---

---

The day's news roundup + tonight's musical feature: Guitar Slim

---

Hey! Good Evening!

This evening's music features blues guitarist Guitar Slim. Enjoy!

^{Guitar Slim – Strange Things Happening}

“From even the greatest of horrors irony is seldom absent.”

-- H.P. Lovecraft

---

News and Opinion

The US Treats Israeli Pedophiles Nicer Than Wounded Palestinian Kids

Antiwar has a story out right now with the headline “Rep. Greene: US Should Let Gaza Children in for Medical Treatment, Prosecute Israeli Child Predators.”

It’s a headline that says so much about what’s going on in the world in just a few words. Is the US really not letting Gaza children in for medical treatment? Is the US really failing to prosecute Israelis who prey on children? Why are these necessary things to say? And why is it being left to Marjorie Taylor Greene to say them?

What’s crazy is that these are entirely true and legitimate grievances, as Antiwar’s Dave DeCamp explains:

“The Georgia representative was referring to a recent State Department decision to block visas for Palestinians from Gaza in response to outrage from pro-Trump activist Laura Loomer over wounded Palestinian children arriving for medical treatment, and the case of Tom Alexandrovich, a senior Israeli cybersecurity official who was arrested in a sting operation in Nevada for attempting to lure a child for sexual purposes but was allowed to go back to Israel.”

I mean, damn.

Things are so fucked up that the only way to get wounded Palestinian children in and out of the United States for medical treatment these days would be to disguise them as Israeli pedophiles.

Max Blumenthal : Is a Gaza/Israeli Hostage Deal in the Works?

Israel to respond by Friday over Gaza truce plan accepted by Hamas

Israel has said it will deliver its response to international mediators by Friday over a new Gaza ceasefire plan accepted by Hamas amid mounting pressure for a truce in a war that has claimed more than 62,000 Palestinian lives.

After mass protests in Israel demanding a deal to secure the release of the remaining 20 living Israeli hostages held in Gaza, it appeared that Hamas had reduced its demands over a prisoners-for-hostages exchange as well as over the scope of an Israeli-demanded “security buffer zone”.

Under reported details of the proposed plan, about half of the remaining living hostages, as well as bodies, would be released in a phased deal in exchange for about 150 Palestinians held in Israeli jails, some serving life sentences, during an envisaged 60-day ceasefire.

While Israel has said it is no longer interested in a partial deal, instead threatening an imminent new large-scale offensive to capture Gaza City, the details of the new ceasefire proposal bring it very close to the outline of a deal initially suggested by Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff.

The head of the Mossad, David Barnea, has recently visited Qatar amid speculation that talks are more active than officially acknowledged by Israel. Israeli officials have briefed that Benjamin Netanyahu will convene talks on the proposal in the next few days. A senior Israeli official told AFP the government’s stance had not changed and demanded the release of all hostages in any deal.

Ben Gvir TAUNTS 'Palestinian Mandela' In UNHINGED Prison Stunt

'Betrayal of Humanity': Nearly Half of 383 Aid Workers Killed Last Year Were in Gaza

The United Nations humanitarian affairs office said Tuesday that the new record of 383 aid workers killed last year while performing their lifesaving jobs was "shocking"—but considering Israel's relentless attacks on civilians, medical staff, journalists, and relief workers in Gaza, it was no surprise that the bombardment of the enclave was a major driver of the rise in aid worker deaths in 2024.

Nearly half of the aid workers killed last year—181 of them—were killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza, while 60 died in Sudan amid the civil war there.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) recorded a 31% increase in aid worker killings compared to 2023, the agency said as it marked World Humanitarian Day.

"Even one attack against a humanitarian colleague is an attack on all of us and on the people we serve," said Tom Fletcher, the UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs. "Attacks on this scale, with zero accountability, are a shameful indictment of international inaction and apathy."

Israel and its top allies, including the United States, have persisted in claiming it is targeting Hamas in its attacks on Gaza, which have killed more than 62,000 people—likely a significant undercount by the Gaza Health Ministry. It has also repeatedly claimed that its attacks on aid workers and other people protected under international law were "accidental."

"As the humanitarian community, we demand—again—that those with power and influence act for humanity, protect civilians and aid workers, and hold perpetrators to account," said Fletcher.

The UN Security Council adopted a resolution in May 2024 reaffirming that humanitarian staff must be protected in conflict zones—a month after the Israel Defense Forces struck a convoy including seven workers from the US-based charity World Central Kitchen, killing all of them.

More than a year later, said OCHA, "the lack of accountability remains pervasive."

The UN-backed Aid Worker Security Database's provisional numbers for 2025 so far show that at least 265 aid workers have been killed this year, with one of the deadliest attacks perpetrated by the IDF against medics and emergency responders in clearly marked vehicles in Gaza. Eight of the workers were with the Palestine Red Crescent Society, which on Tuesday noted that "Palestinian humanitarian workers have been deliberately targeted more than anywhere else."

"No state should be above the law," said Younis Alkhatib, president of the humanitarian group. "The international community is obliged to protect humanitarians and to stop impunity."

UN Secretary-General António Guterres said Tuesday that humanitarian workers around the world "are the last lifeline for over 300 million people" living in conflict and disaster zones.

What is missing as advocates demand protection for aid workers and as "red lines are crossed with impunity," said Guterres, is "political will—and moral courage."

"Humanitarians must be respected and protected," he said. "They can never be targeted."

Olga Cherevko of OCHA emphasized that despite Israel's continued bombardment of Gaza's healthcare systemsystem and its attacks at aid hubs, humanitarian workers continue their efforts to save lives "day in and day out."

"I think as a humanitarian, I feel powerless sometimes in Gaza because I know what it is that we can do as humanitarians when we're enabled to do so, both here in Gaza and in any other humanitarian crisis," said Cherevko. "We continue to face massive impediments for delivering aid at scale, when our missions are delayed, when our missions lasted 12, 14, 18 hours; the routes that we're given are dangerous, impassible, or inaccessible."

Israel has blocked the United Nations and other established aid agencies that have worked for years in the occupied Palestinian territories from delivering lifesaving aid in recent months, pushing the entire enclave towards famine.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) added in a statement that "our colleagues continue to show up not because they are fearless, but because the suffering is too urgent to ignore. Yet, courage is not protection, and dedication does not deflect bullets."

"The rules of war are clear: Humanitarian personnel must be respected and protected," said the ICRC. "Every attack is a grave betrayal of humanity, and the rules designed to protect them and the communities they serve. Each killing sends a dangerous message that their lives were expendable. They were not."

Along with the aid workers who were killed worldwide last year, 308 were injured, 125 were kidnapped, and 45 were detained for their work.

"Violence against aid workers is not inevitable," said Fletcher. "It must end."

Israeli Military To Call Up 60,000 Reservists as It Prepares for Gaza City Ethnic Cleansing Campaign

About 60,000 Israeli reservists will receive call-up orders that the Israeli military will issue tomorrow as it’s preparing for a major offensive on Gaza City, The Times of Israel reported on Tuesday. ...

The Israeli military’s plans to take over Gaza City involve the ethnic cleansing of over 1 million Palestinian civilians from the area. Since civilians are expected to remain in the city after evacuation orders, the IDF is prepared to use artillery strikes as its means of forcibly moving them, according to Haaretz. ...

Once the city is taken over, the IDF plans to spend more than a year destroying it, similar to how it made the northern cities of Beit Hanoun, Beit Lahia, and Jabalia uninhabitable. The IDF will demolish homes in Gaza City under the guise of “dismantling Hamas infrastructure,” but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has previously told a Knesset committee that the IDF’s destruction of homes would force Palestinians to leave Gaza altogether.

Israeli Forces Kill 58 Palestinians in Gaza Over 24 Hours

Gaza’s Health Ministry said on Tuesday that Israeli forces killed 58 Palestinians and wounded 343 over the previous 24-hour period as US-backed Israeli attacks continue across the Strip.

The Health Ministry said that the bodies of two other Palestinians killed in previous Israeli attacks were also recovered. “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.

The majority of the dead, 31, were killed while attempting to reach food aid, and another 197 aid seekers were injured. The Health Ministry said that since the end of May, it has recorded the killing of 1,996 aid seekers and the wounding of 14,898.

On top of the violent deaths, the Health Ministry said that Gaza hospitals recorded three more starvation deaths due to the US-backed Israeli blockade. “This brings the total number of victims of famine and malnutrition to 266, including 112 children,” the ministry said.

Pepe Escobar : Does Trump Understand Russia?

Moscow: No Concessions, Kiev Forfeits All Rights Unless Disarms Goes Neutral; No NATO Troops Ukraine

Trump rules out sending US troops to Ukraine as part of security guarantees

Donald Trump has ruled out sending US troops to Ukraine to enforce a potential peace deal with Vladimir Putin, tempering a promise to provide Kyiv with security guarantees that European allies had called a significant breakthrough towards halting the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine. Asked during a phone interview with Fox News whether he could assure listeners – including many members of his Maga base who support an isolationist America-first foreign policy – that the US would not put troops on the ground in Ukraine, Trump said: “You have my assurance, and I’m president.”

He did, however, say Washington may be willing to provide air support to Ukraine in order to backstop a deal, in what would still be a remarkable shift in his administration’s policy on the conflict. “There’ll be some form of security. It can’t be Nato,” he said, ruling out Ukraine’s admission to the transatlantic bloc. “They’re willing to put people on the ground. We’re willing to help them with things, especially, probably, if you could talk about by air.” ...

Russia has said it views the deployment of troops from Nato countries to Ukraine as a red line in negotiations. Trump dismissed that concern on Tuesday and said he was still optimistic about the potential to reach a deal with Putin. Nato’s secretary general, Mark Rutte, had described Trump’s pledge on Monday to provide security guarantees to ensure Russia would abide by a peace deal as a significant breakthrough, as Zelenskyy and European leaders convened at the White House for an extraordinary summit. ...

Zelenskyy has made clear that Ukraine would reject any deal limiting the size of its armed forces, insisting that “a strong Ukrainian army” must be part of the country’s security guarantees. These proposals run counter to the conditions Putin has previously outlined as acceptable for ending the war. While western leaders adopted an upbeat, congratulatory tone toward Trump at the White House, the gulf between Russia’s demands and Ukraine’s willingness to concede remains vast. There remains widespread confusion over what exactly Trump proposed and what, if anything, Putin agreed to during the Alaska summit. Some fear Trump may have overstated the outcome and misjudged Moscow’s willingness to compromise. ...

Some observers say that for all the diplomatic manoeuvring, there has been little real movement towards ending the war. “Nothing had happened in Anchorage on Aug. 15th. Nothing happened yesterday in Washington DC,” Gérard Araud, the former French ambassador to the US, wrote on X. “Putin, Zelenskyy and the European leaders were all relieved: they had avoided Trump taking unwelcome decisions. It was the triumph of empty vagueness and meaningless commitments.”

Ukrainian Parliament Member ATTACKS Zelensky & Blames Him For War!

Ukraine Russia War NOT STOPPING /Lt Col Daniel Davis & Larry Johnson

Mass Layoffs at John Deere Follow Depressed Sales Caused by Trump Tariffs

US President Donald Trump has pitched his tariffs on foreign goods as a way to bring more manufacturing jobs back into the United States.

However, it now appears as though the tariffs are hurting the manufacturing jobs that are already here.

As reported by Des Moines Register, iconic American machinery company John Deere announced on Monday that it is laying off 71 workers in Waterloo, Iowa, as well as 115 people in East Moline, Illinois, and 52 workers in Moline, Illinois. The paper noted that John Deere has laid off more than 2,000 employees since April 2024.

In its announcement of the layoffs, the company said that "the struggling [agriculture] economy continues to impact orders" for its equipment.

"This is a challenging time for many farmers, growers, and producers, and directly impacts our business in the near term," the company emphasized.

According to The New Republic, Cory Reed, president of John Deere's Worldwide Agriculture and Turf Division, said during the company's most recent earnings call that the uncertainty surrounding Trump's tariffs has led to many farmers putting off investments in farm equipment.

"If you have customers that are concerned about what their end markets are going to look like in a tariff environment, they're waiting to see the outcomes of what these trade deals look like," he explained.

Josh Beal, John Deere's director of investor relations, similarly said that "the primary drivers" for the company's negative outlook from the prior quarter "are increased tariff rates on Europe, India, and steel and aluminum."

The news of the layoffs drew a scathing rebuke from Nathan Sage, an Iowa Democrat running for the US Senate to unseat Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), who has praised the president's tariff policies.

"John Deere is once again laying off Iowans—a clear sign economic uncertainty hits the working class hardest, not the CEOs at the top," he wrote in a post on X. "Cheered on by Joni Ernst, Republicans in Washington want to play games with tariffs and give tax cuts to billionaires while Iowa families continue to struggle. It's time to stop protecting the top 1% and fight for the working people who keep our economy strong."

Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) also ripped Trump's trade policies for hurting blue-collar jobs.

"Because of Trump's tariffs, farmers can't afford to buy what they need to make a living," he said. "Equipment manufacturers like John Deere have lost millions, but let's remember that working people are hit hardest by the president's disastrous economic policies. Tired of 'winning' yet?"

John Deere is not the only big-name American manufacturer to be harmed by the Trump tariffs, as all three of the country's major auto manufacturers in recent months have announced they expect to take significant financial hits from them.

Ford last month said that its profit could plunge by up to 36% this year as it expects to take a $2 billion hit from the president's tariffs on key inputs such as steel and aluminum, as well as taxes on car components manufactured in Canada and Mexico.

General Motors last month also cited the Trump tariffs as a major reason why its profits fell by $3 billion the previous quarter. Making matters worse, GM said that the impact of the tariffs would be even more significant in the coming quarter when its profits could tumble by as much as $5 billion.

GM's warning came shortly after Jeep manufacturer Stellantis projected that the Trump tariffs would directly lead to $350 million in losses in the first half of 2025.

Trump SLAPS New Steel Tariffs May CRIPPLE US Manufacturing

DC residents question troops’ focus on low-crime areas amid Trump takeover

As Donald Trump’s federal takeover of Washington DC’s police entered its second week, and six states vowed to send hundreds of additional national guard troops to assist the administration, residents questioned why federal agents seem to be largely patrolling high-profile but low-crime parts of the nation’s capital.

The Washington Post has tracked where federal forces are patrolling the city, finding that few interactions have been witnessed in the parts of the city with the highest rates of crime. The White House rejected that claim on Tuesday, saying that “nearly half of non-immigration related arrests have happened in the most crime-hit areas in DC”, but before Tuesday, the White House had been releasing data showing many of their arrests were of undocumented immigrants, and few federal agents have been spotted addressing or responding to violent crime.

Instead, Washingtonians have seen officers from the FBI, Department of Homeland Security and other offices standing around prominent tourist sites and nightlife corridors, responding to minor disturbances and creating disturbances of their own. Over the weekend, several military vehicles were seen outside Union Station, positioned next to where passengers find their ride share vehicles. The Department of Defense posted a photo of a tan Humvee outside the train station on X on Saturday and said: “This We’ll Defend.”

Federal agents and vehicles have also been spotted across the National Mall, including the Lincoln Memorial, where violent crime is virtually nonexistent. Visible confrontations between federal officers and protesters have also occurred along 14th Street, a popular nightlife destination.

Amanda Moore, a Washington-based writer and researcher, wrote on X early on Saturday morning that she witnessed “15 federal agents call an ambulance for a very, very drunk and sick girl” in Dupont Circle, another center of nightlife. Stan Veuger, a senior fellow at the conservative American Enterprise Institute thinktank, joked on X, referring to the “department of government efficiency”: “I was wrong about Doge. The federal government is efficient now.”

"Dictatorship": D.C. Residents Demand End of Federal Takeover

Federal prosecutors launch inquiry into Washington DC police over allegedly fudged crime statistics

Federal prosecutors have launched a criminal investigation into allegations that Washington DC police systematically manipulated crime statistics to make the city appear safer than it actually is.

The probe, anonymous sources tell the Washington Post, NBC News and Fox News, being conducted by the US attorney’s office for the District of Columbia under Jeanine Pirro, is the latest escalation between the Trump administration and DC officials over federal control of local policing.

Trump somewhat confirmed the investigation on Monday, writing on social media that DC provided “fake crime numbers” to create a “false illusion of safety” and officials were “under serious investigation”.

The federal investigation reportedly started after Cmdr Michael Pulliam was suspended in May by the Metropolitan police department for allegedly altering crime data. The local NBC station reported last month that Pulliam, the former commander of Washington DC’s 3rd district that patrols the Adams Morgan and Columbia Heights neighborhoods, faced accusations from the police union of falsifying data, including misreporting stabbings and carjackings as lesser offenses. Pulliam denies the charges.

But federal prosecutors are now examining potential wrongdoing by multiple police and city officials, according to law enforcement sources.

US Deploys 4 THOUSAND Marines In Venezuela WAR BUILDUP

Maine police officer detained by Ice agrees to leave US

A Maine police officer arrested by immigration authorities has agreed to voluntarily leave the country, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) said on Monday.

Ice arrested the Old Orchard Beach police department reserve officer Jon Luke Evans, of Jamaica, on 25 July, as part of the agency’s effort to step up immigration enforcement. Officials with the town and police department have said federal authorities previously told them Evans was legally authorized to work in the US.

An Ice representative reached by telephone told the Associated Press on Monday that a judge has granted voluntary departure for Evans and that he could leave as soon as that day. The representative did not provide other details about Evans’s case.

Evans’s arrest touched off a dispute between Old Orchard Beach officials and Ice. The police chief, Elise Chard, has said the department was notified by federal officials that Evans was legally permitted to work in the country, and that the town submitted information via the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)’s E-Verify program before Evans’s employment. Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary of homeland security, then accused the town of “reckless reliance” on the department’s E-Verify program.

Ice used Marriott chain to detain immigrants, despite hotel’s 2019 pledge not to cooperate

A Sheraton hotel in Louisiana has been used by immigration officials to hold people who are being deported, in what appears to be a contradiction of a position Sheraton’s parent company, Marriott, took in 2019 when it said its properties would not be used in cooperation with Ice.

The Intercept first reported that the hotel, located on MacArthur Drive in Alexandria, Louisiana, near a major deportation hub and airport used by Ice, had been used by immigration officials earlier this month to hold a father and his teenage son for four days after their arrest in New York. They were then deported to Ecuador. The Intercept cited phone-tracking evidence that had been shared with the publication and was later seen by the Guardian.

The evidence corroborates the account of a source with knowledge of hotel operations in Alexandria, who told the Guardian that they believed the venue had been used to detain immigrant families and unaccompanied children since it was renovated in late 2023. The source observed Ice contractors known to assist in the transfer of unaccompanied minors operating at the Sheraton as recently as June of this year.

The source added that other hotels in the area have also been used to hold immigrant families. It is not clear whether Marriott has a formal contract with Ice or what the company knows about Ice’s use of the Sheraton in Alexandria. In one case that emerged last year, Marriott sued a New York-based franchise after the hotel entered a partnership with the city for it to be used as an immigrant shelter, saying it had done so without Marriott’s consent. ...

“It would be highly unfortunate if major hotel chains are facilitating the Trump administration’s cruel policy of deporting families,” said Lee Gelernt, deputy director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project.

---

---

Republicans sue to block Newsom’s fast-track California redistricting plan

Republican state legislators in California filed suit on Tuesday to block a mid-year redistricting plan meant to counter Texas’s effort to redraw congressional district lines.

The emergency petition argues that the process being used in the California assembly violates laws requiring a 30-day period between the introduction of legislation and voting on it.

“Instead of a months-long transparent and participatory process overseen by an independent citizens redistricting commission for such a sensitive matter, the public would be presented instead with an up or down vote on maps unilaterally prepared in secret by the legislature,” states the filing on behalf of senators Tony Strickland and Suzette Martinez Valladares, assemblymember Tri Ta and assemblymember Kathryn Sanchez.

California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, announced his state’s redistricting plan last week in terms on social media mocking Donald Trump’s flamboyance, intent on using the voting power of the US’s most populous state to counteract Texas’s redrawn map, which would be expected to deliver a net gain of five congressional seats to Republicans in 2026.

Newsom praised the California effort on Monday, calling it a necessary response to Trump’s influence over redistricting in Texas and other Republican-led states. “We are not going to sit idle while they command Texas and other states to rig the next election to keep power,” Newsom said, adding that the proposal gives Californians “a choice to fight back”.

LEAKED AUDIO: Cuomo PRAYS For Trump Rescue

Democrat warns US progressives against moving toward the center: ‘It lost me the election’

India Walton has a warning message for progressive Democrats during Donald Trump’s second presidency: don’t water down your politics to win over the establishment.

The Democratic socialist who stunned the Democratic party by defeating a four-term incumbent mayor in the Buffalo, New York, primary in 2021 believes moderating her leftwing message cost her the general election. It’s a lesson that carries new weight now that Zohran Mamdani secured his own victory in New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary earlier in the summer and inspired thousands of other progressive candidates to also run for office.

After disrupting the political base in the US by beating sitting mayor Byron Brown in Buffalo’s Democratic primary, she says she pivoted toward the center – and lost. “Moderating is what got us here,” said Walton, now a senior strategist at RootsAction, referring to Donald Trump’s return to the White House. “I believe that moderating is what lost me ultimately the election in 2021.

“I pivoted fairly quickly … to try and integrate myself into the party, because I thought that was the way to build a broad-based coalition,” she reflected. “It sort of ate away from our message from the inside out.” After initially opposing charter schools in the primary to win the Buffalo Teachers Federation endorsement, Walton later told business leaders she supported “school choice” – and lost the union’s backing for the general election as a result. She also distanced herself from the “defund the police” movement.

These days, Walton argues Democrats lost working-class voters by abandoning populist economics. “I think a part of the reason how we got a second Donald Trump presidency is that the Democrats have not had a message that appeals to working-class and poor people. The establishment resists such policies because they are “beholden to corporations and billionaires”, she added. “It’s not the message they want to hear, but it is the message that is resonant with the voters.”

'The Oligarchy Is the Enemy': Maine Oyster Farmer Launches Senate Bid to Oust Susan Collins

Launching a US Senate run to unseat five-term Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins, oyster farmer Graham Platner on Tuesday made clear in his inaugural ad that beating the "fake" moderate also means taking on the power-hungry billionaire class that has helped keep her in power all these years.

The enemy that the vast majority of Americans and Mainers have in common, said Platner, "is the oligarchy."

"It's the billionaires who pay for it," he added. "The politicians who sell us out. And yeah, that means politicians like Susan Collins."

Platner, who told The New York Times political organizers recruited him to enter the race, spoke in the ad about how Maine has "become unlivable for working people."

"Nobody I know around here can afford a house," said Platner. "Healthcare is a disaster, hospitals are closing. We have watched all of that get ripped away from us, and everyone's just trying to keep it all together."

My name is Graham Platner and I’m running for US Senate to defeat Susan Collins and topple the oligarchy that’s destroying our country.

I’m a veteran, oysterman, and working class Mainer who’s seen this state become unlivable for working people. And that makes me deeply angry. pic.twitter.com/QZfAm528N1

— Graham Platner for Senate (@grahamformaine) August 19, 2025

Maine has the 11th-highest cost of living in the country, and according to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Living Wage Calculator, the state's minimum wage of $14.65 doesn't qualify as a living wage for single adults, married couples, or parents—even if both parents work full time.

The fact that many Mainers have to "work two or three different jobs" to survive—as nearly 8% of workers do in the state—"makes me deeply angry," said Platner.

The oyster farmer and local planning board chair is a veteran of both the U.S. Army and Marine Corps, and his campaign platform includes calls for ending homelessness among veterans and fully funding job training and healthcare for those who have served in the armed forces.

But Platner's tone in his opening campaign video contrasted with that other veterans who have been recruited by Democrats to run for public office, like former Kentucky Senate candidate Amy McGrath and a number of former service members who the party is currently pushing to run in 2026 in the hopes that they'll be seen as "politically moderate."

"There is a very tired playbook that the Democrats have run for a while where DC chooses establishment candidates that they base upon their fundraising capacity, and in 2020... they just got battered, and Susan Collins held the seat," Platner told Zeteo, referring to Democrats' decision to run state House Speaker Sara Gideon, who lost by nearly nine points despite vastly outraising Collins. "So in my opinion, we need to be doing something else. I mean, clearly that is a failed strategy."

Platner explicitly called for far-reaching, progressive policies that would serve all Americans—those that are frequently lambasted as dangerous "socialist" ideas by conservatives and dismissed as "unrealistic" by centrist Democrats.

"Why can't we have universal healthcare like every other first-world country?" asked Platner. "Why are we funding endless wars and bombing children? Why are CEOs more powerful than unions? We've fought three different wars since the last time we raised the minimum wage."

On his campaign website, Platner added that he would "be a strong supporter of a Medicare for All system, moving away from the for-profit insurance system that has brought us nothing but grief," protect Social Security, push for a "billionaire minimum tax," "fight for urgent action on climate change," and strengthen legislation to ensure that "enforcement against massive polluters and repeat offenders does not depend upon the whims of whoever happens to be president."

In an interview with Politico, Platner said that if elected, he would not support Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) as the party's leader in the Senate, saying that "the next leader needs to be one of vision and also somebody who is willing to fight."

Along with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), Schumer has angered progressives and self-described moderate Democrats alike by voting with Republicans to advance the GOP's spending bill—claiming doing so was necessary to stop a government shutdown—and refusing to endorse New York City Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, who like Platner has centered affordability in his campaign.

Platner has hired Morris Katz, a top strategist for Mamdani, and his campaign so far carries echoes of the mayoral candidate. In addition to unapologetically calling for policies to further economic justice, Platner told Zeteo that Israel's U.S.-backed assault on Gaza, which was a flashpoint in New York City's Democratic primary, is "the ultimate moral test of our time."

Since Mamdani's primary victory in June, Democrats including Jeffries and former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg have claimed the mayoral candidate has not yet proven that his progressive platform has broad appeal.

"I think a lot of people are focused on the leftism, the ideological leftism, that I think we shouldn't be so surprised that prevailed in a New York Democratic Party primary," Buttigieg told NPR last month. "But I think if my party wants to learn lessons from Mamdani's success that are portable to a place like Michigan, where I live, it's less about the ideology and more about the message discipline of focusing on what people care about and the tactical wisdom of getting out there and talking to everybody."

Platner, who is one of six declared Democratic primary candidates in a race that could also soon include Gov. Janet Mills, appears intent on proving that defeating the oligarchy and the billionaires who have outsized influence on US politics and fighting for policies aimed at improving all Americans' lives are winning ideas even in the largely rural state of Maine.

"While my platform spans many issues, I view most of my job as a US senator as to do two things," reads Platner's website. "One, to ban billionaires buying elections; two, to dismantle the 'billionaire economy' in favor of an economy that works for the American worker, for small business, for the vast majority of Americans."

"I will be a senator," the platform reads, "for all those who can't buy senators."

---

---

Trump tariffs and green energy rollbacks push household electricity bills up 10%

Household electricity bills have increased by 10% since Donald Trump re-entered the White House, a new report has found, with its authors highlighting the impact of the president’s datacenter boosterism and cuts to clean energy projects as part of the cause. The analysis comes as the US energy secretary, Chris Wright, said he knows rising energy prices could be a political challenge for the GOP ahead of next year’s midterm elections, but claimed Democrats were to blame for the cost increases.

“The momentum of the Obama-Biden policies, for sure that destruction is going to continue in the coming years,” he told Politico in an interview published on Tuesday. “That momentum is pushing prices up right now. And who’s going to get blamed for it? We’re going to get blamed because we’re in office.”

Trump has repeatedly promised to lower utility bills. And in his Politico interview, Wright insisted that the Trump administration’s war on renewable energy is not inflating electricity costs. But studies have found that Trump’s pro-fossil fuel, anti-renewable energy policies will raise prices. A July report from climate thinktank Energy Innovation, for instance, found that the Republicans’ spending megabill that the president signed last month could increase wholesale electricity prices by as much as 74%, largely due to its repeal of many Biden-era green energy incentives.

According to the new report from advocacy group Climate Power, which is based on an analysis of data from the US Energy Information Administration, those price increases are already beginning to take hold. “Republicans are fueling an energy crisis and inflicting a massive utility bill hike on Americans across the country,” said Climate Power senior adviser Jesse Lee. “This is nothing short of a betrayal of their own voters. Families are losing jobs while their bills climb, all because Republicans would rather protect their donors than lower costs.” ...

The average price of household energy increased by roughly 10% from 15.95 cents per kWh in January 2025 to 17.47 cents per kWh in May 2025, Climate Power found. Household gas prices have risen by a stunning 56% over the same period. Electricity prices were 6% higher in May 2025 than in the same month of last year, while gas prices rose by 8% over the same period. Among the reasons for the increase are Trump’s new tariffs, as well as his undercutting of inexpensive renewable energy sources such as wind and solar. Rising energy demand driven by datacenters for artificial intelligence – which Trump has promoted – also play a role, the report says, as do rising temperatures amid the climate crisis, to which federal officials are contributing with their deregulatory policies.

Leading US economists urge peers to fight Trump’s attack on environment

Three leading US economists are urging their peers around the world to push back against Donald Trump’s attack on environmental laws. In what amounts to a call to action to economists, the trio say rollback of environmental regulations is “inconsistent or antithetical” to fundamental principles of economics over how to allocate the world’s limited resources for the greatest possible value to society.

The economists, Catherine L Kling, Stephen Polasky, and Kathleen Segerson, say the Trump administration, by focusing on tearing down environmental protections, is likely to reduce rather than increase economic efficiency, and its policies are a threat to Americans and the rest of the world.

Writing in the journal Environmental and Resource Economics, they urge economists to challenge from an economic perspective the administration’s undermining of science on climate and the environment.

“Now is a crucial time to push back against policy changes resulting in inefficient outcomes and the major reductions of funding for environmental research,” they write. “Economists have a wealth of knowledge and expertise that can help to explain the importance of effective and efficient environmental policy and expose weaknesses in Trump administration policies.

“Economists can use their voice to educate the wider public on what is happening and what is at stake.” They urge economists to advise local and national NGOs on environment and climate, to make public statements, broadcast podcasts, and to inform the public.

Firefighters in race to save Oregon’s tallest tree after it ignites

Oregon firefighters are working to save one of the tallest non-redwood trees in the world after it caught fire last week.

The coastal Douglas fir, believed to be about 450 years old and which stands 325 ft tall, was still burning east of Coquille on Tuesday, according to Megan Harper, public affairs specialist at the Bureau of Land Management. The Coos Forest Protective Association, a non-profit that provides wildland fire protection for several counties in Oregon, had received a call about the fire on Saturday. Harper said there’s still a spot about 280 ft up the tree that’s “still hot and it’s still showing some smoke”.

“That’s the area of focus right now to see if we can get that that spot cooled down because of the thick bark,” she said.

The blaze was burning from the top of the tree down into its trunk on Monday, according to an update from the non-profit, and helicopter crews managed to douse flames in the canopy. On Tuesday, crews remained on “observation mode” to see if the helicopter work was successful or not.

Fire officials will not send climbing crews into the Doerner fir, according to the non-profit’s update on Facebook, amid safety concerns. “Fallout from the treetop makes it unsafe for crews to engage directly under the tree, so firefighters are working to identify additional ways to reach and extinguish the fire,” reads the statement from Monday.

---

Also of Interest

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

Why Palestine Is Already a State

Jonathan Cook: The BBC Helped Kill Anas Al-Sharif

Netanyahu lashes out at Australia's Albanese as ‘weak politician who betrayed Israel’ as diplomatic row escalates

Ray McGovern: Trump & the Seven Dwarfs

Ukraine - Trump Continues To Humiliate Europe

Russia and Ukraine swap more bodies of war dead

China is a Rich Society. No Western Country Is.

Trump Administration Deploys Three US Navy Destroyers and 4,000 Troops Near Venezuela

The EU’s Latest Plan to Stifle Online Privacy Is Terrifying

'Shame! Traitor! Go Home!': Stefanik Mercilessly Booed Off Stage During Local Event in NY District

Data Centers Consume Massive Amounts of Water – Companies Rarely Tell the Public Exactly How Much

‘A climate of unparalleled malevolence’: are we on our way to the sixth major mass extinction?

New Yorker Mag Reveals Trump Family's Frenzy to Cash In on the White House

ACLU Sues over Legal Black Hole at "Alligator Alcatraz" ICE Jail

Epstein Survivor SPEAKS OUT: Ghislaine WORSE Than Jeffrey

---

A Little Night Music

Guitar Slim - The Things That I Used to Do

Guitar Slim - Well I Done Got Over It

Guitar Slim - I'm Guitar Slim

Guitar Slim – When There's No Way Out

Guitar Slim – Stand By Me

Guitar Slim - Trouble Don´t Last

Guitar Slim - You Give Me Nothin' But The Blues

Guitar Slim – My Time Is Expensive

Guitar Slim - Think It Over

---