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Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
Meredith Turner, Farm
Sanctuary, 646-369-6212, mturner@farmsanctuary.org
Farm Sanctuary, the nation's leading farm animal protection organization,
announced publically today the appointment of a new executive director, Allan E.
Kornberg, M.D. Farm Sanctuary's Board of Directors selected the
Boston-based pediatrician for the position following a comprehensive and
wide-ranging search process for a leader who could take the nonprofit to new
heights.
"I am very excited to lend my executive leadership
experience to an organization that has been at the forefront of the growing
farm animal protection movement for nearly a quarter-century," said Dr.
Kornberg. "Farm Sanctuary pioneered farm animal advocacy long before it
was on mainstream society's radar, but thanks to their ongoing rescues,
education programs, legislative and legal efforts, and public awareness campaigns,
more people are now aware of the grave threat factory farming poses to animals,
our health and the environment than ever before. I am proud to join Farm
Sanctuary at such a pivotal moment in animal protection history, and look
forward to working with my colleagues, and all our members and supporters, to expand
our reach and create even greater change for farm animals."
A lifelong animal advocate, Dr. Kornberg's
distinguished career in nonprofit management, medicine and animal advocacy has
spanned more than 25 years. In addition to serving on Farm Sanctuary's
Board of Directors, Kornberg was the U.S. Executive Director of the World
Society for the Protection of Animals, a major international organization based
in the U.K.,
and has worked with numerous other advocacy groups, including the Physicians
Committee for Responsible Medicine, to end the abuses of animals in factory
farms and laboratories. He has also practiced both primary care pediatrics and
pediatric emergency medicine as a clinician, and focused on increasing the
efficiency of healthcare delivery as a top-level executive for numerous
nonprofit organizations.
Dr. Kornberg most recently served as Senior Vice President
for the National Initiative for Children's Health Quality, and prior to
this was CEO of Network Health (a Medicaid health plan serving the poor in Massachusetts). Other
positions formerly held by Dr. Kornberg include Medical Director of Harvard
Pilgrim Health Care (also in Massachusetts),
Executive Director and Medical Director for the physician-hospital organization
at Scottish Rite Children's Medical
Center in Atlanta,
and Chief of Emergency Medicine at Buffalo Children's Hospital in New York. Dr. Kornberg prepared
for these leadership roles by pursuing a solid foundation of multidisciplinary
education, which includes an undergraduate degree from M.I.T, a medical degree
from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, and an M.B.A. from the University of Rochester.
Gene Baur, co-founder and president of Farm Sanctuary, said
"As a national nonprofit dedicated to protecting billions of farm animals
from an inherently abusive industrial food production system, we need a leader
with the vision, knowledge and strength to face major challenges head-on and
consolidate our efforts for maximum impact. Fortunately for us, Dr. Allan Kornberg has all of these attributes and many more.
His combination of demonstrated success as a nonprofit leader, in-depth
knowledge of vegan health and nutrition, and profound compassion for animals
makes him a perfect fit for this key position at Farm Sanctuary."
To speak with Dr. Allan
Kornberg about his new position, please contact Meredith
Turner at 646-369-6212 or mturner@farmsanctuary.org.
Farm Sanctuary fights the disastrous effects of animal agriculture on animals, the environment, social justice, and public health through rescue, education, and advocacy.
The president is trying to fire Fed Gov. Lisa Cook for alleged mortgage fraud. Critics say he's targeting another one of his political foes.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell reportedly plans to attend Wednesday's US Supreme Court oral arguments in the case involving President Donald Trump's attempt to fire Fed Gov. Lisa Cook.
A "person familiar with the matter" told the Associated Press on condition of anonymity that Powell would attend the high court session in the face of Trump's unprecedented effort to oust one of the seven members of the Fed's governing board.
Last August, Trump announced his termination of Cook—an appointee of former President Joe Biden—for alleged fraud, accusing her of signing two primary residence mortgages within weeks of each other. An investigation published last month by ProPublica revealed that Trump did the same thing that he's accusing Cook of doing.
Cook denies any wrongdoing, has not been charged with any crime, and has filed a lawsuit challenging Trump’s attempt to fire her. In October, the Supreme Court declined to immediately remove Cook and agreed to hear oral arguments in the case.
In what many critics allege is an attempt by Trump to strong-arm the Fed into further interest rate cuts, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) earlier this month served the central bank with grand jury subpoenas related to Powell's congressional testimony on renovations to Fed headquarters in Washington, DC.
Powell—who was nominated by Trump in 2017 and whose four-year term as Fed chair ends May 15—responded by alleging that “the threat of criminal charges is a consequence of the Federal Reserve setting interest rates based on our best assessment of what will serve the public, rather than following the preferences of the president."
"This is about whether the Fed will be able to continue to set interest rates based on evidence and economic conditions—or whether instead monetary policy will be directed by political pressure or intimidation," he added.
Trump is trying to install his puppets at the Fed.First by trying to fire Lisa Cook and rushing in his top econ adviser.Now by abusing the law to try to push Jerome Powell out for good.Next he'll nominate a new Chair—and Trump says “anybody that disagrees" with him is out.
[image or embed]
— Elizabeth Warren (@warren.senate.gov) January 15, 2026 at 7:54 AM
In addition to Cook, Trump has targeted a number of Democrats with what critics say are dubious mortgage fraud claims.
Last November, a federal judge dismissed a DOJ criminal case against New York Attorney General Letitia James, who was charged with bank fraud and false statements regarding a property in Virginia. Critics called the charges against James—who successfully prosecuted Trump for financial crimes—baseless and politically motivated. A federal grand jury subsequently rejected another administration attempt to indict James.
The president has accused other political foes, including US Sen. Adam Schiff and Rep. Eric Swalwell—both California Democrats who played key roles in both of the president’s House impeachments—of similar fraud. Swalwell is currently under formal criminal investigation. Both lawmakers deny the allegations.
"Billionaires can’t be allowed to buy elections."
After flirting last year with forming his own political party, far-right billionaire Elon Musk is funding Republican political candidates once again.
Axios reported on Monday that Musk recently made a massive $10 million donation to bolster Nate Morris, a MAGA candidate who is vying to replace retiring US Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).
Axios described the massive donation, the largest Musk has ever given to a Senate candidate, as "the biggest sign yet that Musk plans to spend big in the 2026 midterms, giving Republicans a formidable weapon in the expensive battle to keep their congressional majorities."
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) reacted with disgust to the news, and said that Musk's enormous donation was indicative of a broken campaign finance system.
"Are we really living in a democracy when the richest man on earth can spend as much as he wants to elect his candidates?" Sanders asked in a social media post.
"The most important thing our nation can do is end Citizens United and move to public funding of elections," he added, referring to the 2010 Supreme Court decision that cleared the way for unlimited spending on elections by corporations. "Billionaires can’t be allowed to buy elections."
Democratic Maine State Auditor Matt Dunlap, currently running to represent Maine's second congressional district, also denounced Musk for throwing his weight around to buy politicians.
"Billionaires buy our elections, rig the tax code, and undermine our democracy," wrote Dunlap. "Working people deserve a government that works for them—not for billionaires like Elon Musk."
Musk is no stranger to spending big to help elect Republicans, having spent more than $250 million in 2024 to help secure President Donald Trump's victory.
However, his riches are no guarantee of a GOP win. Last year, for example, Musk spent millions to elect former Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel to a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, only to wind up losing the race by 10 points.
"This is the third person who has died in the $1.24 billion privately-run facility that focuses on profits instead of meeting basic standards," said one lawmaker.
Officials in both Texas and Minnesota are calling for accountability and a full investigation into conditions at Camp East Montana, the sprawling detention complex at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, following the third reported death at the facility in less than two months.
Victor Manuel Diaz, 36, was detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in Minneapolis, where ICE has been carrying out violent immigration arrests, cracking down on dissent, and where one officer fatally shot a legal observer earlier this month.
He was one of roughly 2,903 detainees being held at Camp East Montana at Fort Bliss US Army base, one of the largest ICE detention centers in the country, on January 14 when contract security workers found him “unconscious and unresponsive” in his cell.
He was later pronounced dead and ICE released a statement saying he had died of "presumed suicide," but officials arre still investigating his cause of death.
Diaz's death comes days after it was reported that a medical examiner in Texas was planning to classify another death reported at Camp East Montana—that of Geraldo Lunas Campos—as a homicide.
A doctor said Lunas Campos' preliminary cause of death in early January was "asphyxia due to neck and chest compression." An eyewitness said he had seen several guards in a struggle with the 55-year-old Cuban immigrant and then saw guards choking Lunas Campos.
A month prior of Lunas Campos' death, 49-year-old Guatemalan immigrant Francisco Gaspar-Andres died at a nearby hospital; he was a detainee at Camp East Montana. ICE said medical staff attributed his death to "natural liver and kidney failure.”
Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan called for a "complete and transparent investigation" into what happened to Diaz after his death was announced Sunday.
"We deserve answers," said Flanagan.
US Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-Texas), who last year expressed concern about the US government's deal with a small private business, Acquisition Logistics LLC, to run Camp East Montana, said the detention center "must be shut down immediately," warning that "two deaths in one month means conditions are worsening."
After the administration awarded a $1.2 billion contract to Acquisition Logistics to build and operate the camp, lawmakers and legal experts raised questions about the decision, considering the small company had no listed experience running detention centers, its headquarters was listed as a Virginia residential address, and the president and CEO of the company did not respond to media inquiries.
"It's far too easy for standards to slip," Escobar told PBS Newshour after touring the facility. "Private facilities far too frequently operate with a profit margin in mind as opposed to a governmental facility."
In September, ICE's own inspectors found at least 60 violations of federal standards, with employees failing to treat and monitor detainees' medical conditions and the center lacking safety procedures and methods for detainees to contact their lawyers.
Across all of ICE's detention facilities, 2025 was the deadliest year for immigrant detainees in more than two decades, with 32 people dying in the agency's centers.
After Diaz's death was reported Sunday, former National Nurses United communications adviser Charles Idelson said that "ICE detention centers are functioning like death camps."