News and Views on the Global Stage....

AOCPrez
Currently...

Is AOC Becoming a Moderate?

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, aka AOC and Bartender Sandy, won’t deny a presidential run in 2028, but took to TV to announce she was freezing her eggs, presumably for either donation or personal use. She didn’t specify. “There is very strangely a political risk, or a political tax, that comes with sharing this info,” she said of her freezing-eggs decision. She also elaborated in one of her videos: “This is just not something that men deal with. Men run for office, or frankly they interview for jobs. And people don’t think in the back of their minds, OK, this guy’s running for office. How old is he? Oh, well, is he going to want to start a family?” AOC, 36, made her announcement on the ABC News show “This Week.” Asked if he was going to run for president, she said that she hadn’t “ruled out the possibility.” When pressed about policy proposals being floated by the DSA (Democratic Socialists of America) candidates vying for national office in several states, she noted: “The idea that there’s a diversity of thought in America among everyday voting people is a fundamental fact of our country. I don’t think that we should be worried about

Read More »
TariffShip
My Take

America’s Liberation Day Reckoning

One year after President Trump’s sweeping “Liberation Day” tariffs reshaped American trade policy, the economic landscape remains defined not by the promised renaissance of domestic manufacturing, but by a chaotic cycle of judicial rebuke, fiscal hemorrhage, persistent consumer inflation, and targeted supply chain fragility. While the Supreme Court struck down the core of the tariff program, its economic consequences have proven remarkably stubborn, creating a scenario where the government is losing money on tariffs, consumers are still paying higher prices, and critical industries face new material shortages. The Fiscal Paradox: From Revenue Generator to Budget Drain The most dramatic economic impact of the post-ruling period is the complete reversal in tariff revenue dynamics. When the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in February 2026 that the President lacked authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose sweeping tariffs, the decision triggered the largest tariff refund in American history. The government has now returned approximately $100 billion of the $165 billion collected under the now-illegal IEEPA authority, with over $128 billion in additional refund claims still pending processing. This refund avalanche has transformed tariffs from the federal government’s fastest-growing revenue source into a significant fiscal drain. Treasury Department data reveals

Read More »
Shipwreck
My Take

Belly Up to the Bar for 2,000-Year-Old Roman Red

A Roman vessel shipwrecked off the coast of Sicily more than 2,000 years ago has been found. Onboard treasures include large jars believed to contain wine. Can you imagine, “Here, try our Roman Red, aged more than any wine in the world — some 2,000-plus years”? Hell, I’d try it, even though I quit drinking. The Roman-era shipwreck, probably dating from between the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, was discovered about three miles off the coast of Mazara del Vallo, Italy, in about 150 feet of seawater. Found in the shipwreck were hundreds of amphorae, or jars, often used to transport wine, but they were also used for grains and fuels. The Italian Minister of Culture, Alessandro Giuli, said of the discovery: “I congratulate the Carabinieri, their specialised units and the Sea Superintendency of the Sicilian Region for the expertise and dedication that made this result possible. The sea continues to give back precious fragments of our history and the wreck of Mazara del Vallo tells us about the people, the routes and the trade that made the Mediterranean a crossroads of civilisations. Research will continue to uncover its story and share it with the public.”

Read More »
Divorce
Currently...

Trump-Bibi Divorce Is Final

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu, after kowtowing to Donald Trump as much as he could, has finally severed the knot. Bibi has made it official — he rejects President Trump’s 15-point Gaza peace plan. You could see the tension between the two building — Trump yelling at Bibi to quit countering the Hezbollah assault from Lebanon, Bibi announcing Israeli forces would not withdraw from the Gaza Strip unless Hamas honestly disarms, Netanyahu repeatedly hankering for further Israeli attacks on Iran, just to mention a few. Now the PM’s view on withdrawal hinging on true disarmament has morphed into a complete rejection of the Trump peace initiative: “Israel rejects the 15-point document. The IDF will not carry out any withdrawal until Hamas is disarmed. And when I say the disarmament of Hamas, I mean heavy weapons, less heavy weapons, light weapons, all the weapons. We are talking about genuine disarmament, not a fictitious one.” A couple of weeks ago, an ebullient Trump announced that peace is breaking out all over in the Gaza Peninsula after Hamas told the Board of Peace it would disarm. That statement was immediately clarified by both the Board and Hamas. The latter said it would

Read More »
image (61)
Currently...

Iran Risks Provoking a Gulf War

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) reports that one of its ships was attacked by Iran in the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, the third such event in the past week. The missile assault comes after Iran and Oman had wrapped up talks to open the Strait of Hormuz — depending on concessions by the U.S. President Trump hasn’t responded to the Iranian demands yet, but they clearly represent concessions he has previously ruled unacceptable. Their demands include an end to the U.S. blockade of Iranian shipping, a release of frozen Iranian assets, and an end to sanctions. But that’s just the starting point: The U.S. must also remove its forces from the region, pay war reparations, end all attacks on Iran’s allies, and agree to a permanent denial of U.S. Naval vessels entering the Strait. Iran admits that the deal it struck with Oman over the Strait is still subject to ultimate approval, presumably by the Supreme Leader, but more likely by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). At the start of the Iran-U.S. conflict, IRGC forces were given the green light to take offensive measures against the U.S. and its allies. Thus, even as a pact is finalized to

Read More »
Fauci
My Take

Chances Anthony Fauci Goes to Prison? Zero in D.C.

Senator Rand Paul (R.-KY) had Anthony Fauci figured out from the get-go. Now he’s using every power he has to expose the megalomaniac and even put him behind bars. First, the Senator released Fauci’s memoirs/notes from the time of the pandemic, when Fauci ruled the nation with an autocratic thumb. Then he brought him before a Senate committee for questioning, and the good doctor replied with endless Fifth Amendment silences. Now Rand has gotten Fauci referred to the Department of Justice (DOJ) for contempt of Congress. The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee voted Thursday to hold Dr. Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress after he refused to answer questions at a July 29 hearing on the COVID-19 pandemic, invoking the Fifth Amendment more than 100 times. In his opening statement before refusing to answer questions during the hearing, Fauci said: “The only conclusion I can reach is that the sole reason he [Rand] is calling me before this committee is to get me to say something, anything, that could vindicate his repeated public pledges that I end up, in his words, ‘behind bars’. Any reasonable person who has followed his unhinged obsession with me would readily come to

Read More »
Gemini_Generated_Image_dvrsdgdvrsdgdvrs
My Take

Addiction by Design: Social Media in America

The verdict landed like a thunderclap in March 2026. A California jury found Meta and YouTube liable for intentionally addicting and harming a young user—not through negligence, not through oversight, but by design. The evidence was damning: algorithms engineered to exploit adolescent neurochemistry, notification systems calibrated to trigger dopamine loops, and content recommendation engines that learn faster than any parent can monitor. This wasn’t a product that children misused; it was a product built to use them. For nearly two decades, American kids have been the unwitting subjects of a mass-scale behavioral experiment, and the results are now impossible to ignore. Nearly 97% of teenagers use the internet daily, with 40% reporting they are online “almost constantly.” But this is not a story about screen time—it is a story about predation, profit, and the systematic dismantling of a generation’s mental health, all in the name of quarterly earnings. This is the indictment of an industry that knew exactly what it was doing. The Numbers Don’t Lie 97% of U.S. teens use the internet daily 40% say they’re online “almost constantly” 45% admit they spend too much time on social media 48% say social media has a mostly negative effect on people their age A Mental Health Crisis in the Making The core of the

Read More »
popup

Have a Novel Burning
Inside of You?
SudoWrite to the Rescue!