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Ode To Joy
In a triumphal move back toward democratic rule, Hungary's new leader Péter Magyar took his oath of office Saturday in a "regime-change" ceremony rich with symbolism before thousands of jubilant constituents. The sense of a hopeful new political era resonated in Magyar's tribute to a victory for "ordinary, flesh-and-blood people" - and in the gleeful moves and air guitar of unstoppable "dancing machine" and new Health Minister Zsolt Hegedűs. Lookit this guy boogie. Damn, we can't wait.
The day's celebration" marked Magya's stunning defeat last month of authoritarian Viktor Orbán after 16 years in power. A 45-year-old lawyer who founded the center-right Tisza party in 2024, Magyar won a two-thirds majority over Orbán’s nationalist Fidesz party, which will allow him to roll back many of Orbán’s policies. Tisza now controls 141 seats in the 199-seat Parliament, with over a quarter held by women; Fidesz won 52 seats, down from 135, and far-right Mi Hazánk (Our Homeland) took six. Magyar has vowed to restore democratic institutions, clamp down on corruption, repair ties with the EU, where Orbán often vetoed key decisions including support for Ukraine, and unlock about $20 billion of EU funds to help jump-start Hungary's struggling economy,
Magya was sworn in at the sprawling Parliament building as tens of thousands of Hungarians gathered outside in Kossuth Square. Marking the sea change his victory represents, the EU flag flew for the first time since Orbán’ removed it in 2014, and the Beethoven-inspired European anthem Ode to Joy, symbolizing peace and solidarity, rang out. "Today, every freedom-loving person in the world would like to be Hungarian a little," Magya told the crowd in a message aimed at healing the deep divisions of Orbán's rule. "You have taught (the) world that the most ordinary, flesh-and-blood people can defeat the most vicious tyranny...Today is the fulfillment of a long journey made together (to) once again be a common homeland for all Hungarians."
As the party went all day and into the night - when Magyar took on DJ duties - the high point of its joy and fervor may have come after Magyar's speech when Zsolt Hegedűs, unable to restrain himself, broke out into dancing as the singer Jalja began performing The Hanging Tree: "Strange things have happened here." Hungary's new 56-year-old Health Minister and an internationally recognised orthopaedic surgeon who spent 10 years working for the UK's NHS, Hegedűs had already gone viral last month when, on stage after Magyar's landslide victory, he busted out some fiery dance moves and air guitar in his excitement. This time, he said he wasn't planning a repeat performance. Then the music started...And 140 Party members joined in.
"I could see the audience had been waiting for this," he said. "I didn’t want to let down the people.” So off he went, delighting everyone (except, possibly, his kids if he has any) with his slick moves. The next day, he ascribed it all to his "emotional roller-coaster" since Magyar's victory, with his chance to repair Hungary's health care system, take down Orbán's hate-mongering propaganda, urge people to focus on their mental health. "It's not that I'm going to start dancing in Parliament, but I want (to) encourage people to adopt a healthy lifestyle...Go outside, dance, be together," he said. "The weight has begun to lift from people’s shoulders." America, weary, ravaged, hungry for peace, just imagine the miracle of it. And for now enjoy his glee.
- YouTube www.youtube.com
May 10, 2026
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Trump Approval of 'Keystone Light' Pipeline Blasted as Yet Another Gift to Big Oil
"We know that if this project goes through, our land and our water are in danger. Our future is in danger," warned Krystal Two Bulls, one of many community, conservation, and Indigenous group leaders speaking out after President Donald Trump granted a cross-border permit to what critics called "nothing more than an attempt to resurrect the unpopular Keystone XL pipeline."
Trump's permit for the Bridger Pipeline Expansion Project authorizes various "petroleum products, including gasoline, kerosene, diesel, and liquefied petroleum gas," The Associated Press reported Thursday, but Bridger spokesperson Bill Salvin said the company is currently focused on crude oil—550,000 barrels of which could flow daily from Canada, through Montana, to Guernsey, Wyoming, if the pipeline is completed.
"Water protectors are standing up again, like we have always done against all those who threaten Mother Earth," Two Bulls, an Oglala Lakota and Northern Cheyenne organizer from Lame Deer, Montana, and executive director of Honor the Earth, said Friday. "We fought against the Keystone XL pipeline proposed for these very same lands and won back in 2021. We will fight and win again against the Bridger pipeline."
Shortly after entering office in 2021, then-President Joe Biden revoked the presidential permit for Keystone XL—which Trump had signed during his first term—as part of the Democrat's efforts to combat the fossil fuel-driven climate emergency.
While Biden faced criticism from climate advocates for the oil and gas projects he did allow, Trump took a swipe at him on Thursday, telling reporters: "Slightly different from the last administration. They wouldn't sign a pipeline deal, and we have pipelines going up."
Trump—who campaigned on a pledge to "drill, baby, drill" and returned to the White House last year with financial help from Big Oil—also dismissed safety concerns about pipelines, saying: "By the way, they're way underground. They're not a problem. Nobody even knows they're there. It's so crazy. But they wouldn't approve anything having to do with a pipeline."
As the AP detailed:
Bridger Pipeline and other subsidiaries of True Company have been responsible for several major pipeline accidents including more than 50,000 gallons (240,000 liters) of crude that spilled into the Yellowstone River and fouled a Montana city's drinking water supply in 2015, a 45,000-gallon diesel spill in Wyoming in 2022 and a 2016 spill that released more than 600,000 gallons (2.7 million liters) of crude in North Dakota, contaminating the Little Missouri River and a tributary.
Subsidiaries of True agreed to pay a $12.5 million civil penalty to settle a federal lawsuit over the North Dakota and Montana spills.
Salvin said Bridger Pipeline in the years since the Yellowstone spill developed an AI-based leak detection system that allows it to be notified more quickly when there are problems. It also plans to bore 30 to 40 feet (9 to 12 meters) beneath major rivers including the Yellowstone and Missouri to reduce the chances of an accident. The 2015 accident occurred on a line that was constructed in a shallow trench at the bottom of the river.
A public comment submitted to the Trump administration by the legal group Earthjustice on behalf of Honor the Earth, Sierra Club, WildEarth Guardians, and a dozen other organizations acknowledges concerns about this pipeline's potential impacts to water, land, the climate, air quality, cultural resources, recreation, and more—and called for an intense federal review of the project.
"We know how this system works: More pipelines mean more drilling, more waste, and more spills. And when spills happen, it's communities, landowners, and tribes who are left dealing with the contamination, not the companies profiting from it," Rebecca Sobel, climate and health director at WildEarth Guardians, said Friday. "Oil and gas infrastructure fails every day in this country, and expanding that system only increases the likelihood of spills and long-term contamination."
Sierra Club Montana chapter director Caryn Miske stressed that "while the Trump administration kills affordable energy projects and jobs across the country, it is continuing to side with wealthy corporations and oil executives looking to increase profit regardless of the risks to Montana's treasured waterways and to families and businesses struggling with high energy costs. These policies aren't about fair or free markets, it's welfare for corporations and pollution for everyone else."
Earthjustice is also representing 350 Montana, Center for Biological Diversity, Families for a Livable Climate, Montana Environmental Information Center, Montana Health and Climate, Mountain Mamas, Red Medicine LLC, Western Environmental Law Center, Western Organization of Resource Councils, Western Watersheds Project, Wild Montana, and Wyoming Outdoor Council.
"The proposed Bridger tar sands pipeline is an environmental disaster waiting to happen," declared Jenny Harbine, managing attorney with Earthjustice's Northern Rockies office. "The Trump administration appears more than willing to limit public engagement to force this project through."
"Communities and tribes in the Northern Rockies have a right to know how this could impact their water sources, historic resources, and ways of life," Harbine added. "If the administration attempts to sidestep that legal obligation, we’ll see them in court."
Separately on Friday, Anthony Swift, a longtime leader in the fight against the pipeline and current senior strategist for global nature at Natural Resources Defense Council, said that "no matter what you call the project, the environmental concerns that animated the fight over Keystone XL are no less acute today. Keystone Light will threaten water supplies and exacerbate climate change. This is the moment to get off the oil roller coaster, not double down on the dirtiest oil on the planet."
"The Trump administration has been lobbing gifts to Big Oil since its first day in office. This is the latest in a long, long, long list of favors that show the oil industry is getting a great return on its billion-dollar investment in the president's campaign," Swift added. "President Trump has repeatedly said that America does not need Canada's oil, so we certainly don't need Keystone Light."
May 01, 2026
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As Inflation Soars Under Trump, US Families Face Record High Household Debt
While inflation hit a three-year high on Tuesday and President Donald Trump publicly confessed that he doesn't consider how his illegal war on Iran impacts Americans' finances, a Federal Reserve bank revealed that US household debt has risen to a record high of $18.8 trillion.
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York's Center for Microeconomic Data found that household debt increased by $18 billion in the first quarter of this year.
It specifically found that by the end of March, mortgage balances increased by $21 billion to $13.19 trillion, home equity line of credit balances jumped by $12 billion to $446 billion, and automobile loan balances rose by $18 billion to $1.69 trillion.
The center further found that "while student loan balances remained essentially flat, decreasing by $6 billion and standing at $1.66 trillion," the delinquency rate "increased to 10.3% of balances 90+ days delinquent, up from the 9.6%" in the last quarter of 2025.
The analysis notes that credit card balances dropped by $25 billion to $1.25 trillion, a seasonal decline that generally occurs after the winter holidays. However, in its coverage of the New York Fed's findings, CNBC highlighted another report out Tuesday that shows how Americans are struggling with current economic conditions.
As CNBC detailed:
More than half—53%—of consumers carry credit card balances to cover essential expenses, according to a report released Tuesday by debt management company Achieve.
"For many households, higher balances are less a sign of economic optimism and more a sign that wages and savings are struggling to keep pace with essential expenses like groceries, utilities, and housing," Austin Kilgore, analyst for the Achieve Center for Consumer Insights, said in a statement.
Among respondents in Achieve's survey of 2,000 consumers, 57% of borrowers said it would take six months or longer to pay off all their credit card debt.
According to ABC News, "On a call with reporters Tuesday morning, researchers at the New York Fed described Americans' overall credit as 'stable,' but noted there are weaknesses among younger consumers and lower-income households."
Mike Pierce, co-founder and executive director of the advocacy group Protect Borrowers, was far more scathing, declaring in a statement that "working families are at a breaking point and desperately need relief. Instead, President Trump is bragging about his plans for a new White House ballroom while his head economist touts families' surging debts as a sign of a booming economy."
"These numbers tell the real story: Trump's economy has driven up costs," Pierce continued. "His administration has failed to address—and in many cases, worsened—an historic cost-of-living crisis that is crushing everyday Americans under stagnant wages and rampant price gouging by grocery conglomerates, data centers, corporate landlords, and private equity firms."
"Making matters worse, Trump's war with Iran is pushing inflation to record levels and forcing Americans to feel the economic pain at the pump," he added, as gasoline prices topped $4.50 a gallon on Tuesday. "It is clear that President Trump is not only failing to 'Make America Affordable Again' but is actively pushing millions of families further into the red."
Last week, Pierce's group and The Century Foundation published an analysis about soaring US auto loan debt. Report co-author and Protect Borrowers senior fellow Tara Mikkilineni said at the time that "for millions of working families, a car is not a luxury, it is an essential economic lifeline. Working families deserve relief, and they deserve to have a government that is watching out for them, not allowing lenders and auto dealers to rake in record profits at their expense."
Meanwhile, Trump—who is facing intense disapproval from the US public, particularly regarding the economy—has repeatedly made clear he doesn't care how his policies, from sweeping tariffs to the Iran War, impact Americans' pocketbooks.
Trump's assault prompted Iran to restrict ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a key trade route, which has driven up the prices of fossil fuels worldwide. Speaking with journalists outside the White House last month, Trump suggested that $4 a gallon for gas is "not very high."
Asked about the war's impact on the US public's finances again on Tuesday, Trump said that "the only thing that matters when I'm talking about Iran—they can't have a nuclear weapon. I don't think about Americans' financial situation. I don't think about anybody. I think about one thing—we cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon. That's all."
Those remarks came just hours after the latest consumer price index from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, which shows that prices increased by 3.8% on an annual basis in April—above economists' expected 3.7% jump—and the cost of living rose above average monthly wage gains. Various experts responded by taking aim at the president.
University of Michigan economist Justin Wolfers said that "Trump campaigned on bringing down the cost of living 'starting on day one,' and then: started a trade war; deported much of the farm workforce, bombed Iran, allowed healthcare subsidies to expire, cut food assistance, ran an interest-rate boosting deficit, and attacked Fed independence."
May 12, 2026
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Report Details How Trump Did Big Tobacco’s Bidding on Flavored Vapes Despite Risk to Kids
The resignation of a pair of top health officials in the Trump administration this week has brought to light efforts by the president to help Big Tobacco executives and lobbyists sell addictive flavored e-cigarettes that could be marketed to children.
On Friday, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued new guidance allowing cigarette makers to begin marketing and selling fruit- and candy-flavored vape products on store shelves, which were banned under previous administrations due to evidence that they were driving youth vaping.
The policy was enacted despite the strong opposition of then-FDA Commissioner Marty Makary, who resigned on Tuesday, reportedly because he could not in good conscience support it.
Makary's resignation was followed by the departure of Rich Danker, the chief spokesperson for Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who similarly warned that the policy "would appeal to children and expose them to nicotine addiction, lung damage, and higher risk of cancer" in a letter addressed to Trump on Wednesday.
Danker did not blame Trump for the policy in his letter; instead, he attributed it to "senior HHS officials in the immediate office of the secretary."
This is despite the fact that The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Trump had personally berated Makary over his hesitation to enact the policy and had signed off on a plan to fire him.
A New York Times report on Wednesday confirms the extent of Trump's direct involvement in strong-arming the FDA into enacting the policy. It found that he pressured higher-ups in HHS to move the policy forward amid a tongue-lashing from tobacco industry lobbyists and executives angry that they could not get in on the highly profitable sale of fruit- and candy-flavored vapes. Despite being illegal and mostly imported to the US from China, these vapes make up about 60% of the total e-cigarette market.
Trump, who ran in 2024 on a pledge to "save vaping" as part of an effort to appeal to young voters, has raked in huge sums of money from the tobacco industry. According to data from OpenSecrets, his inaugural committee took over $3 million from vaping special interests, including $1.25 million from the Vapor Technology Association, and $1 million apiece from Altria and Breeze Smoke.
Altria, which owns Marlboro maker Philip Morris, and Reynolds American, which owns Lucky Strike and Camel, have also offered donations to Trump's $400 million White House ballroom project. Reynolds, the biggest producer of menthol cigarettes, also gave $10 million to the super PAC backing Trump in 2024.
According to The New York Times, executives for Altria and Reynolds were turning the screws on Trump over lunch at his golf club in Jupiter, Florida, in early May because they were "unhappy with the way the Food and Drug Administration was regulating their industry."
Trump interrupted the conversation to call up RFK Jr. and Mehmet Oz, the head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), and complained to them about the FDA's regulation of e-cigarettes.
Within a week, the new policy had been enacted, and its leading opponent, Makary, was gone. He has since been replaced by Kyle Diamantas, whom the healthcare advocacy group Protect Our Care described as "a 30-something lawyer whose qualifications for such a critical public health role seem to begin and end at being Donald Trump Jr.’s 'hunting buddy.'”
"Donald Trump’s fury at FDA head Makary was motivated by gross political opportunism and fat checks from the big vape industry," said Jeremy Funk, the deputy director of Protect Our Care's Public Health Watch team. "Trump could not care less about the health consequences and costs of giving teenagers access to addictive flavored poison if it means his tobacco industry donors can make record profits."
While youth vaping is at a 10-year low, about 1.6 million middle and high school students were estimated to use vape products in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's 2024 National Youth Tobacco Survey. Nearly 90% of them said they used fruit and candy-flavored vapes.
Dr. Jerome Adams, a physician and professor at Purdue University, said in a post on social media that the rise of vaping has fueled a rebound in nicotine usage among college-aged adults.
"Youth combustible cigarette smoking was already at an all-time low and consistently dropping before vaping came on the scene. There is literally no reason to believe that the majority of young people who are now vaping would have otherwise been smoking combustible cigarettes," he said. "Amongst college-age and young adults, nicotine use is going back up to incredibly high rates—largely due to vaping."
The new policy enacted by the FDA has so far only authorized the sale of flavored products by one company, the Los Angeles-based Glas Inc., which will be allowed to sell vapes in flavors like mango and blueberry under names like "Gold" and "Sapphire."
The FDA sought to assuage fears of underage use by pointing to the Glas' digital age-verification system, which requires the product to be connected to the Bluetooth of a phone owned by a person over the age of 21. However, it is expected that, especially amid industry pressure, more companies will have their products approved soon.
Kayla Hancock, director of Protect Our Care’s Public Health Project, said that while Makary had a "terrible record" as FDA commissioner, having taken actions that slowed vaccine development and launched dubious, politically charged "reviews" of abortion pills long found to be safe, "apparently, it wasn’t terrible enough for Donald Trump."
"Hesitating to approve flavored vapes and not put American teens on a fast-track to lifelong addiction to harmful nicotine products is the bare minimum anyone could hope for from the Trump FDA," she said. "But that was a bridge too far for Donald Trump, who sees young people as disposable political pawns that he can appeal to with poison while lining the pockets of his big vape donors."
She said the ouster of Makary and his replacement with Diamantas "all but guarantees an FDA further consumed by chaos and driven by the wish lists of special interests that want profits put before public health."
May 13, 2026
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AFL-CIO to FIFA: 'Keep ICE Out of World Cup Host Cities' to Protect Workers
AFL-CIO president Liz Shuler on Monday urged leaders of the International Federation of Association Football, world soccer's governing body, to protect workers by keeping federal immigration enforcement agents away from cities and venues hosting the upcoming FIFA Men's World Cup tournament.
"As we approach the final preparations for the World Cup and workers begin readying stadiums and communities for an influx of visitors, several of our affiliate unions have raised grave concerns over FIFA’s engagement with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)," Shuler wrote in a letter to FIFA president Gianni Infantino and 2026 World Cup chief strategy and planning officer Amy Hopfinger.
"Chief among those concerns is the potential for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other DHS agents to be present at and around the World Cup matches," Shuler continued. "As the AFL-CIO is a founding member of Dignity 2026, a national coalition of labor and grassroots community groups, we know concerns around the possibility of immigration enforcement are wide-reaching."
America’s unions are calling on FIFA leadership to keep ICE out of World Cup host cities during the games.The Trump administration's immigration enforcement poses a serious risk to the thousands of World Cup workers. https://bit.ly/3Pb9lI2
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— AFL-CIO (@aflcio.org) May 11, 2026 at 10:52 AM
Noting that acting ICE Director Todd Lyons has called his agency—and specifically its Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) division—"a key part of the overall security apparatus for the World Cup," Shuler lamented that "FIFA has largely remained silent about the role ICE will play in the games."
"Given the racial profiling, warrantless arrests, and other unconstitutional tactics the Trump administration is using to detain and deport people with no regard for due process, our affiliate unions are deeply concerned about ICE being engaged for any purpose during the World Cup," she said. "Indeed, some unions have signaled that this would create an unsafe work environment that may require them to take collective action to ensure that no members are put at risk."
Shuler continued:
The tactics of discrimination, violence, and intimidation used by immigration agencies to target working people across the country cause fear and chaos in our communities, and directly affect workers, business operations, and local economies. Consequently, ICE presence in host cities during the games could cause severe disruptions and negatively affect the success of the tournament. We urge FIFA to consider the financial and human impact that collaborating with DHS could have on the working people who make these games possible, not to mention on local businesses, host cities and communities, and FIFA itself. The games should be a welcoming and celebratory event for spectators, workers, and soccer enthusiasts of all backgrounds.
The AFL-CIO president is calling on FIFA leaders to:
- Publicly call on the Trump administration to commit to keeping immigration enforcement agents, particularly ICE, out of host cities;
- Clarify what role DHS will play, with the expectation that any DHS presence at FIFA events be strictly limited to providing operational security; and
- Confirm that the administration will not launch immigration enforcement operations targeting workers, spectators, or the general public anywhere in the host cities.
"Additionally, unions have raised concerns over the accreditation and background check process that FIFA will be using to credential workers during the games," Shuler wrote. "It is our understanding that FIFA will be submitting worker information through an FBI database. We call on FIFA to ensure that unions representing members at World Cup stadiums receive clear answers and open dialogue to all questions about this process."
"Given the ways in which federal agencies are violating workers’ privacy rights to build datasets to support unconstitutional immigration enforcement activity, and FIFA’s relative silence on the scope and implications of these checks, we are asking you to commit to working with unions so that they can fully understand the process to which their members will be subjected and ensure that workers’ privacy and safety are respected," she continued. "Specifically, we seek assurances from FIFA that no information reported in these checks will be shared with any constituent part of DHS that engages in immigration enforcement or used for immigration enforcement purposes."
"Union members working in stadiums, hotels, event production, transportation, and many other industries will be critical to the success of these games. They deserve respect, dignity, and safety on the job so they in turn can provide a safe and welcoming environment for all players and fans," Shuler concluded. "FIFA must be transparent about its plans for engaging with DHS and the administration so that workers can do their jobs without fear and provide the best possible World Cup experience for neighbors and visitors alike."
The US, Canada, and Mexico are jointly hosting the tournament—the first time three nations are doing so—which is set to kick off with group stage matches in Mexico City and Guadalajara on June 11 and Los Angeles and Toronto the following day.
A coalition of more than 120 US-based civil society groups last month issued a travel advisory ahead the tournament over what the ACLU called the “deteriorating human rights situation” in the United States amid the Trump administration’s deadly anti-immigrant crackdown, suppression of free speech, and more.
Citing the “absence of meaningful action and concrete guarantees from FIFA”—world soccer’s governing body—“host cities, or the US government,” the coalition urged “fans, players, journalists, and other visitors traveling to and within the United States” for the tournament to “have an emergency contingency plan.”
The presence of HSI agents, who provided security services for US diplomats during February's Winter Olympics in Milano-Cortina Italy, sparked multiple protests in which thousands of people took to the streets of the Lombardian capital to denounce what Milano Mayor Giuseppe Sala called "a militia that kills."
As the tournament kickoff nears, there are also multiple unresolved labor disputes that could lead to strikes. In Inglewood, California, roughly 2,000 UNITE HERE Local 11 food service and hospitality workers at SoFi Stadium are threatening to strike before or during the tournament unless FIFA and venue operators address concerns about working conditions and the ICE threat.
Sheraton Hotel workers in Center City Philadelphia are ready to strike during the World Cup for a fair contract.The hotel is completely booked and workers have been without a contract for over two years now.
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— Sean Kitchen (@seankitchen.bsky.social) May 2, 2026 at 3:55 PM
In Mexico City, transport unions are pushing for improved worker protections ahead of the tournament. Using their leverage ahead of one of the world's premier sporting events, workers have recently secured commitments from the city to raise overtime pay, negotiate permanent contracts, enact anti-harassment protections, and boost workplace safety.
In addition to concerns about workers, some capitalists have warned that the Trump administration's draconian immigration policies and generally unwelcoming vibes could affect their bottom line.
“When you have visitors asking legitimate questions about what their experience will be coming through customs and immigration... those are big impediments to optimizing what should be a home run opportunity for the lodging industry," Marriott CEO Anthony Capuano said earlier this year.
There has also been considerable controversy surrounding FIFA's much-ridiculed awarding of its inaugural Peace Prize to President Donald Trump amid his administration’s illegal high-seas boat-bombing spree, and just ahead of his Christmas bombing of Nigeria, kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, launch of the US-Israeli war of choice against tournament qualifier Iran, and threats to attack several other countries.
May 12, 2026
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Senate Iran War Powers Resolution Falls Short by One Vote—Thanks to John Fetterman
The US Senate on Wednesday once again voted down a resolution that would have restricted President Donald Trump's ability to use military force against Iran, and this time a Democratic senator was the deciding vote.
The resolution failed after Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) voted with the majority of Republican senators against a war powers resolution introduced by Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.).
The resolution would would have passed had Fetterman supported it because Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) all voted in favor.
This is now the seventh time the Senate has blocked a war powers resolution on Iran since Trump illegally began the conflict in late February.
As noted by Zeteo reporter Prem Thakker, a poll taken two months ago found that Pennsylvania voters disapproved of the Iran war by 16 percentage points, and more recent national polling shows that the war has grown more unpopular over time.
"Nonetheless," Thakker commented, "John Fetterman was just a deciding vote to keep it going."
Fetterman has frequently been at odds with his party on a number of issues, including the war with Iran and building Trump's proposed luxury ballroom at the White House.
Despite the motion's failure, Ryan Costello, policy director of the National Iranian American Council, optimistically pointed out that this war powers resolution came closer to passing than any others, with Murkowski crossing the aisle for the first time to register her support.
"Sen. Murkowski moved in line with the vast majority of Americans who want this war to end," said Costello, "and did so right after hearing Secretary of War Pete Hegseth claim that the Trump administration did not need authorization from Congress to resume the war, and as gas prices in Alaska hit $5.26."
May 13, 2026
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'Have You Investigated Those Claims' of Civilians Killed by US in Iran? CENTCOM Chief: 'We Have Not'
With more than 1,700 civilians, including hundreds of children, reportedly killed during US-Israeli bombarding of Iran, one advocacy group said that "more pressure and oversight on these war crimes is urgently needed."
May 14, 2026
While claiming that the subject of civilian casualties is his “passion” before US lawmakers during a US Senate hearing on Thursday, the head of US Central Command was asked directly if he and his team had investigated a litany of reports about civilians being killed or maimed by US bombs in Iran. His answer? No.
Commander Adm. Brad Cooper appeared before the Senate Armed Services Committee for a hearing on US Central Command (CENTCOM) and US Africa Command (AFRICOM) concerning the Trump administration's request for $1.5 trillion in military spending authorization for 2027.
During the questioning, Cooper refuted reports that US-Israeli airstrikes have hit 22 schools in Iran and raised eyebrows for his answers regarding cuts to Pentagon programs meant to mitigate harm to noncombatants.
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY)—who last month led the introduction of a defeated war powers resolution aimed at stopping President Donald Trump's "reckless" attack on Iran—pressed Cooper about US conduct in the war. She cited New York Times reporting that 22 schools and 17 healthcare facilities have been destroyed or damaged since Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched the illegal war of choice on February 28.
"We have regulations. We have the law of war. We have human rights obligations. We have our own targeting requirements to avoid civilian harm and death," Gillibrand said. "Have you been implementing all the laws that are required under current law to minimize civilian death?"
.@SenGillibrand presses CENTCOM Commander Cooper on the bombing of schools and hospitals in Iran.
Cooper’s response is woefully insufficient, denying that more than one such bombing took place, despite widespread documentation of bombings destroying protected civilian sites. pic.twitter.com/8gy6Zx6eg2
— NIAC (@NIACouncil) May 14, 2026
"We follow all the procedures and have gone above and beyond to, in my case, personally warn the Iranian people of several instances during conflict where they were being potentially used as human targets," the admiral said.
Asked by Gillibrand "how did we then bomb 22 schools," Cooper countered that "there is no indication that we have that has been corroborated."
The Iranian Red Crescent Society claimed last month that at least 60 students and 10 staff members were killed in US-Israeli attacks on 32 universities and 857 schools.
Pressed by the senator on "how many schools" the US has bombed, Cooper retorted that "there is one active civilian casualty investigation from the 13,629 munitions" used to attack Iran.
The admiral was presumably referring to the February 28 cruise missile strike on the Shajareh Tayyebeh girls’ elementary school in Minab, which killed 156 students and staff and wounded 95 others. Trump and senior administration officials initially denied responsibility for the massacre, but physical evidence, journalistic investigations, and a preliminary Pentagon probe indicate US culpability.
A skeptical Gillibrand repeated her question about 22 schools "and multiple hospitals" being bombed.
"There's no way that we can corroborate that," Cooper replied. "No indication of that whatsoever."
The senator asked for clarification: "There's no way you can corroborate, or no indication of it? Which one?"
Cooper answered, "No indication."
"Well, the indication is what's publicly available," Gillibrand fired back. "There is indication. Have you investigated those claims?"
The admiral replied, "We have not."
Gillibrand continued: "Why have you not? If this is a passion of yours, if you believe that the civilian casualties are not consistent with the law of war and not consistent with human rights obligations... why have you not investigated those allegations when they're publicly being made on the cover of The New York Times?"
The senator then asked how Cooper has "managed the 90% cut to the personnel who are supposed to avoid civilian targets," a reference to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's gutting of the Biden-era Civilian Harm Mitigation and Response Action Plan (CHMR-AP), which laid out a series of policy steps aimed at preventing and responding to the death and injury of noncombatants.
The plan, which was implemented after US forces killed an estimated 432,000 civilians since late 2001 during the so-called War on Terror, was skeptically welcomed for its commitment to reducing harm to noncombatants. However, Hegseth said at the outset of the Iran War that US forces would not be bound by “stupid rules of engagement" and would instead prioritize “lethality."
The Pentagon eliminated the entire civilian harm office at Joint Special Operations Command, removed related specialists from target development teams, and slashed CENTCOM's civilian harm mitigation team from 10 people to just one full-time staffer.
Cooper told Gillibrand that he would be "happy to provide any report" on the matter.
Iranian officials and human rights groups say more than 1,700 Iranian civilians have been killed by US and Israeli attacks since February 28. US and Israeli use of artificial intelligence systems to select bombing targets exponentially faster than any person has also raised concerns regarding a lack of meaningful human oversight. One former IDF officer said AI enabled a “mass assassination factory” in Gaza, where more than 250,000 Palestinians have been killed or wounded by Israeli attacks since the Hamas-led attack of October 7, 2023.
The National Iranian American Council (NIAC) said after the exchange with Gillibrand that "Cooper’s response is woefully insufficient, denying that more than one such bombing took place, despite widespread documentation of bombings destroying protected civilian sites."
"More than 1,700 civilians, including hundreds of children, were killed in the bombardment of Iran," NIAC added. "Dozens of schools and hospitals were damaged and destroyed by the dropping of massive bombs in urban areas. More pressure and oversight on these war crimes is urgently needed."
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Hegseth Drops New Ad for Proposed $1.5 Trillion Pentagon Budget as Poll Shows 60% Opposed
"What we're seeing is the public experience how more spending does not actually keep them safe," said a researcher at Brown University's Costs of War Project.
May 14, 2026
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday released yet another ad pitching President Donald Trump's proposed $1.5 trillion Pentagon budget, as new polling showed major skepticism over the idea.
In his latest pitch for the record-breaking defense budget, the former Fox News host insists that "America is not in decline," even though the US has been unable to compel Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz despite having spent nearly $1 trillion on defense in 2025.
"We remain the strongest military power on Earth," Hegseth continued. "But that power requires renewal. And with global threats that are constantly evolving, it's time to make a $1.5 trillion investment."
The $1.5 trillion investment is a GENERATIONAL DOWN PAYMENT on America’s national defense.
This investment guarantees the United States maintains overwhelming strength and unmatched deterrence against any adversary for generations to come. pic.twitter.com/2zOSlZkzNr
— Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (@SecWar) May 14, 2026
A $1.5 trillion military budget would be over 50% more than the 2025 US defense budget and more than four times the money spent on defense by China, the world’s second-biggest defense spender.
Among other things, Hegseth said that the budget would invest $18 billion into Trump's proposed "Golden Dome" missile defense shield, which the Congressional Budget Office on Tuesday estimated would cost $1.2 trillion to create, deploy, and operate over the first 20 years of its existence.
Hegseth also said that the Pentagon would be increasing its investment in artificial intelligence by "800%," although it's not at the moment clear how well AI helps militaries effectively fight wars.
The defense secretary concluded his video by insisting that "we are expanding our strength, we are restoring our deterrence, and we are putting America first."
USA Today reported on Thursday that a new poll conducted by ReThink Media and the Costs of War Project at Brown University finds that nearly 60% of Americans think the proposed Trump Pentagon budget is too large, including 40% who say $1.5 trillion is "much too high" to spend on defense.
Breaking the figures down by party, 87% of Democrats said the defense budget was too high, along with 54% of independents, and even 30% of Republicans.
Jennifer Greenburg, a researcher with Brown's Costs of War Project, told USA Today that Americans were broadly skeptical that plunging more taxpayer money into the Pentagon is really necessary given that the US already doles out more for defense than the next four biggest spenders—China, Russia, Germany, and India—combined.
"In real time, I think what we're seeing," said Greenberg, "is the public experience how more spending does not actually keep them safe."
In a column published by The New York Times on Wednesday, longtime national security reporter Noah Shachtman argued that Hegseth's $1.5 trillion proposal was "less like a budget and more like a trip to an endless casino buffet" in which the Pentagon spends money in "gut-busting proportions."
Shachtman also noted that the proposed $1.5 trillion defense budget comes at a time when the Trump administration has wrecked traditional oversight mechanisms, thus making waste and fraud far more likely at a Pentagon that's never passed an audit.
"One of their early actions was to fire and replace the Pentagon’s inspector general, whose office looks into claims of fraud and abuse in military contracting," Shachtman explained. "The independent office that tests whether our weapons actually work has been gutted."
Ben Freeman, director of the Democratizing Foreign Policy program at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, argued in an analysis published on Tuesday that Hegseth's budget pitch at congressional hearings this week was particularly baffling because there is really no imperative behind it on par with the Cold War or the post-9/11 defense buildup.
"Despite presenting no strategic necessity for the largest year-over-year Pentagon spending increase since World War II," Freeman wrote, "Hegseth repeatedly claimed the $1.5 trillion Pentagon budget was a sound financial decision, arguing in the Senate hearing that 'at every level we have made it a fiscally responsible budget.' Yet, the fact is that the entirety of this proposed increase in Pentagon spending would be deficit financed, effectively going on Uncle Sam’s credit card."
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Journalists, Audiobook Narrators Sue AI Giants Under Illinois Biometric Privacy Law for 'Stealing Their Voices'
"They've built a billion-dollar industry on stolen voices because they thought no one would make them pay for it," said a lawyer for the plaintiffs.
May 14, 2026
In yet another display of how Illinois' pioneering biometric privacy law can be used to protect Americans, state residents who work as audio storytellers, broadcast journalists, podcasters, voice actors, and more filed class-action lawsuits against Big Tech this week for "stealing their voices" to develop artificial intelligence products.
Since Illinois legislators passed the groundbreaking Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) in 2008—regulating the collection, use, safeguarding, handling, storage, retention, and destruction of biometric identifiers, including fingerprints, voiceprints, and scans of a retina, iris, hand, or face geometry—there have been thousands of lawsuits filed and major settlements with Clearview AI, Facebook, and Six Flags.
Represented by the award-winning civil rights firm Loevy + Loevy, the Illinoisans are suing Adobe, Alphabet and its subsidiary Google, Apple, Amazon, ElevenLabs, Facebook parent company Meta, Microsoft, NVIDIA, and Samsung under BIPA.
The plaintiffs are audiobook narrators Lindsay Dorcus and Victoria Nassif as well as journalists Robin Amer, Yohance Lacour, Carol Marin, and Phil Rogers. Journalist Alison Flowers is part of all lawsuits except those against Amazon and Apple. Their lawyers noted that "between them, they have multiple Emmy and Peabody awards, several Pulitzer Prizes, several Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University awards, an Edward R. Murrow award, a James Beard award, a SOVAS award, and many, many other honors."
Their cases focus on the voiceprint of each plaintiff, which is "a digital fingerprint of the human voice," as the complaints explain. "It is a mathematical capture of the acoustic features—pitch, timbre, resonance—that emerge from a person's distinctive physiology, combined with the speech patterns that person develops over a lifetime: accent, cadence, articulation. Like a fingerprint, a voiceprint identifies the individual. Like a fingerprint, it cannot be changed."
The Adobe case targets Firefly, the company's family of generative AI models. The complaint states that the company "treated the human voices that built Firefly as ownerless—ignoring the speakers' rights, taking their voiceprints without asking, paying them nothing, and giving them no notice that their voices were being used at all, and "built a mirage of commercial safety around products whose construction violated the one thing Illinois law requires before collecting a voiceprint: consent from the person."
The Google filing points out that the company "has been a repeat defendant in BIPA cases" and even "paid approximately $100
million to settle BIPA claims arising from Google Photos' face grouping feature," among other high-profile settlements.
The Meta suit highlights that "no defendant in any biometric-privacy matter pending in the United States has had more direct, more sustained, or more financially consequential notice of BIPA than Meta," given that the company "has paid the three largest biometric-privacy settlements in American history," including $650 million to resolve claims under the Illinois law regarding Facebook's photo tag suggestions.
"By the time Meta released Voicebox in June 2023, MMS in May 2023, and SeamlessM4T in August 2023, Meta had been a BIPA defendant for nearly a decade and had paid more than $2 billion in biometric-privacy settlements," the complaint continues. "The technology Meta built using plaintiffs' voices now competes with plaintiffs in the markets where they earn their living."
The Amazon filing details similar harm to plaintiffs:
Amazon extracted plaintiffs' voiceprints without notice or consent, depriving them of the right BIPA guarantees to make an informed decision about the collection and use of their biometric data. Amazon retains those voiceprints in its commercial models and continues to profit from them. Amazon has further disseminated those voiceprints, encoded in model parameters, through its cross-affiliate, subprocessor, and integration-partner networks. The technology built on those voiceprints now displaces plaintiffs in the markets where they earn their living—the broadcast journalism, investigative podcast, audiobook narration, voiceover, and voice performance markets that the voice products are designed and sold to serve.
"What we are seeing is an illegal and unethical exploitation of talent on a massive scale, and one of the largest violations of biometric privacy ever committed," said Loevy + Loevy attorney Ross Kimbarovsky in a Thursday statement.
"The legislators who wrote and passed BIPA had the foresight to realize that biometric privacy was going to be a major civil rights issue in the 21st century," the attorney continued. "Social security numbers can be changed, passwords can be reset, and credit cards can be canceled, but once your biometric data is compromised, there's nothing you can do about it."
"These companies know the law, know their liability, and know exactly how to build consent systems that comply with BIPA," Kimbarovsky added. "They've built a billion-dollar industry on stolen voices because they thought no one would make them pay for it."
In addition to Illinois, Texas and Washington state have enacted biometric privacy laws, while California, Colorado, Connecticut, Utah, and Virginia have comprehensive consumer protection policies that apply to such information, according to Bloomberg Law. However, efforts in Congress to enact federal legislation—such as the National Biometric Information Privacy Act and the Facial Recognition and Biometric Technology Moratorium Act—have been unsuccessful.
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