Hans Schattle

Spanish PM Pedro Sánchez on the Iran War.

"Spain's position at this juncture is clear and forceful. It is the same position we have maintained in Ukraine and also in Gaza.

No to the breaking of international law that protects us all, especially the most defenceless - the civilian population."

Selloff descends into a rout in South Korea with biggest one-day drop since 2008 The KOSPI has shed 20% in two trading sessions as excess leverage triggers margins calls and forced liquidation of positions by retail investors

South Korea's stock market plunged 12 percent today - the biggest drop since the 2008 global financial crisis. While the main driver of selling is panic over oil market disruption amid Trump's war in Iran, this week's 20 percent wipeout also signals an end to the recent bubble in tech and AI stocks.

In my eyes the inescapable risks of supply shocks and price volatility that go with oil and gas make it clear how we must speed up the shift to renewable energy. Trump is doing the reverse, even bullying many countries into backing away from sustainability initiatives. A crime against our planet.

Stock plunge sparks trading halt in South Korea's key indexes The Kospi plunged 8 per cent on Wednesday (Mar 4), extending a steep selloff from the previous day as the escalating war in the Middle East rattled investor sentiment.

South Korea's main stock market index plunged 8 percent today, forcing a temporary halt to trading amid high anxiety over Trump's war in Iran. Any disruption to world oil markets will especially hurt Korea, which imports all its oil, most of it from the Middle East. Japan faces the same problem.

I’m struck by how every day the admin is like “whoever could have foreseen these consequences?!” when the consequences thus far — evacuations, the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, rise in gas prices, etc. — are all the literal most obvious consequences.

Rubio’s idiotic justification for the “imminent threat”—that Israel was going to act anyway, and we couldn’t do anything about it, and we allegedly were going to be hit by Iran in response—is going over like a lead balloon. The administration could have real problems in Congress later this week.

End Child Detention Letter with signatures Feb 26 2026

Citing reporting by @propublica.org and others, nearly 4,000 doctors, nurses and health professionals sent a letter to DHS Sec Kristi Noem calling for the immediate release of all children currently in immigration detention. Full letter: tinyurl.com/yz2amueb 1/

Opinion | Trump Wants You to Get Used to This. Don’t.

"Authoritarian politics and military aggression are a dangerous mix... Rather than representing a break from America’s imperial instincts, Mr. Trump has personalized them... We must not be numbed to the repeated, illegal use of the United States military."
- From @rhodesben.bsky.social (Gift link)

Death toll from Iran school bombing reportedly rises to almost 150 Strike on girls’ elementary school in south of Iran has killed 148 people and injured 95 others, according to Iran state media

People love to see things get blown up. But they don’t like to look under the rubble. In this case, they would see the bodies of 100+ little girls killed by US and Israeli bombs. This is not regime change. It’s murder. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/m...

Nope, not "swiftboating." That's a different kind of lie: the false smear of an individual.

This is pure "1984": Big Brother (or, in this case, the Bozo Fascist) ends war by starting a war.

War Is Peace.
Freedom Is Slavery.
And, of course...
Ignorance Is Strength.

Orwell mapped it all out.

With his unlawful and reckless war on Iran, Donald Trump is on his way to outdoing George W. Bush on aggression, despite his past criticism of Bush's Iraq war. The last surviving ruler of Bush's "axis of evil" states - Kim Jong Un - will be all the more determined now to keep his nuclear weapons.

Good thread. The levels of unknown here are staggering. But let’s launch yet another war…

In the past, sometimes presidents have said it’s just a military operation or limited airstrikes to skirt Congress. Trump has unilaterally launched major combat operations, declaring war with the goal of regime change. A major violation of the U.S. Constitution, also illegal under international law

Transgender Kansans sue over new law invalidating their driver's licenses The law also establishes biological-sex requirements for birth certificates and state bathrooms.

This important civil rights case in Kansas is just the tip of the iceberg: the ACLU says that more than 70 bills persecuting members of the LGBTQ community were passed by state legislatures across America and signed into law last year.

Trump orders U.S. government to drop use of Anthropic’s technology President Trump made a dramatic intervention in the dispute between Anthropic and the Pentagon over use of AI for autonomous weapons or surveillance.

Is the Trump administration punishing Anthropic because it’s refusing to help mass surveil American communities or build killer robots?

The American people deserve to know what Trump officials are planning at the Pentagon.

Secretary Pete Hegseth must testify.

Mamdani saying he called Trump to get Aghayeva released.

Aghayeva posting she has been released.

Aghayeva has been released.

Mamdani is truly a generational political talent.

welcome to personalist america, where the new bar of constituent service is “personally ask the king to release one of my constituents that his paramilitary abducted.” it’s great that mamdani can do that, but feels very, very ominous that he has to.

This man should still be alive. His death is a tragic reminder that the problem at CBP and ICE isn't a lack of training. It's the brutality built into the system. Impeach Kristi Noem and demand full accountability at DHS from top to bottom.

The singling out of a state for political punishment, by selectively denying it access to federal funds, violates every principle of the Union.

This may be the best SOTU response in...ever? Nailing all the right points: affordability, ICE abuses, corruption, Epstein.

Not sure it matters, but Spanberger is providing Dems a good template for assailing Trump and offering alternative values and policies.

Whenever I see these kinds of poll results, I'm always amazed that 35 percent of the American people support Trump's failed economic policies.

Special Saturday Triad: What I Saw at the Battle of Minneapolis The national media has moved on. Minnesota is still under siege.

“Citizens are neither stopping nor impeding the government’s work. They are merely documenting it. And for this affront, the government treats them as adversaries to be controlled, intimidated, arrested, beaten, and occasionally killed.”

www.thebulwark.com/p/what-i-saw...

There are many heartbreaking things about Epstein but one of the worst is how much the abuse was made possible by preying on young women who needed help paying for their educations. Speaking as a scholarship student.

The life sentencing of South Korea's former president and the arrest of former Prince Andrew in Britain are essential reminders that no one - especially the powerful - is above the law in a constitutional democracy. Time for the United States to get back on track.

Donald Trump, a profoundly corrupt individual, twice impeached, demanded that the Supreme Court provide him immunity protection for his misdeeds. Despite the obvious threat posed by a man favored to retake the Presidency while attacking democratic processes and promising retribution to his political opponents, the Republican majority granted his demand.

On news that the President of South Korea was sentenced to life in prison for insurrection, a good time to remember that real democracies do not hand their leaders immunity for actions in office.
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/strongman-...

Yoon Suk Yeol sentenced to life for leading insurrection The Seoul Central District Court on Thursday sentenced former President Yoon Suk Yeol to life imprisonment, finding him guilty of leading an insurrection. "It i

It's a life prison sentence for ex-South Korean president Yoon, found guilty of leading an insurrection against the constitution when he declared martial law in 2024. Prosecutors had sought the death penalty, but the court spared him. Yoon's ex-defense minister is also sentenced to 30 years in jail.

Trump administration is erasing history and science at national parks, lawsuit argues Conservation and historical organizations sued the Trump administration on Tuesday over National Park Service policies that the groups say erase history and science from America's national parks.

Any democracy must look honestly and thoroughly at its history. Two important lawsuits filed this week in US federal courts aim to stop Trump from presenting distorted accounts of history and science at national parks - on issues such as civil rights, slavery, indigenous peoples and climate science.

Laugh at Trump, Lose Your License The president is about to control CBS, CNN, HBO and TikTok

Wake up, Democrats. Trump is about to effectively control TikTok, Twitter, CBS, Comedy Central and most likely CNN, HBO and two major movie studios. Where is our leadership to warn these media companies about consequences once we regain the WH?
open.substack.com/pub/saltypol...

Trump Nominates an Apostle of ‘White Erasure’ for the State Department

Nominating someone who has attacked Black Americans, demeaned Jewish communities, and pushed white‑grievance mythology to a global diplomatic role doesn’t just test our standards. It exposes them. And it tells the world, with perfect clarity, exactly who we are willing to empower.

European far-right parties push for ICE-style police Fringe figures want to follow the Trump playbook for tackling unauthorized migration.

The last thing Europeans should want: an ICE of their own. And the way Europe's neo-Nazi parties now wish to emulate Trump's America brings a sad reminder of how far the United States has fallen in its 250th anniversary year.