Category: World News

With approval ratings underwater, why not follow Bush’s advice and launch a “little war”? What could possibly go wrong?

By Thom Hartmann / Common Dreams / Jun 23, 2025

In the modern era, it was probably George W. Bush who first said it out loud and then acted on it: When you’re unpopular and losing politically, just start a little war that’s easily winnable and you’ll be back on top.

As he told his biographer, Mickey Herskowitz, in 1999 about his plans for an Iraq war as a strategy to get himself reelected in 2004:

One of the keys to being seen as a great leader is to be seen as a commander-in-chief. My father had all this political capital built up when he drove the Iraqis out of (Kuwait), and he wasted it. If I have a chance to invade Iraq, if I had that much capital, I’m not going to waste it. I’m going to get everything passed I want to get passed, and I’m going to have a successful presidency.

It worked for Bush, although history hasn’t been kind to him as a result. Donald Trump’s second presidency, meanwhile, has been an unmitigated disaster, both in real terms and politically as his approval ratings have slipped so far underwater they’re in late-years Richard Nixon territory:

• Inflation is up, and the tariffs aren’t bringing jobs home.
• Trump’s tax cuts for billionaires bill is in trouble.
• The GOP war on our schools and libraries is creating a huge backlash.

By Washington Post staff / June 18, 2025 

What do Americans think about the possibility of launching U.S. airstrikes against Iran, which President Donald Trump threatened this week unless the country dismantles its nuclear program? The Washington Post texted more than 1,000 people on Wednesday to ask.

The poll finds Americans opposing U.S. airstrikes against Iran by a 20 percentage-point margin — 45 percent to 25 percent — with a sizable 30 percent saying they are unsure.

Two-thirds of Democrats oppose airstrikes against Iran but Republicans are not as united, with 47 percent supporting strikes while 24 percent oppose them and 29 percent have no opinion. Independents lean against the strikes by about a 2-to-1 margin, with more than one-third unsure.

On Tuesday, June 17, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) urged the Donald Trump administration to steer clear of Israel’s escalating conflict with Iran, calling Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s latest actions a direct threat to U.S. diplomacy and international law.

What Happened: In a video message posted on social media, Sanders sharply criticized Netanyahu for launching what he described as a unilateral and illegal surprise attack on Iran that killed hundreds and triggered retaliatory strikes.

The Israeli offensive, Sanders said, derailed ongoing U.S.-Iran nuclear negotiations and violated the United Nations Charter.

“Netanyahu launched an illegal and unilateral surprise attack on Iran… Israel’s attack clearly violated international law,” Sanders said. “It is absolutely imperative that the United States not be dragged into this war.”

He accused Netanyahu of intentionally sabotaging a sixth round of diplomacy that was scheduled just days after Israel’s strikes and of assassinating the Iranian official leading the nuclear talks.

By Colleen O’Connor

In the darkest of hours and sometimes despair, the Universe has produced great leaders. Rev. Martin Luther King amid the Civil Rights’ struggles. Mahatma Ghandi leading the fight for Indian independence. Lech Walesa conducting Poland vs. Russia over independence and U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, deftly steering the globe through the Great Depression and the carnage of World War II.

Each leader a victor. Each possessed a moral compass, with convictions capable of overcoming defeat and cruelty to find a nobler path forward.

And now, from an unlikely, but equally providential source, comes the newly named Pope Leo XIV already shining an almost heavenly light on an increasingly dark era.
What a shock. The 267th Pope and the first ever American Pope. And a progressive with impressive credentials. He speaks four languages; English, Latin, Italian, Spanish, and reads German and French.

Robert Francis Prevost. Now Pope Leo the XIV.

Upwards of a thousand San Diegans rallied and marched on Thursday, May 1, for International Workers Day, shining light on a number of local unions involved in fights with management and on the contributions by immigrants to the nation. They rallied in Hillcrest, Balboa Park, at Chicano Park and at the Waterfront Park at the bay.

Nearly a 1,000 demonstrators marched in the morning through the streets from UC San Diego Hillcrest Medical Center to Balboa Park. Later in the day at Waterfront Park, dozens protested and then at night, hundreds rallied at Chicano Park.

Demonstrations occurred across the country — and the world in honor of workers.

The U-T reported:

At the hospital in Hillcrest, hundreds of UC San Diego Health system employees — including tech support specialists, pharmacists and patient ambassadors — gathered around 10 a.m. near the hospital’s entrance to demand better pay and work conditions during a one-day strike.

by Ernie McCray

We have a president
who commits treason,
an offense that just happens to be
our country’s
most serious crime
and we haven’t called him out on it
at any time
which blows my mind
because there have been times
when engaging in trying to overthrow
the government
came with a steep price,

By Steven Greenhut / San Diego U-T / March 9, 2025

Back when conservatives championed ideas rather than outsourced their thinking to their leader, they touted a simple saying: “Ideas have consequences.” Conservatives also understood that while people should always be free to make their own choices based on those ideas, they should be responsible for the consequences of their decisions.

By all means, follow the advice of that YouTube quack who argues that vaccines include microchips that control the population. But when your kid is hospitalized with measles, that’s on you. Unfortunately in a democratic society, the population must endure the brunt of ludicrous ideas imposed by elected officials. (Check out my columns about the awful ones in California.)

We’re now at the “good and hard” part of H.L. Mencken’s definition about democracy being “the theory that the common people know what they want and deserve to get it.” That’s certainly the case with economic policy. If you occasionally check your retirement accounts and did so after the last two times President Donald Trump imposed 25-percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico, you will have noticed that they dropped precipitously.

As tariffs on Canada and Mexico go into effect on Tuesday, March 4, local San Diego industries prepare to suffer. From the building industry and new homes to the city’s craft beer businesses, all expect to be hurt.

Even while U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said on Sunday, March 2 that Trump will determine whether to stick with the planned 25% level or not, San Diego will undoubtedly be affected negatively.

For example, Nat Bosa is a developer whose company, Vancouver, Canada-based Bosa Development, is in the middle of construction on a 389-unit condo tower called Andia in downtown San Diego, with plans to build a 211-unit apartment building next to Children’s Park. He is flabbergasted at the looming tariffs.

Bosa told the U-T, “To have the illusion (tariffs) would not cost us more money is absolute insanity. Right now, we have no idea to what extent.”

By Brooke Binkowski / Times of San Diego / March 3, 2025

A Lithuanian man who was attempting to row from San Diego to Brisbane in order to raise awareness for Ukraine was rescued in the South Pacific by the Australian Navy Sunday after he ran into a tropical cyclone.

Aurimas Mockus, 44, set off from Shelter Island last October. He said at the time that he was doing in order to honor the thousands of people who have died in the Russia-led war in Ukraine and to remind the world to continue to pay attention to the ongoing violence there.

Moves to Bolster Country’s Sovereignty Against Trump’s Threats to Invade Under Guise of Attacking Cartels

By Mexico News Daily Staff / Feb. 20, 2025

At her Thursday morning press conference, President Claudia Sheinbaum responded to the United States’ designation of six Mexican cartels as foreign terrorist organizations by announcing she was sending a constitutional reform proposal to Congress to bolster the protection of Mexico’s sovereignty.

Among other issues, Sheinbaum also spoke about United States President Donald Trump’s decision to launch an anti-drug campaign.

Sheinbaum’s proposed reform would add two paragraphs to the Mexican constitution’s Article 40, stating among other things, that Mexico will not consent to intervention by foreign entities in Mexican territory, not even for the purpose of investigating or prosecuting crimes. (Daniel Augusto/Cuartoscuro)

On the day the United States’ designation of six Mexican cartels as foreign terrorist organizations took effect, Sheinbaum declared that Mexico’s sovereignty is not up for negotiation.

The terrorist designations of the Sinaloa Cartel, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel and other Mexican criminal organizations “can’t be an opportunity for the United States to invade our sovereignty,” she said.

By Paul Krueger

In response to the U-T article about San Diego mayor going on 8-day visit to the Philippines (Feb. 12), I have to say this story raises as many questions as it answers, and I trust your reporters will keep digging for the details.

When will Mayor Gloria’s office provide documentation confirming he paid the full cost of his travel?

Why did the mayor need two members of his police security detail to accompany him on this trip? It’s hard to imagine a security threat during a friendly visit to a friendly country.