Trumpism’s powerful weapon against Western democracies is antisemitism

Given the events of the last two weeks, Donald Trump’s plans to become America’s first dictator are now much closer to being realized. This is not a fantasy or hyperbole. These are just the facts.

In a decision that left the mainstream news media and political class stunned and slack-jawed, the United States Supreme Court gave Donald Trump and his Republican-fascist successors the de facto power(s) of a king where he is above the law and literally has the power to do such things as order the military (or other forces under his command such as his personal militias or enforcers) to kill his political and personal enemies without consequence. This illegitimate United States Supreme Court, nakedly partisan and controlled by right-wing extremists, would not permit a Democrat to have such power. The Supreme Court’s corrupt ruling in Trump’s favor will, as a practical matter, mean that the four criminal cases (which includes a felony conviction in New York for paying hush money as part of an election interference plot) against him are likely going to be voided.

In truly historic fashion, President Biden self-destructed during his first debate against Donald Trump. The Democrats are in disarray as they are publicly and privately struggling with how (or if) to move forward with President Biden as the party’s presumptive nominee. Public opinion polls and other data show that Trump’s clobbering of President Biden during the debate has caused a shift in public support where if the 2024 Election were held today, Biden would likely be defeated (and perhaps in a landslide). American democracy would then succumb to neofascism and Dictator Trump.

As extensively detailed in such plans as Project 2025, Agenda 47, the Red Caesar scenario and elsewhere, Dictator Trump and the Republican fascist regime is the end of multiracial pluralistic democracy. Beyond that technical and abstract language, as a day-to-day lived experience Trump’s regime will mean tyranny of the minority, and a form of government that will be a 21st-century apartheid state, a White Christian theocracy (an American version of the Taliban) and a plutocracy. Ultimately, Trumpism is a reactionary and revolutionary authoritarian project to restore uncontested (rich) white male power, authority, and control over all areas of public and private life.

The increase in antisemitism and white supremacy during the Age of Trump and the global democracy crisis are not coincidental. The relationship is central and causal. Democracy in its best and most enduring form is inclusive; by comparison, racial authoritarianism and fake democracy in the form of Trumpism and forms of neofascism as seen in Europe and other parts of the world is exclusionary where its fake populist appeal is fueled by xenophobia, nativism, bigotry, and other forms of social dominance behavior (including violence) by the in-group against those deemed to be the Other.

Because fascism and other forms of authoritarianism and political personality cults such as Trumpism must always find new enemies to legitimate themselves and “the movement”, these boundaries between the in-group and the out-group are contingent and shifting. The friend of today can and usually becomes the enemy of tomorrow. Members of the MAGA movement and other Trump loyalists, including the elites and other members of the aspiring dictator’s inner circle, would be wise to learn that lesson.

In an attempt to better understand the role of antisemitism and other forms of racism and white supremacy in the Age of Trump and the global democracy crisis, I recently spoke with Sharon Nazarian. She is a distinguished leader in the fight against antisemitism and hate worldwide. Nazarian previously served as the Senior Vice President of International Affairs at the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), where she directed global efforts to combat antisemitism and promote social justice and human rights. She continues to sit on the board of the ADL. Nazarian's extensive academic and philanthropic background includes a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Southern California and the founding of the Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for Israel Studies at UCLA, which is dedicated to exploring Israeli history, culture, and society.

This is the first of a two-part conversation.

Given the state of this country and world how are you feeling? How are you making sense of the democracy crisis and rise of neofascism and other forms of right-wing populist authoritarianism both here in the United States and around the world?

We are in a moment of crisis for democratic institutions across the world. Trump, much like Italy’s Georgia Meloni, Marine La Pen’s in France, the fact that Germany’s AfD (Alternative for Germany) is polling at record high numbers are all symptoms of the same problem – the systemic dissociation and feelings of dislocation that many people are feeling from democracy.

For the past several months I’ve been on the road first in Australia and then in Europe. In that time, I’ve had the opportunity to meet with elected officials, union leaders, heads of universities and others and it’s striking to me how I’m hearing the same challenges and the same alarm bells everywhere. This is a crisis that is bigger than any one country and we all need to start thinking bigger in order to address it.

I see this as a battle between liberal and illiberal forces, democratic and anti-democratic governments, extremist ideologies penetrating our political landscape and capturing our national narratives. The anti-Israel campaigns showing up globally from US campuses, to Europe, Latin America, Africa and even Asia is a telling sign.

Too many people in the United States, both among the elites and everyday Americans, naively believed that racism and white supremacism and antisemitism – which are part of the same political formation and ideology – were mostly vanquished and marginalized. The Age of Trump has exposed how wrong such people were and the damning implications of their error(s) for American society and the world.

Antisemitism functions similarly to a virus. It’s not always seen, its symptoms are not always felt, but can lay dormant in the body. When the immune system is weakened and the body is under stress, it flares up. In times of relative peace and prosperity, when there is trust in government institutions and trust that the state can solve the problems its citizens face, antisemitism in Western culture tends to stay marginalized and live in the fringes and dark corners of our society.

When the body politic is unstable, under stress or weakened, one of the very first symptoms of societal decline, upheaval or collapse tends to be a movement toward the “conspiracy of the Jew.” That is the situation we find ourselves in today, and unfortunately, we are seeing that despite our best attempts to address systemic antisemitism in the West since the end of the Holocaust, it’s just so deeply embedded in our society’s DNA that we find ourselves in the exact same position as other generations at a turning point have found themselves at.

This is due to the malleable nature of antisemitism, unlike other forms of hatred. It acts as a defining principle of the cause of all societal problems being faced at the time, with the perfect scapegoat. Jews serve as the perfect scapegoat precisely due to the millennia of hatred targeting them. That said, we have an opportunity to see these latest increases in antisemitism as the alarm bell they are to everyone who cares about the democratic order, and we have an opportunity to work together to stop things from further spiraling out of control if we work together.

There has been a very large increase in antisemitism in the Age of Trump. How do you explain this?

The numbers worldwide are staggering. The Anti-Defamation League recently released its 2023 Audit of Antisemitic incidents in the US and across the globe. The report showed there was a 140% increase year over year in antisemitic incidents in the United States, hitting a 3-year historic high. There were 5,000 attacks between October and December 2023 alone. These statistics are mirrored across Western democracies. We’ve seen a quadrupling of anti-Jewish attacks in France in 2023, a 589% increase in anti-Jewish attacks in Great Britain in 2023, a 320% increase in anti-Jewish attacks in Germany. Last month I addressed the Australian Jewish Community from the Sydney Opera House where just six months ago chants of “Gas the Jews” were being heard.

Trump and Trumpism have certainly been one of the factors at play here. We know from former Chief of Staff Gen. John Kelly’s book that Trump believed that Adolph Hitler did “some good things." Immediately after the Charlottesville rally which was a major inflection point for the American Jewish community, he certainly gave a good dog whistle of antisemitic permissiveness when he said there were “very fine people on both sides” where terrible racists walked down the street chanting, “Jews will not replace us.”

Then of course there was his dinner with an antisemite leader at his Mar-a-Lago resort. In both big ways and small ways, Trump continues to tell antisemites that it is fine to operate out in the open and radicalize people through their use of disinformation and misinformation on the internet. But it is imperative that we not close our eyes to the broader operating forces, and that is extremist ideology — and we can certainly find that on the far right, as normalized by Trump — but also far left and Islamist Jihadist ideology.

To borrow from the title of a well-known book, social scientists and other experts have described the post-civil rights era as one of “racism without racists.” I am sure someone is writing a book about the Age of Trump where it is described as “antisemitism without antisemites.”

It’s an interesting proposition you raise. When we think of all the arguments that racists make to justify systemic racism in our society, I’d argue that a similar effect takes place with antisemitism. The language, stories and conspiracies of racism and antisemitism have been handed down from generation to generation as facts of circumstance which make them excruciatingly difficult to dislodge.

Our last greatest opportunity to do so was in the wake of World War II where we fought to remake the world order in such a way as to prevent global wars and ideologies that dehumanized others. I fear that with that work largely remaining undone, as most clearly manifested in the failings of the United Nations and post-war international institutions being captured by anti-democratic and illiberal actors bent on using those structures against the very values they were built on. When you have the most brutal regimes, such as Syria, responsible for the killing of hundreds of thousands of their own citizens, sitting on and chairing the UN Human Rights Commission, we know those institutions are a failure.

So where does this leave us with regards to antisemitism? We have seen this movie before, at a time when lists are being created to exclude Zionists/Jews from literary, artistic and musical communities, universities are boycotting and disinviting Israeli scholars, and a general global campaign is underway to delegitimize the only Jewish and democratic state, we must understand that such forces at play have a playbook they are using, and that is of the Nazi regime. Those of us fighting to combat antisemitism are very careful with Holocaust comparisons, in fact, usually we criticize such comparisons. However, we are at a point right now where there is no way to close our eyes to the same patterns and societal forces at play and the impact on Jewish communities worldwide which is one of fear and disillusion.

Part of the challenge with confronting white supremacy, racism, and antisemitism and other related belief systems and ideologies is the lazy trap where too many people believe that these concepts are normative and just “opinions” when in reality these are empirical truth claims that can be proved or disproved. To that point, what is antisemitism? How is it related to racism and white supremacy?

That is a huge question that I will try to answer in a parsimonious manner. The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance in its working definition on antisemitism states, “Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.” As part of its definition, the IHRA provides examples taken from the lived experience of Jews around the globe. Those examples include instances where Israel is delegitimized, demonized and subject to the use of double standards (known as 3 Ds).

Beyond attacks on Zionism, the core of antisemitism has been centered on our people’s maintenance of our cultural and religious identity for thousands of years. The Egyptians, Babylonians, Assyrians, Greeks, Romans, Spanish, and the majority of European powers that arose in the modern era always viewed Jewish identity as a challenge to state power and religion. No matter how permissive those powers were of Jews living within their borders, there was always a sense that we were hidden in plain sight. That fierce independence of who we are has always been one of our strengths, but the flip side of that strength has been that anyone with an agenda of radicalism could point the disaffected in the direction of Jews as the cause for their struggles.

In this time of democracy crisis and ascendant neofascism and resurgent antisemitism, what does Holocaust Remembrance Day mean for you?

For me and for many Jews around the world, Yom Hashoah generally represented a day of commemoration of a travesty that had taken place in our past. We’ve been committed to keeping that memory alive, centering the lessons of those atrocities in our modern day lives. This year felt very different. We are no longer looking in the rear view mirror, rather waking up every morning witnessing more and more incidents that point directly to patterns that led to those atrocities. I was lucky enough to commemorate Yom Hashoah, on Lake Wannsee, having been invited to do a month-long residency at the American Academy in Berlin which sits on Lake Wannsee. Lake Wannsee is infamous for the villa where Nazi leadership cemented their plans for “the Final Solution” and the annihilation of European Jewry. Spending Yom Hashoah at that villa this year, walking the beautiful and manicured grounds of the beautiful Villa while remembering the bureaucratic and highly sanitary language used to design a whole of society campaign to rid Germany and Europe of its Jewish population.

Finding myself, as do so many Jews around the globe, in this surreal moment when it seems that all the safeguards that had been put in place post-WWII are showing cracks, international institutions that were built to enforce the rule of law being captured by illiberal and anti-democratic forces, and educational and research institutions created to continue the study and teaching of the horrors of the Holocaust having been rendered impotent to Holocaust denialism and distortion-based conspiracies, this Yom Hashoah can only be described as waking up to a nightmare that has become real.

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Experts: Georgia GOP officials lay groundwork to “obstruct” and “subvert” election certification

The Republican-controlled Georgia State Election Board on Tuesday pushed forward a proposed amendment to an election rule that would grant officials greater power to dispute election results — and election law experts are sounding the alarm.

Given initial approval in a 3-1 vote Tuesday, the proposed amendment would mandate that local election officials count ballots cast at the precinct on election night and investigate any discrepancies between the sum and vote total tallies before certifying the election, The Georgia Recorder reports. The rule would also entitle election board members to examine all election records prior to a voter certification vote should there be a discrepancy in the voting data.

The proposal, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, follows recent refusals from Republican election board members to vote to certify election results despite there being no problems or doubts about the outcome. Should it be finalized next month, the proposed amendment could be in place for the November general election.

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Uzoma Nkwonta, a partner at Elias Law Group who has litigated pre- and post-election disputes involving state and federal election law, called the proposal "deeply troubling."

"It would allow local election board members to subvert the certification process under the guise of meaningless document review, creating new opportunities for right-wing election vigilantes to undermine election results without justification," Nkwonta told Salon in a statement.

The board's decision to advance the rule change "continues a worrisome trend that could lay the groundwork for county election board members to refuse to certify results this November," added Allegra Lawrence-Hardy, an Atlanta attorney and the senior advisor and legal counsel for Georgia voting rights group Fair Fight.

"If the petition is implemented, county board of elections members will be emboldened to request document after document in order to delay certifying the election results," she told Salon. "New language, unsupported in Georgia’s law, allows county board members to continue asking for a never-ending stream of documents and information, providing cover for board members to refuse to certify results and potentially sowing chaos after the November election."

Three Republican board members supported the measure Tuesday, believing it would help curb the likelihood of inaccurate ballot totals requiring correction long after the election cycle ends.

During Tuesday's meeting, the petitioner, Cobb County Republican Party Chair Salleigh Grubbs argued the proposed rule would reaffirm existing state law and that, had the procedures in the rule been in place during the 2020 election, it likely would have been able to detect Fulton County poll workers' double scans of absentee ballots. The Georgia Election Board voted last month to reprimand Fulton County for violating state law when carrying out a recount of the 2020 election and appointed an independent monitor to oversee the 2024 election.

“Members of the state election board have expressed concerns about excluding entire precincts from the certification and fears that voters would be disenfranchised,” Grubbs said, according to The Recorder. “This proposed rule would not allow for that because Georgia law describes the steps that must be taken when discrepancies are found and how the returns from precincts with discrepancies will be counted justly.”

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But experts argued that the new rule would, instead, upend existing election law in Georgia by outfitting board members with broad discretion over the election certification process

"Any kind of move that implies that the certification duties of election boards and superintendents in Georgia is discretionary just really flies in the face of Georgia law," said Gowri Ramachandran, the deputy director of the Elections and Government program at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law.

According to Ramachandran, the Georgia Supreme Court determined around 100 years ago whether the certification duties of the superintendent would be discretionary in cases assessing precinct-level technical errors.

The court, she explained, ultimately found that the presence of a few of those errors was not a sufficient justification to refuse to certify an election "because that certification duty is mandatory" and decided that any problems or discrepancies that need to be investigated should be referred to appropriate channels, while any legal questions about what should or should not count should be hashed out in the courts.

Lawrence-Hardy also noted that existing Georgia law limits pre-certification investigation by the superintendent given the limited certification timeline, allowing under O.C.G.A. § 21‑2‑493(b) the superintendent to only examine documents related to a precinct with a discrepancy. Grubbs' petition, she said, allows board members to parse through all election records from every precinct regardless of the identification of any discrepancies all before certification.

Sara Tindall Ghazal, the Democratic party election board member, voted against a rule change on the grounds that it would contradict current policies requiring local officials to certify elections regardless of any inaccuracies are present.

Certifying election results is a way to create a record of vote totals in an election, she said, and any unresolved issues can be investigated by the district attorney, the state election board and the courts.

“We’ve seen elections overturned on numerous occasions because there were votes that were not authorized,” she said, according to The Recorder. “They were certified because they had to be certified. It went to a court, the court overturned the election and we ran a new election.”

The change the new rule proposes is "particularly concerning" given the recent instances of Republican board members refusing to certify results, which perpetuates "a dangerous narrative that erodes public trust in our democracy," Nkwonta said.

"It's just dangerous to create any sort of doubt and confusion about what that certification function is and whether it's discretionary or not because, as we saw in 2020, there's maybe a temptation for partisan actors to put pressure on the people who are tasked with certifying, put pressure on them to either not certify or certify the wrong results," Ramachandran told Salon.

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Aunna Dennis, the executive director of voting rights and government watchdog Common Cause Georgia, argued that the adoption of the proposal also shows "a clear disregard for the concerns" of citizens "who have trusted the certification process thus far."

“Unfortunately, our certification process will move even slower than it previously has," she told Salon. "On top of that, with the ability of the public to issue mass voter challenges online, many communities that were already targets will bear the brunt of what the [State Election Board] has just permitted.”

The Georgia State Election Board declined a request for comment. Grubbs did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.

What the new rule neglects to consider are the number of other checks that exist in Georgia that ensure votes are counted and counted accurately, Ramachandran said. Among them are the reconciliation process between election administrators are required to conduct between a vote cast and the voter check-in files, the tabulation audits that serve as a check on the machines tabulating tallies correctly and the ability for candidates to contest an election in courts.

Those specifics, she said, are most crucial for voters to understand in light of the new proposal.

"The foundation for obstructing certification of election results is being laid here in Georgia," added Lawrence-Hardy. "We’re seeing the national strategy take shape in Georgia and in battleground states like Arizona, Michigan, and Nevada, where there have been recent efforts by Republican elected officials to delay or refuse certification."

As such, voters should recognize their votes "are critically important," she continued. "The best way to ensure election results are certified in a timely manner is with large turnout and decisive margins."

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Unnamed Biden campaign officials view a grim path ahead

The call is coming from inside the house.

The newest voice calling on the 81-year-old president to step down isn’t another pundit, mega-donor, or disgruntled Obama aide, but an official inside the president’s re-election campaign, NBC News reports.

“He needs to drop out,” an un-named Biden campaign official told NBC News. “He will never recover from this.”

It’s unclear whether the source was referencing any actual ailment from which Biden couldn’t recover or the flood of media commentary on the president’s debate performance.

The question of whether panic over Biden’s age will ever subdue looms over the campaign, as calls mount for the president to drop out despite voters’ apparent apathy over what was spun as a sign of Biden’s declining mental fitness.

The president, who since the debate has given more than a dozen interviews and speeches in which he appeared much more coherent, remains unconvinced by naysayers, vowing to stay in the race and slamming critics.

“No one involved in the effort thinks he has a path,” a second campaign figure, who also apparently refused to go on the record, told NBC.

Despite Biden's resolve, many Democratic party insiders, pundits, and donors are set on a new candidate, but few have managed to coalesce around a single name.

As media outlets pose litmus test after litmus test, framing each new Biden appearance as a chance to squash anxieties, the news cycle never seems to end on Biden’s age, despite Trump’s own age-related gaffes. Biden himself, who delivered scantly-publicized but energizing opening remarks to NATO, will deliver a press conference late Thursday afternoon.

“Not in this for my legacy”: Biden steadies course after successful NATO summit

President Joe Biden delivered a much-anticipated speech capping off a North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit in Washington on Thursday, before taking questions in an open conference from the press for the first time since his debate against Donald Trump.

Biden, embattled by the press and some in his own party, championed his record, vowing again not to bow out.

“We’ve got more to do, though. We’ve got to finish the job,” he said.

Biden didn’t complete the presser without slips, though, referring at one point to Vice President Kamala Harris as “Vice President Trump,” when asked if Harris was capable of defeating Donald Trump if necessary.

Pressed on the gaffe, and Donald Trump’s weaponization of it, Biden simply urged reporters to “listen to him,” referencing his opponent’s own gaffes. The candidate, who laughed off an earlier flub on Putin’s name, is three years older than Trump.

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Asked numerous times about his age and performance, Biden denied reports that he was ending his day earlier and touted his post-debate schedule of “over 20 major events,” adding that he wanted Americans to see him out on the trail.

“If you focus on my schedule since I made that stupid mistake in the debate, my schedule’s been full board,” Biden said. “Where has Trump been? Riding around in his golf cart?”

The president also flexed his reputation amongst world leaders, who he said still see him in high regard despite American attacks on his candidacy.

“I’m not hearing my European allies come up to me and say ‘Joe don’t run.’ They’re saying, ‘You’ve gotta win,’” Biden said, answering that he did believe Europe would be less safe under Trump.

The president, who answered complex foreign policy questions on Russia, China, and Israel, detailed discussions with leaders at the summit, and weighed in on his continued support for Ukraine in its defense campaign, as well as a maintained push for a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.

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His policy discussion marked a stark contrast to the image of a beleaguered and aging Biden that his debate performance formed, prompting impressed responses from pundits.

Former National Security Council official Alexander Vindman, who led European policy under Donald Trump, pointed to the gap between the candidates’ abilities to answer questions on complex topics.

“Biden knows his stuff. Can anyone imagine Trump answering any of these foreign policy questions with any coherence?” Vindman wrote in a post to X.

Meanwhile, world leaders, including German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron, have used NATO media opportunities to defend President Biden.

“I think it would be a big mistake to underestimate the president,” Scholz said. “From my perspective, as someone who is speaking with Biden, he is very focused and is very intensely doing what a president of the United States has to do.”

Likewise, the newly-minted U.K. Prime Minister said Biden was “on good form” during the pair’s hour-long conversation. Biden summarized his conversations with world leaders throughout the summit as “a great success” in his remarks.

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Too little, too late: Shelley Duvall always wanted her flowers, but not like this

Shelley Duvall never wanted to be a celebrity. She wanted to be a scientist.

In a clip of a 1984 appearance on "Late Night with David Letterman," reposted on the show's YouTube page shortly after the announcement of her death at 75 on Thursday, she says as much herself. But watching this now — with her gone — and knowing how she struggled at the end of her life with feeling cast aside by an industry that is known for mishandling its eccentrics, the way Letterman treats her during their discussion is more revelatory than what she shares of her initial career goals.

After a visibly nervous Duvall tells Letterman that she was studying to be a research scientist before a chance meeting with Robert Altman in the '70s resulted in her landing her debut role in "Brewster McCloud," the host makes a punchline out of her, for no reason, in a very specific fashion that would be repeated by many others in her life, for as long as she lived it. Letterman pretends not to know what microbes are, or the meaning of the word vivisection. He asks her to name a scientific publication, and then another one, like a guy seeing a woman wearing a band t-shirt and then quizzing her on the albums the band has released. He plays a clip from "Shelley Duvall's Faerie Tale Theatre," the live-action anthology television series that she produced but, in this particular clip, didn't star in. And then he sends her on her way.

Shelley Duvall (Reg Innell/Toronto Star via Getty Images)

Duvall appeared as a guest on "Late Night" a total of 11 times during the early 1980s, and in each appearance, you could see her politely waiting for the respect she deserved but didn't receive. And the recirculation of the clip described above, amidst a sea of remembrances referring to her as an "Altman Protege" or the tormented wife in "The Shining," adds insult to injury.

Shelley Duvall's name can now be added to a long list of celebrities who were broken down by the industry, only to be honored in death, and this trend of after-the-fact RIP-ification only benefits the one doing it, not the ones who were desperate to hear it when they were still alive.

Shelley Duvall of "The Shining" dies at age 75

Mere months before she died, The New York Times published a feature on Duvall, in which she describes what led her to remove herself from the public eye and hole up in Texas, where she's from, to live a life of relative isolation with her partner, Dan Gilroy.

“I was a star; I had leading roles,” she says to writer Saskia Solomon. "People think it’s just aging, but it’s not. It’s violence . . . How would you feel if people were really nice, and then, suddenly, on a dime? They turn on you? You would never believe it unless it happens to you. That’s why you get hurt, because you can’t really believe it’s true."

It's a common misconception that something in Duvall broke after being put through emotionally straining shoots during the making of "The Shining," but she's shot that down in several interviews, describing the experience of working with Stanley Kubrick as "a fascinating learning experience." Although petite and soft-spoken in her heyday, it took a lot more than waving an axe around for hours a day while screaming at the top of her lungs to break her. The injuries that befell her were more subtle than that, and more consistent.

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Reading through past interviews with Duvall, there are plentiful examples of her openly and warmly dishing out the love she hoped to receive in return.

Speaking to The New York Times in 1977, she praised Altman saying he, "has a great confidence in me, and a trust and respect for me, and he doesn’t put any restrictions on me or intimidate me."

He returned with what, now, seems insulting, saying she, “was able to swing all sides of the pendulum: charming, silly, sophisticated, pathetic, even beautiful.”

"Even" beautiful. A qualifier. Downplaying her unique looks, which made her special. Which made her stand apart from the rest.

These things can add up in a person. And they did.

When I think of Duvall, the image that comes to mind is her as Olive Oyl in "Popeye," the 1980 musical comedy directed by Robert Altman that she starred in alongside Robin Williams. Having obsessed over that film as a child, I can still hear her singing, "He's not a mandolin (Oh no). He's an accordion. I'll have to squeeze him each night to keep him warm."

She wasn't a mandolin either. Or an accordion for that matter. And that was a good thing. Should have always been a good thing.

In 2016, Duvall made a rare appearance on Dr Phil’s daytime talk show. This would have been a great time for everyone to love-bomb her. Not years after the fact. After she's dead.

“I’m very sick. I need help,” she said at the time.

“Shelley still refused to take any medications, and she would not sign the paperwork required to treat her,” Dr. Phil said in the wake of this appearance.

“It did nothing for her,” Gilroy, with her till the end, told The New York Times when asked about that appearance. “It just put her on the map as an oddity.”

What could have been done between then and now? Quite a lot, I'd imagine.

But it's too late now.

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“Our movement”: In resurfaced speech, Trump endorses Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025

Donald Trump’s backtracking on Project 2025 didn’t seem to fool many – aside from a few hard-line loyalists who expressed betrayal – but apparent proof of his knowledge and endorsement of the far-reaching plan further weakens his claim that he knows “nothing.”

In an April 2022 speech before the Heritage Foundation – the ultra-right group behind the 922-page policy manifesto – Trump acknowledged exactly the kind of work they're doing and applauded them for “lay[ing] the groundwork” for his next administration.

“They’re going to lay the groundwork and detail plans for exactly what our movement will do,” Trump said of the Heritage Foundation and their efforts to – as they describe on the Project 2025 website – “pave the way” for Trump’s next administration.

Despite the document being drafted and developed by hundreds of Trump's campaign alumni and employees, the former president scurried to deny any connection to the proposal as it picked up mainstream attention.

“I know nothing about Project 2025,” Donald Trump wrote in a Truth Social post earlier this month. “I have no idea who is behind it,” he added, despite speaking numerous times at Heritage Foundation events.

While loyal Salon readers may remember dire warnings on Project 2025 from last year, interest around the policy package has spiked, growing tenfold since mid-June of this year.

Searches for Project 2025 have overtaken terms like “Taylor Swift” and “NFL” on Google, per the company’s trend-tracking program, as Americans learn more about the deluge of unpopular and unusual proposals for the next Trump administration.

The Biden campaign has capitalized on the newfound attention towards the proposal, publishing over a dozen posts to X referencing Project 2025 on Thursday, bringing attention to details concerning abortion monitoring, civil servant purges, and social security cuts.

Experts: DOJ has “sufficient evidence” to probe Clarence Thomas — but Garland won’t go for it

A Justice Department probe of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas could uncover whether the justice knowingly and willfully filed false financial disclosure statements or failed to pay taxes on luxury gifts — despite Attorney General Merrick Garland's likely lack of political will to launch an investigation months before the November election, legal experts told Salon.

Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., earlier this week asked Garland to appoint a special counsel to determine whether Thomas violated several laws in his failure to disclose a forgiven loan and gifts he received from wealthy benefactors.

The Senate Finance Committee found that Thomas failed to disclose a forgiven loan of $267,230 that he used to purchase a luxury motorcoach.

"The question is, when you look at this, is there at least a reason to suspect that there was intentional failure to disclose gifts that the Justice was obligated to disclose?" Fordham School of Law professor Bruce Green said. "There's obviously, you know, not a basis to indict him. There's a basis to investigate."

"Staggering levels of grift": Experts say Clarence Thomas trips expose SCOTUS corruption "crisis"

Thomas's attorney — who told senators that "the terms of the agreement were satisfied" when asked about the forgiven loan — and the Department of Justice did not immediately respond to requests for comment Thursday.

Green said he expects Garland will at least take Sens. Whitehouse and Wyden's request seriously.

"But my guess is that at the end of the day, that Attorney General Garland will not appoint a special counsel to investigate before the election," Green said. "We're very close to an election where the Justice Department has been accused already of weaponizing criminal prosecution."

Green said even if Garland launched an investigation now, it's highly unlikely it would be completed before the election.

And if Trump wins, he'd likely shutter any probe.

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New York University School of Law professor Stephen Gillers said there's still reason for Garland to launch an investigation.

"It's a bold move by the senators to request this," Gillers said. "But it's a perfectly plausible request, because there is sufficient evidence."

And Gillers said a special counsel would be appropriate to provide independent oversight.

"The reason for having a special counsel in a situation like this is that special counsel has greater insulation from greater independence than a line prosecutor," he said. "And the Attorney General might conclude that it would be awkward at best to have the solicitor general arguing before the Supreme Court, with Justice Thomas on it, while another member of the same department of justice is investigating Thomas for possible criminal behavior."

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Gillers said for Thomas to ever face potential penalties, prosecutors would need evidence that any falsification of financial disclosure statements was "not a mistake."

"The special counsel, if one were appointed, would have to decide whether or not falsification of financial statements were a product of willfulness with knowledge," Gillers said.

Gillers said knowingly submitting a false statement to federal officials like a financial disclosure statement is itself another crime.

Gillers said a special counsel could probe the potential tax implications of any gifts Thomas has received over the years from benefactors, including real estate tycoon Harlan Crow.

"The many gifts that Thomas received — and it's not just from Harlan Crow — over the years, those gifts carry tax implications, yet the taxes were not paid," Gillers said. "Now, one of the questions is, well, whose job was it to pay the taxes? The donor or the justice? And that would have to be investigated also."

Thomas' defenders include Ilya Shapiro, a senior fellow and director of constitutional studies at the Manhattan Institute.

Shapiro said that Thomas has complied with Supreme Court ethics rules, and said criticism about Thomas' reporting of gifts stems from a "left-wing dark-money smear campaign."

When asked specifically about concerns over Thomas' disclosure of gifts, Shapiro said: "There’s no ethical problem with getting gifts from friends who have no business before the court."

Still, the progressive advocacy group Accountable.US has found that trade groups related to Crow have filed amicus briefs on matters before the Supreme Court.

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Biden campaign suspects Obama of secretly undermining president’s reelection bid

Biden staffers have reportedly come to believe that Barack Obama is playing a central part in the plot to create further obstacles in the president's uphill battle for reelection.

Despite Biden and Obama's buddy-buddy public image, there have allegedly been seeds of tension between the pair, with MSNBC host Joe Scarborough pointing out that Biden’s frustration dates back to before his own presidency.

“Joe Biden is deeply resentful of his treatment under not only the Obama staff but also the way he was pushed aside for Hillary Clinton,” Scarborough said during a Thursday morning segment. “He’s deeply resentful of those trying to shove him out of the way. He’s always felt like an outsider, always felt like people have looked down upon him.”

Politico has also noted that the former president, and longtime friend of Biden’s, was privy to, and chose not to dissuade, George Clooney’s Wednesday op-ed for the New York Times calling for the candidate to step off the ticket.

Clooney, who called for the president to “save democracy” by quitting the race, outlined Biden’s demeanor at a fundraising dinner — also attended by Obama — as damning.

But Obama was one of the earliest top Democrats to defend Biden from age criticism after the recent presidential debate that kicked off all of this ouster chatter, calling back to his own “bad night” in a 2012 debate against Mitt Romney. Still, reports indicate that the former president has privately expressed fears over Biden’s ability, though he hasn’t gone on the record to say as much.

Speculation around Obama’s concern comes amidst reports that former First Lady Michelle Obama, a close friend of President Biden’s ex-daughter-in-law Kathleen Buhle, was critical of the way Hunter Biden and his family treated Buhle, suggesting she may scale back plans to support the Biden campaign.

Despite a conspiracy to axe Biden’s candidacy failing to pick up steam amongst elected officials, or voters, for the most part, Democratic strategists and megadonors, including notable Obama administration alumni David Axelrod and Jon Favreau, don’t see the candidate as viable in a re-match against Donald Trump.

After meeting with Putin in Moscow, Hungary’s Orbán brings “peace mission” to Trump at Mar-a-Lago

Hungary’s right-wing Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán, will meet with Donald Trump in his Mar-a-lago compound in Florida Thursday night after the NATO summit concludes in Washington, according to a person familiar with the plans, Time reported. This comes less than a week after the Hungarian leader met with Russian President Vladamir Putin in Moscow.

The last time Orbán met with Trump, in early March, the nationalist prime minister offered his support for Trump’s presidential bid. The two have cultivated a close relationship: Orbán’s last visit included tour of Trump’s residence, a dinner with Melania Trump, an hour-long meeting with senior aides and a musical performance, Time reported.

However, what the former president didn’t offer Orbán was any talk of more aid for the war in Ukraine. At the time, Orbán told reporters that Trump had in fact promised that he would “not give a penny” to Ukraine, Le Monde reported.

Although the purpose of this meeting is not known, the war in Ukraine will be a topic of discussion, a source told Reuters. Thursday’s meeting is the last stop on what Orbán has described is his “peace mission,” to find a way to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, which the Hungarian leader has said he hopes that Trump can help achieve, the Associated Press reported.

Orbán is the European Union’s longest-serving leader and has gained notoriety for his strident conservative beliefs and authoritarian governance, or what he calls “illiberal democracy," which has included crackdowns on press freedom, immigration and the LGBTQ+ community.

The Hungarian prime minister met with Putin at the Kremlin earlier this month as part of what he portrayed as a "peace mission," The Guardian reported.

“Alf” child star Benji Gregory dies at age 46

Benji Gregory, the actor who portrayed child Brian Tanner in the NBC 1980s sitcom "Alf" has died at age 46. His sister, Rebecca Pfaffinger, confirmed his passing and wrote in a Facebook post that he "died from vehicular heatstroke" after falling asleep inside his car.

"My brother Ben was found in his car, along with his beloved service dog Hans, deceased on June 13," Pfaffinger wrote. "We believe he went there the evening of the 12th to deposit some residuals. (Found in his car) and never got out of the car to do so. He fell asleep and died from vehicular heatstroke."

"Alf" centers around a family's interactions with a furry, extraterrestrial after it lands in their garage from outer space. Gregory's character becomes close friends with Alf, which stands for Alien Life Form. Gregory also starred in several other popular '80s shows, including “The A-Team,” “Punky Brewster” and “Amazing Stories.” He eventually pivoted away from acting, becoming an aerographer’s mate for the U.S. Navy based out of Mississippi, per The New York Times. The NYT also reported that Gregory lived with and received care for bipolar disorder and depression.

Shelley Duvall of “The Shining” dies at age 75

Shelley Duvall, the wide-eyed actor known for lending her talents to Stanley Kubrick's 1980 horror classic "The Shining," passed away on Thursday in Blanco, Texas, which her partner Dan Gilroy confirmed to "Variety." She was 75. A family spokesperson shared that the cause of death was complications of diabetes, per The New York Times.

Duvall earned the Cannes Film Festival award for Best Actress for her portrayal of Millie Lammoreaux in Robert Altman's 1977 film, "3 Women." She collaborated with Altman several times throughout her career, including her first film "Brewster McCloud (1970), “McCabe & Mrs. Miller" (1971) and "Thieves Like Us" (1974).

Filming under Kubrick for "The Shining," which was adapted from a Stephen King novel, was rumored to be quite rigorous. Variety reported that Duvall filmed some of her scenes more than 100 times — the memorable scene in which her Wendy Torrance wields a baseball bat at Nicholson's Jack Torrance earned a spot in the Guinness World Record Book for the most takes of a scene with dialogue.

In the 1980s Duvall also founded Platypus Productions, a company that adapted a number of children's television shows based on classic fairy tales, helmed by directors like Tim Burton, Francis Ford Coppola, and Ivan Passer. Guest stars for the series, which was called “Faerie Tale Theater," included Robin Williams, Jamie Lee Curtis, Laura Dern, Molly Ringwald and more.

IRS crackdown on millionaire tax cheats nets more than $1 billion in revenue

The U.S. Department of the Treasury and the IRS announced that a yearlong effort under the Biden administration to crack down on delinquent rich taxpayers has reached a “major milestone,” with more than $1 billion collected as a result of the campaign.

This large sum in tax debt from high-income individuals is a result of the tax agency’s $60 billion modernization initiative to improve customer service and catch rich tax evaders, the New York Times reported.

This is a big win for the Biden administration, which sought to increase funds for IRS tax enforcement over the objections of congressional Republicans, who slashed $20 billion from the proposed effort. This ignited the administration’s zeal to demonstrate that the funds are being used responsibly to bring in additional tax revenue that was going uncollected.

“The IRS has collected $1 billion from millionaires and shown that it can successfully launch strategic new initiatives and achieve the greatest return on investment,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told reporters during a press call, CNBC reported.

About 1,600 taxpayers with incomes over $1 million who owed over $250,000 in tax debt were the primary targets.

“Efforts to increase tax fairness and bring in revenue from high-end taxpayers who have not paid what they owe are already paying off to the American people,” Yellen told reporters, the New York Times reported.

The Inflation Reduction Act, enacted in August 2022, is what contained the increased IRS funding that helped the agency expand. If the funding remains as is, the IRS investment in more enforcement, technology and data could bring in up to $851 billion by 2034, the agency estimated in February, CNBC reported.

IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel told reporters that in the past the agency did not have enough funding to pursue high-income earners despite knowing they owed money. But with the larger enforcement staff, wealthy taxpayers who owe money were tracked down, sent letters, and in some cases threatened with additional penalties until they complied.

Werfel said rich taxpayers perhaps didn’t think the IRS had the bandwidth to come after them.

“Our message for these taxpayers is that now that we are resourced, we can do the job of ensuring that they pay,” he said, per the Times.

So far the IRS has spent $5.7 billion, or just 10 percent, of its IRA funding, according to an inspector general's report.

“I know nothing about Project 2025”: Hundreds of Trump allies are tied to Heritage Foundation scheme

While Donald Trump and his campaign try to widen the distance between themselves and Project 2025 — a 900-page playbook for a second Trump presidency — at least 140 people who worked in his administration have contributed to it, a CNN review found.

“I know nothing about Project 2025,” the former president wrote in a recent TruthSocial post. “I have no idea who is behind it.”

While Trump and his aides are certainly bothered by the attention Project 2025 has received, an investigation into people listed as authors, editors, and contributors to “Mandate for Leadership” shows a long list of the former president's allies involved in the Heritage Foundation plan to overhaul the federal government. These include six of his former cabinet secretaries, four people he nominated as ambassadors, his former chief of staff Mark Meadows, longtime adviser Stephan Miller, his impeachment attorney Jay Sekulow, and two other lawyers, Cleta Mitchell and John Eastman, who tried to help him overturn the 2020 election.

In total, nearly 240 people were found connected to both Trump and Project 2025. Former Trump-era Federal Communications Commissioner Brendan Carr even wrote an entire chapter; another contributor was anti-abortion advocate Lisa Correnti, who Trump appointed as a delegate to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women.

NBC news correspondent Vaughn Hillyard also shared a video of Trump speaking at a Heritage Foundation dinner in April 2022 where he was the keynote speaker.

"This is a great group and they’re going to lay the groundwork and detail plans for exactly what our movement will do … when the American people give us a colossal mandate to save America," Trump said at the event.

However, the Trump camp remains stubborn in its denial.

“Team Biden and the (Democratic National Committee) are lying and fear-mongering because they have nothing else to offer the American people,” Trump campaign spokesperson Danielle Alvarez told CNN in a statement.

We sampled that Orwellian butter from “The Bear.” If you can, you should too

Creatively speaking “The Bear” doesn’t contain much fat. People rank episodes from best to least as a matter of internet compulsion. Still, its overall consistency leads us to devour seasons in one sitting before rewatching carefully, like mindful eaters.

The truly devoted look for the industry nods and shopping suggestions, although if you love food as I do, you may keep your eyes peeled for glimpses of special ingredients and preparation techniques. The third season has it all, meeting Carmy (Jeremy Allen White), Syd (Ayo Edebiri) and the rest of The Original Beef crew as they’re launching their ambitious bistro in Chicago's River North neighborhood.

With the menu’s elevation to haute cuisine comes an eyeful of extraordinary elements – beef slices with gorgeously rosy centers, blood orange reductions and gleaming pearls of roe.

But the ingredient that really caught my attention doesn't appear on film, only on paper. “I have a bill in my hand for $11,268 for butter!” barks Oliver Platt’s Uncle Jimmy, Carmy’s rich relative and his restaurant's financial backer. The camera briefly cuts to said bill listing “Orwellian Unsalted Butter” and “Orwellian Salted Butter.”

“Buddy, what is it? A rare Transylvanian five-titted goat? We cannot . . . keep this up!”

Carmy simply answers, “It’s Orwellian,” as if that explains everything, but it doesn’t. “Dystopian butter?” Uncle Jimmy tersely asks. “What are you talking about?”

To those in the know, namedropping Orwell, Vermont is a subtle reference to Animal Farm Creamery, the small dairy renowned for making cultured butter so luxuriant, and so scrumptious, that it supplies a handful of the most upscale restaurants in the United States.

Sydney's liberating "Bear" smorgasbord

Some of these establishments cameo in “The Bear” either by mention or feature, along with their proprietors. Per Se and French Laundry owner Thomas Keller, who appears in the third season finale, is the reason Animal Farm became the brand of choice for top restaurants to have and serve. His relationship with Animal Farm dates back some 25 years when Diane St. Clair began experimenting with making the type of cultured butter that is common in Europe.

In one of the creamery's earliest New York Times profiles, St. Clair described in 2005 overnighting a sample of her carefully handmade butter to Keller to ask his opinion on her product.

"He wanted all the butter I could send him," she said. Her list of five-star dining establishment clients expanded since then, not by much.

Jeremy Allen White as Carey and Oliver Platt as Uncle Jimmy in "The Bear" (FX)

St. Clair ran her micro-dairy and cared for her small herd of Jersey cows until 2022 when, as the Times reported, she passed ownership of Animal Farm to Ben and Hilary Haigh of Rolling Bale Farm in Shoreham, Vermont. The Haighs have maintained St. Clair’s production methods to a degree that when the Times reached out to one of the accounts the dairy still supplies, Saxelby Cheesemongers, the report was that the quality remains the same. Their Jersey cows remain well-loved and grass-fed, which informs the butter’s sunny color.

Here’s the process as described in a post on Saxelby’s site:

First, Hilary skims the rich Jersey cream by hand, keeping its precious fat globules in pristine condition. She cultures the cream for 24 hours, using buttermilk as a starter. The final steps, churning and kneading, are also done by hand, until Hilary arrives at a product that she deems fit for the table.

This loving artisanal treatment doesn’t come cheap. One pound of sweet cream butter, divided into a quartet of 4-ounce balls, costs $60.

I wasn’t aware of any of this before typing "Orwellian butter" into my search engine and reading all about this mysterious treat everyone’s favorite fantasy chef insists is worth a five-figure grocery bill.

But I do love butter. That much I know.

If the aim is to live deliciously, one must understand that not all butters are equal, which we can only really know by sampling them.

I’ve snuck frozen bricks of Le Beurre Bordier back from Paris, seduced by a singular taste and silken mouthfeel that its American counterparts lack entirely. Out of all the customs risks I could have taken, this one sounded especially silly to a few of my friends. Until they tried some.

If Bordier were the best, Carmy would have said so. Instead, he mentioned “Orwellian butter,” so I had to know what made it that much more sensational.

One reason may be its exclusivity. At present Saxelby’s is the only online source that ships Animal Farm butter nationwide and offers it in limited quantities. Since I had the good fortune of having seen the latest season of “The Bear” before it dropped, I hit up the Saxelby’s site to see if any of the butter was in stock. Miraculously it was.

Then I had to weigh how badly I wanted the stuff.

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That $60 price tag didn’t factor in the cost of overnight shipping, bringing the price for a pound to the equivalent to a week's worth of groceries from Trader Joe's.

I live in the Pacific Northwest, a culinarily enviable part of the world where ingredients that would be considered rare are locally available and more affordable than they might be in one of the cities within the Michelin Guide’s purview (New York, Washington DC, California, Illinois and Florida).

There are excellent dairies in my area. Even if there weren't, Kerrygold’s unsalted butter is cultured and, while still expensive next to Land O’ Lakes, is quite delicious and available at my local grocery store.

My gut offered the counterpoint that I love “The Bear” and other shows and movies that whet my imagination’s palate for the way they depict a creatively inspiring and aspirational world.

It’s also unlikely I’ll ever eat at one of Keller’s restaurants or The Inn at Little Washington, another Animal Farm patron whose painstakingly designed course dinner hovers at around $400 per person before beverage or wine pairings.

But, I reasoned, I could afford to splurge on their butter of choice, assuring myself that I’d regret it if I didn’t while this rare offer was available. After "The Bear" premiered and like-minded eaters rushed to get a taste, Animal Farm would be much harder to obtain.

Added to cart.

Animal Farm Creamery farmstead Butter (Photo courtesy of Melanie McFarland)

A few days later I opened a chilled box containing the dairy equivalent of gold: four rough-hewn balls intentionally left unsalted to allow the butter’s natural flavor to remain the first bite's star, nestled inside a Ziploc bag.

My husband arranged a breakfast with our friends next door, one of whom makes the best sourdough loaf I’ve eaten. Sadly he discovered that the mother dough (starter) was dying, so we settled for the next best option – a pillow of crusty goodness from Macrina, a wonderful local bakery.

We whipped up some eggs and sausage almost as an excuse before sitting down to sample the butter, piling a small mound of briny black salt on the side. Then we dug in to find out what the fuss was all about.

Reader, when I tell you that virgin taste made each of us pause, I mean precisely that. We all stopped. Eventually one of our guests found the words to describe the experience, saying that it made regular butter taste like . . . like . . . nothing. And it’s true.

Animal Farm's cultured delicacy is slightly sweet and dandelion bright, with a rounded richness explained by its 87 percent butterfat content. Adding salt accentuates its faint savory notes, marrying it even more closely with the bread’s flavors.

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Heavenly is one way to describe it, but at the risk of flirting with sacrilege, while the taste didn’t make me conjure the image of a rare Transylvanian goat with five teats, it did send me back to a scene in the 2015 thriller “The Witch.” You may know the reference: Remember when the demon goat Black Phillip tempts Anya Taylor-Joy’s worn-down Puritan Thomasin with, “Wouldst thou like the taste of butter? . . . Wouldst thou like to live deliciously?”

If Black Phillip had skipped straight to the butter offer with this, the murder and madness that preceded it could have been avoided. That butter had a stiff price tag too, since the girl traded her immortal soul. Suddenly $60 plus an ungodly shipping fee didn’t seem so steep.

Some may still balk at dropping that much coin on a meltable item you might spread on toast, especially since other “Bear”-related “chef-core” accessories earn their upfront cost by lasting longer than a couple of weeks in the refrigerator. (Although you can and should freeze any butter you can’t consume within that time.)

For instance, the Birkenstock Tokio Super Grips popularized by the series might set you back $155 or so, but you’ll get a few seasons of use out of them. The same goes for Carmy’s expensive but enviably snug-fitted t-shirts or Syd’s scarves. None of these are “moment on the lips, lifetime on the hips” indulgences.

If the aim is to live deliciously, one must understand that not all butters are equal, which we can only really know by sampling them. Uncle Jimmy might not be convinced, but we’re with Carmy. With the right salt, bread and company, the Orwellian butter is worth the ridiculous price. As long as you're not bankrolling a restaurant.

All episodes of "The Bear" are streaming on Hulu.

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“Defense against hunger”: Over 1,400 expert organizations fight back as the GOP tries to cut SNAP

On Tuesday, 1,422 national, state and local organizations representing communities across the country, sent a joint letter to Congressional leaders opposing “any Farm Bill — including the House Agriculture Committee’s Farm, Food and National Security Act of 2024 — which proposes cuts to SNAP,” or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

This includes any planned restrictions to future Thrifty Food Plan benefits, which would cumulatively result in nearly $30 billion in cuts over the next decade.

The Thrifty Food Plan is one of four food plans USDA develops that estimates the cost of a healthy diet across various price points: the Thrifty, Low-Cost, Moderate-Cost and Liberal Food Plans. The Thrifty Food Plan is the lowest cost of the four. According to the agency, it “represents a nutritious, practical, cost-effective diet prepared at home for a ‘reference’ family, which is defined in law as an adult male and female and two children."

As the American hunger crisis worsens, Republicans prepare to take a big bite out of SNAP

SNAP maximum allotments, or benefit amounts, are updated each year based on the cost of the Thrifty Food Plan in June and take effect on Oct. 1. Some House Republicans, including House Agriculture Committee Chair Glenn “GT” Thompson, have voiced a desire to “freeze” the cost of the Thrifty Food Plan, which the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has decried as having the ability to “weaken the program’s ability to meet its core mission.”

The letter — which included signatures from a wide range of national groups like the Alliance to End Hunger, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the National Coalition for the Homeless and the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union — says the representative organizations want to guard the program’s current “equity and autonomy in how SNAP participants can use benefits in ways that meet their cultural, dietary, and health needs.”

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Cutting funding to federal nutrition programs, like SNAP and WIC, has been entertained by Congressional Republicans with varying degrees of seriousness for decades, ever since Ronald Reagan’s fear mongering in 1976 about a growing nation of “welfare queens” (when in reality, the story of the original woman about whom he was speaking, Linda Taylor, is much more complicated). However, as partisan politics have become increasingly combative since the last administration, calls from Republican lawmakers to slim down the program’s budget have certainly increased, as well.

This is despite the fact that rates of hunger have risen steadily since some of the more comprehensive pandemic-era SNAP benefits were terminated, as well as new research that shows the current cost of nutritious meals outpaces benefits in 98% of United States counties.

“Strengthening SNAP and the commodity assistance programs ensures that the more than 41 million people who continue to rely on SNAP benefits every month to put food on the table — during a time of increased rent and health care costs — can access and afford the nutrition they need to thrive,” the letter reads.

It continues:

Every dollar invested in SNAP is a dollar we invest into our nation and its people. And this investment has a strong ripple effect. Studies show that increases in SNAP benefits directly correlate to improved health outcomes and decreased visits to emergency rooms, which decreases Medicaid costs. In addition to its health, nutrition, and overall improved well-being attributes, SNAP also supports local economies — each dollar in federally funded SNAP benefits generates between $1.50 and $1.80 in economic activity during a weak economy.

Yet, despite its many strengths, we expect a lot of output from a program where the average benefit is only $6 per person per day. During a time of sharply increased costs at grocery stores and other living expenses, it is ill-advised to weaken SNAP and the commodity programs as it will only deepen America’s hunger crisis.

In a press conference hosted on Tuesday by the Food Research & Action Center, Colleen Young of the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank said that local aid organizations, like food banks, are seeing more traffic as clients report feeling pressed by inflation — and they are not sure they are going to be able to keep up without SNAP.

"For every meal food banks can provide, SNAP provides nine,” Young explained. “Without SNAP, charitable food organizations cannot make up that difference. Any efforts to cut or reduce SNAP benefits would create headship for families experiencing food security and increase pressure on already strained food banks."

Salaam Bhatti, FRAC SNAP Director, added that, “any attempt to freeze or roll back the Thrifty Food Plan would cut SNAP benefits for all participants, leaving families subject to outdated nutritional guidance, and have a significant negative impact on families' nutrition and overall well-being — because every dollar counts.”

Ellen Teller, the chief government affairs officer for FRAC described SNAP as our “nation’s first line of defense against hunger.”

Any legislative vehicle, including the Farm Bill, that presents a critical opportunity to combat food insecurity cannot move forward by weakening our key defense against hunger — we must strengthen SNAP,” Teller said. “FRAC and its network partners stand ready to oppose any legislation that would undermine SNAP’s proven effectiveness in helping 41 million people in America afford to put food on the table. History has repeatedly shown that the only viable path to passing a Farm Bill is a strong bipartisan effort that involves all stakeholders engaged at the table.”

The full letter can be read here.

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Trump trashes George Clooney after “fake movie actor” calls for Biden to step aside

You know the tide is turning when two-time Oscar winning Hollywood actor and film producer George Clooney writes an op-ed in the New York Times urging President Joe Biden to step aside, an intervention that angered the president's loyalists. But Donald Trump too is purporting to take offense at the 800-word piece, trashing it on Truth Social by saying: “He’s turned on Crooked Joe like the rats they both are.”

The op-ed, published Wednesday and entitled, “George Clooney: I love Joe Biden. But We Need a New Nominee,” urged the president to step down for the good of the country, citing his apparent mental decline.

“As Democrats, we collectively hold our breath or turn down the volume whenever we see the president, whom we respect, walk off Air Force One or walk back to a mic to answer an unscripted question,” Clooney wrote. “We are not going to win in November with this president. On top of that, we won’t win the House, and we’re going to lose the Senate."

Clooney reported his “devastating” experience at a fundraiser he co-hosted for Biden’s re-election, just weeks earlier, saying the president appeared just as out of it as he did at last month's debate.

In Trump’s Wednesday night response, he called Clooney a “fake movie actor” who doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Trump continued: “Crooked Joe Biden didn’t save our Democracy, he brought our Democracy to its knees. Clooney should get out of politics and go back to television. Movies never really worked for him!!!”

But, the former president couldn’t be more pleased with the negative attention his political opponent has been receiving, The Daily Beast reported. Last weekend, he posted on TruthSocial, teasing Biden and encouraging him to stay in the race.

“Crooked Joe Biden should ignore his many critics and move forward, with alacrity and strength, with his powerful and far reaching campaign. He should be sharp, precise, and energetic, just like he was in The Debate…” he wrote.

A fixation on “clean eating” can be harmful

Clean eating diets have become increasingly popular over the past few years. This style of eating emphasizes consuming whole foods and avoiding processed foods (even minimally processed foods) as much as possible.

Given how important diet is for our health, we might assume that the better your diet is, the better your health will be. But as one clean eating influencer has revealed, being too restrictive with your diet can have the opposite effect on your health.

Instagram influencer Alice Liveing recently opened up about the harm becoming a clean-eating influencer had on her health. In an interview in The Times, Liveing revealed her restrictive diet, accompanied by extreme workouts, had a serious effect on her health – leading to poor sleep, low mood and energy levels, poor brain function and even the loss of her period.

Liveing's story highlights how focusing on achieving an unrealistic health ideal – in this case, the perfect, healthy diet – can run the risk of becoming all-consuming and "addictive". For some, this fixation with healthy eating and the pursuit of the "perfect diet" may even result in orthorexia – an unhealthy obsession with eating healthily.

Disordered dieting

Orthorexia is not yet officially recognized as an eating disorder. But in 2022, experts in the field released a statement agreeing that orthorexia is distinct from other eating disorders – such as anorexia.

They also proposed some diagnostic criteria for orthorexia. This includes compulsive diet practices (done with the belief it will promote optimal health), an exaggerated fear of ill health if they stop said diet (accompanied by emotional reactions such as fear and shame) and following an increasingly restrictive diet.

Orthorexia can affect many aspects of a person's life – including their social, academic and even work life. It also has many physical consequences – and may lead to anaemia, severe weight loss and malnutrition. It can also cause feelings of anxiety and guilt, especially if a person deviates from their strict diet.

Many factors are thought to be linked to the onset of orthorexia. Some examples include a history of eating disorders or mental health disorders, lifestyle factors (such as exercising frequently) and social factors (including being excessively influenced by the media).

People with certain personality traits – such as perfectionism – may also be at greater risk of developing orthorexia, as our previous research has shown.

Perfectionism

Perfectionism is a personality trait characterized by an irrational need for perfection. It has two overarching dimensions – perfectionistic strivings and perfectionistic concerns.

Perfectionistic strivings include a personal commitment to being perfect. Perfectionistic concerns include fears about being imperfect. Both of these dimensions of perfectionism have previously been linked to developing anorexia and bulimia.

Perfectionism is also linked to orthorexia, as our meta-analysis (study of studies) showed. Looking at the available body of research, we found that both perfectionistic strivings and perfectionistic concerns were linked to orthorexia.

But perfectionistic strivings emerged as the most important aspect of the two when it came to a person's likelihood of having orthorexia. This differs from other eating disorders – with research showing perfectionistic concerns being more strongly linked to developing anorexia and bulimia.

This finding shows us that the factors that contribute to orthorexia are distinct from other eating disorders – and that orthorexia tends to be triggered more by a desire for the "perfect" diet or "perfect" health, rather than a fear of being imperfect.

Because orthorexia lacks official diagnostic criteria, it's hard to know how many people are affected. But one recent study suggested as many as 55% of regular exercisers have orthorexia. And with so many young people now relying on social media for lifestyle and nutrition advice, there's a risk that orthorexia could become more common in the future.

Researchers and doctors face a substantial challenge to keep pace. There's a clear need to conduct more research so we better understand orthorexia, how it can be prevented and how we can help those who are struggling.

Verity B. Pratt, PhD Candidate, School of Science, Technology and Health, York St John University; Andrew P. Hill, Professor of Sport and Exercise Psychology, York St John University, and Daniel Madigan, Professor of Sport and Health Psychology, York St John University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

“The money has absolutely shut off”: Donors quit giving to Biden campaign after debate disaster

It has been two weeks since the debate and President Joe Biden’s campaign continues to suffer as donations seem to have slowed down to a halt, according to four sources close to the campaign who spoke to NBC News.

The fundraising is “already disastrous,” one source told NBC News. "The money has absolutely shut off," said another.

Major donors and Democratic power brokers worry that Biden’s adamant determination to stay in the race, along with his dismissal of polls and attacks on his doubters as "elites," makes him come across as “actually quite Trumpian," in the words of one past contributor to the campaign.

“It’s a broader, ‘Is the group around the president really in touch with what’s going on? Are people deluding themselves, and therefore whatever they’re conveying is sort of a reflection of the bubble?’” the donor told NBC News.

Moreover, the campaign’s problems are not just limited to the party’s big donors. Contributions from smaller donors have also seen a decline in recent days, a person with direct knowledge of internal campaign data told Politico. According to that source, grassroots fundraising is projected to drop about 20-25% this month.

“This is a massive, massive problem,” they told Politico. “Right now, we should be scaling up, doubling and tripling our goals as we head into the fall. But we’re cratering.”

Biden also continues to lose access to other, potential sources of money as angry donors refuse to reach out to their own networks, unwilling to put in such an effort for a candidate who may not actually be the Democratic nominee.

“You can’t reach out to someone, because someone could say, 'Geez, I didn’t know, he has dementia,’” a top bundler told NBC News. “Right now, it’s like someone asks, 'You want to go see a movie?’ And in this case I’m saying, ‘I don’t know what f—ing movie is playing.'"

“Your question is ill-formed”: Boebert mocked over fundamental misunderstanding of SCOTUS ruling

Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., used her time in a House Oversight Committee hearing Wednesday to press Environmental Protection Agency chief Michael Regan on whether or not he would roll back "unconstitutional regulations" in wake of Supreme Court's decision to eliminate the Chevron Doctrine. That prompted Regan to correct her misunderstanding of the decision.

“I’m asking about the EPA, and I’m asking about your rogue bureaucrats that have enacted these unconstitutional regulations. Are you going to repeal them? Are you going to continue to implement them, or are you going to stop altogether? Since it’s been overturned?” Boebert demanded.

"Do you understand the ruling?” Regan shot back.

“Do you understand the ruling of the Supreme Court?” Boebert responded.

“I do, I say your question is ill-formed,” Regan answered through Boebert's cross-talk.

The "overturning" she seemed to refer to was the Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo decision, in which the Supreme Court overturned the Chevron doctrine and gave courts the final say over regulations not explicitly detailed by Congress, limiting the ability of federal agencies to interpret their statutes. The decision does not single out specific regulations as unconstitutional nor require agencies to immediately suspend regulations without a court hearing, something that appeared to confuse Boebert.

As Regan tried to reiterate that his agency would adhere to the Supreme Court's ruling, the Colorado Republican kept pressing him on repealing EPA rules, falsely maintaining that the Supreme Court mandated that he do so.

“They have been deemed unconstitutional,” Boebert insisted.

“No,” Regan said.

“Absolutely they have. This was a huge victory,” Boebert replied.

Later, Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., tried to clarify the situation.

“Mr. Regan. I don’t want to spend too much time on this. But I would just like to clarify a few things for my colleague from Colorado, the Loper-Bright ruling. As you know, [it] said that the courts should not defer to agency rulemaking if a statute is ambiguous and instead the courts get to determine whether or not what the statute means. Is that your understanding as well?” he asked.

"Absolutely," Regan replied.

“Okay. So that would not require any regulations to be reversed or overturned. Correct?” Goldman asked.

“Correct,” Regan answered.

“Angry” Jon Stewart blasts Biden for “becoming Trumpian” in response to valid worry that he’ll lose

Jon Stewart on the latest episode of his "The Weekly Show" podcast tore into President Joe Biden over a level of "deceit" that the comedian argued stooped to the level of former President Donald Trump.

Stewart's criticism of Biden follows the President's tough showing at CNN's June 27 presidential debate, in which he made a series of seemingly age-related fumbles and struggled to appear coherent at times. Speaking to guests Jon Favreau and Tommy Vietor — both of whom served as staffers for the Obama administration — Stewart criticized the "omerta" (an Italian code of silence) surrounding any honest and open discussion of the 81-year-old president's elderly status.

“If we are taking an honest look at what our best chance to defend ourselves against a perceived threat, I think we are selling ourselves short," Stewart said. "And in a lot of ways, using, as Tommy put it, ‘omerta,’ to stifle what could be an incredibly productive, at least conversation, even if Joe Biden came out and said, ‘Look, I understand where I’m at in my lifespan and cycle and what I do, here’s how this government works.’ Rather than coming out and becoming Trumpian and saying, ‘You think someone else could hold NATO together? They could never. Only God can tell me to get out of the race.’”

"Shocking": Jon Stewart slams Biden team for telling Dems to "get on board of shut the f***k up"

“Nothing that’s been done inspires any confidence other than the fatalism of, ‘It is what it is, and this is what we’re stuck with," he added. "And that’s the part that I think has degraded people’s trust in institutions and the government from the get-go, that’s a problem.”

Biden during a highly anticipated, post-debate interview with ABC's George Stephanopoulos claimed that he had simply had a "bad night" and that he was just "exhausted." The president also claimed that only divine intervention could see him halt his presidential campaign, telling Stephanopoulos, “I've spoken to all of them [House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, and Rep. Nancy Pelosi] … If the Lord Almighty comes down and said ‘Joe, get out of the race,’ I’d get out of the race, but the Lord Almighty's not coming down."

“What do I do with my anger at a Democratic Party that honestly has put us in this rock and a hard place position?" Stewart asked on his show. "That wasn’t honest over this past year about what was happening internally at the White House. Was not in any way preparing the public for Kamala Harris. Wasn’t doing any of that. There was a — I don’t know if it’s complacency or deceit or whatever it was — but a Democratic Party that missed all of the threats that were coming their way and has left us vulnerable here,” he said.

The "Daily Show" host on Monday used much of his live show's segment to lambaste Democratic lawmakers who have continued to defend Biden's ability to win the presidency and complete a successful second term. Unlike Trump, who Stewart noted "delivered at the debate to expectation" by lying at various points, Biden's "performance and inability to articulate at times was stunning."

"For a campaign based on honesty and decency, the spin about the debate appears to be blatant bulls**t, and the redemption tour hasn't gone that much better," Stewart claimed.

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Biden team resorts to Trump’s “Access Hollywood” playbook as Democrats signal looming revolt

If you are busy attacking George Clooney as an out-of-touch Hollywood elite, you are either a bog-standard Republican politician or a Democrat on track to lose the White House.

On Wednesday, the actor — who just weeks earlier helped President Joe Biden raise $30 million for his re-election campaign — came out with what he described as “devastating” news: The 81-year-old man who looked confused and sounded incoherent for much of his 90-minute quarrel with Donald Trump last month was the same man — a shell of his former self — that Clooney had encountered at a fundraiser in Hollywood.

“He wasn’t even the Joe Biden of 2020,” Clooney wrote. “He was the same man we all witnessed at the debate.”

Dishonest Biden defenders sound like MAGA surrogates as they privately admit he can't win

Clooney is not the only one to have encountered the debate version of Biden: The president’s unscripted appearances since June 27 — the date his campaign originally said would “reset” the race, reminding Americans that Biden is normal while Trump is nuts — have been only slightly less disastrous. The Democratic candidate’s appearance on ABC convinced his interviewer, George Stephanopoulos, that he’s not fit to serve until January 2029.

After acknowledging there were good-faith concerns about the president’s ability to serve another 4.5 years, the Biden campaign quickly affected a tone of confident defiance, instructing congressional Democrats to get in line and accept his nomination as a done deal (even if the convention is more than a month away). Time magazine reported Wednesday that aides to the president are looking to the enemy, one Mr. Trump, and consciously modeling their actions on his response to the “Access Hollywood” tape, the idea being that the campaign can overcome a disaster by basically pretending — like a recorded boast of sexual assault — that it never happened.

So, then, they need to attack an ally who has lost faith and embraced treason. Speaking to CNN, a Biden campaign official dropped a bombshell: Clooney (low energy, washed up) left the Hollywood fundraiser hours before Biden did. Allies of the president then told Politico that the actor (by the way, the original “Solaris” was better) had “spent only an hour or so with Biden at the fundraiser,” which had been “planned around the actor’s schedule” and required a red-eye flight.

Jet leg: That’s why Biden did so poorly at the debate (12 days after landing ), came off as disturbingly unfit to a loyalist who helped him raise tens of millions of dollars, and why, presumably, he accidentally told a radio host, in a scripted appearance earlier this month, that he was the “first Black woman to serve with a Black president.”

Biden’s inner circle may believe that denial is a winning strategy. Their hope at this point, per Politico, is that people, especially journalists, will stop paying as much attention to the president once the Republican National Convention begins on Monday. In other words, the Biden 2024 campaign strategy currently consists of hoping that the president receives less free media going forward, even as its own coffers deplete because donors — like Clooney, feeling disrespected, their concerns ignored and dismissed as those of “elites,” even as a majority of Democratic voters now want Biden gone — have stopped giving.

“The money has absolutely shut off,” a source close to Biden’s campaign told NBC News this week.

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In a more perfect world, perhaps a Democratic candidate would not need money to win an election and the American electorate would care more about decency, and the team a president puts together, than whether or not a candidate will literally be alive when their term in office is due to end. But that’s the predicament Democrats face: the candidate at the top of the ticket is dragging the rest of them down and forcing his surrogates to lie.

When Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, D-Mich., tells voters she has “complete confidence” in Biden’s ability to serve until he is 86, for example, it comes across as decidedly untrue. Reports that Democrats have an almost universal doubt in the president’s abilities — expressed in private out of either loyalty, a hope that the president takes the hints and gets out, or simple, calculating cowardice — suggest they know this, but the president’s insistence on staying in the race is forcing them to do the impossible: pretend the debate did not fatally undermine Biden’s claim that he can keep doing this.

The panic is not limited to elites but broadly shared by those on the ground speaking to voters who can’t easily be persuaded to forget what they saw. It also does not stem simply from national polling — which as of Thursday morning showed Biden losing to Trump by just 2.2%, on average, according to 538 — but by surveys, internal and public, showing other Democrats outperforming the top of the ticket, especially in battleground states that must remain blue if Trump is to be prevented from winning a second term.

It’s also a product of time, and the knowledge that it will not be any kinder to Biden in the months ahead. The June debate was supposed to be what put Biden in front, not further behind a man who has been convicted of 34 felonies and found liable for rape after inciting an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Is anyone looking forward to the second one, slated for September?

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“The White House, in the time since that disastrous debate, I think, has done nothing to really demonstrate that they have a plan to win this election,” Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., told CNN earlier this week. His colleague, Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., then appealed to the president’s sense of patriotism, and his duty to the American people, in an appeal for him to be drop out: “We need him to put us first, as he has done before. I urge him to do it now.”

Those still firmly in the Biden camp may take comfort in the fact that those calling for the president to quit, publicly, are still a small minority of elected Democrats. But consider, again, Whitmer, who was completely confident on Tuesday. By Wednesday night? She was telling CNN that, you know what, actually, “I don’t think it would hurt” for Biden to get his cognition tested.

Biden has so far rejected calls to undergo a cognitive test just as defiantly as he’s resisted calls to step aside. A solid performance at his NATO press conference may reassure those who have not already lost faith that he does not need to heed either demand, but as former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi hinted at Wednesday on MSNBC, those biting their tongue out of respect for the president may be readying for an open revolt.

“Let’s just hold off,” she said, urging her colleagues to stop whatever they’re planning to do until after the NATO summit. That means the dam, currently fortified by deference to the president and a belief that he will ultimately decide to quit the race, could break as soon as Friday. If Biden doesn't step aside, Democrats may well feel the need to give him a shove.

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Inside the history of Caesar salad — the world-famous salad that just turned 100

Fourth of July may be best known as a national holiday commemorating the establishment of the United States, but it’s also a big day for what is hailed as the “king of salads”: Caesar salad. This year, the iconic medley of romaine lettuce, croutons and Parmesan cheese celebrated turning 100 years old.

The salad is said to have been created by Cesare Cardini, an Italian immigrant who operated several restaurants in Mexico and the United States. It was at Cardini’s restaurant in Tijuana, Mexico, Caesar’s Place, where the first-ever Caesar salad was served on July 4, 1924, to local patrons. Short on ingredients in the kitchen due to a Fourth of July rush, the earliest iteration of the salad was made purely from leftovers. Cardini combined whole Romaine leaves, garlic-flavored oil, Worcestershire sauce, lemons, eggs and Parmesan cheese into a tasty meal. It quickly became a huge hit, especially amongst Californians who crossed the border to dine — and drink — at Cardini’s restaurant amid prohibition.

History, for the most part, credits Cardini with the inception of Caesar salad, but other accounts claim otherwise. Some say that Cardini's brother, Alex Cardini, made the salad, which he served as breakfast to airmen from a San Diego base after they enjoyed a booze-filled night. Alex, who was a pilot during World War I, aptly named his creation “Aviator Salad.” His salad included the addition of anchovies and was later re-named Caesar Salad after it rose in popularity. Other accounts state the salad was actually created by the mother of Livio Santini, one of Cardini’s chefs.

No Parm, no problem: How modern chefs are veganizing the Caesar salad

As for Cardini, his Caesar salad was often prepared tableside throughout the 1960s and 1970s. The salad was intended to be finger food, in which diners could pick up individual hearts of romaine lettuce and chew it down. Many customers, however, didn’t like getting their hands dirty, so Cardini ultimately swapped the lettuce hearts for torn pieces of lettuce. In their joint cooking show “Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home,” Julia Child and Jacques Pepin said it’s a shame the salad is now eaten with a fork and knife: “Too bad, since the salad lost much of its individuality and drama. You can certainly serve it the original way at home — just provide your guests with plenty of big paper napkins. And plan to be extravagant.”

Cardini was adamant about staying true to his original recipe. In a 1987 interview with the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, his daughter Rosa Cardini explained that her father only used the inner leaves of Romaine lettuce and made sure they were crisp, dry and cold. He also used a coddled egg, which made for an extra creamy dressing. Additionally, Cardini swore by using the “best and freshest ingredients,” including lemons, olive oil and freshly grated Parmesan.

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Nearly 30 years after it was first introduced, the Caesar salad became a widely acclaimed dish. By 1953, the salad was recognized as “the greatest recipe to originate in the Americas in the past 50 years” by the International Society of Epicures in Paris.

Today, approximately 35% of U.S. restaurants include Caesar salad on their menus, and nearly 43 million bottles of Caesar salad dressing — or $150 million worth — have been sold nationally over the past year, according to the AP.

Caesar salad was recently celebrated with a four-day food and wine festival in Tijuana. The festivity featured live music and chefs from around the world, including Jose Andrés, along with a grand unveiling of a statue of Cardini.

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Investigation found that Clarence Thomas took free yacht, helicopter trips in Russia: Democrats

A Senate Judiciary Committee investigation found that conservative Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas failed to disclose at least 35 luxury gifts, including a free yacht trip to Russia and a private helicopter to a palace in St. Petersburg, Vladimir Putin's hometown, Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., and Ron Wyden, D-Or., said in a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland.

The letter raised the "serious possibility of tax fraud" and accused Thomas of having "secretly accepted gifts and income potentially worth millions of dollars," mostly from billionaire real estate developer Harlan Crow, who Thomas once described as being among his "dearest friends." Buried in appendix list on page 14 are the references to the Russia trips, which took place in 2003. Other gifts from Crow include "multiple instances of free private jet travel, yacht travel, and lodging," "gifts of tuition for Justice Thomas's grandnephew," "real estate transactions," "home renovations," and "free rent for Justice Thomas's mother."

“The Senate is not a prosecutorial body, and the Supreme Court has no fact-finding function of its own, making the executive role all the more important if there is ever to be any complete determination of the facts,” the letter reads.

After a bombshell ProPublica report last year that revealed the extent of Thomas' financial ties with Crow and attempts to hide it, Thomas admitted to taking three trips on a private plane owned by Crow, but did not disclose any of the other gifts.

The senators are asking Garland to launch a special counsel investigation into Thomas, with the evidence collected so far "plainly suggest[ing] that Justice Thomas has committed numerous willful violations of federal ethics and false-statement laws and raises significant questions about whether he and his wealthy benefactors have complied with their federal tax obligations."

In a separate move on Wednesday, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and a group of fellow progressives filed articles of impeachment against Thomas and Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito for failing to disclose "millions of dollars in gifts from individuals with business before the court."

Emergency declared in Colorado after bird flu outbreak at egg facility

An avian flu outbreak at a Colorado commercial egg facility prompted Gov. Jared Polis to declare a disaster emergency Tuesday, allowing the facility to receive state assistance. As reported by ABC affiliate Denver 7, officials say that 1.78 million chickens will also have to be killed after samples submitted to Colorado State University from the producer tested positive for highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI).

“Why you're seeing [bird flu] more in northern Colorado is because we have a big concentration of livestock operations in this area. So we're seeing it in domestic poultry and then also cattle," said Dr. Kristy Pabilonia, who leads the lab, in an interview with the outlet. “Whether that's commercial poultry or backyard flocks is really devastating because of that high mortality rate … With birds, the response is typically to depopulate them because they are very sick and they're not going to survive influenza.”

Experts say bird flu is a Pandora's box. Are we about to open it?

The state veterinarian of Colorado has asked local poultry farmers to submit a health report on their flocks, and has issued a quarantine order in parts of Weld County, where the facility is located, to restrict bird shipments. More than 6 million birds have reportedly been affected by HPAI since the outbreak first began in early 2022, and Pabilonia said that cattle in the state have also been impacted. The crossover the virus has made from birds to mammals has long been worrying scientists who warn these mutations could jumpstart a pandemic like COVID.

Although bird flu has impacted 145 dairy farms in 12 states, Colorado is leading the nation for reported HPAI outbreaks at dairy farms, according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Humans too are catching this virus, with the fourth human case reported last week, also in Colorado.

As Keith Poulson, director of the Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, told Salon earlier this week, "we really need to pay attention to this virus; we can't let it continue to be endemic in our dairy herds." But clearly poultry farms are still just as vulnerable to HPAI as this crisis continues.

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