WHO Alliance for Food Safety to increase global surveillance of foodborne illnesses

The World Health Organization (WHO), with support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Division of Foodborne Waterborne and Environmental Disease (CDC DFWED), is launching the WHO Alliance for Food Safety to aid countries with global surveillance of foodborne illnesses. The WHO Alliance for Food Safety will have its first meeting from May 6 – 8 in Geneva, Switzerland and virtually.

The latest initiative seeks to accomplish foodborne disease surveillance targets set in the WHO Global Strategy for Food Safety 2022–2030. Adopted at the World Health Assembly in May 2022, the global strategy sets out “five priorities and adopted targets to guide action and track progress toward reducing foodborne infections,” per Food Safety News. One of the target goals is to increase the global capacity for surveillance of foodborne diseases and contamination from a score of 1.5 in 2022 to 3.5 by 2030. WHO and CDC are also looking to reactivate WHO’s Global Foodborne Infections Network (GFN) and tap into its network of Collaborating Centers to further support the WHO Alliance for Food Safety.

The Alliance will also include other institutions with “demonstrated leadership and technical competency,” according to Food Safety magazine.

Mitch McConnell fumes after courts crack down on Republican “judge-shopping”

Plaintiffs will no longer be able to choose which judge hears their case due to a policy announced this week that will enforce random judge selection in civil suits that pertain to national legislation. The policy will limit the practice of “judge-shopping” — a tactic long utilized by litigants to effectively guarantee favorable outcomes, according to Politico.

Prior to the policy’s announcement, plaintiffs have been able to cherry-pick judges sympathetic to their cause, but the new policy will enforce random judge selection in cases involving national and state-wide policy implementation. This move, hailed as a win by Democrats, aims to promote impartiality and reduce bias in the court systems.

“Judge-shopping” has long been utilized by Republicans, who pick single-judge judicial districts with conservative inclinations. Random judge selection will not be geographically restricted and judges will be chosen randomly from any of the 94 federal judicial districts.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., criticized the new policy, calling it “half-baked ‘guidance’ that just does Washington Democrats’ bidding," according to NBC News.

McConnell and other Republicans have urged judges nationwide to resist the policy, claiming it will “shut down access to justice in the venues favored by conservatives.”

Texas has long been the site of numerous “judge-shopping” incidents, where cases challenging the Biden administration’s federal policies were brought to sympathetic judges. The attempt to remove the abortion drug mifepristone from shelves was purposely seen in the town of Amarillo, where Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, a conservative Trump-era appointee, was almost guaranteed to preside. The Supreme Court will consider the removal later this month.

Democrats also utilized “judge-shopping” during the Trump administration in New York and California, but the judge selection wasn’t as sure-fire as similar efforts in places such as Texas due to the districts being much larger with more available judges.

“It is your job to manage the caseload of your court according to the dictates of local circumstances and convention,” McConnell states in a letter to Chief Judge Reeves of Kentucky penned Thursday.

“We therefore hope and expect that you will continue to do what is in the interest of justice for litigants in your jurisdiction without regard to partisan battles in Washington, D.C. If at any time current law is insufficient to meet the needs of justice, you can be assured that Congress — and not the Judicial Conference — will make the relevant changes.”

Costco to open more Kirkland Signature sushi counters in several stores nationwide

Costco is officially opening more Kirkland Signature sushi counters in its stores nationwide, following the success of the big box retailer’s first in-house sushi counter at its flagship warehouse in Issaquah, Washington.

According to a report by Today, the news of the sushi counter expansion was confirmed by Costco CFO Richard Galanti during a Q2 earnings call on March 7. Galanti said Costco has “two more planned to open in the very near future.”

“The sushi program has proven to be a category where we can be successful in both quality and price, and we’re looking forward to seeing more of that in the future,” he said during the call. Galanti also explained that Costco locations in several Asian countries have operated sushi counters “for years.” Some Hawaii Costco locations also make sushi in-house.

Per the Seattle Times, Costco began working on its sushi counter concept for U.S.-based warehouses in October 2022. The corporation’s culinary team reportedly traveled to Japan to study with “rice masters” and perfect a grain “that would retain its moisture and not dry out over the course of a day like other grocery chains’ sushi,” an unnamed, high-ranking source told the outlet. Costco was hoping for a quiet success, but when the sushi counter finally opened in June 2023, it was a major hit across social media. So much so that the Seattle Times said “the Issaquah Costco has arguably become the most talked-about restaurant on the Eastside.”

At this time, it’s unclear which Costco branches — or how many of them — will open up sushi-making operations.

Extinction or adaptation? The plague of wildfires in Chile is a warning for our future

Amidst rapidly intensifying global climate disasters, Chile has become the latest casualty. Fueled by strong winds and a heat wave, recent forest fires have killed more than a hundred people. El Niño, a cyclical climate phenomenon, created hazardous conditions prior to the fires by contributing to heat and drought, while global warming drove temperatures upward.

For years, however, Chile has been suffering from such drought, which has dried up forests and depleted water supplies. Indeed, over the past decade, almost two million hectares of land have burnt to a crisp. Confronted by one of the worst tragedies in his country’s recent history, President Gabriel Boric declared a two-day period of national mourning in February.

Though certainly destructive in terms of size and scope, I was not surprised by the fires. In the weeks leading up to the disaster, I was making my way through the country in tandem with research and a book project concerning Charles Darwin’s legacy in the context of climate change. The naturalist, who traveled throughout Chile and South America aboard H.M.S. Beagle, between 1832 to 1835 would not have denied the environment is changing; however, the pace of current day natural catastrophes would have undoubtedly concerned him.

Brazil's struggling rainforests are so understudied, it's not clear how bad the damage is

As I roughly retraced Darwin’s route, I became aware of the threat of forest fires. In Torres del Paine National Park, I spotted a glacier in the distance, though such picturesque scenes were interrupted by the sight of burnt patches of trees. To be sure, not all fires are negative, since they can help get rid of dead vegetation or encourage forest clearings featuring greater species diversity.

However, my guide explained that local fires linked to human error and carelessness have become more intense and difficult to extinguish. Climate change, he added, has contributed to such blazes amid low humidity and elevated temperatures. Speaking to members of a forest brigade, I learned that seasons had now become unpredictable and “super different.” Fires, meanwhile, posed a risk to beloved wildlife species such as pumas and South Andean deer.

What are the chances that Chile’s unfavorable ecological picture can be reversed?

During his travels, Darwin explored the island of Chiloé where he observed houses made of alerce, also known as Fitzroya cupressoides. The naturalist named the tall deciduous tree after Beagle captain Robert Fitzroy. To his credit, Darwin recognized that planting a mixture of species can result in faster growth than species planted individually. However, the naturalist was also a product of his time, and regretted that locals in the vicinity had not cleared the woods to make efficient use of natural resources.

Waterfall at Torres del Paine National Park in Chile (Photo courtesy of Nikolas Kozloff)

Such “extractivist” approaches haven’t served Chile well over time, however — so says Carlos Leiva, director of the non-governmental organization Andean Alerce. Though logging alerce has been outlawed, illegal deforestation has continued to plague Chiloé, while native forest has been replaced by tree plantations. This in turn has disrupted the hydrological cycle on Chiloé, which is already suffering from water scarcity. Could forest fires be related to underlying practices of extractivismo? Speaking to me in Puerto Montt, a city located near the island, Leiva expressed concern about the increased frequency of fires.

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In other areas of the country hit by recent heat and drought, large plantations full of flammable trees lie in close proximity to cities and towns. Eucalyptus, a common tree found on plantations, burns relatively rapidly. In view of these trends, experts agree that plantations make the landscape much more prone to fire as opposed to maintaining intact native forests.

Moreover, in contrast to native forest, which exhibits a wide spectrum of vegetation and animal species, plantations display the most homogeneous conditions possible. Traveling north, I felt suffocated by the heat during an interminably long bus ride. Peering out the window, I spotted large forest plantations along the highway sporting rows and rows of uniform trees, just some of the more than three million hectares of forest monoculture which has turned Chile into a leading cellulose exporter.

Just how much specific blame can be pinned on the Boric administration for Chile’s dire environmental straits is up for debate: though the forestry sector has been poorly regulated, last year the president launched a national plan to prevent, mitigate and fight forest fires to make the forestry industry more resilient to climate change. The government also increased funding for firefighting, though needless to say, such moves did little to prevent recent blazes.

What are the chances that Chile’s unfavorable ecological picture can be reversed? For answers, I caught up with Felipe and Constanza Espinosa of the Chilean Glacier Foundation at a café in Santiago. Felipe, the management and operations director for the group, said he was gratified by a substantial 2019 climate change protest in the capital. The momentum seemed to continue with the election of Boric in late 2021. A 36-year-old former lawmaker and the most leftist-leaning leader since Salvador Allende, the new president called for constitutional reform.

Burnt Vegetation at Torres del Paine National Park in Chile (Photo courtesy of Nikolas Kozloff)

My contact was heartened by environmental provisions in the draft package seeking to protect glaciers. Ambitious in scope, the reform also proposed granting rights to animals and nature, while pledging to deal with climate challenges and biodiversity loss. Chipping away at extractivismo, the draft abandoned the term “natural resources” in favor of “natural common goods.”However, the new constitution was resoundingly defeated by voters.

Society must recognize that “nature isn’t infinite” and impose limits on the use of natural resources.

Constanza, Felipe’s sister and the foundation’s director of communications and outreach, did not hold grand expectations for the government. Despite radical constitutional terminology, she remarked that the Ministry of the Environment still focused on managing natural resources, as opposed to truly protecting the environment. On the other hand, considering Chile’s environmental distress, could Boric become a spokesperson for international climate action in the mold of, say, former Bolivian President Evo Morales? The country is responsible for a tiny fraction of world-wide emissions, yet Chile is particularly vulnerable to drought and desertification. A more combative Boric seemed unlikely, she answered, given the president doesn’t seem interested in challenging the Global North, but rather maintaining friendly relations.

It’s the last day of my stay in Santiago before catching a late-night flight back to New York. In the midst of record temperatures and heat alerts, not to mention the onset of Chile’s deadly wildfires, I’m contemplating Darwin’s legacy once again. Apocalyptic extinction or adaptation?

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The sobering new reality seems apropos as I sit down with Bárbara Saavedra, director of the Wildlife Conservation Society in Chile. Considering Chile’s climate emergency, she says, society must recognize that “nature isn’t infinite” and impose limits on the use of natural resources. An evolutionary biologist, Saavedra is concerned about charismatic animal species such as Darwin’s frog, which is facing an uphill conservation battle like other amphibians, and Darwin’s fox, whose population has become diminished and fragmented.

And what of Boric — has the young and idealistic president turned out to be a political disappointment? “The constitutional reform wasn’t his defeat,” she says, “but rather a defeat of our entire country.” Pausing, she adds, “on the other hand, I don’t see the reform as a defeat, but rather as forming part of a long-term process which is challenging and still hasn’t played itself out entirely. I’m not a politician, but I believe there will be other opportunities in future. Even without the reform, however, we have other laws and tools at our disposal to resolve our environmental problems, and there is sufficient willingness to measure up to our challenges.”

about climate change

Why the measles outbreak keeps me up at night

Since the beginning of this year, measles cases have been reported in eleven states spanning both coasts and heartland. A total of 20 cases have been reported since December, which may not sound like much, but it marks one of the worst resurgences of the virus in a generation. Because measles is so contagious, even a few cases can be serious, not to mention a massive strain on public health. The situation warrants enough concern that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a warning to doctors about renewed measles risk.

Unfortunately, vaccine skepticism is threatening to undo one of the great public health achievements of the modern era: the effective victory over this highly contagious and sometimes fatal viral infection, which is particularly dangerous for children and infants.

Many children who catch measles develop pneumonia. Other complications include brain inflammation and, in rarer cases, subacute sclerosing panencephalitis — a deadly neurological disorder.

The measles outbreak in Florida is a warning for the rest of the nation

Measles is highly contagious — so much so that if one person has it, up to nine out of 10 people around them will also become infected if not adequately protected. Further, measles is transmitted in the air and can remain in a room where a contagious person has been for up to two hours.

The reason for measles' dangerous comeback is clear: a decline in vaccination rates in recent years.

I specialize in infectious diseases, including measles, and I cannot overstate my concern about the dire risks posed by lower vaccination rates. One in five unvaccinated people who develop measles is hospitalized because of life-threatening complications.

Parents nationwide need to take this threat seriously. The best way to protect your children from measles, and all preventable infectious diseases, is to follow the CDC's recommended immunization schedule.

It has been nearly a quarter-century since the United States eliminated measles — meaning there has been no continuous transmission of the disease for 12 months or more. This means that no endemic measles outbreaks have occurred in the country during the 21st century. When smaller measles outbreaks have occurred, they have been foreign in origin, relatively limited and quickly overcome.

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The reason for measles' dangerous comeback is clear: a decline in vaccination rates in recent years. During the 2021-22 school year, the CDC identified a nearly 1% national decline in kindergarten vaccination rates— about 40,000 unvaccinated students. According to one investigation, at least 8,500 schools across the country have vaccination rates below 95%, the level the CDC deems necessary for effective prevention of measles spread.

Research has shown that the decline is linked directly to growing public skepticism about the safety of vaccines. Yet the measles vaccine is one of the safest and most thoroughly studied public health measures in the world — and has been for decades.

The common side effects are very mild — low-grade fevers, minor rashes, and soreness; serious complications are exceedingly rare. I recommend measles vaccinations for all my patients. My children are vaccinated as well. Vaccination both provides individual protection and bolsters public health by preventing transmission to those who are immunocompromised — whose numbers have doubled in recent years to 6.6% of U.S. adults — and other people who are unable to get vaccinated. For example, babies do not receive their first measles vaccine until they are one year old and are vulnerable to infection until fully vaccinated.

The benefits of widespread vaccination are undeniable. In 2019 alone, the routine childhood vaccine schedule, which includes two doses of the measles vaccine, prevented an estimated 24 million cases of illness in the United States. Assuming a roughly even distribution across the population, that's equivalent to preventing an illness in one in 13 people.

No doubt, immunization must also be supported by private sector and government efforts to combat misinformation and educate the public on the science of vaccines. But I can say with certainty that the value of vaccines, and the research and development behind them, has been speaking volumes for decades.

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I have seen firsthand the damage, death, and grief that infectious diseases can cause. Make no mistake: measles is dangerous. We risk underestimating the threat it poses precisely because widespread vaccination has been extremely effective in providing herd immunity.

We haven't seen measles at its worst in the United States for over a half-century. Before the vaccine was introduced in 1963, measles was infecting 4 million Americans annually and killing about 450. Even now, the disease leads to well over 100,000 deaths per year worldwide, almost exclusively in regions with low vaccination rates.

Vaccines are a critical tool for fighting off both primary and secondary infections. Measles is a fate no child deserves — and, thanks to modern medicine, it's one no child needs to face. We have the tools to ensure that the elimination of measles is permanent. All we have to do is use them.

about health

Team Trump blames algorithm after campaign ads on pro-Nazi content

Former President Donald Trump's team went on defense after campaign advertisements ran alongside pro-Nazi content on the streaming service Rumble.

In a short video ad running at the start of some Rumble videos, Trump asks viewers to donate to his campaign, Rolling Stone reported Thursday.

“I am very humbly asking if you could chip in $5, $10, or even $25,” Trump says, vowing that such donors will aid him in his goal to “win back the White House.”

As noted by Rolling Stone, Trump ads were circulating at the beginning of a new Rumble video as of Monday by far-right conspiracy theorist Stew Peters. In that video, Peters deems Adolf Hitler “a hero” for the Nazi book burnings of the 1930s, the violent event he refers to as “awesome.”

The former president's rhetoric has been compared to Hitler's in recent months as he doubled down on his claims that immigrants are “poisoning the blood” of the United States. Polls show Trump’s supporters have been receptive to his “overtly fascist rhetoric.”

Rolling Stone requested comment from both Rumble and Peters, neither of whom responded, making it still unclear how the ad for Trump wound up on Peters’ video. A spokesperson from Trump’s team told Rolling Stone that the campaign is not “picking any particular video or channel to run ads on, and we are not given visibility into every single ad that is served during every video,” blaming Rumble for placing the Trump ad alongside Peters’s video. Rolling Stone also noted that Trump’s team did not say if it was concerned about monetizing Peter’s content but more about general advertising on Rumble.

McDonald’s experienced a “technology outage” that has impacted orders across the world

According to a Friday morning report from CNN, McDonald’s experienced a “technology outage” which disrupted online orders around the world. In a statement to the publication, a spokesperson for the global fast-food company said that the issue is now being resolved and “notably, the issue is not related to a cybersecurity event.”

While the spokesperson declined to give further details about the cause or extent of the outage, issues were reported in the United States, Australia, Japan, Hong Kong and the United Kingdom. The bulk of the problems seem to stem from staff being able to process electronic orders.

McDonald’s Hong Kong said on Facebook: “Due to a computer system failure, the mobile ordering and self-ordering kiosks are not functioning. Please order directly at the restaurant counter.” Similarly, McDonald’s Japan said in a post on X Friday: “Many stores across the country have temporarily suspended operations.”

Meanwhile, as reported by TIME, on Downdetector, a platform where users can report and view outages in real time, people are flagging similar technical problems with orders in Austria, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden.

Katie Britt says she’s “pumped” about SNL spoof — as Ted Cruz fawns over Scarlett Johansson

Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., said she is unfazed and actually thinks it is awesome that actress Scarlett Johansson impersonated her on the most recent episode of “Saturday Night Live.”

Britt, who gave the Republican rebuttal to President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address last week, joined Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, on his podcast “Verdict,” and shared how “pumped” she was that “SNL” chose Johansson as the actress to portray her, ABC News reported.

The Recount noted that despite Britt’s apparent admiration for the skit, Cruz took time out of the conversation to share how he felt slighted by the show.

“Scarlett Johanson is hot,” Cruz told Britt. “I’m genuinely jealous because SNL has come after me a bunch of times. They don't ever have Tom Cruise play me? How come you get a gorgeous movie star? That is a real compliment that you ought to be pretty psyched with.”

“Scarlett Johansson is hot, and I am genuinely jealous … At least you were played by a woman … I’ve also been played by a woman. They cast Aidy Bryant as me … She looks pretty good in a beard, by the way.”

— Sen. Ted Cruz talks SNL portrayals with Sen. Katie Britt on his pod pic.twitter.com/xZTUBcb4MH

— The Recount (@therecount) March 13, 2024

Britt particularly enjoyed one spoof, where Johansson compared her to Kate Middleton.

“One of my favorite things was there was a meme that said, “Why is Alabama Kate Middleton so mad?” Britt told Cruz. “And I thought, this is the highest compliment, can we print this out and frame it and put it on my desk?”

ABC News also noted that during the podcast episode, Cruz showed praise for Britt, nodding to how other Republicans have shown support for her since she gave the party’s response to Biden. Cruz then also said that the media “demonized” Britt for that rebuttal. He criticized “SNL” for its portrayal of the president while mocking Britt.

Both Britt and Cruz continuously slammed Biden’s address as a “really angry stump speech from an old cranky president.” And Britt still contends that “the liberal media isn’t interested in the truth.”

Meghan Markle isn’t responsible for the Kate Middleton scandal — and she shouldn’t have to be

Kate Middleton is in the midst of one of the most baffling PR crises the royal family has seen in a while — so of course, some people want to badger Meghan Markle about it.

Ever since the darling Princess of Wales seemingly vanished from the public eye following planned abdominal surgery in January, the media and general public have only had one question: "Where is Kate?"

After weeks of online conspiracy theories swirled, the speculation came to a head when social media accounts for The Prince and Princess of Wales posted a family portrait of Middleton and her kids for Mother's Day in the United Kingdom. However, in a rare move, major news agencies like The Associated Press and Reuters immediately recalled the photo, which had been distributed by the palace, from circulation because it appeared to be digitally manipulated.

If Harry and Meghan didn't chat with Oprah three years ago, would we care where Kate is?

Soon thereafter, the Palace responded with a statement from Middleton who apologized saying, "Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing. I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused."

Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing. I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused. I hope everyone celebrating had a very happy Mother’s Day. C

— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) March 11, 2024

But even with a scandal focusing solely on Middleton — Markle, the Duchess of Sussex is still dragged into the mess. The relentless British tabloids, who have continuously dogged Markle for years, are now inserting her into the Middleton debacle and placing responsibility on her to address and support Middleton.

Multiple publications have urged Markle to comment on the ongoing Middleton dilemma and credibility issue inside the Palace. In an interview with the Mirror, public relations expert Ryan McCormick said, "If I was advising Meghan, I would tell her to speak loud and passionate in defence of Kate. Meghan may not like being on the brunt of negative press but, she's definitely more familiar with it than Kate.

He continued, "The Duchess could help the Princess of Wales tremendously by guiding her through this crisis publicly and behind the scenes."

Another royal expert Ian Pelham Turner told Fox News Digital that the Sussexes should "keep a dignified silence."

"Or, at the very most, release a statement which would say all people can make mistakes in their lives, but they wish a speedy recovery for. . .The Princess of Wales," he said. "Meghan and Harry may use the situation to support their claims while they feel sympathy. It recognizes as well that not all is what it seems in the House of Windsor."

Following the Photoshop incident, Page Six wrote that "sources close to Meghan Markle and Prince Harry saying: 'This isn't a mistake that Meghan would ever make…she has a keen eye and freakish attention to detail.'" (However, a spokesperson from the couple's Archewell Foundation clarified to Newsweek, "With respect to Page Six, that [statement] did not come from us.")

Through the cloudy PR spin, there is a specific narrative already building around Markle: The Sussexes should support their family members because they know what it's like for their lives to become fodder for particularly nasty tabloids. However, this is the sole reason why the Sussexes shouldn't comment on the matter. They aren't obligated to say anything after the maelstrom of abuse they've suffered at the hands of the PR machine behind and surrounding the crown, especially Meghan Markle.

Three years ago, the couple revealed to the world that they lived in a heavily controlled ecosystem that left no room for agency. Markle alleged that she was denied mental health services during her pregnancy when she dealt with suicide ideation. She also claimed that, as a half-Black woman, she dealt with racist abuse from both tabloids and inside the royal family, including a situation in which someone questioned the skin color of her unborn child, Archie. From the outside looking in, the situation mirrored that of Princess Diana, who reportedly suffered from depression and an eating disorder amid the constant hounding from media.

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Asking Markle to speak on Middleton's behalf is also placing the responsibility to protect and defend someone whom she claimed made her cry before her wedding and is rumored to have been the one that made comments about her son’s skin color. Not only that but the Prince and Princess of Wales never publically made a statement to defend their sister-in-law from the hatred she received during her time as a royal. Some even speculate that the couple also fed stories about the Sussexes to the press, too. This is an obvious double-standard that would only be applied to Markle because of her race and womanhood.

Most importantly, after everything Markle has been through in the last handful of years as a royal and now a royal-adjacent figure, shouldn't everyone cut her some slack? This is a PR and image-obsessed family whose global credibility is crumbling in real-time. Some of that perfect, pristine veneer's erosion has everything to do with Markle's courage in speaking her truth to power.

At the end of the day, as Malcolm X once said, “The most disrespected person in America is the Black woman." While the royals are British, the sentiment remains the same and rings eerily true in this circumstance. Black women are always meant to do the saving when other people are being disrespected or attacked. However, that’s not on us to fix or alleviate — that's not our responsibility or burden to carry when we too have also been gravely harmed. It also sets an impossibly high standard of moral authority on us, when all we want is to be simply respected — not be your Wonder Woman.

about the royal family

Trump is already plotting his next Big Lie

One of Donald Trump's most famous quotes is from the 2016 campaign when he said," I could shoot someone on 5th avenue and not lose any voters." He seems to have convinced himself that it's true. Despite the fact that he has been losing between 20 and 40 percent in most of the Republican primaries this year, he insists that they will all vote for him in the fall and anyway, he says, "I'm not sure we need too many."

As recently as Super Tuesday he told Right Side Broadcasting, "I don't need votes, we have all the votes we need."

Trump: “I don’t need votes.” pic.twitter.com/aV8oeRjqwr

— American Bridge 21st Century (@American_Bridge) March 5, 2024

And why wouldn't he say that? After all, as he told Newsmax again on Thursday night, "We won in 2016, we won even bigger in 2020, we won by a lot more," so he's certain to get as many votes this time. Or, at least, that seems to be his logic.

But if he was really so sure of himself you'd think he wouldn't need to ensure that the election is going to be a nightmare that makes 2020 look placid and serene by comparison, wouldn't you? But that looks like what he has in mind. Now that he has managed to install his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, and MAGA henchman Michael Whatley in the Republican National Committee (RNC), along with his defacto campaign manager (and underhanded operative) Chris LaCivita, then immediately purged the RNC staff to make room for loyalists, the takeover of the party is complete. And from what we hear from Lara Trump, who has been all over TV discussing their agenda, they plan a full-fledged assault on the election process in November.

There is only one thing that matters about Donald Trump — and it’s not his crimes or mental decline

Although she has said repeatedly that they planned to encourage early voting in this election, according to the Washington Post, the RNC has actually ended their “Bank Your Vote” program and replaced it with a “Grow The Vote” outreach to less likely Trump voters (which must mean white voters since they are also reportedly shutting down their minority outreach centers.) Trump has made it clear that if her father-in-law is elected, they will immediately put in place laws to return to one-day voting, with paper ballots, voter ID and requirements that the count be finished by the end of Election Day, so that's something to look forward to.

Bobb is the former Trump DHS official and OAN commentator who promoted the daft idea that Trump would be reinstated after Joe Biden was inaugurated on the basis of the absurd "audits" that took place in various close states and came up with nothing.

In the meantime, they plan to train actual MAGA poll workers, apparently, something the RNC was not allowed to do for decades because of a consent decree from 1981 when they got caught intimidating minority voters as they are wont to do. (In reality, this plan was already announced last fall under the auspices of former RNC chair Ronna McDaniel, but like all Trumps, Lara is taking credit for others' work.)

Lara Trump told Sean Hannity, "we have to fight fire with dynamite" and announced that they are putting "massive resources" toward a newly created "election integrity division" claiming, "We currently have 78 lawsuits out right now in 23 states across this country to make it easier to vote and harder to cheat. And here’s what I want to say. To anyone out there who is thinking about cheating in an election, we will go after you. You will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law." (Actually, that's already happening — to her father-in-law and his cronies.)

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But you won't believe who they've hired as the "senior counsel" for the new election integrity division. It's almost as if they are trolling the media and the Democrats by putting up one of the most dishonest, hyperbolic purveyors of The Big Lie in all of MAGAworld, Christina Bobb, the author of the book “Stealing Your Vote: The Inside Story of the 2020 Election and What It Means for 2024." Bobb is the former Trump DHS official and OAN commentator who promoted the daft idea that Trump would be reinstated after Joe Biden was inaugurated on the basis of the absurd "audits" that took place in various close states and came up with nothing.

Bobb is probably best known to mainstream America as the attorney who signed the affidavit attesting to the fact that Trump had turned over all the classified material at Mar-a-Lago which was later found to be untrue. She's been part of the Trump inner circle since November of 2020 as an energetic election denier, as this New York Times profile from 2022 illustrates:

Ms. Bobb was present in the pro-Trump “command center” at the Willard Hotel in Washington before the Capitol attack, along with Rudolph W. Giuliani and other Trump stalwarts. She acted as Mr. Giuliani’s go-between with state officials in Arizona and helped fund-raise for a recount in Maricopa County that Republican leaders called a “sham.” She drafted a memo and participated in meetings to discuss a plan to appoint alternate slates of electors to reverse legitimate state election results. And Ms. Bobb created the computer file used to draft a proposal, never carried out, for Mr. Trump to issue an executive order for the federal government to seize voting machines.

Bobb was also sued for defamation by Dominion and Smartmatic voting machines and played a key role in the fake electors scheme.

She's had quite a trajectory. She went to law school and then joined the Marines for two years after which she ran for office and came in last in field of 8. Then she went to DC and joined the Trump administration, then decamped to OAN where she became a "Stop The Steal" cheerleader and "a fixture at meetings" with the likes of John Eastman and Sidney Powell. She finally quit OAN and moved to Florida where she took a staff job at Trump's Save America PAC and somehow was tapped to be the lawyer who had to sign that affidavit when the FBI came calling.

Her devotion to Trump is limitless. I saw her on Right Side Broadcasting at a Trump rally where she extolled Trump's impeccable musical taste and fantastic dancing abilities. I'm not kidding. According to the Times, even Trump himself has recoiled at her cloying sycophancy (which, frankly, is hard to believe.) But in MAGA world she is an expert on the Big Lie and the truest of true believers. Of course they're making her "senior counsel for election integrity." Since all the other coup-plotting lawyers are under indictment, who else is left?

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Georgia judge rejects TrumpWorld bid to disqualify Fani Willis — but gives her an ultimatum

Georgia Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee ruled on Friday that Fulton District Attorney Fani Willis must either step aside or cut ties with special prosecutor Nathan Wade, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

Lawyers for former President Donald Trump and several co-defendants pushed to have Willis disqualified over what they alleged was an improper romantic relationship between her and Wade. McAfee rejected the motion, saying that the defendants failed to prove an “actual conflict” of interest in the case.

"Without sufficient evidence that the District Attorney acquired a personal stake in the prosecution, or that her financial arrangements had any impact on the case, the Defendants’ claims of an actual conflict must be denied," the judge wrote.

“This finding is by no means an indication that the Court condones this tremendous lapse in judgment or the unprofessional manner of the District Attorney’s testimony during the evidentiary hearing. Rather, it is the undersigned’s opinion that Georgia law does not permit the finding of an actual conflict for simply making bad choices — even repeatedly — and it is the trial court’s duty to confine itself to the relevant issues and applicable law properly brought before it,” he added.

But McAfee said that the “prosecution is encumbered by an appearance of impropriety.”

"As the case moves forward, reasonable members of the public could easily be left to wonder whether the financial exchanges have continued resulting in some form of benefit to the District Attorney, or even whether the romantic relationship has resumed," he wrote. "As long as Wade remains on the case, this unnecessary perception will persist."

Both the defendants and Willis could seek to appeal the ruling.

“Incomprehensible”: Experts warn Judge Cannon’s ruling against Trump opens up “nightmare scenario”

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon on Thursday rejected one of former President Donald Trump’s motions to dismiss his classified documents case.

Cannon shot down Trump’s motion arguing that the Espionage Act is unconstitutionally vague when applied to a former president.

Cannon after a daylong hearing issued an order saying some of Trump’s arguments warrant “serious consideration” but wrote that no judge has ever found the statute unconstitutional. Cannon said that “rather than prematurely decide now,” she denied the motion so it could be "raised as appropriate in connection with jury-instruction briefing and/or other appropriate motions."

The Trump-appointed judge expressed skepticism about the former president’s arguments during Thursday’s hearing.

“You would agree that declaring a statute is unconstitutionally vague is quite an extraordinary step?” she asked Trump lawyer Emil Bove, according to The Washington Post.

Legal experts: Trump witness has "startling evidence" for jury — unless Judge Cannon "stalls" trial

Cannon has yet to issue a ruling on Trump’s other motion arguing that the Presidential Records Act allows him to deem government records as personal.

“It’s difficult to see how this gets you to a dismissal of the indictment,” Cannon said.

But legal experts called Cannon’s ruling on Thursday a temporary victory for special counsel Jack Smith.

“The Judge’s ruling was virtually incomprehensible, even to those of us who speak ‘legal’ as our native language,” former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance wrote on Substack, calling part of her ruling “deliberately dumb.”

“The good news here is temporary,” Vance wrote. “It’s what I’d call an ugly win for the government. The Judge dismissed the vagueness argument—but just for today. She did it ‘without prejudice,’ which means that Trump’s lawyers could raise the argument again later in the case. In fact, the Judge seemed to do just that in her order, essentially inviting the defense to raise the argument again at trial.”

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Vance noted that if Cannon had ruled against the government on Thursday, Smith’s team could have appealed.

“But that’s not the case if, after today’s ruling in the government’s favor, she permits Trump to resurrect the motion at trial,” Vance explained. “She could grant the motion to dismiss the case then and at that point, with very rare exceptions (that the Judge would be in a position to prevent), the government can’t appeal. That’s because once a jury has been empaneled, double jeopardy ‘attaches’ and prevents the government from retrying the defendant on the same charges if he’s acquitted, which is what would happen if the Judge granted a motion to dismiss at that point and before a jury rendered a guilty verdict. That’s the nightmare scenario here.”

MSNBC legal analyst Lisa Rubin noted that Cannon in her order to deny Trump’s motion “took a bunch of swipes at the special counsel.”

“There's some language in that order that basically says, 'I'm not deciding this now,' but she was saying to them, I'm going to read from it right now, that there are still fluctuating definitions of statutory terms and phrases along with disputed factual issues, so rather than prematurely decide now whether this is unsalvageably vague, despite the judicial glosses, some loaded accusations against the special counsel in that,” Rubin explained. “In other words, you are telling me how other courts interpreted this but those are asserted judicial glosses. You are telling me what these terms mean but there are still fluctuating definitions."

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Rubin said Cannon essentially “kicked the can down the road.”

“She didn’t give Donald Trump what he wanted,” she said. “On the other hand, she made it difficult for anyone to appeal this, and just sort of held it in abeyance. I don't think it's a victory for the special counsel's office.”

Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg told MSNBC that the ruling is only a “temporary victory” for Smith.

“Although it seems like Jack Smith won today because she didn't boot the entire Espionage Act claim, she postponed her decision,” he said. “She denied it without prejudice, meaning that Donald Trump can bring it up again in the middle of the trial, and if Judge Cannon agrees, in the middle of the trial, then double jeopardy attaches, and Jack Smith won't be able to appeal it to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals and then Jack Smith is done on that claim. So, it's a temporary victory."

about Judge Aileen Cannon

Prince William says wife Kate Middleton is “the arty one” following Photoshop blunder

The royal world continues getting stranger as the conspiracies surrounding Kate Middleton — and where she is and has been since undergoing abdominal surgery in January — have evolved quickly in recent weeks, especially following a bizarre scandal over the weekend when several major news outlets retracted a photograph of the Princess of Wales and her children after determining that it had been Photoshopped.

However, to dispel rumors that anything is amiss, it's business as usual for Prince William.

During a Thursday morning appearance at at the opening of a new London youth center, the Prince of Wales made a joke that raised some eyebrows in light of the Photoshop situation. "My wife is the arty one," he said while decorating cookies with children at the center. "Even my children are artier than me."

Since it was announced in December that Middleton would be planned undergoing surgery, Kensington Palace has maintained that she likely wouldn't resume public engagements until after Easter. However, this hasn't been enough to smother the growing conspiracy theory flames. Spanish media has speculated that Middleton has been in a coma, while some social media users have theorized that the princess and prince's relationship is on the rocks. Middleton was recently spotted in a car with her Carole Middleton, although some Redditors deny that it was Middleton in the photo and claim that it was a decoy, instead.

Sacre Bleu! Cheese enthusiasts are mourning the possible extinction of brie cheese

Back in February, the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) announced some pretty dismal news. Many of our favorite cheeses, including Camembert, brie and various blue cheese varieties, are on the “verge of extinction” due to a collapse in microbial diversity.

The issue centers on one specific strain of fungi called Penicillium camemberti, which is revered as “the gold standard for brie and Camembert” because of its appetizing qualities. Cheese itself contains its own ecosystem of molds, yeasts and bacteria that work in tandem to give cheese their signature funk. However, in recent years, the genetic diversity of such microbes has declined immensely. Many signature French cheeses currently rely on just one single fragile strain of fungi — Penicillium camemberti — which is unfortunately at risk of dying out.

Unlike most molds, Penicillium camemberti can’t reproduce sexually with other fungi to create new genetic diversity. As a result, cheesemakers have to clone it — but that has become increasingly difficult because of mutations that interfere with the fungi’s ability to produce spores. Jeanne Ropars, an evolutionary biologist who works at a lab affiliated with CNRS, told Vox that the at-risk cheeses won’t disappear in an instant. Instead, they will “be more and more difficult to produce.”

8 questions about cheese and cheesemaking, answered by a famous cheese taster and judge

Ropars and her team, in conversation with The Washington Post, also suggested consumers expand their palate and get comfortable with funkier-looking and tasting cheeses. That essentially means Camembert and brie made with other mold strains.

The recent news shocked many cheese-lovers, particularly those who adore brie. On X — the social platform formerly known as Twitter — brie enthusiasts mourned the possible extinction of their go-to stinky cheese. “Brie cheese is going extinct and [you're] not doing anything? Scientists in France made it asexual and now the bacteria that creates it cannot [reproduce] on its own and [it's] dying out at alarming rates and [you're] just typing in a spreadsheet at work? Appalling,” said one user.

Brie cheese is going extinct and your not doing anything? Scientists in France made it asexual and now the bacteria that creates it cannot reporoduce on its own and its dying out at alarming rates and your just typing in a spreadsheet at work? Appalling

— kels🖤 (@sharkedupdown) March 6, 2024

brie cheese is going extinct? i’m too mentally unstable for this

— dove 🐤 tarnished zine! (@dovahcaine) March 7, 2024

“LORD NOT BRIE CHEESE!!!! TAKE ME INSTEAD,” wrote another distraught brie cheese fan, while another wrote, “Actual representation of me (I’m craving brie cheese and can’t find it anywhere)” alongside a bloody picture of Patrick Bateman.

LORD NOT BRIE CHEESE!!!! TAKE ME INSTEAD pic.twitter.com/zdJrssEOmP

— 🫀jozie 🫀 del taco beyond menu misser (@mojojozie) March 12, 2024

first they came for abortion… then they came for IVF…. now BRIE CHEESE??? LET THE MOLD HAVE SEX

— molotov cocktease🍉 (@apenny4mythots) March 6, 2024

In the wake of the recent news, people online have been whipping up recipes, charcuterie boards and more in an attempt to enjoy brie before it officially bids adieu. Emmy Rener — founder of Sophisticated Spreads, a charcuterie board business (@sophisticatedspreads) — posted a TikTok of a charcuterie spread complete with a wheel of brie, nuts, crackers and fruit. “When you find that BRIE CHEESE might go extinct because the world doesn’t have enough bacteria to produce it,” a caption in the video read.

@sophisticatedspreads crying screaming eating cheese #briecheese #camembert #cheese #extinction ♬ son original – Découverte 💡

Another user followed suit, posting a video that said, “me on the way to make a charcuterie board after hearing brie is going extinct because it is literally my favorite cheese and a world without brie and raspberry preservatives is not a world I want to live in.”

@barteltheswell plz brie bacteria dont go #brie #briecheese #briecheesebites #extinct #extinctcheese ♬ оригинальный звук – Aizh

Others strayed away from elaborate cheese spreads and instead, shared their recipes for brie grilled cheese. A few folks flocked to their local grocery stores to stock up on all the brie they could find. And some even asserted that they were officially giving up brie for good to savor in other cheeses, like feta and gouda.

If you’re looking for an easy and delicious brie recipe to enjoy as soon as possible, Salon Food has got you covered. Be sure to try Maggie Hennessy’s fresh tomato and buttery brie pasta: “Think of this dish as bruschetta in pasta form, best eaten on the desk in a shirt you're not afraid of splattering with pinkish sauce.” In addition to its two star ingredients, the pasta calls for spaghetti, extra virgin olive oil, fresh basil leaves, garlic, red pepper flakes and salt. The pasta is best enjoyed alongside an ice-cold glass of dry rosé, per Hennessy’s recommendation.

about cheese:

RFK Jr. and Aaron Rodgers: How con artists exploit male insecurity for political gain

It's certainly a match made in hell: Anti-vaccination conspiracy theorist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has announced that he's considering New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers to be his running mate for his, uh, "presidential" campaign. Scare quotes because there's little reason to believe Kennedy thinks he can even get on the ballot as an independent candidate in all 50 states, much less that he can win. Instead, the goal here appears to be twofold: First, to gin up interest and therefore money for Kennedy's conspiracy theory empire. Second, to siphon off enough votes from President Joe Biden to throw the election to Donald Trump. Unsurprisingly, the Republican-affiliated donors funding Kennedy's campaign have a laser-like focus on getting his name on ballots in swing states, while ignoring deep red or blue states where his presence won't affect the outcome.

When I first saw Kennedy's hype around a potential Rodgers pick, I, with much eye-rolling, read the story to my partner. He responded, "Ugh, everyone hates Aaron Rodgers." To which I said, "No, most people hate him," and he, with a heavy sigh, agreed. Rodgers, whose outstanding career and movie star-good looks, was once a popular enough figure to be considered as a replacement for Alex Trebek on "Jeopardy!" But as he's dived deeper into the world of conspiracy theories and anti-vaccine vitriol, the majority of Americans are sensible enough to be grossed out by Rodgers.

But there's one group that Rodgers, like Kennedy, does appeal to: insecure men, especially younger ones, who look both to fantasies of body-building and to a love of "alternative facts" to soothe their fears of inadequacy. As Natalia Mehlman Petrzela and Ilyse Hogue wrote in a recent op-ed at MSNBC, Kennedy presents himself as an aspirational figure with "prestigious degrees, a meaningful career, a mansion in Beverly Hills," and, of course, "a glamorous, accomplished wife who stands behind him ." The 70-year-old Kennedy also posts shirtless body-building videos online. His fans may have boring jobs, soft tummies and women who swipe left on their dating app profiles, but by backing Kennedy, they can feel a piece of the fantasy.

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Rodgers, of course, offers even more, because, unlike Kennedy, he's young, actually an elite athlete, and possesses real charisma that's elusive to the squinty-eyed weirdo that Kennedy has become. But what is really crucial to their appeal is that both men, despite being unbelievably fortunate in life, carry giant chips on their shoulders. They are forever angry that they aren't getting the levels of adoration they believe they are due. This endears them to their aggrieved male audiences, who take it as proof that the white man in America just can't catch a break.

These two resemble Donald Trump, who still gets the lion's share of male voters who are largely mad that other people aren't kissing their asses hard enough.

Kennedy's cynical hustle was on full display on Fox News Wednesday night, claiming that it's "our appeal is to young people" and that Rodgers is "battle-tested" because "[h]e’s been hammered by the press" due to supposedly having a "skepticism toward authority." Kennedy also praised Rodger's body, saying, "He’s focused on his own health," which is a hat tip to the Joe Rogan crowd that wants to believe that lifting weights is a substitute for getting vaccinated.

Of course, Rodgers is not a "critical thinker," as Kennedy said. Like Kennedy, he's a conspiracy theorist. Conspiracy theories are a lazy person's intellectualism. They make a person feel smart without actually having to put in the hard work of learning things and growing. Rogan's asinine podcast is a good example of the form. Episodes are hours of mostly men who know almost nothing talking out of their asses. Actually knowing stuff takes hard work. Blowing smoke about how you have superior knowledge to the "sheeple" because you heard a conspiracy theory on the internet? That's a cheap thrill.

Jimmy Kimmel explains why Aaron Rodgers' reflexive pedophile smear is no joke for any of us

Nor is Rodgers persecuted. Like Kennedy, his problems are entirely of his own making. No one forced Rodgers to spread vaccine disinformation. No one asked him to indulge the repulsive lies about the Sandy Hook shooting, as he reportedly did. (Rodgers issued a semi-denial that allows that shooting did happen, but did not deny other conspiracy theories, such as that the government did it.) No one required Rodgers to publicly insinuate, without a single shred of merit, that late night host Jimmy Kimmel is a sex criminal.

It's that last story that really cuts to the heart of how men like Kennedy and Rodgers appeal to the base impulses of insecure men. Kimmel has publicly mocked Rodgers for his anti-vaccination nonsense, which Rodgers brought on himself, by using his celebrity to promote dangerous ideas that literally kill people. Instead of taking his lumps like a big boy, however, Rodgers had a tantrum. Worse, as Kimmel pointed out, he spread yet another lie that is dangerous. Heaven forbid someone actually believes Rodgers, because they might feel compelled to hurt Kimmel or his family.

Just as conspiracy theories are fake-smarts for the lazy, bullying is fake-courage for cowards. Especially this kind of bullying Rodgers is engaging in, where he slithers away from direct conflict with Kimmel — which he'd fail at — and instead petulantly tries to inflict harm from afar.

I found much to agree with in the MSNBC op-ed by Petrzela and Hogue, but frankly, they are far too forgiving of the young men that are drawn to Kennedy's toxic masculinity grift, attributing young men's "disaffection" to "ongoing war, increasing inequality, and impending climate catastrophe." After all, most young people, especially women, face similar challenges, but they don't go all-in on anti-vaccination or other conspiracy theories. Petrzela and Hogue showcase a common urge people have when talking about the victims of frauds. Because they are being exploited, we want to cast the marks in a sympathetic light.

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But the sad truth is that just because Rodgers and Kennedy are villains doesn't make their victims innocent. Like most con artists, these two manipulate not the good intentions of their marks, but their ugliest instincts. Certainly, there's no shame in having feelings of insecurity, which most people feel at times. But young men are being told to combat that feeling with narcissism, laziness, and entitlement. To play the victim of poorly defined "elites" — a word that Kennedy loves to use — while worshipping actual elites like Kennedy or Rodgers. And to align themselves with these elites, whose main gripe is that their privileged existence doesn't stop others from criticizing the terrible and false things they say.

In this, these two resemble Donald Trump, who still gets the lion's share of male voters who are largely mad that other people aren't kissing their asses hard enough. The Kennedy crowd does seem to veer younger, suggesting part of it is they don't want to be associated with the embarrassing fanny pack Boomer crowds that fill up Trump rallies. They also swoon at Kennedy's rhetoric about how he "defies the left-right division." That sort of empty rhetoric flatters the egos of people who want to feel like rebels without actually doing the hard work of resisting real injustice — especially if doing so means confronting your own prejudices.

This does suggest, however, that Kennedy's candidacy — which is being propped up by actual elites who want him to be a spoiler for Trump — may backfire. He could certainly get some disaffected young voters who don't want to vote for Biden, especially if they aren't paying close attention to who Kennedy actually is. But his message closely hews to the sense of aggrieved entitlement that defines Trump's candidacy. He may very well end up competing not with Biden, but with Trump for the votes of angry young men who are big mad about Taylor Swift and the COVID vaccines.

Trump sneakers and the MAGA uniform: Merchandising fascism to the mainstream

Donald Trump is basically a political cult leader. His MAGA followers are his flock.

A cult has the following features: It is a collective unhealthy relationship where individuals lose their sense of self to the larger group and where those new relationships supersede the other, presumably, more healthy relationships in a person’s life. In essence, the former person is replaced by the new cult identity. In this model, the cult leader exerts undue and harmful influence over the members. They, in turn, sacrifice their well-being and autonomy in service to the leader's wants and needs. In addition to emotional and psychological abuse, the cult leader usually engages in physical violence (including sexual abuse) and financial exploitation.

Donald Trump has apparently directly engaged in or encouraged all these behaviors to varying degrees. In a 2020 conversation with me here at Salon, Steven Hassan, who is a leading authority on the psychology of cults explained:

Donald Trump fits the stereotypical profile of all destructive cults. These traits include malignant narcissism. Trump can easily be compared to Jim Jones, Sun Myung Moon, and other cult leaders. Trump always had a cult of personality around him in terms of his businesses and his social interactions with people. But once Trump attained the presidency, he took over the Republican Party and instituted a fiefdom where he rewards loyalty and punishes anyone who displeases him.

As for definitions, a "destructive cult" is an authoritarian pyramid-structured group with someone at the top who claims to know all things and says God is working through him or her. Trump does that as well. Donald Trump is also trying to control people's behavior, the information they have access to, and their thoughts and emotions, to make them dependent and obedient and under his control. Consider the novel coronavirus pandemic and how Trump has all these followers who do not trust real experts and only take what Trump says to be true. Trump's followers also don't believe in science and medicine.

For decades, Donald Trump has shown himself to be especially adept and skilled at financially exploiting his followers and public through fraud and other such criminal behavior. In keeping with how he is a type of professional wrestling “heel” (villain), Trump is a type of confidence man huckster right out of “carnie” culture.

There is only one thing that matters about Donald Trump — and it’s not his crimes or mental decline

This “Trump merchandise industrial complex” has proven to be very lucrative and likely worth many millions of dollars. The Trump merchandise empire is part of a larger fundraising operation where the corrupt ex-president’s followers have given him many tens of millions of dollars. Trump, who claims to be a billionaire, is soliciting his MAGA people to give him money that will be used for his legal defense and fines in his civil case (that at this point now total almost 500 million dollars).

There is even a GoFundMe started by one of Trump’s loyalists to aid in his legal defense.

MAGA people continue to buy these things because they make them feel like they belong to something bigger than themselves.

On an almost daily basis, Donald Trump and his campaign send out emails – sometimes several emails in one day – announcing the newest Trump merchandise, which his followers are encouraged to buy as a show of love for the Dear Leader. Like any fake “collectibles” business model, the goal is to produce an endless supply of items so that there is always something new, valuable, and more exclusive than the previous item.

For example, on Tuesday, Trump sent out an email proudly announcing a new “limited edition gold MAGA hat!”. The day before, Trump announced a new “exclusive” membership card:

I wanted to reach out to you personally to let you know that I’ve launched a prestigious membership program.

This membership is exclusive and spots are running out…

My Official Trump Gold Card is the key to unlocking your membership.

It's METAL!

The Trump merchandise machine is infinite. On Thursday, as I was writing this essay, I received an email announcing a new "limited edition" Trump MAGA hat — this time in black and white.

Trump is always selling special and “exclusive” trips to visit him at his Mar-a-Lago headquarters, as well as special “top secret” videos for his most loyal followers. And as though he is some type of saint or other holy man, Trump, who has declared himself “chosen by God” and a type of fascist messiah and prophet whose quest to take back the White House is preordained, is even selling pieces of the suit he wore during one of his criminal arraignments.

And, of course, there are the Donald Trump sneakers, cologne, flags, stickers, NFT superhero trading cards and a seemingly endless variety of other merchandise.

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Those outside of the MAGAverse and TrumpWorld laugh at Trump’s followers for being “stupid” because they give him money for such “junk”. Moreover, that the MAGA people would do such a thing is more proof of how “gullible” they are. The liberal schadenfreude in the Age of Trump knows no limits; liberal schadenfreude may feel good for those who bask in it, but it does and has done little to nothing to stop Donald Trump and the American neofascists and their assaults on democracy and freedom. If anything, Donald Trump and his MAGA people and the other neofascists feed off the disapproval and condemnation.

This signals a large failing of too many Democrats, liberals, progressives, and especially the professional centrists and hope peddlers in the mainstream news media and political class, even after more than seven years of experience in the Trumpocene. Too many still do not understand the power of emotion and identity in fascism and other forms of fake right-wing populism. These are political movements and belief systems – and in the case of Trump and the MAGA movement, they are best understood as charismatic personality cults – that exist outside of normal politics and its idealized assumptions about rational voters who act out of material self-interest.

Trumpism, like fascism more broadly, is first and foremost a type of corrupt power. Fascism is not an ideology per se. It is an imagination based upon rage, anger, hatred, and where violence and destruction are viewed as legitimate if not preferred means of getting and keeping revolutionary power. Sadopolitics, necropolitics, the cult of personality and the will to power cohere the fascist imagination. In total, fascism is a force that gives its followers a sense of personal and collective meaning as they engage in violence and other forms of harm and suffering against “the enemy.” In many ways, fascism and other such political projects are “identity” politics in some of its worst forms.

Donald Trump and his MAGA merchandise and assorted regalia are a way of creating meaning and a sense of belonging – and of identifying one’s place in the hierarchy of that fascist movement and subculture relative to the Dear Leader and his or her own inner circle. In that way, the MAGA merchandise functions as a type of fascist uniform.

Are Trump’s sneakers “ugly” and an offense to the sneaker collecting subculture? Sure. But Trump’s MAGA people don’t care. Trump’s sneakers sold out almost immediately upon their release.

Trump’s hats and other clothing have been mocked as being “cheap looking” and “tacky.” OK. But again, Trump’s MAGA people don’t care. The MAGA people continue to buy these things because they make them feel like they belong to something bigger than themselves.

Are the MAGA people who purchased “Trump Bucks” because they thought they were real money and an “investment” gullible and apparently not very bright? Absolutely. But they will remain loyal to Donald Trump even though they were defrauded online by people who took advantage of their love for him. Business Insider provides these details:

Supporters of former President Donald Trump are reportedly being scammed out of thousands of dollars through the sale of commemorative "Trump Bucks" that fraudsters say can be exchanged for real cash.

Several companies are allegedly using advertising tactics including creating AI-generated videos of Trump…. to claim the worthless "Trump Bucks" will make them rich, according to a new report from NBC News.

Some of the people who bought the Trump memorabilia have attempted to exchange it for real US dollars at banks, and told NBC News that bank employees are reporting it as a growing issue. Several companies have been identified for marketing and selling the false currency, NBC News reported, including a number of businesses seemingly based in Colorado with names like Patriots Dynasty, Patriots Future, and USA Patriots.

"President Trump wants you to finally open your eyes and believe in his power for a better tomorrow!" reads a banner message on one of the sites advertising a "TRB Black Card," which sells as a single card for $90 or packs of up to 10 cards for $500.

Real sneakerheads get why Donald Trump's gold shoes are a failure . . . and ugly, too

As we try to escape the Trumpocene, fortunately, there are a few sharp voices and guides who correctly understand the power of emotion and identity and its role in the Trump MAGA fascist subculture and larger American (and global) fascist movement. We should listen very closely to these guides. In a very insightful essay at the Conversation, anthropologist Alexander Hinton traveled to this year’s CPAC event to better understand the enduring (and alluring) power (and dangers) of Trumpism and the MAGA subculture:

Everywhere I turned, people wore MAGA regalia – hats, pins, logos and patches, many with Trump's likeness. I spent breaks in the exhibition hall, which featured a Jan. 6 insurrection-themed pinball machine featuring "Stop the Steal," "Political Prisoners" and "Babbitt Murder" rally modes and a bus emblazoned with Trump's face. Admirers scribbled messages on the bus such as, "We have your back" and "You are anointed and appointed by God to be the President."

Those on the left who dismiss the CPAC as a gathering of MAGA crazies and racists who support a wannabe dictator do not understand that, from this far-right perspective, there are compelling and even urgent reasons to support Trump. Indeed, they believe, as conservative politician Tulsi Gabbard stated in her CPAC speech on Feb. 22, that the left's claims about Trump's authoritarianism are "laughable." This is because CPAC attendees falsely perceive President Joe Biden as the one who is attacking democracy.

At the New York Times, Vanessa Friedman locates Trump’s “Never Surrender sneakers” and other such merchandise relative to late-stage capitalism (what philosopher Nany Fraser has brilliantly described as “cannibal capitalism”), criminogenic politics, an American pathocracy, and a culture experiencing a deep crisis of meaning, community, and shared values that is “amusing itself to death”:

[T]he $399 Never Surrender sneakers unveiled over the weekend at Sneaker Con in Philadelphia? They are like a road map to Mr. Trump’s value system and electoral strategy in sartorial form.

Gilded hightops as shiny as the chandeliers at Mar-a-Lago, they have an American flag wrapping the ankle like the forest of flags that spring up behind Mr. Trump whenever he takes a stage. They have red soles made to match his trademark red ties (and the flag) and perhaps as a sly nod to Christian Louboutins and the semiology of luxury footwear. Also, there’s a large embossed “T” on the side and on the tongue.

While they are “bold, gold and tough, just like President Trump,” according to the Trump sneakers website, allowing potential owners to “be a part of history,” they boast zero technical performance attributes. While they have a shape similar to Nike Air Force 1s (get it? Air Force One!), they are unabashed imitations of the original….

Yet the merching of the moment is more dangerous than it may initially appear.

There has been a lot of eye-rolling since the sneakers’ debut, and jokes about the fact that, given the millions of dollars in penalties levied on Mr. Trump in his various civil cases, he has to make more money somewhere. And there was a lot of focus on the boos that met his appearance at Sneaker Con. (To be fair, the sneakerhead community is not the market for the kicks since there’s nothing original about them; it’s the MAGA market.)

It’s easy to get distracted by the sheer absurdity of it all — a former president, selling sneakers!

Friedman concludes:

Despite the fact that, as of Sunday, the website claimed that the 1,000 pairs of numbered Never Surrender sneakers had sold out, leaving the somewhat less exciting T-Red cherry knit sneaks and Potus 45 white knit sneaks available at $199 each, it’s hard to imagine a circumstance in which the shoes provide any meaningful source of income.

What they offer is something else.

Like Mr. Trump’s tendency to turn every courtroom appearance into a form of entertainment that can be used as a campaign op, his effort to commoditize his legal jeopardy is a long-term strategic play. In reducing his indictments to a slogan on a consumer good, he is reducing their gravity.

It’s a form of insidious trivialization, the sort of tactic that plays perfectly in the landscape of late-stage capitalism in which everything is a product for sale. Oh, those old federal charges? They’re not serious; they’re a style choice. He’s transforming indictments into accessories, a language everyone speaks. The more product he sells, the more he makes a mockery of his situation. That’s where the real profit lies.

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Writing at the Nation, Chris Lehmann uses President Biden’s State of the Union address and the Trump regalia worn by some of the Republicans in attendance as a way of assessing the power of the MAGA movement:

The stable of imagery associated with the right-wing Trump insurgency is showing signs of wear and tear. Where Trump-branded messaging and merchandise once had the power to upend establishment mores and expectations, they now feel like the political equivalent of a rock ensemble’s county fair tour: a purely formalist effort to satisfy the nostalgic longings of a diminishing fan base.

What was most telling about Greene’s stunt wardrobe was the date on the hat: Instead of being minted for the looming 2024 general election, it came from Trump’s 2020 reelection campaign, which—despite the lies of Trump, Greene, and other MAGA leaders— he lost decisively. And make no mistake: Greene, a perfect specimen of do-nothing right-wing congressional service, lives for these camera-ready moments of political theater. She certainly didn’t descend to the same level of sartorial carelessness back when she dressed as a Chinese spy balloon.

Amazingly, Greene’s get-up wasn’t even the most outlandish clothes-themed show of MAGA sympathies in the chamber. That honor fell to Texas Representative Troy Nehls, who wore a “Never Surrender” T-shirt featuring Trump’s mugshot and displayed a Laken Riley badge of his own on his lapel. To pull the look together, he sported an American flag bow tie. The outfit didn’t evoke a fearless mustering of Real American patriots so much as a Chippendale dancer gone to seed.

Lehman continues:

“Liberal commentators were put off by the vulgar display—which, of course, was part of the point. Democratic detractors of the hat typically fixated on the hypocrisy of its manufacture—like other Trump gear, it was made at least in part from materials sourced in China, the great bogeyman of Trumpian trade tirades and economic-nationalist appeals. But such caviling overlooked the broader, and pointedly inclusive, nature of the Trump campaign’s iconography. Where liberal critics read MAGA regalia as divisive and insular, it actually represented a welcoming gesture from the leaders of a right-wing movement who formerly telegraphed their ideological purity, during the Tea Party’s heyday, by cosplaying as colonial revolutionaries.

But just as Trumpism itself has curdled into a brackish series of glosses on its founding resentments, the MAGA aesthetic has gone sour.”

Donald Trump is 77 years old. He will not be the leader of the MAGA movement and the American neofascist cause forever. But in their obsessive focus on Donald Trump the man and the leader, the mainstream news media and the country’s mainstream political class have overlooked how he represents a force, a type of permission structure for authoritarianism and other antidemocratic values and beliefs that will far outlive him. The Trump merchandise empire will inevitably end but that energy will be transferred to the next Great Leader. At this point, MAGA is a brand, and like most lucrative brands, there will be someone waiting to leverage it for their own purposes.

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Kamala Harris becomes the first national elected official to visit an abortion clinic

Almost two years after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Vice President Kamala Harris — America's first female Vice President — made history on Thursday by being the first sitting president or vice president to visit an abortion clinic. Harris, as first reported by NBC News, planned on visiting the Planned Parenthood clinic in Minnesota in a way that would not interfere with the providing of medical services. Instead she toured the clinic and conversed with healthcare providers and patients who were interested in speaking with her.

“Walking through this clinic," Harris said in a press statement after the tour, she described "people who have dedicated their lives to the profession of providing healthcare in a safe place that gives people dignity, and I think we should all want that for each other.”

The vice president described a "healthcare crisis" that has resulted since the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022. “Elections matter,” Harris said. “When it comes to national elections and who sits in the United States Congress, there’s a fundamental point on this issue that I think most people agree with, which is that one does not have to abandon their faith or deeply held beliefs to agree the government should not be telling women what to do with her body.”

Harris is taking the lead among President Biden's administration in advocating for women's health, launching a "Fight for Reproductive Freedoms" tour at the start of the year for that purpose. Harris' visit to the Minnesota Planned Parenthood clinic was the sixth stop on that tour since January. On this occasion, Harris' tour was greeted with anti-abortion protesters holding signs indicating their opposition to Planned Parenthood. Their signs included slogans like "abortion is not healthcare" and "Planned Parenthood = abortion." Harris is not the first national elected official to address a Planned Parenthood, but the first to do so from an actual clinic. President Barack Obama, while in office in 2013, addressed a Planned Parenthood chapter from a hotel in Washington, D.C.

Manhattan DA bends to Trump’s request for a delay in Stormy Daniels hush-money case

A date was scheduled for March 25 to kickoff Donald Trump's first criminal trial, for which arguments are being prepared on charges that the former president falsified business records to hide an alleged hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels during his 2016 campaign. But, after Trump's team requested a delay to review a dump of new evidence that just came in, things are getting pushed down the calendar a bit.

On Thursday, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg suggested a 30-day delay to the trial — considerably less than the 90 days that Trump's team asked for — stating in a motion to the court that "the USAO produced approximately 31,000 pages of additional records and represented that there will be another production of documents by next week."

Realizing that the delay works in Trump's favor, The DA's office addressed this, writing, "We note that the timing of the current production of additional materials from the USAO is a function of defendant's own delay. Adding that they "waited until January 18, 2024 to subpoena additional materials from the USAO and then consented to repeated extensions of the deadline for the USAO's determination."

As Salon broke down in previous coverage of the case, in October 2016, mere weeks before the presidential election, Trump hid from voters his alleged one-night stand with adult film star Stormy Daniels, fearing the scandal would derail his campaign, especially after the whole “grab them by the p***y” ordeal that happened around the same time.

In a statement from Trump Campaign Communications Director Steven Cheung posted to Truth Social, he comments on the delay while persisting that the charges are bogus, writing, "President Trump and his counsel have been consistent and steadfast that this case has no basis in law or fact, and should be dismissed. Today, after conceding serious discovery violations by his office, the Manhattan DA agreed to an adjournment. We will continue to fight to end this Hoax, and all of the other Crooked Joe Biden – directed Witch Hunts, once and for all."

5 ways climate change could impact your home garden

Over the past several years, you could talk to any home gardener and they would increasingly be able to tell you firsthand how they’d had to adapt their gardening plans in response to fluctuating climate conditions — shifting planting times or mixing up what they’re growing. In late 2023, the Department of Agriculture seemed to validate their experiences when it released its updated plant hardiness zone map — moving more than half of the U.S. into warmer climate zones.

The well-regarded map distinguishes different growing regions in the U.S. based on 30-year averages of the lowest annual winter temperatures at specific locations. Knowing what zone they’re in helps gardeners and farmers determine which plants will survive in their specific location and when to plant them to ensure that they thrive.

At the time of the new map’s release, the first such update in over a decade, the USDA stated that the changes were “not necessarily reflective of global climate change because of the highly variable nature of the extreme minimum temperature of the year.” And there are other factors contributing to the zone reassignments, including improved mapping methods and data from more weather stations than previous maps had incorporated.

But regardless of the reasons for the map’s new zones, climate change is certainly contributing to warmer temperatures and many other issues facing home gardeners. Read on to learn more about these threats and how you can protect your homegrown crops in future growing seasons.

Earlier blooms and unpredictable growing seasons

As the climate continues to warm, many home gardeners have been sowing or transplanting their annual plants earlier in the spring as the last frost has seemed to creep earlier and earlier each year. And the first frosts in many areas have been coming later, which has allowed some gardeners to harvest their crops, such as tomatoes, later in the season.

Estimated f irst and last frost dates are published periodically for different regions based on data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Gardeners often use these dates (in conjunction with hardiness zones) to ensure they are planting the right crops at the right time based on their location. It is important to note, however, that these dates are based on historical averages and are not guarantees.

As many gardeners find themselves with a longer growing season and milder temperatures, they may also be able to sow plants previously not suitable for their former growing zone. Conversely, crops, as well as native plants, previously well-suited for certain zones may no longer be viable. With blooms and foliage arriving earlier on plants and fruit trees, it also means that these plants are more susceptible to a surprise frost or bad weather early in the season.

Rising temperatures and excessive heat

Wilted lettuce, herbs that bolt, sunburn spots on squash: Excessive heat has always presented a problem for gardeners, but rising temperatures also shorten the window in which heat-susceptible crops can grow comfortably. And even heat-loving crops, such as tomatoes, struggle when the temperatures get too high. Excessive heat may deplete the soil of nutrients and restrict nutrient uptake.

Often, you can find seeds for certain varieties that are more heat-tolerant than others. Cilantro, for example, notoriously prefers cooler temperatures and will bolt (flower and turn to seed too early) the moment it gets too hot — but it’s easy to find seeds for slow-bolt varieties.

A constant struggle with inconsistent water patterns

Along with heat, drought is another problem that poses particular challenges for home gardeners. When natural rainfall is reduced, gardeners must turn to alternative irrigation methods to ensure their plants are well watered and able to thrive.

With drought becoming more common across the country and water usage concerns mounting, many are turning to drought-resistant crops and seeds to safeguard their gardens. The most common varieties of spinach, for example, do not react well to water stress and prefer evenly moist soil. But some spinach varieties, such as America spinach, which is related to the popular heirloom Bloomsdale spinach, are more drought-tolerant. Similarly, Malabar spinach (which is not related to common spinach but is instead a succulent plant) is extremely drought-tolerant and heat-resistant, making it a great alternative to traditional spinach crops in places where water scarcity is a consideration.

Drought isn’t the only water issue home gardeners need to contend with, however. Heavy rains and intense storms have also been hallmarks of the climate crisis in recent years. As with commercial farms, these rains have the potential to wreak havoc on a home garden either through flooding, bruising of plant leaves and fruit or oversaturation of soil, which can lead to pests and diseases.

More weeding as invasive plants take over

Invasive plant species are spreading into home gardens as shifting climates allow more favorable conditions for them to grow. These species are not native to a region and often spread quickly once they are introduced.

Invasive plants hurt garden habitats by rapidly overpopulating the area, blocking sunlight, draining water and competing with garden plants and native species for resources. If left untreated, these plants can crowd out other plants, which will begin to die off.

Many experts have speculated that one of the most notorious (and itch-inducing) invasive species, poison ivy, is poised to benefit from a warming climate as well as higher levels of carbon dioxide in the air. Those familiar with the plant already know that it is becoming more aggressive in its growth and is forming leaves earlier in the season — making it more challenging to remove, as the leaves are more poisonous than the stems.

Unfortunately, many home gardeners believe that the only way to combat invasive species is to use potent pesticides. However, there are more natural ways to manage invasive plants, such as heavily mulching around your crops and planting more native species within your garden and landscaping. Native plants are most likely to survive an influx of invasive species and can help build up a strong ecosystem by providing a space for native pollinators and other insects. And don’t forget, many invasive plants are actually edible weeds that you can forage right in your own backyard.

Gardens are prone to more diseases

Many of the aforementioned climate change impacts — warmer temperatures, drought, heavy rains, gardeners planting varieties new to their regions — all contribute to the possibility of new and increased threats of disease.

Warmth and wetness create the perfect breeding ground for several fungal plant diseases. One of these diseases, early blight, primarily impacts tomato and potato plants; browning leaves are the first sign, and if left untreated, the blight can spread to the stem and other parts of the plant, eventually killing it.

On the other hand, some diseases, such as powdery mildew, thrive in dry, hot environments, which are also becoming more common due to climate change. While diseases such as early blight and powdery mildew are already well-known by gardeners, they are appearing more frequently, especially for those in northern climates who are experiencing warmer weather than in prior years.

Judge Cannon skeptical of defense’s argument in Trump’s classified documents case

Donald Trump was present at a hearing in Florida on Thursday for his classified documents case, but he said nothing in his own defense, allowing his legal team to present a number of arguments on his behalf that Judge Aileen Cannon didn't seem to be buying.

According to NBC News' blow-by-blow coverage, Cannon "appeared skeptical" of Trump's lawyers' pushing for the case to be dismissed based on the Presidential Records Act, with attorney Todd Blanche arguing that “presidents since George Washington have taken materials out of the White House” at “their own discretion," to which the judge responded with, “It’s difficult to see how this gets you to the dismissal of an indictment.” And when Blanche tried to blame the case on the National Archives and Records Administration, Cannon shot that down as "a red herring."

“NARA is not sitting at the table over there,” Cannon added regarding the above, saying she will be ruling on the motions "promptly."

Trump, who faces 40 criminal charges related to his alleged mishandling of classified documents, commented on the hearing via a post to Truth Social, writing, "Big crowds in Fort Pierce, Florida, for the Biden induced Witch Hunt against his political opponent, ME! Thank you, a great honor to have you there. Such a thing has never happened in our Country before – Strictly Third World. BUT, WE WILL MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!"

This cabbage casserole is the perfect comfort food to enjoy on St. Patrick’s Day

Simple, ignoble, under-appreciated green cabbage: It has got to be one of the most unpretentious and humblest in all of the Cruciferae family, if not among the entire vegetable kingdom. It is nutrient-packed, like the rest of its cruciferous brethren, yet it has not always garnered the same respect as cauliflower, Brussels spouts or even broccoli.

But I hear it is finally happening, at least in the bigger cities — cabbage is moving into the limelight and I could not be prouder. My fingers are crossed that it can graduate from coleslaw and become a featured vegetable at nicer restaurants near me.

Green cabbage merits your undivided attention

This favorite casserole of mine is a jazzed-up version of a simpler, old-fashioned dinner staple. I have added of a dash of this and a pinch of that over the years, but it is still the same comforting, mouthwatering, saucy, almost pasta-like dish that I have loved for so many years.

Filled to the top with raw chopped cabbage and sweet onion, it all cooks down while it bakes, leaving you with a smooth and smothered, delicate, tender-sweet final product. It is so nourishing and satisfying, sort of like a cabbage version of creamed spinach, but with a buttery breadcrumb topping.

My love affair with cabbage began as soon as I got a toe in adulthood, but even people who do not consider themselves overly fond of it are shocked by how much they fall in love with this creamy version. It pleases me greatly to blow the minds of those who think cabbage is boring or bland or somehow undeserving to be served as an elevated side. At least one day during the year, cabbage receives the attention it deserves. St. Patrick’s Day celebrations are just not complete without it: I mean, it did save the Irish people during the Great Potato Famine of the mid-1800’s that swept across Europe from Belgium.

Over a million people in Ireland died between 1845-52 when a blight caused potatoes to rot in the fields. Irish farmland was still owned by the English at this time in history, and the tenant farmers who paid to work the land had virtually nothing, even before this tragic happening. Almost everything they grew went to the landowners as rent payments, leaving them with the barest of means to survive. Potatoes were one of the only crops that produced enough to provide them sustenance after what was demanded by the British.

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It is estimated that during each of the famine years, some sixty-five pounds of cabbage was consumed per person as it was all they had. (Six pounds would be closer to what an average person consumes per year in the US.)

What a heroic history this underdog, this mighty leafy green, has had. I am pulling for it! I hope it continues to grow in popularity and am doing my part one dinner at a time.

I know if naysayers could taste this casserole, many would pivot and support Team-Cabbage all the way.

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Green Cabbage Casserole

Yields

8 to 10 servings

Prep Time

15 minutes

Cook Time

45 minutes

Ingredients

1 small cabbage

1 medium sweet onion, like Vidalia

4 tablespoons butter, melted

1 can condensed Cream of Mushroom (or Chicken or Celery)

Mayonnaise, less than 1/4 cup

Worcestershire sauce, about 4 shakes

Olive oil, if needed

Salt & pepper, if needed

Topping:

Stir the following together and set aside:

4 tablespoons butter, melted

1 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese

1/4 cup finely grated Pecorino Romano or Parmesan

2 to 3 cups breadcrumbs or crushed buttery crackers, like Ritz or Captain’s Wafers

(Taste for salt. If using fresh breadcrumbs, you will most likely need salt, especially if you cook with unsalted butter).

Directions

Preheat oven to 350F. Spray oil or butter a 9 x 13 casserole.
Slice cabbage into 1/4” rounds, then cross chop into bite size lengths, and place in prepared casserole dish.
Chop onion similarly and sprinkle over the cabbage.
Drizzle melted butter on top.
Mix cream soup with a little mayo, several shakes of Worcestershire and a swirl of olive oil to make a thick but spreadable sauce. (Taste for salt)
Spoon on top of onions and cabbage and use a rubber spatula to cover all.
Top with breadcrumbs or cracker mixture and bake uncovered for 45 minutes on middle rack.

Cook's Notes

Make your own condensed soup:

2 Tbsp butter

1/4 cup flour

1 cup salty broth (chicken or vegetarian)

1/2 cup milk or unsweetened coconut cream—slightly warm or room temp (not cold)

A dash of the following: celery salt, garlic powder, onion powder, additional salt if needed and black pepper to taste.

In a small saucepan, add butter. When butter is melted and sizzling, whisk 1/4 cup flour, keep it on the heat for 2-3 minutes stirring or whisking constantly.

Add half of the broth and incorporate it before adding the other half. Then add the milk and seasonings. Bring mixture to just before boiling and remove from heat. It will thicken as it rests.

Use this in place of condensed canned soup, if desired.

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“It doesn’t gut the case”: Experts say dropped Fulton charges won’t help Trump “at all”

The judge overseeing Donald Trump's Georgia election interference case tossed out a spate of criminal charges against the former president and his allies Wednesday.

In a 9-page ruling, Judge Scott McAfee dismissed six counts in the sprawling racketeering indictment against Trump and his co-defendants, including former chief of staff Mark Meadows and attorney Rudy Giuliani, citing insufficient details undergirding the charges. Three of the counts were against the former president, who now only faces 10 charges.

"As written, these six counts contain all the essential elements of the crimes but fail to allege sufficient detail regarding the nature of their commission, i.e., the underlying felony solicited. They do not give the Defendants enough information to prepare their defenses intelligently," McAfee wrote, according to NBC News.

The dismissed charges related to the defendants' alleged solicitation of Georgia officials to violate their oaths of office.

McAfee determined that the indictment's language was too "generic" and failed to specify the exact part, oath and constitution — state or federal — the defendants had been accused of pressuring the officials to breach.

His decision is "pretty straightforward" and, as it stands, "shouldn't affect the case at all," Atlanta defense attorney Andrew Fleischman told Salon.

"Even if you went to trial and got convictions on those, along with the RICO count, they would probably, what's called, merge," Fleischman said, explaining that someone could be charged with the same crime "five different ways" but later be convicted of just one, all-encompassing crime.

Georgia judge drops some charges — but experts say it could be a bad sign for Trump

One of the quashed charges pertained to Trump's infamous call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, asking the official to "find" just enough votes for him to edge Joe Biden out of his electoral victory in the state. Another charge was connected to a letter Trump sent Raffensperger pressuring him to "decertify" the 2020 election results.

"The Court’s concern is less that the State has failed to allege sufficient conduct of the Defendants – in fact it has alleged an abundance," McAfee wrote. "However, the lack of detail concerning an essential legal element is fatal."

The problem is that the oaths that prosecutors hinged the charges on are "very vague," Melissa Redmon, a University of Georgia School of law professor and former Fulton County and Clayton County prosecutor, told Salon.

Unlike other public officials who have some greater specificity in their oath — like prosecutors' vow to "carry out their duties without fear or favor," Redmon explained, Georgia officials like those implicated in the case generally "just take an oath to support the constitution of Georgia and the United States Constitution."

For the dismissed counts to have remained in the indictment, prosecutors would have needed to "point to a clause, an article or a paragraph that says you're not supposed to do this particular thing that [the defendants are] alleged to have done, or that they were trying to get the public officials to do," she said.

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Trump and the co-defendants impacted by the Wednesday ruling, including Giuliani, Meadows and lawyer John Eastman, have pleaded not guilty. The decision places Meadows in "the best position," Redmon added, because one of his two charges was dismissed.

McAfee did leave open the possibility of Fulton County, Ga. District Attorney Fani Willis' office pursuing a reindictment expanding the six scrapped counts with more details. He also permitted the relevant events connected to the counts to remain "overt acts" in the larger racketeering indictment.

That means "prosecutors will still be able to present the story about the phone call, the presentation to the state Senate committee, and the effort to overturn the elections played out by those various parties," Redmon said.

The decision also leaves Willis with three main "prospects" for how she can move next, she added.

First, Willis could request within 10 days an "immediate review" from an appellate court to hear the case, which McAfee indicated he would be likely to grant in his Wednesday order, Redmon said. That would further lengthen the case's timetable because the appeals court has 45 days to inform the state of whether they will hear it, and then the appeal must take place.

Willis could also "find that language" McAfee seeks from the relevant oaths that public officials were allegedly asked to violate and wait six months, per Georgia law, to reindict those charges with greater specificity. Or, Redmon said, she could accept the judge's ruling and move forward with the case.

"It's just as likely that she will accept the judge's ruling and just proceed with the case without those charges in the indictment as she may reindict it if there's a particular clause of the state or federal constitution that she can directly relate to that conduct being a violation of," Redmon said.

But reindicting the case would be "dumb," Fleischman said. "If she reindicts, that would be a big mistake because that would offer an opportunity for people to ask to be re-arraigned."

Rearraignments would allow parties in the case to file motions again, with new information, like cell phone and other evidence that may not have been previously introduced, he explained. That would pose a risk to the disqualification matter regarding Willis and a prosecutor in her office that the judge is currently evaluating.

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McAfee is expected to rule this week on whether Willis should be disqualified from the case, following allegations from a defendant's attorney that Willis financially benefitted from an improper relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade, whom she hired to her office to assist in the election interference case.

The "big takeaway" from the judge's Wednesday order is that "it doesn't gut the case" and it "doesn't really affect it," Fleischman said. "The only way it could have a negative impact is if they reindict and open the door for more motions and more delay."

The order is also entirely "unrelated" from the motion to disqualify Willis from the case, he said, noting it "doesn't really tell you anything one way or the other."

The only way they could relate would be if, like in Wednesday's order, McAfee feels the matter is "also a close question" and indicates similar thinking on granting whichever side he rules against the opportunity to appeal before the case is tried, Redmon added.

Considering the potential time frame, "along with the other motions that still have to be heard," the earliest the case will go to trial "will be towards the end of the year," Redmon predicted.

"I don't think it's likely to begin before the election in November, though," she said. "More than likely, I think next year is a safer bet."

about the Fulton County RICO case

“She’s a total mess”: Alison Brie takes on a new kind of role in “Apples Never Fall”

Over the years, we’ve gotten to know Alison Brie in Type-A roles like Trudy Campbell on the hit AMC series “Mad Men,” Annie Edison on “Community,” Ruth Wilder on “GLOW” and Diane Nguyen in “BoJack Horseman.” Brie is now taking on the challenge of becoming Amy Delaney, who she describes as “a total mess,” in the new star-studded Peacock series “Apples Never Fall” — and revealing another side of herself in the process.

When I talked to Brie about playing Amy, she said, “There's certainly aspects of her that I connected with on a personal level that I feel like are parts of me that people don't know about because I haven't played characters that are like that, even though I'm not as much of a mess as her.”

“Apples Never Fall,” based on Liane Moriarty’s acclaimed novel of the same name, is the seven-part drama about an extremely dysfunctional family of tennis coaches and players. Their lives unravel after the matriarch Joy Delaney (Annette Bening) disappears after an unexpected visitor, Savannah, shows up. Unlike most of the members of the Delaney family, Amy is not a hyper-ambitious tennis star, or wannabe mogul. She lives with graduate students and operates as a carefree spirit, until she is forced to change in an effort to help her family. But can she?

“The show is highlighting how in moments of crisis, rather than a family coming together more than ever, often people just fall into their roles in a more firm way. Especially in this show, there's a lot with inter-family dynamics and alliances,” Brie said.

Watch my "Salon Talks" episode with Alison Brie here, or read a Q&A of our conversation below to hear more about complicated family dynamics, Brie’s latest collaboration with husband Dave Franco and the difference between acting in movies and television shows.

The following interview has been lightly edited for clarity and length.

Congratulations on the new show. Do you have extra anxiety when something new is about to come out?

Sometimes. It's probably different with every job and probably the older I get and the more I work the stakes lessen. Does that make sense? Maybe I'm wrong about that. I guess it just depends job to job.

Take our viewers into the world of “Apples Never Fall.”

“Apples Never Fall” is based on a book by Liane Moriarty, and she wrote books like “Big Little Lies” and “Nine Perfect Strangers,” which have also been made into shows.

If she writes a book, it's going to turn into a show.

Honestly, I have read like eight of her books. I love her books. It's true. I'm like, what could I adapt next? This book is about the Delaney family. They're a tennis family. They own a tennis academy. The parents, played by Annette Bening and Sam Neill, are just going into retirement. They have four adult children played by myself and Jake Lacy and Essie Randles and Conor Merrigan Turner, a couple of very talented newcomers.

Basically mom goes missing. A stranger comes into the family's life and then Mom goes missing, and it really fractures the family in a lot of ways in terms of trying to figure out what happened to Mom and who's responsible.

And you play Amy Delaney.

I play Amy Delaney, the eldest Delaney child. Amy is a really fun character to play. She is a bit spiritual and a bit go with the flow, but she's also highly emotional and can be a bit of a catastrophizer and is a bit of a hot mess, doesn't have her life together. Even though she's the oldest of the siblings, she lives in a house with graduate students. She doesn't have a real job.

"It's so different from the type-A characters that I am often known for playing."

I think that aspect of her really is her rebellion against the Delaney family. Growing up in this really competitive tennis family, they were totally result-oriented. The biggest step away she could take from the family is to not plan her life, is to have no goals at all.

It was a really fun character to play. It's so different from the type-A characters that I am often known for playing. I think she couldn't be further from type A. She's a total mess and her room's a mess. Her life's a mess. And, actually over the course of the series, you kind of watch her get it together a little bit. She is able to assume her role taking care of her younger siblings a little bit through this moment of crisis.

So how do you approach Amy? Do you spend extra time with the book? How do you get into the character because I felt like she's someone that I've met before.

Even though I had read so many of Liane’s books before, I hadn't read “Apples” when I was sent the series, so I got to read the first three scripts, so my introduction to Amy was through the scripts for the show, and I just felt like I knew her immediately. It made me very excited. There's certainly aspects of her that I connected with on a personal level that I feel like are parts of me that people don't know about because I haven't played characters that are like that — even though I'm not as much of a mess as her.

She's such an interesting character because I actually think there's a real quiet confidence to her, even though everyone thinks she's totally chaotic. I don't know if she just reminded me of people that I had met, but I feel like I hooked into her immediately. Then always, for me, hair, makeup, wardrobe, that stuff really locks it in. The team on this show was so collaborative and it was really fun to have those conversations.

Thank you for saying that. It takes so many people to make a show.

So many people. And the detail to those conversations is exquisite. We're talking about the placement of tattoos on my body. What are those tattoos going to look like? What are the designs? That's a full collaboration with our makeup artists who designed the tattoos that I wore themselves. And then we're talking about what is she trying to hide about herself? What is she trying to show off about herself? Why do we think she got these tattoos? Ultimately when you're watching the show, the tattoos are incidental. You're not going to be thinking about them all the time, but it's something that really helped me have a deep connection to the character and something that we really got to work on in a really nuanced way.

We know that there's no such thing as a perfect family, even if the Delaneys seem that way. What do you think this show says about family and just the pressure to come off as these perfect families?

I think you're right that no family is perfect, and I think something that's really relatable about the show is that everybody has a veneer that they want to show to the public world, and then the truth that's going on behind closed doors, and family dynamics can be the same. You're going to get dressed up to go to church, but what's going on at home, what's the mess that people aren't seeing that you guys are hiding?

Also I think this idea of family dynamics and the roles that we play in our family is at play. I don't know about you, I have an older sister, I'm the baby, and I just will forever be the baby of the family. There's no world in which I would accept more responsibility than my sister for anything. And also if anything bad happens, I'll just call my sister and be like, what do I do? I think the show is highlighting how in moments of crisis, rather than a family coming together more than ever, often people just fall into their roles in a more firm way.

"Everybody has a veneer that they want to show to the public world, and then the truth that's going on behind closed doors, and family dynamics can be the same."

Especially in this show, there's a lot with inter-family dynamics and alliances. There's a real bond between the older two siblings and the younger two siblings. Birth order, I think, plays a lot into the way that you're raised, the way your parents treat you, the way that you think about your parents and also the way that we think about our parents as we become adults. It's like when you're a kid, maybe they're your heroes or you're terrified of them or whatever it is, and then you get a little older and you're like, they're just people.

It's a U-curve, right? They're the greatest people in the world, and then you get a little older and you're like, damn, they were f**ked up. And then you get a little older and you're like, oh wait, I'm f**ked up too.

They're just trying to get by. It's true. We all go through that phase just after college where you're like, wait a minute, everything that's wrong with me is because of you. Then you get a little older than that and you go like, we're all just doing our best, I get it. Now we're both like, “I’ve got to call my mom after this.”

So you're home in the house and then Savannah knocks on your door. Do you let her move in?

Oh my God, no. I feel like I'm so cold. I'm like, let her in. She's not getting past the gate. That sounds so mean. I would like to help people that are in trouble by saying, “Stay where you are, I'll call the police and we'll get you help outside of the premises.” I don't trust anybody.

Savannah is a walking red flag.

Yes, yes. I know. But you see how there's a lot of play on this idea of also people in retirement then they suddenly don't know what to do with themselves or watching the parents go through that. And again, having adult kids, I'm sure I've sort of watched my parents go through this cycle of you have kids and they're your whole life for 18 years, however long, and then those people become adults who are like, “I got to go, bye.”

I think that's where we're catching these parents kind of being like, “Our kids don't need us so much anymore.” And there's some other family drama that people are trying to ignore. So when this person comes in that wants to give them a lot of attention and sort of be like that surrogate child, they're really excited for the warmth.

Alison Brie on filmmaking, "back to old antics" with Danny Pudi and a possible "Community" reunion

Your characters are so different. Ruth from “GLOW” is nothing like Amy, right? This is why I like watching your work so much. What is your dream role?

I just like to be surprised and try different things, but it's easier said than done because you play a certain type of role and then people go, “Oh, well you could do that role well,” so then the things that come in your direction are similar. I think I just always like to change it up, and this show was a great opportunity to do that, because I do think Amy is really outside the box of other characters I played. But also it's just about changing it up, whether it's genre or just working with different people I'm excited about. This was really exciting to do a mystery drama because I haven't really done that before.

You write, you direct, you act, you sing too. Is the album coming?

No. No. No album. I don't think so. The singing is like a hobby. Singing is a fun hobby that's for myself.

It seems like it would be natural because you went to an arts college and grew up, in your words, a hippie family.

Yeah. They used to be more hippie-ish when I was younger. I don't think they're that hippie-ish anymore.

Did they grow to be conservative? Did they go from hippie to conservative?

I wouldn't use the C-word. They've got the hippie energy deep down. My parents are certainly very liberal. They've got that hippie energy. My dad is a little more old-fashioned maybe, and my mom is like, she's into her weed gummies as much as I am.

What impact did they have on how you approach acting?

"That's what's fun about what we do. It's different every time inherently because the people are different, the atmosphere is different."

My mom has been a great inspiration to me just in her work ethic and her drive. She doesn't work in the artistic space. She's retired now, but she worked in education her whole life, but just was putting herself through school to get her masters while raising my sister and I and working two jobs and just really did it all, no excuses. That has had a great impact on my drive and work ethic.

Then my dad is the creative side. He's a musician. My whole life I got to watch him writing his own songs and playing and singing with him sometimes. That sort of gave me permission to follow my dream and sort of believe that it was possible to work in an artistic field.

You worked in television and film. Is the approach different?

No. I guess sometimes in film you have a little more time. Everything in TV feels pretty fast. Even as the words are coming out of my mouth, I want to contradict them. I've worked so much in independent film, which is also like being shot out of a cannon. You're like, “We're going to shoot this movie in 15 days.” You have to be really creative about schedule and timing and make decisions really quickly in terms of character.

So ultimately, no, I think I always approach things the same way, and by that I mean just however it goes. I'm not like, here's the manual [for my] new role and I start with step one in the process. That's what's fun about what we do. It's different every time inherently because the people are different, the atmosphere is different.

With a film, the stakes are just so high because you get one shot. Even as a writer, they're going to clip you at 120 pages. But with a show, even as a writer, with a show, you get more space and time to build the character, to work on their art, to be able to transform.

I would say when I think about film, I think the script is written, and even if you're continuing to do rewrites kind of even while you're shooting, still you know the whole story, beginning to end. As an actor you can look at that full scope of the story and do your character work from there.

In TV, as you said, you might only have read the first few episodes of a show, and then they're writing it as you're shooting it and you don't know how that season's going to end, and even if that season ends, what's going to happen the next season? So you're sort of shooting from the hip in a really different way where even though you might get to do the character for much longer, for years sometimes, and then it just sinks into your bones and becomes an innate part of you, at the same time, you're learning new things about your character. The writers at any moment can be like, “And your sister's going to be in the next episode” and you're like, “I didn't know she had a sister. I've been playing it like she was an only child.”

You have a sister. Her name's Gloria.

Yeah, totally. “Who's playing her?”

“We can't stop”: Dave Franco and Alison Brie make working with your spouse look easy

You work with a lot of the same people, which I think is so cool. Your husband, Dave Franco, Jeff Baena, your longtime friend Danny Pudi. What is it about working for the same people and working with the same people again and again?

There's just a comfort to it, definitely, of saying, “I know how you work and you know how I work, and it's been going well. Let's recreate that.” My husband Dave and I, we'll always just talk about how we want to surround ourselves with good people. I also think that you can get a lot of really good stuff creatively, artistically, flowing when everybody feels really comfortable and good.

I do like how everything I say I want to immediately contradict. I'm sure people like to work in a way that's like, you're so uncomfortable, now we're getting crazy stuff. But I actually, I feel like the opposite. People should feel good and safe, and because you feel safe and supported, then you can take bigger risks in the work that you're doing, so I feel like that's my motto, and if I could just continue to work with the people that I love, I would be so lucky.

Anybody in the world you would love to work with?

Sigourney Weaver is up there for me. I got to check Annette Bening off the list. Paul Thomas Anderson. The list is long.

What's next for you?

Dave and I are shooting a horror movie together. We are producing it together and we're acting in it together. This is the first time that we've acted together in something since shooting Jeff Baena's, “The Little Hours,” which was, I don't know, a decade ago.

My wife and I worked together on a lot of stuff. We are good at leaving work at work.

Totally, yes.

But we had to learn.

We are pretty good at it. We love working together. I'm really excited to go into another project acting together.

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"Salon Talks" with actors

New York City’s dining sheds are here to stay — with a few modifications

A pandemic-era development is here to stay for good. New York City's infamous outdoor dining sheds, a staple in the city since the early days of 2020, are a major component of Dining out NYC, an official program from City Hall and the Department of Transportation. According to Florence Fabricant with The New York Times, "restaurants and other establishments that serve food can now apply for permits to take part through an official portal online." If approved, the restaurants will then be able to purchase a four-year license for a "roadbed or sidewalk enclosure . . . [and] have 30 days to remove their temporary structures or outfit them to comply with the city's rules."

If approved, the restaurant then has 30 days to remove or amend their current "dining shed," which can then remain in place from April through the end of November (the full "season"). Those who aren't approved, however, will be forced to remove their shed by August 3, while those with pending applications have until November 1. Built by the fabrication company SITU, there will be four enclosure types from which the restaurants can choose. These versions will best "adapt to various roadways and sidewalk configurations," wrote Fabricant. However, they will not be heated (nor "rat proof").

Anna Rahmanan at TimeOut notes that the new, approved outdoor eateries will be "required to be open-air, easily moveable and wheelchair accessible, featuring a drainage system alongside barriers and meet certain size requirements. They will all need to shut down nightly by midnight as well." Furthermore, Rahmanan notes that restaurants will "still be permitted to serve food to tables set upon the sidewalk all throughout the year," whereas the sheds must come down by December 1.

Mayor Eric Adams said in a statement that the campaign is in effect "fundamentally transforming what it feels like to be outside in New York," according to Rahmanan. By April 2025, it is expected for there to be "full compliance citywide" with these new mandates.