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May 17, 2026
Worker dangers at airports
Deep State Tribunal - Hundreds of New York airport workers are accusing powerful contractors and bureaucrats of creating “life‑threatening” chaos on the tarmac while travelers and taxpayers are kept in the dark.|
Workers at John F. Kennedy and LaGuardiasay broken equipment and missing safety gear are putting lives at risk on the airfield. A new complaint to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration alleges “life-threatening” conditions, while a union-backed rally amplifies the charges.
The Port Authority touts high pay and leadership on worker issues but offers little concrete rebuttal to the specific safety claims.
Workers at John F. Kennedy and LaGuardiasay broken equipment and missing safety gear are putting lives at risk on the airfield. A new complaint to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration alleges “life-threatening” conditions, while a union-backed rally amplifies the charges.
The Port Authority touts high pay and leadership on worker issues but offers little concrete rebuttal to the specific safety claims.
What the Iran war has cost us
TomDispatch - [The National Priorities Project] has a new fact sheet that offers a breakdown of how the cost (so far) of Trump’s Iran “escapade” could have been so much better spent:
+ Covering Medicaid for all 14 million people at risk of losing their insurance,
+ AND the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, for all four million people at risk of losing food assistance, including 3.5 million due to new work requirements for older people and caregivers,
+ AND expanding Medicaid to an additional 10.3 million people.
Those numbers are based on the Pentagon’s request for $200 billion in supplemental funding for the Iran war effort. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was on Capitol Hill on April 30th, supporting a lowball estimate of the war costs as a mere $25 billion (and worth every dollar!) and asking for support for an inconceivable $1.5 trillion for Trump’s war machine in fiscal year 2027.
What nature does for us
Time - In the largest survey of its kind, researchers at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, England, asked over 50,000 people between the ages of 18 to 99 from across 58 countries about their experience with nature. What they found is that, regardless of age or gender identity, connecting with nature unlocks a more positive body image of one’s self. And it’s this relationship that supports a better life experience.
It’s about more than just feeling good about the way you look though. “Positive body image refers to a love, respect, and care for the body,” says Viren Swami, the lead author of the new study and professor of psychology at Anglia Ruskin University. “People who are high in positive body image value their physical selves, appreciate the unique characteristics of their bodies, and respect and care for their bodies.”
Ebola virus declared a global health crisis
NY Times - The World Health Organization declared on Saturday that the spread of the Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda was a global health emergency.
The announcement was made a day after Africa’s leading public health authority reported that an outbreak in a province in the northeast of the country was linked to dozens of suspected deaths. By Saturday, cases had also been confirmed in Kinshasa, Congo, and in Kampala, Uganda, the capital cities of each country, the W.H.O. said.
In Congo’s Ituri province, where the outbreak was first identified, 246 suspected cases and 80 deaths attributed to the virus had been reported, although only eight cases had been definitively linked to the virus through laboratory testing. There is no approved vaccine or therapeutics for the Bundibugyo species of Ebola behind the outbreak, according to the W.H.O.
Taiwan
Boldfront News - President Donald Trump declined to give a direct answer when asked whether the United States would defend Taiwan against Chinese aggression after his meeting with Xi Jinping, instead steering away from a public commitment. In the exchange, he said he did not want to discuss the issue openly, and the available clip shows him using unclear language rather than a firm pledge. For readers who want straight answers on national security, that kind of dodge invites more questions than it settles.
Bad stuff
Republican Informer - DHS is turning warehouses into immigration detention hubs, and the scale alone should alarm anyone who still believes government power needs real limits. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has already spent more than one billion dollars buying warehouses for detention use.
Homeland Security is now pausing new warehouse purchases while it reviews contracts signed under former Secretary Kristi Noem. Local resistance is growing over water, sewage, floodplain, and zoning concerns tied to the sites.
Headline USA FBI Director Kashyap Patel’s girlfriend, Alexis Wilkins, is being protected by agents on the bureau’s Nashville SWAT team. According to the New York Times, such measures are costing the taxpayers an estimated $1 million per year.
“A former senior official who has hired such agents said Ms. Wilkins’s Nashville detail — two SUVs and four agents — costs about $1 million a year, with additional overtime, vehicle and other expenses,” the Times reported Friday.
The Times added that FBI officials recommended a threat assessment to see if Wilkins, who doesn’t even live with Patel, really needs that kind of protection. But Patel “berated” them, saying his authority was all that was needed.
The Congressional Insider - A New York jury just confirmed what many Americans feared: Beijing was running a secret police station on U.S. soil to keep Chinese dissidents in line.
A Bronx resident, Lu Jianwang, was convicted of acting as an illegal agent for China and running a covert police station in Manhattan’s Chinatown.
Prosecutors say the outpost helped the Chinese Communist regime track and pressure pro-democracy advocates who fled to America. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) found a banner marking the site as a “Fuzhou Police Overseas Service Station” and uncovered deleted messages with a Chinese security handler. The case highlights how foreign authoritarian regimes exploit our freedoms and why strong enforcement is essential to protecting U.S. sovereignty.
Democratic Assn of Secretaries of State - Ohio's outgoing Secretary of State has drawn serious backlash for handing over the private voter information of roughly 8 million Ohioans to the Trump administration — including driver's license numbers and partial Social Security data. He did it without a subpoena or any legal requirement to do so. This is what happens when a Secretary of State prioritizes partisan loyalty over the voters they were elected to protect.
MS NOW - Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy is one of the last Republicans in Congress who supported Trump’s impeachment over the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. On Saturday, Trump got his revenge, as Cassidy lost the Republican primary, ending a two-decade career in politics... Rep. Julia Letlow, whom Trump endorsed, will face Louisiana state Treasurer John Fleming in a run-off on June 27. Cassidy is the latest Republican to face Trump’s wrath after the president successfully ousted five Indiana state senators who opposed his call to redistrict the state
Buying Homes
NPR - Buying a home feels out of reach for many Americans — but Gen Z is defying the odds. The average age of first-time homebuyers has risen to 40. But a growing number of Gen Zers are successfully buying homes in their 20s, outpacing millennials, who had a hard time purchasing homes at the same age. Gen Z is taking advantage of down payment assistance programs, and they're saving for retirement earlier than previous generations. NPR spoke with two young homeowners about how they achieved the milestone of buying their first home.
GOP Senator goes after Hegseth
The Hill - Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) offered harsh criticism for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Saturday over reported changes at the Pentagon, including a shift in U.S. military posture around the globe and the exits of multiple senior military officers in recent months.
“The careless decision to reduce our force posture in Europe, along with moves by Pete Hegseth and his political henchmen to force out some of our finest general officers is amateur hour at best and deadly at worst,” Tillis wrote on the social platform X.
The North Carolina Republican’s comments came after NOTUS reported that the Pentagon plans to downgrade the Army’s top command overseeing Europe and Africa by mid-summer. The command is led by four-star Gen. Christopher Donahue, who was photographed as the last American to leave Afghanistan in 2021.
....Tillis described Donahue as “one of our nation’s finest warfighters” and argued any rumored decision from Hegseth to “sideline” him would mark “another step down a dangerous path” if true.
Air traffic
NPR - A federal program that pays airlines to operate in small and rural communities could face a 50% budget cut, leaving many areas with no flight options. Americans in isolated regions value air travel for its speed and convenience, and the airports can boost local economies and tourism. But flights out of remote areas are often money losers for airlines due to low and erratic passenger demand. Attracting commercial air service increasingly relies on local, state or federal subsidies, which are harder to obtain amid government budget cuts. In Provincetown, Mass., the fight to save year-round flights to Boston highlights the challenges of attracting commercial flights to isolated places.
Health
The Guardian - The hantavirus outbreak, while unlikely to spark the next big pandemic, is shining a spotlight on the ways public health has deteriorated in the US: its ability to test for rare diseases, its expertise on outbreak prevention and response, its ability to battle misinformation and restore trust.
“Assuming everything goes well in containing this outbreak, which I hope it does, the takeaway from that should not be ‘we’re fine,’” said Stephanie Psaki, former White House global health security coordinator. “We’re not ready for this type of threat.”
Many of the people at health agencies who plan for a quick response to outbreaks, and the systems supporting them, are gone now, Psaki noted. Yet “this is just one of many, many pathogens. These types of things will continue happening.” And, she pointed out, there’s a 50/50 chance of another pandemic at least as bad as Covid in the next 25 years, according to scientific models.
Our top pick overall: Freedom Guardian
Our pick for smart medical alert watch: SOS Smartwatch
Our pick for value: Lively Wearable
Our pick for design: BellPal Safety Watch
Bikes
NY Times - After your kids have mastered the balance bike method, it might be time to get them their first pedal bike. After testing 14 little bikes, we found a lightweight, beautifully designed option that delighted our testers (and their parents) with its fun colors and unique brake system. A really great little bike→
Erin Neil, NY TImes - I’m coming up on a decade living in New York City. And after nearly 10 years of sweaty subway commutes and far-too-expensive cab rides, I’ve been itching for a new way to get around. In theory, I’d love nothing more than to hop on a bike and jet across town with the breeze on my back — especially when the sun is shining. In practice, I’m a nervous person, so unprotected bike lanes, frenzied city traffic, and pothole-dotted streets make me apprehensive. Luckily for me, I have many biking experts at my disposal here at Wirecutter, so I reached out to them about what I need to know to get started safely (aside from the actual bike and a really sturdy helmet). Here’s some advice if you, too, are hoping to become more of a Bike Person:
For staying safe: Staff writer Tim Heffernan agreed that the first step to getting comfortable is feeling safe. He suggested investing in a loud bell, some reflectors that snap on to the spokes, and a bright set of lights — anything “to make you conspicuous to motorists, which is the main thing for urban and suburban cycling safety.”
For easier navigation: A secure phone mount is the very best thing projects editor Phillip Zminda bought when he resolved to start biking around the city. Staff writer Evan Dent agrees: “It’s super helpful for directions, health tracking, and skipping ads in podcasts.”
Tire essentials: Cycling expert Christine Ryan recommends having a good floor pump at home to keep your tires inflated to the recommended pressure, which can help prevent one of the most common types of flat. She also says that a new biker should learn how to fix a flat before they start riding. With a good kit, it’s easy.
The best bike lock: You should be bringing a solid lock everywhere, says Christine. Even if you’re going somewhere with a bike room, you should still lock your bike to something once inside. “Too often,” she says, “thieves target bike storage rooms.”
For commuting: Editor Rachel Hurn swears by her pannier, a bag that attaches to her bike’s rear rack, for storing things. “I’ve used it for groceries, school supplies, work supplies, and even to go bike-packing,” she says. “We say it’s best for hauling big loads in bad weather, but for me the waterproof quality is just an added benefit to having a bag that will carry everything I need.”
The best way to teach kids to bike: “Experts agree: Skip the training wheels,” says senior editor Kalee Thompson. Try the balance bike method, which basically means using a bike with no pedals. Riders instead push themselves along with their feet. It’s intuitive, empowering, and accessible for most kids.
Erin Neil, NY TImes - I’m coming up on a decade living in New York City. And after nearly 10 years of sweaty subway commutes and far-too-expensive cab rides, I’ve been itching for a new way to get around. In theory, I’d love nothing more than to hop on a bike and jet across town with the breeze on my back — especially when the sun is shining. In practice, I’m a nervous person, so unprotected bike lanes, frenzied city traffic, and pothole-dotted streets make me apprehensive. Luckily for me, I have many biking experts at my disposal here at Wirecutter, so I reached out to them about what I need to know to get started safely (aside from the actual bike and a really sturdy helmet). Here’s some advice if you, too, are hoping to become more of a Bike Person:
For staying safe: Staff writer Tim Heffernan agreed that the first step to getting comfortable is feeling safe. He suggested investing in a loud bell, some reflectors that snap on to the spokes, and a bright set of lights — anything “to make you conspicuous to motorists, which is the main thing for urban and suburban cycling safety.”
For easier navigation: A secure phone mount is the very best thing projects editor Phillip Zminda bought when he resolved to start biking around the city. Staff writer Evan Dent agrees: “It’s super helpful for directions, health tracking, and skipping ads in podcasts.”
Tire essentials: Cycling expert Christine Ryan recommends having a good floor pump at home to keep your tires inflated to the recommended pressure, which can help prevent one of the most common types of flat. She also says that a new biker should learn how to fix a flat before they start riding. With a good kit, it’s easy.
The best bike lock: You should be bringing a solid lock everywhere, says Christine. Even if you’re going somewhere with a bike room, you should still lock your bike to something once inside. “Too often,” she says, “thieves target bike storage rooms.”
For commuting: Editor Rachel Hurn swears by her pannier, a bag that attaches to her bike’s rear rack, for storing things. “I’ve used it for groceries, school supplies, work supplies, and even to go bike-packing,” she says. “We say it’s best for hauling big loads in bad weather, but for me the waterproof quality is just an added benefit to having a bag that will carry everything I need.”
The best way to teach kids to bike: “Experts agree: Skip the training wheels,” says senior editor Kalee Thompson. Try the balance bike method, which basically means using a bike with no pedals. Riders instead push themselves along with their feet. It’s intuitive, empowering, and accessible for most kids.
Voting Rights Act
Congressional Insider - A sitting Democrat claimed the Trump administration would rather see Black Americans “pick cotton” than pick their leaders — an incendiary charge delivered without documentary proof. Rep. Ayanna Pressley used a racially charged line to accuse Trump’s team of anti-Black intent. Her remarks were tied to disputes over voting rights and “racial gerrymandering." Pressley has repeated themes of a “hostile” and “racist” government across her platforms.
Health
MS NOW - The Trump administration is mounting a campaign aimed at rooting out fraud in Medicare and Medicaid. But the effort seems designed to convince Americans that the fraud happens solely, or at least mostly, in blue states, argues Paul Waldman. The effort started with a focus on Somali immigrants in Minnesota, but Vice President JD Vance has made clear that blue states are the target. Experts say there’s no evidence that this kind of fraud happens more in Democratic-led states, but there are many reasons to be skeptical that this administration really cares about corruption and fraud. Read more.
Middle East
Senate Republicans shut down a Democrat-led bid to shackle President Trump’s Iran campaign, signaling Congress will not handicap U.S. defenses while Tehran pushes its nuclear ambitions. Senate rejected a war powers curb on a 47-53 vote, preserving Trump’s operational latitude against Iran. Republican leadership framed the vote as prioritizing Iran nuclear deterrence over partisan obstruction. This marked the fourth failed attempt since February 28, underscoring persistent but unsuccessful pressure on the White House. Vote split largely by party; Senator Rand Paul was the lone Republican supporting the resolution.
Climate change
[Note; Cryosphere is solid water, e.g. ice]
International Cryosphere Climate Initiative - Rivers are dynamic and evolving. However, between 1980-2000 and 2000-2020, rates of change doubled for key rivers in the Himalayan uplands, sparking questions about the influence of climate change and a rapidly warming cryosphere. Satellite and field observations of over 1,000 river bends show that cryosphere loss is a significant driver to these accelerated river dynamics. Thawing and destabilized riverbanks, increased meltwater, and changes in sediment flow and surrounding vegetation are all shaping new river patterns and ecosystems in the high Himalaya. These changes in river dynamics have significant adaptation implications for water security, agriculture, disaster planning and terrain stability for downstream communities....
The 2025 European State of the Climate report describes rapid and continuing losses of snow and ice across Europe’s cold regions, especially the Arctic, Alps, and Greenland. All monitored European glacier regions recorded net mass loss in 2025, with Iceland experiencing its second-largest glacier loss on record, continuing a long-term trend of glacier retreat across the continent. Europe experienced reduced winter conditions, with fewer areas experiencing frost and ice days. In March, snow cover extent in Europe was about 31% below average, which was the third-lowest since satellite records began in 1983. The report also highlights major losses from the Greenland Ice Sheet, which shed about 139 gigatons of ice during the year, contributing 0.4 millimeters to global sea-level rise. These cryosphere declines are described not only as consequences of warming but also as amplifiers of further climate change, since reduced snow and ice cover increase the amount of sunlight absorbed by the land and ocean, intensifying regional warming and contributing to broader ecosystem, hydrological, and sea-level impacts....
Over the past four decades, Greece’s highest mountains have lost 58% of their snow cover, making this region's snowpack one of the fastest disappearing in the world. Using a new high-resolution snow model based on satellite observations and climate data, researchers found widespread decline in snow cover from November through May each year, with the largest loss at the beginning and end of the snow season, increasing the risk of snow droughts (periods with unusually low snow that threaten downstream water supply). Rising air temperatures were the primary driver of snow loss, influencing both how much winter precipitation falls as snow, and how quickly that snow melts. The study confirmed that these observed losses are primarily driven by human-caused warming. The findings highlight growing risk of snow drought and reduced seasonal water storage in Mediterranean mountain regions that rely on vulnerable snowpack.
Scientists reconstructed the terrain beneath more than 200,000 glaciers worldwide using satellite observations, ice thickness measurements, and advanced glacier modeling, finding that over 50,000 new lakes could emerge as glaciers retreat. Together, these future lakes would store about 3,100 cubic kilometers of water – equivalent to roughly 7 millimeters of sea-level rise. Large potential lakes near glacier fronts in High Mountain Asia were identified as a key concern because they would increase the risk of glacier lake outburst floods, where water suddenly escapes from lakes dammed by ice or rock.
The study also estimated that Earth's remaining glaciers, including those in polar regions (but not the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets) currently contain enough ice to raise global sea levels by about 0.3 meters if fully melted.
May 16, 2026
Work
ABC News - At least 3,500 Long Island Rail Road workers are walking off the job after negotiations on a new labor deal failed overnight. ABC News' Ike Ejiochi reports
Climate change
The US government has proposed a plan for the drought stricken Colorado River that could cut up to 40% of current supplies to Arizona, California and Nevada, as the waterway’s reservoirs continue to plunge to critically low levels.
A top Arizona water official shared details of the Trump administration’s plan at a state meeting on Wednesday.
Under the 10-year plan, which will be finalized in June, the annual amount of water delivered to Arizona, California and Nevada could be slashed by up to 3m acre-feet, according to Tom Buschatzke, director of the Arizona department of water resources. The reductions would be evaluated every two years.
Three million acre-feet of water is enough to supply 6 million to 9 million households for one year, more than the number of homes in Arizona and Nevada.
Buschatzke said the federal plan would be either implemented under existing Colorado River law or through agreements among the states. He said federal officials had indicated that water cuts across the three lower-basin states would be based on the “priority of the law of the river”. That law, the 1922 Colorado River Compact, gives California the highest priority for water use.
Buschatzke described the proposed federal cuts as “sobering”.
“That’s us, that’s Arizona, and potentially CAP going to zero,” said Buschatzke, referring to water flows on the Central Arizona Project, a canal that transports Colorado River water to central and southern Arizona.
The Colorado river supplies water to some 40 million people in the American west. The plan comes months after the seven states that depend on the river’s dwindling supply missed a February federal deadline to agree upon how water cuts would be divided. The river has lost about 27.8m acre-feet of groundwater in the last 20 years, largely owing to overuse. A record snow drought this year further exacerbated the issue.
The river’s upper basin states, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and New Mexico, have been resistant to water reductions. The states maintain that those downstream, California, Arizona and Nevada bear responsibility for the water’s shortages and thus should carry the burden of cuts.
Independent, UK - Global warming is causing rivers to slowly lose oxygen, threatening fish and other lives in the waterways, a new study shows.
Researchers in China used satellites and artificial intelligence to track and analyze oxygen levels in more than 21,000 rivers across the globe since 1985. They found oxygen levels have dropped an average of 2.1% since 1985, according to a study published Friday in Science Advances. That doesn't seem like much but it adds up and if it continues or accelerates, rivers in the Eastern United States, India and across the tropics could lose enough oxygen by the end of the century to suffocate some fish and create dead zones, the study said.
Basic chemistry and physics dictate that warmer water holds less oxygen, scientists said. Warmer water, which happens with human-caused climate change, releases more oxygen into the atmosphere.
The international spread of vector-borne disease, such as dengue and chikungunya, as well as the health impacts of extreme weather events, global heating, food insecurity and air pollution make a Pheic necessary, said the commission’s report, which will be presented to European ministers on Sunday before the WHO’s world health assembly starts on Monday.
Pheics are the highest level of health alert. Previous declarations include infectious diseases such as Covid and Mpox. While declaring one would not on its own reverse climate change, it would trigger the kind of coordinated international response that the scale of the health crisis demands but has not yet materialised.
The 11-strong independent commission, which includes former health and climate ministers, said: “Far from being a fading priority or fake news, climate change poses an immediate and long-term threat to health, economic, food, water, environmental, personal, community and national security.”
DOJ: Those who oppose the White House ballroom are deranged
New Republic - The Justice Department is arguing that President Trump’s proposed ballroom will be a “gift to the American people,” and that anyone opposed to the vanity project simply has “Trump Derangement Syndrome.”
The latest Justice Department filing from acting Attorney General Todd Blanche regarding the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s lawsuit against Trump’s ballroom relies on the recent White House Correspondent’s Dinner assassination attempt and other MAGA-friendly arguments that display the deep levels of sycophancy present within the Trump administration.
“The assassination attempts make clear what Defendants have been explaining from the start of the case: Presidents need a secure space for significant events, which currently does not exist in Washington, D.C., and this Court’s injunction stalling this Project cannot defensibly continue. To ensure construction proceeds, and to conserve judicial resources, this Court should immediately issue a ruling indicating that it would dissolve its injunction at once,” the filing reads, noting that Trump’s ballroom will have “missile resistant steel columns, Military grade venting, drone proof ceilings, and bullet, ballistic, and blast proof glass”—which will cost at least $1 billion. They even refer to it as the “Militarily Top Secret Ballroom” and allege that the plaintiffs are only suing because it was Trump’s idea.
“That fact is also relevant to the merits here because it is further evidence that rank political bias led to this meritless, dangerous lawsuit being filed. A bipartisan chorus of legislators, analysts, and media pundits have agreed the Ballroom is needed more than ever. The Ballroom is a gift to the People of the United States and to future Presidents,” the filing continues. “Plaintiff’s frivolous suit should be dismissed, and the Court should indicate that it would dissolve its injunction and allow construction of this vital for National Security Project to be completed without any risk of hindrance.”
ICE
New Republic - Department of Homeland Security officials are plotting to proceed with the construction of ICE’s mega-prisons in Texas and Maryland, despite the ongoing legal challenges, local pushback, and a federal watchdog investigation.
An internal ICE memo revealed that staffers are exploring what work can be done at a warehouse near Hagerstown, Maryland, even after a judge blocked construction, The Washington Post reported Friday.
DHS signed a $113 million build-out and operations contract in March with KVG, a defense contractor with no experience overseeing detention centers, to work on the Maryland facility. The contract could grow to $642 million over the next three years.
Last month, a Baltimore judge issued a temporary injunction blocking the project, arguing that the building’s four toilets and two water fountains were not sufficient to accommodate the estimated 1,500-person capacity.
Polls
Pew Research - A growing share of U.S. adults (37%) say religion is gaining influence in American life, and more than half (55%) say religion plays a positive role in society. At the same time, most people want churches and other houses of worship to stay out of day-to-day politics and prefer that they not endorse candidates during elections.
Farming
Axios - Farmers across the Midwest are entering planting season under mounting financial pressure, as the Iran conflict drives up diesel and fertilizer prices — deepening the worst agricultural downturn in decades.
- Rising fuel and fertilizer costs threaten to kill more family farms, drive up food prices and further strain rural economies already battered by trade disruptions, inflation and extreme weather.
- Bankruptcies are rising. Lenders are becoming more reluctant to loan to farmers..
Farmers are grappling with a confluence of forces:
- 🔌 Skyrocketing energy prices triggered by the Iran war. Diesel is up 60% from last year.
- 🌾 Spiking fertilizer prices and shortages after Iran blocked shipments through the Strait of Hormuz. 70% of farmers say they can't afford the fertilizer they need.
- Disrupted export markets tied to President Trump's tariffs and Chinese import restrictions.
- Global drought and other weather pressures.
🌽 The crisis is hitting farmers hard across the country:
- In Arkansas, energy and fertilizer costs are way up even as farmers are selling their crops for less.
- In Ohio, first-generation farmer Michael Kilpatrick said his fuel bills are up from $400 to $700, and container costs have risen 30%.
- In Iowa, farmers are dealing with a decline in soybean prices from $13-$15 to around $10 per bushel, as exports to China have fallen due to trade tensions.
- In Minnesota, calls to the state's farm and rural issues mental health helpline are climbing.
For consumers, the crisis is especially noticeable with beef.
Pentagon's $1.5 trillion budget
POGO - Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth returned to Congress this week and immediately faced a bipartisan barrage of pointed questions about the Pentagon’s funding request and the illegal war in Iran. At center stage was the Pentagon’s proposed $1.5 trillion budget — a record-breaking sum that, if approved, not only promises to become a boondoggle of wasteful spending that doesn’t make us safer, but also punts critical expenditures to a broken reconciliation process, a particular point of contention for some Republican lawmakers. Hegseth failed to provide the details that would justify such a massive budget increase for the world’s most heavily funded military.
“One would think that such a massive bump in spending would be accompanied by a detailed plan on exactly what this money would be used for, and a robust debate on how it will achieve our national priorities,” wrote Greg Williams, the director of POGO’s Center for Defense Information, for Federal News Network.
Democrat Assn of Secretaries of State - An FBI agent showed up at the home — not the office, the home — of Milwaukee County's elections director. They didn't call or go through official channels. They arrived at her front door. This is just the latest in the Trump administration's ongoing campaign to intimidate the election officials who stood between Trump and the results he wanted in 2020.
Milwaukee County. Wayne County, Michigan. Fulton County, Georgia. The FBI has visited homes, seized ballots, and pursued election records — in the exact states and counties that were decisive in delivering the 2020 defeat to Donald Trump.
Democrats' Pennsylvania problem
The Hill - Democrats once hailed Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) as the party’s poster child: A plain-spoken, hoodie-wearing populist who appealed not just to those in his party but to independents and even some Republicans. Lately, though, some Democrats say he’s appealing to Republicans and turning his back on his party with remarks defending President Trump and attacking his party over their criticisms of the White House.
As the Pennsylvania senator increasingly clashes with progressives and breaks with his fellow Democrats on a string of issues, some in the party are comparing him to former Sen. Joe Manchin (W.Va.), another Democrat who some in the party say boosted Republicans while hurting his side.
This week alone, Fetterman accused the Democratic base of becoming “increasingly anti-American.” And almost worse, Democrats say, he was the only Senate Democrat to oppose legislation that would stop the war in Iran.
In a Wednesday appearance on Sean Hannity’s Fox News show, Fetterman cut into Democratic attacks on Trump’s remarks that he is not focused on the financial situations of Americans while negotiating with the Iranian government, arguing Trump’s comments were “clipped.”
Donald Trump
New Republic - President Donald Trump suggested earlier this week that Venezuela should be annexed by the United States. He reportedly told Fox News correspondent John Roberts—not to be confused with the chief justice—that he was “seriously considering a move to make Venezuela the fifty-first state.”
This is a far-fetched idea, to say the least. Venezuela has no interest in voluntarily becoming a U.S. state, as its acting President Delcy RodrÃguez told reporters on Monday. “We will continue to defend our integrity, our sovereignty, our independence, our history,” she said, adding that Venezuela was “not a colony, but a free country.”
Alternet - During President Donald Trump’s second term, one of his key goals has involved reshaping U.S. cultural institutions to suit his ideological project, and the Smithsonian in particular has become a target of his culture war against diversity and historical narratives that he perceives to be “woke.” Shortly after he entered office, he signed an executive order calling for the museum to remove “anti-American” narratives, which took special aim at the National Museum of African American History and Culture, arguing that aspects of it portrayed American and Western values as “inherently harmful and oppressive.”
While many speculated that this could mean the closure or radical whitewashing of exhibits involving issues like slavery or the struggles of minority communities, according to the Washington Post, the Smithsonian “has managed to push back and mostly hold its ground.” While it has been impacted by what the Post describes as “a few key losses,” it has succeeded at maintaining the majority of its programming through a strategy of sticking strictly to the facts.
For example, as the Post explains, “No single exhibition in Washington may be more scrutinized than the Portrait Gallery’s ‘America’s Presidents,’ and among its critics, apparently, was Trump, whose administration took issue with the wall texts that mentioned his impeachments among other low points of his first presidency.”
Alternet - Congressional lawmakers and Trump’s own former lawyer are panicking over how racked President Donald Trump’s mind appears to be with illness. “I don't know how anyone can see what he posts or watch him in any meeting and think that he's fit for office,” said one lawmaker speaking to reporters.
Another lawmaker said: “We have strategic ambiguity. But [Trump] is just … He’s confrontational, inconsistent, erratic,” said another congressman, who then fluttered his tongue in a demonstration of Trump’s lucidity.
“I don't trust that man to be able to cognitively make a complete sentence, let alone negotiate with China,” said another,,,
Back in the studio, MS NOW host Ari Melber interviewed Trump’s former attorney Ty Cobb, who offered little good news to deliver on that front.
“In 2017, Dr. Bandy X. Lee, a forensic psychiatrist and president of the World Mental Health Coalition, a well-respected psychological professional trained at Harvard and Yale and highly regarded at the national institute of mental health, and 26 of her colleagues and other respected psychiatrists around the world, posted a lengthy article commenting on Trump's malignant narcissism, and the appearance of early frontal lobe dementia,” said Cobb, who served Trump’s White House in his first term. “The symptoms have only gotten worse from there. They are remarkable at this stage of the game, and the wake sleep reversal is a very common symptom highlighted by mental health professionals when discussing Trump's cognitive decline.”
“The reality is what he does late at night causes him to sleep during the day. And that is a very well-known symptom of cognitive decline, frontal lobe dementia, and Alzheimer’s and because he has no impulse control left, he is guided solely by his malignant narcissism now,” Cobb continued.
A spokesperson for the Trump Organization told Reuters that the president’s investment holdings “are maintained exclusively through fully discretionary accounts independently managed by third-party financial ?institutions with sole and exclusive authority over all investment decisions.”
“Trades are executed and portfolios are balanced through automated investment ?processes ?and systems administered by those institutions,” the spokesperson said. “Neither President Trump, his family, nor The Trump Organization plays any role in selecting, directing, or approving specific investments. They receive no advance notice of trading activity and provide no input regarding investment decisions or portfolio management ?of any kind.”
White House spokesperson Davis Ingle told NOTUS after it published its own report on Trump’s disclosures on Friday that the president “only acts in the best interests of the American public –– which is why they overwhelmingly re-elected him to this office, despite years of lies and false accusations against him and his businesses from the fake news media.”
Ingle added that Trump’s children manage his assets and that there are “no conflicts of interest.”
The disclosures also show that Trump was months late in disclosing tens of millions of dollars in stock trading. Presidents are required to publicly disclose stock transactions exceeding $1,000 within 45 days, with records showing that he was assessed with a $200 fee for being late.
Decline of student test scores
Time - Over the past ten-plus years, American students’ academic achievement has experienced a concerning decline. Test scores for students in grades K through 12 are lower than they were a decade ago in school districts across the U.S., according to new data released Wednesday by the Educational Opportunity Project at Stanford University.
Reading scores were down roughly 0.6 grades in 2025 compared to 2015, and math scores were down about 0.4 grades. This means that students were 60% of one school year behind where their peers were in reading a decade earlier and 40% of one school year behind in math.
The decline began even before 2015, according to a report on the data from the Education Scorecard, a collaboration between the Center for Education Policy Research (CEPR) at Harvard University and the Stanford project. From 1990 to 2013, students’ math and reading scores rose steadily. But in 2013, per the report, the U.S. “entered a learning recession” and the rate of improvement in reading and math began to flatten or drop, a trend that continued through the COVID-19 pandemic.
Reading scores were down roughly 0.6 grades in 2025 compared to 2015, and math scores were down about 0.4 grades. This means that students were 60% of one school year behind where their peers were in reading a decade earlier and 40% of one school year behind in math.
The decline began even before 2015, according to a report on the data from the Education Scorecard, a collaboration between the Center for Education Policy Research (CEPR) at Harvard University and the Stanford project. From 1990 to 2013, students’ math and reading scores rose steadily. But in 2013, per the report, the U.S. “entered a learning recession” and the rate of improvement in reading and math began to flatten or drop, a trend that continued through the COVID-19 pandemic.
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