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The day's news roundup + tonight's musical feature: Georgia Tom Dorsey

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Hey! Good Evening!

This evening's music features blues and gospel piano player and songwriter Georgia Tom Dorsey. Enjoy!

^{Georgia Tom – Selling That Stuff}

"People should stop saying the Democrats will do nothing now that they’ve won both chambers of congress; that’s so unfair.

Democrats do a lot of things. Genocide, for example."

-- Caitlin Johnstone

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News and Opinion

Israel Claims It Had Nothing To Do With Trump’s Decision To Attack Iran

Israel’s UN ambassador Danny Danon is acting like it’s absurd for American voters to have gotten it into their heads that Israel had something to do with the Iran war that’s costing them so much money.

Asked by i24 News about JD Vance’s observation that American voters want a change in their country’s relationship with the Zionist entity, Danon framed Israel as an innocent passive witness to the Trump administration’s unprovoked attack on Iran.

“I think it’s unfortunate, and we saw it coming from different directions, that many made the linkage between the rising prices, mainly oil prices, to the situation here in Israel,” said Danon, adding, “We know that the decision to attack Iran was the decision of the United States. It wasn’t our decision. We supported the effort of the US. We think it was the right decision.”

“It’s very easy always to blame Israel for everything, but that is not the case,” Dannon said.

Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon on JD Vance:

I think it’s unfortunate that many made the link between rising prices, mainly oil prices, and the situation here in Israel.

The decision to attack Iran was the decision of the United States. It wasn’t our decision. We supported the U.S. effort, and we think it was the right decision.

It’s very easy to always blame Israel for everything, but that is not the case.

— Clash Report (@clashreport) November 4, 2026

So it sounds like the new narrative from the Israeli government is that they were just sitting there minding their own business when the United States told them “We’re gonna bomb Iran, don’t try to stop us,” and then Israel was all like “WTF bro that’s crazy! I guess we’ll support you because we’re friends, but damn dude that sounds pretty reckless.”

Now that the war in Iran is costing Israel support from American voters, they’re trying to pretend they had nothing to do with that whole mess.

Which is wild considering the fact that Benjamin Netanyahu has publicly bragged about persuading the Americans to attack Iran, and the fact that the US State Department has explicitly said of the Iran war that “the United States is engaged in this conflict at the request of and in the collective self-defense of its Israeli ally.”

But whatever.

Putin 3 Hour Meeting with Iran Envoy. Trump Weighs Strike, Vance Diplomacy

Katz Says Israel’s War Against Iran Is ‘Not Complete’

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Sunday that Israel’s Iran “mission is still not complete,” as the US and Israel continue to prepare for the resumption of major strikes against the Islamic Republic.

The Jerusalem Post reported on Sunday that Israel was prepared for the possibility of President Trump ordering major attacks on Iran over the weekend, but that no such order was issued. However, the US does appear to be continuing strikes on Iran’s Qeshm Island, where explosions have been reported several days in a row.

Katz also repeated his frequent vow that Israel won’t withdraw from occupied territory in Gaza, Syria, and Lebanon, and warned that if Hezbollah participated in a renewed Iran war, Israel would escalate against Lebanon, where the IDF’s occupation and destruction campaign continues each day.

Max Blumenthal on midterms and Iran war fallout w/Mario Nawfal

Iranian Media Reports Another US Strike Against Iran’s Qeshm Island

On Sunday, Iranian media reported another series of explosions on Iran’s Qeshm Island, and Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported the blasts as a US strike, though so far the US hasn’t claimed responsibility, and Tehran hasn’t officially blamed Washington.

The apparent US strikes on Qeshm came a day after US Central Command announced that its forces bombed a commercial ship in the Gulf of Oman that it claimed departed an Iranian port, as the US continues to enforce a naval blockade on Iranian ports.

The announcement came shortly after CENTCOM said that it was expanding its blockade of Iran to the Caspian Sea and land routes across its border.

Robert Barnes: "They May Not Survive" — Warning Over Looming Retaliatory Strike

Gadi Eisenkot reaches out to Netanyahu allies as he strives to form government

Israel’s former military chief Gadi Eisenkot started the tough task of forming a government on Sunday, reaching out to Benjamin Netanyahu’s allies as he said the veteran prime minister had brought the country to a historic crisis. Eisenkot, 66, the leader of the Yashar party, who has vowed to bridge Israel’s deep polarisation under Netanyahu, formally received a mandate from the president, Isaac Herzog, who gave him 28 days to form a government despite his bloc lacking a clear majority.

“We are in a state of emergency, approaching a point of no return for the state of Israel,” said Eisenkot, who had traded his usual all black for a suit and tie at a ceremony at the presidential office. “We must form a national emergency government. This will require creative and unconventional political steps.” Eisenkot faces significant challenges on the road to becoming prime minister. He has three options: a power-sharing agreement with Netanyahu, support from Arab-led parties – something several members of his bloc do not support – or an agreement with the ultra-Orthodox parties, which demand military exemptions for their community.

Eisenkot and Herzog acknowledged Israel’s growing isolation under Netanyahu, who is wanted by the international criminal court. In the US, Israel’s closest ally, Democrats on Tuesday swept the midterm elections, with calls to rein in Israel after the devastation in Gaza and the unpopular Iran war, which Netanyahu launched with Donald Trump. Eisenkot said: “We are in the midst of a devastating diplomatic crisis. Even our closest friends and strategic allies are saying their relationship with Israel must be reassessed.” He appealed to Netanyahu’s Likud party as well as the far-right party of the finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, to join him – but only with himself as prime minister.

Alastair Crooke : Time Running Out for Netanyahu

Suffering in Gaza Escalates as 70,000 Tents Destroyed by Floods

The suffering of the people of Gaza went from horrific and beyond comprehension to something worse on Saturday after storm waters overnight destroyed tens of thousands of tents and flooded tens of thousands of people into further desperation, all while the US and Israeli governments continue to maintain a cruel blockade on life-saving supplies despite a fast-approaching winter and a military occupation with no end in sight.

“At least 70,000 tents have been flooded & blown away by the torrential downpour and tempestuous wind in Gaza since last night,” reported Palestinian journalist Abubaker Abed, citing statements from health and media officials. “Families are shelterless. Food prices are soaring. Children are starving and shivering with cold. Caravans and mobile homes must enter Gaza now to avert this cataclysm.”

Gaza’s Government Media Office on Saturday, holding Israel wholly responsible for the disaster, said initial losses from flooded and destroyed tents were estimated at $3 million and that dozens of walls of homes had collapsed, resulting in injuries, while the threat of broader building collapse remained a serious risk.

In a statement, Palestinian Health Minister Dr. Majed Abu Ramadan said, “What is happening in Gaza is not a passing winter crisis. I urgently call on the international community, the United Nations, and health, humanitarian, and relief organizations to intervene immediately to save the lives of hundreds of thousands of displaced people in the Gaza Strip, following the flooding of thousands of tents with rainwater and the absence of basic safe shelter conditions.”

Al-Jazeera reports:

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), about 950,000 displaced people in Gaza are living in areas exposed to flooding. Low-lying locations and sites near the coast are particularly vulnerable, with more than 400,000 people living in areas considered at high risk of flooding.

About 44,000 Palestinians are living in structurally unsafe buildings, while more than 4,000 buildings across the territory are estimated to require full or partial demolition due to damage caused by Israeli air strikes. About 294,250 families need shelter assistance ahead of winter, but the available supplies cover only 18 percent of their needs.

Ramadan further warned of “a catastrophic deterioration in health and environmental conditions, alongside growing risks of the spread of diseases and epidemics” if an emergency response was not rapidly and comprehensively deployed.

This is the worst morning ever. No one in Gaza City slept last night. The rain completely flooded the tents, soaking mattresses and destroying families' belongings. We are underwater.

Thousands of families have been trying for hours to save what little they have left, with nowhere dry to go.

— Tamer Nahed (@Tamer_Alnoaizy) November 7, 2026

Video footage and eyewitness accounts offered a heartbreaking picture of those hit by the floods.

“We woke up and found ourselves surrounded by water,” a man named Mansour al-Sakni, 33, told the Middle East Eye. “The children were crying. I did not know what to do, and I started crying too.”

“We stood inside the tarpaulin shelter waiting for the rain to stop so we could try to push the water out of the room,” he said. “We are poor people in Gaza. We want to live. We do not want to die from the bombing or the cold. Enough. Have mercy on us.”

According to NBC News:

The territory’s civil defence service said it had received 1,500 distress calls from displaced residents. Three abandoned houses collapsed without causing injuries, it added.

At a tent encampment in Gaza City, some people tried to repair their tents, ⁠while others used sand to reinforce them and prevent water from entering. ⁠Some were busy getting their children out of flooded tents.

Olfat Magdoub, a Gaza resident, tried in vain to sweep water away from her tent.

“This is the first day of rain, and of course ⁠we are already flooded. What will happen if it rains again the next day? This is only the first day and ⁠we’re already overwhelmed,” said the woman.

“Two weeks ago when it rained, I swear to God, I spent four days sleeping on blankets spread on the floor because the rainwater had flooded the bedding. Same now, the mattresses are wet so we sleep on the ground.”

While the flooding devastated the people and families trapped by the blockade of life-saving aid and shelter, fresh ire was pointed at the US government for refusing to rebuke the Israeli government for its wanton disregard for human life and suffering.

On the ground in Gaza, the anguish of Palestinians, including children, was on display in videos of the devastation and ongoing catastrophe posted to social media:

CATASTROPHIC SCENES IN GAZA RIGHT NOW.

Heavy rainfall is flooding displaced Palestinians’ tents, leaving families exposed to the harsh winter with no alternative shelter.

This is their fourth winter since Israel destroyed their homes and continues to block essential materials from entering Gaza.

— Gaza Notifications (@gazanotice) November 7, 2026

“How long are we supposed to live like this?” declares the young boy featured in the video. “I swear I don’t know what to do. Have mercy on us for God’s sake! For the sake of God, have mercy on us!”

Rain is worsening the suffering of Gaza’s children as water pours into homes damaged by Israeli bombardment, soaking bedding and clothes. With no shelter repair materials or tarpaulins available, families are left unable to protect their children from the flooding. https://t.co/OzVMGHzssI

— Government Communication Center (@pal_gcc_en) November 7, 2026

Children are particularly impacted by the rainwater and vulnerable to the increasingly dangerous conditions imposed by the floods

The image of a little girl in Gaza standing in the rain captures a stark, painful contrast: the innocence of childhood set against the harsh reality of life in Gaza. The winter rain has transformed the scene into a tableau that blends spontaneous, childlike joy with profound human suffering. Our tattered tents—and everything we own—have been completely submerged today. Please, speak about us; be our voice to the world. Please share, or leave a comment—even just a dot—to help boost this post. Thank you, from Gaza.

— Sondos Gaza (@SondosMurtaja) November 7, 2026

“What remains of Gaza’s homes is collapsing under heavy rain, amid the ongoing genocide and deafening silence,” said Ramy Abdul, chairman of the human rights group Euro-Med Monitor.

“For the fourth consecutive year,” Abdul added, “Gaza remains under a suffocating Israeli siege that prevents even the recovery of victims’ bodies from beneath the rubble.”

Scott Ritter : How Long Can Zelenskyy Last ?

Hakeem Jeffries supports impeachment of Pete Hegseth: ‘He has got to go’

House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries, poised to become majority leader, said on Sunday that he strongly supports impeaching defense secretary Pete Hegseth as a Republican lawmaker prepares to force a House vote. The top Democrat made his position clear during an appearance on ABC’s This Week, declaring himself a “hard yes” on the impeachment resolution targeting Hegseth.

“I’m a hard yes on the Hegseth resolution. The so-called secretary of defense has abused his power, undermined our national security, and engineered this reckless and costly war of choice in Iran, which has skyrocketed prices on the American people and made the country less safe,” Jeffries said. “Pete Hegseth has got to go.” The announcement comes as Kentucky Republican representative Thomas Massie, an outgoing congressman and frequent critic of Donald Trump, moves to revive his impeachment effort against Hegseth.

Massie said he plans to reintroduce an impeachment resolution as soon as Monday, potentially setting up a House showdown within days. The measure includes eight articles of impeachment accusing Hegseth of multiple offenses, including violating the War Powers Resolution of 1973. Asked whether he expects the entire Democratic caucus to support the resolution, Jeffries said members will “have that conversation” Tuesday morning when lawmakers return to Washington for the first time since the midterm elections. “But I believe there will be incredibly strong support for that resolution,” Jeffries said.

Trump administration accused of altering translation of request to extradite wealthy leftwing activist

Attorneys for jailed wealthy leftwing donor James “Fergie” Chambers accused the Trump administration of making “malicious” and “bad faith” changes to legally required translations from English to Spanish in its extradition request to Spain, adding words like “violent”, “detonate” and “fires” that are not in the original text. Chambers’ legal team also identified multiple instances where the US translation from English to Spanish created more serious legal accusations against Chambers than were indicated in the original text for his alleged involvement in paying the legal fees of activists who participated in a 2023 protest against Israeli weapons manufacturer Elbit Systems.

Chambers’ case is the first known instance of the US seeking to extradite a citizen over alleged support for Hamas, an accusation apparently tied to a money laundering charge and donations Chambers has made to support Palestinians, including the Sameer Project, in Gaza.

The attorneys have filed a last-minute request to the National Court of Spain asking for a new translation and for the court to recognize the “bad faith” actions of the US, after also learning this week that Chambers’ extradition hearing has been scheduled for 13 November. The Guardian has seen the 21-page request, filed Tuesday. It includes multiple, detailed examples of what the legal defense team calls a “translation [that] has fictitiously added incriminating acts, in presumed bad faith”. The goal, the attorneys assert, is “to lead Spanish authorities to commit errors in evaluating the facts [of the case] and in deciding about the extradition”. Both Spanish law and the extradition treaty between the US and Spain require extradition requests to be translated into Spanish by the requesting country.

The translations in question come from the criminal complaint and related documents underpinning the US extradition request. It was recently revealed that there is no indictment behind the complaint, meaning the federal government hasn’t had a grand jury evaluate evidence against Chambers and instead is seeking his extradition based on the affidavit of a single FBI agent, the basis for the sealed complaint.

Healthcare, tariffs – but not Trump impeachment: Democrats chart next two years of power

“Costs, chaos, corruption”: after almost two years spent relentlessly criticizing Donald Trump for failing to address those three, broad political concerns, Democrats won a monumental return to power in Tuesday’s midterm elections that will give them potent new leverage over the president. Now the question becomes: what will they do with it?

While party leaders say their exact strategy remains under discussion, all signs point to Democrats embarking on aggressive campaigns of both investigating and lawmaking, with the aim of giving their eventual nominee the ammunition they will need to win the 2028 presidential election. “We are going to make sure that those candidates running for president of the United States aren’t getting asked about plastic-straw bans. Instead, we should be talking about all of the legislation that we pass out of the House, pass out of the Senate, and force to Donald Trump’s desk,” Greg Casar, the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, told reporters on Wednesday.

He envisioned “passing bold legislation that people called for, every single week, off of the floor of the House and the Senate”, pointing to bans on price gouging, Super Pacs and stock trading by lawmakers as priorities. “If [Trump] vetoes it, then that is the platform upon which candidates can run in 2028, and then we can get signed into law in 2029,” Casar said. That election is still two, long and unpredictable years off. And despite flipping seats across the country, the Democratic party brand remains deeply unpopular.

One thing that does not seem to be on the table: impeaching Trump, for a third time. During his first term, Senate Republicans rescued the president after two impeachments, first on charges of leveraging aid to undermine his political rivals, and then again after his supporters attacked the Capitol on January 6. While Democrats have accused Trump of violating the law and the constitution regularly during his second term, they appear clear-eyed about Republicans’ willingness to force the president from office.

Trump set to lurch further right, claiming US took ‘giant step back’ in elections

Donald Trump set the stage for his administration to lurch further to the right this weekend, claiming the US had taken a “giant step back” by widely rejecting his party. “America took a giant step back in History with the results of the last Election,” Trump claimed in a post on his Truth Social platform on Sunday morning, citing the sharp sell-off in global markets, fueled a rout of US tech stocks. “But have no fear, we will be back, BIGGER AND STRONGER THAN EVER BEFORE!”

Despite Republicans losing control of both chambers of US Congress in Tuesday’s decisive US midterm elections, and voters across the country expressing frustration with key pillars of Trump’s controversial agenda, from the Iran war to sweeping tariffs, the administration appears set to press ahead.

Stephen Miller’s promotion has stoked expectations that Trump is poised to double down on an aggressive immigration crackdown, stoke cultural war battles, and refuse concessions to the new Democratic majority in Congress. The move “signals the administration is going to ⁠have a fighting-from-a-bunker approach the last two years”, Dan Eberhart, a Trump donor and energy executive, told Reuters.

After Trump also threatened Democrats planning to conduct oversight of his administration and family, announcing he had ordered the US Department of Justice to “look into” them, attorney general Todd Blanche told CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday that “there could be” investigations. Republicans have faced “dangerous” threats, Blanche claimed, without specifying what crimes he believed had been committed. “You have to draw the line.” Democrats have made clear that Miller and Elon Musk, the world’s richest man and a close Trump ally, are likely to be targets of congressional investigations once the party retakes control of Congress in January.

Congressman Robert Garcia, a Democrat from California, who is set to chair the powerful oversight committee in the House of Representatives next year, said on Sunday that investigations are set to explore Musk’s involvement in the Department of Government Efficiency’s mass firing of federal workers last year, and Miller’s role in Trump’s immigration crackdown. “I think there’s a lot ⁠of interest – not just from our committee, but from committees across the Congress – to speak to Mr Musk,” Garcia told CNN. Representative Jamie Raskin, poised to become the chair of the House judiciary committee, has also requested information on the business dealings of Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and son Donald Trump Jr.

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Rep Summer Lee PUSHED On Jeffries: Will He DESTROY Dem Mandate?

Petition Calling for House Speaker Other Than Hakeem Jeffries Hits 1 Million Signatures

An online petition demanding that Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) not be the next Democratic Speaker of the House surpassed one million signatories on Saturday as the clamor for a leadership change within the party exploded after historic midterm wins driven by populist demands.

As of this writing, the Change.org petition—titled “House Democrats: CHOOSE A NEW SPEAKER”—has 1,004,752 verified signatories, with the number rapidly rising.

While the final totals are not yet established, Democrats emerged from Tuesday’s elections with at least 254 seats in the next Congress, reclaiming the majority from the Republicans, who currently can count on just 162 seats when new members are sworn in come January.

While Jeffries is clearly the presumptive choice for Democrats, and he formally put himself in the running on Wednesday with a letter to all members, outside progressives have voiced serious opposition given his failure to embrace many of the positions—including backing Medicare for All, taking on entrenched corporate power, and restricting military assistance to Israel over its genocide in Gaza—that have animated voters nationwide this election cycle.

According to the petition:

We believe the Speaker should represent the Democratic voters, not just the Democratic establishment.

The Speaker has enormous influence over the House’s direction, including its legislative priorities and agenda. Before casting their votes, representatives should closely examine Jeffries’s public record, policy positions, campaign donor record, and leadership...and listen to constituents who do not want him elevated to Speaker.

This is not a foregone conclusion. There is still time for other Democratic members of the House to step forward and seek the nomination for Speaker, someone whose priorities more closely reflect the voters who hope to elect the Democratic majority.

We are calling on every member of the incoming 120th Congress to vote against Hakeem Jeffries for Speaker in January 2027 and choose a different candidate.

Axios reported Friday that members of Congress have been “inundated” with calls urging them not to elect Jeffries and suggested that some of the hesitations are not just among progressives.

The outlet reported, interviewing “nearly a half-dozen incoming House Democrats in deeply red seats Thursday who declined to state a firm position one way or another on voting for him.”

Sign this petition if you want a new speaker of the house.

https://t.co/G88VLySjsQ

— Mark Ruffalo (@MarkRuffalo) November 5, 2026

As Corbin Trent, the former top aide to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) who now runs a progressive organizing outfit called A Fight Worth Having, wrote in a column published at Common Dreams on Friday, “the Democratic leadership we have today is completely ill-suited for this moment. They do not have the vision for what it’s going to take to rebuild the trust the American people have lost in their government, their institutions, and the Democratic Party itself.”

“Democrats have spoken loudly and clearly that they want new leadership,” Trent said of the election. “Unfortunately, too many of the people in Washington aren’t listening.”

While the large Democratic majority in the House makes it easier for Jeffries to maneuver leading up to the leadership vote, and given that no challenger has stepped forward to take him on directly, the betting money is still safe that Jeffries will be the next Speaker of the House.

But the public push denouncing him as the wrong choice of leadership at a moment when Democratic voters are clearly demanding—and expecting—a much bolder agenda may still affect his calculations.

AIPAC In Freefall AFTER DEVASTATING Midterm Election

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US datacenter demand spurs increased fossil fuel pipeline projects as rules are discarded

Datacenters are spurring a boom in fossil fuel pipeline projects at a time when the Trump administration is gutting rules that protect from disasters along the lines, a new review of federal records shows. The report, compiled by the Environmental Integrity Project, also found pipelines are being built to meet demand for natural gas exports fueled by wars in Ukraine and Iran. Federal records identified almost 200 pipeline projects that are proposed or in the works, and would collectively span 17,000 miles (27,000km).

Not only has the Trump administration targeted laws that protect the environment and human health from pipelines’ risks, it has also pledged not to enforce regulations around them, the report adds. The findings bring into focus a little-considered environmental threat in artificial intelligence and datacenter proliferation – the US already records about 1.7 pipeline accidents, spills, fires or explosions per day, and these projects would almost certainly lead to more.

The pipelines could help supply the at least 98 gas-fired power plants proposed to serve datacenters, and, if all the lines are completed, they would transport about 40% more natural gas daily than what the system carries today. “This is the largest boom in a couple decades … and it coincides with all this deregulation,” Alexandra Shaykevich, research manager with the Environmental Integrity Project, said. “That’s concerning because the pipelines do usually operate safely, but they can leak and explode, and so there are big risks for communities across the United States.”

Most of the pipelines would carry natural gas across 42 states, though many of them are concentrated in several fossil fuel-producing regions. About 42 are in or cross Texas, 27 are in Louisiana, and nine each are in Pennsylvania and Illinois. Advocates say they’re especially worried because of the wide-ranging attacks on foundational environmental protections, from the Clean Water Act to the Endangered Species Act, that until recently have been wielded to stop the riskiest projects, protect from accidents or hold polluters accountable.

The report states that over 25% of the projects have requested an expedited environmental review, and the administration is largely using legally dubious mechanisms to push them through, like invoking the “energy emergency”. That has accelerated permit approvals, reduced the scope of environmental studies, and limited public and community input, the report alleges.The Trump administration in January issued a memo stating that it would “refrain from taking any enforcement action” against companies that violated Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration regulations. By 2025, it had already cut the average number of enforcement actions initiated in half, recording only 117. The administration is also raising the risk of accidents and explosions by allowing companies to increase the pressure of pipelines in densely populated areas and letting them conduct fewer pressure tests, the report alleges.

Despite Midterm Win, Are Democrats About to Help GOP Pass ‘Massive Giveaway’ to Big Oil and Big Tech?

With a vote expected as soon as Monday on a far-reaching permitting reform bill in the US Senate, opponents to the legislation are raising the alarm over legislation they warn represents the worst kind of bipartisanship: the kind where corporate interests have twisted enough arms in each party to get what they want while the public and the common good get the short end of the stick.

The looming vote to advance S.5653, the so-called Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act, BAAJA for short, has largely been overshadowed by the midterm elections, but coming on the heels of the Democratic Party’s routing of Republicans last Tuesday, it is being pitched as one final chance for the current Congress to pass at least one piece of legislation before President Donald Trump becomes a truly lame duck president come January.

The Democratic co-sponsors in the Senate—Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island and Martin Heinrich of New Mexico—have tried to thread the bipartisan needle by arguing that the benefits of their proposal outweigh what Republicans demanded in exchange.

But the problem, according to critics, is that it’s a horrible and counterproductive bill that will empower utility conglomerates, mining companies, data center operators, and oil and gas behemoths to extract huge concessions on the future buildout of polluting projects while hiding behind the promise of a more efficient permitting process for clean energy infrastructure—a noble goal.

The crux, as summarized by The Verge, is that while the legislation, if passed, “could be a catalyst for lots of clean energy, it could also speed up polluting projects and limit oversight of new data centers.”

Green groups in the days leading up to Monday have intensified their opposition, even as lawmakers have introduced changes to make the bill more palatable. On Saturday, the Senate Democratic Caucus met in Washington, DC to discuss the bill and offer “manager’s amendments” in hopes of garnering enough votes for passage.

According to Elizabeth Bast, executive director of Oil Change International, however, “No amount of last-minute tinkering can disguise that this bill is a massive giveaway to fossil fuel companies and Big Tech at the expense of communities, the climate, and people’s energy bills.”

The bill, Bast added, “is exactly what the fossil fuel industry has been asking for years” and called on all lawmakers to vote against it.

Beef industry quietly squashes part of its own science curriculum after ranchers protest

A beef industry-funded effort to teach teenagers about cattle’s climate impact was quietly scrapped following backlash from some ranchers, who disputed the premise that cows contribute to global heating. The episode is the latest example of the livestock industry’s decades-long battle to determine what US children learn about cows and the climate.

The American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture (AFBFA) and its Food and Agriculture Center for Science Education produce a free science curriculum used by around 1.2m students across more than 100 school districts nationwide. Late last year, the foundation announced a new lesson exploring “how cattle produce methane and its role within the broader environmental and biological systems”.

Within months it had been removed, following online criticism from ranchers, with Brett Kenzy, prominent South Dakota farmer, telling a trade paper “it’s not fair claiming that cows are harming the environment because they’re not”. Kenzy, who chairs a committee of the Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund United Stockgrowers of America (R-CALF USA), called the lesson a “slap in the face”.

“We did take it down,” Rick Henningfeld, the AFBFA education director, told an audience at CattleCon, the beef industry’s annual convention, in February. “We heard the feedback, and we are editing it, and our hope is to get it back up quickly,” according to a recording of the event shared with the Guardian. It hasn’t yet returned. A new lesson on cattle digestion, published in July, makes no mention of methane or climate.

Animal agriculture advocates often claim the biogenic cycle – in which atmospheric methane breaks down within about 12 years into carbon dioxide that is then reabsorbed by grass – means cattle methane contributes little additional global heating. But mainstream climate researchers point out that biogenic methane – which comes from living sources such as organic waste, rice paddies and livestock – is a leading cause of climate crisis, even when emissions aren’t rising. “About 0.3C [roughly 20%] of global warming to date is maintained by our ongoing biogenic methane emissions,” said Carl-Friedrich Schleussner, a climate scientist at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis. “Cutting these emissions is essential to slow global warming and keep peak warming as low as possible.”

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Also of Interest

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

Patrick Lawrence: Zionist Hide & Seek

U.S. Plans for An Attack on Iran

Israel Continues Bombing Gaza as Floods Devastate Families Living in Tents

US ambassador to Israel says critics of Iran war are blinded by Satan

Trump’s Promotion of Stephen Miller Saves Hegseth’s Ass

Americans Still Love Billionaires Too Much

Pope’s visit to Argentina sets up showdown with ‘hyper-capitalist’ Milei

Native American women made significant gains in US midterms

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A Little Night Music

Hokum Boys - We Don't Sell It Here No More

Tampa Red and Georgia Tom - It's Tight Like That

Georgia Tom – Hip Shakin' Strut

Georgia Tom – Pig Meat Papa

Georgia Tom – Broke Man's Blues

Jane Lucas and 'Georgia Tom' Dorsey - What's That I Smell?

Georgia Tom" Dorsey & Jane Lucas - Come On Mama

Tampa Red & Georgia Tom - Dead Cats on the Line

Georgia Tom – Beedle Um Bum

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