“There have always been extremists at the edge of conservative politics, congeries of Nazi sympathizers, neo-Confederates, theocrats and militia types. Traditionally, the Republican Party’s relationship to these far-right figures has been an uneasy mix of pandering and embarrassment. One of Trump’s innovations was to dispatch with all shame, reveling in the energy born of smashing taboos.” https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/12/opinion/james-fishback-gen-z-republican-florida.html?unlocked_article_code=1.S1A.fHFM.zz4asutQlQzm&smid=url-share

“The fundamental misunderstanding at the heart of American regime-change strategy is the assumption that destroying the existing order creates space for something better. It does not. It creates space for whoever is best organized, best armed and most willing to fill it. In Iraq, that was Iran. The question now is who fills it in Iran itself.” https://theconversation.com/iraq-wars-aftermath-was-a-disaster-for-the-us-the-iran-war-is-headed-in-the-same-direction-277585 #iran #iraq #libya

Bayer supplies white phosphorous, via intermediaries, to the United States military, which uses it to fill white phosphorus munitions at the Pine Bluff Arsenal in Arkansas. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/08/climate/bayer-white-phosphate-glyphosate-roundup-trump-executive-order-munition.html?unlocked_article_code=1.RlA.LbV5.7bSRBghfUziv&smid=url-share #military #agriculture #environment

It started with oil. #iran #war

If Congress had exercised its powers with respect to Venezuela, would it have slowed the rush to war with Iran? https://pdowns.substack.com/p/if-congress-had-exerted-its-rights #iran #war #congress #venezuela

“War is essentially an evil thing. Its consequences are not confined to the belligerent states alone, but affect the whole world. To initiate a war of aggression, therefore, is not only an international crime; it is the supreme international crime differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole.” — International Military Tribunal, Nuremberg, 1946 https://avalon.law.yale.edu/imt/judnazi.asp#common #iran

“All rebels passing through St. Louis, Mo., are cordially invited to visit L.U. No. 84, I.W.W. at its fine new hall, at 1320 Franklin Avenue.” (The union hall was razed years ago and replaced by a parking lot.) #union #labor #stlouis

Socialist excellence: Zohran Mamdani came to power in New York City on an ambitious platform of public service delivery, and not just because this is the right thing to do, but because investment in a city’s people and built environment pays off handsomely. https://pluralistic.net/2026/02/24/mamdani-thought/#public-excellence #politics #mamdani #socialism

A look at a disruptive technology whose idealistic inventors sought to link its introduction to programs that would assist displaced workers. https://rustcottonpicker.blog/ #labor #technology #history #tech

As an environmental lawyer, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. crusaded against glyphosate, even winning a landmark case against chemical giant Monsanto by arguing that its Roundup weedkiller contributed to his client’s cancer. Now as US health secretary, Kennedy is backing Trump’s executive order that’s aimed at boosting glyphosate production. MAHA’s pissed. https://apnews.com/article/maha-glyphosate-rfk-kennedy-trump-pesticides-3d23d4771dba743a976543ca6cfa69d9 #environment #glyphosate