‘A legacy news brand brings a visibility of its own’

‘CBS deal smells like a gimmick’

Holman W. Jenkins Jr. at The Wall Street Journal

There is “only one thing worse than being exploited by rapacious capitalists and that’s not being exploited by them,” but the “old saying doesn’t necessarily imply at least a semi-happy ending for the deal between CBS and Bari Weiss,” says Holman W. Jenkins Jr. Weiss’ “blogging and podcasting startup, supposedly a sophisticated answer to the failings of traditional news, quickly grew a reputation beyond its actual influence or usefulness.” The “deal fairly obviously is meant for another purpose.”

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‘Who knew ICE could be so funny? Just check out videos of their fails.’

Gustavo Arellano at the Los Angeles Times

“Crank up the Benny Hill theme song and let the belly laughs commence,” says Gustavo Arellano. To “watch videos of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in action failing bigly is like watching ‘Star Wars’ Stormtroopers constantly misfiring or bonking their heads despite the full backing of the emperor himself.” It’s a “reminder that martial law-hungry Trump’s would-be empire is not all powerful.” And that “Americans can still snicker in the face of official wrong — and should.”

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‘It’s Oct. 7 again: Bring the hostages home — every single one’

Brian Siegal at the Miami Herald

The Israeli hostages’ “stories haunt us not just because of their brutality but because they continue. Families still wait. So do the hostages,” says Brian Siegal. What “makes the situation even more unbearable is what we know about the conditions in which these hostages are being held. Starved. Tortured. Denied medical care.” This is “not just a Jewish or Israeli issue. Indeed, a considerable number of those murdered or kidnapped on Oct. 7 were neither Jewish nor Israeli.”

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‘The wrong way to fight homelessness’

Amy Shea at The Progressive

Cities have “taken to cracking down on people who lack housing — not by finding them places to live, but by kicking them out of the places they are seeking shelter,” says Amy Shea. The “trauma, material setbacks, and disconnection from social services that result from these sweeps may increase displaced people’s risk of overdose and death.” For “unhoused people, being allowed to exist in public is essential for accessing basic needs such as public transport, health care, education, and commerce.”

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