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"It would not be impossible to prove with sufficient repetition and a psychological understanding of the people concerned that a square is in fact a circle. They are mere words, and words can be molded until they clothe ideas and disguise."

-- Joseph Goebbels

News and Opinion

Netanyahu Stresses The Need For More Propaganda As Israel’s Hasbara Budget Soars

In a fawning softball 60 Minutes interview released Sunday, Benjamin Netanyahu stressed the importance of winning “the propaganda war” on social media. This comes as Israel moves to quadruple its propaganda budget to $730 million a year.

Major Garrett (which apparently is a real name belonging to a real guy who works for 60 Minutes) told the CBS audience that “Netanyahu attributes the reputational harm to Israel almost entirely to social media, which he calls the eighth front of the war.”

“This is yours, right?” asked Netanyahu, picking up Garrett’s phone. “You’re not immune either. Because you can penetrate this machine, you can penetrate this little instrument, and you can say about Major Garrett anything you want. And I can paint you as a monster. And if I say it often enough, enough people will believe it.”

According to a Pew survey published last month, 60% of U.S. adults viewed Israel unfavorably, up nearly 20 points in four years. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the rise of social media is a major reason for this decline. https://t.co/QP4ESNtjGq pic.twitter.com/miCEwFYLX3

— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) May 10, 2026

“We have seen the deterioration of the support for Israel in the United States almost — I would say, it correlates almost 100 percent with the geometric rise of social media,” said Netanyahu, adding, “We have several countries that basically manipulated social media. And they do it in a clever way. And that’s something that has hurt us badly.”

“Israel is besieged on the media front, on the propaganda front, and we’ve not done well on the propaganda war,” the prime minister lamented.

Netanyahu has been repeatedly stressing the need for more aggressive propaganda manipulation as public opinion of Israel plummets worldwide. Earlier this year he told The Economist that “I’d like to do everything I can to fight the propaganda war waged against us,” complaining that “we’ve been using cavalry against f-35s, because they’ve flooded the social networks with the fake bots and many other things.”

Despite having the entire western political-media class bending over backwards to protect Israel’s image, Netanyahu consistently frames his country’s struggle for narrative control as a brave little David figure standing up against the colossal Goliath of anti-Zionist social media users. Last year the Israeli leader claimed that Israel is losing the propaganda war because “there are vast forces arrayed against us,” denouncing “the algorithms of the social network that are driving a lot of everything else.”

In a meeting with American social media influencers last year, the prime minister spoke of how vital the forced sale of TikTok has been for Israeli information interests, and said that Elon Musk could help facilitate Israeli PR on the X platform as well.

“We have to fight back. How do we fight back? Our influencers,” Netanyahu said. “We have to fight with the weapons that apply to the battlefields in which we’re engaged, and the most important ones are on social media.”

Of course, the possibility of Israel improving its public image by simply murdering fewer people and doing fewer evil things is never even considered. Its is taken as a given that shoving pro-Israel messaging down everyone’s throat is the only way to sway public opinion in a positive direction.

It is under this framing that Israel has again massively increased its propaganda budget for the year, after having massively increased it from what it was the year before.

The Jerusalem Post reports the following:

“Israel is betting nearly three-quarters of a billion dollars that it can talk its way out of a reputation crisis.

“Lawmakers in Jerusalem approved a 2026 national budget last month that includes roughly $730 million for public diplomacy — the broad category known in Hebrew as hasbara — more than four times the $150 million they allocated the year before. That earlier sum was itself about 20 times what Israel had spent on such efforts before the war in Gaza broke out in 2023.

“The unprecedented expenditure comes as survey after survey shows declining support for Israel in the United States, its most important ally. A Pew Research Center poll released earlier this month found 60% of Americans now view Israel unfavorably, up seven points in a single year, with only 37% viewing it favorably.”

If you saw a guy spending 730 million dollars on media operations to manipulate people into thinking he is not an asshole, what could you reasonably conclude about that guy's personality? https://t.co/giH4e1vYUY

— Caitlin Johnstone (@caitoz) May 5, 2026

So you know how you’re already seeing an insane amount of pro-Israel propaganda and running into aggressive Zionist trolls online? You can expect that to get a whole lot worse.

Narrative manipulation has served Israel well over the years, but there’s a limit to how much propaganda can accomplish. If I walked up to you and spat in your face, there’s no amount of verbiage I could throw at you to convince you I’m actually a nice person. There’s only so much carnage people can watch on their phones before you can no longer convince them it’s not what it looks like.

The propaganda has already hit a point of diminishing returns, and soon it’s going to start having a reverse effect. People are going to start hating Israel for all the evil things it’s been doing, and then hating it even more for all its in-your-face perception management operations to manipulate their thoughts and feelings.

At some point the hasbarists are themselves going to inadvertently become anti-Zionist propaganda agents, just because they make Israel look so creepy with the way they’re always trying to stick their rapey fingers into everyone’s mind.

The truth can only be concealed and distorted for so long.

Prof. John Mearsheimer : The Future of Great Power Politics

Trump says ceasefire with Iran on ‘life support’ after rejecting peace proposals

Donald Trump has said the ceasefire with Iran is on “life support” and that he is considering restarting US navy military escorts of ships through the strait of Hormuz in an attempt to end the Iranian blockade of the vital waterway. The US president dismissed Iran’s peace proposals as stupid, and denied he was under any domestic pressure to reach a deal.

Referring to the ceasefire in force since 7 April, Trump said: “I would call it the weakest, right now, after reading that piece of garbage they sent us – I didn’t even finish reading it. I would say the ceasefire is on massive life support, where the doctor walks in and says: ‘Sir, your loved one has approximately a 1% chance of living.’”

Last week, the US sent Iran a set of conditions for easing the conflict, mostly related to preventing Tehran from being able to expand its nuclear programme. At the weekend, Iran sent counter-proposals that Trump dismissed out of hand. Trump’s latest comments came after oil prices jumped again when Iran said there would be no further talks about ending the blockade of the strait of Hormuz unless he accepted its terms.

Maj Gen Mohammad Ali Jafari, a former commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, said: “As long as the war on all fronts is not over, sanctions are not lifted, blocked funds are not released, war damages are not compensated and Iran’s sovereignty over the strait of Hormuz not recognised, there will be no other negotiations.”

The Iranian plan dismissed by Trump largely focused on ending the US blockade in the strait, but leaving the issues surrounding Iran’s nuclear programme to a negotiation starting after 30 days of confidence building, a deferral that the US president and Israel reject. Tehran argues the previous use of US bases in the region to attack Iran means the “strait can no longer be treated as a normal and neutral waterway”.

Iran Didn’t Collapse — And Now Trump Is Cornered, w/ Trita Parsi

Iranian Foreign Ministry Says US Pushing ‘Unreasonable Demands’ Shaped by Israel

Iran’s Foreign Ministry said on Monday that the US was making “unreasonable demands” that are being shaped by Israel, comments that come after President Trump rejected Tehran’s latest proposal to end the war.

“We did not demand any concessions. Our demand is legitimate: demanding an end to the war, lifting the blockade and piracy, and releasing Iranian assets that have been unjustly frozen in banks due to US pressure,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei told reporters at a press conference.

“Safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz and establishing security in the region and Lebanon were other demands of Iran, which are considered a generous and responsible offer for regional security,” he added.

Baghaei also said that Tehran’s current focus is on ending the war, not its nuclear program, appearing to contradict Western media reports that said Iran’s latest response to the US included details on the nuclear issue.

Why Israel Wants The Strait of Hormuz To Be Closed

Oil prices climb after Trump dismisses Iran’s response to peace plan

Oil prices have climbed after Donald Trump condemned Iran’s response to US proposals to end the war as “totally unacceptable”. The president’s rejection of Tehran’s overture in a post on his Truth Social platform triggered a jump in Brent crude, the international benchmark for oil prices, by as much as 4% on Monday to $105.50 a barrel, before easing back to settle at $103.50.

The increase in tensions has added to fears that the oil prices could remain elevated for longer, as the strait of Hormuz – through which a fifth of the world’s oil and gas supply normally passes – remains effectively closed. “While there’s some expectation that a major reignition of the war is less likely, given the US claims a ceasefire is still in place, severe supply constraints of commodities are set to continue,” said Susannah Streeter, chief investment strategist at the broker Wealth Club. “With the crisis now into the 11th week, consumers, companies and countries are having to adapt to a world of constrained supplies.”

COL. Douglas Macgregor : How Iran Defeated the US and Israel

UAE Has Secretly Launched Attacks Against Iran

The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that the United Arab Emirates has carried out military strikes against Iran, and its sources presented the Gulf Arab state as an active combatant in the war, backing up Tehran’s allegations against Abu Dhabi.

The report said that one of the attacks included the bombing of oil infrastructure in Iran’s Lavan Island in the Persian Gulf, which occurred in early April, right after the ceasefire between the US and Iran came into effect. At the time, Iranian media blamed the attack on the UAE, saying it was likely launched by the country’s French-made Mirage fighter jets, and Iran responded with attacks on the UAE and Kuwait.

Iranian media also reported that it had evidence of Emirati involvement in the war, pointing to the interception of a UAE Mirage fighter jet over Iran’s Jask island on March 22 and the April 1 downing of a Chinese WingLoong-2 drone, which, according to the reports, is “only in the possession of Saudi Arabia and the UAE.” The UAE also maintains a fleet of US-made F-16 fighter jets.

Col. Larry Wilkerson: Iran WIPES OUT Trump’s Proposal & INSISTS on Its Own Terms (It’s Over)

Israeli troops jailed for desecration of Virgin Mary statue in Lebanon

Two Israeli soldiers will spend weeks in military prison for the desecration of a Christian object after one stuck a cigarette in the mouth of a statue of the Virgin Mary in southern Lebanon and the other photographed it.

The photo of the soldier, a cigarette dangling from his own mouth, went viral and sparked widespread outrage. It was the latest act by Israeli forces in southern Lebanon to be denounced as anti-Christian.

Israel’s military said the soldier posing would be jailed for 21 days and the one who photographed him 14. The military “views the incident with great severity and respects freedom of religion and worship, as well as holy sites and religious symbols of all religions and communities,” spokesperson Lt Col Ariella Mazor wrote on X.

The photo appeared days after images of an Israeli soldier wielding an axe against a fallen statue of Jesus on the cross in the southern Lebanon village of Debel were roundly condemned by foreign leaders, Christian leaders and Israeli politicians. The military sentenced soldiers who participated in hacking down the crucifix to time in military prison.

The punishments given in the two cases are unusual.

Seyed M. Marandi: Hezbollah’s FPV Drones HUMILIATE Israeli Air Defenses – Multi-Front War ESCALATES

Trump vows to pause federal gas tax after Iran war boosts US fuel prices to four-year high

Donald Trump pledged to suspend the US federal gas tax in an effort to reduce pressure on Americans after the US-Israel war on Iran sparked a sharp rise in fuel prices.

The US president told reporters on Monday that his administration would look to pause the tax “till it’s appropriate”, as drivers count the cost of the surge in oil prices in the two months since US and Israeli forces attacked Iran.

The federal gas tax – 18.4 cents per gallon for gasoline, and 24.4 cents for diesel – raises about $500m each week for the federal government.

Suspending it was “a great idea”, Trump told CBS News on Monday. “Yup, we’re going to take off the gas tax for a period of time, and when gas goes down, we’ll let it phase back in.”

He later confirmed the idea during public remarks at the White House, acknowledging the gas tax was a small percentage of the rising costs.

CPT. Matt Hoh : Netanyahu Becomes Desperate

Trump Says He’s ‘Seriously Considering Making Venezuela the 51st US State’ as He Brags of Stealing Its Oil Wealth

President Donald Trump said on Monday that he is considering trying to annex Venezuela and make it a US state in an imperialist effort to seize more of its oil wealth.

It’s one of nearly half a dozen nations or territories Trump has threatened to use US military might to illegally conquer and add to the US during his term, including Greenland, Canada, Cuba, and Panama.

According to Fox News correspondent John Roberts, Trump said in a phone call that he was “seriously considering making Venezuela the 51st US state,” citing the Latin American nation’s possession of tens of trillions of dollars worth of oil.

“They were miserable. Now they’re happy. It’s being well run,” Trump recently told Full Measure’s Sharyl Attkisson. “The oil that’s coming out is enormous, the biggest in many years. And the Big Oil companies are going in with the biggest, most beautiful rigs you’ve ever seen.”

Trump: “Cuba, Venezuela, they all voted for me…Venezuela is a very happy country right now. They were miserable, and now they are happy.

The oil that’s coming out is enormous.” pic.twitter.com/Nah53ZbzC1

— Vera Bergengruen (@VeraMBergen) May 11, 2026

One poll from the Venezuelan firm Meganálisis in March found that while the public was initially happy to be rid of their autocratic president, Nicolás Maduro—who was abducted by US forces in January—the majority now feel that Trump’s action had little to do with democracy or the well-being of the Venezuelan people and more to do with handing control of the country’s nationalized oil reserves to American companies, which Trump stated as his primary objective after ousting Maduro.

Trump left Maduro’s vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, in place as Venezuela’s interim leader with the promise that she’d act as a pliant collaborator with the US, whom she allowed to declare control over Venezuela’s oil resources “indefinitely” amid market transitions.

The environmental activist group Global Witness has estimated that over the next 10 years, as much as $150 billion in oil revenue that was expected to go to the Venezuelan treasury, which could have funded projects to develop the impoverished country, instead may flow into the coffers of foreign companies.

Q: You said today you would like to take Iran's oil, but Americans want US forces home--

TRUMP: Correct. I'm a businessman first. With Venezuela, the war was over in about 45 minutes. We've taken hundreds of millions of barrels. To the winner belong the spoils. Why don't we use… pic.twitter.com/ivDbC5zmTD

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 6, 2026

Trump has spoken about the idea of Venezuela becoming the 51st state before, including after the country defeated Italy in the World Baseball Classic in March, when he posted on Truth Social: “STATEHOOD, #51, ANYONE?”

Last month, during a discussion about his desire to “take” Iran’s oil, Trump described his takeover of Venezuela as something akin to the resource-hungry imperial conquests of centuries past.

“I’m a businessman first,” he told reporters during a press briefing. “We’ve taken hundreds of millions of barrels [of oil], hundreds of millions... and paid for that war many, many times over. You know the old days, ‘to the winner belong the spoils.’ And I said, ‘Why don’t we use that?’ We haven’t had that in this country probably in 100 years.” He then went on to lament the US-led efforts to “rebuild” Germany after World War II.

While the US has lifted personal sanctions on Rodríguez and some sanctions on the Venezuelan oil and banking sectors, most of the sanctions that have contributed to the country’s economic collapse remain in place. “Full unrestricted access to global capital markets has not been restored,” explained Roger D. Harris from the Task Force on the Americas and the US Peace Council in Common Dreams last week.

Actually adding Venezuela as a US state would require approval from both Congress and Venezuela itself—and Trump does not appear to have the latter.

Issuing a rare rebuke of the US on Monday, Rodríguez responded that becoming the 51st state “would never have been considered” by Venezuela.

“If there is one thing we Venezuelan men and women have, it is that we love our independence process, we love our heroes and heroines of independence,” the interim leader said.

Though wars of conquest are expressly forbidden under international law, it’s not clear what leverage Rodríguez would have to resist if Trump attempted to make good on his goal of expanding US territory.

Argemino Barro, a Spanish political journalist and author, said the possibility that he’s serious can’t be dismissed.

“Yes, of course, we can dismiss it as provocation or delusion, say that it’s impracticable for XYZ reasons, etc. But this kind of comment is a window into the mindset of a man who fabricates his own reality, and not only that, but imposes it on others,” Barro said. “Trump wants to build the world’s largest triumphal arch right in the middle of Washington, overshadowing the Lincoln Memorial; he wants his face on coins and passports; his name appears on institutions, one airport. Annexing Venezuela, in his mind, fits 100%.”

“I think Trump’s true priority, ahead of absolutely everything else, is to go down in history in big letters. To enter the league of Alexander the Great, Jesus Christ, and Genghis Khan,” he added. “Remaking everything, no matter in which direction or with what consequences.”

Senate Democrats to fight Republicans’ $1bn funding plan for Trump’s ballroom

Chuck Schumer, the US Senate’s top Democrat, has vowed to oppose a Republican plan to spend $1bn on security improvements for the ballroom Donald Trump is seeking to build on the White House’s former East Wing. The money is set to be included in a measure Republicans plan to pass that would allocate about $70bn to the federal agencies leading Trump’s mass deportation campaign, with the intention of keeping them operational through the remainder of the president’s term.

“That is what today’s Republicans have become: Republicans – asking working families to pay the price while Donald Trump pockets the perks,” Schumer, the Senate minority leader, wrote in a letter to Democratic senators. Chuck Grassley, the Republican chair of the Senate judiciary committee, last week included the ballroom security money in a resolution outlining his committee’s plan for the immigration enforcement spending bill. The committee is expected to consider the resolution at a hearing on Tuesday.

The $1bn is intended for the US Secret Service to spend on security enhancements related to the “East Wing modernization project”, as the Trump administration refers to the White House ballroom. Trump has claimed that the ballroom itself, which is estimated to cost $400m, will be funded by donations from individuals and major businesses including Meta, Apple, Amazon, Lockheed Martin, Microsoft, Palantir, Google and Comcast.

Republicans are advancing the legislation using the reconciliation procedure, which can circumvent a filibuster by Democrats in the Senate and pass with a simple majority. Schumer said Democrats would propose amendments to the bill and challenge its compliance with the rules of reconciliation, with the intention of forcing Republican lawmakers into taking positions that could hurt them with voters ahead of the midterm elections.

“We will force vote after vote to make the choice unmistakable: will Republicans vote to help American families – to lower costs, to restore savage health care cuts, to roll back cost-spiking tariffs – or will they vote to fund Trump’s gaudy ballroom?” Schumer wrote.

Mahmoud Khalil’s lawyer calls immigration case a ‘sham’ after revelation it was fast-tracked by DoJ

A lawyer for Mahmoud Khalil, the first noncitizen activist arrested in the Trump administration crackdown on pro-Palestinian speech, called his client’s immigration proceedings “preordained and a complete sham” after it was revealed that the case was prioritized to be fast-tracked.

“These revelations make clear that this case has been controlled from day one by higher-ups in the administration,” said Marc Van Der Hout, an attorney on Khalil’s legal team, in a statement. “The immigration judge was hand-picked and the Board of Immigration Appeals decision was predetermined. We will continue to fight for Mahmoud in every court we can.”

In April, the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) issued a “final” administrative removal order for Khalil in an abnormally quick decision after multiple judges reportedly recused themselves from the case. The BIA is a part of the US justice department but is required by law to consider cases independently. However, internal board documents obtained by The New York Times indicated that the case had been flagged as a high priority and expedited – leading to accusations from Khalil’s team that the Trump administration put its thumb on the scale to make an example of him.

On a separate legal track, in January, a split panel of the third circuit court of appeals overturned the district court ruling that freed Khalil from detention last year. That lower court decision found that Khalil’s detention and attempts to deport him, on grounds that his activism while a student at Columbia University posed a threat to US foreign policy interests, were likely unconstitutional.

The appeals court ruling did not weigh in on constitutional issues, but held that the district court did not have jurisdiction over the case. Khali’s attorneys asked the full appeals court to reconsider the decision, and are awaiting a ruling. Depending on the outcome of the third circuit case, Khalil could be expelled from the US, even if his attorneys ask the supreme court to weigh in.

Democrats express ‘grave concerns’ over secretive ICE deportation flights

A group of 40 House Democrats have described “grave concerns” over the Trump administration’s secretive program of deportation flights and demanded the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) address allegations of mistreatment and inhumane conditions on ICE charter jets.

In a letter shared with the Guardian and addressed to the FAA administrator, Bryan Bedford, the lawmakers describe the “urgent need for transparency” over ICE’s expanded use of commercial airliners to transfer detained immigrants and its “inappropriate and dangerous” efforts to shield these flights from public scrutiny.

“Credible reports indicate that individuals have been placed on flights without notice to counsel or family members, effectively disappearing from public view when flights are inappropriately shielded from tracking systems,” the letter states. “Families are left searching for their loved ones, and attorneys are denied meaningful opportunities to intervene, raising serious due process concerns.”

The letter references an investigation by the Guardian, based on leaked flight data, which revealed the Trump administration transported detained immigrants in ways that routinely violated their constitutional rights. The reporting also identified allegations of abuse and rights violations at a private detention center in Alexandria, Louisiana, a central node in the administration’s deportation program.

The Trump administration’s hardline immigration agenda saw a surge in the number of ICE flights during 2025, according to monitoring by human rights groups that tracked an 84% increase from 2024. “Concerningly, information regarding these [ICE] flights is nearly impossible to find, which undermines congressional oversight and prevents the public from understanding the scope and conditions of these flights,” the letter states.

Virginia Democrats ask US supreme court to revive voter-approved electoral map

Virginia Democrats asked the US supreme court on Monday to revive a congressional map designed to boost their party’s chances in November’s midterm elections, turning to the court as Republicans – including allies of Donald Trump – seek to preserve narrow control of Congress. The case thrusts Virginia into an unusual, mid-decade redistricting showdown, as courts weigh whether lawmakers can remake House districts outside the normal post-census cycle – with control of a narrowly divided Congress potentially hanging in the balance.

Virginia’s top court on 8 May threw out a new electoral map that had been crafted to flip four Republican-held US congressional seats to Democrats, dealing a setback to Democratic hopes of retaking the US House. Republicans also hold a majority in the US Senate. In a four-three decision, the Virginia supreme court rejected a Democratic-backed ballot measure approved by voters in April that reconfigured the state’s US House map for partisan advantage. Ruling in favor of a Republican challenge, the court’s majority found that Democratic lawmakers had not followed proper procedure last year when they rushed to approve the referendum in time to reach the ballot ahead of the November vote.

The Virginia Democrats, led by Don Scott, the Democratic speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates, told the justices in a filing that the state court’s ruling has “deprived voters, candidates, and the Commonwealth of their right to the lawfully enacted congressional districts”. The lawmakers cited a 2023 supreme court ruling that warned that state courts “may not transgress the ordinary bounds of judicial review such that they arrogate to themselves the power vested in state legislatures to regulate federal elections”.

Trump officials cancel rule that made conservation a ‘use’ of public lands

The interior department is canceling a rule that put conservation on equal footing with development, as Donald Trump’s administration eases restrictions on industries and seeks to boost drilling, logging, mining and grazing on taxpayer-owned land. The 2024 rule adopted under former president Joe Biden was meant to refocus the interior department’s Bureau of Land Management, which oversees about 10% of land in the US. It allowed public property to be leased for restoration in the same way that oil companies lease land for drilling.

But interior secretary Doug Burgum has said the rule could have blocked access to hundreds of thousands of acres (hectares) of land – preventing energy and timber production and hurting ranchers who graze on public lands. Supporters argued that conservation had long been a secondary consideration at the land bureau, neglecting its mission under the 1976 Federal Lands Policy Management Act. While the bureau previously issued leases for conservation purposes in limited cases, it never had a dedicated program prior to the Biden administration.

Bobby McEnaney with the Natural Resources Defense Council said repealing the rule “means less protection for the clean drinking water, less protection for endangered wildlife that depend on healthy habitat, and less accountability when corporations leave these landscapes damaged and degraded”.

In documents released on Monday, administration officials said it exceeded the land bureau’s authority for outside parties to be allowed to obtain conservation leases.

Industry groups and their Republican allies in Congress strongly opposed the rule and had lobbied to repeal it. They said the change under Biden violated the “multiple use” mandate for interior department lands by catapulting the “non-use” of federal lands – meaning restoration leases – to a position of prominence.

Sharp drop in ‘forever chemicals’ in seabird eggs hailed as win for regulation

Levels of some of the most dangerous Pfas compounds have dramatically fallen in Canadian seabird eggs, which the authors of a new peer-reviewed study say illustrates how regulations are effective. Researchers looked at Pfas levels in the eggs of northern gannets in the St Lawrence Seaway basin over a 55-year period. Pfas levels shot up from the 1960s through the peak of the chemicals’ use in the late 1990s and early aughts, then fell.

The fall coincides with several developments – facing regulatory scrutiny, the chemical giant 3M, which is one of the largest producers of Pfas, began moving away from Pfos, among its most common and toxic compounds. By 2015, major chemical makers reached an agreement with the US Environment Protection Agency to phase out Pfos and Pfoa, the latter a similarly problematic compound.

Raphael Lavoie, a co-author and ecotoxicologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada, called the findings “good news”.

“We see this incredible rise to a peak where concentrations seem to be higher than toxicological threshold for those birds, then it really decreases in a nice way,” Lavoie said. “The regulations are having a good effect.”

The eggs were collected from the remote Bonaventure Island, which holds North America’s largest northern gannet colony. Data shows the levels of Pfos fell from a peak level in the eggs of 100 parts per billion (ppb) to a level of 26ppb by 2024, a 74% drop. Levels of Pfoa are down about 40% over this time, though they ticked back up in recent years. Meanwhile, PFHxS, another common, toxic Pfas compound fell from 0.69 to 0.19ppb, or about 72%.

Also of Interest

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

An Armed Robbery of the World’s Energy Supply

Like the Suez Canal for the Brits, Could Strait of Hormuz Spell Doom for US Empire?

Iran War: Iran’s Response to US Proposal Deemed “Totally Unacceptable,” as Bibi Makes Even More Demands; Xi Summit Confirmed; Crunch in Physical Oil Eases as Traders Back Off

War On Iran: – Saudis Blame Israel – Neocon Grandee Concedes Defeat

The Star of David Is Getting the Swastika Treatment

UN Peacekeepers Report 1,296 Israeli Strikes in Three Days in Lebanon Despite ‘Ceasefire’

If Trump Doesn’t Stand Up to Israel on Lebanon, Iran War Will Continue to Drag On

Vision of destruction: Israel’s assault on southern Lebanon in video, maps and charts

EU announces sanctions against violent Israel settlers

A Little Night Music

Big Maceo Merriweather & Tampa Red - Texas Blues

Big Maceo - Come On Home

Big Maceo Merriweather - Worried Life Blues

Big Maceo & Tampa Red - Winter Time Blues

Big Maceo Merriweather - Just Tell Me Baby

Big Maceo Merriweather, Poor Kelly Blues

Big Maceo Merriweather - Detroit Jump

Big Maceo Merriweather - Maceo's 32-20

Big Maceo Merriweather - Anytime For You