Think Kate Middleton’s data-privacy fiasco is bad? US hospitals are under cyber-siege

Data privacy officials in the United Kingdom are currently investigating a privacy breach that impacted the Princess of Wales, Kate Middleton, after three hospital workers reportedly sought access to the royal’s private medical information. But her majesty's medical privacy problems are all too familiar for many in the United States, where one in three people were impacted by a health-related data breach last year.

The Associated Press reported last month that one cybersecurity analyst counted 46 attacks on hospitals in 2023, compared with 25 in 2022, accounting for an astonishing 133 million US patient records exposed last year. And hackers are making more money per cyberattack, with average payouts jumping from $5,000 in 2018 to $1.5 million last year.

“Unless governments do something more meaningful, more significant than they have done to date, it’s inevitable that it’ll get worse,” the analyst said.

Abortion rights vs Big Tech: A major privacy win against “corporate surveillance”

The Department of Health and Human Services, however, said total health care hacks climbed to 725 last year, their highest on record. As reported by USA Today, the worst of the hacks (the top 20 in which at least 1 million records were exposed) the vast majority targeted hospital contractors and medical vendors. Around 2.3 million Medicare beneficiaries — along with tens of millions of people in 2,000 companies, government agencies and universities — had data exposed when a Russian ransomware group hacked US government software created by a federal contractor, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

“Unless governments do something more meaningful, more significant than they have done to date, it’s inevitable that it’ll get worse.”

Following a massive cyberattack on a Chicago pediatric hospital on Jan. 31, officials from the US Department of Homeland Security likewise issued a warning: cyberattacks are growing quickly and hospitals are being targeted, along with doctors, medical vendors and other health care companies. More recently, HHS is currently investigating the massive Feb. 21 breach of a UnitedHealth Group subsidiary that likely exposed millions of patients’ sensitive data.

“Given the unprecedented magnitude of this cyberattack, and in the best interest of patients and health care providers, OCR is initiating an investigation into this incident,” the HHS Office for Civil Rights said in a statement last week.

Three things the US could do to protect data privacy

Although controversial legislative efforts to ban TikTok have captured much of the nation’s attention, the more effective data-privacy move by Congress came this week as lawmakers in the House unanimously passed a bill barring third-party data brokers from selling your data to the US’ geopolitical adversaries, like Russia and China. As reported by Gizmodo, the Protecting Americans’ Data from Foreign Adversaries Act (H.R. 7520) cleared the House Wednesday on a 414-0 vote and is now headed for the Senate.

Want more health and science stories in your inbox? Subscribe to Salon's weekly newsletter Lab Notes.

The bill also bolsters previous efforts by the Federal Trade Commission to shore up sensitive health data — barring brokers from selling or sharing information like your precise geolocation data, genetic data and private emails and texts.

Abortion rights vs Big Tech: A major privacy win against “corporate surveillance”

The Biden administration and Environmental Protection Agency are also moving to shore up state-level defenses while warning that “disabling cyberattacks” are hitting critical US water and waste systems, along with power grids. The administration has also recently pushed for better privacy-risk labeling on consumer smart-home devices and tech.

What you can do to bolster your data privacy

1. Verify a breach

If you’d like to check whether one of your email addresses has been compromised in a data breach or hack, you can visit haveibeenpwned.com and enter your email address in the site’s search bar. The site’s owner and creator, security expert Troy Hunt, has provided this free service since 2013, and the site can verify your email address against a database of nearly 8 billion compromised accounts.

2. Use credible, open source privacy tools

When you finally get tired of having to keep track of (and routinely reset) dozens of passwords, consider installing open-source password manager Bitwarden in your browser. Usually, free privacy and cybersecurity tools are inadvisable, but Bitwarden is the exception. Offering the strongest free-tier service among competitors and compatible with nearly any browser, Bitwarden has nearly no learning curve and offers convenient instructions on importing your list of saved passwords.

3. Use decoy accounts and contaminate your data

Any time you’re entering your name into a website to sign up for a new service or place an order, use two things: a fake identity and email account (to the maximum extent allowable by law), and contaminated data. The fake identity bit is self-explanatory. Contaminating the data is simple: While entering your information into any online form, put the name of the website or service you’re using into the field set aside for a middle name. For instance, if I start receiving junk mail and spam from random companies and it’s addressed to “Rae Amazon Hodge,” I’ll know exactly what company sold me out.

about tech

Trump’s criminal cases are his campaign

"Hands off Trump Tower!"

So reads a recent fundraising email from Donald Trump's joint fundraising campaign. Most of the email is an extended whine from Trump about facing punishment for committing decades of business fraud, leading to nearly half a billion dollars in fines. Trump has long claimed to be a billionaire, but instead of sucking it up and paying the penalty after being found liable for his crimes, he's begging his working schmo supporters to cut back on their grocery bills to help him evade justice.

"Radical Democrat AG Letitia James just said she’s ready to SEIZE MY ASSETS!" Trump's campaign email screams.

It's a rare moment of honesty from Trump, at least. Indeed, money donated to this fund will largely be used to pay his lawyers, instead of traditional campaign goals like running ads or organizing voters. What is less clear is why he expects his followers to turn over their Social Security checks so that he can keep his gold-plated Manhattan penthouse as a second home.

"But remember, it’s not me they’re after. THEY’RE AFTER YOU – I’M JUST STANDING IN THEIR WAY!"

His vague appeal does not explain how he's "in their way," much less why he needs to own skyscrapers in New York City or how donations will help him stop the imaginary bad guys in their mythical war on MAGA voters.

Trump's update on the famous words of John F. Kennedy might be, "Ask not what a presidential candidate can do for you. Ask how much you're going to give to keep his sorry butt out of prison."

Want more Amanda Marcotte on politics? Subscribe to her newsletter Standing Room Only.

Silly as all this is, it's indicative of the relationship between Trump's alleged crimes and his third run as the Republican nominee for president: They are one and the same. It's not just that they've become so intertwined as to be indistinguishable. The main message of Trump's presidential campaign is that he should be able to commit any crime he wants, without penalty. And, as he often likes to say in public and in court documents, he should enjoy "absolute immunity."

To be sure, Trump still regularly issues inconsequential assertions of innocence. Listen to him speak or watch his rallies, however, and it's clear that his actual message is very different: Sure, he's guilty, but he should be allowed to commit crimes with impunity.

With every crime Trump's accused of, he winkingly acknowledges his guilt in between glib claims of innocence.

At the infamous "bloodbath" speech in Ohio this month, like at most Trump rallies, he kicked things off with a ritual celebration of the Jan. 6 insurrection. Trump called the rioters who assaulted cops "unbelievable patriots" and promised to pardon them. This isn't just gross, but tantamount to a showy, public confession of guilt for leading the insurrection.

And it's not just with Jan. 6. With every crime Trump's accused of, he winkingly acknowledges his guilt in between glib claims of innocence. With the charges that he stole classified documents, he regularly gives interviews where he admits he did it, saying, "I'm allowed to do whatever I want." He still denies sexually assaulting E. Jean Carroll, despite a jury finding he did do so, but then finds little ways to brag about doing it. During a CNN town hall, for instance, he insinuated to a cheering crowd Carroll had it coming because she's allegedly the "kind of a woman" who would be alone with him in a dressing room. When asked about the infamous "Access Hollywood" tape in which he bragged about sexual assault, Trump replied that "fortunately" men like him "tend to do well," sneering it's "unfortunately" only for the women they attack.

Trump is dangerously desperate for a bailout

As CNN reported Thursday, President Joe Biden is running the usual voter-oriented campaign, traveling non-stop to campaign events and focusing on what he can do for Americans, such as generating jobs or lowering health care prices. When Trump hasn't been in court, in contrast, he "has remained almost entirely behind closed doors in Palm Beach," playing golf at his Mar-a-Lago resort and having lunch meetings with rich people he hopes can bail him out of a growing pile of legal fees and his over half-billion dollars worth of civil penalties.

Understandably, many pundits are skeptical that this "help me get away with crime" approach to campaigning will be effective for Trump. David Frum of The Atlantic argued that Trump's egocentric campaign is "self-sabotaging." Brian Beutler wrote in Off Message that, "Trump is scarcely running a presidential campaign."

Trump is almost certainly suffering from severe personality disorders that manifest as extreme narcissism, and that is a big part of the reason why his campaign message can be boiled down to "me me me." But I suspect there is a tactical theory here, if only on the part of his campaign managers and not Trump himself: Trump's wounded pride can be shaped into a symbol of the central MAGA complaint that straight white men's iron grip on power is threatened by the "woke mob."

Trump's wounded pride can be shaped into a symbol of the central MAGA complaint that straight white men's iron grip on power is threatened by the "woke mob."

On Wednesday, Charles Blow of the New York Times likened Trump's relentless whining strategy to the "Lost Cause," the post-Civil War myth that the Confederates were noble warriors defending the benevolent institution of slavery, rather than traitors who rebelled so they could treat human beings like chattel. As Blow writes, the Lost Cause is a reactionary lie that gives shape to "the sense of displacement and dispossession is driven by a lost cultural advantage."

Trump's new version replaces the old cultural relics of nostalgic white supremacy — sprawling plantations, the Confederate flag, Robert E. Lee statues — with his own gaudy signposts of his wealth and power. Trump wants his voters to see Trump Tower not as a tacky building topped by an ugly penthouse, but as a symbol of their own social status. And he isn't subtle about this, screeching that "Radical Democrat AG Letitia James" is threatening to take away the "ICONIC Trump Tower." Having a Black prosecutor take away his skyscraper is being hamfistedly equated to every grievance his voters have about losing out a job to a better-qualified Black person, seeing "Barbie" beat some dude-led movie at the box office, or having your wife finally divorce you after too many years picking up dirty socks.

We need your help to stay independent

Subscribe today to support Salon's progressive journalism

Trump's empire was build by cheating and breaking the law. But in this MAGA framework, that's a plus. The screaming white crowds at a Trump rally also know that their lives are shaped by their unfair advantages. MAGA is, at its heart, a support group for mediocre white men who know that they wouldn't be doing half as well if they were a woman or person of color. Trump is trying to draw a straight line between his immense privileges and their relatively smaller ones. Donald Trump is equating his desire to stay out of prison with their wish to keep pinching waitress butts without getting kicked out of the bar.

Donald Trump is equating his desire to stay out of prison with their wish to keep pinching waitress butts without getting kicked out of the bar.

That's why promising pardons for the January 6 criminals is so central to Trump's campaign. They represent the Trump supporters who are in this to protect the petty privileges of middle class white people. The talk of pardons is Trump's false promise of trickle-down impunity. It's certainly the most explicit space in which Trump can relate his desire to commit serious federal crimes to what his followers mostly want: reassurance that their privileges will go unquestioned.

So yes, there appears to be a strategy there. But that doesn't necessarily mean it's a good one. Trump's hardcore supporters who go to his rallies are all in, clearly, seeing their trifling grievances about rainbow flags and sexual harassment codes in Trump's rage over possibly being held to account for crimes. But whether or not this "in the end, Trump Tower is you" tactic will resonate beyond just the MAGA base is hard to imagine.

Reporting shows that Trump is lagging in fundraising, and not just from rich people who don't see a personal benefit in paying Trump's legal bills. CNBC reports that small-dollar donors "have slowed their support to the former president." The typical small dollar donor is a middle or upper-middle class person who can't write big checks but can toss $50 or $100 a candidate's way. Those people may be struggling to connect their grievances to Trump's rage that New York won't just let him skate away from losing a half-billion fraud lawsuit. And those are the people who already like him! It will be even harder for Trump to win over reluctant swing voters with his navel-gazing message.

about the Trump campaign and Trump's trials

Trump’s love letters to MAGA: Campaign emails forge a cult bond

When I think about Donald Trump, I usually visualize Larry ‘Lonesome’ Rhodes, Andy Griffith’s character in Elia Kazan’s 1957 film “A Face in the Crowd.” Rhodes is a master manipulator, the embodiment of the wrongness of mass media and consumerism, and a fake populist everyman.

But Donald Trump is also many other things. Like other fascist leaders, demagogues, and “great men of history” he is a symbol more than a human being. For his MAGA people and other followers, Trump is a messiah. He is a force for vengeance and destruction. And as I have explained before, he is also their teacher, preacher, father figure and a type of lover.

When I think of the shapeshifter Janus faced Trump now, I see him more like Robert Mitchum in the iconic role as Rev. Harry Powell, with his knuckles tattooed with the words love and hate, in Charles Laughton’s 1955 film “Night of the Hunter.” As proof of Trump’s so-called love for his MAGA people, he is sending out wave after wave of fundraising emails where he literally tells them, repeatedly and in different ways, how much he “loves” them.

In this recent fundraising email, which is quite phallic and psychosexual, Trump speaks about how he somehow felt the MAGA love grow “ten times stronger!”:

THIS IS PRESIDENT TRUMP:

Now is the time to help me SAVE AMERICA and chip in

I’LL ALWAYS LOVE YOU!

Has Biden ever told you that?

NOPE! NEVER!

I’ll always love you because you never stopped loving me.

Through the hoaxes, the Witch Hunts, the arrests, YOU STUCK BY MY SIDE!

Even when they were taking my mugshot, I FELT YOUR LOVE GROW TEN TIMES STRONGER!

True MAGA Patriots like you are the only reason I’m still standing.

I’ve just got one thing to say:

I’LL NEVER STOP FIGHTING FOR YOU.

I need you to take your support to the next level, and show every single Democrat that the MAGA movement is STRONG AND POWERFUL

SAVE AMERICA

Together we will MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!

May God bless you.

Here, Trump begins his fundraising email with a declaration of love for his MAGA people:

I will always love you…

Please read the letter I wrote last night!

Now is the time to help me SAVE AMERICA >

RESPOND TO TRUMP

You are truly a special Patriot, and I really mean that.

You are the only reason I’m still running for President!

They’ve thrown everything at me: Hoaxes, Witch Hunts, Impeachments, Indictments, Raids, and ARRESTS!

But you never left my side. NOT EVER!

So this letter goes out to every single member of the MAGA Movement…

I WILL NEVER SURRENDER!!!

Please respond to me whenever you can! I love reading what you True Trump Republicans have to say.

In this fundraising email, Trump is selling his MAGA people a picture of him to keep close to their hearts as he declares how he loves them so much because of their loyalty to him.

I WILL NEVER SURRENDER!

I know you won’t either.

So here is a signed poster from Donald J. Trump, the best President of all time!

And I want to give it to you for always supporting me through EVERYTHING, so claim yours right here right now

Now is the time to help me SAVE AMERICA and chip in

#1 Impeachments.

#2 Indictments.

#3 Arrests.

#4 Raids.

You never left my side, and I will always love you for that.

In this fundraising email Trump is showing his vulnerable side, and wants to make sure that the love he feels for his MAGA people is reciprocated:

Thank you for sticking by my side.

Thank you for never giving up.

THANK YOU FOR PLAYING THE MOST VITAL ROLE IN OUR MAGA MOVEMENT!

All of our success is thanks to supporters like you.

So from the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU!

Here’s my solemn promise to you:

I will NEVER SURRENDER, and together, we will MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!

If you feel the same way about me as I feel about you, I’d love to read a letter from YOU.

These “love” emails (of which there are many) are also a demand from Donald Trump – and a way for him to get the narcissistic fuel he desperately craves as an apparent malignant narcissist and megalomaniac with a god complex – for love and loyalty in return… and of course money.

We have met the enemy and he is us

Ultimately, Trump’s use of fake love is a way for him to manipulate his followers and their deep need for validation, meaning, affirmation, community, and belonging in a society where loneliness and social atomization are a public health emergency. As others have observed, Trump’s political rallies fulfill that function as a type of church tent revival, traveling roadshow carnival, and fascist family reunion and bacchanal. The Washington Post describes one such Trump rally in South Carolina:

A sea of red MAGA hats. Shirts with Trump’s mug shot. The Village People’s “Y.M.C.A.” blaring from the speakers.

For many of his supporters, going to a Trump rally is almost like going to a concert. In interviews, Trump voters often say they go to his rallies not only to see the former president speak but also for the atmosphere and community.

Trump can go off script during his rallies, but he has some go-to lines that draw loud cheers and raucous applause. Among those lines in Rock Hill were Trump’s vow to “not give one penny to any school that has a vaccine mandate or mask mandate” and his declaration that he “will keep men out of women’s sports.”

The crowd also broke into “USA” chants as Trump said, “We’re going to tell Crooked Joe Biden, ‘You’re fired, get out of here, you’re fired,’” and later when he falsely declared, “They rigged the presidential election, and we’re not going to allow them to rig the presidential election of 2024.”

As he spoke, Trump gave shout-outs to his fans, such as the “Front Row Joes,” who are among his most hardcore rally attendees. He also nodded to his foes, mocking former congresswoman Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) and calling Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) a “disaster for the Republican Party.”

He deployed his favorite nicknames, winking to the crowd, “Don’t use the name birdbrain,” as he described his last Republican foe, former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley, who dropped out last week after Super Tuesday. He went to great lengths to enunciate former president Barack Obama’s middle name: “I’m sure you haven’t heard of him, Barack Hussein Obama,” he said, drawing boos from the crowd.

Trump’s emotionally manipulative behavior (what is actually a form of emotional abuse and cruelty) is a defining feature of cult leaders and how they exercise undue influence and “mind control” over their “brainwashed” followers. In all, Trump’s love is not healthy or positive. It is a means for Trump to create a sense of collective identity, grievance, and loss of self for his MAGA supplicants where they see in him a type of parental figure and personal god to whom they subsume their individual agency and decision-making. In that dynamic, any offense or threat against Donald Trump is a personal threat and offense against them. As occurs in most other cults, the result of this “love” is almost always violence and other antisocial behavior.

In his role as de facto cult leader, Trump is encouraging the hate, the negative version of love, through his speeches and other communications. In an example of the rhetorical strategy known as stochastic terrorism, Trump talks about revenge, retribution, and a final battle, and purging the country of the “human vermin” who have polluted “the blood” of America. For another example, in his fundraising emails, Trump addresses his followers as “friends” and then works them into a state of existential terror and dread (what social psychologists describe as “mortality salience” or” terror management”) about how the “evil” Democrats, the communists, socialists, “anti-Christians” and Muslims and black and brown “invaders” who are subhuman “animals” are a threat to “real Americans” i.e. White America and their families and communities. Moreover, Trump’s fundraising emails and other online communications alternate between messages of love and hate, friends, and enemies, as a way of creating a type of perpetual emotional imbalance that triggers anxiety and a lack of security and certainty. This in turn makes the MAGA people even more vulnerable to Trump’s and the other neofascists’ psychological conditioning.

We need your help to stay independent

Subscribe today to support Salon's progressive journalism

In a recent conversation with me here at Salon about his new book "What We've Become: Living and Dying in a Country of Arms," Dr. Jonathan Metzl offered an example of this programming and emotional manipulation as seen with how Trump has positioned himself as a champion of “gun rights”:

Trump has positioned himself as the defender of a specific pro-gun ideology. Of course, it’s largely an act. Nobody's taking away anybody's guns right now, this is not a serious debate or discussion about the Second Amendment. But it’s politically savvy. Trump is telling his public that you get to keep your guns — which means your power and privilege. And by comparison, President Biden is arguing for regulations and restrictions…. If Trump wins the 2024 election, having large numbers of non-government actors who are armed and mobilized for him is going to change how people live in this country, and then you add the issue of the NRA’s influence on judges and courts. We will have moved well beyond background checks, and rapidly so.

At the Guardian, propaganda expert Peter Pomerantsev offers this insightful observation about the psychology of fascism, which speaks directly to how Donald Trump and his propagandists are emotionally training the MAGA people and other American neofascists:

Today’s propagandists play on the same needs. In a time of rapid economic, social and technological change it can be comforting to be part of a large, angry crowd. Online conspiracy theory communities are particularly effective at pulling together a sense of being part of a group with a secret knowledge and mission. Such media also give people a role to play in a confusing world: as a Proud Boy or a “patriot” storming the Capitol. Social media, where you are encouraged to label who you are, only exacerbates this performance. Meanwhile the allure of “strongmen” has never gone away. Whether you buy into the psychoanalytic theories, the grievance narratives work – from Trump’s crusade to Make America Great Again to Putin promising to get Russia back off its knees….

Think of the difference between the cult leader and the therapist. Both dig into people’s unspoken fears and needs. The cult leader, like the authoritarian propagandist, uses that insight to make people dependent on their power. The therapist helps them to become more empowered and self-aware.

Donald Trump and his agents are continuing to (further) radicalize their MAGA followers and other malign right-wing and neofascist actors to engage in acts of violence and mayhem against the Democrats and their other perceived enemies. In an under-reported recent example, the Republican Party held a fundraising event in Kansas where a mannequin of President Biden was punched and beaten by attendees. Predictably, the Republican Party in Kansas issued weak denials and excuses when the video was circulated online. This incitement to terrorism and other forms of violence did not take place in a “Third World” country or so-called banana republic where one’s political enemies are burnt in effigy (or far worse), but right here in the United States, which is supposedly one of the world’s leading democracies.

Attacking President Biden in effigy is part of a much larger pattern of behavior. Several days ago, Donald Trump sent out another email with threats of “bloodshed” — this time in an act of projection onto Biden and the so-called border crisis. Trump’s repeated use of language such as “bloodshed" reveals, again, the corrupt ex-president’s malevolent intent.

There will be blood. There has already been lots of blood spilled during the Trumopocene (never to be forgotten are the hundreds of thousands of people who died in the United States because of the Trump regime’s act of COVID democide). There will be more violence and blood in the months leading up to Election Day. Violence is one of the fascist’s greatest weapons and a defining feature of such politics. Based on his years of statements and behavior, if Donald Trump wins or loses the 2024 election such a bad outcome is almost a certainty.

about this topic

Silicon mountain: Our obsession with electronics is drowning the world in e-waste

Whether it's for work, school or keeping up with friends and family, we all rely on electronic devices for our daily lives. It's likely you are reading this article from a device that uses a battery or plug. Unfortunately, our phones and laptops contain some toxic elements and when they break or become obsolete, where they end up next can have big impacts on the environment.

This isn't a failure on the individual level so much as an overarching problem with our society's disposable culture. This trash differs from plastic and other types of pollution however because of the uniquely dangerous toxic metals and other materials, plus the fact that this category of electronic waste, or e-waste, is growing faster than any other.

"Most countries in the world do not yet have e-waste regulation in place."

According to a recent report by the United Nations (UN), humanity's e-waste production is a major environmental problem. Indeed, the UN's fourth Global E-waste Monitor (GEM) announced on Wednesday that human beings are creating five times more electronic waste than we are recycling. In 2022 alone, human beings created 137 billion pounds of e-waste and recycled less than a quarter of it. According to the report, this is enough e-waste that it equals the weight of 107,000 of the world's largest, heaviest 575 tonne passenger aircraft, enough to be connected head-to-tail from New York City to Athens, Greece. Even worse, the number is only increasing, with the 62 million tonnes produced in 2022 expected to rise by 32% to 82 million tonnes by 2030.

Plastic experts say recycling is a scam. Should we even do it anymore?

"E-waste presents very visible and obvious challenges to the environment and human health, while many of the solutions can be extremely effective but less visible," said report co-author Vanessa Gray, who heads the Environment and Emergency Telecommunication Division at the Telecommunication Development Bureau at the UN's International Telecommunication Union. "This includes the need for more and better e-waste regulation. Although this is an important first step to address the e-waste challenge, and helps drive recycling rates, most countries in the world do not yet have e-waste regulation in place."

Without proper regulations, people are likely to be exposed to the hazardous substances that allow our electronic inventions to work. Think of mercury, which can cause brain and nervous system damage and is present in some batteries. Lead poisoning is also common among those exposed to these materials, which can similarly cause brain and neurological damage. These devices may also contain dioxins that can harm a person's lungs, or cobalt that irritates the skin, eyes, nose and throat. E-waste also usually contains plastic, which never degrades and therefore creates pollution associated with myriad diseases that effectively remains in the environment indefinitely.

Research indicates that children and pregnant women are particularly vulnerable to the negative health effects of being exposed to these materials, especially in poorer regions of the world, where much of this trash is exported. Even though economically disadvantaged regions like Africa generate less e-waste, it can be lucrative scavenging electronic products for a living. But this is often done without proper personal or environmental protections. When this is combined with an inferior e-waste management infrastructure, one is left with a recipe for a widespread health crisis.

"African countries generate the lowest rates of e-waste but struggle to recycle it; their recycling rates are below 1 per cent," the authors of the report write. By partial contrast, Asia generates nearly half of the world's e-waste (at a staggering 30 billion kg) and yet has likewise made only "limited advances" in controlling its e-waste problem. In contrast, the report notes that in 2022, the regions that generated the highest amount of e-waste per capita were Europe, Oceania and the Americas.

Want more health and science stories in your inbox? Subscribe to Salon's weekly newsletter Lab Notes.

"Buy less electronics you don’t need."

There are glimmers of hope in the report. For one thing, the researchers found that although only a small amount of e-waste is recycled, that was enough to spare the planet from being mined for 2 trillion pounds of ore for virgin metal. This is because recycling e-waste allows humanity to create new gadgets from old ones, an act which in turn lowers the high carbon footprint associated with mining and manufacturing.

Currently the Americas, for example, release 30.9 billion kg CO2 equivalents through their poor management of electronic products; Europe releases 16.6 billion kg of CO2 equivalents; Asia releases 82.4 billion kg of CO2 equivalents; and Africa releases 12.4 billion kg of CO2 equivalents. Safely repurposing electronic products automatically eliminates the greenhouse gas production associated with creating new devices. As the United Nations observed, people avoided emitting 93 million tonnes of CO2 emissions through their formal waste management efforts.

This means that the problem of e-waste pollution, though very serious, is not unsolvable. When people safely recycle their electronic products, it does indeed reduce the environmental harms from further exploitation and pollution.

Each individual can take important steps to solve the problem of e-waste pollution. To elaborate on this, Salon spoke by email with Kees Baldé, the report's lead author and a senior scientific specialist of Sustainable Cycles at the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR).

"You have an old refrigerator and want to discard it," Baldé said, highlighting a common source of e-waste. "You decide to place it on the [curbside] for the municipality or a company to be collected." Usually someone will remove the copper compressor in the back to sell the valuable metal before the waste collector takes away the refrigerator. But if someone wants to reduce e-waste, this is not helpful.

"This compressor contains refrigerants and are immediately released," Baldé explained. "This may deplete ozone layer, if it’s an old fridge [but] newer refrigerants also contribute significantly to global warming. The emissions of gasses in one compressor equals one flight for one person of around 5,000 kilometers [3,106 miles]."

We need your help to stay independent

Subscribe today to support Salon's progressive journalism

For other sources of e-waste, Baldé had a pointed observation for people who need to dispose of small devices that run on batteries. If "you throw it in the residual waste bin" instead of recycling it, the result is that "it will be incinerated or landfilled, instead of being recycled."

As for people who live in low and middle income countries, Baldé said that "waste pickers" who see e-waste "as a valuable resource and selectively scavenge and ‘recycle’ valuable components" need to be careful. Currently thousands of people do this "without the necessary protection and getting heavy metals [and] persistent chemicals in their bodies, and releasing toxic fumes and other emissions to the environment."

Baldé's advice is to "separate [your] e-waste, repair more and buy less electronics you don’t need."

Gray closed on a hopeful note, describing how we may be able to fix the problem. "Regulation can help ensure that producers and distributors of electrical and electronic equipment take on a responsibility for the products they put on the market. It can further help make it easier for products to be re-used, repaired, as well as recycled," Gray said.

about environmental issues:

Bob Menendez open to independent bid if exonerated on federal bribery charges

Earlier this week, word spread that Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., is considering running for re-election as an independent, which NBC's Julie Tsirkin commented on, saying he was likely weighing this as an option because his bribery trial is coming up in May and he "can fundraise as a candidate." In a nine-minute video posted to social media on Thursday, Menendez confirms that independent bid as an option, but only if he's exonerated.

“I am hopeful that my exoneration will take place this summer and allow me to pursue my candidacy as an independent Democrat in the general election,” he says in the video, which can be seen below. “Unfortunately, the present accusations I am facing — of which I am innocent and will prove so — will not allow me to have that kind of political dialogue and debate with political opponents who have already made it a cornerstone of their campaign."

As The Daily Beast points out, Menendez has turned away from requests for his resignation after being indicted on allegations of accepting gifts from the Egyptian government in exchange for favorable policy for the Middle Eastern country. If convicted, he faces jail time. If not, he's got a new project to occupy himself with, but he'll need to get at least 800 signatures by June 4 to file for re-election, which is a crunch.

Watch here:

“House of the Dragon” drops dueling “Black” and “Green” trailers for long-awaited second season

Are you team Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) or Alicent (Emma Cooke)?

The new trailers for the HBO "Game of Thrones" prequel "House of the Dragon" preview a new season with the two lead characters on the brink of war, asking its audience to either pick Rhaenyra's black squad or Alicent's green team.

The black trailer highlighted Rhaenrya, Prince Daemon (Matt Smith) and their army on Dragonstone, while the green put Alicent, her father Otto (Rhys Ifans) and her children, King Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney) and Prince Aemond (Ewan Mitchell), at center stage in King's Landing. The "GOT" prequel takes place nearly 200 years before the events of the original show. However, season two of "House of the Dragon" is shaping up to officially launch the Targaryen civil war.

The highly anticipated second season is reported to pick up right where the first ended in season one with Aegon, Rhaenyra's half-brother being crowned king of Westeros without her knowledge even though she was the chosen successor and views herself as the rightful heir to their father, the late King Viserys (Paddy Considine).

"My father chose me, his firstborn child, to succeed him. He held his decision until death. And yet, Alicent's son sits my throne. I mean to fight this war and win it," Rhaenyra stated.

Meanwhile, Alicent opened the green trailer by saying: "On his death bed he knew the realm would never accept a queen. Rhaenyra's supporters will believe what they wish. But Viserys wanted Aegon to succeed him."

It's game on for the former friends, leading to one of the bloodiest wars in "Game of Thrones" history.

Catch the new season of "House of the Dragon" streaming on Max on June 16.

Would-be assassin turned musician, John Hinckley Jr., says he’s a victim of cancel culture

John Hinckley Jr. spent 41 years 2 months and 15 days under one form of supervision or another — primarily during a lengthy stay in a Washington mental hospital — as a result of his attempted assassination of former President Ronald Reagan in 1981. And since entering back into society as a free man in 2022, he's been trying to make a go of it as a professional musician. But it's not going very well.

On average, as soon as Hinckley books a show — be it in Brooklyn, NY or Naugatuck, CT, where he was scheduled to perform at Hotel Huxley on a date that would've marked 43 years, to the day, since shooting Reagan — the venue finds reason to shut it down before he even takes the stage. In a recent post to X (formerly Twitter) he offers his theory on why that is.

"With all of my concerts canceled, it’s a fair statement to say I’m a victim of cancel culture!," he writes, to which user @UsingCigarettes replied, "You should think about alternative venue options like house shows."

“It keeps happening over and over again,” Hinckley said in a recent interview with New York Post. “They book me and then the show gets announced and then the venue starts getting backlash. The owners always cave, they cancel. It’s happened so many times, it’s kinda what I expect. I don’t really get upset."

Watch his video announcement for the latest ill-fated show here:

J.K. Rowling threatens to sue Harry Potter fanpage over claims of estranged daughter and grandchild

J.K. Rowling, the author of the "Harry Potter" series, is considering taking legal action against Wizarding News, a fan account on X/Twitter that touts itself as an "award-winning news service" established in 2002 to cover Harry Potter, "now reporting on the demise of J.K. Rowling." The account also affiliates itself with the LGBTQ+ community.

Rowling has been sharply criticized in recent years for vocalizing views that have been deemed transphobic. She came under fire for ostensible Holocaust denial just last week after she insinuated that the Nazis did not burn books on trans healthcare and research. Wizarding News recently tweeted out claims stating that Rowling has an estranged daughter and grandchild.

"Could somebody who isn’t blocked by this account tell them this is untrue in all respects, as I suspect they already know," Rowling tweeted on Wednesday. "Lying about my kids is a new low, even by this website’s subterranean standards."

Could somebody who isn’t blocked by this account tell them this is untrue in all respects, as I suspect they already know. Lying about my kids is a new low, even by this website’s subterranean standards. pic.twitter.com/q2Gmd9SGux

— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) March 20, 2024

"This is not a joke," Rowling added in a separate tweet, which quoted a post from an account alleging that Wizarding News posted photos and "handy location details" of "the baby they falsely claimed" was Rowling's grandchild.

"The baby and its mother have no connection with me, @wizardingnews," the author continued. "That isn’t my daughter. Your vendetta against me is causing collateral damage to innocent people. If legal action is the only way to protect them, I will take it."

She continued in another tweet: “I've done everything I can to keep my children out of the public eye. My eldest daughter doesn't owe you or anyone else details of her private life. However, for the avoidance of doubt: 1. Contrary to your claims, we are very close and last talked an hour ago. We discussed your posts, which have angered and distressed her. 2. Contrary to your claims, she doesn't live in Portugal. 3. Contrary to your claims, she has no children. 4. The young mother whose photograph and personal details you published is not my daughter and has no relation to me whatsoever.”

These nutty, fruit-packed muffins are the best way to kickstart your frenzied mornings

Hello, Spring and Hello, Morning Glory Muffins!

Although these muffins hit the spot anytime, I especially have a taste for them right now with the azaleas in full bloom and nature is all abuzz. Sure, there is currently thick, sticky yellow pollen blanketing our porches, cars and everything, really, but I refuse to let it get me down.

With this multitude of bright blossoms and fragrant flowers surrounding me, I can almost forget my drippy sinuses and frolic in appreciation of the season. The weather is beautiful and the temperatures are oh-so pleasant. It is the very definition of Spring where I live (at least this week).

Brunch is overrated: On reclaiming the practical joy of a sensible breakfast

Like the bees progressing from bud to bud and the extra zippy birds darting through the trees, I too go busily about with my own spring rituals of freshening things up and airing things out. Thanks to being back on daylight time, I am finishing my daily to-do list long before sunset.

Maybe I have Spring Fever or maybe I am finding inspiration from the extra loud, ever emphatic, impossible to ignore birdsongs I hear from dawn to dusk, but whatever it is, I have plenty in the tank at the end of the day. So I keep going — baking and finishing up some inside project until late in the evening. Morning Glory Muffins have been on the top of my bake list, so I made them last night. They were indeed glorious when I pulled them out of the oven.

Want more great food writing and recipes? Subscribe to Salon Food's newsletter, The Bite.

Similar in taste to Hummingbird Cake, Morning Glory Muffins are full of fresh fruit flavor. They can be made full-sized, but I like them best as two-bite mini-muffins. They are moist and cake-like on the inside and slightly crusty on the top. I should probably call them cupcakes because they are more “dessert-like treat” than morning muffin.

They were especially sweet before I reduced the sugar called for in the original recipe; I dialed it back significantly without altering the dry ingredients with no problem, but if you choose to take out more, which I do on occasion, adding fresh ground flaxseeds is a great way to make up for loss of volume. (See Cook’s Notes.)

Crushed pineapple, with its juice, as well as mashed bananas and whole blueberries bring in lots of natural sweetness and the addition of eggs and nuts gives these muffins protein and good fat. Speaking of good fat, choose a neutral tasting, “non-seed” oil, like walnut or avocado oil, and you have yourself a teatime snack you can be pretty darn proud of.

Do not be put off by the high yield this recipe delivers. Other than having to slide batch after batch in and out of the oven, you will be happy to have plenty. They freeze exceptionally well, so I try to set some aside just for that purpose. Simply allow time for them to come back to room temperature, and they once again taste fresh baked. I love having them on hand and ready — and you will too . . . the problem is you must actually put some in the freezer. Good luck with that!

We need your help to stay independent

Subscribe today to support Salon's progressive journalism

Morning Glory Muffins

Yields

5 to 6 dozen

Prep Time

10 minutes

Cook Time

25 minutes

Ingredients

3 cups flour

1 1/4 cups sugar (see Cook’s Notes)

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

3 eggs, beaten

1 1/2 cup oil (like walnut or avocado oil)

2 cups mashed very ripe/overripe bananas

1 20-ounce can crushed pineapple (DO NOT DRAIN)

2 teaspoons vanilla

Blueberries

Directions

Preheat oven to 350F. Mix dry ingredients and chopped nuts in a bowl.
Mix wet and dry ingredients separately.
Mix the two together.
Pour into muffin tins, oiled or lined
Before putting in the oven, poke 1 to 3 blueberries into each, making sure to fully cover with mixture. A toothpick works well for this.
Generally, one large blueberry for a mini-muffin, 2 to 3 for a full sized muffin.
Bake 25 minutes for minis and 35 minutes for full sized.
Remove and place on cooling rack as soon as you can handle them.
Once cooled, store in covered container, or package and freeze.

Cook's Notes

Sugar/Sweetness: Unless I am gifting these or want them to be even more of a sweet treat, I reduce the sugar down to 1 cup or even less. I also use coconut sugar, which is a little less sweet than regular sugar.

Pump Up the Nutrition:

-Add Ground Flaxseeds: Flaxseeds have Omega-3 fatty acids, are a great source of fiber and are protein rich.

-Substitute a “flax egg” for one of the eggs: 1 Tbsp fresh ground flaxseeds 2-3 Tbsp water Mix together 15 minutes before using in place of an egg.

Or add in some ground flax to the dry ingredients. If you choose to reduce the sugar, it can make up for some of the lost volume.

Need Gluten-free? Try sorghum flour. It has more fiber and is far more nutritious than typical gluten-free, “ Measure for Measure” baking blends. For this recipe you can use half and half: half sorghum flour and half your favorite GF baking blend without changing a thing.

about this topic

The Justice Department is suing Apple over its alleged iPhone monopoly

The Justice Department sued tech giant Apple on Thursday, kicking off a potentially historic antitrust battle. The lawsuit alleges that Apple's ecosystem of products are designed to limit competition and put consumers at a disadvantage. “Each step in Apple’s course of conduct built and reinforced the moat around its smartphone monopoly,” the authors write. Later in the filing they add that "this case is about freeing smartphone markets from Apple’s anticompetitive and exclusionary conduct and restoring competition to lower smartphone prices for consumers, reducing fees for developers, and preserving innovation for the future."

If the Justice Department decides to break up Apple, it will be the first time they have done this to a large company since they broke up the Bell System in 1982. Yet this is also the third antitrust lawsuit that the Justice Department has filed against Apple since 2010. Apple settled a lawsuit that alleged they had colluded to suppress workers' salaries, and they won a trial in which they were accused of conspiracy to fix the prices of e-books. This new lawsuit, however, is much wider in scope, with prosecutors claiming the company's "astronomical valuation" is due to anticompetitive practices in its iPhone, Apple Watch advertising, browser, FaceTime and news businesses.

Attorney General Merrick Garland said at a news conference that the Supreme Court defines monopoly power as “the power to control prices or exclude competition," adding that "as set out in our complaint, Apple has that power in the smartphone market. If left unchallenged. Apple will only continue to strengthen its smartphone monopoly.”

Outside observers seem to agree on only one thing: The upcoming legal battle will play out over a very long time.

"Apple’s fiery response makes it clear that the company has every intention of defending itself," writes Chris Welch of The Verge. "We’re on day one of a lawsuit that’s sure to drag on long into the future. It took over three years for the government and Microsoft to reach a settlement in that high-profile antitrust case (and another four years for dissatisfied state attorneys general to run through the appeals courts)."

Jason Snell of Six Colors, a website devoted to covering Apple and other technology companies, criticized the lawsuit and predicted that "this will be a long, drawn-out process that will end up with Apple changing some of its policies. Some of those changes will be substantial and will alter how the company operates; others will be pointless and cause no appreciable effect; and still others will degrade the experience of iPhone users without increasing competition." As for Apple practices that allegedly stifle competition and harm consumers, they "will just go on as usual, unchanged and unchallenged."

NY AG makes move towards seizing Trump’s assets, eyeing his private estate and golf course

With only four days remaining in the grace period allotted to Donald Trump to come up with $450 million+ to satisfy the civil business-fraud judgment against him, the New York attorney general’s office has taken the first big step towards preparing to seize his assets, should he fail to cough up the money he owes.

On Thursday, the office of Letitia James filed judgments in Westchester County, putting Trump's golf course and private estate north of Manhattan, known as Seven Springs, in danger of being the first chunk of property to go up on the block.

As CNN highlights in their coverage, a judgment such as this one is the first step a creditor would take to attempt to recover property, followed by putting liens on assets or moving to foreclose on properties. In addition to Trump's Westchester County property, his city property — Trump Tower, his penthouse at Trump Tower, 40 Wall Street, his hotel near Central Park, and numerous apartment buildings — is also in jeopardy of being seized.

For now, judgments have not been entered in Florida counties where Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property and the Trump National Doral Golf Club and resort are located.

Taking to Truth Social in protest of all of the above, Trump writes:

Even though I did nothing wrong, a Radical Left New York Judge, a true Trump Hater, Arthur Engoron (Are we allowed to speak about his Unconstitutional Gag Order?), picked a number out of THIN AIR, $355,000,000, plus interest (reminiscent of John Lovitz, “The Liar,” on SNL when it was good), & wants me to bond it, which is not possible for bonding companies to do in such a high amount, before I can even Appeal. That is CRAZY! If I sold assets, and then won the Appeal, the assets would be forever gone. Also, putting up money before an Appeal is VERY EXPENSIVE. When I win the Appeal, all of that money is gone, and I would have done nothing wrong. The Crooked Judge, who has already been overturned 4 times on this case (a record!), fully understands this. He gave us a demand which he knows is impossible to do. This Witch Hunt, between a bad Judge and a Corrupt & Racist Attorney General, is horrible for New York. Businesses are FLEEING, while Violent Crime flourishes. ELECTION INTERFERENCE!

“Take it a little easy on him”: Drake Bell says Josh Peck “reached out” after abuse revelation

Former Nickelodeon actor Drake Bell took to social media on Wednesday to address his supporters and clarify that his "Drake and Josh" co-star, Josh Peck, had connected with him in the wake of Bell's public airing of sexual assault claims in Investigation Discovery's, "Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV."

Bell, in the new bombshell docuseries, recounted the alleged abuse he suffered over several months by his former dialogue and acting coach, Brian Peck (unrelated to Josh Peck,) whom he met in 2000 after landing a role on Nickelodeon sketch-comedy series, "The Amanda Show," in which he appeared alongside Amanda Bynes. At the time the abuse occurred, Bell was 15 years old, and was listed in the criminal case as "John Doe."

“Brian and I became really close because we had a lot of the same interests, which looking back, I think that was probably a little calculated,” Bell, now 37, said in "Quiet on Set."

Josh Peck and Bell, the show's titular characters who portrayed two teenage stepbrothers, worked together across the span of four seasons from 2004 to 2007. Following the release of "Quiet on Set," a number of social media users lambasted Josh Peck in the comments of a video unrelated to Bell or the docuseries that he posted online, calling out his "silence" and asking if he'd "checked on" Bell, per TMZ.

“Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV”: The most horrifying revelations from the docuseries

“I just want to clear something up," Bell said in a video shared on TikTok. "I’ve noticed a lot of comments on some of Josh’s TikToks and some of his posts. I just want to let you guys know that this is really … processing this and going through this is a really emotional time, and a lot of it is very, very difficult. So not everything is put out to the public.”

“But I just want you guys to know that he has reached out to me, and it’s been very sensitive," Bell continued. "But he has reached out to talk with me and helped me work through this. And has been really, really great. So just wanted to let you guys know that and to take it a little easy on him."

@drakebell

♬ I kind of relate – Drake Bell

Brian Peck was arrested in April of 2003 after Bell reportedly came clean to his mother about the repeated abuse, which he recalled in the docuseries as "extensive." Brian Peck spent 16 months in prison after pleading no contest to two charges of child abuse — oral copulation with a minor under 16 and performing a lewd act with a 14- or 15-year-old by a person 10 years older.

We need your help to stay independent

Subscribe today to support Salon's progressive journalism

When asked by "Quiet on Set" producers if he would be comfortable going into further detail about the nature of the abuse he endured, he replied, "Why don’t you think of the worst stuff that someone could do to somebody as a sexual assault and that will answer your question.”

Aside from Bell's explosive allegations, at the center of the docuseries was Dan Schneider, the Nickelodeon producer known for creating some of the network's most popular children's shows and sitcoms, including "Drake and Josh." Schneider reportedly created a toxic and abusive culture during his more than two decades of employment at Nickelodeon. Schneider on March 19 sat down for an interview with former "iCarly" actor, BooG!e also known as Bobby Bowman to discuss "Quiet on Set."

“Watching over the past two nights was very difficult — me facing my past behaviors, some of which are embarrassing and that I regret," Schneider said. "I definitely owe some people a pretty strong apology.”

During a discussion about Brian Peck — who worked with Schneider — and Bell's allegations, Schneider became visibly emotional, saying, “That was probably the darkest part of my career."

about "Quiet on Set"

“I find it strange”: Legal scholar baffled at Trump’s “stunningly embarrassing” fraud bond filing

Former President Donald Trump asserted earlier this week that he is unable to secure a bond to cover his $450+ million civil fraud judgment but the New York attorney general made it clear on Wednesday that she's not buying it.

In a nine-page filing, Attorney General Letitia James urged an appeals court to disregard the former president's claim that he cannot obtain an appeal bond for the massive judgment after approaching 30 surety companies through four brokers. Seeking from the court a pause on the execution of the judgment or a steep drop in how much he must post, Trump's attorneys also argued that bond companies are generally not capable of underwriting such sums, and said the companies told Trump they are unable to accept real estate assets as collateral, according to The Washington Post.

A lawyer for James, Dennis Fan, in response called Trump's filing "procedurally improper" and argued Trump has not explained why he can't post his real estate or obtain a letter of credit. Trump's team also should have informed them of their bond issues earlier rather than days before payment is due, Fan said.

"As far as the Court can infer, sureties may have refused to accept defendants' specific holdings as collateral because using Mr. Trump's real estate will generally need 'a property appraisal' and his holdings are not nearly as valuable as defendants claim," Fan added in the filing, seemingly taking aim at the true value of Trump's assets.

The former president's "alleged difficulty" in obtaining a bond raises a number of questions about what underlies his claims, Bennett Gershman, a Pace University law professor and former New York prosecutor, told Salon.

The likely GOP presidential nominee could be "lying," reluctant to "squander limited assets" needed for his campaign, or considered financially untrustworthy given the "lengthy history of his business fraud and numerous bankruptcies," he said.

"I find it strange that Trump is essentially claiming that he either does not have sufficient assets to cover a bond or that bonding companies don’t trust him," Gershman added. "Either claim is stunningly embarrassing to someone who has flaunted his wealth and power."

“WTF”: Alina Habba’s answer raises alarms amid concerns Trump may need foreign money for legal bills

In the filing, Fan also told the appeals court that Trump's Monday claims are "unreliable" because they're based on sworn statements from Gary Giulietti, a friend of Trump's, and Alan Garten, the Trump Organization's general counsel, The Post reports.

Giulietti, Fan wrote, was deemed not credible as a witness by Judge Arthur Engoron, who oversaw James' civil trial against Trump, while Garten, Fan argued, was involved in the conduct at issue and has "professional interests in this litigation." Garten disputed Fan's claim, according to The Post.

Former federal prosecutor Andrew Weissmann, who served on special counsel Bob Mueller's team, told MSNBC that the "real issue" for Trump is that he "may just be too leveraged."

“He says he’s worth so much, but all these properties are used to back loans from other institutions,” Weissmann said. “He may not have all that much money, either cash on hand or property that isn’t already pledged for other loans. So the reason he’s having trouble and the reason he might be having this meltdown is he can’t post the money himself, and he needs to find a lifeline through some third party who is going to be able to bail him out.”

The surety companies Trump approached may have a "good reason" for why they "don't want to underwrite the entire amount" of his judgment, Gershman told Salon, arguing they "probably don’t trust" Trump's asset valuation because of the lawsuit's determination.

We need your help to stay independent

Subscribe today to support Salon's progressive journalism

James sued Trump, his company and Trump Organization executives in 2022 for allegedly defrauding banks and insurers by inflating the value of his assets by up to $2.2 billion per year from 2011 to 2021 in order to cut better deals and secure better loan terms.

Engoron found Trump and his co-defendants liable for fraud last September and earlier this year ordered the former president to pay more than $350 million plus around $100 million in interest, which is still accruing. James gave Trump a 30-day grace period after the judgment before she would begin collecting the payment.

If the former president is unable to post bond by the period's end on Monday, the attorney general can begin seizing his assets and real estate holdings. James has signaled she is prepared to do so if Trump fails to pay the penalty.

Syracuse University College of Law professor Gregory Germain, however, argued that it's "not reasonable to expect someone to be able to post a half-billion-dollar bond on short notice."

"The focus should be on maintaining the status quo while the appeal is reviewed," he told Salon, adding that he's unsure how the appellate court will ultimately rule on Trump's request for a stay on the judgment or if they will do so quickly.

The appeals court deciding in favor of Trump is "doubtful," Gershman said. They may allow the former president "more time to explore other options," including divvying up the bond or "having Trump’s real estate interests held by the court" as James offered Wednesday.

Want a daily wrap-up of all the news and commentary Salon has to offer? Subscribe to our morning newsletter, Crash Course.

But James' suggestion that Trump post his real property to the court is "absurd," Germain said, arguing that the court is "not equipped to manage" it.

Germain instead said the appellate court could grant the pause for a 10- or 30-day period and direct Judge Engoron to meet with both parties and Trump's court-appointed monitor to "determine and recommend to the appellate court what actions need to be put in place to prevent the Trump defendants from dissipating their assets during the pendency of the appeal."

Placing "judicial liens," claims to a debtor's property issued after a failure to pay a judgment, on Trump's real property or ordering an injunction, which forces a person to do or cease a specific action, could be enough to prevent Trump from "disposing his real property," he added.

"The Court needs to be assured that Trump's assets will not be dissipated during the pendency of the appeal, so that the AG will not be worse off in being able to collect her judgment while the appeal proceeds than she is right now," Germain said. "The goal is to allow Trump to have his appeal heard, but not to cause harm to the judgment creditor in the process."

about Trump's fraud judgment

“Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV”: The most horrifying revelations from the docuseries

The period spanning the late ‘90s through the mid-2000s is endlessly definable. When it came to children’s entertainment, the era was effectively synonymous with the heyday of Nickelodeon, the children’s television channel that supplied cultural juggernauts like “All That,” “The Amanda Show,” “Drake and Josh,” “iCarly” and “Victorious.” Zany and entertaining, these shows quickly gained meteoric momentum amongst Gen-Z kids — but despite the seemingly wholesome facade, a reportedly toxic and abusive environment festered beneath the surface.

This dark underbelly of child stardom is the focus of “Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV,” a four-part docuseries from Investigation Discovery. The show revolves around Dan Schneider, the resident creator for Nickelodeon’s biggest hits, the house of horrors workplace he allegedly fostered for many staffers and child actors on various sets.

Drake Bell was sexually assaulted by dialogue coach, revealing Nickelodeon abuse of child stars

Aside from Schneider’s antics, “Quiet on Set” delves into the sexual abuse endured by former child actor Drake Bell by Nickelodeon dialogue and acting coach Brian Peck, the first time Bell has spoken publicly about being the then-teenaged “John Doe” from the 2003 criminal case. The “extensive” abuse was repeated and, according to Bell, played a significant role in future personal issues and controversy that he would face.

From shows rife with sexual innuendos to documented cases of pedophiles who worked on set at Nickelodeon, here are the most horrifying revelations from “Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV.”

Schneider’s conduct on “The Amanda Show” led to a gender discrimination lawsuit

Amanda Bynes at the The 14th Annual Kids Choice Awards, 2001. (Steve Granitz/WireImage/Getty Images)

Schneider’s “The Amanda Show” premiered in 1999, featuring a 13-year-old Amanda Bynes in a variety of skit-comedy sketches. Bynes’s personality-driven demeanor made her something of a novelty in the industry, as a stark deviation from the typically innocent and sweet starlets of the time. The show, which was meant to spotlight her innate comedic talent, ultimately became a significant vehicle in propelling her into stardom. For Amanda to land her own show as a female child comedian seemed an ostensible feminist win — securing a solo show as an adult comedian was itself a difficult feat, much less a kid.

Hiring female writers for “The Amanda Show” would seem a prudent next step; however, only two women — Christy Stratton and Jenny Kilgen — would ultimately be made staffers. In the docuseries, Stratton and Kilgen detailed how they were unethically forced to split a single salary despite claiming that male writers were paid as individuals. The women were each also subjected to various forms of sexual harassment. For example, Kilgen recalled one time during a writer’s room meeting when Schneider encouraged Stratton to pitch her idea bent over the table, as though she was being sodomized. “She said no at first,” Kilgen shared. “And then he [Schneider] was just kind of like, ‘Oh come on, come on. It’d be so funny. Just do it.’ And everyone was kind of laughing, too, because he was making it like this big joke. She couldn’t get out of it.”

When the docuseries’ producers asked Stratton if she recalled the instance, she replied, “I’d rather not. I don’t want to talk about that.”

Kilgen also said Schneider often played pornography in the writers’ room and on one occasion asked her in front of male co-workers if she used to be a phone sex worker. She eventually sued Schneider for gender discrimination, a hostile work environment and harassment.

A 28-year-old production assistant on “All That” was a pedophile

Cast of "All That" during Nickelodeon's 15th Annual Kids Choice Awards at Barker Hanger in Santa Monica, California, United States. (Gregg DeGuire/WireImage/Getty Images)

In April 2003, Jason Handy was arrested for lewd acts with children, per a police report from the Los Angeles police department at the time. Handy’s role on the set of “All That” was primarily to usher kids around, often as the only adult present, outside of parents' supervision. His close relationship with many cast members led him to often exchange phone numbers with them. As is explained in “Quiet On Set,” guileless parents often condoned these interactions because Handy had gained their trust; in actuality, he was preying upon families’ wishes for their children to succeed in the business by maintaining close connections.

When police raided his home, they found a trove of child pornography that included more than 10,000 images, along with Ziploc bags containing “tokens” from a number of young girls Handy presumably interacted with, as well as a personal journal detailing his perverted proclivities. In the docuseries, a woman named only as “MJ, shared how Handy had groomed her adolescent daughter Brandi, an “All That” cast member, for some time over email before eventually sending her a photo of himself naked and masturbating. Not wanting to be perceived as a “bad parent,” MJ chose not to report the incident, and Brandi subsequently left the show. In 2004, Handy was sentenced to six years in prison after being convicted of child abuse and child pornography.

Nickelodeon cast members endured uncomfortable skits, racism

Miranda Cosgrove, Jennette McCurdy, Nathan Kress, Jerry Trainor and Dan Schneider at the MTV Summer 2007 TCA Press Tour in Beverly Hills, California. (Jason Merritt/Film Magic/Getty Images)

Schneider was known for his morally murky sketches, which habitually crossed the line into overt sexualization of young actors. Leon Frierson, an “All That” cast member for two seasons, talked about one sketch in which he portrayed a nose-themed superhero who wore a tight-fitting costume affixed with what he described as phallic-looking decorations on the shoulders. During a makeup session, another “All That” actor, Bryan Hearne, was told his color match was “charcoal.”

Eroticization would be seen in Schneider’s later shows like “iCarly” and “Victorious,” where he often made female actors’ feet a focal point of various scenes. “Quiet on Set” also highlighted several clips in which future pop star Ariana Grande, who starred as Cat on “Victorious,” was engaged in acts that seem to be obvious innuendos, like squeezing a potato to extract juice while moaning. Another clip from “Zoey 101” seems to mimic pornography. Alexa Nikolas, who played “Nicole” on the show, talked about an episode wherein her character inadvertently squirts neon goo onto the face of the character Zoey (Jamie Lynn Spears) effectively creating a “cum shot.”

Other shows on Nickelodeon, while perhaps not sexual in nature, were simply odd. In “On Air Dares,” which interviewees for “Quiet on Set” described as a sort of “Fear Factor” for kids, actors were made to partake in challenges such as being submerged in a tub of live worms and being covered in peanut butter before dogs proceeded to lick it off them.

Want a daily wrap-up of all the news and commentary Salon has to offer? Subscribe to our morning newsletter, Crash Course.

Drake Bell publicly details his sexual abuse for the first time

Drake and Josh attend Nickelodeon's 16th Annual Kid's Choice Awards at the Barker Hangar, April 12, 2003 in Santa Monica, California. (Frank Micelotta/Getty Images)

The former Nickelodeon actor, who starred on “The Amanda Show” and “Drake and Josh” spoke out about being sexually abused by his dialogue and acting coach, Brian Peck, when he was a minor. Peck was arrested in 2003 regarding the monthslong abuse of a teenager, who at the time was only listed as John Doe.

Bell shared how he met Peck on the set, eventually becoming close with him through shared interests, a move Bell observed was likely “calculated.” As Peck began to ingratiate himself further into Bell’s life — taking him on trips to Disneyland and attending his band’s concerts — he began to alienate the young actor from his father, Joe Bell, who was acting as the teen’s manager. Joe Bell, noting the strangeness of Peck's interest in and inappropriate yet brazenly open touching of his son, brought concerns to producers who ultimately dismissed him as “homophobic.” Peck attempted to persuade Bell that his father was misappropriating his money, eventually convincing him to ditch his father as manager.

With Joe Bell out of the picture, and Bell’s mother somewhat ignorant of the increasingly disconcerting situation, Peck was able to persuade her to permit Bell to stay over at his home before work to save on long commute times.

Bell recalled how one morning when he was 15, he woke up to Peck sexually assaulting him, the first instance of repeated and “extensive” abuse. “I was sleeping on the couch where I usually sleep and I woke up to him . . . I opened my eyes and I woke up and he was . . . he was sexually assaulting me,” Bell said. “And I froze, and was in complete shock and had no idea what to do or how to react.”

When asked by “Quiet on Set” producers if he would be comfortable expounding upon the nature of the assaults, Bell said: “Why don’t you think of the worst stuff that someone could do to somebody as a sexual assault and that will answer your question.”

Peck was ultimately arrested in August of 2003 after Bell “exploded” during a phone call with his mother, divulging what had been happening.

In 2004, Peck pleaded no contest to two charges of sexual abuse: oral copulation with a minor under 16 and performing a lewd act with a 14- or 15-year-old. He spent 16 months in prison and was mandated to register as a sex offender.

Brian Peck received support from numerous figures in Hollywood

Actor Alan Thicke and actress Joanna Kerns at the Westside Pavilion Mall in June 1986 in Los Angeles, California. (Donaldson Collection/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

Following Peck’s arrest in August of 2003, he garnered 41 letters of support from various celebrities and industry names, including James Marsden, Alan Thicke, Taran Killiam, Will Friedle and Rider Strong. During Peck’s sentencing hearing, Bell recalled, Peck’s entire side of the courtroom was packed with supporters and “recognizable faces.” Bell had only arrived with his mother and brother.

Some of the individuals who at the time vocalized support for Peck have since reneged. “X-Men” producer Tom DeSanto, in a statement released last week, said “I want to personally apologize to Drake and his family and emphatically state that had I been fully informed of all the accusations, my support would have been absolutely withheld.”

“Growing Pains” actor Joanna Kerns told the docuseries’ producers, “Knowing what I know now, I never would have written it.

Brian Peck was allegedly pen pals with notorious serial killer, John Wayne Gacy

John Wayne Gacy's "Pogo the Clown" self-portrait (Steve Eichner/WireImage/Getty Images)Image_placeholder

During the second episode of “Quiet on Set,” former “All That” cast member Kyle Sullivan recalled going to a barbecue at Peck’s house with other cast members and their families around the time he was 14.

"His house was a little off," Sullivan said. "He had a room that was just dedicated to vintage toys and comic books. And he converted his garage into a 'Planet of the Apes' shrine. I noticed a painting in the room that stuck out to me because it had nothing to do with 'Planet of the Apes.' It was of a birthday clown holding balloons."

"Brian got very excited when I asked him about it," Sullivan continued. "He flipped the thing around and on the back, it said, 'To Brian, I hope you enjoy the painting. Best wishes, your friend, John Wayne Gacy.'"

Gacy, a part-time clown, murdered dozens of teenage boys and young men during the 1970s before ultimately being caught and later executed in 1994.

"Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV" is streaming on Max.

about this topic

The inherent sexism in Kate Middleton’s lack of health privacy

For nearly three months now, Kate Middleton, the future queen consort of England, has taken a step back from the royal spotlight.

The princess made her last official public appearance on Christmas for the annual walk to Sandringham Church. A couple weeks later, Kensington Palace shared an update on Middleton’s health: She had been hospitalized for an abdominal surgery. While the statement didn’t specify the type of abdominal surgery Middleton underwent, it did say that the public shouldn’t expect to see her again until after Easter.

Surely, royal fans were disappointed they wouldn’t see her attend winter events. The naturally curious, and concerned, wanted to know what kind of surgery could take the princess out of the public eye instead?

On Friday, March 22, it was announced that Middleton is receiving treatment for cancer, including preventative chemotherapy. But before these details emerged, speculation flooded the internet and tabloid media. Instead of many people moving on and taking the facts at face value, the last couple of months have turned into an internet spectacle also known #KateGate.

Women's pain is often brushed off in medicine. When will it be taken seriously?

Nevermind that the actual King of England, King Charles, was diagnosed with cancer earlier this year — all focus has been on Kate. Internet spies and conspiracy theorists alike have been unable to accept the reality that Middleton had an abdominal surgery and wanted multiple months to recover. Yes, the manipulated photo of Middleton and her kids was strange — but one would think that the actual video footage of her walking around Windsor Farm Shop would finally quell rumors that she isn’t in a coma or her marriage is in jeopardy. That she doesn’t, in fact, need to be saved by internet strangers. Instead, the video has only led to more misinformation about Middleton’s condition, including strange comments like "That wasn’t her! It’s a body double!"

As a woman, Middleton doesn’t owe us anything about her health history.As a woman, Middleton doesn’t owe us anything about her health history.

I’ve spent more time than I care to admit scrolling through the comments sections of various Instagram and Reddit posts. I even briefly questioned the credibility of the video of her walking around Windsor Farm Shop, until I stopped and reminded myself that our imaginations are really good at filling in the blanks in stories that we don’t know. Also, it’s really none of my business what is going on with her health.

I’ve become even more intrigued with the comments that demand Middleton should be 100% transparent with the public about what’s going on with her health. One common variant of comment goes something like, "If she just shared with us what surgery she had in a video, these rumors would all go away." As a health reporter who covers reproductive rights, I can’t help but cringe at that sense of entitlement.

Want more health and science stories in your inbox? Subscribe to Salon's weekly newsletter Lab Notes.

As a woman, Middleton doesn’t owe us anything about her health history. I see a lot of similarities to the loss of autonomy women have in the United States, when it comes to making decisions about their bodies and reproductive healthcare, and the public scrutiny Middleton is experiencing at the moment. It’s almost as if people don’t think Middleton was sick enough to need months to rest. Can we stop judging how much rest a woman deserves? Can we stop questioning the choices a woman makes for her own health?

Regardless if it’s an abortion or abdominal surgery, no woman should have to prove that a health issue is worthy enough of a long-term period of rest.

As an OBGYN recently told me for a story on abortions, there’s a reason why health privacy laws exist. A patient's health care decisions and records are private and deserve to be protected, regardless of a person’s celebrity status.

Of course, I’m not surprised that there was a reported breach of privacy with Middleton’s hospital records. She’s a famous woman, and people can’t stand to respect a woman’s privacy. Regardless if it’s an abortion or abdominal surgery, no woman should have to prove that a health issue is worthy enough of a long-term period of rest.

And this brings me to my next point. Middleton isn’t the only royal member with a health issue at the moment. King Charles has been diagnosed with cancer. While he is being praised by the media for keeping up with public engagements, I can’t help but wonder if he had taken months off to rest — like Middleton — if there would be nearly as much poking and prodding around his health status. It’s not hard to imagine a world where if King Charles took a step back from the spotlight, people would be curious. But people who also respect his need to rest and recover for a few months.

We need your help to stay independent

Subscribe today to support Salon's progressive journalism

Imagine if Middleton had been transparent about what her surgery revealed, and stepped out weeks or even days later. Would people be less judgmental? Less curious? Would the conspiracy theories be tamed? Probably not. The higher beings above know we’ve all had enough time to discuss how Middleton was paraded in front of the media right after giving birth to her kids— sometimes wearing heels. Any mom knows that took a lot of strength and mental fortitude on her part, and it was probably something she would have preferred not to do. Somehow this raises the bar for her toughness. If she did it then, why couldn’t she do it now, some seem to wonder. But a woman’s worthiness isn’t based on her suffering.

I can’t help but think of America Ferrera’s monologue in the movie "Barbie" with this whole situation. “It’s impossible to be a woman,” her character, Gloria, tells Barbie. For Middleton, it’s definitely a damned if you do, damned if you don’t situation. “I'm just so tired of watching myself and every single other woman tie herself into knots so that people will like us,” Ferrera said. And if all of that is also true for a future queen consort, then there’s no hope for the rest of us.

about health

“Wildly unusual”: Legal experts raise questions after report that two of Judge Cannon’s clerks quit

Legal observers raised questions over a Thursday report that two of U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon’s law clerks quit early in a “wildly unusual” move.

Cannon, the Trump-appointed judge accused of favoring him in her pre-trial rulings in the classified documents case, has had at least two clerks quit on her, multiple sources — including individuals who work at the federal court where she sits, told attorney David Lat.

Cannon and the court did not return Lat’s requests for comment, he wrote in his Original Jurisdiction newsletter.

One clerk was slated to serve for two years but left after one year after having a child, according to the report. Another clerk quit for unclear reasons after serving roughly one year and two months. Cannon’s chambers are fully staffed now after the departures, Lat added.

Legal experts raised questions about the departures.

“If true, that is a significant story. It is *very* unusual for a law clerk to leave early,” tweeted former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti.

“Federal law clerks have crucial roles in the judicial ecosystem. For TWO of Judge Cannon’s law clerks to QUIT in the midst of their clerkships is wildly unusual,” wrote MSNBC legal analyst Katie Phang.

“Judge Cannon who appears to be in Trump’s back pocket, has apparently had two law clerks quit according to the always reliable @DavidLat,” tweeted Eric Segall, a law professor at Georgia State University. “Clerks never quit. That’s all.”

A protein in human sweat protects against Lyme disease, study finds

Given that dogs have a Lyme disease vaccine, it is particularly frustrating that their human companions remain vulnerable to the notorious illness. People with Lyme disease suffer serious symptoms including muscle and joint aches, headaches, fatigue, fevers, chills, swollen glands, stiff neck and poor appetite. Like COVID-19 and other illnesses, Lyme disease can be chronic, meaning some unfortunate souls bitten just once by a deer tick wind up struggling with the ailment for the rest of their lives.

Yet a recent paper published in the journal Nature Communications offers a glimmer of hope for those seeking an effective Lyme disease treatment — or, some might say, a glimmer of sweat.

Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology joined scientists at the University of Helsinki to isolate a protein in human sweat that protects against Lyme disease. Roughly one-third of all humans seem to carry a genetic variant of this protein that is associated with vulnerability to Lyme disease; the protein itself is at the gene encoding for Secretoglobin family 1D member 2, and is therefore known as the SCGB1D2 protein. While they do not understand how SCGB1D2 limits the growth of the Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacteria behind Lyme disease, they still believe that if properly harnessed the protein could form the basis of skin creams that either prevent the disease or treat especially persistent infections.

"These data suggest that SCGB1D2 is a host defense factor present in the skin, sweat, and other secretions which protects against [Borrelia burgdorferi] infection and opens an exciting therapeutic avenue for Lyme disease," the authors write in their study's abstract. According to a statement by Michal Caspi Tal, a principal research scientist in MIT’s Department of Biological Engineering and one of the study's senior authors, “This protein may provide some protection from Lyme disease, and we think there are real implications here for a preventative and possibly a therapeutic based on this protein.”

Feeding young kids on a budget? Parents say the mental load is crushing

Feeding babies and toddlers can be challenging at the best of times. But when families can't afford enough food, let alone the recommended range of different colored vegetables, or iron-rich meats, it's tougher still.

In our recently published research, parents told us how much effort they put in to feeding children when there is little money.

They also told us how the ever-present juggle of budgets and the realities of family life strained relationships and increased their mental load.

Living in poverty

In the cost of living crisis, one in six Australian children live in poverty. More families than ever are seeking help from food banks.

So we asked parents what it was like to feed young children when money was tight. We interviewed 29 Australian parents with at least one child between six months and three years old. Most had an income around or below the poverty line.

The average age of parents was 32 years, including 28 mothers and one father. This is what they told us.

Family tensions rise

Families' financial position was precarious, with little buffer to cope with more financial strain. One parent told us:

We're still on the one income […] We try and get a lot of free vegetables from the food banks and whatnot. We've borrowed money in the past, but the main thing we do is make sure [our child's] food is fine.

This uncertainty about money flowed into relationship tension, and stress about food waste and the food bill. Another parent, who said they had lost weight due to not eating proper meals, told us:

Things have been tense, and [my partner's] pretty upset about outgoing money for [food …].

There was also strain when young children created a mess with food or threw it on the floor:

But then my partner's like 'why are you buying that bunch of bananas? Most of it's, like, in his hair.' As trivial as it might sound to some households, [it] caused a lot of stress in ours.

Making trade-offs and sacrifices

Parents described feeding the family as a difficult balance. They put the needs of children and partners first. They often hid their sacrifices from their partners. One parent told us:

My partner doesn't miss out anywhere near as much as what I do. He doesn't know that either. […] But there is many, many, many days where I will go without a meal.

The unseen mental load

Not having enough money increased the load caused by the thinking, planning and emotional strain of getting enough food to feed everyone. One participant said:

It's always there in the back of my mind […], what would I do if I really didn't have anything left to feed all of us.

Resilience and creativity

Parents described multiple strategies to make the most of the food they had.

We will now go to the fruit and vegetable shop that's quite far away from our house because it's cheaper to buy it in bulk [… We] pre-plan, absolutely, and meal plan.

Despite hardships, parents adapted to challenges by being creative with food and cooking. One parent said:

In the last food parcel I got there was this big bag of polenta, […] you don't want to be wasteful […]. I'll look at […] simple recipes that have that ingredient […] and go from there.

Parents valued mealtimes as family time, to connect and share. Parents tried to make the most of their situation and remember that when it comes to meals, "basic doesn't mean bad".

What does this mean for supporting families?

Health professionals working with parents need to know many struggle to feed their family. It's not just a matter of budgeting or cooking; parents already do that. The high mental load parents experience needs to be recognized. Programs and support should be accessible, brief and realistic.

Common advice, such as offering food many times and providing variety to children, may need to be adapted. Variety could be sourced from foods on special, and food waste reduced by offering small amounts of new foods at first.

We also need to ensure the food offered in childcare centers is adequate and healthy. Providing good-quality school meals would relieve the pressure on parents to supply a healthy lunchbox, or give money for the canteen. This would give all Australian children the chance to enjoy a variety of nutritious foods, regardless of their situation at home.

We would like to thank the families who so generously shared their time and stories with us. We also acknowledge our research team: Smita Nambiar-Mann, Robyn Penny and Danielle Gallegos.

Kimberley Baxter, Research Fellow, Centre for Childhood Nutrition Research, Queensland University of Technology and Rebecca Byrne, Dietitian and Lecturer, Queensland University of Technology

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

“Very, very troubling”: Ex-judges worry Judge Cannon’s pro-Trump rulings “clearly suggest bias”

Former judges are “baffled” over U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon’s orders this week in former President Donald Trump’s classified documents case, The Washington Post reports.

Cannon on Monday ordered Trump’s lawyers and special counsel Jack Smith’s team to submit competing sets of potential jury instructions around competing interpretations of the Presidential Records Act, which requires presidents to turn over their records to the National Archives. Trump’s lawyers argue the PRA gave Trump the right to keep classified materials at his Mar-a-Lago residence.

“In my 30 years as a trial judge, I have never seen an order like this,” former federal Judge Jeremy Fogel, who now runs the Berkeley Judicial Institute, told the Post, arguing that Cannon may be putting “the cart before the horse.”

Judges typically make rulings on the key laws in a case and set jury instructions closer to the trial.

“The more innocent interpretation is that she is just trying to get a sense of what the practical implications are if she decides one way or the other on the legal issues,” Fogel said. “The less charitable view is that she should decide the legal issues first and then decide how she should implement the law in the case.”

Nancy Gertner, a former federal judge in Massachusetts, told the Post that what Cannon “asked the parties to do is very, very troubling.”

“She is giving credence to arguments that are on their face absurd,” Gerner said. “She is ignoring a raft of other motions, equally absurd, that are unreasonably delaying the case.”

"Bizarre": Legal expert says Judge Cannon's "outlandish" order is "sign of her extreme partisanship"

Gertner said Smith should take the rare step of seeking to remove Cannon from the case.

“I think that the better route is for Smith to move to recuse her now — listing all of her rulings that make little sense, the delays, rulings so far out of the mainstream that they clearly suggest bias,” Gertner told the Post.

But former prosecutors argue that the legal standard for recusal is so high that it is unlikely to happen.

“It’s not enough to say this judge has ruled against my case several times, therefore they must be biased. That’s not going to do it,” former U.S. Attorney Barb McQuade told the Post. “I’d be surprised if an effort to remove her would be successful, and that’s a bad look for the government,” she added while noting that Cannon’s pre-trial rulings have been “premature and baffling.”

We need your help to stay independent

Subscribe today to support Salon's progressive journalism

Jason Baron, the former director of litigation at the National Archives, said that Cannon seems to repeatedly conflate the Presidential Records Act with the Espionage Act, which criminalizes unauthorized sharing or handling of national security information. The PRA does not affect an Espionage Act prosecution, he said.

“There is no ambiguity that the classified documents at issue in this case are presidential records,” Baron told the Post. “He wasn’t indicted because he took newspaper clippings. He was indicted because he took documents that were marked as classified.”

Baron added that Cannon appears to be embracing a fantastical view of the law.

“Like the queen in ‘Alice in Wonderland,’ Judge Cannon appears to be asking the jury to believe at least two impossible things before breakfast,” he told the outlet. “First, that a president has unfettered discretion to decide that documents marked ‘top secret’ are his own personal records, just because he decided to keep them for himself. And second, that a president can avoid criminal prosecution under the Espionage Act because he decided that classified records were really his under the PRA. In both cases, the judge profoundly misinterprets the law.”

Want a daily wrap-up of all the news and commentary Salon has to offer? Subscribe to our morning newsletter, Crash Course.

Former federal prosecutor Kristy Greenberg told MSNBC on Thursday that she was willing to give the “inexperienced” judge “the benefit of the doubt initially.”

"But she's getting it dead wrong. Every time she gets it dead wrong, it's always in Donald Trump's favor,” Greenberg said. “The last month or so, we have a ruling where she is ordering the identities of witnesses to be unsealed. There is no trial date, there is no need to be unsealing the identities and statements of witnesses who could be harassed and have a risk of harm. Then you have her recent non-ruling that she's going to kick the can down the road on whether or not the Espionage Act is vague. It's not vague, it's been well-established law, the terms were clear… That was a bad ruling. Then the third strike is the recent jury instructions, which, again, we don't have a jury."

Greenberg agreed that nothing in the Presidential Records Act gives Trump authorization to have classified documents in violation of the Espionage Act.

“It's a red herring,” Greenberg said. “If it were a law school exam, she'd be failing."

about Judge Aileen Cannon

Is “3 Body Problem” brainy? Certainly. It’s also divisive, depending on who’s watching it

It doesn't take long to decide whether Netflix’s “3 Body Problem” is extraordinary or a disarranged travesty. That decision rests on a variety of personal inclinations, including how open someone who has read author Liu Cixin’s novels may be to D.B. Weiss and David Benioff’s liberal interpretation of the novel’s aspects, along with co-creator Alexander Woo.

For one, the book’s main protagonist has been split into a group of scientists called the Oxford Five, all of them young and charismatic with made-for-TV specificity.

In case that part escapes us the band’s resident stoner Saul Durand (Jovan Adepo) – there’s at least one in every academic squad, don’t you know – ribs another, Auggie Salazar (Eiza González) by telling her she’s beautiful, but in a “boring way,” like an actress who only qualifies for movies like “Speed 3.”

That seems cruel when read out of context, but it’s a joke she invites willingly, and at a point when the two realize that allowing Fermi’s paradox stand might have been better for humankind: Maybe there is other intelligent life in the universe, and maybe we haven’t met them for good reasons.

The question of how much hard science the average viewer wants in their sci-fi is also relevant, although “Game of Thrones” executive producers Weiss, Benioff and Woo make these concepts commonly accessible.

"The Walking Dead" and "Game of Thrones": When is it time to abandon the source?

Liu’s novels swim through game theory, quantum mechanics and dimensional physics, along with other super-geeky concepts that would combine to create a high bar of entry for the typical viewer. This isn’t my take on the books, since I haven’t read them, but that of someone who has read them and harbors doubts about this interpretation.

Their concerns are probably shared by the millions who made Liu’s “Remembrance of Earth’s Past” trilogy international bestsellers after the first book was translated into English a decade ago.

Eiza González in "3 Body Problem" (Netflix)

Maybe there is other intelligent life in the universe, and maybe we haven’t met them for good reasons.

But I doubt others will mind this version’s deviations from a text that studio executives considered to be unadaptable for many years. So was “Game of Thrones,” which Weiss and Benioff distilled into an international blockbuster. As long as an interpretation follows a story’s spirit as it tames sprawling storylines into narratives we can wrap our heads around, people are willing to forgive a great deal.

We may have rescinded that for absolution for Weiss and Benioff by the end of “Game of Thrones,” but it started well enough. From the perspective of someone coming into the story cold, the same is true here.

Mind you, there will be people who resent the simplification of Liu's plot into what initially presents as a mystery winding between reality and virtual reality, making the two indistinguishable for some. Characters are introduced who are corporeal and do things that only an actual person can do, like light a cigarette or commit murder, but don’t show up on any video recordings.

Ditto for the sky, which blinks on and off like a light one night. Everyone on the planet sees this, but mechanical devices don't register any anomalies. Meanwhile inside of a game’s universe humans survive by dehydrating to a flatness that enables others to roll them up and carry them around like a yoga mat.

This is not a binge to be undertaken lightly, if at all; frankly, this should have been a weekly drop. Why streaming services insist on dropping entire seasons of shows like this while dribbling out brain candy like “Love Is Blind” incrementally is beyond me.

Inevitably, then, some will be turned off by its density. One person’s methodical structuring is what another might deem pokey or too much effort for a piece of entertainment. That isn’t entirely wrong because it takes on quite a bit. Besides interlacing environmental, scientific and social themes that whirl through zealotry and nihilism, it’s also a first-contact scenario that forces a reckoning.

This version of cosmic judgment reflects on another paradox, that which is inherent to being human. Trees provide oxygen, yet we destroy forests in the name of progress. We claim to value truth but find lies seductive. Scientific development makes our lives better, but when it questions the universe’s inner workings, we cast it aside.

Our lack of consideration for our planet will lead to our undoing. That’s no mystery – we’re soaking in our unwillingness to curb our greed, and right now that’s raising sea levels. “3 Body Problem” simply shifts the equation ever so slightly, placing our doom 400 light years away while convincing humankind that it is real and on its way to us.

Liu’s trilogy spans millions of epochs and eventually reaches beyond Earth — a challenge for any TV creator but one Weiss, Benioff and Woo can tackle later. For the majority of these eight episodes, we travel between two timelines, starting in the 1960s with a student-led struggle session during China’s Cultural Revolution.

This is where a young woman, Ye Wenjie (Zine Tseng), watches Maoists murder her father, a prominent physicist, and force her mother to denounce him to save her own skin. This lesson worms into Ye’s psyche with greater force than any physics principle. A prodigy in her own right, she’s recruited for a secret Chinese government program.

One person’s methodical structuring is what another might deem too much effort for a piece of entertainment.

Several decisions she makes during that period alter humanity’s trajectory, influenced in part by a chance meeting with an American environmentalist named Mike Evans (Ben Schnetzer).

Another act profoundly resonates decades later, in our present, when lab tests across the globe begin spitting out nonsense. Auggie, who is on the verge of a nanotechnology breakthrough, begins seeing numbers appear out of thin air shortly after her mentor and Saul’s supervisor Vera suddenly kills herself.

They reach out to their schoolmates Jack Rooney (John Bradley), who traded in a life of research and academia to create a snack and beverage empire, along with Will Downing (Alex Sharp), who teaches physics to high schoolers.

He quietly pines away for Jin Cheng (Jess Hong), Auggie’s best friend, a theoretical physicist for who can’t resist complicated riddles – including the purpose of a futuristic virtual reality visor that Vera’s bereft mother (Rosalind Chao) gives to Jin.

Benedict Wong in "3 Body Problem" (Netflix)Vera is one of many scientists worldwide who die by suicide for reasons nobody can explain, and without warning or clues — aside from those visors. Their cases draw the attention of investigator Clarence Shi (Benedict Wong) who is working for an unnamed intelligence agency run by a man named Thomas Wade (Liam Cunningham).

We need your help to stay independent

Subscribe today to support Salon's progressive journalism

Wong’s humor is one of the graces that prevents “3 Body Problem” from collapsing under its self-seriousness despite the overall agreeability of other performances, mainly Adepo’s. Circumstances bring the two actors together later in the season, perhaps setting up future installments linking them more consistently, which is worth anticipating.

Balancing them is Tseng’s ranging tumble between sharp agony, quiet rage, and calcified disillusionment, all of it encapsulated in a physically understated portrayal that quietly builds to a small twitch that changes everything. Calling out these performances is necessary in a show where several "Game of Thrones" players draw our attention, including Jonathan Pryce, who plays an older version of Evans.

For some those details matter less than the visuals, especially in the alternate universe Jin is drawn into as part of a storyline that for a time distracts us into thinking it holds our salvation. One person experiences the game as a version of Shang dynasty China; for another, it’s Tudor England.

(The congruity is that the “boss” of each game is inspired by a hedonistic ruler known for their libidinous nature and their cruelty. Depending on how you feel about Weiss and Benioff's liberal exploitation of sexuality in their previous work, that might be a commentary on humanity or an excuse to tightly focus on a woman’s naked breasts as her dehydrated body reconstitutes. “I just never thought I’d get bored of nudity,” Jack jokes.)

Regardless of the era, these are the main stages for the show’s effects, riding the line between realism and a video game sheen quite well. But the true test is in scenes blending practical effects and digital where, for example, we see tons of machinery and everything it carries being unmercifully sliced into layers slowly and without relenting.

Want a daily wrap-up of all the news and commentary Salon has to offer? Subscribe to our morning newsletter, Crash Course.

It’s an impressive display of effects artistry. The reason we can’t tear ourselves away is because it’s also horrifying – a small visual metaphor within the broader parable. In “3 Body Problem” humanity reacts to a crisis inching toward the planet by giving up or getting religion or acts of extremism and expensive desperation.

Some can’t think of anything better to do than purchase the rights to celestial bodies they will never reach, which makes about as much sense as gearing up to fight an enemy we won’t be alive to confront.

“Why don’t we all just relax and smoke a J because we’re all going to be dead by then?” someone asks. The response is already familiar to many of us, that we owe it to our descendants to fight for them.

Stability and chaos are often separated by thin margins, echoing the refrain of warnings we ignore. Sometimes the universe winks at us and we can’t figure out if that’s a provocation, a flirtation, or the side effects of some strong smoke. This adaptation makes finding out engrossing, if not altogether simple. What theory worth parsing is?

"3 Body Problem" streams on Netflix on Thursday, March 21.

about this topic

Kimmel roasts Trump’s financial woes: If you think Melania “hates him now, wait until he’s poor”

Jimmy Kimmel took Donald Trump to task over the former president's current financial plight, as he faces an imminent deadline to pay the $454 million judgment in his New York fraud case.

During a Wednesday episode of "Jimmy Kimmel Live!," Kimmel jested about how former first lady Melania Trump could wind up empty-handed after all is said and done.

"The real loser here is Melania, she may end up with half of the nothing he owns now." Kimmel joked, poking fun at the Trumps' reportedly fraught relationship. “If you think she hates him now, wait until he’s poor," he added.

The late-night host also took the opportunity to comment on Trump's insistence he should be granted presidential immunity in connection to his D.C. criminal trial for alleged election subversion. The ex-president on Tuesday presented the Supreme Court with a 67-page brief, suggesting to the justices that if they decide against granting him immunity and nullifying the charges he faces, they could opt to send the case back to lower courts to determine whether any partial immunity was warranted.

Though Trump remains mired in money problems, "his excuses are richer than ever," Kimmel said, adding that the former president should ask for “immunity from chlamydia just in case."

Referring to a bizarre suggestion Trump made in 2020 to inject COVID-19 patients with disinfectant, Kimmel quipped, “If Donald Trump wants immunity, he should drink bleach like he told us to do when we wanted immunity."

“WTF”: Alina Habba’s answer raises alarms amid concerns Trump may need foreign money for legal bills

Trump attorney Alina Habba on Wednesday did not rule out the former president seeking out foreign money to pay his New York fraud judgment.

Trump’s inability to secure bond to appeal the $454 million judgment against him has raised questions about where he may get the money. “Nobody wants to lend him the money, in this country anyway. Who knows what’s going to happen with Russia and Saudi Arabia?” Joy Behar, the co-host of “The View,” said in a recent segment.

Fox News host Martha MacCallum asked Habba about the concerns on Wednesday.

“Is there any effort on the part of your team to secure this money through another country, Saudi Arabia or Russia?” she asked.

“Well, there’s rules and regulations that are public. I can’t speak about strategy, that requires certain things and we have to follow those rules. Like I said, this is manifest injustice. It is impossible — it is an impossibility. I believe they knew that,” Habba said.

“Desperate” Trump’s inability to get fraud bond makes him “massive national security risk,” Dem says

“I think that’s why mid-trial, frankly, they changed their ask from $250 million to the ridiculous amount of money that they have asked for,” she continued. “I think everything is done intentionally. I do not doubt that the witch-hunt that the election interference goal is what was ringing steady and loudly and true throughout all these trials, frankly. And we’re seeing it. It’s the demise of our country, not the demise of Trump. So we’ll handle it as we always have and keep working hard.”

FOX NEWS: Is there any effort on the part of your team to secure this money through another country, Saudi Arabia or Russia?

HABBA: I can't speak about strategy pic.twitter.com/G0Ns1lqXJH

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 20, 2024

Observers couldn’t help but notice that Habba never said “no.”

“Wtf,” tweeted Luke Zaleski, the legal affairs editor at Conde Nast.

“Very easy to just say ‘no we are not taking foreign money’ that’s not at all what she said,” wrote Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii.

We need your help to stay independent

Subscribe today to support Salon's progressive journalism

Experts have increasingly expressed concern about where Trump may get the money.

Former Mueller prosecutor Andrew Weissmann told CNN that the presumptive Republican nominee seeking out a third party “is raising national security concerns, because you really don’t want someone who’s running for president…to have hundreds of millions of reasons to be beholden to somebody.”

“The other way is he finds a third party. That is the one that for me…is raising national security concerns, because you really don’t want someone who’s running for president…to have hundreds of millions of reasons to be beholden to somebody," @AWeissmann_ on Trump's bond. pic.twitter.com/JVQBxn9uDm

— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) March 21, 2024

“In the event that [Trump] has to take that money from an individual or an entity, whether domestic or international, that individual or entity will potentially have real influence over him and so that is of concern,” former U.S. National Security Adviser Susan Rice told MSNBC. “There’s just so many ways the stench of money from dubious places infuses his business enterprise and so this would add more questions should that be the case going forward,” she added.

about Trump's fraud judgment

Legal analyst flags massive Trump Tower debt as AG Letitia James threatens to seize his properties

Former President Donald Trump faces a Monday deadline to pay the $454 million judgment in his New York fraud case or post bond in order to appeal it.

Trump’s lawyers said in a court filing earlier this week that the former president has been unable to secure the nearly half-billion-bond despite reaching out to 30 underwriters. New York Attorney General Letitia James, who brought the lawsuit, rejected Trump’s bid to stay the enforcement of the case in a filing on Wednesday, arguing that Trump waited too late to raise the issue and could try to obtain multiple smaller loans. James previously vowed to seize Trump’s assets if he didn’t pay up.

MSNBC legal analyst Lisa Rubin noted that if James is able to start enforcing her judgment, “don’t expect Trump Tower to top her list” because Trump previously reported in August 2023 that Axos Bank has an outstanding loan on the property for more than $50 million.

If NY Attorney General is able to start enforcing her judgment as soon as next week, don’t expect Trump Tower to top her list. Why? Because as recently as August ‘23, Trump reported Axos Bank still has an outstanding loan on that property for “over $50,000,000.” 1/ pic.twitter.com/FTEbAmglMT

— Lisa Rubin (@lawofruby) March 20, 2024

The loan is actually closer to $100 million, The Washington Post reported last year, and was approved by the little-known bank as other financial institutions cut ties with him following the Jan. 6 attack and the fraud allegations.

Even with the loan, James could “still force a foreclosure sale” and “as long as the net sale proceeds pay off any lien-holders before her, she can use what’s left to satisfy some of her judgment. And then move on to the next property,” noted MSNBC legal analyst Katie Phang.

Rubin agreed that the loan would not prevent James from trying to collect, but her office has “no interest” in assuming the risk of Trump’s illiquid assets, as the A.G.’s office said in its brief.

“The AG’s office is saying it does not want a mess of a fire sale any more than Trump does; in lieu of an adequate bond or cash, they would much rather Trump just let the court hold the assets in a kind of escrow,” Rubin tweeted. “That doesn’t mean Tish James can’t or won’t force a sale of assets like Trump Tower. But as satisfying as some of her constituents might find it, it’s by no means her first or even second preference. Remember that if and when she is put in a position to enforce her judgment.”

We have met the enemy and he is us

America has lost its collective mind.

Some will argue that we lost it years ago and they may be right.

Today we are saturated by “truth bombs” on social media which are anything but, given to us by narcissists, climate change deniers, rapists, misogynists, racists, far left extremists, far right extremists, senior citizens convicted in civil court of business fraud, judges who pocket wads of sweaty cash, and trashy lawmakers getting caught walking the dog during a family friendly showing of "BeetleJuice" . . . I mean "Boebert" the musical.

America the Beautiful, this ain’t.

It’s easy to blame Donald Trump. But it would be wrong. He remains nothing more than the latest symptom of a peculiar American illness born from hubris, ignorance and arrogance.

We have no sense of humor and the joke is on us.

Look at what passes for an independent press today. Wait. Forget it. Drop some acid, down five shots of Wild Turkey, hit the bong, down some edibles and shrooms then snort some Adderall and cocaine to top it off – then it might make sense. At least you’ll be too numb, if you take some oxy, to feel the pain of what passes for news in today’s press.

Trump is just a symptom. The absurdity is everywhere.

There are fewer people producing news, fewer companies owning more outlets and fewer experienced reporters delivering the news. Our founding fathers knew that a free press unafraid to speak truth to power and an educated populace were essential to democracy. Today? We have neither. We have an insipid media landscape riddled with dullards, idiots, partisans and clowns. The voting public is littered with people too stupid to understand how stupid they are. They all interact on social media which looks like bed wetting time in preschool.

A good friend of mine, who I met years ago on a trip to Europe, will not bring his family to the United States anymore to visit. He notes that there are “too many mass shootings”, healthcare is questionable, our education system “produces ignoramuses”, we have a higher percentage of our population incarcerated than any other country in the world; and he believes we don’t have a free press. “You’re a third world nation except when it comes to the size of your military,” he said firmly. As for our politics, “It’s too much like Russia,” I was told.

“Hey, we still invented rock n’ roll,” I countered. He laughed, but he’s not bringing his family to the U.S. for a vacation. He said he preferred some place “more democratic.”

Trump is dangerously desperate for a bailout

Today in the United States, there are many who won’t defend democracy and proudly say we are not a democracy. Also, there are people who defend Vladimir Putin before they’ll defend a Democrat. Putin had his opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, put to death and there are some members of the MAGA party who’d gladly follow suit when it comes to Democrats. Extreme liberals may “cancel” you. Extreme Republicans will just kill you. That’s not an exaggeration.

Speaking of that, in what recently should have been the top story in the news on every network and in every major newspaper, former Vice President Mike Pence has refused to endorse his former boss after Donald Trump was linked to the January 6 insurrection that could have cost Pence his life.

That story was definitely underplayed when it broke. “Here’s why that doesn’t matter,” read the headline in the Indianapolis Star. Trump said, in response, “We don’t need weak people.”

MSNBC reported that Pence’s refusal to endorse Trump wasn’t a bombshell. But it should have been. Pence is an evangelical who anointed Trump as the charismatic, godlike leader to end all godlike leaders. His refutation of Trump should mean something.

But in this numbed up, dumbed down world, it means little, is reported less and is viewed the same way most news viewers look at weather predictions – always wrong and who cares.

Meanwhile, Fox News reported that “Biden awkwardly wanders off stage at Arizona campaign even as he ‘couldn’t resist’ a baby.” Give me a break. This is an issue? That’s like calling attention to President Obama’s tan suit. Most politicians hold up babies. Hell, my mom has a picture somewhere of John F. Kennedy holding me up as a baby – right before I peed all over him.

Meanwhile, Peter Navarro, who I last saw in the White House, showed up to begin a four-month jail sentence for Contempt of Congress. As Nora Benavidez – a First Amendment advocate pointed out — you can go to prison in Georgia for a First Amendment protection protest and serve a longer sentence than Navarro for trying to subvert the 2020 election results.

Yes. America is that nuts. And still, according to a recent Politico-Ipsos poll of Americans, 70 percent reject Trump's claims of presidential immunity. And, 59 percent said Trump should stand trial in the federal election subversion case before Election Day.

It’s crystal clear why Trump is keen on delaying the inevitable.

We need your help to stay independent

Subscribe today to support Salon's progressive journalism

He doesn’t want to go to jail and is running a revenge campaign, bilking the ignorant and spending their money trying to get back into the White House. His takeover of the former Republican Party is complete, and in an effort to grab as much cash as possible, his leadership has already sacked about 60 staffers at the Republican National Committee.

God knows you don’t want to be on the down ballot in the MAGA party. It is doubtful Trump will give you any money. He’s too busy taking it himself.

But as I said, from the beginning, Trump is just a symptom. The weirdness is everywhere. Walt Kelly said it best in Pogo; “We have met the enemy and he is us.”

How else do you explain Robert F. Kennedy Jr? His family has denounced his independent run for the presidency – based on his extreme quackery. They say the acorn doesn’t fall too far from the tree, but in Junior’s case it appears to have been hurled by an NFL quarterback into an arena of craziness. Kennedy has about as much chance of winning the presidency as Aaron Rodgers has of being traded back to the Green Bay Packers. And there’s another nut for you. I’m not even talking about the Sandy Hook conspiracy theory he may or may not have promoted.

A notorious anti-vaxxer, Rodgers once defended his peculiar brand of lunacy in the locker room after a Packers/ Washington Redskins game. He refused to answer a question I asked – and I can’t even remember what it was I asked about now. But I do remember the finger pointing and Trump-like snark he delivered to a few reporters that day. He’s perfectly suited for politics – thin skinned, not too bright, and has an overinflated view of his own self-worth.

It’s a wonder Trump didn’t pick him for vice president. It’s not unforeseen that Kennedy would consider him. If he’s not available, maybe Kennedy will go with Joe Rogan – another lunatic.

We could talk about the craziness of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, but we got what we deserved after we allowed him on the bench despite cogent, sober testimony from law professor Anita Hill that Thomas had sexually harassed her while he was her supervisor at the Department of Education and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commision. The fine, old cannibals in government ignored her and we’re all worse off because of it.

We could also have a hearty laugh about Judge Aileen Cannon. She’s in over her head adjudicating the Trump Mar-A-Lago documents case and looks like a rabid puppy chasing its own tail. It would be kind of cute if it weren’t so seriously crazy.

Want a daily wrap-up of all the news and commentary Salon has to offer? Subscribe to our morning newsletter, Crash Course.

It is true the MAGA party has dominated the craziness – but that’s only because every President Since Richard Nixon that came from the party that also gave us Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt and Dwight Eisenhower, has been a step down the evolutionary ladder.

Would anyone in the MAGA party today support Lincoln’s platform? How about the progressive “trust busting” of Teddy Roosevelt? Or, would they listen to the dire warnings of the military-industrial complex given to us by Eisenhower? Nope. Today it’s all crazy, all the time on the MAGA channel.

The Democrats are marginally better, but only manage to crawl over the low bar presented by MAGA. As recently as last week, I had discussions with Democrats who say Biden isn’t old. I personally don’t care that he is; in fact I think he’s far more cogent than equally old and demented Donald Trump and his minions. Those minions include a plethora of morons, including Reps. Matt Gaetz, Jim Jordan, Elise Stefanik, Marjorie Taylor-Greene and Lauren Boebert, who are merely auditioning for powerful posts in pompous Trump’s next regime – should it come to pass.

The Democrats who tell me Biden isn’t old are just out of touch and are trying to make an argument that doesn’t need to be made. Come on. Unless Biden lives to be 175 (Maybe with the right incentive Dr. Ronnie Jackson would endorse that), he’s an old guy. He’s a senior citizen. End of story.

Make a joke about Biden’s age, though, and you’re called a Trumper. Hell, in one case I merely repeated Biden’s own joke about his age. My audience didn’t get it and thought I was disparaging the president. I was just quoting him!

No sense of humor.

But the MAGA members remain far worse. As recently as last week, I was speaking with a Trump supporter who told me, “I don't care if he's broke. I don't care about indictments. It's all because Satan is coming after Trump who is here to do the lord's work. Trump won't be brought down by Satan.”

Me? All I could say was, “Especially if Satan’s propping him up.”

They didn’t laugh at that either. I thought it was hilarious.

And when the Trumpers started defending Trump’s use of “Bloodbath,” and screaming that using that word was just triggering liberal “snowflakes” I reminded them that I didn’t worry about liberals being triggered by that word. I’m far more concerned about gun-hoarding lunatics who would shoot others based on what Trump says.

“They deserve it,” I was told.

Welcome to 2024.

about Trump's run for the White House and the collateral damage