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The day's news roundup + tonight's musical feature: Syl Johnson

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Hey! Good Evening!

This evening's music features soul singer and guitarist Syl Johnson. Enjoy!

^{Syl Johnson - Take Me To The River}

It’s crazy how the western world went “it’s bad that our governments are backing a genocide in Palestine” and a few loud Zionist Jews said “this discussion should obviously center us and our feelings at all times and in all ways” and the west went “ah yes true, good point.”

-- Caitlin Johnstone

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News and Opinion

The Powerful Re-Write The Past AND The Present

It is said that history is written by the victors, but what’s interesting is that this is also true of the present story. Those who are winning the capitalism game get to set the narrative about what is currently happening in our world.

If you succeed in dominating the humans you share a planet with using our current socioeconomic systems of labor exploitation and resource extraction, then you get to buy up politicians, media outlets, online platforms and influence operations which allow you to determine the mainstream narratives about what’s going on in our world, in the same way the victorious armies of the past often had the power to shape the historical record in their favor.

The present is therefore written by the victors.

Those who’ve landed at the top of the heap have the power to circulate narratives which normalize the abusive system they benefit from, and to scare the public away from seeking to implement other systems of power distribution and resource allocation.

They have the power to shape public perception of world events, to reverse victim and perpetrator in their narratives about international conflicts, and to frame the western empire as a passive witness to the terrible things that are happening around the world rather than the primary driver of those horrors.

They have the power to determine which protest movements, mass atrocities and scandals receive widespread attention in our society, and which get conveniently overlooked.

They have the power to determine which political parties are taken seriously, and which parties are considered unrealistic vanity projects which steal votes from the viable candidates.

They have the power to make or break careers in media or politics, to choose which figures are elevated to celebrity status or marginalized to the fringes, and to fabricate antisemitism scandals out of thin air.

Power is the ability to control what happens. Absolute power is the ability to control what people THINK about what happens. Those who are winning the capitalism game are able to exert absolute power over our society.

The real source of power in our world is not money, nor resources, nor armies, nor weapons. The real source of power in our world is narrative, and the ability to control it.

Narrative is the only thing that determines what governments look like, how power works, how money operates, what laws there are, and why nations operate the way they do. They’re all completely made-up guidelines made of words which we have all collectively agreed to pretend are true. The only reason anything works the way it works is because enough of us believe the shared narratives saying it is so. It is our collective belief which gives those narratives their power.

That’s why our rulers pour so much energy into controlling the narrative. That’s what you’re seeing with all the news media consolidation, the centralization of internet activity into a handful of trillionaire apps, the aggressive artificial intelligence push, and the efforts to stomp out dissident speech throughout the western world. It’s because the powerful understand something most of us do not: that their power comes entirely from narrative.

They know that as soon as enough of us stop believing their narratives, we are free. We can decide to re-write the made-up rules of society whenever we choose to, and change everything about states, authority, money and labor which have allowed the plutocrats to live like kings at the expense of everyone else. We can stop playing the capitalism game they’ve been winning at any time, because the rules are completely made up, and we can just make up a different game.

As soon as enough people stop believing the stories of the dominant storytellers, we can use the power of our numbers to force the creation of a healthy world.

Col. Larry Wilkerson: The Best Outcome Is Disaster. The Worst? Everyone Dies.

Jeffries Refuses to Say If He’ll Support Holding Up Funding Bill to Stop Iran War

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries declined to say on Monday whether he’d support holding up a spending bill next month in an effort to force President Donald Trump to end his war in Iran before Democrats retake Congress in January.

“We’re going to end the war in Iran one way or the other,” Jeffries (D-NY) said during news conference Monday, but added that the appropriations process was “in the hands of” Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) and Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), the top Democrats on their chambers’ respective appropriations committees.

Since Republicans’ resounding defeat in last Tuesday’s midterms, Trump has fluctuated wildly between declarations that the Iran War may soon end and bellicose threats to “destroy the rest” of the country. Some Democrats have taken this as a sign that urgent action is needed even before their new majorities take office in January.

Hakeem Jeffries is asked if he will follow the lead of Sen Chris Van Hollen and others who’ve demanded the upcoming spending bill end the Iran war or else the government shuts down.

He says: "We're going to end the war in Iran one way or the other, but with respect to the Appropriations Process, right now, that's in the hands of Rosa DeLauro on the House side, and Patty Murray on the Senate side"

Jeffries feeling absolutely no pressure to end this war, clearly very confident he’ll become Speaker regardless.

— Ryan Grim (@ryangrim) November 10, 2026

Their most immediate point of leverage is the next government funding bill, which needs to be enacted by December 11 in order to avert a government shutdown.

With Trump ignoring the war powers resolution passed by Congress earlier this year, some Democrats have said they will withhold their votes unless the next bill contains clear language prohibiting federal funds from being used to continue waging the unauthorized war.

A Reuters/Ipsos post-election survey published Monday showed that 71% of all adults supported legislation to end the war, including 51% of Republicans.

Most Americans want new Democratic Congress to end Trump's Iran war, Reuters/Ipsos poll finds https://t.co/zyU8f4xRtJ https://t.co/4vdehWIWAt

— Kashish Parpiani (@kashishparpiani) November 10, 2026

Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), who has suggested launching a leadership challenge against Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, said Tuesday morning that Democrats must use their leverage to end the war as soon as possible.

“The American people have spoken loudly and clearly: We need to end the war in Iran now,” Van Hollen said in a video posted to social media. “We’re now 255 days into that war, a war that Donald Trump said would be over in a matter of weeks.”

“What’s the fastest way to end this war? Well, to stop funding it, to stop giving it the fuel it needs to keep going,” he continued, pointing to the December 11 deadline for a new spending bill.

“If President Trump wants to tell the country that he’ll shut down the entire government, all federal agencies, in order to keep his illegal war going, that’s his decision,” Van Hollen said. “But the American people have rendered their decision. Let’s end this war and end it now: not a penny more.”

The American people have spoken loud & clear: They want us to end Trump’s illegal & senseless war.

And in 1 month, we’ll have an opportunity to do that.

I will not support a government funding bill unless it defunds this war. https://t.co/FEcBvsPfG9

— Senator Chris Van Hollen (@ChrisVanHollen) November 10, 2026

Schumer, whom several incoming members of the Senate Democratic caucus have pledged to vote against as majority leader, has not publicly stated a position on whether he’d support using the December 11 deadline to force concessions from Trump. Last week, he told Politico he was working with Murray to “get something done” on government funding before December 11, but did not say whether he would demand a cutoff of war funding.

In a joint statement Monday, following a Democratic leadership meeting, Schumer and Jeffries pledged to “stop the reckless war of choice in Iran,” but did not indicate what action they planned to take. They added that “a new day is coming on January 3.”

Jeffries said last week that his goal was “to reach a spending agreement that meets the needs of the American people and prioritizes their economic well-being, health, and safety.”

Drop Site News co-founder Ryan Grim suggested that Van Hollen’s demand for Democrats to hold up the December spending bill may put more pressure on Schumer to endorse a similar strategy. Jeffries, on the other hand, has not had his leadership role challenged, and several progressive members of Congress have said they’ll back him as speaker despite their policy disagreements.

Grim said Jeffries’ response showed he was “feeling absolutely no pressure to end this war, clearly very confident he’ll become speaker regardless.”

Since Trump launched the war in February, critics have argued that Jeffries’ response was lackluster. As independent journalist Adam Johnson recounted, Jeffries focused largely on procedural objections to the war while reinforcing many of the Trump administration’s justifications for it, including saying that Iran needed to be “aggressively confronted.”

While Reps. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) were pushing for a war powers resolution as Trump built an “armada” in the Middle East weeks before the start of “Operation Epic Fury,” Jeffries did not force a vote on it to occur until several days after the bombing began.

Johnson argued that Jeffries has been “at best sleepy, useless, and indifferent” in response to the war.

"That finishes us"

-Henry Kissinger in 1973, after Congress cut funds for Vietnam war

The ONLY way to truly rein in war criminals like Hegseth and Kissinger is for Congress to be willing to force the White House to risk a government shutdown if it wants to continue the war. https://t.co/jMgaiCd0Av

— Just Foreign Policy (@justfp) November 9, 2026

The anti-war group Just Foreign Policy, one of the groups that pressured Democrats to ultimately invoke the War Powers Resolution against Trump, said that cutting off funding was one of the only guaranteed ways to bring the war to an end.

The group noted that Congress’ July 1973 decision to cut off funding played a decisive role in forcing President Richard Nixon to end direct combat operations elsewhere in Southeast Asia amid the US withdrawal from Vietnam.

It noted that the US bombing of Cambodia ceased the day that the funding prohibition took effect. After the House voted to restrict funding, then-Secretary of State Henry Kissinger declared, “That finishes us.”

“The ONLY way to truly rein in war criminals like [Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth] and Kissinger is for Congress to be willing to force the White House to risk a government shutdown if it wants to continue the war,” Just Foreign Policy said. “Time to shut the funding down like Congress did for Vietnam. Force Republicans to fund it themselves if they refuse.”

The Dems Are Already Weaseling Out of Ending the War

Poll: Most Americans, Including Republicans, Want Congress To Pass Legislation To End Iran War

A new poll from Reuters/Ipsos has found that a majority of US adults, including the majority of Republicans, want Congress to pass legislation to end the Iran war, a conflict that’s been extremely unpopular among the American people.

The poll asked if respondents would support or oppose the incoming Democrat-led Congress passing legislation to end the Iran war, and 71%, including 51% of Republicans, said they would support the effort.

The poll was conducted in the days following the midterm elections, which saw a major Republican defeat, and the war and the increase in the cost of living as a result of it were identified as the major factors in the Democrats’ victory.

Trita Parsi : How Iran Beat Trump

Fresh concerns raised over Gaza doctor held by Israel for 23 months without charge

An independent professor who reviewed the medical records of a prominent Gaza doctor held in an Israeli prison without charge for nearly 23 months has raised serious concerns about his health. Hussam Abu Safiya was detained at work on 27 December 2024 and later held in solitary confinement at Rakefet, a notorious underground prison.

During a visit by a lawyer from Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI) in the summer, the doctor told of harsh conditions, untreated medical problems and severe food shortages. Witnesses said he had become almost unrecognisable. Nearly 700 days after his arrest, Israeli authorities have yet to bring any formal charges against Abu Safiya, who is the director of Kamal Adwan hospital in northern Gaza.

He was classified as an “unlawful combatant” along with more than 375 medical workers – a designation Israel has used to justify prolonged detention without trial. Last month, Israel’s supreme court rejected a petition to release the doctor. Over the weekend, a district court rejected a separate petition to allow Abu Safiya an independent medical examination, despite troubling findings in his medical records that were not adequately investigated, according to Prof Amit Tirosh, an independent Israeli specialist who reviewed a file obtained by PHRI.

In an interview with the Guardian, Tirosh said Abu Safiya’s weight had fallen from 90kg (14st 2lb) in January 2025 to 76kg this May. “Continuous food deprivation and weight loss, repeated beatings and injuries, with inadequate medical care, can definitely cost Dr Abu Safiya his life,” Tirosh said. “According to PHRI records, more than 100 prisoners died in Israeli facilities between 2023 and 2025 … a threat to his life unfortunately cannot be ruled out.”

Tirosh identified insufficient investigation of chest pain, delays in treating scabies and a drop in haemoglobin levels that warranted further examination. “Haemoglobin dropped between February and July 2026, long after the weight loss, so detention or starvation alone cannot explain it; it coincided with the reported beatings in Rakefet. Such blood loss can be life-threatening and requires urgent ER evaluation. Per the records, these urgent problems were not addressed and could endanger his life.”

U.S. Attempts a 'Fade Away' in Iran /Chas Freeman

Israeli opposition hurries to seize control as new Knesset is sworn in

Opposition lawmakers have wasted no time after Israel’s new Knesset was sworn in, deploying their majority to seize control of the legislature from Benjamin Netanyhau and his allies. Although they are still too divided to form a government, the opposition requested a vote for a new speaker, who sets the Knesset’s agenda. Once Netanyahu loyalist Amir Ohana has been replaced, the six opposition parties will be able to work on key legislation even if they fail to broker a coalition.

Priorities include setting up a state commission of inquiry into the 7 October 2023 attacks and introducing term limits for Israel’s prime ministers, which could block Netanyahu from taking power again. He has ruled Israel for 19 of the last 30 years. Gadi Eisenkot, a former Israeli military chief, now has the presidential mandate to try to form a government. If he fails to broker a deal within six weeks, a second candidate – probably Netanyahu – will get a second chance. Further failure is likely to lead to another election.

Netanyahu responded to the swearing in of the new Knesset on Tuesday with a racist attack on two Palestinian-led opposition parties, whose voters were essential to unseating his coalition, calling their lawmakers “terror supporters”. Eisenkot denounced his speech as a “delusional, divisive, hate-filled and shameful” exploitation of a state occasion, that showed the prime minister was unfit for office. Yair Golan, leader of the centre-left Democrats, and Yoav Segalovich, a Jewish-Israeli former police chief who ran on the slate of Islamist Ra’am party, both walked out of Netanyahu’s speech in protest.

Eisenkot’s Yashar party submitted a series of bills to the Knesset moments after the swearing in, with backing from other opposition parties. In addition to term limits and the 7 October inquiry, legislation includes several bills designed to revoke the “judicial overhaul” pursued by Netanyahu, which weakened the power of Israel’s judiciary and the attorney general. Ohana has tabled the vote on a new speaker to replace him for next Tuesday, the latest date possible. The opposition have also nominated candidates to take over key defence and finance committees.

Laith Marouf: Ansarallah Launches Major Offensive as War Spills Deeper Into Saudi Arabia

Oil prices fall to lowest since August as Trump says Iran war is ‘effectively over’

Oil prices have fallen to the lowest level since late August while stock markets climbed higher, as markets reacted with relief to Donald Trump saying that the war on Iran is “effectively over”.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, fell nearly 3% to $89.66, the lowest since 31 August, on Tuesday morning, after the US president downplayed the need for military action against Iran “at this point”. The fall came after a near 6% drop on Monday on signs that the conflict might be nearing an end.

During a White House press conference, Trump said Israel and Gulf allies in the region were well protected from Iran and an escalation was not needed.

John Mearsheimer: Europe Sacrifices Ukraine — and Itself

Merz accused of ‘blackmail’ by Slovak PM after demand for Ukraine aid in EU budget

Friedrich Merz has signalled he will block the EU’s seven-year budget unless there is a deal on financial aid for Ukraine, triggering accusations of “typical blackmail” from some other European leaders and setting the stage for stormy talks later this month. The German chancellor’s intervention has angered leaders in central Europe who are net beneficiaries of EU funds but do not want to take part in an upcoming funding round to support Ukraine’s war effort.

“What the chancellor is doing is typical blackmail, and I will not give in to it,” Slovakia’s Russia-friendly prime minister, Robert Fico, told reporters in Bratislava. He was speaking alongside his Czech counterpart, Andrej Babiš, whose populist government also rejects taking part in a future loan for Ukraine. “I do not know why he is saying it,” Babiš said, referring to Merz’s position.

Merz wants EU leaders to discuss Ukraine’s financing needs at a summit in Dublin on Friday. “We must continue to support Ukraine in its fight to defend itself. This is in our shared vital interest,” he wrote in a letter, seen by the Guardian, to the European Council president, António Costa, who will chair the meeting. “And yet, bilateral assistance to Ukraine is distributed unevenly and carried mostly by only a few member states.”

The EU last year agreed to lend Ukraine €90bn, which was intended to cover two-thirds of its military and civilian costs for 2026 and 2027. Merz last year led an effort to use Russia’s €210bn sovereign wealth frozen in the EU, but the plan was scuppered by opposition led by Belgium, which hosts most of the funds at Brussels. The €90bn loan was the fallback plan. Hungary, Slovakia and Czechia, which opted out of that loan, have indicated they will stay out of the next round. Those three member states have now been joined by Bulgaria, following the election of Moscow-friendly prime minister Rumen Radev last April.

The issue of Ukraine’s financing is now ricocheting into tortuous negotiations on the EU budget for 2028-34. Germany, the largest net contributor, wants steep cuts in the proposed budget, while opposing generous EU funding for member states that refuse to chip in to Ukraine’s financial needs.

Inside France's Uprising

Federal judge allows Trump’s $10bn defamation lawsuit against BBC to proceed

Federal judge Jeffrey T Kuntz ruled on Tuesday that Donald Trump’s lawsuit against the BBC can proceed, denying in part the British broadcaster’s motion to dismiss the case. The president’s $10bn defamation lawsuit stems from the BBC’s splicing together of disparate comments he made before the 6 January US Capitol insurrection, as rendered in a Panorama documentary called Trump: A Second Chance.

“Accepting the allegations in the complaint as true, the Court finds Trump plausibly pled damages where Trump alleges a defamatory documentary released toward the election caused reputational harm,” the Trump-appointed Florida district court judge wrote. “It would be difficult for the Court to accept a different framing without completely negating the significance and fragility of political elections.”

The judge noted the significance of the documentary’s editing decision, which spliced together comments made by Trump that were nearly 55 minutes apart, something the BBC has apologized for. “On its face, the editing may independently establish the plausibility of actual malice,” he wrote. “BBC tries to frame this editing as ordinary editing done to condense a seventy-minute-long speech into twelve seconds. But the Court is not persuaded.”

The judge continued: “Editing is often required. However, given the time disparity between the two statements, the distance itself tends toward a plausible inference that BBC knew or should have known that the segment they were creating would not and could not have been a truthful statement. This was not trimming around the edges but creating something different than what was stated in the speech.”

The BBC released a statement: “We are surprised by this decision but respect the Court’s authority and note the case will now proceed to the next stage. We remain confident in our position and will continue to respond through the proper legal process.” Trump heralded the ruling on Truth Social, calling it a “huge victory”. “We will continue fighting against, and defeating, all of those who try to deceive the American People!” Trump said.

Republicans elect Jim Jordan as House minority leader after midterm defeats

Republicans have elected veteran congressman Jim Jordan as their new leader in the House of Representatives, putting a strident defender of Donald Trump at the helm of their conference as they navigate the fallout from sweeping losses in last week’s midterm elections.

Jordan will serve as minority leader under the new Congress that begins next year, where Democrats will have their largest margins in both the House and Senate in years. He will be responsible for shaping the party’s strategy against the waves of investigations Democrats have promised to open into Trump’s second administration, as well as their vows of an ambitious legislative agenda, regardless of whether it has the president’s support.

The Ohio lawmaker is a longtime leader of the right wing in the US House, and gained national renown for standing up for Trump against earlier efforts by Democrats to hold him to account. In 2023, Jordan was briefly a candidate for speaker after dissident Republicans removed Kevin McCarthy as the chamber’s leader, but his bid collapsed after it became clear he did not have enough support.

House Republicans elected Jordan over Steve Scalise, who serves as majority leader in the current Congress. Following comprehensive defeats last week in the midterm elections, the current House speaker, Mike Johnson, announced he would not remain in leadership, and has thus far not committed to serving out the rest of his term.

House Republicans block effort to impeach Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth

House Republicans on Tuesday blocked an effort to impeach Pete Hegseth, rejecting allegations that the defense secretary had repeatedly violated the constitution through his handling of the Iran war and other conflicts globally.

The vote came a week after Republicans lost control of the Senate and House of Representatives in their worst midterm election in more than a half century, and underscored how lawmakers remain wary of crossing Donald Trump, who has signaled his continued support for Hegseth.

Thomas Massie, a Republican congressman who lost his primary after breaking with the president, had proposed impeaching Hegseth in September, alleging an array of illegal acts, including killing civilians in Iran, launching unauthorized operations in Venezuela and Yemen, and retaliating against a Democratic senator.

Top Democrats announced their support for the resolution, but Republicans moved to kill it by referring it to the judiciary committee. Their motion succeeded on Tuesday, by a 211-204 vote, largely along party lines. Massie was the sole Republican to oppose the motion, along with all Democrats.

Trump, who was twice impeached, celebrated what he hailed as the “EXONERATION of a Great American Patriot’ and lashed out at Massie for forcing the vote. “The Democrats continue to weaponize and abuse the United States of America,” Trump said on Truth Social. “They must be stopped!” The Pentagon, meanwhile, declared “total victory”.

Hegseth Impeachment Vote FAILS As Dems DONT SHOW UP

Jeffries Dragged for ‘Serious Leadership Problem’ as Hegseth Impeachment Bid Falls 7 Votes Short With 11 Dem No-Shows

As House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries seeks to become speaker when Democrats retake Congress in January, critics questioned his leadership Tuesday after the Republican-led lower chamber effectively blocked a bid to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth by just seven votes—an outcome that may have been averted if more Democrats showed up to vote.

The 211-204 procedural vote effectively torpedoed Congressman Thomas Massie’s attempt to impeach Hegseth by sending the outgoing Kentucky Republican’s resolution to the House Judiciary Committee, where it will likely gather dust during the remainder of the GOP-controlled congressional term.

The resolution seeks to impeach Hegseth for his role in waging President Donald Trump’s war on Iran in contravention of the War Powers Act and apparent war crimes committed by US forces in the conflict, including the February massacre of 156 people, at least 120 of them children, in a missile strike on an elementary school in the southern city of Minab.

Massie’s resolution also accuses Hegseth of “extrajudicial killings of at least 221 persons aboard seagoing vessels alleged to be smuggling narcotics in the Caribbean Sea and the Eastern Pacific Ocean, principally in international waters” as part of Trump’s boat-bombing spree; the invasion of Venezuela and kidnapping of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife; waging an illegal war on Yemen that has killed hundreds of civilians; and suppressing free speech at the Pentagon.

The 11 Democrats who were not present for the vote are: Julia Brownley (Calif.), Lou Correa (Calif.), Laura Gillen (NY), Steven Horsford (Nev.), Jonathan Jackson (Ill.), Nancy Pelosi (Calif.), Brittany Pettersen (Colo.), Melanie Stansbury (NM), Haley Stevens (Mich.), Marilyn Strickland (Wash.), and Frederica Wilson (Fla.). Correa is recovering from an undisclosed medical procedure and cannot travel.

Seven Republicans also did not vote. Observers noted there was a chance for Democrats to keep Massie’s impeachment bid alive if more of them attended the session and voted.

Jeffries (D-NY)—who backs impeaching Hegseth—“didn’t think it was important to make sure 11 Democrats didn’t skip the Hegseth impeachment vote,” author Jared Yates Sexton wrote on Bluesky.

Migrant Insider editor Pablo Manríquez accused Democrats of having “a serious leadership problem.”

This is a major Hakeem Jeffries fail. You could have impeached the war criminal Pete Hegseth but Dems didn't show up to vote.

— Krystal Ball (@krystalball) November 11, 2026

Zeteo reporter Prem Thakker wrote on social media that Jeffries “is arguing that he should be the leader of the Democrats—and then, as the current leader, he couldn’t get enough Democrats to show up to impeach Pete Hegseth.”

On Tuesday morning, Hegseth brushed off the impeachment attempt as a “farce” and “political spectacle.”

“None of these are high crimes or misdemeanors,” he said of the allegations against him. “They’re partisan policy disagreements from people who want to politicize our military.”

Hegseth also said he “stand[s] behind every one of” the massacres and killings listed in the resolution, and that he “was proud to execute them, and... would do it again tomorrow.”

Asked by Politico’s Riley Rogerson about the 11 Democrats’ absence, Jeffries said: “I haven’t had a conversation with anyone on the floor team about what may or may not have happened in terms of the Hegseth resolution, but this is not the end of it. It’s just the beginning.”

While numerous Democrats said they would renew efforts to impeach Hegseth once they’re in control of Congress, many observers pointed to Tuesday’s vote as further evidence that new party leadership is needed.

“Jeffries didn’t even whip the vote. He told people to ‘vote their conscience,’ and 11 members of his caucus didn’t show up,” writer Laura Bassett wrote on social media. “This is why people want a stronger leader.”

Similar sentiment is dogging Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), whose bid to become majority leader is opposed by a growing number of his colleagues. On Tuesday, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who asserted that the midterm election “was about change,” and that “people want new leadership here in the Senate, so I will not be supporting Chuck.”

Rania Khalek: The Democrats Already Squandering Their Midterm Mandate

Incoming Rep. Don Leonard says top House Democrats have threatened to “make [his] life a living hell” and cost him re-election if he continues attaching conditions to his support for Hakeem Jeffries for speaker.

His conditions: 1) a vote on an amendment to end Citizens United and 2) “end U.S. support for the war in Iran and the country, Israel, that led us into it.”

He says Jeffries is refusing to meet with him and the threats are like something “out of a movie.”

— Ryan Grim (@ryangrim) November 10, 2026

Gilded statue in DC mocks Trump for ‘dodging’ Vietnam war draft over bone spurs

A new statue mocking Donald Trump was installed on Washington’s National Mall on Monday, this time poking fun at bone spurs that the US president was diagnosed with, which allowed him to defer the Vietnam war draft.

Just two days before Veterans Day, the gilded statue – titled The Foot Soldier – appeared near the National Gallery of Art’s Sculpture Garden. Created by the Secret Handshake, a group of anonymous artists, the statue depicts Trump sitting down while rubbing his bare foot.

“We honor the service and sacrifice of our commander in chief, Donald J Trump. He’s a soldier in spirit who marched to the front lines of dodging the draft, armed with a perfect diagnosis of bone spurs,” a plaque on the statue reads.

The art piece refers to allegations that Trump dodged the Vietnam war draft in 1968 by receiving a diagnosis of bone spurs in his heels after he graduated from college.

“We salute a leader who knows you can’t spell sacrifice without ‘I,’ and a warrior who reminds us that sometimes when you’re called to stand up, it’s best to just sit down and rest your feet,” the plaque read.

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Bret Weinstein Plans To RECRUIT MASSIE For 2028 Third Party Run

Pod Save Panelist BOOED Claiming Abdul, Troy Jackson FLOPPED Over Israel Criticism

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Days After Midterm Blowout, 22 Democrats Join GOP to Advance ‘Massive Giveaway’ to Big Oil

The US Senate on Monday voted in bipartisan fashion to advance a fossil fuel industry-backed permitting reform bill that would weaken the Clean Water Act and other key environmental protections to make it easier for the federal government to streamline energy projects—including climate-wrecking gas pipelines.

The 73-25 vote to advance the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act (BAAJA) sets the stage for what’s expected to be a contentious amendment process. The bill’s Democratic supporters—including Sens.

Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, and Chuck Schumer of New York—argue it is a necessary compromise to accelerate construction of clean energy projects. Environmentalists, tribal organizations, and progressive lawmakers say the legislation is a gift to fossil fuel companies, tech giants, and other corporate interests at the expense of local communities and the planet.

The 22 members of the Senate Democratic Caucus who voted with Republicans for passage were:

Blumenthal (D-CT)
Coons (D-DE)
Cortez Masto (D-NV)
Fetterman (D-PA)
Gallego (D-AZ)
Gillibrand (D-NY)
Heinrich (D-NM)
Hickenlooper (D-CO)
Kim (D-NJ)
King (I-ME)
Klobuchar (D-MN)
Ossoff (D-GA)
Peters (D-MI)
Reed (D-RI)
Rosen (D-NV)
Schatz (D-HI)
Schumer (D-NY)
Shaheen (D-NH)
Slotkin (D-MI)
Warner (D-VA)
Warnock (D-GA)
Whitehouse (D-RI)

“The Senate’s supporters of BAAJA just cleared an initial hurdle towards offering Big Oil and Big Tech a massive giveaway at the expense of our clean air, clean water, and communities’ right to protect themselves from polluting projects,” said Elizabeth Bast, executive director of Oil Change International. “Just days after voters demanded accountability and relief from soaring costs, 73 senators chose Trump’s energy policies over the American people.”

“BAAJA is not a compromise—it’s exactly what the fossil fuel industry wants,” Bast added.

The bipartisan permitting reform legislation is backed by the Trump White House—which has waged war on clean energy projects while working to boost fossil fuel production—and the American Petroleum Institute, the leading oil and gas industry trade association in the US. Trump said Monday that he would not approve the construction of any wind turbines, confirming critics’ fears that the White House sees the bill as an opportunity to advance dirty energy projects.

The bill would exempt pipeline expansions and other energy projects from review under the National Environmental Policy Act and make it harder for opponents of the projects to challenge them in court. The legislation would also restrict courts’ ability to pause projects due to inadequate environmental reviews.

Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), one of the 25 senators who voted against advancing BAAJA on Monday, said in a statement that while the legislation “has a number of other features that merit careful analysis,” it “has never had a public hearing” despite its potentially massive impact.

Merkley warned that, as currently written, the bill “accelerates the extraction and burning of fossil fuels,” effectively offsetting the benefits of the measure’s promotion of clean energy projects.

“The bill restricts states’ ability to raise and address clean water concerns on gas pipelines as well as transmission lines,” said Merkley. “It shortens timelines that make it hard-to-impossible for grassroots and community groups to raise concerns about projects. It eliminates tools that states and localities use to fight the development of new data centers and detention centers. And it impacts the sovereignty and rights of tribes.”

“Permitting reform for electrical transmission lines is essential,” the senator added. “But the current bill raises too many serious issues that require more deliberation.”

Environmental groups and tribal organizations urged lawmakers to pause consideration of the permitting bill until the next Congress, when Democrats will take control of the House and the Senate.

“We shouldn’t and don’t need to endanger our wildlife just to save a few dollars on gas,” said Lisa Frank, executive director of Environment America. “We shouldn’t and don’t need to weaken the rules that protect our water from pollution in order to build more clean energy. We shouldn’t facilitate more global-warming air pollution. And we definitely shouldn’t be taking away the public’s right to weigh in on projects that can ruin their environment, make them sick, and lessen their quality of life.”

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Also of Interest

Here are some articles of interest, some of which defied fair-use abstraction.

Economic Coercion Worked in 1950s Iran — Not Now

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A Little Night Music

Syl Johnson - Come On, Sock It To Me

Syl Johnson - Different Strokes

Syl Johnson - Dresses Too Short

Syl Johnson - Going to the Shack

Syl Johnson - Soul Drippin'

Syl Johnson w/The Bo Keys - Any Way The Wind Blows

Syl Johnson - Come Together

Syl Johnson - Steppin' Out

Syl Johnson - I Feel an Urge

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