by Robert Reich Not exactly a war, but a trade war — which will impose huge costs on both American consumers and on Canada. As I said, Trump is now completely and utterly out of his mind. The very idea of a trade war with Canada — our neighbor, our ally, our closest friend, a nation that’s peaceful and whose people have a reputation for kindness — is absurd. But … [Read more...] about Trump’s Peevish, Childish, Dangerous Declaration of (Trade) War Against Canada
Many Americans are moving away from congregations, but not necessarily from religion — movies, plays, art and social media fill the gap
Theatergoers arrive for ‘Leopoldstadt,’ a play about several generations of a Jewish family in Vienna, at Wyndham’s Theatre in London in 2020. Isabel Infantes/AFP via Getty Images Laura Yares, Michigan State University and Sharon Avni, Borough of Manhattan Community College, CUNY “Emma,” a young Jewish woman who we met in 2019, didn’t belong … [Read more...] about Many Americans are moving away from congregations, but not necessarily from religion — movies, plays, art and social media fill the gap
Novel takes us through the last, desperate era of Ed Wood’s life
The Valley Obscured By Smog, Bearmanor Media, 2026. Alan Starkwell is a young college graduate, transplanted to Los Angeles in the latter mid-70s, with dreams of working in the movie industry. Alan doesn't have too many prospects. He has a degree in English. He thought he had a job as a script reader lined up, but his friend took the job from him. And he's crashing the same … [Read more...] about Novel takes us through the last, desperate era of Ed Wood’s life
USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN PASSES DESERT ISLAND CASTAWAY
Darline Graham’s inherited Senate seat revives the ‘widow’s mandate’ with a sibling twist
U.S. Sen. Darline Graham’s appointment belongs to a long American tradition of family succession in politics. AP Photo/Meg Kinnard Gibbs Knotts, Coastal Carolina University and Christopher A. Cooper, Western Carolina University South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster’s July 2026 appointment of Darline Graham to fill the remainder of her late … [Read more...] about Darline Graham’s inherited Senate seat revives the ‘widow’s mandate’ with a sibling twist
Shock the Monkey
ICE has electric gloves Seeking new ways to inflict cruel and unusual punishment, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) published a notice of its plans to spend as much as $20 million on a product known as G.L.O.V.E, an abbreviation for Generated Low Output Voltage Emitter. Remember, when it comes to MAGA, the cruelty is the point. It’s as if separating families, … [Read more...] about Shock the Monkey
Is it illegal for the president to spend ‘patriotic’ donations on a White House ballroom or anything else?
Construction of a White House ballroom continues on Aug. 18, 2026, three days before a court-ordered deadline to halt construction unless Congress authorizes it. Win McNamee/Getty Images Ellen P. Aprill, University of California, Los Angeles The fate of President Donald Trump’s estimated US$400 million White House ballroom may hinge on the … [Read more...] about Is it illegal for the president to spend ‘patriotic’ donations on a White House ballroom or anything else?
72-Year-Old Musician Pulled Himself to Safety After Being Pushed Onto Manhattan Subway Tracks
A 72-year-old musician pulled himself to safety after being pushed onto the subway tracks at Manhattan's Rockefeller Center station early Wednesday morning. The incident occurred in the heart of Midtown Manhattan, at one of the city's best-known tourist destinations. Rodney Thomas, a 72-year-old guitar player, was waiting for a northbound F or D train at the 47th-50th … [Read more...] about 72-Year-Old Musician Pulled Himself to Safety After Being Pushed Onto Manhattan Subway Tracks
Trump just lost his last shred of credibility as a war leader
Five-star General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the supreme commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force, knew a few things about war – certainly more than a five-deferment draft evader and a faux macho Fox News drunk seem to know. One of Ike’s axioms was: “Battles, campaigns, and even wars have been won or lost primarily because of logistics.” We can pair that with a truism commonly … [Read more...] about Trump just lost his last shred of credibility as a war leader
How American society shields perpetrators of child sexual abuse
Several pictures provided by the Department of Justice on Jan. 30, 2026, as part of the Jeffrey Epstein files. Martin Bureau/AFP via Getty Images Sarah K Lischer, Wake Forest University Widespread denial accompanied the public exposure of Jeffrey Epstein’s decades-long sexual abuse and trafficking of girls and women. After the U.S. … [Read more...] about How American society shields perpetrators of child sexual abuse
TRUMP’S SAVE AMERICA ACT
Trump says he was debanked. His Treasury Department just debanked transparency.
Shell game: the rule that made hidden owners transparent just died. In early August, Capital One bank asserted in court that it had debanked accounts tied to Donald Trump businesses in 2021 because of account activity that triggered internal money laundering alerts. JPMorgan Chase had also closed Trump business accounts. Less than two weeks later, the U.S. Department of the … [Read more...] about Trump says he was debanked. His Treasury Department just debanked transparency.
Trump’s Tucker Carlson problem
Is Tucker Carlson a threat to Donald Trump and the Republican Party? The answer may surprise both Carlson’s supporters and Trump’s defenders. The real question isn’t whether Tucker Carlson can build a successful third party or become president. He probably can’t. Third parties have a miserable track record in American politics, and Carlson has shown little interest in the … [Read more...] about Trump’s Tucker Carlson problem
COURTS DEFIED AGAIN: KENNEDY CENTER BOARD VOTES TO PUT TRUMP’S NAME BACK ON KENNEDY CENTER
President Donald Trump and his supporters are testing the courts again. The pro-Trump Kennedy Center board has voted to put Trump's name back up on Kennedy Center despite a judge's order to remove his name. The board of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts voted on Thursday to inscribe President Trump’s name on the building beneath the main signage, according … [Read more...] about COURTS DEFIED AGAIN: KENNEDY CENTER BOARD VOTES TO PUT TRUMP’S NAME BACK ON KENNEDY CENTER
Trump Defies Supreme Court On Birthright Citizenship
It had to happen sooner or later. President Trump has ignored a ruling from the Supreme Court. Our constitutional democracy has vanished, and King Donald is doing whatever he wants. Previously, he did defy some lower court orders but never contravened any of the Supreme Court’s rulings. Actually, this action by Trump is the Supreme Court’s fault. Previously, the high court … [Read more...] about Trump Defies Supreme Court On Birthright Citizenship
Can an American Muslim win a pivotal Senate seat?
If words of wisdom could cure the Republicans’ addiction to Islamophobia, these might suffice: “Muslims make an incredibly valuable contribution to our country. Muslims are doctors, lawyers, law professors, members of the military, entrepreneurs, shopkeepers, moms and dads. And they need to be treated with respect.” Those remarks were voiced six days after 9/11 by … [Read more...] about Can an American Muslim win a pivotal Senate seat?
Trump’s slapdash Reflecting Pool renovations stand in stark contrast to years of deliberation and engineering ingenuity that went into its creation
Work on the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool began in 1919. Bettmann/Getty Images Jennifer Tucker, Wesleyan University In the latest twist in one of the strangest ongoing scandals in Washington, D.C., U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro announced that the government would be dropping charges against the four people … [Read more...] about Trump’s slapdash Reflecting Pool renovations stand in stark contrast to years of deliberation and engineering ingenuity that went into its creation
The historic precedent of Anthony Fauci taking the fifth
Citizens of all stripes have been “taking the Fifth” since 1876, when President Ulysses S. Grant cited the constitutional amendment (nobody “shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself”) in order to stonewall congressional foes who wanted to know why his New Jersey vacations were so lengthy. But my favorite Fifth fellow is clearly the comic … [Read more...] about The historic precedent of Anthony Fauci taking the fifth
On this Day, Seventy-Seven Years Ago, Tragedy Struck the ‘Land of Flowers’
It was a beautiful, sunny day in the historic colonial city of Ambato, Ecuador. A beautiful, “flowery” city immortalized by the iconic poem “Ambato Tierra de Flores” (Ambato Land of Flowers) written in 1948 by Gustavo Egüez Vaca. Also, a city that played a critical role in Ecuador’s War of Independence against Spain in the early 19th century. Located high in the central … [Read more...] about On this Day, Seventy-Seven Years Ago, Tragedy Struck the ‘Land of Flowers’
American Needs A Centrist Third Party
American democracy is enduring a chaotic period with the president’s actions unpredictable and the two political parties contending with extremist members. The Democratic Party is energized by its progressive wing and Democratic Socialists, though numerically they are a minority. The Republicans are controlled by Trump and his MAGA acolytes along with other right-wing … [Read more...] about American Needs A Centrist Third Party