IN THE NEWS

The Dam Breaks: Democratic Senators Overwhelmingly Reject Arms Sales to Israel

Matt Sledge © The Intercept
April 15, 2026

“This is where the American people are. The polls are very clear.”

Democratic senators overwhelmingly voted to block bomb and bulldozer sales to Israel on Wednesday, in a reflection of the Jewish state’s plummeting stock among party rank-and-file and growing anger over the war with Iran.

The Democratic votes on the pair of resolutions from Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., were not enough to overcome universal opposition from Republicans.

Still, the votes represented a watershed moment in the party’s relationship with Israel and the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Israel had continued to enjoy strong support from Democratic leaders, despite outrage from the base over the war on Gaza. Sanders said the votes signaled that party leaders are finally taking note.

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We attacked a foreign people and treated them like rebels. As you know, it’s all right to treat barbarians barbarically. It’s the desire to be barbaric that makes governments call their enemies barbarians.

-Bertolt Brecht

Greater North America and the US Government’s New Regional Geography

Ariela Ruiz Caro © Counterpunch
April 15, 2026

Just over a month has passed since the first missiles of Operation Epic Fury killed, on the very first day, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, 150 schoolgirls and school staff, and most of Iran’s military (40) and political leadership and days since a precarious ceasefire went into effect. The attacks have not only destroyed vital infrastructure in the Middle East, particularly in Iran, but have also completely shattered hopes for coordination and the common defense of sovereignty in Latin America and the Caribbean.

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America is the only country that went from barbarism to decadence without civilization in between.

-Oscar Wilde

The rise and fall of Viktor Orbán – Europe’s far-right antagonist

© 1news.co.nz
April 16, 2026

Before losing in an earthquake election this week to bring an end to his 16-year rule, Viktor Orbán was the dominant force in Hungary’s political life for two decades, commanding the loyalty and admiration of millions.

The European Union’s longest-serving leader and one of its biggest antagonists, the outgoing prime minister took a long road from his early days as a liberal, anti-Soviet firebrand to the Russia-friendly nationalist admired by the global far right today.

Though Orbán was defeated in a landslide by the centre-right Tisza party and its leader, the pro-European reformer Péter Magyar, many of his followers still see him as one of the greatest leaders in Hungary’s history, and he retains a significant base of support

More than 2.3 million people cast ballots for Orbán’s nationalist-populist Fidesz party.

Standing out among Orbán’s believers is Ákos Szilágyi, one of the prime minister’s most prominent and visible backers.

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America’s True Fascist Architectural Legacy

Kate Wagner © The Nation
April 15, 2026

It’s not the kitschy White House ballroom—it’s logistics warehouses converted to ICE detention centers.

When Congress voted to expand the budget of Immigration and Customs Enforcement by $170 billion last July, it was inevitable that some of that money would be spent reshaping the built environment toward new and more sinister ends. Sure enough, by the end of 2025, ICE released plans to convert seven massive logistics warehouses scattered across the United States into detention centers to hold more than 80,000 detainees. Another 16 will be used as immigrant-processing sites. Turning warehouses for storing goods into warehouses for storing people is already harrowing. The historical precedents for repurposing industrial infrastructure to forcibly transport humans at scale make it even more so.

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