Hey! Good Evening!

This evening's music features Chicago blues harmonica player Carey Bell. Enjoy!

"The persecution of Jews in occupied Poland meant that we could see horror emerging gradually in many ways. In 1939, they were forced to wear Jewish stars, and people were herded and shut up into ghettos. Then, in the years '41 and '42 there was plenty of public evidence of pure sadism. With people behaving like pigs, I felt the Jews were being destroyed. I had to help them. There was no choice."

-- Oskar Schindler

News and Opinion

Stop Israel’s Dystopian ‘Humanitarian City’ Plan – Before It’s Too Late

The Israeli government has just put forward one of the most brazenly genocidal schemes in modern memory – and unless we act immediately, the world will once again let it happen.

As reported in Haaretz, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz is proposing to force some 600,000 Palestinians – and eventually the entire population of Gaza – into a fenced-in “humanitarian city” to be built on the ruins of Rafah in southern Gaza. The plan is to “screen” the population, separate out alleged Hamas members, and then pressure the remaining civilians – men, women, and children – to “voluntarily” leave Gaza for another country. Which country? That hasn’t even been determined. The point isn’t relocation – it’s erasure. This reflects a long-standing goal among many Israelis, especially on the right, to take full control of Gaza and clear it of Palestinians.

The UN has warned that the deportation or forcible transfer of an occupied territory’s civilian population is strictly prohibited under international humanitarian law and “tantamount to ethnic cleansing”.

While all eyes are focused on a possible ceasefire, Gallant is not interested in peace – he’s interested in a “final solution.” A speeding up of the second Nakba we have been witnessing for the past 20 months. In fact, he has stated that construction would begin during a 60-day ceasefire. So what’s the point of a ceasefire, if it’s used to build a concentration camp?

Once Palestinians are herded into this camp, they will not be allowed to leave for other parts of Gaza. They won’t be allowed to return to what’s left of their homes, their neighborhoods, their farms, their schools. They will be trapped inside this militarized zone, under constant surveillance, held at gunpoint until Israel can arrange their deportation.

Just think of the tragic, unbearable irony: the Israeli government—founded in the aftermath of the Holocaust – is now building a massive concentration camp for an entire population.

If that sounds unthinkable, look at what Israel has already gotten away with.

For the past 20 months, the world has watched – and largely enabled – a genocidal campaign in Gaza. Over 55,000 Palestinians have been slaughtered, the majority of them women and children. Israel has bombed hospitals, schools, refugee camps, and mosques. It has flattened entire neighborhoods with AI-generated kill lists. It has assassinated journalists, targeted ambulances, destroyed bakeries and water systems.

It has used hunger as a weapon of war, deliberately blocking aid trucks, attacking convoys, and starving the population into desperation. And in a cruel twist, it has created the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation – a scheme to funnel aid through Israeli-controlled routes and sideline the UN and experienced NGOs. Its so-called “distribution points” are really death traps, where desperate people have been shot day after day as they risk their lives to get a bit of food.

This engineered starvation is not an accident. It is a strategy – a form of collective punishment on a scale rarely seen in modern times.

We have already failed the people of Gaza – again and again. We failed when we looked the other way as children were buried in rubble. We failed when we allowed our tax dollars to fund the very bombs that wiped out refugee camps. We failed when we kept pretending there was still a line Israel wouldn’t cross.

Now Katz is telling us – explicitly – what comes next: mass internment and forced expulsion. And unless we rise up with every ounce of outrage we have, we will fail again.

Let’s be absolutely clear: the infrastructure for this plan is already being built. Netanyahu and Trump are lobbying corrupt governments in the Global South to accept the deported. This is not a negotiating tactic to strengthen Israel’s position in ceasefire talks – it is the next phase of a genocide we’ve been watching in real time for nearly two years.

And what is the U.S. government doing? Still issuing meaningless statements about “Israel’s right to defend itself.” Still shipping weapons. Still blocking accountability at the United Nations – and even sanctioning officials like UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese for daring to speak out.

President Trump could stop this today – by cutting off military aid, backing the International Criminal Court’s investigations, and declaring that forced displacement of Palestinians will not be tolerated. But instead, he’s still dreaming of turning Gaza into a Middle Eastern resort for the ultra-rich.

Meanwhile, more Arab governments stand ready to normalize ties with Israel, making deals with war criminals while their fellow Arabs are starved, bombed, and now threatened with mass exile. Where is the outcry from Cairo, Riyadh, Amman? Is there absolutely no red line?

One bright spot on the international scene is the Hague group, which will convene an emergency meeting in Colombia on July 15–16. This growing bloc of nations has joined South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice. These countries are taking a courageous stand to uphold international law and defend Palestinian life. Every nation that claims to value justice must join them – immediately.

And here in the United States, every member of Congress must be pushed—loudly, relentlessly – to take a public stand. No more vague language. No more hiding behind mealy-mouthed scripts. We demand immediate, public opposition to this “humanitarian city” plan – and a full cutoff of military support to Israel. This is a moment of moral reckoning. Choose a side.

Don’t fool yourself into thinking this can’t happen. It is happening. The groundwork is being laid. The walls are going up. The deportation flights are being negotiated.

There is no neutral ground. This is not a policy debate. This is genocide – on camera, with diplomatic cover, and with our tax dollars.

Israel's Relentless Attacks on Gaza and Prospects for a Ceasefire

Israeli government and military clash over proposed camp for Palestinians

A feud has broken between the Israeli government and the military over the cost and impact of a planned camp for Palestinians in southern Gaza, as politicians criticised the former prime minister Ehud Olmert for warning that the project would create a “concentration camp” if it goes ahead. The “humanitarian city” project has become a sticking point in ceasefire talks with Hamas. Israel wants to keep troops stationed across significant parts of Gaza, including the ruins of Rafah city in the south, where the defence minister, Israel Katz, says the camp will be built.

Hamas is pushing for a more comprehensive withdrawal. Husam Badran, a senior member of the group, said the camp plans were a “deliberatively obstructive demand” that would complicate talks, the New York Times reported. “This would be an isolated city that resembles a ghetto,” he said in a message to the paper. “This is utterly unacceptable and no Palestinian would agree to this.”

Katz revealed last week that he had ordered the army to draw up plans for a camp. It is envisaged that Palestinians would be crammed into an area between the Egyptian border and the Israeli military’s “Morag corridor”, which cuts across the strip. Katz said initially 600,000 people would move there, and eventually Gaza’s entire population. Those inside would only be allowed to leave for another country, he told Israeli journalists at a briefing. ...

Olmert, who led Israel from 2006 to 2009, has been the most high-profile domestic critic of the project. He said that if Palestinians were forced to move to the camp, it would constitute ethnic cleansing. His comments evoking comparisons with Nazi-era Germany were fiercely attacked inside Israel. ...

The military has [...] opposed the project, even as it has followed orders to draw up plans to implement it. In a security cabinet meeting on Sunday night, tensions broke out into the open as the IDF chief of staff, Eyal Zamir, clashed with Netanyahu, Israeli media reported. Zamir reportedly said the project would divert funds and other resources from the military, sapping its ability to fight and undermining efforts to rescue hostages. His office had previously argued that moving and “concentrating” civilians was not a goal of the war, in response to a legal petition brought by reservists concerned they would face illegal orders to commit war crimes.

Max Blumenthal : NY Times and Netanyahu

5,800+ Gaza Children Diagnosed With Malnutrition in June: UNICEF

More than 5,800 children in the Gaza Strip were diagnosed with malnutrition in June alone amid Israel's ongoing U.S.-backed siege and annihilation of the Palestinian territory, the United Nations Children's Fund said Sunday.

According to the UNICEF, at least 5,870 malnourished children in Gaza were hospitalized last month for urgent treatment, including more than 1,000 cases of severe malnutrition, the most lethal form of the ailment. Malnutrition diagnoses have increased in Gaza over each of the past four months. In May, 5,119 children between 6 months and 5 years of age suffering acute malnutrition were admitted for treatment in Gaza, as Common Dreams reported.

"Child malnutrition in Gaza is rising fast," the agency warned in a statement. "Children's bodies are wasting away. This is not just a nutrition crisis. It's a child survival emergency."

Gaza medical officials said late last month that more than 300 Palestinians—including many children and elders—had recently died from malnutrition and lack of medical care due to Israel's siege and bombing. The Gaza Health Ministry says at least 67 children have died of starvation since October 2023, when Israeli forces began obliterating the enclave in retaliation for the Hamas-led attack on Israel.

In addition to blocking food and other humanitarian aid from entering Gaza, Israel Defense Forces troops have killed more than 800 people at or near food distribution points run by the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. IDF officers and soldiers say they were ordered to fire live bullets and artillery shells into crowds of desperate aid-seekers.

In recent days, Israeli forces have also massacred children and others queued up for malnutrition treatment at an international charity clinic in Deir al-Balah and waiting for water in the al-Nuseirat refugee camp. The IDF attributed the latter attack to a "technical error."

More than 310 United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East staffers have also been killed by Israeli forces since the start of the Gaza onslaught.

Extreme hunger in Gaza is a direct result of life-saving aid being prevented from entering at the speed and scale needed. It is forcing children like Fadi, 13, in #Gaza to risk their lives for a box of food.

The United Nations must be allowed to deliver aid of all types at scale… pic.twitter.com/F4dMuGwUtA

— UNICEF MENA - (@UNICEFmena) July 14, 2025

Israel's forced starvation of Gaza has been condemned by numerous national governments, progressive members of U.S. Congress, international human rights groups, and United Nations experts, who have called the policy genocidal. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes, including murder and forced starvation.

Israel's policies and practices in Gaza are also the subject of a genocide case currently before the International Court of Justice, which has ordered tIsrael to prevent genocidal acts in Gaza and to allow humanitarian aid into the strip. Israel has been accused of ignoring these orders. Israeli leaders including National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir have called for the bombing of Gaza humanitarian aid depots and IDF soldiers—who purportedly fight for the "word's most moral army"—have posted videos on social media celebrating or mocking the starvation of Palestinians.

An Israeli soldier shared a video on TikTok mocking starved Palestinians in Gaza, some of whom have begun collapsing in the streets due to lack of food and severe malnutrition.

According to UNICEF, 90% of Gaza's children lack food needed for proper growth. pic.twitter.com/GSS9HmPocs

— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) July 14, 2025

Since October 2023, at least 58,386 Palestinians have been killed and more than 139,000 wounded by Israeli forces in Gaza, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, whose figures have been found to be accurate or an undercount by peer-reviewed studies. At least 14,000 people are also missing. Most of Gaza's more than 2 million people have also been forcibly displaced, often multiple times.

Israeli Attacks in Gaza Kill 117 Palestinians Over 24 Hours

Gaza’s Health Ministry said on Monday that Israeli attacks killed 117 Palestinians and wounded 557 over the previous 24-hour period as relentless US-backed Israeli strikes continue to pound the Strip.

The Health Ministry said that another three bodies were recovered from the rubble. “A number of victims are still under the rubble and on the streets, where ambulance and civil defense crews are unable to reach them at this time,” the ministry wrote on Telegram.

Israeli strikes on Monday included an airstrike on tents in the al-Mawasi area of Khan Younis in southern Gaza. According to Al Jazeera, at least nine Palestinians were killed in the strikes, most of them children. ...

Israeli forces continued to kill Palestinians seeking aid, with the Health Ministry recording the death of five aid seekers. Al Jazeera reported that at least two people were killed by an Israeli attack near an aid center in northwest Rafah, southern Gaza.

Sayfollah Musallet Beaten to Death: No Israeli Settlers Arrested After Killing of U.S. Citizen

In Act of 'Brutal Sadism,' Israel Bans Gazans From Entering Sea Under Pain of Death

Israel has warned Gazans to stay out of the Mediterranean Sea or risk getting killed under wartime restrictions that critics say serve no security purpose and are meant to deprive Palestinians of a key source of sustenance—and respite from the horrific realities of 21 months of constant death and destruction.

"Strict security restrictions have been imposed in the maritime area adjacent to Gaza—entry to the sea is prohibited," Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Arabic language spokesperson Avichay Adraee wrote on the social media site X Saturday. "This is a call to fishermen, swimmers, and divers—refrain from entering the sea. Entering the beach and waters along the entire Gaza Strip endangers your lives."

While Israel has imposed a maritime blockade on Gaza since 2007 following Hamas' victory in legislative elections and subsequent takeover of the coastal enclave, restrictions were tightened after the October 7, 2023 attack as part of the "complete siege" that has caused deadly malnutrition throughout the strip, where Israel's 646-day U.S.-backed onslaught has left more than 211,000 Palestinians dead, maimed, or missing, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

However, the IDF appears to have not enforced the post-October 7 ban on entering the sea against swimmers and bathers. Only Palestinian fishers have been targeted, with more than 210 killed since October 2023, according to United Nations data.

"We live off the sea. If there's no fishing, we don't eat," Munthir Ayash, a 52-year-old fisher from Gaza City, told the Emirati newspaper The National Monday. "Me, my five sons, and their families—45 people in total—depend entirely on the sea. With it closed, we face starvation."

It is unclear why the IDF issued Saturday's warning, which came amid excessive heat warnings as temperatures rose to over 30°C (86°F). With Gaza's infrastructure obliterated by 21 months of Israeli onslaught and safe running water in severe shortage, the Mediterranean Sea provided a place to cool off and clean up.

"I used to go every day. The sea was where I bathed, where I relaxed, where I ran from the horror of war," Ibrahim Dawla, a 26-year-old Palestinian man forcibly displaced from Gaza City's Zaytun, told The National. "Now even that's gone."

Rajaa Qudeih, a 31-year-old mother of two from Deir al-Balah, told the Israeli newspaper Haaretz Sunday: "I'm literally dizzy from hunger, thirst, and the heat. Gaza is going through the worst famine, we haven't eaten, and we can't even find a piece of bread."

"The sea was the only outlet left. If they kill us for going there, maybe that would be easier than this slow death," she continued. "Still, I fear for my children. My oldest is 9. How can I convince him that swimming in the sea could get him killed?"

"We are camped by the sea," Qudeih added. "Where else can we go? Are they going to ban the air from us next?"

The IDF claims the maritime blockade is a security measure aimed at preventing weapons from being smuggled into Gaza.

However, Zakaria Bakr, head of the Palestinian Fishermen's Syndicate in Gaza, and many other residents of the embattled enclave believe there is another reason why Israel is prohibiting them from entering the sea.

"This is not about security. It's economic, social, and psychological warfare; a weapon of slow, deliberate suffocation," he told The National.

Dawla said that "people here die a million times every hour; we needed the sea just to feel human again, even if only for a few minutes. And they knew that. That's why they shut it down."

"We called it our last breathing space. We knew it was dangerous, but it was the only place we had left," he added. Now, "I haven't gone for two days. None of my friends have either. We're all afraid we'll be shot just for standing there."

Ayash said of Israel: "They want to take everything. They want to erase us."

"But the sea is ours," he added. "The land is ours. No matter how hard they try, it will stay ours."

Palestine defenders around the world also condemned the IDF policy.

"There can be no possible military or security reason for banning the people of Gaza from entering the sea—except to satisfy the brutal sadism of the IDF," argued Australian journalist and commentator Mike Carlton.

Aaron Maté : Netanyahu and Epstein’s Ghost

Pentagon Admits Iranian Missile Hit Dome Used For Communications at US Qatar Base

The Pentagon has admitted that an Iranian missile hit a communications dome at the US’s Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar during Iran’s attack that came in response to the US bombing Iran’s nuclear facilities.

The admission from Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell came after satellite images first revealed the damage. The images show that the dome was completely destroyed, though Parnell downplayed the strike, saying the missile “did minimal damage to equipment and structures on the base.” ...

The Pentagon initially did not report any damage to the base. According to The Associated Press, the communications dome, known as a modernized enterprise terminal, was installed in 2016 and was worth $15 million.

Prof. John Mearsheimer : US Escalates the Ukraine War

AMB. Charles Freeman : Is Middle East Peace Possible?

Kyiv hails US weapons deal as Moscow dismisses Trump’s sanctions threat

Politicians in Kyiv have welcomed Donald Trump’s announcement that billions of dollars worth of US military equipment will be sent to Ukraine, while officials in Moscow dismissed his threat of sanctions against Russia as hot air.

In a meeting with the Nato secretary general, Mark Rutte, at the White House, Trump said the US would send Patriot anti-aircraft batteries and interceptor missiles, paid for by European allies.

He promised that additional Patriot systems would arrive within days, funded by Germany and other Nato partners, which would be a significant step in helping Ukraine to defend itself. Kyiv is believed to have only six functioning Patriot batteries. ...

But there was also scepticism that the new package – coupled with the threat of sanctions on the Russian economy in 50 days’ time – would be enough to persuade Moscow to stop fighting. One former Ukrainian military officer said it was unlikely to make a meaningful impression on the Kremlin, or act as a strong deterrent. ...

Konstantin Kosachev, a senior Russian lawmaker, wrote on Telegram that the US president’s ultimatum amounted to “hot air”, suggesting he could easily walk it back. “A lot can change in 50 days – on the battlefield and in the mindset of those in power, both in the US and in Nato,” he wrote.

Jeffrey Sachs: End of the Western-Centric World & Rise of BRICS

Trump admin live updates: WH confirms Trump, Zelenskyy discussed strikes on Moscow

President Donald Trump welcomed NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte to the White House on Monday, where the two announced a deal that European countries will buy U.S. weapons to send to Ukraine.

Trump also threatened to impose "very severe tariffs​" on Russia if there was no peace deal with Ukraine within 50 days. Trump said the tariffs could amount to 100%.

The White House confirmed that President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy discussed whether Ukraine would be able to strike Moscow and St. Petersburg with U.S.-supplied weapons, but the White House is taking issue with the framing of the conversation in news reports.

"President Trump was merely asking a question, not encouraging further killing. He's working tirelessly to stop the killing and end this war," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement to ABC News.

Dangerous Tomahawk game. Trump's 50-day ultimatum

After Passage of GOP Medicaid Cuts, Congress Debates Nearly $1 Trillion Military Budget

Fresh off the passage of a Republican budget measure that includes more than $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid over the next decade, Congress this week is set to consider legislation that would authorize close to that same amount for the U.S. military for the coming fiscal year.

The House Armed Services Committee, controlled by Republicans, will mark up its version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) on Tuesday. In a closed-door session late last week, the Senate Armed Services Committee advanced its military spending authorization package, which has a topline of roughly $925 billion for Fiscal Year 2026—an increase of around $30 billion compared to the current fiscal year.

Unlike the GOP reconciliation package that President Donald Trump signed into law earlier this month, the NDAA is likely to clear Congress with bipartisan support. Just one Democrat on the Senate armed services panel—Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.)—voted against advancing the legislation out of committee last week.

Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, called the NDAA "a critical, bipartisan measure that ensures our military remains prepared to meet the growing and complex challenges of a dangerous world."

The $925 billion Senate NDAA topline does not include the more than $150 billion Pentagon boost that Republicans inserted in their partisan reconciliation package for fiscal year 2025, pushing the nation's approved military spending above $1 trillion for the year. Trump has openly bragged about his push for a $1 trillion military budget.

US supreme court allows Trump to resume gutting education department

The US supreme court on Monday cleared the way for Donald Trump’s administration to resume dismantling the Department of Education as part of his bid to shrink the federal government’s role in education in favor of more control by the states.

In the latest high court win for the president, the justices lifted a federal judge’s order that had reinstated nearly 1,400 workers affected by mass layoffs at the department and blocked the administration from transferring key functions to other federal agencies. A legal challenge is continuing to play out in lower courts.

The court’s action came in a brief, unsigned order. Its three liberal justices dissented.

Andrew Cuomo announces run for New York City mayor as an independent

Andrew Cuomo, the former New York governor, said on Monday that he will run as an independent in New York City’s mayoral race, after losing in the Democratic primary to Zohran Mamdani. Many saw Cuomo as the favorite in the primary, but he ultimately lost to Mamdani, a current member of the New York state assembly, by more than 12 points.

Some corporate leaders, moderate Democrats and Republicans have expressed concern about Mamdani’s progressive policy platform and stance on issues such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Cuomo, who resigned as New York governor in 2021 after facing sexual harassment allegations, also faces competition from Republican Curtis Sliwa, and the current New York mayor, Eric Adams, who also decided to run as an independent following a federal indictment.

People close to Cuomo’s campaign attributed the primary loss to an “an anemic get-out-the-vote effort”, according to a Politico report. In announcing the independent run, Cuomo thanked his supporters and said: “I am truly sorry that I let you down.

Cuomo Launches DOOMED Anti-Zohran Campaign in CRINGE Video

Mamdani and Backers Ridicule Cuomo for Independent Run After Democratic Primary Defeat

Speaking at an event with a major local musicians union Monday after receiving its endorsement in the New York City mayoral race, Democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani offered his perspective on why former Gov. Andrew Cuomo had just announced the launch of an independent bid for mayor nearly three weeks after a stunning loss to his progressive rival.

"I think he's struggling to come to terms with what Tuesday meant," said Mamdani, referring to the June 24 Democratic primary. "We spent an entire campaign being told that it was inevitable for Andrew Cuomo to become the next mayor. And he believed that himself. And what we saw was New Yorkers' hunger for a new kind of politics... I understand that it is difficult for the former governor to come to terms with that because it is a repudiation of the kind of politics that he has practiced."

Progressives on Monday said Cuomo, who was forced to resign from office in 2021 after an investigation found he had sexually harassed at least 11 women, was showing disregard for the clear results of last month's election, in which Mamdani shocked the Democratic establishment by winning the most votes of any primary candidate in New York City's history. The democratic socialist won the election by nearly 13 percentage points in the final round of ranked choice voting.

Numerous critics, including one of Cuomo's accusers, alluded to his history of sexual misconduct in their responses to his announcement.

"True to form, Andrew Cuomo once again refuses to accept that no means no," said New York state Assemblymember Phara Souffrant Forrest (D-57).

On the social media platform X, Cuomo posted a video announcing his independent run—which Mamdani took as an opportunity to post his own campaign donation link, immediately garnering far more engagement from social media users than Cuomo's announcement did.

Cuomo said in the video that "the fight to save our city isn't over," and warned that Mamdani offers "slick slogans but no solutions" even as he appeared to copy the democratic socialist's recent campaign videos, which have shown Mamdani engaging with New Yorkers eager to shake his hand.

Some posited that Cuomo was likely "miserable" about having to participate in the type of retail politics Mamdani has excelled in, alluding to a quote from one of the candidate's most vocal backers after he lost the primary.

"All of us have a blind spot," former Gov. David Paterson told The New York Times. "His blind spot is that he doesn't really connect particularly well with, just, people."

Mamdani also poked fun at Cuomo for "making man-on-the-street videos with a guy in Carhartt" and joked that the former governor is likely to pander to New York City's Arab population.

"By next week, he'll be sipping adeni chai and eating khaliat al nahl," he said.

The Times reported that Cuomo launched his campaign after making a deal with Mamdani's other challengers, including Republican Curtis Sliwa and independent candidates Mayor Eric Adams and attorney Jim Walden. Cuomo has said he will drop out of the race if he not the front-running challenger by early September, and will encourage the other candidates to do the same.

As Nia Prater wrote at New York magazine on Monday, the strategy "appears to be acknowledging an unavoidable reality of the race: that having multiple candidates vying for the same bloc of moderate and conservative voters will likely favor Mamdani's candidacy."

Trump promised to lower energy costs – his tax bill will raise them for people in red states the most

The cost of electricity is poised to surge across the US in the wake of Republican legislation that takes an axe to cheap renewable energy, with people in states who voted for Donald Trump last year to be hardest hit by the increase in bills.

As air conditioners crank up across the US during another sweltering summer amid an unfolding climate crisis, rising energy costs will become even more severe for households due to the reconciliation spending bill passed by Republicans in Congress and signed by Trump, who called it the “big, beautiful bill”, on 4 July.

By stripping away support for cheap solar and wind energy production, the legislation is set to cause electricity rates paid by families and businesses, many already struggling to pay their bills, to rise by much as 18% by 2035, according to an analysis by Energy Innovation, an energy and climate policy thinktank.

Household energy costs, which span electricity and gas use, will rise by $170 on average every year by 2035, the report finds, with Republican-leaning states bearing the brunt of the increases. Bills in Missouri will spike the most, by $640 a year, with the next largest increases – in Kentucky, South Carolina, Oklahoma, North Carolina and Texas – all also hitting states that voted for Trump in last year’s presidential election.

Trump won the election, in part, by promising to lower inflation and cut US energy costs in half within a year. In office, he has sought to boost fossil fuel consumption while slashing incentives for clean energy projects and barring them from federal lands.

Trump officials address ‘chemtrails’ conspiracy theories while spreading misinformation, experts say

Trump officials’ recent attempt to dispel concerns about “chemtrails” has perplexed and angered some experts who say the administration has itself promoted the conspiracy theory while also spreading climate misinformation. “This is an intriguing strategy … in an administration that, depending on agency, is actively promulgating conspiracy theories or at least conspiratorial thinking,” said Timothy Tangherlini, a professor at the Berkeley School of Information who studies the circulation of folklore and conspiracy theories.

On Thursday, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) launched a website about contrails, trails of white vapor emitted aircrafts. Conspiracy theorists call the streaks “chemtrails” and believe they contain polluting chemicals meant to achieve mass sterilization, weather control or other nefarious plots. Though “it is reasonable to ask questions”, those beliefs are inaccurate, the page makes clear.

Officials also launched a second webpage focused on geoengineering, which correctly notes that schemes to “cool the Earth by intentionally modifying the amount of sunlight” are “being studied”. It says “current federal research activity should not be interpreted as endorsement”, though without explicitly stating that these efforts have not been widely practiced. The websites were published as baseless rumors swirled claiming weather-altering technology fueled recent catastrophic flooding in Texas. The EPA, however, says it “planned long ago to release these new online resources” which it had been “working on for months”.

“Regarding the flooding, EPA stands ready to help Texans get back on their feet in the wake of this tragedy,” a spokesperson said. ... But as it addresses false causes of the floods, Trump has continually shunned research into the climate crisis, which he has dismissed as a “hoax”. Research shows the deluge in the US south-west would have been less intense if not for the climate crisis, caused primarily by the burning of fossil fuels.

“Rather than addressing climate change – which makes floods like those in Texas, North Carolina, New Mexico, and Illinois more intense, more deadly and more frequent – Trump’s EPA is wasting taxpayer money chasing baseless conspiracy theories that scientists debunked years ago,” said the Rhode Island senator Sheldon Whitehouse, a climate hawk. “It’s a distraction from the Trump administration’s free pass to big oil on its pollution.”

Also of Interest

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

Craig Murray: UK Attempt to Name Non-Violent, Anti-Genocide Group as ‘Terrorist’ Is Challenged in Court

Putin: The West's Conflict With Russia Is Not About Ideology

US Launches Its 49th Airstrike of the Year in Somalia

Zohran Mamdani’s campaign proposes free childcare. Is it finally a winning policy?

Republicans BLOCK Epstein File Release

A Little Night Music

Carey Bell & Lurrie Bell – Highway Is My Life

Carey Bell – Mean Mistreater

Carey Bell – I'm Gonna Buy Me A Train Ticket

Big Walter Horton & Carey Bell – Avenue Stomp

Carey Bell – Walkin' By Myself

Carey Bell - Love Ain't A Play Thing

Carey Bell – That Spot Right There

Carey Bell – 19 Years Old

Carey Bell – I'm Ready