Ralph and the crew spend the whole hour with Omer Bartov, professor of Holocaust and genocide studies at Brown University, who grew up in a Zionist home, lived the first half of his life in Israel, served in the I.D.F. as a soldier and officer and is the author a New York Times op-ed entitled “I’m a Genocide Scholar. I Know It When I See It.” Plus, Ralph pays tribute to legendary Washington Post reporter, Morton Mintz.

Omer Bartov is a professor of Holocaust and genocide studies at Brown University. He has written widely on modern Germany, France, the Holocaust, and representations of war and genocide. He is the author of the Mirrors of Destruction: War, Genocide, and Modern Identity, and the forthcoming book, Israel: What Went Wrong?, and he’s penned a New York Times op-ed entitled “I’m a Genocide Scholar. I Know It When I See It.”

I published an op-ed in November 2023, and I said there were war crimes, clearly, crimes against humanity, and this will become genocide if it's not stopped. And the Biden administration at the time did nothing. President Biden could have stopped that within two weeks. The Israeli military machine cannot function for more than two or three weeks without constant supply of munitions, without constant supply of financial help, and most importantly, without a diplomatic Iron Dome, especially in the Security Council.

Professor Omer Bartov

If you say that you are shutting down speech because of anti-Semitism, who are the people who are pushing that? It must be all kinds of Jewish interests that are pushing that. And in that sense, this false campaign against anti-Semitism – some of whose leaders are people with pretty good anti-Semitic credentials themselves – is the best way to raise, to promote and incite anti-Semitism.

Professor Omer Bartov

There's no moral responsibility, there's no empathy being shown, and much of the population shares that view. To me, as someone who was raised in Israel, spent half of my life there, served four years in the army, to see my own society (including some of my friends) show this kind of moral callousness is frankly quite heartbreaking. And I have to say, it's the result of a long process. It's not only a response to October 7th, it's the result of six decades of occupation, of thinking of Palestinians as not really people who have any right to have rights or any right to health, to security. And in that sense, that long-term occupation has corrupted much of Israeli society. And maybe the most surprising thing is that there's still extraordinary people there who are fighting against that, but their numbers are diminishing, not growing.

Professor Omer Bartov

Morton Mintz was hands-down the greatest consumer reporter of his generation. He opened up one field after another because he had a special sense of newsworthiness that other reporters and editors didn't have. He opened up the coverage of the pharmaceutical industry. He opened up the coverage of the auto industry. And he did so with such formidable documentation and research that other reporters started following the same subject area. So he was a pioneer.

Ralph Nader

News 8/1/25

* Crusading environmental lawyer Steven Donziger has published a new report in the left-wing outlet Orinoco Tribune on the undercount of the dead in Gaza. In this piece, Donziger uses the statistical model laid out by the prestigious medical journal The Lancet in their 2024 study on the Israeli military campaign, which found the direct and indirect death toll could be as high as 186,000. The Lancet study found that as many as 732 Gazans died every day from these direct and indirect causes. Multiplied by the 594 days the conflict has dragged on, this would equate to a death toll of 434,800, or 20.7% of the enclave’s population. As Donziger notes, “If the same level of killing and indirect death that took place in Gaza…happened in the United States proportional to population, roughly 70 million Americans would have been killed.”

* In more Gaza news, the Guardian reports that, “On Saturday night, the…IDF…intercepted and boarded the Handala, an aid ship that attempted to reach Gaza as part of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition…According to the coalition, IDF soldiers beat and choked…labor activist Chris Smalls.” The severity of the attack on Christian Smalls – founder of the independent Amazon Labor Union (ALU) – caused international outcry. From the Guardian report, “Smalls was physically assaulted by seven uniformed individuals. They choked him and kicked him in the legs, leaving visible signs of violence on his neck and back.” The incident also drew criticism for another reason: Smalls was the only Black person on board the Handala. While 21 members of the Flotilla group were detained, in their words ”abducted,” “This level of force was not used.” It is unclear why this level of force was used against Smalls and Smalls alone, other than the color of his skin.

* Yet more tragic news from Gaza concerns the death of Odeh Hadalin, the 31-year-old Palestinian activist and English teacher featured in the Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land. Al Jazeera reports that footage taken by Israeli human rights group B’Tselem “appears to show [Israeli settler Yinon] Levi opening fire on Hadalin during a confrontation in the village [of Umm al-Kheir, south of Hebron].” Levi, already sanctioned by the European Union and the United States over past attacks on Palestinians, reportedly told witnesses he was “glad about it.” Despite all of this, an Israeli court has released Levi on house arrest. Basel Adra, who co-directed No Other Land with Yuval Abraham, wrote “This is how Israel erases us — one life at a time.”

* One positive development is in progress however. According to the Embassy of France in the United States, "France is prepared to fully recognize the State of Palestine, and will do so in September." French recognition of the Palestinian state, will If it ultimately comes to pass, have major ramifications on the world stage. While 147 member states of the United Nations have recognized Palestine, only 10 out of 27 EU countries have done so, mostly former Eastern Bloc states like Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, and Romania, along with the former country of Czechoslovakia. The modern country of Slovakia has reaffirmed their recognition; Czechia has not. In 2024, several more European nations extended recognition, including Norway, Slovenia, Ireland and Spain. France however would tip the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council to a 3-2 majority in recognition of Palestine, along with Russia and China. Moreover, AP reports the United Kingdom is now saying they will “recognize a Palestinian state in September unless Israel agrees to a ceasefire in Gaza,” among other conditions. If this happens, The permanent members of the Security Council would be split 4-1, with the United States as the lone holdout. This would be nothing short of an international relations sea change on the question of Palestine.

* In some more positive foreign policy news, Jeremy Corbyn’s new party in the U.K. is getting started with a bang. According to the man himself, over 600,000 people have signed up to register with the new party, which describes itself as “a new kind of political party. One that is rooted in our communities, trade unions and social movements. One that builds power in all regions and nations. One that belongs to you.” Polls show this new party in the lead among Britons aged 18-24 and Corbyn leading Labour Party leader Keir Starmer by “Almost Every Metric,” among members of the rightwing populist Reform Party. That said, the Reform Party is still projected to win an overwhelming victory compared to all other parties in the next elections, though those are not expected to be held until 2029.

* In Congress, Bernie Sanders forced a vote Wednesday on two new Senate resolutions to block arms transfers to Israel. Resolution 34 would “prohibit the U.S.-taxpayer financed $675.7 million sale of 201 MK 83 1,000-pound bombs; 4,799 BLU-110A/B General Purpose 1,000-pound bombs; 1,500 Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) guidance kits for MK 83 bombs; 3,500 JDAM guidance kits for MK 83 bombs; and related logistics and technical support services,” while Resolution 41 would “prohibit the sale of tens of thousands of fully automatic assault rifles.” These resolutions got the support of 27 Senators, a new record and a majority of the Democratic Senate Caucus, but still far, far short of even a simple Senate majority. Perhaps a more portentous development is that Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene this week became the first Republican in Congress to call the crisis in Gaza a “genocide,” according to the Hill. It remains to be seen whether this will help break the dam on that side of the aisle.

* In New York City, new polling shows stunning results for Zohran Mamdani. The new poll conducted by Zenith Research and Public Progress Solutions shows Zohran dominating the 5-way race, earning 50% and beating out the other four candidates combined. Mamdani does even better in head-to-head matches against disgraced former Governor Andrew Cuomo and corruption-dogged incumbent Mayor Eric Adams. The crosstabs are even more astonishing. Despite the breathless and baseless accusations of antisemitism, Zohran is winning 67% of Jews under age 45 and a whopping 85% of men ages 18-34. This second number is key as Democrats struggle to attract young men. One warning sign: a recent Pew poll shows Republicans with an 18-point lead among men in the Gen Z cohort.

* In an ominous challenge to the separation of church and state, the Hill reports President Donald Trump released a memo Monday allowing federal employees to “attempt to persuade co-workers about why their religious beliefs are ‘correct.’” This memo cites “crosses, crucifixes and mezuzah,” as displays of religious indicia that should not result in disciplinary action. This bizarre and constitutionally dubious policy seems likely to lead to workplace discord.

* In more Trump news, CBS reports Trump has ousted “Two top Justice Department antitrust officials.” According to sources, two deputies to Assistant Attorney General Gail Slater, who leads DOJ antitrust efforts, were “placed on administrative leave last week and fired on Monday for insubordination.” These two figures are Roger Alford, principal deputy assistant attorney general, and Bill Rinner, deputy assistant attorney general and head of merger enforcement. It is not clear why exactly Alford and Rinner were pushed out, but there has apparently been substantial strife within the administration over the antitrust cases against T-Mobile and Hewlett Packard Enterprise. AAG Slater is also overseeing antitrust lawsuits against Capital One, Apple, Google, and other major companies.

* Finally, Wired reports the small Pacific island nation of Tuvalu is planning the first migration of an entire country. Tuvalu, which could be completely submerged by rising sea levels within the next 25 years, is seeking to resettle 280 Tuvaluans in Australia each year. This climate-driven mass migration is a stark sign of things to come if the international community continues to dither or deny the reality of the oncoming climate catastrophe. Today Tuvalu, tomorrow the world.

This has been Francesco DeSantis, with In Case You Haven’t Heard.

First up, Ralph welcomes the co-founders of Doctors Against Genocide, Dr. Karameh Hawash-Kuemmerle and Dr. Nidal Jboor, to discuss their dedication to succeeding where global governments have failed in confronting genocide—particularly the acute genocide in Gaza. Then, Ralph speaks to Marcus Sims, who turns felled and fallen trees into sustainable-harvested lumber with his company Treincarnation. Finally, Ralph has co-written an open letter to Barack Obama, urging him to step up and do his part to fight against Donald Trump.

Dr. Karameh Hawash-Kuemmerle is a clinical pediatric neurologist who specializes in traumatic brain injury and epilepsy at Boston Children’s Hospital. Dr. Nidal Jboor is a doctor of internal medicine and geriatrics working in Michigan. They are co-founders of Doctors Against Genocide.

We think: as American people, we are good people. We don't stand for these crimes. We don't accept that any child, any mother, any father, any elderly in the world will be starved to death—no matter where they are, no matter who they are, no matter who is committing this crime. And we are especially appalled to know that all these crimes are being done in our name, with our tax money. They are cutting the funding from our basic programs here, from our neighborhoods, to send more billions to mass slaughter children. So that's why we're going to DC. We're going to talk to the people who are enabling this. We think they already failed their constituents, they failed their country, they are putting our country on the wrong side of history.

Dr. Nidal Jboor

Anyone who did not call this a genocide yet—and did not demand full accountability for genocide, both for the United States and for Israel—is enabling and allowing this crime to continue further.

Dr. Nidal Jboor

We are committed to having our eyes open whenever and wherever there is a genocide or there are war crimes, crimes against humanity—no matter who commits them. And it's very important for us to stand with the victims, with the community that is suffering, and never take the side or give a platform for the perpetrators.

Dr. Karameh Kuemmerle

Our focus on the situation in Gaza comes from the simple fact that our country is complicit. And because of that, we actually have the moral obligation and the practical obligation to speak up. So it is not because we think that other genocides are not happening or are not important. We actually think every genocide should never happen. It's anti-human to commit genocide. And we always ask our colleagues to come to us to help uplift the voices of the communities of genocide and hopefully we will have more bandwidth to do a lot more. But the situation in Gaza is unique because there is almost a collusion of all these powerful players to complete this genocide in Gaza and basically oppress every resistance to it. There are many things that make what is happening in Gaza unique—for example, the inability to leave, using food as a weapon, having complete siege on the population, having a major superpower supported by another major superpower bombing a population of two million people in a very small area, constantly, nonstop for two years.

Dr. Karameh Kuemmerle

All professions have their own specialized civic duties…And I want to tell the listeners that the people who are peace-loving all over the world vastly outnumber, vastly outnumber the warmongers and the cruel and vicious interests that have taken advantage of the situation.

Ralph Nader

Marcus Sims is the owner of Treincarnation, which creates sustainably-harvested lumber and builds custom furniture from trees felled by storms or removed to make way for development.

I think there's a lot of support for what I'm doing, but my work is contrasted to the industrial lumber system, which is “chop them down and cut them up,” a lot of it done by huge machines. So it takes a lot more attention and care to do the kind of work that I'm doing. And of course the finances—as you know, finances play a big part in any kind of industry and how they can manage to make money. So I'm certainly making a living, a good living with what I'm doing. I don't know exactly how we can get from the current system into one that was probably used in the past, where the intelligence of human beings is more engaged and we're not slaves to industrial processes.

Marcus Sims

News 7/25/25

* This week, Israel shelled the Holy Family Church in Gaza. During the last months of his life, Pope Francis was in constant communication with this church and its pastor, Father Gabriel Romanelli, calling them every single night. Three people were killed in this strike and Father Romanelli was injured, as were other congregants. In a speech after the strike, Pope Leo called for an immediate ceasefire and decried the “barbarity of war,” Reuters reports. He added, "I appeal to the international community to observe humanitarian law and respect the obligation to protect civilians as well as the prohibition of collective punishment, of indiscriminate use of force and forced displacement of the population.” According to the National Catholic Reporter, Pope Leo XIV spoke with Palestinian president Mahmood Abbas following this attack and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu called to “express Israel's regret for what he called an accidental attack.”

2. In Belgium, the Hind Rajab Foundation – named for the five-year-old girl in Gaza killed along with six of her family members and the paramedics coming to her rescue – reports, “Belgian federal police have arrested and interrogated two Israeli soldiers credibly accused of war crimes in Gaza. The action came in response to an urgent legal complaint filed by the Hind Rajab Foundation and the Global Legal Action Network (GLAN) earlier this week.” The soldiers, who had come to Belgium to attend the Tomorrowland music festival were, “formally interrogated and released. The Belgian Federal Prosecutor’s Office has confirmed that a criminal investigation is now underway.”

3. In a shameful, undemocratic move, the Executive Committee of the National Education Association has voted to reject the member-approved resolution to boycott materials promulgated by the ADL, Axios reports. This helps keep the ADL entrenched as the arbiter of what is and is not antisemitism, a charge they have weaponized and used as a cudgel again and again to silence any criticism of the state of Israel.

4. In New York, disgraced former Governor Andrew Cuomo continues to campaign in his increasingly long-shot independent bid for Mayor of New York City. Recently, Cuomo held a campaign breakfast attended by 450 at the Hampton Synagogue, where he said, “I would wager that in the primary, more than 50% of the Jewish people voted for Mamdani.” If true, this would be a stunning victory not only for Zohran himself but for the pro-Palestine movement, which has been maligned in bad faith as antisemitic. Cuomo added that many younger Jewish voters are, “pro-Palestinian, and they don’t consider it being anti-Israel.” This from the Forward.

5. Another intra-ethnic cleavage is emerging among voters in New York City – this time, Italian-Americans. While Mamdani visited Uganda, the country of his birth, anti-Zohran Italians rallied in front of his Assembly district office in Queens. The New York Times reports this protest, “ostensibly led by the Italian American Civil Rights League, a group that took its name from but had no apparent ties to a defunct organization founded by [Mafia boss] Joseph A. Colombo Sr,...until recently, when Mr. Colombo’s grandson, Anthony E. Colombo Jr….joined the group’s board in May.” As the Times notes, this protest was held in response to a, “recently resurfaced social media photo from 2020 showing Mr. Mamdani giving the middle finger to a Columbus statue.” However, a large group of pro-Zohran Italian-American counterprotestors rallied across the street, carrying signs that read “Paisans for Zohran!” and “You Eat Jar Sauce!”

6. In Minneapolis, many are drawing parallels between Mamdani and insurgent Democratic Socialist candidate Omar Fateh, who won the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party’s endorsement for the mayoralty over incumbent Jacob Frey. Fateh, a state senator, won “at least 60% of the Minneapolis DFL delegate vote Saturday…in the party’s first endorsement of a mayoral candidate in 16 years,” per the Minnesota Star Tribune. This endorsement gives Fateh a major boost in his campaign and indicates that the Zohran phenomenon is not confined to New York City.

7. Last week, Paramount – one of the largest media conglomerates and parent company of CBS – canceled The Late Show with Stephen Colbert less than 48 hours after Colbert called CBS News’s $16 million settlement with Trump a, “big fat bribe,” implying it would help curry favor with the administration regarding the proposed merger between Paramount and Skydance. Incensed, the Writers Guild of America East issued a statement calling on New York State Attorney General Letitia James, to, “launch an investigation into potential wrongdoing at Paramount…[and for]…our elected leaders to hold those responsible to account…demand answers about why this beloved program was canceled and to assure the public that Colbert and his writers were not censored due to their views or the whims of the President.”

8. At the same time, CNN reports Paramount’s “owner-in-waiting,” David Ellison is in talks to acquire Bari Weiss’s publication The Free Press. According to the Financial Times, Weiss is seeking over $200 million for the purchase. However, this goes further than a potential acquisition. Puck reports that if brought in, Weiss would serve as an “ideological guide” for CBS News. This, paired with the recent piece in the Hollywood Reporter stating that Skydance “promised to eliminate all diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives,” at Paramount, gives a fuller picture of the “anti-woke” direction CBS would take under the new leadership. With news Thursday that federal regulators have approved the merger, it seems fair to conclude that these moves mollified the president.

9. Turning to Latin America, AP reports the U.S., Venezuela and El Salvador have successfully concluded an intricate tripartite prisoner exchange. This deal includes the release of 10 Americans jailed in Venezuela and 252 Venezuelans held in El Salvador’s notorious and dystopian CECOT prison complex. The freed Americans include some who were accused of participating in a U.S.-backed coup attempt against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in 2024 and one who was convicted of a triple homicide in Madrid, according to EL PAÍS. All parties seem satisfied with this agreement, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying “Every wrongfully detained American in Venezuela is now free and back in our homeland,” while President Maduro pronounced the occasion “a day of blessings and good news…the perfect day for Venezuela.”

10. Finally, prominent British tech writer Ed Zitron is out with “The Hater's Guide To The AI Bubble.” In this piece, Zitron – a noted critic of AI writ large – details tech companies' expenditures on AI as compared to the revenues, and the numbers are stark. Microsoft has reaped $13 billion, with $10 billion from OpenAI, sold at “a heavily discounted rate that essentially only covers costs for operating the servers," while expenditures total $80 billion. Amazon AI revenues In 2025 amount to $5 billion, while capital expenditures total $105 billion. Google AI revenue stands at $7.7 billion, with capital expenditures standing at $75 billion. Meta AI revenue in 2025 is a paltry $2-3 billion. Their capital expenditures: $72 billion. Perhaps most deliciously, while Tesla has spent around $11 billion on AI in 2025, the company “Does Not Appear To Make Money From Generative AI” at all. Hopefully these numbers serve as a wakeup call for companies to stop dumping money down the AI drain, since clearly the immense adverse impact on the environment is not dissuading them.

This has been Francesco DeSantis, with In Case You Haven’t Heard.

Our resident constitutional expert Bruce Fein joins to make the case for impeaching the Supreme Court AND the President, and what we—as citizens—can do to make it happen. Then we welcome Lori Wallach of Rethink Trade to evaluate Trump’s tariff policy. Are these trade deals bringing manufacturing back to the US? Or is Trump just using tariffs as a cudgel to punish countries that annoy him?

Bruce Fein is a Constitutional scholar and an expert on international law. Mr. Fein was Associate Deputy Attorney General under Ronald Reagan and he is the author of Constitutional Peril: The Life and Death Struggle for Our Constitution and Democracy, and American Empire: Before the Fall.

This has real consequences for you people all over the country because one of their shadow docket decisions (without explanation or hearing) briefs just very recently said that Trump can fire all these people in the IRS or the Education Department or EPA and get away with it. And, in fact, paralyze the workings of his (statutorily-established-by-Congress) Cabinet Secretary and Department…So this is devastating to your health, economic safety, environment, workplace safety, education, all kinds of things that are being ridden into the ground.

Ralph Nader

In my judgment, the court has basically abandoned its role as a check on executive power…It's actually become an appendage of the executive branch. Nothing placing any kind of serious or material handcuff on what the President can do on his own. And the President is taking full advantage of that.

Bruce Fein

Lori Wallach is a 30-year veteran of international and U.S. congressional trade battles— starting with the 1990s fights over NAFTA and WTO when she founded the “Global Trade Watch” group at Public Citizen. She is now the director of the Rethink Trade program at the American Economic Liberties Project, and a Senior Advisor to the Citizens Trade Campaign.

What these guys are doing [with Trump’s tariff policy] it's basically trying to build a house with just a hammer—we are against saws; we are against screwdrivers; we do not actually believe in nails, no other tools; we will just hammer a bunch of wood. And as a result, we're going to make some noise and we're definitely going to break some things, but we're not actually building a new redistributed trade system—which we could.

Lori Wallach

Best that we can tell, the dynamic is something like: Trump is so engaged in the fun and chaos—fun (from his perspective) and chaos of throwing tariff news around like a lightning bolt that he really is not taking advice about it from people who know how you could use tariffs to try and ostensibly achieve the things he promised. He's just enjoying throwing around tariffs.

Lori Wallach

News 7/18/25

* Last week, Elon Musk’s pet AI program – Grok – began identifying itself as “MechaHitler,” and spitting out intricate rape threats and sexual fantasies directed at individuals like liberal pundit Will Stancil and now-ex X CEO Linda Yaccarino. This week, Musk rolled out Grok’s new “sexy mode” which includes a visual avatar feature depicting the artificial entity as a quasi-pornographic anime-esque character who can flirt with users, per the Standard. So, naturally, the Trump Defense Department awarded xAI, the parent company behind Grok, a $200 million contract. According to CNN, “The contracts will enable the DoD to develop agentic AI workflows and use them to address critical national security challenges.” It is unclear how exactly the entity calling itself MechaHitler will accomplish that.

* In local news, a special election was held in Washington DC’s Ward 8 this week, seeking to replace corrupt councilmember Trayon White. White was implicated in an FBI bribery investigation and was expelled from the council in February. Yet, because of the splintered opposition, White pulled out a narrow victory on Wednesday, winning with 29.7% of the vote compared to his opponents’ 24.3%, 23.7% and 22.3% respectively, per WTOP. In 2024, DC Voters approved a ballot measure to implement ranked-choice voting, which could have helped prevent this outcome, but it has yet to take effect. The DC Council could vote to expel White again more or less immediately; if not, they would likely wait for his trial to commence in January 2026.

* Turning to foreign affairs, Israel has bombed the Syrian capital of Damascus, killing three and wounding 34, in strikes primarily targeting the Syrian Defense Ministry headquarters, per NPR. Israel’s attack comes amid tensions between the new, post-Assad Syrian government and the Druze minority in the Southern Syrian city of Sweida. The government claims the Druze violated a ceasefire reached earlier in the week and Syrian troops responded; a new ceasefire deal has been reached and the office of interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa issued a statement reading, the “rights [of the citizens of Sweida] will always be protected and…we will not allow any party to tamper with their security or stability.” Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, said in a statement that the U.N. chief “condemns Israel's escalatory airstrikes,” as well as reports of the Israeli military's redeployment of forces in the Golan Heights. As journalist Séamus Malekafzali notes, “Damascus is now the 4th Middle Eastern capital to be bombed by Israel in the past 6 weeks, alongside Tehran, Beirut, and Sana'a.”

* In more news from Israel, the Knesset this week sought to expel Palestinian lawmaker Ayman Odeh, leader of the Hadash-Ta’al party. According to Haaretz, “The vote was triggered by a Likud lawmaker after Odeh published a social media post in January, saying that he ‘rejoices’ over the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners.” However, the motion failed to reach the 90-vote threshold, meaning Odeh will remain in the legislature. Six members of Yair Lapid's Yesh Atid party voted for the motion, but not Lapid himself. The United Torah Judaism party did not back the motion. Haaretz quotes Hassan Jabareen, an attorney, director of the Adalah Legal Center and legal counsel for Odeh, who said, “The overwhelming support for this initiative – from both the coalition and the opposition – reveals the state's intent to crush Palestinian political representation...This was not a legitimate legal process, but rather a racist, fascist incitement campaign aimed at punishing Odeh for his principled stance against occupation, oppression and Israeli violence.” Senator Bernie Sanders celebrated the failure of the motion, writing “Israel’s far right tried to expel Ayman Odeh, an Arab Israeli opposition leader, from the Knesset because of his opposition to Netanyahu’s war. Today, they failed. If Israel is going to be considered a democracy, it cannot expel members of parliament for their political views.” This from the Middle East Eye.

* Sanders also made news this week by declaring that “Given the illegal and immoral war being waged against the Palestinian people by Netanyahu, NO Democrat should accept money from AIPAC – an organization that also helped deliver the presidency to Donald Trump,” per the Jerusalem Post. Sanders posted this statement in response to a video by Obama foreign policy advisor Ben Rhodes, who said “AIPAC is part of the constellation of forces that have delivered this country into the hands of Donald Trump…These are the wrong people to have under your tent...The kind of people that they are supporting, Bibi Netanyahu and Donald Trump, I don’t want my leaders and my political party cozying up to these people.” Bernie’s statement is perhaps the strongest stand taken by any American politician against AIPAC, Israel’s front group in American politics and one of the biggest special interest groups in the country. AIPAC throws around eye-popping sums of money to members of both parties; to name just one example, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has accepted over $1.6 million from the group, according to Track AIPAC’s Hall of Shame.

* In a similar vein, last week we discussed the National Education Association’s vote to suspend its ties with the Anti-Defamation League due to the ADL’s shift in focus from Jewish civil rights to laundering the reputation of Israel. Since then, the ADL has sought to mobilize their allies to demand the NEA reject the vote. To this end, the ADL has sought the support of J Street, a liberal Jewish group critical of Israel, per the Forward. J Street however has rebuffed the ADL, refusing to sign the group’s letter. Though they oppose the NEA resolution, J Street President Jeremy Ben-Ami issued a statement reading in part, “charges of antisemitism must not be wielded to quash legitimate criticism of Israeli policy...the NEA vote can[not] be dismissed as being driven by fringe ‘pro-Hamas’ antisemitic activists.” Hopefully, more Jewish groups will follow the example of J Street and break with the Zionist orthodoxy of the ADL.

* In other foreign policy news, the Guardian reports French President Macron has reached a deal with the leadership of the French “overseas territory” New Caledonia to grant the island statehood and more autonomy within the French legal system. New Caledonia is one of several UN-designated ‘non-self-governing territories.’ France has exerted rule over the Pacific Island – over 10,000 miles from Paris – and its nearly 300,000 inhabitants since the 19th century. Last May, riots broke out over France’s decision to grant voting rights to thousands of non-indigenous residents. This violence “claimed the lives of 14 people, [and] is estimated to have cost the territory…$2.3 bn... shaving 10% off its gross domestic product.” However, the Times reports indigenous Kanak independence activists reject the deal outright. Brenda Wanabo-Ipeze, a leader of the Co-ordination Cell for Actions on the Ground, who is currently detained in France, said, “This text was signed without us. It does not bind us.” The Times adds that, “The conservative and hard-right French opposition accused Macron of failing to ensure security in the territory. The left accused the president of imposing colonial tactics on a people who should be allowed self-determination.” It remains to be seen whether this deal will prove durable enough to weather criticism from so many angles.

* Much has been made of Attorney General Pam Bondi’s decision last week to not release any more information related to the Jeffrey Epstein investigation. A Department of Justice memo reads, “it is the determination of the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation that no further disclosure would be appropriate or warranted.” This has created a firestorm in the MAGA world, with many Trump supporters feeling betrayed as the president implied he would declassify these files if reelected. Now, Congressmen Thomas Massie and Ro Khanna have introduced the Epstein Files Transparency Act which would “force the House of Representatives to vote on the complete release of the government's files related to Jeffrey Epstein,” according to a press release from Massie’s office. This resolution specifically states the files cannot “be withheld, delayed, or redacted” should they cause “embarrassment, reputational harm, or political sensitivity, including to any government official, public figure, or foreign dignitary.” The resolution is attracting support from some Republicans, but it is unclear how far this will go under Speaker Johnson, who maintains there is “no daylight between his position and that of Trump,” per the Hill. The position of congressional Republicans has been further complicated by a bombshell report in the Wall Street Journal documenting previously unknown details of the intimate relationship between the late pedophile financier and the president.

* Meanwhile, the Trump administration is once again torching America’s reputation abroad – this time literally. The Atlantic reports “Five months into its unprecedented dismantling of foreign-aid programs, the Trump administration has given the order to incinerate food instead of sending it to people abroad who need it. Nearly 500 metric tons of emergency food—enough to feed about 1.5 million children for a week—are set to expire tomorrow, according to current and former government employees with direct knowledge of the rations. Within weeks…the food, meant for children in Afghanistan and Pakistan, will be ash.” This cartoonishly evil decision paired with the “Big Beautiful Bill”’s provisions cutting food assistance for children in poverty, point to one inescapable conclusion: the Trump administration wants children to starve.

* Finally, on the opposite end of the spectrum, Mexico News Daily reports the administration of President Claudia Sheinbaum is debuting a healthy, domestically produced and affordable staple for Mexican consumers – chocolate bars. “This ‘Chocolate de Bienestar’ is part of the government’s ‘Food for Well-Being’ strategy, which aims to bring nutritious and affordable food options to consumers while supporting national producers, particularly those in the southern states of Tabasco and Chiapas — a region that has historically lagged behind other regions in several social and economic indicators.” The Sheinbaum administration is stressing the health benefits of chocolate, noting that, “Studies have shown that chocolate improves cardiovascular health via its antioxidants, provides energy, helps control blood pressure, improves cognitive capacity, satisfies hunger and lifts mood.” At the same time, the administration is seeking to minimize the sugar content “striking a supposedly healthier balance between natural cane sugar and the cacao itself.” This chocolate will be available in three forms:

“Chocolate bar containing 50% cacao, and priced at…less than $1.

Powdered chocolate with 30% cocoa, priced...$2

Chocolate de mesa or tablet chocolate, with 35% cacao, priced at …$5”

This has been Francesco DeSantis, with In Case You Haven’t Heard.

We begin on a positive note by welcoming a “doer,” citizen extraordinaire, Jon Merryman, who couldn’t stand the trash, especially old tires, being dumped in his neighborhood. So, he took it upon himself to clean it up and has now expanded his efforts across the country. Then co-president of Public Citizen, Robert Weissman, joins us to explain how spending in the recent bill passed by the Republican controlled Congress prioritizes the Pentagon and deportation enforcement at the expense of the social safety net, essentially trading life for death.

Jon Merryman was a software designer at Lockheed Martin, who after retiring found his true calling, cleaning up trash in every county in America.

When I first started looking at the environment next to my place of work, one of the things I did uncover was tires. And they were definitely there from the '20s, the '30s, and the '40s, they've been there for decades. And then just after a while, the soil and the erosion just covers them up. And you just discover them, and you realize this has been going on forever.

Jon Merryman

Nature is innocent. It really doesn't deserve what we've given it. And I feel like someone's got to step up to undo what we've done.

Jon Merryman

Robert Weissman is a staunch public interest advocate and activist, as well as an expert on a wide variety of issues ranging from corporate accountability and government transparency to trade and globalization, to economic and regulatory policy. As the Co-President of Public Citizen, he has spearheaded the effort to loosen the chokehold corporations, and the wealthy have over our democracy.

The best estimates are that the loss of insurance and measures in this bill will cost 40,000 lives every year. Not once. Every year.

Robert Weissman co-president of Public Citizen on the Budget Bill

People understand there's a rigged system. They understand that generally. They understand that with healthcare. But if you (the Democrats) don't name the health insurance companies as an enemy, as a barrier towards moving forward. You don't say United Health; you don't go after a Big Pharma, which is probably the most despised health sector in the economy, people don't think you're serious. And partially it's because you’re not.

Robert Weissman

News 7/11/25

1. This week, the Financial Times published a stunning story showing the Tony Blair Institute – founded by the former New Labour British Prime Minister and Iraq War accomplice Tony Blair – “participated” in a project to “reimagine Gaza as a thriving trading hub.” This project would include a “Trump Riviera” and an “Elon Musk Smart Manufacturing Zone”. To accomplish this, the investors would pay half a million Palestinians to leave Gaza to open the enclave up for development – and that is just the tip of the harebrained iceberg. This scheme would also involve creating “artificial islands off the coast akin to those in Dubai, blockchain-based trade initiatives…and low-tax ‘special economic zones’.” The development of this plot is somewhat shadowy. The FT story names a, “group of Israeli businessmen…including tech investor Liran Tancman and venture capitalist Michael Eisenberg,” who helped establish the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in February 2025. GHF has been accused of using supposed aid distribution sites as “death traps,” per France 24. Boston Consulting Group, also named in the FT story, strongly disavowed the project, as did the Tony Blair Institute.

2. In more positive news related to Gaza, the National Education Association – the largest labor union in the United States – voted this week to sever ties with the Anti-Defamation League. The ADL, once an important group safeguarding the civil rights and wellbeing of American Jews, has completely abandoned its historic mission and has instead devoted its considerable resources to trying to crush the anti-Zionist movement. The NEA passed a resolution stating that the NEA “will not use, endorse, or publicize materials from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), such as its curricular materials or statistics,” because, “Despite its reputation as a civil rights organization, the ADL is not the social justice educational partner it claims to be.” Labor Notes writes that the ADL “has been a ubiquitous presence in U.S. schools for forty years, pushing curriculum, direct programming, and teacher training into K-12 schools and increasingly into universities.” One NEA delegate, Stephen Siegel, said from the assembly floor, “Allowing the ADL to determine what constitutes antisemitism would be like allowing the fossil fuel industry to determine what constitutes climate change.”

3. Another major labor story from this week concerns sanitation workers in Philadelphia. According to the Delaware News Journal, AFSCME District Council 33 has reached a deal with the city to raise wages for their 9,000 workers by 9% over three years. The union went on strike July 1st, resulting in, “massive piles of trash piling up on city streets and around trash drop-off sites designated by the city,” and “changes to the city’s annual Fourth of July concert with headliner LL Cool J and city native Jazmine Sullivan both dropping out,” in solidarity with the striking workers, per WHYY. The deal reached is a major compromise for the union, which was seeking a 32% total pay increase, but they held off on an extended trash pickup strike equivalent to 1986 strike, which went on for three weeks and left 45,000 tons of rotting garbage in the streets, per ABC.

4. Yet another labor story brings us to New York City. ABC7 reports the United Federation of Teachers has endorsed Democratic Socialist – and Democratic Party nominee – Zohran Mamdani for mayor. This report notes “UFT is the city's second largest union…[with] 200,000 members.” Announcing the endorsement, UFT President Michael Mulgrew stated, “This is a real crisis and it's a moment for our city, and our city is starting to speak out very loudly…The voters are saying the same thing, 'enough is enough.' The income gap disparity is above…that which we saw during the Gilded Age." All eyes now turn to District Council 37, which ABC7 notes “endorsed Council speaker Adrienne Adams in the primary and has yet to endorse in the general election.”

5. The margin of Mamdani’s victory, meanwhile, continues to grow as the Board of Elections updates its ranked choice voting tallies. According to the conservative New York Post, Zohran has “won more votes than any other mayoral candidate in New York City primary election history.” Mamdani can now boast having won over 565,000 votes after 102,000 votes were transferred from other candidates. Not only that, “Mamdani’s totals are expected to grow as…a small percent of ballots are still being counted.”

6. Meanwhile, scandal-ridden incumbent New York City Mayor Eric Adams has yet another scandal on his hands. The New York Daily News reports, “Four high-ranking former NYPD chiefs are suing Mayor Adams, claiming they were forced to retire from the department after complaining that his ‘unqualified’ friends were being placed in prestigious police positions, sometimes after allegedly bribing their way into the jobs.” Former Police Commissioner Edward Caban, who was already forced to resign in disgrace amidst a federal corruption investigation, features prominently in this new lawsuit. Among other things, Caban is alleged to have been “selling promotions” to cops for up to $15,000. Adams is running for reelection as an independent, but trails Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani and disgraced former Governor Andrew Cuomo.

7. Turning to the federal government, as the U.S. disinvests in science and technology, a new report published in the Financial Times finds that, “Almost three-quarters of all solar and wind power projects being built globally are in China.” According to the data, gathered by Global Energy Monitor, “China is building 510 gigawatts of utility-scale solar and wind projects… [out of] 689GW under construction globally.” As this report notes, one gigawatt can potentially supply electricity for about one million homes. This report goes on to say that, “China is expected to add at least 246.5GW of solar and 97.7GW of wind this year,” on top of the “1.5 terawatts of solar and wind power capacity up and running as of the end of March.” In the first quarter of 2025, solar and wind accounted for 22.5% of China’s total electricity consumption; in 2023, solar and wind accounted for around 14% of electricity consumption in the United States, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

8. Developments this week put two key rules promulgated by the Federal Trade Commission under former Chair Lina Khan in jeopardy. First and worse, NPR reports the Republican-controlled FTC is abandoning a rule which would have banned non-compete clauses in employment contracts. These anti-worker provisions “trap workers and depress wages,” according to Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy, who has introduced legislation to ban them by statute. Perhaps more irritatingly however, Reuters reports the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis has blocked the so-called “click to cancel” rule just days before it was set to take effect. This rule would have, “required retailers, gyms and other businesses to provide cancellation methods for subscriptions, auto-renewals and free trials that convert to paid memberships that are ‘at least as easy to use’ as the sign up process.” A coalition of corporate interests sued to block the rule, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and a trade group representing major cable and internet providers such as Charter Communications, Comcast and Cox Communications along with media companies like Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery. Lina Khan decried “Firms…making people jump through endless hoops just to cancel a subscription, trapping Americans in needless bureaucracy and wasting their time & money.”

9. In another betrayal of consumers, Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. continues to break promises and speak out of both sides of his mouth. A new report in NPR documents RFK Jr. speaking at a conference in April, where he “spoke about the health effects of exposure to harmful chemicals in our food, air and water…[and] cited recent research on microplastics from researchers in Oregon, finding these tiny particles had shown up in 99% of the seafood they sampled.” Yet Susanne Brander, the author of the study, had gotten word just an hour earlier that “a federal grant she'd relied on to fund her research for years…was being terminated.” Brander is quoted saying "It feels like they are promoting the field while ripping out the foundation." Ripping out the foundation of this research is felt acutely, as “regulators are weakening safeguards that limit pollution and other toxic chemicals.” So Mr. Secretary, which is more important – stopping the proliferation of microplastics or slashing funding for the very scientists studying the issue?

10. Finally, in Los Angeles masked federal troops are marauding through the streets on horseback, sowing terror through immigrant communities, per the New York Times. President Trump mobilized approximately 4,000 National Guard members – putting them under federal control – alongside 700 Marines in response to protests against immigration raids in June. As the Times notes, “It has been more than three weeks since the last major demonstration in downtown Los Angeles,” but the federal forces have not been demobilized. While some have dismissed the shows of force as nothing more than stunts designed to fire up the president’s base, Gregory Bovino, a Customs and Border Protection chief in Southern California told Fox News “[LA] Better get used to us now, cause this is going to be normal very soon.” As LA Mayor Karen Bass put it, “What I saw…looked like a city under siege, under armed occupation…It’s the way a city looks before a coup.”

This has been Francesco DeSantis, with In Case You Haven’t Heard.

Hassan El-Tayyeb of the Friends Committee on National Legislation returns with an update on the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the growing movement to end U.S. support for the assault. Then, Mackenzie Knight Boyle from the Federation of American Scientists walks us through the scale and secrecy of the U.S. nuclear weapons program — and the risks it poses to the world. Finally, constitutional scholar Bruce Fein joins us to call out the unchecked power and ethical failures of the Supreme Court.

Hassan El-Tayyab is the lead lobbyist on Middle East policy for the Friends Committee on National Legislation. Mr. El-Tayyab co-chairs the U.S. Ceasefire Coalition and leads the Friends Committee’s work to end the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, advocate for Palestinian human rights, and advance diplomacy with Iran.

(The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation) militarizes aid and is run by private armed contractors. It violates all these principles of neutrality, independence, impartiality. And we even saw the GHF's own executive director, Jake Wood, resign in protest in May, saying that he couldn't work in a way that didn't adhere to these humanitarian principles.

Hassan El-Tayyab

Mackenzie Knight-Boyle is a Senior Research Associate for the Nuclear Information Project at the Federation of American Scientists, where she co-authors the Nuclear Notebook––an authoritative open-source estimate of global nuclear forces and trends.

Probably the scariest false alarm was in 1979, A training cassette that was simulating a massive attack with nuclear missiles from the Soviet Union on the United States was mistakenly entered into the primary computer system of North American Aerospace Defense Command, NORAD. And it was then broadcast to other command centers as if it was going out in the National Command Authority alert system. And because of that, the proper procedures were followed for a situation like this, where the fighter jets took off. The nuclear bombers, carrying nuclear weapons, were put into the sky, missile crews were put on high alert, which means the missiles are ready to launch within seconds. And the president's doomsday plane, which is essentially the war room in the sky for the president in emergency situations, was also put into the air. And it took six minutes for them to realize that this was a training cassette that had been mistakenly put into the system.

Mackenzie Knight-Boyle

Bruce Fein is a Constitutional scholar and an expert on international law. Mr. Fein was Associate Deputy Attorney General under Ronald Reagan and he is the author of Constitutional Peril: The Life and Death Struggle for Our Constitution and Democracy, and American Empire: Before the Fall.

There can be good faith disagreements over the interpretation of the Constitution. But when you have a course of action which so systematically shows a favoritism towards limitless executive power towards corporations as well with regard to money and politics, no longer does it seem to be a matter of good faith, a disagreement, but it's a matter of advancing the partisan political interests of the president, the presidency, and that is, I think, an impeachable offense.

Bruce Fein (on impeaching Supreme Court justices)

News 7/4/25

1. The New York City Board of Elections has released the final results in the Democratic Mayoral primary – after accounting for reallocation of votes via ranked-choice tabulations. The final results are stunning. Zohran Mamdani, up by approximately seven points on election night, has emerged with a whopping 12-point victory over disgraced former Governor Andrew Cuomo. Perhaps even more impressive, Mamdani completely reshaped the electorate. According to the New York Times, he turned out young people in record numbers to the point that the largest voter bloc in this election was 18–29-year-olds, a complete reversal of usual trends.

2. Speaking of reversing trends, it is worth reviewing Zohran’s victory in light of the groups he won by large margins. Namely men, including young men of all backgrounds, as well as Latino and Asian voters, per Jacobin. These are groups that Democrats have notably lost ground with, including in New York City, and have devoted considerable resources to winning back to their coalition. Zohran’s win therefore should give Democrats a new sense of optimism and they should seek to embrace the winning course that he has charted.

3. Of course, being the Democratic Party, they are instead doing the opposite. Despite his earthquake victory, few high-profile New York Democrats have endorsed Zohran. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has not, nor has Governor Kathy Hochul, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, or other powerful New York House Democrats like Gregory Meeks. The other U.S. Senator from New York, Kirsten Gillibrand, has been openly hostile, calling Zohran “permissive [of] violence against Jews,” in an interview with Brian Lehrer on WNYC. This is of course racist, inflammatory and flatly untrue. Under pressure from other Democrats, Gillibrand retracted her statement, and “apologized for mischaracterizing Mamdani’s record and for her tone on the call,” according to POLITICO. This however gives us a taste of the kind of dirty tricks and defamatory rhetoric the party could deploy against Mamdani between now and November.

4. That said, Zohran is picking up significant backing locally – an indication that those actually on the ground know which way the wind is blowing. On Monday, Mamdani was endorsed by the NYC Central Labor Council-AFL-CIO. The NYCCLC is “the nation's largest regional labor federation…[bringing] together 300 unions… [and representing] more than 1 million workers.” On Tuesday, he won the endorsement of New York Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, who represents Westchester, according to reporter Vaughn Golden. Zohran has already earned the endorsement of New York Attorney General Tish James. Expect this divergence between national and local Democratic figures to continue.

5. In stark contrast to Zohran, whose political brand is defined by seemingly endless energy, Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman shocked observers this week when he complained about having to do the bare minimum as a U.S. Senator. According to Rolling Stone, during Senate deliberations on the so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill,” Fetterman was quoted saying “I just want to go home. I've missed our entire trip to the beach.” Fetterman’s comments are particularly galling seeing as he has been chronically absent from Senate hearings, committee meetings and even votes. In other words, Fetterman is complaining about doing the bare minimum for the people of Pennsylvania, but is failing to do even that.

6. The bill did of course pass, with Vice-President JD Vance voting to break a 50-50 tie vote in the Senate. On Twitter, Vance justified his vote from criticism regarding its massive cuts to Medicaid by saying “The thing that will bankrupt this country more than any other policy is flooding the country with illegal immigration and then giving those migrants generous benefits. The OBBB fixes this problem. And therefore it must pass.” AOC called his vote, “An absolute and utter betrayal of working families.”

7. In more news related to the bill, Trump and Elon Musk have been trading threats regarding its passage. On Monday, TIME reported Elon Musk tweeted, “If this insane spending bill passes, the America Party will be formed the next day. Our country needs an alternative to the Democrat-Republican uni-party, so that the people actually have a voice.” Musk added, “Every member of Congress who campaigned on reducing government spending and then immediately voted for the biggest debt increase in history should hang their head in shame…they will lose their primary next year, if it is the last thing I do on this Earth.” Musk has also reportedly thrown his financial weight behind Congressman Thomas Massie of Kentucky, perhaps the most vocal critic of Trump in the House Republican caucus. Trump is already backing a primary challenge against Massie; Musk intervening on the other side has turned this race into a climactic proxy battle between the two figures once called “co-presidents.”

8. Trump, for his part, threatened to deport Elon Musk. Asked about this directly, Trump told reporters, “We'll have to take a look. We might have to put DOGE on Elon. You know what DOGE is? The monster that might have to go back and eat Elon. Wouldn’t that be terrible? He gets a lot of subsidies,” per USA Today. This is of course true. Musk’s companies have received billions in corporate welfare from the federal government over the years. It is unclear how much the stock value of, for instance Tesla, would suffer from the money faucet being turned off.

9. Entertaining as Trump’s threats to deport Musk are however, we should not lose sight of the ever-darker reality of deportation setting in nationwide. NOLA.com reports “An Iranian woman who has lived in the United States for 47 years, has no criminal record, and is married to a US citizen was detained by ICE as she gardened outside her New Orleans home.” Expect to hear more stories of secret police rounding up law abiding Americans in the days to come.

10. Finally, in more positive news, Reuters reports China is quietly moving to rebuild Cuba’s energy grid. This report notes that “Officials…announced China was participating in a project to modernize Cuba's entire electrical grid, with 55 solar parks to be built in 2025, and another 37 by 2028, for a total of 2,000 MW - a massive undertaking that, when complete, would represent nearly two-thirds of present-day demand.” Cuba joined China’s international infrastructure development program Belt and Road in 2018. This report notes that China is taking on the development role that Russia formerly played in Havana, but has been unable to deliver on since it embarked on its special military operation-turned-quagmire in Ukraine. Cuba’s energy grid has experienced continue failures for the past several years for myriad reasons, exacerbated by Trump’s increasingly draconian sanctions regime. This is just another example of a reality becoming increasingly clear to much of the world: the U.S. tears down developing countries’ infrastructure, China helps build it up.

This has been Francesco DeSantis, with In Case You Haven’t Heard.

In the aftermath of the U.S. bombing of Iranian nuclear facilities, we welcome back Theodore Postol, Professor of Science, Technology and National Security Policy Emeritus at MIT to give his expert technical assessment on where that assault leaves the Iranian nuclear program. Then, Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, gives us his analysis of the political side of the issue.

Theodore Postol is Professor of Science, Technology and National Security Policy Emeritus in the Program in Science, Technology, and Society at MIT. His expertise is in nuclear weapon systems, including submarine warfare, applications of nuclear weapons, ballistic missile defense, and ballistic missiles more generally.

No one at that point after the attack could have known whether or not there was success of any kind, even if there was success. And I doubt there was any success.

Theodore Postol

The Israelis have done everything in their power to create an internal argument among the political leadership in Iran to proceed to build a nuclear weapon so that this kind of thing won't happen again. So the Israeli grand strategy, if you want to call it that, shows no intelligence or thought of any kind.

Theodore Postol

Trita Parsi is the executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, and the co-founder and former President of the National Iranian American Council. He is an expert on US-Iranian relations, Iranian foreign policy, and the geopolitics of the Middle East. He has authored three books on US foreign policy in the Middle East, with a particular focus on Iran and Israel— Treacherous Alliance: The Secret Dealings of Iran, Israel and the United States, A Single Roll of the Dice – Obama’s Diplomacy with Iran, and Losing an Enemy: Obama, Iran and the Triumph of Diplomacy.

Israel is not enhancing American power in the Middle East. Israel is consuming it.

Trita Parsi, Executive VP of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft

If the (Iranian regime) were to collapse it would most likely be because there would be an internal coup. And the next regime would be coming from the very same regime. It would just be a much more aggressive and hardline.

Trita Parsi

20 Worst Recent Trump Headlines

1. Trump Administration Abruptly Cuts Billions From State Health Services (Apoorva Mandavilli, Margot Sanger-Katz and Jan Hoffman, New York Times, March 26, 2025)

2. The EPA is canceling almost 800 environmental justice grants, court filing reveals (Maxine Joselow and Amudalat Ajasa, Washington Post, April 29, 2025)

3. Trump’s attack on federal unions a ‘test case’ for broader assault, warn lawyers (Michael Sainato, The Guardian, 5/1/25)

4. Trump fires all 3 Democrats on the Consumer Product Safety Commission (Jaclyn Diaz, NPR, 5/9/25)

5. Federal employee unions fight for survival as Trump tries to eviscerate them (Andrea Hsu, NPR, 5/11/25)

6. Trump’s DOJ agrees to let Boeing escape guilty plea. It was a deal victims’ families didn’t want. (Alexis Keenan, Yahoo Finance, 5/23/25)

7. Trump made a promise not to touch Medicare. His megabill just broke it. (Alan L. Cohen, NBC, 5/23/25)

8. Trump’s safety research cuts heighten workplace risks, federal workers warn (Michael Sainato, The Guardian, 5/27/25)

9. Provision in GOP budget bill puts millions at risk of losing SNAP benefits (Lisa Desjardins and Jackson Hudgins, PBS, 5/29/25)

10. White House proposes shutting down chemical safety agency (Maxine Joselow Washington Post, 6/3/25)

11. Trump tax bill would add $550 billion in interest payments to national debt (Jacob Bogage, Washington Post, 6/5/25)

12. RFK Jr. boots all members of the CDC's vaccine advisory committee (Will Stone, NPR, 6/9/25)

13. Vance, Rubio peddle fiction that 88 percent of foreign aid doesn’t go overseas (Glenn Kessler, Washington Post, 6/11/25)

14. Trump's EPA plans to repeal climate pollution limits on fossil fuel power plants (Jeff Brady, NPR, 6/11/25)

15. How Trump’s assault on science is blinding America to climate change (Scott Waldman, E&E News, 6/16/2025)

16. ‘Censorship:’ See the National Park visitor responses after Trump requested help deleting ‘negative’ signage (Government Executive Magazine, 6/18/25)

17. Government drops cases against ‘predatory’ financial firms (Peter Whoriskey, Washington Post, 6/20/25)

18. 'Hell no, insane': A proposal for millions of acres of land under Trump's 'big, beautiful' bill sparks outrage (No Byline, Economic Times, 6/23/25)

19. Under Trump’s ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ child poverty will rise again (Arturo Baiocchi, Sacramento Bee, 6/23/25)

20. Trump loves saying 'You're fired.' Now he's making it easier to fire federal workers (Andrea Hsu, NPR, 6/23/25)

News 6/27/25

1. After a brutal initial barrage by the United States, followed by tit-for-tat exchanges between Israel and Iran, the U.S. is seeking to broker a ceasefire between the two states. On Truth Social, Trump posted “ISRAEL is not going to attack Iran. All planes will turn around and head home, while doing a friendly ‘Plane Wave’ to Iran. Nobody will be hurt, the Ceasefire is in effect!” Just hours after this however, Israel did in fact bomb targets in Tehran, per Reuters. Israel also claims to have intercepted missiles fired from Iran following the ceasefire agreement. In the wake of the initial attacks, journalist Séamus Malekafzali reported that the “Iranian communist party Tudeh and the Communist Party of Israel [Hadash] release[d] a joint statement condemning the Israeli war on Iran, saying Israel's intent is to make the region ‘bow down to [US] imperialism’ and that the only solution is full nuclear disarmament in the Middle East.” Israel’s nuclear capabilities are an open secret in Washington, with estimates that the country possess between 90 and 400 nuclear warheads.

2. In Congress, Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia has put forth a War Powers resolution in an attempt to check Trump’s unilateral escalation in Iran. According to Newsweek, he expects to get Republican votes in the Senate. In the House, the effort is led by Reps. Ro Khanna and maverick Republican Thomas Massie, whom Trump has become so enraged with that he recently launched a PAC to oust him from his seat, per Axios. Meanwhile, AOC issued a statement reading, “The President’s disastrous decision to bomb Iran without authorization is a grave violation of the Constitution and Congressional War Powers. He has impulsively risked launching a war that may ensnare us for generations. It is absolutely and clearly grounds for impeachment.” Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, asked about AOC’s impeachment comments, replied “No, no, that’s a big threshold to cross,” per David Weigel.

3. The escalation in Iran has exposed fissures in Trump’s orbit. PBS reports major MAGA figures like Steve Bannon, Tucker Carlson and Marjorie Taylor-Greene are openly opposed, while Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has reportedly drawn Trump’s ire for a string of comments out of step with the administration’s messaging, starting with a video earlier this month in which she accused “political elites and warmongers [of] carelessly fomenting fear and tension between nuclear powers,” per the Independent. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has been iced out completely, according to the Washington Post.

4. In more news concerning the administration, the Project on Government Oversight (POGO) has published a new report, finding that “Stephen Miller…Trump’s powerful deputy chief of staff and homeland security advisor…has a personal financial stake…[of] up to a quarter million dollars of stock in Palantir.” POGO describes Palantir, the shadowy tech company founded by rightwing tech oligarch Peter Thiel, as “woven into the operations of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and used by other federal agencies such as the Pentagon.” POGO and other experts see this as a glaring potential conflict of interest. In an almost darkly comedic twist, “Democratic lawmakers have recently sought information from Palantir, [but] they are in the minority and cannot compel the company to produce records. A person who could is Representative James Comer (R-KY), the chairman of the [House] oversight committee...However, Comer bought…Palantir stock the day after Trump’s inauguration…his only stock trade that day.” Palantir is the second-best-performing S&P 500 stock in 2025, with shares up 74% year-to-date, per Business Insider.

5. In a rare case of corruption actually being prosecuted, the New York Times reports former New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez reported for his eleven-year prison sentence on June 17th. “After a nine-week trial in Manhattan, Mr. Menendez…became the only U.S. senator ever to be convicted of acting as an agent of a foreign government,” after taking part in a “yearslong bribery conspiracy” that included payoffs in the form of “kilo bars of gold, a Mercedes-Benz convertible and more than $480,000 in cash.” Menendez is now incarcerated at the Federal Correctional Institution, Schuylkill, a medium-security federal prison in Minersville, Pennsylvania. He has been assigned the prisoner number 67277-050.

6. In other news, POLITICO reports, “FICO plans to launch a suite of credit scores later this year that incorporate [Buy Now Pay Later or BNPL] data, providing lenders a window into…consumers’ repayment behavior on these increasingly popular installment loans.” As BNPL data has not been included in credit reporting before, this has become known as “phantom debt…a gigantic black box…[and] largely unregulated.” This story notes that the Trump administration CFPB has “dropped planned enforcement of a Biden administration rule that would have treated BNPL providers like credit card companies,” subjecting this industry to daylight and financial regulation. The administration’s abandonment of this rule mirrors their declassification of cryptocurrency as securities in order to skirt SEC oversight. Many questions remain over how exactly BNPL data will factor into consumers’ credit scores, but many are bracing for this data to reveal a growing chasm of consumer debt underpinning the already shaky economic picture.

7. Meanwhile Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia University student and activist abducted by ICE on the eve of his son’s birth – despite being a legal permanent resident – has finally been freed. Khalil was held in federal immigration detention in Louisiana for 104 days, per AP. Following his release, Khalil said “Justice prevailed, but it’s very long overdue.” Khalil’s legal battle will continue. Khalil stated in an interview with NPR, “My release is just the first step. The legal fight is still very, very long. The administration appealed the decision about my release, but we will prove our case – that what happened…was textbook retaliation against the First Amendment, that I was targeted because of speech the government did not like, and that there was nothing wrong with the speech I was engaged in. I want to make sure that everyone who contributed to my arrest will be held accountable.”

8. Backlash to Trump’s immigration policies is not confined to the political and legal realms either. Newsweek reports that the new Pope, Leo XIV, has “called for priests, deacons and parish leaders to accompany migrants to court and stand in solidarity with them.” This is an encouraging sign for those who hoped Leo would follow in the footsteps of Pope Francis. It also puts the new Pope at odds with more conservative American Catholics, such as Vice-President JD Vance who converted in adulthood. In May, Leo’s brother John Prevost told New York Times that the new Pope, “has great, great desire to help the downtrodden and the disenfranchised, the people who are ignored.”

9. In another immigration flashpoint, “A gang of masked federal agents swarmed, manhandled, and detained New York City Comptroller Brad Lander…as he sought to assist a defendant out of immigration court,” according to the American Prospect. The Prospect notes this arrest is “the latest instance of political violence against opposition party members, which has included the arrests of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka and New Jersey Rep. LaMonica McIver…the arrest of Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan…and the brief detention of Sen. Alex Padilla.” Lander was released several hours after he was detained, when New York Governor Kathy Hochul showed up in person to demand his release. She called his arrest “b******t.” Later, in an interview with Joe Gallina, Lander said, “Courts tell undocumented immigrants their cases are ‘dismissed.’ But what they really dismiss… is their asylum status. Then ICE grabs them. No lawyer. No warning.”

10. Finally, 33-year-old democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani trounced disgraced former Governor Andrew Cuomo in the New York City Democratic mayoral primary on Tuesday, winning by a completely unforeseen seven-point landslide. Polls up to election day showed Cuomo winning, some by as much as 24 points. Mamdani, a state legislator since 2021, ran on a platform of affordability, including making city buses free, establishing city-owned grocery stores and freezing the rent for all stabilized tenants. This platform – paired with cogent messaging, an extraordinary grassroots organizing campaign and shrewd alliances with other progressive candidates like Brad Lander – won the day for Zohran. However, an air of uncertainty about November remains. Incumbent Mayor Eric Adams still plans to run for reelection as an independent and Cuomo hasn’t ruled out doing the same, per the Hill. While many who endorsed or donated to Cuomo in the primary – some now openly admitting they merely did so out of fear of reprisal – have switched their allegiance to Mamdani, some are maintaining a hostile posture towards the presumptive Democratic nominee. There is no doubt this story will proceed in dramatic fashion.

This has been Francesco DeSantis, with In Case You Haven’t Heard.

To give us the benefit of his vast experience as a diplomat, former Ambassador Chas Freeman, helps us sort through the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran. Then Christian Sorenson, military analyst from the Eisenhower Media Network, explains just how the military industrial complex works.

Ambassador Chas Freeman is a retired career diplomat who has negotiated on behalf of the United States with over 100 foreign governments in East and South Asia, Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, and both Western and Eastern Europe. Ambassador Freeman served as U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense, U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia, acting Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, and Deputy Chief of Mission and Chargé d’Affaires in the American embassies at both Bangkok and Beijing. He was Director for Chinese Affairs at the U.S. Department of State from 1979-1981.

The claim that suddenly Iran was on the verge of building a nuclear weapon has no basis in fact. And neither the CIA nor the Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, agree with the statement of the President that Iran is about to build a bomb.

Ambassador Chas Freeman

The Israelis have a strange way of negotiating. They went into negotiations with Hamas, and they killed the top two people in charge of the negotiations. Then they go into negotiations – with U.S. auspices – with Iran. And in the middle of them, they kill the top military and scientific people in Iran.

Ambassador Chas Freeman

It’s as least as likely, maybe more likely, that there will be regime change in Jerusalem as there will be regime change in Tehran.

Ambassador Chas Freeman

Christian Sorensen is the Associate Director of the Eisenhower Media Network. He is an author and military affairs analyst covering the business of war. Mr. Sorenson is a former U.S. Air Force Arabic linguist, served at a variety of stateside posts and a tour in Qatar. He is the author of “Understanding the War Industry.” Since leaving the military, he has become the foremost expert studying military contracting and how corporations profit from war.

The U.S. taxpayer gives any year around three to $4 billion of U.S. tax dollars to Israel, and then Israel is supposed to turn around and use that money to purchase from the U.S. war industry. So it is incredibly profitable for the U.S. ruling class to do that because it doesn't come out of the pockets of the U.S. ruling class because the U.S. ruling class doesn't pay their fair share of taxes.

Christian Sorenson

Per Ralph's call to action - Even non-veterans can sign up for Veterans for Peace

First up, Georgetown law professor and former national legal director at the ACLU, David Cole, joins us to discuss the legal response to the Trump Administration’s serial violations of the Constitution. Then Mike Ferner of Veterans for Peace checks in to update us halfway through his Fast for Gaza, 40 days of living on 250 calories per day, which is the average caloric intake of Palestinian survivors in Gaza. Finally, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, Joe Holley, stops by to pay tribute to his mentor and colleague, the late crusading journalist, Ronnie Dugger, founder of the progressive Texas Observer.

David Cole is the Honorable George J. Mitchell Professor in Law and Public Policy and former National Legal Director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). He writes about and teaches constitutional law, freedom of speech, and constitutional criminal procedure. He is a regular contributor to The New York Review of Books and is the legal affairs correspondent for The Nation.

Trump is obviously not concerned about antisemitism. He's concerned about targeting schools because they are places where people can criticize the president, where people can think independently, are taught to think independently, and often don't support what the president is doing. He's using his excuse to target a central institution of civil society.

David Cole

The decision on Trump versus the United States is only about criminal liability for criminal acts, not for unconstitutional acts. And violating the Constitution is not a crime. Every president has violated the Constitution probably since George Washington. That's not a crime.

David Cole

Mike Ferner served in the Navy during the Vietnam War, and he is former National Director and current Special Projects Coordinator for Veterans for Peace. He is the author of Inside the Red Zone: A Veteran for Peace Reports from Iraq.

Two hundred and fifty calories is technically, officially, a starvation diet, and we're doing it for 40 days. The people in Gaza have been doing it for months and months and months, and they're dying like crazy. That's the whole concern that we're trying to raise. And I'll tell you at the end of this fast, on the 40th day, we are not just going out silently. There are going to be some fireworks before we're done with this thing. So all I'm saying is: stay tuned.

Mike Ferner: Special Projects Coordinator of Veterans for Peace on “FastforGaza”

They're (The Veterans Administration is) being defamed, Ralph, for the same reason that those right-wing corporatists defamed public education. So they can privatize it. And that's exactly what they're trying to do with the VA. And I can tell you every single member of Veterans for Peace has got nothing but praise for the VA.

Mike Ferner

Joe Holley was the editor of the Texas Observer in the early 1980s. A former staff writer at The Washington Post and a Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial writer and columnist at the Houston Chronicle, he is the author of eight books, mostly about Texas.

He would talk to people, and he would find out things going on about racial discrimination, about farm workers being mistreated, all kind of stories that the big papers weren't reporting. And this one guy, young Ronnie Dugger, would write these stories and expose things about Texas that a lot of Texans just did not know.

Joe Holley on the late progressive journalist, Ronnie Dugger

He knew the dark side of Texas, but he always had an upbeat personality. I had numerous conversations with Ronnie (Dugger), and he was ferociously independent.

Ralph Nader

News 6/13/25

1. On Monday, Israeli forces seized the Madleen, the ship carrying activist Greta Thunberg and others attempting to bring food and other supplies past the Israeli blockade into Gaza, and detained the crew. The ship was part of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition and Thunberg had been designated an “Ambassador of Conscience,” by Amnesty International. The group decried her detention, with Secretary General Agnès Callamard writing, “Israel has once again flouted its legal obligations towards civilians in the occupied Gaza Strip and demonstrated its chilling contempt for legally binding orders of the International Court of Justice.” On Tuesday, CBS reported that Israel deported Thunberg. Eight other passengers refused deportation and the Jerusalem Post reports they remain in Israeli custody. They will be represented in Israeli courts by Adalah - The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel. One of these detainees is Rima Hassan, a French member of the European Parliament.

2. Shortly before the Madleen was intercepted, members of Congress sent a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressing concern for the safety of these activists, citing the deadly 2010 raid of the Mavi Marmara, which ultimately resulted in the death of ten activists, including an American. This letter continued, “any attack on the Madleen or its civilian crew is a clear and blatant violation of international law. United Nations experts have called for the ship’s safe passage and warned Israel to “refrain from any act of hostility” against the Madleen and its passengers…We call on you to monitor the Madleen’s journey and deter any such hostile actions.” This letter was led by Rep. Rashida Tlaib, and drew signatures from Congressional progressives like Reps. Summer Lee, AOC, Ilhan Omar, Greg Casar, and others.

3. On the other end of the political spectrum, Trump – ever unpredictable – seemed to criticize Israel’s detention of Thunberg. In a press conference, “Trump was…asked about Thunberg's claim that she had been kidnapped.” The president responded “I think Israel has enough problems without kidnapping Greta Thunberg…Is that what she said? She was kidnapped by Israel?” The reporter replied “Yes, sir,” to which “Trump responded by shaking his head.” This from Newsweek.

4. Of course, the major Trump news this week is his response to the uprising in Los Angeles. Set off by a new wave of ICE raids, protesters have clashed with police in the streets and Trump has responded by increasingly upping the ante, including threatening to arrest California Governor Gavin Newsom, per KTLA. Beyond such bluster however, Trump has moved to deploy U.S. Marines onto the streets of the nation’s second-largest city. Reuters reports, “About 700 Marines were in a staging area in the Seal Beach area about 30 miles…south of Los Angeles, awaiting deployment to specific locations,” in addition to 2,100 National Guard troops. The deployment of these troops raises thorny legal questions. Per Reuters, “The Marines and National Guard troops lack the authority to makes arrests and will be charged only with protecting federal property and personnel,” but “California Attorney General Rob Bonta… [said] there was a risk that could violate an 1878 law that…forbids the U.S. military, including the National Guard, from taking part in civilian law enforcement.” Yet, despite all the tumult, these protests seem to have gotten the goods, so to speak: the City of Glendale announced it would, “end its agreement with…ICE to house federal immigration detainees.” All of this sets quite a scene going into Trump’s military parade in DC slated for Saturday, June 14th.

5. In classic fashion however, Trump’s tough posture does not extend to corporate crime. Public Citizen’s Rick Claypool reports, “Trump's DOJ just announced American corporations that engage in criminal bribery schemes abroad will no longer be prosecuted.” Claypool cites a June 9th memo from Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, which reads, “Effective today, prosecutors shall…not attribute…malfeasance to corporate structures.” Claypool also cites a Wall Street Journal piece noting that “the DOJ has already ended half of its criminal investigations into corporate bribery in foreign countries and shrunk its [Foreign Corrupt Practices Act] unit down to 25 employees.”

6. Americans can at least take small comfort in one thing: the departure of Elon Musk from the top rungs of government. It remains to be seen what exactly precipitated his final exit and how deep his rift with Trump goes – Musk has already backed down on his harshest criticisms of the president, deleting his tweet claiming Trump was in Epstein files, per ABC. Yet, this appears to be a victory for Steve Bannon and the forces he represents within Trump’s inner circle. On June 5th, the New York Times reported that Bannon, “said he was advising the president to cancel all [Musk’s] contracts and… ‘initiate a formal investigation of his immigration status’.” Bannon added, “[Musk] should be deported from the country immediately.’” Bannon has even called for a special counsel probe, per the Hill. Bannon’s apparent ascendency goes beyond the Oval Office as well. POLITICO Playbook reports Bannon had a 20-minute-long conversation with Pennsylvania Democratic Senator John Fetterman on Monday evening – while Fetterman dined with Washington bureau chief for Breitbart, Matt Boyle – at Butterworth’s, the DC MAGA “watering hole.” This also from the Hill.

7. On the way out, the Daily Beast reports, “Elon Musk’s goons at the Department of Government Efficiency transmitted a large amount of data—all of it undetected—using a Starlink Wi-Fi terminal they installed on top of the White House.” Sources “suggested that the [the installation of the Starlink terminal] was intended to bypass White House systems that track the transmission of data—with names and time stamps—and secure it from spies.” It is unknown exactly what data Musk and his minions absconded with, and for what purpose. We can only hope the public gets some answers.

8. With Musk and Trump parting ways, other political forces are now seeking to woo the richest man in the world. Semafor reports enigmatic Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna, who represents Silicon Valley and chaired Bernie Sanders’ campaign in California, “talked with one of…Musk’s ‘senior confidants’ …about whether the ex-DOGE leader…might want to help the Democratic Party in the midterms.” Khanna added, “Having Elon speak out against the irrational tariff policy, against the deficit exploding Trump bill, and the anti-science and anti-immigrant agenda can help check Trump’s unconstitutional administration…I look forward to Elon turning his fire against MAGA Republicans instead of Democrats in 2026.” On the other hand, the Hill reports ex-Democrat Andrew Yang is publicly appealing to Musk for an alliance following Musk’s call for the establishment of an “America Party.” Yang himself founded the Forward Party in 2021. Yang indicated Musk has not responded to his overtures.

9. Meanwhile, the leadership of the Democratic Party appears to be giving up entirely. In a leaked Zoom meeting, DNC Chair Ken Martin – only elected in February – said, “I don’t know if I wanna do this anymore,” per POLITICO. On this call, Martin expressed frustration with DNC Vice Chair David Hogg, blaming him for, “[destroying] any chance I have to show the leadership that I need to.” Hogg meanwhile has doubled down, defying DNC leadership by “wading into another primary,” this time for the open seat left by the death of Congressman Gerry Conolly in Virginia, the Washington Post reports. The DNC is still weighing whether to void Hogg’s election as Vice Chair.

10. Finally, in some good news from New York City, State Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani appears to have closed the gap with disgraced former Governor Andrew Cuomo. Cuomo began the race with a 40-point lead; a new Data for Progress poll shows that lead has been cut down to just two points. Moreover, that poll was conducted before Mamdani was endorsed by AOC, who is expected to bring with her substantial support from Latinos and residents of Queens, among other groups. Notably, Mamdani has racked up tremendous numbers among young men, a demographic the Democratic Party has struggled to attract in recent elections. Cuomo will not go down without a fight however. The political nepo-baby has already secured a separate ballot line for the November election, meaning he will be in the race even if he loses the Democratic primary, and he is being boosted by a new million-dollar digital ad spend by Airbnb, per POLITICO. The New York City Democratic Primary will be held on June 24th.

This has been Francesco DeSantis, with In Case You Haven’t Heard.

Ralph welcomes Heidi Shierholz, president of the Economic Policy Institute, to break down the budget bill passing through Congress that is the largest transfer of wealth from the poor and working-class to the wealthy in United States history. Then, insurance expert, Robert Hunter returns to discuss the recent rise in auto insurance rates.

Heidi Shierholz is the president of the Economic Policy Institute, a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank that uses the power of its research on economic trends and on the impact of economic policies to advance reforms that serve working people, deliver racial justice, and guarantee gender equity. In 2021 she became the fourth president EPI has had since its founding in 1986.

We've never seen a budget that so plainly takes from the poor to give to the rich… The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office found that lower and lower middle-income people will actually lose out. They may get something of a tax break, but they lose benefits. So that on net, their after-tax income will be lower after this bill, while the rich just make out like bandits.

Heidi Shierholz, President of the Economic Policy Institute

The draconian cuts that we are seeing to the safety net are not big enough, because the tax increases are so huge that this bill also increases the deficit dramatically.

Heidi Shierholz

Many folks are calling this the MAGA Murder Bill. They're not wrong. People will die because of the cuts that we're seeing here.

Heidi Shierholz

Robert Hunter is the Director Emeritus of Insurance at the Consumer Federation of America. He has held many positions in the field, both public and private, including being the Commissioner of Insurance for the State of Texas being the President and Founder of the National Insurance Consumer Organization and served as United States Federal Insurance Administrator.

Decide how much you need. Don't ask for more than you really need. And then once you have it, “I need this much for my car. I need this much if I hit somebody” and so on. And then you get that statistic, and you send it out to several companies and get quotes.

Robert Hunter on buying auto insurance

There isn't any program benefiting the American people that Trump is not cutting in order to turn the country over to the giant corporations and the super-rich. It's basically an overthrow of the government and an overthrow of the rule of law.

Ralph Nader

News 6/6/25

1. On May 23rd, the Trump administration Department of Justice officially announced it had reached an agreement with Boeing to drop its criminal case against the airline manufacturer related to the 2018 and 2019 crashes that killed 346 people, NPR reports. The turnover at the federal government in recent years has prolonged this case; the first Trump administration reached a deferred prosecution agreement with Boeing in 2021, but prosecutors revived the criminal case under President Biden, and as NPR notes, “Boeing agreed last year to plead guilty to defrauding regulators, but a federal judge rejected that proposed plea deal.” Just before the deal was reached, Senators Elizabeth Warren and Richard Blumenthal penned a letter calling on the DOJ not to “allow [Boeing] to weasel its way out of accountability for its failed corporate culture, and for any illegal behavior that has resulted in deadly consequence,” but this was clearly ignored. Paul Cassell, a law professor at the University of Utah and former federal judge who, according to NPR, is representing the families of victims for free, said, “This kind of non-prosecution deal is unprecedented and obviously wrong for the deadliest corporate crime in U.S. history…My families will object and hope to convince the court to reject [the deal]."

2. That same day, Trump signed a new executive order to “cut down on regulations and fast-track new licenses for [nuclear] reactors and power plants,” per Reuters. According to the wire service, “Shares of uranium mining companies Uranium Energy…Energy Fuels…and Centrus Energy…jumped between 19.6% and 24.2%” following this announcement. Sam Altman-backed nuclear startup Oklo gained 23.1%. The administration’s new interest in the nuclear industry is spurred in part by increased demand for energy as, “power-hungry data centers dedicated to artificial intelligence and crypto miners plug into the grid.” The nuclear industry is also expected to retain many tax incentives stripped away from green energy initiatives in the so-called Big Beautiful Bill.

3. In yet another instance of the Trump administration going soft on corporate greed, the Republican-controlled Federal Trade Commission has dismissed their case against PepsiCo. As the AP explains, “The lawsuit…alleged that PepsiCo was giving unfair price advantages to Walmart at the expense of other vendors and consumers,” citing the 1936 Robinson-Patman Act, which bans companies from “using promotional incentive payments to favor large customers over smaller ones.” Current FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson called the case a “dubious partisan stunt,” in a press release. Former Chair Lina Khan however, called the dismissal “disturbing,” and wrote, “This lawsuit would’ve protected families from paying higher prices at the grocery store and stopped conduct that squeezes small businesses and communities across America. Dismissing it is a gift to giant retailers as they gear up to hike prices.”

4. Instead of utilizing the federal regulatory apparatus to protect consumers and the public, the Trump administration instead continues to weaponize these institutions to target progressive groups. According to Axios, the FTC is “investigating…Media Matters over claims that it and other media advocacy groups coordinated advertising boycotts of Elon Musk's X.” As this report notes, “X [formerly Twitter] sued Media Matters for defamation in 2023 for a report it publicly released that showed ads on X running next to pro-Nazi content. X claimed the report contributed to an advertiser exodus.” While it seems unlikely the social media platform could prevail in such a suit, the suit has effectively cowed the advertising industry, with the World Federation of Advertisers dismantling their Global Alliance for Responsible Media just months after the suit was filed. Media Matters president Angelo Carusone is quoted saying, “The Trump administration has been defined by naming right-wing media figures to key posts and abusing the power of the federal government to bully political opponents and silence critics…that's exactly what's happening here…These threats won't work; we remain steadfast to our mission.”

5. On Thursday, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cotez endorsed State Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani in his bid for Mayor of New York City, POLITICO reports. This endorsement came the morning after the first mayoral primary debate, a rollicking affair featuring nine candidates and including a testy exchange in which the moderators disregarded their own rules to press Mamdani to say whether he believed in “a Jewish state of Israel?” Mamdani responded that he believed Israel has a right to exist “as a state with equal rights.” This from the Times of Israel. In her endorsement, AOC wrote “Assemblymember Mamdani has demonstrated a real ability on the ground to put together a coalition of working-class New Yorkers that is strongest to lead the pack…In the final stretch of the race, we need to get very real about that.” Ocasio-Cortez said she would rank Adrienne Adams, Brad Lander, Scott Stringer and Zellnor Myrie in that order after Mamdani.

6. Turning to Palestine itself, the Times of Israel reports notorious Biden State Department spokesman Matthew Miller admitted in an interview that, “It is without a doubt true that Israel has committed war crimes” in Gaza. While Miller stops short of accusing the Israeli government of pursuing “a policy of deliberately committing war crimes,” and repeats the tired canard that Hamas resisted ceasefire negotiations, he admits that the Biden administration “could have done [more] to pressure the Israeli government to agree to…[a] ceasefire.” Hopefully, Miller’s admission will help crack the dam of silence and allow the truth to be told about this criminal military campaign.

7. Even as Miller makes this admission, the merciless bombing of Palestinians continues. The Guardian reports “On Sunday, at least 31 Palestinians were killed after Israeli forces opened fire at the site of a food distribution centre in Rafah…On Monday, another three Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire at the same site…And on Tuesday, 27 people were killed after Israeli forces opened fire again, say Gaza officials.” This report continues, citing UN human rights chief, Volker Türk, who said on Tuesday that “Palestinians in Gaza now faced an impossible choice: ‘Die from starvation or risk being killed while trying to access the meagre food that is being made available.’” Türk added that by attacking civilians, Israel is committing yet more war crimes.

8. Some high-profile activists are taking direct action to deliver food to Gaza. Democracy Now! reports 12 activists aboard The Madleen, part of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, have departed from the Italian port of Catania. This group includes Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, actor Liam Cunningham, and Rima Hassan, a French member of the European Parliament. Despite the previous ship being targeted by a drone attack, Thunberg is quoted saying “We deem the risk of silence and the risk of inaction to be so much more deadly than this mission.” Threats to the flotilla continue to pour in. South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham tweeted, “Hope Greta and her friends can swim!” In Israel itself, IDF spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin ominously stated “we will act accordingly," per FOX News.

9. In more foreign policy news, Gareth Gore – a Washington Post reporter and author of Opus, an exposé of the shadowy Opus Dei sect within the Catholic Church – reports Pope Leo has given Opus Dei six months to “pass comprehensive reforms” and has told the group that if significant changes are not made by December, “necessary measures will be taken.” Gore further reports that in addition to the reforms, “[Pope] Leo has also demanded an investigation into abuse allegations…[including] human trafficking, enslavement…[and] physical and psychological abuse of members.” According to Gore, the reforms were first ordered by Pope Francis in 2022, but “Opus Dei dragged its feet – in the hope the pope would pass away first.” Upon his death, Pope Francis had been on the, “cusp of signing into canon law a huge reform of Opus Dei.” The Vatican was also moving to force a vote on a revised Opus Dei constitution, which was, “quietly cancelled” within hours of Francis’ death. Perhaps most tellingly, Gore reports “The Vatican has privately reassured Opus Dei victims who have long campaigned for justice that they ‘won’t be disappointed’”

10. Finally, a political earthquake has occurred in South Korea. Listeners may remember the failed coup attempt by right-wing former President Yoon Suk Yeol, which culminated in his ouster and could ultimately lead to a sentence of life in prison or even death. Now, the country has elected a new president, Lee Jae-myung, by a margin of 49.4% to 41.2%. Lee, who leads Korea’s Democratic People’s Party, has “endured a barrage of criminal indictments and an assassination attempt,” since losing the last presidential election by a margin of less than 1 per cent, per the Financial Times. Lee is a former factory worker who campaigned in a bulletproof vest after surviving being knifed in the neck last year. The FT notes “Lee…grew up in poverty and suffered [a] permanent injury at the age of 13 when his arm was crushed in a machine at the baseball glove factory where he worked…in 2022 [he] declared his ambition to be a ‘successful Bernie Sanders’.” That said, he has pivoted to the center in his recent political messaging. Beyond the impact of Lee’s election on the future of Korean democracy, his tenure is sure to set a new tone in Korea’s relations with their neighbors including the US, the DPRK, China and Japan.

This has been Francesco DeSantis, with In Case You Haven’t Heard.

We hear from citizen activist, Diana Kastenbaum, who organized a town meeting in her congressional district in Western New York State filled with both Democrats and Republicans airing their concerns. How did the district’s representative respond? We’ll hear the whole story. Then, Ralph welcomes back Washington Post tech reporter, Geoffrey Fowler, to discuss his latest report about how Meta promised parents it would automatically shield teens from harmful content. Find out what happened when Mr. Fowler and a group of Gen Z users put that promise to the test. Plus, we hear from RootsAction.org director Norman Solomon about the petition his group and Progressive Democrats of America sent to the DNC for an emergency meeting challenging how the party elites are responding to the authoritarian creep of the Trump Administration. Finally, Ralph calls for listeners to flood the White House switchboard to exhort the Administration to end the indiscriminate slaughter in Gaza.

Diana Kastenbaum lives in Batavia, New York, where she has been an owner in her family business, Pinnacle Manufacturing Company, Inc. for over 45 years. In 2014, she became the CEO of the company making her one of only a handful of women CEOs in the manufacturing field of tool and die casting in all of North America. In addition, she owned her own tech consulting company for 25 years. She has devoted herself to numerous national political endeavors and in 2016 ran for Congress in NY-27.

It wasn't until January 20th when those executive orders started to come out, I started to get really, really nervous. And it woke me up from my hibernation here in Western New York. So I actually had many sleepless nights, and I reached out to some friends. They weren't sleeping too. They were worried. And so we decided to do something about it.

Diana Kastenbaum on her summoning her congressperson for a town meeting

It (the town meeting) was just for people to ask their questions and tell their stories. And I think that's sort of where we are now in town halls is trying to get our friends and our neighbors and our local communities to hear what will happen, what is happening to the people in their communities. There were Republicans there, and they didn't yell or shout or anything like that. There was no disruption, but everybody stayed until the last moment, and everybody listened to these people share their stories.

Diana Kastenbaum

Geoffrey Fowler is The Washington Post's technology columnist. Before joining the Post he spent sixteen years with the Wall Street Journal writing about consumer technology, Silicon Valley, national affairs and China.

I performed an experiment on Instagram where I set up one of those accounts for a teenager that Instagram had promised us would be given special protections. And frankly, it took as little as ten minutes for me to swipe through and see what kinds of stuff Instagram was going to show this kid. And, oh boy, it really went off the rails quickly.

Geoffrey Fowler

It's like there's a dark commercial villain inside this company (Meta) that does whatever makes the most money for them.

Geoffrey Fowler

Norman Solomon is co-founder of RootsAction.org and executive director of the Institute for Public Accuracy. He is the author of War Made Easy, Made Love, Got War, and his newest book, War Made Invisible: How America Hides the Human Toll of Its Military Machine.

So we're hearing some mea culpas now about, "Oh, we should have told Biden not to run for re-election." But in point of fact, the same mentality, the same risk culture is still in place. And that's where I think the only change is going to come from the bottom up. It's going to come from us folks at the grassroots.

Norman Solomon

The Israelis bombed a home where they killed nine children out of ten children of parents who were both physicians with one American-made missile. That's just one of the tragedies that occurs every day, weaponized by the U.S. government – now Donald Trump – and funded by the U.S. taxpayers who are never asked their opinion on such foreign relation policies.

Ralph Nader

White House Switchboard : 202-456-1414

"Fast for Gaza" organized by Veterans for Peace