mark
Common Dreams
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[l] at 7/25/26 11:09pm
More madness from the surreal saga of a nuclear-armed Iran oscillating between "obliterated" and "threatening our families" so we have to obliterate it though we just agreed to help nuclear-arm the brutes behind 9/11 so go figure. Meanwhile, the Pentagon pursues a gazillion bucks and testosterone-ripped troops even as a flailing president insists the last dead troops all said "very strongly" to keep fighting right before he odiously covered up their deaths so others would. Head-spinning, soul-killing.To date, "Emperor Commodus of Covfefe's" illegal, disatrous, dim-witted Iran "excursion," a mangling of "incursion" and global clusterfuck with no clear mission, strategy, end goal or clue, has killed over 3,500 Iranians, many of them women and children, wounded over 26,500, and razed much of that country's infrastructure, including fresh water sources. At least 18 U.S. troops have been killed, with up to 500 wounded. A quarter of the world’s oil is held hostage across two vital straits, at least 70% of Americans oppose the war, recession-level prices here loom, and rage, especially among Muslim nations, is palpable, perhaps nudged along by a brilliant Iranian social-media campaign - "ONE VENGEANCE FOR ALL" - that tied America's latest atrocity to those of the past, from Native Americans, "stolen blacks" and Vietnamese villagers to Abu Ghraib, Gaza and Epstein Island.In the bleak wake of eight missed deadlines, 28 empty claims of a "deal," several failed ceasefires and ongoing blather of a mythical "victory" on the horizon, the war is now widely seen as militarily, politically and morally "unwinnable," and even U.S. money, always there for calamitous wars, is running low. Thus did greasy dunk-tank clown and strung-tight "warfighter" zealot Pete Hegseth appear before Congress this week to plead for a profane $67 billion more in emergency funds - part of a $1.15 trillion defense bill, a 44%, $454 billion increase - added to the $37.5 billion he's already squandered in the name of a vague "generational investment," maybe to get the Strait of Hormuz closed again? Par for the inept course, only Pete, fired from two non-profits for mishandling their finances and adroit at blaming others for bad decisions, seems surprised the money's run out.That could be 'cause at the start of the Iran misadventure he was so busy posting braggadocious war porn, "some of the most loser shit ever," of tacky bellicose video games cut in with real carnage from Iran - war=Call of Duty - and delivering bombastic briefings to crow about annihilating the enemy "without mercy" in the name of "real warriors." Those briefings have now been quietly "replaced by a vacuum." Frantic to control a grim political narrative, he's held no briefings since May, emptied the Pentagon's press corps of everyone but right-wing hacks, restricted access in ways large and small, banned "unflattering" images of himself - oh vanity thy name is lame snowflake - and otherwise treated America's vital free press as an enemy to be subdued, defeated or at least hoodwinked in order to obscure his own lies, failures, abuses and all-round buffoonery.By all accounts, Hogsbreath has been serving more as showboating fitness influencer than sober head of a functional military. He now presides over a largely broken Pentagon where morale is dismal, finances are strained, readiness is collapsing and care for troops, veterans and their families is at historic lows. Within the ranks, he's derided as an out-of-his-depth, D-list pretender and "fake-ass manly man" who looks like a Ken doll "stored too close to the furnace," relishes lecturing generals, and "dresses like he's on The Love Boat" - hair gel, makeup, showy pocket hanky resembling military honors - while somehow disastrously managing to kill 170 Iranian schoolgirls on the first day of a misbegotten war he still insists is "a historic, overwhelming victory." From Jeff Tiedrich: "He's what would happen if arrogance and an elevated blood-alcohol level became a real boy."In a "beyond Strangelovian" move, that blustering boy just responded to the multiple crises of his Dept. of Deep Masculine Insecurity by posting a bonkers video from def not his makeup studio, titled "The High-T Department of War," announcing a new program to ensure troops have enough testosterone to stay "on the leading edge of lethality." He's evidently unaware any guy who declares he's "high-T" is probs not - "Real gangsta *ss people don't flex nuts"; also, that behind most war crimes is too much testosterone and a failed moral compass, today's military doesn't do much hand-to-hand combat, studies show testosterone doesn't help focus, fatigue, memory or well-being, and "High-T For Better Killing" is maybe not a great slogan. Still, the guy fixated on "the highest male standard" is calling for mandatory annual screening of those over 30; under 30, it's voluntary. The general response to this very cool plan was...mixed. Many noted the discrepancy between his strident insistence on freedom from governments making our medical decisions - hence ending a decades-old flu vaccine mandate (until an outbreak led to its quiet reversal) and gender-affirming health care, which is why a judge may overturn it - and his railing against beards, fat troops, high-ranking women and people of color. Women decried flaky policy decisions inspired by "the far corners of the manosphere" or the ravings of RFK Jr.; some suggested he replace salutes with chest bumps and "Sir" with "Bro"; others wondered who'll be screening Pete "for being a dick." Above all, especially after this week's hearing, a broad consensus has emerged that no amount of testosterone pumped into his body will render him even remotely qualified for his job.Confronted with lawmakers questioning yet more money for a debacle, Pete blustered, stuttered, sneered, fear-mongered about radical Islamists "coming for our families" with nuclear weapons "to hold us at issue (sic)." He thundered Jack Reed - West Point, Harvard, veteran, professor - should respect "the historic nature of what (Trump's) undertaking"; Reed snapped, "He should be praised for starting a war without authority?" He shrieked at Jon Ossoff for calmly citing the countless times he's lied "Iran’s military had been, quote, destroyed." When Gary Peters cited those lies, contradictions, and the 30 times he's declared what's clearly "a complete failure" an "overwhelming victory," Pete screeched the word failure "smears the sacrifice of the troops" (sic) and "shame on you." He didn't use it about the troops, Peters retorted, but their leaders: "You, sir, are the failure. You don't have a strategy."Finally Hegseth, the model avatar for a regime that never accepts responsibility for anything, laid the blame for a Pentagon famed for funding atrocities abroad with little to no accountability seeking $1.5 trillion more in blood money on...Biden and his “gross negligence.” Gross, indeed: “You cannot inherit a war you started.” Dems balked at an obscene price tag that dwarfs even the Iran debacle, noting it includes $800 million for the National Guard to keep pointlessly patrolling D.C, over $1bn to patrol the southern border which is DHS’ job, $900 million to illegally bomb more boats in the Caribbean etc. Also quietly stuck in there was the vile Save America Act (more sic) to further restrict voting, and the random horror of a move to establish a joint US-Israel tech initiative so we can further integrate our military with Israel's universally admired genocidal regime. Still, it passed, barely.Defense bills tend to easily win broad bipartisan support; this one was so insane the House barely squeezed through a $1.15 trillion version with the help of six craven Dems, including Maine's fucking Jared Golden. In better news, they also passed a second, largely symbolic but heartening resolution to end the war, with four Repubs joining them. In the Senate, the measure was blocked, 47-49, by fucking John Fetterman. Also this week, the US made a deal to help the Saudis - of hacksaws and 9/11 - set up a civilian nuclear program, despite MAGA terror of Nukes For Muslims! (see war in Iran, whose painstakingly careful deal Trump tore up). Despite longtime threats of a nuclear race in the Middle East, Trump says they have to join the "very respected" Abraham Accords with Israel and sign a hollow "safeguards agreement" with a pinky promise of "no enrichment of material!" So no worries. Still, some are worried, also enraged. The folks at I Fucking Love Australia were already some pissed at Admiral USS Bigly and his 271 Republicans, "you spineless, belly-crawling, yellow-bellied fucking grubs" and "geography-proof fucking muppets who can't count past their own indictments," not one of whom will stand up to a doddering "windbag at the arse end of his miserable sex-offending, pedo-loving, decomposing life" as a fifth of the world's oil remains bottled up behind Hormuz, just like "HIS OWN JOINT CHIEFS WARNED HIM," using small words and a hand puppet. With Australia down to 29 days of vital diesel in reserve, they fume, "You lot couldn't poll your collective vertebrae and build a fucking prawn...Do your job." And that was before this week's Houthi attack, by "a militia in sandals," on two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea for breaching their naval blockade. The bold move by a ragtag militia from the Middle East's poorest country, armed with "cheap hardware from a rusty shed - drones, hand-me-down missiles and a Telegram account" - prompted the sages at IFLA to offer a cogent, useful backstory on just what's going down in a volatile, "centuries-deep cauldron of grievance" into which "waddles Napoleon Blownapart, fresh from a Bibi slideshow in the Situation Room, convinced he can win a regional war with vibes and a Sharpie." They begin by citing the Saudis' "one genuinely clever move of the war": When Hormuz shut down, they were ramming up to 3.5 million barrels of oil a day, far more than usual, through the critical Asia/Europe escape hatch of Bab Al Mandeb's east-west pipeline to Yanbu on the Red Sea. Now, "The Houthis just bricked it the fuck up - they welded the back door of the global oil market shut."Pundits call Yemen's Houthis Iran "proxies,” but "they've got their own grievances, which tell you where this war is headed." IFLA "follows the thread all the way back, since apparently nobody in the White House owns a ball of string." To Houthis and hundreds of millions more, "This is now a defensive war against an attack on Muslim nations," and "you cannot drone-strike a conviction." See Vietnam, Afghanistan, ISIS etc. Not inside that tent: Saudi Arabia, who "picked the wrong side of (their) religion," watched Gaza flattened and only checked their wealth fund balance; now the Houthis "declared them fair game, and no one is holding (a) vigil for them." Righteous bottom line: "Why is the region on fire? Israel. Occupation, annexation, settlements, the slow-motion theft (that) manufactures resistance. Hamas and Hezbollah didn’t fall out of the sky. Dispossession built them, brick by bloody brick."Trump, ever a brilliant strategist, "surveyed that flawless 0-4 record of American wars of choice, a historical record so grim you could read it by Braille, and thought, you know what this list needs? Iran, plus a bonus round against mountain fighters in Yemen who've never once lost." He thought the Houthis no longer wanted to fight; now, he's "disappointed" and will have to "crank up the rhetoric with his 76th ultimatum." Back on "planet fucken consequences," oil prices spiked to over $100 a barrel amidst market chaos, and "the dumbest cunt that ever fumbled the world’s most dangerous military operation just opened the gates of Hell with his own two tiny clay-colored hands." Or, more accurately, the Gate of Tears, what Bab el-Mandeb means in Arabic. "The old sailors named it for the ships it drowned," notes IFLA. "Turns out it was just waiting all these centuries for a presidency worthy of the title."Still, he blunders on. The same day he again boasted his war has *only* killed 18 U.S. troops - there's a chart! - vs. "hundreds of thousands" - actually 58,220, none him - in Vietnam, he went to Dover for the dignified transfer of four Americans just killed in an Iran attack at a Jordan airbase. He told reporters he was en route to "honor great heroes, actually." Then, in a "next-level ghastly" move, he put his own vile words in their young dead mouths to claim, "All of them said, very strongly, we cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon." Appalled responses: "Did they have tears in their eyes? Did they ask why we need to destroy their nuclear program when we've already done it five times? Vastly more plausible: They said 'What the fuck are we doing here?' or 'What the fuck is wrong with you?' and, Can any journalist ask him to name two of the fallen soldiers? Or hell, name two of his kids?"We can name them: Sgt. Michael Swinton 30, of North Carolina, father to two kids 4 and 6, First Lt. Tyler Feehan, 25, of Hawaii, weeks away from earning his MBA, Sgt Angel Rampersad, 28, of New York, and Pvt. Isabella Gonzales, 19, of Texas. Hours after the ceremony - where the guy who never bothered to know their names gazed blankly, blue suit gaudy among black suits and bowed heads - he went to a MAGA rally at a Georgia high school where he sweated and babbled: "We had transgender for everybody, ravaging through our cities," "We don't need the Hormuz Street in our skirmish...They're not ready to make a deal. They'll be ready soon," "We'll pass the great healthcare plan. It's called Our Great Healthcare Plan," "The communists want to blow up Mt. Rushmore" (boos), "I fought Ossoff before (boos) and we won...He reminds me of Pinky Herman."The newly dead, wholly unreal suckers and losers to a narcissist incarnate, were clearly far from what passes for the remains of his mind. That obliviousness reflects what former Sec. of Defense and CIA director Leon Panetta charges is a "deliberate effort to withhold information from the American people, a shameful approach to sharing the responsibility we all have (in) a war." Speaking of a New York Times report the Pentagon suppressed news of dozens of military injuries - which the regime called “baseless and malicious” but anyway they're not "strictly required" to publicize them - Panetta said officials are in essence "challenging the press to find what’s really happening, and they will." "They can dodge, bob and weave," he said of a long, base tradition in American politics, "but my experience is that no matter how much you try to hide it, in the end, the truth comes out.”The truth, says James Talarico: "We are closing schools and hospitals in this country so we can bomb schools and hospitals in other countries" - and working hard to hide it. The latest proof, again from the Times in a rare, welcome burst of journalism: The Pentagon's Casualty Analysis website just lowered the number of troop deaths from 18 to 14, with the last four names just brought home scrubbed from the list. Their garbled explications range from deaths coming after Trump's April ceasefire mean no war/no deaths to "site errors due to a temporary data disruption and anomalies being resolved." That was days ago; they're still missing. Michael Swinton's widow Jamiah, asked if she has any details on the disappeared names, tearfully responds, “Nobody has reached out. I kind of don’t have words for that.” We don't either. "They died serving our country," wrote Bill Kristol. "They should be honored, not erased." In sorrowful fact, we'd have to say they died for little besides a sick con man's sleazy lies. For that we are truly sorry. Remember who to blame. The "anomalies": Feehan, Gonzales, Swinton, RampersadPhotos from U.S. Army
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[l] at 7/24/26 4:15pm
On Saturday, July 25, over 330 communities across the United States will hold vigils, protests, and demonstrations to demand justice for Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, Johan Sebastian Guerrero, and many more who have been killed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Neighbors will gather to pay their respects, pray, mourn, and demand ICE OUT!The national movement follows two recent, horrific killings by ICE agents. On July 7, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a beloved father and worker, was shot and killed by an ICE agent in Houston, Texas, while driving a work van. On July 13, ICE agents killed 26-year-old Johan Sebastian Guerrero in Biddeford, Maine, in front of his partner and toddler.There have now been 53 deaths in ICE custody since Trump was inaugurated, 33 deaths in fiscal year 2026 alone. As the death toll grows, communities across the country are taking to the streets to protest and mourn together, demanding that the ICE agents involved in these killings, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, the Department of Justice, the FBI, and all related agencies under the Trump administration be held accountable. Given the pending confirmation of Todd Blanche as Attorney General, this need for transparency, accountability and public pressure is particularly important now.Find all events here.Organizers and participants are calling for: Immediate Transparency: DHS must immediately release the key witnesses to Lorenzo’s death and halt their deportation proceedings so they can safely participate in any investigation and legal process.Full, Independent Investigations: Investigations must include full transparency and cooperation from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and all other law enforcement agencies. Accountability for any officer found to have committed misconduct or violated the law.ICE Out: All state and local leaders should stop using their resources to support federal immigration enforcement and stop all coordination with ICE. DHS must remove all ICE agents from the streets.Corporate Responsibility: Businesses and corporations must exercise their Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights to protect their employees, customers, and communities, and decline to cooperate with ICE, including by refusing access to private property, customer information, or other resources. “We refuse to grieve quietly. We refuse to accept this terror and violence as inevitable”, said Crystal Cron, Executive Director, Presente! Maine. “Johan Sebastián should still be here with his wife and daughter — and instead, his name joins a growing list of people killed by an institution that treats our communities as disposable. This is bigger than one shooting, bigger than Biddeford, bigger than Maine. We will not stop fighting until there is justice for the Durán Guerrero family and a total dismantling of this lawless, criminal agency that took him from them.”“Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was a husband, a father of three, and a small business owner who built his American dream with his own hands. Johan Sebastian Guerrero was killed in front of his partner and his toddler,” said Juan Proaño, Chief Executive Officer of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC). “ICE has now taken the lives of immigrants and U.S. citizens alike, and if they can kill Lorenzo and Johan, they can kill anyone. On July 25, LULAC’s members and councils will stand vigil with neighbors in communities across this country to demand transparency, independent investigations, and accountability for every life taken.”“We are all in danger from the brutality of ICE, and the killings of Lorenzo, Johan, Juan Hairo —and all those who have been killed by this rogue agency—prove that no one is safe,” said Erika Andiola, NDLON Political Director. “We must unite to defend ourselves and honor immigrant workers and day laborers, who endure the worst anti-immigrant hatred while building our communities and defending human rights. Today, we gather to mourn them and demand an end to ICE’s reign of terror.”“A government-authorized paramilitary force is roaming our streets, terrorizing, abducting and murdering human beings,” said Robert Weissman, Co-President of Public Citizen. “This weekend, thousands of Americans at hundreds of events across the country will gather to mourn the shameful loss of life, demand accountability for perpetrators and insist on an end to the cruel and deliberate Trump administration policy choices that make these kinds of killings all but inevitable.”“ICE kills people, separates families, and threatens community safety across the country – full stop. No one is safe when ICE is present – whether on the streets or in one of the agency’s more than 200 abuse-ridden detention facilities,” said Setareh Ghandehari, Advocacy Director of Detention Watch Network. “People are dying in ICE detention at a record-breaking rate, ICE agents are tearing families apart and shooting people on the streets, making people less safe, and causing chaos wherever they go — whether in Minneapolis, Chicago, Los Angeles, Houston, Biddeford, or beyond. No more abuse and death at the hands of ICE and no more ICE funding while people lose health care, struggle to pay rent and kids go hungry. We demand an end to the ICE age.”“The deaths of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, Johan Sebastián Guerrero, and now Juan Jairo Coronilla Duran are not isolated tragedies; they are the direct result of the administration’s drastic and dangerous expansion of immigration enforcement, fueled by the $270 billion in funding to ICE and CBP. These hundreds of billions to terrorize communities are financed by historic cuts to health care, and the American public is rightly outraged by these killings and cruelty,” said Todd Schulte, President of FWD.us. “We will continue to fight against this ICE violence that is tearing families apart, against the expansion of enforcement and for a more just and human approach to immigration.”“Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was driving to a job site with his crew. Johan Sebastian Guerrero was starting his day as a delivery driver, with his wife and toddler beside him. They were doing what millions of immigrants do every day. And ICE agents gunned them down; for working. This is not immigration enforcement. This is lethal state violence against people who are our neighbors, family members, and friends, and it has to stop. For over a year, Workers Circle activists have taken action week after week through our Freedom Vigils, bearing witness outside detention facilities like Alligator Alcatraz until we shut it down in June and refusing to let this cruelty happen in the dark across the nation. Lorenzo and Johan’s deaths are part of the same fight for human dignity and Constitutional rights, now out in the open for the whole country to see” said Noelle Damico, Director of Social Justice at The Workers Circle. “On July 25, we’re bringing that same determination and love to communities from Houston to Maine and everywhere in between, because we owe Lorenzo and Johan and their families more than grief — we owe them justice. We will not look away, and we will keep speaking out until we end ICE’s reign of terror in our communities once and for all.”###The July 25 Day of Action is being organized by volunteers, neighbors, families, and organizations nationwide, with support from the Disappeared in America project hosted by Public Citizen, the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON), The Workers Circle, Detention Watch Network, and the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC). A core principle behind all Disappeared in America events is a commitment to nonviolent action.
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[l] at 7/24/26 2:34pm
On Thursday, Demand Progress released a new report that exposes how the financial services industry has plowed around $200 million into advocacy efforts that are centered on blocking passage of the Credit Card Competition Act (CCCA), a bipartisan reform that would introduce competition into the payment system. Read the Report The report details how these efforts involve not only money spent on lobbying and campaign contributions, but aggressive and deceitful advertising and paid advocacy designed to convey the impression of grassroots support for the current system, which is enormously profitable for Visa, Mastercard and major banks that issue credit cards.“For a combination of misleading claims and sheer financial firepower, Wall Street’s defense of credit cards really is something,” said Carter Dougherty, senior fellow for antimonopoly and finance at Demand Progress. “Visa, Mastercard and the big banks have money on their side but only vacant arguments, so this sort of campaign is the result.”A glaring example of the industry’s astro-turfing is the Small Business Payments Alliance. The group, run by a New York public relations firm, spreads around videos of testimonials against reform from small businesses that have taken money from Visa and Mastercard. The industry has also engaged The Points Guy, a popular credit card website, in fighting change.The report, entitled, “How Wall Street Money Misleads,” includes detailed evidence of how the credit card industry: Pumps money into political campaigns Spends heavily on lobbying in Washington and in states that have sought to pass incremental payment system reforms Uses advertising in select markets Bankrolls different groups and websites to convey widespread support for its position The Credit Card Competition Act aims to introduce competition into the payment system by allowing merchants to route credit card transactions over networks other than Visa or Mastercard. In the Senate, Sens. Richard Durbin (D-IL) and Roger Marshall (R-KS) are sponsors. In the House, the sponsors are Reps. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) and Lance Gooden (R-TX). The bill would apply provided the card was issued by a bank with more than $100 billion in assets, a threshold that covers the oligopoly of megabanks whose cards are used for most transactions. It enjoys the support from a wide array of consumer advocates, antimonopoly advocates and small businesses. A fact sheet on the CCCA can be found here.
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[l] at 7/24/26 2:32pm
CND and Fairford Action have called an emergency protest outside the main gate of RAF Fairford, to take place on Saturday, 25 July.It follows the attack on Iran by a US B-1 bomber stationed at RAF Fairford this week and a statement from Iran’s foreign ministry which branded Britain as an ‘accomplice’ to the US’s illegal war. Iran now views British bases like RAF Fairford as legitimate targets.This is the latest escalation in almost two weeks of the US’s bombardment of Iran, which has targeted bridges, energy supplies and other civilian infrastructure. In retaliation, Iran has targeted US bases in the Middle East, including Bahrain, Jordan and Qatar.Rather than condemning the Trump administration for renewing the conflict - which has resulted in even greater casualties and is pushing the global economy even further into crisis - Britain’s new Prime Minister Andy Burnham is continuing the policy of his predecessor Keir Starmer.This support could now also be putting British lives in danger. It risks an even greater escalation in the Middle East and the involvement of the nuclear-armed alliance of NATO—something that Trump has been pushing for.Instead, the British government needs to use its diplomatic efforts to de-escalate the situation. Central to this is withdrawing the use of British bases. CND General Secretary Sophie Bolt said:“New Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, needs to end Trump's use of Fairford and Diego Garcia now. This is dragging Britain directly into Trump's illegal war on Iran. Public opposition to the use of British bases to commit war crimes overseas is growing*. Diplomatic pathways to achieve a peaceful resolution to Iran's nuclear programme have been shown to work. Trump's bombardment is only sabotaging this progress.The government’s ongoing attempt to hide behind spurious arguments that Fairford is being used for ‘defensive’ operations cannot be justified. Actively assisting a country breaching international law is indefensible. Burnham needs to do the right thing. That means using diplomacy to end this devastating war and end its complicity in US war crimes.”
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[l] at 7/24/26 2:30pm
The American Federation of Government Employees is calling for the U.S. Senate to oppose President Trump's nominee for general counsel of the Federal Labor Relations Authority, Charlton Allen, due to his history of racism, homophobia, and antisemitism.In June, the news site NOTUS reported on Charlton Allen’s record of racist and bigoted conduct and rhetoric, both as an individual and through his role founding and serving as publisher of the Carolina Review while he was a student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Under Allen’s leadership, the Carolina Review ran covers depicting Black people as monkeys and a Jewish student leader as the devil, among dozens of other instances of hate-filled articles and opinion pieces. During his confirmation hearing, Allen failed either to apologize or to denounce his record at the Carolina Review.AFGE National President Everett Kelley called his record “disqualifying” when these outrageous examples of Allen’s bigotry were first reported. On Wednesday, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee voted 7-5 to move the nomination to the full Senate for a vote.In a letter sent today to all U.S. senators, Kelley urged lawmakers to oppose the nomination.“The FLRA is a small but highly important agency for America's two million federal workers. According to its mission statement, the FLRA exists ‘to promote stable, constructive labor relations that contribute to a more effective and efficient government.’ To do that, it must fairly and impartially investigate unfair labor practices, adjudicate disputes about the duty to bargain, conduct elections, and handle the certification and decertification of federal unions,” Kelley wrote.“The position of FLRA general counsel carries a five-year term and requires Senate confirmation. It should be filled by someone who commands trust from all sides, labor and management alike. Charlton Allen does not meet that threshold.”
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[l] at 7/23/26 6:20pm
The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals today rejected the Trump administration’s attempt to re-detain Georgetown scholar Dr. Badar Khan Suri and affirmed a lower court order that required the government to release him on bail as his case proceeded. The court also rejected the government’s request to move the case from Virginia to Texas. “[In] our view,” the court wrote, “denying judicial review of detention claims like Suri’s misreads Congress’ statutes and undermines the protections guaranteed all persons on American soil by the writ of habeas corpus.”The court later expanded: “[An] unbroken line of caselaw also accords with common sense: if a noncitizen is challenging their detention pending removal, then waiting for their removal proceedings does them no good. They have already been detained, allegedly in violation of the Constitution. This ‘absurd’ reading of the INA would make such detention claims ‘effectively unreviewable,’ and the Supreme Court has repeatedly refused to embrace it.”In March 2025, ICE arrested and detained Dr. Suri, a lawful visa holder from India whose wife is a U.S. citizen, outside his Virginia home in retaliation for his associations and speech in support of Palestinian rights. Dr. Suri was detained for nearly six weeks over a thousand miles away from his wife and children at an infamous private detention center in Texas known for its human rights abuses. A federal judge ordered his release from detention in May 2025 while his case continued in federal court. “Today reaffirms my faith that an independent judiciary remains the truest guardian of liberty, due process, and the rule of law. I am profoundly grateful to the judges who upheld these constitutional principles and gave my case the careful, deliberate consideration it deserved,” said Dr. Badar Khan Suri. “I remain, as ever, committed to the pursuit of justice through lawful and peaceful means. We should remember that a democracy without an accessible writ of habeas corpus is a democracy in name only; as the honorable court so aptly observed, the scope of habeas corpus ‘must not be subject to manipulation by those whose power it is designed to restrain.’ I am proud of those who fought for me, and I am proud of every moment of life. Be courageous and stand for justice. Free Palestine.”On appeal, the Trump administration argued that federal district courts don’t have the authority to review the constitutionality of Dr. Suri’s detention until the Department of Justice-controlled immigration process, which can take months or even years, is completed. The administration also argued that because it quickly swept Dr. Suri out of Virginia without notice to his family or lawyers, the Virginia court does not have jurisdiction to hear his petition, and that it should be handled by a court in Texas, where it chose to take him. Today, a panel of judges from the Fourth Circuit rejected both arguments 2-1, finding that federal courts must be able to review constitutional claims stemming from immigration detention, and that his case should stay in Virginia. “We are elated that Dr. Suri will remain free with his family and we are grateful that the court has seen through the government's brazen attempts to silence pro-Palestine speech,” said Noor Zafar, senior staff attorney with the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project. “The federal government cannot do an end run around the First Amendment by locking people up for their speech and denying them their day in court. Immigration laws cannot be abused to silence dissent, and we are grateful that today, justice prevailed.” This ruling is the third opinion from a federal court of appeals addressing the question of whether the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) bars immediate federal court review of a noncitizen’s claim of unlawful detention in retaliation for their speech. In January, the Third Circuit ruled against Mahmoud Khalil, holding that the INA does bar such claims. And just two days ago, the Second Circuit ruled against Mohsen Mahdawi, agreeing with the Third Circuit’s analysis. Addressing the Khalil v. Trump decision, the Fourth Circuit was clear: “We disagree.”“We are gratified that the court recognized the basic principle that the government cannot escape judicial review of their patently unconstitutional actions — here, arresting Dr. Khan Suri, transferring him far away from his family and community, and detaining and attempting to deport him for nothing more than his associations and constitutionally protected advocacy for Palestinian rights,” said Astha Sharma Pokharel, an attorney with the Center for Constitutional Rights.Similar to the cases of Mr. Khalil, Mr. Mahdawi, and other students, Dr. Suri was arrested in retaliation for his speech in support of Palestinian rights. He was additionally targeted because of his U.S. citizen wife’s speech, her Palestinian origins, and her familial ties. On social media, Dr. Suri criticized U.S. support of Israel’s assault on Gaza, motivated by the time he spent volunteering in Gaza and fear for his wife’s family members who still lived there with no way to flee during the war. The administration has falsely argued that Dr. Suri’s presence in the United States “compromised a compelling foreign policy interest” and therefore, under a rarely used section of the INA, it had the right to deport him. Dr. Suri’s immigration court proceedings remain ongoing.“ICE abducted Dr. Khan Suri from his home in Virginia before moving him among five different ICE facilities across three states in a shameless attempt to find a court that would be friendlier to his unlawful detention,” said ACLU-VA Legal Director Eden Heilman. “We are elated that the Fourth Circuit saw through the Trump administration’s blatant attempt to bend the law to their will and rejected their bid to re-detain our client thousands of miles away from his family in Virginia. The First Amendment protects all of us — regardless of citizenship — and we will continue to fight for his constitutional rights.” Dr. Suri is represented in his federal lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Virginia, the Center for Constitutional Rights, and Van Der Hout LLP.For more information, see the case page. The opinion can be read here.This press release is available here and here.
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[l] at 7/23/26 4:01pm
Today, 250 organizations and groups from across the country urge leaders of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works to reject industry-led efforts to weaken the Toxic Substances Control Act, America’s primary chemical safety law, and encourage Congress to hear from the people, workers, and communities whose health would be most affected. In the letter sent to EPW Committee Chair Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) and to Ranking Member Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), organizations representing public health professionals, scientists, consumer advocates, environmental justice leaders, community organizations, environmental advocates, and impacted communities wrote that Congress has not yet publicly heard testimony in hearings from the people who would bear the greatest consequences of weakening the law. Those voices include veterans, workers, families, and frontline communities facing cancer, Parkinson's disease, and other illnesses linked to toxic chemical exposures, as well as states on the front lines of managing contamination, cleanup, and rising health costs. “Strong chemical safety reviews protect families from hazardous chemicals before they reach the market,” said Melanie Benesh, vice president of government affairs at the Environmental Working Group. “Weakening TSCA doesn't cut red tape. It makes it easier for toxic chemicals to end up in our homes, our drinking water, and our bodies,” Benesh said. The letter also highlights TSCA’s broad public health benefits since Congress overwhelmingly voted to modernize the law in 2016, including actions to address toxic chemicals such as asbestos, methylene chloride, trichloroethylene, perchloroethylene, carbon tetrachloride and other harmful substances found in homes, schools, workplaces, consumer products, drinking water and communities across the country.“We urge the Committee to ensure that any proposed legislation to revise TSCA receives full and careful review and input from all interested parties,” the letter states.“The vast majority of Americans across party lines support more protections from toxic chemical exposure and more accountability from corporate polluters. For an issue of this magnitude and importance, we urge you to not rush to mark up a bill that has not been seen by the public nor received a hearing with opportunity for testimony or comment from all interested stakeholders,” the organizations wrote. “Congress should not make changes to our nation's chemical safety law to placate the chemical industry," said Liz Hitchcock, federal policy director at Toxic-Free Future. "Americans need stronger protections from toxic chemicals, not weaker ones. Lawmakers must hear from the health professionals, veterans, workers, state leaders, and communities that would be most affected—not just the companies that profit from these chemicals.”The sign-on letter was organized by the Alliance for Health and Safe Chemicals, a national coalition of more than 85 organizations and networks united around one principle: put people’s health first. Together, Alliance members are working to defend TSCA against efforts to weaken it and preserve strong federal public health protections from toxic chemicals. About the Alliance for Health and Safe ChemicalsThe Alliance for Health and Safe Chemicals is a national coalition of more than 85 organizations and networks united around the principle: put people’s health first. The Alliance fights for national protections to prevent harm from toxic chemicals that contribute to cancer, infertility, learning disabilities, and other health challenges. We work for justice and health for all, wherever you live, work, and play.
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[l] at 7/23/26 3:38pm
Greenpeace International strongly condemns the International Seabed Authority (ISA) Council’s decision to extend The Metals Company subsidiary Nauru Ocean Resources Inc’s (NORI) exploration contract, even though NORI has been supporting the pursuit of unlawful deep sea mining via US unilateralism.[1] It is public that NORI will be making payments to the government of Naoero (Nauru) if The Metals Company USA engages in unilateral mining.[2] Attention in the remaining days of the ISA Council now turns to the next steps in the global inquiry into companies supporting unilateral mining. Louisa Casson, campaigner at Greenpeace International, said:“Granting an extension sets a dangerous precedent for both the deep sea and the rule of law. This decision risks showing that companies can use aggressive lawsuits to avoid consequences. It also calls into serious question the regulator’s ability to enforce basic compliance under its existing rules and makes the case for an immediate moratorium on deep sea mining more urgent than ever.”Last Saturday, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) explicitly refused to suspend the ongoing inquiry into potential non-compliance by contractors, after TMC’s subsidiaries sued the ISA. Instead, the ITLOS decision focused on ensuring the inquiry follows due process.[3][4][5]Greenpeace International now demands that governments at the ISA Council establish a clear and robust timeline for concluding the inquiry, to enable governments to act if non-compliance is confirmed. Through these ITLOS legal proceedings, NORI and Tonga Offshore Mining Limited (TOML), another wholly owned The Metals Company subsidiary, have identified themselves as “requiring specific attention to possible non‑compliance” in the inquiry process.Louisa Casson added: “The political responsibility now falls squarely on governments to step up their game to set a clear direction that unlawful deep sea mining will not be tolerated, and fend off a corporate group that deploys strategic litigation to evade scrutiny. This inquiry cannot become a toothless box-checking exercise. The ISA must execute it with absolute rigour, establish a firm timeline without delay, and stand firm against corporate intimidation. Additionally, States must take immediate responsibility and act against any company or national connected to unilateral mining, to disrupt and limit unlawful deep sea mining supply chains. At the ISA, governments must enact a moratorium to protect our ocean and multilateralism from this dangerous industry."In July 2025, governments of the ISA Council unanimously decided to investigate potential contractual breaches in light of TMC USA’s highly controversial applications to gain unilateral permission for deep sea mining from the Trump administration, including in the same areas where NORI and TOML hold ISA exploration contracts. At the March 2026 meeting, the ISA Council called for the inquiry to include publicly available information.Multiple legal experts argue that States Parties to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) have both an opportunity and an obligation to take action against companies and nationals under their control to prevent their participation in unilateral, unlawful deep sea mining. This is notably the case of Swiss-Dutch offshore giant Allseas, which has signed an agreement to provide TMC USA the technology and infrastructure needed to proceed with unlawful mining, as shown by a legal opinion commissioned by Greenpeace Netherlands.[6] ENDSNotes:ISA Council decision, adopted 20 July 2026: https://isa.org.jm/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/ISBA_31_C_L.9-Draft-decision-of-the-Council-of-the-ISA-relating-to-an-application-for-extension-of-the-contract-for-exploration-for-PMN-with-Nauru-Ocean-Resources-Inc-fv-AUV.pdf Following TMC USA’s first application under US national regulations, NORI revised its agreement with its sponsoring state, Naoero (formerly known as Nauru). The new clauses inserted into the contract provide for additional payments from NORI to Naoero if mining by a TMC subsidiary in the international seabed begins under unilateral authorisation from the US government. This establishes a financial mechanism explicitly predicated on the commencement of unlawful mining in the Area. Consequently, if TMC USA mines the international seabed, NORI will pay Naoero. These updated agreements indicate that NORI willingly anticipated and prepared to accommodate unlawful mining activities – an issue the ISA membership must act upon. See Sponsorship agreement, revised 29 May 2025, between The Republic of Naoero and Nauru Ocean Resources Inc, available here: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1798562/000110465925056465/tm2516970d1_ex10-1.htm The ITLOS Seabed Disputes Chamber did not rule on whether the ISA violated NORI’s rights, nor did it order a contract extension. It merely directed that both the compliance inquiry and decisions over extensions of ISA contracts proceed separately under standard due process rules. https://www.itlos.org/fileadmin/itlos/documents/cases/34/Provisional_Measures/Order_180726/C34_Order_18.07.2026_orig.pdf A Greenpeace International compilation of the events that led to the ITLOS proceedings, as well as the network of companies connected to The Metals Company's activities, is available: “Corporate capture of the deep sea. A call for action to protect the commons against unlawful deep sea mining" (July 2026) https://www.greenpeace.org/static/planet4-international-stateless/2026/07/1ae0383d-corporate-capture-of-the-deep-sea-itlos-unclos-isa-tmc.pdf.Compilation of public information evidencing breaches of contract by NORI and TOML available from Greenpeace International: “Inquiry on potential breaches by ISA contractors" (March 2026) https://isa.org.jm/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Briefing_by_Greenpeace-2_March_2026.pdfSee legal opinions, for example: https://www.greenpeace.org/static/planet4-netherlands-stateless/2026/06/3d8ed6b1-greenpeace-legal_opinion_-nollkaemper_fin-260605.pdfhttps://deep-sea-conservation.org/resources/new-legal-opinion-confirms-that-states-and-the-international-seabed-authority-must-act-against-unilateral-deep-sea-mining-undertaken-outside-the-isa-framework/https://www.ejiltalk.org/untouchable-metals-how-the-obligations-of-unclos-states-parties-limit-the-commercial-viability-of-unilateral-deep-sea-mining/https://www.ejiltalk.org/the-latest-trump-threat-to-international-law-unilaterally-mining-the-area/
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[l] at 7/23/26 3:35pm
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) should ban direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising of prescription drugs, Public Citizen said today in a petition filed with the agency. Banning DTC ads would align U.S. policy with international best practices, protect the public from misleading and harmful drug promotion, and promote rational, evidence-based prescribing.“DTC ads often mislead consumers because they are designed to persuade rather than to inform or educate patients,” said Nina Zeldes, PhD, health researcher for Public Citizen and lead author of the petition. “These ads typically employ emotional manipulation techniques and visual distractions to highlight information about a drug’s benefits while minimizing its risks. When DTC ads work, they do so by interfering with the doctor-patient relationship – persuading physicians to prescribe medications they otherwise would not have prescribed.”A large body of peer-reviewed evidence demonstrates that DTC ads: Misleadingly present the benefits and risks of medications, distorting patients’ understanding of drug safety and effectiveness;Use favorable and selective imagery to manipulate consumers’ emotions;Contribute to the overdiagnosis of disease and overprescription of medications;Erode the patient-physician relationship;Promote low-value medications and medications with uncertain benefits and harms; andHarm the economy and the health care system. Because DTC advertising is often misleading and because prohibiting it would advance a substantial government interest, a ban would comply with the First Amendment, according to the petition. Greater enforcement of existing regulations, with uncertain effectiveness, is not an adequate substitute for a new rulemaking. Warning letters simply react to violations that have already occurred; they do not constitute a proactive approach to remedy the harms of DTC advertising.“The harms of DTC ads outweigh any supposed benefits,” said Robert Steinbrook, MD, Health Research Group director at Public Citizen and an author of the petition. “Now is the time to advance public health by banning these ads.”Nearly all other developed nations, including Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, and those of the European Union, have long prohibited DTC advertising for prescription drugs that include medical claims. Only two developed countries, the U.S. and New Zealand, allow unfettered DTC advertising of prescription medications. There is no evidence that consumers in countries that ban DTC advertisements suffer any adverse health effects.
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[l] at 7/23/26 10:57am
In a direct attack on the First Amendment, the House Ways and Means Committee has subpoenaed independent news outlet BreakThrough News, demanding internal records under the guise of investigating foreign influence in the tax-exempt nonprofit sector.The committee, chaired by Rep. Jason Smith, is seeking BreakThrough News’ financial records, internal communications, and more. Lawmakers claim the probe focuses on tax compliance. But abusing congressional subpoena power to target a news outlet whose coverage a committee chair doesn’t like undermines core press freedom guarantees.The following can be attributed to Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF) Chief of Advocacy Seth Stern: “Congress shouldn’t be using a tax investigation as a pretext to dig through a newsroom’s internal communications or financial records. Freedom of the press applies to all journalists, regardless of whether politicians like their editorial slant or their politics.“Allowing a congressional committee to harass an independent newsroom with a broad subpoena sets an awful precedent. If lawmakers can abuse tax oversight to single out outlets whose reporting offends them today, no newsroom in America is safe from government intimidation tomorrow.” FPF strongly urges the House Ways and Means Committee to withdraw its subpoena against BreakThrough News and stop using congressional oversight as a tool to retaliate against independent media.
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[l] at 7/21/26 4:08pm
The U.S. House Committee on Education and Workforce should reject the Heat Workforce Standards Act (H.R. 6123), scheduled to be marked up today, 65 groups said in a letter sent to the committee. The bill would prohibit the Secretary of Labor from finalizing, implementing, or enforcing a federal heat injury and illness prevention standard, or any substantially similar measure.“Workers have no control over extreme heat, and many are unable to refuse hazardous assignments without jeopardizing their livelihoods,” the letter reads. “Congress should not respond to an escalating occupational hazard by permanently removing the Department of Labor's authority to address it.”In the wake of a nationwide heat dome that sent workers to emergency rooms across the country just three weeks ago, the committees should reject any legislation that would permanently prohibit federal workplace heat protections. Data from the Centers for Disease Control’s Heat and Health Tracker show that emergency department visits for heat-related illness rose sharply across the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic during the first week of July. Postal carriers, delivery drivers, warehouse workers, and manufacturing employees were hospitalized, and in some tragic cases, lost their lives. Heat-related deaths in the U.S. have more than doubled since 1999, and extreme heat now claims more lives each year than any other weather-related hazard. The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration estimates that its heat standard would protect approximately 36 million workers. Public Citizen has previously estimated that a comprehensive federal heat standard could prevent at least 50,000 heat-related injuries and illnesses each year.
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[l] at 7/21/26 4:07pm
A unanimous decision by three US Court Of Appeals judges in the District Of Columbia to deny an appeal based on the risks of climate change on nuclear reactor safety is a shocking disregard for the ever worsening weather conditions that could put reactor communities at grave risk, said Beyond Nuclear today, one of the groups that brought the appeal.The petition denied by the court was brought by Beyond Nuclear and the Sierra Club, against the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), and the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI), et al. The NRC is federally mandated to protect public safety. The NEI is the lobbying arm and trade group representing the nuclear power industry.The petitioners argued that the NRC and industry did not adequately consider how aging components and climate change would affect the risk of severe accidents involving reactor-core damage. Of greatest concern is the extension of operating the licenses of the country’s already aging nuclear power plants well beyond the initial 40-year licensing period and the NRC’s refusal to view the more extreme conditions caused by climate change as risk factors to future safe operation.“We are stunned by the court’s decision, which let the NRC get away with the generalized claim that large conservatisms in their accident risk analyses can cover the unique and site-specific effects of climate change,” said attorney Diane Curran, who argued the case on behalf of Beyond Nuclear and the Sierra Club. “The NRC has never provided a shred of evidence to show that it has, in fact, evaluated the effects of climate change on accident risk — so how could it know that?”Paul Gunter, director of the reactor oversight project at Beyond Nuclear said, “This decision allows the NRC to consider future safety challenges to nuclear plants caused by worsening climate conditions by looking in the rear-view mirror. What we are already experiencing today with raging wildfires and extreme flooding, sea-level rise and more frequent violent storms due to climate change, sends a warning that evaluating reactor safety based on the worst climate conditions of the past is not only unrealistic but reckless.“Just this past week we have seen extreme climate change-driven conditions with raging wildfires in Canada that could equally easily happen in the hotter United States and catastrophic flooding in Texas," Gunter said. "It is shocking that the court accepted the NRC’s argument that under future climate conditions the chances of a severe accident are ‘small.’ Instead of evaluating the real risks, the court decided to adjudicate whether or not the NRC’s environmental review was ‘reasonably explained.’ This does not serve the interests of public safety,” Gunter said.Beyond Nuclear is carefully evaluating its legal options and will continue to challenge the extreme license extensions at the Oconee (SC), Peach Bottom (PA) and North Anna (VA) nuclear power plants.“Oconee is of particularly alarming concern because it sits downstream of two earthen rock-filled dams and two million acre feet of water,” Gunter pointed out. “In bringing this case, we were striving to ensure that this community does not become the tragic test case for a failure to guarantee robust safety regulations at our nation’s nuclear plants for the remainder of their operating lives.”
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[l] at 7/21/26 4:01pm
Oil majors are set to report second quarter earnings later this month that analysts expect to be the highest since 2022, when Russia's invasion of Ukraine sent crude prices soaring. Exxon Mobil is projected to report roughly $15.7 billion in adjusted earnings, and Chevron nearly $10 billion, both close to triple what they posted the previous quarter. A United Nations Development Programme policy brief released June 29th found the fallout from the conflict is still spreading well beyond the pump, pushing global fossil fuel subsidies past $1 trillion this year and threatening to push tens of millions more people into poverty as governments burn through fiscal buffers trying to keep energy affordable. As scientists grow more confident than ever that fossil fuel pollution is fueling extreme weather, Congress is moving to shield Big Oil from the fallout by blaming Canada instead. Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) introduced legislation yesterday targeting Canada over wildfire smoke drifting into U.S. cities that would freeze assets, revoke visas, and declare the Canadian ambassador "persona non grata" until the smoke clears. Against this backdrop, the Make Polluters Pay campaign released the following statement.Statement from Cassidy DiPaola, Communications Director for the Make Polluters Pay campaign: "Once again, war is proving very good for the oil business. While higher energy prices push millions of people closer to poverty and force governments to spend more than $1 trillion cushioning the blow, Exxon, Chevron and Shell are preparing to report their biggest profits in years. And when the consequences of fossil fuel dependence reach American communities, some lawmakers would rather find a new scapegoat than confront the industry at the center of the crisis. Sanctioning Canada over wildfire smoke will not change the hotter, drier conditions that decades of fossil fuel pollution have helped create. Congress does not have to accept a system where the public absorbs the risks and oil companies keep the rewards. The Big Oil Windfall Profits Tax Act would claw back these war profits and put real money back in people's pockets instead of executive bonuses. Every quarter like this is another reminder that the fastest way off this cycle is investing in clean energy that isn't held hostage by the next war."
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[l] at 7/20/26 8:37pm
In "almost Shakespearean grotesquery," our cringe Buffoon-In-Chief just thrust himself into the World Cup final only to be unceremoniously booed, snubbed and cropped out of team photos. Then he again assailed Canada for smoke from their wildfires, though ours are much worse and they've often helped us with them. Still, our ever-gracious northern neighbor launched a new initiative to dutifully sweep the Rockies, vacuum the forests, hand-rake pine needles. Its acronym: F.U.C.K.O.F.F.The headlines for Trump's Sunday gatecrash of another major sports event that really, really didn't want him there tells the vainglorious and mortifying tale: "Most Universally Hated President In History Mercilessly Booed," "Crowd Boos, Player Snub and Failed Photobomb: Trump's Big World Cup Day Out," and "Confused Old Fuckwit Imagines He's Won the World Cup." The Guardian also wins a Snark of the Year Award for the caption to its photo of FIFA's Infantino deep in conversation with a clueless Trump, both men standing under a blizzard of confetti, after he literally had to drag him off-stage: "Gianni Infantino carefully explains to Donald Trump he is not part of the Spanish team."Some of the over 82,000 fans at New Jersey's Met-Life Stadium, where Spain trounced a listless, chaotic, often-thuggish Argentina 1-0, had earlier made their feelings clear when video briefly showed Trump ensconced in his glass-encased VIP digs and scattered boos rang out. By the time he finally lumbered and waddled stoop-shouldered onto the field at the end, it sounded like all 82,000-plus had reconsidered and joined in to jeer. Trailing behind him, looking like hostages trying to keep a safe distance to not catch any cooties, were Mexico's and Canada's leaders, the tournament's purported, far-less-despised hosts. Implausibly given....everything, but thanks to Infantino's long gross obsequiousness, Trump got to hand out awards.And he did, though not without some drama: Several players hesitated, recoiled or refused to shake his hand. Then it was time to hand out the (seductively gold) World Cup. Little needy Donnie, a malignant narcissistic lump, swooped in to awkwardly “help” Infantino carry it like a five-year-old hungry for the feckin' ice-cream cone his dad is holding, “a lonely, grasping figure refusing to release a trophy he didn’t win.” Once they handed it to Spain’s captain Rodri, Trump, “malice wrapped in vanity,” painfully lingered in the limelight - camera! also person, woman, man TV - as Infantino struggled to yank him away for the iconic team hoist photo: "OK, grandpa, time to get back to your chocolate pudding." In the end, a patient Rodri gently nudged him out of the shot, but cringingly not off the stage, where he stood dazed and wobbling, our national farce and tragedy.Steve Schmidt noted the clumsy resulting image's era-defining power, its display of the "breathtaking psychological fragility" of a "President Norma Desmond...incapable of understanding that the greatest office in the world confers responsibility, not ownership." "The character has been devoured by the caricature," he wrote of "self-parody made flesh," the small man so consumed by the need for adulation that, "Every trophy is his trophy. Every triumph is his triumph. Every stage is his stage." Later, in photos released both by FIFA and the Spanish team, Trump had mercifully, miraculously disappeared from both shots, because this is why God and Al Gore invented photoshop.The awkward bit of theater with Spain came, lest we forget, in the wake of Trump's weeks of vilifying the nation and their prime minister Pedro Sánchez - first, for their refusal to allow the U.S. military to use Spanish bases to help illegally bomb Iran, then for the alleged failure of "bad" and "hopeless" Spanish people to pay enough for NATO defense spending. Despite Trump's ugly threats to "cut off all trade" with a longtime ally unforgivably following the law, it all suddenly vanished before the cameras, where Trump congratulated "a great team," even though they speak Spanish, and claimed there was "no tension" with the country’s leadership. Actually, he smirked, "I have no tension with anybody." Tell it to Canada, which Trump has been moronically berating for "Willful Negligence," aka inexplicably allowing smoke from over 800 wildfires raging across some of Canada's 347 million acres to drift over our pristine shores. A few days earlier, joined by equally stupid MAGA lackeys, he raged the U.S. "is being unnecessarily invaded by filthy, polluted, and unhealthy air" at an "incalculable" (a big word he probs didn't write) cost, and "maybe they should pay us some damages" or billions more in tariffs, and he'd call Carney "to find out what they are going to do about it." "We are holding Canada responsible," he thundered, "for the fact that they are not properly maintaining their Forests, and Brush therein."Like his long-ago claim during California wildfires that Finland's president told him they rake their forests and have no such problems - Finland when asked: "WTF" - this is an idiot's fever dream. Facts owe: This year, America has seen over 40,000 fires burn roughly 3.9 million acres, 157% its ten-year average. There are now over 70 uncontained U.S. fires being fought by nearly 18,000 people, with much of the Northwest - Colorado, Oregon, Washington - at National Preparedness Level 5, the highest, and up to 58 new fires a day. Air quality alerts affecting a million Americans are due to those fires, to blazes across 70,000-plus acres in Minnesota, and to 3,600 fires across 1.8 million acres, below the five-year average, in Canada.In the face of politely unnamed U.S. pols mindlessly "chirping away," notes Ontario Premier Doug Ford, he has already asked for firefighters or "anything they can send" to help fight nearly 200 fires, some of which have crossed into Canada from Minnesota, that have forced entire First Nations to evacuate and many residents to sleep in their cars. Rather than complain maybe send help, he adds, "because we have done the same thing for our American friends," again and again. Even as Canadian officials issue air quality warnings from U.S. fires drifting north, a 56-year-old Canadian helicopter pilot from B.C. just died in a crash battling a fire in Colorado, the fourth firefighter death there this summer.Meanwhile, a mindless, science-denying MAGA has ended support for dozens of climate initiatives, dismantled our largest climate research center and pushed for more fossil fuel carnage. On Sunday, with much of his country visibly on fire, Trump attacked the National Academy of Sciences - chartered by Abe Lincoln mid-Civil War "because even a nation shooting at itself understood it needed scientists" - because it's "run by Radical Left Dumocrats” who published costly, "fraudulent," “totally discredited” climate change manuals, which he ordered "Suspension and Debarment" officials to review. Also - cue dumbest timeline ever - Repubs jumped in to decry DEI-loving advocates who (gasp) may have tried to stop blessed oil and gas projects. Still, Canada is a tolerant, peace-loving nation that tries to accommodate all comers, even a malevolent asshole who's never gotten any closer to a "forest" than Central Park, if even there. It also values its natural resources, including a 270-million-acre boreal forest, much of it roadless, whose vast ecosystem serves as a global carbon sink to purify air and water, regulate climate and offer a safe breeding ground to billions of birds. And if some random asshole neighbor to the north chides its inadequate forest management, Canada seeks to rise to the occasion - to, as it were, Be Better. Thus was born a bold new initiative from its Department of Forest Tidiness, which is now "pleased to confirm the message has been received loud and clear."Canada's Forest Undergrowth Clearing & Kindling Operation for Foreign Friends, aka F.U.C.K.O.F.F., renders every able-bodied person ages 16 to 65 responsible for removing leaves, twigs, moss, bark, sticks, branches, pine needles, deadfall and shrubs deemed "insufficiently tidy by Congressional observers." After receiving government-issued rakes, gloves and safety vests, they must arrange all debris "into neat bilingual piles," to be painstakingly inspected by forestry officials. Further actions may include sweeping the Rocky Mountains, power-washing the Canadian Shield, vacuuming deserts, raking California, installing smoke-detectors across the Yukon and mandating that all fires contain and respect clearly marked provincial borders.In Ontario, workers will be assigned 6.7 acres (40 NHL hockey rinks) of dense untracked country and a 26-hour work week; elsewhere, shifts surge to a hefty 18.3 acres (110 rinks) and 70 hours a week. Morning commutes start with a three-day canoe trip and 15-km hike through swamp; on-site, workers will hand-groom 300 billion trees, hand-rake an infinity of pine needles, make local beavers submit environmental impact reports and dodge grizzlies as needed. Finally, it notes, "Canada thanks Congress for sharing their extensive knowledge of forestry, wildfire behavior, climate science, geography and upkeep of a country containing 9% of the world's forests, and looks forward to receiving further practical advice from Washington."Online, many Americans, after reportedly snorting their coffee through their noses, thanked Canada "for being great neighbors and allies," and apologized for - hands held hopelessly wide - "all this." "We are so, so sorry," said one. Another: "We're so incredibly sorry." Canadians joined in: "I'm in Alberta - I'll send water," "In B.C., have to get my mountaineering gear first. Sorry. eh?" and a generous offer to add a new organization, Canadian Undergrowth, Nature, and Tree Services: "I believe that with your cooperation, F.U.C.K.O.F.F plus C.U.N.T.S could really show Americans we take their health and well-being seriously." Organizers estimate their work will be completed "somewhere between Thursday afternoon and the collapse of human civilization," which should be any day now.
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[l] at 7/20/26 12:35pm
Today, House Republican Representative Harriet Hageman introduced legislation under the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to revoke California's Clean Air Act waiver allowing the state to enforce stronger than federal greenhouse gas standards for vehicles.This legislation targets policy that is already fully phased in, which means cars impacted by it are already on the road. The move is the latest attempt by congressional Republicans and the Trump administration to dismantle longstanding clean air protections and undermine states' ability to protect residents from dangerous vehicle pollution.In response to the bill introduction, Sierra Club Climate Policy Director Patrick Drupp released the following statement:"Congressional Republicans and the Trump administration are once again putting Big Oil's profits ahead of Americans' health and wallets. California's Clean Air Act waivers have delivered cleaner air, driven innovation, and saved drivers money for decades."American families are facing rising costs and worsening climate impacts, and Republicans in Congress are wasting time attacking states’ rights to cleaner air to satisfy Trump’s anti-clean car obsession."Nullifying California’s clean vehicle waivers will not make cars more affordable. Sierra Club will continue fighting to defend these lifesaving protections and states' rights to protect the air their residents breathe."
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[l] at 7/20/26 11:45am
On Saturday, July 25, over 135 communities (and counting) across the United States will hold vigils, protests, and demonstrations to demand justice for Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, Johan Sebastian Guerrero, and many more who have been killed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Neighbors will gather to pay their respects, pray, mourn, and demand ICE OUT! Find all events here. On the streets and across the agency’s more than 200 abuse-ridden detention facilities, ICE is making communities less safe. Communities are demanding that the ICE agents involved in these killings, Department of Homeland Security Sec. Markwayne Mullin, the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and all related agencies under the Trump administration are held accountable. We demand: Immediate Transparency: DHS must immediately release the key witnesses to Lorenzo’s death and halt their deportation proceedings so they can safely participate in any investigation and legal process.Full, Independent Investigations: We demand a transparent investigation into these killings that includes cooperation from all law enforcement agencies and accountability for any officer found to have committed misconduct.ICE Out!: We call on all state and local leaders to end the use of state resources to support federal immigration enforcement and remove ICE from our streets. DHS must remove all ICE agents from the streets and all cities and states must stop all coordination with ICE. On July 7, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was shot and killed by an ICE agent in Houston while driving a work van with his crew. Only a week later,on July 13, ICE fatally shot 26-year-old Johan Sebastian Guerrero in Biddeford, Maine while his wife and toddler were forced to witness his murder. Both men were beloved members of their communities, killed on their way to work, leaving their families broken. Since then, two more individuals in Florida and in Georgia have been killed by ICE’s chaotic and violent occupations of U.S. cities.As ICE takes more lives, communities are becoming more outraged and taking to the streets to protest and mourn together. Everyday people now demand action from local and national leaders to stop these federal agencies from killing our neighbors, family and friends. . The day of action is being planned by volunteers, neighbors, families, and organizations nationwide, with the support of the Disappeared in America project hosted by Public Citizen, the National Day Laborers Organizing Network (NDLON), The Workers Circle, Detention Watch Network and League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC). A core principle behind all Disappeared In America events is a commitment to nonviolent action.
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[l] at 7/17/26 10:47am
This week, the Federal Reserve released its July 2026 Beige Book, offering a snapshot of economic conditions across all 12 Federal Reserve Districts. The report shows that the economic fallout from the conflict in the Middle East continues to spread through the economy: Federal Reserve contacts reported that families are cutting back, businesses continue to raise prices, and the rapid buildout of AI is reshaping hiring and increasing costs.Trump’s economic chaos has made daily life more difficult for working Americans. Low-wage and rural workers in Chicago and Minnesota report it’s getting more expensive to get to and from work, as the president’s war in Iran rages on and drives up fuel prices. July’s Beige Book further reveals demand for food assistance has surpassed COVID levels in many parts of the country, as President Trump and Republicans in Congress slash federal food aid programs. In Philadelphia, contacts reported that any increase in sales reflects higher prices, as consumers spend more on essentials and cut back wherever possible. Working families are desperate for relief, the report offers little comfort for Americans struggling to make ends meet in Trump’s economy.Groundwork Collaborative’s Chief of Policy and Advocacy, Alex Jacquez, reacted with the following statement:“The president’s choice to renege on his own shaky ceasefire agreement means working families are paying the price for his war in Iran. This month’s Beige Book reflects increasing pressure on business owners, who are choosing to protect their own profits by passing operating expenses onto consumers in the form of price hikes. Across the economy, Americans are cutting back and making sacrifices to keep up with Trump’s high prices.”
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[l] at 7/16/26 2:48pm
Today, multiple news outlets reported that President Trump’s teleprompter operator has been placing profitable bets on Kalshi regarding the content of Trump’s forthcoming speeches. Public Citizen has repeatedly appealed to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which oversees the prediction markets, to investigate and enforce the laws against insider trading. On March 5, 2026, Public Citizen filed an insider trading complaint with the CFTC following highly suspicious trades on the timing and developments of the American invasion of Iran. On April 30, 2026, Public Citizen and Better Markets urged the CFTC to conduct rulemaking on prediction markets trading activity. Craig Holman, Ph.D., government affairs lobbyist with Public Citizen issued the following statement: “Betting on political events on the prediction markets has become highly profitable for a small handful of anonymous bettors. Ever since the American invasion of Venezuela and Iran, a few people have been placing very large bets moments before the events take place, and scoring millions in profits. The timing and accuracy of these bets strongly suggest insider trading, probably by a few individuals in the know within the Trump administration. “News just broke that Trump’s teleprompter operator has been placing such bets on the content of Trump’s upcoming speeches. This is further evidence of illegal insider trading on the prediction markets – an industry that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission has let operate like the Wild West. “Public Citizen again calls on the CFTC to wake up and do its job of overseeing the prediction market industry and enforcing the insider trading laws.”
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[l] at 7/16/26 12:59pm
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NAS) today published an authoritative report, Attribution of Extreme Weather and Climate Events and Their Impacts, that validates the science connecting individual weather disasters and their lethal societal impacts directly to human-caused fossil fuel pollution. In response, Stephanie Brancaforte, climate accountability campaign director with Public Citizen’s Climate Program, issued the following statement:“For decades, Big Oil knowingly poisoned our atmosphere and deceived the public about the impacts of burning fossil fuels —all the while lining executives’ pockets as communities continue to suffer from extreme heat, floods and fires.“The science is clear: the extreme heat killing thousands of people in the northern hemisphere this summer is neither an unpredictable event nor an accident—it is the result of corporate crime. With the backing of the National Academies, survivors of climate catastrophes now have strong evidence to pursue justice against fossil fuel polluters to pay for the devastation they have unleashed.”
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[l] at 7/16/26 11:21am
The National Academies of Sciences released a report today that puts the full weight of the country's most respected scientific institution behind extreme weather attribution science, affirming that the field can reliably connect specific disasters to fossil fuel pollution. The three-year review comes as nearly two dozen states and municipalities sue fossil fuel companies for climate damages, while roughly a dozen states advance climate superfund legislation that would force the industry to help pay for climate-related damage. Legal experts say the report could significantly strengthen both efforts.Fossil fuel companies aren't waiting to find out. Congress is weighing legislation, and several states have already passed laws that would shield oil and gas companies from climate liability altogether — including model legislation drafted by the American Legislative Exchange Council for other states to adopt. In response to the report, the Make Polluters Pay campaign released the following statement.Statement from Cassidy DiPaola, Communications Director for the Make Polluters Pay campaign: "The National Academies just gave courts, cities, and communities something they've long needed: the full weight of the country's most authoritative scientific body behind attribution science. It affirms what researchers and international bodies like the IPCC have long recognized — that we can say, with real confidence, which extreme weather events were made worse by fossil fuel pollution, and how much damage that pollution caused.The fossil fuel industry understands exactly what this means. That's why they've spent years trying to discredit attribution science as a field, and why they and their allies in Congress and state legislatures are racing right now to pass liability shield laws. They can't out-argue hundreds of peer-reviewed studies backed by the country's most respected scientific institution, so instead they're trying to make the law immune to the science. They know this research doesn't just describe a hotter world, but draws a line from their products to specific floods, heat waves, and deaths, and from there to who should pay for the damage.Attribution science now underpins how cities plan for disaster, how insurers price risk, how public health officials prepare for heat deaths, and how courts weigh accountability. The only people with an interest in pretending otherwise are the ones being asked to pay for the damage they caused."
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[l] at 7/16/26 9:00am
The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) released a report today synthesizing decades of climate attribution research that underscores how heat-trapping emissions from burning fossil fuels makes different types of extreme weather more likely and/or severe. NAS conducted an overview of events like extreme heat, drought, wildfires, tropical cyclones and convective storms. They also touch on event impact attribution, the leading edge of the field that quantifies how climate change has contributed to specific harms like increased human mortality and economic losses.The report and its contributors have been attacked by the fossil fuel industry in the lead up to today’s release, the latest in a coordinated campaign by Big Oil to undermine climate science and intimidate scientists. Companies like BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil and Shell are facing mounting lawsuits aiming to hold them accountable for the climate damages caused by their decades-long disinformation campaign. In April, U.S. Senator Ted Cruz and Representative Harriet Hageman introduced a bill offering sweeping immunity from liability to these major climate polluters.Below is a statement by Dr. Carly Phillips, senior scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) and co-author of multiple attribution studies, including on forest fires in the western United States and global sea level rise.“Attribution science confirms what billions of people around the world have experienced firsthand—deadly events like extreme heatwaves are occurring more often and tropical cyclones are more intense due to climate change. Despite efforts by the fossil fuel industry and its cronies to intimidate panelists and misrepresent the research, the Academies’ report affirms the scientific consensus: attribution science is based on rigorous peer reviewed methods and provides critical information about how climate change is driving increases in the frequency and/or severity of extreme events.“This robust research field provides key evidence to hold the fossil fuel industry accountable for its role in driving climate change. Congress must not grant Big Oil immunity for climate deception and the harms they knowingly caused that attribution science makes evident. Communities deserve their day in court and no one—including fossil fuel companies that have profited at the expense of people and the planet—should be above the law.”The attack on attribution science is part of a larger effort supported by the Trump administration to eliminate states’ and communities’ ability to hold the fossil fuel industry accountable for its role in the climate crisis, particularly through the courts.EPA Administrator Zeldin’s attack on the Endangerment Finding, a foundational scientific finding that global warming emissions endanger public health and the environment and thus must be regulated by the EPA, also included baseless attacks on attribution science.To speak with Dr. Phillips, please reach out to UCS Communications Officer Daela Taeoalii-Tipton at dtaeoaliitipton@ucs.org or 801-808-0759. Additional UCS resources: Peer-reviewed study tracing fossil fuel companies’ contribution to climate change and ocean acidificationPeer-reviewed study attributing climate change and sea level rise to fossil fuel companiesBlog post explaining attribution scienceBlog post on accurately communicating about attribution science

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