Music: Nils Petter Molvær — ‘Only These Things Count’
As Trump says he’s ‘Acting President of Venezuela,’ the U.S. urges its own citizens to flee
Trump posts that he’s “Acting President of Venezuela” [image or embed] — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) Jan 11, 2026 at 7:25 PM The Guardian reports: The United States has urged its citizens to leave Venezuela immediately amid reports that armed paramilitaries are trying to track down US citizens, one week after the capture of the South American country’s president, Nicolás Maduro. In a security alert sent out on Saturday, the state department said there were reports of armed members of pro-regime…
UK could send troops to Greenland to ease Trump’s security fears
The Telegraph reports: Downing Street is in talks with European allies about deploying a military force to Greenland that would guard the Arctic for Donald Trump. Military chiefs are drawing up plans for a possible Nato mission on the island, which the US president has threatened to seize for security reasons. British officials have met with counterparts from countries including Germany and France in recent days to start the preparations. The plans, still at an early stage, could involve British…
J.D. Vance’s Catholicism seems to be little more than a political prop
At National Catholic Reporter, John Grosso writes: As a Catholic, Vance knows better than to peddle this brand of gaslighting and agitation [following the murder of Renee Good]. Vance knows that, by virtue of her humanity, Good was endowed with inherent dignity, made in the image and likeness of God. Vance knows that only God can take life. Vance knows that protesting, fleeing or even interfering in an ICE investigation (which there is no evidence that Good did) does not…
The U.S.-born unemployment rate actually rose after Trump reduced immigration
Stuart Anderson writes: Government data show the Trump administration’s immigration policies reducing the number of foreign-born workers did not help U.S.-born workers in 2025. The latest data indicate a substantial drop in foreign-born workers did not translate into better labor market outcomes for U.S.-born workers or encourage more workers to enter the labor force. The U.S.-born unemployment rate increased over the past 12 months. Trump officials, including White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, predicted fewer immigrant workers would…
The government workers Trump disgarded
Franklin Foer writes: The purge began late Friday night, four days after Donald Trump returned to the White House. Seventeen inspectors general—internal watchdogs embedded throughout the federal government—received emails notifying them of their termination. Three weeks later came the Valentine’s Day Massacre: the ousting of tens of thousands of federal employees with little discernible pattern, across agencies and across the country. By April, entire departments—the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau—had been gutted. Workers the administration…
How volatile is the situation in Iran?
Widespread unrest, killings and arrests in Iran, during protests sparked by a collapse in the local currency. The leadership says it will listen to demonstrators — but rioters face the death penalty. As the US warns against a crackdown, how volatile is the situation? Mehran Kamrava — Head of Iranian Studies at the Arab Center for Policy Studies and Research Roxane Farmanfarmaian — Professor of Modern Middle East Politics at the University of Cambridge Trita Parsi — Executive Vice…
An academic researcher kidnapped by idiots
Elizabeth Tsurkov writes: Four men searched my mouth for implanted tracking devices. I had told them I didn’t have any—that, as far as I knew, such things existed only in movies. They asked if I had fillings, and I confessed that I did. They looked again. “No, you don’t,” one of them corrected me, having failed to find any glint of silver. My fillings are white. The men, wearing dark civilian clothes and balaclavas, seemed convinced that these unfamiliar fillings…
Music: Nils Petter Molvær — ‘Soft Moon Shine’
Big Oil knows that Trump’s Venezuela plans are delusional
Rogé Karma writes: So, about all that Venezuelan oil. Although President Trump has declared that America’s oil companies will soon “go in” to Venezuela and “spend billions of dollars” to rebuild that country’s petroleum industry, the administration is making two huge assumptions. First, that unleashing Venezuelan oil would yield lower energy prices for American consumers and giant profits for American companies. Second, that unlike previous administrations, which got bogged down for decades in failed nation building in Iraq and Afghanistan,…
From ‘America First’ to ‘Manifest Destiny’: MAGA pivots toward foreign expansion
Axios reports: MAGA is pressing the Trump administration to write a new chapter in America’s expansionist history — one that adds territory and influence as part of a new Western empire. Why it matters: On its face, MAGA’s imperial turn is a head-spinning reversal for a movement built around hostility to “endless wars” in the Middle East. But reframed as hemispheric dominance, the right’s expansionist impulse fits a civilizational worldview: America as the enforcer of the West, bending weaker nations to its will. What they’re saying: In…
Steve Bannon quietly making moves toward 2028 run
Axios reports: Former Trump White House adviser Steve Bannon is laying the groundwork for a 2028 run for president, two people familiar with his thinking tell Axios. Why it matters: The MAGA godfather isn’t serious about becoming president — that’s not the point. Instead, he’s told allies he wants to shape the debate and pressure Republican candidates to embrace an “America First” agenda — including a non-interventionist foreign policy, economic populism and opposition to Big Tech. Former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), who has appeared…
Cotton Clifton: Anyone who supports ICE is a fascist sympathizer
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Cotton Clifton (@cotton_clifton) Originally from Lousiana, Cotton Clifton landed in Jackson, Tennesee where he became a mainstay on the local scene with his band The Pickers as well as lead guitarist and chief accomplice of alt-country provocateur The Kernal.
Eoin Higgins: How tech billionaires on the right bought the loudest voices on the left
In this episode of Dystopia Now, we talked to journalist Eoin Higgins about his book “Owned: How Tech Billionaires on the Right Bought the Loudest Voices on the Left” which examines how Peter Thiel, Marc Andreessen, and Elon Musk have used their wealth to shape media narratives, especially through journalists Glenn Greenwald and Matt Taibbi.
Why some people are wired to help strangers, and what their brains reveal
The Washington Post reports: Abigail Marsh, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Georgetown University, studies extraordinary altruism — people who jump in to rescue strangers in emergencies or donate a kidney to someone they don’t know. Marsh spoke with Cristina Quinn, host of The Washington Post’s podcast “Try This,” about what her work has uncovered, and what brain science reveals about people who habitually engage in selfless acts. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity. You often…
Chimp sounds trigger a strange brain signal in humans
SciTechDaily reports: The human brain is not limited to recognizing speech from other people. Researchers at the University of Geneva (UNIGE) have found that specific parts of the auditory cortex react strongly to the vocalizations of chimpanzees. These primates are our closest relatives both in evolutionary terms and in the acoustic qualities of their calls. The study, published in the journal eLife, points to the presence of specialized subregions in the human brain that are particularly responsive to the sounds…