curated news excerpts & citations
James Eagle: The world is rearming for a more dangerous age
The peace dividend is over. After decades in which military budgets looked like yesterday’s problem, governments are again treating defence as a core economic priority. The IMF says conflicts have risen sharply over the past 15 years, while about half of countries increased military budgets between 2020 and 2024.
The striking detail is not just higher spending, but the speed of the reversal. By 2024, nearly 40% of countries were spending more than 2% of GDP on defence, up from 27% in 2018. SIPRI also found that global military expenditure hit $2.43 trillion in 2023, its steepest annual rise since 2009.
That creates a hard fiscal trade off. Rearmament may be necessary, but it competes with ageing populations, debt costs, climate adaptation and public services. The new geopolitical era is not just more dangerous. It is more expensive.
(James Eagle more…)
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Heather Cox Richardson: Letters from an American – May 8, 2026
In case you’re wondering what kind of a news day it was, President Donald J. Trump announced that the “Department of War” was releasing “Government files related to Alien and Extraterrestrial Life, Unidentified Aerial Phenomena, and Unidentified Flying Objects.” The president posted: “Have Fun and Enjoy!”
It’s hard to see the release of this information at this moment as anything more than a distraction from the many stories in the news that show the administration in an unflattering light.
(Heather Cox Richardson more…)
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Isaac Saul @ Tangle: The everything, everywhere, all at once corruption story.
I’m pleading with you to look at the president’s self-dealing.
(Isaac Saul @ Tangle more…)Isaac Saul: I’m responding to criticisms of my Trump corruption piece.
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Home of the Brave: Lutnick’s Epstein Trouble Continues
Speaking with the House Oversight Committee, the Commerce Secretary refused to answer if he spoke to Trump about his testimony.
(Home of the Brave more…)Shanley Hurt: Look, A Flying Saucer, Said The Men Standing In Front Of The Epstein Files
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Lisa Needham: Stephen Miller’s closed system of white supremacy
Won’t somebody think of the white guys?
(Lisa Needham more…)Jason Sattler: The Case of Earl Warren
How the guilt over sending kids to concentration camps may have led to the unanimous end to official school segregation in America.
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Asawin Suebsaeng @ zeteo:
‘They Are Choking Me’: Witness Describes ICE Camp Homicide That Team Trump Tried to Cover Up
(Asawin Suebsaeng @ zeteo more…)
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Katelyn Jetelina @ Your Local Epidemiologist: Hantavirus update
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Rebecca Durfee @ Tangle: I didn’t get the polio vaccine — instead, I got polio.
(Rebecca Durfee @ Tangle more…)
Apocalypse Early Warning System
Al Jazeera Death toll and injuries live tracker
ICE Accountability Project
Sergio Martínez-Beltrán, Ximena Bustillo, Jasmine Garsd @ NPR: Deaths of migrants in ICE custody hit record high under Trump
- April 16: Aled Damien Carbonell-Betancourt
- March 25: Jose Guadalupe Ramos-Solano
- 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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