curated news excerpts & citations
Al Jazeera: Iranians form human chains across bridges, at power plants
Heather Cox Richardson: Letters from an American – April 7, 2026
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At 6:32 this evening, we learned that the horrifying announcement of the morning was, indeed, cover for Trump to declare victory and get out of the crisis he has caused in the Middle East.
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Michael Rios of CNN reported that Iran’s media is claiming it has achieved a great victory, forcing the U.S. to agree in principle to its 10-point plan, which includes the end of sanctions against Iran, the removal of all U.S. combat forces from bases in the region, and Iranian control of the Strait of Hormuz. If these terms are correct, they leave the United States significantly worse off than it was before the war and leave Iran significantly stronger.
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Trump’s threat that “a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again” was not just a reference to Iran. If he had destroyed Iran in our names, unhampered by the Republican Congress members who have vowed to defend the U.S. Constitution, it would also have been an epitaph for the United States of America.
(Heather Cox Richardson more…)
Joyce Vance: The Law of War
Morgan Phillips @ Fox: Second choke point crisis looms as Houthis threaten key Red Sea shipping lane
‘Once that risk is there, shipping companies decide not to take it,’ former Fifth Fleet commander says
Prem Thakker and Asawin Suebsaeng @ zeteo: Trump Begs Off Pledge to Genocide 90 Million
Borowitz: Trump Gives Himself Two Weeks to Invent New Distraction from Epstein Files
David E. Sanger @ NY Times: Trump Finds His Offramp With Iran. But the Causes of War Remain Unresolved.
Daniel Bush @ BBC: What the US military could do if Iran fails to meet Trump’s ultimatum
… Critics said targeting civilian infrastructure would constitute a war crime, a concern Trump dismissed at a press conference on Monday.
Setting that issue aside, former US defence officials and other analysts said the US simply can’t destroy every bridge in a country the size of Iran in just a few hours, as Trump threatened to do.
Iran is approximately one-third the size of the continental United States. The US knows the exact location of Iran’s main nuclear facilities and other key infrastructure, but likely cannot identify thousands of other targets across the country and destroy them in such a short time span, experts said.
“To meet this threat literally would be an absolute herculean task. And would it have the desired strategic effect?” said a former senior US defence official who asked not to be named. “Trump is almost struggling to come up with a new level or threat that he can say with words that will move the strategic needle more in favour of the US here.”
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James Eagle: Most Clean Power Is Now Cheaper Than Fossil Fuels
… Cheaper generation does not automatically mean cheaper power bills, because networks, backup capacity and system reliability still matter enormously. But the direction of travel is hard to miss. Fossil fuels used to defend their position on price. That defence is looking weaker with each passing year.
(James Eagle more…)
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Steve Karnowksi @ AP: Video brings new scrutiny to an ICE shooting in Minneapolis after charges against 2 men collapsed
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The city released the video after the New York Times, which obtained a copy earlier, reported that the footage raised questions about why it took weeks for the federal government’s case against the two men to collapse. The Times reported that federal investigators had access to the video within hours of the Jan. 14 shooting, but did not watch it until nearly three weeks after they had charged the two men.
(Steve Karnowksi @ AP more…)
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Gabbriel Schivone and Caroline Tracey @ High Country News: A DNA Archive Built to Identify Missing Migrants Has Vanished
The Colibrí Center for Human Rights was a vital link between families and their missing loved ones. Now it’s gone dark.
(Gabbriel Schivone and Caroline Tracey @ High Country News more…)
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Thom Hartmann: The Most Dangerous Crisis in America Isn’t Political: It’s the GOP’s Intentional Destruction of Trust
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Paul Offit: RFK Jr.’s Latest Disservice to Children with Autism
… RFK Jr.’s latest attempt to mislead parents was to promote a new, can’t-miss autism treatment.
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… In other words, the cerebral folate receptor disorder is as rare as 1 in a million children.
(Paul Offit more…)
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Paul Krugman: MAGA Is Winning Its War Against U.S. Science
When a political movement believes that ignorance is strength
With all the other terrible news right now, you may not have noticed that Donald Trump is in the process of killing American science.OK, that’s an exaggeration — but not that much of an exaggeration. …
(Paul Krugman more…)
Al Jazeera Death toll and injuries live tracker
ICE Accountability Project
ICE deaths 2026 – They deserve remembrance and justice.
- March 16: Royer Perez-Jimenez
- March 14: Naseer Paktiawil
- February 25: Nurul Amin Shah Alam
April 1 – Jennifer Peltz and Jake Offenhartz @ AP: Death of a refugee left at a Buffalo doughnut shop by Border Patrol is ruled a homicide - January 24: Alex Pretti
- January 14: Heber Sanchaz Dominguez
- January 14: Victor Manuel Diaz
- January 9: Parady La
- January 7: Renée Good
- January 6: Luis Beltran Yanez-Cruz
- January 5: Luis Gustavo Nunez Caceres
- January 3: Geraldo Lunas Campos
- December 31, 2025: Keith Porter
Suffering Under President Obama
NACDL Criminal Case Tracker
Texas Tribune: A Walk for Peace: photos of Fort Worth monks’ journey to Washington
Walk for Peace – Dhammacetiya – The Ancient Sacred Buddhist Scripture Stupas
Margaret Chase Smith: Declaration of Conscience
NPR: January 6, 2021: A visual archive
Accountability Initiative ICE List
GriftMatrix
Trump Action Tracker
Timeline: Tracking the Trump Justice Department’s Anti-Voting Shift
Tracking the Lawsuits Against Trump’s Agenda
Trump Pardons Database
Project 2025 Tracker
DOGE Tracker
ProPublica: Elon Musk’s Demolition Crew
Wired: 6 Tools for Tracking the Trump Administration’s Attacks on Civil Liberties
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