump, in this Iran adventure, for not being capable of thinking beyond the next step. But in this case, I'm not sure they've even thought through the very first step of a blockade, which is to forcibly prevent neutral - namely Chinese - ships from going where they want.

12. Is the US Navy really going to open fire on and/or forcibly board Chinese commercial ships if they refuse to comply with our declared blockade of a strait that, legally, must be open to all neutrals? In the presence, perhaps, of a single Chinese naval frigate in the area?

It hardly looks like law enforcement, does it?

Another deported U.S. citizen. www.the-independent.com/news/world/a...

In fact, the question of whether Chinese ships will comply - or be forced to comply - is a very immediate one, that will play out over the coming hours and days.

The issue of Chinese ships being caught up in a U.S. blockade is not a theoretical one. Theirs were the main ships entering and exiting the Strait over the past few days, under Iranian supervision. And they rely on them for a decent % of their oil.

So are we going to fire on Chinese tankers if they enter or leave the Gulf, as they’ve been doing for the past few days? Serious question, folks.

The reason that Trump and Putin hate the EU so much is that it is much harder to isolate and peel-off the individual national leaders to corrupt them for control.