Progressive search for action

13+ min ago (552+ words) A childhood friend of Rahmanullah Lakanwal,the man suspected of shooting two National Guard troops " one fatally " in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, said the Afghan national struggled with his mental health and was disturbed by his previous work in the military. Lankanawal, who was brought into the United States as part of President Joe Biden's Operation: Allies Welcome refugee program in September 2021. He applied for asylum in 2024, and his application was reportedly approved earlier this year. Prior to his arrival in the U.S., a young Lankanawal allegedly enlisted with an Afghan paramilitary force that worked with Americans. Dubbed "Zero Units," these forces were formally part of the Afghan intelligence service but overseen and operated by the CIA. The units worked outside the usual chain of command and conducted night raids and clandestine operations, per a report from The New York Times. Described…...

16+ min ago (397+ words) As Saudi Arabia's powerful crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), swept through Washington last week, the agenda was predictably packed with deals: a trillion-dollar investment pledge, access to advanced F-35 fighter jets, and coveted American AI technology dominated the headlines. Yet tucked within these transactions was a significant development for the civil war in Sudan. Speaking at the U.S.-Saudi Investment Forum President'Donald Trump'said'that Sudan "was not on my charts," viewing the conflict as "just something that was crazy and out of control" until the Saudi leader pressed the issue. "His majesty would like me to do something very powerful having to do with Sudan," Trump recounted, adding that MBS framed it as an opportunity for greatness. The crown prince's intervention highlights a crucial new reality that the path to peace, or continued war, in Sudan now runs even more directly through…...

16+ min ago (999+ words) Consumed by corporate greed, the company faces boycotts, strikes, and a sinking reputation. But its own workers can save it. The post Why Starbucks Sucks Now appeared first on Truthdig. The following story is co-published with Luke Savage's Substack. In my late teens I spent about a year and a half working as a line cook. It beat telemarketing (my first gig out of high school) but it was both physically and mentally gruelling and minor injuries like cuts and oil burns inevitably came with the territory. The hours were long, the pay was absolutely terrible " the minimum wage at the time was $7.75 Canadian " and the pace was completely exhausting. Lunch and dinner rushes were usually the worst, but it also wasn't uncommon for ravenous parties of 8-10 to show up after midnight in search of fries or nachos. The actual…...

17+ min ago (1175+ words) Christopher Lord was born in Finland, has lived in ten countries and is currently living in France. Formerly a university teacher and an activist in international affairs, based at Charles University and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic's Institute of International Relations, both in Prague, his journalism has been published widely in various languages and countries, from Der Spiegel in Germany to Dagbladet Information in Denmark to East-West in Italy to the New Republic in the USA. Prior to [Donald Trump]Donald Trump's meeting with Chinese premier Xi Jinping in Busan, South Korea on Oct. 30, he had been treated like royalty during his Asian tour. The leaders of Malaysia, Japan and South Korea all pretended to like and admire him, showering him with extravagant gifts and promises to promote his Nobel Peace Prize. As he stepped off…...

32+ min ago (177+ words) In MAGA media outlets, one often hears the phrase "promises made, promises kept" in reference to Donald Trump's second presidency. MAGA media figures, from One America News (OAN) and Newsmax to Breitbart News, frequently praise Trump's return to the White House as a period of extraordinary achievements in a short amount of time. But outside the MAGA media bubble, the second Trump Administration is drawing widespread criticism " from The Bulwark (a conservative website with a strong Never Trump perspective) to liberal and progressive outlets like Salon, Mother Jones, The Nation and The New Republic. In a biting article published the day after Thanksgiving 2025, The New Republic's Michael Tomasky argues that the United States' "sour mood" is doing a lot to fuel a "MAGA crack-up." Tomasky adds, "There's no longer any doubt about it: The MAGA crack-up has begun." The New…...

36+ min ago (299+ words) More than 200 judges in hundreds of cases have rejected the Trump administration's attempts to lock up immigrants facing possible deportation, and they're getting sick of hearing challenges to those "illegal" efforts, according to reports. "The Court is unable to remain current on all new case authority supporting the Court's conclusion, given the continued onslaught of litigation being generated by [the administration's] widespread illegal detention practices," wrote U.S. District Judge Christina Snyder, in a Nov. 21 ruling. Judges have noted the sheer volume of rulings against the administration in their rulings, which reflects their growing exasperation with the litigation prompted by a policy that has been rejected over and over as unlawful. "Dozens of district courts across the nation " with more each day " have rejected DHS's expansion of " mandatory detention," wrote U.S. District Judge Lynn Winmill in a Nov. 19 ruling that released 17 people arrested…...

36+ min ago (738+ words) Adulthood doesn't happen in one clean moment. It happens in dozens of tiny ones. The first time you're trusted with a decision, the first time you manage your own money, the first time you realize your parents are just people trying their best. The teens consistently described adulthood as a slow handoff; like a moment when they realized they had to start navigating life without someone else stepping in. If there was one universal adulting moment across the Teen Council, it was money. Not in a hypothetical, someday-I'll-pay-rent way, but in an immediate, daily reality kind of way. Juliet, 17, talked openly about how overwhelming money can feel, especially now that she's working, spending, and managing her own finances. In one session, she said, "I just want to die every second because I'm thinking about every dollar I spend." In another…...

37+ min ago (366+ words) Publisher - Ten News Network The image from their childhood showed little Yami standing behind her kid sister, with her hands firmly placed on her shoulders as a constant pillar of support. Re-sharing the image on her social media handle, Yami reciprocated the love, saying, "Always got your back'Love You," followed by red heart emojis. For those who do not know, Surilie, who is also an actress like her sister, made her television debut in 2008 with "Meet Mila De Rabba, and went on to make her big screen debut with the Punjabi film "Power Cut". Work-wise, Yami recently garnered a lot of praise for her portrayal of Shazia Bano in "Haq", co-starring Emraan Hashmi. During an exclusive conversation with IANS, Yami called "Haq", a deeply feminist film. She pointed out that the ideology of feminism has evolved with time, and now…...

49+ min ago (246+ words) There is one man in the history of the U.S. who can show us how to navigate past the era of Donald Trump, according to a former Republican Party insider. Political strategist Steve Schmidt, an independent political strategist who worked on former President George W. Bush's campaign, flagged a recent James Carville piece in which the legendary Democratic consultant argued that it "is abundantly clear even to me that the Democratic Party must now run on the most populist economic platform since the Great Depression." Picking up the baton from Carville, Schmidt argued, "The party will either meet the moment " or meet the abyss." "It will pass the test " or wither and die. It is time to stand and fight. The era of the Schumercrat is at its end, and it has been a disastrous denouement," he argued. "Appeasements, moral capitulations, cynicism…...

1+ hour, 3+ min ago (285+ words) Politico reporter Daniel Lippman suggested Friday that the 190,000 Afghans that had immigrated to the United States since its 2021 withdrawal should not carry the blame for the Afghan migrant suspected of shooting two National Guard members Wednesday, a suggestion that set one Republican strategist into a rampage. "I do think it's important that we don't paint too broad of a brush to label every Afghan who came in through this program " Operation Allies Welcome " with the crimes of one deranged individual, someone who had mental health issues and was evil," Lippman said, appearing on Newsmax. "The vast majority of Afghans who come to this country, they actually love America." The suggestion, however, was apparently not taken well for Lindy Li, a former "tree-hugging progressive"-turned GOP strategist, who also appeared on Newsmax Friday alongside Lippman. "Oh my gosh. I'm like jumping…...