Erik Larson

Opinion | Putin bluffed Biden. It won’t work on Trump. The only way to bring to peace to Ukraine is to increase the cost of war to Russia.

“Putin claims giving Ukraine cruise missiles would be a "new stage of escalation." That's absurd. Putin has fired more 2,400 cruise missiles into Ukraine since his 2022 invasion, using them to target schools, children's hospitals, residential neighborhoods…” www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

“Together, the messages reveal a culture where racist, antisemitic and violent rhetoric circulate freely — and where the Trump-era loosening of political norms has made such talk feel less taboo among those positioning themselves as the party’s next leaders.”

“They referred to Black people as monkeys and “the watermelon people” and mused about putting their political opponents in gas chambers. They talked about raping their enemies and driving them to suicide and lauded Republicans who they believed support slavery.”

‘I love Hitler’: Leaked messages expose Young Republicans’ racist chat Thousands of private messages reveal young GOP leaders joking about gas chambers, slavery and rape.

Thousands of private messages reveal young GOP leaders joking about gas chambers, slavery and rape. www.politico.com/news/2025/10...

Hamas reasserts control on streets of Gaza, turning guns on its rivals Amid the ceasefire with Israel, Hamas is sending a message that it remains the only visible authority in Gaza, with huge implications for Trump’s peace plan.

Hamas is trying to send a clear message that, after months of hiding from Israeli fire, the militant group is back as the only visible authority inside the Gaza Strip, according to rival militia leaders, Palestinian officials and political analysts. www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/1...

‘Israel needs to deliver’: Europe’s private fears over Trump’s plan for Gaza Officials and diplomats are hoping the ceasefire lasts but don’t want to ease the pressure on Israel just yet.

Israel should not count on European leaders quickly forgetting the deaths of tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza, even if Donald Trump’s peace deal succeeds in ending the war.
www.politico.eu/article/isra...

Trump Hails ‘Dawn of a New Middle East’ in Knesset Speech President Donald Trump called for “the historic dawn of a new Middle East” in an address to the Israeli parliament, as he visits the region to celebrate a deal halting the war in Gaza and securing the...

Hamas has yet to agree to terms calling for the group to disarm and forgo any role in the future governance of Gaza — key demands of Netanyahu. There are also questions about how the next steps of the peace plan would be implemented.
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Barron Trump tipped for top TikTok job US president’s 19-year-old son could be appointed to the app’s board

Ok www.telegraph.co.uk/us/news/2025...

Trump Layoffs, Shattered Trust Harden Democrats’ Shutdown Stance President Donald Trump’s hardball tactic of ordering permanent layoffs Friday amid a government shutdown hardened Democrats’ deep distrust of Republicans and risks prolonging a standoff that is alread...

“No one should be intimidated by these crooks,” Democratic Sen. Patty Murray fumed on Friday. “The way we reopen government is compromise, a simple concept every American understands — and no amount of threats will change that.” www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Protestor in a frog suit and an anti-Ice sign with what I believe to be a Pokémon character on a street corner in Rogers Park.

The frogs have landed in Chicago!

The following is REAL footage from Portland, 2025. Viewer discretion is advised.

Jury Refuses To Indict Chicago ICE Protesters In Latest Revolt Against Trump Overreach A grand jury Tuesday night declined to indict two protesters in the...

Jury Refuses To Indict Chicago ICE Protesters In Latest Revolt Against Trump Overreach talkingpointsmemo.com/where-things...

Funny I was in Portland all last week and did a little too much (tax free) shopping. No plywood in sight.

Trump Blocked by Judge From Sending California Troops to Oregon A federal judge in Portland, Oregon, blocked President Donald Trump from sending any federalized National Guard troops to the city during protests against his immigration crackdown, doubling down on a...

A federal judge in Portland blocked President Trump from sending National Guard troops from any state to the Oregon city during protests against his immigration crackdown, doubling down on a narrower order issued a day earlier and expressing frustration with the DOJ www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Trump: Portland is burning to the ground—insurrectionists all over the place. The politicians are afraid for their lives. That’s the only reason they say there’s nothing happening.

Trump Blocked for Now From Sending Troops Into Portland A federal judge temporarily blocked President Donald Trump from sending military forces to Portland, Oregon, to quell protests against his immigration crackdown, even as 300 National Guard troops were...

Trump’s false claims about “war ravaged” Portland did not survive legal scrutiny in court, where a Trump-appointed federal judge on Saturday said the president’s determination “was simply untethered to the facts” www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Trump Posts Bizarre AI Video of Project 2025 Architect as the Grim Reaper It used to be considered unusual for a U.S. president to do things like this.

Uhh gizmodo.com/trump-posts-...

Trump claims National Guard troops ‘in place’ in Portland State officials Tuesday said troop deployment was still days away.

Trump says federal troops are now “in place” in Portland to end “the Chaos, Death, and Destruction!” The image below is the ICE facility in SE Portland that Trump falsely says is under siege. The photo was taken Wednesday morning by the Oregonian www.oregonlive.com/portland/202...

Massive immigration raid on Chicago apartment building leaves residents reeling: 'I feel defeated' The Department of Homeland Security said federal agents with Border Patrol, the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives arrested 37 people in the raid.

Armed federal agents in military fatigues busted down doors overnight, pulling men, women and children from their apartments, some naked. Agents approached or entered nearly every apartment in the five-story building and US citizens were among those detained for hours www.wbez.org/immigration/...

Portland on Wednesday afternoon is drizzly and peaceful. There is no anarchy or rioting. Period. News outlets don’t need to hedge on this.

While cable news wildly exaggerates what is happening in Portland, here’s what’s going on in Portland today

Trump says ‘it’s anarchy’ in Portland. Here’s why locals say that’s far from reality | CNN To hear President Donald Trump tell it, Portland is the latest city taken over by terrorists and in desperate need of federal salvation. Residents say it’s making the city’s well-known weirdness somet...

It’s called lying www.cnn.com/2025/09/30/u...

Trump defends use of the U.S. military against the 'enemy within' Earlier, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the purpose of the department would exclusively be "war fighting."

Trump defends use of U.S. military against 'enemy within'

www.npr.org/2025/09/30/n...

Portland leaders urge calm amid reports of a surge in federal officers at the ICE building Reports of a ramp-up in federal officers in Portland on Friday prompted local officials to quickly urge residents: Don’t react.

“Don’t take the bait,” said U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley, flanked by city, county and federal officials at a Northeast Portland church Friday evening. www.opb.org/article/2025...

Wyden Statement on Trump's Authoritarian Memorandum Targeting Progressive Speech | The United States Senate Committee on Finance Wyden Statement on Trump's Authoritarian Memorandum Targeting Progressive Speech

“When the time comes to hold members of this administration accountable for the harm they’re doing to our country by trampling all over the Constitution, a pardon from a lawless president will not let Trump’s subordinates off the hook.” www.finance.senate.gov/ranking-memb...

Murdoch Calls Trump’s Epstein Suit ‘Affront’ to Free Speech Rupert Murdoch and News Corp. asked a US judge to throw out President Donald Trump’s $10 billion libel lawsuit over a Wall Street Journal report tying him to a bawdy birthday note to the late Jeffrey ...

“By its very nature, this meritless lawsuit threatens to chill the speech of those who dare to publish content that the President does not like,” Murdoch and News Corp. said in a motion to dismiss Trump’s $10 billion libel suit in federal court in Miami.
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

In Dark Times, Americans Need Leadership That Unites Our response to Charlie Kirk’s assassination must be better.

Michael R. Bloomberg: “The overwhelming majority of Americans of all political persuasions are horrified by the shooting, and the shooter’s hatred should not be projected onto others as a pretext for repressing political opposition and free speech” www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...

'No evidence' found yet of ties between Charlie Kirk's shooting and left-wing groups, officials say Three people familiar with the federal probe into Kirk’s assassination told NBC News that investigators have yet to find a link between the alleged shooter and left-wing groups.

Investigators have yet to find a link between the alleged shooter and left-wing groups, three people familiar with the federal probe into Kirk’s assassination told NBC News. www.nbcnews.com/politics/jus...

In Kimmel Suspension, Trump Campaign Against Critics Escalates Jimmy Kimmel is the latest target of an effort to punish political speech following the killing of Charlie Kirk

At the beginning of his second term, Trump signed an executive order banning the government from “any conduct that would unconstitutionally abridge the free speech of any American citizen.” www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

Let’s be clear about what happened to Jimmy Kimmel Trump’s most brazen attack on free speech yet.

After years of complaining about cancel culture, the current administration has taken it to a new and dangerous level by routinely threatening regulatory action against media companies unless they muzzle or fire reporters and commentators it doesn’t like.