What Caught My Eye forMay 28 - June 10 (#18)

You know the old adage, the Army is always preparing to fight the last war? I’d offer a twist on that: the Army is always preparing to fight the war it really wants. And the war it wants is World War II. Specifically, the European Theater in World War II. Hyper-specifically, 1944 WWII Europe.

If only every war could be decided ahead of time.

The Pacific is a big place, and success requires partners and allies. The U.S. in WWII was beyond lucky to have the immediate assistance and sometimes suicidal heroism of our Australian and New Zealand partners. The UK and Canada, too, served alongside U.S. troops both in the Pacific and in the China-Burma-India Theater. Hundreds of thousands of Pacific Islanders risked their lives to gather intelligence, run supplies, and pass communications for U.S. forces. So too did the people of the Philippine Islands, who – although occupied since 1942 – held out resolutely until the return of U.S. forces in 1944-1945, weakening the Japanese in the interim with guerilla raids. And of course, Nationalist China, which held down the predominant part of the Imperial Japanese Army on mainland China for seven long years. If we want to succeed in the Pacific, we must have friends, partners, and allies.

Yes, billionaires have accelerated the rightward shift of corporate media, but it would never have been possible without ordinary people like Bari who are willing to drain their souls to fill their own bank accounts. This isn’t unique to the media business, but when newsmakers are your victims, it tends to attract more headlines. Us journalists have watched countless corporate smash-and-grabs completed in broad daylight, bankrupting our friends and colleagues, killing their dreams, and denying the world exposure to their talents. With people like Bari in charge, mediocrity isn’t a dealbreaker; only dissent is.

This is why I support and subscribe to journalists like Marisa. They’re willing to spend the time digging into what’s going on and reporting it honestly and fairly.

More bullshit election disinformation from the GOP. If they don’t win, the vote must be rigged. November is going to be a nightmare.

It is strange that Republicans are unable to accept that they lost a mayoral race in one of the bluest cities in the country. Then again, this is the party whose leader attempted to stage a coup after losing a presidential election, who kicked off a mid-decade gerrymandering war in order to consolidate power, and whose disciples have literally tampered with voting machines in order to hijack elections. With the GOP desperate to cling to power, and lacking the morality to accept defeat, the midterms should be a ball.

The 2026 World Cup, then, represents the apotheosis of sportwashing. The United States—whose major sports leagues, the standards of professionalism and prestige against which all others are measured, have thus far turned their noses up at Gulf money—is hosting its own Hitler Olympics. This World Cup takes place against a backdrop of mass deportations and arrests. Tens of thousands of people have been disappeared and crammed into horrifying squalor, where they await disease, physical and sexual abuse, death, and other effects of unpersoning. The rapist in charge of the U.S. is actively conducting a war of aggression against another World Cup participant and simultaneously threatening both of the tournament’s other hosts. Anyone who visits the country is subject to surveillance and arbitrary detention, if they can even get in, which not even World Cup athletes can do without a hassle.