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The day's news roundup + tonight's musical feature: Chris Kenner

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Hey! Good Evening!

This evening's music features New Orleans r&b singer and songwriter Chris Kenner. Enjoy!

^{Chris Kenner – Land Of 1000 Dances}

"Politics is the soil in which the nettle of poisonous enmity, evil suspicions, shameless lies, slander, morbid ambitions, and disrespect for the individual grows rapidly and luxuriantly. Name anything bad in man and it is precisely in the soil of political struggle that it grows with particular liveliness and abundance."

-- Maxim Gorky

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News and Opinion

The US Keeps Openly Admitting It Deliberately Caused The Iran Protests

Speaking before the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent explicitly stated that the US deliberately caused a financial crisis in Iran with the goal of fomenting civil unrest in the country.

Asked by Senator Katie Britt what more the US can be doing to place pressure on the Ayatollah and Iran, Bessent explained that the Treasury Department has implemented a “strategy” designed to undermine the Iranian currency which crashed the economy and sparked the violent protests we’ve seen throughout the country.

“One thing we could do at Treasury, and what we have done, is created a dollar shortage in the country,” Bessent said. “At a speech at the Economic Club in March I outlined the strategy. It came to a swift and I would say grand culmination in December when one of the largest banks in Iran went under. There was a run on the bank, the central bank had to print money, the Iranian currency went into free fall, inflation exploded, and hence we have seen the Iranian people out on the street.”

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Iran:

We created a dollar shortage in the country. It came to a swift conclusion.

I would say the culmination came in December, when one of the largest banks in Iran went under after a bank run. The central bank had to print money.… pic.twitter.com/vjtGaMDyt0

— Clash Report (@clashreport) February 5, 2026

This is not the first time Bessent has made these admissions. Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos last month, the treasury secretary said the following:

“President Trump ordered Treasury and our OFAC division, Office of Foreign Asset Control, to put maximum pressure on Iran. And it’s worked, because in December, their economy collapsed. We saw a major bank go under; the central bank has started to print money. There is dollar shortage. They are not able to get imports, and this is why the people took to the street. So, this is economic statecraft, no shots fired, and things are moving in a very positive way here.”

Following these remarks, Jeffrey Sachs and Sybil Farres wrote the following for Common Dreams:

“What Secretary Bessent describes is of course not ‘economic statecraft’ in a traditional sense. It is war conducted by economic means, all designed to produce an economic crisis and social unrest leading to a fall of the government. This is proudly hailed as ‘economic statecraft.’

“The human suffering caused by outright war and crushing economic sanctions is not so different as one might think. Economic collapse produces shortages of food, medicine, and fuel, while also destroying savings, pensions, wages, and public services. Deliberate economic collapse drives people into poverty, malnutrition, and premature death, just as outright war does.”

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent Admits US Role In The Iran Riots

He says the quiet part out loud, praising the role of US sanctions in putting strain on the civilian population of Iran. pic.twitter.com/1zifeB9826

— In Context (@incontextmedia) January 21, 2026

Bessent laid out these plans in advance at the Economic Club of New York back in March of last year, saying the following:

“Last month, the White House announced its maximum pressure campaign on Iran designed to collapse its already buckling economy. The Iranian economy is in disarray; 35% official inflation, has a currency that has depreciated 60% in the last 12 months, and an ongoing energy crisis. I know a few things about currency devaluations, and if I were an Iranian, I would get all of my money out of the Rial now.

“This precarious state exists before our Maximum Pressure campaign, designed to collapse Iranian oil exports from the current 1.5–1.6, million barrels per day, back to the trickle they were when President Trump left office.

“Iran has developed a complex shadow network of financial facilitators and black-market oil shippers via a ghost fleet to sell oil, petrochemical and other commodities to finance its exports and generate hard currency.

“As such, we have elevated a sanctions campaign against this export infrastructure, targeting all stages of Iran’s oil supply chain. We have coupled this with vigorous government engagement and private sector outreach.

“We will close off Iran’s access to the international financial system by targeting regional parties that facilitate the transfer of its revenues. Treasury is prepared to engage in frank discussions with these countries. We are going to shut down Iran’s oil sector and drone manufacturing capabilities.

“We have predetermined benchmarks and timelines. Making Iran Broke Again will mark the beginning of our updated sanctions policy. Watch this space.”

Here's Trump's last secretary of state Mike Pompeo saying in 2019 that they're deliberately causing Iran "economic distress" in order to foment an uprising against Tehran, saying he doesn't think sanctions will pressure Tehran to change but "the people can change the government". pic.twitter.com/NKJDy4Al21

— Caitlin Johnstone (@caitoz) January 13, 2026

The US has been orchestrating plans to foment unrest in Iran by causing economic strife for years. In 2019 Trump’s previous secretary of state Mike Pompeo openly acknowledged that the goal of Washington’s economic warfare against Iran was to make the population so miserable that they “change the government”, cheerfully citing the “economic distress” the nation had been placed under by US sanctions.

As unrest tore through Iran last month, Trump egged protesters on and encouraged them to escalate, saying “To all Iranian patriots, keep protesting, take over your institutions, if possible, and save the name of the killers and the abusers that are abusing you,” adding, “all I say to them is help is on its way.”

Deliberately trying to ignite a civil war in a country by immiserating its population so severely that they start attacking their own government out of sheer desperation is one of the most evil things you can possibly imagine. But under the western empire it’s just another day. They’re doing it in Iran, and they’ve also aggressively ramped up efforts to do it in Cuba, where the government has just announced it will be rationing oil as the US moves to strangle the island nation into regime change.

A lot of attention is going into the Epstein files right now, and understandably so. But it’s worth noting that nothing in them is as depraved and abusive as what our rulers are doing right out in the open.

Iran Conflict COUNTDOWN / Lt Col Daniel Davis & Jim Jatras

Netanyahu To Meet Trump on Wednesday as Israel Pushes for Iran War

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet with President Trump at the White House on Wednesday as Israel is pushing for a new war with Iran following talks between US and Iranian officials in Oman on Friday.

Axios reported that Netanyahu was initially set to visit the US on February 18, but Israel requested that the meeting be moved up following the Oman talks. The meeting will mark the sixth time Trump hosts Netanyahu in the US during this administration.

In a statement on the upcoming meeting, Netanyahu’s office said that any negotiations with Iran “must include limitations on ballistic missiles and a halting of the support for the Iranian axis.”

The demand that Iran must place limits on its missiles, the country’s only deterrence and way to launch counter-attacks against the US and Israel, is designed to sabotage diplomacy and ensure that there is war. Iran has made clear that its missile program isn’t up for discussion, something it reiterated following the Oman talks.

Alastair Crooke : Israel's Trap for Trump

Use of Irish airport for US deportation flights to Israel called ‘reprehensible’

Politicians in Ireland have said the use of an airport in County Clare by planes deporting Palestinians from the US to Israel is “reprehensible”. A private jet owned by the Donald Trump donor Gil Dezer was chartered by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for two separate flights that took detainees to Israel, a Guardian investigation revealed this week.

The flights left the US on 21 January and 1 February. Both made refuelling stops at Shannon airport in the west of Ireland. ... Some of those onboard the flights on Dezer’s jet said they had their wrists and ankles shackled for the duration of the journey. After arriving in Tel Aviv, they appear to have been taken to the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

The Irish government said in a statement that as the flights stopped in the country for “non-traffic purposes” and were “not picking up or setting down passengers” they did not require prior approval from its transport department. However, on Friday, opposition politicians expressed concern to the Irish Times about the practice.

Duncan Smith, foreign affairs spokesperson for the Labour party in Ireland, said: “It is absolutely reprehensible that any ICE deportation flights would be allowed stop and refuel in Shannon. The taoiseach and minister for transport must intervene and ensure this ends.” He added: “Ireland cannot in any way be complicit in these ICE flights.” Roderic O’Gorman, leader of the country’s Green party, said that it was “deeply disturbing” to learn “that Shannon is being used to facilitate the cruel actions of Donald Trump’s ICE”.

Patricia Stephenson, foreign affairs spokesperson for the Social Democrats, said the government “must make a statement on whether it knowingly facilitated these flights”. She told the Irish Times that she believed the human rights of those onboard had been violated.

Is American Deterrence Being Established Round the Globe? /Glenn Diesen & Lt Col Daniel Davis

Gaza hospitals on brink as Israel stops vital medicines, equipment coming in

Gaza’s remaining functioning hospitals have become little more than forced waiting stations for thousands of patients and wounded people facing an unknown fate, the enclave's Ministry of Health said, amid continued Israeli violations of the ceasefire agreement and renewed attacks across the territory on Saturday.

The ministry said the remaining operational hospitals are no longer able to meet medical needs due to severe shortages of medicines and supplies, warning that the healthcare system is on the brink of total collapse.

It reported that 46% of essential medicines, 66% of medical consumables, and 84% of laboratory and blood bank supplies have been completely depleted, leaving even basic painkillers unavailable.

According to the ministry, services for cancer patients, blood diseases, surgery, intensive care, and primary healthcare are among the most severely affected.

It said limited quantities of medicines entering Gaza fall far short of actual needs, stressing that temporary emergency measures are insufficient and renewing urgent appeals for immediate international intervention to replenish medical stocks.

How U.S. Imperialism Actually Takes Money Out Of YOUR Pocket! w/ Christian Parenti

Russia says man suspected of shooting general detained in Dubai

Authorities in Dubai have arrested and handed over to Russia a man suspected of shooting and wounding a senior officer in Russia’s intelligence services, according to Moscow’s security service. The announcement on Sunday came two days after a gunman shot Lt Gen Vladimir Alekseyev three times on the stairwell of his Moscow apartment, leaving him in a critical condition.

The Federal Security Service (FSB) said a Russian citizen, Lyubomir Korba, was detained in Dubai on suspicion of carrying out the shooting. Television images showed masked FSB officers escorting a blindfolded man from a small jet in Russia in the dark. In a statement on its website, the FSB said it had also identified two “accomplices”, one of whom was detained in Moscow and another who “left for Ukraine”.

Investigators said Ukrainian intelligence agents had tasked Korba, who was born in 1960 in the Ternopil region of Soviet Ukraine, with carrying out Friday’s shooting, which was done with a Makarov pistol equipped with a silencer at an apartment complex seven miles north of the Kremlin.

No party has claimed responsibility for the attack on Alekseyev, 64, but Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, called it a “terrorist attack” and claimed without evidence that it had been intended to derail talks between Russia, Ukraine and the US to end the war.

Authorities in the UAE believe the attack was orchestrated by Ukraine, according to a source with direct knowledge of their thinking.

Trump’s family is embroiled in a $500m UAE scandal. We’ve hardly noticed

Days before Donald Trump returned to office in January 2025, an investment firm controlled by a senior member of the United Arab Emirates royal family secretly signed a deal to pay $500m to buy almost half of a cryptocurrency startup founded by the Trump family. Under any other president, such an arrangement, which was revealed this past weekend by the Wall Street Journal, would cause a political earthquake in Washington. There would be demands for an investigation by Congress, televised hearings and months of damage control. But this latest example of corruption involving Trump and his family business hardly made a blip over the past few days, relegated to a passing headline in a relentless news cycle often dominated by Trump’s actions and statements.

This scandal deserves our attention: a half-billion-dollar transaction with a foreign government official, executed in the shadow of Trump’s inauguration, which directly enriched the president and his family. The deal to acquire a 49% stake in World Liberty Financial, the crypto company founded by the Trump family and several allies in the fall of 2024 during Trump’s presidential campaign, was backed by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, one of the most powerful officials in the UAE. Known as the “spy sheikh”, Tahnoon is the brother of the UAE’s president and serves as national security adviser. He also oversees one of the largest investment empires in the world, serving as chair of two Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth funds, which have $1.5tn in assets, and G42, a firm focused on artificial intelligence.

It’s dizzying to keep up with the ways that Trump has monetized the presidency and used it for personal profit in his second term. The Trump Organization, run by the president’s sons, has negotiated foreign real estate deals worth billions of dollars, some of which involve private companies backed by governments of the three wealthiest Arab petrostates: Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE. In May, as Trump prepared to visit the Middle East, Qatar’s government donated a $400m luxury Boeing jet, which is being refitted by the US military so Trump can use it as Air Force One. It was probably the most expensive gift from a foreign government in US history – and Trump has said the plane will be transferred to his presidential library when his term ends in 2029, meaning he could still use it after he leaves the White House. ...

While Trump’s aides argue that he’s living up to the highest ethical standards, the Republican-led Congress has shown little interest in investigating an astonishing series of corrupt actions and self-enrichment that would have devastated any other presidency. And as Trump and his family tally the expanding profits from their crypto empire, the rest of us must reckon with the cost to our democracy.

US companies accused of ‘AI washing’ in citing artificial intelligence for job losses

Over the last year, US corporate leaders have often explained layoffs by saying the positions were no longer needed because artificial intelligence had made their companies more efficient, replacing humans with computers. But some economists and technology analysts have expressed skepticism about such justifications and instead think that such workforce cuts are driven by factors like the impact of tariffs, overhiring during the Covid-19 pandemic and perhaps simple maximising of profits. In short, the CEOs are allegedly engaged in “AI-washing”.

AI was cited as a reason for more than 54,000 layoffs, according to a December report from the consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

In January, Amazon alone laid off 16,000 workers after making 14,000 reductions in October. Beth Galetti, senior vice-president of people experience and technology at Amazon, explained in an October memo that they were trimming staff because “AI is the most transformative technology we’ve seen since the internet, and it’s enabling companies to innovate much faster than ever before. We’re convinced that we need to be organized more leanly.” ...

But the reason for such layoffs is often actually financial, according to a January report from the market research firm Forrester. The company projects that only 6% of US jobs will be automated by 2030. Companies could use AI to replace people working in call centers and technical writing, but they don’t yet have apps that can replace most occupations and probably won’t soon, said JP Gownder, a Forrester vice-president and principal analyst.

“A lot of companies are making a big mistake because their CEO, who isn’t very deep into the weeds of AI, is saying, ‘Well, let’s go ahead and lay off 20 to 30% of our employees and we will backfill them with AI,’” Gownder said. “If you do not have a mature, deployed-AI application ready to do the job … it could take you 18 to 24 months to replace that person with AI – if it even works.”

Man Beaten Nearly to Death by ICE Refutes Self-Harm Claim

A Mexican man beaten within an inch of his life last month by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents is on the mend and on Saturday spoke out to refute what one nurse called the agency’s “laughable” claim that his injuries—which include a skull shattered in eight places and five brain hemorrhages—were self-inflicted.

Alberto Castañeda Mondragón told the Associated Press that ICE agents pulled him from a friend’s car outside a shopping center in St. Paul, Minnesota—where the Trump administration’s ongoing Operation Metro Surge has left two people dead and thousands arrested—on January 8.

The 31-year-old father was thrown to the ground, handcuffed, and then savagely assaulted with fists and a steel baton.

“They started beating me right away when they arrested me,” he said.

Castañeda Mondragón was then dragged into an SUV and taken to a holding facility at Ft. Snelling in suburban Minneapolis where he says he was beaten again. He said he pleaded with his attackers to stop, but they just “laughed at me and hit me again.”

“They were very racist people,” he said. “No one insulted them, neither me nor the other person they detained me with. It was their character, their racism toward us, for being immigrants.”

UPDATE: We spoke with Alberto, the man whose 8 skull fractures ICE blamed on a brick wall

He says @ICEgov beat him with the same metal rod they used to smash his friend's car windows

"There was never a wall"

w/@NewsDudeAP @jack_brook96 @APCedar https://t.co/gLxIdhRjmC

— Jim Mustian (@JimMustian) February 7, 2026

Castañeda Mondragón was taken to the emergency room at Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC) suffering from eight skull fractures, five life-threatening brain hemorrhages, and multiple broken facial bones.

ICE agents told HCMC nurses that Castañeda Mondragón “purposefully ran headfirst into a brick wall,” a claim his caretakers immediately doubted. A CT scan revealed fractures to the front, back, and both sides of his skull—injuries inconsistent with running into a wall.

“It was laughable, if there was something to laugh about,” one of the nurses told the AP last month on the condition of anonymity. “There was no way this person ran headfirst into a wall.”

“There was never a wall,” Castañeda Mondragón insisted.

Castañeda Mondragón was hospitalized for nearly three weeks. During the first week, he was minimally responsive, disoriented, and heavily sedated. His memory was damaged by the beating—he said he could not initially remember that he had a daughter—and he could not bathe himself after he was discharged from the hospital.

In addition to facing a long road to recovery, Castañeda Mondragón, who has been employed as a driver and a roofer, has been relying upon support from co-workers and his community for food, housing, and healthcare, as he is unable to work and has no health insurance. A GoFundMe page has been launched to solicit donations “for covering medical care and living expenses until he can begin working again.”

“I don’t know why ICE did this to me,” Castañeda Mondragón said in translated remarks on the page. “They did not detain me after the hospital, I am not a criminal, and the doctors say they were untruthful about how the injuries occurred. But I prefer not to fight, I only want to recover, pay my bills, and go back to work.”

On January 23, US District Judge Donovan W. Frank ruled that ICE was unlawfully detaining Castañeda Mondragón and ordered his immediate release.

Frank’s ruling noted that “ICE agents have largely refused to provide information about the cause of [Castañeda Mondragón’s] condition to hospital staff and counsel for [him], stating only that ‘he got his shit rocked’ and that he ran headfirst into a brick wall.”

The ruling also stated that “despite requests by hospital staff, ICE agents have refused to leave the hospital, asserting that [Castañeda Mondragón] is under ICE custody.”

“Two agents have been present at the hospital at all times since January 8, 2026,” the document continues. “ICE agents used handcuffs to shackle [Castañeda Mondragón’s] legs, despite requests from HCMC staff that he not be so restrained. Petitioner is now confined by hospital-issued four-point restraints in an apparent compromise between the providers and agents.”

“Prior to this case, ICE had not provided any explanation for [Castañeda Mondragón’s] arrest or continued detention,” Frank added.

Castañeda Mondragón legally entered the United States in 2022 but reportedly overstayed his visa.

Castañeda Mondragón’s arrest came a day after ICE agent Jonathan Ross shot and killed 37-year-old legal observer Renee Good in Minneapolis. Seventeen days later, Customs and Border Protection officers fatally shot nurse Alex Pretti, who was also 37, in South Minneapolis after disarming him of a legally carried handgun.

The Department of Homeland Security has not announced any investigation into the attack on Castañeda Mondragón, sparking criticism from civil rights advocates and some Democratic elected officials.

Castañeda Mondragón told the AP that he considers himself lucky.

“It’s immense luck to have survived, to be able to be in this country again, to be able to heal, and to try to move forward,” he said. “For me, it’s the best luck in the world.”

But he suffers nightmares that ICE is coming for him.

“You’re left with the nightmare of going to work and being stopped,” Castañeda Mondragón said, “or that you’re buying your food somewhere, your lunch, and they show up and stop you again. They hit you.”

ICE EXPOSED: "Colossal Domestic Spying Agency"

‘A profound sense of being hunted’: with all eyes on Minneapolis, ICE arrests continue quietly across the US

With the public’s outrage and attention focused on the deadly surge of federal agents in Minneapolis, immigration operations have quietly continued across the US – albeit in less noticeable but still troubling ways, advocates say. In recent weeks there have been day laborers swept up at a Home Depot in San Diego. A taco truck vendor chased down outside a church in Los Angeles. Immigrants arrested at check-ins in North Carolina, and during traffic stops in the nation’s capital.

These efforts continue to stoke fear in communities and disrupt people’s abilities to work, attend school or go to doctor’s appointments. And in cities that have faced their own crackdown operations, raids and arrests haven’t stopped even after the drawdown of federal agents, with some signs that tactics are shifting.

What has changed across southern California, experts say, is how quickly ICE is making those arrests. Earlier in 2025, the typical ICE tactic in LA seemed to involve setting up in one location, like a parking lot near Dodger Stadium, and conducting operations in that general area for an extended period of time, Yliana Johansen-Méndez, chief program officer for Immigrant Defenders Law Center, said. But in the last few months, she said, the tactic has felt more like “smash and grab”. ICE arrests now often begin and end in a matter of minutes.

“They just kind of show up in an area, do a sweep, grab a bunch of people, and by the time any responders can get there, they’re gone,” she said. “So people aren’t catching it on camera. There’s no time for protesters or for attorneys, or any legal observers, to show up. And so they’re flying under the radar by doing it faster.” Adriana Jasso, a member of the activist organization Unión del Barrio, said that the speed of arrests is also picking up in San Diego, a region that saw immigration arrests soar between May and October of last year. When ICE agents detained about a dozen people near a San Diego Home Depot in late December, witnesses said the whole operation unfolded in about five minutes, Jasso said.

In Portland, Oregon, residents have been on edge ever since Trump attempted to deploy the national guard to quell demonstrations outside an ICE facility. A federal judge ultimately blocked the deployment, but protests have persisted as federal agents continue regular immigration check-ins at the facility. Tensions flared again in recent weeks after border patrol agents shot two people outside a medical facility in January, ICE agents arrested a seven-year-old and her parents as they sought emergency medical care, and federal agents teargassed thousands of people at a daytime march, including many children.

Minneapolis protesters arrested during one-month anniversary of Renee Good’s death

Police arrested several demonstrators on Saturday outside a federal building just south of Minneapolis, breaking up a protest marking the one-month anniversary of a Minnesota woman’s death at the hands of an immigration officer. ...

Scores of protesters gathered across the street from the Bishop Henry Whipple federal building around midday, throwing bottles and sex toys at a line of police guarding the property. The Minnesota Star Tribune reported that officers arrested a handful of protesters after the crowd starting throwing chunks of ice. A deputy was hit in the head, and a squad vehicle’s windshield was smashed, according to a statement the newspaper obtained from the Hennepin county sheriff’s office.

Police declared the gathering unlawful and ordered protesters to leave. Many complied, the Star Tribune reported, but about 100 remained in a standoff with deputies, state troopers and state conservation officers.

Video circulating on social media shows several protesters being forced to the ground and taken into custody. One person, as they appear to be placed in handcuffs, says: “I was here delivering pizza for the protesters. I had no idea that this was happening. I moved to the side of the curb when they started rushing everyone and now they’re arresting me. I am a peaceful protester delivering pizza and they’re arresting me.”

Meanwhile on Saturday, hundreds of people gathered on a snow-covered field in a Minneapolis park to honor Good and Pretti. Event organizers echoed recent criticisms of the immigration crackdown across Minnesota, characterizing it as a federal occupation. A Lakota spiritual leader, Chief Arvol Looking Horse, led a ceremony at the front of the crowd filled with people holding signs and American flags. Others shared music and poetry to honor the two people who have become central figures in the polarizing immigration debate in recent weeks.

‘Operation Dildo Blitz’ Anti-ICE Protest in Minneapolis Ends With 50+ Arrests

Demonstrators hurled insults and sex toys at federal agents outside a Minneapolis government building on Saturday to protest the Trump administration’s deadly Immigration and Customs Enforcement crackdown on undocumented immigrants and their supporters, with state and local police arresting more than 50 people.

Dubbed “Operation Dildo Blitz,” the protest outside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building saw demonstrators place sex toys in a chain link fence while others handed out rubber phalluses to protesters who threw them at passing federal and local law enforcement vehicles.

Demonstrators shouted “Eat a dick!” and “Fuck ICE!” as they pelted the vehicles with dildos. A local sheriff’s deputy was reportedly struck upside the head.

Activist Russell Ellis, who posted video of the demonstration on Instagram, said the protesters “showed real balls.”

“Dildos coming your way! Dildos! Dildos!” Ellis barked as the toys rained down on vehicles, landing with rubbery thwunks. “It’s raining dicks!”

Anti-ICE activist William Kelly—who was arrested last month after taking part in a protest inside a St. Paul church—said at Saturday’s demonstration: “The community here at Whipple today is, you know, doing the right thing and handing out the dicks. People are able to do whatever they want with the dicks, it’s their choice.”

One protester told VisuNews that they were attending the demonstration “because ICE likes to bend over for Daddy Trump.”

Asked what inspired her to show up with a literal “bag of dicks,” another protester said she was motivated by last month’s fatal shooting of legal observer Renee Good by ICE agent Jonathan Ross in Minneapolis. The protest marked one month since Good’s killing.

“The number one thing that you need to do right now is build community,” the woman said. “You need to talk to your neighbors. You need to start organizing. The local police are not going to help you. They are not your friend... so we rely upon each other.”

Later in the afternoon, police declared the protest an unlawful assembly before rushing in to arrest 54 demonstrators.

Epstein Death Notice DRAFTED 1 Day Early

Noam Chomsky’s wife apologizes for their ‘grave mistake’ in Epstein ties

Noam Chomsky and his wife, Valeria, made a “grave mistake” and were “careless” not to thoroughly research the background of Jeffrey Epstein, Valeria Chomsky said in a lengthy statement on Saturday, adding also that Epstein had deceived them. The relationship between Noam Chomsky, the 97-year-old linguist and philosopher, and Epstein has been under scrutiny after documents released by the justice department shed light on their friendship. As Epstein came under scrutiny for sex trafficking allegations in 2019, he asked Chomsky for advice on how to respond. “I’ve watched the horrible way you are being treated in the press and public. It’s painful to say, but I think the best way to proceed is to ignore it,” Chomsky wrote in a message signed “Noam” that Epstein shared in email with an associate.

“What the vultures dearly want is a public response, which then provides a public opening for an onslaught of venomous attacks, many from just publicity seekers or cranks of all sorts,” Noam Chomsky wrote in the message. “That’s particularly true now with the hysteria that has developed about abuse of women, which has reached the point that even questioning a charge is a crime worse than murder.” ...

Some of Noam Chomsky’s communications with Epstein took place after the Miami Herald published a bombshell story in 2018 detailing how Epstein preyed on underage girls and received an unusually lenient plea deal in 2008. On Saturday, Valeria Chomsky acknowledged the couple had read that story, but said the couple wasn’t aware of the extent of Epstein’s crimes until after his second arrest in July 2019.

“We were careless in not thoroughly researching his background. This was a grave mistake, and for that lapse in judgment, I apologize on behalf of both of us. Noam shared with me, before his stroke, that he felt the same way,” she said (Chomsky suffered a massive stroke in 2023). “It was deeply disturbing for both of us to realize we had engaged with someone who presented as a helpful friend but led a hidden life of criminal, inhumane, and perverted acts.”

“Epstein had claimed to Noam that he [Epstein] was being unfairly persecuted, and Noam spoke from his own experience in political controversies with the media. Epstein created a manipulative narrative about his case, which Noam, in good faith, believed in,” she said in her statement. “It is now clear that it was all orchestrated, having as, at least, one of Epstein’s intentions to try to have someone like Noam repairing Epstein’s reputation by association.

Chris Hedges VS Noam Chomsky: Explosive Take on Epstein Files – "They ALL Knew and Didn't Care!"

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Democrats will stop Trump from trying to nationalize midterms, Jeffries says

Democrats will stop Donald Trump from trying to steal this year’s midterm elections, Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic leader in the US House of Representatives said on Sunday. Jeffries’ comments come amid widespread concern after Trump said Republicans should “take over the voting”. The US constitution gives states the power to set election rules and says Congress can pass laws to set requirements for federal elections. The constitution gives the president no authority over how elections are run.

“What Donald Trump wants to do is try and nationalize the election – translation: steal it. And we’re not going to let it happen,” Jeffries said during an appearance on CNN’s State of the Union. He added that Democrats so far had successfully blocked Trump’s efforts to federalize the national guard countered a nationwide push by Republicans to redraw congressional district boundaries to their advantage.

“This is going to be a free and fair election,” Jeffries said. It “is going to be conducted like every other election where states and localities have the ability to administer the laws”.

The Trump administration for months has been sowing doubt about the integrity of this year’s midterm elections by filing lawsuits against states suggesting they are improperly maintaining their voter rolls. The FBI also undertook an unprecedented raid of the election office in Fulton county, Georgia, last month, seizing ballots and other voter information related to the 2020 election. Allegations of fraud have been debunked repeatedly in Fulton county, yet Trump has continued to repeat false claims about the county.

Ranchers FURIOUS As Trump Imports Argentinian Beef

New Reporting on Campaign Giving in Illinois Exposes Increasingly ‘Sophisticated Methods’ of AIPAC

The largest pro-Israel lobbying organization in the US has become increasingly toxic among Democratic voters, and a Friday report from Drop Site News revealed how the organization has gone to great lengths to conceal its support for candidates in the party’s primaries.

Drop Site examined campaign donations in competitive Democratic primaries in Illinois and found that the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) “is resorting to ever more sophisticated methods to support its preferred candidates while cloaking its own involvement.”

According to Drop Site, AIPAC appears to have pioneered its concealment tactics during a 2024 Democratic primary in Oregon, when it funded super political action committees (PACs) that dumped money into the race to benefit Rep. Maxine Dexter (D-Ore.), who was challenging Susheela Jayapal, the sister of Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.).

“The main super PAC in question (named 314 Action) explicitly denied that any funding came from AIPAC—a claim revealed as a flagrant lie once disclosure records finally became public,” the report noted. “But by then, Dexter had triumphed and was on her way to Congress.”

The same tactics are being used in Illinois, Drop Site continued, where AIPAC has been quietly spending to benefit the campaigns of Democratic candidates Laura Fine, Donna Miller, and Melissa Bean, who are all facing off against progressive challengers who have been critical of Israel.

What is notable about the Illinois operation is that many past donors to AIPAC and its major affiliated super PAC United Democracy Project (UDP) have been lining up to give individual contributions to the Fine, Miller, and Bean campaigns.

“A whopping 237 former AIPAC/UDP donors have given to both Miller and Bean, contributing $396,288.01 to Bean and $429,083.00 to Miller,” the report found. “Forty-four of these donors have given to all three candidates, sending a total of $208,753.33 to them. Several of the donations were given to the candidates on the same day, by the same donors, for the same amounts.”

Like in Oregon, the three campaigns have also been propped up by AIPAC-funded super PACs that have been taking out ads that do not mention Israel and instead focus on generic biographical information on the candidates.

Of course, these operations, which Drop Site describes as “impressively coordinated,” do not guarantee victory.

AIPAC’s UDP super PAC recently spent heavily in a New Jersey Democratic primary that concluded on Thursday to take down former Rep. Tom Malinowski, who earned the group’s displeasure when he came out in support of putting conditions on US aid to Israel.

But as Forward reported Friday, the campaign proved ineffective against Malinowski, who at the moment is in a dead heat with Analilia Mejia, a progressive candidate who has been even more critical of Israel.

“Whether or not Malinowski ultimately wins, AIPAC will have failed to achieve its goal of electing a Democrat in the primary who it views as being more supportive of Israel,” wrote Forward, “either Essex County Commissioner Brendan Gill or former Lt. Gov. Tahesha Way. And if Mejia wins, AIPAC will have helped elect a progressive who is less supportive of Israel.”

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Trump’s EPA reapproves contentious weedkiller dicamba for some GM crops

The Environmental Protection Agency on Friday reapproved the weedkiller dicamba for use on genetically modified soybeans and cotton, a pesticide that has raised widespread concern over its tendency to drift and destroy nearby crops. The agency said dicamba was critical for farmers who would otherwise have their crops threatened by fast growing weeds. To ensure the pesticide is used safely, the agency said it imposed strong protections and limits on its use.

Dicamba is a common weedkiller that can be sprayed on top of genetically engineered crops. It kills the weeds but doesn’t hurt the crops. It has been in use for decades, but it has become more widespread on farms in recent years. Advocates sharply criticized the agency, saying they are moving forward after courts blocked similar efforts in 2020 and 2024. Allowing its use on these two common crops will drastically expand how much is applied and increase harm, advocates say. ...

The agency said concerns about dicamba drifting to places where it was not intended are real and must be managed. It set limits on how much can be applied per acre, how much can be applied on hot days and established buffer zones to prevent harm to nearby crops. If followed, the chemical can be used without threatening humans or the environment, according to EPA. ...

Environmental groups said dicamba drift has damaged immense acreage, devastating vegetable farms, trees and other critical plants. “When push comes to shove, this administration is willing to bend over backward to appease the pesticide industry, regardless of the consequences to public health or the environment,” said Nathan Donley, environmental health science director at the nonprofit Center for Biological Diversity. Environmentalists said the EPA’s use restrictions are insufficient, allowing application for too much of the time and for too many days of the year. The buffer the agency uses to prevent harm to nearby plants has already proved ineffective, they said.

These US states want polluters to pay for the rising insurance costs of climate disasters

As climate disasters drive up the price of home insurance, three US states are considering empowering their state prosecutors to sue major polluters for their role in those rising costs. Lawmakers in California, Hawaii and New York have introduced measures which would authorize their attorneys general to sue fossil fuel companies on behalf of residents whose insurance premiums have soared amid climate disasters. “The cost of home insurance in California is an absolute crisis,” said state senator Scott Wiener, lead author of his state’s bill, speaking at a press conference announcing the measure on Thursday. “We know that the years ahead are going to be dramatically more dangerous, tragically, when it comes to climate disasters, and we can’t allow Californians, our residents, our small businesses, to be left holding the bag.”

The proposals aim to hold the fossil fuel industry, the top contributor to global warming, accountable for soaring insurance rates driven by climate-fueled extreme weather. In California, after the deadly 2025 Los Angeles-area wildfires, which destroyed more than 18,000 homes and properties, residents faced massive insurance premium increases, as well as widespread non-renewals of insurance and thousands of delayed or denied claims.

“We became refugees overnight,” Rasheed Ali, who lost his Altadena, California, home in the Eaton fire last January, said at the Thursday press conference announcing Wiener’s initiative. “We had insurance, but insurance didn’t mean we were protected. Our policy was bought decades ago, never adjusted to reflect the real value of our home, which leaves a massive financial gap that we are struggling to fill.”

In New York, where state senator Brian Kavanagh introduced a bill in November 2025, insurance premiums have also steadily risen amid increasingly extreme weather, with rates up 19% statewide since 2018. Some regions have seen even greater increases: multifamily homes in Brooklyn have seen insurance premiums more than double from 2020 to 2023, according to figures from real estate data company Yardi Matrix.

Hawaii, too, has seen an insurance crisis sparked by devastating floods, hurricanes and fires. The Maui blazes of 2023 alone catalyzed over $2.3bn in claims. Since those fires, premiums have also shot up by as much as 50% year over year, with far greater increases for condominium dwellers. Even more concerning, said Hawaii state senator Jarrett Keohokalole, who introduced the measure in his state last month, is that some insurers have dropped policyholders and fled the state over cost concerns. “They just packed up and left,” Keohokalole told the Guardian. Hawaiians have been forced to grapple with those crises, said Keohokalole, but big polluters should be footing the bill.

Um, enjoy the cold while you can?

Chance of El Niño forming in Pacific Ocean may push global temperatures to record highs in 2027

Weather agencies and climate scientists have pointed to the possibility of an El Niño forming in the Pacific Ocean later this year – a phenomenon that could push global temperatures to all-time record highs in 2027.

Both the US government’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology have said some climate models are forecasting an El Niño but both cautioned those results came with uncertainties.

Experts told the Guardian it was too early to be confident, but there were signals in the spread of sea surface temperatures in the Pacific that suggested an El Niño could form in 2026.

The cycle of ocean temperatures in the Pacific – known as the El Niño southern oscillation (ENSO) – is linked with extreme climate events around the world.

When warmer-than-average waters gather in the east of the equatorial Pacific and extend to the coast of the American continent, this is known as an El Niño and tends to give global temperatures a boost and, in Australia, can be linked to drier and hotter conditions.

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Also of Interest

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

Craig Murray: Acquittals Demolish Lies About Palestine Action

Ukraine – Long-term Countrywide Blackouts – U.S. Presses For Peace Agreement

Dreaming of Ending Trump’s $1.5 Trn ‘Dream Military’

Want to stop Trump bullying your country? Retaliate

Canada is no stranger to separatism but push for Alberta to join US is a new peril

How Much Further Can U.S. Forces Go in Mexico?

From New York to New Mexico: new Epstein files shed light on his sprawling ranch outside Santa Fe

Seized, subverted, shuttered: a year in Trump’s assault on the Kennedy Center

National Park Service removes Native American signage at Little Bighorn National Monument

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A Little Night Music

Chris Kenner – I Like It Like That (Part I)

Chris Kenner – Rocket to the Moon

Chris Kenner – Something You Got

Chris Kenner - Sick And Tired

Chris Kenner - Don't Let Her Pin That Charge On Me

Chris Kenner - A Very True Story

Chris Kenner – Come And See About Me

Chris Kenner - How Far

Chris Kenner - Don't Make No Noise

Chris Kenner - Grandma's House

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