Washington

The eastern Washington state congressional district (WA-05) is one of the hottest in the country.

There was no primary or special election in North Carolina yesterday and the Democratic candidate, Dan McCready, is a Blue Dog who will be voting frequently with the GOP when he gets into Congress-- Blue Dogs always do. But with the existential danger of Trump hanging over us, with have to hold our noses and hope congressional candidates like McCready win. And in this case, we probably don't have to hope too hard, because he's very likely to win.

In a lawsuit alleging systematic wage theft, thousands of detained immigrants held at GEO Group’s Northwest Detention Center (NWDC) were certified as a class by a federal judge.
The United States District Court for the Western District of Washington rejected an argument by the private prison contractor that the immigrants are “unemployable” by GEO—because they “lack work authorization”—and so they cannot claim the contractor has violated the state’s minimum wage law.

The American establishment is not the only government struggling with President Trump. So is that of the US’ closest ally, Great Britain.
According to a report from RT, the London government is alarmed by the prospect of a “peace deal” that might be negotiated by Russian President Vladimir Putin and the American president.

Translated and subtitled by Scott Humor Life has once again confirmed the validity of assessment given by a former Polish foreign minister Radoslaw Sikorski.     This long gone former

File photo of US President Donald Trump with Chinese President Xi Jinping. It is unclear how the tariffs will affect their warm relationship
China on Saturday continued its second day of harsh criticism of the Trump administration for imposing tariffs set to go into effect on July 6.
A Chinese state newspaper said the US President had an “obsession with playing the disgraceful role of global economic disruptor.”
“The wise man builds bridges, the fool builds walls,” it said.

French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to the US does not deserve the attention the news media is giving it.
Macron has nothing to offer Trump.  France is only a bit player in the Syrian war.  France’s military contribution to the Syrian raid was token.  France does not lead Europe, Germany does, and does not decide EU policy, which is decided not in Paris but in Berlin.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is no longer being depicted by the White House as the insane leader of a rogue state. Here, he is addressing the central committee of the ruling Workers’ Party in Pyongyang [North Korean Central News Agency]
All eyes are on the Korean Peninsula this week as the leaders of the North and South prepare for a historic summit which comes after years of tensions and war rhetoric.
The summit is the third such meeting of Korean heads of state in the past 65 years.

Russian FM Serge Lavrov does not want Syria to go the way of Iraq and Libya [PPIO]
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has once again pointed to the US debacle in Iraq and Libya as likely fallout if Washington repeats its former foreign policies in Syria.
“God forbid anything adventurous will be done in Syria following the Libyan and Iraqi experience,” Lavrov told a press conference on Friday.
Russia has previously pointed to these two Middle Eastern and North African states as the aftermath of US interventionism in the region.

(TIM) — A law that went into effect in 2017 introduced the Extreme Risk Protection Order (ERPO), which allows law enforcement in the state of Washington to confiscate a gun owner’s firearms if the owner is deemed a threat to themselves or others by a judge. This law, also referred to as a “red flag” gun law, has led […]