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Again To the Grisly Well, With Ballrooms
Leave it to this still-repugnant regime to instantly twist a Keystone Cops security breach - not a so-distant-it-was-on-another-floor "assassination attempt" - to their own skeevy purposes: blaming Democrats for "this dark moment," demanding a $400 million gold ballroom for "national security," burnishing the Brave Dear Leader myth of an addled old man who barely registered it, and what gun control issue? Meet the Epstein class: When shots (again) ring out, they get a friggin' ballroom, kids get thoughts and prayers.
The latest "clown show on steroids" - and grim proof of Trump's relentless corrosion of political discourse - unfolded Saturday night at an evidently sloppily unsecured Washington Hilton, where in 1981 John Hinckley shot Reagan, who survived. The already contentious White House Correspondents' Dinner drew the black-tied, preening, profit-driven remnants of a craven legacy media - and a growing right-wing slopaganda brigade - both willing to pretend it was normal to party with an abusive enemy of free speech who's spent years attacking, belittling, suing, bullying and name-calling them as an "enemy of the people" for seeking to do their jobs and tell the truth, thus turning the evening into a queasy "case study in institutional self-abasement."
Even before the vitriolic and incendiary Trump - who led a Jan. 6 riot, urged fans to “knock the crap out” of protesters, bade Proud Boys "stand by," mused "the 2nd Amendment people" could do something" about his opponents, warned of "a bloodbath" if he was defeated, killed schoolgirls and threatened genocide in an illegal war he doesn't know how to end - let loose with what he dubbed "the most inappropriate speech ever made" (which Press Barbie called "shots fired") - before all that came a few muffled thuds of a dud of an assassination attempt, on the floor above, by a suspect who ran past a security checkpoint before being tackled. One shot was fired - it's unclear by whom - and one cop was wounded through a bulletproof vest; he is expected to be okay.
On the floor below, meanwhile, "absolute chaos" reigned. Panicked women in gowns and men in tuxedos hit the floor, flipping over chairs, lunging under tables and sometimes holding phone cameras aloft as a horde of Secret Service agents swarmed the ballroom, leaping on stage, yelling "Get down! Get down!", running in all directions at once, weapons poised and flailing. A crowd of security guys whisked J.D. Vance out of his chair first; then another cluster went for Trump, dazed and stumbling, guys holding him up on both sides. Video later showed alleged FBI head Kash Patel crouching absurdly behind a chair and RFK Jr. heroically leaving his wife behind; an idiotic "USA!" chant that "absolutely nobody wanted to hear" flared briefly before dying a well-earned death.
The suspect was identified as Cole Tomas Allen, 31, a Torrance, CA. mechanical engineer, game developer and teacher with a Masters degree in computer science; on Facebook, he also called himself "an amateur entomologist, casual composter and occasional artist." When he tried to breach the metal detectors above the ballroom, he was armed with a shotgun - loaded with buckshot not slugs "to minimize casualties" - a handgun and several knives. He was charged with two counts: Using a firearm during a crime of violence and assault on a federal officer with a dangerous weapon. Earlier, he'd posted a lucid, relatively mild missive from "a Friendly Federal Assassin" to explain his actions; it began with, "Hello everybody!" and apologies to "everyone whose trust I abused."
He apologized to his parents "for saying I had an interview without specifying it was for 'Most Wanted,'" to his colleagues and students, to "everyone abused or murdered before this or after, any "person raped in a detention camp, fisherman executed without trial, schoolkid blown up, child starved... I am no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes." As a Christian, he noted, "Turning the other cheek when *someone else* is oppressed is not Christian behavior; it is rather complicity in the oppressor’s crimes." He blasted the "insane" incompetence of the lax security he encountered, said he felt "awful" about what he thought he had to do, and expressed "rage thinking about everything this administration has done...Stay in school, kids."
Despite its placid tone, MAGA world promptly dubbed it "a manifesto" of "anti-Christian bile" from "a depraved crazy person." Press Barbie blasted the "demonization (and) hateful rhetoric directed at Trump...Nobody has faced more bullets and violence." Similarly, nobody in the cult wants to admit they're adamantly declining to acknowledge years of vicious Trump rhetoric that have shaped "an angry, polarized nation," or the role of rabid MAGA responses, say, to AOC noting she's glad everyone was safe - "There is a special place in hell for demons like you," "Go fuck right off with the other Commie losers" - or the "vibes for security" so lax - no photo ID, attendee list, checkpoint to enter the ballroom, basic competence - even attendees and the would-be assassin both denounced it.
- YouTube www.youtube.com
Despite faux-thoughtful deadlines - "Stunned Washington Faces Searching Questions About Political Violence" - Trump entirely missed the point, rambling and deflecting in his clueless, bonkers, self-serving way. He said he wanted the dinner to go ahead: The show must go on. He (weirdly) crooned about the "very strong, really attractive law enforcement." He babbled he'd "studied assassinations...The most impactful people, they're the ones they go after. Like Abraham Lincoln. I hate to say I’m honored by that, but I’ve done a lot." He called the presidency "a dangerous profession," worse than bullfighting. He declared the "manifesto" “strongly anti-Christian," and the perp "a very sick person...a lone wolf whack job," though he's an incomparably more dangerous one.
Mostly, relentlessly, he shilled for his ballroom: "This event would never have happened...The conditions that took place, I didn't wanna say it but this is why we have to have it...We need levels of security probably like no one's ever seen...This is exactly the reason our great Military, Secret Service, Law Enforcement and every President for the last 150 years have been demanding a large, safe, secure Ballroom be built," which is bullshit 'cause only he's demanding it. Still, miraculously, within six minutes of the lone shot fired, MAGA pivoted, lockstep, online to the same skeevy, amidst-a-war-and-ravaged-economy-how-is-this-a-thing refrain: This is why Trump needs the ballroom. Also, the lawsuit against it "puts the lives of the President, his family, and his staff at grave risk."
As if the whole corrupt ballroom shtick, "the definition of a non-sequitur,” wasn't grotesque enough, there was the right's virtual ignoring of any recognition of guns as a relevant part of the deadly equation - this, in a country with more guns than people, with 120 mass shootings since the start of the year, with over 3,800 people dead and over 6,500 wounded, with 100 people shot every day, with Trump having dismantled gun safety and mental health measures, with as yet no accountability for Renee Good and Alex Pretti being gunned down in the street, with the awful, prevailing, willfully blind, "gun violence for thee but not for me" admonishment that, "Every few months, Americans are asked to resume their banquet, and pretend a shooting didn’t just happen."
Which is what we regularly ask of our kids. "Last night, powerful people hid," wrote Digital Drumbeat. "Journalists, lobbyists, and politicians dove under tables, pressed against walls, and ran for exits..Secret Service moved. Protocols activated. And within hours, everyone went home. Welcome to the reality American children, teachers, and parents live every single day. Except they do not get the protocols. They do not get the security detail. And not all of them get to go home." It was not "crouching in a locked, darkened classroom for three hours while your phone dies and you cannot call your mother," or a teacher saying "to be very, very quiet," which is "a Tuesday in America." What we can't imagine: "Wanting an entire secure ballroom for one man, and not wanting gun reform for every child."
Other obscenities abound: The billions in ballroom funding from corporations, most of which are seeking billions more in federal contracts; the latest grift of secretly awarding the ballroom-building company a no-bid $17.4 million contract to repair two fountains in Lafayette Park that Biden estimated would cost $3.3 million; the "brazen inversion of reality" that is the MAGA claim criticism of Trump's hateful, violent rhetoric is what somehow incites more violence, when he's done more than anyone in recent history to normalize it; the righteous indignation - Fire Jimmy Kimmel (again) for joking Melania looks like an expectant widow! - when anyone notes the gross hypocrisy. Color America skeptical: "Fuck him, he can only go to the well so many times."
Also, we're still gonna need those Epstein files. See Trump lash out at CBS' Norah O'Donnell when she quotes Cole Allen's "pedophile, rapist, and traitor": "I was waiting for you to read that (because) you're horrible people..I'm not a rapist...I'm not a pedophile... You're disgraceful." Will Bunch: "This is our country now." The Rude Pundit: "We live in the goddamn United States. We're never far away from someone shooting a gun. It's what we are debased enough to call 'freedom.'" And in the two days before the shooting, Trump made a racist attack against Hakeem Jeffries, called for Hillary and Obama to be arrested, boasted of more war crimes. In brief, "We don't have to pretend that a motherfucker isn't a motherfucker just because someone wanted to kill him."
Update: It seems CBS cut out more paranoid babbling in his "I'm not a rapist" interview. His brain is oatmeal and grievance.
NORAH O’DONNELL: What did security tell you about what may have been his motives?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well, see, they– the part– the reason you have people like that is you have people doing No Kings. I’m not a king. What I am– if I was a king I wouldn’t be dealing with you. No, I’m not a king. I– I get– I– I don’t laugh. I don’t– I– I see these No Kings, which are funded just like the Southern Law was– funded– you saw all that? Southern Law is financing the KKK and lots of other radical, terrible groups.
Climate-Fueled Extreme Heat Poses 'Systemic Risk to Global Food Security,' Warns UN
Just a month after a sweeping World Meteorological Organization report led United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres to declare that "every key climate indicator is flashing red," WMO and another UN agency marked Earth Day on Wednesday by releasing an analysis focused on "how extreme heat is reshaping food production and food security."
Simply titled "Extreme Heat and Agriculture," the WMO and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) report lays out how extreme heat "is influenced by multiple interlinked drivers," including the trends and inertia of human-induced climate change, natural climate variability, and meteorological phenomena such as droughts and atmospheric and marine heatwaves. Then, it gets into what that means for agriculture.
"Extreme heat is increasingly defining the conditions under which agrifood systems operate," WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo and FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu stressed in the foreword of the report. "Rising temperatures and heatwaves, occurring with greater frequency, duration, and intensity, are often accompanied by prolonged drought and other climate extremes."
"Higher temperatures parch soils, reduce harvests, strain livestock, disrupt fisheries, and increase wildfire risk. When combined with water scarcity, the consequences intensify, cutting production, lowering incomes, and tightening food supplies," the pair wrote. "These impacts extend far beyond the farm gate. They represent a systemic risk to global food security and to the livelihoods of more than 1.23 billion people who rely on agriculture."
For example, yields of staple crops such as maize and wheat have already declined by 7.5% and 6%, respectively, with 1ºC of global temperature rise beyond preindustrial levels. The publication points out that yields "are projected to decline by up to an additional 10% for every 1ºC of warming in the future."
It also notes that "under high-emission scenarios, nearly half the world's cattle could be exposed to dangerous heat by 2100," resulting in annual losses nearing $40 billion. Under a low-emission scenario, the report adds, "impacts from livestock exposure to extreme heat are reduced by nearly two-thirds."
The report details vulnerabilities, observed impacts, and projections for not only crops and livestock but also fisheries and aquaculture; forests, plantations, and orchards; and agricultural workers.
Saulo and Qu highlighted that "agricultural workers are already experiencing effects on their health, productivity, and income. As climate variability intensifies, hard-won progress in reducing hunger and poverty comes under strain, with shocks rippling through economies and households and disproportionately affecting the most vulnerable."
The report outlines the existing "range of technical agricultural adaptation options and other broader nontechnical risk management strategies" for responding to extreme heat, as well as barriers to implementing them. It also offers a case study: the extreme heat event that hit Brazil in 2023-24.
That period in the South American country "serves as a stark example of the breadth and severity of compound impacts that can be triggered by a primary extreme heat event," the report states. "On top of a warmer baseline shaped by climate change and amplified by El Niño, the heatwave simultaneously impacted crops, livestock, forests, fisheries, and human health."
"The interconnected failures highlight the profound vulnerability of the entire agricultural sector and the grave implications such events have for the livelihoods and food security of the millions who depend on it," the report continues, emphasizing that "building systemic resilience through adaptation and dedicated risk reduction is imperative."
"While this report outlines a path toward enhanced resilience, solutions and opportunities are not infinite," the publication adds. "Alongside robust adaptation and risk reduction strategies, the only durable solution to the escalating threat of extreme heat lies in ambitious, multilateral climate change mitigation."
🌡️ Extreme heat is already affecting crops, livestock, forests, fisheries & the people who produce our food.New @fao.org-@wmo-global.bsky.social report on #ExtremeHeat & Agriculture shows the impacts & #ClimateAction needed to respond to this growing threat.🔗 https://bit.ly/4cXmmOe#EarthDay
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— Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (@fao.org) April 22, 2026 at 4:15 AM
After the most recent UN Climate Change Conference, COP30, concluded in Brazil late last year, critics called it "another failed climate summit." The United States is the world's largest historical climate polluter, yet President Donald Trump didn't even attend, and has spent his second term not only repealing climate policies but also serving the planet-wrecking fossil fuel industry whose campaign cash helped him return to power.
Trump has also started a new illegal war in the Middle East, partnering with Israel to target Iran. That assault has underscored how armed conflict negatively impacts agriculture and food systems around the world. The Iranian government has restricted traffic through the Strait of Hormuz—a key trade route, including for fertilizer and fossil fuels—which has prompted mounting alarm about a global food crisis.
Earlier this month, ahead of the current fragile ceasefire, the FAO's chief economist, Máximo Torero, warned that farmers would soon "have to choose: Farm the same with fewer inputs, plant less, or switch to less intensive fertilizer crops."
Jorge Moreira da Silva, executive director of the UN Office for Project Services, said Tuesday that "the planting season has already started, and in most countries in Africa it will end in May. So, if we don't get some solution immediately, the crisis will be very significant and severe, particularly for the poorest countries and for the poorest citizens."
As Trump Ravages Economy, US Consumer Sentiment Hits Record Low
As President Donald Trump continues to push his economy-wrecking agenda of tariffs, mass deportations, and military aggression, US consumer sentiment hit an all-time low on Friday, according to the University of Michigan.
The final April figure from the university's Surveys of Consumers was 49.8—slightly higher than the preliminary 47.6 from earlier this month, and the 48 predicted by economists polled by Reuters, but still a record low, down from 53.3 in March.
"Decreases in sentiment were seen across political party, income, age, and education," noted Joanne Hsu, director of the Surveys of Consumers, in a statement. "Expected business conditions declined for both short and long time horizons, nearly matching year-ago readings when the reciprocal tariff regime was implemented."
"After the two-week ceasefire was announced and gas prices softened a touch, sentiment recovered a modest portion of its early-month losses," she continued. "The Iran conflict appears to influence consumer views primarily through shocks to gasoline and potentially other prices. In contrast, military and diplomatic developments that do not lift supply constraints or lower energy prices are unlikely to buoy consumers."
So, it's official: the UMich FINAL Consumer Sentiment reading for April holds at a record low, while stocks are at a record high.
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— Mike Zaccardi, CFA, CMT (@mikezaccardi.bsky.social) April 24, 2026 at 10:01 AM
As Common Dreams reported earlier Friday, as the national average price for a gallon of gasoline sits at $4.059, new Reuters/Ipsos polling shows that fuel costs "are a very big concern" for 78% of Americans, and 77% blame Trump for the recent spikes.
In a social media post about the new University of Michigan record, Groundwork Collaborative highlighted another poll: A Fox News survey found that 52% of US voters questioned April 17-20 believed Democrats would do a better job on the economy than Republicans.
The Fox News poll, released Wednesday, also found that 56% of Americans think Trump's policies are "hurting the economy," and majorities said gas, groceries, healthcare, and housing prices are a "major problem" for their family.
Democrats didn't waste time seizing on the new consumer sentiment finding. Kendall Witmer, rapid response director for the Democratic National Committee, declared that "Donald Trump has tanked the economy for working families."
"Everyday Americans were already struggling to afford rent, groceries, and prescription drugs, and then Trump decided to start a reckless war with Iran and push prices even higher—and for what?" Witmer continued, taking aim at both him and Vice President JD Vance, who has played a key role in negotiations with Iran.
"Americans are drowning under rising costs, flat wages, high unemployment, and historic layoffs—it's no wonder they're concerned about how they're going to make ends meet," Witmer added, "and Trump and JD Vance can't be bothered to make life more affordable for them."
'Bold Ideas This Country Desperately Needs': Progressive Caucus Unveils Affordability Agenda
The Congressional Progressive Caucus on Wednesday unveiled a sweeping affordability agenda aimed at combating a cost-of-living crisis that President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans have supercharged with tariffs, a war of choice in Iran, and deep cuts to safety-net programs.
The CPC's New Affordability Agenda comprises new and previously introduced legislation designed to lower the cost of housing, groceries, childcare, prescription drugs, and more. The caucus presented its slate of policy proposals—which are popular with American voters across the political spectrum—as a positive agenda around which "every single Democrat should be able to unite" heading into the pivotal 2026 midterms and beyond.
“Affordability is not a ‘hoax,'" said CPC Chair Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas), referring to Trump's efforts to dismiss mounting concerns about cost increases under his administration as consumer sentiment plunges to all-time lows and affordability continues to top Americans' list of concerns.
"It also has to be more than just a slogan,” Casar added. “The New Affordability Agenda shows how Democrats can actually make things cheaper for working people by taking on special interests who are ripping people off. These are the kind of bold, populist ideas Democrats should talk about in 2026 and pass in 2027. We are glad that many of these ideas already have support across the Democratic caucus, and we look forward to working to get them actually passed as soon as possible.”
Endorsed by a broad coalition of labor unions, advocacy groups, and policy experts, the CPC agenda includes 10 planks, each with corresponding legislation.
The first six planks pertain to lowering the costs of essentials: medicine, groceries, housing, utilities, childcare, and gas.
On prescription drugs, for instance, the agenda calls for passage of the Affordable Drug Manufacturing Act, which would establish a federal program to directly manufacture generic medications and offer them to consumers at an affordable price.
On childcare, the CPC is urging passage of a bill led by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) that would ensure "every family in every community has access to high-quality, affordable childcare and early learning opportunities by establishing a network of federally supported, locally administered childcare options."
"In 2026, Democrats cannot politely nibble around the edges when taking on a rigged economic system,” Warren said Wednesday. “Americans want leaders who will fight for bold policies like universal childcare and affordable housing so that we can build an economy for everyone. The New Affordability Agenda is about fighting for the big structural change we need to put working people first."
The CPC agenda also calls for ending AI price gouging, guaranteeing paid vacation to every full-time worker, raising federal overtime pay, and capping contributions to super PACs.
“At a time when 60% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck and billionaires and large corporations have never had it so good, the Congressional Progressive Caucus is putting forward bold ideas this country desperately needs,” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said in a statement on Wednesday. “This agenda says that in the richest nation on Earth, we can create an economy that works for every man, woman, and child, and not just a handful of billionaires."
"Yes, we can lower the cost of prescription drugs," said Sanders. "Yes, we can build millions of units of low-income and affordable housing. Yes, we can provide universal, high-quality, affordable childcare in every community. And yes, we can create a vibrant democracy by abolishing super PACs and making sure billionaires can no longer buy elections.”
New polling conducted by Data for Progress indicates that all of the individual policies championed by the CPC are broadly popular with the American electorate.
"Every policy tested earns majority support from at least 3 in 5 voters," the polling outfit found. "Requiring two weeks of paid time off for all full-time workers and restricting private utility companies from passing unreasonable costs on to customers are the most popular policies on the list—each earning support from 79% of voters."
Rep. Becca Balint (D-Vt.), who heads the CPC's Ending Corporate Greed Task Force, said Wednesday that Democrats "need to be listening deeply and fighting hard for Americans."
"They have been loud and clear that everything is too damn expensive, and we must respond," said Balint. "This New Affordability Agenda is a strong slate of policy proposals that will help bring down costs. From increasing pay and taking on the corporations that have rigged our economy, to lowering everyday costs on housing, groceries, and childcare, this concrete approach reflects that we understand the scope of the problems and we are ready to take real action."
Mamdani Applauded for Veto of Bill Restricting Right to Protest Near NYC Schools and Universities
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is earning plaudits for vetoing legislation passed by the New York City Council that critics say would have restricted the US Constitution's First Amendment right to peacefully protest.
According to a Friday report in The New York Times, the bill vetoed by Mamdani "would have required the New York Police Department to publicize plans to deploy security perimeters around educational facilities during protests."
In a statement explaining his veto, Mamdani said he worried that the bill as written would infringe on the rights of "workers protesting [US Immigration and Customs Enforcement], or college students demanding their school divest from fossil fuels, or demonstrating in support of Palestinian rights," among other causes.
"Nearly a dozen unions have raised the alarm about its impact on their ability to organize," said Mamdani. "That is why I am vetoing this legislation."
As noted by Gothamist, the bill drew opposition from the New York Civil Liberties Union and the 1199 Service Employees International Union, who warned it would criminalize the kinds of pickets that teachers' and nurses' unions regularly carry out at hospitals.
United Auto Workers Region 9A and Professional Staff Congress/CUNY also registered opposition to the bill and helped lead opposition to it, according to The City.
New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin (D-5), however, rejected these characterizations of the legislation, which passed the council by a 30-19 vote, just short of a veto-proof margin.
"Ensuring students can enter and exit their schools without fear of harassment or intimidation should not be controversial,” Menin said, according to the Times. “This bill simply requires the NYPD to clearly outline how it will ensure safe access when there are threats of obstruction or physical injury, while fully protecting First Amendment rights.”
According to Gothamist, Mamdani's veto drew rebukes from both the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and the UJA Federation of New York, who accused the mayor of not taking the safety concerns of Jewish New Yorkers seriously.
However, anti-war group Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) praised Mamdani's veto of the bill, which they said would have hindered their ability to protest outside educational institutions.
"We call on New York City's legislators to stop weaponizing our identities to justify repression of dissent—which is sacred to our Jewish tradition," said JVP. "Rather than limit our constitutional right to protest, our legislators should end the sales of stolen Palestinian land in our city."
A second bill, which the council passed by a veto-proof 44-5 margin, will place similar requirements on NYPD to create security perimeters around houses of worship that are being targeted by protests.
Eliza Klein, New York City organizer for JVP, disputed that this legislation protects the rights of Jewish New Yorkers.
"These bills are not about Jewish safety," said Klein. "Especially at a time when the federal government is attacking our cities—including specifically targeting those who speak out for Palestinian freedom—New Yorkers want elected leaders to protect our constitutional rights, not limit them."
Nuclear Disaster Threat Posed by War in Sharp Relief 40 Years After Chernobyl
The continuing conflict between Russia and Ukraine is once again raising concerns about a nucelar disaster in the region on the 40th anniversary of the catastrophic accident at the Chernobyl power plant.
Reuters reported on Monday that a Ukrainian drone the struck a transport department at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, which has been under Russian control since March 2022, shortly after its armed forces invaded Ukraine.
The Russian government said that an employee at the Zaporizhzhia plant was killed in the attack, and International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi reiterated in a social media post that "strikes on or near [nuclear power plants] can endanger nuclear safety and must not take place."
Russia has also engaged in dangerous attacks around nuclear power infrastructure over the last four years, and a report released this month by Greenpeace Ukraine found that the New Safe Confinement (NSC) at Chernobyl, which contains the ruins of the plant's reactor unit 4, was significantly compromised after being struck by a high-explosive warhead from a Russian drone last year.
"The Russian drone strike... destroyed the main functions of the [NSC]," the report states. "The impact of the drone on the northwest side of the NSC caused an opening... which penetrated both the outside and inside arch shells. Critical structural elements of the NSC have been deformed and damaged including the Main Crane System, making their load-bearing capability impossible to assess."
The drone strike also burned the membrane layer inside the NSC, which has taken out the ability to control humidity at the site and could lead to accelerated corrosion of the NSC's steel components.
"The NSC was designed to last 100 years on the basis that its low humidity control was maintained," notes the report. "Accelerated corrosion may reduce the 100-year design life of the structure if humidity control is not restored by 2030."
Greenpeace Ukraine nuclear expert Shaun Burnie described the damage done to the NSC as "a Russian-made war crime," and lamented it will mean "years of repairs and further delays before the sarcophagus can be safely dismantled."
Polina Kolodiazhna, senior campaigner from Greenpeace Ukraine, said on Sunday that Russia's invasion of Ukraine had added new urgency for her country to end its dependence on nuclear power given the massive environmental and human risks.
"Nuclear power stations have inherent risks, and those risks are escalating," Kolodiazhna said. "Russia, for the first time in the history of warfare, has systematically attacked and occupied nuclear plants, showing how they can be used as military and political tools. In a world at war, with massive geopolitical tension and climate extremes, those risks are increasing."
'Monstrous' Trump Rule Change Could Slash Benefits to 400,000 Adults With Down Syndrome and Other Disabilities
"As they push to build a $400 million ballroom, they are stripping disabled Americans of their meager benefits," said one congressional candidate.
The Trump administration is pushing forward with a new rule that could strip as many as 400,000 low-income adults with disabilities of hundreds of dollars per month.
ProPublica reported on Tuesday that the Trump administration was planning a major rule change to the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program, which provides basic income to adults with severe disabilities like Down syndrome and autism and some indigent elderly people who may struggle to support themselves.
The program, which serves around 7.5 million Americans, typically provides payments of around $600-700 per month—enough to help pay for basic needs like food and shelter, but not enough to live on independently, especially for those already struggling due to disabilities. As a result, many SSI recipients still reside with family members.
Under the rule change, ProPublica reported that the administration would "penalize" these individuals "simply for living in the same home as their families, according to four federal officials, internal emails, and a federal regulatory listing."
According to the report:
The administration is working on a rule change that would deduct the value of a disabled adult’s bedroom from their SSI allotment, even if the family members they live with are poor enough to qualify for food stamps. This would mean slashing the benefits of some of the most low-income SSI recipients by up to a third... or ending their support altogether.
Kathleen Romig and Devin O’Connor of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities explained the proposed rule change in a policy briefing in August:
Currently, very low-income disabled or older people who receive SSI can have their benefits reduced by up to one-third (about $300 a month) if they receive “in-kind support and maintenance,” including a place to stay. Similarly, SSI recipients can have their benefits reduced based on the income of their parents (if they are under 18) or spouse, under the assumption that they will contribute to an SSI beneficiary’s living expenses. However, these reductions don’t apply to beneficiaries who live in a household that receives “public assistance,” including food assistance programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). That’s because households financially precarious enough to qualify for those benefits can’t afford to financially support SSI recipients...
SSI’s public assistance household rule has been updated to reflect the ways struggling families make ends meet—but the Trump administration proposal would return the program to the outdated criteria first established in 1980... This change would ignore the reality that families who receive SNAP have very low incomes—the typical multi-person SNAP household with at least one member who receives SSI has an annual income of around $17,000, well below the poverty line.
According to ProPublica, one woman with Down syndrome in Philadelphia, 22-year-old Shy’tyra Burton, who has struggled to find a job due to her intellectual disability, is expected to see her $994 monthly benefit cut by about $330 a month because she has continued to live with her father, Rondell, a sanitation worker.
He makes about $2,000 a month, or $24,000 annually—well below the federal poverty line for a single parent with multiple children. Even with the SSI payment, which allows Shy’tyra to pay for her own internet and meals, Rondell said that he's "still barely managing."
Using actuarial figures from the Social Security Administration (SSA), which administers the program, ProPublica determined that as many as 400,000 disabled people and indigent elderly people could lose some or all of their benefits.
"These are not people gaming the system," argued Rep. Mike Levin (D-Calif.), whose state could see more than 57,000 people lose benefits as a result of the cuts.
"Fewer than one in three applicants is approved," he said. "The process takes years and requires medical and vocational evaluations.
"The administration calls this rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse. It is not," he continued. "This policy costs more, helps no one, and punishes families for taking care of their own."
The rule change is being reviewed by the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB), where it will be subject to editing before being sent back to the Social Security Administration, where it will face a period of public comment.
The OMB is administered by Director Russell Vought, one of the architects of the Heritage Foundation's far-right Project 2025 agenda. In addition to using last year's government shutdown to withhold SNAP benefits from around 42 million Americans and starve blue states of funding for federal programs, he has used the office to push for a full-fledged assault on benefits for the poor, disabled, and elderly, including those administered by the SSA.
Vought reportedly led the charge for the SSA to raise the age threshold for disabled adults receiving Social Security disability insurance from 50 to 60, or to remove age as a factor altogether when determining whether a disabled individual has the capability to work. According to the Urban Institute, the plan could have kicked 750,000 people off their disability payments and reduced payouts by $82 million over the next decade.
The administration ultimately backed off the proposal once it became clear that many of those hurt would be older coal miners and factory workers in red states, some of Trump's core demographics of support. But it is still reportedly soldiering ahead with its plan to cut SSI payments for those with disabilities.
Vought has justified these and other dramatic cuts as part of efforts to make the government more efficient. But ProPublica found that while cutting Burton’s benefit could save taxpayers about $11 per day, it could mean her father is unable to care for her, forcing her into a state facility that costs hundreds of dollars a day in public money.
"The Trump rule would have harmful consequences beyond the loss of benefits and eligibility, creating heartbreaking dilemmas for SSI recipients and their families," explained Romig and O'Connor. "It could discourage families from offering help to their loved ones, for fear of jeopardizing their meager benefits. It could force more people to turn to institutional care because they could no longer afford to live in the community."
Fred Wellman, a military veteran and Democratic candidate for the second congressional district in Missouri—a state where around 6,000 disabled and elderly people could potentially be affected by the proposed cuts—called the policy a “truly monstrous decision” especially in light of a recent Republican proposal for Congress to allocate $400 million for Trump’s White House ballroom project after a court ruled it could not be funded using donations.
"As they push to build a $400 million ballroom, they are stripping disabled Americans of their meager benefits," Wellman said. "Over and over, this administration and the GOP choose cruelty over caring. It’s just sick."
Maine Lawmakers Fail to Override Mills' Data Center Ban Veto That Won Applause From Trump-Aligned Group
"When a corporate-funded group like Americans for Prosperity is cheering a veto that benefits an energy- and water-intensive industry like data centers," said one advocate, "it raises serious flags for the public."
The Maine Legislature on Wednesday failed to override Democratic Gov. Janet Mills' veto of a bill that would have established an 18-month moratorium on the expansion of artificial intelligence data centers in the state.
The state House needed 101 votes, of two-thirds of the members' support, to override the veto. The vote on reversing the governor's decision was 72-65.
Environmental and local control advocates were among those expressing anger in recent days over Mills' veto of the trailblazing bill that would have made Maine the first state to impose such a moratorium—while a group with strong ties to President Donald Trump and the Republican Party applauded the move this week, claiming the Democratic governor, also running for US Senate this year, has stood up "for Maine’s economic future" by siding against the ban.
“Gov. Mills made the right decision to veto the data center moratorium," said Ross Connolly, Northeast region director for Americans for Prosperity, the right-wing political advocacy group affiliated with the billionaire Koch brothers, earlier this week.
"At a time when states across the country are competing for investment and innovation, this veto sends a strong signal that Maine is open for business and reinforces the state’s commitment to growth and innovation," said Connolly. "AFP looks forward to working with policymakers to advance solutions that keep Maine on a path toward long-term economic opportunity.”
The group previously denounced the Maine Legislature for passing the bill, which would have stopped state and local governments from approving data center projects with electrical loads of 20 megawatts or more until November 2027. The bill passed with bipartisan support, and its lead sponsor, state Rep. Melanie Sachs (D-48), told Puck that the protections in the legislation would allow the government to “get it right" in Maine by studying the impacts of large data centers before allowing industry-friendly expansions to continue.
President Donald Trump and lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have pushed for state and local governments to welcome the "innovation" offered by artificial intelligence companies by allowing the construction of massive data centers.
But opposition lawmakers in Congress and state legislatures as well as numerous public advocacy groups have warned the expansion of the energy-sucking facilities is already pushing working families' electricity bills higher, straining resources by consuming up to 5 million gallons of water per day, and being used for an industry that's projected to replace nearly 100 million jobs in the next decade, according to an analysis put out by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).
In numerous states—including Arizona, Wisconsin, and Michigan—communities have rallied to block the construction of data centers, citing many of those concerns.
Trump issued an executive order late last year aimed at blocking state governments from regulating the rapidly growing industry.
In Maine, Mills vetoed the legislation after lawmakers voted down an amendment that would have provided a carve-out for the town of Jay, where the local Select Board voted last month to approve a data center that would be housed in the former Androscoggin Mill site. The paper mill was closed in 2023 following a wood pulp digester explosion on the premises, resulting in the loss of about 230 jobs.
"People will say all kinds of things to get their project approved. And then rural communities are often left holding the bag... And the record is clear: Data centers are not producing jobs. They're taking jobs away from people."
Though local policymakers backed the plan to build an over 200-megawatt data center, Seth Berry of Our Power, a group that advocates for clean energy and local control over energy resources, emphasized that Republican lawmakers in Maine appeared intent on ensuring the desires of working people in Jay and other towns aren't represented.
An amendment that would have allowed the Jay project to go forward also would have permitted data centers in "any community where there was a referendum of all voters," Berry, executive director of the group and a former Democratic member of the state House, told Common Dreams. "That amendment was shot down 29-115, and the vast majority of those who voted against it also voted against any moratorium at all."
"So it leaves me wondering, do people really want local communities to have a say?" said Berry, who also served in the state legislature and was House majority leader as well as leading the Joint Standing Committee on Energy, Utilities and Technology for three terms. "I'm all for that. I don't think that's what data center developers want."
He added that plans for data centers have been developed "secretly" between companies and Mills' Department of Energy Resources, which officials "failed to disclose" at a public hearing on the moratorium.
"There was extraordinary dishonesty on the part of the administration," Berry told Common Dreams.
Jim Walsh, policy director for Food & Watch, which advocated for Maine's data center moratorium, cautioned that while many people in Jay and other towns where the facilities are being considered may see the expansion of data centers as a solution to job loss and economic struggles, the employment provided by the centers would mostly be "some level of short-term construction jobs that tend to be for people that aren't in the communities."
"The long-term job prospects are minimal," Walsh told Common Dreams, citing research. "While the impacts on our energy and water infrastructure and water supplies are significant, and we need to be working to move forward with investments in communities that will help to improve people's lives, not drive up costs and allow corporations to profit off of scarce water resources."
Berry suggested that working people in struggling towns where data centers are being proposed need only "look at the facts" to determine whether the "pretty promises made by data center developers are actually trustworthy."
"People will say all kinds of things to get their project approved," Berry told Common Dreams. "And then rural communities are often left holding the bag. And that's exactly the reason in many cases that these towns are in desperate situations, because they trusted people in the past who proved not trustworthy. We've seen paper mills purchased and then sold for scrap after promises of hundreds of jobs. And the record is clear: Data centers are not producing jobs. They're taking jobs away from people."
As Drop Site News reported Tuesday, job loss among Jay residents who worked in paper manufacturing wasn't just the result of the 2023 equipment explosion. Private equity firm Apollo Global Management ran the paper mill in Jay as well as one in Bucksport from 2006-20, during which time it bankrupted "them both, selling off their carcasses for scraps, and eliminating more than 1,000 jobs" in the two towns.
Drop Site noted that the billionaire founder and CEO of Apollo, Marc Rowan, has contributed $50,000 so far to a super political action committee backing Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), a strong AI supporter. The super PAC, Pine Tree Results, recently began running attack ads against Mills' progressive opponent in the Democratic primary, political newcomer and combat veteran Graham Platner, who supported the moratorium.
Platner told NBC News after Mills announced her veto that his "biggest problem with data centers and AI" is not the technology itself, but with who benefits and who is harmed by the manner in which it is rolled out.
"In every moment in human history where a new, transformative technology arises that increases productivity, when it’s left in the hands of corporate power, it is always used to disenfranchise people," Platner warned. "It is always used to, frankly, impact workers negatively.”
Along with the project proposed for Jay, a Minnesota-based company called LiquidCool Solutions has been proposed in Limestone, with the center expected to use up to 26 megawatts of power—the equivalent amount of energy used by more than 20,000 Maine households.
Texas-based multiFUELS has also proposed an integrated energy center including a data center in Sanford in southern Maine. A lawyer representing the company, Anthony Buxton, told Maine Morning Star last week that the project would be in the 100-200 megawatt range.
"A moratorium would be a pretty clear signal they weren’t welcome here,” said Buxton, who, according to Federal Election Commission records, donated just over $2,000 to Mills' Senate campaign late last year.
Walsh told Common Dreams that "when a corporate-funded group like Americans for Prosperity is cheering a veto that benefits an energy- and water-intensive industry like data centers, and that decision comes after financial support from interests tied to a proposed project, it raises serious flags for the public."
Berry was unsurprised that the Trump-aligned group supported Mills' veto.
"Sadly, corporate multinationals tend to call the shots in the Mills administration," Berry told Common Dreams. "This is why she vetoed multiple pro-labor bills, tribal sovereignty, and [publicly owned utility] Pine Tree Power, among other key bills. And all of these vetoes have been sustained by support not from her own party, but from legislative Republicans."
Berry expressed hope that following the Legislature's failure to override Mills' veto, communities across Maine will take action, as other towns have across the country, to ensure they have a say in whether data centers operate there. He also said he hopes voters back candidates for office who who supported the moratorium.
"My expectation is that the conversation will turn to local action and also to the election," said Berry. "It is a big election year. We will choose the next governor. We'll choose the next US senator... And I expect that energy affordability in general, and data centers, as well will be very front of mind."
‘Most Convoluted Bullshit I Ever Heard’: Dem Lawmaker Torches Hegseth for Boat Strike Rationale
"With each of these extrajudicial killings, the administration is pirating American values."
Rep. Bill Keating on Wednesday tore into Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's justifications for US strikes against alleged drug trafficking boats that many legal experts and humans rights organizations consider acts of murder.
During a hearing before the US House Armed Services Committee, Keating (D-Mass.) accused Hegseth of overseeing a lawless killing spree that is damaging the US military's reputation throughout the world.
"With each of these extrajudicial killings, the administration is pirating American values," the Massachusetts Democrat said. "We will continue to investigate this. We will. It'll come forward in the future."
Rep. Bill Keating on Hegseth's justification for the military's extrajudicial killings: "I found no justification. We were given classified information on the second strike. I can't discuss it, but I must tell you, it is the most convoluted bullshit I have ever heard in my life." pic.twitter.com/I8gvGaSMcj
— The Bulwark (@BulwarkOnline) April 29, 2026
Keating then said that, after receiving classified briefings on the administration's boat bombings, he found "no justification" for them whatsoever.
"We were given classified information on the second [boat] strike," Keating said. "I can't discuss it, but I must tell you, it's the most convoluted bullshit I ever heard in my life. This should be public. This is our honor. This is what makes America a difference maker."
Hegseth responded by accusing Keating of leveling "an incredible array of false accusations."
The boat strikes, which have been carried out by US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) since September, have so far killed at least 185 people. The Trump administration has not publicly released any evidence showing the targeted vessels were carrying drugs.
Before the Pentagon under Hegseth's leadership began conducting the lethal boat strikes last year, drug trafficking in international waters was treated as a criminal offense, with law enforcement agencies and the US Coast Guard intercepting boats suspected of carrying drugs and arresting suspects.
Trump’s bombings of boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific have been called “extrajudicial killings” by advocacy groups including Amnesty International.