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"Fallacies do not cease to be fallacies because they become fashions."

-- Gilbert K. Chesterton

News and Opinion

“Anti-Zionism Is Anti-Semitism”

Anti-Zionism is anti-semitism, you say? Sure, that makes sense. How someone prays and what religious beliefs they hold is exactly the same as supporting apartheid and genocide. You can’t even tell them apart; the last time I tried to pray the rosary I got confused and bombed a children’s hospital.

It’s true: there is absolutely no difference whatsoever between opposing a political ideology and opposing the existence of a small religious minority. That’s why it is universally considered racist to criticize an opposing political party. That’s why anyone who tries to engage in a political debate is immediately arrested for committing a hate crime.

Anti-Zionism is anti-semitism. If you don’t support the idea of dropping a western settler-colonialist state on top of a pre-existing civilization and then defending its status quo of apartheid, theft and abuse by any amount of violence necessary, then obviously you support the idea of exterminating millions of Jews in gas chambers.

If you don’t want anyone to commit genocide against Palestinians, then that means you want to commit genocide against Jews. There is no third possibility.

Don’t think we should be sending billions of dollars worth of military explosives to be dropped on hospitals, residential buildings and civilian infrastructure in Gaza? That means you harbor extremely negative emotions toward a small Abrahamic faith.

Think it’s bad to deliberately starve millions of people who are trapped in a giant death camp? Then that means you want to start loading Jews onto trains.

Think it’s wrong to wage a systematic extermination campaign against an entire people because they are a different ethnicity? Then you, sir, are no different from the Nazis.

Anti-Zionism is anti-semitism. Cats are ducks. The Declaration of Independence is spaghetti sauce. The Bronze Age is a foot fetish. There are no differences between any two things. All things are exactly the same as all other things.

The human mind is incapable of making any distinctions of any kind. Turning left is the same as turning right. Drinking water is the same as drinking bleach. Going to the supermarket is the same as killing your dad. This is how we all live our lives. Everyone knows this.

Everything I just said makes perfect sense. Anyone who disagrees is Hitler.

Gaza Aid Flotilla Attacked by Drones in International Waters; Organizers Blame Israel

Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil can fight wrongful detention case in federal court, judge rules

Columbia graduate student and pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil can argue in federal court that he was detained and targeted for deportation because of his political views, a judge ruled Tuesday, in what his legal team called an important step in establishing his freedom. Khalil, a Syrian-born green card holder, has been in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody in Louisiana since shortly after his March 8 arrest at his New York apartment building. His case has become a high-profile example of a broader crackdown by President Donald Trump's administration on foreign students who are perceived as a threat to U.S. foreign policy.

New Jersey District Judge Michael Farbiarz said in a 108-page ruling that he would retain jurisdiction over the case, rejecting the Trump administration's argument that the Immigration and Nationality Act prevented the federal court from reviewing Khalil’s claims. "Immigration courts are not legally permitted to provide the relief ... that the Petitioner [Khalil] seeks here," the judge wrote, explaining that immigration court would not be the correct forum to hear a case based on freedom of speech.

An immigration judge in Louisiana previously ruled that Khalil could be deported, based on a brief memo this month from Secretary of State Marco Rubio stating that while Khalil's "past, current or expected beliefs, statements, or associations that are otherwise lawful," he could "personally determine" who should remain in the country.

Farbiarz previously ruled against the government’s request to dismiss the case and transfer it to the Western District of Louisiana, where Khalil is detained. Farbiaz has not, however, ruled on various requests from Khalil's legal team, including that he be granted bail and returned to his family in New York, where his wife gave birth to their first child earlier this month. ...

"Today, we moved one step closer to vindicating Mr. Khalil’s rights by challenging his unlawful detention and the administration’s unconstitutional and retaliatory actions against him," Amy Greer, a lawyer on Mahmoud’s legal team, said in a statement. The Trump administration admitted in court documents last week that Mahmoud was arrested without a warrant and that ICE officers told him they had arrived to revoke his student visa, which he does not hold or require as a lawful permanent resident.

Badar Khan Suri: Peace Scholar at Georgetown Being Held as a High-Risk Threat in ICE Jail

Israel declares national emergency as wildfires force evacuations

Wildfires continued to threaten swaths of forest and fields in Israel on Thursday, though firefighters successfully reopened the main road linking the country’s two principal cities. Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister, declared a national emergency after the fires broke out on Wednesday along the main Jerusalem-Tel Aviv highway, prompting police to shut the route and evacuate thousands of people from nearby communities.

Hundreds were forced from their homes about 19 miles (30km) west of Jerusalem, and Israel’s most-watched television network, Channel 12, had to break off from broadcasting via its studio about 10 miles from the city during a news bulletin. High winds that have fanned the fires led to the cancellation of many events celebrating Israel’s foundation in 1948. A prerecorded rehearsal of a torch-lighting ceremony was screened instead of the planned event.

The Times of Israel newspaper described “a surreal, fraught evening in which Israel is starting to mark its 77th Independence Day while firefighters battle some of the worst wildfires in its history”. ...

The fire and rescue service’s Jerusalem district commander, Shmulik Friedman, described “a very large wildfire, maybe the largest there has ever been in this country” and said the effort to contain the blaze would continue for “a very long time”.

Itamar Ben-Gvir, the far-right national security minister, hinted that the fires may have been deliberately started, though authorities have not presented any evidence to support such claims.

Foreign Policy Reshuffle REVEALS MAGA Split Over War With Iran

Hegseth Threatens Iran Over Yemen

On Wednesday night, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth threatened Iran over Tehran’s alleged support for the Houthis amid the US’s heavy Yemen bombing campaign. ...

While the Houthis, officially known as Ansar Allah, are aligned with Iran, the Yemeni group has its own domestic missile and drone program, meaning they’re not reliant on Tehran for military support. This has been acknowledged by US officials, including President Trump. ...

The Houthis also operate independently and aren’t likely to take orders from Tehran. Despite these facts, the Trump administration has been blaming Iran for the Houthis’ operations, and Hegseth’s threat comes after a month and a half of US airstrikes on Yemen have failed to deter Ansar Allah. The US has launched over 1,000 strikes on Yemen, killing more than 200 civilians, but the Houthis continue to launch attacks on Israel and on US warships.

US-Iran Talks Delayed for 'Logistical Reasons' After Hegseth Social Media Threat

Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi announced on social media Thursday that a fourth round of U.S.-Iran nuclear talks planned for this coming weekend has been postponed—just hours after U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth publicly threatened Iran.

However, al-Busaidi, who has mediated the previous rounds of negotiations, did not address the U.S. threat. He claimed on social media that the delay was due to "logistical reasons" and "new dates will be announced when mutually agreed."

As The Associated Press reported:

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei issued a statement describing the talks as being "postponed at the request of Oman's foreign minister." He said Iran remains committed to reaching "a fair and lasting agreement."

Meanwhile, a person familiar with the U.S. negotiators said that America "had never confirmed its participation" in a fourth round of talks in Rome. However, the person said the U.S. expected the talks to occur "in the near future." The person spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the closed-door negotiations.

During U.S. President Donald Trump's first term, he ditched the Iran nuclear deal negotiated under the Obama administration. After Trump returned to the Oval Office in January, Vice President JD Vance had to cast a tiebreaking vote to confirm Hegseth, whose tenure as Pentagon chief thus far has been marred by controversy and accusations of ineptitude.

Hegseth—a former Fox News host who faces mounting calls to resign after sharing U.S. plans to bomb Yemen in multiple chats on the commercial messaging application Signal—addressed Iran's support for the Houthis, a Yemeni group, in a late Wednesday social media post.

"Message to IRAN: We see your LETHAL support to the Houthis," he said. "We know exactly what you are doing. You know very well what the U.S. Military is capable of—and you were warned. You will pay the CONSEQUENCE at the time and place of our choosing."

Hegseth's initial post was from his Pentagon account. He also shared it on his personal account with a screenshot of a mid-March Truth Social post in which Trump railed against Iran and the Houthis.

In response to Hegseth, journalist Ryan Grim asked, "This because our jet fell off our boat?"

A $60 million U.S. Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jet recently went overboard from the USS Harry S. Truman after the aircraft carrier turned to evade Houthi fire, according to a U.S. official.

Republican Congressman Thomas Massie (Ky.)—who has a history of joining with Democrats to criticize military action without a declaration of war, particularly in Yemen—responded: "I support this administration, but the secretary of defense doesn't have the constitutional authority to declare war on a sovereign country. A planned military attack on Iran is an act of war and requires a vote of Congress according to the U.S. Constitution."

Do the Iran hawks or the no-new-war advocates win in the White House? Looks like we may find out. https://t.co/uJkBn7ZIdS

— Dan Lamothe (@DanLamothe) May 1, 2025

Ryan Costello, policy director of the National Iranian American Council, said in a statement that "Trump entered office with a deficit of effective U.S. diplomacy in the Middle East, not a deficit of threats or bombing. Where the administration has led with diplomacy and sustained that focus, they've delivered some positive results. Where the administration has let bombs lead the way, like the Biden administration before them, we've seen security worsen and sustainable solutions move further from reach."

"If there was a military solution to security in Yemen, Saudi Arabia would have emerged victorious in its conflict a decade ago, and the Biden administration would have halted the Houthis' targeting of shipping in the Red Sea last year," he continued. "Of course, there isn’t a military solution in Yemen, which makes it all the more befuddling that the Trump administration thinks it can bomb the Houthis into submission when this approach has been tried and failed repeatedly."

"Secretary Hegseth tweeting at Iran and threatening 'CONSEQUENCE' for its ties with the Houthis won't alter these dynamics, and risks leading the U.S. into far more damaging blowback against a more capable adversary," Costello stressed. "The U.S. and Iran need to resolve security challenges through diplomacy, not threats and military escalation. This is true on the nuclear issue, where we encourage the U.S. and Iran to return to negotiations as soon as possible. The pace that they have set on negotiations has been difficult to sustain, but not impossible."

"With sufficient will, the negotiations can reach the finish line and avert the risks of a disastrous war and Iranian weaponization of its nuclear program," he added. "Likewise, the U.S. should halt its backfiring bombing campaign in Yemen and find a way to bring all the relevant actors to the negotiating table—simultaneous with efforts to restore a cease-fire in Gaza that frees the remaining hostages and ensures urgent aid for the devastating humanitarian crisis on the ground."

Prof. John Mearsheimer : Are Russia and China a Threat to the US?

Minerals deal, back to the sunk cost fallacy

Trump administration readies first sale of military equipment to Ukraine

The Trump administration will approve its first sale of military equipment to Ukraine since Donald Trump took office, in an indication that the minerals deal signed by the two countries this week may open a path to renewed weapons shipments.

The state department has certified a proposed licence to export “$50m or more” (£37.6m) of defence hardware and services to Ukraine, according to a communication sent to the US committee on foreign relations. It would mark the first permission of its kind since Trump paused all Ukraine-related military aid shortly after taking office.

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said on Thursday evening that the signing of the long-discussed minerals deal – on much better terms for Ukraine than had previously been expected – was a result of the meeting he held with Trump on the sidelines of the pope’s funeral on Saturday.

“Now we have the first result of the Vatican meeting, which makes it really historic. We are waiting for other results of the meeting,” he said, in his nightly video address. Zelenskyy hailed the deal as “truly equal”, saying it created “an opportunity for quite significant investment in Ukraine”.

A senior aide said Kyiv hoped that weapons deliveries would resume swiftly. “There is no direct link where it’s written that ‘you will receive these particular weapons’, but it opens the possibility for parallel talks on the purchase of weapons,” said Mykhailo Podolyak, an aide to Zelenskyy, during an interview in Kyiv. “The American side is now open to these discussions,” he added.

Trump administration exploits landmark civil rights act to fight universities’ diversity initiatives

The Trump administration has ramped up efforts to exploit civil rights laws to target diversity and equity initiatives on US campuses by characterizing them as discriminatory.

These efforts escalated this week when the Department of Education escalated its attack against Harvard University, announcing an investigation of the law school over what it claims are discriminatory practices at the school’s student-run journal, the Harvard Law Review. The investigation is one of dozens the administration has launched on the basis of Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which prohibits federally funded programs from discriminating on the basis of race, color and national origin.

Linda McMahon, the education secretary, has described the investigation as part of the administration’s effort to “reorient civil rights enforcement to ensure all students are protected from illegal discrimination”. But civil rights advocates have denounced them as vague, probably unlawful and a betrayal of the spirit of the civil rights protections they purport to invoke.

“What we’re witnessing is an administration that is working very hard to turn civil rights laws against” the people trying to faithfully implement them, said Maya Wiley, the president of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. “It’s really an effort to say, ‘If you don’t do what we tell you, we will turn our considerable power against you.’”

The Civil Rights Act, which outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin, was a landmark achievement of the civil rights movement that sought to transform a country deeply segregated on the basis of race into one where all had access to equal opportunity. While it led to historic transformations in American society, it was also immediately met with conservative backlash. Today, rightwing activists are fighting to weaken the law, which they view as “an antiwhite weapon”.

McDonald’s and General Motors say Trump’s tariff war is harming business

McDonald’s and General Motors have warned that uncertainty around Donald Trump’s tariff policy is hurting business, hitting sales and knocking profits. The fast-food chain reported a 3.6% fall in sales in its US home market during the first quarter, driven mainly by lower customer numbers as consumers reined in their spending in the face of an unpredictable economic outlook.It was the largest quarterly fall in sales since the Covid lockdowns of 2020, and comes as US measures of consumer confidence plummeted in March and April.

Also on Thursday, GM, one of the “big three” Detroit carmakers, cut its profit guidance for the coming year, and cautioned that Trump’s tariffs could cost it as much as $5bn (£3.8bn) in 2025.

The carmaker said it was exposed to the costs even after Trump’s announcement that he would scale back some of the duties on foreign cars and parts. The move was designed to give a reprieve to US carmakers, after the domestic industry warned his strategy would increase costs for American manufacturers by tens of billions of dollars. ...

Carmakers have been struggling to keep up with Trump’s frequent changes to his plans for sweeping levies, which have also forced Stellantis – the owner of brands including Jeep, Chrysler and Fiat – and German manufacturer Mercedes to withdraw their financial guidance for the year as a result of the uncertainty around tariff policy.

Trump hints at tariff reprieve for pharma companies that bring operations back to US

Donald Trump has hinted at a tariff reprieve for pharmaceutical companies, which are braced for fresh sector-specific import taxes as early as next week. He reiterated at a meeting of pharma, tech and industry bosses in the White House that if companies moved their operations to plants in the US they would face no tariffs, but he suggested that they would get “a lot of time” to make the switch before facing levies.

Drugmakers have been bracing for targeted border taxes – similar to the 25% levies imposed on steel, aluminium and car imports – as soon as this coming Tuesday. That date is 21 days after the US president announced an investigation into the sector, seen as the first step before a tariff announcement.

However, in a rambling, carrot-and-stick speech on Wednesday evening, he suggested that he would give companies such as Johnson & Johnson the time they needed to repatriate some manufacturing with new or expanded operations in the US before they would face a “tariff wall”. ...

At Wednesday’s “invest in America” televised meeting, designed to deflect from figures showing the US economy shrank in the first three months of this year, Trump claimed that businesses had pledged up to $8tn (£6tn) investment in the US since he was elected last November in the hope of evading tariffs, with $171bn of that coming from pharma companies, including US companies in Ireland exporting to US patients.

“Businesses here [represented at the White House meeting] understand that if you build your factory in the United States your tariff rate is zero, zero,” he said.

White House uses newly revealed allegations to support refusal to return Kilmar Ábrego García to US

The legal team behind Kilmar Ábrego García, the Maryland man unlawfully deported to El Salvador, is demanding that the Trump administration “bring him back and give him a full and fair trial” as the administration releases new domestic abuse allegations. In a press release issued on Wednesday, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) cited allegations made by Ábrego García’s wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, that he abused her on several occasions in 2019 and 2020.

Sura, a US citizen, filed a petition for protection against her husband in 2020, according to the new documents. She claimed to local police in Maryland that Ábrego García had kicked and verbally abused her, detained her against her will, and locked their children in a bedroom, among other accusations.She also claimed that, in 2019, he dragged her from a car by her hair. Ábrego García was never charged, according to Axios.

The documents note that shortly after filing for the protective order in 2020, Sura asked the court to rescind it. She had said that their son’s birthday was approaching and Ábrego García had agreed to counseling.

In response to the revelations from the DHS, Ábrego García’s lawyer, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, told the Guardian that “the whole country has spent the last month talking about Kilmar Ábrego García, and speaking for or against Kilmar Ábrego García” and that “the one person who hasn’t yet had the chance to speak is Kilmar Ábrego García”.

“The government needs to bring him back and give him a full and fair trial. They can introduce all of this evidence, and he can respond in his own voice,” he said. Sandoval-Moshenberg also noted to Axios that the allegations were not related to the deportation.

Judge rules Alien Enemies Act does not allow White House to deport alleged gang members

The 18th-century Alien Enemies Act does not authorize Donald Trump to deport Venezuelan immigrants alleged to be members of the Tren de Aragua gang, a federal judge in Texas ruled on Thursday.

The ruling from US district judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr is significant because it is the first sweeping and permanent injunction directly addressing whether the government can use the 1798 Alien Enemies Act (AEA) to deport alleged members of Tren de Aragua. Other judges have issued similar but more limited and preliminary rulings.

The decision applies only to migrants detained in Rodriguez’s judicial district, the southern district of Texas, which includes Brownsville, McAllen and Houston. Trump appointed Rodriguez to the federal bench in 2018. ...

The law is supposed to apply whenever there is a war between the United States and a foreign nation and when there is “any invasion or predatory incursion is perpetrated, attempted, or threatened against the territory of the United States”.

“While the Proclamation references that TdA members have harmed lives in the United States and engage in crime, the Proclamation does not suggest that they have done so through an organized armed attack, or that Venezuela has threatened or attempted such an attack through TdA members,” Rodriguez wrote in a 36-page opinion. “For these reasons, the Court concludes that the President’s invocation of the AEA through the Proclamation exceeds the scope of the statute and, as a result, is unlawful.”

Collapsing bird numbers in North America prompt fears of ecological crisis

Bird populations across North America are falling most quickly in areas where they are most abundant, according to new research, prompting fears of ecological collapse in previously protected areas. Analysis of nearly 500 bird species across North America has found that three-quarters are declining across their ranges, with two-thirds of the total shrinking significantly.

The study, published in the journal Science, indicates that former strongholds for bird species are no longer safe, particularly in grasslands, drylands and the Arctic.

In one of the most ambitious uses of citizen science data so far, scientists at Princeton University used observations from eBird, a popular application used by birdwatchers to record sightings, to model changes between 2007 and 2021. The granularity of the data allowed researchers to track the rate of change in 27 sq km (10 sq miles) segments across North America, showing dramatic declines in areas where less than two decades ago bird species had thrived.

“We’ve known for several years that a lot of bird species in North America have been declining. With this study, we were aiming to understand in much finer spatial resolution where birds were declining and where they might be increasing. Rather than having a range-wide trend to see if a species is going up or down, we want to know where it is going up and down,” said Alison Johnston, director of the Centre for Research into Ecological and Environmental Modelling, who led the study.

“The main ecological finding is that the locations where these species were thriving in the past, where the environments were really well suited to birds, are now the places where they are suffering the most,” she said. The researchers said further studies were needed to explain the reasons behind the changes, many of which were dramatic, with populations falling by more than 10% a year in some areas.

Justice department sues Michigan and Hawaii over climate suits against big oil

The US justice department on Wednesday filed lawsuits against Hawaii and Michigan over their planned legal action against fossil fuel companies for harms caused by the climate crisis, claiming the state actions conflict with federal government authority and Donald Trump’s energy dominance agenda. The suits, which legal experts say are unprecedented, mark the latest of the Trump administration’s attacks on environmental work and raise concern over states’ abilities to retain the power to take climate action without federal opposition.

In court filings, the justice department said the Clean Air Act – a federal law authorizing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to regulate air emissions – “creates a comprehensive program for regulating air pollution in the United States and ‘displaces’ the ability of states to regulate greenhouse gas emissions beyond their borders”. The justice department argues that Hawaii and Michigan are violating the intent of the act that enables the EPA authority to set nationwide standards for greenhouse gases, citing the states’ pending litigation against oil and gas companies for alleged climate damage.

Michigan’s attorney general, Dana Nessel, a Democrat, last year tapped private law firms to go after the fossil fuel industry for negatively affecting the state’s climate and environment. Meanwhile, Hawaii’s governor, Josh Green, another Democrat, plans to target fossil fuel companies that he said should take responsibility for their role in the state’s climate consequences, including 2023’s deadly Lahaina wildfire.

Both states’ laws “impermissibly regulate out-of-state greenhouse gas emissions and obstruct the Clean Air Act’s comprehensive federal-state framework and EPA’s regulatory discretion”, the justice department’s court filings said. The justice department also repeated the Republican president’s claims of a US energy emergency and crisis. “At a time when states should be contributing to a national effort to secure reliable sources of domestic energy”, Hawaii and Michigan are “choosing to stand in the way”, the filings said.

Dozens of homeless people living in national forest evicted by US Forest Service

Dozens of homeless people who have been living in a national forest in central Oregon for years were being evicted on Thursday by the US Forest Service, as it closed the area for a wildfire prevention project that will involve removing smaller trees, clearing debris and setting controlled burns over thousands of acres.

The project has been on the books for years, and the decision to remove the encampment in the Deschutes national forest comes two months after the Trump administration issued an executive order directing federal agencies to increase timber production and forest management projects aimed at reducing wildfire risk. It wasn’t immediately clear if the evictions were a result of that order, but homeless advocates seized on the timing on Thursday, as US Forest Service officers blocked the access road.

“The fact that they are doing this with such vigor shortly after they announced that the forests would be opened up for logging I don’t think is a coincidence,” said Jesse Rabinowitz, a spokesperson for the National Homelessness Law Center. ...

“The closure does not target any specific user group and will restrict all access, including day use and overnight camping, while crews operate heavy machinery, conduct prescribed burns, and clean up hazardous materials,” Deschutes national forest spokesperson Kaitlyn Webb said in an email. “It’s not safe for the public to be in the area while heavy machinery is operating, trees are being felled, mowing operations are active, and prescribed burning is occurring.” ...

The US Forest Service has been working for years on plans to close part of the Deschutes national forest near Bend for forest restoration and wildfire mitigation. But the number of people living in that part of the forest has grown, with many losing homes during the coronavirus pandemic due to job losses and high housing costs, Rabinowitz said.

Also of Interest

Here are some articles of interest, some which defied fair-use abstraction.

I witnessed US cruelty as a Guantánamo lawyer. Trump’s deportations are disturbingly familiar

Ra'anana Rabbi Says People 'Feared for Their Lives' as Far-right Mob Stormed Reform Synagogue

The Legal Limits of Trump’s Crackdown on Sanctuary Cities Like Philadelphia

US Fires HIMARS Rockets Into the South China Sea in Drills With the Philippines

Britain Is Toast, Period

Patrick Lawrence: A Culture of Submission

Nationwide May Day Protests Target Trump's 'Billionaire Agenda'

American higher education is collapsing before our eyes

Trump has launched more attacks on the environment in 100 days than his entire first term

‘Do something with your actions. Don’t just write a cheque’: Bonnie Raitt on activism, making men cry and 38 years of sobriety

“Palestine Is Really the Center of the World”: Angela Davis on Gaza, Black-Jewish Solidarity & Trump

A Little Night Music

Jr Walker And The All Stars - Shotgun

Jr Walker And The All Stars - Way Back Home

Jr Walker and the AllStars - Tune Up

Jr Walker And The All Stars - Gotta Hold On To This Feeling

Jr Walker And The All Stars - Cleo's Back

Jr. Walker & The All Stars - Home Cookin'

Jr. Walker & The All Stars – (I’m A) Road Runner

Junior Walker - Hot Cha

Jnr Walker & The All-stars - Come see About Me

Jr. Walker & The All Stars – Pucker up buttercup

Jr. Walker & The All Stars – Shake And Fingerpop