“As US Congress returns from its summer recess, Washington’s attention is turning toward a possible government shutdown. While much of the focus will be on a showdown between Senate Democrats and President Donald Trump, a subplot is brewing as the House and Senate, led by Republicans but supported by far too many Democrats, fight over how big the Pentagon’s budget should be. The House voted to give Trump his requested trillion dollar budget, while the Senate is demanding $22 billion more. To justify this historic largesse, both Trump and Congress give the same reason: peace through strength. Harkening back to Ronald Reagan’s Cold War military spending spree, today its invocation often boils down to one simple idea: Give the Pentagon more money. But, since Reagan’s famed buildup actually cost much less, it’s worth asking if the problem really is a lack of funds.” (09/04/25)
“Rhode Island, Connecticut and the developer of an offshore wind farm that would power 350,000 homes in the two states said Thursday they’re suing the Trump administration for stopping the nearly completed project. The states will file a complaint in U.S. District Court in Rhode Island Thursday, said Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha,, who accused President Donald Trump of waging an “all-out assault” on the wind energy industry. Danish energy company Orsted filed a separate lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., arguing that the administration lacks the legal authority to block the Revolution Wind project. Orsted said it would seek a preliminary injunction that would allow it to move forward with the project, which is 80% complete, with all underwater foundations and 45 of 65 turbines installed. Interior Department spokesperson Elizabeth Peace said Thursday that the department doesn’t comment on pending litigation.” (09/04/25)
“It’s a well-worn cliche in the legal world that prosecutors have so much clout in the grand jury room that they could indict a ham sandwich. The currency of this quote only soared in value when the man who first uttered it, a New York State top judge named Sol Wachtler, was subsequently indicted himself. And maybe the US Justice Department still could indict a ham sandwich. But a salami hoagie from Subway is apparently a bridge too far. I am talking, of course, about the now notorious Washington, DC case against the man commonly known as ‘Sandwich Guy’ — a now-former Justice Department paralegal (yes, the irony) named Sean Dunn whose anger at the federal surge of law-enforcement officers backed by National Guard troops in the nation’s capital boiled over last month.” (09/04/25)
“The vast majority of the Palestinians being held in Israel’s brutal detention centers are civilians, according to data from a classified Israeli military database. An investigation published Thursday by The Guardian, the Israeli-Palestinian publication +972 Magazine, and the Hebrew-language outlet Local Call reveals that of the more than 6,000 so-called ‘unlawful combatants’ detained by Israel during the first 19 months of its military campaign in Gaza, just 1,450 of them were considered by the army to be Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad militants. In its public statements, the Israeli government and media often describe every Palestinian detained or killed in Gaza as a ‘terrorist’. … Israel’s Unlawful Combatants Law enacted in 2002, allows the military to hold people in detention if they have ‘reasonable grounds’ to believe they participated in ‘hostile activities against the state of Israel’ or are a member of a group that has.” (09/04/25)
“Over the Labor Day weekend, instead of enjoying the last days of summer with family and friends, Democrats and other Trump-deranged folk had nothing better to do than indulge in sick fantasies about the president’s death. Hashtags like #trumpisdead and #whereistrump trended on X, with countless TikToks, Google searches and posts saying ‘TRUMP DIED’ garnering millions of likes and views. This was not a harmless meme or politics as usual. It was seeded by anonymous left-wing social media accounts and amplified by journalists and influencers to create a permission structure to fantasize about Trump’s demise. Despite photos of Trump golfing with his grandchildren and his numerous long missives on Truth Social — including about the landscapers who ruined the new limestone paving in the Rose Garden — the rumor went viral.” (09/04/25)
“Hundreds more bodies have been recovered from houses in mountain villages destroyed by a major earthquake in Afghanistan early this week, pushing the death toll to over 2,200, a Taliban government spokesman said Thursday. The shallow, magnitude-6.0 quake struck the mountainous and remote eastern part of the country late Sunday, leveling villages and trapping people under rubble. Most of the casualties have been in Kunar province, where people typically live in wood and mud-brick houses along steep river valleys separated by high mountains. Some 98% percent of the buildings in the province were damaged or destroyed, according to an assessment issued Thursday by the Islamic Relief charity. Aid agencies said they were sorely in need of staff and supplies to tend to the region’s survivors. Muhammad Israel said the quake unleashed a landslide that buried his home, livestock, and belongings in Kunar.” (09/04/25)
“The Justice Department has launched a criminal probe into Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, issuing subpoenas in both Georgia and Michigan as part of an investigation into alleged mortgage fraud, The Post has learned. The investigation, first reported on by the Wall Street Journal, centers on whether Cook allegedly committed fraud by listing more than one property as a primary residence when she applied for mortgages. A grand jury in Atlanta is looking into Cook and ‘it’s likely an indictment could come,’ a source familiar with the matter told The Post. Cook owns properties in Michigan and Georgia, as well as Massachusetts.” (09/04/25)
Source: Common Dreams
by Kasia Malinowska-Sempruch
“We lost more than 80,000 Americans to overdose last year, making it the leading cause of death for adults aged 18 to 44. But, for the first time in years, we have some reason for hope: in 2024, overdose deaths dropped by 27 percent. That progress, however, didn’t happen on its own. It came from investments in harm reduction: an ecosystem of strategies including naloxone distribution, syringe service programs, medications for opioid use disorder, and housing-first programs that secured shelter for people before connecting them to care. Unfortunately, much of that progress is in danger. In recent weeks, President Trump issued an executive order targeting the very programs that provide these services and helped bring down overdose deaths. In doing so, the administration is cutting federal funding for proven, evidence-based interventions.” (09/04/25)
“Congo’s health ministry on Thursday announced a new Ebola outbreak, the 16th in the central African country, after a case was confirmed in the southern Kasai province. ‘To date, the provisional report shows 28 suspected cases and 15 deaths, including 14 in Boulapé and 1 in Mweka, as well as four healthcare workers,’ said Samuel-Roger Kamba, Congo’s health minister. He added that the case fatality rate, estimated at 53.6%, showed the gravity of the situation. He said that the figures were provisional and research was ongoing. The suspected cases and deaths presented symptoms such fever, vomiting, diarrhoea and haemorrhage. The confirmed case was of a 34-year-old pregnant woman in the locality of Boulape, in the southern Kasai province. The World Health Organization said Thursday it dispatched its experts alongside Congo’s Rapid Response Team to Kasai Province to strengthen disease surveillance, treatment and infection prevention and control in health facilities.” (09/04/25)
“Let me start by saying that I am generally a fan of what Robert Kennedy Jr. is trying to do over at the Department of Health and Human Services. As a recovering health policy guy, I know there is a lot of room for changes and streamlining over at HHS – a lot of boats that need to be rocked, and RFK is nothing if not a boat-rocker. That being said, I agree with no one 100 percent of the time, not even myself. So there are a couple of things I’d like someone in the Senate to ask him about. First, I do want to explore the topic I’m sure Democrats will attempt to hammer him on: vaccines. I don’t know if traditional vaccines cause autism or anything else, but I do have friends who have children with autism and some swear by the idea that they do.” (09/04/25)
