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We Shall Not Be Moved Chap. 784
Three days after ICE goons arrested Newark Mayor Ras Baraka for doing his job and exercising his First Amendment right to protest the regime's illegal disappearing of his constituents, about 50 faith leaders gathered at the same facility Monday to link their arms, block the entrance, demand information on conditions inside and declare, "This is not acceptable" - after which they too were set upon by goons. One minister: "This is the enactment of a police state."
in February, ICE was awarded a contract with the GEO Group to operate its formerly shuttered, 1,100-bed Delaney Hall, in an industrial area outside Newark, as a for-profit detention center for immigrants facing deportation. Despite widespread opposition and a still-pending lawsuit by the city over compliance with multiple permits, ICE began delivering detainees there on May 1. Last Friday, three New Jersey members of Congress went to the site and, acting on their legal right to conduct Congressional oversight, sought a tour of the facility. Because the current regime no longer cares about anyone's legal rights, they were banned.
They were joined by Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, also acting on his legal right to protect his constituents, and also banned. After a scuffle with ICE and police thugs, he was arrested, held for five hours and charged with trespassing. According to New Jersey acting Barbie Attorney Alina Habba, Baraka was "repeatedly told" he had to leave; according to Baraka, that's bullshit. The House members there - Reps. LaMonica McIver, Bonnie Coleman, Rob Menendez - said the thugs had escalated the situation and the claim was "a lie," "absurd," "scary," and another effort of a regime "lying at all levels (to) intimidate people in this country."
Given that effort is ongoing, ICE’s parent agency Homeland Security issued a statement charging House members "stormed the gate and broke into the detention facility" despite its barbed-wire-topped entrance. Calling the presence of the lawmakers "a cheap political stunt," they also charged they had put law enforcement, staff and detainees "at risk," with a spokesperson hysterically shrieking, "Who do they want released from Delaney Hall? The child rapists, murderers, drug traffickers, MS-13 gang members or known terrorists?" even though none of the detainees have been convicted, or often even charged, with any crimes.
The members of Faith in New Jersey, Faith in Action, Pax Christi and other clergy who came Monday in solidarity to Delaney cited that "immigration narrative that's been very criminalizing" as part of their protest. Right-wing media coverage of their presence confirmed the charge: A Fox News headline proclaimed Agitators Clash With Police As Clergy Members Descend - armed, they might have added, with their liturgical stoles reading, "Side With Love." Other headlines called the gathering "an interfaith prayer service" and described them linking arms, standing shoulder to shoulder, praying for detainees and singing Which Side Are You On?
Spread across the entrance, they also demanded transparency from officials, seeking the names of detainees, the conditions - beds, food, medical care - and who's profiting from them. Said one, "A lot of human rights violations are happening across the U.S., and this one is not going to be any different." At around 5 p.m., as employees began driving out the gate, things again escalated. In a surreal scene, beefy police and ICE agents started shoving and muscling protesters away; skirmishes broke out as they resisted, entreated, chanted, yelled, then finally struggled back together, re-linked arms and began singing, "We Shall Not Be Moved."
At least two people were arrested; dystopian videos showed a phalanx of police manhandling one woman in a hijab and hauling her away as others struggled to stop them. But those who remained were steadfast. "We will continue to show up," said one. "Think of the names of all the people who have been disappeared from your community...We'll be here as long as it takes until people start to realize that this is not acceptable." "I'm here because my Universalist faith tells me to love the Hell out of this world," said the Rev. Anya Sammler of the Universalist Unitarian Congregation in Montclair. “And what we are seeing in this world is Hell."
- YouTubewww.youtube.com
May 13, 2025
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Trump Signs Executive Order to Advance 'Deeply Dangerous' Deep-Sea Mining
Amid global calls for a ban on deep-sea mining to protect marine ecosystems, U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order to advance the risky practice and "restore American dominance in offshore critical minerals and resources."
"The broad order avoids a direct confrontation with the United Nations-backed International Seabed Authority and seeks essentially to jump-start the mining of U.S. waters as part of a push to offset China's sweeping control of the critical minerals industry," notedReuters, which had previewed the measure aimed at attaining nickel, cobalt, copper, manganese, titanium, and rare earth elements.
"The International Seabed Authority—created by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which the U.S. has not ratified—has for years been considering standards for deep-sea mining in international waters, although it has yet to formalize them due to unresolved differences over acceptable levels of dust, noise, and other factors from the practice," the agency reported.
Trump's order directs Cabinet members including Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick—whose department oversees the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)—to expedite the permit process and work on various related reports.
"Authorizing deep-sea mining outside international law is like lighting a match in a room full of dynamite—it threatens ecosystems, global cooperation, and U.S. credibility all at once."
Deep-sea mining is opposed by over 30 countries as well as academics and advocacy groups worldwide. Among them is Greenpeace USA, whose campaigner Arlo Hemphill said Thursday that "authorizing deep-sea mining outside international law is like lighting a match in a room full of dynamite—it threatens ecosystems, global cooperation, and U.S. credibility all at once."
"We condemn this administration's attempt to launch this destructive industry on the high seas in the Pacific by bypassing the United Nations process," Hemphill declared. "This is an insult to multilateralism and a slap in the face to all the countries and millions of people around the world who oppose this dangerous industry."
"But this executive order is not the start of deep-sea mining. Everywhere governments have tried to start deep-sea mining, they have failed. This will be no different," he added. "We call on the international community to stand against this unacceptable undermining of international cooperation by agreeing to a global moratorium on deep-sea mining. The United States government has no right to unilaterally allow an industry to destroy the common heritage of humankind, and rip up the deep sea for the profit of a few corporations."
No exaggeration, deep sea mining could cause the massive collapse of the entire deep sea ecosystem and food chain. This is an existential risk to every person on this planet. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/24/c...
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— Alejandra Caraballo (@esqueer.net) April 24, 2025 at 5:54 PM
Ocean Conservancy vice president for external affairs Jeff Watters also blasted the move, saying that "this executive order flies in the face of NOAA's mission. NOAA is charged with protecting, not imperiling, the ocean and its economic benefits, including fishing and tourism; and scientists agree that deep-sea mining is a deeply dangerous endeavor for our ocean and all of us who depend on it."
"Areas of the U.S. seafloor where test mining took place over 50 years ago still haven't fully recovered," Watters pointed out. "The harm caused by deep-sea mining isn't restricted to the ocean floor: It will impact the entire water column, top to bottom, and everyone and everything relying on it. Evidence tells us that areas targeted for deep-sea mining often overlap with important fisheries, raising serious concerns about the impacts on the country's $321 billion fishing industry."
He highlighted that "NOAA is already being threatened by this administration's unprecedented cuts. NOAA is the eyes and ears for our water and air. NOAA provides Americans with accessible and accurate weather forecasts; it tracks hurricanes and tsunamis; it responds to oil spills; it keeps seafood on the table; and so much more. Forcing the agency to carry out deep-sea mining permitting while these essential services are slashed will only harm our ocean and our country."
"It's not just our country this executive order would harm: This action has far-reaching implications beyond the U.S.," Watters added, warning that by unilaterally allowing deep-sea mining, "the administration is opening a door for other countries to do the same—and all of us, and the ocean we all depend on, will be worse off for it."
As The New York Timesreported:
The executive order could pave the way for the Metals Company, a prominent seabed mining company, to receive an expedited permit from NOAA to actively mine for the first time. The publicly traded company, based in Vancouver, British Columbia, disclosed in March that it would ask the Trump administration through a U.S. subsidiary for approval to mine in international waters. The company has already spent more than $500 million doing exploratory work.
"We have a boat that's production-ready," said Gerard Barron, the company's chief executive, in an interview on Thursday. "We have a means of processing the materials in an allied friendly partner nation. We're just missing the permit to allow us to begin."
In response to the late March disclosure—which came during International Seabed Authority negotiations—Louisa Casson, senior campaigner for Greenpeace International, said that "this is another of the Metals Company's pathetic ploys and an insult to multilateralism. It shows that a moratorium on deep-sea mining is more urgently needed than ever. It also proves that the company's CEO Gerard Barron's plans never focused on solutions for the climate catastrophe."
"The Metals Company is desperate and now is encouraging a breach of customary international law by announcing their intent to mine the international seabed through the United States' Deep-Sea Hard Mineral Resources Act," the camapigner asserted. "This comes after the Metals Company has spent years exerting immense pressure on the International Seabed Authority to try and force governments to allow mining in the international seabed—the common heritage of humankind."
Casson stressed that "states, civil society, scientists, companies, and Indigenous communities continue to resist these efforts. Having tried and failed to pressure the international community to meet their demands, this reckless announcement is a slap in the face to international cooperation."
Less than a week later, the Norwegian deep-sea mining company Loke Marine Minerals declared bankruptcy—which Haldis Tjeldflaat Helle, a campaigner for Greenpeace Nordic, noted came "on the same day that we shut down a deep-sea mining conference in Bergen."
The Norwegian government in December halted plans to move forward with deep-sea mining in the Arctic Ocean, which Steve Trent, CEO and founder of the Environmental Justice Foundation, had called "a testament to the power of principled, courageous political action, and... a moment to celebrate for environmental advocates, ocean ecosystems, and future generations alike."
Apr 24, 2025
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Trump Tariffs Seen as 'Baby Tax' as Costs Soar for Parenting Essentials
The progressive think tank Groundwork Collaborative on Tuesday highlighted how U.S. President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs are effectively a "baby tax" paid by parents, given rising prices of everything "from car seats to sippy cups."
"President Trump's economic policies are an affront to young families," said Groundwork Collaborative executive director Lindsay Owens in a statement. "His tariff policies are making it harder and more expensive to prepare for a new baby or raise kids, and his solution is to tell parents to buy fewer toys for their children."
"While the president works overtime to give his billionaire donors a massive tax giveaway, he's placing a baby tax on every parent across the country," added Owens, referencing an effort to get a package containing more tax cuts for the rich—paid for by gutting the social safety net—through the GOP-controlled Congress.
"He's placing a baby tax on every parent across the country."
Citing the Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association (JPMA)—which has directly pressured Trump to "exclude all juvenile products" from tariffs on Chinese imports—The New York Timesreported Friday that "about 90% of durable baby and children's products sold in the United States are manufactured overseas, with the vast majority produced in China."
Noting that statistic, Groundwork focused on the costs of some essentials for babies and young children, including clothes, cribs, high chairs, sippy cups, and toys. For example, the group pointed out, the car seat and stroller companies Evenflo, Nuna, and UPPAbaby have recently announced price hikes.
"This represents a major challenge for parents, as car seats—which can run over $400—are required by law in all 50 states and should be bought new due to safety concerns," Groundwork said. "New parents spend, on average, $1,000 on baby safety gear."
As for strollers—or, as Trump put it, "the thing that you carry the babies around in"—UPPAbaby's Vista "just increased from $900 to $1,200," Groundwork continued. "Or, for a cheaper option, Bombi's flagship stroller now costs $225 instead of $199."
Some companies, including UPPAbaby, have made clear that the price increases are a direct result of Trump's evolving tariff policy.
"Due to rising import tariffs, updated pricing will go into effect on May 5th, 2025 across most UPPAbaby products," the company explained in a blog post last month. "If tariffs are reduced or lifted, we'll reassess pricing as quickly as business operations allow."
UPPAbaby is also among 13 U.S.-based companies that launched an advertising campaign calling tariffs a "baby tax," as The Washington Postreported last week. The ad declares that "becoming a parent is one of life's greatest joys, one our country should champion, not tax."
In addition to UPPAbaby chief executive Bob Monahan, the ad is signed by the CEOs of Babylist, Ergobaby, Frida, Guava Family, Hatch Baby, Lalo, Million Dollar Baby Co., Mockingbird, Munchkin, Nanit, Owlet, and Willow Innocations.
Groundwork highlighted Tuesday that "the CEO of popular baby accessory brand Munchkin, Steve Dunn, said the company will increase prices on about 90% of products, likely by at least 20%. Their cheapest high chair is currently $170."
Crib costs are also a concern. "Three-quarters of all baby furniture is made in China," Groundwork noted. "Get ready for some sleepless nights: the popular smart bassinet SNOO is manufactured in China and might soon cost more than its current $1,695 price tag."
Additionally, the clothing giant "Carter's has already raised prices on many items," which often come from Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, and Vietnam, and "Mattel CFO Anthony DiSilvestro has warned of possible price hikes as 40% of Mattel toys come from China," the think tank added.
Groundwork's statement was released as a bipartisan group called the Cost Coalition officially launched on Tuesday. Its goal, according toThe Associated Press, is "to highlight Trump's struggle to control rising costs."
"In 100 days, Donald Trump put the best-performing economy in the world on a crash course toward recession. Trump's tariffs—the biggest middle class tax hike in modern history—are making everyday prices skyrocket and wreaking havoc for businesses large and small," said Terry Holt, a former spokesperson for Republican leaders, and Andrew Bates, who was a Democratic spokesperson, in a joint statement to the AP.
"Next up are grossly inflationary tax cuts for the wealthy that will only saddle future generations with staggering debt," Holt and Bates continued. "Whether you're a Republican, Democrat, or anything else, Donald Trump's agenda is an economic crisis threatening your livelihood and standard of living."
May 06, 2025
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'Catastrophic': GOP Pushes Largest-Ever Cuts to Food Aid to Fund Tax Breaks for the Rich
House Republicans are set to hold a committee hearing Tuesday on legislation that would inflict the largest-ever cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program—a highly effective anti-poverty program that tens of millions of people across the U.S. rely on to afford groceries—to help offset the cost of further slashing taxes for the rich.
The proposal, which is part of the GOP's sprawling reconciliation package, would shift some SNAP costs onto states and expand the program's work requirements, adding procedural hurdles that advocates say will make it harder for families in need to obtain benefits.
One recent analysis estimated that imposing harsher work requirements on SNAP enrollees would cause millions to lose benefits at a time of elevated food costs and rising hunger.
The new bill would also freeze updates to the Thrifty Food Plan, which is used to determine SNAP benefit amounts. Freezing the plan would effectively cut SNAP benefits for all recipients, analysts said.
"Bottom line: This bill would worsen hunger and hardship," said Ty Jones Cox, vice president for food assistance at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. "If enacted, it would be the largest cut to SNAP in history—taking food from struggling families to give tax cuts to the wealthy. Our leaders can and must do better."
The House Ag bill released tonight would take away or cut #SNAP food benefits for millions of low-income people struggling to afford groceries—families w/ children, seniors, ppl w/ disabilities, veterans & workers in low-wage jobs.
— Ty Jones Cox (@tyjonescox.bsky.social) May 12, 2025 at 10:26 PM
Overall, the Republican legislation aims to slash federal SNAP spending by $290 billion over the next decade. Lawmakers on the House Agriculture Committee are set to mark up the bill at a hearing on Tuesday at 7:30 pm ET.
"SNAP is an efficient anti-hunger program," said Kyle Ross, a policy analyst at the Center for American Progress. "Yet, House Republicans' proposals would gut this program, and take food away from the hungry to give tax breaks to the ultrawealthy. These budget proposals make it clear where their priorities lie."
Republicans unveiled their plan for deep SNAP cuts shortly after releasing draft legislation that confirmed their push for another round of tax giveaways for the richest Americans.
Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minn.), the ranking member of the House Agriculture Committee, said Monday that "Republicans are fast-tracking catastrophic cuts to food assistance, taking food away from seniors living on fixed incomes and parents who are struggling to afford groceries for their children."
"This smash-and-grab job busts up the farm bill coalition and abandons the traditionally bipartisan legislation that American agriculture relies on to remain competitive and that family farmers need to get through these tough economic times," said Craig. "We should make food assistance work better for those it was designed to protect—like children and moms—not cut it so Republicans can fund more tax breaks for those at the very top."
May 13, 2025
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16-Year-Old Violently Arrested for Trying to Stop Mother's ICE 'Kidnapping' in Massachusetts
Community members in Worcester, Massachusetts on Thursday got word that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and other federal officers were in a residential neighborhood, and more than two dozen quickly came to the scene to stop the arrest of a woman who was being separated from her teenage daughter and infant grandchild—but were met with force from not only the government agents but also local police.
ICE agents were reportedly waiting outside a home on Eureka Street to arrest a woman who is of Brazilian descent, and intercepted her, her 16-year-old daughter, the daughter's newborn baby, and another family member as they were about to get into a vehicle.
Calling the arrest "a federal kidnapping," local independent reporter Bill Shaner reported at Welcome to Hell World that he arrived on the scene with a video camera after ICE agents informed Worcester police on the city police scanner that they were being "surrounded," and found a harrowing scene:
I park my car on the edge of the scene and all I can hear are the screams—the deafening desperate screams, from a mother, from her daughter, from the woman holding the daughter's baby. Wordless screams.
And then I see the mother, a young woman in a green shirt, wailing, crying, held on either side by menacing white men in tactical vests, black neck warmers pulled over their noses in the style du jour for our secret police forces.
Surrounding them are a few dozen community members who were tipped off about the ICE raid and got to it before the police did.
The neighbors demanded to see a warrant for the woman's arrest but were ignored by the ICE agents. They formed a "human chain" to stop the officers from detaining the woman in an unmarked vehicle, but the agents broke through and marched her toward the van.
Shaner reported that Worcester Police Department officers stepped in when the woman's teenage daughter jumped on the hood of the car to stop her mother's forced removal. A police officer pulled her off as community members shouted, "Don't take the mother!"
The daughter then briefly got away from the officers who were holding her and ran down the street, but was caught by a group of police who tackled her to the ground as she screamed. They then arrested her on four charges including reckless endangerment of a child, disturbing the peace, disorderly conduct, and resisting arrest.
WATCH: @WorcesterPD arrest woman attempting to stop @ICEgov from driving off with detained suspect. Police arrived after a group of more than two dozen swarmed the federal agents. 2nd woman arrested, more charges possible. https://t.co/TwA5UqZMil@7News #Immigration… pic.twitter.com/z8y1InFFub
— Stephen Quinn (@stephenquinntv) May 9, 2025
Neighbors tried to appeal to the local police officers, but were repeatedly told: "This is ICE. This is federal."
One community member said the agents were "trying to kidnap someone" and another said again that the federal officers did not have a warrant.
"They don't need a warrant," a police officer finally replied.
Etel Haxhiaj, a city councilor, was among the community members trying to stop the ICE arrest, and called the agents "cowards" as they walked the mother toward the unmarked car.
"This is an innocent woman," she said.
In a statement after the mother and daughter were arrested, Haxhiaj said that "as an elected official, it is my obligation to stand up for my constituents. The way immigrants in Worcester and across the csommonwealth are being targeted and terrorized by this federal administration for deportation is absolutely unconstitutional."
Haxhiaj also spoke to a Worcester police officer after the ordeal, telling him that chasing and arresting the 16-year-old girl who was trying to stop the arrest of her mother was "unnecessary."
"All you had to do was just have one of us hold her and contain her," she said. "You didn't have to take her."
Shaner noted that in a statement in January as President Donald Trump took office, having pledged to launch a nationwide mass deportation operation, Worcester Police Chief Paul Saucier told city councilors that the department would not participate in ICE operations.
"We do not do civil detention arrests," he said.
But police in the city can still stop community members from trying to intercept a civil arrest, Shaner said.
Police also arrested a school board candidate, Ashley Spring, for allegedly throwing "an unknown liquid substance" at officers. She was charged with assault and battery on a police officer, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, disorderly conduct, and interfering with a police officer.
Matt Szafranski, editor-in-chief of Western Mass Politics and Insight, said that "we are going to see more" of the kind of resistance Worcester residents showed on Thursday.
"I think what's interesting is ICE is not prepared to deal with it," he said. "They think they have impunity, but civil disobedience is only going to grow."
"Worcester Police Department has explaining to do, but local cops are going to be put in bad situations if ICE keeps acting like this," Szafranski added. "Is it 'assisting ICE' to keep the peace? Well, yes in a basic sense. But who's causing the disturbance?"
May 09, 2025
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'Civilized People Do Not Starve Children to Death': Sanders Rips Israel's Gaza Aid Blockade
"Today marks 68 days and counting since ANY humanitarian aid was allowed into Gaza. For more than nine weeks, Israel has blocked all supplies: no food, no water, no medicine, and no fuel."
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) not only highlighted those conditions in a speech on the Senate floor Thursday but also called out the fact that the worsening humanitarian crisis "gets very little discussion here in the nation's capital or in the halls of Congress," even though Israel has spent the past 19 months destroying Gaza with armed and diplomatic support from the United States.
"Hundreds of truckloads of lifesaving supplies are waiting to enter Gaza, sitting just across the border, but are denied entry by Israeli authorities," Sanders pointed out, echoing the U.S. nonprofit World Central Kitchen, which said Wednesday that it "no longer has the supplies to cook meals or bake bread," but "our trucks—loaded with food and supplies—are waiting in Egypt, Jordan, and Israel, ready to enter Gaza."
The senator took aim at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Palestinian territory, and key members of his administration.
"There is no ambiguity here: Netanyahu's extremist government talks openly about using humanitarian aid as a weapon," Sanders declared. "Defense Minister Israel Katz said, 'Israel's policy is clear: No humanitarian aid will enter Gaza, and blocking this aid is one of the main pressure levers.'"
"The time is long overdue for us to end our support for Netanyahu's destruction of the Palestinian people."
Noting that Israel's actions run afoul of U.S. and international law, Sanders said: "Starving children to death as a weapon of war is a clear violation of the Geneva Convention, the Foreign Assistance Act, and basic human decency. Civilized people do not starve children to death. What is going on in Gaza is a war crime, committed openly and in broad daylight, and continuing every single day."
Since the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, the Israeli assault on Gaza has killed more than 52,000 Palestinians. According to local officials, at least 57 Palestinians have died from malnutrition and a lack of adequate medical care. Many more are struggling to find food and water, particularly since Israel ramped up its blockade on March 2.
"With Israel having cut off all aid, what we are seeing now is a slow, brutal process of mass starvation and death by the denial of basic necessities. This is methodical, it is intentional, it is the stated policy of the Netanyahu government," said Sanders. "Without fuel, there is no ability to pump fresh water, leaving people increasingly desperate, unable to find clean water to drink, or wash with, or cook properly. Disease is once again spreading in Gaza."
Families in Gaza "are now surviving on scarce canned goods," and "the starvation hits children hardest," the senator continued. "With no infant formula, and with malnourished mothers unable to breastfeed, many infants are also at severe risk of death."
"What is going on in Gaza today is a manmade nightmare," one that "will be a permanent stain on the world's collective conscience," he said. "History will never forget that we allowed this to happen and, for us here in the United States, that we, in fact, enabled this ongoing atrocity."
Sanders has moved to block some U.S. weapons sales under both the Biden and second Trump administrations, but his efforts have not garnered enough support in Congress to succeed. Still, people across the United States and around the world have condemned the Israeli assault on Gaza as genocide—and Israel faces a case on the subject at the International Court of Justice.
The senator spotlighted Israel's latest plan for Gaza, Operation Gideon's Chariots, which involves "conquering" and indefinitely occupying the territory, and ethnically cleansing the region of its Palestinian inhabitants, who would be force into the south.
"This would be a terrible tragedy, no matter where in the world it was happening or why it was happening—whatever the causes of it might be. But what makes this tragedy so much worse for us in America is that it is our government, the United States government, that is absolutely complicit in creating and sustaining this humanitarian disaster," he said.
"It didn't just happen," Sanders emphasized. "Last year alone, the United States provided $18 billion in military aid to Israel. This year, the Trump administration has approved $12 billion more in bombs and weapons."
For months, U.S. President Donald Trump "has offered blanket support for Netanyahu," the senator said. "More than that, he has repeatedly said that the United States will actually take over Gaza after the war, that the Palestinian people will be driven—forcibly expelled—from their homeland, and the United States will redevelop it into what Trump calls 'the Riviera of the Middle East,' a playground for billionaires."
Citing unnamed sources, Reutersreported Wednesday that "the United States and Israel have discussed the possibility of Washington leading a temporary post-war administration of Gaza," sparking global criticism and comparisons to the U.S. misadventures in Iraq in the early 2000s.
US, Israel discuss possible US-led administration for Gaza Yes, cause the American occupation in Iraq famously went really well www.reuters.com/world/middle...
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— Nick Cunningham (@nickcunningham.bsky.social) May 7, 2025 at 11:55 AM
"This war has killed or injured more than 170,000 people in Gaza. It has cost American taxpayers well over $20 billion in the last year. And right now, as we speak, thousands of children are starving to death," Sanders detailed. "And the U.S. president is actively encouraging the ethnic cleansing of over 2 million people."
"Given that reality, one might think that there would be a vigorous discussion right here in the Senate: Do we really want to spend billions of taxpayer dollars starving children in Gaza?" the senator bellowed. "You tell me why spending billions of dollars to support Netanyahu's war and starving children in Gaza is a good idea. I'd love to hear it."
Sanders then made the case that the U.S. Senate isn't having that debate "because we have a corrupt campaign finance system" that allows organizations like the American Israel Public Affairs Committee to set the agenda in Washington, D.C. He pointed to AIPAC and its super political action committee spending over $100 million in the latest election cycle.
"And the fact is that, if you are a member of Congress and you vote against Netanyahu's war in Gaza, AIPAC is there to punish you with millions of dollars in advertisements to see that you're defeated," he said. "Sadly, I must confess, that this political corruption works. Many of my colleagues will privately express their horror at Netanyahu's war crimes, but will do or say very little publicly about it."
"The time is long overdue for us to end our support for Netanyahu's destruction of the Palestinian people. We must not put another nickel into Netanyahu's war machine," he concluded. "We must demand an immediate cease-fire, a surge in humanitarian aid, the release of the hostages, and the rebuilding of Gaza—not for billionaires to enjoy their Riviera there, but rebuilding Gaza for the Palestinian people."
May 08, 2025
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Upping Pressure on Supreme Court, Judge Approves Trump's Use of Alien Enemies Act to Expel Migrants
Judge Stephanie Haines' ruling contrasted with recent decisions by three other federal judges.
May 13, 2025
A federal judge's ruling in Pennsylvania on Tuesday marked the first time a court has decided the Trump administration can invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to expel Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador's notorious Terrorism Confinement Center, and one policy expert said the ruling "further pressures the Supreme Court to act soon" to determine once and for all whether the mass deportation campaign is lawful.
The ruling by U.S. District Judge Stephanie Haines, an appointee of President Donald Trump in the Western District of Pennsylvania, contrasted with those of federal judges in Colorado, New York, and Texas, who have found Trump's invocation of the Alien Enemies Act exceeds its scope.
The law enables the government to swiftly deport migrants during an "invasion" or "predatory incursion" by a foreign nation. The Trump administration has claimed the Venezuelan street gang Tren de Aragua has ties to the South American country's government—an assertion that U.S. intelligence agencies have not endorsed—and has designated the group a foreign terrorist organization.
Having invoked the Alien Enemies Act in March, Trump has deported more than a hundred Venezuelans accused of being members of the gang to El Salvador.
Haines said in her ruling that she hadn't resolved whether the administration can use the law to remove gang members from the country, and rejected a request by the White House to find that an invasion or predatory incursion could include migration.
But she also disagreed with other courts' rulings that found the Alien Enemies Act relates specifically to military invasions, saying instead that it covers "acts by a foreign terrorist organization."
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, said her reasoning was "exceptionally weak."
"Her decision, which applies only in the Western District of Pennsylvania, will be appealed to the 3rd Circuit, which will likely put a hold on [Alien Enemies Act] removals out of her district," said Reichlin-Melnick. "But this further pressures the Supreme Court to act soon—potentially before the end of the term."
Reichlin-Melnick and others emphasized that Haines ordered the administration to give migrants far more notice of their impending deportations under the law. The White House had proposed 12-24 hours; Haines ordered officials to provide 21 days' notice in both Spanish and English.
The ACLU last month called on the Supreme Court to rule on the legality of Trump's use of the Alien Enemies Act.
The justices ruled last month that people targeted for removal under the law are entitled to challenge their removal, without providing a timeline.
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In Bonanza for Arms Industry, Trump Announces Record $142 Billion Weapons Sale to Saudis
"I like him a lot," Trump said of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, a prolific human rights violator. "I like him too much."
May 13, 2025
In what the White House described as "the largest defense sales agreement in history," U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced a deal for prolific human rights violator Saudi Arabia to purchase $142 billion worth of arms from a dozen different American companies.
The White House unveiled the sale as Trump visited Saudi leaders including Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the kingdom's capital city of Riyadh on the first leg of a Mideast tour, with stops also scheduled in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
A fact sheet published by the executive office said the arms sale involves "air force advancement and space capabilities, air and missile defense, maritime and coastal security, border security and land forces modernization, and information and communication systems upgrades."
"Oh, what I do for the crown prince."
Reutersreported that military-industrial complex titans including Lockheed Martin, RTX—formerly Raytheon—Boeing, Northrop Grumman, and General Atomics are involved in the deal. The U.S. and Saudi Arabia reportedly discussed the potential sale of Lockheed Martin F-35 fighter jets to the kingdom, but it remains unclear if the Trump administration will allow the transfer of the highly advanced warplanes.
The agreement is part of a broader Saudi commitment to invest $600 billion in the United States, which the White House said will "strengthen our energy security, defense industry, technology leadership, and access to global infrastructure and critical minerals."
Trump and his relatives, including son-in-law Jared Kushner, enjoy close personal and financial relations with the Saudi royal family, which has poured billions of dollars into their business ventures.
During a signing ceremony, Trump—who apparently fell asleep during the proceedings—joked that the Saudis should invest $1 trillion.
Business leaders including Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk—who is also the de facto Department of Government Efficiency chief—OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, IBM CEO Arvind Krishna, CitiGroup CEO Jane Fraser, and the heads of investment firms including BlackRock, Franklin Templeton, and Blackstone Group also traveled to Saudi Arabia.
Critics including congressional progressives and anti-war groups have long opposed U.S. arms sales to Saudi Arabia, which stands accused of a litany of human rights violations including bombing and starving civilians in Yemen, massacring African migrants, and the 2018 murder of journalist and U.S. resident Jamal Khashoggi.
In 2019, during Trump's first term, Congress passed three bipartisan bills aimed at blocking an $8 billion arms sale to Saudi Arabia and its coalition partner in the U.S.-backed war on Yemen, the United Arab Emirates. Trump vetoed the legislation. His successor, former President Joe Biden, paused U.S. arms transfers to Saudi Arabia and the UAE but subsequently lifted the freeze despite pleas from human rights defenders.
The record arms sale comes amid Trump's effort to broker a diplomatic normalization deal between Saudi Arabia and Israel. The president is no longer demanding that the Saudis normalize relations with Israel as a precondition for a civilian nuclear cooperation deal, a move that reportedly alarmed Israel's far-right government.
Trump lavished praise on the Saudi monarchy in a rambling speech in Riyadh on Tuesday, hailing bin Salman as an "incredible man."
Trump gushes over MBS: "We have great partners in the world, but we have none stronger and nobody like the gentleman right before me. He's your greatest representative. And if I didn't like him, I'd get out of here so fast. He knows me well. I do. I like him a lot. I like him too much."
[image or embed]
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) May 13, 2025 at 9:01 AM
"We have great partners in the world, but we have none stronger, and nobody like the gentleman that's right before me, he's your greatest representative, your greatest representative," Trump said. "And if I didn't like him, I would get out of here so fast. You know that don't you? He knows me well."
"I do, I like him a lot. I like him too much, that's why we give so much, you know?" the president continued. "Too much. I like you too much!"
"Oh, what I do for the crown prince," he added.
Trump also announced that the U.S. would lift sanctions on Syria and restore relations with the country's new government, a move the peace group CodePink called "good news."
"The bad news is he's making new arms deals with Saudi Arabia, jeopardizing diplomacy with Iran, and continuing to ignore the U.S. and Israel's genocide in Gaza as they drop bombs on hospitals," the group added.
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'Gift-Wrapped Favor to Big Tech': GOP Sneakily Pushes Ban on State AI Regulation
"This isn't leadership, it is surrendering to corporate overreach and abuse under the guise of 'protecting American innovation,'" said one consumer advocate.
May 13, 2025
A provision that U.S. House Republicans added to the budget reconciliation bill—unrelated to the GOP's goal of slashing Medicaid access in the legislation—represents, as one journalist said, "one of the most radical positions Republicans have taken" thus far on artificial intelligence and the regulations that experts have demanded in order to ensure the technology is used safely.
U.S. Rep. Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.) added the language Sunday night ahead of a markup session Tuesday, in what appeared to be an effort to stop state governments from enforcing existing and proposed laws to protect the public from AI systems.
"No state or political subdivision thereof may enforce any law or regulation regulating artificial intelligence models, artificial intelligence systems, or automated decision systems during the 10-year period beginning on the date of the enactment of this act," reads the provision.
With Congress "captured by Big Tech," saidAmerica 2.0 publisher and editor Dave Troy, "states are the only ones who can even try to regulate AI in the U.S."—but that would change under Guthrie's proposed ban.
"Now that state laws are finally starting to hold AI companies accountable for deepfake child pornography, election disinformation, AI companions targeting minors, and algorithmic abuse, Congress wants to slam the brakes?"
Under the law, state governments could be barred from using federal funds to develop oversight for AI or support any initiatives that differ from the Trump administration's stance on AI, which was on display earlier this year when President Donald Trump issued an order revoking the Biden administration's executive action to ensure the "safe, secure, and trustworthy development" of the technology.
Laws like one passed in New York in 2021 mandating bias audits for AI tools used in hiring decisions; a law in California requiring healthcare providers to disclose their use of generative AI; and another California measure that would require AI developers to document the data they use to create trainings—which could crack down on AI firms that hide their use of copyrighted material—could all be rendered unenforceable by Guthrie's proposal.
At 404 Media, Emanuel Maiberg wrote that "the AI industry has been sucking up to Trump since before he got into office," with tech mogul Elon Musk leading the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, Silicon Valley investor David Sacks appointed "AI czar," and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman appearing with Trump in January as he unveiled an AI data center development plan.
The inclusion of the AI provision in the budget reconciliation bill could limit debate on the proposal.
The House Committee on Energy and Commerce, which is chaired by Guthrie, held a full committee markup of the bill, including the AI language, on Tuesday. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), who sits on the panel and is the ranking member of the Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade Subcommittee, called the provision "a giant gift to Big Tech."
"This ban will allow AI companies to ignore consumer privacy protections, let deepfakes spread, and allow companies to profile and deceive consumers using AI," said Schakowsky.
The Tech Oversight Project called on Democratic lawmakers to "stand firm" against the "AI poison-pill spending bill."
Allowing the "unhinged, dangerous" measure to pass, said Public Citizen's Big Tech accountability advocate, JB Branch, would be "an outrageous abdication of congressional responsibility and a gift-wrapped favor to Big Tech that leaves consumers vulnerable to exploitation and abuse."
"States across the country, red and blue alike, have taken bold, bipartisan action to protect their citizens," said Branch. "Now that state laws are finally starting to hold AI companies accountable for deepfake child pornography, election disinformation, AI companions targeting minors, and algorithmic abuse, Congress wants to slam the brakes? This isn't leadership, it is surrendering to corporate overreach and abuse under the guise of 'protecting American innovation.'"
In the 2025 legislative session, lawmakers in at least 45 states and Puerto Rico have introduced at least 550 AI-related bills. In at least eight states proposals have focused on regulating high-risk AI systems and preventing discrimination by algorithms, and at least 19 state legislatures are considering legislation to stop corporate landlords from fixing rental prices via algorithm.
"Congress must ask itself: Will it stand with Big Tech lobbyists, or with the people it was elected to represent?" said Branch. "Because millions of constituents across the country are currently protected by state laws that would be gutted under this proposal. Public Citizen urges lawmakers to strike this reckless preemption language from the reconciliation bill and commit to advancing federal AI legislation that builds on, not bulldozes, state-level progress."
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