Every censorship campaign starts with a justification. Today it's "return on investment." Tomorrow it's sociology, political science, history, or any field that teaches students to critically examine society. newrepublic.com/post/213446/...

Trump Moves to Cut Off Student Loans for Tons of Degrees

Under a new rule, if your degree doesn’t make enough money, you won’t be able to get a student loan.

newrepublic.com

For $100,000 a month, Trump is basically legalizing and monetizing insider trading. By selling Wall Street hedge funds early access to market moving Truth Social posts, they are giving traders a massive head start on how new policy announcements will impact the markets.

Since 2019, the cost of owning a home has exploded: • Emergency repairs ⬆️ 175% • Home maintenance ⬆️ 85% • Insurance ⬆️ 72% • Property taxes ⬆️ 31%

If only Venezuela had been allowed to keep the $13 billion generated by its own oil exports. Instead, after the earthquake, the U.S. has offered just $300 million in "humanitarian aid."

"The Trump administration decided to remove four service members killed this past weekend from the list — three in Jordan and one in northern Iraq — because their deaths occurred after President Trump declared a cease-fire in the war in April." www.nytimes.com/2026/07/23/u...

Number of U.S. Troop Deaths in Iran War Appears Lower on Pentagon Website (Gift Article)

Three military officials and a Pentagon spokesman gave conflicting explanations for why the number of Americans killed in the Iran war had changed.

nytimes.com

One thing stands out about the Iran war: Despite the familiar pro-war messaging that often accompanies military interventions, a majority of Americans opposed it from the outset. The usual "Rally Around The Flag" effect didn't materialize.

Weird coincidence that a newspaper owned by one of the world's richest people keeps publishing arguments against redistributive policies.

The intervention in Venezuela was framed as "Democracy Promotion." In reality, it was about control over a developing country's most valuable resource. Now, Venezuelan oil revenues flow to the U.S. instead of being invested back into Venezuela.

Definitely do not Google: "Florida Senator Rick Scott Medicaid Fraud"

The U.S. has spent months pressuring developing countries like Venezuela to end their Cuban doctor programs, despite knowing many lack enough physicians to replace them. Then an earthquake strikes, exposing an under-resourced healthcare system made even less prepared for the crisis.

Leaked U.S. counterterrorism strategy: • Expands "pre-crime" investigations • Labels left-wing movements as top terror threats • Targets pro-Palestinian activism • Broadens counterterrorism powers against domestic dissent www.kenklippenstein.com/p/insane-pre...

Insane Pre-Crime Strategy Unveiled for Leftist “Extremists"

New national counterterrorism strategy vows to “cripple them before" crimes are committed

kenklippenstein.com

Notice how the media will argue that workers should accept smaller raises to fight inflation, but rarely suggest corporations accept smaller profit margins to lower prices.

The media shapes public opinion by deciding which perspectives are treated as credible. A FAIR study found that coverage of Cuba centered U.S. officials and anti-government voices while giving far less attention to Cubans who emphasized the role of U.S. sanctions. fair.org/home/whose-v...

Whose Voices Are Centered in Coverage of Cuban Crisis? A FAIR Study

The New York Times, Miami Herald and Associated Press each covered the Cuban crisis extensively, but the coverage varied dramatically across outlets.

fair.org

The U.S. is #1 in healthcare spending. But it's also: • 62nd in life expectancy • 54th in infant mortality • #1 in medical debt • #1 in medical bankruptcies

"Military planners have in recent weeks examined a range of options for possible action against the island, including an Army-led air assault involving thousands of U.S. soldiers" www.cbsnews.com/news/cuba-mi...

Senior defense officials looking at Cuba military options

Military planners have examined options for possible action against Cuba, including an Army-led air assault involving the 101st Airborne Division.

cbsnews.com

After failing to block a UN General Assembly debate on the U.S. embargo against Cuba, we're suddenly inundated with headlines portraying Cuba as a "National Security Threat." It's an attempt to bury the fact that the U.S. position on Cuba is overwhelmingly rejected by the international community.

The irony is remarkable. The WSJ invokes the struggle against apartheid to argue for regime change in Cuba, ignoring that the U.S. backed South Africa's apartheid govt while Cuba helped defeat it. Cuba's military intervention in Angola led to Namibia's independence & the collapse of apartheid

Italy refused U.S. pressure to end its Cuban doctor program because it has the economic and political leverage to say no. Many developing countries don't. They're forced to comply, even when it means losing doctors and leaving their own healthcare systems worse off. apnews.com/article/ital...

An Italian region defies US pressure to end a Cuban doctors program

Cuban doctors are working in hospitals in Italy's Calabria region under a long-running program despite U.S. efforts to end it.

apnews.com

Americans are reading less than they used to. They're also spending more of their leisure time on things like sports betting, social media, and other forms of instant entertainment. Books increasingly have to compete with industries built to capture and monetize attention.

The account tracking Donald Trump's stock trades has been suspended by Twitter. Funny how Elon Musk is a "free speech" absolutist until the speech is inconvenient for the politicians he supports.

One day before Trump paused tariffs and sparked a historic 10% market rally, his accounts bought 327 stocks worth up to $12.8 million. The trades were disclosed only yesterday, over a year late. His punishment: a $200 fine. readsludge.com/2026/07/01/t...

Trump Bought Hundreds of Stocks the Day Before He Paused Tariffs and Sparked a Historic Rally

The trades weren't made public until yesterday, more than a year later than required by law.

readsludge.com

Sports betting resembles the early days of the opioid epidemic. Legalize an addictive product. Saturate a vulnerable population with predatory marketing. Normalize it through everyday culture. The industry profits, while society inherits the social costs and consequences.

If you're wondering why the Supreme Court sided with Trump and expanded his power over federal agencies, the answer is Unitary Executive Theory. It argues the president has total control over the executive branch, undermining agencies Congress designed to be insulated from presidential control.

The latest NYT investigation reports: • Trump & Lutnick helped broker a Kazakhstan mining deal. • Weeks later, the Trump sons & Lutnick family acquired financial interests connected to it. • The project later secured up to $1.6B in U.S. govt-backed financing. www.nytimes.com/2026/06/28/w...

Trump Cut a Billion-Dollar Mining Deal. His Sons Stand to Profit.

nytimes.com

Little did they know American society would eventually become 1984

"Two lower courts agreed with lawyers for the two Cuban companies that the suit should be dismissed. Exxon argued that the Helms-Burton Act itself stripped Cuban state-owned companies of their immunity from US litigation and a majority of the Supreme Court agreed" news.fiu.edu/2026/us-supr...

US Supreme Court opens the courthouse door to lawsuits tied to Cuba’s property seizures 6 decades after the fact

One law generally shields foreign governments and companies they own from lawsuits in US courts. Another lets many Cuban cases proceed, according to a new ruling.

news.fiu.edu

The phrase "sanctions" sanitizes what is actually happening. In Cuba, a humanitarian crisis is unfolding. Essential medicines are becoming unavailable, infant health outcomes are worsening, and more families are struggling to secure adequate nutrition.

Regardless of whether your politics align with the Ellison family or not, everyone should be concerned by the principle of one family owning such a large share of the media. In the past year alone, the Ellison family have captured CBS, CNN, and control of the TikTok algorithm.

"Like Haiti having to pay back the “debt” to slaveowners from their lost property values after the revolution, Cuba is expected to pay for treating its assets as belonging to the people as a whole rather than belonging to a small moneyed elite." www.currentaffairs.org/news/the-u.s...

The U.S. Is Terrorizing Cuba to Make Rich Men Richer

There’s barely any pretense that Trump cares about Cuban democracy. This is about privatizing Cuba’s public assets and getting them into the hands of Trump’s cronies.

currentaffairs.org

For decades, the dominant development model imposed on poor countries has been: Open your economy to foreign capital. Sell off public assets. Export raw materials. Compete through cheap labor. Cuba pursued a different path by investing heavily in social development through healthcare & education.