China Says Its 2018 Trade Surplus With US Was Highest in More Than a Decade
White House Sought Options to Strike Iran ; Landlord Rents $1,500 Studio to Two Cats ...and More Picks
Tulsi Gabbard Is Not Your Friend (Russ)
ICYMI from Jacobin: “Tulsi Gabbard is hailed as a progressive champion. But her views on Islam and support for far-right leaders suggest otherwise.”
This 1958 TV Episode Is About a Con Man Named Trump Selling a Wall to Hysterical Townspeople (Reader Jill)
Is the Trump presidency a script from an obscure 1950s TV drama?? Or perhaps the writers were prophets…
Landlord Rents $1,500 Studio to Two Cats, Hits ‘Peak Silicon Valley’ (Reader Steve)
The author writes, “Looking to make some extra cash, David Callisch found the perfect tenants for the $1,500-a-month studio apartment behind his Willow Glen home — a pair of cats.”
Man Accused of Shooting Down UN Chief: ‘Sometimes you have to do things you don’t want to…’ (Jimmy)
From the Guardian: “Exclusive research reveals that a British-trained Belgian mercenary admitted the killing of Dag Hammarskjöld in 1961.”
White House Sought Options to Strike Iran (Reader Luke)
The author writes, “President Trump’s National Security Council asked the Pentagon to provide the White House with military options to strike Iran last year, generating concern at the Pentagon and State Department, current and former US officials said.”
Court Uses Law’s Absurdity to Allow Unfit Kavanaugh to Remain as Justice (Russ)
The author writes, “It took the eight judges of the Tenth Circuit Judicial Council just over two months to decide to do nothing about any of the 83 misconduct complaints against Judge Kavanaugh. Worse, the court’s order asserted in a strained legal argument that there was nothing that could be done legally about the 83 misconduct complaints against Judge Kavanaugh for one reason, and one reason only — because he had become Justice Kavanaugh.”
Profits Double, Tax Payments Fall at Nike, Attracting Attention of EU Regulators (Reader Steve)
The author writes, “A funny thing happened between 2011 and 2017 in the glitzy offices that house Nike’s small army of accountants and tax lawyers. Even as the company’s sales and profits went on an unprecedented rampage, its taxes declined. It paid less in 2017 than it did six years before, even though its profits doubled to $4.2 billion.”
