Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player President Donald Trump issued an executive order on Thursday night that seeks to eliminate federal funding for NPR and PBS the latter of which airs widely admired educational programming like “Sesame Street.” Trump’s order titled “Ending Taxpayer Subsidization of Biased Media,” instructs the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to “cease Federal funding for NPR and PBS.” Trump’s justification for the order is that NPR and PBS have purportedly failed to provide the public with unbiased The effect of Trump’s order is unclear at the moment.  “CPB is not a federal executive agency subject to the President’s authority,” Patricia Harrison, the president and chief executive of CPB, said in a Friday statement “Congress directly authorized and funded CPB to be a private nonprofit corporation wholly independent of the federal government.” CPB is already suing Trump after he reportedly tried to remove three of the company’s five board members CPB also focused on how it “is not a federal agency subject to the president’s authority,” so Trump’s new executive order is likely to be challenged in court on the same grounds Trump has repeatedly issued executive orders asserting unquestioned presidential powers that do not exist Trump asserts that the current media landscape “the media landscape is filled with abundant Contrary to Trump’s claims, most mainstream media outlets are owned by private corporations that have in recent years and months made clear that they are willing to bow to Trump which settled a legally dubious lawsuit that Trump brought against it and agreed to donate $15 million to his future presidential library Attacking public media is part of a decades-long conservative tradition The right has expressed open opposition to public media’s tradition of educating Americans both through beloved children’s programming and via news broadcasts on radio and television But the American public backs public media. Programs like “Sesame Street” are revered institutions, and polls find that both NPR and PBS are highly respected by Americans. Trump’s attack is out of touch with where most Americans are, and it’s part of a trend where he stands apart from the public Not signed up for Daily Kos yet? Create a free account But I do believe a few of us were out on the streets yesterday  Here in Denver we had a couple thousand at the capitol and more impressive was that from about 10th Ave south to just shy of the 2000 block south (a total of about 30 blocks) there were small groups out on the corners  Not bad for a kind of off and on weather day UPDATE:  Been driving all day from Denver to Moab for some bicycle rides this weekend and just discovered on the rec list  Thanks and sorry for not responding to all the comments but was unaware until now   President Donald Trump on Friday said he would end Harvard University’s tax-exempt status repeating a familiar threat to upend the Ivy League institution’s finances.  “We are going to be taking away Harvard’s Tax Exempt Status. It’s what they deserve!” he wrote on Truth Social The declaration marks the latest escalation in Trump’s war on Harvard and other elite universities, which he claims are rife with antisemitism and other forms of discrimination. In reality, the president is retaliating after Harvard rejected his administration’s sweeping set of demands eliminate diversity programs in admissions and hiring and impose ideological screenings for international students The administration has also frozen $2.2 billion in grants and a $60 million contract to the university And Friday’s post signals Trump is ready to push even further until Harvard capitulates Trump hasn’t publicly detailed how he’ll revoke the school’s tax-exempt status, but he floated the idea last month, and the IRS is reportedly preparing to act The status exempts Harvard from paying most taxes and allows donations to the institution to be tax-deductible Losing the status would not only force Harvard to pay much more in taxes—it could also chill donor contributions “There is no legal basis to rescind Harvard’s tax-exempt status,” a university spokesperson told CNN “Such an unprecedented action would endanger our ability to carry out our educational mission.”  “The unlawful use of this instrument more broadly would have grave consequences for the future of higher education in America,” the university added There’s growing pressure on Harvard to lead a larger resistance to Trump’s overreach. Experts have urged universities to band together in defending themselves against political interference from the Trump administration Harvard has already sued filing a legal challenge in April that calls the freeze on its funding unconstitutional and urges the courts to restore the frozen $2.2 billion If the administration follows through on revoking the university’s tax-exempt status In recent days, Harvard has seemed to move toward defusing tensions. It will rename its Office for Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging to “Community and Campus Life,” and it will reportedly cut support for affinity group celebrations during commencement On Tuesday, the university also released two internal reports: one on antisemitism and another on anti-Arab The former detailed instances of Jewish students hiding their identities or taking leave due to harassment The latter reported that Muslim students and staff felt unsafe on campus following the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war.  And on Wednesday, Harvard disclosed that it had shared legally required information about its international students with the Department of Homeland Security, though it did not specify what data was included A White House official told CNN these moves were a step in a “positive” direction but ultimately insufficient “[T]here’s actually probably going to be additional funding being cut,” the official told CNN damned if you don’t—and Harvard is just the latest university caught in the crosshairs of his culture war In a chilling move that echoes Nazi Germany the Trump administration is making a list of Jews—supposedly for their own good The Intercept reported on Wednesday that professors at Barnard College in New York City received a text message to their personal cellphones with a survey from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that asked recipients if they identify as one of the following options: “I am Jewish,” “I am Israeli,” “I have shared Jewish/Israeli ancestry,” “I practice Judaism,” and “Other.” “The federal government reaching out to our personal cellphones to identify who is Jewish is incredibly sinister.” None of that protects Jews from antisemitism But the government making a list of Jews certainly raises questions The ultimate purpose of the government’s list is unclear. The EEOC is currently led by Acting Chair Andrea R who was appointed to the position by Trump in 2020 While the traditional mission of the EEOC is the enforcement of civil rights law Lucas is an open critic of diversity efforts his posturing as someone hoping to combat antisemitism is not a believable premise Trump loves to use antisemitic language and tropes He has argued that Jews in America have a dual loyalty to Israel referring to the leader of Israel as “your prime minister” while speaking to Jews living in the United States He has repeatedly referred to “globalist” forces controlling world events a frequent citation used by Nazis and white supremacists In a 2019 speech to the Israeli American Council Trump told the audience “you’re brutal killers” and “not nice people at all.” Conservatism has embraced Trump’s antisemitic behavior for over a decade now and this list-making is the next phase in his escalation Tech billionaire Elon Musk’s space company was recently handed a $5.9 billion contract subsidized by taxpayers, even as his so-called Department of Government Efficiency continues to take a wrecking ball to key government agencies The U.S. Space Force announced on April 4 that Musk’s SpaceX was among three companies awarded government contracts for the National Security Space Launch Phase 3 Lane 2 program Space X will receive more than $5.9 billion of the $13.7 billion in spending that was announced Musk is the CEO of SpaceX and owns approximately 42% of the company While SpaceX is newly flush with government money, Musk’s DOGE has been laying off critical federal workers at multiple agencies. Federal judges have ruled that some of those firings are illegal At the Social Security Administration, DOGE has cut 7,000 jobs even though millions of Americans rely on their Social Security payments for day-to-day living. The Washington Post reports that the agency’s website which citizens use to access information on their benefits The Post noted that “many of the network outages appear to be caused by an expanded fraud check system imposed by the DOGE team,” according to current and former officials that they consulted Those sources told the outlet that Social Security’s tech staff didn’t test new software installed by Musk’s group and the computer servers have been unable to handle the traffic The revelations come as DOGE has repeatedly lied to the public about how much the rogue agency’s actions have purportedly saved taxpayers has benefited enormously from public spending while attacking and gutting agencies that provide vital services to middle-class families The arrangement has led to Musk and Trump becoming a major target of grassroots protests. Over the weekend, hundreds of thousands of people across the U.S. took part in “Hands Off” demonstrations pushing for Trump and Musk to stop their harmful actions and encouraging other lawmakers to stop them Musk isn’t the only high-profile billionaire in the MAGA movement making money from the Space Force announcement. Blue Origin, owned by Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, will receive over $2.3 billion from the arrangement Trump recently offered praise for Bezos after the paper’s pivot in recent weeks to be more MAGA-friendly But even while Trump’s closest billionaire allies are losing money due to his chaotic and catastrophic tariff policies they are raking in billions from the government he now leads Democratic lawmakers are preparing to travel to El Salvador with the goal of securing the release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia the Maryland father who was abducted by the Trump administration and mistakenly sent to a brutal maximum security prison in the Central American nation On Sunday, Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen sent a letter to Milena Mayorga, El Salvador’s ambassador to the United States, requesting a meeting with President Nayib Bukele to discuss the matter “If Kilmar is not home by midweek – I plan to travel to El Salvador this week to check on his condition and discuss his release,” Van Hollen said in a statement Maxwell Frost of Florida offered to join Van Hollen on his trip “We must all stand as a united front against the kidnapping and illegal detention of Kilmar Abrego Garcia in El Salvador,” Frost said in a post on Bluesky Recently elected Rep. Yassamin Ansari of Arizona said she hoped to join the delegation, as has Rep. Robert Garcia of California Bukele also claimed he was unable to release the man and referred to him as a “terrorist threat.” Despite the Supreme Court ruling that Garcia Trump called reporters “sick people” for asking about the issue In a separate appearance on Fox News on Monday, Attorney General Pam Bondi lied and said Garcia is “not a Maryland man.” The administration has sought to put itself above the law while pushing for deportations Van Hollen slammed the administration’s dishonesty in a Tuesday appearance on CNN “I think that the situation for both the Trump administration and the president of El Salvador is unsustainable ruled 9-0 that the Trump administration has to facilitate his return and you have the president of El Salvador saying I don't have the power to release him.' Both things are untrue,” Van Hollen said The Trump administration has defied court orders to return Garcia and Trump suggested to Bukele that American citizens could also be sent to prison facilities in El Salvador.  El Salvador’s prison system has come under fire from international human rights organizations for abuses committed under Bukele Despite—or perhaps because of—the deplorable conditions Secretary of State Marco Rubio hailed the infamously cruel system as “excellent” in a March interview A federal judge has ordered the North Carolina State Board of Elections to certify Democrat Allison Riggs as the winner of the 2024 state Supreme Court election The decision rejects ballot challenges from Republican candidate Jefferson Griffin US Chief District Judge Richard Myers placed a one-week hold on his decision to give Griffin time to appeal Retroactive invalidation of absentee ballots cast by overseas military and civilian voters violates those voters’ substantive due process rights; 2 The cure process violates the equal protection rights of overseas military and civilian voters; and 3 The lack of any notice or opportunity for eligible voters to contest their mistaken designation as Never Residents violates procedural due process and represents an unconstitutional burden on the right to vote,” Myers wrote ADJUDGED AND DECREED that the State Board SHALL NOT take any action in furtherance of the North Carolina Court of Appeals and Supreme Court’s orders,” Myers added NPR, apparently not cowed by yet another attempt of massive government overreach, reports today on the coming downfall of a small Maryland town that was gaga for MAGA Frank Davis saw a lot of waste during his decades in the federal government he voted for Donald Trump to get rid of it but he is doing what he said he was going to do," says Davis who serves as mayor of this town of about 3,000 people in Western Maryland In March, the Trump administration suddenly cancelled in-person classes at the National Fire Academy here The academy is not only a big part of Emmitsburg's identity "It will change my outlook to say that they're not being fair," says Davis who also serves as emergency medical services captain at the local firehouse "They're just going in to cut and not caring what they cut." The story goes on to how he bemoans that the town Davis was hired to manage could be burnt to a crisp and pub owners are worried about all the beer money they won’t be getting from the soon-to-be out of work firefighters that voted for their own demise in November Bottom line to MAGA: Trump and his collective of billionaire idiots think YOU ARE THE WASTE and they are coming to vulture whatever federal scaffolding was propping up your communities Just a short note to share happy news: Editorial Cartoonist Ann Telnaes was awarded the Pulitzer Prize today.  As most will recall, Telnaes chose to resign from the Post rather than change a cartoon that showed her newspaper’s publisher Musk and Mickey Mouse bowing down at the feet of Mango Mussolini Ukraine has reportedly launched a new push in the Kursk region — this time at Tetkino which is a town right on the border and west of where the fighting in Kursk was going on earlier Russian channels are reporting that Ukrainian forces have launched a new push in the Kursk region, with a focus on Tetkino. According to them, after missile strikes hit bridges overnight, armored units moved in with mine-clearing vehicles, leading to intense fighting.[image or embed] the Ukrainian Air Force struck a Russian UAV command center in Russia’s Kursk region near the village of Tyotkino — General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Up to 20 Russians were eliminated and equipment destroyed.[image or embed] Marines of the 38th Marine Brigade repelled the Russian mechanized assault A convoy of enemy equipment was moving along an asphalt road led by a tank with a mine flail 📹: 38th Marine Brigade[image or embed] A Russian position is destroyed by a 250-pound small diameter bomb Note the object flying through the air that looks like a Russian soldier ✈️💣 MiG-29 destroys a large fortified area with Russian troops and ammunition by dropping a GBU-39, - Soniashnyk[image or embed] Pokrovsk has been turned into a massive Russian graveyard so that Putin can claim a victory there by May 9 Russia's push for Pokrovsk turned into massive sacrifice of troops as Putin races to reach Dnipro border by "Victory Day" Russians are losing 30-40% of all casualties here. Ukrainian forces reported that only 1 in 10 soldiers survives assaults euromaidanpress.com/2025/05/05/r...[image or embed] This list compiles deaths of officers confirmed by obituaries and other postings so some of the 88 new deaths were from earlier months At least 5 921 Russian officers have been eliminated in the Russian invasion of Ukraine since 24 February 2022.Three-week update: +88 newly registered.Sources: public Russian obituaries and graves.[image or embed] Russia's estimated losses in Ukraine as of day 1167 of its all-out war, according to the Ukrainian Army's General Staff.[image or embed] Russian sources claim the Kremlin halted talks prep with Trump after the Ukraine-US mineral deal. A Kremlin insider reports that top Russian officials are forced to urgently revise their White House engagement strategy.[image or embed] There should be plenty to keep this tribunal busy for years ⚡️Special tribunal against Russian leadership may be launched in 2026 The tribunal, set to operate within the Council of Europe, will focus on Russia's political and military leaders, including President Vladimir Putin.[image or embed] 🇪🇺 The EU is set to propose a full ban on Russian gas imports by the end of 2027 aiming to sever remaining energy ties with Moscow despite a surge in Russian LNG deliveries www.bloomberg.com/news/article...[image or embed] pro-Russia candidate polled first in Romania’s crowded presidential election with 41% and will face a runoff In Romania’s presidential election, far-right AUR’s George Simion (40.88%) and Bucharest mayor Nicușor Dan (20.99%) advance to the runoff on May 18. Simion is Eurosceptic, said Russia isn't a threat to NATO & ally of disqualified Georgescu (who called Ukraine a fictional state); Dan supports Ukraine[image or embed] Ukraine sent soldiers to London to march in the parade marking the end of WWII and were saluted by King Charles 🇺🇦Ukrainian soldiers were greeted with applause at a parade in London King Charles saluted them 🫡[image or embed] Pakistan faces ammunition shortages amid tensions with India due to alleged large underground exports to Ukraine Indian sources claim Pakistan earned $364 million in revenue for delivering rockets and shells to war zones.euromaidanpress.com/2025/05/05/p...[image or embed] ‼️ Russian Railways April 2025 Loading Update Thread Wow[image or embed] Feel like doing this too sometimes[image or embed] Cinco de Mayo is not a significant holiday in Mexico. However, it is celebrated in the Mexican state of Puebla. It was there, in 1862, that the Mexican Army repelled French troops as they tried to storm the forts of Loreto and Guadalupe overlooking the city of Puebla. The Batalla de Puebla was a notable victory by local forces against a better-equipped invading army On Monday, Mexico's President, the redoubtable Claudia Sheinbaum (both the first woman and first Jew to hold the position) traveled to Puebla to join in the festivities The Mexican newspaper La Prensa reported it thus (in translation): After recalling the Mexican Army's triumph over the French forces of Napoleon III President Claudia Sheinbaum asserted that Mexico's destiny is to be a free and sovereign nation Leading the parade for the 163rd Anniversary of the Battle of Puebla the President highlighted the heroism that has characterized Mexicans in the face of invasions by various foreign powers "May 5th reminds us that the present and future of Mexico is to be a free That is the story of generations who have given their lives and of many others who will always be willing to give our lives for love (For the original Spanish, CLICK HERE) it is obvious why she brought up the subject of Mexico's Sovereignty Trump has not yet revealed plans to reduce Mexico to a vassal nation or an American state But he has repeatedly floated the idea of sending the US military on a fishing expedition to root out Mexican drug traffickers on their home soil The drug lords are well-armed thanks to guns made in America and smuggled across the border (See note on gun ownership in Mexico at the bottom.) They don't wear uniforms And they aren't about to walk away from millions of dollars I am sure that the Pentagon has considered the experience of the British Army which failed to defeat the IRA in Northern Ireland despite superior numbers and better weapons and despite trying for 30 years But back to Sheinbaum. On May 2, Trump had tried to browbeat her into inviting American forces onto Mexican soil. Sheinbaum told him to fuck off — although she used different words in Spanish On Saturday, she reported her take on the conversation. She said that Trump had asked: "How can we help you fight drug trafficking I propose that the United States military come in and help you."  'No thanks' and that "Sovereignty is not for sale Sovereignty is loved and defended." She added that she proposed that the two countries work together but "with you in your territory and us in ours." Trump confirmed that he had offered to invade Mexico and that the Mexican President had been cool to the idea He praised Sheinbaum as a "lovely woman," but claimed she was "so afraid of the cartels that she can't even think straight." His attempt to denigrate her as a scaredy cat was wishful thinking. Mexico is, in some ways, very progressive. For instance, gay marriage is a national civil right. And the country is constitutionally secular. However, Mexico is culturally Catholic and patriarchal A woman from a minority religious background ascending to Mexico's political peak is not someone who lets fear motivate her actions he dropped his threat for a universal 25% tariff on Mexican exports to the US He also exempted Mexican-made auto parts from his car industry tariff push It is another example of Mexico beating back a better-armed wannabe invader While it is technically possible for a Mexican to own a gun completed military service (or get an exemption) get a gun buying permit (which can take months and all kinds of forms and can be denied for no particular reason) the aspiring gun owner can only buy a gun from a government-run Directorate of Commercialization of Arms and Munitions (DCAM) They must also obtain a permit to transport the firearm from DCAM back home Perhaps the biggest hurdle is that only one DCAM exists in the entire country (in Mexico City) Although some sources say there is a second store in Nuevo Leon if you take out the murders committed by drug cartels (which I grant you are a lot) the murder rate in Mexico is relatively low Regular citizens do not generally gun down other citizens In the natural focus on the daily atrocities of this administration it’s not clear to me that a majority of the prominent opposition understands the depth of our problems  One of the appreciations I have for Bernie and AOL is their vocalness on addressing the oligarchy foundations of the Republican seizure of the Government  While I don’t expect everyone to lead with that analysis I find that too much critique is reserved solely for the current administration Mother Jones, has an excellent article on the Right’s use of the Unitary Executive Theory being used to justify the current power grab  The short version is that the President has sole control over the Executive and no one within the executive has any ability to have or to effectuate any contradictory opinion even should that opinion be in following the laws set by Congress  The article is focused on the Theory and its history  But what I wish to highlight here from it is the systemic changes over decades resulting in our current situation Over the past 30 or 40 years there has been a split between Republicans and Democrats with regards to following the rules and laws of governance they generally abide by those norms and laws (certainly not perfectly but the general expectation is that they will) they take every chance to twist those rules and laws to their own purposes while still expecting the Democrats to follow the old norms  Just examine Bill Clinton’s impeachment Obama’s failure to do anything about McConnell’s not holding confirmation hearings on Merrick Garlands SCOTUS nomination it troubles me when some in the Democratic Party limit their critique to this president  “When THIS president sends people to El Salvador...”  Granted the entire list of Republican transgressions can not be listed with every new transgression if the critique focuses on whichever current problem as if it was limited to just the Trump Administration it conveys this sense that if we just get Trump out of office everything will be okay again everything will be instantly okay the moment we vote him out Without recognition of the vast structural damage done by 50 years of Republicans going back to Nixon This recognition of the depth of our problems is what I want to see out of our Democratic Leadership  When I fail to hear the depth of the changes needed whether I technically agree with the limited statement is not really the point  I don’t want to hear just about removing Trump  I want the vision of what we will do to repair and reform our system of governance I want to hear the slate of Constitutional Amendments we need and I want to hear a plan about how we will get there  Not necessarily in depth in every speech but we need a plan and we need to reference it frequently  What we had from 2021 to 2025 was not good governance  It was some people working by the rules attempting to do their best while being blocked from many different angles by others determined to prevent any progress  It was good intent facing and losing to a hostile SCOTUS  It was good intent combined with a failure to hold illegal actions accountable in a reasonable time frame not a ticket to hop on it again should we momentarily win power back I found this posting on Facebook and wanted to share here: I think that this is probably VERY spot on!  It is clear that The Felonious Fascist is not all there!  While this does not excuse his actions Stephen Miller is TRULY a contemptable and evil piece of shit and I HOPE that I can see karmic payback come to him in a public way What do you all think?  Is this a Weekend At Bernie’s Situation the surviving member of the malevolent Koch brothers team of climate saboteurs gave a speech in which he lamented the sorry state of the country Sad Charles Koch Your endless flow of dark money built the giant right wing Wurlitzer the huge propaganda apparatus that destroyed the FDR economic order Destroyed the shared prosperity of Americans to make you and your billionaire bros a little richer Now that you’ve broken everything you don’t get to complain about the result Because some kind of Karmic justice is sorely needed here The United States has been the envy of the world for its scientific research.  But Trump has launched a campaign to destroy US research capabilities.  Since his return to the White House, Trump has implemented sweeping cuts to the federal budget that have deprived science agencies, research institutions and medical centres of billions of dollars in grants, imperilling their ability to sustain crucial studies that require reliable and steady funding. Programmes focused on climate change, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease and HIV prevention have already been affected One egregious example:  Trump has withheld $2.2 billion in research grants to Harvard University Harvard’s faculty has won more Nobel Prizes than any other university anywhere..  So America’s loss is an opportunity for Europe.  Von der Leyen wants to recruit US scientific talent to turbocharge research across the continent the bloc will seek to reduce bureaucratic burdens and offer more long-term contracts and higher allowances the EU will establish a seven-year "super grant" and add a financial "top-up" to the stipend of those who choose to relocate Freedom of scientific research will be enshrined in law The plan will build upon existing research programmes and include a fresh envelope of €500 million for the 2025-2027 period "The first priority is to ensure that science in Europe remains open and free This is our calling card," von der Leyen told the audience Also at the event where Von der Leyen made her pitch to US researchers was French President Emmanuel Macron who expressed his astonishment at Trump’s anti-science/anti-research policies: that one of the largest democracies in the world would abolish research programs under the pretext that the word diversity was in that program," Macron said "Nobody could think that this very great democracy in the world whose economic model is based so strongly on free science and innovation (...) was going to make such a mistake From the 1930’s through the post-war and cold war era the United States was a magnet for scientists across the globe Now we are experiencing a reverse migration of brilliance and HHS will no longer waste billions of taxpayer dollars responding to a nonexistent pandemic that Americans moved on from years ago a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services in a prepared statement Here in Covidlandia we retain the brain power and the intellectual courage to hold two competing truths in our heads at the same time: the world must keep moving on from tragedies and we can still keep learning while protecting ourselves and others All of this can be to varying personal degrees of freedom The only waste around here is that being laid to our once world-leading health and science institutions like shiny toys shattered by a child who needs help How can we go from the modern day Wonder of the World that Covid vaccines represented, the Nobel Prizes for the discovery of mRNA vaccines, and The Lancet’s estimate that Covid vaccines saved 20 million lives worldwide just in their first year of use… how can we go from all that to this perverse revisionism Political appointees under new FDA Commissioner Marty Makary are demanding an additional randomized controlled trial that experts say would be "costly and almost impossible to do" ethically Makary has suggested potentially overhauling the entire system for updating Covid shots which could make it virtually impossible for manufacturers to bring updated vaccines to market in time for infection surges "by the time they could get a vaccine approved with early season studies Moderna's next-generation Covid vaccine faces similar uncertainty with a May 31 decision deadline. RFK Jr is also making up his own “science” when it comes to cancelling single antigen vaccines in general a step that would leave even more people sick and dead in its wake Kennedy is also considering the unprecedented step of unilaterally removing Covid shots from the pediatric vaccine schedule without hearings or supporting data make it harder for pediatricians to determine who should be vaccinated and potentially force parents to pay out-of-pocket further decreasing the already low 13% vaccination rate for children under 18  Read on for just this month’s evidence that Covid shots benefit kids who can still get banged up quite significantly by Covid disease I wouldn’t doubt that Covid vaccine recommendations will also be yanked for adults under 65 years of age creating a swell of unnecessary long Covid cases Other concerning developments include delays in selecting strains for next season's Covid shots potentially leaving manufacturers like Novavax without sufficient production time and uncertainty about a $600 million contract with Moderna for pandemic preparedness vaccines that the administration is "reevaluating" without explanation I’m faithfully recommending the spring Covid booster to my patients over 65 years old.  Many of them are getting it now, which becomes even more important as who knows what will be available in the fall.  Dr. Jenn Dowd agrees with getting boosted I’m also looking at Canada and Mexico this fall  Will private clinics and pharmacies in these neighboring countries hook up Americans who want shots this fall if they are not available here RFK Jr even wants to throw out the entire mRNA vaccine technology based on his ridiculous misunderstandings about how vaccines work Don't forget that mRNA vaccine technology holds promise beyond infectious diseases for treating cancer and genetic conditions through its ability to instruct cells to produce specific therapeutic proteins with unprecedented precision and adaptability someone who follows Covid more closely than most especially the older ones — I’m F-ing furious This is just an excerpt from the April edition of Covidlandia, a series I write about staying smart and up to date about Covid.  You can read the entire post here.   In that post you will find expanded coverage of the following: Covid rates are currently manageable with approximately 1 in 170 people infectious is implementing policies undermining Covid vaccine access FDA approval processes are being altered with additional requirements that experts consider impractical Pediatric vaccine recommendations face potential removal from schedules despite evidence of benefits Recent studies show the updated Pfizer vaccine offers about 68% effectiveness against hospitalizations Moderna’s updated vaccine demonstrates 53% effectiveness against hospitalizations These vaccines were not studied head to head so not fair to conclude one is better than the other But 4 years of evidence have already proven benefits outweigh small risks vaccine uptake remains concerningly low at only 3.7% in some study populations The percent of the population reporting receipt of the updated 2024─25 COVID-19 vaccine is 13.0%  for children and 23.0% for adults age 18+ N95 masks remain the most effective readily available protection Other masks provide varying degrees of filtration: KN95s/KF94s (~70%) Studies show children with Covid face increased risks for kidney disease Unvaccinated children are up to 20 times more likely to develop Long Covid Data shows 63.6% of children hospitalized with Covid had no pre-existing conditions Acute Covid infections associated with 25% increased risk of car crashes similar to driving under the influence of alcohol Studies show Covid negatively impacts sperm quality with lower counts and reduced motility Paxlovid treatment reduces stroke risk by 15% and all-cause mortality by 32% in the 90 days following diagnosis Proposed and completed budget cuts  catastrophically reduce funding for NIH Changes to vaccine approval processes potentially violate established ethical principles in clinical research​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ and are being carried out by antivax agendas that are radical and wrong for this country And even better yet, sign up for the newsletter I write to keep in touch as this disgraceful Covid revisionism and more keeps unfolding That works both ways.  Now I know which businesses DON’T support my values and I won’t use them.  I used to feel bad that didn’t go to small bedding company in my community more.  NOT NOW is on the board of directors and an investor in PublicSquare And I LOVE that it is a member of Trump’s own family helping liberals avoid going to MAGA businesses I can’t believe this or that business is on there “I’d say 90% of responses are of that ilk.” He emphasized his efforts to spread the word about PublicSquare aren’t about punishing businesses but about helping people make informed decisions so many decisions are being made that affect our lives that are outside of our control “The ability to make purchasing decisions that align with our values is one thing we can do.” you’re hurting us.  So much for the tolerant left!”  Tolerance is social contract that your hate broke.  I am not obligated “I sleep well at night knowing I’m not accidentally donating to the bad guys,” she [Janet Koenig] said More information can be found on Huffpo until recently no one had spoken of it since the late nineteenth century.  At that time but are the products of poor hygiene and poor sanitation Although the theory proved to be deficient in describing how diseases spread it did result in the construction of buildings with better ventilation and cleaning up the sewage and organic detritus that littered the streets and created the hellish odours to which city residents were exposed.   So but thankfully germ theory superseded it. Miasma theory then joined the Humours and bloodletting in the museum of forgotten medical theories based on the reasearch conducted by Pasteur and Koch, resulted in scientists discovering specific viruses parasites and other pathogens that caused the most well known diseases and driven public health policy for over a century.  From this knowledge scientists developed the vaccines and other treatments that allowed society to eliminate diseases that had been a scourge on the health of people as little as 75 years ago.  Talk to your parents or grandparents about polio and other diseases that vaccines have eradicated about how scary life could be for kids growing up prior to the seventies and the antivaxxer community.  Backed by pseudo-science and theories for which no proof is ever provided these individuals want us to treat diseases as if it was 1899 Robert F Kennedy Jr’s belief in miasma theory hasn’t been spoken of to any great degree our understanding of his beliefs come largely from just four pages from his 2021 diatribe, “The Real Anthony Fauci: Bill Gates and the Global War on Democracy and Public Health.”.   we’re not just seeing a man put in a position of great power whose beliefs are tragically out of date but someone who uses these beliefs to engage in a sort of social darwinism in which people who are healthy will always be fine and if you get sick or require hospitalization he has an ally in the Trump administration who also doesn’t believe in germ theory.  Unfortunately Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos is traveling to Serbia for a two-day visit focusing on EU-Serbia relations Commissioner Kos will meet with Serbian political representatives civil society and stakeholders and pay tribute to the victims of the Novi Sad train station tragedy The Commissioner will meet with President Aleksandar Vučić as well as with members of the Parliament from both the ruling coalition and opposition parties Commissioner Kos will also meet with members of civil society and media organisations rectors and deans of several universities and faculties in Belgrade The visit reflects the EU's continued support to Serbia's EU path while underlining the importance of transparency inclusiveness and respect for the rule of law and fundamental values encouraging constructive dialogue and offering the EU’s assistance A joint press conference with Prime Minister Macut will take place today at +/- 18:00 CEST (For more information: Guillaume Mercier – Tel.: +32 460 75 53 11; Eirini Zarkadoula – Tel.: +32 460 76 57 13) BELGRADE – European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos visited Serbia on 29 and 30 April ruling and opposition MPs and other social actors Marta Kos said that she had discussed the urgent need to implement the reforms Serbia committed to in the non-paper on opening Cluster 3 with representatives of the Government of Serbia and the National Assembly She explained that Serbia had pledged to adopt and implement three media laws as well as appoint new members of the Regulatory Authority for Electronic Media (REM) Kos emphasised that the European Commission and the European Parliament are closely monitoring developments in Serbia as it is a candidate country for EU membership “I love to stress that Serbia’s choice is to become part of the EU She added that the EU accession process is a transformative one and that the EU will support Serbia in implementing the necessary reforms “Doing the reforms is about the transformation process It’s not because someone in Brussels is telling them to do it or just ticking boxes,” she said Answering the question about the potential consequences if Vučić’s decides to attend the parade in Moscow on May 9 Kos said that May 9 May 1945 and 9 May 2025 represent two completely different situations Timely meeting with @predsednikrs Momentum for #EUEnlargement is real and we want Serbia to seize this once in a generation opportunity to help complete our Union For this, concrete steps on democratic principles and reforms are imperative. The time to deliver is now. pic.twitter.com/75VPdTIJ5s — Marta Kos (@MartaKosEU) April 29, 2025 “It is up to President Vučić to decide whether to go to Moscow or not many EU institutions and member states will take note of it Then I would have a much more difficult task helping Serbia remain firmly on its EU path Kos laid flowers in front of the Novi Sad railway station killing 16 people and triggering massive social unrest in Serbia “I came to Novi Sad to honour the 16 lives that were lost in a tragedy that could have been prevented My heart goes out to the victims and their families” Kos subsequently met with the protesting students in Novi Sad writing in a post after the meeting: “I hear you” “I want to reiterate that what the EU asks from Serbia closely aligns with the demands of the citizens protesting the young generation to benefit from the many opportunities the EU has to offer” I want to reiterate that what the EU asks from Serbia closely aligns with the demands of the citizens protesting Most importantly, I want you, the young generation to benefit from the many opportunities the EU has to offer. pic.twitter.com/Ff6FiQcA6J — Marta Kos (@MartaKosEU) April 30, 2025 Kos met with the state officials of Serbia including the new Prime Minister Đuro Macut President Aleksandar Vučić and Prime Minister Ana Brnabić she also met with the representatives of the ruling majority and the opposition Speaking at the conference with PM Macut on 29 April Kos said that she called Serbiato work with Europe on reforms on the establishment of an independent judiciary that can effectively fight corruption and on an electoral framework that will ensure that the will of the Serbian people is heard “What we are asking is very close to the demands of the citizens who are protesting,” said Kos In an Instagram post following the meeting with Kos President of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić wrote that they had a “good conversation” with a special focus on reforms and the implementation of the European Growth Plan for the Western Balkans “I emphasized our full readiness to accelerate reforms but because we believe that they bring a better life to our citizens,” Vučić wrote European Western Balkans is a web portal that focuses on the WB countries and reports on development of the EU’s enlargement policy The portal is launched in 2014 by the Centre for Contemporary Politics Bobby Finke Edges Leon Marchand in 400 IM at TYR Pro Series Stop; Hubert Kos Dominates 200 Backstroke The last two men’s events on Friday night at the TYR Pro Series in Fort Lauderdale featured a pair of Olympic champions claiming victory Hungarian Hubert Kos cruised to a first-place finish in the 200 backstroke while Bobby Finke got his win in a secondary discipline Finke emerged on top in the 400-meter individual medley at the City of Fort Lauderdale Aquatics Center out-dueling Olympic titlist Leon Marchand of France he is best known for his prowess in the 800 freestyle and 1500 freestyle events which have yielded four Olympic medals – three gold and a silver Finke controlled the first half of the 400 IM and used a strong backstroke leg to build a 2:02.11 to 2:05.06 advantage at the halfway point Marchand erased his deficit on the breaststroke leg and carried a 1.11-second lead into the freestyle leg But Finke has long been known for tracking down the opposition in the closing stretches of races and that’s what he did to win the 400 IM After winning three individual titles at the NCAA Championships in late March where he led the University of Texas to the team crown Kos returned home to excel at the Hungarian Championships the 22-year-old starred in the event that made him an Olympic champion That time was more than two seconds faster than runnerup Gavin Keogh (1:58.47) Kos had built a .81 lead and he was never challenged The biggest difficulty for Kos was contact with the lane lines an issue not uncommon for backstrokers when swimming outdoors When Kos arrives at the World Champs this summer in Singapore he’ll be chasing his third straight global title in the 200 backstroke as he was the world champ in 2023 before being crowned Olympic gold medalist A strong breaststroke leg from Emma Weyant lifted her to the No 2 time in the world this year in the 400 individual medley Weyant turned in a performance of 4:33.95 to finish more than a second ahead of Ireland’s Ellen Walshe (4:35.32) The silver medalist in the 400 IM in Tokyo and the bronze medalist in Paris Weyant was in sixth place after the opening 100 meters and was third at the 200-meter mark But a breaststroke split of 1:17.39 put Weyant more than a second ahead of Walshe going into the freestyle leg Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use ' + scriptOptions._localizedStrings.webview_notification_text + ' " + scriptOptions._localizedStrings.redirect_overlay_title + " " + scriptOptions._localizedStrings.redirect_overlay_text + " Related | Trump's belief in doctored 'MS-13' image suggests frail mental state Related | Surprise! Trump's promoting scandal-plagued adviser instead of firing him Related | Poll shows Chuck Schumer may be in big trouble Related | Top ‘60 Minutes’ producer quits amid Trump tantrums and threats Related | Canadians reject the hell out of Trump in epic victory for Liberal Party Related | White House spin reaches new level of stupid Related | Hegseth demands makeup studio at Pentagon to spin his scandals Related | Trump's disastrous first 100 days—by the numbers Follow me on Mastodon, Bluesky, Patreon, or at my website Related | MAGA propaganda is a hell of a drug Related | Pete Hegseth is spiraling—and our national security is at risk Related | Trump caves, as US and Ukraine sign resource-sharing agreement U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s motto is “ Make America Healthy Again,” but government cuts could make it harder to know if that's happening More than a dozen data-gathering programs that track deaths and disease appear to have been eliminated in the tornado of layoffs and proposed budget cuts rolled out in the Trump administration's first 100 days The Associated Press examined draft and final budget proposals and spoke to more than a dozen current and former federal employees to determine the scope of the cuts to programs tracking basic facts about Americans' health Among those terminated at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were experts tracking abortions the program is gone,” said Patrick Breysse who used to oversee the CDC’s environmental health programs Federal officials have not given a public accounting of specific surveillance programs that are being eliminated Department of Health and Human Services spokeswoman pointed the AP to a Trump administration budget proposal released Friday but proposes to cut the CDC's core budget by more than half and vows to focus CDC surveillance only on emerging and infectious diseases Kennedy has said some of the CDC's other work will be moved to a yet-to-be-created agency, the Administration for a Healthy America He also has said that the cuts are designed to get rid of waste at a department that has seen its budget grow in recent years.  “Unfortunately, this extra spending and staff has not improved our nation’s health as a country," Kennedy wrote last month in The New York Post Yet some health experts say the eliminated programs are not duplicative and erasing them will leave Americans in the dark is interested in making itself healthier again if it cancels the programs that helps us understand these diseases?” said Graham Mooney a Johns Hopkins University public health historian The core of the nation’s health surveillance is done by the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics It also operates longstanding health surveys that provide basic data on obesity The center has been barely touched in layoffs and seems intact under current budget plans But many other efforts were targeted by the cuts The Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System It’s the most comprehensive collection of data on the health behaviors and outcomes before, during and after childbirth. Researchers have been using its data to investigate the nation's maternal mortality problem Recent layoffs also wiped out the staffs collecting data on in vitro fertilizations and abortions Those cuts are especially surprising given that President Donald Trump said he wants to expand IVF access and that the Heritage Foundation's Project 2025 playbook for his administration called for more abortion surveillance The CDC eliminated its program on lead poisoning in children which helped local health departments — through funding and expertise — investigate lead poisoning clusters and find where risk is greatest Lead poisoning in kids typically stems from exposure to bits of old paint, contaminated dust or drinking water that passes through lead pipes. But the program's staff also played an important role in the investigation of lead-tainted applesauce that affected 500 kids Milwaukee health officials became aware that peeling paint in aging local elementary schools was endangering kids The city health department began working with CDC to test tens of thousands of students That assistance stopped last month when the CDC’s lead program staff was terminated City officials are particularly concerned about losing expertise to help them track the long-term effects "We don't know what we don't know," said Mike Totoraitis Also gone is the staff for the 23-year-old Environmental Public Health Tracking Program which had information on concerns including possible cancer clusters and weather-related illnesses “The loss of that program is going to greatly diminish the ability to make linkages between what might be in the environment and what health might be affected by that,” Breysse said but rather the end of specific types of data collection Transgender status is no longer being recorded in health-tracking systems including ones focused on violent deaths and on risky behaviors by kids Experts know transgender people are more likely to be victims of violence but now “it’s going to be much more challenging to quantify the extent to which they are at higher risk,” said Thomas Simon the recently retired senior director for scientific programs at the CDC's Division of Violence Prevention The staff and funding seems to have remained intact for a CDC data collection that provides insights into homicides suicides and accidental deaths involving weapons But CDC violence-prevention programs that acted on that information were halted was work on a system that collects hospital data on nonfatal injuries from causes such as shootings Also going away, apparently, is the CDC's National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey The system is designed to pick up information that's not found in law enforcement statistics Health officials see that work as important because not all sexual violence victims go to police The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, which tracks job-related illnesses and deaths and makes recommendations on how to prevent them, was gutted by the cuts Kennedy has said that 20% of the people laid off might be reinstated as the agency tries to correct mistakes when the American Federation of Government Employees said that NIOSH workers involved in a black lung disease program for coal miners had been temporarily called back But HHS officials did not answer questions about the reinstatement The AFGE's Micah Niemeier-Walsh later said the workers continued to have June termination dates and “we are concerned this is to give the appearance that the programs are still functioning There's been no talk of salvaging some other NIOSH programs including one focused on workplace deaths in the oil and gas industries or a research project into how common hearing loss is in that industry The HHS cuts eliminated the 17-member team responsible for the National Survey on Drug Use and Health one of the main ways the government measures drug use Also axed were the CDC staff working on the National Youth Tobacco Survey There are other surveys that look at youth smoking and drug use, including the University of Michigan's federally funded “Monitoring the Future” survey of schoolkids But the federal studies looked at both adults and adolescents and provided insights into drug use by high school dropouts The CDC also delved into specific vaping and tobacco products in the ways that other surveys don't and was a driver in the federal push to better regulate electronic cigarettes but each one had its own specific focus that the other ones didn’t cover,“ said Richard Miech Work to modernize data collection has been derailed That includes an upgrade to a 22-year-old system that helps local public health departments track diseases and allows CDC to put together a national picture Another casualty was the Center for Forecasting and Outbreak Analytics was working on forecasting the current multi-state measles outbreak That forecast hasn't been published partly because of the layoffs according to two CDC officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to discuss it and fear retribution for speaking to the press Trump hasn't always supported widespread testing of health problems the president groused that the nation’s ability to do more testing was making the U.S look like it had a worse problem than other countries wonders how interested the new administration is in reporting on health problems “You could think it’s deliberate," he said According to Punchbowl News, the bill will be called the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, a play on Trump’s demand that Republicans put all of his policy proposals into “ONE BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL.” But Trump didn't like that name, according to Punchbowl. And since Republicans do whatever Dear Leader demands The name of a bill seems like a silly thing to care about But the name is important for how a party can sell legislation to the public For example, Democrats called then-President Joe Biden's signature piece of legislation the Inflation Reduction Act an effort to message around a key issue at the time of lowering inflation But "One Big Beautiful Bill" is a terrible name that has no meaning to anyone but Trump and his Make America Great Again cultists.  Maddie McComb, a spokesperson for Democratic Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware, renamed the bill “One Big Billionaire Bailout.” And Democratic strategist Jesse Ferguson mocked it as “One Bank-Breaking Bill”—a nod to the fact that the legislation would explode the deficit Even House Speaker Mike Johnson doesn’t seem too thrilled about the name, telling a group of anti-abortion zealots last week because that is what [Trump] wants me to do.” A daily roundup of the best stories and cartoons by Daily Kos staff and contributors to keep you in the know Kids can do with a lot less, says billionaire wrecking the economy but they also mean your 401k is worth less Trump is losing elections all over the globe If only America would vote against Trump like this … The rich turn on Trump's trade war “I do not trust the administration to self-correct.” 👀 Supreme Court justices sure are quiet about attacks on their power Trump fumbles priorities with latest deranged stunt At least the NFL draft is one he won’t dodge Watch John Oliver lay into Trump for lawless deportations Find out who won Right-Wing Scapegoat Magazine’s “Group of the Year” Cartoon: The never-ending story Click here to see more cartoons President Donald Trump’s Justice Department is reportedly moving to dismantle the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces—a decision that could grind thousands of criminal investigations to a halt Bloomberg reported Monday that the administration has ordered the Reagan-era task force Its Virginia-based fusion center will also close and the unit’s 2026 fiscal year budget will be “zeroed out.” The timing is bizarre. This is the same task force that helped capture Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán—the head of the Sinaloa Cartel possibly the largest drug trafficking organization in the Western Hemisphere—and seize over $2 billion from criminal enterprises As is normally the case with Trump, there’s no clear explanation—just a sudden directive and more chaos. The move comes just weeks after Trump abruptly fired the task force’s director despite reportedly collaborating with him on a new strategic memo The cut is part of a broader bloodletting across the federal government. Trump’s 2026 budget proposes slashing over $163 billion in domestic spending targeting everything from education funding to medical research Related | Apparently, Trump's thinking about bombing Mexico now But OCDETF isn’t some bloated bureaucracy: Its $250 million budget is federal pocket change. And if Trump is serious about dismantling cartels, this move completely undercuts his own messaging Even more bizarrely, it contradicts a policy directive issued just two months ago. In a March 6 memo obtained by Bloomberg, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche planned to use  OCDETF central as part of “Operation Take Back America,” the administration’s sweeping initiative to eliminate cartels “Operation Take Back America requires that OCDETF surge existing resources to address the Justice Department’s core enforcement priorities,” Blanche wrote to DOJ divisions Now that same task force is being dismantled blindsiding agents and prosecutors who are still handling thousands of active cases Bloomberg reports that around 40 jobs are at immediate risk and the department is already preparing to cancel building leases and terminate contracts Then again, maybe we shouldn’t be surprised. Trump has a habit of firing people and upending departments, watching things fall apart, and then scrambling to rehire them once the damage is done If this feels like another impulsive move driven by optics over outcomes many aren’t waiting around to see if that happens If this is yet another haphazard mistake from the White House let’s hope someone realizes it before it’s too late to fix You wouldn’t have a country left,” he said On April 30, a court ordered the release of Columbia University student Mohsen Mahdawi a Palestinian immigrant who was held by the Department of Homeland Security while it tried to find a reason for his deportation Contrary to Trump’s statement, the U.S. Constitution explicitly lays out the right to a trial in the Sixth Amendment: Similarly, the Seventh Amendment notes: These rights were part of the ten amendments ratified in 1791 as part of the Bill of Rights, and nothing in U.S. law or Trump’s executive orders have nullified them. The Sixth Amendment ensures that accusations leveled by the government against people have to be proven in a court of law and not just by royal fiat as was done by the British government in the colonial era Trump’s unconstitutional remarks come just one day after he told NBC “I don’t know” when asked if the president needs to uphold the Constitution making it clear that this was a core element of his presidential duties The presidential oath of office states: and defense of the Constitution is not optional Trump’s ignorance of U.S. law and history was also on display when he recently argued that the Declaration of Independence was a “declaration of unity and love and respect.” The document famously severed the relationship between colonists and England leading to the bloody Revolutionary War where hundreds of thousands died Of course, Trump is the only president who has been impeached twice he was found to be in violation of the Constitution No wonder he thinks the right to a trial came “out of nowhere.” The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Rhode Island on Monday New York Attorney General Letitia James said Wisconsin and the District of Columbia signed onto the complaint Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. restructured the agency in March, eliminating more than 10,000 employees and collapsing 28 agencies under the sprawling HHS umbrella into 15 An additional 10,000 employees had already been let go by President Donald Trump's administration and combined the cuts stripped 25% of the HHS workforce “In its first three months, Secretary Kennedy and this administration deprived HHS of the resources necessary to do its job,” the attorneys general wrote Kennedy has said he is seeking to streamline the nation's public health agencies and reduce redundancies across them with the layoffs. The cuts were made as part of a directive the administration has dubbed, “ Make America Healthy Again.” Related | More than a dozen US government health-tracking programs have been gutted HHS is one of the government's costliest federal agencies with an annual budget of about $1.7 trillion that is mostly spent on health care coverage for millions of people enrolled in Medicare and Medicaid called the restructuring a “sweeping and unlawful assault” that would endanger lives This is not efficiency,” James said during a press conference Monday The cuts have resulted in laboratories having limited testing for some infectious diseases the federal government not tracking cancer risks among U.S early childhood learning programs left unsure of future funds and programs aimed at monitoring cancer and maternal health closing Cuts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also have hampered states' ability to respond to one of the largest measles outbreaks in recent years “This chaos and abandonment of the Department’s core functions was not an unintended side effect but rather the intended result,” of the “MAHA Directive,” they said They want a judge to vacate the directive because they say the administration can't unilaterally eliminate programs and funding that have been created by Congress The restructuring eliminated the entire team of people who maintain the federal poverty guidelines used by states to determine whether residents are eligible for Medicaid Staff losses also were significant at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration The Trump administration is offering undocumented immigrants a paltry $1,000 if they choose to “self-deport” in a “dignified” way A Monday release from the Department of Homeland Security said immigrants would be paid the stipend “after their return to their home country has been confirmed” through Customs and Border Protection’s Home App “This is the safest option for our law enforcement, aliens and is a 70% savings for US taxpayers,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wrote in a post on X The notion that undocumented immigrants would go to such extraordinary lengths to come to the United States, only to upend the life they’ve built for a mere $1,000 is ridiculous on its face. Furthermore, immigration experts who have ridiculed such “self-deportation” policies in the past said migrants who take this offer would often be facing terrible financial straits Even nonexperts have said such policies are “crazy,” “maniacal,” and “mean-spirited”—at least, that’s how Trump himself described the idea when it was proposed by failed Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney in 2012 Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, said the DHS claim in its release that people opting to take the stipend could possibly return to the U.S after self-deporting was “wildly deceptive.” “For many people, this is a lie. Leaving will make their cases much worse,” he wrote. Reichlin-Melnick noted that if a person took the offer a deportation order could then be handed down in court for failing to appear in court Even more concerning is Trump’s long history of lying and misleading on matters both big and small There is little guarantee based on his track record in the presidency and in his private life that Trump’s administration would fulfill a promise to a migrant Related |Here's where cosplaying homeland security chief will be performing next There are also signs that the policy announcement was intertwined with efforts to promote pro-Trump propaganda on the conservative Fox News network Fox News also pushed the policy in an online story Noem has become notorious for engaging in laughable cosplay while doing public relations appearances pushing Trump’s anti-immigrant agenda It looks like that hobby is a better use of time and taxpayer funds than the administration’s new and unworkable self-deportation plan President Donald Trump on Sunday said he wants to reopen the Alcatraz prison in San Francisco to house "America's most ruthless and violent Offenders"—an asinine idea that critics say will cost an absurd amount of money In a Sunday night post on Truth Social, Trump wrote: who will never contribute anything other than Misery and Suffering we did not hesitate to lock up the most dangerous criminals and keep them far away from anyone they could harm No longer will we tolerate these Serial Offenders who spread filth to reopen a substantially enlarged and rebuilt ALCATRAZ to house America’s most ruthless and violent Offenders We will no longer be held hostage to criminals and Judges that are afraid to do their job and allow us to remove criminals The reopening of ALCATRAZ will serve as a symbol of Law Trump’s plan to reopen Alcatraz is imbecilic. The prison was closed in March 1963 because of its crumbling infrastructure and even then it was too expensive to operate as all supplies needed to run the facility had to be brought in by boat.  so nearly one million gallons of water had to be barged to the island each week The Federal Government found that it was more cost-effective to build a new institution than to keep Alcatraz open,” the Federal Bureau of Prisons wrote in a post about the history of the facility Even when it was a prison, three people notoriously escaped from its walls—so it’s not like Alcatraz is some impenetrable fortress And making it operational again because Trump—a convicted felon in his own right—thinks Alcatraz sounds like a scary place to put criminals is prohibitively expensive as it hasn’t operated as a place to house prisoners in more than 60 years and would require millions in renovations “If the discussion is to rebuild the prison building to hold people, I don’t think that would be feasible,” John Martini, an expert on Alcatraz, told the San Francisco Chronicle “It would have to be torn down and rebuilt.” What’s more, Alcatraz now serves as a public landmark operated by the National Park Service, earning more than $60 million annually so making it a prison again would lose money for the federal government "Alcatraz closed as a federal penitentiary more than sixty years ago. It is now a very popular national park and major tourist attraction. The President’s proposal is not a serious one," former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who represents San Francisco where Alcatraz is located, wrote in a post on X “Trump’s edict that Alcatraz—which is a museum—will be reopened as a prison is absurd on its face,” California state Sen. Scott Wiener, who represents San Francisco, said in a statement “This major tourist attraction generates significant revenue for the federal government and supports many jobs.” “But apart from Trump’s continuing unhinged behavior this action is part of Trump’s ongoing crusade to sabotage the rule of law He specifically points to judges who won’t let him deport whomever he wants without due process as justification for this stunt it’s just one more step in his dismantling of democracy—a domestic gulag right in the middle of San Francisco Bay.” Trump is obsessed with imprisoning people in horrid conditions Now, as he says the United States is too poor to pay for cancer research nutrition assistance for low-income Americans he is ready to spend potentially hundreds of millions to create a gulag on American soil During “Last Week Tonight” on Sunday, host John Oliver broke down the inhumane and unconstitutional nature of President Donald Trump’s immigration policy of cruelty and fear.  “We're gonna dive straight in with our main story tonight, which concerns immigrants once again—named ‘Group of the Year’ by Right-Wing Scapegoat Magazine,” he said, setting the stage to critique the GOP’s supposed “worst first” strategy.  Oliver highlighted how the Trump administration has targeted vulnerable immigrant populations under numerous false pretenses and unfounded claims of criminality.  “For all this administration's talk of prioritizing hardened criminals, in practice, it seemed to value speed, volume, and spectacle over all else,” he said, referencing the frequent cruelty of the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration.  Rather than focus on actual crime, the Trump administration has repeatedly pursued what Sarah Saldaña, who served as ICE director during the Obama administration, described as “low-hanging fruit,” leading to the trampling of human rights If I were to constantly go for low-hanging fruit I'd say that ‘worst first’ doesn't describe Trump's immigration policy so much as it describes his children,” Oliver said As Oliver demonstrates, the only “worst first” Trump has delivered are the first 100 days of his second term Because President Donald Trump loves a good distraction while ignoring far more pressing problems he reportedly plans to announce that Washington will host the 2027 NFL draft—likely on the National Mall According to Axios, Trump will make the announcement flanked by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and Washington Commanders owner Josh Harris. Soon after the report, the White House confirmed the president would make an unspecified sports-related announcement at 1 PM ET But one has to ask—why now? Americans are struggling under his erratic trade policies, and inflation remains stubborn he could try fixing any of that rather than staging photo ops with football executives Axios noted that Trump may have a personal stake in making sure the stadium deal goes through. If the D.C. Council rejects it—which is possible, given concerns about public funding—the Trump administration could step in. After all, Congress only recently gave D.C long-term control over the RFK Stadium’s land but Trump could easily push to take it back if it suits him The double standard here is hard to ignore. In 2015, some conservatives melted down when then-President Barack Obama dared to fill out a March Madness bracket during a global crisis One Commentary writer accused him of showing a “defiant unwillingness” to lead announces a football-themed press conference in the middle of economic and political chaos—and gets crickets from his party And in typical fashion, Trump can’t help but make even the NFL draft about himself. After ranting on Truth Social that NFL teams were “STUPID” for passing on college football quarterback Shedeur Sanders the Cleveland Browns picked Sanders a few rounds later The White House then floated the idea that Trump helped make that happen “Does the president think he deserves credit for Sanders getting picked?” Fox News’ Peter Doocy asked White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt “All I will say is the president put out a statement and a few rounds later he was drafted,” Leavitt replied “So I think the facts speak for themselves on that one.” While the economy sputters and real crises go unaddressed Trump is busy trying to weasel himself into the NFL he’s more than willing to let everything else go up in smoke In a late April profile in The Atlantic, President Donald Trump boasted “I run the country and the world.” But in election after election voters around the world are rejecting his self-centered proclamation and empowering parties that oppose Trumpism Australia is the latest nation to do so, with the nation’s Labor Party handily winning on Saturday after being behind in polling earlier in the year Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was declared the victor just a half hour after polls closed leader of Australia’s center-right Liberal Party Dutton used elements of Trump’s campaign style, complaining about the “woke brigade” and voicing opposition to pro-diversity campaigns. Albanese was even labeled “Temu Trump,” a reference to the Chinese shopping site that sells cheap knock-offs honorary professor at the University of Sydney “Then along comes Donald Trump … and the election just pivoted.” Voters in Singapore also backed politicians whom they felt could best protect their economy from Trump The People's Action Party and Prime Minister Lawrence Wong won in a landslide on Saturday. The party has branded itself as a force for stability as the world reacts to Trump’s tariffs actions Wong said the results “will put Singapore in a better position to face this turbulent world.” The Singapore and Australia results follow in the footsteps of Canada, where Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberal Party secured victory after lagging far behind in the polls before Trump’s new term Carney turned around his party’s fortunes by embracing an explicitly anti-Trump message, stressing to voters that he and his party would defend Canada against threats from the United States. Trump has spent much of his time in office arguing that Canada should become the 51st state “President Trump is trying to break us so that America can own us That will never—that will never ever happen,” Carney said in his victory speech Voters across the world are clearly saying they want no part of the increased costs and instability that Trump has brought on They are largely opposing candidates who embrace elements of Trump’s antagonistic style and bigotry and they are giving resounding victories to parties that run against Trump’s economy-wrecking policies Americans are increasingly hostile to Trumpism as well. He is falling in approval and is now underwater on a host of issues The global movement against Trump and his ideas is picking up steam Leave it to a game-show host to foment xenophobia and kill movie theaters completely by tariffs and to skim off personal profit by seeking payoffs as well as market manipulation Making a personal profit while tanking the national economy continues. Krasnov now tries to shake down Hollywood because he's clueless about film financing But using tariffs on intellectual property This is another big problem with Trump literally just not knowing what tariffs are: what exactly is the tariffed price of a movie that’s filmed in Prague Like what is the good being imported subject to excise taxes here Some foreign countries — notably China — impose import quotas allowing only a limited number of U.S.-made films to show in their theaters But the mechanics of imposing an actual tariff are a bit tricky companies that film overseas — the source of the “runaway” concern — it’s not clear what transaction would be tariffed it doesn’t “import” the movie from itself for a particular fee to show on U.S The moviemaking process is also highly internationalized — with some films shot partly in the U.S Figuring out where to intervene in the value chain would be a challenge “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning” opens on May 23 variety.com/… Aside from the question of how these could be administered and what counts as "produced elsewhere," the inevitable retaliatory tariffs would absolutely kill foreign box office for US studios Because movie tickets weren’t expensive enough.[image or embed] Like getting that ex-Qatari gold 747 because he’s tired of waiting for a repainted Air Force One Trump wants Alcatraz refurbished for his assisted living facility The Ukrainian Air Force reported on May 5 that Russian forces launched two Iskander-M/Kn-23 ballistic missiles from Kursk Oblast and 116 Shahed and other decoy drones from Kursk and Oryol cities; Millerovo Zaporizhia Oblast.[80] The Ukrainian Air Force reported that Ukrainian forces downed 42 drones over Ukraine and that 21 drones were "lost," likely due to Ukrainian electronic warfare (EW) interference Ukrainian sources reported that the strikes affected Konotop Sumy Oblast and unspecified areas of Donetsk Oblast.[81] Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Czech President Petr Pavel announced on May 4 that Czechia will work with Ukraine to establish a school to train Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets outside of Ukraine.[22] Pavel added that Czechia and members of the French- and British-led Coalition of the Willing will train Ukrainian pilots The US Department of State announced on May 4 that it approved $310.5 million for F-16 training and support services for Ukraine.[23] Zelensky stated that the Czech Ammunition Initiative could deliver 1.8 million artillery shells to Ukraine in 2025 and that Ukraine is expecting its allies to deliver three million artillery shells in total this year.[24] Czech Defense Minister Jana Černochová stated in April 2025 that the Czech initiative had secured funding for artillery deliveries to Ukraine through Fall 2025.[25] understandingwar.org/... Ukraine could buy the US-made Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle (AMPV) Ukrainian defense outlet Defense Express reported citing a letter obtained by Breaking Defense from Glenn Dean Executive Director for Ground Combat Systems on May 3 The Pentagon is canceling or downsizing several major programs once central to its armored vehicle fleet the ongoing competition for a new self-propelled howitzer and further procurement of Stryker vehicles Importantly, the letter also notes that production of the AMPV —a turretless version of the Bradley Fighting Vehicle built by BAE Systems will be reduced “AMPV production will be reduced to a minimum sustainment rate but mitigated by Ukraine buyback,” the letter says united24media.com/... Russian sources claimed on May 5 that Ukrainian forces conducted a series of limited attacks across the Russia-Ukraine international border near Tetkino likely referring to the 5th Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment and Russian border guards are defending against the Ukrainian attacks.[5] Ukrainian forces are attempting to isolate Russian units near Tetkino and throughout Glushkovsky Raion The russian march in Washington is not about memory the whitewashing of modern russian fascism – Herashchenko #Antifascism #disinformation #Herashchenko #history #propaganda #ruscism #russia #russianfascism #Tribune #Ukraine #US #war uatribune.com/en/this-is-n...[image or embed] Ukraine bagged a second Russian Su-30 fighter BREAKING: Ukraine destroyed two Russian aircraft in 24 hours — Zelensky reveals details of unique operations One was hit by a Magura V5 sea drone in occupied Crimea; the second during a strike on military facilities 24tv.ua/znishhennya-...[image or embed] Zelenskyy said the second plane was hit at an airfield Budanov says it was downed by a Magura-7 naval drone The missiles used were said to be AIM-9 Sidewinders The crew of one plane was reportedly rescued while the other crew wasn’t Head of the Ukrainian GUR, General Kyrylo Budanov, disclosed that not one but two Russian Su-30 have been shot down over the Black Sea. Additionally, the missiles used for their destruction were US-made AIM-9 Sidewinder.[image or embed] Two more systems — plus the two in Ukraine that are under repair — would bring the number of Patriots in Ukraine to 10 ⚡️ US to send refurbished Patriot air defense system from Israel to Ukraine According to the publication, Western allies are also discussing the logistics of supplying additional systems from Germany or Greece as Russia escalates its attacks across Ukraine.[image or embed] 1/ THE SINKING OF MOSKVA, PART 4: The Russian Black Sea flagship Moskva sank on 14 April 2022 after being hit by two Ukrainian missiles the day before, inflicting the Russian Navy's biggest loss in 80 years. This thread looks at possible lessons learned from the sinking. ⬇️[image or embed] the author of the account on which these threads are based is understandably very angry with the long list of failings that led to the loss of Moskva and 28 of her crew The casualties included his conscript son Yegor who was only a week from his 20th birthday 6/ Among the failures that Shkrebets lists are: 🔺 Moskva sailed unescorted into Ukrainian missile range with faulty radars and weapons systems and without combat preparations; 🔺 The conscripts aboard her were sent illegally to a war zone outside of Russian territory; 7/ 🔺 The Russian Navy appears to have ignored the threat of Ukrainian cruise missile attacks in its mission planning; 🔺 Poorly maintained structures within the ship 8/ 🔺 Fire suppression systems and pumps did not work properly; 🔺 Toxic smoke spread uncontrolled throughout the ship; 🔺 Gas masks did not work because they were decades old and components were long since life-expired; 9/ 🔺 Breathing apparatuses were unusable because they had been packaged without masks; 🔺 There was insufficient fire-fighting equipment on board.(There were likely many other flaws particularly compared to best practice in NATO navies.) mismanagement and decades of lack of maintenance on the ship If those problems could be so severe on Moskva A spectacular strike by a Ukrainian FPV drone destroyed a Russian T-80BVM tank marked with “For Brother Lemon” and “Learn Russian ZOV” near the village of Huevo, Kursk Oblast.[image or embed] More colossal wastes of men and material by Russia 🫡 Repelling of massive Russian assaults in the south by 31st Brigade 🔥💀 ~90 killed, 50 wounded, 60+ vehicles destroyed.[image or embed] ⚔️ Russian troops mount 50 assault attempts on Novopavlivka front – Ukraine's General Staff[image or embed] The Strela transformer plant in Bryansk’s Suzemka is burning confirmed by local residents and the regional governor Strela specializes in producing transformers, autotransformers, and reactors, serving key sectors such as defense and aerospace. This plant has already been targeted in 2024 2023.[image or embed] Russian TV comes to the realization that their navy sucks Russian definition of ‘absurdity’: “Our fleet is fighting at sea with a state that does not have a fleet and still somehow manages to suffer losses.”😁😁😁[image or embed] I thought Trump was going to end the war in 24 hours Putin says Russia hasn’t had to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine — and “hopefully won’t need to.” He claims Russia has enough forces and means to finish the “special operation” without them.[image or embed] Bloomberg: Putin demanded full control of LNR, DNR, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson in talks with Witkoff. Witkoff offered a frontline ceasefire. Talks stalled; only Putin-Trump talks can move forward.www.bloomberg.com/news/article...[image or embed] ⚡️ Zelensky responded to Putin's words about "inevitable reconciliation with Russia": "The Russians should know, we are counting on 3 million artillery shells."[image or embed] I’ll bet he does consider possible successors — considers whether to have them tossed out of the 10th floor window or the 20th ⚡️ Putin 'constantly' considers successors Russian President Vladimir Putin, 72, has ruled Russia for over 25 years, first becoming president in 2000 after serving as prime minister and heading Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB).[image or embed] 🥴 Putin showed off the "home church" where he prays before killing children in Ukraine with missiles….[image or embed] The latest in Russian armored personnel carriers 🚜Russian assault armored combat tractor sets off to storm the front line.[image or embed] Novogrodivka is southeast of Pokrovsk and has been occupied by Russia since last summer JDAM air strike by Ukrainian Su-27 on Russian base in Novogrodivka. t.me/soniah_hub/1...[image or embed] badass footage: Ukrainian drone with fiber-optic control destroys a Russian bunker from the inside No signal interference let the operator spot a net at the entrance Combat work by Signum unit, 53rd Brigade.[image or embed] Another 1,340 Russians who should have stayed home Russian losses per 04/05/25 reported by the Ukrainian general staff +1340 men+11 tanks+24 AFVs+52 artillery+1 MLRS+1 AD system+2 aircraft+163 UAVs[image or embed] Reports claim a Russian BMP-2, covered with wire fragments, is shown in a photo as protection against Ukrainian FPV drones.[image or embed] When you have to deploy air defense in your capital for a Victory parade Rumors (unconfirmed) suggest Russia has deployed ~280 air defense units for the 9th May parade in Moscow with additional systems from Kazan and Grozny The defense includes "Don-2N" & "Nebо-M" radars and "Pantsir-S1" & "Tor-M2" on rooftops If true, this is panic mode.[image or embed] Does this remind anyone else of “All Your Base Are Belong To Us” Head of Ukraine’s Presidential Office reposted an image of the Kremlin in flames with the caption: “We brought this day as close as we could.” Andriy Yermak added: “Beautifully drawn.”[image or embed] Hungary and Slovakia need to fuck all the way off 🇭🇺🇺🇦 Hungary’s PM Orban makes it clear: "Without Hungary Ukraine won’t join the EU." He stressed that his country's position isn’t decided in Kyiv or Brussels "Every Hungarian will express their opinion on this issue, whether you like it or not."[image or embed] Zelenskyy: “Some in Europe block Ukraine’s EU path for better seats at Red Square. We’re ready to open initial negotiation clusters, but certain figures stall progress not for their nations but for personal gain. European values must prevail.”[image or embed] Russia’s great friends — Fico and Serbian President Vucic — get a warm welcome to Russia Medvedev needs to cut back on the 100 proof vodka If he calls Zelenskyy a ‘green unshaven dwarf,’ what does he call Putin then — who’s even shorter And what about cowardly Putin, too scared to leave his bunker and show up on Moscow’s square?[image or embed] Russian forces launched a series of missile and drone strikes against Ukraine on the night of May 2 to 3 Ukrainian Center for Countering Disinformation Head Lieutenant Andriy Kovalenko stated that any joint ceasefire should be comprehensive and last for at least 30 days with the possibility for renewal.[2] Kovalenko noted that shorter ceasefires with vague terms and a lack of monitoring mechanisms afford Russian forces the opportunity to seize on tactical pauses to better prepare ahead of a future summer offensive in Ukraine www.understandingwar.org/... Ukrainian forces shot down a Russian fixed-wing aircraft with a surface-to-air missile (SAM) attached to a naval drone for the first time on May 3. Ukrainian forces launched an aerial drone and surrounding areas on May 3.[9] The Ukrainian Main Military Intelligence Directorate (GUR) confirmed that Ukrainian forces used a SAM fired from a Magura naval drone to down a Russian Su-30 fighter jet over the Black Sea near Novorossiysk.[10] Ukrainian forces used missiles attached to a Magura naval drone to shoot down a Russian Mi-8 helicopter in December 2024 but this is the first time that Ukrainian forces have downed a fixed-wing aircraft using this tactic.[11] Ukraine has achieved another first — the downing of a Russian Su-30 Flanker jet by a naval drone reportedly a two-seat Sukhoi Su-30 Flanker hundreds of miles from Ukrainian controlled coast Full details have yet to emerge but it is likely that the jet was sent to interdict the USVs which were threatening the main naval base at Novorossiysk and Kerch straight The jet would have been flying low to engage the USV with cannons or unguided rockets World First: Ukrainian Maritime Drone Shoots Down Russian Flanker Jetwww.navalnews.com/naval-news/2...[image or embed] The Ukrainian Main Directorate of Intelligence (GUR) just now released a video showing the destruction of a Russian Su-30 over the Black Sea This is the first confirmed destruction of fixed wing aircraft by a naval USV.[image or embed] Ukraine launched a wider attack against the port city of Novorossiysk Ukrainian drones damaged Russia’s largest grain terminal in the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk overnight, according to regional authorities and facility’s owner. [image or embed] A Russian air defense missile hits an apartment building 💥 Novorossiysk. Drones also attacked Rostov region, Taman and Anapa. Fires broke out there.[image or embed] ❗️In 🇷🇺Novorossiysk, residential buildings and three tanks at a grain terminal were damaged as a result of Russian air defense operations.[image or embed] Russians recorded attempts to repel an attack by Ukrainian uncrewed naval drones on Novorossiysk and Crimea’s coast.[image or embed] The play-by-play in the second video needs no translation Demolition of the bridge on Russian supply road.[image or embed] apartment buildings and schools has no business complaining that its victims hold “nothing sacred.” Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson accused Zelenskyy of having "nothing sacred" after he rejected Putin's proposal for temporary Victory Day ceasefire - Russian state-funded RIA Novosti She further claimed that Ukrainian President had "hit rock bottom" by threatening the safety of veterans.⤵️[image or embed] Russia bombs a fire station in Kupyansk and unleashed thermobaric drones on Kharkiv You are looking at the fire station in Kupyansk, Kharkiv region, after Russia attacked it with glide bombs today. This is while Russia continues to pretend they want talk peace. Just a regular Saturday in Ukraine   .[image or embed] Russian forces struck Kharkiv with 17 thermobaric drones which create powerful blast waves and high-temperature clouds designed to cause extensive destruction The attack injured 51 civilians, including two young girls, and damaged civilian infrastructure across four city districts.[image or embed] It was such a beautiful day in Kharkiv—feathery clouds in the sky setting everything ablaze and injuring at least 40 people This is our reality now. Anything beautiful is shattered and burned simply for existing in Ukraine.[image or embed] This is what happens when you are driving down the road and don’t notice that the bridge is out up ahead - Bukhanka 🇷🇺🚙[image or embed] The Leopard tank proves its value in Ukraine German-made Leopard 2A4 endures what would be fatal for Russian tanks - 10 drone hits and ammo detonation The key difference? Blow-out panels directing explosions outward rather than toward the crew and vital systems. euromaidanpress.com/2025/05/03/n...[image or embed] StormShroud: Ukraine-forged drone now makes RAF Typhoons invisible helps RAF Typhoon jets evade radar with battlefield-proven jamming tech euromaidanpress.com/2025/05/03/s...[image or embed] Ukraine tests the Batyar — its version of the Iranian/Russian Shahed drone Compilation of videos showing testing of the Ukrainian analogue of the Shahed attack drone known as the "Batyar." Batyars are persons belonging to a Lviv subculture with Polish roots The word Batyar has also come to mean a "daredevil" or someone willing to take on a risky job #OSINT[image or embed] Togo is a thin strip of a country in West Africa I guess these students didn’t read the fine print in the work-study requirements of their scholarships ❗️Ukrainian Armed Forces captured Togolese nationals fighting for the Russian army,the Foreign Ministry of the Togolese Republic said They confirmed that the majority of captured are "young students" who left for Russia because they were offered alleged scholarships in Russian universities[image or embed] Russian losses per 03/05/25 reported by Ukraine's General Staff +1170 men+4 tanks+48 artillery+1 AD system+126 UAVs+1 cruise missile[image or embed] Russia can’t keep track of what happens to the meat once it's sent to the grinder • 48,000 families submitted DNA to ID remains • No official count of the missing—estimates run into tens of thousands • 15,000+ unidentified bodies in military morgues • Families forced to sue to declare soldiers dead 💀🇷🇺 Message From the Russian Military: "We Lost Your Son" Russia’s army has no system for tracking missing soldiers in Ukraine Families use social media and Vkontakte to beg for answers.[image or embed] Remember that video from a week or so ago of Russians clearing a barbed wire barrier by laying one motorcycle down on top of the wire and several others using it to jump over the wire like Evel Knievel well these guys missed that day at the training center A Russian infantry assault group, without any armored vehicle support, attempted to breach Ukrainian barbed wire defenses. The simple wire barrier significantly slowed them down, making them an easier target, especially for drone operators.[image or embed] This is why Putin can’t afford to stop the war The cult of inevitable victory by Mighty Russia could not handle military defeat/humiliation A week before May 9, Russians are starting brawls in lines for a bowl of porridge from a red communist wagon, gripped by "victorious" euphoria. Eating "soldier’s porridge" is a cult Russian ritual on May 9.[image or embed] When only 58% of your citizens support defending the country from an attack 🇸🇰 Only 14% of Slovaks say they would take up arms if Russia attacked 58% support defending the country but wouldn’t go to the front spravy.pravda.sk/domace/clano...[image or embed] Having to set foot inside Mar-A-Lago would make me terribly ill too who had planned to attend the Moscow parade Vucic reportedly became seriously ill during a U.S Oh, how convenient...[image or embed] India’s Defense Minister canceled Moscow Victory Day parade visit, following the PM — India Today. Rajnath Singh was to replace Narendra Modi, who also declined. India will be represented by Deputy Defense Minister Sanjay Seth.[image or embed] Zelensky announces Ukraine could receive $30 billion in US aid in 2025, with $15 billion allocated for 2025 and another $15 billion for 2026. Ukraine is negotiating to advance part of the 2026 aid to speed up weapon deliveries. These funds will contribute to the Reconstruction Investment Fund.[image or embed] Who had Trump’s spiritual adviser turning into a pro-Ukraine evangelist on their bingo card Trump’s spiritual advisor Mark Burns briefed the U.S “I spoke of Russian atrocities—against women kyivindependent.com/us-will-not-...[image or embed] 🤯🫏 A combat donkey equipped with a helmet and electronic warfare system.[image or embed] In the village of Semenivka,Lviv region,people welcomed Ukrainian Defender Volodymyr Moroz with flags& applause Volodymyr was captured by Russians in July 2024,spent 8 months in captivity.He returned to #Ukraine in a prisoner exchange on March 19 📹Suspilne[image or embed] After enduring over a year in Russian captivity and losing both legs, Vyacheslav walked out of the Superhumans rehab center not in defeat, but with a ring in hand. He proposed to Hanna—the woman who never stopped believing in his return, in their love, in a future together.[image or embed] The Ukrainian Air Force reported that Russian forces launched 150 strike and decoy drones from Bryansk City; Primorsko-Akhtarsk Crimea.[93] The Ukrainian Air Force reported that Ukrainian forces downed 64 Shahed and other drones over eastern and central Ukraine and that 62 decoy drones were "lost," likely due to Ukrainian electronic warfare (EW) interference Ukrainian officials reported that drone strikes damaged civilian and commercial infrastructure in Kharkiv understandingwar.org/... The US Department of State submitted a proposed license for defense exports to Ukraine to the US Congress on April 29.[26] The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is considering the proposal Russian gains along the frontline have slowed over the last four months but Russia continues to tolerate personnel losses comparable to the casualty rate Russian forces sustained during a period of intensified advances between September and December 2024. ISW assesses that Russian forces gained a total of 1,627 square kilometers in Ukraine and Kursk Oblast in January and daily Russian casualty reports from the Ukrainian General Staff indicate that Russian forces suffered 160,600 casualties during the last four months for an average of 99 casualties for every square kilometer taken over the last four months ISW assesses that Russian forces seized an estimated 496 square kilometers in January 2025; an estimated 313 square kilometers in February 2025; an estimated 601 square kilometers in March 2025; and an estimated 217 square kilometers in April 2025 Ukrainian General Staff reports indicate that Russian forces lost an estimated 48,060 casualties in January 2025 and 36,570 casualties in April 2025.[1] Russian advances significantly increased in March 2025 due to the elimination of the Ukrainian salient in Kursk Oblast coinciding with the temporary cessation of US intelligence sharing with Ukraine although Russian advances on average decreased between January Russian gains have also slowed as Russian forces come up against more well-defended Ukrainian positions in and around larger towns such as Kupyansk Russian forces are currently sustaining a higher casualty rate per square kilometer gained than in Fall 2024. Russian forces gained an estimated 2,949 square kilometers at the cost of 174,935 casualties between September and December 2024 — an average of 59 casualties per square kilometer taken.[2] Russian casualty rates consistently increased throughout September and December 2024 and peaked at an estimated 49,135 total monthly casualties in December 2024.[3] Monthly Russian rates of advance plateaued at 839 square kilometers in November 2024 and began to slow in December 2024 to an assessed 593 square kilometers and have continued to slow in 2025 (with the exception of the elimination of the Kursk salient) Russian gains have been 45 percent slower between January and April 2025 than in the period between September and December 2024 although Russian casualty rates have only decreased by 10 percent in that interval The Russian military command thus appears to be tolerating similar personnel loss rates despite a significant decrease in the rate of territorial gains Vladimir Putin signed a decree on Tuesday renaming the airport in Volgograd to Stalingrad.meduza.io/en/news/2025...[image or embed] There were many reports last night of a massive Ukrainian drone attack across Crimea Overnight, Crimea faced a massive drone attack. Airfields in Novofedorivka, Belbek, Kacha, and Hvardiiske were hit. Explosions echoed in Sevastopol, Simferopol, and Dzhankoi. Flashes and air defense activity reported in Saky district.[image or embed] A Ukrainian Su-27 drops GBU-62 bombs to destroy a Russian command post along with assault groups on the Kharkiv front. After tracking Russian movements for over a day, the building — packed with troops and gear — was obliterated[image or embed] Per Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disinformation, drones struck Russia’s “Zvezda” space intelligence facility in Stavropol Krai. A GRU station since the 1970s, it intercepts satellite signals and conducts cyber-espionage. One hit confirmed from three drones.[image or embed] Russia hit apartment buildings in Zaporizhzhia and Odesa Russia struck the city with multiple drones There are people under the rubble.[image or embed] A survivor of the Russian attack on Zaporizhzhia shared a video with Kyiv Post. While everyone is talking about a ceasefire, the Russians continue their relentless terror against Ukrainian civilians.[image or embed] UAVs strike high-rise building and a school ❗️Up to 15 more drones are flying into the city, moving at very low altitudes.[image or embed] Russian infantryman boldly pocketed undetonated  FPV drone.[image or embed] This list compiles visually confirmed losses over the previous month The monthly update of Oryx Russian loss list infographics from @valka_online is now online note: we have added many more old losses than usual over the past month The recent loss rates continue to be relatively low oryxspioenkop.com/2022/02/atta...[image or embed] Jeopardy answer: The worst possible choice for national security advisor Question: Who is Stephen “Gruppenführer” Miller 👀 SCOOP: Stephen Miller emerges as top contender for Trump's next national security adviser[image or embed] Did someone put Trump in charge of the Russian economy 📉 Russian government records sharp economic slowdown[image or embed] Experts from the Centre for Macroeconomic Analysis and Short-Term Forecasting (CMASF) a think tank with ties to the Russian government said production outside the military sector has already entered a recession the output of civilian goods declined by an average of 0.8% per month (seasonally adjusted) The downturn has affected civil mechanical engineering Food production has also seen its sharpest decline since the early months of the war — falling by 0.7% per month in the first quarter Europe finally gets around to seizing and distributing frozen Russian assets Europe set to redistribute €3 billion in frozen Russian funds to Western investors following Moscow's seizure of investor cash in Russia A new chapter in the financial fallout of Russia's invasion in Ukraine www.reuters.com/business/fin...[image or embed] Maybe some of those assets can go to Kharkiv 533 buildings in Kharkiv were damaged by Russian shelling 🤯 He estimates total war damage to the city at €10 billion.[image or embed] 1110 Losers.     954,300[image or embed] Lieutenant Головинов Илья Александрович (Golovinov Ilya Alexandrovich) of the 22nd Motor Rifle Regiment talked to his brother at 9.34 on the morning of 26 April ’25, took this selfie, and was liquidated in the Kursk Oblast in the evening of the same day.vk.com/wall36745198...[image or embed] They sold out their country and now Russia doesn’t want them either 300 Ukrainians convicted of collaborating with the enemy have asked to be exchanged for Ukrainian captives held in Russia – but the Kremlin refuses to take them off Kyiv’s hands www.kyivpost.com/post/51849[image or embed] Our Lady of the Blessed Pipeline is a big attraction Meanwhile in Russia, the pipe cult keeps thriving. In Omsk’s Isilkul, they unveiled a replica of the Sudzha infiltration pipe by a cathedral—third one yet! On April 23, locals solemnly crawled through it, basking in “heroic” festivities.[image or embed] it will be the armorer of Europe before long Necessity is definitely the mother of invention the Ministry of Defense approved over 120 new weapons systems These include advanced drones, electronic warfare tools, fiber-optic-controlled UAVs, robotic platforms, and communication systems euromaidanpress.com/2025/05/02/u...[image or embed] 👀🦅 UAVs operators in the Mykolaiv region use UAVs with a modern magnetometer ❗️This UAV complex can remotely detect mines and other explosive objects. During the flight, the magnetometer continuously records the parameters of the Earth's magnetic field in a strip 2 meters wide.[image or embed] Russians have started piecing together budget kamikaze drones from hoverboards, fastening them with metal frames and arming them with mines.[image or embed] This comes to an average of more than 2,600 a day 💥 Ukrainian drones struck over 160,000 enemy targets in the last two months - March and April.— Oleksandr Syrskyi, Ukraine's Commander in Chief[image or embed] This had not occurred to me earlier — that the mutilation Russians performed on the dead Ukrainian journalist was intended not to eliminate evidence but to send a message In this set of "eyes-brain-larynx" it is difficult not to notice a subtle hint that Russia's crimes should not be seen "Roshchyna died from very significant injuries intended specifically for journalists recording the facts of genocide.Her eyes were cut out In this set of "eyes-brain-larynx" it is difficult not to notice a subtle hint that Russia's crimes...1/2 This is a very long thread that gives a detailed account of what went on aboard the Moskva when it was hit by two Ukrainian Neptune missiles 1/ A detailed inside account of the sinking of the Russian missile cruiser Moskva has been published. It describes how the ship was overwhelmed with fire and smoke, safety systems failed, interior structures collapsed and crewmen jumped out through portholes to save themselves.⬇️[image or embed] the ship detected incoming missiles only 4 km away This was too close for the crew to react in time and the missiles struck Moskva at a height of 3.5 m to 4 m above the waterline a few seconds later 12/ Shkrebets provides a diagram of where the missiles hit He writes that the first missile had the most destructive effect hitting "the central part of the cruiser (compartment 8) with the galley and crew mess rooms at the epicenter of the explosion." 13/ The entire ship's crew had been scheduled to assemble in the mess room at 14:00 to be told about the outcome of the exercises but this was delayed due to the mess crew not having washed the dishes and cleaned up in time 14/ The first missile strike also badly affected the engine room and the ship's damage control post which controlled the ship's power systems and emergency response It exploded a short distance below and behind a Vulkan P-1000 anti-ship missile system on the upper deck 15/ The second missile hit the stern at the junction of compartments 12 and 13 next to a torpedo tube and very close to the launcher for an S-300F Fort anti-aircraft missile system Formation of cracks in the ship's hull structures and decks 17/ "For example: in the officers' corridor they couldn't seal the door because it was simply torn off its hinges.Which critically complicated orientation (due to the lack of electric lighting) visibility and the ability to breathe fully." 8/ The ship's main corridor was blocked by debris preventing anyone from using it to exit the galley or mess and "the ladders in the engine room were torn off (all the way to the starboard side)." but the men on the upper deck and superstructure only perceived "two strong and dull bangs indicating the detonation of missiles deep inside the ship's hull." none of the ammunition in the weapons systems near the impact points detonated at that time the ship would undoubtedly have sunk very quickly and taken most of the crew with it 26/ A number of men who were near the site of the explosions died immediately Others perished "while trying to climb to the upper deck through collapses and a wall of toxic smoke in conditions of almost zero visibility." Some fell into the sea and died of hypothermia or drowning there should be no deal to get him back by exchanging a Russian murderer or arms dealer.  as Russia continues to murder civilians and attack cities in Ukraine rapper Akon has signed a deal for a gig in the Terrorist State Akon is due to perform at the CSKA Arena in Moscow on 9 August Festive Bakhmut is all decked out for Victory Day In the Russian-destroyed Bakhmut, occupiers prep for May 9, hanging Russian and Soviet flags on ruins. Footage shows a “festive” vibe in the empty city, with only soldiers left.[image or embed] In Russia’s Dagestan, the pre-May 9 Victory Day fanaticism forces kindergartners into mock military parades, dressed in tiny uniforms and waving flags, shamefully exploiting young children to fuel patriotic propaganda.[image or embed] A more realistic parade would have kindergarteners in Scooby vans Maybe they could give the kids donkey rides During the parade in Moscow on May 9th, Russia will celebrate a slightly  different victory than Europe - it will celebrate victory in the Great  Patriotic War. This is an important distinction, so I thought I'd  explain this further⤵️[image or embed] but drinking the tea he makes is not a good idea Russians produced a documentary dedicated to the 25th anniversary of Putin’s first inauguration In the documentary that films Putin in his supposed above-ground dwelling, the Russian dictator is presented as a tireless leader who works late and a regular guy who makes tea for his guests. 🙄🙄🙄[image or embed] Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov (Lenin) just gets no respect these days In a Russian town not far from Yekaterinburg, officials transformed a public square featuring a monument to Vladimir Lenin into a skate park — with the statue’s pedestal repurposed as a ramp. Communist Party members aren’t happy.meduza.io/en/feature/2...[image or embed] Will Russians line the streets and kneel as these coffins go by ✈️☠️ Il-76 cargo plane filled with coffins of Russian soldiers at the Orenburg airport.[image or embed] A Russian hearse in Volgograd hits something in the road flips and ejects somebody — maybe the driver Volgograd, Russia…[image or embed] Another Crimean Tatar has died defending Ukraine. Zinur Ametka voluntarily joined the military while still a student and served in the AZOV Brigade. He was only 21 years old... Remember those who fight for their home — Ukraine and Crimea. For them, nothing is more valuable than dignity and freedom[image or embed] The Ukrainian Pony Express steps up for love An infantryman from the Khyzhak Brigade, call sign Vepr, hadn’t contacted his beloved for two weeks. The girl learned through his commander that he had been wounded. Wanting to support him, she wrote a heartfelt letter, which his brothers-in-arms delivered by drone to his position in Toretsk.[image or embed] Russian forces launched a series of missile and drone strikes against Ukraine on the night of April 30 to May 1 The Ukrainian Air Force reported that Russian forces launched five Iskander-M ballistic missiles from occupied Crimea and 170 strike and decoy drones from Kursk and Oryol cities; Millerovo Crimea.[70] The Ukrainian Air Force reported that Ukrainian forces downed 74 Shahed and other drones over eastern and central Ukraine and that 68 decoy drones were "lost," likely due to Ukrainian electronic warfare (EW) interference Ukrainian officials reported that drone strikes damaged infrastructure in Kharkiv and Kyiv oblasts and that strikes damaged civilian and railway infrastructure in Odesa City and Oblast.[71] www.understandingwar.org/... The United States and Ukraine published additional information about their April 30 bilateral economic partnership agreement.[1] The Trump administration and the Ukrainian government published the joint text of the US-Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund on May 1 and reported that the agreement is a "fully collaborative partnership" that will fund Ukraine's long-term reconstruction and modernization The agreement establishes a joint fund that the United States and Ukraine will equally pay into to fund development and natural resource extraction projects in Ukraine Ukrainian officials noted that Ukraine will retain full control over "subsoil and natural resources" and the right to determine the terms of use for Ukraine's natural resources.[2] Ukrainian officials stated that United States can make monetary contributions or supply additional military assistance to Ukraine as part of the fund and that Ukraine will allocate 50 percent of its state budget revenues from rent payments and other revenue from national resource extraction projects to the fund.[3] The Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada must ratify the agreement and it appears that the United States and Ukraine will also have to sign a series of more technical agreements that will define the terms of the investments and projects in the future.[4] The Trump administration noted that the agreement signals US commitment to "Ukraine's long-term success" and noted that the United States and Ukraine will not allow any person or state that supplied the Russian war effort to benefit from the reconstruction of Ukraine.[5] US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also noted during an interview on Fox News on May 1 that the agreement is a "strong signal" to Russian officials that there "is no daylight" between the United States and Ukraine.[6] Ukraine's participation in this agreement underscores Ukraine's continued willingness to make compromises in pursuit of a long-term sustainable resolution of the war in Ukraine despite consistent Russian disinterest in US and Ukrainian peace proposals U.S. officials framed the agreement as a sign of lasting support for Ukraine.[image or embed] Mike Waltz Leaves the Group Chat for a U.N youtu.be/pLwbO8Ix9Gc[image or embed] US Special Envoy to Ukraine Keith Kellogg recently reaffirmed that Ukrainian officials remain committed to resolving the war in Ukraine despite ongoing Russian refusals to accept US President Donald Trump’s repeated proposals for a general ceasefire in pursuit of lasting peace in Ukraine. Kellogg told Fox News on April 29 that Ukrainian representatives repeatedly demonstrated their willingness to negotiate during talks with senior US and European officials in London on April 23 and it is now "up to [Russian President] Vladimir Putin" to achieve a peaceful resolution to the war.[7] Kellogg stated that Ukrainian representatives in London agreed to 22 "concrete" terms including a "permanent for which US President Donald Trump has long advocated Kellogg also stated that US officials previously presented Putin with a roadmap for ending the war in Ukraine and that Putin should directly engage with the US proposal if he "really" wants to end the war Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov claimed in an interview with Brazilian newspaper O Globo published on April 28 that "the ball is not in [Russia’s] court" in terms of ceasefire negotiations because Ukrainian officials have not shown "readiness" for peace negotiations.[8] Lavrov’s statements indicate that Russian officials are uninterested in serious peace negotiations to end the war and are prolonging negotiations to facilitate battlefield gains ISW continues to assess that the Kremlin is attempting to hold ceasefire negotiations hostage in order to extract additional concessions from Ukraine and the United States by falsely shifting the blame onto Ukraine for stalling negotiations to end the war.[9] they used cluster munitions with timed bomblets with a delay before exploding ❗️Delayed (timed) cluster munitions from "Shaheds" exploded in Kyiv ⚠️ Russian drones now could have left behind munitions that do not explode immediately.[image or embed] they used nails as shrapnel to create more civilian injuries Russians attached a bag with nails to a Molniya-type drone Russia used during the attack on Kharkiv the Russian army is trying to inflict maximum damage on the civilian population 📹: Suspilne[image or embed] Who could have predicted at the start of this war that a Drone Zone would be a thing Kyiv is implementing a “Drone Line” strategy which involves creating a security zone 30 km deep behind the front line Populating this space with drones will make it impossible for the Russians to prepare new assaults The goal is to block large sections of the front and hold out without help 🐝🇺🇦 Amid Uncertainty Over U.S Ukraine Is Counting on Expanding Use of Domestically Made Drones The Ukrainian program involves expanding four selected battalions into regiments that will be armed with a variety of flying drones and ground-based UAV weapon systems.[image or embed] Do you mean to say that Putin lied to Trump??? Trump has been convinced that Putin is deceiving him UK PM Starmer and France’s Macron spent months urging Trump to stop pressuring Zelensky and focus on Kremlin actions www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/202...[image or embed] ⚡️ Republican Graham claims 72 senators back 'bone-crushing' sanctions on Russia The bill would impose new penalties on Russia and slap 500% tariffs on imports from countries that buy Russian oil, petroleum products, natural gas, or uranium.[image or embed] Ukrainian Defenders destroyed a Russian Buk-M3 air defense system Buk-M3 is one of Russia's key air defense systems. Its cost is about $45 million. Glory![image or embed] The GUR unit “PRYMARY” hit high-value Russian assets in Crimea, destroying an S-300V SAM system, Obzor-3 radar, Kasta-2E2 radar, ST-68 radar, and “Imbir” radar.[image or embed] 💥 Ukraine's 59th brigade eliminating Russian fascists on the frontline.[image or embed] A Russian soldier is beating up one of his comrades kicking him while he’s lying on the ground Russian soldier was very busy beating up his comrade and was so carried away by the process that he did not notice how he himself became a target for the drone.[image or embed] Morning in Belgorod doesn’t start with coffee.Since dawn, some unidentified FPVs have been circling the region and "clearing" the roads.[image or embed] Longtime activist and YouTuber Serhiy Sternenko has quite a colorful history. This was at least the third assassination attempt on him He said later that he received a bullet wound in this one but it wasn’t serious 🔫 Video of the assassination attempt on Sternenko has appeared.[image or embed] A Russian soldier walks among the bodies of his dead comrades And while Putin keeps boasting about how well the "special military operation" is going, Russian soldiers continue filming videos from their positions — littered with the bodies of their own comrades, left behind and uncollected. Everything’s going according to plan.[image or embed] And here’s another video made by a Russian complaining that everything around him was blown up and they were left “with fucking nothing “They blew everything up! We’re left with nothing!” — a Russian soldier reports after a successful strike on their position, which has been reduced to ashes.[image or embed] Mike Waltz gave up his House seat for a couple of months as national security advisor And now Trump is nominating him to be UN Ambassador which is like getting those nice parting gifts when you lose on a game show Waltz goes under the bus after less than 10 scaramuccis There are some reports that say that ass-kissing idiot Steve Witkoff might replace him For now Rubio is supposedly the acting NSA CBS reports NSA Mike Waltz & NSC's Alex Wong are leaving This is bad news for European allies—many have been concerned that Waltz's firing would expand influence of  MAGA types who was subject to racist conspiracy theories by Laura Loomer Trump has also appointed a new charge d’affaires in Ukraine.  🇺🇸🇺🇦 Trump and Rubio have appointed Ambassador Julie Davis as the U.S. Chargé d'Affaires ad interim to Ukraine "at this critical moment in the journey toward peace." Ambassador Davis has held key positions for the past 30 years, a State Department spokeswoman said.[image or embed] ‘The Trump administration formally notified Congress on April 29 that it is preparing to authorize the sale of "$50 million or more" in "defense articles" to Ukraine This marks the first such move under the current U.S. government.’ kyivindependent.com/trump-admini...[image or embed] is sending decommissioned F-16s from Davis-Monthan AFB to Ukraine to be used as spare parts donors — TWZ www.twz.com/air/f-16s-pu...[image or embed] The church in Russia doesn’t want smart children — or what it calls indigo children. The latest from the Russian Orthodox Church:  Gifted ‘indigo’ children are possessed by evil spirits Clearly, Russia doesn’t need brilliant minds, as it’s easier to control a “gray” populace unable to think independently.[image or embed] If only this real estate agent’s client had produced a son that she could “sell” to the Russian Army as cannon fodder Russian war economy has “no negative effect” on its citizens except for people who chose not to produce cannon fodder “So you have a good down payment and a good salary - A Russian realtor explains the situation her childless clients are in.[image or embed] War can be just as traumatic for animals, who often learn to associate one sound with another very quickly.[image or embed] Dance, Hero, smile and enjoy life! Thank you 💙💛[image or embed] Russian forces conducted a series of drone strikes against Ukraine on the night of April 29 to 30 The Ukrainian Air Force reported that Russian forces launched 108 strike and decoy drones from the direction of Kursk City; Primorsko-Akhtarsk Crimea.[102] The Ukrainian Air Force reported that the Russian strikes primarily targeted Dnipro and Kharkiv cities The Ukrainian Air Force reported that Ukrainian forces downed 50 Shahed and other drones over eastern and central Ukraine; that 22 Russian decoy drones were "lost," likely due to Ukrainian electronic warfare (EW) interference; and that two Russian drones remained in Ukrainian air space as of 1130 local time Ukrainian officials reported that Russian drones struck Kharkiv and Dnipropetrovsk oblasts.[103] Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reported on April 30 that Russian forces launched 375 strike drones against Ukraine since the start of the week (April 27).[104] www.understandingwar.org/... 🇺🇸🇺🇦 The US in London presented 22 specific conditions for the settlement of the war in Ukraine, Kyiv agreed to them, - Kellogg.[image or embed] ⚡️US signed minerals deal with Ukraine 'to be protected,' Trump says "I wanted to be protected," U.S. President Donald Trump told NewsNation on April 30, referring to the minerals deal Ukraine and Washington signed just hours earlier.[image or embed] In 2015, the Communist Party's Labor Day rallies were banned in Kyiv and Kharkiv.[177] Late May 2015 laws that ban communist symbols came into effect in Ukraine, thus banning communist symbols, singing the Soviet national hymn or the Internationale.[178] en.wikipedia.org/... Ukraine has finalized a mineral deal with the U.S My view on this is similar to a comment attached to this post — it’s like charging someone for water when their house is on fire Ukraine is set to sign a natural resources deal with the U.S aiming to deepen economic ties and secure future military aid through a joint investment fund under the natural resources deal only for future military aid www.bloomberg.com/news/article...[image or embed] Ukraine targeted a Russian gunpowder factory Murom is about 250 kilometers east of Moscow targeting facility that produces gunpowder The governor of Vladimir Oblast confirmed a drone attack on Murom that caused a warehouse fire at what social media sources identify as a military production facilityeuromaidanpress.com/2025/04/30/d...[image or embed] Russia unleashed a drone swarm against Kharkiv including 2 children and a pregnant woman after russias massive strike on Kharkiv on the evening of April 29th If anyone still had doubts; #RussiaIsATerroristState[image or embed] #Ukraine #UkrainianView[image or embed] 🔥🔥 56th RUBAK burned down an occupier's truck + fuel and lubricant warehouse![image or embed] Russian media reported drone strikes near Rylsk, Kursk region, last evening. Several explosions heard east of the city, possibly targeting a Russian infantry hideout or a strategic site.[image or embed] 😵‍💫 Russian soldier tried to catch Ukrainian FPV drone…[image or embed] Who needs armoured personnel carriers when you have this?[image or embed] was left behind bound in a sack with his pants pulled down to his ankles The image was taken by the Incognito Battalion #OSINT[image or embed] The first post in this thread talks about a nude Russian soldier who recorded one of those video appeals where he complains about commanders who don’t care about the lives of their soldiers What makes this different is the fact he did it while nude But maybe he thought he needed to make this appeal stand out from the million other appeals 9/ "The fighters are sent on combat missions without any support corpses are designated as landmarks [for navigation]." The soldier was the only survivor of a meat assault but was wounded in the leg 16/ The soldier says that he will leave the medical unit to get proper medical care elsewhere and he will not allow his commanders to get him killed 17/ "I do not intend to lay down my life for these bastards but for these freaks who maim and kill our soldiers They deliberately report that every [objective] has long been taken 18/ "I'm not going to die for these ghouls who just kill soldiers they don't want to make strategic and tactical decisions That’s about a third of the 15,000-man force North Korea sent to Russia AP reports that, according to the South Korean National Intelligence Service, around 4,700 North Korean soldiers have been killed or wounded, with approximately 600 killed in the Kursk region.apnews.com/article/cf71...[image or embed] Russian losses per 30/04/25 reported by the Ukrainian General Staff +1100 men+1 tank+1 AFVs+11 artillery+1 MLRS+112 UAVs[image or embed] Zelenskyy warns of military action coming from Belarus ⚡️ Zelensky warns Russia is 'preparing something' in Belarus under guise of military drills "This is how its new attacks usually start," President Volodymyr Zelensky said.[image or embed] I thought they were going to march through Berlin on their way to taking Lisbon and nuking the UK relations between Russia and Europe will be restored 😵‍💫 Putin: Nationalism is the first stage towards Nazism, unlike patriotism.[image or embed] 🛰️🇺🇦 A bill on the creation of the Space Forces of Ukraine has been registered in Verkhovna Rada.[image or embed] I don’t think “a presence” is what Trump had in mind ☢️🤔 “Russia is ready to discuss with the United States the American presence at the Zaporizhzhia NPP,” the head of Rosatom said.[image or embed] He might just get what he is asking for — only it will be a tribunal to try Russian war criminals Medvedev called to create a "Nuremberg 2.0" after the end of the "special military operation" Absolutely! Work is already in progress!Ukraine and Ukrainians are all for it.Your presence is mandatory. You will be the one on trial.[image or embed] A Russian singer chooses a ruined Ukrainian city as a backdrop for her video “Z-singer" Valeriya sang a Soviet song "Where Does Motherland Begin"against a backdrop of destroyed buildings Russian army turns Ukrainian cities into the same ruins.Valeriya sings about "Motherland" -for her,it starts from war&ruins If you wanted to see the face of "Russian world"- this is it[image or embed] Russian forces conducted a series of drone strikes against Ukraine on the night of April 28 to 29 The Ukrainian Air Force reported that Russian forces launched 100 Shahed and decoy drones from the direction of Kursk Crimea.[88] The Ukrainian Air Force reported that Ukrainian forces downed 37 drones over northern and central Ukraine and that 47 Russian decoy drones were "lost," likely due to Ukrainian electronic warfare (EW) interference Ukrainian officials reported that Russian drones struck Kharkiv 👀🐝 He made the right decision The Russian soldier saw a Ukrainian drone above him ❗️But he did not shoot at it, but laid down his weapon and made it clear that he wanted to surrender to the Ukrainians. He was taken to Ukrainian positions by the same drone.[image or embed] This brilliant cartoon clearly explains Trump's position on Ukraine. It is in Ukrainian with English subtitles. Share it with anyone who keeps repeating russian propaganda. pic.twitter.com/2owFjkkEbO In 2022, Curtis Yarvin (Peter Thiel’s “in-house philosopher”) wrote that, “it is Russia’s fate to again to restore order in Europe,” but “Trump needs to let Putin really know it’s okay to do it.” Yarvin added: “There is only one way to send this message unequivocally: withdraw from Europe.” 1/[image or embed] 13/ This is a really detailed article about Thiel and Yarvin’s attendance at the NatCon conference in 2019. harpers.org/archive/2020...[image or embed] This is an occasional roundup of people who voted for Donald Trump and are shocked to find out no one is immune from the damage and pain he causes Many are now grappling with the consequences of their choice as it affects them and their loved ones—and possibly regretting their vote In the 2024 presidential election, for the first time in recent history, exit polls found that voters making under $50,000 favored the Republican presidential ticket is now repaying that support by gutting services and protections that disproportionately help rural Americans major demographics in the current Republican base Politico recently highlighted this dynamic Abrupt cuts at AmeriCorps this week have landed hard in deep red states with high poverty rates like West Virginia where national service programs have long-filled gaps in education the Keelers were thrilled to support Trump for his supposed “pro-business” agenda But now they seem to be discovering what many American corporations are learning the hard way: Trump’s economic policies are a wrecking ball according to a company representative who confirmed the details of the price hike to me over the phone.  One Reddit user posted what appears to be a note the company sent to its partners about the price increase: We appreciate your continued support of Belwith Products LLC.  Due to ongoing increases in import and material costs we are writing to inform you of a necessary price adjustment While we have worked diligently to absorb these cost pressures this modest increase is essential to maintain the high product quality and service standards associated with the Belwith name The 24% price increase will be effective June 1st If they’re raising prices 24% after reportedly absorbing some of the costs the damage from Trump’s tariffs must be even worse behind the scenes “We have had to raise our prices in order to stay profitable,” said one worker at a “cooper and brass” company in Michigan—possibly Keeler Brass—in a Guardian report and we’re expecting more as the economy worsens.”  if a 24% price hike is considered “modest,” then surely Keeler Brass’ well-heeled owners—and the rest of America’s aristocracy—should have no problem with a modest 24% tax hike on the rich all we can really do is take some brief satisfaction in watching Trump torch the wealth of his wealthiest supporters and hope that laid-off workers and everyone else feeling the sting of inflation remember who brought this on them when it’s time to vote in the next election “I am pleased to announce that I will be nominating Mike Waltz to be the next United States Ambassador to the United Nations,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social “From his time in uniform on the battlefield Mike Waltz has worked hard to put our Nation’s Interests first I know he will do the same in his new role.” This will also put Republican senators on the record about whether they’ll support someone who so carelessly jeopardized national security And it will allow Democrats to highlight the “Signalgate” scandal giving them an easy way to attack the Trump administration It’s hard to see how voters will approve of this switcheroo A Civiqs poll conducted for Daily Kos found that voters wanted accountability for the group-chat snafu—not a promotion for one of the people involved in it The poll found that 51% of registered voters wanted the person who was responsible for sharing classified information to be fired with another 24% saying that person should face disciplinary action Just 17% of voters said there should be no consequences for the scandal.  Getting a promotion to be U.N. ambassador—which comes with a sick residence on the Upper East Side of Manhattan—doesn’t sound like accountability As for who will serve as Trump’s next national security adviser the president announced that Secretary of State Marco Rubio will take on the role “Secretary of State Marco Rubio will serve as National Security Advisor while continuing his strong leadership at the State Department,” Trump wrote in the Truth Social post we will continue to fight tirelessly to Make America Thank you for your attention to this matter!” an organization the Trump administration is trying to shut down.  Stefanik remains in the House without her top House leadership role and without the sweet mansion in New York Thank you to the Daily Kos community who continues to fight so hard with Daily Kos. Your reader support means everything. We will continue to have you covered and keep you informed, so please donate just $3 to help support the work we do. which would get us to 100% of the market by 2050 allowing for both poverty reduction and growth in mass transit If a future Democratic administration were to emulate Norway even if you don’t like everything our coalition does The price of not voting is being governed by your inferiors U.S. Electric Vehicle Sales Increase More Than 10% Year Over Year in Q1: GM Drives EV Growth While Tesla Declines 10 charts prove that clean energy is winning — even in the Trump era but the sector has built up so much momentum that it’s become nigh unstoppable We’ve unlocked a holy grail in clean energy. It’s only the beginning. The tricky thing about generating electricity is that for the most part, you pretty much have to use it or lose it Making sure there are always enough generators spooled up to send electricity to every single power outlet in the country requires precise coordination. And while the amount of electricity actually used can swing drastically throughout the day and year, the grid is built to meet the brief periods of peak demand like the hot summer days when air conditioning use can double average electricity consumption Imagine building a 30-lane highway to make sure no driver ever has to tap their brakes That’s effectively what those who design and run the grid have had to do But what if you could just hold onto electricity for a bit and save it for later You wouldn’t have to overbuild the grid or spend so much effort keeping power generation in equilibrium with users You could smooth over the drawbacks of intermittent power sources that don’t emit carbon dioxide You could have easy local backup power in emergencies when transmission lines are damaged At some point every new EV will be able to feed electric power back to a home As with every topic covered in Not the End of the World Only 60 Years of Farming Left if Soil Degradation Continues Such claims run from 30 years to a hundred One thing the claims have in common is that they are nonsense they depend on the bogus idea that we will do nothing about soil degradation when in fact we are reclaiming even deserts as in the Great Green Walls of Africa and China Google “harvests left” and you’ll get hundreds of thousands of results and there are nearly as many debunking that claim New Scientist: The idea that there are only 100 harvests left is just a fantasy Despite dozens of headlines quoting these predictions, surprisingly only one peer-reviewed paper from a scientific journal is ever cited as evidence to back them up. This 2014 study from the University of Sheffield compared the soil quality of a range of sites in the English city before we question whether the results of this single small study can be extrapolated to represent all of England let alone the whole UK or even the whole world let us take a look at their findings: basically some urban soils in Sheffield are higher in carbon and nitrogen than some nearby agricultural ones It turns out that nowhere in the study was there any calculation prediction or even passing reference to the claim Perhaps not so much shaky evidence to support this assertion as much as non-existent .google  bbc.com Climate groups—both national and grassroots—are joining pro-democracy allies for “All Out on Earth Day,” a wave of mobilizations from April 18–30 (centered on April 19) to confront authoritarianism and defend the environment Major organizations who worked to get the Inflation Reduction Act passed including the Green New Deal and Sunrise Movement the DNC Council on Environment and Climate the United to End Polluter Handouts Coalition Climate Hawks Vote and the Center of Biological Diversity have all signed on to the mobilization Defend  Democracy • Lower Costs for Communities — Stop Handouts for Corporations • Make Polluters Pay End the Welfare for Big Oil and Billionaires corporate polluters and their paid-for politicians are trying to raise our energy bills by killing clean energy tax credits We should be slashing costs and cutting climate pollution by flooding the grid with affordable the executive director of the youth-led Sunrise Movement said: “Donald Trump is giving oil and gas billionaires the green light to wreck our planet and put millions of lives at risk Just three months into the Trump presidency Trump is dismantling critical environmental safeguards putting lives at risk and leaving working people to suffer the devastating consequences we stand united in defiance of their greed and fight for a future that prioritizes people and the planet over profits.” Find out more here including where to find a protest event somewhere on your turf The current maladministration is Hell-bent on destroying the US economy with maximally bogus excuses and with Drill I begin today with a New York wind project being shut down US Interior secretary orders offshore wind project shut down #Science #Other #OffshoreWind #RenewableEnergy #EnvironmentalImpact[image or embed] The President said that he meant only to prevent licensing of future wind projects and that existing projects could proceed right ahead who is demanding that the licensing program is deeply and illegally flawed Independent review says that there are only minor issues for example by increased consultation with native tribes There is no interference with fisheries or whales The most committed and determined of those who struggle to raise awareness by exposing readers to the dire state of environmental collapse are few in number on this site Perhaps not amounting to much more than 20 (if that) these brave souls do their very best to shake complacency and rattle readers into reacting which if it weren’t for a profound sense of commitment and purpose in the relatively short time I’ve been involved with this community I’ve witnessed a disheartening attrition rate Pro environmental diarists are lost to age the politics of site priorities can place clickbait over climate undermining survival imperatives with out of date priorities While the ‘rules of the game’ are in a constant flux the ‘rules of the road’ remain fundamentally static Environmental collapse doesn’t give a shit about man’s ‘stinking’ rules and in the same way adhering to the strict letter of the law has gotten us into a mess of trouble politically our ‘site laws’ need to bend to accommodate the urgent demands of an environment in meltdown The climate committed here are for the most part still considered ‘steerage’ on a site that largely shuns their presence due to a fear conveniently masquerading as cognitive dissonance for me these are the elite warriors of this site They face daily what most of the rest here avoid They stick their heads in the furnace while most others open windows to let ‘zephyrs of distraction’ in they become versed in the science and stratagems of subconscious collective annihilation They reconnaissance deep in enemy territory The general affairs of men operate at a remove and seldom affect us directly mostly stacked in our favor and attractively wrapped in the velveteen cloak of distance for those of us grappling with environmental collapse ours is a hair-shirt — and boar’s bristle at that we are fully aware of the fact that none of us will escape Gaia’s fury as she becomes incensed by being gang-raped by her children Tired of waiting for us to atone for the evils we lavish upon her our Mother’s patience is at an end and she will no longer tolerate our self-centered post-adolescent immaturity It is time for tough love — brutally delivered as apparently we won’t ‘have’ it any other way The anxiety we suppress is now shifting from abstract to primal raw terror cawfeemug is a recent poignant loss to this roster of ‘team players’ and although I never received verification I’m certain he has left us for the Elysian Fields I initially connected with Gilbert (aka cawfeemug) when he provided me with information and links in the comments thread to my first “In honor of Pakalolo But that connection remained cognitively tenuous until the next in the series when a reader honored a partial list of climate community stalwarts by name and I felt the need to mention a few more Gilbert jokingly chimed in with “and what about me?” I became concerned I’d inadvertently offended him and immediately apologized for my snafu That exchange grew into a congenial back-and-forth which culminated in our collaboration on an article he had been wanting to produce regarding the collapse of the golf stream But that didn’t deter him and we continued to communicate on a regular basis while developing a mutual respect which was beneficial to both of us Perhaps we exchanged no more than 1000 words but they were enough for me to create a clear picture of this empathetic and sentient gentle-man on his way to becoming cosmic Along with sharing a commitment to ‘climate’ we broadened the territory of our budding friendship with our mutual involvement in the arts beautifully articulate music of his own invention with an ear attuned to aesthetic fidelity and devoid of pretense Crafted to smooth the seismic ripples with which anxiety marks us his masterful playing did not fault his purpose I hope it will be appreciated and preserved by others as I intend to through the links he sent me Gilbert was highly supportive of my efforts and did not hold back in his attempts to help strengthen my resolve by providing me with a nurturing perspective wrought from his experience His candid words of encouragement came at just the right time for me Dying can bring with it a level of enlightenment that drops pretense and encourages candidness Gilbert felt free to offer me kind words of encouragement the likes of which I’ve seldom ever received before and at a time in my life when they could do the most good — by ultimately benefitting others I understood that there was a great deal of pain involved he did not allow this to undermine his ongoing efforts to help spread awareness about our shared environmental plight The depths of his gratitude and great pleasure he expressed due to our collaboration were mirrored by my appreciation for having been given the opportunity to help ‘wrap’ up this gift for him As the result of a fortuitous and late flowering connection I was gifted with the privilege to have shared in Gilbert ‘s final moments I got a message from him telling me he wasn’t certain sure how much longer he would be able to find the strength to reach out to me — and then later that same day I found him commenting in a thread I was left in awe of commitment on this level though I still held out hope that it would not be This diary is my way of honoring our mutually fruitful relationship Although I knew very little about the facts of Gilbert’s life I was able to develop the sensitivity necessary to touch his essence — wrought of his life experience and that which he brought into this world — purified over time to become motivated by the ‘gift’ of sharing Under the circumstances in which I knew him witnessing this selfless generosity to help others up until the very moment he left It is my great hope that those of you reading this will embrace it as an opportunity — a sort of a ‘wake’ if you would — for reminiscing and ‘returning’ what you know of him through whatever interactions you may have had with cawfeemug over the years                                                            ~~~~~~~                                                             Dooey contributed this to the comments thread and it is every bit as deserving of owning this diary as my effort…perhaps more so — as it serves to exponentially enhance our tribute to Gilbert.   we have been there for each other when the pain and regret and hopelessness was at the door We shared a love for music and knowledge of songs and writers and musicians that were in the hard to find places  we talked philosophy and religion and history as well as climate change and extinction A good friend and a good relationship is when you can just cut into the other persons noise and discomfort with a wake up call  It can border on seeming hostility if you lack trust  but I trusted Gilbert and he trusted me — we called each other out on spiritual truth and the need to be aware of the spiritual path one is on  When you see what a friend is doing by putting up the mirror with love and a smile — then you are not alone and you are aware that someone is truly on your side because they are telling you that you are beautiful and complete and one with the world   The road and the work is full of distraction and mental monkeys — but the truth remains I know that Gilbert has been gone — and i check the account we communicated on almost daily despite that I think what was most important for all of us who knew him and had any interaction with him was this … Do not fear being tenacious in the pursuit of the truth you are here to pursue  No title is above you no person beneath you  If you can prove something is true and you are dedicated to being of service to the calling — that is good enough and you knock on doors and find a way to bring about change Gilbert corresponded and had on the level conversations with a lot of highly educated experts and people that needed to see and discuss what he was following and documenting  His level of expectation to the educated and privileged was unrelenting and few of us have the persistence that he had  And he always had an eye out for his friends  he was there for you when you were wrong  Just get rid of the fear and get in line with your purpose and truth We talked about death and all of the steps along the way regularly — Gilbert was who he was to the bone — unafraid of Goliath This is what strength is — strength is not the bully or the person who competes to be number 1  …… strength is fearlessness and commitment regardless of the struggle it is knowing that there is no true path of least resistance there is no smooth sailing — there is only you  — get over it and get going I cried many a time in our correspondences because we laid ourselves bare and weaknesses up front and center in a trusted place with a trusted ally — who gave you a space to heal and regroup and mend  I hope that anyone who knows what i’m talking about gives of themselves to others and opens themselves up to the rewards of living in your truth and helping others do the same as well as being open and recognizing others are there for you — that takes strength bravery and guts.” Those of us who are paying serious attention know that there is vast misinformation about deforestation but it turns out that going off palm oil would make the situation much worse We are often told that the Amazon rainforest produces 20% of the world’s oxygen but not that it also consumes 20% of the world’s oxygen Germany claims that biodiesel is good for the environment when it should be turning to electric vehicles Caribbean Matters is a weekly series from Daily Kos. Hope you’ll join us here every Saturday. If you are unfamiliar with the region, check out Caribbean Matters: Getting to know the countries of the Caribbean Here is a look at some of the organizations and individuals who are making a difference Caribbean Marine Biodiversity Program The Caribbean Marine Biodiversity Program is a five-year project Agency for International Development and implemented by The Nature Conservancy that aims to achieve sustained biodiversity conservation maintain and restore critical ecosystems and realize tangible improvements in human and community wellbeing By addressing direct and indirect threats to coastal and marine biodiversity the Caribbean Marine Biodiversity Program works to ensure a sustainable future where nature and people can thrive we strive to protect biodiversity and improve community wellbeing across critical seascapes in the Caribbean The organization’s three-minute video on the importance of biodiversity The Nature Conservancy created this next video the group documented its work protecting sea turtles: Here’s a closer look at the work of The Nature Conservancy in the Carribean: TNC's work in the Caribbean began in the Virgin Islands and protecting beaches and safeguarding wildlife like sea turtles in this paradise of islands and sea Coral Reef Alliance — Western Caribbean The Mesoamerican Reef within the Western Caribbean is the largest barrier reef in the Western Hemisphere and home to some of the last healthy populations of staghorn and elkhorn corals Its picturesque beaches and dive sites attract visitors from around the world Here are some of the individuals who are leading the charge is a black woman-owned non-profit committed to building a more equitable blue economy through marine conservation and government clients globally to design and implement  conservation initatives and ocean-climate solutions Our community-led approach involves providing immersive field school opportunities co-designing affordable technology for data collection We prioritize creating culturally relevant comunication products through our story lab specificially tailored for small-scale fishing communities Wade is the founder of Fish 'N Fins Inc. a marine conservation program Montserrat that teaches children to swim passionate ocean stewards.The Fish ’N Fins Smart(er) Tourism approach for ocean and coastal restoration and protection seeks to embed science and exploration technologies within the tourism industry to advance a more equitable and resilient Caribbean blue economy Wade will take you on her journey to accelerate progress on the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal #14 and beat entrenched social and economic inequalities to act urgently for our ocean this decade Johnson gave a short and important TED talk in 2019 on how and why she got started as a marine activist The TED video notes: Over the course of hundreds of scuba dives marine biologist Ayana Elizabeth Johnson fell in love -- with a fish she shares five reasons why these creatures are simply amazing (from their ability to poop white sand to make colorful "wardrobe changes") and shows what's at stake -- for us and them -- as climate change threatens the future of coral reefs 🌏 Welcome to Season 2 of What If We Get It Right? You’re gonna dig this convo w/ @carritwigg.bsky.social about how cultural change precedes policy change — from climate on TV, to algorithm hygiene, to consumerism. (Listen/follow/review wherever you get your pods!) podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/h...[image or embed] spearheads global cooperation in marine science and capacity building to support sustainable ocean management the IOC operates through its regional subsidiary fostering international collaboration and coordinating crucial research and development initiatives in the Tropical Americas and the Caribbean Bervoets brings a wealth of experience and dedication to his new role he will guide the Task Force in its mission to harness ocean science for the sustainable development of the region reinforcing the significance of marine research and the application of scientific knowledge in policy-making and management practices Kristin Baird Rattini wrote “Conservationist Tadzio Bervoets Is a Force of Nature” for Yachting magazine: From his first swimming and snorkeling lessons at age 7 became a professional diver and noticed negative changes along the reef “the ocean became something more than recreation,” he says Now one of the leading conservationists in the Caribbean which spearheaded the creation of the Man of War Shoal Marine Park He is also director of the Dutch Caribbean Nature Alliance where he coordinates regional and international efforts to protect the Caribbean’s fragile ecosystems The DCNA drove the establishment of the Yarari Marine Mammal and Shark Sanctuary around Saba and Bonaire Bervoets co-founded the Caribbean Shark Coalition to increase and streamline the collection of data on sharks by organizations throughout the islands Bervoets tells his story in this 2021 video when he was still the director of the Dutch Caribbean Nature Alliance: Beneath The Waves produced a video about Bervoets: Tadzio Bervoets is the director of the Dutch Caribbean Nature Alliance and a Scientific & Marine Policy Advisor for our team at Beneath the Waves.This week he leads a collaborative team of researchers hoping to find and tag pregnant tiger sharks on the Saba Banks to further understand the importance and value of the Yarari Sanctuary By learning more about how these large apex predators use these ecosystems we seek to better protect them in the Dutch Caribbean's Yarari Marine Mammal and Shark Sanctuary and beyond Caribbean Matters: With Earth Day on the way, let's talk coral reefs and climate change Caribbean Matters: What is 'responsible' tourism, and why is it important? Caribbean Matters: Inside the efforts to protect the sperm whales of Dominica Caribbean Matters: The severe impact of climate change on the US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico Caribbean Matters: Sargassum seaweed continues to spread Caribbean Matters: It's World Turtle Day. Caribbean people are fighting to protect them Caribbean Matters: In Puerto Rico, mangroves are the first line of hurricane defense Please post information on any groups that you are supporting or working with in the comments section below as soon as China can install enough power lines from its wind-and-sun-rich west to its cities and get them to stop building coal-fired power plants But in an online survey at Our World in Data only 19% of respondents knew about declining energy use can you reduce your personal emissions by more than 10,000 pounds where a typical ICE car emits 4.6 tonnes of CO2 a year But not in societies without many cars or much electricity of any kind have the opportunity to develop by installing all of the above at much lower cost than putting in fossil fuels they can have schools with computers that support local languages; mobile phones; and broadband Internet for all which sells papers and attracts many eyeballs but there is also a startling amount of good news that we can see only if we look past the headlines to the accumulated data More than 1.5 million people from 1200 communities have signed up with Hands Off organizers to say they will show up locally Saturday in support of federal workers and to protest the fascist goons terrorizing the country by implementing deeply damaging and frequently illegal actions and policies (as well as performing a mad tariff experiment).  Let’s show the rest of the world that America isn’t completely crazy Trump officials decimate climate protections and consider axeing key greenhouse gas finding EPA takes aim at almost every major pollution rule in what environmentalists call act of ‘malice toward the planet’ Today Commissioner Kos is travelling to Prague for a two-day working mission focused on strengthening political support for EU enlargement and enhancing cooperation with key stakeholders.  Commissioner Kos will deliver a keynote address at the conference “New Impulses for EU enlargement:  Opportunities for Citizens and Businesses” and engage in discussions with Czech government officials She will meet with European Affairs Minister Martin Dvořák and Senate Speaker Miloš Vystrčil to exchange views on the enlargement agenda and regional priorities.  Commissioner Kos will underline the importance of the freedom of the media and the media’s role in keeping an informed public debate across the EU and its neighbourhood including on EU enlargement Commissioner Kos will meet with Czech women leaders from media and civil society to discuss their role in shaping the enlargement narrative and promoting inclusive The mission will underscore the European Commission’s commitment to working closely with Member States on maintaining momentum around EU enlargement informing EU citizens about the benefits of EU enlargement and deepen engagement across the EU’s neighbourhood The NewsGuild – TNG-CWA the workers of Daily Kos have officially ratified their first collective bargaining agreement with the Pacific Media Workers Guild The victory follows negotiations that began in late 2022 and were interrupted by waves of cuts in 2023 and 2024 workers held firm—filing unfair labor practice charges and continuing to organize—until they won a strong first contract that raises industry standards and protects their newsroom for the long haul “It’s been this thing that’s been looming over all of our heads and having it squared away is going to be such a relief,” said Jaclyn Casto “We’re proud to finally have a seat at the table.” This contract sets a new bar for digital media and political journalism shops proving that organizing works—even through crises and the agreement will remain in effect through 2028 having the unenviable job of going up against Orphan of Kos for the first time "Every Soulsborne game [or] DLC always has that final boss where they feel so overwhelmingly powerful," he said "We had Promised Consort Radahn for Elden Ring And Orphan of Kos was that boss for Bloodborne." It only took Let Me Solo Her a few attempts to best him which makes his comments about how difficult Orphan of Kos was all the more terrifying "This boss took me more tries than any previous boss fights and even had me exploring Chalice Dungeons to farm Blood Vials and bullets off stream just to replenish them," Let Me Solo Her continues "He's definitely the hardest boss in Bloodborne for me." These comments are shortly followed by a compilation of all the times Let Me Solo Her got messed up by Orphan of Kos There's nothing quite like the desperation and emptiness you feel when repeatedly dying to a FromSoft boss Just when you think you've hit rock bottom the floor gives out under you and you reach new depths Hearing Let Me Solo Her try to psyche himself up or just plead "please get out of my frame" as Kos jumps him over and over again really resonates with me I probably shouldn't start a new Bloodborne playthrough Orphan of Kos was defeated and the nightmare ended," Let Me Solo Her says I think I understand why this game was always trending on Twitter as fans kept hoping for a remastered version And although hopes of a remaster or a PC port are probably out of the picture as time goes on I guess the next logical move after this would be for Let Me Solo Her to invest in a Switch 2 so he can play Duskbloods, the spiritual successor to Bloodborne Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals Elie GouldNews WriterElie is a news writer with an unhealthy love of horror games—even though their greatest fear is being chased there's a good chance you'll find them testing their metal in metroidvanias or just admiring their Pokemon TCG collection Elie has previously worked at TechRadar Gaming as a staff writer and studied at JOMEC in International Journalism and Documentaries – spending their free time filming short docs about Smash Bros you will then be prompted to enter your display name President Donald Trump on Wednesday admitted that his idiotic tariffs will lead to empty shelves at stores across the country but said that it's fine because we don't need material items anyway "They made a trillion dollars with Biden ... selling us stuff. Much of it we don't need," Trump said of China during an insane Cabinet meeting in which his administration officials rained North Korea levels of praise on their Dear Leader maybe the children will have two dolls instead of 30 dolls and maybe the two dolls will cost a couple of bucks more than they would normally." China sells much more than just toys to the United States.  In 2022, “China was the top supplier of goods to the United States, accounting for 16.5 percent of total goods imports,” according to the Office of the U.S which said that China supplied $536.3 billion worth of goods to the United States Among the top items China exports to the United States are machinery and mechanical appliances, clothing, furniture, bedding, lamps, games, and sports equipment, according to a report from the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security.  Americans will absolutely feel pain if those items disappear from store shelves “In economics, when folks can afford fewer things at higher prices, we call it a decline in real income, and a widespread fall in real income is called a recession,” economist Justin Wolfers wrote in a post on X responding to Trump’s Cabinet meeting comment What’s more, the irony of Trump and his posse of billionaire Cabinet officials sitting in the White House that Trump filled with hideous gilded trinkets, paid for by taxpayers, while telling Americans that they will have to go without is hard to stomach It's also ironic that Trump is basically arguing for Communism—saying the people of America must suffer and go without for the greater good the “greater good” in this situation is just letting Trump have his way on trade policy—which is already having negative impacts The economy shrank in the first quarter of the year as businesses stockpiled inventory before Trump's tariffs hit And the bulk of Trump's tariffs weren't even in place for that quarter of the year meaning second quarter economic performance could look even worse And color us skeptical that Trump telling Americans that they will go without and like it will help turn his poor polling situation around all Trump has done in his first 100 days in office is make recessions great again.  Thank you to the Daily Kos community who continues to fight so hard with Daily Kos. Your reader support means everything. We will continue to have you covered and keep you informed, so please donate just $3 to help support the work we do. The White House has launched a new government website called the “White House Wire,” which seems to pretty much just be a rip-off of the famously conservative Drudge Report.  But instead of Drudge’s flashing red light the White House site features a running ticker that repeats “WHWIRE” over and over … and over again.  Drudge, once an ally but now a critic of Trump responded by calling out the waste of taxpayer dollars “IT TAKES AN ENTIRE WEST WING TO COMPETE WITH DRUDGE…DEVELOPING: TRUMP LAUNCHING HIS OWN DRUDGE REPORT… USING TAXPAYER DOLLARS!” it wrote The White House Wire aggregates news from Trump administration press releases with headlines focused on Trump’s supposed successes and the occasional story alleging that undocumented immigrants are murdering Americans On Tuesday night, the featured headline was from a Fox News article titled "THE MOST SUCCESSFUL FIRST 100 DAYS IN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORY.”  Trump—and the Republican Party at large—has learned that flooding the public with lies is an effective way to cover up how little he’s actually accomplishing.  You can help ensure that Daily Kos remains the paywall-free home for our shared fight for democracy and justice. Daily Kos is supported by readers like you.  ha ricevuto le repliche delle dieci medaglie olimpiche distrutte dall’incendio di Palisades Fire a inizio anno Gretchen Walsh spiega come una bracciata in meno sul primo 50 e il piano di gara di Todd Desorbo l’abbiano portata al WR di 54.60 A meno di due settimane dal via del Mare Nostrum Tour a Monaco il cast si arricchisce con campioni olimpici e medagliati iridati Nicholas Santos nuota 23.26 nei 50 m farfalla M45 LCM limando di 1,70 s il precedente record mondiale e superando il minimo “A” per i Mondiali we are discussing the madness that occurred at the Ft Lauderdale Pro Swim April 10th, 2025 Europe, International, News, Previews & Recaps, Records Day two prelims at the 2025 Hungarian National Swimming Championships saw Olympic gold medalist Hubert Kos put up a near-lifetime best of 52.91 to capture the top seed That indicated something special was about to transpire during tonight’s main event and the 22-year-old Texas Longhorn did not disappoint Kos fired off a shiny new lifetime best and Hungarian national record of 52.24 en route to winning the gold medal his third since the competition began yesterday Kos opened in 25.07 and closed in 27.17 to defeat the field by well over a second. Runner-up status went to Adam Jaszo who notched 53.92 for silver and bronze went to Benedek Kovacs who touched in 54.09 Kos’ lifetime best and national standard rested at the 52.78 he logged in the heats at the 2024 Olympic Games he ultimately finished 10th overall with a semi-final result of 52.98 Comparing Kos’ trio of his fastest performances tonight’s carried the fastest opening 50m by a significant margin: His outing tonight renders him the #1 performer in the world, usurping South African Pieter Coetze and British swimmer Oliver Morgan who shared the crown with their previously top-ranked times of 52.71 Additionally, Kos now ties Japanese Olympic icon Ryosuke Irie as the 14th-best 100m backstroke performer of all time Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value" Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_2" ).setAttribute( "value" A real shame we won’t get to see him swim a tapered 200 until Worlds that textile best is long overdue revision Backstroke seems to have the highest correlation of any stroke between 100-200 swimmers Basically every elite backstroker was good at both Yeah it did feel like this was in the cards… I wasn’t particularly sure if his 1:54 low in the 200 would correlate with a particularly fast 100 though – I mean but I don’t think he’s ever broken 53 in the 100 back I feel like even the best 100 backstrokers that choose not to swim the 200 could at least be solid there The same cannot be said for the other strokes Although there is a decent overlap in breaststroke: Lily King what on earth is that Ceccon 51.6 WR lol ? I feel like it’s not talked about that much as one of the most impressive records out there Hubi actually opened faster than Ceccon’s WR lol Kos going from 25.7 to 25.0 is a massive difference Now he’s in contention with the big dogs earlier in the race Don’t forget that Ceccon went 25 low as well going out Anyone who is known as a closer is not maximizing Some people try to say otherwise… but come on I don’t think it’s his effectivity that was criticized lately But come on – that’s purely a straw man His “effectiveness” is not what comes under criticism and I say that as a person who hates how he treats his swimmers who were cut Who says Bowman isnt good at producing great swims from his swimmers I just don’t like when he unfairly gets favours from WA to favour his swimmers to the detriment of everyone else This may very well be the first credible threat to Piersol’s 200 WR in 15+ years he was faster in Fukuoka 2023 (1:54.14) than in Paris (1:54.26) so it’s not like he’s been consistently improving from year to year Both Kos and Bowman have talked about how he swam the 200 back to win it in Paris and it was not the race he should have had He probably would have been 1:53 if he wasn’t swimming strategically Given his improvements in every other event he swims a 1:52 in his best event is not outside the realm of possibility which would make him a credible threat to 1:51.9 Impressive to fly across the world and do this right after NCAAs I always could barely get out of the pool after the 400 free relay on the last day… Former Masters swimmer and coach Loretta (Retta) thrives on a non-stop but productive schedule that includes having earned her MBA while working full-time in IT while owning French 75 Boutique while also providing swimming insight for BBC More from Retta RaceSee All Subscribe to our newsletter and receive our latest updates I haven’t the slightest idea what I’m about to write 1)  I seem to have trouble forgetting who the first pick in the 2025 NFL Draft was I am commenting on one of the stories listed below in dopper’s news roundup 2) Since I like to browse over to...not simply the science blogs but, more specifically, to the mathematics blogs from time to time, learning about Tai-Danae Bradley was a special treat this past week Growing up, Tai-Danae Bradley had no love for math where she played for the basketball team and hoped to start a career in sports nutrition She saw her math courses as a curricular hurdle that only geniuses could really excel in “I’d have rather had all my teeth pulled than do it for a living,” she said was the language that all the sciences are written in “There’s something deeper out there than what’s in the textbooks,” she said “It’s a really delightful world that we live in and mathematics is a way to see some of that.” She quit the basketball team and decided to double-major in math and physics as a researcher at the artificial intelligence company SandboxAQ and a visiting professor at the Master’s University in California Bradley is using the language of math to try to better understand language itself a way of stepping back from the specifics of any individual field in favor of a broader underlying framework that bridges all of them By thinking of language as a mathematical category she’s been able to apply established tools to study it and glean new insights Don’t quite want to declare an open thread here but...I’m tapped Shedeur Sanders not getting drafted in the first second or third rounds of the NFL draft is like when that white cashier scrunches up her face and drops change in your hand instead of running the risk of touching you isn’t likely to ever know if he was passed over because he’s a blinged out already-rich Black guy white team presidents and owners wanted no part of or because he lacks the prototypical size of an NFL quarterback Not knowing ain’t the same as not thinking you know Everybody this side and the other of Boulder So let’s put this thing on trial: Ticked off Black Shedeur Backers v Should’ve been the first pick of the draft There are about 20 good quarterbacks in the NFL They’re signing 40-year olds off the couch in that league Ain’t no way my boy ain’t good enough to get drafted in the first round.” “Let’s not pretend the NFL is above racism Colin Kaepernick took a team to the Super Bowl one year and All because he took a knee during the national anthem to protest racism.” Can’t field a team up there without brothers nearly all the coaches and general managers are white At least 20m emigrants live outside the continent That is higher than the number of Indian migrants outside India or Chinese migrants outside China—two big diasporas from countries with populations of similar size to the African continent Europe accounts for about half of African migrants outside Africa but its share has steadily declined since 1990 Saudi Arabia and Turkey have all seen surges in their African-born populations It may seem otherworldly to predict that this will continue, given the fierce backlash against immigration across the West. But as we explain, African migration is an unstoppable force that will long outlast today’s populists and help define the 21st century It is well known that in the developed world the number of people of working age (roughly defined as those between 15 and 64) will decline What is less widely appreciated is that emerging countries that are associated with exporting people are also getting older and richer—meaning that smaller shares of their populations will leave in future the working-age population is forecast to increase by around 700m people by 2050 Many African countries are entering a phase in their development in which people are still poor enough to want to leave but have enough money to travel long distances And African countries create only around a fifth of the number of formal jobs required to absorb their expanding workforces This raises two big and controversial questions one about the consequences for Africa and the other about the attitude of the rest of the world It is obvious that emigration is often in the interests of those who leave Their lives can be transformed by earning several times more in richer countries than they would at home Leaving is often the surest route out of poverty The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will close its civil rights office in June according to an email sent to staff Monday and viewed by POLITICO The office closure is part of HHS Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr.’s mass reorganization of his department that has seen the agency downsized by roughly 20 percent Kennedy and President Donald Trump have also focused on programs and agencies they say promote diversity the office’s deputy director who is filling the vacant director’s role had no comment when reached by phone Monday morning CMS’ Office of Equal Opportunity and Civil Rights develops civil rights compliance policy for CMS workers and advises agency leadership on the promotion of those rights ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Border Patrol sector in San Diego when officials killed immigrant Anastasio Hernández Rojas By Kate Morrissey for Capital & Main President Donald Trump’s nominee to run Customs and Border Protection has been accused of participating in an alleged agency cover-up after officials killed a man in the process of deporting him in 2010 The family of Anastasio Hernández Rojas is waiting on a decision from an international human rights tribunal that conducted a yearslong investigation into his killing and alleged torture and subsequent denial of justice Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) sent a letter to the Department of Homeland Security last week asking for documents related to the case in preparation for Wednesday’s confirmation hearing of Rodney Scott who oversaw a special team that attorneys for the family say helped the officials involved in the 2010 incident escape prosecution “I have serious concerns about the gross failures of integrity and leadership he has shown,” Wyden wrote in the letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem Scott was acting deputy chief patrol agent of the San Diego Border Patrol Sector in 2010 when border officials beat Hernández Rojas and shocked him with a Taser until he stopped breathing Hernández Rojas died in a hospital days later “Given that CBP is the largest law enforcement agency in the country and the least accountable we should be very concerned about putting someone at the head of that agency whose disregard for abuse of power could endanger the country,” said Andrea Guerrero executive director of Alliance San Diego and one of the attorneys who represented Hernández Rojas’ family in the international human rights case Border Patrol during the first Trump administration did not respond to a request for comment from Capital & Main The White House also did not respond to a request for comment Scott’s association with the Hernández Rojas case isn’t the only part of his past that immigrant rights activists find problematic with his nomination For example, Scott was a member of a Border Patrol agent Facebook group that ProPublica found was filled with racist and sexist posts He served as deputy chief patrol agent for the San Diego Sector when agents there used effigies of migrants as target practice and used those same effigies to teach children how to shoot guns But it is his oversight of Border Patrol’s investigative units that has advocates particularly concerned It’s not clear whether Scott ever worked on the unit himself but it is clear that he was in a supervisory position to the team at the time of Hernández Rojas’ death government decided not to prosecute agents involved in Hernández Rojas’ death his family members worked with attorneys to submit a case to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in 2016 The commission is part of the Organization of American States It was during the subsequent work to gather evidence for that case that attorneys representing the family discovered that Border Patrol sectors had special investigative units whose role according to a PowerPoint document from the San Diego Sector included protecting officials from liability Called critical incident teams, critical incident investigative teams, or evidence collection teams, the units responded to what the Border Patrol referred to as critical incidents, or “incident(s) involving CBP personnel that results in a serious injury, a death, a use of deadly or excessive force, or widespread media attention,” according to a Government Accountability Office report He stopped breathing and was taken to a hospital At the scene, officials allegedly deleted videos from the phones of witnesses and the Critical Incident Investigative Team began its work No one contacted the San Diego Police Department until the next day when a radio journalist called to inquire about the case “It was such a clusterfuck,” said Ron Newquist who at the time worked as a homicide investigator for the San Diego Police Department and has since retired from the force People who were involved in the physical struggle with Anastasio were gone People were pointing double fingers in both directions.” A Border Patrol briefing document that is part of police records from the day after the beating shows that the Border Patrol Critical Incident Investigative Team was “coordinating” the investigation with San Diego police But the Critical Incident Investigative Team’s report was never given to police According to a letter sent by Alliance San Diego to the San Diego District Attorney’s office in 2021 calling for officials involved in the alleged cover-up to be investigated a copy of the Border Patrol team’s report is under protective seal and contains a version of the arrest report from when a Border Patrol agent apprehended Hernández Rojas crossing the border that is different from what was given to San Diego police The letter alleges that a section of the arrest report narrative that would contradict the agency’s claims that Hernández Rojas was aggressive prior to the beating was removed Whistleblowers who worked in the oversight branch of Customs and Border Protection came forward during the international human rights case to say that an official in the highest ranks of the agency in Washington had tried to spin what happened and had even given orders to falsify reports One of the most glaring pieces of missing evidence for San Diego police is video footage of what happened from government cameras in the area “We never got the video we were hoping to get — that you think you would get at the port of entry to the busiest border in the world,” Newquist said “The [police] report reads like a runaround I think there’s enough verbiage in there that it speaks for itself.” investigators documented an extensive back-and-forth with Customs and Border Protection and Border Patrol The police detective said in the report that he learned that Border Patrol had forwarded footage to its investigators but when an agent later gave a CD of footage to the police detective Officials then punted the detective among agents and officers until eventually he learned that the footage had been written over by new recordings “I’m not saying there was a cover-up,” Newquist said according to attorneys representing the family of Hernández Rojas was a violation of the right of access to justice It’s not clear whether Scott ever worked on a critical incident team himself, but a questionnaire from a 2019 job posting shows that Customs and Border Protection viewed participation on these teams favorably in the promotion process is that Scott supervised the team when he worked in the upper ranks of the San Diego Sector including during the Hernández Rojas investigation and after In 2016, a woman agent filed a lawsuit over a hidden camera that a man agent installed in a women’s bathroom and changing room used by members of the Critical Incident Investigative Team Scott and another supervising agent confronted the man who was also a member of the investigative team Scott showed himself to be quick to defend agent actions In 2012, when Scott was deputy chief of the sector, a San Diego Border Patrol agent shot and killed Valeria Tachiquín “It doesn’t matter what I do,” the woman’s father “My daughter won’t ever come back to me and to her children Tachiquín was inside a home where agents in plainclothes appeared with a warrant looking for someone else that she had seen Border Patrol give a statement at the beginning of an active investigation into one of its agents’ use of force Meanwhile, Prince Watson, the veteran who’d witnessed the shooting, told news outlets that Border Patrol agents locked him in their patrol car when he refused to speak with them about what he’d seen Watson said the agents kept saying that the agent had been hit by the car and was on the hood when he fired his gun as though trying to get Watson to adopt their version of the story “That’s a clear disregard for investigative protocol and an example of how investigations of agents are routinely obstructed,” Guerrero said ABC 10News later learned that the agent who shot Tachiquín had previously resigned from the Imperial County Sheriff’s Department after being told he would be fired for misconduct that included lying “[Scott] has never been a part of any meaningful attempt at accountability with agents Every shoot is a ‘good shoot.’ That’s very Border Patrol language,” Guerrero said “And a person who can’t recognize abuse of power is a person who shouldn’t hold power,” she added Related | Labeling cartels and gangs as terrorists could hurt people fleeing them Scott’s stance on the border and the agents who work it seem to be closely tied to his religious beliefs. He previously told a KQED journalist that “the first deportation and the first borders were created in Genesis.” Pedro Rios, director of the American Friends Service Committee’s U.S./Mexico Border Program, recalled a phone conversation with Scott after Border Patrol agents arrested faith leaders protesting mistreatment of migrants by approaching the wall at its westernmost point in December 2018 He said Scott told him the faith leaders’ actions “did not really reflect what a true commitment to God meant.” In 2020, Scott became chief of Border Patrol nationwide He retired in August 2021 during the Biden administration after refusing to go along with some of the president’s policy changes including getting rid of government use of the controversial phrase “illegal alien.” Scott’s confirmation hearing was held on April 30 UFC veteran Sam Alvey is living his best life under the Karate Combat banner as a double champion In the main event of Karate Combat 54 in Dubai Alvey put his heavyweight championship on the line against dangerous knockout artist Tyrone Spong Alvey was a massive underdog at the betting window Alvey landed a brutal combination to knock out Spong in the second round Spong took control of the center of the pit right away but neither put much power into their offerings as they settled in Alvey would rip a couple of quick punching combinations before Spong responded with a hard punch to the body After Alvey assured officials was good to continue he started letting his hands go and connected with a beautiful right hand followed by a left that sent Spong crashing to the mat and referee Marc Goddard called a stop to the fight During his post-fight interview, Alvey called out massive strongman competitor turned MMA fighter, Eddie Hall, who recently defeated Mariusz Pudzianowski at KSW 105 in just 30 seconds Alvey currently holds the Karate Combat light heavyweight and heavyweight titles Since exiting the UFC in 2022 after a nine-fight winless streak Alvey has experienced a career resurgence in karate competition The U.S. Department of Transportation is offering thousands of dollars to both retiring and newly hired air traffic controllers in an effort to address a shortage of these essential air safety employees The Federal Aviation Administration, which is 3,500 air traffic controllers short of its target, unveiled a package that offers controllers who are at the mandatory retirement age of 56 a “lump sum payment” equal to 20% of their basic pay for every year they remain at the job Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says that, in addition to the large payment to retain controllers, the Trump administration plans to offer $5,000 “bonuses” to new graduates from the FAA Academy with the promise of $10,000 for those who work at hard-to-staff facilities.  Duffy described the new plan as a way to “supercharge the air traffic controller workforce from both retention and hiring side of the equation.”  “Supercharge” is a term Duffy’s been using a lot since February but experts say that it’s a descriptor without merit.  “It's not going to be enough. The numbers don't add up,” Nicholas Calio, president and CEO of the lobbying group Airlines for America, told Forbes Trump named former Air Force veteran Chris Rocheleau as acting administrator.  DOGE’s clumsily managed cuts resulted in Elon Musk’s pathetic public attempt to unretire air traffic controllers to replace many of the new recruits that had moved on and inclusion initiatives to  “dwarfism.”  And in April, Tim Arel, COO of the FAA Air Traffic Organization, which is responsible for overseeing air navigation safety, announced that he was stepping down to take early retirement.  The push to fill air traffic controller roles has been ongoing for some time. While the Biden administration succeeded in reaching some of its hiring goals, progress has so far stalled after Trump and Musk took office Only time will tell if Trump and other Republicans’ chaotic flip-flopping can salvage the FAA -- Hubert Kos set two NCAA records in winning three individual events to lead the Texas Longhorns men to their record 16th swimming and diving championship on Saturday night All of Texas' championships have come since 1981 The Longhorns won four straight titles from 1988-91 and 2015-18 and added their most recent one in 2021 Kos set an NCAA record in winning the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 1 minute Kos won the 100 backstroke on Friday with an NCAA record time of 43.20 He also won the 200 individual medley in 1:37.91 on Thursday Rex Maurer had the other individual titles for the Longhorns winning the 500 freestyle in 4:05.35 on Thursday and the 400 individual medley on Friday in a personal-best 3:34.00 Hubert Kos set NCAA records in his 200-yard backstroke and 100 backstroke victories to lead the Texas men to their record 16th NCAA swimming and diving championship. EPA/Tibor IllyesJosh Liendo of Florida was the 100 freestyle champion Liendo also won the title in the 100 butterfly with a time of 43.06 on Friday Indiana's Zalan Sarkany won the 1,650 freestyle in 14:21.29 The Hoosiers' Carson Tyler won platform diving with a score of 480.45 after scoring 467.45 on Friday in winning the 3-meter diving event Georgia's Gianluca Urlando won the 200 butterfly in 1:36.43 Florida ended the meet by winning the 400 medley relay in 2:56.10 The four-day event was held at the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center April 12th, 2025 Europe, International, News, Previews & Recaps, Records The 2025 Hungarian National Swimming Championships wrapped up tonight from Kaposvar but not before 22-year-old Hubert Kos put up another head-turning performance After already winning the men’s 50m back the Texas Longhorn fired off a new lifetime best en route to topping the men’s 100 butterfly podium Kos not only won the gold, but he defeated Olympic medalist and #2 performer of all time Kristof Milak in the process Kos stopped the clock at a tenacious time of 50.55 to hold off Milak who was a hair behind in 50.67. Richard Marton earned the bronze in 52.91 Kos opened in a feisty 23.68 and closed in 26.87  to keep Milak at bay with the latter coming home strong in 26.52 Kos’ lifetime best stood at the 50.84 he produced at last year’s Pro Swim Series in San Antonio so tonight he shaved .29 off that performance to remain Hungary’s #2 performer ever in the event with only Swiss ace Noe Ponti having put up a quicker mark of 50.27 The women’s 50m breaststroke saw Henrietta Fangli down its national record en route to completing her trifecta of victories in the discipline getting under the 31-second barrier for the first time in her career Her outing this evening smashed her previous PB of 31.31 and erased the 31.04 Hungarian benchmark Anna Sztankovics put on the books in 2021 Fangli is carrying momentum from this year’s NCAA Championships, where the Hungarian became Houston’s first All-American since 1986 after finishing 6th in the women’s 100 breaststroke Anyone know how I can watch the 100 fly finals swim https://m4sport.hu/video/2025/04/12/kos-hubert-nagy-csataban-legyozte-milak-kristofot-100-pillangon/ https://x.com/sportnmedia2/status/1911108720085336415 seriously curious how he and all the other college kids that travel in addition to their NCAA schedules and don’t they have a minimum course load but he defeated Olympic medalist and #2 performer of all time Kristof Milak in the process Milak must be salty af losing to his countryman in this event at home He smiled and congratulated Hubi right after the win I didn’t think he was going to be such a gracious loser (I suspected Hubi will win here – he’s at the end of a long taper whereas Milak is by all accounts unrested) Were you able to watch the livestream/replay somewhere Milák seemed fine and he gave it all he had Hopefully it’ll rekindle the fire in his belly he might have been jaded for a few years when he essentially had to race by himself he just might turn on the engines in training and competitions He’s in much better mood than last year Kos is operating on a different level right now Kinda fast for milak i assume kos is tapered but milak isnt i expect a 49 but this swim makes me have more faith in Milak for the summer Milak was also 2nd in the 50 fly behind Szabo Their techniques are so radically different: Szabo and Kos (who came 3rd) breathed 2-3 times while Milak took a breath at EVERY stroke after 30 meters while Szabo and Kos about 20 (i’m not exactly sure the camera angles were off-putting) The USA is so far behind the rest of the world Wait why are they behind cause am I missing something The men’s side probably have the same problem in the breaststroke but they will always have more depth than any single country in the relays the European women are way weaker in swimming than the European men at the moment It’s the Australian women who are providing some competition here Mexican boxing superstar Saul “Canelo” Alvarez will fight for the first time in the Middle East when he faces William Scull for the undisputed super middleweight championship on May 3 in Riyadh the Canelo fight broadcast will air starting at 9 p.m The Canelo vs. Scull fight will be streamed on DAZN PPV Where to watch Canelo fight: ‘Juárez en la Juárez’ Cinco de Mayo festivalA live broadcast of the Canelo fight will be part of the “Juárez en la Juárez” festival for Cinco de Mayo on Juárez Avenue in downtown Juárez near the Paso Del Norte Bridge The "Juárez en la Juárez" street festival features music food and cultural events starting at 4 p.m on Juárez Avenue from Ignacio Mejia street to Azucenas street The "Juárez en la Juárez" series of festivals tourists and Juárez residents to the famous avenue began with a spring break event on March 22 Donald Trump released his budget proposal for the 2026 fiscal year on Friday which asks Congress to slash more than $163 billion in domestic spending on everything from education funding to medical research to environmental protection If enacted, the president’s proposed budget would leave domestic spending at its "lowest level in the modern era," The New York Times reported Among the cuts demanded in Trump’s budget: $18 billion from the National Institutes of Health and $3.5 billion from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which will hamper medical research and efforts to prevent chronic diseases Related | Your camping plans may be kaput as Trump targets national parks Trump also wants to cut $980 million from the federal work study program that helps students pay for college calling it a “handout to woke universities;” $75 million from the Child Care Access Means Parents in School program which helps provide childcare services to parents attending college or university; and $49 million from the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights which helps advocate for millions of students with disabilities to get access to public education.  Sycophantic House Speaker Mike Johnson loves the proposed budget, calling it a “bold blueprint that reflects the values of hardworking Americans and the commitment to American strength and prosperity.” “Our country cannot continue to bear the hard consequences of years of runaway spending under Democratic leadership and this budget makes clear that fiscal discipline is non-negotiable,” Johnson added “President Trump’s plan ensures every federal taxpayer dollar spent is used to serve the American people not a bloated bureaucracy or partisan pet projects.” However, even some powerful Republican committee chairs are not pleased, and are already saying some of the budget proposals are DOA in Congress—which has to pass a funding bill by Sept. 30 or else face a government shutdown Sen. Susan Collins of Maine derided the budget as "late" and lacking "key details," adding that she objects to the budget's "proposed freeze in our defense funding." who chairs the House Appropriations Committee “Look, no president—and administrations—don’t get to dictate what’s going to happen here,” Cole told reporters on Thursday ahead of the budget’s release but not the commander in chief of Congress.” House Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut called Trump's budget a "roadmap of destruction," saying in a statement It is an all-out assault on our nation’s families and communities in every part of the country.” the ranking Democratic member of the Senate Appropriations Committee said Trump’s budget is a blatant effort to cut benefits for everyday Americans “President Trump has made his priorities clear as day: he wants to outright defund programs that help working Americans while he shovels massive tax breaks at billionaires like himself and raises taxes on middle-class Americans with his reckless tariffs,” Murray told The Associated Press Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Democrats would not vote for a funding bill that includes Trump’s proposed cuts “Democrats are going to fight this heartless budget with everything we’ve got,” Schumer said calling the budget “a betrayal of working people from a morally bankrupt president.” April 09th, 2025 Europe, International, News, Previews & Recaps, Records Despite world record holder Kristof Milak kicking off his campaign today, it was 22-year-old Hubert Kos who stole the show on day one of the 2025 Hungarian National Swimming Championships The University of Texas superstar busted out lifetime bests in both the men’s 200m IM and 50m back to make his presence known in Kaposvar Kos cranked out a time of 1:56.40 to handily take the gold Next to the wall was Gabor Zambori who touched in 1:58.82 while Dominik Torok rounded out the podium in 1:58.92 Kos’ career-swiftest 2IM outing rested at the 1:56.99 clocked at the 2021 European Championships so the Longhorn sliced over half a second off that mark to establish the new PB Splits for Kos tonight included 25.30/29.44 (54.74)/33.30/28.36 to get the job done and maintain his slot as the 2nd-best Hungarian in history. He continues to creep up on Olympian Laszlo Cseh‘s national record of 1:55.18 from 2009 Kos ranks #2 in the world this season while both he and Zambori qualify for the event for this summer’s World Championships as he lowered his newly-minted national record by .01 This morning he posted a PB of 24.63 to claim the top seed while tonight he checked in at 24.62 to take the gold Kos’ time overtook the longstanding Hungarian benchmark of 24.76 Richard Bohus put on the books at the 2018 Gyor Open racing his way to gold in the men’s 100m free Milak punched a result of 48.76 (23.52/25.24) to score the sole time of the field under the 49-second barrier Behind him was Adam Jaszo who secured silver in 49.11 and Daniel Meszaros bagged bronze in 49.43 Milak’s best-ever performance remains at the 47.47 national record he established in 2022 Finally, national record older David Betlehem put on a show in the men’s 1500m free Also under the 15-minute mark was open water ace Kristof Rasovszky who also cleared the World Championships ‘A’ cut with a silver medal-garnering 14:52.82 Fresh off his NCAA Championships title in the 1650y free, Indiana’s Zalan Sarkany rounded out the top 3 performers in 15:03.26 Betlehem now dethrones Japanese 17-year-old Kazushi Imafuku to rank #1 in the world this season and Rasovszky takes over the #4 position A good day all things considered: decent times in the men’s 200 IM 1500 free and the women’s 100 breast So happy that Hubi finally lowered his 4 year old PB in the 200IM the only split that was good by his standards was the breaststroke This is wonderful – going to see a lot more athletes prolong their career into 2028 Excited to see who might now come out of retirement because of this But also as I already said I rly hope WA removes all 200 semi finals from the lineup only way this can fiscally make sense Japan’s Naoya Inoue will defend his undisputed junior featherweight championship against Ramon Cardenas for Top Rank Boxing in Las Vegas Inoue has not fought in the United States since 2021 when he defeated Michael Dasmariñas by knockout in the third round to retain the WBA (super bantamweight) Inoue's past 24 fights were all championship fights He has a 29-0 record with 26 of his victories coming by knockout Cardenas has won 14 consecutive fights and has positioned himself for this fight He is coming off a unanimous decision victory against Bryan Acosta on Feb Cardenas is currently 26-1 with 14 knockouts in his career The main event is estimated to start around 11:30 p.m How to watch Inoue vs. CardenasThe main card is scheduled to begin on Sunday at 10 p.m. ET. The event will air on ESPN and be streamed on ESPN+ and Disney+ The fight will take place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas Watch Inoue vs. Cardenas with ESPN+ The 2025 Hungarian National Swimming Championships kicked off today from Kaposvar and 22-year-old Hubert Kos wasted no time making his presence known Racing in the prelims of the men’s 50m backstroke University of Texas star Kos fired off a new national record of 24.63 to easily take the top seed Kos’ time overtook the longstanding Hungarian benchmark of 24.76 Richard Bohus put on the books at the 2018 Gyor Open Kos’ lifetime best in the 50m back sat at the 24.85 he notched for 5th place at last year’s European Championships so he sliced .22 off that previous outing to become the fastest Hungarian ever he’ll need to drop significant time to check in among the top 20 performers in history; he’s now #43 on the all-time list NCAA champion Kos is slated to race the additional events of 100m back 50m/100m fly and 200m IM at this competition the latter of which he snagged the top seed in a time of 2:03.45 ahead of his 50m back record BREAKING NEWS🚨🚨🚨 STROKE 50’s ARE NOW OFFICIALLY OLYMPIC EVENTS STARTING IN LA2028!! But with this I do genuinely hope semis for all 200 races are removed from the line up It’s just too much and I hope this test run of the no semis at SC Worlds was to see how it would likely be implemented He’s getting ready for those 50s at the 2028 Olympics 50m events are now added to the Olympics y’all!!!!!!!!! It also means they need to rewrite the competitive schedule so the next question is which conflicts will be created and relieved Hungary’s fastest 100 Breastroker goes 1:02.7 tonight… that men’s medley relay has 3 superb legs with Kos the sporting citizenship waiting time is only 1 year now xd David Betlehem could be a medal contender this summer It is amazing how he can swim these swim meets while taking courses at UT Trump's detachment from reality made clear during disastrous town hall You know it’s bad when the audience is openly laughing at him Michigan governor cozies up to Trump—and kills her credibility Gretchen Whitmer joins the ranks of disappointing Democrats Trump caves, as US and Ukraine sign resource-sharing agreement All that tough talk ended up being hot air Cartoon: Aiding and abetting No one is safe from Trump’s so-called justice Game over: Trump’s tariffs force Xbox and Nintendo to raise prices If only quitting this timeline were as easy as quitting a game Trump's trade war may already be taking a toll on the job market Jobless claims are rising while the stock market is dropping National security screwup reportedly first Trump goon to bite the dust He’s the first to fall—but hopefully not the last Click here to see more cartoons Trump team makes desperate bid to solve air traffic controller crisis Turns out firing a bunch of air safety personnel made the air less safe AOC weighs another bid for powerful House committee as old guard exits Will the Democratic Party finally let younger voices lead the way Trump pretends to defund public media with meaningless order Nothing this 78-year-old man hates more than “Sesame Street.” Jeff Bezos swore he'd never bow to Trump. Time to put up or shut up Bezos has been kissing up to the White House’s new occupant Trump launches another salvo in his war on Harvard The man who once said he’d never weaponize the IRS is weaponizing the IRS Cartoon: Trump's peace plan Check out Trump’s idiotic take on the Declaration of Independence “It’s a declaration.” — President of the United States Click here to see more cartoons. President Donald Trump on Friday once again took credit for the U.S. economy, lying about gasoline prices and touting the healthy jobs report that came out that found the economy added 177,000 jobs in April "Gasoline just broke $1.98 a Gallon, lowest in years, groceries (and eggs!) down, energy down, mortgage rates down, employment strong, and much more good news, as Billions of Dollars pour in from Tariffs," Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social Consumers have been waiting for years to see pricing come down Of course, just two days ago, when the government announced that the economy shrank in the first three months of the year thanks to Trump’s idiotic trade policy Trump said he had nothing to do with the economy and that it was still former President Joe Biden's fault “This is Biden’s Stock Market, not Trump’s,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post and companies are starting to move into the USA in record numbers but we have to get rid of the Biden ‘Overhang.’ This will take a while It's an argument his punching bag Vice President JD Vance also made "This is Joe Biden's economy," Vance said in a Thursday interview with Fox News' Bret Baier when asked about the economy's contraction Meanwhile, Trump is straight up lying about the price of gasoline which is an average of $3.18 per gallon nationwide according to AAA—nowhere near the $1.98 a gallon Trump claimed The cheapest average gas prices are in Maine where it’s averaging $2.99 a gallon—a full dollar more than what Trump claimed What’s more, the website Gas Buddy, which tracks gas prices across the country, said no station in America has gas at $1.98 a gallon like Trump claimed economists are relieved that the economy is still humming along despite the chaos Trump’s trade policy has caused “We don't know what breakeven job growth is right now but could be something like 100K. So 177K (even with downward revisions for the last two months) is strong,” Harvard University economics professor Jason Furman wrote in a post on X.  “I don't expect this to last at this pace given the disruption working through the system,” Furman added of the job growth Trump will probably be back to blaming Biden for the problems Trump himself created The Foreign Affairs Committee questioned Marta Kos Slovenian candidate for the Enlargement portfolio In her introductory statement Ms Kos outlined that enlargement “runs like a red thread through my life” As part of a young generation of Slovenians calling for freedom and democracy adding that she will inject the same focus and energy in the enlargement process in the coming years Ms Kos emphasised how the enlargement process is a marathon And while she is all in favour of ambition the enlargement journey must remain merit-based with each country aspiring to join the EU thoroughly assessed on their individual merits: “There are no shortcuts” Ms Kos committed to ensuring all enlargement countries are well prepared backed with strong political support from the EU and accompanied all the way along the process Countries engaging in reforms should also reap the benefits including through gradual integration in the single market Making clear she would address democratic backsliding she also emphasised the need for strong European commitment from candidate countries she committed to working closely with Kyiv supporting its recovery and reconstruction in coordination with the G7 and other likeminded international partners Supporting Ukraine and pushing back against Russia’s aggression is an absolute priority and she said enlargement negotiations with the country must be the European guiding star for this “heroic nation – the same for Moldova” She also committed to turning enlargement from an opportunity into a reality for the Western Balkans promoting reconciliation and regional cooperation and stressing that bilateral issues “cannot remain permanent obstacles” to their accession prospects Ms Kos also expressed support for the UN’s work to solve the Cyprus issue which will determine the pace of the EU-Türkiye relationship in the future She said she would continue to engage with Ankara She also said she would support efforts to foster peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan The integrity of the enlargement process must be upheld Ms Kos stressed the need to uphold the integrity of the enlargement process through a merit based approach and respect for EU values She agreed that concrete actions in line with a gradual integration into the EU would send a positive signal to citizens of candidate countries She said that the enlargement process should be transparent with regard to money being spent - overseen by dedicated auditing structures - and based on the fulfilment of the relevant criteria by candidate countries It will be up to member states and the EU to take the final decision on a country’s accession and in order to be prepared the necessary internal EU reforms should take place in parallel While she promised to engage with civil society in member states she also expressed hope that MEPs will support enlargement and present its benefits to their voters The chair and political group coordinators of the Committee on Foreign Affairs will meet without delay to assess the performance and qualification of the Commissioner-designate the Conference of Presidents (EP President Metsola and political group chairs) is set to conduct the final evaluation and declare the hearings closed on 21 November Once the Conference of Presidents declares all hearings closed The election by MEPs of the full college of Commissioners (by a majority of the votes cast by roll-call) is currently scheduled to take place during the 25-28 November plenary session in Strasbourg Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos will travel to the Republic of Moldova on 3-4 February 2025 This mission takes place in the context of the EU's on-going efforts to support the Republic of Moldova in tackling the severe energy crisis provoked by Gazprom on both sides of the Nistru River It also marks Commissioner Kos' first mission to Moldova and is an opportunity to take stock of the great strides of Moldova on its European path On 31 January, the Republic of Moldova agreed with the EU's offer for a €30 million emergency assistance package to tackle the current energy crisis the EU will finance the purchasing and transporting of natural gas to the Transnistrian region to help restore electricity and heating for the region's more than 350.000 inhabitants This package will also allow the purchase of further electricity to the Right Bank of the Nistru River the EU is preparing a comprehensive support package to finance Moldova's gradual transition to full energy independence and drastically reduce the reliance on external energy assistance by the end of 2026 (For more information: Guillaume Mercier – Tel.: +32 2 298 05 64; Eirini Zarkadoula – Tel.: +32 2 295 70 65) Today's detention of Istanbul mayor İmamoğlu and the arrests and charges brought against elected officials civil society and businesses representatives and others since the beginning of the year give rise to questions regarding Türkiye's adherence to its long-established democratic tradition The EU urges the Turkish authorities to provide full transparency and to follow due process As an EU candidate country and long-standing member of the Council of Europe Türkiye is expected to apply the highest democratic standards and practices.   Respect for fundamental rights and the rule of law are essential for the EU accession process  They will continue to be an integral part of EU-Türkiye relations This was stated by European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos, who spoke in an interview with Radio Liberty “Ukraine has done enough – I can say this from my personal experience since I facilitated the dialogue between Hungary and Ukraine and Ukraine is ready to fulfill all the requirements Now we need to find a way to convince Hungary to allow the opening of the first (negotiation) cluster,” Kos said according to the text published in Ukrainian Ukrainians understand perfectly well that it is not only about protecting the Hungarian minority the European Commissioner mentioned the "public poll in Hungary" she stressed that EU member states should act according to the old rules of enlargement in view of the new geopolitical situation “That’s because we are somehow caught up in the tension between geopolitical and security needs on the one hand a methodology that has not changed much in 30 years,” Kos noted The European Commissioner stressed that a dialogue should be conducted with Hungary recalling that Budapest had not previously objected to Ukraine being granted candidate status it is possible to open all six clusters for Moldova and Ukraine as early as this year The decision should be made by the European Council the European Commission is already working on it “I am confident that we will be able to prepare both countries to opening everything this year,” she said during a press conference following the Ukraine-EU Association Council Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal expressed hope that Ukraine would be able to open all six clusters in the membership negotiations with the EU as early as this year the Minister for European Union Affairs of the Polish presidency of the EU stated on April 10 during the Ukraine-EU business forum in Brussels that Hungary continues to block the start of negotiations with Ukraine from the first cluster ,"Fundamentals" and theat the chances of it being opened by June 30 when the term of the Polish presidency of the EU is coming to an end While citing and using any materials on the Internet links to the website ukrinform.net not lower than the first paragraph are mandatory citing the translated materials of foreign media outlets is possible only if there is a link to the website ukrinform.net and the website of a foreign media outlet Materials marked as "Advertisement" or with a disclaimer reading "The material has been posted in accordance with Part 3 of Article 9 of the Law of Ukraine "On Advertising" No 1996 and the Law of Ukraine "On the Media" No 2023 and on the basis of an agreement/invoice Online media entity; Media identifier - R40-01421