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Democracy Now!
- "The Nerd Reich": Author Gil Durán on Big Tech Fascism, Peter Thiel, JD Vance & the War on Democracy
A new book by longtime Bay Area journalist Gil Durán investigates “tech fascism” and its mounting influence on U.S. politics. The Nerd Reich: Silicon Valley Fascism and the War on Democracy follows the rise of Vice President JD Vance, the former venture capitalist whose “outsider” campaign for Senate was bankrolled by the billionaire co-founder of PayPal and Palantir, Peter Thiel. Durán traces the ideological lineage of the current Trump administration back from Vance to Thiel and the far-right-wing monarchist Curtis Yarvin, whose “right-libertarian” political theory has long made the rounds among Silicon Valley elite. “These guys were never libertarians,” says Durán. “Now that they are the government, we see their […]
- Exclusive: Palestine Action Lawyer Rajiv Menon Breaks Silence on Facing Contempt Charges in U.K.
A prominent human rights lawyer in the United Kingdom has been charged with criminal contempt for his closing speech in the trial of his client, Charlotte “Lottie” Head, one of four Palestine Action activists who were sentenced as terrorists over their involvement in a 2024 protest and raid on an Israeli weapons factory. Their sentencing marked the first time a British judge issued terrorism sentencing enhancements on people who were not actually convicted of terrorism. An additional 21 currently jailed Palestine Action protesters could face similar sentences, which carry multiyear prison terms. The charges against Rajiv Menon are similarly unprecedented in British legal history. He is accused of encouraging a jury to acquit Head […]
- "Operation Puppet Master": Trump Admin Spied on Minnesota Activists & Unions After ICE Killings
Newly released federal documents have revealed the existence of an expansive surveillance program launched by the federal government against activists, labor unions, community groups, and even a bicycle repair collective, in Minnesota last winter. “Operation Puppet Master” was launched in response to statewide protests against the ICE killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good. The program has come to light in the course of a federal case against 15 Minnesotans who have been accused of “conspiracy” to impede ICE’s immigration enforcement surge in Minnesota. Isaac Sant, one of the defendants in the case, says the charges levied against him are “politically motivated” and “intended to quell dissent.” As part of its spying […]
- Headlines for August 17, 2026
Trump Threatens to “Bomb the S— Out of Oman,” Downplays Concerns About USS Abraham Lincoln, Israeli Airstrikes Kill at Least 11 People in Lebanon, Jared Kushner Meets with Hamas’s Political Chief in Cairo, Israel Announces Plans to Hand Over Policing of Settlers to an Israeli Civilian Police Force, Ukrainian Drones Kill at Least Nine People in Russia, Taliban Marks Five Years in Power Since U.S. Withdrawal, Migrants Protest in Spain’s North African Enclave of Ceuta, Survivors Go Hungry After Earthquakes Kill Dozens in Indonesia, Mass Shooting Erupts at Virginia State University Hours After Freshmen Orientation Events, Attorney General Todd Blanche Won’t Pledge to Operate Independently from White House, Federal Judge Blocks […]
- "American Doctor": New Film Follows U.S. Doctors to Gaza as Israel Bombs Hospitals, Kills Staff, Patients
The new documentary American Doctor tells the story of how the besieged hospitals of Gaza have continued to treat the sick and wounded throughout Israel’s genocidal war on the Palestinian territory, with local medical staff risking their own lives in the process. According to Palestinian officials, Israeli attacks have killed about 1,700 healthcare workers in Gaza since October 2023. The documentary follows three U.S. doctors as they volunteer in Gaza hospitals. Director Poh Si Teng says the film rose out of her “deep despair” over what was happening in Gaza, including deadly Israeli attacks on her former Al Jazeera colleagues. American Doctor is her attempt “to bring Palestine back to the United States,” Teng says. We also speak […]
Anthropocene
- Scientists make a seaweed coating that beats the fridge for cutting food waste
Canadian researchers found a cheaper, lower-carbon way to keep strawberries fresh, cutting into a $58 billion waste problem.
- Scientists found the sweet spot for dumping iron into the ocean
A new model shows fertilizing the Southern Ocean instead of the equator could pull carbon from the air without wrecking the food chain.
The Guardian
- Trump says Kim Jong-un has responded to his overtures when asked about scaling back US drills with South Korea – live
Trump also claims he’s ‘actually making it much safer’ for South Korea by scaling back joint military drills just days after North Korea test-fired ballistic missilesSign up for the Breaking News US emailRepublican senator Thom Tillis deplored Trump’s decision to cut US military drills with South Korea, which comes despite military officials from both countries warning that Kim Jong-un’s regime is learning new battlefield expertise, including new drone tactics, from assisting Russia with its war in Ukraine.Tillis wrote on X:South Korea has been a solid military ally for over 70 years that possesses exquisite military capabilities. Reducing joint exercises with South Korea does nothing more than free up thousands of North […]
- Trump tells 10-year-old rescued by teen lifeguard: ‘I don’t know if I’d do it’
President hosts Nathanial Rai and lifeguard Ryder Williams at White House after video of California rescue went viral Nathanial Rai had been swept off his feet along the California coast, was rescued by a 16-year-old lifeguard – and was now sitting in the Oval Office with Donald Trump.Of the rescuer, Ryder Williams, Trump said to Nathanial: “He’s a real hero. I don’t know if I’d do it. Continue reading...
- Election denier Tina Peters to be hired as elections consultant in conservative California county
Shasta county, hotbed of US election denialism movement, set to appoint ex-Colorado clerk who served prison termA northern California county that has become a hotbed of activism for those who sow doubts about the reliability of voting machines plans to hire Tina Peters, the prominent Colorado election denier recently released from prison, to work on elections.Clint Curtis, the top election official in Shasta county, told the Guardian he plans to hire Peters as a consultant to replace Brent Turner, his top deputy, who has been on medical leave. He said Peters would not have access to the county’s voting system and did not directly respond when asked what her responsibilities would be. Plans to hire Peters, who is still on parole and must […]
- US Navy destroyer adrift in South China Sea for four days after losing power
USS Benfold lost power after ‘engineering casualty’ leaving sailors without galley services, toilets and air conditioningA US guided-missile destroyer reportedly spent four days adrift and without power in the South China Sea in July, furthering concerns about strain being placed on deployed military members.The USS Benfold, an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer which had been sailing with the George Washington carrier strike group, was reported to have been towed to Subic Bay in the Philippines, according to the US Naval Institute News, an independent military publication. Continue reading...
- Trump dismisses USS Lincoln criticism and snaps at CNN reporter to ‘be quiet’
President says US carrier is ‘beautifully maintained’ and calls CNN ‘fake news’ over reports of poor conditionsDonald Trump claimed he had third-hand reports that the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln is “beautifully maintained” despite extensive accounts of deteriorating living conditions during its lengthy deployment in the strait of Hormuz.At the White House on Monday, the president berated a CNN reporter at a press availability, insisting that she “be quiet” and describing the reporting as fake news. Continue reading...
The Conversation
- Biological sex is neither binary nor a spectrum – a biologist explains how it’s multidimensional
Each person is a mosaic of sex-related and postpubertal biological traits that vary in their degree of femaleness and maleness.
- US government is pushing to gain unprecedented access to your medical records – as data protections are weakening
Large datasets can be useful research tools, but current government efforts to gather medical records depend on policy and technology that falls short of protecting people’s privacy.
- The real reason many Americans are cutting ties with their parents and siblings
Estrangement is rarely caused by childhood abuse or a pushy therapist. Instead, it reveals a collision between two ideas of what family should be.
- AI companies look to the ocean as a place to put more data centers
Moving servers into the ocean does not make underlying environmental challenges disappear. And it creates new concerns as well.
- Dealing with disasters increasingly requires a smartphone – losing access can be a nightmare, but there are ways to prepare
Mobile phones have become part of just about everyone’s emergency infrastructure. But what do you do when the power and service go out?
Inter Press Service
- As Mongolia Hosts COP17, Pastoralists Demand Space to Move, Survive and Restore
After moving more than 6,000 km across Eurasia, the Silk Road Caravan has reached Mongolia with stories from pastoralists whose livelihoods are increasingly threatened ...
- How Global Aid Cuts are Undermining Women-Led Humanitarian Response in Sudan
Women-led and women’s rights organizations (WLOs) in humanitarian settings are collapsing amidst a complicated predicament in which needs are surging and international support is ...
- International Criminal Court Under Attack
In a recent Wall Street Journal piece, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio pledged to ‘dismantle’ the International Criminal Court (ICC). The Trump administration ...
Sludge
- AIPAC Tops $100 Million in Election Spending for Second Straight Cycle
The pro-Israel group's PAC and super PAC have poured $104.3 million into the midterms, including more than $30.6 million in Michigan's Democratic Senate primary, the most it has ever spent on a single race.
Grist
- California’s new tire efficiency rules could save drivers $1B a year
The nation’s first tire efficiency standards target an overlooked drag on fuel economy that can cost drivers more at the pump.
- The market for used EVs ‘is so hot’ right now
Sales of used EV sales continued their surge in July, according to the latest data.
- Mining executives bought stock in their own firm days before Trump shrank Bears Ears
House Democrats have opened an investigation for insider trading.
Labor Notes
- Cómo forzamos que UPS creará empleos a tiempo completo en nuestra sección sindical
A menudo, lograr una mejora en el contrato es solo la mitad de la batalla; la otra mitad consiste en hacer que se cumpla. Fue una gran victoria en 2023 cuando nuestra campaña nacional por mejoras al contrato logró que la empresa de paquetería UPS eliminara su sistema de dos niveles salariales para los conductores. En el momento en que los conductores del nivel inferior ascendieron a la categoría regular, nuestro centro en Charleston, Carolina del Sur, contaba con 91 conductores de reparto a tiempo completo.
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