United States | News & Politics

cross-posted from: https://news.abolish.capital/post/25965

Departure comes days after newspaper laid off nearly one-third of staff, including more than 300 journalists

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/42814877

Thousands of active-duty military personnel may have been “pressured” into seeing the Melania documentary at cinemas around the country, a watchdog has warned.

The $75 million Amazon film opened last week to $7 million at the box office—despite universally terrible reviews.

According to the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, those numbers have been artificially inflated by pressure from MAGA-aligned officers leaning on their troops to buy tickets.

“People are scared,” Mikey Weinstein, president and founder of the MRFF, said. Weinstein said he has received letters from members of the U.S. military at eight facilities worldwide, complaining that their superiors encouraged or pressured them to see the film.

“Nobody that I know wanted to go except for those that did not want to get jacked up by our unit commander for not attending,” one of those members told Weinstein in a letter seen by journalist Jonathan Larsen.

Move will hit Michigan, Illinois, New York and other states with highest levels of lead drinking water pipes the hardest

cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/33886071

Off the coast of Cape Cod, the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument is a unique stretch of ocean that had been protected for a decade.

Federal prosecutors had a warrant to collect evidence from Ms. Good’s vehicle, but Trump administration leaders said to drop it. About a dozen prosecutors have departed, leaving the Minnesota U.S. attorney’s office in turmoil.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/42813965

Democracy experts say there is little doubt about president’s desire to interfere in elections this November

Donald Trump set off alarm bells earlier this week with comments that his administration should “take over the voting” in some states in the run-up to the 2026 midterms, which followed an unprecedented FBI raid on an election office in Georgia.

Although election experts say it’s clear the president doesn’t have authority over elections, they warn the president’s corrosive rhetoric leaves little doubt about his intent.

For months, the Trump administration has stoked doubts about the integrity of American elections largely through lawsuits designed to create the impression states aren’t doing enough to keep ineligible voters off the rolls. That effort escalated significantly last week when the FBI raided the election office in Fulton county, Georgia and seized ballots, along with other materials, related to the 2020 election. Shortly after the raid, Trump escalated his attack even further, saying the federal government should take over elections.

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DENY MANMADE CLIMATE CHANGE. DENY AMERICAN INTERVENTIONISM. THEN ACT SHOCKED WHEN IMMIGRANTS LEAVE LAND OUR COUNTRY DESTABILIZED, TO WORK LAND OUR COUNTRY TOOK FROM OTHER PEOPLE

Slightly over 3.6 million births have been reported through birth certificates, or about 24,000 fewer than in 2024. The decline seems to confirm predictions by some experts, who doubted a slight increase in births in 2024 marked the start of an upward trend.

So just as a reminder of the immigration context, which is probably preaching to the choir. It is just infuriating to have such ignorance govern us.

A stable population has to have a total fertility rate (TFR) of about 2.1 per women to remain stable. The TFR in 2024 is 1.599, meaning we are losing population.

Also the US population growth (which is tied to the US economic growth in the long term) has slowed to it's lowest rate since 2021.

So the Republicans are shooting us further in the foot, by reducing our immigrants, who tend to be more innovative, have more national pride, and cost less to the government (as they tend to come pre k12 educated) so are a net economic positive. And also tend to fill labor gaps.

Not saying we should not change our economic model and be more sustainable, but the national debt isn't going to pay itself off if we listen to idiots.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/42828048

A surprising twist in a New Jersey primary race showed how questions about Israel continue to roil American politics in unpredictable ways.

Feb. 6, 2026

The group’s allied super PAC spent at least $2.3 million against former Representative Tom Malinowski, who has said that he “would not deny anything Israel needs to defend itself” but left open the possibility of placing limits on aid.

It ran negative ads against him, sending a message that it was willing to punish Democrats seen as insufficiently supportive of Israel. And with the race still uncalled on Friday, Mr. Malinowski was indeed trailing narrowly. But the candidate leading him was not one of the other moderates in the race, but an outspoken critic of Israel: Analilia Mejia, a left-leaning political organizer who has said she believed the country committed genocide in Gaza.

cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/33884762

Federal prosecutors had a warrant to collect evidence from Ms. Good’s vehicle, but Trump administration leaders said to drop it. About a dozen prosecutors have departed, leaving the Minnesota U.S. attorney’s office in turmoil.

Former U.S. Border Patrol Commander-at-Large Gregory Bovino was reportedly asked to leave a Las Vegas bar out of safety concerns for the venue’s customers.

"I just want to apologize to everybody in the country for supporting this rotten, rotten man," said a three-time Trump voter who called in to C-SPAN.

Trump said ‘of course’ he condemns the racist parts of the video, but would not apologize for sharing it

Republicans' tax cuts shaved billions off Amazon's tax bill, new government filings show. The company says it ran a $1.2 billion tax bill last year, down from $9 billion the previous year, and even as its profits jumped by 45% to nearly $90 billion.

Move by Pete Hegseth marks latest escalation by Trump administration against the Ivy League school

The video clip that President Trump posted in a late-night flurry of social media activity caused an unusually strong and public outcry from members of his own party.

This kind of racism was part for the course in Epstein’s circle