Now I know what they do at faculty meetings on the humanities/social sciences side of campus » « They never learn

Infinite Thread XXXIX

It’s almost spring-like outside — the skies are clear, we’ve got cool breezes on a comfortable day, the plants are coming back… I know it can’t last but I’ll make the most of it. I’ve opened windows to let birdsong in and to drive the cat crazy.

Let the pleasant conversations flow!

Previous Thread

Now I know what they do at faculty meetings on the humanities/social sciences side of campus » « They never learn

Comments

  1. says

    NBC NEWS:

    A federal judge on Tuesday dismissed a U.S. Department of Justice lawsuit against Arizona seeking access to the state’s detailed voter records, the latest legal setback in a nationwide effort by the Trump administration.

  2. says

    Washington Post:

    The Government Accountability Office plans to examine the Justice Department’s handling of files related to Jeffrey Epstein after a bipartisan group of senators raised concerns that the department violated the law.

  3. says

    For the convenience of readers, here are some links back to the previous set of 500 comments on The Infinite thread.

    https://proxy.freethought.online/pharyngula/2026/03/30/infinite-thread-xxxix/comment-page-2/#comment-2299261
    I am a retired petroleum engineer who spent the majority of my career analyzing pressure buildups of shut-in wells. All I have to say about this is WHAT A FUCKING IDIOT [Trump is].
    Posted in reference to ignorant and incorrect statements Trump made concerning oil production in Iran.

    https://proxy.freethought.online/pharyngula/2026/03/30/infinite-thread-xxxix/comment-page-2/#comment-2299392
    The White House ups the ante, characterizes Trump as a ‘king’ again

    https://proxy.freethought.online/pharyngula/2026/03/30/infinite-thread-xxxix/comment-page-2/#comment-2299390
    Amid energy crisis, administration uses tax dollars to scuttle renewable energy projects

    https://proxy.freethought.online/pharyngula/2026/03/30/infinite-thread-xxxix/comment-page-2/#comment-2299368
    Ukraine announced that not only are they making most of their tactical FPVs domestically but eight Ukrainian manufacturers have produced and tested new tactical FPVs with decidedly cutting edge envelope-pushing electronic warfare(EW) defeating attributes … no fiber-optic tether cables needed

    https://proxy.freethought.online/pharyngula/2026/03/30/infinite-thread-xxxix/comment-page-2/#comment-2299367
    Alito Pens Decision That ‘Eviscerates’ The Voting Rights Act

  4. says

    New York Times:

    A simple strip of treated paper that can swiftly signal whether a street drug contains deadly fentanyl or other contaminants is a common overdose prevention tool.

    […] But on Friday afternoon, the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration sent a letter to state health departments and grant recipients across the country, saying that the government would no longer pay for the strips because they are ‘intended for use by people using drugs.’

  5. says

    MS NOW:

    Maurene Comey, the daughter of former FBI Director James Comey and a former federal prosecutor, may proceed with her lawsuit alleging the Justice Department’s decision to fire her last year was politically motivated, a federal judge ruled on Tuesday.

  6. says

    Washington Post report, as summarized by Steve Benen:

    Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky does not often ask good questions, but there are infrequent exceptions: “Why is the Pentagon holding up Ukraine funds?

    Steve Benen writes for The Maddow Blog.

  7. StevoR says

    Putin’s mate gets to go through the strait ..

    It’s the most talked-about, and dangerous, stretch of ocean in the world right now, but at the weekend, a superyacht linked to one of Russia’s richest men made it through the Strait of Hormuz. …(snip)..

    ..Nord, (superyacht’s name – ed) worth an estimated $US500 million ($698 million), has a complex ownership structure that can be traced to the wife of billionaire Alexei Mordashov. The 60-year-old oligarch is a close associate of Russian President Vladimir Putin and has been sanctioned by multiple Western nations, including Australia, in the years since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

    …(Snip)..

    … Mr Mordashov, a mining magnate, is said to be Russia’s richest man (other than Mr Putin) and is estimated to be worth more than $50 billion.

    Source : https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-04-29/nord-superyacht-slips-through-strait-of-hormuz/106618630

  8. StevoR says

    Australian PM Albo holdinga pressconference on the realease of the post Bondi shooting anti-Semitism report – Aussie ABC live blog here :

    The antisemitism royal commission releases its interim report, recommending an urgent review of Joint Counter Terrorism teams and greater police presence at high-risk Jewish events.

    …(Snip)…

    Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been asked how long it will take to implement the interim report’s recommendations.

    The interim report contained 14 recommendations, including five that were kept secret because they contained sensitive information.

    Albanese says the government has only just seen the report this morning and that the government has agreed to adopt the recommendations.

    Source : https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-04-30/federal-politics-live-blog-jim-chalmers-budget/106621316

  9. StevoR says

    So not exactly stars or Black Holes but fusions of those kinda. I think :

    The discovery of an X-ray signal coinciding with the location of one of the mysterious ‘little red dots’ found by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has strengthened the theory that the dots are ‘black hole stars’ — huge, dense clumps of gas energized by the presence of a growing supermassive black hole within them.

    The little red dots may be the biggest cosmological discovery made so far by the JWST, and possibly the most important since the discovery of dark energy in 1998. If they are what astronomers think they are, then they would act as a crucial missing link in the formation of not only supermassive black holes but also the galaxies that grow around them.

    Source : https://www.space.com/astronomy/black-holes/james-webb-space-telescopes-strange-little-red-dots-may-really-be-black-hole-stars-x-ray-data-suggests

  10. StevoR says

    Asteroid Ryugu is proving to be one of the most scientifically valuable time capsules in the solar system.

    A recent study of microscopic grains collected from Ryugu by Japan’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft found the tiny space rock harbors minerals that formed long before Earth itself — minerals that have been preserved in pristine condition for billions of years.

    Using cutting-edge X-ray imaging tools, researchers from the Brookhaven National Laboratory examined the chemistry of the asteroid samples in extraordinary detail, revealing a mixture of minerals and elements that trace back to the asteroid’s ancient parent body, according to a statement from the laboratory.

    Source : https://www.space.com/astronomy/asteroids/scientists-discover-minerals-in-asteroid-ryugu-that-are-older-than-earth-itself

  13. says

    Supreme Court Rules in Lockstep with Trump Admin’s Vision of a Whiter America

    The Supreme Court exposed the grisly underpinning of the Trump administration Wednesday as it ruled to subordinate minority voters to white ones, and seemed ready to allow the government to summarily end protected status for endangered refugees.

    The administration is an amicus supporting Louisiana in Louisiana v. Callais — a landmark ruling in which the Supreme Court made the Voting Rights Act dead letter — and the petitioner in the consolidated cases Mullin v. Doe and Trump v. Miot, a challenge to the Department of Homeland Security’s abrupt ending of the temporary protective status of Haitian and Syrian refugees.

    In Callais, the Court’s right wing reinstated a discriminatory intent test that in the past had made the VRA so unusable that Congress intervened, clarifying in the 1982 amendments that legislative and congressional maps only had to have a discriminatory effect to be unlawful. Bucking that legislative history, Justice Samuel Alito wrote for the majority that plaintiffs could now only succeed with Section 2 claims by completely disentangling voters’ race from their political preferences — an impossibility in the South particularly, with its racially polarized voting. […]

    The ruling could return the country to a pre-VRA status quo, where Black voters, particularly in the South, were carefully sorted into districts so their preferences would be swamped by those of the white voters. This disenfranchisement also had the knock-on effect of robbing huge swaths of the country of minority representatives.

    When Alito wrote that the country and the South particularly “have made great strides in ending entrenched racial discrimination,” he did so with the benefit of seeing how the Court’s prior blows to the VRA have played out on the ground. Since the Court did away with preclearance in 2013 — the requirement that jurisdictions with histories of racially discriminatory voting practices get changes in voting laws approved by the federal government — red states unloaded new restrictions. A study by the Brennan Center found that the turnout gap between white and Black voters has grown nearly twice as quickly in previously precleared counties than in comparable, non-covered ones. [!]

    […] not one case has successfully challenged a voting restriction.

    During briefings, attorneys for the voters presented extensive evidence of the dearth of Black political participation and representation in Louisiana prior to the passage of the VRA.

    “In just five years, almost as many African Americans registered to vote in six Southern States as in the entire century before 1965,” Justice Elena Kagan wrote in her Callais dissent. [!]

    The conservative justices know that Callais makes Section 2 cases virtually impossible to bring, that it’ll have the same effect as their previous deteriorations of the VRA. They know that they’re making minority voters vulnerable to being redistricted or restricted out of electoral power — and they also know that most of those minority voters vote Democrat.

    ‘Shithole’ Countries

    In Mullin v. Doe and Trump v. Miot, the racial animus was even more surface-level. The Trump administration ended TPS status for over a dozen countries, many in Africa, and most whose emigrants are likely to be people of color.

    […] Trump called African countries, Haiti and El Salvador “shithole” nations, described Somalia as “filthy, dirty, disgusting, ridden with crime,” and said that immigrants are “poisoning the blood of our country.” […]

    At issue in Mullin and Miot are the statuses specifically of Haitian and Syrian TPS holders. The DHS secretary is supposed to assess the conditions of those countries and consult with others before making a determination to extend or terminate the status. Respondents argue that then-DHS Secretary Kristi Noem didn’t fulfill her statutory requirements before making her decision; the administration says that every part of that decision is immune from judicial review.

    On Wednesday, a majority of justices (perhaps a bipartisan majority) seemed amenable to Trump’s position.

    Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, the most staunchly opposed to the administration’s arguments, asked Solicitor General John Sauer whether Trump’s various derogatory comments about the countries involved was proof of impermissible discriminatory intent, as a lower court had found. He said no, that the quotes were taken out of context and that Trump was referring to things like the crime rate. [Bullshit]

    […] Jackson said. “At the same time that it is the policy of the United States to encourage and welcome immigrants from places like Norway and Denmark and white South Africans.”

    […] Even a win for the TPS holders would likely be fleeting [important point]; the requirements the administration must fulfill before it can end the status are not onerous, and could have been done in the time that administration has chosen to fight in court.

    In just one day, the Court turned back the clock on the progress of multiracial democracy to 1965 and signaled that it will likely allow Trump to quickly end protections for hundreds of thousands of refugees of color and deport them to countries riven with violence and instability. This is the Make America Great Again mission.

  14. says

    Democrats vow to fight back after Supreme Court guts Voting Rights Act

    […] the Supreme Court on Wednesday took a sledgehammer to the Voting Rights Act […]

    Democrats are vowing to respond in kind if Republicans try to gerrymander their way to a permanent majority.

    Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez of New York told reporters on Wednesday that she supports Democrats fighting fire with fire in a gerrymandering battle.

    “I have long felt that we all have to play by the same set of rules. And the Republican caucus has made it very clear that they want and are setting rules of partisan gerrymandering,” she told reporters on the steps of the U.S. Capitol. “The Democratic caucus has tried to pass nonpartisan gerrymandering for 10 years—Republicans have rejected it.”

    “If Republicans are going to redraw North Carolina, if they’re going to redraw Texas, if they’re going to redraw and gerrymander every one of their states, then unfortunately we have to provide balance to that until we get to the day when we can all finally agree to put this behind us and pass nonpartisan gerrymandering federally,” she added. [Good point.]

    Democrats and voters in left-leaning states are already proving that they will not sit back and let Republicans gerrymander their way to a majority. California and Virginia both passed ballot measures that suspend their states’ independent redistricting commissions so Democrats could draw more favorable maps. [Current maps and more details are available at the link.]

    Ultimately, the Supreme Court’s decision makes it all the more imperative that Democrats win state legislative and gubernatorial elections across the country as they seek to block Republicans from drawing their way to power in 2028.

    It’s also imperative that Democrats win a 2028 trifecta—i.e., control of the House, Senate, and White House—to be able to pass a nationwide gerrymandering ban, finally stop this race to the bottom, and ensure that voters, not politicians in backrooms, get to decide who represents them. […]

    “Today’s Supreme Court decision will empower Trump and Republicans to suppress voters of color,” the House Democratic conference wrote in a post on X. “Republicans want to rig our elections in their favor, but Democrats won’t let them. We will fight back against this attack on our democracy.”

  15. says

    https://www.wonkette.com/p/splc-politely-tells-judge-that-trump

    “SPLC Politely Tells Judge That Trump DOJ Is Full Of Sh*t And Lies”

    “What an absolute pain in the ass this all is for the good guys.”

    There have been a bunch of humiliating moments for the Department of Justice this week, things that cement the fact that until or unless the Democrats retake power and reform the agency in a way that erases and reverses its entire Trump legacy, it will never be an institution worthy of freely given respect, honor or deference ever again.

    It’s sad how they’ve 86-ed themselves in that way, 86-ed their integrity, 86-ed their reputation, but the same can be said for every other American institution that’s voluntarily 86-ed itself ever since the fascists took control.

    (For those unfamiliar, “86”-ing is a term for the violence that naturally occurs when James Comey sees seashells on a beach.)

    Obviously we are referring to the DOJ’s latest attempt to indict Comey, and the embarrassing Truth Social post (acting) Attorney General Todd Blanche affixed his name to and filed as a brief […]

    And then there is the latest series of filings in the Trump DOJ case against the Southern Poverty Law Center, in which the […] DOJ attempts to prove that the SPLC “defrauded” its donors by using paid informants to infiltrate white supremacist and other extremist groups. […]

    In reality, this is happening because the Trump DOJ is still mad the SPLC essentially took out the Klan and has continued to do that with so many extremist groups over the decades. […]

    It’s also happening because in order for authoritarians to capture a nation, they have to make it impossible for the good guys to keep operating freely [True!], by whatever means they can manage, and one of the authoritarian playbook’s favorite ways of doing that is to bankrupt them with legal bills. [Unfortunately true.]

    These new filings come to the court from the SPLC’s real, professional lawyers, and they {question] the very premise of the DOJ’s case over and over and over and over again.

    Precisely, the SPLC would like to know exactly what kind of bullshit lies Trump’s attorneys told the grand jury. Two of the main headings in one of the filings read:

    I. THE SUBSTANTIAL LIKELIHOOD THAT THE GOVERNMENT CARRIED GROSS MISREPRESENTATIONS OF MATERIAL ISSUES INTO THE GRAND JURY PROCEEDING WARRANTS DISCLOSURE OF GRAND JURY MATERIALS

    and

    II. THE GOVERNMENT IS NOT ENTITLED TO THE PRESUMPTION OF REGULARITY

    […] That filing begins by noting that the DOJ’s case against the SPLC is trying to criminalize their very work to take apart extremist organizations like the KKK and the Aryan Nations. […] they explain that they have done that work in part by sharing what they find with the FBI.

    […] They just took the established relationship between the FBI, the DOJ, and the SPLC, eliminated it, then declared that the SPLC’s work itself was now a crime.

    […] Receipts!

    The filings lay out the dishonesty of the indictment itself, and specifically call out Todd Blanche lying on Fox News that the DOJ had “no information” that suggests SPLC “then turned around and shared what they learned with law enforcement” from its informants.

    Indeed, one of the motions is fully about how Todd Blanche blatantly lied to Laura Ingraham about the case, asks the judge to force Blanche to issue a retraction, and order him to go forth and stop his damned lying. [nice work SPLC]

    Block quote, with a big example about how the SPLC worked with the government related to the Charlottesville Unite the Right Nazi rally during Trump 1.0: [I snipped part of the quote, which you can read at the link. The details are highly relevant.]

    […] Filings further bring receipts showing the SPLC tipped the DOJ about a potential 2019 terrorist attack on Las Vegas by the white supremacist group Atomwaffen Division, and more. There are numerous examples of “the extensive coordination that the SPLC maintained with federal and state law enforcement over the years, including but not limited to details regarding criminal activity detected, prevented and prosecuted.”

    The filings cite Trump administration officials’ repeated lies that the SPLC is “giving money to the KKK,” and note that not even the DOJ’s idiot indictment alleges that. […]

    They cite Ka$h […] lying and saying the SPLC “turned around and paid the leaders of these very extremist groups” and used SPLC donors’ money “to sow discord and hate.”

    And then of course, by the time the game of Dementia Test Telephone got to Donald Trump, the lie vomited itself out of his mouth as “[S]outhern law, whatever it is, has given money to KKK, they’re supposed to protect people and they’re paying all these people, crooked as can be millions of dollars, millions of dollars going all, to all these people that they’re supposed to be protecting from [.]” [FFS]

    These repeated, false, and prejudicial remarks by the Administration’s most senior officials not only violate Justice Department norms and long-held principles of federal prosecution, but they illustrate, among other things, the stunning and blatant irregularity, politicization, and manifest risk of prosecutorial misconduct in this case.

    […] We will attempt to summarize […]:

    We think they lied to the grand jury, based on all their public lies […]

    We don’t think they properly instructed the grand jury what any of the laws allegedly broken actually mean. […]

    Your Honor, this is all part of Donald Trump’s longstanding witch-hunt against the SPLC, and here are all the receipts […]

    Did we mention, Your Honor, that the DOJ never even subpoenaed or contacted the SPLC during its “investigation,” but rather the SPLC had to call them to try to figure out what the hell was going on? […]

    Indeed and forsooth, in the days and weeks before the indictment dropped, the SPLC provided the DOJ with beaucoup information about its informant program, specifics, with times, dates, extremists who had been convicted, and so forth. Then Todd Blanche went on TV and lied about that. Very rude of him, Your Honor!

    […] A good excerpt: “As one court recently described, while ‘[g]enerations of presidential administrations and public officials have validated this underlying premise of the presumption of regularity,’ ‘[i]n just six months, the President of the United States may have forfeited the right to such a presumption’ entirely.”

    In summary and in conclusion, Your Honor, we believe that we should have all the grand jury shit handed the fuck over to us, respectfully of course, Your Honor.

    Signed, Abbe Lowell, actual superlawyer who is leading the actual dream team defending the SPLC. The judge has until May 5 to rule. […]

    What an absolute pain in the ass for the good guys this all is. But that’s the point when authoritarians are trying to capture nations, isn’t it?

    This is true, about everything DOJ is doing right now: […]

    More at the link. I snipped a lot. Embedded links to additional sources are available at the main link.

  17. StevoR says

    Surprising and positive news here if thsi study is correct :

    Planets may form more easily around pairs of stars than around single stars like the sun, according to new research.

    Binary star systems, in which two stars orbit each other, are common throughout the Milky Way — and, in fact, even our sun may not have always been alone. For decades, astronomers believed such multi-star systems were hostile environments for planet formation, with competing gravitational forces stirring up surrounding material and preventing planets from taking shape.

    The new study, however, suggests that while the inner regions of these systems are indeed too chaotic for planets to form, their outer reaches may actually produce planets more efficiently than single-star systems do.

    Source : https://www.space.com/astronomy/exoplanets/is-tatooine-the-norm-planets-may-prefer-living-with-two-suns-instead-of-one

  19. birgerjohansson says

    On the topic of arrogant military decision makers.

    -I was reading up on Australian history. The battle at Milne Bay was the first Japanese defeat after eight months of straight victories. For something so important one may think it was fought over a vast tract.
    .
    From the easternmost landing site to Stephen’s Ridge (at No.3 airstrip) in the west, it is barely ten miles. Yet, the terrain was so atrocious and the mosoon rain-induced mud so deep that everything – when plotted on a map – seems to have happened in slow motion.
    No wonder the Japanese got dysentery with only filthy surface water mixed with mud to drink. The Kokoda trail to the west was also a rather compact business, but for the Japanese it must have been almost like Napoleon’s march on Moscow.
    .
    Also, I suspect the Japanese high command were in the same state of mind as Hegseth. Why worry about details when you know you are absolutely superior.

  20. birgerjohansson says

    StevoR @ 17

    I am sorry, but my interpretation is more pessimistic. Gas giant planets can form more easily, but they have no solid surface. There are speculations that very large moons could supply necessary conditions for life but this is guesswork.
    .
    If gravitational instabilities in the disc can form planets more easily in a binary system, this means ‘lumps of gas’ (with a sprinkling of dust) contracting into gas giants.

  21. JM says

    MyWifeQuitHerJob Ecommerce Channel: Amazon Just Lost Control Of Shopping! What It Means For You
    He talks about two things of significance here that show that Amazon is losing some control. They are not in deep trouble yet but losing some of the huge control they had of online sales.
    First is Amazon reversing a change on sellers due to a boycott of Amazon advertising by the sellers. Sellers almost never will this way but here it was enough advertisers that spend enough money through Amazon and the change itself was small. Amazon was banning using credit cards to pay for buying advertising on Amazon.
    Second is the long term trend. Amazon is moving away from being where people go to shop. More people are turning to other platforms to look for new products and to do product research. They often go to Amazon to actually buy but it means that other platforms can get sales easier and Amazon is losing it’s ability to influence what people buy.
    Losing influence is important is two ways. Amazon has less control of companies because they have less of a stranglehold on their business. Amazon advertising is not as valuable. This cuts into Amazon’s profits because the advertising Amazon sells on Amazon is 100% profit.
    He doesn’t really talk about it but notes in passing that one of the places people are turning to shop is AIs. With the current generation of AI this is a bad idea and it’s only a matter of time before AI companies start charging for AIs to recommend products.

  24. says

    Follow-up to comment 22.

    I see that staff at “All In” made a mistake when then posted videos for last night’s show. Segment 1 and Segment 2 seem to be the same, although the links differ. I’m hoping they correct that soon. In the meantime, the first link (labeled as “Segment 2) works well. Just use that one.

  26. says

    News as posted by PBS and summarized by Steve Benen:

    In response to Republican-appointed Supreme Court justices gutting the Voting Rights Act, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry has suspended next month’s primary elections so the legislature can approve a new district map.

    Very bad news for black voters. Very bad news for democracy.

  28. says

    Follow-up to comment 26.

    News as posted by Washington Times, and summarized by Steve Benen:

    In Tennessee, there’s only one Democrat in the state’s congressional delegation [!], but in the wake of the Supreme Court’s ruling, Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn wants her party to approve a new gerrymandered map to ensure total GOP domination [!]. The incumbent senator is generally seen as the front-runner in this year’s gubernatorial race.

    And there’s this from The Atlanta Journal Constitution:

    In Georgia, Republicans are also preparing to take advantage of the gutted Voting Rights Act, but any partisan changes almost certainly won’t be implemented before the 2028 election cycle.

  29. StevoR says

    Framce24 has (had?) live coverage of Kegsbreath gett8ing grilled by Congress here :

    https://www.france24.com/en/middle-east/20260430-middle-east-war-live-trump-says-us-may-cut-troops-in-germany-as-iran-row-rages

    US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth faces a second day of grilling from Democrats on Capitol Hill, with senators getting their first opportunity on Thursday to confront the Pentagon chief over his handling of the Iran war. Follow our liveblog for the latest updates.

  30. says

    […] the Trump administration announced a sweeping rollback of gun safeguards. The New York Times reported:

    The changes include rescinding a 2024 regulation from the Biden administration that sought to end what gun control advocates call the “gun show loophole.” That exemption allowed unlicensed dealers to sell firearms without performing a background check to see if the prospective buyer was prohibited by law from owning a gun.

    The administration also plans to rescind a 2023 rule that restricted pistol braces, an attachment that enables the shooter to hold the weapon against their shoulder like a rifle.

    Among other things, the timing was striking. Four days earlier, a Secret Service agent was shot at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner. That same evening, there were two university-area shootings, which came just days after a mass shooting in Louisiana, which came just days after a different mass shooting in Louisiana, which coincided with a mass shooting in North Carolina.

    Team Trump saw this and decided it was time for a response — in the form of scrapping policies designed to prevent gun violence.

    […] A few months ago, Trump’s Justice Department announced it would no longer enforce a federal ban on mailing handguns through the U.S. Postal Service, which was first approved 99 years ago. [!]

    Months earlier, The New York Times reported that Trump’s DOJ had also decided to slash the number of inspectors who monitor federally licensed gun dealers by two-thirds, “sharply limiting the government’s already crimped capacity to identify businesses that sell guns to criminals.”

    The month before that, the Trump administration decided it would permit the sale of “forced reset triggers,” which can turn semiautomatic weapons into guns that can fire more bullets, more quickly and easily. [!]

    Alas, we can keep going. After the 2022 massacre at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, there was bipartisan support for significant new investments in improving mental health support for students as part of an effort to lessen the likelihood of future mass shootings. The Trump administration, however, decided to block $1 billion in grants for student mental health programs […]

    A week before these revelations came to light, The Washington Post reported that Trump’s DOJ had canceled hundreds of grants to community organizations and local governments, “including funding for gun-violence prevention programs.”

    […] as recently as his first term, Trump at least briefly sought ambitious gun reforms [examples at the link], up to and including extrajudicial gun confiscations. In his second term, Tr and his administration have moved aggressively in the opposite direction.

    Link

  33. says

    Pressed on Pentagon purge, Hegseth pushes false claim about Obama-era firings

    “[Hegseth] faced bipartisan pushback on his many firings. He replied with a statistic that wasn’t real.”

    The list of controversies surrounding Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is not short, but near the top is the unusually aggressive purge campaign he’s led at the Pentagon that’s seen a staggering number of U.S. military leaders fired since he took the reins early last year.

    Last week, for example, the former Fox News host ousted Navy Secretary John Phelan, which came on the heels of Hegseth also firing Gen. Randy George, the Army’s top officer. Those developments followed the secretary forcing out Col. Dave Butler, which came after he parted ways with three-star Lt. Gen. Joe McGee, which came just two weeks after the public learned about Adm. Alvin Holsey resigning as head of the U.S. Southern Command, reportedly at Hegseth’s request.

    This is just a small part of a much longer list, and even some congressional Republicans have mustered the courage to express concern.

    […] For his part, [Hegseth] had a specific defense, which he appeared to have prepared in advance. “Under Barack Obama, 197 general officers were removed,” Hegseth testified. “So this is not something specific to this administration.”

    […] The problem is that Hegseth, in his sworn testimony, peddled a bogus statistic. The New York Times reported:

    The number Mr. Hegseth gave has no basis in fact. It originated with an unsigned 2018 editorial in Investor’s Business Daily, which cites the right-wing news site “Breitbart.com’s Facebook page” as its source.

    Mr. Hegseth’s actions to fire senior military leaders are without precedent in recent decades and have come with little explanation.

    The Times’ report went on to note that Sean Parnell, an acerbic Pentagon spokesperson, cited the same statistic in a written statement last fall. When challenged on the figure, a DOD press secretary asked the Times not to publish Parnell’s statement.

    Five months later, Hegseth nevertheless pushed the same line while under oath in response to bipartisan criticisms.

    The Times’ report added, “The Pentagon did not reply to questions on Wednesday regarding Mr. Hegseth’s use of the false number.” Imagine that.

  34. says

    Follow-up to comment 14.

    A Sampling of the Legal Reax

    Law professor Richard Hasen: “Wednesday’s 6–3 party-line decision in Louisiana v. Callais will go down in history as one of the most pernicious and damaging Supreme Court decisions of the last century.”

    TPM’s Kate Riga: “The conservative justices know that Callais makes Section 2 cases virtually impossible to bring, that it’ll have the same effect as their previous deteriorations of the VRA. They know that they’re making minority voters vulnerable to being redistricted or restricted out of electoral power — and they also know that most of those minority voters vote Democrat.”

    Civil rights lawyer Sherrilyn Ifill: “[I]t is a mistake to consider today’s decision just a blow for the political rights of racial minorities. Today’s decision strikes a blow at the fragile infrastructure of our democracy. It casts aside the precious and noble actions undertaken by countless generations of activists, lawyers, and legislators, who worked to bring this country closer to becoming a true multi-racial democracy. It rides roughshod over the will of Congress. In its place, the Court leaves a bare-fisted zero-sum game of partisan politics and an open door to the return of full-on racial exclusion in political representation. So long as it’s dressed up as partisan gerrymandering or incumbency protection, it’s all good.”

    Link

  35. says

    New York Times:

    Oil Hits Wartime High Above $120 a Barrel as Standoff Shows No End in Sight

    The longer the disruption to Middle East fuel supplies lasts, the risk grows that higher energy costs will feed into broader inflation that could dent economic growth.

    […] Trump maintained his stance that the naval blockade of Iran’s ports would persist until Tehran gives up its nuclear program. His remarks to Axios on Wednesday suggested that the standoff over the Strait of Hormuz, the vital trading route for oil and natural gas supplies, was not nearing a resolution.

    The average price of regular gasoline in the United States has followed oil higher, hitting $4.30 a gallon on Thursday, up 27 cents in a week, according to data from the AAA motor club. […]

  38. says

    https://www.wonkette.com/p/trump-knows-86-is-a-real-death-threat

    “Trump Knows ’86’ Is A Real Death Threat, Like ’23 Skidoo’ And ‘Why I Oughta!'”

    […] Trump really seems to think that the slang term “86” means to kill someone, as he explained yesterday that he’s seen it in the movies, the moving pictures […]

    (It has also been long discussed how Trump thinks movies are real.)

    Below is a clip of Trump in the White House yesterday. Does Trump really think James Comey was threatening him with a picture of Instagram seashells, as the Trump Department of Justice hilariously wants us to believe, like we’re stupid? […] [video]

    TRUMP: Well if anybody knows anything about crime, they know 86, you know, 86, it’s a mob term for kill ‘em, you ever seen the movies?

    He continued:

    TRUMP: 86 ‘em! The mobster says to one of his wonderful associates, ’86 ‘em, that means kill ‘em! It’s uh, I think of it as a mob term, I don’t, people think of it as something having to do with disappearing, but the mob uses that term to say, when they want to kill somebody, they say “86 the son of a gun!” I’m trying to keep the language nice and clear, they don’t use that term “son of a gun” they use another term, but that’s a mob term for kill ‘em.

    It’s been pointed out that it’s entirely possible Trump is confusing “86” with “deep six.” After all, this is the man whose brain turns “people asking for asylum at the border” and mangles it into “THEY’RE EMPTYING OUT THE INSANE ASYLUMS” […]

    And hey sure, maybe some mob movie Trump watched as a child used “86.” It makes sense, of course, that the mob boss president would be clinging to references like that. Because he’s old. And sad. And his brain is expired.

    Continuing to live in a black-and-white mob movie only he remembers, […] Trump kept babbling to the people in the Oval Office, which is labeled with comforting gold letters to remind him where he is. He […] kept talking to them:

    TRUMP: Comey is a dirty cop, he’s a very dirty cop, he cheated on the elections, he tried to help Hillary Clinton, as you know …

    Yes, Comey cheated on the elections so hard he reopened the investigations into Hillary Clinton’s emails less than a month before the 2016 election, which gave Trump and Russia and Paul Manafort the reacharound they needed to squeak out the Rust Belt “win by losing” strategy that changed the course of American history.

    […] Trump doubled down on Truth Social last night [social media post that was bonkers]

    […] But since people are doing journalism on the topic now, let’s see how Trump’s brain is full of dementia, how this is more evidence that Trump thinks movies are real life, and how his brain is of absolutely no use to anyone in the modern world:

    Zach Jensen, content development manager for the Mob Museum in Las Vegas, said he’s not aware of the term’s being used in mob movies, but there’s a line in the film “Casino” in which Joe Pesci’s character talks about bodies being buried in the desert on the outskirts of the city.

    “There’s this rumor that 86 means driving 80 miles out and burying a body 6 feet under. Another is 8 miles out and 6 feet under,” he said, but “it’s, like, a modern urban legend.” [That’s the part Trump repeated in his bonkers social media post.]

    “That’s part of mob lore in Las Vegas,” but there’s not “any documented evidence of the term emanating with organized crime,” Jensen said.

    “86-ing somebody has been used as a reference to murder in the late ’60s and ’70s,” but it wasn’t common, and it didn’t begin there, he said.

    That tracks with when it might have imprinted on Trump’s extremely old brain, though.

    […] In related news, the Comey team will challenge his latest fake indictment as vindictive prosecution, said his lawyer Patrick Fitzgerald in court yesterday. This means they will ask the judge to 86 the charges, a legal term that means they will ask the judge to let James Comey smother the charges to death with seashells.

    At press time, everybody was posting “23 skidoo Trump” on the internet […]

  41. birgerjohansson says

    Birthdays.
    Today, the Swedish king turned 80.

    Yesterday, Willie Nelson turned 93.

    And Friday next week David Attenborough will turn 100! 😲 🍾🥂🎉

  42. says

    Congress votes to end record shutdown, sending DHS funding bill to Trump’s desk

    “The House voted to fund most of the Department of Homeland Security, ending a 75-day shutdown. ICE and Border Patrol will be funded separately due to Democratic opposition.”

    The House on Thursday approved a Senate-passed bill that would fund much of the Department of Homeland Security, ending the record 75-day shutdown of the sprawling federal agency.

    Trump had urged lawmakers to pass the bill and vowed to sign it into law. It passed “by voice,” with members shouting their approval without recording individual votes.

    The bill will reopen DHS without providing new funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement or Customs and Border Protection, as Democrats demand changes to immigration enforcement. Both ICE and border enforcement had funding during the shutdown, and Republicans will attempt in the coming weeks to keep them funded for the rest of Trump’s term. [Important points]

    The House’s action came right against a critical deadline. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin had warned lawmakers that if they did not pass funding by Thursday, emergency funding would run out and thousands of workers would not be paid.

    The successful vote came before House and Senate lawmakers departed for a weeklong recess at the end of Thursday. House and Senate lawmakers still need to make sure a foreign spying program doesn’t expire Thursday. [Another weeklong recess!?]

    Once Trump signs the funding bill, DHS agencies such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Coast Guard, the Transportation Security Administration and the Secret Service would be funded through the fiscal year that ends Sept. 30.

    Democrats had forced a DHS shutdown Feb. 14, after Republicans rejected their demands to make reforms to the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement tactics, including mandating body cameras and limiting raids in sensitive locations such as schools and hospitals.

    In late March, the Senate unanimously approved the legislation to fund most of the DHS agencies, except for ICE and Border Patrol. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., rejected that plan as “a joke” at the time.

    Asked what had changed in the month since, Johnson noted the party’s progress on funding ICE and Border Patrol. On Wednesday, the House passed a budget resolution that would create a pathway to fund both agencies for the duration of Trump’s term. That measure has already passed the Senate. […]

  43. says

    ‘When did it come out?’ Trump remains disengaged as events unfold around him

    “Too often, the president sounds like someone who just wandered into the Oval Office, blissfully unaware of current events.”

    For proponents of voting rights and racially diverse democracy, the Supreme Court’s ruling in Louisiana v. Callais was a brutal gut punch. University of California at Los Angeles law professor Richard Hasen wrote in a Slate analysis that the decision, written by Republican-appointed justices, “will go down in history as one of the most pernicious and damaging Supreme Court decisions of the last century.”

    Justice Elena Kagan wrote in her dissent that the ruling renders Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act “all but a dead letter” and that the consequences “are likely to be far-reaching and grave.” She added that in states “where that law continues to matter — the States still marked by residential segregation and racially polarized voting — minority voters can now be cracked out of the electoral process.”

    With this in mind, it’s easy to imagine Donald Trump reacting to the ruling with delight, not just because of his record of radical animus, but also because the Republican-appointed justices just delivered a ruling that will almost certainly benefit the president’s party.

    And yet, when a reporter asked Trump about the high court’s decision several hours after its release, he appeared to have absolutely no idea what had happened. [Video]

    “Tell me, when did the ruling come out?” the president asked, adding that he’d “been with contractors” talking about his ballroom vanity project. After talking about the ballroom initiative for a bit — once he gets started on the subject, it’s generally tough for him to stop — he eventually told the press corps, “Tell me about what happened.”

    No one asked the obvious follow-up question: Shouldn’t he know what happened?

    A similar exchange unfolded a week earlier, when a reporter asked whether the president could confirm recent reporting about his administration taking steps to send 1,100 Afghans to the Democratic Republic of Congo. “I don’t know,” he replied.

    The week before that, amid reports that Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei had met with administration officials for an important closed-door discussion, a reporter asked Trump whether Anthropic did, in fact, have a meeting at the White House.

    “Who?” he replied, apparently confused. When the reporter repeated the question, he again said, “I have no idea.”

    [I snipped examples of earlier conversations/questions when Trump revealed that he had no idea what was going on … or that he had completely forgotten what had previously transpired. Lots and lots and lots of examples!]

    Most objective observers would probably agree that if Joe Biden had repeatedly said “I don’t know” in response to simple questions about his own administration, it would have been front-page news — and the Democrat’s responses would have played on a loop for hours on end in conservative media.

    […] Finally, let’s not forget that Trump’s authoritarian tendencies are rooted, at least in part, in the idea that governmental power must be concentrated in the president’s hands, to be executed as he sees fit.

    It makes Trump’s apparent cluelessness that much more alarming. As The New York Times’ Jamelle Bouie noted in a column late last year, “There is a presidency at work in Washington, but it is not clear that there is a president at work in the Oval Office.”

  44. says

    Trump Admin, GOP Leadership Scramble To Explain Why Iran War is Not War

    “The 60-day deadline expires on Friday.”

    With a hard deadline bearing down on them, Trump and his allies are scrambling for a way to argue that contrary to the shooting, ship boardings, and an ongoing naval blockade, the U.S. is not engaged in hostilities with Iran.

    These increasingly fantastical rhetorical sleights of hand are coming because of the War Powers Resolution of 1973, a law mandating that a president must withdraw from a conflict 60 days after notifying Congress that American forces are fighting. [!] The administration will slam into that 60-day deadline on Friday.

    […] Trump launched the war on Feb. 28 without congressional authorization and seemingly without much planning. Congressional Republicans have largely avoided questions around the war’s legality.

    But now, with that 60-day clock up, Trump and congressional Republican leadership need a way out. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) said on Thursday that the U.S. is “not at war” with Iran; other reports suggest that the White House is speaking with congressional leaders about the deadline.

    […] “There is a provision in the War Powers Act that allows a 30-day extension if it is necessary to withdraw U..S. forces,” Super [David Super, a professor at the Georgetown Law School] added. “But I don’t see how that would apply here, because the president has given no indication he has the slightest interest in withdrawing anything.” […]

    Beyond the Legal Deadline

    If the administration misses or ignores the deadline, holding the administration accountable for their illegal action will be top of mind for those who oppose the unpopular Iran war.

    […] Congressional Democrats are reportedly exploring a lawsuit against Trump if he continues the war in Iran beyond Friday’s deadline without obtaining congressional authorization.

    […] “But, the Court has not been enthusiastic about recognizing Congress’s ability to sue, and has said that Congress should use its own powers to deal with this sort of situation — presumably meaning cutting off funding,” Super told TPM.

    “If we don’t have standing,” Lieu added, “then it would mean that, basically, this law could never be enforced.”

    […] The problem with, for example, relying on cutting funding, is “that the president is already spending money without congressional appropriation,” Super said. “So it’s not clear that cutting off funding matters. And that leaves the very real potential that both the War Powers Act and Article One of the Constitution are being pretty overtly violated, and that the court would not allow anyone to raise that and would not enforce Congress’ ability to solve the problem itself by cutting off funding.”

    What Justification?

    Experts in the law of war expect the administration to provide a rationale that would allow it to claim that the 60-day clock does not apply to Iran.

    […] Trump officials could argue that the current state of the war —— a naval blockade in which the navy has shot at Iranian merchant vessels and the marines have boarded others —— does not amount to hostilities under the law.

    […] Speaker Johnson on Thursday put forth a similar kind of reasoning when he said that it’s not necessary for Congress to weigh in on the military action in Iran because it’s not a war.

    […] Finucane [Brian Finucane, a senior adviser with International Crisis Group’s U.S. Program] doubted that the administration would invoke the 30-day grace period for withdrawing forces, largely because it would concede to Congress the authority to curb hostilities under the War Powers Resolution. […]

  45. says

    No one wants to hang with Todd Blanche

    Imagine that you’re the acting attorney general, currently jockeying to get that “acting” removed, and you’re trying to get into a prestigious club to rub elbows with Washington’s most elite—only to get turned down.

    Todd Blanche has been in the process of applying to the Metropolitan Club since February 2025, only to find out that at least six members have written to the board to reject him.

    It turns out that helming the continuing downfall of the Department of Justice and, by extension, the federal government, does not endear you to many people in the nation’s capital.

    Several members spoke to Politico anonymously because the club forbids them to speak to the press about internal matters, which is some hilarious Skull and Bones nonsense here. The super-rich and powerful do love their privacy, don’t they?

    “Blanche is targeting a lot of people, and the Justice Department is targeting a lot of the members of the club, like judges, nonprofit organizations, and universities,” one source said.

    You mean that people don’t want to hang out with a guy who’s taking a wrecking ball to their institutions and jobs?

    Another Metropolitan Club denizen told Politico that current and former judges who are members might not take kindly to Blanche’s declaration that Trump has the right to influence DOJ investigations.

    […] Were you wondering if there was, let’s say, a whiff of corruption here? Of course there is—this is Todd Blanche we’re talking about!

    The people pushing his nomination are Bill Burck from Quinn Emanuel and James McDonald from Sullivan and Cromwell—two firms that Politico says “could” also have business before the DOJ. But there’s no reason for that hedge; they’re giant white-shoe law firms—of course they have business before the DOJ.

    Much like Jared and Ivanka Trump mistakenly believing that they could return to polite society after overseeing the wrecking ball of Trump’s first term, Blanche is finding out that, while these assholes may control all of the levers of power, he just can’t force people to like him. […]

  46. Reginald Selkirk says

    Trump taps Nicole Saphier for surgeon general after pulling Casey Means nomination

    President Donald Trump on Thursday said he would nominate Dr. Nicole Saphier as the next U.S. surgeon general after pulling his previous pick, Dr. Casey Means, whose confirmation process in the Senate stalled for months.
    Saphier is a breast radiologist who has served as a Fox News contributor since 2018.
    Means’ nomination had stalled in the Senate for more than two months over concerns about her controversial stances on vaccines, birth control, pesticides and psychedelics.
    …

    Another TV personality.

  48. says

    https://www.wonkette.com/p/oh-did-you-think-you-you-were-voting

    Follow-up to comments 14 and 34, as well as even earlier comments in the previous set of 500 comments on The Infinite Thread.

    […] Catch Section-2

    It’s worth noting, if only for your use on trivia night, that the VRA [Voting Rights Act] itself never set any such requirement to show intent. In fact, to reverse a 1980 Supreme Court finding, Congress explicitly updated Section 2 in 1982 to prohibit laws or district maps simply for having the effect of diminishing minority representation, hatever the “intent” may have been. If it’s discriminatory, then it shouldn’t be allowed. The majority opinion yesterday basically restored that 1980 decision’s insistence on intent — but when combined with the 2019 decision removing partisan gerrymanders from judicial review, it makes proving intent far harder.

    It’s some catch: Red states can now argue that they’re drawing new district maps for the purpose of electing Republicans, not to wipe out Black or Latino representation, even if that’s the effect. In fact, the Alito opinion makes clear that since partisan gerrymanders are off-limits to the Court’s review, judges mustn’t risk interfering with them at all.

    In her dissent (page 45 of the decision’s pdf), Justice Elena Kagan was moved very deeply by the absolute simplicity of this logic, and let out a respectful whistle, writing, “Today […] the majority straight-facedly holds that the Voting Rights Act must be brought low to make the world safe for partisan gerrymanders.” […]

    Just How Bad Is It?

    It’s every bit as bad as it looks, according to voting rights experts like UCLA Law professor Rick Hasen, who called the ruling a “disaster for American democracy” (Slate gift link). Hasen argues the decision is

    the culmination of the life’s work of Chief Justice John Roberts and Samuel Alito, who have shown persistent resistance to the idea of the United States as a multiracial democracy, and a brazen willingness to reject Congress’ judgment that fair representation for minority voters sometimes requires race-conscious legislation. It gives the green light to further partisan gerrymandering. It protects Alito’s core constituency: aggrieved white Republican voters.

    In fact, as a young Justice Department lawyer, John Roberts was given the assignment to lead the Reagan administration’s efforts to stop Congress from passing that 1982 revision to the VRA that eliminated the intent requirement. He failed then, and for the past 40 years minority voting rights have been protected. Roberts has to feel especially chuffed today, because yesterday’s ruling means he finally won.

    And oh, what a legacy his war on the Voting Rights Act will leave! His 2013 decision in Shelby County v. Holder wiped away the VRA’s requirement that states with a history of discrimination must get preclearance for new voting laws, to make sure they weren’t discriminatory. Roberts explained that was really unfair and unnecessary in our enlightened times, because racism is a thing of the past. And to prove it, Republican-governed states in the wake of Shelby got right to work passing new voter-suppression laws that carefully didn’t mention race, so they were all just fine.

    […] As Nikole Hannah-Jones argued yesterday in a brilliant, enraging thread on Bluesky, this isn’t just about one case from Louisiana, it’s part of a far more wide-ranging effort to undo the last century or so:

    We must understand the racist political rhetoric, the erasure and attacks on Black history, the reinstalling of Confederate names and monuments, all go hand-in-hand as the Court and Congress legitimize the taking of political rights and the end of multiracial democracy itself.

    […] What’s Next?

    The worst effects of the Callais decision are likely to come at points after this year’s midterms, if only because many states have already held their primaries or are holding right now. (Louisiana, of course, demonstrates that last-minute ratfucking is always an option). […]

    while there’s time for states to get creative with congressional maps, the ruling “could also affect state and local elections, from school boards and city councils to state legislatures.” [Important point.]

    […] How the hell do we fix this? It’s going to be goddamn difficult, but keep in mind that Trump’s approval was already at an all-time low before this latest sledgehammer to multiracial democracy. There’s little reason to think Callais will endear him or his party to anyone who isn’t already part of the shrinking GOP base. As we keep noting, a lot of the newly drawn districts have such slim Republican majorities that an electorate sick of all the madness could overcome the unfair lines and vote the bastards out. [I hope that is not wishful thinking, but I fear that the effect of people voting against Trump may be exaggerated.]

    […] We’re heading into even more dangerous waters than we were in just last week. But Americans are already primed to kick out Trump and his enablers. There’s nothing good about this Court decision, but it may also turn out to be the straw that breaks the Lion, Rhino, Camel’s back.

  49. says

    Israeli interception of Gaza-bound aid flotilla criticized as an ‘act of piracy’

    “The flotilla was intercepted while sailing in international waters near Greece, hundreds of miles from Gaza and Israel.”

    Activists on a flotilla of boats seeking to break Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza said Thursday that Israel forces intercepted the vessels overnight, smashing engines and detaining some of those onboard while they were sailing in international waters near Greece, hundreds of miles from Gaza and Israel.

    The Global Sumud Flotilla set sail earlier this month from Barcelona. Organizers have said more than 70 boats and 1,000 people from around the world would be participating, with more vessels joining the original boats as the flotilla sailed east across the Mediterranean.

    According to the ships’ tracker published on the activist group’s website, 22 vessels were intercepted in international waters west of the southern Greek island of Crete, while a further 36 were still sailing midday on Thursday.

    […] The flotilla condemned Israel’s interception as “a dangerous and unprecedented escalation.”

    “The abduction of civilians in the middle of the Mediterranean, over 600 miles from Gaza, in full view of the world,” the group said in a press release.

    Turkey’s Foreign Ministry condemned the seizure as “an act of piracy” and said Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan discussed the raid over the phone with his Spanish counterpart Jose Manuel Albares Bueno.

    Spain summoned the Israeli charge d’affaires in Madrid “to convey its strongest condemnation of the detention of the flotilla,” which included Spanish citizens, the ministry said in a statement.

    Italy and Germany said they were following developments with “great concern” and called for international law to be respected and for “restraint from irresponsible actions.”

    […] Israel says the blockade is needed to prevent Hamas from importing arms, while critics say it amounts to collective punishment of Gaza’s Palestinian population.

    […] Israel arrested, detained and later deported the participants, who claimed Israeli authorities abused them while in detention. Israeli authorities denied the accusations.

    The Israeli action had raised questions about what any nation can legally do to enforce a blockade in international waters. Several world leaders and human rights groups had condemned Israel, saying it violated international law.

    […] Activists say Israeli forces boarded and disabled the boats

    The Sumud Flotilla described the interception as a “violent raid in international waters.” In a social media post, the group said that “after smashing engines and destroying navigation arrays, the military retreated— intentionally leaving hundreds of civilians stranded on powerless, broken vessels directly in the path of a massive approaching storm.” [!!]

    It also said the vessels’ communications had been jammed, hindering them from signaling for help. […]

    Marmostein accused the Hamas militant group in Gaza of being the “driving force” behind the flotilla, “with the aim of sabotaging (U.S.) President (Donald) Trump’s peace plan transition to its second phase and intended to divert attention from Hamas’ refusal to disarm.” [Sounds like lies and/or an attempt to propagandize what amounts to breaking international laws while also worsening the desperate situation of people in Gaza.]

    Activists in Greece said they planned a protest rally Thursday afternoon outside the Greek foreign ministry in Athens, saying Israel’s interception of the boats occurred within the maritime zone that falls under Greece’s responsibility for search and rescue operations and that the country’s coast guard had not reacted. […]

  50. says

    Trump’s threat to pull troops out of Germany crashes into reality

    “An American drawdown from Germany would take years, cost billions — and potentially damage the U.S. military campaign in Iran.”

    U.S. President Donald Trump is threatening to pull U.S. troops out of Germany — but turning a social media edict into an actual withdrawal is far more complicated.

    Any American withdrawal would mean sinking billions of dollars into a yearslong process. Then there’s the usefulness of German bases to American global power projection. Without them, U.S. forces would face difficulties in prosecuting the war against Iran
    .
    […] Trump lashed out at Germany after Chancellor Friedrich Merz needled the president over the war against Iran.

    “The United States is studying and reviewing the possible reduction of Troops in Germany, with a determination to be made over the next short period of time,” Trump wrote overnight Thursday, later adding: “The Chancellor of Germany should spend more time on ending the war with Russia/Ukraine … and fixing his broken Country.”

    Merz on Thursday avoided direct reference to Trump’s threats. “Our compass remains clearly set on a strong NATO and a reliable transatlantic partnership,” he said.

    […] any sudden pullout could undermine Europe’s defenses against Russia at a time when there are growing fears Moscow could attack a European country by the end of the decade. [Putin would love that.]

    “It would … weaken the deterrence posture of NATO as it would signal to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin that the Americans care less every day, that Europe is increasingly exposed,” said Gerlinde Niehus, a security expert and former longtime NATO official. [True]

    Words, not deeds

    Despite Trump’s threat, removing soldiers won’t be easy.

    Roughly 36,000 U.S. soldiers are currently stationed in Germany, around half of Washington’s total military presence in Europe. The country is home to dozens of American installations including the top U.S. commands for Europe and Africa, and also has critical military assets including B-61 nuclear bombs.

    During his first term, Trump ordered the withdrawal of 12,000 U.S. troops from Germany, but he was not able to complete it before President Joe Biden took office. […]

    More at the link.

  51. says

    Venice Biennale jury quits over decision to allow Russia’s participation

    “The group resignation caps months of political tensions over Moscow’s return to the prestigious art show.”

    The entire international jury of the Venice Biennale resigned on Thursday in the latest escalation of a months-long political fight over Russia’s return to the exhibition.

    The exodus marks one of the most dramatic moves yet in a dispute that has pitted members of the jury, the Biennale Foundation and the Italian government against one another. At the heart of the conflict is a controversial decision to reopen the Russian pavilion, which has been closed since Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

    In their resignation letter, the jury said the move was motivated by their refusal to engage with “those countries whose leaders are currently charged with crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court” — in other words, Russia and Israel. [Important point.]

    After announcing he would boycott the Biennale’s opening, Italian Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli this week sent ministry inspectors to investigate if Russia’s participation is “compatible with the existing sanctions regime.” The decision drew praise from EU Culture Commissioner Glenn Micallef, who cheered the minister’s “principled position.”

    Earlier this month EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas announced the European Commission would cut funding to the Biennale as a result of its decision to admit Russian artists to its 2026 edition.[…]

    More details at the link.

  52. says

    Evidence has just been uncovered that John Roberts name at birth was James R. Crow II.
    news from The heroic heretic (eat your heart out Borowitz)

  53. says

    MS NOW:

    Two Pakistani officials with direct knowledge of the talks between the U.S. and Iran told MS NOW they expect a revised Iranian proposal to end the war by the end of the week. The officials said they would push for an in-person meeting between the two sides early next week.

    I’ll believe it when I see it.

    Related news, as reported by MS NOW:

    Senate Republicans once again voted against a measure curb Trump’s war powers, marking the sixth failed attempt to do so. The 47-50 vote largely fell along party lines, with Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., joining Republicans in opposition and GOP Sens. Rand Paul and Susan Collins siding with Democrats. It was the first time another Republican joined Paul in trying to rein in Trump’s war with Iran.

  54. says

    MS NOW:

    Senators voted unanimously on Thursday to ban themselves from trading on prediction market platforms amid growing concerns of insider trading by elected officials on the popular events-based platforms.

  55. says

    New York Times:

    The Trump administration on Wednesday sued New Jersey’s governor and attorney general over a state law that bars law enforcement officers, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, from wearing masks while on duty.

  56. says

    Reuters:

    The Trump administration rejected all four women farmers chosen by their peers to represent them in an industry group called the United Soybean Board earlier this year, a rare intervention by the U.S. Department of Agriculture that three of the women suspected was because of their gender.

  57. says

    New York Times:

    Applications from the United States to Sciences Po’s bachelor’s program [an elite French university that trains diplomats, journalists and politicians] surged 52 percent this academic year, while the number of Sciences Po students applying to study for a year in the United States has plunged by 50 percent. For the first time ever, America is not the first choice for its undergraduates, who must study abroad during their third year, said Jeremy Perelman, the university’s vice president for international affairs.

  58. says

    The United States has experienced a severe loss of press freedom in the past year under the leadership of President Donald Trump, a new report from the group Reporters Without Borders revealed on Thursday.

    The nonprofit organization’s World Press Freedom Index for 2026 ranks the U.S. in 64th place, down seven spots from the 2025 rankings.

    “After a century of gradual expansion of press rights in the United States, the country is experiencing a significant and prolonged decline in press freedom, with Donald Trump’s return to the presidency greatly exacerbating the situation,” the group notes.

    The report specifically cites Trump’s “systematic weaponisation of state institutions” as a major contributor to the lowered ranking and calls out funding cuts to public broadcasting at PBS and NPR, both of which were enabled by congressional Republicans.

    […] Reporters Without Borders says that Trump’s hostility to independent journalism is causing a negative effect throughout the Americas. The report specifically notes that Argentinian President Javier Milei and El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele are “Trump’s most vocal supporters in Latin America” and have “taken their cue from the White House in their approach to the media, with unsurprisingly similar results.”

    The U.S.’s poor showing is an outgrowth of a sustained war on the First Amendment under Trump. […]

    Link

  59. says

    Follow-up to comment 42.

    The passage of the DHS funding bill without money for Customs and Border Protection or Immigration and Customs Enforcement is a huge win for Democrats, who for 76 days refused to back legislation that would fund President Donald Trump’s violent and lawless immigration goons.

    The Senate had passed this funding bill more than a month ago, after Republicans compromised with Democrats and funded DHS’ other functions, including the Coast Guard, disaster relief, airport security, and other critical agencies.

    Yet Johnson had heeded the demands of sycophantic Trump supporters in his conference and refused to vote on that bill […]

    even Trump was tired of the battle. The White House on Tuesday urged Johnson to pass the Senate’s bill and end the shutdown once and for all. And of course, when Trump says “Jump,” Johnson asks “How high?”

    […] “Johnson caving is crazy but also it’s bananas to do that on voice vote after so many of his members publicly attacked the bill,” Aaron Fritschner, an aide to Virginia Democratic Rep. Don Beyer, wrote in a post on X. “A voice vote is effectively an assumption that nobody will object to passage and Members had literally no notice that they were doing that.”

    In order to fund CBP and ICE, Republicans will now try to pass a funding bill through budget reconciliation—a legislative maneuver that lets bills advance in the Senate with a simple majority rather than the 60-vote threshold.

    That means vulnerable Republicans will be on record supporting Trump’s violent and lawless immigration goons, which are overwhelmingly unpopular with voters.

    Democrats took a victory lap.

    “Republicans’ DHS shutdown is over.The House passed our bill to fund programs that actually keep people safe: TSA, FEMA, CISA, and the Coast Guard,” House Minority Whip Katherine Clark, Democrat of Massachusetts, wrote in a post on X. “For months, the GOP refused because they insisted on handing billions more to ICE and Border Patrol. Democrats will never vote for terror in our communities.”

    Link

  60. says

    Washington Post link

    “EXCLUSIVE: Trump’s border wall expansion just bulldozed an ancient tribal site”

    “Construction in the Arizona desert damaged an enormous Indigenous ground etching resembling a fish that is thought to be at least 1,000 years old.”

    […] Trump’s expansion of the wall along the southern border with Mexico has damaged a rare Native American archaeological site in the Arizona desert, area residents said Thursday, as the administration moves to rapidly build hundreds of miles of additional barriers in a $46.5 billion project.

    The aggressive expansion project — funded by the One Big Beautiful Bill — is erecting three miles of wall a week, introducing barriers in parts of Texas that did not previously have them, as well as a second wall in much of California, Arizona and New Mexico.

    The construction is not abiding by environmental laws and other protections, alarming advocates, national park staff and Native Americans.

    In Arizona, construction crews ran heavy machinery through and destroyed a roughly 60-to-70-foot swath of an intaglio, a more than 200-foot-long ground etching that looks like a fish and is thought to be at least 1,000 years old, said Richard Martynec, a retired archaeologist who now volunteers his time surveying the area.

    Satellite imagery from Friday shows a disturbance crossing the intaglio area.

    Lorraine Marquez Eiler, an elder of the Hia-ced O’odham Indigenous people, said the damage happened last week.

    […] “Those things were made by our ancestors, and it’s hitting home. … For me, it’s an emotional subject,” she added
    .
    The intaglio is inside Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge, where a government contractor overseen by Customs and Border Protection has been working on the barrier project for weeks. The Interior Department administers the refuge.

    An Interior Department staffer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media, confirmed the intaglio had been damaged last week.

    […] The Department of Homeland Security has issued waivers so that border wall construction does not have to follow laws that protect the environment or Indigenous sites, which normally require extensive study and planning to limit damages.

    […] While there are other intaglios near the Colorado River, this etching is unique for southwestern Arizona. “There are very few intaglios in this area, so by losing part of it, it’s a big deal,” Sandra Martynec said.

    Native Americans made the intaglio by scraping the blackened stones on the ground to lay bare the white soil beneath, Richard Martynec said. It was probably used for ceremonies, although that and the intaglio’s exact age are hard to know.

    […] Native American residents, including the nearby Tohono O’odham Nation, have expressed concerns about other significant sites that lie in the path of proposed border wall construction. Those include Quitobaquito Springs, which is also home to endangered turtle and fish species, in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, as well as a Native American grave site.

    […] “Somebody is responsible for this, and we all know who that is, and he should be held accountable for it,” Marquez Eiler said, referring to Trump. “He’s getting away with whatever he wants to do. He’s doing it. No one is stopping him.”

  61. says

    In response to Lynna’s post @60 –
      I cannot keep quiet about this (and so many other magat atrocities). I must communicate (and find a positive way to act on) the barely restrained anger I feel toward the entire magat cult; it’s ever increasing murder, destruction, bigotry, misogynous evil, greed, corruption and sociopathic mindset.
      Many in our organization have close and wonderful relationships with enrolled members of many tribes. Our founder has included in his will that a significant portion of his estate be given to the Hopi tribe’s education project. However, the ever-increasing depletion of his estate caused by the destruction, corruption and predation of this Death Spiral government makes him very sad and angry, too.
      The biggest problem this entire country faces is that, as Marquez Eiler said (at the end of the article), referring to Trump. “He’s getting away with whatever he wants to do. He’s doing it. No one is stopping him.”

  64. Reginald Selkirk says

    Craig Venter dies

    We received an e-mail just now (April 30) from Joel Eissenberg, Emeritus Professor of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Saint Louis University School of Medicine, saying,

    As you may have seen, Craig Venter died yesterday. He played an important catalytic role in accelerating genome sequencing, both for humans and for my favorite model organism, D. melanogaster. His work obviously impacted comparative genomics.

    Prof Eissenberg’s post at The Angry Bear is reproduced, with permission, below the fold:
    …

  65. beholder says

    @25 Reginald Selkirk

    Despite Platner having Janet Mills’s face tattooed on his chest after a regrettable night of partying, not even that piece of free advertising could ultimately get Mills through the campaign.

    Hooray for Platner!

  67. Reginald Selkirk says

    After nearly 1,000 cases, here’s how South Carolina officials beat back a measles outbreak

    A few months ago, a measles outbreak seemed poised to overwhelm the northern region of South Carolina.

    More than 100 infections were being reported every week, with the total eventually surpassing that of last year’s record-setting outbreak in Texas.

    However, after six months and nearly 1,000 cases, the outbreak took a dramatic turn in the right direction.

    Over the weekend, the South Carolina Department of Public Health said no new cases had been confirmed for 42 days, leading to an announcement on Monday that the outbreak is officially over.

    Public health experts told ABC News that the combination of a strong vaccination push, people following isolation and quarantine orders and an awareness campaign helped beat back the disease.

    “Measles vaccinations [were] the most effective single containment tool,” Dr. James Harber, an internal medicine physician with Spartanburg Regional Medical Center, told ABC News. “And then to identify the index cases and their exposures and enforcing quarantine, and there’s that integrated public health and private sector collaboration. Those are the keys.” …

  69. says

    ‘I’m not giving them anything’: Trump contradicts his own negotiator on Iran policy

    “How, exactly, are negotiations with Iran supposed to produce an agreement that all parties can trust if Trump’s envoy makes offers that Trump opposes?”

    For reasons that have never been explained, Donald Trump decided months ago that Steve Witkoff would serve as the administration’s top negotiator with Iran. If his name sounds familiar, that’s because Witkoff is also helping lead the administration’s negotiations with Russia and Ukraine despite the inconvenient fact that he is a New York real estate developer with no relevant experience in foreign policy or delicate international diplomacy.

    Nevertheless, the White House’s top amateur diplomat has, in fact, met with Iranian officials, including interactions last year that long predated the president’s decision to launch an unnecessary war. According to Witkoff’s own public comments, in one of the discussions, he talked about developing a “verification” system that might allow Iran to produce low levels of uranium for a nuclear energy program.

    That wasn’t an outrageous position to take. In fact, Witkoff’s position dovetailed with elements of the Obama-era nuclear agreement, which did roughly the same thing.

    On Thursday, Trump spoke with Newsmax’s Greta Van Susteren, who told the president as part of the on-air interview that Witkoff told her the United States offered Iranian officials a possible agreement in which they could enrich uranium for a domestic medical program, below levels needed for a nuclear weapon.

    The president, who too often seems like a bystander in his own White House, apparently wasn’t aware of the offer — and immediately denounced it. [video]

    “Maybe it wasn’t a very serious offer because I wouldn’t have approved that,” the Republican replied. “I’m not giving them anything. I wouldn’t have approved that.” [Oh FFS]

    In other words, Trump deployed Witkoff to talk to Iran; Witkoff, ostensibly representing the White House, made a substantive offer to Iran about nuclear policy; and Trump later declared that he would oppose his own envoy’s proposal.

    To be sure, the president has spent the last couple of months repeatedly pushing contradictions and mixed messages about U.S. policy toward Iran, to the point that it’s impossible to have any real confidence that he understands his own goals or strategies. [Unfortunately true.]

    But while this latest example is part of a series, it stood out because of the practical implications. Imagine you’re an Iranian official in Tehran, you’re already inclined to distrust the U.S., and you agree to negotiations that are led in part by an unqualified real estate developer who got the job because he has been friendly with the American president for decades.

    Then imagine, as part of the same hypothetical, you’re an Iranian official who joins the White House’s handpicked envoy at the negotiating table, and he starts offering substantive proposals as part of a broader effort to resolve the ongoing crisis — proposals that his boss says he has no intention of approving.

    Given this, what are the odds that Iran is going to take Trump administration proposals seriously? […]

  70. says

    RIP Voting Rights Act

    A sampling of well-informed reaction to and analysis of Louisiana v. Callais:

    – Hasen: “In the end, Alito is afraid to stand up and say what his opinions necessarily imply: that Congress cannot do anything to protect minority voting rights short of banning intentional discrimination despite the 14th Amendment’s equal protection guarantee, despite the 15th Amendment’s ban on race discrimination in voting, and despite the fact that both amendments explicitly give Congress the power to enforce the measures by ‘appropriate legislation.’”

    – Law professor Atiba Ellis: “I think it highly ironic that under the guise of a colorblind Constitution communities of color in a diversifying America could lose the lion’s share of their voice in government.”

    – Public policy professor Don Moynihan: “The VRA was crowning achievement of the Civil Rights movement, the product of a civil war, constitutional amendments, and intense political and social battles. Its intent was clear. And it was swept away, bit by bit, by a court whose majority was nominated by a President who lost the popular vote. …”

    Link. Scroll down at the link to see the text quoted above.

  71. says

    Trump team lies to evade law limiting Iran war

    […] Trump’s boondoggle of a war in Iran officially hit the 60-day mark on Friday, thus requiring him—by law—to get congressional approval to continue his hostilities.

    But Trump and his administration came up with a bullshit excuse for why the War Powers Resolution of 1973 doesn’t apply to them in this situation.

    “We are in a ceasefire right now, which our understanding means the 60-day clock pauses, or stops, in a ceasefire,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told senators on Thursday during a hearing on Capitol Hill. “That’s our understanding, just so you know.”

    Of course, that’s not how this works.

    The law explicitly says that “within sixty calendar days” of the conflict, Trump must “terminate any use of United States Armed Forces” unless Congress “has declared war or has enacted a specific authorization for such use of United States Armed Forces.”

    The word “ceasefire” does not appear anywhere in the law’s text. [!]

    “I do not believe the statute would support that,” Virginia Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine, who has been leading the charge to pass a war powers resolution since the conflict began, told Hegseth at the hearing.

    […] a war powers resolution would put GOP lawmakers on the record supporting the war, and an ABC News/Washington Post poll released on Friday found the war to be overwhelmingly unpopular. […] the Iran war is as unpopular as the wars in Iraq and Vietnam, which took years to lose the public’s support.

    Given that unpopularity, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that even this sycophantic Republican-controlled Congress would refuse to authorize further military action.

    […] Since Trump chose to start the war, gas prices have climbed $1.40 per gallon.

    […] What’s more, the United States has gained nothing in return for the gas-price increase.

    Iran is still controlled by a repressive and radical theological regime. Its nuclear program is not obliterated. And Iran is actually profiting from this mess, given that they now have control over the Strait of Hormuz, which they did not have before this war began.

    “This war is stuck,” Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona told Hegseth Thursday at the hearing on Capitol Hill. “The Strait of Hormuz is closed. The Iranian regime is in place, the nuclear material still in their hands. Americans are being crushed by higher costs, and it’s not clear to them at all what the goal of this war is.”

    […] “That deadline is not a suggestion; it is a requirement,” Senator Collins said of the 60-day deadline.[…]

  72. says

    Trump’s war on science takes a disturbing turn

    The Trump administration did some genuine stormtrooper garbage earlier this week when it arrested David Morens, a 78-year-old research scientist who served as an aide to Anthony Fauci at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases until 2022.

    Morens is accused of pretty much the most nonviolent crime ever: concealing federal records, which—even if true—does not really warrant six federal agents in tactical gear and bulletproof vests showing up at his door, with another officer team standing by.

    It also does not really warrant removing Morens’ pants and shirt, because what the actual fuck? [!!]

    And it certainly does not warrant throwing Morens into a car and driving him 40 miles away to be fingerprinted, photographed, and jailed.

    Yes, jailed—though Morens was later released on his own recognizance, probably because he is a 78-year-old doctor with no criminal record.

    […] This indictment is … a lot. Broadly, Morens is charged with concealing records about the origins of COVID-19, which is all part of President Donald Trump’s rewriting of history where China nefariously unleashed the virus, and U.S. scientists helped cover it up to get some sweet, sweet research cash. [Just one of many unfounded conspiracy theories to which Trump clings.]

    The most laughable part of the indictment has to be that Morens got “illegal gratuities” from scientists, consisting of two bottles of wine and the promise of a fancy meal. It’s honestly not clear how this constitutes a crime—and not just because Trump is the most enthusiastic bribee that the nation has ever seen, but also because the trend at the Supreme Court is to say that gratuities aren’t bribes.

    […] Oh sorry, wait. The most laughable part of the indictment is charging Morens for “evading” Freedom of Information Act requests

    This from the administration that functionally ignores FOIA requests completely. Right now, for example, the Department of Energy has a backlog of 2,277 FOIA requests.

    Not to mention, the administration ran all the way to the Supreme Court so it didn’t have to answer FOIA requests about what sort of entity the so-called Department of Government Efficiency is.

    Or the fact that the administration just declared that Trump doesn’t have to keep records because it’s unconstitutional for Congress to make the president do so.

    Oh, wait, no. The most laughable part of the indictment is charging Morens with sending non-public National Institutes of Health information to an outside researcher.

    This from the administration that is transferring all of our private data hither, thither, and yon in violation of multiple privacy statutes.

    Or, per a whistleblower, the administration that let a DOGE bro export private Social Security data and plop it on a thumb drive to take it to his new private sector job, where he told a coworker that he expected a presidential pardon if it turned out to be illegal.

    […] Okay, wait. For real this time—the most laughable part of the indictment is charging Morens with using his personal email to circumvent FOIA when communicating with an outside nonprofit research organization.

    This from the administration that gave us Signalgate.

    You will not be surprised to learn that some of Morens’ charges are the same statutes that Trump was charged with violating when he did the whole Mar-a-Lago bathroom confidential document storage thing.

    That was inevitable, really, because the most petty, destructive administration in existence loves targeting innocent people for crimes that Trump himself has committed.

    Trump howled when former President Joe Biden pardoned Fauci, but the violent arrest of Morens makes clear that Biden was absolutely right to do so.

    Turns out he should have taken a page from Trump’s playbook and mass pardoned everyone.

    Embedded links to additional sources are available at the main link.

    See also: Guns and bulletproof vests: How federal agents arrested Fauci aide

    […] Science has learned that Morens, an influenza researcher who worked at the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) until 2022 and was an aide to its former director, Anthony Fauci, was having his morning coffee at his Chester, Maryland, home when he heard loud pounding on the door. He opened it to find a half-dozen federal agents carrying guns and wearing tactical gear, including bulletproof vests, according to two sources who spoke with him but asked not to be identified. Another team of officers stood in the distance and observed, as did neighbors.

    The agents did not harm Morens, but took off his pants and shirt, handcuffed him, and drove him 65 kilometers to the U.S. District Court in Greenbelt, Maryland, where he was fingerprinted, photographed, and jailed. He was released on his own recognizance later in the day, but was asked to return to Greenbelt and surrender his passport, which he did. […]

    An arraignment is set for 8 May in the Maryland court. Morens faces decades in prison if convicted of all five counts against him, which include altering and destroying records in a federal investigation and conspiracy against the United States. […]

  73. Reginald Selkirk says

    Bug of the year (so far): Nasty cPanel vulnerability probably exploited as a 0-day

    Emergency patches are available for a critical vulnerability in cPanel and WHM that allows attackers to bypass authentication and gain root access to servers managed using it.
    confused developer
    Dev targeted by sophisticated job scam: ‘I let my guard down, and ran the freaking code’
    READ MORE

    Given that cPanel and WebHost Manager (WHM) control panel help manage properties for 70 million domains, by some estimates, and the critical severity of CVE-2026-41940 (9.8), the vulnerability is being considered a disaster by those in the security scene.

    It also affects every single supported version of the software prior to the patch.

    For the uninitiated, cPanel and WHM are both Linux-based control panels. The former is used to manage websites, databases, file transfers, email configurations, and domains, while WHM is used for servers…

  74. says

    https://www.wonkette.com/p/vote-for-the-crook-its-important

    […] “Vote for the crook. It’s important.” Y’all are old, you remember that. On Louisiana and this disgusting old bullshit that’s all new again. (Laura Bassett) [Link added below]

    […] Trump pulled the Surgeon General nomination of one asshole, and replaced Dr. Casey Means with a Fox News doctor, Nicole Saphier, who said child mental illness is driven by “non-traditional households.” How about fuck you? (USA Today) Oh, she said much much much much much more than that? Of course she did. (Erin in the Morning)

    The House just passed a Farm Bill that will leave children hungrier so Elon Musk won’t have to pay taxes (and Pete Hegseth can do more WARFIGHTING). Background here. (First Focus on Children) I often wonder just how inscrutable Wonkette is to the average person who doesn’t know all our jokes and also what the fuck we’re talking about (I often change “GOP” in our writers’ copy because most people don’t know that means “Republicans”) but holy shit I have no idea what is going on in this piece about Mike Johnson and the Farm Bill and the House and the rules and WHAT? (NOTUS)

    I would have to watch at least one episode of a (proposed) Don Junior Apprentice, just to see if there’s going to be any cocaine left for the rest of the planet. (Gift link Wall Street Journal) […]

    See also: Democracy dies in the Deep South

    “Gov. Jeff Landry suspended Louisiana’s primaries to cut out both majority-Black districts and ensure white Republican power for a generation.” by Laura Bassett

  75. Reginald Selkirk says

    The most severe Linux threat to surface in years catches the world flat-footed

    …
    The critical flaw, tracked as CVE-2026-31431 and the name CopyFail, is a local privilege escalation, a vulnerability class that allows unprivileged users to elevate themselves to administrators. CopyFail is particularly severe because it can be exploited with a single piece of exploit code—released in Wednesday’s disclosure—that works across all vulnerable distributions with no modification…

  76. says

    National debt crosses a historic threshold, exposing absurdity of Trump campaign promises

    “In his first term, the president said he’d ‘easily’ reduce the debt, but he delivered the opposite results. In his second term, it’s happening again.”

    Throughout Barack Obama’s presidency, congressional Republicans warned that the nation was facing a devastating debt crisis, which would bankrupt the United States and devastate the nation’s fiscal standing for generations. GOP officials warned that without dramatic action, the enormous national debt would reach the same size as the overall U.S. economy — a threshold that would spell immediate doom.

    Roughly a decade later, take a wild guess what threshold we just crossed. The Wall Street Journal reported:

    The U.S. national debt now exceeds 100% of gross domestic product, crossing a once-unthinkable threshold, on the way toward breaking the record set in the wake of World War II. […]

    By itself, the milestone doesn’t mean much. There isn’t a special level where debt goes from problematic to catastrophic. And the ratio might bounce around in coming quarters as tax receipts come in, tariff refunds go out and GDP fluctuates in response to inflation and revisions. Still, the triple-digit mark is a potent symbol of the fiscal stresses on the U.S. that have been building for decades.

    […] we could talk about the historical pattern over the past several decades, in which budget deficits have grown by massive amounts under every Republican administration (Reagan, Bush 1, Bush 2 and Trump), while shrinking under every Democratic administration (Clinton, Obama and Biden), even while the political conventional wisdom suggested that the GOP was the party of “fiscal responsibility.”

    […] the Journal’s report went largely ignored by Republicans, including the Obama-era voices who warned that the sky was falling, and contemporary GOP voices who no longer feel the need to pretend that the party cares about deficit reduction.

    […] deficit reduction is no longer a Republican priority at all — it was, for example, entirely ignored in the latest White House budget proposal — as GOP policymakers focus instead on massive tax breaks (which make the debt worse) and massive increases in defense spending (which also make the debt worse).

    But there’s another dimension to the larger story that often goes overlooked: Trump’s campaign promises.

    In February 2016, the then-candidate appeared on Fox News and assured viewers that, if he were president, he could start paying off the national debt “so easily.” Trump argued at the time that it would simply be a matter of looking at the country as “a profit-making corporation” instead of “a losing corporation.” [Balderdash]

    A month later, Trump declared at a debate that he could cut trillions of dollars in spending by eliminating “waste, fraud and abuse.” Asked for a specific example, he said, “We’re cutting Common Core.” (Common Core is an education curriculum, which costs the federal government effectively nothing.)

    A month after that, in April 2016, Trump declared that he was confident he could “get rid of” the entire multitrillion-dollar debt “fairly quickly.” Pressed to be more specific, the future president replied, “Well, I would say over a period of eight years.”

    By July 2016, he boasted that once his economic agenda was in place, “we’ll start paying off that debt like water.”

    Once in office, deficits predictably exploded as a direct result of Trump’s policies. By the end of his first term, Trump had added nearly $7.8 trillion to the national debt in just one term [!], and most of that total was racked up before the Covid crisis.

    Nevertheless, when he returned to the campaign trail ahead of the 2024 race, Trump apparently felt comfortable pulling the same trick twice, telling voters, “We’re going to pay off … the $35 trillion in debt. We’re going to pay it off. We’re going to get it done fast, too.” [Bullshit, plus gaslighting the public]

    Trump returned to power and added an additional $1.8 trillion to the debt during the first year of his second term.

    If recent history is any guide, voters will eventually elect another Democratic president, at which point Republicans will again pretend to care about the nation’s fiscal health. But when that happens, there will be no reason to take the GOP’s claims seriously.

  77. says

    White House Claims Iran War Has Been ‘Terminated,’ Despite Ongoing Blockade. Experts Say That’s Absurd.

    The Trump administration is trying to wriggle out of a legal requirement to end its war with Iran, […] — and to do so, it’s trying to convince everyone to focus on the wrong thing.

    On Friday afternoon, the White House told Congress that as far as it was concerned, the war had been “terminated” by a ceasefire, which began on April 7 and has since been extended.

    It’s a version of the claim Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth rolled out before Congress earlier this week […]

    But Brian Finucane, a former State Department lawyer and senior adviser in the U.S. Program at the International Crisis Group, told TPM that the claim is not relevant to the current situation. President Donald Trump has directed the navy to blockade Iran. That’s an act of war, Finucane said, and likely qualifies as hostilities for the purposes of the law. [!]

    […] In writing the 1973 War Powers Resolution, “Congress understood the term to have a broad meaning, and encompass situations where the U.S. isn’t firing, but where there’s a confrontation,” Finucane argued. “That very much remains the situation in the strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf.”

    The White House appears to concede as much in its letter to Congress, which was obtained by TPM.

    “There has been no exchange of fire between United States Forces and Iran since April 7, 2026,” Trump wrote. “The hostilities that began on February 28, 2026, have terminated.”

    Trump then goes on to explain, however, that “the threat posed by Iran to the United States and our Armed Forces remains significant. Accordingly, the Department of War continues to update its force posture in the AoR in select countries, as necessary and appropriate, to address Iranian and Iranian proxy forces’ threats and to protect the United States and its allies and partners.”

    In an interview Friday morning, David Super, a professor at the Georgetown Law School, called the argument deployed by Hegseth on Thursday — and echoed by Trump Friday afternoon — “absurd.” Through the naval blockade, the White House is still using the military for the purposes of the law, he said.

    “The active bombing was clearly such a situation so the 60-day clock was started. It can only end with a declaration of war, a statutory authorization of the armed forces continuation, or a presidential declaration that he is withdrawing those forces and needs up to 30 days to do so,” Super told TPM in an email.

    […] “There’s some serious questions about whether this war was legal anyway. Any ability to go to war without Congress’ approval is limited to urgent threats, which were pretty clearly not present here,” Super, the professor at the Georgetown Law School, told TPM earlier this week. “But even if you disagree about that, once we pass the 60-day point without any approval from Congress, then this will be an indisputably illegal action.”

    […] some Republicans who have been sticking with the president up until now are indicating a shift in their stance and pointing toward the 60-day clock as their reasoning.

    […] The scale of the conflict with Iran surpasses any other recent unauthorized use of the military, Finucane, the former State Department lawyer, said.

    “This is the most significant unilateral use of military force by the White House since the Korean intervention, police action, by Truman,” Finucane said.

  78. Reginald Selkirk says

    Christian content creators are outsourcing AI slop to gig workers on Fiverr

    In the beginning, platforms like Fiverr were places where people could hire freelancers to do specialized creative labor using skills that took years to develop. In the age of generative AI, though, many of these gig workers have embraced the technology in order to meet clients’ demands. These workers’ profiles emphasize that they can quickly (and cheaply) whip up images and videos of just about anything. But often, what their clients are looking for are dramatic animations inspired by the Christian Bible…

  79. says

    […] President Donald Trump’s Large Adult Sons are getting into the war business. Pretty convenient when your daddy can start a war and you can profit, right? And pretty convenient when your daddy runs the government, so now the government will buy your drones, because of course.

    As Bloomberg reported Thursday, the U.S. Air Force will buy an undisclosed number of drones from Powerus, a company backed by Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump.

    This whole thing got sleazy even before we learned of that deal. Rather than the oldest Trump sons investing directly in Powerus, they are instead taking their golf club company, Aureus Greenway Holdings, and merging it with Powerus. […]

    Initially, Don Jr. and Eric tried to sell the Powerus drones to Gulf countries currently under attack after their daddy started an unnecessary war in Iran. Sure, that is unethical as hell and essentially pressures those countries to line the Trump family’s pockets […]

    Even in light of this corrupt contract for a secret number of drones from a company backed by the president’s oldest sons, the company is ridiculously pretending its selection is based on merit.

    […] we need to buy drones from Trump’s nepo-baby sons ASAP, per Velicovich [Brett Velicovich, the president of Powerus], because “we are in an arms race, and America will lose if we don’t build fast.”

    […] According to the Large Adult Sons themselves, they are just private businessmen, but they also get to engage in conflicts of interest this time around because people didn’t praise them enough for their “restraint” during Trump’s first term.

    […] Just before the 2024 election, both Large Sons had estimated net worths of around $40-$50 million each. About a year later, Eric was up to $400 million, and Don Jr. was sitting at around $300 million. [!]

    There’s no longer any attempt to explain or justify these massive conflicts of interest. […]

    Amazon appears to be readying itself to bribe the Trump administration—just as it did with the “Melania” movie—by floating an “Apprentice” reboot starring Don Jr.

    If there’s anyone more viscerally unpleasant to build a show around, we’re not aware of them. Junior’s aggressive, sweaty, bullyboy behavior will not play well, but that’s not the point.

    […] Trump granddaughter Kai Trump, an objectively mid golfer is using grandpappy’s name to get herself elevated to an LPGA tourney she had no business being in.

    Our tax dollars are propping up the least talented, most corrupt people.

    Link

  82. Reginald Selkirk says

    Ex-GOP Rep. David Rivera convicted of secretly lobbying U.S. officials on behalf of Venezuela

    Former Rep. David Rivera, R-Fla., was found guilty in federal court in Miami on Friday on all counts in connection to him receiving a $50 million contract to secretly lobby U.S. officials to ease sanctions on Venezuela when Nicholas Maduro was in power.
    Rivera, a former roommate and longtime friend of Secretary of State Marco Rubio, faced charges of acting as an unregistered agent for Venezuela and conspiring to commit money laundering and tax evasion. He served in the House from 2011 to 2013 and previously served in Florida’s legislature.

    The jury convicted both Rivera and an associate, Esther Nuhfer, at the end of a five-week trial that featured testimony from Rubio, Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas, and a Washington lobbyist. They said during the trial they were shocked to learn belatedly of Rivera’s consulting contract with a U.S.-based affiliate of Venezuela’s state oil company, PDVSA…

  83. birgerjohansson says

    May 2nd is the birthday of the late Paul Darrow, aka Avon in Blake’s 7 and many other roles.
    .
    Oskarshamn, Sweden was warmest in Europe today, with 28,6° C.

  85. says

    New York Times:

    Iran sent its latest proposal in negotiations to end the war with the United States, Iran’s state news agency reported on Friday, but hours later in Washington President Trump said, ‘They want to make a deal, but I’m not satisfied with it.’

    Trump did not offer any details. We do not know why he isn’t satisfied. The statement was vague.

  86. says

    Associated Press:

    President Donald Trump said on Friday that he will increase the tariffs charged on cars and trucks from the European Union next week to 25%, a move that could jolt the world economy at a fragile moment.

    Steve Benen characterized this as, “One of those rare ideas that will increase prices, alienate longtime U.S. allies and push legal boundaries, all at the same time.”

  87. says

    Washington Post:

    The Trump administration inadvertently exposed the Social Security numbers of health care providers in a database powering a new Medicare portal, The Washington Post found.

  88. says

    News reported by Associated Press, and summarized by Steve Benen:

    For all the talk about the “emergency” that empowers Trump’s tariff authority, he continues to prove that his policy is shaped entirely by his personal whims: “President Donald Trump said Thursday he is removing certain tariffs on Scotch whisky after this week’s White House visit by King Charles III and Queen Camilla of the United Kingdom.”

  89. says

    White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly has stepped in to be the face of the lying machine while press secretary Karoline Leavitt is away on maternity leave.

    During an appearance on Fox News Friday, Kelly displayed the dead-eyed shamelessness required to deliver the kind of misinformation that President Donald Trump’s billionaire-backed orbit demands.

    “The president has been clear-eyed all along the way about the short-term temporary disruptions that would occur as a result of Iran’s attempts to subvert the free flow of energy in the Strait of Hormuz,” she said when asked how long gas prices would continue shooting into the sun. [Video]

    Kelly continued, “A lot of those tankers are now headed to buying American oil, and this economy is going to be able to bounce back even better than before once this long-term volatility presented by a nuclear threatening Iran is eliminated for good.”

    Kelly then pivoted to selling a fairytale version of her boss.

    “There’s a lot of talk out there about pro-worker policies,” Kelly said. “This president, though, is focused on action, and this president has done more for American students—for American workers—than anybody.” [video]

    She then pointed to Trump’s tax breaks for the rich, the nonexistent job market, and the equally nonexistent return of manufacturing jobs as proof of that record.

    It will be interesting to see what happens when Kelly’s not being spoon-fed talking points from Fox News hacks.

    Trump’s got a new propaganda princess

    Anna Kelly looks like an A.I. version of a propaganda princess programmed to lie.

  90. says

    Trump administration is pulling 5,000 troops from Germany

    “[…] Trump threatened to do so earlier this week, following criticism by the German chancellor over the U.S. and Israel-led war with Iran.”

    Related video at the link.

    The U.S. is withdrawing approximately 5,000 troops from Germany, Pentagon officials said Friday, after President Donald Trump was angered by criticism from the German chancellor over the war with Iran.

    The move would include one brigade combat team as well as other forces inside Germany, the officials said. The decision does not appear to affect the U.S. military’s massive medical support bases, like Landstuhl, where thousands of troops, including those who have been injured during the war, have been taken for medical treatment.

    The decision was a direct response to comments made by Chancellor Friedrich Merz, but also reflected Trump’s frustration that U.S. allies aren’t doing enough, according to a senior Pentagon official. Trump has been threatening Germany and other NATO allies over their refusal to engage in the U.S. and Israel-led war on Iran. He suggested earlier this week he might pull troops from Germany.

    “The Europeans have not stepped up when America needed them,” the official said. “This cannot be a one-way street.”

    […] “The Americans obviously have no strategy,” the German leader said. He compared Trump’s war on Iran to Afghanistan and Iraq. “This situation is, as I said, at least ill-considered and I do not see at the moment what strategic exit the Americans are choosing now.” [Chancellor Merz is correct.]

    Trump could barely contain his frustration, posting online: “The Chancellor of Germany, Friedrich Merz, thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about!” [Nope. That is not what Merz said.]Trump added that it was no surprise “that Germany is doing so poorly, both economically and in other respects!”

    Still, Merz told reporters Wednesday that his “personal relationship between the American president and me is, from my perspective, still good.”

    The decision comes just days after the chief of Germany’s armed forces visited Washington to discuss a new military national security strategy that calls for major new investments on high-tech weaponry. […]

  92. CompulsoryAccount7746, Sky Captain says

    Lynna @89 quoting DailyKos:

    White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly

    Republicans hired a redhead!? Dye DEI.
     
    BusinessInsider – Meet ‘Republican hair’

    a classic blowout with long, rounded layers and weight at the bottom […] lightly-curled […] the most Republican-esque shades are “high-maintenance” and “old-money driven.” In other words, they’re bright, bleached, and require salon visits to maintain.

  94. Reginald Selkirk says

    Court restricts abortion access across the US by blocking the mailing of mifepristone

    A federal appeals court has restricted access to one of the most common means of abortion in the U.S. by blocking the mailing of mifepristone prescriptions.

    Friday’s unanimous ruling from a three-judge panel of the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is requiring that the abortion pill be distributed only in person and at clinics, overruling regulations set by the federal Food and Drug Administration.

    The ruling, which is likely to be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, is the biggest jolt to abortion policy in the U.S. since the 2022 Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade and allowed states to enforce abortion bans.

    In the ruling, Judge Kyle Duncan, who was appointed by President Donald Trump, agreed with the state of Louisiana’s contention that allowing the drug to be mailed there makes moot the state’s ban on abortion at all stages of pregnancy…

    ‘Those assholes again’

  95. says

    Sky Captain @92: “Republicans hired a redhead!? Dye DEI.” LOL!

    In other news: ALL IN WITH CHRIS HAYES: Epstein’s possible suicide note hidden by court for years, report says

    The New York Times reports a suicide note purportedly written by Jeffrey Epstein has been kept secret for nearly 7 years, locked up in a New York courthouse. NYT reporter Benjamin Weiser joins to discuss.

    Video is 8:00 minutes

    ALL IN WITH CHRIS HAYES: Oil shock could backfire on fossil fuel-loving Trump.

    Trump’s Iran war may hand oil companies a windfall in the short term, but the resulting price shock could also speed America’s turn toward cheaper, cleaner energy. Chris Hayes and Heatmap’s Robinson Meyer discuss.

    Video is 14:31 minutes

  96. says

    Greg Bovino Calls Minneapolis Protestors ‘Cannon Fodder’ in New Interview

    […] After the operation Greg Bovino oversaw in Minneapolis […] saw two protestors killed by federal agents, he left the government. That hasn’t kept him away from becoming a fascist influencer.

    In a lengthy interview this week with a program called “Died Suddenly” […] hosts Lauren Witzke and Edward Szall asked Bovino about the “Renee Good types” and “what were the American protestors like?”

    “Cannon fodder,” Bovino replied.

    Bovino first called protestors “cannonfodder” in an X post after the killing of Renee Good, but before the killing of Alex Pretti, telling protestors not to become “cannonfodder” for someone else’s agenda. To Witzke and Szall, Bovino was more direct: they’re “cannon fodder.”

    Witzke and Szall are a telling choice of interviewers. Witzke is a self-described Christian nationalist who told TPM in 2023 that she spent 10 years smoking “rat poison and gasoline.” She’s frequently accused of bigotry. Last year, she posted a video of a polluted river in India, labelling it, “The Ohio river, circa 2028 under Governor Vivek Ramaswamy.” Szall, for his part, was White House correspondent for Mike Lindell. Szall, TPM reported in 2024, was involved in a project with Laura Loomer that briefly appeared to involve Neo-Nazi Nick Fuentes.

    Bovino is on X now, and posts regularly. Just this week he wrote that the government should “deport all Muslims illegal aliens and denaturalize those incompatible with American values.” [!] Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), a Republican who was vocally uncomfortable with the killing of Alex Pretti, wasn’t “keen on mass deportations in Minnesota,” Bovino wrote.

    […] At one point, they asked Bovino to name his least favorite minority to deal with during operations in major American cities. Before saying what he had to — “there are individuals from all nationalities that can be really bad apples” — Bovino answered that it was “Somalians in Minneapolis.”

    […] Per a lawsuit from the ACLU and widespread accounts, federal immigration officials under Bovino’s command in Minneapolis targeted people who appeared Somali — many of them U.S. citizens — for questioning and detention.

    Bovino expressed no remorse for federal agents’ killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good. Though he and the interviewers mentioned Good by name several times, Pretti did not come up. Instead, Bovino said that Minneapolis got off easy, blaming the disaster in the city on murky conspiracy theories.

    “Minneapolis, we didn’t hit them hard. And when you don’t hit them hard, guess what? That empowers…those funding streams, those individuals, those leaders of those organizations. It empowers them. That’s what happened in Minneapolis,” he said. “If you want to know the ground truth and the secret to Minneapolis is, we didn’t treat Minneapolis like we did the other cities that we were in. That softer approach started creeping in in Minneapolis. And that’s definitely not the way you treat an anarchist or a rioter.”

    Bovino also blamed higher-ups for sabotaging him, but left one person out: President Trump.

    “I felt that we had President Trump. Notice I didn’t say any of his other team, there,” Bovino said, adding that Kristi Noem and Corey Lewandowski would pass on messages that Trump believed he was “doing a good job.”

  97. says

    “He’s been talking recently about how he is the most powerful person to ever live.” [Quoting reports about Trump.] Atlantic link

    Everybody working in the one-sentence horror story field can go ahead and retire.

    On balance, I’m cheering for the brain rot to outrace the megalomania […]

    news from the presidential cognition front remains rather grim, I’m afraid. The old poop can no longer rememberthe names of even the countries he’s started wars with […]

    [I snipped an extended satire of Trump bragging about taking cognitive tests.]

    Well, we knew he was a snake when we handed him back the nuclear codes. A snake and a rapist and a con man and a white supremacist […]

    It hasn’t worked out, on a variety of levels. Levels like “inflation” and “civil liberties.” The illegitimate wingnut Supreme Court majority took their expected next bite out of the VRA, and Republicans throughout the South are already planning coming-home parties for Jim Crow.

    Even Trump’s assassination attempts are shabby. Some dipshit rando who never got anywhere near his supposed target, even without the highest security protocols in place? How many of those did Obama shrug off? But then, Obama’s not a wuss.
    WAHHHHHHHH YOU HAVE TO BUILD ME A BALLROOM NOW!!!

    Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad he’s obsessing over his Barbie Dreamhouse rather than designating the Democrat Party a terrorist organization, but this is not the conclusion of a well-ordered mind.

    The entire institutional GOP swiftly agreed that yes, the tariff-and-war-battered American taxpayer should most definitely be forced to buy the billionaire grifter an oligarch-cave to prance about in. […]

    […] Whatsamatter, strongman? Can’t even get a late-night television host suspended, let alone fired, anymore? Caved completely to Thom Tillis’ lame duck power play with Powell? Forced to pull your whackjob surgeon general nominee?
    Why it’s almost like you’ve peaked. […]

    the public hates the tariffs. The Supreme Court says the tariffs aren’t legal. The Dotard rolls out replacement super-tariffs, mostly for spite. This is a head-stuck-in-a-paper-bag-level problem.

    Okay, so the Iran war is a little trickier.

    Although I’m hearing it’s “terminated” now. I tried to explain to the fellow at the gas station how our studly coMANder in chief had so decisively terminated the war, but he still refused to lower the price. […]

    Oh, I see. That [the “terminated” lie] was just bullshit to avoid complying with the War Powers Act.

    […] We should hang “Kid Rock Addressing the Pentagon” in the museum of our madness. You probably scrolled right past it at first. Dismissed it as AI or maybe an Onion article about the next phase of the Cabinet purge. […] but no, it’s real. Of course it’s real.

    […] All in all, I’ve been feeling pretty smug about the midterms, but that was before the greatest political mind of an era hit upon the idea of tacking the word “national” onto the front of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, so that the next time a nurse gets gunned down in the street for exercising their constitutional rights, it’ll be a masked, unaccountable NICE agent doing the gunning.

    I mean…how’re you supposed to fight a branding genius?

    I see the Golfing for Blood Money show is getting cancelled. Cutting into the journalist-dismembering House of Saud’s bonesaw budget, I’m told.

    If you’ve ever wanted a drawing of a rapist on your passport, have I got news for you! In fact, your government has been spending god knows how much of your money to slap Trump’ss face on everything from banners to national park passes to, well…your money.

    It’s for America’s 250th birthday, y’see. […]

    They’re apparently talking about relaunching The Apprentice, starring Don Jr., for anyone who wants to watch foreign governments bribe the smooth-braindest of all possible nepo babies in order to procure U.S. government contracts.

    And from there, it’s just a hop, skip, and a jump to History’s Next Most Powerful Person to Ever Live…

    You can go ahead and play the Twilight Zone outro under that one. […]

    Link

  98. says

    Washington Post link

    “Putin goes after books — even the classics — and their publishers”

    “Not even Alexander Pushkin’s poetry is safe from Russia’s clampdown on perceived dissent.”

    Soviet-style repression is not a sign of confidence. With a strained economy and stalemate in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin continues ratcheting up internal repression against his own people.

    The latest target is the country’s biggest publishing house, which was raided by police last week. The government seized thousands of books and arrested the company’s chief executive for disseminating what the Kremlin calls “homosexual propaganda.”

    Always watching his back, Putin is keen to maintain support among social conservatives as the country grows increasingly weary of war.

    An antidrug law enacted this spring mandates warning labels for any book that references the use of narcotics. Afraid of being jailed for noncompliance, publishers are slapping cigarette-style warnings on classic Russian works by novelists like Nikolai Gogol, poetry by Alexander Pushkin and plays by Mikhail Bulgakov.

    The internet is severely restricted, journalists have been sent to modern-day gulags, and street musicians have been jailed for performing songs believed to have an anti-war message, no matter how oblique. This is why so many artists and performers have fled abroad.

    It’s a tried-and-true technique of autocrats to restrict personal liberties in the face of bad news. And for Russia, the news from the Ukraine war is bad. Various spring and summer offensives have failed to meaningfully move the battle lines.

    Russian casualties continue to mount. Some estimate that over a million have been killed or wounded. The Ukrainians have proved adept at taking the fight into Russian territory. Drones knocked out a Russian oil refinery this week in the Black Sea port of Tuapse.

    Meanwhile, back in Moscow, Putin claims to be defending his country from “Western decadence.” Yet he’s setting fire to Russia’s cultural inheritance and doing untold economic damage at the same time.

  99. says

    New York Times link

    “U.S. Fast-Tracks Arms Deals Valued at $8.6 Billion to Mideast Partners”

    “The State Department move bypassed congressional review.”

    The Trump administration has authorized more than $8.6 billion in emergency arms sales to partners in the Middle East as negotiations to end the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran remained at an impasse.

    The State Department announced the sales in a series of statements on Friday night. The sales would entail the transfer of rockets to Israel, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates and air-defense equipment to Qatar and Kuwait. The Persian Gulf countries sustained repeat barrages of Iranian drones and ballistic missiles during the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran.

    Under the terms of the deal with Qatar, the Gulf country would pay more than $4 billion for American-made Patriot missile interceptors — global stockpiles of which have dwindled during the war with Iran.

    Israel, the Emirates and Qatar would receive an Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System, which fires laser-guided rockets. Kuwait also purchased an advanced aerial defense system for about $2.5 billion.

    Secretary of State Marco Rubio expedited the deals under an emergency provision allowing the “immediate sale” of the weapons, the State Department said, bypassing standard congressional review and prompting criticism from Democratic lawmakers. This is the third time the second Trump administration has invoked an emergency authorization during the Iran war to bypass Congress on arms sales.

    The sales came after the United States, Israel and several Gulf Arab countries expended an enormous amount of munitions during the war with Iran.

    […] it takes years to build large quantities of defensive interceptors and other types of munitions. The slow pace of production has become an acute concern in Washington, and any such weapons that American arms companies make for other countries mean less for the United States. Some Pentagon officials have expressed anxiety about diminishing U.S. stockpiles. […]

    More at the link.

  101. says

    Spirit Airlines is closing down. Thousands of employees and travelers are impacted.

    “Flights were canceled and Spirit’s airport check-in desks sat empty Saturday morning, with little help on hand for travelers figuring out what to do next.”

    Related video at the link.

    Spirit Airlines is shutting down with immediate effect in a move that will affect thousands of scheduled flights and nearly as many employees.

    The troubled budget carrier canceled all flights and announced an “orderly wind-down” of operations early Saturday.

    […] Spirit, which has struggled to maintain consistent profitability since the Covid-19 pandemic, had been looking to emerge from its second bankruptcy in less than a year. But those plans were derailed amid soaring jet fuel costs sparked by the outbreak of the war with Iran.

    […] Last month, Spirit approached the White House for financial assistance, and President Donald Trump initially appeared receptive. But on Friday, reports surfaced that a wind-down was imminent after negotiations between the company, its bondholders and the White House appeared to break down.

    […] On the website dedicated to its shutdown, the airline said passengers who were expecting to travel should not go to the airport, directing them to a page for refund status and next steps.

    The airline said it will automatically process refunds for any flights purchased through it with a credit or debit card, but passengers who did not book directly will need to request a refund via their travel agent.

    Passengers will not be reimbursed for costs incurred as a result of the flight cancellations, such as emergency hotels, unless otherwise covered by their travel insurance plans.

    […] The trade association of top U.S. airlines, Airlines for America, listed measures major carriers are taking to support those affected by the shutdown. Some are offering “rescue fares” and price capping on Spirit routes, bringing home Spirit crews who may be stranded, and promoting employment vacancies for the airline’s former staff.

    JetBlue said it would “significantly expand” its presence at Fort Lauderdale, with chief executive Joanna Geraghty saying its focus would be “on stepping up in the near term by adding service, maintaining connectivity, and keeping fares competitive.” American Airlines also said it was reviewing opportunities to add additional capacity on routes previously served by Spirit. […]

    The Biden-era Justice Department stopped a proposed merger with JetBlue in 2022, and a judge agreed in 2024. So, of course the Trump administration is blaming Biden for Spirit Airlines going bankrupt. The real culprits were probably the COVID pandemic, followed by rising jet fuel costs caused by Trump’s war with Iran.

  102. says

    U.S. President Donald Trump said the U.S. Navy behaved “like pirates” in its blockade of Iranian ports and seizure of an Iranian vessel earlier this week.

    “We took over the ship, we took over the cargo, we took over the oil. It’s a very profitable business,” Trump said at an event in Florida on Friday. “We’re like pirates. We’re sort of like pirates, but we are not playing games.”

    [Of course Trump just had to add that bit about “a very profitable business” to his already offensive statement about “pirates.”]

    […] A senior Iranian military official said on Saturday that a return to war was “likely,” according to the semi-official Iranian news agency Fars. “U.S. officials’ actions and statements are largely media-oriented, aimed first at preventing a drop in oil prices and second at escaping the predicament they have created for themselves,” Mohammad Jafar Asadi said. [Unfortunately true.]

    The remarks came as the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control warned shipping companies they could face sanctions for paying tolls to Iran to safely pass through the Strait of Hormuz. [FFS]

    US Navy acting ‘like pirates’ in Iran, Trump brags

  103. says

    Follow-up to Reginald @94.

    Appeals court approves sweeping abortion pill restrictions, teeing up SCOTUS showdown

    “The temporary ruling will curtail access nationwide to a drug used in more than two-thirds of abortions.”

    The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday rolled back access to the abortion pill mifepristone nationwide — blocking a 2023 Food and Drug Administration policy allowing the drug to be prescribed by telemedicine and delivered by mail.

    A panel of three judges ruled unanimously in favor of arguments from Louisiana that the Biden-era regulations on the drug threaten the state’s sovereignty and the safety of pregnant women. Two of the judges were appointed by Donald Trump and the other by George W. Bush.

    […] The decision, which applies to both states like Louisiana that ban abortion and states that allow the procedure, restores the FDA’s prior policy mandating that patients only obtain the drug in person from a physician. It is arguably the biggest rollback in access to abortion since the Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling overturning Roe v. Wade. [!]

    […] The court also rebuffed arguments by the two pharmaceutical companies that make mifepristone, Danco and GenBioPro, who argued that the court should defer to the FDA’s scientific judgment when it comes to whether and how patients can access the pills.

    “We are alarmed by this court’s decision to ignore the FDA’s rigorous science and decades of safe use of mifepristone in a case pursued by extremist abortion opponents,” GenBioPro CEO Evan Masingill said in a statement. “We remain committed to taking any actions necessary to make mifepristone available and accessible to as many people as possible.”

    […] This case is one of several filed by GOP state attorneys general seeking to cut off access to pills that are being mailed to patients in their states in defiance of bans on abortion. Idaho, Kansas, and Missouri are making arguments similar to Louisiana’s in the hopes of a telehealth ban, while Florida and Texas are trying to go further and outlaw the sale of mifepristone altogether, challenging the 25-year-old FDA approval of the drug.

    […] Medical and progressive advocacy groups predicted the case will be swiftly appealed to the Supreme Court, which could pause the ruling and restore telemedicine access to the drugs while the case plays out in lower courts.

    “I expect briefs to be filed likely next week,” said Molly Meegan, the chief legal officer for the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, which is supporting the drugmakers in the case in defending access to the pills. “And, in all likelihood, a ruling just on the stay within the next couple weeks.”

    But even a temporary disruption of access to the drugs will have massive implications. Abortion pills are used in nearly two-thirds of all pregnancy terminations, and a quarter of patients depend on telehealth to obtain them. The ruling also cuts off telemedicine prescription of the drug for non-abortion purposes, such as easing miscarriages. Peer-reviewed studies have found that mifepristone is equally safe whether obtained in person from a doctor or online.

  104. birgerjohansson says

    ‘It’s super weird, super odd, super rare’: meet the twins who have different dads  .https://share.google/MUfmRvw8vDakwX0Zb

    Naah. In Glen Cook’s Garret, P.I. stories from the city Tun Faire, there were two giant/troll hybrids who were twins but from different mothers which is even weirder  (presumably magic was involved).

  105. birgerjohansson says

    John Dehlin (mormon who wants to adress the murkier side of LDS history): “I’m a mormon”
    LDS Church: “No, he isn’t “.

  106. says

    Hell yeah, we’re using tear gas!

    You can practically hear the party the Department of Homeland Security is throwing itself over getting the green light to use tear gas and other chemical weapons in Portland, Oregon, thanks to a very Trumpy panel on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

    This lawsuit was brought by residents of a low-income housing complex in Portland who have the misfortune of living across from an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility, where they keep getting tear-gassed by ICE agents nearby.

    Judge Eric Tung, who is a perfect example of a Trump appointee—fueled by grievance and Christian nationalism, and opposed to pretty much any civil rights and environmental protections—stayed a lower court order barring ICE from deploying tear gas where people are just trying to live their lives and aren’t involved with ICE at all.

    Tung explained that nearby residents actually have no right to bodily integrity, and therefore they don’t have the right to be free of ICE tear-gassing them whenever the impulse strikes. […]

    Link

    See also: Feds clear to use tear gas, chemicals at Portland ICE facility

    Federal agents assigned to protecting the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Portland are clear to use chemical munitions and projectiles after a pair of Ninth Circuit rulings effectively blocked two court orders limiting such use of force.

    […] Separate federal judges issued injunctions limiting the use of chemical agents outside the facility, and the government appealed, appearing before the Ninth Circuit panel earlier this month.

    Donald Trump appointees Lee and U.S. Circuit Judge Eric Tung agreed with the government’s arguments in both cases, while Joe Biden-appointed U.S. Circuit Judge Ana de Alba dissented.

    A group of protesters and journalists sued Trump, the Department of Homeland Security and its former Secretary Kristi Noem late last year, arguing federal officers deployed tear gas, pepper balls and other munitions outside of the ICE facility in retaliation for the exercise of First Amendment rights.

    U.S. District Judge Michael Simon, a Barack Obama appointee, issued a temporary restraining order in early February blocking federal immigration officers from deploying chemical munitions or projectiles.

    The residents of a low-income housing complex across the street from the ICE building also sued the federal government late last year, accusing federal agents of intentionally and repeatedly deploying chemical munitions near the apartment complex, violating their right to bodily integrity by exposing them to toxic airborne substances.

    Following an evidentiary hearing, U.S. District Judge Amy Baggio, a Biden appointee, sided with the residents in early March and issued a preliminary injunction blocking federal agents from deploying crowd control devices in a way that would send the chemicals into the nearby low-income housing complex.

    […] In the case of the apartment residents, the Ninth Circuit majority found Baggio erred by holding the plaintiffs had a substantive due process right to bodily integrity.

    “Neither the District Court nor the plaintiffs have provided any indication that the substantive-due-process right they claim is to be found in our constitutional text or structure or is deeply rooted in our nation’s history and tradition,” Tung wrote.

    […] In her dissent, de Alba pushed back against that notion, writing the record reflects the government understands the ranges of the munitions it uses and that the argument is not simply about uncontrollable conditions.

    “Indeed, it would be reckless if the government did not understand the impact of the munitions that it used, especially given the evidence that exposure to such munitions can create severe adverse health effects,” de Alba wrote.

    The residents involved in the case issued a joint statement expressing deep disappointment with the majority’s decision.

    “No one should be forced to endure exposure to chemical weapons in their own home,” the plaintiffs said in a statement. “The Constitution protects people’s right to safety, physical integrity, and the peaceful enjoyment of where they live.”

    […] The Ninth Circuit instead concluded it was more likely the five plaintiffs were simply “rather unfortunate collateral casualties during a chaotic effort to quell disorder.”

    […] Dissenting again, de Alba wrote that she disagreed with the government’s theory of harm due to the injunction.

    “In light of the government’s compliance with the temporary restraining order, the government does not show that the preliminary injunction is likely to impede federal officers’ ability to ‘protect themselves and the Portland ICE facility from attack and disruption.’” […]

  107. says

    Don’t forget about the other Comey case

    While the administration is beclowning itself with a new, comically thin indictment of former FBI Director James Comey, it’s also beclowning itself in Maurene Comey’s case, where she was essentially fired because of her last name.

    Comey sued, saying that she was unlawfully terminated when Trump used his executive authority to fire her for no reason. It’s that fact that is tripping up the DOJ here.

    The administration wants to remove this case from the federal courts to the Merit Systems Protection Board, saying that’s where termination cases for federal employees belong. Surely it isn’t because Trump has so hobbled the MSPB that it now has a backlog of 1,300 cases, and MSPB judges can’t keep up.

    But this cutesy little move didn’t work because Judge Jesse Furman ruled that, since Comey was not terminated pursuant to the usual civil service process, but rather by Trump in a fit of pique, the case stays in federal court. [good]

    Link. Scroll down at the link.

  108. says

    Trump just can’t shake the E. Jean Carroll verdict

    For years, Trump has been fighting the $83.3 million in damages that he owes writer E. Jean Carroll for defaming her after a jury awarded her $5 million after finding Trump liable for sexual abuse. He tried to overturn the jury verdicts and lost on appeal.

    Trump also tried to substitute the United States as the defendant [laughable] 15 months after the trial, which is not a thing you can really do. He argued that his presidential immunity covered defaming Carroll—even though he didn’t raise that defense at trial, which means he waived it.

    But the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals is not having it and just denied his petition for en banc review, where the entire court reviews a three-judge panel decision. The majority of the judges said nope, and then a bunch of Trump appointees whined like babies about it.

    But as one judge who voted not to rehear the case put it, the court has now denied en banc review four times and issued six opinions in the two Carroll cases. [!!] There is absolutely no reason to keep giving Trump more bites at the apple here.

    Same link as in comment 107.

  109. says

    Trump can’t be distracted with private lawsuits

    Well, only when there are lawsuits against him.

    As you may have gathered, Trump has plenty of time to fight the verdict in Carroll’s lawsuit and to sue the Internal Revenue Service for $10 billion. He also has time to demand $230 million from the DOJ and to appeal the penalty in his New York civil fraud case.

    And, of course, Trump carved out some precious me time to sue media companies to force them to “settle” by bribing him.

    But when it comes to the requirement that he provide discovery in the last remaining Jan. 6 case, Trump is refusing because the “public has a vested interest in safeguarding the President from unnecessary distractions.”

    That’s probably true, but the dude is nothing but distractions these days, so pony up that discovery.

    Same link as in comment 107.

  110. says

    In Florida, ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ remains open among sacred Miccosukee lands

    An appeals court ruled the migrant detention site may continue operating in the fragile Everglades, while litigation over the environmental impacts proceeds.

    [I snipped the details describing Florida’s Miccosukee Tribe observances of corn dance season, and how the migrant detention site interferes.]

    […] The tribe, along with environmental groups, say they will continue their litigation over Alligator Alcatraz, where thousands of undocumented migrants have been detained since the facility opened last summer as part of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last week invalidated a preliminary injunction issued by District Judge Kathleen Williams, who had ordered in August a winding down of the facility. The case now will go back to Williams, who will decide next steps.

    […] The appeals court, in siding with the government agencies, said the plaintiffs failed to prove the federal government controlled the site.

    […] But Judge Nancy Abudu dissented. She characterized the federal and state roles in Alligator Alcatraz as one where the federal government enlisted the state not as an equal partner but as a “deputy of the federal government operating at its request.” [True]

    ‘“Here, the detention facility’s only goal is to house thousands of people under DHS and ICE’s control, in a secluded area, away from the public, without any accountability,” Abudu wrote. “If not for its partnership with DHS and ICE, Florida’s housing of these individuals (and in some cases families) would be more akin to kidnapping and, at its most extreme, perhaps human trafficking. The state cannot detain a non-citizen without the proper authority to do so.”

    The court’s ruling was disappointing, but the environmental groups and tribe remain optimistic they eventually will prevail, said Elise Bennett, Florida and Caribbean director and senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, one of the plaintiffs in the case. […]

    More at the link, including the history of the area, which includes the First and Second Seminole wars in the first half of the 19th century.

  111. says

    https://www.wonkette.com/p/pope-bob-chooses-formerly-undocumented

    “Pope Bob Chooses Formerly Undocumented Dude To Be Archbishop Of Pissing Off Trump”

    Pope Bob from Chicago on Friday promoted Bishop Evelio Menjivar-Ayala, who came to the US illegally in 1990 when he was 18, to become the archbishop of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston in West Virginia. Menjivar-Ayala in 2023 became the US’s first Salvadoran-born bishop, and in his current position as auxiliary bishop of the Washington Archdiocese has called on Americans to oppose Trump’s mass deportation / ethnic cleansing agenda.

    The Washington Post reports [gift link is available at the Wonkette link above] that, in a lovely bit of symmetry, Menjivar-Ayala will be replacing Bishop Mark Brennan, who years ago helped Menjivar-Ayala get his green card […]

    It’s quite a journey for someone who as a teenager paid coyotes to smuggle him across the border in the trunk of a car, then applied for asylum and eventually became a citizen in 2006. Here’s Menjivar-Ayala speaking about his experiences at a 2025 conference in Louisville, Kentucky. [video]

    It’s no coincidence that Pope Leo XIV has elevated someone whose thoughts about borders are so different (and poetic!) from those of the current US bossman:

    A border can serve as a dividing line that limits and excludes or it can become a meeting place where people exchange products, ideas and customs, giving birth to new possibilities.

    Borders can either lock us in or open us to new horizons. It all depends on how we approach them.

    […] Menjivar-Ayala showed such aptitude that upon receiving his bachelor’s degree in philosophy, he was sent for further studies in Rome, where he received a master’s degree in theology before being ordained a priest in 2004.

    […] he served as a member of its “Child Protection Advisory Board,” created in response to the horrible sex abuse scandal in the Catholic Church.

    Throughout his career, he has worked with immigrant communities from all over the world, and insisted that all people deserve to be treated with dignity. […]

    In an Easter op-ed for the National Catholic Reporter last year, as Trump’s mass-deportation machinery descended upon immigrant communities and declared anyone without papers to be the “worst of the worst,” Menjivar-Ayala wrote:

    Tragically, this onslaught is instead being met with silence by many — or even approval. To those of you who are silent or think this does not involve you, to those of you who are not troubled by this — or worse, who applaud it — particularly those who are Catholic, I ask you: Do you not see the suffering of your neighbors? Do you not realize the pain and misery and very real fear and anxiety these unjust government operations and policies are causing? Is your conscience not disturbed? How can you stay quiet? […]

    […] Romero called on government agents to “reclaim your conscience and to obey your conscience rather than the command to sin. […]”

    Menjivar-Ayala also appealed directly to federal agents and support staff, telling them,

    “What you are doing is worth nothing if it is stained with unjust cruelty. That is not what America stands for. You too can and should speak out against this terror and infliction of suffering on people. You can refuse to be involved in oppression and these grievous assaults on human rights and dignity. […]

    It’s certainly not a coincidence that, in his last post to Twitter before becoming pope, then-Cardinal Robert Prevost cited Menjivar-Ayala’s op-ed and its call to “see the suffering of your neighbors” and to speak up against it.

    As we’ve said before, you don’t have to be a believer to recognize the truth of what this Pope and this new archbishop are saying […]

    More at the link, including Bishop Evelio Menjivar-Ayala’s experiences in Salvador, where he witnessed the brutality of US-backed government paramilitaries.

  112. says

    Follow-up to comments 94 and 103.

    Supreme Court asked to pause ruling blocking telehealth and mail access to abortion pills

    “The emergency appeal comes a day after a federal appeals court granted Louisiana’s request to require that mifepristone be dispensed in person.”

    Danco Laboratories, one of the makers of the abortion pill mifepristone, asked the Supreme Court on Saturday to block a lower court ruling that imposed a nationwide requirement for the medication to be dispensed in person.

    In its filing, the drugmaker also asked the high court to grant an immediate pause of the lower court’s ruling while the Supreme Court considers the appeal.

    “Danco has been free to rely on the procedures set by FDA to distribute its product. The Fifth Circuit’s decision immediately ends that. A stay should issue to prevent the disruption and confusion that will result if the decision below were to remain operative,” lawyers for the company wrote in their filing.

    […] Distributing mifepristone by mail has been a key way for women who live in states with abortion bans to access abortion care since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.

    In a statement, Planned Parenthood Action Fund President and CEO Alexis McGill Johnson expressed support for Danco’s appeal.

    “In yesterday’s Fifth Circuit ruling, activist judges once again upended countless lives by making it harder for patients to get the care they need, when and where they need it,” she said. “The fight is on, and Planned Parenthood will continue to make clear that mifepristone should be accessible, because it’s safe and effective, full stop.” […]

  113. Reginald Selkirk says

    Since They Won’t Remind You, Here’s What Drs. John Ioannidis, Jay Bhattacharya, and Scott Atlas, Actually Said 6 Years Ago

    In a previous article titled The Covid Amnesia Project and the Plot to Erase 2020, I discussed the deliberate effort to erase the horrific scenes of 2020, the overflowing hospitals and morgues, led by doctors who now want you to believe we overreacted to COVID 6-years-ago. I also wrote that these doctors “don’t want you to remember what they actually said in 2020, their farcical forecasts and pro-infection agenda.”

    Today, I will remind you. Unlike them, I think it is vital to resist pandemic revisionism and accurately remember what they actually said in the spring of 2020, especially because they now claim time has vindicated their pandemic vision, that they were basically right about everything.

    Three doctors whose words are worth recalling all hail from Stanford University. Though none of them treated COVID patients, they nonetheless greatly influenced our COVID response. Let’s honestly remember what they said in the spring of 2020.
    …

  114. CompulsoryAccount7746, Sky Captain says

    The Guardian – New York returns more than 650 antiquities valued at $14m to India

    The return […] came as New York City’s mayor, Zohran Mamdani, waded into the historically contentious ownership of the 105.6 carat Koh-i-noor diamond. A spokesperson for the prosecutor’s office said the ceremony had been scheduled months earlier and was not connected to the royal visit. Mamdani […] suggested to reporters that Britain should return the gem—which is set into the Queen Mother’s crown and held in the Tower of London—to India, hours before shaking hands with King Charles […] Mamdani said that if he met with Charles privately, he “would probably encourage him to return the Koh-i-noor diamond”.
    […]
    “The scale of the trafficking networks that targeted cultural heritage in India is massive, as demonstrated by the return of more than 600 pieces today,” [the district attorney said of ongoing investigations that had recovered the pieces].
    […]
    Mamdani’s remark opens a can of worms over a gem that has at times been in the possession of the Mughal and Persian empires, as well as many others. Britain acquired the stone in 1849 and it is now a powerful symbol in the debate over colonial history. India, Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan have all claimed ownership.

  115. StevoR says

    Researchers at Yale University and Princeton University recently tried to re-trace the origins and early diversification of dinosaurs by analyzing available datasets using advanced statistical techniques. The results of their analyses, published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, suggest that dinosaurs might have originated between 250 and 240 million years ago, which is around 10 million years earlier than indicated by the oldest confirmed dinosaur fossils.

    “Over 230 million years of Earth’s history, dinosaurs became a major terrestrial animal clade and produced one of the most species-rich living tetrapod lineages: birds,” wrote Chase Doran Brownstein and Christopher Thomas Griffin in their paper.

    “Yet, largely because of uncertainty surrounding the phylogeny of early dinosaurs, the tempo and mode of their emergence and initial radiation remain poorly constrained. We reconstruct the initial diversification of dinosaurs through Bayesian tip-dating analyses.”

    Source : https://phys.org/news/2026-04-dinosaurs-million-years-earlier-fossils.html

  117. StevoR says

    Palaeontologists have uncovered 25-million-year-old adult platypus fossils with well-formed teeth in South Australia’s outback.

    Researchers from Flinders University have been attending Frome Downs Station, about 425 kilometres north of Adelaide, for around 20 years, excavating platypus fossils in 2015, 2017 and 2020.

    In that time, “millions” of fish bones have been found, as well as “more than 1,000” non-fish vertebrate fossils. Of these, just three of the toothed platypuses were uncovered.Flinders University associate professor Trevor Worthy said the landscape was very different when the oldest known platypus species, Obdurodon insignis, lived.

    “There was nothing like the desert that’s there today,” he told ABC North and West Breakfast’s Tom Mann. “It was a lush environment with forests and numerous water animals.”

    Source : https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-04-29/ancient-platypus-fossils-with-teeth-found-outback-sa/106616134

  118. StevoR says

    Here’s hoping we do enough to save it so the platypi that are currently living don’t join them on the extinct list too soon :

    A leading researcher is calling for the platypus to be classified as a threatened species in New South Wales.

    The native monotreme is classified as endangered in South Australia, and vulnerable in Victoria.

    Lead researcher for the University of NSW Platypus Conservation Initiative Gilad Bino said the species was only “hanging on, not thriving” in NSW and the Murray-Darling Basin.

    Source : https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-04-27/platypuses-should-be-threatened-species-in-nsw-researcher-says/106520128

  121. birgerjohansson says

    The paradox of the Hittites may have been solved.
    The Hittite language may be part of an Indo-Anatolian branch that broke away from the steppe/lower Volga group much earlier. My comment: this may also explain the language and gods of the broze-age Mitanni kingdom in present-day Syria.

    .https://youtube.com/watch?v=H7rOd9BCSEo

  122. says

    An urgent care treated her allergic reaction. An ER monitored her—for $6,700.

    Silvana Toska was playing in a grass field with her daughters late last fall when she felt a sting on her ankle. The family had come to listen for barred and great horned owls as the sun set on a large park near their Davidson, North Carolina, home.

    […] Then she began to itch everywhere. She couldn’t see anything in the dark, so her husband shined his phone light on her.
    She was covered in hives.

    Because she also felt pressure in her chest, the family quickly went to an urgent care clinic. A doctor there recognized she was experiencing anaphylactic shock, a life-threatening, fast-moving allergic reaction.

    The doctor rushed her to a room without checking her in, saw her blood pressure was low, and administered two epinephrine injections and IV fluids, Toska said. The itching stopped, and the tightness in her chest went away.

    But the doctor said she needed to be monitored in an emergency room for at least two hours in case the reaction flared up again. Toska said the doctor insisted she take an ambulance to a nearby hospital, Atrium Health Lake Norman.

    Minutes later, she found herself lying on a stretcher in the ER.

    A doctor she described as “lovely” came in and spoke to her for no more than five minutes, Toska said. A nurse administered medicine through the IV line inserted at the urgent care clinic.

    Toska was exhausted, but her mind was on her daughters. “I had two little kids who were scared, so I was playing with them and trying to distract them.”

    After about an hour and a half, the doctor returned briefly, then the family went home, she said.

    “That’s it,” Toska said. “Nothing happened at the ER.”

    […] The Medical Service
    Toska said the ER doctor reviewed her vitals and discussed her allergic reaction and what to watch for when she got home. She also received a dose of famotidine, a drug often used to treat an upset stomach that is also administered for allergic reactions.

    The Bill
    The in-network hospital system charged Toska’s insurer, Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina, $6,746.50 for the ER visit, including $20.60 for the famotidine and $6,445.60 in “critical care” charges. Toska, who had not met her insurance deductible, was responsible for a $150 copay and $3,100.24 of the charges.

    The Billing Problem: Critical Care
    “Paying $3,100.24 for literally sitting in the ER entertaining my kids for an hour and a half feels kind of incredible,” Toska said.
    Medical providers in the United States use a uniform coding system to bill for procedures and services. Most of Toska’s ER charges stemmed from Atrium Health’s use of two billing codes for “critical care” — one for 30 to 74 minutes of care, at $5,617.85 (code 99291), and another for an additional 30 minutes (code 99292), at $827.75.

    According to the coding system, critical care is generally defined as when a doctor “directly” provides at least 30 minutes of care to a patient with “a probability of imminent or life-threatening deterioration.”

    Toska was under critical care because of what could have happened, not what did happen, Venkatesh said. Hospitals use the same billing codes for the ER visit, whether a patient’s condition deteriorates or not.

    The Resolution
    Toska said she called Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina, trying to get a better explanation for why the bill for so little hands-on care was so high.

    “The doctor determines the severity of the situation, and that’s the code we have,” the insurance representative said, according to Toska’s recollection. “This is critical care, and that’s what it costs.”

    After Toska contacted the hospital, Atrium Health’s Audit and Appeals Department replied in a letter that the critical care designation was “based on the presenting problem that brought you to the emergency room, the treatment provided, and the nursing staff that took care of you.”

    “It also includes the room, supplies, and equipment utilized during the visit,” the letter continued. “The charge is not based on time spent in the facility or with clinicians.”

    […]“Her experience is, sadly, very typical,” said Barak Richman, a professor of business law and co-director of the Health Law and Policy program at George Washington University. “Once you are brought onto the train of health care delivery, you have no control over where the stops are.”

    Emergency rooms — for many the default choice for medical care — are notorious for high costs, he said, adding that insurance companies should always try to negotiate critical care codes.

    […] In early March, Toska had a second allergic reaction. “OK,” she recalled thinking, “[…] Do I go to the ER and get another massive bill?”

    She decided against the trip and took Benadryl instead.

    Posted by readers of the article:

    Ah, the joys of our for-profit “healthcare” system, which, instead of centering the patients’ welfare and circumstances, centers the facility’s profit margins and the shareholder’s welfare above all. Monitoring Ms. Toska for an hour in urgent care after her treatment – she could have sat in the waiting room where she would not be taking up exam-room space – would have been more than sufficient to guard against a relapse. If at such time her symptoms recurred, she could then have been transferred to a hospital. If not, she could simply have been sent home with an epi-pen and instructions to follow up with an allergy specialist. But no – not when she could be charged for an ambulance ride and an ER stay! […]
    —————————
    We have a system in which the most predatory economic interests — private equity — has seen great potential in emergency medical care
    —————————-
    That’s messed up. People skipping care just because they can’t afford to be seen. We’re supposedly the wealthiest country on earth. Yet we choose to ruin lives over something controllable. And make no mistake, our ridiculously expensive health care system is a choice.

  124. JM says

    NPR: Iran submits 14-point response to U.S. proposal to end war

    Key points of the plan include a demand to resolve all issues and end the war within 30 days, instead of observing a two-month ceasefire as the U.S. had proposed. Other demands listed by the Iranian outlets include guarantees against future military aggression, the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iran’s periphery, an end to the naval blockade, the release of frozen Iranian assets, payment of reparations, the lifting of sanctions, an end to fighting in Lebanon, and a new mechanism governing the Strait of Hormuz.

    This is from what Iranian news is reporting in Iran, so it’s playing to the public. It’s in line with Iran’s other proposals so is probably true.

    Trump had told reporters on Friday that he was unimpressed with Iran’s proposal thus far.
    “They want to make a deal, I’m not satisfied with it, so we’ll see what happens,” he said Friday.

    What Trump says in public is probably the least trustworthy information but does matter. Despite Trump’s talk of the war being over there doesn’t seem to be much indication that negotiations are making progress. Trump saying the war was over had more to do with legal games about the time limit on when Trump had to get congressional approval and funding.

  125. says

    Washington Post link

    “Trump hosts PGA Tour at Doral — and he’s the big winner”

    […] Trump is here today, with fans hoping he’ll award the trophy at the PGA Tour’s Cadillac Championship. But the president has already won.

    For a decade, the PGA Tour shunned Trump’s courses as his first presidential run unnerved sponsors. The PGA Tour even pulled one long-running event from Doral and moved it to Mexico City, after the tour and other corporations had publicly chastised Trump for his tirades about Mexicans. The moves bruised the president, who forged an alliance with the PGA Tour’s upstart rival, the Saudi Arabia-backed LIV Golf, and urged top players to defect, too.

    But in Trump’s second term, some institutions that once publicly opposed him have backed down. Even those that engaged in quieter resistance, such as the PGA Tour, have come to accommodate him. And now golf’s flagship tour, with the accompanying glitz and glamour, is back at his resort.

    […] this weekend offers the kind of validation that Trump craves: watching the world’s greatest golfers navigate a course he commissioned, as fans consume Trump-branded drinks at the Trump Vodka Bar and marvel at a new golden statue memorializing Trump’s defiant salute after his 2024 assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania [oh FFS]. Throngs of cheering people greeted Trump as he arrived Saturday night, ahead of today’s final round.

    “They’re at my tournament right now, the PGA,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday, offering assessments of several players and noting that he had personally golfed with them. He also teased another event with the other tour: “In two weeks, LIV is going to be at my course right here on the Potomac.”

    […] The White House referred questions on Friday to the Trump Organization, the president’s family business that is coordinating the weekend’s golf activities.

    [I snipped Eric Trump’s comments.]

    […] In the waning days of his first term — as part of broad backlash to Trump following the U.S. Capitol riot — the PGA of America stripped Trump of what was set to be the most prestigious golf event ever held at one of his properties, the 2022 PGA Championship.

    The frustrated, now-former president cultivated ties with LIV Golf, the Saudi-backed rival league that spent the past several years siphoning talent and attention from the PGA Tour. Beginning in 2022, Doral hosted multiple LIV events, turning a former Tour stronghold into one of the upstart circuit’s most visible American venues. Trump also became a key cheerleader for the new tour, replete with players who became PGA Tour outcasts for taking the Saudis’ money.

    […] Now LIV is facing an uncertain future — as its Saudi investors plan to pull funding — and Trump on Thursday predicted that players once shunned by the PGA Tour would find their way back to the tour, too.

    “They’ll all be accepted by the tour, there’s no question, because they’re great,” the president said in the Oval Office, acknowledging that the PGA Tour might “do something” to penalize the players “a little bit.”

    But he reiterated that they’d find an accommodation. “They’ll all be back on tour, and it’ll be great.”

  128. birgerjohansson says

    Ukraine’s $5,000 Drone Hunts $50,000 Russian drones  from a Soviet turboprop 

    [The neat An-28 “Cub” turboprop was intended as replacement for the An-2 biplane, but the latter is so useful most were never replaced]

    .https://youtube.com/watch?v=NxSwS8yV_K0

  136. Reginald Selkirk says

    Meet the researcher aiming to halt use of ‘fundamentally flawed’ database linking IQ and nationality

    Rebecca Sear is on a mission to convince publishers to retract articles that use a database that purports to rank countries based on intelligence.

    To maintain the integrity of scientific literature, the professor of psychology at Brunel University of London and her colleagues are writing to journals that are publishing papers that rely on the so-called National IQ database, which aims to rank countries based on intelligence. It has drawn criticism for the way the data were collected. Sear’s efforts have so far led to two retractions.

    “There is absolutely no scientific merit whatsoever in the National IQ database,” Sear told Retraction Watch. “That means that any conclusions drawn from the database will be faulty and worthless.”
    …

  138. Reginald Selkirk says

    Ukraine Hits Russian Karakurt-Class Missile Ship in Primorsk Port

    Ukraine’s Defense Forces struck a Russian missile ship capable of launching Kalibr cruise missiles during a drone attack on the port of Primorsk overnight on May 3, targeting multiple military and energy-related assets.
    According to a statement by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy published on May 3, the operation resulted in damage to a Russian Karakurt-class missile ship, as well as a patrol boat and a tanker linked to Russia’s so-called shadow oil fleet…

  139. JM says

    CNBC: CNBC Daily Open: Trump’s Hormuz gambit lands with a whimper

    Trump said the U.S. will attempt to “free” stranded cargo ships that have been trapped by the Strait of Hormuz closure since the war with Iran began.
    The effort, which Trump dubbed “Project Freedom,” is set to begin Monday.

    Hard to say what happens. This isn’t as big a challenge to Iran as it sounds because it’s only ships that have been stuck in the straight during the closure. Iran might let these vessels out if negotiations are going well. If Trump tries to extend it to safeguarding ships through the strait it will trigger conflict. It may also amount to nothing or trigger fighting.
    There have also been questions about why the Trump administration is making these announcements over the weekends. This gives administration officials and people with connections time to make insider trades based on what they know will really happen. The general reaction is that this isn’t a big deal, even if goes forward it only frees up a little oil.

  141. birgerjohansson says

    Reginald Selkirk @ 137

    Comment at Facebook: ” I hope he gets the same expert care that he would give a disabled transgendered immigrant”.

  142. birgerjohansson says

    Also regarding Giuliani: The drop in NY crime was a heritage from his predecessor – the effect of those policies kicked in after G became mayor. He then took credit and attributed it to “zero tolerance”.

  148. birgerjohansson says

    I found a weird map of Europe at Facebook:
    “P*rn stars per million inhabitants”:
    Poland 0,8
    Scandinavia, Italy, Switzerland, Austria Ireland: 2,2- 2,9
    Britain: 10,2
    Czechia: 70,7  Hungary: 75,7

    I get Britain, they are messed up by the Victorian heritage. But Poland? 0,8?? Czechia? Hungary? So many questions.

  149. birgerjohansson says

    Source: visual capitalist (2023)
    Comparing healthcare spending and life expectancy.

    Health spending per capita
    USA $ 12,6 K
    Others
    UK $ 5,5 K
    Canada 6.3 K
    Netherlands 6,7 K
    Belgium 6,6 K
    (and a lot of other countries I forgot)

    All the lower countries have longer life expectancy than USA

  151. birgerjohansson says

    Nick Wrathall @ 150
    Yes, it is a very likely explanation (along with the removal of leaded petrol, which is known to harm cognitive skills of children growing up exposed to it).

  152. birgerjohansson says

    “Trump’s reckless cuts come back to bite him”
    Rachel.Maddow 

    .https://youtube.com/shorts/AoS5RzPMMwk

    Let us not forget the fucking imbecile eliminated the specialist group that was supposed to deal with pandemics during his first administration.

  155. beholder says

    @ birger

    So many clickbaity headlines…

    The Japanese are doing things differently

    Why are autistic people more left-wing?

    8 Ways to Detect AI Slop

    The Priest Who

    The Man Who

    It would be great if you dereferenced any of those mystery titles or wrote any of that info down so I don’t have to click through to a video that could be explained in a paragraph.

    The possibly unintended side-effect for a blog thread that appears to serve some archival purpose is that people usually can remember what the answer to the clickbait was, but people usually can’t remember what the clickbait headline was, so they can’t quickly search through your posts. It makes your information harder to find later — it’s not good archival practice.

  156. KG says

    My hunch is that missiles did hit the US warship, or at least were aimed at it; Trump doesn’t want this admitted, because then he’d have to retaliate, and he doesn’t dare start the fighting again because of the markets’ expected reaction. The ship was probably sent to probe whether the Iranians would attack.

  157. birgerjohansson says

    “Farage’s Latest Statement Is An Election Trick” #shorts

    [To get attention for the local elections Reform UK claims they want to set up concentration camps for immigrants in districts dominated by the Green party]

    .https://youtube.com/shorts/KbuOg5aFdgc

  158. says

    In key Southern red state, democracy suffers dramatic back-to-back setbacks

    “Louisiana’s Republican governor didn’t just suspend the state’s primary races, he also tried to block an elected official from taking office.”

    After Republican-appointed Supreme Court justices further gutted the Voting Rights Act last week, it stood to reason that Louisiana Republicans would do what they’ve long wanted to do: redraw the state’s district map so that the state’s two Black congressmen would almost certainly lose. There was, however, a logistical problem.

    The Pelican State’s electoral process, which included balloting in May, was already in motion, and by any reasonable measure, the high court’s ruling came too late in the year to accommodate partisan plans for the 2026 cycle.

    Gov. Jeff Landry apparently didn’t care, and just one day after the Louisiana v. Callais ruling came down, the Republican governor suspended scheduled primary elections and directed the legislature to move forward with plans to approve a new district map. [!!]

    The brazen and undemocratic move, executed two days before early voting began in Louisiana, led to chaotic conditions that were as predictable as they were unavoidable. The New York Times reported:

    The signs were stark, in bold, capital letters at early voting sites in Louisiana on Saturday: “ATTENTION! NOTICE OF CANCELLATION.”

    The normally scheduled House primaries had been scrapped, the bulletins said, and any votes cast for those races would not be counted. It was an unusual message directed at Louisianians who showed up for the first day of early voting, and a reflection of the dizzying scramble that is playing out after the Supreme Court struck down the state’s congressional map.

    Under Landry’s plan, some of the state’s May 16 contests can proceed as planned, but congressional primaries have been suspended at his command. [WTF?} The result, the Times’ report added, was understandable “bewilderment” among local voters who weren’t altogether sure whether the state would count their ballots.

    The governor’s gambit is now facing spirited legal challenges, but as it happens, this coincided with a different GOP effort in Louisiana that also undermined democracy.

    A Louisiana man named Calvin Duncan was convicted of murder in 1981 and imprisoned for almost three decades before being fully exonerated in 2021, when a judge agreed that he had been unjustly convicted and vacated Duncan’s sentence. In the months and years that followed, he rebuilt his life, graduated from law school at age 60 and even ran a successful campaign to become the Orleans Parish clerk of criminal court, vowing to help reform the justice system that had unjustly sent him to a maximum-security prison for a crime he did not commit.

    That didn’t sit well with Landry and the GOP-controlled legislature, which scrambled to eliminate Duncan’s job before he could be sworn in on May 4. [Cruel]

    They did exactly that. On the same day that the governor suspended the state’s congressional primary elections, Landry also signed into law a measure that folded the criminal clerk’s responsibilities into the city’s civil clerk’s office.

    Duncan filed a federal lawsuit, which has fared well, at least so far […]

    but it doesn’t negate the fact that the GOP’s effort to eliminate Duncan’s position was emblematic of a larger truth: Democracy suffered some brutal blows in Louisiana last week.

  160. says

    Follow-up to comments 94, 103 and 112

    UPDATE: The Supreme Court on Monday morning issued administrative stays in both of the weekend’s appeals from mifepristone manufacturers, meaning that the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals’ nationwide ban on the remote dispensing of the abortion pill is lifted at least until May 11 at 5 p.m. ET.

    […] Rather than seeking a review by the full appeals court, the pill’s manufacturers went directly to the Supreme Court on Saturday seeking emergency relief from the new in-person dispensing requirement.

    The ban, which came in a case brought by the state of Louisiana against the FDA, applies in red and blue states alike, though it bites especially hard in states that have mostly banned abortion.

    “While this is not the final word on the case, this decision represents the most sweeping threat to abortion since the overturning of Roe v. Wade,” Kelly Baden, vice president for public policy at the Guttmacher Institute […]

    Link

  161. says

    Corruption update, Trump and Qatar version:

    It will be nine years ago next month when Donald Trump, in his first year as president, publicly condemned Qatar as a country he said was a “funder of terrorism at a very high level.” Asked about those comments last fall, the Republican told reporters, in reference to Qatari officials, “In 2017, I didn’t really know them very well.”

    In other words, by Trump’s own telling, he didn’t really know what he was talking about. Now, however, he has a new perspective, because he “got to know them.”

    In fact, by all appearances, he got to know them quite well. […] In October, Trump unilaterally extended a NATO-like security guarantee to Qatar. [!]

    […] Trump golf club and villa project is being developed in Qatar, thanks in part to an investment from a company owned by the Qatari government. This followed Trump administration confirmation that U.S. officials have parked revenue from Venezuelan oil sales in a Qatari bank for reasons that have never been fully explained [!], which followed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s announcement that the United States will host a Qatari air force training facility at an Idaho air base.

    And then, of course, there’s the superluxury Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet. The Associated Press reported:

    The U.S. Air Force has finished modifying and testing a Boeing 747 jet donated by Qatar for temporary use as Air Force One and expects to have it ready for President Donald Trump to use this summer, the service announced late Friday.

    The jet is currently being painted red, white and blue, the Air Force said in a news release.

    This dovetails with the latest reporting from The Wall Street Journal, which added that the plane’s lavish interior will look “remarkably similar” to the furnishings first chosen for the Qatari royal family. [Of course.]

    […] top-secret communications gear that would enable the commander in chief to run the country from the skies. Alterations to the interior have focused on removing the Arabic-language exit signs and the contemporary artwork once enjoyed by the Qatari royals. But the oversize leather seats, plush couches and even the faux library bookcases are all staying, albeit with U.S. presidential seals now affixed to the walls, officials said.

    […] As for the future of the luxury jet, the AP’s report noted that Trump has said he won’t fly around in the Qatari jet after leaving office, but he would feature it in his future presidential library.

  162. says

    Campaign news, as summarized by Steve Benen:

    * With just one day remaining before Indiana’s primaries, Donald Trump remains determined to bring down Republican state lawmakers who have balked at his demand for a new gerrymandered map. [Source: New York Times]

    * In the wake of Republican-appointed Supreme Court justices gutting the Voting Rights Act, two Republican governors, Alabama’s Kay Ivey and Tennessee’s Bill Lee, announced special sessions to redraw the states’ congressional districts. [Source: RollCall]

    * On a related note, the president announced he wants other states to follow Alabama’s and Tennessee’s lead, even if that means locals “have to vote twice” [WTF?] to maximize the GOP’s chances in this year’s midterm elections. [Source: “Truth” post from Trump.]

    * In Georgia, Republican Gov. Brian Kemp is open to a redistricting gambit in his state, but he said it won’t happen before this fall’s elections. [Source: Atlanta Journal Constitution]

    * Speaking of Kemp, the Georgia governor set the date for a special election to fill the vacancy left by former Democratic Rep. David Scott, who died last month. The special election is now set for July 28. [Source: RollCall]

  163. says

    Trump wants Hakeem Jeffries to be impeached, which is foolish for all sorts of reasons

    “The president has no idea that members of Congress can’t be impeached. It’s emblematic of the profound ignorance that continues to undermine his presidency.”

    […] A week and a half ago, for example, the president posted an item to his social media platform in which he referred to the congressional leader as “a Low IQ individual” — a label Trump tends to reserve for Black people, for reasons the White House has never explained — who is “not smart enough to be ‘running’ the Democrat Party.” (For good measure, the president also mocked Jeffries’ name, describing “Hakeem” as “a fine American name.”)

    In case Trump’s racism wasn’t quite obvious enough, he published a follow-up item last week, again arguing that the House minority leader has a “Low IQ” before adding that Jeffries “is nothing but a THUG, and he is a danger to our Country!”

    On Sunday afternoon, the president went even further down the same unfortunate path, with another online missive that said:

    Hakeem Jeffries, a Low IQ individual, said our Supreme Court is “illegitimate.” After saying such a thing, isn’t he subject to Impeachment? I got impeached for A PERFECT PHONE CALL. Where are you Republicans? Why not get it started? They’ll be doing this to me!

    [What a disgrace Trump is. What an embarrassment!]

    […] criticizing the Supreme Court is not an impeachable offense. […] if criticizing the Supreme Court were an impeachable offense, Trump would have a real problem on his hands, given the severity of his recent condemnations of the court and its justices. (It was just last month when the president said “certain” conservative justices on the Supreme Court have “gone weak, stupid, and bad.”)

    […] Trump’s ongoing efforts to relitigate his first impeachment remain quite pitiful. Fourth, his “they’ll be doing this to me” comment seemed like an implicit acknowledgement that he expects Republicans to lose control of the House in the midterm elections.

    But even if we put all of these relevant details aside, arguably the five most interesting words in Trump’s online statement were these: “Isn’t he subject to Impeachment?”

    As it happens, there is an unambiguous answer: In this country, members of Congress cannot, in fact, be impeached.

    The thing is, a sitting American president really ought to know that. Trump no longer has any excuses for flunking Civics 101 tests, since he’s no longer the rookie who got elected despite never having served a day in any governmental capacity. Trump is now in the sixth year of his presidency, and he’s had time to familiarize himself with the basics of how Washington, D.C., works. […]

  164. says

    The heyday of the Trump administration’s mass firings of federal workers may have passed, but the chaos they created continues.

    Let’s check in with the Internal Revenue Service, shall we? That agency lost 20,000 employees, or over 20% of its headcount, in 2025. The Trump administration couldn’t be arsed to adequately staff up for the 2026 tax season, however, so it solved that problem by involuntarily reassigning about 1,500 employees from IT and human resources to handle frontline filing duties instead.

    On Friday, those folks learned that most of them will continue to be reassigned rather than returning to the IT and HR jobs they were hired for […]

    Do you want to know how great and efficient this is?

    Some of those reassigned folks are still in training for their reassigned jobs, with only 65% passing their training exam on the first try. Those who don’t pass get more training and a second assessment.

    […] 1,200 existing IT employees are still moved out of IT, and the administration isn’t moving them back, but it is instead going to hire 175 new IT employees. Terrific. Efficient!

    Over at the General Services Administration, they’re down almost 40%, but they are going to fix it with AI.

    How? Who can say, but AI is gonna fix the Environmental Protection Agency as well, because they are definitely not going to staff back up. Gregg Treml, the EPA’s deputy chief financial officer, said the agency is using AI tools to “get more time back for our employees to focus on the core things.” […]

    Look at the FBI, which tasked over 6,000 agents with handling immigration matters during the first nine months of 2025. That’s nearly one-quarter of the workforce, though they probably had some free time and excess staff, given that then-Attorney General Pam Bondi dropped thousands of probes of actual crimes to have FBI agents harass immigrants instead.

    And who can forget sending Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to airports to pretend to do TSA work?

    And then there are the rehirings, which is what’s currently happening over at FEMA. The emergency management agency is bringing back 14 whistleblowers that former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem fired back when she still had the job, but FEMA is also calling disaster staff it let go in January and asking them to come back.

    This chaos is, of course, due to catastrophic staffing shortages created by haphazard mass firings, but it’s also because the Trump administration wants to treat federal employees like widgets who can just be slotted in wherever needed.

    […] Trump’s new budget proposes to shed another 140,000 employees, further hobbling the work of the federal government while making employees miserable and overworked. […]

    Link

  167. says

    […] The Department of Justice under (Acting) US Attorney General Todd Blanche has filed a petition for enforcement in the Northern District of Texas, the cloud-cuckoo-MAGA-iest federal court thingy of them all, in an attempt to compel the Rhode Island Hospital in Rhode Island to hand over patient records from its transgender youth care program. An administrative subpoena was served on the hospital last July under HIPAA authority as part of an investigation into alleged violations of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, and the hospital has been telling Texas to fuck off for 10 months with their requests for private medical information. […] (Erin in the Morning)

    Other Todd tidings: on Sunday he claimed there’s more evidence in the prosecution of James Comey than seashells (there isn’t) and that you have to show ID to walk to a restaurant (you don’t). (NBC / Joe My God)

    We have now arrived at The Worst of Worst.

    “USF murder suspect asked ChatGPT about tossing body in trash, records say.” Also “last spring, Florida State University student Phoenix Ikner wanted to know how many classmates he needed to kill to become notorious,” and you will never guess what AI said next! (Orlando Sentinel / Wall Street Journal gift link) […]

    https://www.wonkette.com/p/panther-no-pants-its-party-time-tabs

    Wall Street Journal:

    […] Last spring, Florida State University student Phoenix Ikner wanted to know how many classmates he needed to kill to become notorious.

    ChatGPT responded with a metric. “Usually 3 or more dead, 5-6 total victims, pushes it onto national media,” the AI service told Ikner, who had spent the previous night describing to the chatbot how he was feeling depressed and suicidal, according to a transcript of the exchanges reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.

    Then Ikner uploaded an image of a Glock handgun and ammunition and asked the chatbot how to use it. Was there a safety to switch off? ChatGPT told him there wasn’t: “If there’s a round in the chamber and you pull the trigger? It will fire.”

    Ikner logged off. Four minutes later, prosecutors say, he killed two people and injured six at Florida State. Ikner faces charges of murder and attempted murder. He has pleaded not guilty.

    Ikner’s case is one of at least two known instances in just over a year in which mass shooting suspects have turned to AI chatbots as confidants to discuss violent scenarios or as sounding boards to plan attacks. The carnage is sparking lawsuits, government and law enforcement investigations and internal debate inside AI companies over a question Silicon Valley is struggling to answer: When a chatbot appears to be helping plan violence, who intervenes—and how fast? […]

  168. says

    U.S. says Iran fired missiles and drones to target American ships, no vessels struck

    “The U.S. said two American-flagged commercial vessels transited the Strait of Hormuz on Monday as part of the new ‘Project Freedom.’ ”

    Iran has fired cruise missiles and drones, and has launched small boats to target U.S.-flagged ships in the Strait of Hormuz, according to the Commander of U.S. Central Command. But no vessels have been hit, and no one was injured.

    The U.S. used attack helicopters to blow up the small boats and intercepted the drones, according to Admiral Brad Cooper. He said in a call Monday that U.S. Navy ships were protecting U.S. commercial vessels transiting the strait. It was a part of President Donald Trump’s new mission to guide stranded vessels through the critical waterway.

    Cooper would not address whether this meant the U.S.-Iran ceasefire that began April 8 was now over.

    Earlier Monday, Iran claimed to have struck an American warship. Central Command said no ship was hit. Iran also denied the U.S. sank any of its boats, according to Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting.

    Other reported attacks followed Trump’s weekend announcement, including the United Arab Emirates saying Iran had launched missiles at the country for the first time since a ceasefire was declared a month ago. Iranian state media, meanwhile, reported it had no plans to target the UAE.

    Meanwhile, the South Korean government also said an explosion and fire had occurred on a South Korean-operated cargo ship.

    Over the weekend, Trump announced that beginning Monday, the U.S. military would help free ships that have been “locked up” and unable to pass through key trade route amid the maritime standoff between Tehran and Washington.

    Cooper said that multiple Navy-guided missile destroyers are operating in the Gulf, helping commercial shipping and providing air defenses with their helicopters.

    Iran signaled an aggressive response to this latest bid to break its stranglehold over the strait […]

    Tehran issued a new map and a flurry of statements that sought to reassert its control. Early Monday, it claimed to have stopped U.S. destroyers from entering the strait.

    After the U.S. warships ignored several radio warnings, cruise missiles, rockets and combat drones were fired near them, army public relations said in a statement carried by the semi-official Tasnim news agency. […]

    Well that’s confusing.

  169. JM says

    Widespread confusion in the gulf. There are conflicting reports but it’s clear at this point that Iran has attacked the UAE and probably has taken some other shots. The US has retaliated. 2 US ships may have gotten through the Strait of Hormuz.
    Notice that 2 US flagged ships passing the strait is not what Trump promised yesterday, he promised to free stranded ships but doesn’t appear to be what the DOD is saying today. Trying to break the blockade is a much more serious attack then rescuing some stranded ships.
    Aljazeera: Iran war live: UAE says intercepted missiles, drone sparks fire at oil site

    The United Arab Emirates says its forces are responding to an Iranian drone and missile attack, with authorities in Fujairah reporting a fire at an oil facility. No official comment from Iran.
    Two missiles hit a US frigate in the Strait of Hormuz after it ignored warnings from Iran’s navy to halt, state media quote the army as saying, with the US military saying no vessel was struck.

    CNN: US and Iranian militaries trade shots as Strait of Hormuz tensions escalate

    • Strait of Hormuz: The US military “blew up” six Iranian boats in the Strait of Hormuz Monday after Tehran launched “multiple cruise missiles, drones and small boats” at American Navy ships and commercial vessels, US Central Command said.
    • Clashing accounts: Earlier, US-flagged vessels successfully passed through the strait, the military said, but Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps rejected the statement as “baseless,” according to state media.

    NY Times: Iran War Live Updates: Attacks in Gulf Threaten to Reignite Conflict

    Attacks Resume: New attacks were reported in the United Arab Emirates and Oman on Monday, and U.S. Central Command said Navy ships shot down Iranian cruise missiles and drones, and six speedboats that had threatened ships in the Strait of Hormuz. It was not clear if the incidents signaled the collapse of the truce. Iran did not offer any official confirmation or denial that it had resumed attacks, and a senior military official denied that its boats had been sunk.

    When reading these claims don’t trust either side. Iran’s claims that the US has not gotten any ships through the straight and has not blown up any Iranian ships should not be taken seriously, they would claim that no matter what the US did. US figures of how many Iranian ships they have hit should be considered estimates and US claims that Iran has not hit any US ships are not entirely trustworthy.

  170. birgerjohansson says

    “New understanding of insect flight points way to stable flapping-wing robots”
    .https://techxplore.com/news/2026-05-insect-flight-stable-wing-robots.html

    “No digital content is safe from generative AI, researchers say”
    .https://techxplore.com/news/2026-05-digital-content-safe-generative-ai.html

    “No more guesswork in drug design—atomic-resolution method exposes what trial and error keep missing”
    .https://phys.org/news/2026-05-guesswork-drug-atomic-resolution-method.html

  174. says

    Trump’s threat escalation, as reported by MS NOW:

    Trump threatened today that Iran will be ‘blown off the face of the Earth’ if its military attacks U.S. forces guiding U.S.-allied vessels through the Strait of Hormuz.

  175. says

    New York Times:

    Canada and the European Union are turning commiseration and anxiety over their turbulent relationships with the United States under President Trump into a deepening bond. On Monday, Prime Minister Mark Carney of Canada joined a summit of European leaders in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, putting his country at the heart of some of Europe’s biggest priorities. He was the first non-European head of government to be invited to the gathering, known as the European Political Community summit.

  176. says

    Florida voters sue over ‘extreme’ new House map

    A group of Florida voters filed a lawsuit Monday challenging the state’s new congressional district map just hours after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed it into law.

    The lawsuit argues that the redrawn map violates Florida’s Fair Districts constitutional amendment, as it clearly favors the GOP. It alleges that DeSantis and other state Republicans drew it in secret, releasing it first to Fox News with the districts color-coded in red and blue to signify the political parties.

    “It was not a redistricting proposal dressed up in the language of neutral principles. It was a partisan declaration, and it was presented as one,” the lawsuit says.

    It goes on to say that the man who drew the map for DeSantis, Jason Poreda, admitted during a hearing that he used partisan data to draw the map, which directly violates the Florida Constitution. [!]

    “Both the map drawer and its proponents have thus effectively conceded that the 2026 Plan does not comply with the Florida Constitution. […]

    It also says that, since the new map could allow Republicans to capture 24 of the state’s 28 districts […]

    “That means even if Republicans win 55% of the statewide vote, as they have in recent elections, Republicans are likely to win 86% of the state’s congressional seats,” the lawsuit says.

    It’s abundantly clear that the new map violates the Fair Districts Amendment, which passed in 2010 with 63% of the vote. [!]

    The amendment states: “Congressional districts or districting plans may not be drawn to favor or disfavor an incumbent or political party. Districts shall not be drawn to deny racial or language minorities the equal opportunity to participate in the political process and elect representatives of their choice. Districts must be contiguous. Unless otherwise required, districts must be compact, as equal in population as feasible, and where feasible must make use of existing city, county and geographical boundaries.”

    The new map was clearly drawn to favor Republicans at the behest of President Donald Trump, who so fears losing the midterms that he’s encouraging the GOP to rig elections rather than try to persuade voters.

    [I snipped details concerning how the new map affects Democratic Party-leaning large cities in Florida.]

    Though the map is obviously illegal, it’s not clear that the Florida Supreme Court will care. Six of the seven justices were appointed by DeSantis, so they might allow the new map to be used despite its unconstitutionality

    But as the saying goes, you’ll never know if you don’t try. Thus, Democrats are suing.

    For the sake of democracy, let’s hope they prevail.

  184. birgerjohansson says

    The Hill 
    Most Americans doubt Donald Trump’s fitness to lead: Poll .https://share.google/lb6iUuOvfQhYJD5Eb

    A poll by Washington Post/ ABC News Ipsos claimed 59% think Trump is “mentally unfit” to be president.

    (The MAGA demographic presumably only watch Fox News with its alternative facts from an alternative world)

  185. StevoR says

    So its no surprise that a rocky exoplanet just a bit larger in mass than our globe orbiting an M5 red dwarf star in just 11 hours is a barren airless SuperMercury with little if any atmosphere.

    What is historic and extraordinary is that – despite being fifty light years away and so extremely close to its star the JWST has “seen” its surface in a historic first. This exoplanet is specifically LHS 3844 b or Kuaꞌkua as it has been officially named and whilst the results are pretty predictable; that’s still significant and hopefully a sign of better things and more exciting exoplanetary findings still to come.

    Also vulcanism on the the nightside and a twilight strip along its terminator (the day / night side divider) could make for intresting places there too..

    See the article here via space dot com :

    https://www.space.com/astronomy/james-webb-space-telescope/james-webb-space-telescope-directly-studies-an-exoplanets-surface-for-the-1st-time-we-see-a-dark-hot-barren-rock

  189. Reginald Selkirk says

    Trump reignites Pope feud accusing pontiff of ‘endangering a lot of Catholics’

    President Trump has reignited his feud with Pope Leo XIV, accusing the pontiff of “endangering a lot of Catholics”.​

    Trump hit out at the religious leader during an interview discussing the jailed Hong Kong businessman Jimmy Lai, whose case he plans to raise with Chinese President Xi Jinping later this month. ​

    When the host of the The Hugh Hewitt Show suggested the Pope should also raise the issue of Lai’s detention, Trump quickly pivoted to an attack on the leader of the Catholic church.

    “Well, the Pope would rather talk about the fact that it’s OK for Iran to have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said Sunday. “I don’t think that’s very good. ​

    “I think he’s endangering a lot of Catholics and a lot of people, but I guess, if it’s up to the Pope. He thinks it’s just fine for Iran to have a nuclear weapon.”​
    …

    I don’t think it’s fine for Trump to have nuclear weapons.

  190. birgerjohansson says

    “Trump has blown his leverage”. A Different Bias:  the European meeting in Armenia.

    “Trump Lost Control of Europe and Didn’t Even Notice”
    .https://youtube.com/watch?v=d2wnH31jBUU
    It is as if people find ways to do without friends that turn into *ssholes. Who could have expected that?

  193. says

    I won’t be able to return to The Infinite Thread until later this afternoon. I would appreciate it if regular readers would fill in for me. Thanks.

    RACHEL MADDOW: Trump is terrible at everything except this one thing

    Rachel Maddow makes the case that from the first day of his second term, Donald Trump has been engaged in “a concerted and intense targeting of Black Americans,” from firings to executive orders and including his Supreme Court gutting the Voting Rights Act, which will likely largely eliminate Black congressional representation in the American South.

    Video is 12:04 minutes.

    RACHEL MADDOW: Trump’s rash decision on U.S. troops in Germany follows Putin phone call (again)

    Rachel Maddow describes the importance of the U.S. military bases in Germany, including in playing a role in supporting Trump’s war on Iran. For reasons that are hard to discern, Donald Trump wants to yank 5,000 troops from those bases. This decision happens to come shortly after Trump spoke on the phone with Vladimir Putin. This is not the first time that sequence of events has happened.

    Video is 3:56 minutes

    RACHEL MADDOW: ‘It’s just failure’: Americans outraged as Trump’s broken government stops working

    Rachel Maddow looks at new polling that shows Donald Trump is abysmally unpopular with Americans, and shares an example of how the slashing of government employees, touted as “efficiency” at the time, is being reveals to be nothing more than breaking the government so it can’t function correctly anymore when Americans are counting on it.

    Video is 3:43 minutes

  194. birgerjohansson says

    So the actions taken by incompetent leaders eventually end tripping them up? I suppose a plannling horizon like a goldfish is not the advantage Musk and DJT expected it to be.

  195. StevoR says

    @ ^ birgerjohansson : Problem is, wehn they metaphorically trip and fall they metaphorically land on, squash and damage so much and so many others.

    .***
    The Majority Report w/ Sam Seder’s latest (?) here simply titled –
    It’s Bad     and being an actually good interview w Jeremy Scahill, journalist, author and co-founder of Drop Site News lasting 9 minutes.

  197. birgerjohansson says

    StevoR @ 195

    Yes. I agree completely. But schadenfreude is one of the few things left after they have burned down the world and realise they are on fire.

  199. says

    Trump published the text below to his social media platform:

    So ironic that Cryin’ Chuck Schumer and the Democrats are hiring SLEAZEBAGS like Barack Hussein Obama’s Crooked former Attorney General, Eric Holder, and others of that ilk, to look into Voter Integrity, when this same group of Human Garbage RIGGED the 2020 Presidential Election. GET TOUGH REPUBLICANS — THEY’RE COMING, AND THEY’RE COMING FAST! They’re no good for our Country, they almost destroyed it, and we don’t want to let that happen again! These are highly dishonest people who are, in many ways, treasonous, in that they are trying to destabilize the United States of America in what, some would call, a War.

    Commentary:

    [I snipped Trump’s history of putting caustic labels on those he perceives as enemise]

    […] There’s no point in fact-checking every delusional error of fact and judgment in Trump’s online rant — Holder isn’t “crooked”; no one “rigged” the 2020 election; etc. — but the president’s willingness to describe his American detractors as “human garbage” is new.

    […] as recently as last week, after a gunman attempted to breach the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt insisted, “This political violence stems from a systemic demonization” of the president.

    Four days later, her boss labeled American officials he doesn’t like as “human garbage,” as part of a pattern that can be accurately characterized as “systemic demonization.”

    The next time Republicans complain about inflammatory and intemperate political rhetoric, keep this in mind.

    Link

  200. says

    The Trump administration is waging a war on Black Americans, by Rachel Maddow.

    “We’re about 16 months into a concerted, intense targeting of Black Americans by the president and his administration.”

    Three months ago, Donald Trump posted a video online depicting former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama as apes. He later took the video down but refused to apologize for it.

    Five months ago, Trump confirmed something he had long denied. In his first term, reports emerged that during a 2018 White House meeting with senators, Trump had referred to Haiti and African nations as “s–––hole countries.” When those comments were first reported, Trump denied he ever used that language.

    But then a few months ago, he bragged, proudly, during a speech in Pennsylvania, that he had used that term — and that he still believed it.

    As is clear from the repeated daily news cycle, Trump and his administration have been bad at everything they have set their mind to. They’re terrible in the courts. They’re terrible in the court of public opinion. They’re terrible at the technocratic, practical stuff a government is supposed to do. They’re terrible at war and diplomacy. They’re bad at what they’re trying to do. Simply put, they’re not great.

    But on race, on the treatment of African Americans, even being terrible at what they’re doing has still proved disastrous for the country. It’s not just posturing and messaging that validates and excites the worst bigots in the country (though it’s that too), but we’re now about 16 months into a concerted and intense targeting of Black Americans by the Trump administration.

    On his first day in office, the president proclaimed war on diversity efforts, not only in government, but in any institution in the country over which he can exert leverage, from schools to law firms to private businesses of every stripe.

    He immediately started firing or trying to force out some of the highest-profile Black public officials in the government, seemingly regardless of any other criteria, including the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Charles “CQ” Brown Jr.; the librarian of Congress, Carla Hayden; Gwynne Wilcox, an attorney who served on the National Labor Relations Board; Robert Primus, a member of the Surface Transportation Board; Alvin Brown, who served on the National Transportation Safety Board; Peggy Carr, commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics; Willie Phillips, head of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and Lisa Cook, a member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors.

    When Trump and his top political donor, Elon Musk, then started just getting rid of huge swaths of the federal government, to disastrous effect, the biggest cuts targeted agencies that employed a disproportionate number of Black employees.

    Reporter Erica Green wrote about this a few months ago for The New York Times, noting that nothing had moved backward in the federal government for Black Americans this quickly or this far in more than 100 years — since 1912, when President Woodrow Wilson resegregated the federal workforce.

    As Green reported of that earlier effort, “Black employees were fired or demoted to lower-level jobs, relegated to separate and inferior lunchrooms and other facilities, and accused of making white women feel unsafe.”

    According to the Times, those who remained in the federal government were “humiliated.” Green cited a report that a Black worker in the Postal Service was “surrounded by screens so white workers would not have to look at him.”

    “Another employee had a cage built around him to separate him from his white counterparts,” she wrote. “A clerk in the Treasury secretary’s office was assigned to rewrite all correspondence to address Black employees by their first names.”

    But in 2025 and 2026, this president and this administration are not just inheriting that history, they’re furthering it.

    Since 1965, all federal contractors have been banned, by executive order, from discriminating “on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin.” Trump rescinded that 1965 rule on his first full day in office. [!]

    Less than a month later, the Trump administration announced another rule change, rescinding Clause 52.222-21 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation, which is titled “Prohibition of Segregated Facilities” and reads:

    The Contractor agrees that it does not and will not maintain or provide for its employees any segregated facilities at any of its establishments, and that it does not and will not permit its employees to perform their services at any location under its control where segregated facilities are maintained. [!]

    That clause has been in government contracts for decades. Trump rescinded it. Which means, as bluntly reported by NPR, that “the federal government no longer explicitly prohibits contractors from having segregated restaurants, waiting rooms and drinking fountains.”

    Recently, fired and sidelined employees in the Department of Housing and Urban Development have sounded the alarm that the administration is no longer enforcing the law known as the Fair Housing Act [!], which dates back to 1968 and states that you can’t refuse to rent to someone or refuse to sell a house to someone on account of their race, color, religion, national origin or any other factor against which we’re supposed to be protected from discrimination.

    In Trump’s first year back in office, Black unemployment spiked, from 6.2% up to 7.5%, the highest of all racial groups. Black unemployment had been at a record low of 4.8% under former President Joe Biden. [Big contrast]

    The Trump administration is bad at its work. It’s bad at what it sets its mind to — in all sorts of ways. But Black Americans have been targeted by this administration in a way that has nevertheless been devastating.

    And that was before the conservative majority on the Supreme Court, including all of Trump’s appointees, voted to radically curtail the Voting Rights Act.

    As soon as the court said it would take up that case, people started mapping out the worst-case scenario for what Trump and the Republicans could do, particularly in the South, if the Voting Rights Act — the crowning achievement of the Civil Rights Movement — were gutted. And it looks like the snap back after the end of Reconstruction following the Civil War. [!]

    After that ruling, the Republican governor of Louisiana suspended congressional elections already underway to rush through new maps that will presumably ensure that even though one-third of the population of the state is Black, there will be little or no Black representation in Congress from Louisiana at all.

    The war on Black Americans being waged by this president and this Republican Party is one of the only things they’ve put their mind to that they’ve actually done well at: a comprehensive attack on Black public officials in the federal government and in Congress. Now, around the country, everywhere Republicans are in charge, they are scrambling to make sure that Black public officials can no longer hold office.

    In South Carolina, where a quarter of the population is Black, they have one majority-minority district represented by an African American, Rep. Jim Clyburn. Now, South Carolina Republicans are pushing to get rid of that district.

    In Tennessee, where 1 in 6 residents is Black, Republicans now want to make sure all nine congressional seats in the state are white.

    In her dissent, Justice Elena Kagan said the court’s ruling will likely cause the “largest reduction to minority representation since the end of Reconstruction.” […]

    We’re in the middle of something really radical in this country: an effort not just to get rid of our constitutional republic, but to get rid of the multiracial democracy our Constitution is supposed to protect. The fight to save it is looking like it’s going to be the fight of our lives.

  201. says

    Good News

    Media Matters claims victory in its fight against Trump’s Federal Trade Commission

    […] Media Matters, a media watchdog organization, found itself facing a Federal Trade Commission probe a year ago this month.

    Media Matters soon after fought back by suing the FTC, saying the agency was waging a politically motivated “campaign of retribution” as part of a broader effort to “attempt to silence and harass an organization for daring to speak the truth.”

    The pushback appears to have worked quite well. The New York Times reported:

    [T]he Federal Trade Commission agreed to withdraw a subpoena it had sent to the liberal watchdog group Media Matters, the nonprofit said on Monday. The subpoena was part of an F.T.C. investigation that began after Mr. Musk accused Media Matters of trying to damage X’s relationship with advertisers.

    […] It was against this backdrop that the Trump administration not only launched an investigation into the group — the FTC said in writing last year that it was exploring whether the organization “illegally colluded with advertisers” — but also asked Media Matters to turn over all the documents related to Musk’s litigation.

    It now appears, however, that the entire endeavor has collapsed. In a press release about the latest developments, Media Matters noted that the FTC approved a settlement agreement in which the agency conceded, in writing, that the progressive group was no longer the target of any federal investigation.

    “Our victory shows the importance of holding power to account and the importance of fighting instead of folding,” Angelo Carusone, Media Matters’ president, said in a written statement. “This extends well beyond Media Matters, though. Washington Litigation Group’s excellent lawyering helped to secure this victory and establish precedent that will protect others targeted with retaliatory investigations in nakedly unlawful ways.” […]

    The only way to lose a fight against Trump is to pursue a course rooted in appeasement.

    It’s true when it comes to news organizations, it’s true when it comes to law firms, it’s true when it comes to higher education and it’s true when it comes to those in positions of authority who stand their ground in the face of presidential bullying and corrupt attempts at intimidation.

  202. says

    WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—Calling the exoskeletons of marine mollusks “the deadliest weapons known to man,” on Tuesday Donald J. Trump signed an executive order banning seashells.

    “Now the American people can sleep well at night, knowing that their president has protected them from death by seashell,” Trump told reporters during the Oval Office signing ceremony.

    “Obama didn’t do anything about seashells, and neither did Biden,” he said. “I’m the only president who would do this.”

    Trump used the ceremony to defend his increasingly unpopular war in the Middle East, declaring, “Iran must never be allowed to have seashells.”

    https://www.borowitzreport.com/p/trump-signs-executive-order-banning-eb5

  203. says

    Romanian socialists and far right topple government

    “The key NATO member on Europe’s eastern edge faces fresh upheaval with an economic crisis looming.”

    Romania’s centrist government collapsed on Tuesday, throwing one of Europe’s most strategically important countries into turmoil at a critical time.

    Center-right Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan, who heads the National Liberal Party, lost a confidence vote in the country’s parliament after only 10 months in office, bringing his short-lived and unpopular attempt to rein in the country’s budget deficit to an abrupt end.

    The European Union’s sixth most populous country — and a key NATO member bordering Ukraine — now faces an uncertain future as it seeks to stave off the threat of an economic crisis in the months ahead.

    Moderate centrist President Nicușor Dan is now expected to hold consultations with party leaders in an attempt to broker an agreement for a new coalition to take over running the country.

    […] Bolojan’s defeat was in part masterminded by far right leader George Simion, who promised “an end to ten months during which the so-called pro-Europeans have delivered nothing but taxes, war and poverty.”
    But Simion’s bid to oust the prime minister only succeeded because his far right Alliance for the Union of Romanians joined forces with the center-left Social Democratic Party (PSD), which quit Bolojan’s coalition government last month.

    That unlikely alliance between the MAGA-supporting Simion and the Romanian social democrats triggered consternation among mainstream leaders in Brussels — who saw it as a new and unwelcome example of establishment parties teaming up with the populist far right.

    […] Critics of such tactical arrangements say any centrist party that works with the far right — even on a short-term basis — risks helping to normalize extremists who threaten the EU’s values. [Correct. It is too much like trying to appease Trump.]

    […]

    More at the link.

  204. says

    Politico:

    A second federal appeals court [the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals] has rejected the Trump administration’s bid to lock up the majority of people it is seeking to deport, without an opportunity for release on bond — even if they have no criminal records and have resided in the country for decades.

    Good news from the appeals court.

  205. says

    New York Times:

    The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against The New York Times on Tuesday, claiming that the paper had engaged in ‘unlawful employment practices’ and had discriminated against a white male employee who did not get a sought-after promotion.

    That’s the Trump administration targeting a newspaper it doesn’t like.

  206. says

    Associated Press:

    The Trump administration sued Denver and its police department on Tuesday seeking to strike down an assault weapons ban that has been in place for Colorado’s largest city since 1989. The lawsuit came a day after Denver officials publicly rejected calls by the Department of Justice to repeal the longstanding city ordinance that makes it a crime to possess assault weapons.

  207. says

    Washington Post:

    The Justice Department will remain blocked from examining electronic devices seized from a Washington Post reporter, a federal judge in Virginia ruled Monday. The ruling by U.S. District Judge Anthony J. Trenga marks the second time a court in the Eastern District of Virginia has rejected efforts by the Justice Department to sift through a phone, computers and other devices belonging to Post reporter Hannah Natanson.

    Good news for now.

  208. says

    Trump riffs about mass slaughter to audience of kids

    In the Oval Office on Tuesday, President Donald Trump ruminated about vicious deaths in Iran—while surrounded by a group of children he was hosting.

    “They should do the smart thing, because we don’t want to go in and kill people,” Trump said about Iran, adding, “I have so many Iranian friends from New York and from other places over the years. They’re great people. I don’t wanna—I don’t want to kill those people.” [video]

    His ambivalence about the war he started was on display when a reporter asked why he did not arm Iranians if he believed they were ready to overthrow their government.

    “They want to protest, but they don’t have any guns,” Trump said. “So you could have 200,000 people protesting and have five or six sick people with guns, and when they start shooting them right between the eyes and you see a guy fall and another one fall and you have no guns, very few people would be able to stand there and do it.”

    Yikes. [video]

    The Trump administration has talked about trying children as adults. Apparently, the president also wants to subject children to the nightmares of having an unhinged commander-in-chief as well.

  210. Pierce R. Butler says

    Lynna @ # 200, quoting Rachel Maddow quoting Erica Green in the NYT: … 1912, when President Woodrow Wilson resegregated the federal workforce.

    Except that Wilson wasn’t inaugurated until April of 1913…

    (I don’t want to “register” with the Times, so could only read a few ‘grafs from Maddow’s link before the story went away, but it’s disappointing neither set of editors caught that.)

  211. CompulsoryAccount7746, Sky Captain says

    Re: Pierce R. Butler @210:

    Smithsonian – Woodrow Wilson: Federal Segregation

    During Woodrow Wilson’s 1912 presidential campaign, he promised African Americans advancement. […] Believing in his promise, many African Americans […] voted for Wilson. He did not, however, fulfill the promises […] Less than a month after his March 4, 1913 inauguration, President Wilson’s Administration took the first steps towards segregating the federal service. The question of federal segregation was first discussed in high administration circles at a closed cabinet meeting on April 11, 1913.

  212. Pierce R. Butler says

    … Sky Captain @ # 211 – Thanks for the correction on the date!

    As for Wilson, he was far and away the worst Democratic president of the 20th (& so far, 21st) century.

  213. JM says

    CNBC: Trump pauses U.S. bid to guide ships out of Strait of Hormuz, cites Iran deal progress

    President Donald Trump said he is pausing “Project Freedom,” the U.S. military’s effort to guide commercial ships out of the Strait of Hormuz.
    Trump said the decision was based in part on “the fact that Great Progress has been made toward a Complete and Final Agreement” with Iran.

    After a day of verbal and military jabs back and forth it looks like Trump blinked. He will suspend the operation without anything specific from Iran. Two US destroyers made it through the Strait but suffered multiple attacks, no word if any attacks hit.
    Oddly the news mostly described the cease fire as holding today even though Iran made attacks and the US sending military ships through the Strait is a military provocation.

  215. says

    JM @213, “Oddly the news mostly described the cease fire as holding today even though Iran made attacks and the US sending military ships through the Strait is a military provocation.”

    Yeah, I noticed that too.

    In other news related to Trump’s delusions: Wait, Senate GOP wants to give Trump how much for his dumb ballroom?

    So much for that privately funded White House ballroom. Senate Republicans on Monday evening unveiled their immigration enforcement funding bill, which aside from providing tens of billions for President Donald Trump’s immigration goons also includes a whopping $1 billion in taxpayer funds for Trump’s pet ballroom project.

    The funding bill, introduced by Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley, includes $1 billion “for the purposes of security adjustments and upgrades, including within the perimeter fence of the White House Compound to support enhancements by the United States Secret Service relating to the East Wing Modernization Project, including above-ground and below-ground security features.”

    […] “It gives me pleasure to do it for the country, and I’m paying for it, I’m paying for it,” Trump said in September 2025. “The country’s not.” [video] [Bluster and braggadocio. The orange clown was lying.]

    That September, Trump said the project would cost $250 million. By October, it ballooned to $300 million. And by February he said the project was projected to cost $400 million.

    Yet now, Senate Republicans want to give him many multiples of that number with money from your hard-earned tax dollars, justifying the spending by saying that it’s needed for security measures after the thwarted shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on April 25.

    And it’s likely Republicans will succeed, as they are using the budget reconciliation process to pass the funding.

    That process allows the Senate to advance budget-neutral spending bills with a simple majority, rather than the usual 60-vote filibuster threshold. That means that Democrats would be unable to block the legislation.

    Still, Democrats can and will make this vote painful and costly for the GOP.

    Democrats can introduce amendments during debate for the bill, and would likely introduce one trying to strip ballroom funding from the legislation. […]

    Republicans, meanwhile, claim that the $1 billion is just for security for the new East Wing and not for the ballroom itself. [!]

    [Is that supposed to be sneakily spinning the whole story so that the public can be gaslighted some more? And so that even more taxpayer funds can be added later?]

    What’s more, another group of Senate Republicans wants to give Trump the money for the ballroom itself anyway, with sycophantic South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham introducing a bill last week to give Trump $332 million in taxpayer funds to construct the gaudy monstrosity […]

    Ultimately, while Americans are clamoring for Trump and the GOP to tackle affordability and end the war in Iran, Republicans are instead moving to spend billions in taxpayer dollars on Trump’s unpopular immigration enforcement agenda and the ballroom.

  217. StevoR says

    You can now browse through more than 12,000 photos taken by the Artemis 2 astronauts during their mission around the moon.

    The images range from stunning views of Earth to shots of the astronauts inside their Orion capsule to breathtaking images of the moon and the crew’s unique perspective from beyond its far side. They’re the first pictures taken by astronauts traveling beyond low Earth orbit in more than 50 years, and they show our home planet and its celestial neighbor in brand new, incredible ways.

    Source : https://www.space.com/space-exploration/artemis/nasa-just-released-12-000-photos-from-artemis-2-here-are-our-top-picks

  218. StevoR says

    A new ion engine has been tested in a lab, proving itself to be 25 times more powerful than NASA’s current state-of-the-art one. This advanced technology could one day assist humans in reaching Mars.

    ..(Snip)..

    “This marks the first time in the United States that an electric propulsion system has operated at power levels this high, reaching up to 120 kilowatts,” NASA administrator Jared Isaacman said in a statement. “We will continue to make strategic investments that will propel that next giant leap.”

    Source : https://www.space.com/astronomy/mars/nasa-is-making-a-powerful-new-ion-engine-to-send-astronauts-to-mars-and-it-just-passed-its-1st-test

    Source :

  219. StevoR says

    The new chief of the Planetary Society says she is prepared once again to fight NASA’s science budget cuts, after helping the advocacy group do so last year.

    ..(snip)..

    The “ping-pong” approach to slashing and restoring budgets, she added, is “damaging” because it might be moving those who would be interested in space science jobs into areas where they perceive more stability. So even if the cuts are restored, “The damage gets done regardless.”

    Damage is not only done in terms of career stability, but in terms of inspiration, Vaughn stated. She recalled the seminal 1980s Cosmos series hosted by Carl Sagan, a planetary scientist and co-founder of the Planetary Society. That series came in the wake of generational-building missions such as the Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 that as a pair, eventually flew past all the gas giants of the solar system, and the first U.S. landings on Mars by Viking 1 and Viking 2 in 1976.

    Similar inspiring things are happening today, she noted, which drive not only intangibles like inspiration, but “pushing the bounds of science and technology” in a way that is relevant to the workforce. Proposed cuts to the science program include “perfectly good spacecraft”, she said, such as the Chandra X-Ray Observatory, which is uncovering the hidden universe using one of NASA’s seminal telescopes, along with the OSIRIS-APEX mission set to explore asteroid Apophis, and the Mars Odyssey mission that has been charting the Red Planet for 25 years.

    Source : https://www.space.com/space-exploration/trumps-proposed-nasa-budget-is-a-horrible-threat-to-our-future-in-space-planetary-society-ceo-says

  220. CompulsoryAccount7746, Sky Captain says

    Adding to Lynna @215, quoting DailyKos:

    they are using the budget reconciliation process to pass the funding.
    That process allows the Senate to advance budget-neutral spending bills with a simple majority, rather than the usual 60-vote filibuster threshold.

    Bobby Kogan (Center for American Progress, Biden OMB):

    Text of Judiciary part of the reconciliation package is out. […] there is almost no oversight for this money. DHS funds already have limited oversight, but this money gets far, far less than typical annual funds for DHS do. […] Taken all together, […] a total of $71.652 billion. Of that, $1.457 billion is for DOJ, and $1 billion is the ballroom
    […]
    Rs were doing this because they wanted to get rid of D leverage. The idea was funding ICE and CBP through the end of Trump’s term, so Dems couldn’t shut them down anymore. I have been saying since the beginning that $70 bn isn’t enough for that, and sure enough it’s not.

    In OBBBA, they gave ICE enough money to run at around double capacity through the end of Trump even if it never got another cent. Now they’re giving ICE [$38] billion more, w/ enough to run at 4-5 times capacity, w/ no oversight. Very scary stuff. Hard to fathom what that can do.

    However, that’s just not true for CBP. CBP would run out of money nearish the endish of 2027, depending on how fast they want to use it. Clearly they are massively prioritizing ICE, but also retaining D leverage over CBP.
    […]
    $38 billion more for ICE & $26 billion more for CBP (plus $5 billion slush fund for DHS at large).

    Rando 1: “The O’BuBBA bill, easily the greatest and most timely of coincidental acronyms.”
     
    Rando 2: “Where is the offsetting savings coming from?”
    Bobby Kogan: “No offsets.”
     
    Bobby Kogan:

    Rando 3: Can any unspent appropriations be clawed back by the new Congress in January?

    Great question. Funds that have not yet been obligated can be rescinded (but we’d need Trump to sign it into law).

    We gave the IRS $80 billion in the IRA in 2022. When Republicans retook the House in 2023, they made rescinding that money piece by piece the price of funding the government for the next three years. Now it’s gone.

    Dems must do the same for ICE/CBP funds.

  221. Jean says

    Re #215
    They’re ready to give Trump a billion for his ballroom that was initially supposed to be $200 million but Trump went after Jerome Powell because the fed building went over budget which meant Powell was a crook and deserved to be jailed or something. But it’s fine that Trump promised that no taxpayer money was going to be used for the ball room and that any bribe already paid for the ballroom will probably go into Trump’s pocket. That all sounds legit and normal…

  224. Reginald Selkirk says

    Live updates: Trump candidates oust incumbents in Indiana primaries after rejected redistricting push

    At least five incumbent GOP state legislators lost against Trump-backed candidates in Indiana after they failed to launch a mid-decade redistricting push..

    REDISTRICTING REVENGE: President Donald Trump exacted revenge on Indiana GOP state legislators who resisted calls for a mid-decade redistricting push in primary races across the state. At least five incumbents lost their races against Trump-backed candidates….

  225. Reginald Selkirk says

    New battery aims to prevent some child deaths.

    Energizer is launching a new coin lithium battery that the company says can potentially prevent child injuries and deaths if a battery is accidentally swallowed or ingested.

    Energizer says their new Ultimate Child Shield 20 mm coin lithium batteries, launching Wednesday and available where specialty batteries are sold, are the first of its kind and made from a proprietary titanium alloy material, instead of the usual stainless steel material found in similar batteries.
    …
    According to Energizer, the material change makes it so that if a battery were to be swallowed, it would not cause burning of the digestive tract, a common injury that arises in ingestion incidents with coin or “button” batteries…
    The new battery, available in sizes 2032, 2025 and 2016, replaces Energizer’s 3in1 Child Shield batteries released last year, which the battery maker said it is discontinuing…
    The new coin battery also comes in child-resistant packaging as mandated by law, has a nontoxic food dye that turns blue when a battery comes into contact with saliva and also has a bitter-tasting coating that may help deter swallowing, according to Energizer…

  229. birgerjohansson says

    From “The Nation”

    “The Voting Rights Act was once considered a pillar of American democracy—so much so that it was extended and expanded in 1982 by President Ronald Reagan. It was reauthorized in 2006 by President George W. Bush, and that reauthorization passed the Senate 98–0. ”

    The GOP as it existed is dead. The corpse is a white supremacist, alt-right party.

  230. Reginald Selkirk says

    Infants are bleeding out after parents decline vitamin K shots given at birth

    … Then, without warning, their systems began to shut down. A 7-week-old boy in Maryland developed sudden seizures. An 11-pound girl in Alabama stopped breathing for 20 seconds at a time. A baby boy in Kentucky vomited before becoming lethargic. A brown-haired girl in Texas, not yet 2 weeks old, bled around her belly button…
    Their autopsies, which took place over the last several years, all came to the same conclusion: The deaths were caused, in whole or in part, by a rare but potentially fatal condition known as vitamin K deficiency bleeding.

    In almost every case, the babies’ deaths could have been prevented with a long-standard vitamin K shot. But across the country, families — first in smatterings, now in droves — are declining the single, inexpensive injection given at birth to newborns to help their blood clot…

  231. Reginald Selkirk says

    Ted Turner, Creator of CNN and the 24-Hour News Cycle, Dies at 87

    Ted Turner, the media mogul who cut a brash and vivid figure on the American scene of the late 20th century by dominating the cable television industry, creating the 24-hour news cycle with CNN, and extending his restless reach into professional sports, environmentalism and philanthropy, died on Wednesday at his home near Tallahassee, Fla. He was 87…
    Mr. Turner’s signature creation was CNN — the Cable News Network — which revolutionized television news in 1980 by presenting it all hours of the day and eventually inspiring other media operations to follow suit. But his portfolio of business ventures bulged with much more, and their impact on American culture was considerable…
    His personal life, too, was turbulent. His three marriages — his last, ending in 2001, was to the Oscar-winning actress Jane Fonda — were often rocked by his open displays of infidelity, heavy drinking and otherwise boorish behavior…

  234. says

    It’s not just the CDC: The FDA also blocked evidence in support of Covid-19 vaccines

    “A medical professor at Harvard University who studies FDA regulations said, ‘At any other time in history, this would be a major scandal.’ ”

    It was just two weeks ago when the public received some good news and some bad news related to public health. The good news was heartening: A Covid-19 vaccine was made available to Americans last year, and according to research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it made a significant difference in helping people avoid serious illness.

    The bad news, however, was emblematic of a larger problem: The Trump administration’s political appointees at the CDC decided they didn’t want the public to know about the good news, and they blocked the research from being published to the agency’s flagship scientific journal.

    As it turns out, the problem isn’t limited to the CDC. The New York Times reported:

    Officials at the Food and Drug Administration have blocked publication of several studies supporting the safety of widely used vaccines against Covid-19 and shingles in recent months, a spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services confirmed.

    The studies, which cost millions of dollars in public funds, were conducted by scientists at the agency, who worked with data firms to analyze millions of patient records. They found serious side effects to be very rare.

    The Times’ report added that the developments dovetail with related administration efforts, including sharp cuts to research funding for vaccine development and releasing unvetted information intended to cast doubt on vaccines. [!]

    When the CDC buried the research on Covid-19 vaccines, the Department of Health and Human Services, led by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime anti-vaccine activist, tried to defend the move by pointing to “concerns” about the research’s “methodology.” There was, however, no reason to question the methodology.

    The FDA made a related argument this week, but more credible voices immediately pushed back.

    Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo, a former high-ranking National Institutes of Health official and chief executive of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, told the Times that FDA leaders withdrawing papers from publication is a “pretty active act of sabotage.” [!]

    Similarly, Dr. Aaron S. Kesselheim, a Harvard University medical professor who studies FDA regulations, told the Times that he had worked with the FDA on a number of research papers and found its work to meet “the highest standards of scientific investigation.” [!] […]

    Kesselheim added, “At any other time in history, this would be a major scandal that would lead to congressional hearings and resignations of leadership, and I hope that’s what happens next.” […]

  235. says

    Bits and pieces of campaign news, as summarized by Steve Benen:

    * With control of Michigan’s state Senate on the line, Democrat Chedrick Greene, a firefighter in Saginaw, cruised to an easy victory. In a district that Kamala Harris won by a single percentage point in 2024, Greene prevailed by 19 points. [Source: New York Times]

    […] * In Ohio’s statewide contests, we now know Republican Vivek Ramaswamy will face Democrat Amy Acton in this year’s gubernatorial race, while former Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat, will face appointed Sen. Jon Husted, a Republican, in the fall. [Source: MS NOW]

    * There were also some notable congressional primaries in Ohio, including in the 9th Congressional District, where Republican Derek Merrin will face Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur for the second time. Merrin defeated former Immigration and Customs Enforcement official Madison Sheahan, to the relief of GOP officials who saw her as a problematic general election candidate. [Source: RollCall]

    * In Michigan’s closely watched Senate race, Rep. Haley Stevens just picked up an important endorsement for her Democratic bid: Former Sen. Debbie Stabenow, a Democrat, threw her support behind the congresswoman. Michigan’s primaries, however, are still three months away. [Source: Detroit News]

    * The Republican crusade to eliminate majority-Black congressional districts has reached South Carolina, which is also eyeing a new map in the wake of Republican-appointed Supreme Court justices gutting the Voting Rights Act. [Source: Associated Press]

    * As for related Democratic efforts, party leaders in New York are also weighing plans to redraw its congressional district map, but not before the 2028 election cycle. [Source: New York Times]

  236. JM says

    Fifa is in some trouble from several directions at once. The broadcasting rights are not going for as much as they did last time and various things are pushing down demand for live tickets.
    The Independent: World Cup demand for US hotel rooms falls short of expectations

    Hotel bookings for the Fifa World Cup are likely to fall short of expectations as demand for accommodation is not as strong as anticipated, a new report has found.
    The American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA), which represents major chains, independent hotels, management companies, bed and breakfasts and more across the United States, has released a report on market analysis ahead of this year’s World Cup.

    Fall short of expectation is an understatement, many hotels are reporting no effect at all on demand.
    Difficulty traveling to the US and fear of the risks of traveling to the US are the major blockers. People are also unhappy about the prices.
    The Guardian: Gianni Infantino says high World Cup ticket prices are justified in US market

    Fifa’s president, Gianni Infantino, has defended World Cup ticket prices, insisting that football’s global governing body was obliged to take advantage of US laws that allow tickets to be resold for thousands of dollars above face value.
    Fifa has faced searing criticism over the cost of World Cup tickets, with the fan organization Football Supporters Europe (FSE) calling the pricing structure “extortionate” and a “monumental betrayal”. FSE filed a lawsuit with the European Commission in March targeting Fifa over “excessive ticket prices” for the tournament.

    The US has little to no laws restricting scalping. Fifa has responded by jacking up the asking prices by large amounts and allowing resale at any price. Max ticket price in 2022 was $1,600 now it’s $11,000 and some on the Fifa official resale market have been priced over a million. 5 times the price in 4 years is absurd.
    Reuters: World Cup viewing in doubt for millions of fans in India and China

    Millions of soccer fans in the world’s two most ​populous nations may not be able to watch the World Cup that starts next month, due to a deadlock over broadcast rights in India and ‌no official decision in China.
    In India, a Reliance-Disney joint venture has offered $20 million for 2026 World Cup broadcast rights, a fraction of FIFA’s ask, which was not acceptable to soccer’s global governing body, two sources told Reuters on Monday. Sony (6758.T), opens new tab held talks but also decided not to make an offer for FIFA rights for India, a third source with direct knowledge said.

    China and India are two of the heaviest viewers of the world cup online. Fifa was looking for something on the order of $100 million and actual asking price is probably more. Broadcast right probably require signing up for various joint ventures that channel money to Fifa. The Chinese government and companies in India are not willing to spend as much as they did in 2022 but Fifa doesn’t want to let two of the biggest markets off cheaply.

  237. says

    Marco Rubio and Pete Hegseth spent the day stressing a commitment to a day-old maritime security initiative. The president then cut them off at the knees.

    Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke to reporters Tuesday from the White House briefing room, apparently with a single goal in mind: talk up the administration’s new policy in the Strait of Hormuz.

    Asked, for example, about whether the United States would have to acquire all Iranian nuclear material in order to end the war, Rubio suggested that the war had already come to an end.

    “The operation is over,” the secretary claimed. “Epic Fury, as the president notified Congress, we’re done with that stage of it, OK? We’re now on to this Project Freedom.” [Nope. Not true. Not even temporarily true.]

    Hours earlier, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, held a briefing at the Pentagon and stressed the same point. Hegseth referred to “Project Freedom” in his first sentence and mentioned it another 10 times over the course of the briefing, insisting that it is “separate and distinct” from the 10-week-old war. For his part, Caine referred to “Project Freedom” a half-dozen additional times. [!!]

    The point was not subtle […]

    A couple of hours after Rubio wrapped up his Q&A at the White House, Donald Trump put the “project” on ice. [Bitter laugh] MS NOW reported as part of its live blog coverage:

    Trump announced the U.S. will temporarily pause “Project Freedom,” which involves escorting ships through the Strait of Hormuz, following requests from Pakistan and other countries.

    The president cited recent U.S. military gains and ongoing negotiations as reasons for the pause, emphasizing that the blockade against Iran will remain in place. The suspension is intended to create space for talks between the U.S. and Iran to be finalized, with the operation expected to resume if an agreement is not reached.

    Daniel Drezner, a professor of international politics at Tufts University, noted soon after, “Phew, it’s a good thing no U.S. policy principal came out today to hype this operation. Otherwise it would seem as though this administration hasn’t the faintest f–––ing clue what it’s doing.”

    Consider a brief timeline of events:

    Sunday afternoon, May 3: Trump uses his social media platform to announce “a Humanitarian gesture” that would include guiding commercial ships through regional waters.

    Monday, May 4: The administration’s “Project Freedom” gets underway.

    Tuesday, May 5: The administration spends the day emphasizing “Project Freedom” and talking about how important it is to the U.S. strategy.

    Later Tuesday, May 5: Trump says, in effect, “Never mind.”

    As a New York Times analysis added, “Mr. Trump’s suspension of the effort to guide ships out of the strait seemed to contradict the administration’s stated position that it was intolerable for Iran to block an international waterway, and that only the United States had the ability to force it open again.” [Understatement. “Seemed to contradict” should just be “contradicted.”]

    The president’s argument was that by pausing the policy, it might open the door to a deal with Iran. And yet, it was just a few days ago when Trump said he might not actually want a deal. (A day later, he pretended he didn’t say what we all heard him say.) Why the Republican administration would want a deal to end a war that’s already over is far from clear.

    What’s more, Team Trump’s incessant claims about the war having ended are belied by this week’s violent exchanges between the U.S. and Iran.

    As for the uncertain near future, the American president declared online on Wednesday morning that if Iran fails to agree to a possible deal, “the bombing starts, and it will be, sadly, at a much higher level and intensity than it was before.”

  238. says

    Trump renews offensive against Pope Leo, claims pontiff is ‘endangering’ Catholics

    “There was no reason for the president to start publicly scolding the pontiff again, but he apparently couldn’t help himself.”

    Related video at the link.

    Donald Trump’s first offensive against Pope Leo XIV did not do the president any favors. Not only did it make the Republican appear petty, but as the latest Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll found, nearly 6 in 10 Americans had a negative reaction to Trump’s comments.

    As The New York Times’ David French summarized in a recent column, “By putting his disagreement with the pope at the center of the national conversation, Trump’s elevating the pope’s words and demonstrating the profound contrast between the two men. In this contest between a pope and a president, the president looks weak and erratic. He looks small. Between Trump and Pope Leo, there is only one man who is demonstrating strength and moral consistency on the world stage.”

    Naturally, the president decided to double down anyway, renewing a wildly unnecessary dispute that appeared to have run its course. The Wall Street Journal reported:

    The unprecedented rift between the world’s two most prominent Americans has divided Catholic voters, threatening to cost the Republican Party some of its support from a key constituency in this year’s midterm elections.

    “The Pope would rather talk about the fact that it’s OK for Iran to have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said in an interview with radio talk-show host Hugh Hewitt recorded on Monday. “I don’t think that’s very good,” he said, adding: “I think he’s endangering a lot of Catholics and a lot of people.”

    As a factual matter, Trump continues to go after the pontiff with demonstrably false claims. At no point has Leo ever said that he’s comfortable with Iran having nuclear weapons. The president keeps accusing the pope of adopting this position, but it remains entirely made up.

    […] The pope is a popular and respected public figure, here and abroad. He’s also demonstrated an unmistakable indifference to Trump’s efforts to intimidate him into silence. […]

    A few weeks ago, Trump lashed out at the pontiff as someone who “likes crime,” caters to “to the Radical Left,” is taking steps that are “hurting the Catholic Church” and has met with “Obama Sympathizers.” In the days that followed, he kept the offensive going, apparently because the pope hurt his feelings by criticizing the war in Iran. (When German Chancellor Friedrich Merz also recently hurt Trump’s feelings by criticizing the war, the president announced plans to withdraw U.S. troops from Germany. There are, however, no U.S. troops at the Vatican. [smiles])

    This week, Trump not only kept the simmering fire going, he also offered the world a timely reminder about his delicate sensibilities, brazen dishonesty and lack of impulse control. [yes, he did]

    Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who spent part of Tuesday publicly denying that Trump said what he obviously said, is scheduled to meet with the pope this week.

  239. says

    Quote of the Day

    “We can survive a lot: bad policies, funky elections. There’s a bunch of stuff we can overcome. We can’t overcome the politicization of the criminal justice system — the awesome power of the state. You can’t have a situation in which whoever is in charge of the government starts using that to go after their political enemies or reward their friends.”—former President Barack Obama, in an interview with Stephen Colbert at the soon-to-open Obama Presidential Center in Chicago

  240. says

    Lawless Boat Strike Campaign: 190 Deaths

    Three people were killed Tuesday in a U.S. strike against an alleged drug-smuggling boat in the eastern Pacific, bringing the death toll to at least 190 in the lawless high-seas campaign.

    Link

  242. says

    Amanpour expresses ‘concern’ over future of CNN, citing ‘ideological realignment’ at CBS

    CNN journalist Christiane Amanpour voiced discomfort with the possibility of Paramount taking over her outlet if the cable channel’s parent company is allowed to merge with the David Ellison-led media conglomerate.

    “Clearly I’m concerned, and I’m not sure how much I’m allowed to say about a corporate thing that’s underway, but I am obviously as a person as a journalist with a record, concerned,” Amanpour said during a Journalism Summit this week. “And I’m concerned based on what’s happened to the other things that he’s taken over already like CBS News right? I mean do I have to list what’s happening there?”

    Amanpour also bemoaned what she called the “ideological realignment of CBS and the destruction potentially of 60 Minutes.”

    […] Paramount is seeking a purchase of Warner Brothers Discovery, which owns CNN, a network President Trump has sparred with for years and said in recent months he wishes to see operate under new ownership.

    The president on Wednesday marked the death of CNN founder Ted Turner by saying the news outlet he founded has been “destroyed” by what Trump called the channel’s “woke” coverage.

    […] “I would to think we would have the very basic which is editorial independence,” Amanpour said. “And I don’t think I need to say more about that.”

  243. says

    Eric Trump shares gold logo for proposed ‘Donald J. Trump International Airport’ in Palm Beach

    Eric Trump, President Trump’s son, unveiled the new logo for Palm Beach International Airport (PBI), which will soon be renamed after his father.

    The younger Trump posted a photo of the logo to the social platform X. It features a golden eagle, donning a crest shield with stars and stripes, holding two olive branches.

    Under that, the words, “President Donald J. Trump International Airport” are displayed, with 12 gold stars scattered throughout the logo. […]

    Tuesday, Palm Beach County Commissioners approved the logo and a trademark deal with the president and his intellectual property company, which authorizes the county to rename the airport in his honor. The commission approved the deal via a 4-3 vote, according to The Palm Beach Post.

    In March, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed legislation renaming PBI in honor of the president. The airport is located roughly four miles from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club, which he purchased in 1985 and often travels to on weekends.

    The law will take effect on July 1. In a release the day after DeSantis signed the measure, PBI noted that the law does not impact the airport’s three-letter code.

    Rep. Brian Mast (R-Fla.) introduced legislation in March to change that code to “DJT.” Mast referred his bill to the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on March 24, but no further action on it has been taken.

  246. Reginald Selkirk says

    FBI raids office of Dem state lawmaker in Virginia who led redistricting efforts

    The FBI searched the office of Democratic Virginia state Sen. L. Louise Lucas on Wednesday morning, according to multiple media reports and news footage in front of her Portsmouth office.

    The FBI confirmed it was “executing a court-authorized federal search warrant in Portsmouth,” but did not explicitly state a target of its probe or what it was investigating. The investigation is ongoing and there is no threat to public safety, the agency said.

    The Associated Press and Fox News, citing anonymous individuals, both confirmed federal agents carried out the raid and Fox aired footage of federal agents at the office of the lawmaker, who is the state Senate’s president pro tem.
    …
    Lucas, 82, has long been an outspoken figure in state politics and gained national attention in recent months for helping lead the effort to redraw the state’s congressional maps, which could help Democrats gain four additional seats in the coming midterm elections. She routinely took shots at President Donald Trump and statewide Republicans with bombastic posts on social media throughout the process.
    …
    In April, Virginia Democrats won a statewide referendum to enact the redraw by more than 100,000 votes.

  247. whheydt says

    Re: birgerjohansson @ #244…
    Let me try this again… You might want to locate and read a book titled “The Nine Nations of North America”.

  249. says

    While some will dismiss this topic as inconsequential to their sheltered lives. This article is not hyperbole. It presents info from reputable sources that outline how big and dangerous the ever-growing AI bubble is to the well-being of the populace; but, not to the billionaires who can afford to throw this money around and remain distant from the devastation they cause. It’s just pocket change to them.
    https://mockpaperscissors.com/2026/05/05/news-that-will-drive-you-to-drink-2460/

  250. Reginald Selkirk says

    French professor investigated for awarding himself fake prize

    A French academic is under investigation for inventing a Nobel-style prize for philology in order that he could then go on to win it.

    Florent Montaclair, from Besançon in eastern France, was decorated with the Gold Medal of Philology in 2016 at a ceremony held at the National Assembly in Paris, attended by ministers and Nobel laureates.

    But the prize was a fiction, as was the body that supposedly awarded it, the International Society of Philology – both apparently dreamed up by Montaclair to burnish his academic credentials…

  251. says

    Not a real ceasefire … doesn’t sound like one anyway, as MS NOW reports:

    U.S. forces fired on and blocked an Iran-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman today after the ship sailed toward an Iranian port, U.S. Central Command announced on X.

    Also from MS NOW:

    Reiterating similar remarks he made on Truth Social earlier, Trump told a reporter from ‘PBS NewsHour’ that he believes the U.S. may reach a deal with Iran before he heads to China next week. At the same time, the president suggested he would unleash further destruction if a deal is not reached.

  252. says

    New York Times:

    Russian bombs tore into Ukrainian cities on Tuesday afternoon and evening, killing more than 20 people and wounding dozens of others.

    The deadly strikes drew a furious response from President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, who said they showed the cynicism behind Russia’s announcement of a cease-fire timed to Moscow’s Victory Day celebrations on May 9.

    Mr. Zelensky had challenged the announcement of the truce by President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia by proposing instead an open-ended cease-fire beginning at midnight on Tuesday. He said that Ukraine sought a lasting cease-fire, not just a break to protect a parade in Moscow.

    At least 12 people were killed and 37 others wounded in the southern city of Zaporizhzhia as the daytime Russian strikes got underway on Tuesday afternoon, according to Ukraine’s emergency services. The toll in Zaporizhzhia was one of the highest from a single attack so far this year. Separate strikes also killed at least four people in the city of Dnipro and five in the center of Kramatorsk, according to the Ukrainian authorities.

    Images posted on social media of the aftermath in Kramatorsk showed bodies in the street, with flames and thick black smoke.

    Mr. Zelensky said the “absolutely cynical” strike in Zaporizhzhia had targeted civilian infrastructure, and he accused Russian forces of showing “no restraint in destroying human life.”

    “We need silence from such strikes and all others like them every single day, not just for a few hours somewhere out there for ‘celebrations,’” he wrote in a scathing post on social media that shared images of the destruction. […]

    Link

  253. says

    New York Times:

    Israel carried out an airstrike in Beirut’s southern suburbs on Wednesday, the first such attack in the Lebanese capital since a cease-fire between Israel and Lebanon took effect last month.

    In a statement, Israel said it had targeted the commander of Hezbollah’s Radwan force, the group’s elite fighting unit. There was no immediate comment from Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militant group. Israel and Hezbollah have continued to trade fire in southern Lebanon despite the cease-fire, but attacks on Beirut had stopped. […]

  254. says

    MS NOW:

    Democrats on the House Oversight Committee accused Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick of dodging questions Wednesday about his ties to Jeffrey Epstein and what the Trump administration told him to say during a closed-door interview with lawmakers.

    Related post on BlueSky from Aaron Rupar:

    Khanna: “Now we know why that interview was not videotaped. If Donald Trump had seen the video transcript, he would’ve fired Howard Lutnick. It was really embarrassing … it was just contortions and lies, and no acknowledgment that he misled the American public [about Epstein].”

  255. says

    Washington Post:

    U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is preparing to return to a longer training program for new deportation officers, two Department of Homeland Security officials said Wednesday, restoring previous standards after dramatically shortening the instruction period for recruits last year.

  256. birgerjohansson says

    The Schathing Atheist : the government has released a 500-page report of all the horrible ways Christians are being oppressed, like…having to follow the same rules and laws as people of other religions.
    And being investigated for violating the Johnson amendment. Even though the amendment is never enforced.

  258. birgerjohansson says

    Democrats overperformed by 19 % in a Michigan state senate special election.

  259. birgerjohansson says

    British TV broadcaster David Attenborough will turn 100 years tomorrow Friday. Unless JD Vance gets to him first.

  260. birgerjohansson says

    Polling has opened across England, Scotland and Wales in a series of local, mayoral and parliamentary contests. Labour is expected to suffer reversals.

  261. StevoR says

    Brain Cox was interviewed on the 7.30 Report tonight – see / hear here :

    Professor Brian Cox is back in Australia with a dazzling new show called Emergence that will take the audience through the universe. At the heart of it is the proposition that progress depends on our acceptance that we do not have all the answers, including to the question we all ask as we look into the night sky: Is there life beyond the planet Earth?

    He spoke to 7.30’s Sarah Ferguson.

    Source : https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-05-07/professor-brian-cox-emergence-interview/106655292

  263. StevoR says

    A new type of self-interacting dark matter could provide solutions to three very different cosmic puzzles, new research suggests.

    The first mystery that could be solved involves an ultradense clump of matter detected in the system JVAS B1938+666, which is gravitationally lensed, or visibly distorted, thanks to a quirk of general relativity. The second has to do with a visible “scar” in a stream of stars called GD-1. It basically looks like a dense, invisible object ripped through the stream. And finally, there is the confusing formation of an unusual star cluster named Fornax 6 in the Fornax satellite galaxy of the Milky Way, which could have occurred if a dense patch of dark matter acted as a gravitational trap capturing passing stars.

    The new research argues that if dark matter interacts with itself, that could explain away all three of these unique situations.” What’s striking is that the same mechanism works in three completely different settings — across the distant universe, within our galaxy, and in a neighboring satellite galaxy,” Hai-Bo Yu of the University of California, Riverside and the Center for Experimental Cosmology and Instrumentation, said in a statement. “All show densities that are difficult to reconcile with standard model dark matter but arise naturally in self-interacting dark matter.”

    Source : https://www.space.com/astronomy/dark-universe/3-puzzles-of-our-universe-could-be-solved-with-this-new-dark-matter-theory

  264. Reginald Selkirk says

    John Roberts decries heated criticism of the Supreme Court

    As the Supreme Court weathers another intense round of criticism for a Voting Rights Act decision that is roiling Congressional elections in several states, Chief Justice John Roberts insisted Wednesday that the court is above the political fray.

    “I think [people] view us as purely political actors, which I don’t think is an accurate understanding of what we do,” Roberts said at a judicial conference here. “Certainly, those aspects are open to debate and people should talk about them, but we’re not simply part of the political process and there’s a reason for that and I’m not sure people grasp that as much as is appropriate.” …

    “How dare people notice that our political rulings are political.”

  265. StevoR says

    Seems its confirmed now.. Iran smashed a lot of US bases in Southest Asia

    The majority of U.S. military positions in the Middle East have been damaged by Iranian strikes, according to a CNN investigation released Friday.

    At least 16 American installations across eight countries have been struck as part of Iran’s retaliatory strikes against the U.S. and Israeli military onslaught. A U.S. source familiar with the situation told CNN that the scale of the damage was unprecedented.

    The main targets appeared to be multimillion-dollar aircraft. At the Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia, a Boeing E-3 Sentry aircraft, which provides surveillance, command, control, and communications to the U.S. military, was destroyed. That aircraft is worth nearly half a billion dollars, and is currently out of production.

    Other targets of Iranian strikes include critical communications systems. At Camp Arifjan in Kuwait, satellite photographs showed that Iran had destroyed all but one ray dome, a structure designed to protect satellite dishes.

    Source : https://newrepublic.com/post/209850/iran-destroyed-majority-military-sites-middle-east

  268. says

    ALL IN WITH CHRIS HAYES: Epstein’s purported suicide note released
    Video is 01:57 minutes

    ALL IN WITH CHRIS HAYES: ‘But do you trust them?’: Hayes questions timing of FBI raid in Virginia

    “Can anyone look at this FBI and this Justice Department and simply assume they are acting in good faith?” says Chris Hayes on the FBI raid of the office of State Sen. Louise Lucas, two weeks after she led Virginia’s redistricting victory.

    Video is 7:29 minutes

  269. birgerjohansson says

    On Saturday May 9th Russia will have a big parade in Moscow to celebrate beating nazi Germany (totally without help from the west, of course).
    .
    Since they invaded Ukraine a group of milbloggers use to get together at Youtube to watch the parade and mock Putin and his stooges (see AnimarchyHistory) , I recommend the experience.
    -Especially as the parade has been getting increasingly impoverished as the war is progressing.

    This year, they will even be without military vehicles altogether, a move motivated by the fear of Ukraine reaching out with long-range drones. GPS will be jammed during the event.

    It is a pity they will be without the big AA missiles that have failed so badly to stop Ukraine’s counterstrikes on their war factories and munitions depots, I would have enjoyed mocking them.

  270. says

    Top White House economist pushes weird brag: ‘Credit card spending is through the roof’

    “Kevin Hassett boasted about Americans spending more money on credit cards as if it were necessarily good news. He ought to know better.”

    […] At a White House event on Wednesday afternoon, Trump said the current economy is “blowing away” the “best economic numbers” the United States has ever had. A week earlier, the president similarly said the economy is “roaring,” adding that the status quo is “the greatest economy we’ve ever had.”

    None of this was even remotely true […] Trump tends to avoid specific details or reference to actual economic metrics, preferring instead to argue that the economy just seems great to him.

    On Wednesday morning, however, the top economist in Trump’s White House approached the issue in a different kind of way. NBC News reported:

    Kevin Hassett, the director of the White House National Economic Council, said in an interview on Fox’s “Mornings with Maria” that Americans were spending more money on credit cards, framing it as a positive sign for the economy. […]

    Hassett said that he met with the head of a bank yesterday [Tuesday] and that the two reviewed credit card data. “Just as Secretary Bessent said, credit card spending is through the roof,” he said, referring to a quote from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent that Fox played moments earlier. “They’re spending more on gasoline, but they’re spending more on everything else, too.”

    […] Hassett, who recently pointed to a jobs “boom” that doesn’t exist, probably didn’t think through his talking points. For example, having a leading White House official tell a national television audience that Americans are “spending more on everything” doesn’t exactly help with the administration’s messaging on inflation and affordability.

    […] many Americans turn to credit card spending to finance their day-to-expenses out of desperation after having exhausted their other options.

    In other words, seeing credit card spending go “through the roof” isn’t necessarily a good thing, as the top economist in the White House ought to know.

    Responding to the on-air comments, the House Majority PAC, which is aligned with the House Democratic leadership, wrote online in reference to Hassett, “Make this guy the spokesperson for the entire Republican Party.”

  271. says

    Who could possibly buy this new spin about Trump’s ugly ballroom?

    Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told Fox Business’ Maria Bartiromo that the $1 billion Republicans want taxpayers to fork over for President Donald Trump’s so-called “privately funded” ballroom is actually for a drone defense system.

    “The Secret Service cannot take private funding, because they also look over embezzlement,” Mullin explained. “One of the biggest threats we have is from a drone defense. That is not a cheap approach to have actual drone defense for the entire complex from the White House, not just the ballroom. So that’s what that billion dollars goes to.” [video]

    Mullin and Bartiromo then acted offended that Democrats are criticizing the billion-dollar budget addition for a project that Trump and friends originally claimed would cost no more than $200 million, then $250 million, while insisting it would be “privately funded.” Now that price tag is past $400 million with the GOP wanting to allocate $1 billion—and it’s American taxpayers who are being asked to foot the bill.

    But the world’s most-inept senator-turned-Homeland Security chief appears to have landed his job for a reason, and that is his willingness to blunder ahead with whatever illogical MAGA talking point he’s been tasked to deliver.

  273. johnson catman says

    re Lynna@270:

    t a White House event on Wednesday afternoon, Trump said the current economy is “blowing away” the “best economic numbers” the United States has ever had.

    TWO chickens in every pot and TWO cars in every garage!!!

  277. says

    […] As MS NOW’s Nicolle Wallace explained on the air, “If The Atlantic’s reporting is actually defamation, as Kash claims and seems prepared to argue in court, that would mean that Patel has the goods. He can prove that it is all false and it was printed with malice. But if that’s true, then it cannot also be true that a criminal leak investigation is necessary, the kind normally reserved for the disclosure classified state secrets and real information. Those two are in legal contradiction.” [Good point.]

    It’s a critically important detail. Patel can argue The Atlantic’s report wasn’t true. He can argue the reporting was based on leaks from within the bureau. But to make both arguments simultaneously doesn’t make sense.

    As Mother Jones’ David Corn summarized, “It’s only a leak if it’s true.”

    For its part, an FBI spokesperson denied an investigation is underway [WTF?], calling the reporting “completely false.” The Atlantic’s editor in chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, meanwhile, said in a statement, “If confirmed to be true, this would represent an outrageous attack on the free press and the First Amendment itself. We will defend The Atlantic and its staff vigorously; we will not be intimidated by illegitimate investigations or other acts of politically motivated retaliation; we will continue to cover the FBI professionally, fairly, and thoroughly; and we will continue to practice journalism in the public interest.”

    Link

  278. says

    Silent no more, Jack Smith calls out Trump’s ‘corrupted’ Justice Department

    “[…] he’s bringing his arguments to the public in forceful and unrestrained ways.”

    Donald Trump’s 2024 election victory marked the beginning of the end of then-special counsel Jack Smith’s criminal cases. Almost immediately after Election Day, the prosecutor and his team grudgingly wrapped up their work — not because they wanted to or because they lacked compelling evidence, but because of Justice Department guidelines related to prosecuting a sitting president.

    Left without options, Smith resigned, and his criminal indictments against the president effectively evaporated.

    As the prosecutor exited the stage, he did so with relative silence. In fact, many of those who followed his cases closely didn’t even know what his voice sounded like, because Smith said so little, allowing his work to do the talking.

    But nearly a year and a half later, the former special counsel has made the transition from a lawyer who preferred silence to one who has quite a bit to say. The New York Times reported:

    Jack Smith, the special counsel who twice indicted President Trump, accused the Justice Department of having been “corrupted” by Trump loyalists he claimed were demolishing its credibility and seeking to undermine the rule of law.

    Mr. Smith’s remarks, made last month in a private discussion at the Cosmos Club in Washington, represented his sharpest criticism of the department since leaving his post early last year.

    “We have a Department of Justice today that targets people for criminal prosecution simply because the president doesn’t like them,” Smith said in the hourlong discussion on April 20, according to a video obtained by the Times that was shared with attendees. He added, “We have a department that fails to move on cases because they might uncover facts that are inconvenient to narratives the president would like to press.” [All true.]

    […] Last fall the former special counsel delivered remarks at George Mason University and sounded the alarm about intensifying threats to the U.S. legal system.

    “My career has been about the rule of law, and I believe that today it is under attack like in no other period in our lifetimes,” Smith said.

    Around the same time, he appeared in a video, lending his public support to DOJ employees who had been fired or forced out by the Trump administration.

    Soon after, during an interview with former prosecutor Andrew Weissmann at the University College London, Smith condemned Republican criticisms of his work as “ludicrous,” adding, “I think the attacks on public servants, particularly nonpartisan public servants — I think it has a cost for our country that is incalculable, and I think that we — it’s hard to communicate to folks how much that is going to cost us.”

    More recently, Smith also delivered private and public testimony before the GOP-led House Judiciary Committee, which also didn’t do his Republican detractors any favors.

    Smith was not able to make his case in court, but with increasing frequency, he’s bringing his arguments to the public in forceful and unrestrained ways.

  279. says

    Trump’s immigration crackdown benefited real criminals

    Drug dealers can thank President Donald Trump for getting law enforcement off their backs. A new analysis by Reuters reveals that his decision to redirect resources toward executing his anti-immigrant policies in Minnesota lowered federal law enforcement’s ability to tackle real crime.

    Between January and the end of April, there were only eight people charged with gun or drug offenses by federal prosecutors, according to court records reviewed by the news outlet. Compare that to the 77 who were charged during the same period in 2025.

    […] Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty told Reuters that Trump’s actions are leading to a flood of federal-level cases coming into her office, which doesn’t have the same prosecutorial resources as federal agencies.

    “It’s a public safety issue that they’re not doing the types of prosecutions they should be doing,” she told the outlet, further noting, “You can’t tell me that sex trafficking and drug trafficking and that kind of thing is less important than people going into a church to protest.”

    The data assembled by Reuters echoes previous findings about Trump’s immigration focus effectively assisting real criminals. [!]

    For instance, Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, a Democrat, released data this past October that showed FBI agents have been reassigned from investigating crimes like terrorism and have instead been deployed for immigration enforcement. [!]

    Last year, a study from the libertarian Cato Institute revealed that federal resources meant to fight against child predators are instead being used on immigration issues. Similarly, this past July, an internal memo from the Department of Homeland Security detailed how agents previously tasked with securing the border against the spread of illicit materials like fentanyl are instead being used as manpower for Trump’s deportation agenda.

    This diversion of resources is happening in tandem with the hollowing out of the Department of Justice, where experienced prosecutors and other investigators have been purged and loyalty to Trump has become a litmus test.

    Meanwhile, the anti-immigration deployments in the U.S. are causing crime problems of their own.

    Moriarty recently announced that ICE agent Gregory Donnell Morgan Jr., who was part of the Trump-ordered “Operation Metro Surge” in Minnesota, is being charged for allegedly drawing a firearm on two people amid a traffic dispute.

    At the same time, people have repeatedly disguised themselves as ICE agents as cover to commit crimes since the agents are often masked.

    Other criminals, like many of the convicted Jan. 6 rioters whom Trump pardoned, are being convicted of new crimes, like child molestation.

    Trump campaigned on fighting crime, and he inherited a situation where crime had begun to decline under former President Joe Biden. But Trump’s actions have been a gift to criminals of all sorts. [Good point.]

  280. says

    Trump is making Big Oil even richer

    […] On Thursday, oil giant Shell reported nearly $7 billion in profit in the first quarter of the year—up from $3.25 billion in the last quarter of 2025. The company’s CEO attributed the rise in profit to the war, which is driving up the price of oil as Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz has zapped supply.

    […] “The United States is the largest Oil Producer in the World, by far, so when oil prices go up, we make a lot of money,” Trump said in March, seeking to muster public support for his war even though gas prices are rising.

    And Energy Secretary Chris Wright said that the war is good because other countries can now purchase American oil. […]
    Of course, oil prices are set globally based on supply and demand. And given that demand hasn’t changed but supply has—as the closure of the Strait of Hormuz has taken millions of barrels of oil off the market—Americans will still feel the impacts of rising oil prices even if American oil companies are exporting more product. [Good point.]

    “Under current policy, being a net exporter doesn’t do anything to cushion the U.S. from global price trends,” Clark Williams-Derry, an analyst at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, told the Guardian.
    Even American oil executives said the same.
    Chevron CEO Mike Wirth told Bloomberg on Tuesday, “In some of these economies, we see risks of supply disruptions. In Europe, you see flight cancellations and schedule adjustments because aviation fuel has become very, very limited. … I think the United States will face price pressure. This is a global market.”
    Ultimately, Trump and his administration’s shockingly tone deaf assertions that the war is helping American oil companies so we should all be happy didn’t placate average Americans, who don’t care how much wealthy oil executives will make off this war while they are paying more for gasoline. [map]

    An NPR/PBS News/Marist poll released Wednesday found a massive 81% of Americans said that gas prices have caused a strain on their household budgets. And 63% blame those rising prices on Trump. […]

  281. Reginald Selkirk says

    U.S. trade court rules against Trump’s 10% global tariffs

    The ​U.S. Trade ​Court on Thursday ruled ​against U.S. President Donald ‌Trump’s latest 10 per cent global tariffs, finding ‌across-the-board tariffs were ​not justified under a 1970s trade ​law.

    The ​U.S. Court of International ​Trade ruled in favour of small businesses that challenged the tariffs, which ​took effect on Feb. 24. The ⁠ruling was ⁠2-1, with ‌one judge saying it was premature to grant victory to the small business plaintiffs…

  282. Reginald Selkirk says

    Studying these young Alzheimer’s patients led to breakthroughs. Trump cut the funding

    …
    Ward is a member of the Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer Network (DIAN), which includes more than 200 families at more than 40 sites in 18 countries. All the families who carry gene mutations that cause symptoms of Alzheimer’s to appear in middle age, or even earlier.

    The families’ willingness to serve as research subjects over the past two decades has allowed scientists to make key discoveries about how Alzheimer’s begins, and how certain drugs may slow its progress.

    Yet DIAN, run by WashU Medicine in St. Louis, faces an uncertain future amid cuts and delays in federal funding. It is currently maintaining only essential functions while awaiting word on critical grants from the National Institutes of Health, or NIH…

  284. says

    U.S. and Iran exchange fire near the Strait of Hormuz

    “Trump said that the attacks happened as three U.S. Navy ships were transiting the strait but that they weren’t damaged.”

    Related video at the link.

    The U.S. and Iran exchanged fire near the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, raising questions about the negotiations to end the conflict.

    “Three World Class American Destroyers just transited, very successfully, out of the Strait of Hormuz, under fire. There was no damage done to the three Destroyers, but great damage done to the Iranian attackers. They were completely destroyed along with numerous small boats, which are being used to take the place of their fully decapitated Navy. These boats went to the bottom of the Sea, quickly and efficiently. Missiles were shot at our Destroyers, and were easily knocked down. Likewise, drones came, and were incinerated while in the air. They dropped ever so beautifully down to the Ocean, very much like a butterfly dropping to its grave!” he wrote. [JFC. Trump should just shut up.]

    Trump added: “A normal Country would have allowed these Destroyers to pass, but Iran is not a normal Country. They are led by LUNATICS, and if they had the chance to use a Nuclear Weapon, they would do it, without question — But they’ll never have that opportunity and, just like we knocked them out again today, we’ll knock them out a lot harder, and a lot more violently, in the future, if they don’t get their Deal signed, FAST! Our three Destroyers, with their wonderful Crews, will now rejoin our Naval Blockade, which is truly a ‘Wall of Steel.’”

    The attacks highlighted the fragility of the ceasefire in the area around the Strait of Hormuz, which 20% of the world’s oil used to pass through before the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28.

    No ships transited the strait Thursday, the second day in a row that the critical waterway has had no traffic at all, [!] according to S&P Global Market Intelligence. It’s also the first time ​since March 12-13 that there have been two back-to-back days without marine traffic.

    Trump said in an interview with ABC News on Thursday: “The ceasefire is going. It’s in effect.” [Delusional Orange Doofus tells lies.]

    He added, “It’s just a love tap.”

    Trump later told a group of reporters that negotiations with Iran were “going very well, but they have to understand if it doesn’t get signed, they’re going to have a lot of pain.”

    Trump said a proposal had been given to Iran that included an agreement that it would not have nuclear weapons and that it would give “the nuclear dust” to the U.S.

    “Yeah, they’ve agreed. But when they agree, it doesn’t mean much, because the next day they forget,” he said.

    CENTCOM said the Iranian military “launched multiple missiles, drones and small boats” at the vessels.

    “No U.S. assets were struck. U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) eliminated inbound threats and targeted Iranian military facilities responsible for attacking U.S. forces including missile and drone launch sites; command and control locations; and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance nodes. CENTCOM does not seek escalation but remains positioned and ready to protect American forces.”

    The Iranian military said it fired at U.S. military ships only after the U.S. military violated the ceasefire and attacked an Iranian oil tanker.

    “The invading, terrorist and pirate U.S. military violated the ceasefire by targeting an Iranian oil tanker moving from Iran’s coastal waters in the Jask area towards the Strait of Hormuz, as well as another vessel entering the Strait of Hormuz opposite the port of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates,” said the spokesperson for Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya military command headquarters, according to the semiofficial Mehr news agency. [Different account of events. Entirely different.

    The spokesman also said the U.S. had carried out air attacks on “civilian areas” along Iran’s coast and Qeshm Island. [!]

    Iran’s state-owned Press TV later reported that following the exchange of fire, the situation on Iran’s islands and in coastal cities near the Strait of Hormuz was “back to normal now.”

  285. says

    Washington Post:

    A confidential CIA analysis delivered to administration policymakers this week concludes that Iran can survive the U.S. naval blockade for at least three to four months before facing more severe economic hardship, four people familiar with the document said, a finding that appears to raise new questions about President Donald Trump’s optimism on ending the war.

    MS NOW:

    Israeli and Lebanese officials will meet in Washington next Thursday and Friday for another round of peace talks, a State Department official and Israeli official told MS NOW.

    MS NOW:

    Lebanon has been struck by hundreds of projectiles this week, the United Nations said today, despite a ceasefire with Israel that went into effect last month.

  286. says

    Bad news, as reported by The New York Times:

    A federal judge in Georgia ruled Wednesday that the federal government did not have to return 2020 election records seized by the F.B.I., rejecting a request from Fulton County that the materials be returned.

    The judge was a Trump appointee.

  287. says

    MS NOW:

    An outbreak aboard a cruise ship of a rare rodent-borne illness called hantavirus has left three passengers dead and sickened others, but global health officials say the risk to the general public remains low because the germ does not easily spread between people. ‘This is not the next COVID, but it is a serious infectious disease,’ said Maria Van Kerkhove, director of epidemic and pandemic preparedness at the World Health Organization. ‘Most people will never be exposed to this.’

  288. says

    CNBC:

    Whirlpool shares tumbled Thursday after the iconic appliance maker warned that the Iran war triggered a severe downturn, underscoring how sharply higher fuel prices and collapsing consumer confidence are beginning to weigh on big-ticket purchases.

  289. says

    New York Times:

    Florida has created a new American history course that advances a more conservative interpretation of the nation’s story. It focuses on the Protestant faith of the founders, argues that the U.S. Constitution is an antislavery document and recommends a textbook written explicitly to build patriotism.

  290. StevoR says

    @ ^ Lynna, OM : I’m guessingt ehy won’t be teaching that some of tehFounding fathers very much were NOT protestants then?

    Also wonder what the catholocuis and other non-protestant groups will think of that?

  291. StevoR says

    @ ^ Fix : catholocuis = catholics natch.

    The man that composed the Declaration of Independence was more interested in protecting religious freedom than imposing religion upon anyone else. It was this very freedom that allowed Thomas Jefferson to cut up his bible and take out anything he didn’t like. Mainly, that included any mention of miracles or things that were “contrary to reason.” This aligned his beliefs more with Deism than Christianity – of which he was baptized into at birth.

    ..(snip).. “I am of a sect by myself, as far as I know,” Jefferson once said. This stance caused a slight ruckus in the Presidential election of 1800 when the Federalists attacked him as being atheist. Nevertheless, Jefferson won that election running under the Democratic-Republican party.

    ..(Snip)..

    “The Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion.”

    These words, placed in the 1796 Treaty of Tripoli by founding father and first vice-president John Adams, are often used as a springboard for debate.

    ..(Snip)..

    Another founding father with an unclear belief system was none other than our very first President, George Washington. To say his religion is unclear simply brings notice that there are many books written about Washington, and all of them put him anywhere in the spectrum between Orthodox Christian and strict Deist.

    Washington used terms such as “Providence” or “supreme architect” when making speeches or writings. These are Deist terms – but not exclusively so. Washington did not use the names “Jesus” or “Christ” in public appearances; but again, many at the time did not.

    Source : https://allthatsinteresting.com/founding-fathers-religion

  294. birgerjohansson says

    Norwegian National Day coming up in a week!
    .
    “Sweden is the annoying neighbour of Finland”
    .https://youtube.com/watch?v=_RgeQXk63Y0

    There are plenty of things in Sweden that deserves being joked about…like, other European countries needed Luftwaffe or RAF to destroy their inner cities, but here,  we did it to ourselves in the 1960s.

  301. Reginald Selkirk says

    The US military just released a bunch of UAP files, but there’s no there there

    …
    So what’s in there? You can see for yourself here. The short answer is “not much.”

    The longer answer is that there are pages and pages of old FBI records, unresolved cases, eyewitness interviews, and the usual grainy, black-and-white images that show dots but nothing remotely conclusive about aliens, alien spaceships, or any alien technology.

    In short, there is no truly meaningful evidence here for aliens, alien visitations, alien abductions, or anything like that…

  302. Reginald Selkirk says

    Virginia Supreme Court blocks Democratic congressional map, boosting GOP midterm hopes

    The Virginia Supreme Court on Friday blocked a new Democratic-drawn congressional map from taking effect, delivering a major boost for Republicans as they defend their narrow House majority in the midterm elections.
    Weeks after Virginia narrowly approved the plan in a statewide vote, the court ruled that Democratic lawmakers did not meet the procedural requirements to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot, which was written to pave the way for the redrawn district lines. Democrats were seeking a map designed to give the party up to four new House seats.

    This ruling — coupled with Republican redistricting efforts in other states in the last year and the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling overturning racial gerrymandering regulations in the Voting Rights Act — means that Republicans will head into the midterms with a clear redistricting advantage…

  303. Reginald Selkirk says

    French Prosecutors Want Elon Musk and Linda Yaccarino to Face Preliminary Charges

    French prosecutors who are investigating Elon Musk and his social media platform X have summoned the billionaire to France to face preliminary charges. The investigation is now officially a criminal probe, according to French officials.

    France opened a probe in 2025 to investigate whether X has violated French law, an investigation that has expanded following incidents last year when Musk’s AI chatbot Grok started denying the Holocaust, praising Hitler, and allegedly generating child sexual abuse material when prompted by users.

    According to the Wall Street Journal, Musk and former CEO Linda Yaccarino have been asked to travel to France to face preliminary charges. As the Journal explains, after preliminary charges have been filed in France, an investigating magistrate starts a process that can take months and doesn’t necessarily mean a trial will be held. It’s entirely possible that the case could ultimately be dropped.

    French authorities are looking into the “complicity” of Musk in creating sexual abuse images of minors and sexually explicit deepfakes, according to the Associated Press. Grok also allegedly spread misinformation in French, including a claim that Auschwitz wasn’t a death camp during the Holocaust but was used for “disinfection with Zyklon B against typhus.” …

  305. says

    ACLS organization:

    U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon of Manhattan ruled Thursday that DOGE-driven cancellation of more than 1,400 previously approved grants by the National Endowment for the Humanities was unconstitutional.

  306. says

    […] a few developments that got pushed to the backburner because of the GOP redistricting-palooza in the South:
    – FBI Director Kash Patel has ordered polygraphs of more than two dozen members of his team as part of his criminal leak investigation into who leaked details of his alleged on-the-job drinking and other proclivities to The Atlantic.
    – Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche: “I wake up with a very clean conscience every morning. We are absolutely doing nothing but what we should be doing at the Department of Justice.”
    – The Trump DOJ is attempting to sabotage E. Jean Carroll’s $83.3 million jury verdict against Donald Trump for defaming her by seeking to intervene and asking the Supreme Court to replace Trump as defendant with the United States. “That would require dismissal of the case because the federal government can’t be sued for defamation,” as Politico reports.

    Link. The link leads to a compendium of recent news reports.

  307. says

    Republicans stripping majority-Black Memphis, where 39-year-old Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated 58 years ago, of its majority-Black congressional district takes its place in a rancid arc of American history that seems to be bending backwards.

    The same folks who fought integration tooth and nail in the 1960s, continued to drag their feet in the 1970s and ’80s, and spent the intervening decades fomenting racial strife for their own electoral gains became the first people to insist — without irony or self-awareness, let alone repentance or shame — that racism was behind us.

    […] One of the features of white supremacy, if you’re a white supremacist, is you get to expurgate your own sins.

    You can shed the robe and hood. You can get cosmetic surgery, as David Duke literally did, and made yourself inoffensive and telegenic. You can craft elaborately self-serving legal theories stripped of overt racial animus. You can even flip the script and play indignant victim when accused of racism. But you never ever have to be accountable for America’s original sin.

    […] Faced with the old burdens anew, State Rep. Justin J. Pearson (D), who was running for the eliminated congressional seat in Memphis, echoed civil rights leaders of the past in drawing on scripture: “This is not over. We will fight and will not stop until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”

    Same link as in comment 306.

  308. says

    […] From the New York Times’, Michael Crowley, Eric Schmitt and Vivian Nereim, how Trump’s valiant plan to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz was squashed by Saudi Arabia.

    Trump’s announcement on Sunday that the U.S. military would escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz angered Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia, who denied U.S. access to Saudi airspace and American bases in the country, according to a person briefed by Saudi officials and a U.S. military official.

    Prince Mohammed’s action stunned U.S. officials and forced Mr. Trump to abandon his plan, according to a U.S. military official familiar with the sequence of events. The Saudis have since lifted the restrictions on the bases and overflights, but still have not agreed to permit the use of its territory in support of “Project Freedom,” as Mr. Trump named the naval operation, the U.S. official added. [!]

    They just saw what just happened to the UAE’s pipeline and they were sensibly afraid the exact same thing would happen to them.

    From Reuters:

    Iran reminded the Gulf region on Monday, ​however, just how exposed the ports are when its drones hit the Fujairah Oil Industry Zone, sparking a fire at one of the UAE’s most critical energy facilities and injuring three workers.

    Hours earlier, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Navy ​had published a map appearing to extend its zone of control along the UAE’s eastern coastline, encompassing both ports. Shipping sources said on Tuesday that neither port had yet been ⁠affected, but the message from Tehran was clear.

    Bin Salman knows that billions of petrodollars are now potentially forfeit. He’s not about to risk that. Why should he?

    Three people who speak often to Saudi officials said the episode shows growing frustration in Riyadh with Mr. Trump’s shoot-from-the-hip management of his clash with Iran. Mr. Trump has left his strategic goals unclear and his tactics subject to sudden change, often catching U.S. allies by surprise. […]

    The shift reflects Prince Mohammed’s view that regional stability is crucial for his broader economic ambitions, which involve turning Saudi Arabia into a global hub for business and tourism […]

    I suspect it’s a bit more than “business and tourism” that the Saudis are worried about.

    This was to be a major military initiative, in the most strategically sensitive place on the planet, evidently scrapped in the space of a single day because neither Trump — nor anyone around him — thought it through.

    In a normal administration, Hegseth, Caine and whoever else signed on to this fiasco would be gone. Yesterday.

    We are truly in the realm of the ridiculous here.

    And it looks like gas prices are going to stay sky-high for a long, long, time.

    Link

  309. says

    https://www.wonkette.com/p/supreme-court-used-bullsht-data-from

    “Supreme Court Used Bullsh*t Data From DOJ Hacks To Kill Voting Rights Act”

    As Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts whines […] about people thinking he’s — heaven forfend! — some sort of partisan, would it surprise you to learn that the data the Court’s majority opinion in Louisiana v. Callais relied on to flush what was left of the Voting Rights Act down history’s toilet appears to have been faulty? And that faulty data was provided in a “friend of the court” brief by our extremely compromised Department of Justice

    […] The Guardian reports that when Justice Sam Alito wrote the majority opinion in Callais, he noted that because Black turnout had been higher than white turnout in two of the last five presidential elections in Louisiana, ergo and ipso facto, racism must be over and there is no longer any need for Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act to exist. He took the evidence about turnout almost “verbatim” from the DOJ’s brief.

    This argument was already suspect because the two elections mentioned were in 2012 and 2016. In the former, Barack Obama was on the ballot, which naturally juiced Black turnout. In the second, well, there have been two presidential elections since then, so how is this relevant? The electorate and some voting laws have changed. The Shelby County decision in 2013, which Roberts wrote, has also contributed to Black turnout decline.

    Another way you could say it is that white turnout has still been higher than Black in three of the last five elections […]

    Now it turns out that even the formula used to reach the conclusion about Black turnout in 2012 and 2016 might have been faulty anyway:

    The justice department brief that Alito cited calculated Black and white voter turnout in Louisiana as a proportion of the total population of each racial group over the age of 18. Such an approach is not preferred by experts in calculating statewide turnout because the general over-18 population may include non-citizens, people with felony convictions and others who cannot legally vote. [!]

    But there is a more widespread way of calculating these numbers, and that is to consider turnout as a proportion of the voter eligible population, not the total over-18 population. [Correct. That would have been the better way to do the calculation.]The voter eligible population would exclude those people with felony convictions or other reasons they can’t vote (citizenship status, mental incapacitation, what have you). The over-18 population would not.

    Michael McDonald, a political scientist who studies voter turnout, told The Guardian that one reason for using the total over-18 population as the denominator is to “manipulate” the numbers to make them more favorable to the government’s case:

    “They had to fudge how they’re calculating the turnout rate to get there, and they’re not even taking into account margin of error, and all these other methodology issues about the current population survey to arrive at that number,” he said. “Someone knew what they were doing.”

    […] The Guardian claims to have also reviewed data from the Louisiana Secretary of State’s office, which uses yet a third way to calculate Black turnout. That method shows that Black turnout has not exceeded white turnout in any of those past five elections that Alito mentioned. [!]

    One of the signers of the DOJ brief, by the way, is Harmeet Dhillon, a former Fox talking head. Dhillon runs DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, which she has reoriented to investigate all the ways that institutions and laws discriminate against white people. You didn’t think she’d sign a brief that was honest, did you?

    The best part of all this statistical fuckery that helped Alito make his (bad) case is that John Roberts was out here this week whining about how it hurts his feelings when people think the Supreme Court is partisan.

    […] The Federalist Society did not spend decades grooming conservative hacks to get on the Supreme Court and grooming conservative politicians to put them there because it thought they would interpret the Constitution in a neutral, nonpartisan way. […]

    John Roberts knows this. He’s not this dumb. But he’s also not dumb enough to sit down with interviewers who might hold his feet to the fire by asking him direct questions. […]

  311. says

    Large sites are being hacked and scraped everywhere. Yesterday, Digby had to shut her site due to AI scraping clogging here site.
    The site below that shows how much info your browser and computer leak to world:
    https://sinceyouarrived.world/taken
    (crossposted to PZ on univ. site hacked)

  312. birgerjohansson says

    This is a honest and nuanced video about the problems of settling and integrating in a new country.

    House of El : “Why I moved OUT of Denmark”
    .https://youtube.com/watch?v=WayT7yYdQEA

    (Seriously, snow makes the winter much brighter. A climate where winter only brings rain must be like the darkness of Mordor)

  313. whheydt says

    Re: birgerjohansson @ #312…
    I like rain. If I want snow in the Winter, I can drive a couple of hundred miles into the Sierra Nevada. Or, some of the time, less than 50 miles to Mt. Diablo or Mt. Hamilton. In the mean time, rain doesn’t have to be shoveled and is considerably less hazardous to drive in than snow and ice.

  314. Reginald Selkirk says

    White House calls Mark Hamill ‘sick’ after actor’s Trump grave post

    The White House has called Star Wars actor Mark Hamill “one sick individual” after he posted ​an AI-generated image of US President Donald Trump in a ‌shallow grave, alongside the caption “if only”.

    The image, posted on Hamill’s Bluesky account, showed Trump lying with his eyes shut, ​next to a headstone with the inscription “Donald J. Trump 1946-2024”.
    …

  315. says

    https://www.wonkette.com/p/judge-says-hell-yes-gavin-newsom

    “Judge Says Hell Yes Gavin Newsom Can Sue Fox News For Being Lying Liars”

    Gavin Newsom got a small win in his $787 million defamation lawsuit against Fox News last week when a judge in Delaware ruled that the case can go forward. Fox had filed for a dismissal, claiming that its anchors were merely expressing an opinion last summer when they said that Newsom lied about a phone conversation he’d had with Donald Trump. But Delaware Superior Court Judge Sean P. Lugg said in his decision that it was “reasonably conceivable” Fox knew its on-air statements were false when they were made. [Well, yes. They knew, and then they aired the falsehoods anyway.]

    […] As Newsom twote after the ruling, “Discovery will be fun!!!” [Video]

    […] “I got phone calls about this, people saying, ‘Boy, why are you lying about this?’ And so I filed this. I didn’t do it for petulant reasons; I did it because enough. […]

    “We thought they would learn their lesson from Dominion. So now we’re in discovery phase. They don’t want to be in discovery phase.”

    [Newsom is] seeking damages of $787 million — the same amount Fox was ordered to pay Dominion Voting Systems for lying that Dominion’s voting machines magically stole the 2020 elelction for Joe Biden.

    Just to briefly review what the lawsuit is about, Newsom is suing Fox for falsely reporting that he “lied” about a phone call from Donald Trump during Trump’s ICE invasion of Los Angeles last summer. The facts are pretty simple: Newsom and Trump spoke briefly on the phone on Friday, June 6, 2025, just after 10 p.m. Pacific time for Newsom, or just after 1 a.m. Saturday for Trump.

    Several days later, on Tuesday, June 10, Trump was asked by a reporter at an Oval Office presser when he last spoke with Newsom. Trump fudged the answer, claiming they’d spoken “A day ago. Called him to tell him, got to do a better job, he’s doing a bad job. Causing a lot of death and a lot of potential death.” Needless to say, Trump wasn’t simply wrong about when they’d spoken, but also lied about the severity of the protests, in which no one died at all. [!]

    Newsom, who definitely hadn’t spoken to Trump since the previous Friday night, took to the Twitters to say nuh-uh: “There was no call. Not even a voicemail. Americans should be alarmed that a President deploying Marines onto our streets doesn’t even know who he’s talking to.”

    Trump then provided Fox News host John Roberts a screenshot of White House call logs showing the record of the Friday/Saturday call, and Roberts went on Twitter himself to say that Great Leader

    just contacted me from Air Force 1 to say this: “First call was not picked up. Second call, Gavin picked up, we spoke for 16 minutes. I told him to, essentially, ‘get his ass in gear,’ and stop the Riots, which were out of control. More than anything else, this shows what a liar he is – Said I never called. Here is the evidence.

    Roberts didn’t include the screenshot showing when the call took place. [Sneaky]

    On his own show, Jesse Watters showed a clip of the Oval Office presser, with the “a day ago” part edited out, and demanded to know why Newsom went and lied about never having spoken to Trump, which of course Newsom hadn’t done. [Also sneaky and sketchy.]

    “Newsom responded, and he said there wasn’t a phone call. He said Trump never called him. Not even a voicemail, he said. But John Roberts got Trump’s call logs, and it shows Trump called him late Friday night and they talked for 16 minutes. Why would Newsom lie and claim Trump never called him? Why would he do that?”

    Hilariously, Fox News insisted in its court filings that Watters “did not make a definitive assertion, but instead asked questions in an openly skeptical tone,” so he wasn’t really saying Newsom lied. [JFC!]

    Judge Lugg was not persuaded that Watters’s framing — just a rhetorical question! […] especially since the chyron under Watters’s smug face read “Fox News Alert: Gavin Lied About Trump’s Call.” [Video]

    After Newsom sued and demanded a full retraction of Watters’s statement, Watters showed the full clip of Trump’s answer, including the “a day ago” bit, on his July 17, 2025, show. Watters kinda-sorta clarified that he hadn’t included the “a day ago” portion of the video because “it didn’t seem relevant,” and said he understood Newsom’s tweet to mean there was never any call, not that Trump was wrong about when they’d spoken.

    Watters smarmed in conclusion that Newsom “didn’t deceive anybody on purpose, so I’m sorry, he wasn’t lying. He was just confusing and unclear. Next time, Governor, why don’t you just say what you mean.” Just to make clear that Fox News hadn’t defamed Newsom at all, the chyron read “Gavin Didn’t Lie, He Was Just Sloppy.”

    […] For a public official to sue for defamation, they have to show not only that a statement was untrue, but also that there was “actual malice,” meaning that the defendant knew the statement was false, or that they said it with “reckless disregard” for whether it was false or not. While that will still have to be determined at any eventual trial, Lugg’s ruling means that so far, Newsom has at least a “conceivable” chance of proving Fox defamed him.

    And yeah, discovery should be fun!

  316. says

    https://www.thebulwark.com/p/maga-influencers-find-a-medicare-fraudster-they-love-mccubbins?r=elvx&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email&triedRedirect=true

    “MAGA Influencers Find a Medicare Fraudster They Love”

    “The strange campaign to secure a pardon for a guy who pleaded guilty to health care fraud.”

    WITH DONALD TRUMP INCREASINGLY UNPOPULAR, and with fewer woke Democratic initiatives to bemoan, right-wing media figures have united around a cause seemingly every faction of their audiences can get behind: targeting minority communities for alleged fraud.

    Twenty-four-year-old MAGA influencer Nick Shirley became a star doing this early this year when he posted videos of himself visiting Somali-American daycares in Minnesota. In January, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrator Dr. Oz visited Los Angeles to do his own fraud hunt. Vice President JD Vance has embraced the title of fraud czar even as the rest of his portfolio appears to have narrowed. And just this week, the Daily Wire published a multi-part investigation of home-care fraud.

    Yet at the same time as this fraud focus has grown nearly monomaniacal, MAGA influencers have rallied behind a fraudster of their own. In what appears to be a coordinated effort on X, MAGA influencers as varied as a pro-Trump rapper and a Gateway Pundit editor are calling for leniency for Utah businessman Andrew McCubbins, arguing that his conviction for looting $89 million in Medicare money isn’t really that big of a deal, all things considered.

    McCubbins is the former head of a Utah company that was found to have ordered unnecessary genetic testing, with nurses and doctors bribed to request the tests for patients.

    There isn’t a question about his guilt. In September 2020, he pleaded guilty to three charges, including conspiracy to defraud Medicare. He agreed to hand over his multi-million-dollar Utah house as part of a forfeiture, and even testified about the details of the scheme in a co-conspirator’s trial.

    But he also happens to have financially supported a couple of projects dear to MAGA’s heart. McCubbins was an executive producer of Sound of Freedom, the runaway 2023 hit conservative movie about human trafficking, and participated in the undercover operations carried out by the now-embattled group that movie was based on.

    With McCubbins’s sentencing on charges of wire fraud and conspiracy to defraud Medicare looming later this month, conservative influencers have launched a months-long—and what appears to be coordinated—effort to win him a pardon, or at least to get the Justice Department to drop the case.1

    [I snipped a bunch of examples.]

    ONE THING THAT IS STRIKING about the push to obtain a pardon for McCubbins is the uncomfortable racial double standard it suggests: After all, the right-wing anti-fraud campaign this year has largely focused on minority and immigrant communities whose populations include many people dependent on government support for services and funding, like those Somali-American daycare providers in Minnesota. […]

    The McCubbins campaign is also striking because, outside of the posts from these conservative influencers, there is no broader groundswell on the right or anywhere else to free McCubbins. […]

    Despite McCubbins’s guilty plea, the well-connected influencers backing him have argued that he’s somehow the victim of a deep-state frame-up. Finman has even described the prosecution as a “Biden-era case,” despite the fact that McCubbins pleaded guilty during the first Trump administration.

    […] ! Despite the administration’s claims to be stamping out fraud, Trump has pardoned or commuted sentences for several people who ripped off Medicare and other government programs for hundreds of millions of dollars. The Justice Department, meanwhile, has repeatedly dropped cases against white-collar criminals and the politically connected.

    McCubbins must be hoping a few positive tweets aimed at the DOJ can get him some of that action.

    It’s not clear why McCubbins’s sentencing has taken this long. In 2023, he told Business Insider it was delayed by the coronavirus pandemic. His cooperation against at least one other defendant in the case could have also pushed back the sentencing. […]

  317. says

    How a massive hack on school software disrupted classes across America

    “Instructure, parent company of the education platform Canvas, said it took “immediate steps” to contain the hack before calling law enforcement.”

    Universities across America hastily made new schedules on Friday in the wake of a massive cyberattack that has thrown final exam calendars and basic classroom activities into chaos.

    The academic anarchy was touched off Thursday afternoon when operators of online education platform Canvas, used in K-12 schools and colleges across the globe, were forced to shut down after a hacker’s intrusion.

    The Canvas platform provides digital course infrastructure for instructors and students. Teachers can upload course materials, communicate with students and grade assignments. Students can view and download necessary course materials, participate in exercises and upload completed material.

    […] The hacking group ShinyHunters claimed in a May 3 statement that it had obtained about 6.65 terabytes of Canvas data from 9,000 schools worldwide. [Yikes!]

    Then on Thursday, students and staff across America logged into Canvas and reported finding a note from the hackers and a warning: if demands are not met by the end of Tuesday, everything would be leaked.

    Late Thursday night, Canvas, which has more than 30 million active users around the world, from kindergartens to all Ivy League universities, was beginning to come back online, according to Utah-based parent company Instructure. But many students and faculty were still feeling the effects of the hack on Friday.

    […] Schools across America faced different challenges due to the hack.

    […] The University of Illinois, also one of America’s biggest public schools, postponed final exams […] Finals at Mount Saint Mary’s University in Maryland were still slated for Saturday and Monday through Thursday. […] [I snipped other examples.]

    […] Origins of Thursday’s intrusion date back to April 29, when the company said it “detected unauthorized activity in Canvas” and “immediately revoked the unauthorized party’s access, started an investigation, and engaged outside forensic experts,” the company said.

    “Instructure recently identified unauthorized activity in Canvas LMS,” according to a company statement. “We took immediate steps to contain the activity, brought in outside forensic experts, and notified law enforcement. “

  318. says

    Some purported “ceasefire” news, as summarized by Steve Benen:

    * The last time Russia agreed to a ceasefire, it didn’t go well: “Trump touted a three-day ceasefire this afternoon — though it doesn’t involve Iran. In a Truth Social post, Trump said Russia and Ukraine will enact a three-day ceasefire beginning Saturday to celebrate Victory Day, which commemorates the Soviet Union’s 1945 triumph over Nazi Germany during World War II.” [Source: MS NOW]

    * As a rule, ceasefires aren’t supposed to have quite so much firing: “The United States said it attacked military sites in Iran on Thursday in retaliation for ‘unprovoked Iranian attacks.’ The strikes came amid a tenuous month-old cease-fire and officials’ statements that the two countries were discussing a plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end the American blockade on Iranian ports. U.S. Central Command said in a statement that Iranian missiles, drones and small boats had attacked three American destroyers in the strait, but that U.S. forces had ‘eliminated inbound threats.’” [Source: New York Times]

  319. says

    Steve Benen summarizes recent losses for the Trump administration in court battles:

    * The administration suffers an important loss in court, Part I: “A federal court ruled Thursday against the new global tariffs that President Donald Trump imposed after a stinging loss at the Supreme Court. A split three-judge panel of the Court of International Trade in New York found the 10% global tariffs were illegal after small businesses sued.” [Source: MS NOW]

    * The administration suffers an important loss in court, Part II: “The Trump administration violated a court order from last year that strictly limited instances in which the government can make immigration arrests in the District of Columbia without a warrant, a federal judge found on Thursday.” [Source: New York Times]

    * The administration suffers an important loss in court, Part III: “A federal judge in Manhattan ruled Thursday that the Trump administration’s choice to cut more than $100 million in grants for humanities programs amounted to a ‘a textbook example of unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination’ and found the cuts made by President Donald Trump’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency unlawful. The ruling awarded a victory to advocacy groups and grant recipients who brought the suit.” [Source: MS NOW]

  320. says

    NBC News:

    The deadly hantavirus outbreak aboard a Dutch-operated cruise ship with passengers of 23 nationalities is precisely the type of public health crisis the World Health Organization is designed to tackle. But the U.S. formally left the WHO in January, after 78 years of membership. [!]

  321. Reginald Selkirk says

    The Era of Citizens United Could Be Nearing Its End

    A Maine lawsuit has suddenly become the most significant anti-corruption battle inside America’s legal system, offering the first serious chance in decades to challenge the disastrous Citizens United decision.
    …
    The 2010 Citizens United decision, written by former corporate lobbyist Anthony Kennedy, is famous for striking down limits on spending by super PACs and declaring that “independent expenditures, including those made by corporations, do not give rise to corruption or the appearance of corruption.”

    The sheer gall of that decision overshadowed an equally far-reaching lower-court decision three months later: SpeechNow v. FEC, which struck down limits on contributions to those super PACs. Without SpeechNow, oligarchs would have had a far harder time over the last sixteen years anonymously purchasing elections via super PACs, because those entities would have had to rely on much smaller donations and would not have been able to grow so large and so fast.

    In 2024, voters from the New England state overwhelmingly passed a ballot measure placing limits on contributions to super PACs. The initiative was quickly challenged in court by what the Lever calls the master planners — the conservative groups that have successfully deregulated campaign finance laws over the last fifty years.
    …
    Remember, SpeechNow is premised on two shaky assumptions: 1) super PACs are independent from candidates, and 2) that alleged independence means donations to super PACs cannot possibly be part of quid pro quo corruption schemes influencing candidates, and therefore the First Amendment means they cannot be limited.
    …

  322. Reginald Selkirk says

    Plant Found in Obscure Brazilian Rainforest Seems Weirdly Good at Fighting Covid-19

    Brazil … another, lesser-known, rainforest along its eastern coast: Mata Atlantica.
    Earlier this year, an international team of biologists, immunologists, and pharmaceutical chemists discovered something interesting about a plant endemic to this region. Leaves of Copaifera lucens Dwyer, a tree primarily found in Mata Atlantica, contain a chemical compound capable of neutralizing covid-19 via a “multitarget mode of action” that disables the deadly virus’s arsenal of spike proteins and enzymes, according to the team’s new study.
    …
    No less impressive, the variety of galloylquinic acids found in the plant also appears to inhibit HIV-1, among other antiviral and antifungal properties that inspired the new research…

  323. says

    UK elections 2026: Labour MPs tell Starmer to quit as wipeout continues”

    Prime Minister Keir Starmer insisted he’s sticking around after enduring substantial losses in Britain’s biggest set of elections since 2024.

    Starmer’s party suffered a historic defeat in Wales, shed councillors across England to both Nigel Farage’s Reform UK and the left-wing Greens, and in Scotland, the Scottish National Party are set to be the largest party, although an overall majority may be out of reach for the pro-independence warriors.

    The results have prompted calls from Labour MPs and councillors for Starmer to go, and a rearguard action from No.10 to try and shore him up. […]

  324. says

    Greece bets big on MAGA, as other EU countries turn away from Trump

    “While the U.S. president’s relations with other European countries sour, he is hailing Greece as ‘terrific’ ”

    Nobody should be surprised that the U.S. ambassador to Athens is urging President Donald Trump to celebrate the 250th anniversary of American independence in the birthplace of democracy — with a speech on the Acropolis this summer.

    While much of Europe is turning its back on Trump, Greece is conspicuously doubling down on the relationship with MAGA. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is playing up the role of “Greek thinkers” in inspiring America’s founding fathers, and is promising the U.S. president a warm welcome and a “good time” if he visits around the 1776 commemorative festivities.

    U.S. Ambassador Kimberly Guilfoyle confirmed this week that Trump would visit Greece but declined to comment on the timing. She has been a leading proponent of his delivering a speech on the Acropolis — the temple citadel overlooking the capital — ever since her arrival in November. “We would all love that, wouldn’t we?” she said. [No]

    […] Just as his relationships with former EU allies such as Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz are souring, Trump is praising Greece as “terrific” and Harvard-educated Mitsotakis as a “terrific guy.”

    For Mitsotakis, a visit from Trump is about much more than optics. Greece’s government sees the United States — with its major naval base on Crete — as its ultimate security guarantor against invasion by Turkey, and wants to scupper the intermittent bromance between Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

    That’s why Greece is also betting big on America in business deals, too, striking landmark energy contracts and securing major U.S. investments in ports.

    These military and commercial ties between Washington and Athens are underpinned by an increasingly strong ideological alignment, too, as Mitsotakis’s conservative New Democracy party shifts further to the right.

    This has meant New Democracy playing up its tough line on migration and MAGA-aligned themes such as Christianity, Greek civilization and European identity. High-profile New Democracy officials and Greek Trump admirers are seizing their moment, rubbing shoulders with the MAGA officials now regularly parading through Greece.

    Since her arrival late last year, Kimberly Guilfoyle has attracted lavish media attention, with glossy photo shoots, appearances on television shows and glamorous galas.

    The former Fox News host and prosecutor, who was once married to California Governor Gavin Newsom and dated Donald Trump Jr., has shown from the outset that she was going to emphasize strong economic ties.

    During her first week in office, Greece signed an agreement with U.S. energy giant ExxonMobil to begin offshore drilling — the country’s first such project in more than 40 years — with U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Energy Secretary Chris Wright on hand.

    Days later, Athens and Kyiv struck a deal to import U.S. liquefied natural gas to help Ukraine meet its winter needs, making Greece the first EU country to participate in Washington’s effort to replace “every last molecule of Russian gas” with American LNG. […]

  325. says

    @75 Reginald Selkirk mentioned the copy fail Linux vulnerability.
    I researched it. It is potentially very troublesome for all ‘distros’. And it impacts linux with kernels 4.14 to 6.19.12. If you upgrade to a Linux version that uses kernel 7 you should be safe. As an example I’m using xubuntu 26.04 with kernel 7.

  326. JM says

    @318 Lynna, OM:
    Politico: Trump says there will be 3-day ceasefire in Russia-Ukraine war

    President Donald Trump said Friday that Russia and Ukraine have agreed to a three-day ceasefire and prisoner exchange mediated by the United States, the latest twist in the years long conflict that has seen other pauses quickly fall apart.
    The temporary ceasefire will stretch from Saturday to Monday to facilitate the transfers of 2,000 Russian and Ukrainian prisoners of war, Trump said on social media.

    This Russian – Ukraine ceasefire is interesting and a good sign of how desperate Putin is. Using Trump as a broker Putin essentially bribed Ukraine into a cease fire so Russia could hold some victory day parade. Ukraine doesn’t celebrate victory day, it’s very much a Russian celebration of victory over Nazi Germany and only Russian allied countries officially celebrate it. For Russia though it is a big deal. Having to cancel it would be a huge admission that Russia isn’t winning and can’t protect Moscow.
    Russia was on the verge of having to cancel it entirely because their air defense is having trouble stopping Ukrainian drones. Despite being a big public display the number of government and military officials in one place would make it a tempting target. Russia might be able to transfer enough air defense to protect the parade but only by stripping other key locations.
    So Putin arraigned a deal. Mutual ceasefire in exchange for a big prisoner swap. It’s something Russia can easily offer Ukraine other then actual peace. Trump is, of course, talking about the deal like he negotiated it but he was just a message carrier.
    I expect this one will hold at least through the 9th but no telling when on the 10th the firing will start again.

  328. StevoR says

    ^ aka AMOC and note the caveats and lack of definitive answer as Climate Adam states there. But yeah, serious issue and looking more likely and worse..

  330. StevoR says

    Updates on the schroedingers war / ceasefiure / Hormuz Strait plus situation her evia Aussie ABC :

    Here’s what to know today:

    The US military says it has struck two Iranian-flagged oil tankers that were trying to enter an Iranian port on the Gulf of Oman.
    Iran said its navy responded to “hostile” US action with retaliatory fire, but the situation is now “calm”.

    Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said “every time a diplomatic solution is on the table, the US opts for a reckless military adventure”.
    US President Donald Trump told reporters he expected to hear from Tehran on the US proposal to end hostilities as soon as Friday night, local time.

    Satellite images appear to show an oil slick spreading off the coast of Iran’s Kharg Island, estimated to cover more than 52 square kilometres.

    Source : https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-05-09/iran-blog-may-9/106659038

  331. StevoR says

    Updates on the schroedingers war / ceasefiure / Hormuz Strait plus situation her evia Aussie ABC :

    Here’s what to know today:

    The US military says it has struck two Iranian-flagged oil tankers that were trying to enter an Iranian port on the Gulf of Oman.
    Iran said its navy responded to “hostile” US action with retaliatory fire, but the situation is now “calm”.

    Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said “every time a diplomatic solution is on the table, the US opts for a reckless military adventure”.
    US President Donald Trump told reporters he expected to hear from Tehran on the US proposal to end hostilities as soon as Friday night, local time.

    Satellite images appear to show an oil slick spreading off the coast of Iran’s Kharg Island, estimated to cover more than 52 square kilometres.

    Source : https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-05-09/iran-blog-may-9/106659038

  334. Reginald Selkirk says

    Trump reportedly plans to fire FDA Commissioner Marty Makary

    President Trump has signed off on a plan to fire Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary, though insiders caution that the plan is not final and could change, according to several media reports.
    …
    Earlier this week, the Journal reported that Trump had scolded Makary over the weekend for not moving fast enough to approve flavored vapes and nicotine products. Trump’s advisors reportedly described Makary as a problem for the administration and said he was blocking the president’s campaign promise to “save vaping.”
    …

  335. says

    JM @326, thanks for the additional analysis. I agree.

    In other news: ALL IN WITH CHRIS HAYES: ABC fights back: Network accuses Trump’s FCC of violating its free speech

    ABC is pushing back against the Trump administration, accusing the FCC of chilling First Amendment-protected speech.

    Video is 6:35 minutes.

    ALL IN WITH CHRIS HAYES: Hayes warns Trump’s GOP is trying to Jim Crow-ify the House

    Chris Hayes: “They want a new Jim Crow. They’re very explicit about it. They’re hard at work trying to make it happen, and now they have a blessing from the Supreme Court.”

    Video is 11:16 minutes. Excellent presentation.

  336. says

    Young Voters Never Liked Trump All That Much

    As the dust settled in the days after the 2024 election, one of the narratives that quickly took shape was that young people had helped elect Donald Trump to a second term. As The Independent put it at the time, “Democrats may no longer be able to rely on young voters to boost numbers, as Harris appears on track to have the lowest support among voters aged 18-29 in this century.”

    Here’s what actually happened. According to data from the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement at Tufts University (CIRCLE), young voters preferred Kamala Harris over Trump 52% to 46%. Young women supported Harris 58% to 40%; 75% of Black voters under 30 supported Harris; 58% of young Latino or Hispanic voters backed Harris; and 72% of young Asian voters backed Harris. The supposed youth swing towards Trump was predominantly among young white men, who backed him by 14 points (56% to 42%). Overall, CIRCLE’s staff found, while Trump saw a “10-point jump (36% to 46%) in youth support for Trump compared to 2020, young people were still the age group with the highest support for the Democratic candidate this year.”

    [That’s an excellent debunking of the claim that young people favor Trump.]

    Ahead of the 2026 midterms, we’re getting a round of articles about how Gen Z has once again decided to reject Trump and the GOP. Politico Playbook this week highlighted the results of a new survey showing that “economic concerns are pushing 18- to 34-year-olds back to the left for the midterms,” and the headline on a TIME feature blared that “Young Voters Are Turning Away From Trump.”

    This narrative boomerang can be attributed in no small part to treating 2024 as just another presidential race versus a bonkers aberration of an election cycle. I mean, the 81-year-old Democratic nominee dropped out of the race less than four months before Election Day! Young people were on the record as deeply disliking both Trump and Biden, and Harris, as Biden’s VP, was inextricably tied to the president’s record in office.

    But since Obama’s first election, voters under 29 have consistently tilted left. They’ve voiced support for abortion, opposition to foreign wars and deep concern about the climate emergency. [I snipped more details.]

    On that note, it’s true that overall turnout among young people is disappointingly low. In the 2024 presidential race, it dropped to 42%, compared to 50% in 2020 […] these voters will turn out with bells on for candidates who speak their language and campaign on issues that matter to them, like the housing crisis and income inequality. (See: Bernie Sanders’ 2020 presidential campaign and Zohran Mamdani’s winning mayoral bid.)

    The political media loves a new narrative, but the youth swing for Trump was always overblown.

    Link

  337. JM says

    Yahoo News: North Korean troops take part in Russia’s Victory Day parade for first time

    North Korean soldiers have marched through Moscow’s Red Square for the first time as part of scaled-back celebrations for Victory Day.
    The troops were hailed for their “mass heroism, selflessness and courage” by the annual parade’s official announcer, noting their significant contribution to expelling “neo-Nazi invaders” in Ukraine.

    This is sort of funny because it probably reflects the availability of troops for the parade. The Russians joining over the last couple of years have gotten minimal combat training and then straight to the front, many of their units probably are not ready to do a formal parade. North Korea still has entire units that have years of nothing but parade training. It wouldn’t surprise me if these guys are straight from North Korea. After the parade they will get combat training because they know nothing of actual modern front line conditions, then they go to the war zone.

    Kim Jong Un was not present at the parade. Nor were the leaders of China or Iran, whose informal alliance with the Kremlin has been referred to as a “new axis of evil”.

    The whole event was over in just 45 minutes and Vladimir Putin only spoke for 10 minutes.

    It would be unusual for a major figure from another country to be at the parade but there was a notable shortage of public figures, both Russian and non-Russian. Putin gave only a short speech.

    The Victory Day parade, which commemorates the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany, was noticeably more modest than previous years and did not feature any military hardware.

    There was actually a fly over by some jets. Russia could free those up because they are not being used on the front line against Ukraine. For everything else there probably is so little available that it would look better to not include any.

  338. JM says

    PBS: What Russia’s low‑key Victory Day celebrations reveal about Putin and the war in Ukraine

    The Russian Defense Ministry claimed Friday that its forces in Ukraine “completely ceased combat operations and remained at their previously occupied lines and positions” from midnight, when Putin’s unilateral ceasefire came into force.
    But it accused Ukrainian forces of continuing to strike Russian positions as well as civilian infrastructure in border areas of the Belgorod and Kursk regions.

    Zelenskyy had a different story. Russian forces continued attacking on the front line overnight, he said, while Ukrainian air defense forces shot down 56 Russian drones.
    “All this clearly shows that there was not even a pretense of a ceasefire attempt from the Russian side,” Zelenskyy said.

    Given the scale of the front line and the increasingly decentralized combat some violations of the ceasefire were going to happen. It looks like a lot more then little localized fighting happened. Russia has had a habit of ignoring ceasefires but would not be surprised of Ukraine ignored it away from Moscow either.

  339. says

    “It’s Life Alert or Rent”: Montana Trailer Park Tenants Are on Rent Strike

    “Mobile home rents are soaring nationwide as private equity firms snap up trailer parks.”

    35-year-old Benjamin Moore has lived in Mountain Meadows Mobile Home Park, outside Bozeman, Montana, since he was 17. This month, for the first time, he’s withholding his rent.

    On May 1, Moore received a rent bill for $947, up 11 percent from the month before, and the second hike in nine months—the product of the park’s sale to an undisclosed buyer.

    Moore hung a sign on his trailer that says “RENT STRIKE.” He and his neighbors in Mountain Meadows and nearby King Arthur Park, organized with the citywide group Bozeman Tenants United, are collectively withholding over $50,000 a month from their landlord.

    Historically, trailer parks have been a relatively affordable housing option—a third of trailer park residents in America live below the poverty line. But on average, their cost of living has risen 45 percent over the past decade. […]

    For years, tenants say, the maintenance hasn’t been attended to: tree limbs hang perilously over trailers, and water shutoffs are a regular occurrence. […]

    Shauna Thompson, another resident, calls the water “atrocious…like a Milky Way, like you’re drinking skim milk. It’s very nasty and turned off all the time, without any notice.” And tenants allege that they’ve experienced retribution for maintenance requests, punitive eviction attempts, and unsafe conditions.

    […] For the past four decades, a group called Oakland Properties has owned both trailer parks. When they learned about the sale, tenants were scared that their parks would be bulldozed, or that their rent would be increased even further, forcing them to move.

    The tenants attempted to buy the parks themselves, but were decisively outbid. The winning bidder demanded an NDA. The transaction should be finalized next month, park owner Gary Oakland said, but residents still don’t know who’s going to own the land they live on.

    This month’s rent hike, Oakland acknowledged, was “part and parcel” of the sale. But for tenants, it’s a catastrophe. On top of the $947 lot rent—more than double the national average—many residents also pay off home loans on their trailers, as well as insurance and utilities costs. […]

    Some people are rationing their medication to make ends meet, Moore said. “There’s one person who canceled Life Alert. It’s either Life Alert or rent, and if you don’t pay rent, they evict you and throw you in the streets.”

    […] Mobile home parks—increasingly private-equity-owned and uniquely at-risk in the face of climate disasters—are organizing: a group of trailer park residents in Columbia, Missouri, unionized in February. In Montana, as Rebecca Burns recently wrote for In These Times, mobile homes were already a site of tenant organizing: buoyed by the state’s miners unions, the first Bozeman-area mobile home tenants’ union won an agreement with their landlord in 1978.

    Oakland says park residents “have been terrorized by the union,” and plans to evict the strikers. The strikers say they’ve retained a lawyer and will fight to stay in their homes.

    “I wish none of this was happening,” Moore said. “Your utilities should work. Your place should be safe. You should be able to get in and out of it. These are the absolute basics, and they just haven’t kept them up. And if you call them on it, they threaten you.”

    Private Equity firms being the face of evil.

  340. JM says

    Rawstory: Trump already ‘bored’ with his own war and wants out: report

    According to a Friday article by The Atlantic, an outside advisor to Trump said that the president is “bored” with the war.
    “Others believe he is frustrated at Iran’s intransigence,” the Atlantic reported. “Trump is reluctant to resume hostilities,” aides and advisors told The Atlantic. One advisor told The Atlantic that Trump would like “to tamp down any military action ahead of his trip to Beijing next week.”

    It seems Trump is already bored of the war he started. Hegseth and Netanyahu talked him into doing more then a bombing raid then declare success mission. As his brain decays his capacity to focus is getting even shorter and anything taking more then 1 day is too long for him.
    The problems negotiating with Iran was one of my big concerns from the start. Iran is a different culture and for good reasons very paranoid and careful negotiating with the US. The nuclear part of the treaty is very technical. That makes them easy to offend and negotiate in a style very different from what Trump is used to. He is used to the bad land developer style of quick talk and a handshake, try to scam each other while working out the details later.
    The only possibly upside is that Trump doesn’t like military fights if victory isn’t a forgone conclusion. He rattles his saber a lot but is actually reluctant to use military force except for remote strikes where it’s very hard for the US to take any losses. The downside of Trump’s mentality is that he is looking for a way to declare total US victory and Iranian defeat, and Iran is reluctant to let him do that. They are likely to do something that continues the war themselves any time Trump starts talking about total victory over Iran.

  341. says

    https://www.wonkette.com/p/dont-worry-the-worst-people-in-the

    “Don’t Worry, The Worst People In The World Are Here To Spread Hantavirus Conspiracies And Shill Ivermectin”

    We’re just about a week into the Hantavirus cruise ship news cycle, and people are already freaking out. No, not people who are legitimately worried that there will be another pandemic that could kill millions of people, but people who are worried that there will be another pandemic in which they will be asked to stay home, wash their hands, wear masks, and take a vaccine. That, you see, is a far scarier prospect for people who don’t really give a shit about saving other people’s lives.

    Or even their own! [alarming social media posts]

    Yes, it’s true. MAGA conspiracy theorists are already out here on these streets making it clear that they will not be “complying” with any rules designed to keep a virus from spreading, even if it kills them, which they seem to believe is some kind of incredible, heroic act. [more alarming social media posts. Example: “I will NOT be wearing or letting my wife and kids wear a face diaper EVER!”]

    […] Now, you would think that in the years since the lockdown these folks would have been able to settle on a narrative or at least some kind of unified theory of what it is they think happened at that time. The only things they seem to agree on is that they were lied to for some nefarious purpose, that masking, lockdowns, and social distancing were unnecessary, and that the vaccines have killed more people than COVID did. […] many believe that whenever an obituary does not mention cause of death or says the person “died suddenly” this is code for “died because of the COVID vaccine.”

    Anyway, they are prepared for everything this time and we will not fool them again, no matter how many hypothetical people have to die in the process. [More bonkers social media posts.]

    […] One of the more popular theories is that hantavirus is … a side effect of the COVID vaccine. [social media post]

    Incredibly enough, this is not, in fact, even remotely true. The list is real, but it’s literally just a list of any illness or health issue reported by someone after they had the vaccine, whether it is related or not. Also on the list? Herpes. All of the herpes. The entire last third of the list is just herpes. This is not actually surprising, as at least two-thirds of the population have some form of herpes, so, just statistically, it would stand to reason that a few people would contract some form or be diagnosed with it after getting vaccinated. That doesn’t mean that “herpes” is a side effect of the COVID vaccine. OR IS IT? (It is not.)

    None of this is to say that these folks are not prepared for a real pandemic. In fact, some of them are already loading up on Ivermectin. [social media post]

    Even Marjorie Taylor Greene took a break from her recent bout of sanity to promote Ivermectin, among other things that probably won’t help too much. [social media post: “I actually texted her [Mary Talley Bowden] today and asked what can we treat hantavirus with. I’m so glad she posted it. Ivermectin. Also vitamin D and zinc. Those of us who refused to lockdown, mask up, and get vaxxed took the good ole hose paste and also developed natural immunity.” Mary Talley Bowden posted: “Ivermectin blocks RNA viruses from entering the nucleus, inhibits viral replication, disrupts integrity of the viral membrane and can prevent viral replication.”]

    That Mary Talley Bowden lady, by the way, is currently entrenched in a battle with the Texas Medical Board for having tried to administer Ivermectin to a COVID-19 patient at a hospital where she did not have admitting privileges. She’s also getting ready to sell Ivermectin to Texans (it can be bought over the counter there), because grifters gonna grift. [social media post]

    It should be noted, by the way, that a hell of a lot of people who, as described by MTG, refused to “lockdown, mask up, and get vaxxed took the good ole horse paste and also developed natural immunity” died. [!] […]

    Oh, and that trying to get “natural immunity” for a virus with a 30-60 percent chance of killing you is probably a bad idea. [social media post]

    Well sure, Ivermectin cures everything! Every virus on earth? Ivermectin. Cancer? Ivermectin. Hangnail? Ivermectin. And I just honestly really love that these people think that scientists can come up with this amazing dewormer that cures everything that ails them and without any side effects (except for the side effects it does have).

    What I find most impressive about this is that these people think scientists were skilled enough to make a “miracle drug” like Ivermectin, which they believe cures literally everything, but are not skilled enough to make a safe vaccine.

    But if the Ivermectin isn’t enough for you, you can always just take up smoking. [social media post]

    Soooooooooooooooooo. Um. If you have rabies, Ivermectin is very much not going to help you. Rabies is 100 percent fatal in humans who do not get the PEP vaccine before symptoms appear. Though I suppose, in that case, you may as well light up anyway.

    And just because I know you’re thinking it now — yes, in 2021 there were, in fact, three documented cases of anti-vaxxers dying after refusing the rabies vaccine. I’d be shocked if I didn’t remember that one guy who turned down a heart transplant rather than take the vaccine, because of how he thought it would give him heart issues.

    So far it seems as though we don’t actually have anything to fear from hantavirus, but it’s not especially comforting to know that we still share a country with a whole lot of lunatics who actually are so stupid that they would rather die than take a lifesaving vaccine. People who are confusingly, weirdly convinced that millions of people died from the COVID vaccine despite the fact that, you know, that very much did not happen. I mean, there was a point when we could have blamed some of it on some kind of temporary lockdown-related insanity, but it’s six goddamn years later and they are still sticking to their story.

  342. JM says

    Politico: Wiles cracks down on leaks

    In an email obtained by West Wing Playbook, Wiles warned that “no staff member within the Executive Office of the President is permitted to speak with members of the news media without the explicit approval of the White House Communications Office,” and that “unauthorized leaks will not be tolerated and are subject to sanction up to and including termination.”

    It is naturally funny that her memo not to leak to the press was itself leaked to the press. The whole issue of press leaks is typical of a political organization coming apart. People on the inside are seeking to shift blame around, make themselves look good and make other look bad in the press. Given what happens in the Trump administration in public the private stuff they can leak must be terrible and what has leaked certainly is.

    The directive marked one of Wiles’ clearest moves to crack down on leaks that might interfere with official White House messaging, as the West Wing has grown increasingly frustrated with staff bypassing formal channels and carrying disputes or decision-making battles into the press, according to a person familiar with the matter granted anonymity to discuss internal dynamics.

    Notice the very authoritarian mind set here. The top officials in the Trump administration bypass procedure all the time, even ordering people to do illegal things to bypass procedure. However, anybody under cabinet level showing any free will is bad.

  343. says

    A year after some of the world’s richest men cut aid for the world’s poorest children, they’re trying to roll out a new public relations narrative […]

    As Jeremy Lewin, the acting under secretary of state for foreign assistance, put it: “Contrary to false media narratives, the data shows that President Trump’s foreign assistance review maintained and improved frontline lifesaving programs, while reducing NGO bloat and costs.”

    […] American humanitarian aid was never great at nurturing economic growth, but it did save one life every 10 seconds until last year. It’s also true that public pressure led the administration and Congress to retain some lifesaving programs, particularly for H.I.V./AIDS, and to its credit the administration has expanded use of a drug called lenacapavir to fight AIDS. Finally, the Trump administration is right that trade is crucial, which is why President Bill Clinton started a fine trade program with Africa; unfortunately, it expires this year, and its long-term future under Trump is in doubt.

    None of this changes the fact that this glossy new Trump narrative is absurd. Trump’s most lethal policy will almost surely be his 71 percent cut in humanitarian aid from 2024 to 2025. A Boston University researcher estimated that the aid cuts cost more than 750,000 lives worldwide in their first year. A recently published study in The Lancet, the British medical journal, forecast that at present rates the defunding will cost 9.4 million lives by 2030, including 2.5 million children under the age of 5.

    […] the administration has cut data collection that might help us assess mortality accurately.

    Meanwhile, Trump and his aides continue to take steps that will add to the toll.

    The administration is now withholding aid for vaccines for poor countries in ways that may cost the lives of vast numbers of children. Trump slashed funding for an international vaccine alliance called Gavi, and now the administration is also refusing to release $600 million for Gavi that Congress has already appropriated and that must be spent by September.

    Gavi is one of the most cost-effective aid programs in history. One study found that each dollar spent on vaccines in poor countries brings a return of $54 in reduced health costs and other benefits. I was once hospitalized with a serious case of malaria that I caught in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and I think it’s a miracle that a few doses of a $3 malaria vaccine can now save a Congolese child’s life — and a scandal that administration officials are willing to let such children die because of ideological hostility toward vaccines. [I agree.]

    Gavi also pays for HPV vaccines that prevent cervical cancer, which kills more than 900 women every day worldwide. Cervical cancer is an excruciating, humiliating way to die — it is sometimes diagnosed partly by the odor of rotting flesh — yet a $4 vaccine can prevent it. Gavi’s vaccinations have already averted almost one million of these horrific deaths from cervical cancer.

    Trump’s cuts have created a budget crisis for Gavi and other aid agencies. It has been magnified because European countries followed America’s lead with cuts to their own aid budgets. […]

    The Trump administration is also, unintentionally, exacerbating global poverty with its catastrophic war with Iran, and not just because the war has displaced more than 2.2 million women and girls in Iran and Lebanon. Because of the war, diesel prices have risen 160 percent in Myanmar and 87 percent in Nigeria, while 40 percent of gas stations have closed in Laos, according to the United Nations. Rising fuel prices are increasing costs of transportation and thus food.

    The upshot is that if the Gulf crisis doesn’t end by next month, an additional 45 million people worldwide are likely to suffer severe hunger in the latter part of this year, according to Cindy McCain of the U.N World Food Program.

    An even bigger impact may come, after a delay, from shortages of fertilizer, often made with oil and gas byproducts from the Persian Gulf. Perhaps one-third of the world’s fertilizer production will be disrupted if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed, and shortages will most likely mean lower crop yields, higher food prices and more starvation. José Andrés of World Central Kitchen has warned that fertilizer shortages could lead to a multiyear famine beginning as early as the end of this year.

    Think of it this way: Artificial fertilizers keep roughly half of humans alive. Without them, the earth would be able to produce enough food to support only about 4 billion people.

    Even as the Trump administration has created this crisis, it has unraveled some of the global health systems that would normally save lives of starving children. [Trump] is talking about withholding lifesaving medicines from villagers in Zambia unless the Zambian government sells more minerals to American companies.

    A new book, “Into the Wood Chipper,” recounts the reckless way in which DOGE officials dismantled the United States Agency for International Development. Written by Nicholas Enrich, a former top health official at the agency, it chronicles the “callousness, dishonesty and ineptitude” of Trump aides who destroyed programs that they didn’t understand.

    […] in my travels over the last year, I’ve seen children dying because of our aid cuts. This doesn’t feel like policymaking so much as vandalism, accompanied by wasted food, ruined contraceptives and an estimated $6.4 billion spent closing down the United States Agency for International Development (that sum alone could have saved more than one million children’s lives).

    Actually, for all my harsh words, Trump is talking about providing emergency financial support for one nation. That’s the United Arab Emirates, which is pinched by the Iran war and may get a lifeline from Washington to support its currency.

    So we’re ready to support a country that is roughly as rich as Britain and France and is fueling the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, in Sudan, by arming a militia committing mass murder and mass rape? Could one factor be that high-level Emiratis have approved investments of half a billion dollars in a Trump family crypto company?

    Forget the efforts to dress this show up. The truth is ugly: The world’s richest men are crushing the world’s poorest children.

    New York Times link

  344. Reginald Selkirk says

    MAGAs Are Fuming After Email Confirms They Will Never Get Their $500 Trump Phones or Deposits Back

    Nearly 600,000 Trump supporters paid £74 ($100) each towards a gold smartphone that, nearly a year on, does not exist.

    The Trump Mobile T1 phone was announced in June 2025 by Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump as a patriotic alternative to Apple and Samsung, retailing at £370 ($499) and promising a ‘Made in the USA’ build.

    An estimated 590,000 buyers paid a £74 ($100) deposit to secure one, collectively handing the venture roughly £43.7 million ($59 million). As of May 2026, not a single confirmed customer has received the device. Now, a fresh wave of anger is spreading across MAGA forums after buyers received communication making clear that their money is, for all practical purposes, gone…

  346. Reginald Selkirk says

    Japanese council votes to remove unconscious mayor

    A council in Japan has voted to remove its mayor who has been unconscious for several months.

    Kikuo Hatakeyama, 72, has served as the mayor of Hachirogata in north-east Japan since 2008, but fell ill in February and suffered a brain hemorrhage.

    The town assembly unanimously passed a no-confidence motion against the mayor meaning he will automatically lose his position on 19 May…

  347. Reginald Selkirk says

    2 Canadians among suspects charged in U.S. with attempting to smuggle guns into Canada

    U.S. authorities announced on Friday that three men — two of whom have Canadian citizenship — have been charged in New York state with allegedly attempting to smuggle dozens of firearms into Canada…
    The statement said a search of their vehicle found 89 firearms, including at least 17 that were reported stolen, destined for Canada…

    I find it interesting they were charged in the U.S., not in Canada.

  348. says

    New York times link

    “Deadly Israeli Strikes Erode Cease-Fire in Lebanon”

    “Fighting between Israel and Hezbollah has shown little sign of abating, with Hezbollah also continuing to attack Israeli troops, and both sides accusing the other of violating a U.S.-brokered truce.”

    Israel carried out a deadly wave of strikes in Lebanon on Saturday, as clashes with Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militant group, continued to intensify despite a U.S.-mediated cease-fire reached last month.

    At least seven people, including a child, were killed in one strike on the southern coastal town of Saksakiyeh, according to Lebanon’s health ministry. The Israeli military had issued evacuation warnings for a number of Lebanese towns and villages on Saturday, but Saksakiyeh was not among them. The Israeli military said it had targeted Hezbollah militants in a building used for military purposes, without offering details.

    Shortly afterward, two cars were targeted on Lebanon’s main coastal highway, south of Beirut, the Lebanese capital, signaling that the attacks were moving farther inland. [!] The Israeli military also said it was striking what it said were Hezbollah weapons storage facilities and launch sites. Hezbollah, meanwhile, launched drones and rockets at Israeli troops in southern Lebanon, injuring three soldiers, the Israeli military said.

    “They are hitting a lot today,” said Ali Khalil, a resident of Al-Baisariyah, a town in the country’s south a few miles from Saksakiyeh. “So many people are getting killed for no reason.”

    The tit-for-tat attacks on Saturday came amid an escalation in fighting that has exposed the limits of the cease-fire and stoked worries that the truce could collapse into another full-fledged war.

    Since the U.S.-mediated cease-fire was announced last month, Israel and Hezbollah have continued to trade daily fire in southern Lebanon, each accusing the other of violating the deal. But the violence has widened in recent days. [!] Earlier this week, Israel carried out an airstrike in Beirut’s densely populated southern suburbs, the first such attack there since the truce took effect.

    Next week, envoys from Israel and Lebanon, whose government does not control Hezbollah, are scheduled to hold another round of U.S.-brokered talks in Washington, as the Trump administration attempts to turn the cease-fire into a more durable arrangement.

    […] Hezbollah kept up its attacks on Israeli troops in southern Lebanon on Saturday, saying it had shelled and used drones to strike military positions inside territory that Israeli forces still occupy despite the cease-fire. The Israeli military said that three soldiers were injured on Saturday, one of them severely, in a drone attack.

    Hezbollah has increasingly turned to explosive fiber-optic drones, a low-cost weapon first widely used in Ukraine and now spreading to other battlefields. Guided by thin cables instead of radio signals, the drones are difficult for Israel to jam, and Israeli officials say they have become a persistent threat to troops.

    Somewhat related news: Smotrich announces uprooting of 3,000 trees planted by Palestinians in northern West Bank

    “Civil Administration says trees’ removal, latest in a series of such actions, will enable the creation of a new settlement; 3 Palestinians reportedly injured in settler attack.”

    Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced that Israel uprooted some 3,000 trees planted by Palestinians in the northern West Bank, which he said were located on state land.

    “We are building the Land of Israel and destroying the idea of a Palestinian state,” said Smotrich, repeating a phrase he is fond of using. He said the trees had been planted illegally and that the action aimed to “prevent attempts by the Palestinian Authority to establish facts on the ground.”

    Smotrich also serves as a minister in the Defense Ministry, overseeing civilian matters in the West Bank. The trees were removed by the Civil Administration, a branch of the Defense Ministry’s Coordinator for Government Affairs in the Territories (COGAT), which is responsible for the territory’s civilian affairs.

    The uprooting was the latest in a series of actions by Israeli government bodies to destroy trees in the West Bank, in part to make room for settlement expansion. […]

    Smotrich said the trees were planted within the boundaries of the zoning masterplan for Shahak and that removing them would enable the further expansion of the industrial park together with the establishment of a new settlement […]

    State land is not privately owned and is available for the government to allocate for the public benefit, including through the construction of residential homes and infrastructure, as well as economic and agricultural activity.

    Virtually all of the state land that Israel has allocated for use has been given to the needs of Israeli settlements, according to information provided by the Civil Administration in 2018.

    The uprooting of the 3,000 trees on Wednesday followed numerous other tree removal operations by Israeli forces in the West Bank over the past year.

    [I snipped some examples.]

    “While the state supports hundreds of illegal outposts which constitute focal points for severe violence by Israelis against Palestinians, it compounds one crime with another, by cutting down thousands of olive trees just because they belong to Palestinians and thereby does mortal damage to the income of thousands of people,” Yesh Din said.

    Over 120 illegal outposts have been established during the course of the current government, mostly on state land and often with the coordination of municipal settlement authorities.

    The Civil Administration is not the only Israeli government body that has uprooted trees in the West Bank in the last year.

    Last August, the IDF uprooted thousands of olive trees in the central West Bank village of al-Mughayyir — over a space of ​​about 300 dunams (74 acres) […]

    Trees have also been targeted by settler attacks. In November, the Palestinian Authority’s news agency WAFA reported that fifteen ancient olive trees were chopped down amid a broader attack by settlers on local Palestinian farmers in the village of Susya, which is part of the Masafer Yatta enclave in the South Hebron Hills. [social media post, with video]
    […]

  349. Reginald Selkirk says

    Massive 11,000-carat ruby unearthed in Myanmar’s war-scarred gemstone heartland

    Miners in Myanmar have discovered a rare ruby of enormous size, considered to be the second-largest by weight ever found in the conflict-battered Southeast Asian nation, state media reported Friday.

    The ruby, measuring 11,000 carats (2.2 kilograms, or 4.8 pounds), was unearthed near the town of Mogok, in the upper Mandalay region, the heartland of the lucrative gem-mining industry that has recently experienced intense fighting in the country’s wide-ranging civil war.
    …
    While it weighs roughly half the weight of a 21,450-carat (4.29 kilograms, or 9.45 pounds) stone found in 1996, the new discovery is considered more valuable due to its superior color and quality. It is described as having a purplish-red hue with yellowish undertones, a high-quality color grade, moderate transparency and a highly reflective surface…

  351. CompulsoryAccount7746, Sky Captain says

    Aaron Reichlin-Melnick:

    This story is WILD. Juan Orlando Hernandez, the Honduran ex-president pardoned by Trump for narcotrafficking, seemingly caught on tape in dozens of conversations (if true), discussing plans with GOP and other figures to attack left-wing governments, and saying Israel paid for his pardon from Trump.

    El País – ‘Hondurasgate,’ the alleged US and Israeli interference plot to destabilize Mexico and other progressive governments

    The news outlet Diario Red en América Latina and the website Hondurasgate have revealed, in an investigation based on leaked audio recordings, […] that former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández, pardoned by Donald Trump from his 45-year sentence for drug trafficking—with the support of the Republican president himself, his Argentine counterpart Javier Milei, and the current Honduran administration—are conspiring to create a channel for disseminating fake news with the intention of spreading misinformation and destabilizing the governments of Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico.
    […]
    In the conversation between Hernández and [current Honduras prez Nasry Asfura], the former president tells the Honduran leader that he needs $150,000 to rent an apartment in the United States, where he plans to set up an office for a digital journalism unit. […] “Someone else here, from the U.S. president’s team, will handle it for me. Well, he’s one of the Republicans who are helping us. They’re going to set up a news site for us.”
    […]
    The conversations, according to the source, originated from WhatsApp, Signal, and Telegram. They were recorded between January and April 2026. The website [has] released the 37 recordings, making them available in their entirety
    […]
    The Mexican president [commented] “They can set up a smear campaign office against our government in Honduras, using resources from a friendly nation. It won’t affect us, not at all. There may be days of confusion, but if we remain true to our principles […] within the framework of our Constitution, the laws, and with respect for sovereignty, no one will be able to undermine the transformation project. It’s that clear,”
    […]
    According to the same leaks from Hondurasgate, Trump’s pardon of JOH, days before the elections in Honduras, was not a gesture of clemency, but rather the initial payment in a larger agreement. […] Hernández explains […] “The pardon money […] came from a group of rabbis and people who supported Israel.” In another audio recording, he says that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had “everything to do” with his release

    Rando 1:

    I love this scandal because he’s like “I’m in a conspiracy with Trump, Milei, and Netanyahu to TOPPLE GOVERNMENTS & SPREAD FASCISM throughout North and South America!” & immediately follows that up with “and to do this I will need $150,000 for an apartment”.

    Rando 2: “Frankly the dude sounds like hes trying to con old political connections to buy him a US condo.”

  352. CompulsoryAccount7746, Sky Captain says

    Slate – Trump Is in His Ozymandias Era

    Outside the West Wing, he took “challenge coins,” which are these military coins that the president can give away as a party favor when he meets people, and started gluing them to the middle of doors.

    Eric Columbus: “Literally distracted by shiny objects.”

    Rando 1: “Presidential Pogs.”

    Rando 2: “I noticed them during the Doordash Grandma stunt. [Photo]”

  353. CompulsoryAccount7746, Sky Captain says

    WSJ – Israel built and defended a secret Iran War base in Iraq

    Israel set up a clandestine military outpost in the Iraqi desert to support its air campaign against Iran and launched airstrikes against Iraqi troops who almost discovered it early in the war, people familiar with the matter including U.S. officials said. […] Search-and-rescue teams were positioned there in case Israeli pilots were downed. None have been. […] Israel’s air force carried out thousands of strikes against targets in Iran during the five-week campaign.

  354. JM says

    Politico: ‘Mild panic will set in soon’: GOP donors left to wonder about Trump’s $300 million war chest

    There is mounting anxiety among party donors about when and how Trump will deploy his $300 million war chest, and concern that the White House is missing an opportunity to reinforce the party now when it is facing electoral threats on all sides. Some Republicans fear Trump may ultimately opt to hold back some of the money from the midterms and direct it to other purposes, such as legacy-building projects or anointing a successor in 2028.

    MAGA Inc., the super PAC that functions as Trump’s primary outside political operation, has a massive war chest heading into the midterms. While super PACs are supposed to operate independently, candidates, including Trump, often have significant sway over the organization.

    Another example of “independent” super PAC. It has collected over $300 million but has spent < $10 million on the midterms. People are starting to get upset as the political donor class would expect him to be spending on mid terms by now. In theory since Trump can’t run again it should be spending most of the money this midterm, holding on to some as a donation to whoever Trump anoints after him and some for other political expenses. The organization should largely wind down after 2028. The rising fear is that Trump will hold on to a lot of the money and use it for other things. Part of that is natural anxiety over a situation that is bad and getting worse for Republicans. Part of it is a realization that Trump’s organization is bad at planning and since Trump isn’t running he isn’t pushing to get things going. Part of it is a realistic fear that Trump is going to hold on to money.

  356. StevoR says

    Unlike the Arctic, where sea ice declined rapidly as the planet warmed, Antarctic sea ice showed little overall loss. It even expanded between 2007 and 2015. But that resilience has now broken.

    Since 2015, Antarctic sea ice has declined sharply. In 2023, winter sea ice extent fell to record lows — so far below the long-term average that scientists considered it an event with roughly a one-in-3.5-million probability of occurring by chance.

    Antarctica was long considered a part of the climate system expected to change slowly. The speed of the recent sea ice decline has therefore come as a shock.

    Scientists did expect Antarctic sea ice to shrink as the planet warmed, but not this quickly. The downturn over the past decade was not predicted by the climate models used to understand how the continent responds to warming. This makes the recent decline especially concerning: it suggests things may be unfolding faster, or in different ways, than our models can fully capture.

    This matters because sea ice reflects sunlight back into space and helps drive ocean currents that lock away heat and carbon deep underwater. Its decline will have consequences for the climate and for Antarctica’s unique ecosystems that rely on it.

    Source : https://theconversation.com/antarctic-sea-ice-defied-global-warming-for-decades-now-hidden-ocean-heat-is-breaking-through-282356

  357. Reginald Selkirk says

    Anthropic Has Added Several More Religions on Its Quest to Inject Perfect Morals into Claude

    … Last week, representatives from Anthropic—along with OpenAI—attended an event in New York called the “Faith-AI Covenant” roundtable. The New York Board of Rabbis, the Hindu Temple Society of North America, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the U.S.-based Sikh Coalition, and the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America were all in attendance…

  360. Reginald Selkirk says

    Ukraine’s new AI-guided laser destroys Shahed suicide drones in seconds from 3.1 miles away — also useful for demining operations, trailer-mounted Tryzub system is in final stages of testing

    Ukraine has developed an AI-powered anti-drone laser that is nearing battlefield readiness. A video shared on social media by the country’s Celebra Tech shows the ‘Tryzub’ trailer-mounted system burning a hole through some armor in three to four seconds. The demo goes on to show an incoming drone in the AI-assisted sights of Tryzub being zapped and then crashing to the ground a few seconds later.
    One news source, Euromaidan Press, says that the above demonstrated system has been in development by Ukrainian firm Celebra Tech since at least 2024. Now in its final stages of testing, Celebra Tech says that Tryzub can “burn holes in Shaheds from 5km away.” That’s a 3.1-mile range.

    In addition to the powerful laser, AI target acquisition and tracking play a large part in the touted success of Tryzub. Radar is integrated into the mobile system, too. It isn’t said explicitly, but we guess the longer range of the radar can help position this mobile laser ready to intercept targets.

    Ukraine’s Tryzub laser hasn’t just been demonstrated physically destroying airborne and/or ground-based targets; it can also interfere with FPV drone cameras.

    The news report indicates that this laser can also be deployed for demining operations. That’s something it could be busier with if this terrible conflict eventually ends. After success in active duty, there’s also going to be a healthy export market for Tryzub in countries currently in conflict and bordering potential flashpoint areas. Thus, we see many companies/countries racing forward with their own drones and anti-drone tech…

  361. birgerjohansson says

    USA and Britain have kept the archaic “first past the post” election system, which automatically creates two-party systems. The recent local elections have turned the system upside down.

    “Top Expert Says Electoral System Has Turned On Labour & Tories”

    .https://youtube.com/watch?v=05F-xJinUAM

  365. says

    Trump exempted some of the nation’s biggest polluters from air quality rules. All it took was an email. By ProPublica

    In March 2025, President Donald Trump’s administration made a tantalizing offer to coal-fired power plants, chemical manufacturing facilities and other factories: Their operations could be exempted from key provisions under the Clean Air Act, the bedrock environmental law estimated to have prevented thousands of premature deaths. All they had to do was ask.

    No rigorous application was needed. An email, which they had until the end of the month to send, would suffice.
    Within two weeks, executives across major industries began flooding an inbox set up to receive and funnel requests from the Environmental Protection Agency to the White House. They asked that their facilities be excused from expensive Clean Air Act requirements, relief that would save their companies money but pollute the air breathed by millions of Americans.

    At least 3,000 pages of emails were sent to and from this inbox in the weeks that followed. ProPublica obtained them via public records requests, giving the most complete look to date at a key aspect of what Trump’s EPA calls the “biggest deregulatory action in U.S. history.”

    Richard Shaffer, asset manager at Scrubgrass Reclamation Company, emailed asking for an exemption covering a western Pennsylvania power plant that burns coal waste. A significant portion of the electricity it generates is used to mine bitcoin. Keeping the cost of environmental compliance low was important “for the security of the United States,” Shaffer wrote.

    A response came 11 days later in a presidential proclamation. Approved.

    [I snipped a Citgo Petroleum example.]

    Kevin Wagner, vice president of the medical sterilizer company Sterigenics, messaged asking that nine facilities emitting the carcinogenic gas ethylene oxide, including near Salt Lake City, Los Angeles, Charlotte and Atlanta, be exempted. More than 45,000 people, most of them not white, live within a mile of these facilities, according to federal data.

    […] In granting these requests, the White House didn’t seek input from EPA scientists. The administration cited authority under the Clean Air Act that had never before been used.

    More approvals followed. All told, more than 180 facilities in 38 states and Puerto Rico have, by Trump’s unilateral decision, been given a two-year reprieve from following the latest Clean Air Act rules. […]

    A majority are coal power plants and medical sterilizers. And more than 70 had faced formal enforcement action in the past five years by the EPA for violations such as emitting contaminants above regulatory limits and failing to properly track facilities’ pollution.

    […] In response to ProPublica’s questions, an EPA spokesperson said in a statement: “EPA played no role in the determinations set out in the statute and specifically vested in the President. Any requests sent to the EPA’s electronic mailbox were forwarded to the White House.”

    In defending the exemptions, the administration cited two standards in the Clean Air Act that a president must invoke to exercise such powers: The industry must be integral to national security, and the technology needed to meet the EPA requirements must be unavailable. […]

    Numerous policy experts told ProPublica that they do not believe the White House’s justifications for the use of the exemptions. […] multiple utilities have publicly said that they were already implementing pollution controls to comply with the more stringent rules, undercutting the administration’s claim that the technologies necessary to do so don’t exist. [Permission to Poison video]

    Community groups and environmental nonprofits have sued the administration five times to halt the exemptions. A coalition of 12 organizations labeled the action an “illegal scheme.” (Four of the cases have been consolidated and are ongoing. In a motion to dismiss them, the administration argued that the groups did not have legal standing to sue and reiterated its stance that the law gives the president the authority to grant such exemptions.)[…]

    “He Disregards the Checks-and-Balances System”
    Freeport-McMoRan’s massive copper mining and smelting operation sits on the hills above the towns of Miami, Claypool and Globe in eastern Arizona. A Clean Air Act rule that was updated in 2024 regulates the smelter’s emissions and, by extension, the air breathed by the 10,000 people who live in these towns.

    […] Years of air monitoring data also informed the process. Implementing the updated rule would “reduce emissions of toxic metals, primarily lead and arsenic, by nearly 50 percent” at the country’s several copper smelters, the EPA concluded.

    Trump undid that work when he signed a proclamation in October pausing implementation and approving Freeport’s request that its Arizona copper smelter be given a pass on “all the deadlines promulgated under” the rule.

    […] Years ago, on particularly bad days, when the air around the smelter was hazy, “it would choke you out. It was like walking in a cloud,” Bunger said. “If you read the obituaries, ‘Died of cancer. Died of cancer,’” she said of her neighbors. “Well, that’s our destination, so I better get done what I’m gonna get done.”

    But she’s seen air quality steadily improve as regulations tightened, following advances in emissions control technology. Freeport spent $250 million on improvements completed in 2017 to better control sulfur dioxide emissions.

    […] Trump paused the requirement that Freeport follow the latest rule, including by installing additional pollution control equipment. [I snipped comments from Freeport-McMoRan.]

    […] Eduardo Sanchez lauds the company’s economic impact and is hesitant to criticize the smelter. But, he said, Trump has no right to unilaterally decide when laws do and do not apply.

    “In order to help the rich get richer, he’s deregulating everything,” Sanchez said. “He’s a tyrant. He disregards the checks-and-balances system. He overreaches through executive dictates.”

    An Error-Ridden Process
    […] the process for granting exemptions has been sloppy. […] industries were left guessing how to make the request, experts said.

    “Hello, I am a gas company looking for an exemption. How do I start?” one businessman wrote in an email to the EPA.
    Others appeared to mock the administration’s regulatory rollback, with one email calling for a coal power plant to be built on a 300-foot-wide mangrove island just offshore of the president’s Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida. “It will produce power so strongly that jobs and power will be the best that people have ever seen,” the email stated

    […] a political appointee who had previously worked for a utility and a petrochemicals trade group played a key role in creating the inbox where companies sent their requests for exemptions, the records showed.

    “There’s certainly no input from experts in EPA,” the EPA employee told ProPublica. [Screen grab of email]

    The administration gave notice of approved exemptions by publishing presidential proclamations listing the factories’ locations on the White House’s website. “It is in the national security interests of the United States to issue this Exemption,” Trump wrote […]

    These proclamations at times added to the confusion. In a July proclamation, Trump appears to have granted an exemption to a plant south of Baton Rouge, although he listed it as being located in Alabama, not Louisiana, and to another in Alabama that may not exist at all. [Typical of the Trump administration. Incompetence is on display.]

    Spelling mistakes and formatting errors throughout the proclamations have made identifying exempted plants a guessing game. […]

    In April, Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse and Adam Schiff, both Democrats, introduced a bill to amend the process by requiring the president to obtain Congress’ consent before granting pauses to Clean Air Act compliance. The exemptions, Whitehouse said in a statement, show a willingness to “abuse every loophole available to pollute for free, damn the health consequences for Americans.”

    A Sweeping Deregulatory Agenda
    Trump’s exemptions give companies an extra two years to comply with updates […]

    This pause is part of a much larger strategy to unwind the Clean Air Act, buying time for the administration to deconstruct large portions of the legislative framework regulating the nation’s air quality […]

    The White House has focused these efforts most intently on one industry: coal. Trump has so far granted 71 coal power plants — more than any other category — two-year exemptions to the Clean Air Act rule governing them, called the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards. Then, in February, the administration formalized the rollback of the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, in effect making the exemptions permanent. [!!]

    Among the beneficiaries of these moves is Ameren Corp.’s Labadie Energy Center west of St. Louis. The coal-fired power station is massive — 2.4 gigawatts, enough to power roughly 2 million homes — as are its emissions. It’s one of the nation’s largest sources of sulfur dioxide, […] and the second-largest source of carbon dioxide, according to EPA data. But due to its age, the plant isn’t equipped with most modern pollution controls and can be linked to more than 300 premature deaths per year […]

    [I snipped a personal story from a resident.] [I snipped comments from Ameren]

    The law requires the president to tie such exemptions to national security, and Trump has declared a national energy emergency over fears that emerging industries, like artificial intelligence, will not have access to the massive amounts of electricity they need. […]

    “Death Started to Come”
    Amid the rush to give out passes to the Clean Air Act, communities already saddled with air pollution find themselves affected once more.

    An 85-mile stretch of Louisiana, running southeast from Baton Rouge, hosts such a concentration of heavy industry that it long ago garnered the nickname “Cancer Alley.” […]

    Tonga Nolan grew up in a predominantly Black neighborhood on the north side of Baton Rouge and remembers it fondly as a tight-knit community. She also remembers when “death started to come.” Years later, she can recite the names of more than a dozen neighbors and family members who lived within a few blocks and died of cancer. […]

    Chemical plants mark the western edge of the neighborhood, including a Formosa Plastics facility, which produces the plastic commonly called PVC.

    The plant, owned by a Taiwanese chemicals company worth about $300 billion, has a history of violations. [!] In 2003, the company accidentally released 8,000 pounds of carcinogenic vinyl chloride into Baton Rouge, according to the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board. And EPA data shows that its pattern of reported infractions has continued in recent years. […]

    [I snipped Formosa Plastics’ comments.]

    The rule would have mandated better monitoring at the fence lines of Formosa Plastics and other plants. Such facilities can leak toxic gases from pipelines, valves and tanks, and they often vastly underestimate local emissions. […] monitoring for leaks has proved effective in other industries […]

    Exacerbating historical disparities, about 54% of people who live close to the facilities Trump exempted are not white […]

  367. says

    Michael McFaul writing at his “McFaul’s World” Substack about the “growing cracks” in Vladimir Putin’s rule in Russia:

    […] When dictators fail, they create opportunities for change. We know from studies of past collapses of autocratic rule that losing wars and poorly performing economies are often precipitants of political change. Even in Russian history, these two factors have triggered revolutionary change. The Russian Empire crumbled in 1917 in part as a result of an unpopular and unsuccessful war, World War I. The Soviet Union fell apart in part because of a stagnant economy. In Putin’s Russia, there are parallels to both.

    First, Putin’s biggest failure is his war in Ukraine. More than four years after launching his full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Putin has failed to achieve any of the military objectives that he himself articulated back in 2022. Despite waging a war that has now lasted longer than the Soviet Union’s war with Nazi Germany, Putin has not conquered or subjugated all of Ukraine. He has not achieved “de-Nazification”, his grotesque euphemism for regime change.

    The democratically elected president and parliament of Ukraine remain in power. Putin has failed dramatically at “demilitarizing” Ukraine, which is today more militarized than ever in its history. And he has failed to stop NATO expansion, with two powerful countries, Finland and Sweden, joining the alliance because of his war, and NATO ties to Ukraine are now deeper than ever before. […]

    the Russian economy is stagnating, adding to mounting pressure at home. Economist Vladimir Milov warned earlier this year of an “unholy trinity” of recession, inflation, and budgetary crisis coming together in 2026, predicting that this year would be the hardest for Russia since the war began. […] The private sector is dying, in part because of international sanctions. Hundreds of thousands of Russia’s best and brightest have left the country. And Russia’s long-term demographic challenges, already acute before the 2022 full-scale invasion, have become even more dire because so many young lives are being lost on the battlefield.

  368. says

    Washington Post link

    Immigration attorney Michael Wildes has represented first lady Melania Trump and her parents, who are naturalized citizens. He has secured visas for Miss Universe titleholders when President Donald Trump ran the pageant organization. He has done legal work for the Kushner family.

    But when he has received calls from potential clients interested in a gold card visa that Trump has touted for wealthy foreigners, he has told them there is little he can do because the program is legally dubious.

    […] Immigration lawyers who have represented wealthy individuals are warning their clients against paying the $15,000 fee [!] to apply for the $1 million or $2 million visa that Trump has advertised, citing the lack of a congressionally established visa, ongoing litigation against the visa program and uncertainty about the tax implications for their clients.

    Seven immigration attorneys who work with the sort of wealthy clientele that the gold card program is meant to attract told The Washington Post that they have either steered clients clear of applying for the gold card or declined to assist foreigners who have already applied, recommending instead that wealthy people consider established, legal methods of coming to the United States.

    […] Out of the 338 requests for the gold card visa, 165 have actually paid the nonrefundable $15,000 filing fee to move forward, and 59 people have moved on to the subsequent step of filling out paperwork from the Department of Homeland Security.

    The filing also said that gold card visa applicants will not necessarily get approval ahead of others seeking an EB-1 or EB-2 visa, which are given to foreigners with extraordinary talents who did not pay the expensive gold card fees.

    Mona Shah, an attorney with two clients at various stages of the gold card visa application process, said the court filing indicated to her that previous promises of speedy processing were “false advertising,” and she has warned her clients that their gold card applications might go nowhere. However, she said her clients — who are from Nigeria and Pakistan — have been frustrated by travel bans and restrictions and have money that they are willing to waste for the chance at residency. But, she said, it’s only a chance.

    […] EB-5 requires an $800,000 investment, can provide residency for a spouse and minor children, and would only be changed by legislation. On the other hand, the gold card is a $1 million investment plus an additional $1 million for every family member and it can be eliminated by an executive order. […] the gold card is at risk of litigation because there is no statute or regulations validating its existence.

    […] clients often start off by assuming that the gold card will offer them some other tax advantages. […] gold card visas and EB-5 recipients are taxed on worldwide income. […]

  369. says

    New York Times link

    “On ‘S.N.L.’, Brett Kavanaugh, Kash Patel and Pete Hegseth Walk Into a Bar”

    “Matt Damon and Aziz Ansari return to roles they have played on ‘Saturday Night Live’ alongside Colin Jost, in an episode hosted by Damon.”

    Video at the New York Times link.

    Video is also available on YouTube.

  370. says

    Iran has responded to U.S. proposal in peace talks, state media reports

    NBC News video at the link.

    Iran has responded to a U.S. proposal to bring an end to the war in the Middle East, Iranian state media reported Sunday.

    The response “was given through mediator Pakistan,” state news agency IRNA said, without specifying what the response was. “According to the proposed plan, negotiations at this stage will focus on the issue of ending the war in the region.”

    The two sides continued to trade fire in the Persian Gulf on Saturday, more than a month after a temporary ceasefire deal was announced that was initially intended to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

    Iran has continued to block ships from passing through the strait, disrupting critical Gulf oil supplies and prolonging the global economic uncertainty surrounding the conflict.

    Markets have soared and oil prices have dropped over the last week, however, amid anticipation that a deal could be close after weeks of talks and occasional setbacks.

    Energy Secretary Chris Wright told NBC News’ “Meet the Press” on Sunday that the U.S. was still waiting for a “clear resolution” from Iran on its latest proposal.

    He told moderator Kristen Welker that the U.S. was seeking the “free flow of traffic through the international waters that are the Straits of Hormuz, and an end to the Iranian nuclear program.”

    “When we start to get free flow of traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, energy prices will come down,” he added.

    Mike Waltz, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, meanwhile told ABC News that the negotiations had gone “longer and slower, I think, than anyone would like,” but stressed “those negotiations and that diplomacy is ongoing.”

    […] Trump’s plan for military vessels to escort merchant ships through the Strait of Hormuz, known as “Project Freedom,” was paused last week just days after it was announced.

    The U.S. has meanwhile continued its own blockade of Iran’s ports, but a U.S. intelligence analysis concluded Tehran could withstand a naval blockade for months.

    In a phone interview with NBC News on Friday, Trump said “No” when asked if the conflict with Iran was over.

    “It’s over when it’s over,” the president said. “But we certainly have won militarily. We have to get people to come out of the caves [in Iran] and sign something.”

    Roughly 20% of the world’s oil passed through the Strait of Hormuz before the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28.

    In the interview, Trump said of the critical waterway: “We really control it; they don’t. And we’ve taken the business away from them.”

    There are “no boats going into Iran,” he added. “They’re dying.”

    More important than bringing about an immediate end to the conflict is striking a deal that is in the best interests of the U.S., he suggested.

    “I don’t want to get there if it means I can’t make the best deal,” he said. “I’ve got to make good deals. We’re pretty close.”

    Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Friday that “every time a diplomatic solution is on the table, the U.S. opts for a reckless military adventure.”

    The U.S. military blockade of Iran’s ports will eventually deprive Tehran of crucial oil revenue, but the regime could likely withstand the pressure for months without a major economic crisis or lasting damage to its oil fields, energy industry analysts and two Western officials familiar with intelligence assessments told NBC News.

    Administration officials say the blockade is designed to cut off Iran’s oil exports — the country’s economic lifeline — and force Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and bow to U.S. demands at the negotiating table.

    Iran has gradually begun to cut back oil production due to the blockade and, at some point within the next two months, it may run out of storage capacity for its oil and even be forced to shut down some wells. But most analysts say Iran can probably avoid shutting down wells since a significant amount of its oil can be consumed domestically, allowing most oil fields to keep operating.

    In other words, all of the confusion associated with the war/not-war is ongoing. Trump is clueless.

  371. JM says

    MS Nows: Not a good look: All 6 conservative justices attended Trump’s white-tie state dinner

    And while all six justices nominated by Republican presidents (three by Trump himself) attended the dinner, none of the three justices nominated by Democratic presidents were there, invited or not.

    Right now it isn’t clear if the the other 3 got invitations or not. The Trump staff is tacky enough that they may have just not invited them. Even if invited having just all 6 Republican nominated justices come is messy. There is no formal rule but protocol for a state dinner would be for one judge to come, usually the Chief Judge unless another wants to come for some reason. The significance of just the right wing of the court showing up is obvious and should have been avoided.

  373. birgerjohansson says

    @ 372
    The transmission from Putin’s parade starts 17 minutes in.
    Cheerful mockery from milbloggers Radiaactive, LazerPig, Digital Vagrant, Hard Trasher, Fightertales, Zach_Hazard and Historyofeverything.

  374. says

    […] After stripping the federal government of its diversity, equity and inclusion commitments in its first year, the Trump administration is now going after the private sector with the same goal. In February, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission revealed via press release that since last year it’s been investigating Nike over its diversity, equity and inclusion policies. The sportswear giant, whose domestic workforce was 9% Black in 2024, beefed up its diverse hiring and promotion policies in 2021 after the murder of George Floyd. While the EEOC is investigating other companies for their diversity practices, including Napa Auto Parts and Dollar General, Nike has the highest profile and greatest cultural resonance.

    It’s head-spinning that the investigation is being conducted by an agency created through the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to combat racial and other kinds of discrimination in the workplace. In yet another historical and moral inversion of the Trump era, the EEOC is now largely focused on going after discrimination against white people — in Nike’s case, “a pattern or practice of disparate treatment against white employees, according to the recent EEOC court filing. […]

    Unlike universities, law firms and nonprofits targeted by President Donald Trump for their progressive agendas or pursuit of social justice, corporations are not in the business of civil rights or civic engagement. The investigations, however unwelcome, do not seek to dismantle corporations’ core mission of profitmaking (Nike reported $51.4 billion in revenue in 2024).

    […] In February, the agency filed a federal court motion to compel Nike to hand over all the information it had requested in a subpoena — extensive records on hiring, mentorship programs, career development opportunities and other personnel information that date back to 2018. Nike […] said in a statement in February that it’s been cooperating with the agency and that the court motion “feels like a surprising and unusual escalation.” In a response filed along with the EEOC court motion, it criticized the subpoena as “broad, ambiguous and unduly burdensome.”

    While Nike has not entirely capitulated to federal demands, its public statements are not exactly the language of resistance. Steven Pitts, who focused on Black employment issues for 19 years before retiring as associate chair at the UC Berkeley Labor Center in 2020, isn’t optimistic that Nike will hold its ground.

    Nike has been in a sales slump in recent years, makes such a surrender more likely.

    And yet this moment is reminding us that corporations are employers who are very much a part of the mission of equality and always have been. Inclusive hiring creates equal opportunity, an essential component of democracy. […]

    Since then, progress towards representational hiring has been slow, and has come mostly in the public sector. Business is often the last place we’ve looked to for social change. And with good reason — because as quickly as companies step up, as many did with a surge of commitments to racial diversity post-George Floyd, they can step back when the political winds shift. The exploitative nature of big business can also offset or contradict any actual good deeds.

    To wit: Nike may be a corporate leader in diversity hiring, but it’s also been accused over the years of relying on sweatshops in foreign countries to make its goods. An investigation by ProPublica and The Oregonian last year found that workers in Cambodia suffered from extreme heat in factories, despite Nike’s pledges to permanently reform its practices.

    Yet in this Orwellian moment, big business has become a real line of defense […]

    Some, like Costco, Apple and Coca-Cola, have held the line by keeping DEI policies in place — for now. But that feels like more the exception than the rule. Target, a retailer favored by Black consumers that also increased commitments to DEI five years ago, unceremoniously cancelled those commitments not long after Trump retook office last year. Dozens of other companies, from Meta to McDonald’s, did the same.

    But Nike is a different category. In addition to being the biggest athletic shoe and sportswear retailer in the world, Nike owes a debt to Black people that goes deeper than consumerism. A small company started in 1964 by a track coach and a track athlete in Eugene, Oregon, Nike eventually grew into a retail and lifestyle behemoth that built its brand on the careers of Black athletes, starting with basketball icon Michael Jordan and continuing into the 21st century with luminaries like Tiger Woods, Serena Williams and LeBron James. The sneaker craze launched by Air Jordans in 1985 has become a fashion and cultural fixture.

    Nor has Nike shied away from racial controversies. In 2016, Colin Kaepernick, the Black San Francisco 49ers quarterback, […] protested rampant police brutality by kneeling during the national anthem before games. Conservatives and Republicans — from Tucker Carlson to Donald Trump — were infuriated by what they called unpatriotic behavior that had no place in sports. Kaepernick was released by the 49ers in 2017 and never played in the NFL again. In 2018, Nike launched an advertising campaign, called Dream Crazy, featuring a somber but determined-looking Kaepernick and the phrase, “Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything.”

    Though it came after the fact, it was a bold corporate move and effective marketing […] At a time when symbolism counts for more and more, one company that simply stays the course it’s chosen for itself can counter a hundred others that don’t.

    […] How inspiring it would be if Nike responded by following its own longstanding advice — Just Do It — took the noise and obstacles in stride and continued pursuing a goal it clearly embraced and had no plans to abandon. Interestingly, Nike’s famous slogan was updated last year from an imperative to a question, “Why Do It?” When it comes to diversity, at Nike or anywhere else, that’s a question that should already be settled.

    Link

  378. Reginald Selkirk says

    Why I Don’t Debate Atheists

    Russell Moore
    As a former seminary dean, I’ve interviewed lots of people for jobs teaching Christian apologetics, to equip future pastors and missionaries to defend the faith against unbelief. Almost all of them were brilliant—skilled not only in philosophy and science but also in rhetoric and logic. Many of them were quick on their feet and could demolish any atheist who dared debate them. After a while, though, I noticed something all these interviews had in common. When I would ask, “How did you come to Christ?” not a single one, to my memory, ever pointed to an apologetic argument…

  379. birgerjohansson says

    Cute video. Messi is a rescue puma who thinks he is a kitten. He is a bit grumpy before Dad finally comes home (the video has an  English AI language sound instead of the original Russian, but the puma noises are genuine).

    .https://youtube.com/watch?v=Oo4udruIFHY

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