“The worst dietary experiment”: How the US government wrecked our relationship with dietary fats

It is nothing short of a miracle that those of us who lived through the fat-free and low-fat diet recommendations that were firmly in place by the 1990s made it to the age we are today with any measurable level of health.

Regarded by many modern nutritionists as the worst dietary experiment to ever befall the American people, the low-fat craze began around 1976 when the late South Dakota Senator George McGovern believed there to be a link between the American diet and heart disease after eight U.S. Senators died of heart-related issues in the 60s and early 70s.

New research shows olive oil could help reduce dementia-related deaths

It was at this time the cholesterol theory of heart disease was born and there was evidence at that time that saturated fat, the fat found in eggs and meat (but also in breast milk and coconuts), could raise low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol — also called the “bad cholesterol.” With far too little data and much speculation, it wasn’t long before all fat was villainized and getting it out of American diets sounded like the way to go.

Carbohydrates were what was going to keep us healthy, thin and disease-free.

But like all farmers know, the best way to fatten any animal is to feed it corn and grain — simple carbohydrates. But from the mid-70s through the mid-90s, based on erroneous health advice, we greatly increased the amount of sugar and carbs in our diets and managed to up our national levels of obesity, diabetes and heart disease in equal measure. Up until 1980, obesity rates in the US were around 12% to 14%, but by the early 2000s, one-third of Americans were overweight.

Unfortunately, the recommendation to move away from eating like our grandparents and great-parents and move to industry-created cooking oils and food-like substances didn’t take long to fully take root.

For over 35 years, the US Dietary Guidelines said to limit dietary cholesterol, believing it to increase the risk of heart disease. It was never proven that dietary cholesterol affected blood cholesterol; it was just an assumption.

However, in 2015, cholesterol was finally deemed “no longer a nutrient of concern.”

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It is slowly becoming indisputable that eating a low-fat or fat-free diet is one of the worst things you can do for your overall health.

Study after study, trial after trial, more proof is gathered that a variety of dietary fats — polyunsaturated, monounsaturated and saturated — are essential for boosting our metabolism and absorbing certain vitamins, as well as for proper hormone production and brain health. Eating a variety of fats can also aid in combating age-related maladies, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, Parkinson’s, dementia, Alzheimer’s and many different types of cancer.

How do you do this? One of the most critical ways is by paying attention to the types of polyunsaturated fats you’re consuming.

Polyunsaturated fats: It’s complicated

The two critical fats in this category are omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. They are both “essential,” meaning we must get them from our diets as our bodies require them and cannot make them.

Omega-3 is sort of the “good guy” of the two as it reduces inflammation and is credited with protecting both brain health and cardiovascular health and helps prevent metabolic disorders like diabetes. There is compelling evidence that getting enough omega-3 can improve mental disorders like depression and bipolar disorder, as well as lowering rates of obesity.

The body needs two specific types of omega-3 fatty acids: DHA and EPA, both found in oily fish like salmon, sardines, mackerel and black cod, and also found in pastured chickens and eggs, grass-fed and grass-finished meat, flaxseeds, hemp seeds, chia seeds, algae and walnuts.

Omega-6, although necessary and “essential” to our overall health, is inflammatory, meaning it can cause widespread inflammation in the body. Put another way, it will cause inflammation if you get too much of it — and in today’s world, most people do.

To back up, omega-6 is found in seeds and vegetables and the oils extracted from them — oils like soybean, corn, canola, cottonseed, safflower and sunflower. You find omega-6 fatty acids in grains and beans as well, but for most, these whole foods are not necessarily causing the imbalance.

Nutritionists agree that we should get our omega-6’s from whole foods rather than the highly-processed oils made from them. Unfortunately, an average American gets well over 10% of their calories from soybean oil, which is very high in omega-6 as well as being generally consumed most often in its hydrogenated form, which is simply a trans fat by a different name.

Found in virtually every packaged food on grocery store shelves — from dessert items to salad dressings to snack foods to grab-and-go meals — soybean oil is also the predominant oil used in restaurants, from fine dining to fast food. It is hard to avoid getting too much in today’s world.

The technology used to extract these high omega-6 oils has only been around about 100 years, so our bodies have not had time to adapt to such a massive increase in consumption. Perhaps the human body never will since these “foods” are so very far removed from their seed and vegetable origins.

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These oils are exposed to extremely high heat, sometimes bleached, sometimes deodorized because they smell so bad after such extraction measures; the heat alone can turn these oils into trans fats. What’s more, these crops from which the oils are extracted are some of the most, if not the absolute most, glyphosate and pesticide ridden crops on the planet and have been genetically modified.

According to research from the National Institute of Health, in a matter of 50 years, between 1958 and 2008, the amount of omega-6 fatty acids found in body fat stores had increased 200%. I’m sure they are even higher now.

What ratio of polyunsaturated fats should I be consuming?

The ideal ratio between omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids should be about 1:3 or 2:3. There was a time when that ratio was easily achievable. Yet in this present age of consuming predominantly factory-farmed meat and farm-raised seafood (which are corn, soy and grain-fed), as well as eating out more often than at home where you have control over your ingredients, the American population as a whole is consuming a ratio that’s closer to 16:1, according to the 2006 study “Evolutionary aspects of diet, the omega-6/omega-3 ratio and genetic variation: nutritional implications for chronic diseases.”

The animal sources where we get omega-3 fatty acids (and other nutrients) are being jeopardized in large part because of inhumane farming conditions: Over-crowding, widespread antibiotics use for disease management, hormone and steroid use for rapid growth, and wrongly feeding a mostly corn, soy and grain diet instead of the natural diet of the fish or animal being farmed

That said, some scientists don’t necessarily believe the answer is trying to consume enough omega-3 fatty acids to match the incredibly distorted ratio, although, supplementing with cod liver oil or other sourced omega-3 supplement would be beneficial for most. New data points to limiting omega-6 fatty acids specifically from soybean oil.

A 2020 study in “Endocrinology” by researchers from UC Riverside — who also found in 2015 that soybean oil induces obesity, diabetes, insulin resistance and fatty liver in mice — details how the oil has pronounced effects on the hypothalamus of mice, where a number of critical biological processes take place.

In speaking with Science Daily, Poonamjot Deol, first author on the study, said, “If there’s one message I want people to take away, it’s this: reduce consumption of soybean oil.”

Cooking more at home, eliminating ultra-processed food, choosing grass-fed beef, dairy products and pastured eggs from certified humane companies all go a long way in helping to shift away from eating a high omega-6 diet.

As far as making a shift in your own kitchen, the following oils in moderation are good for cooking due to their higher smoke-point: avocado oil, grass-fed butter or ghee, virgin coconut oil (though, the Mayo Clinic advised in 2019 that coconut oil’s supposed benefits still haven’t been proven in large-scale human research) and humanely-raised animal fats like tallow, lard, duck or chicken fat. Look to these oils for salad dressings: Extra-virgin olive oil; walnut, almond, macadamia and sesame seed oil; and flax and hemp oil.

UPDATE: This story has been updated to include additional information regarding UC Riverside’s research into the effects of soybean oil on the biological function of mice, as well as clarification on the Mayo Clinic’s stance on coconut oil.

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Trump and sons plan “candlelight” dinner at Mar-a-Lago to raise money for co-defendants: report

Donald Trump is putting together a candlelight dinner fundraiser with his sons at his Mar-a-Lago resort club this fall to help foot the legal bills for the co-defendants in his four separate criminal cases, sources familiar with the matter told The Messenger.

The precise details and date of the dinner for the Patriot Legal Defense Fund are still being finalized, two sources familiar with the planning told veteran Florida reporter Marc Caputo, but the event could raise between $500,000 to $1 million. The dinner will also be "very intimate and exclusive," one anonymous Trump official added.

The Patriot Legal Defense Fund, established in July, is meant to assist Trump's co-defendants and witnesses in his ongoing cases, operating alongside his Save America PAC, which primarily tackles his legal bills, the sources detailed. Until this summer, Save America covered almost all of the legal fees for the former president, various employees, former staffers, advisors and associates who'd become involved in his array of investigations with the committee spending at least $22 million on legal expenses in the first half of 2023, according to Federal Elections Commission filings.

"Save America wasn't really designed as a legal defense fund, so as the legal landscape evolved, so did this effort," a Trump official with knowledge of the event planning told The Messenger. "The fact is that the Department of Justice is trying to bankrupt people and make them drown under legal bills, but Donald Trump is not going to let them." Trump's gamut of legal battles has proven lucrative with 10 percent of each dollar raised from donations going to Save America. Most recently, he raised about $10 million after posting the mugshot he received at the Fulton County Jail online, which means the mugshot earned him $1 million in legal defense.

Rudy Giuliani’s Newsmax “legal defense fund”: Right-wing cable news channel manages his fundraising

As Newsmax pushes on-air fundraising appeals for Rudy Giuliani's legal defense to its viewers, the conservative network also appears to be operating his donation website directly and collecting checks on behalf of the former New York mayor.

According to media watchdog Media Matters for America, the website that Newsmax anchors urge viewers to donate to, RudyFund.com, redirects to a Newsmax-hosted domain, which indicates that the network processes the actual donations the site receives. The website offers potential donors the opportunity to mail physical checks to a Florida P.O. box as well, and that address is listed on the Newsmax contact page as its mailing address.

The network's role in the management of the defense fund is not made clear on air with one host even thanking Newsmax "for allowing us to do this," a move that suggests a separation between the network's operations and the lawyer's fundraiser. Because of Newsmax's history of peddling scams to its audience in the form of health and finance newsletters, questionable nutritional supplements and more than 70 email lists, "it's worth asking what the network is getting out of the Rudy Giuliani Legal Defense Fund other than displaying more embarrassing public support for Trump and his cronies," Media Matters research Bobby Lewis writes.

Newsmax and other conservative networks began airing the fundraising appeals for Giuliani en masse late last month following his indictment in Georgia on multiple charges relating to former President Donald Trump's attempt to overturn the 2020 election results. The network presents the charges as "political persecution" by a "far leftist" daughter of "a founder of the radical Black Panthers" meant to silence Giuliani, encouraging viewers to "support America's mayor" if they believe in the nation, and warning those who don't, "you may be next."

An AI-generated song mimicking Drake and the Weeknd is eligible to win a Grammy

A collaborative track featuring AI-generated duets of Drake and the Weeknd’s voices was submitted for next year’s Grammy consideration. But here’s the thing, the nominations — and possible awards — won’t go to Drake or the Weeknd, considering that their actual voices aren’t in the song. Instead, they’ll all go to Ghostwriter, the anonymous creator behind it all, who’s made a name for himself writing and creating similar AI-generated music.

Ghostwriter’s tune “Heart on My Sleeve” was submitted for best rap song and song of the year — two awards that are given to a song’s writers, as opposed to its performers, Variety noted. The track was still eligible for consideration “because it was written by a human,” said Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. in an interview with The New York Times.

The track has a few issues regarding its release. Grammy rules require that songs have “generation distribution,” meaning “the broad release of a recording, available nationwide via brick-and-mortar stores, third-party online retailers and/or streaming services.” Shortly after it went viral in April, “Heart on My Sleeve” was pulled from several streaming services because Universal Music reportedly issued takedown notices to individual Digital Service Providers (DSPs). The song has since been re-uploaded by unofficial third parties across the internet and streaming services.

In a statement to Billboard, Universal Music Group (UMG) slammed the track and its usage of AI, saying its virality “demonstrates why platforms have a fundamental legal and ethical responsibility to prevent the use of their services in ways that harm artists.” The Times specified that “Ghostwriter’s representative said they were aware of the commercial availability requirement.”

African leaders demand global carbon taxes, debt relief to effectively fight climate change

The three-day African Climate Summit concluded in Nairobi Wednesday as the continent’s leaders announced their support for a global carbon tax regime — a tariff system they hope will disincentivize the fossil fuel use that is primarily causing global heating. In the process, however, the politicians underscored the rifts within the movement to address climate change.

The support for global carbon taxes was announced by Kenyan President William Ruto, who explained that the joint declaration among the African nations would serve as the basis of their negotiating position in November’s COP28 summit. In addition to advocating for global carbon taxes, the Nairobi leaders argued for debt relief for African nations and further investments into their respective economies. They also argued that, when it comes to climate change, the African nations would through their own actions serve as a model for the rest of the world to follow.

“We can be a green industrial hub that helps other regions achieve their net zero strategies by 2050,” Ruto said at the summit. “Unlocking the renewable energy resources that we have in our continent is not only good for Africa, it is good for the rest of the world.”

Not everyone was happy with the document, with some arguing it did not do enough to advance the interests of low-income Africans. Africa is expected to suffer a disproportionate blow from climate change, including losing all of its glaciers. Large parts of the continent will be uniquely vulnerable to compound drought and heatwaves events as well, all while temperature records continue to shatter as climate change spirals out of control.

I ‘self-experimented’ to compare a vegan diet with eating meat — this is what I found out

Three years ago I was briefly dating a primary school teacher who happened to be a part-time animal rights activist. The experience made me make a decision I’ve been living with ever since. Veganism.

Last year I concluded that as a scientist I finally needed to study what effect this decision was having on me and decide whether I should stick to veganism for life or give it up.

By conducting a “self-experiment”, the results of which were recently published in Physiology and Behaviour, I found that veganism had benefits for my waistline, did not reduce the pleasure I derived from eating and — contrary to some previous research that suggested a vegan diet could increase the risk of depression — had no effect on my mental health whatsoever.

For most of my adult life I’d dabbled with pescatarian and vegetarian diets, but they never fully stuck. Then single at the beginning of 2020, I was on a dating app looking for love and met the vegan schoolteacher. But not any vegan schoolteacher. A vegan schoolteacher who was passionately vegan for ethical reasons and the belief that any other lifestyle inflicts unnecessary suffering on animals.

By date three or four I’d done my research and veganism convinced me. Animals bred for dairy produce and or to be slaughtered for meat live miserable lives and with decent vitamin supplements, there is no biological need to eat meat, dairy or fish. So I decided it was time to try veganism.

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The Insights team generates long-form journalism derived from interdisciplinary research. The team is working with academics from different backgrounds who have been engaged in projects aimed at tackling societal and scientific challenges.

Things didn’t really work out with the primary school teacher and there wasn’t a date six, but my initial commitment to veganism did last. Then a month or two later, the pandemic hit. During the lockdowns I perfected my vegan culinary repertoire and came out of that period a more knowledgeable and skilled vegan cook.

But coming out of the pandemic revealed something about veganism — often, it’s not much fun. Although the number of people identifying as vegan has been on the rise in recent years and lots of restaurants have changed their menus to accommodate this need, a lot haven’t. At times you need meticulous planning, forward thinking and a keen eye for “vg” symbols on online restaurant menus.

At times I also wondered if I was depriving myself of a great pleasure — enjoyment of food, as surely the more limited meals you can make as a vegan comes at some cost?

Are vegans unpopular?

Something I also noticed, which turns out to be well supported by academic research, is that a lot of people weren’t all that fond of us vegans. Studies indicate that people described as vegan are perceived more negatively, as being less likable and participants in studies report being less open to friendship with vegans than non-vegans, on average. Based on my experience, you can also add “being open to dating” to that list. I was promptly unmatched by multiple dating app matches when veganism came up.

There is a happy ending to my search for love though, as I eventually met my now fiancé. But the anti-vegan bias nearly intervened there too. It was only on our first date that I mentioned veganism and at that point she said she probably wouldn’t have met me had she known about it beforehand.

Where does the bias come from? One explanation is the media. A study of UK news found that 73% of references to vegans were written in a negative light.

Another, perhaps more complicated explanation, is guilt. It has been hypothesized that people often have strong negative attitudes towards vegans to protect or disguise their underlying guilt that they too should be doing more to reduce animal suffering or help the environment. Although this sounds distinctly Freudian, some studies have provided evidence in support of this idea.

Questioning veganism

And so, as I struggled to understand my new unpopularity, after a year and half of trying veganism, my commitment started to waver. Around that same time, I came across a scientific article discussing the possibility that veganism may be bad for mental health. Really?

This caused me to start looking at as much scientific literature I could get my hands on. And it turned out the veganism-mental health link was more complicated than a first look might suggest.

For example, some studies have found that depression is more common among vegans than non-vegans. But that could be because people with depression are more likely to try veganism to improve their mental health. A small number of studies interestingly suggested that vegans are less likely to have overweight or obesity and so veganism may be beneficial for body weight. But again, maybe it’s just the case that the type of people who are thin are more likely to be attracted to veganism. However, I couldn’t find any scientific evidence on whether vegans derive less pleasure from their vegan diets than non-vegans do from their diets of dairy, meat and fish.

So, at the end of 2021 I decided that I would find out what effect veganism was likely to be having on my own mental health, my body weight and the pleasure I derived from eating. I didn’t have scientific grant funding to conduct the gold standard of a large randomized control trial — but I did have the time and inclination to conduct a study on myself.

Self-experimentation

Self-study or “self-experimentation” has a rich history in science that dates back hundreds of years. Take scurvy as an example. The first clue that vitamin C deficiency was the cause of scurvy was from sailors, which led to the discovery that citrus fruit could treat it.

However, it wasn’t until John Crandon experimented on himself in 1939 that convincing evidence was provided for vitamin c deficiency being the cause of scurvy. Crandon, of Harvard Medical School, tactically withheld vitamin c from his diet for 19 weeks and by this point his health had taken a worrying turn for the worse. As he planned, he was then injected with a large dose of vitamin c and made a miraculous recovery. Pretty convincing evidence that scurvy is caused by a deficiency of vitamin c.

But the gold standard for experiments is the randomized control trial. If we were to conduct such a study on the effects of veganism, participants would be randomized to a “treatment” (adopting veganism) or “control” (not adopting veganism). However, in my opinion this approach doesn’t quite work for veganism as veganism is more of a self-directed lifestyle choice as opposed to a one size fits all “treatment” we can give to people. Choosing veganism is a very personal choice determined by a range of factors, like health, environmental concerns and animal ethics. A lot of vegans have a strong sense of vegan identity and their veganism hasn’t happened by chance (as it would in a randomized control trial).

So simply requiring people to “become vegan” is unlikely to capture what will happen when they adopt veganism of their own accord. Studies have previously put people on diet plans that are predominantly vegan and found they can lose weight like they do on non-vegan diet plans. But this doesn’t encapsulate what it is to naturally adopt a vegan vs non-vegan lifestyle, with no constraints or particular aims to change one’s health or lose weight.

On top of this, even though veganism has grown in popularity, it’s still estimated that only two to three out of every 100 people in the UK identify as vegan, so finding enough people to agree to such a randomized control trial would be difficult. On the other hand, I could find one person that would agree to an experiment on the effects of veganism: me.

My experiment

In January 2022 I started the year, as many others do, by taking part in Veganuary. On a daily basis I recorded what I’d done that day and importantly how much I had enjoyed the food I had eaten.

The author enjoying a vegan meal of roast aubergine and fried beans with salsa negra while out with friends. Eric Robinson, CC BY-NC-ND

Every week my fiancé weighed me and measured my waist circumference. So that I couldn’t be influenced by any changes happening to my body weight, when we did this, I closed my eyes and was guided onto the scales (she may have been right about avoiding dating vegans after all). I also completed questionnaire measures of depression and anxiety symptoms every week.

During January, I led my normal vegan life but was particularly strict in checking whether food and drink was vegan. My diet looked like a lot of other vegan diets – chickpea curry (check), tofu stir fry (check), lentil pasta (check). I was still eating out and even enjoyed a weekend away. The latter was great, with the exception of a well intended, but very odd, vegan hotel breakfast of stir fried noodles that I tolerated while watching others enjoy a very non-vegan full English. Life rolled on and was enjoyable.

In February I stopped being vegan and repeated the same daily and weekly measures. During the non-vegan period I made a concerted effort to eat meals that were not vegan. I ditched oat milk for normal milk. I ate cheese, meat and fish rather than my usual diet of tofu, beans and pulses.

A small proportion of the meals I ate still ended up being vegan by chance (about 15%), compared to 100% of my meals being vegan in the vegan study period. My palate did not change over night, I still enjoyed Indian food, Chinese and Italian. But the variety of options available grew as a result of stopping veganism for the month.

As in January, I still ate out and happened to have another weekend trip away, this time to Spain. It was great, with the exception of a culinary experience I wouldn’t want to repeat – callos a la madrileña. This is a stew popular in Madrid which includes blood sausage and some very unfortunate looking and smelling tripe.

Phase one of the experiment was now complete. During the two months that made up phase one I diligently measured how often I was drinking alcohol, eating out and exercising (in case for some reason I’d had a particularly unhealthy month) but luckily these things didn’t differ much at all between the two months.

After phase one of the experiment I then had a “wash out” period in which I returned to my normal relaxed vegan lifestyle, stopping taking daily and weekly measures. I did however weight myself to keep a record of this and chose to do it to give my fiancé a rest.

Then, in August, I started phase two and changed the order of the vegan vs non-vegan periods to account for this. Phase two started with two months of non-veganism. I didn’t measure anything on a daily basis, as I was worried this may be making me more conscious of my behavior and potentially making me act more healthily than I would be otherwise. The idea that recording one’s own behavior can influence subsequent behavior is well established in psychology and referred to as “self-monitoring“.

Self-monitoring is a tool that is used to help manage mental health, weight loss and increase adherence to medicine usage.

During this period my fiancé did weigh and measure me every week and I recorded my mental health as in phase one of the experiment. After two months of veganism I reverted to two months of non-veganism from October. December rolled round and I had finally finished my self-experiment.

The results

As a scientist from a psychology background, I am used to looking at both qualitative and quantitative data.

Qualitative data refers to personal experiences in a study. When planning the study, I thought I might have an affirming experience or “defining moment” that committed me to veganism for life or to ditch veganism. That didn’t happen. But I did notice a few things.

First, as a non-vegan, some friends and family were keener to hang out with me when food was involved and expressed disappointment during the vegan periods of the study. When switching between non-vegan vs vegan study periods I also noticed how veganism was acting as a red light to unnecessary eating. For example, when I was slightly tempted by a snack, coffee shop treat or dessert as a non-vegan they were available in abundance and temptation turned into eating.

But as a vegan, those temptations were very often removed due to the complete lack of vegan options available or a meager, unappealing offering. We’ve long known that vegan diets tend to be lower in saturated fat, but I hadn’t suspected this could be in part due to veganism preventing eating all together.

The quantitative data was really clear cut. My body weight responded consistently in response to vegan vs non-vegan study periods — it was lower when vegan and higher during non-veganism. During the two-month part of the study, after two months of non-veganism I’d gained 1.6kg, then when switching to veganism for the next two months I lost 1.2kg. I looked at exercise and how much I was moving as potential explanations for these differences, but the data largely suggested that the differences in weight were caused by what I was eating.

The findings also revealed that those differences in body weight did not come at the expense of the pleasure I derived from eating. My rated daily enjoyment of food was close to identical during vegan days and non-vegan days. There was a similar story for my mental health. My weekly recording of depression and anxiety symptoms were close to identical during both study periods.

What does it all mean?

Self-experiments come with lots of caveats. Results come from a single participant and this of course makes you wonder whether the results can generalize to other people. Sometimes they will and sometimes they won’t. The results of Crandon’s self-experiment on vitamin c and scurvy clearly did generalize.

My results suggest that veganism may have a causal influence on my body weight. Another caveat and limitation of my study is that it was short. I therefore used my results to calculate what would be predicted to happen to my body weight if the experiment had carried on for longer.

I forecasted two scenarios for what would happen over a full year. A scenario where after the study I remained vegan and a scenario where I gave up veganism. The modeling exercise revealed that under the scenario of giving up veganism I would weight 6.4kg more at the end of 12 months, than if I stuck to veganism. This is a pretty big difference. My findings therefore hint that, in addition to environmental benefits, veganism may also help people maintain a healthy weight.

However, as I’m a fairly health conscious person and cook regularly, it may be the case that a less health conscious vegan that mainly gets by on processed burgers, fries and snacks would experiences less of a vegan-body weight benefit than I did.

I was pleasantly surprised that my derived pleasure from food did not differ between vegan and non-vegan study days. Concerns over how much a person would enjoy a vegan diet are a likely barrier to giving veganism a go and, based on my study data, these concerns might not ring true.

I’ve pondered whether veganism is likely to affect mental health and if my study was ever likely to detect such an effect or test it fairly, due to it being so short. But my best bet at the moment is that a vegan diet probably doesn’t causally affect mental health.

When I read studies that show vegans tend to be more likely to be X or Y compared to non-vegans, I am now highly suspect on how likely it is that veganism causes X or Y. X or Y could relate to anything, whether that’s physical or mental health. Instead, vegans and non-vegans differ in lots of ways and these differences will not be causal.

Take sex as an example. Vegans are far more likely to be female than male. Do we then conclude from this that veganism makes you more likely to be female? Of course not.

And what did I decide about long-term veganism? As I write this, nine months after the experiment finished, I’m still a committed vegan. For me, the likely benefits for my health, the environment and reducing animal suffering outweigh the minor inconveniences associated with being vegan.

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Eric Robinson, Professor in Psychology, University of Liverpool

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

A Massachusetts teen died after partaking in social media’s dangerous “one chip challenge”

A 14-year-old boy from Massachusetts died shortly after eating a spicy tortilla chip for a viral — and incredibly dangerous — social media stunt. On Friday, Harris Wolobah took part in the “one chip challenge,” CBS News’ WBZ reported, an online trend that involves eating a spicy chip containing Carolina Reaper and Naga Viper peppers.

Harris’ mother, Lois Wolobah, told the outlet that she picked her son up from Doherty Memorial High School after a school nurse called her saying Harris had fainted after eating the chip a friend gave him. Harris was taken to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead, Lois told NBC-10 Boston. At this time, the Wolobah family is waiting for a cause of death from the Massachusetts Medical Examiner’s Office pending an autopsy. Harris’ parents said Harris was a healthy basketball player with no known allergies, and are convinced that the chip was what made their son fall ill.

The “one chip challenge” was created by the snack brand Paqui. Per its website, participants must eat the singular chip, “[w]ait as long as possible before drinking or eating anything.” In the wake of Harris’s death and incidents of teens and other individuals not heeding to the listed warnings, the brand announced that it “is actively working with our retailers to remove the product from shelves” out of an abundance of caution. Paqui maintained that the brand has always adhered to food safety standards and included “clear and prominent labeling highlighting the chip is not for children.”

Audio: Michigan fake elector outlines Jan. 6 plan to present Mike Pence with “dueling electors”

One of the fake Republican electors in Michigan explained in December 2020 that the plan to use fake electors to certify a win for Donald Trump in their state arose from conversations with “some very incredible constitutional attorneys” from the former president’s campaign.

Meshawn Maddock, one of 16 false electors in Michigan charged in July for the alleged plot, described the Trump campaign-headed plan in detail during a Dec. 16, 2020, radio interview, recalling that the decision on which electors to use would be left to a constitutional attorney, then-vice president Mike Pence and Congress, according to a CNN KFile review of the interview. The newly uncovered conversation exposes Maddock’s extensive knowledge of the Trump campaign’s role in the scheme to usurp Joe Biden’s electors and contradicts her previous comments claiming a “vague” recollection of the plot when questioned about CNN’s reporting on the campaign’s involvement last year.

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Maddock has previously said that the fake Republican electors were not intended to replace the legitimate pro-Biden electors, but her comments about Pence in the 2020 interview demonstrate her understanding that the fake slate could have overtaken the legitimate votes on Jan. 6, 2021. Despite the former president losing Michigan by over 150,000 votes, Maddock and the 15 others fake electors signed certificates falsely asserting their legitimacy in the state just days before the interview and attempted to enter the state capitol to deliver the votes.

“I’m no constitutional attorney,” Maddock said in the interview with local radio host Steve Gruber. “I’m an elector for Donald Trump from the Michigan Republican Party. I along with the other 15 electors were guided by legal minds – attorneys for our president, some very incredible constitutional attorneys – I’ve never in my whole life appreciated legal minds and attorneys before.”

Maddock did not name the Trump attorneys she referenced, CNN reports.

Despite showing in the interview that she understood the specifics of the fake electors plot, Maddock has more recently claimed that she doesn’t recall many of the details.

“I can tell you that in the last few weeks, just some incredible minds,” she added. “And from what I understand, you know, you have the federal constitutional law, and then you have state statutes, um, and they’re two different things. So, what we did, uh, along with seven other states, really send in dueling electors, and that will be there before, um, you know, a federal constitutional attorney, and it’ll be before, uh, Mike Pence and Congress to make that decision.”

Maddock, who is also the spouse of a conservative state legislator, went on to become the co-chair of Michigan’s Republican Party following the 2020 election and presided over the group’s 2022 losses during the midterms. She regurgitated some of Trump’s most contentious false voter fraud claims and eventually deleted a tweet spreading an unfounded conspiracy theory that Dominion Voting Systems had altered votes during the 2020 election.

She declined CNN’s request for comment.

“Dark” right-wing network recruits MAGA “army” to replace 50K federal workers Trump plans to purge

In the December 2020 interview, she also referenced the 1960 election in Hawaii where pro-Kennedy electors were sent to the National Archives alongside Republican electors, an example Trump campaign attorneys used to support their argument in memos detailing their fake electors plans.

However, the differences between Michigan’s 2020 election and Hawaii’s 1960 election are significant. Richard Nixon’s win in Hawaii was reversed after a recount — in which John F. Kennedy and Nixon were separated by less than 150 votes — thus handing its electoral votes to the Democrat. In Michigan, Biden had over 150,000 more votes than Trump and the results were never a question.

Despite showing in the interview that she understood the specifics of the fake electors plot, Maddock has more recently claimed that she doesn’t recall many of the details.

“A lot of that is still vague to me. And I don’t have any email communications with any of these people,” Maddock told Gruber in a separate July 2023 interview when asked which attorneys asked her to sign the fake election certificates.

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She then seemingly pushed responsibility onto the last state party chairperson, Laura Cox, saying that “somebody from her staff contacted all of us, asked us to be at the Michigan Republican Party office at 2 pm.”

In a deposition with the House select committee, which investigated the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, Cox said the Trump campaign asked her to “facilitate having the electors meet and sign some sort of document.” The request, she explained, made her uncomfortable.

“So, we came up with a document that we would have them have a ceremonial meeting, and one person would sign a document stating that if perhaps something were to happen in the courts, they were willing and able to serve as electors from Michigan for Donald Trump and Mike Pence,” Cox said.

Maddock and the 15 other fake electors were charged in July for their roles in the Trump campaign plan to overturn the 2020 election results in the state by enlisting the help of false electors. Each indicted individual was charged with eight state felonies: two counts of forgery, one count of conspiracy to commit forgery, one count of publishing a counterfeit record, one count of conspiring to publish a counterfeit record, two counts of election law forgery and one count of conspiracy to commit election law forgery. All 16 pleaded not guilty to the charges.

about fake electors case in Michigan

The 9 Trader Joe’s recalls you need to be aware of right now

Trader Joe’s may be the go-to neighborhood spot for frozen meals and funky snacks but recently, the lauded grocery chain has been marred with bad luck after it issued its sixth recall in just five weeks. The recent string of food safety alerts spurred a frenzy on Reddit, where some folks launched attacks against TJ’s and others came to the California-based retailer’s defense.

“My wife and I are very upset with the constant recalls going on,” wrote one disappointed user in an August post. “We love TJ’s but [are] going to have to start shopping elsewhere until [they] sort out whatever is going on.”

“The way people defend TJ’s like it’s their best friend is very odd; to me, it’s a sign people have made shopping at TJ’s part of their personality so it feels like a personal attack,” wrote another. “It’s a corporation, they’ll work on it if everyone stops shopping there.”

“Poisoned”: The 6 most horrifying revelations from Netflix’s food safety documentary

Amid the pandemic, TJ’s defied expectations, acquiring both TikTok fame and praise for surviving COVID-19 sans online services. But it still experienced several major setbacks, including conflicts between store managers and employees (notably regarding mask mandates and other safety protocols), workers attempting to unionize amid increasingly stressful — and dangerous — work demands and even an employee death. The recalls are just another addition to the growing list.

That being said, TJ’s has been incredibly vigilant about updating its consumers on what foods to avoid for the time being. “We have a close relationship with our vendors. We err on the side of caution and are proactive in addressing issues,” the grocery chain wrote on its website. “We voluntarily take action quickly, aggressively investigating potential problems and removing the product from sale if there is any doubt about its safety or quality.”

Here are the 9 recent recalls you should be aware of, listed from most recent to latest:

Genova Pesto

Bakkavor USA, the maker of Trader Joe’s Genova Pesto (SKU# 15759), issued a voluntary recall of the pesto in May 2023 due to undeclared milk and walnuts, which can be life-threatening for those allergic to either or both ingredients. The pesto was mistakenly packaged into tubs marked “Hummus Dip,” which do not contain an allergen declaration of milk or walnuts, per a company announcement.

The product in question has a “Use By” date of 05/27/2023 alongside a timestamp between 06:28 – 07:07 printed on the bottom of the tub. It was distributed to Trader Joe’s stores between 4/28/2023 and 4/30/2023 in Alabama, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Nevada, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia and Washington.

No illnesses or allergic reactions have been reported thus far. All potentially affected product has been removed from sale amid an ongoing investigation into the root cause of the issue. Consumers who have purchased or received any donations of Trader Joe’s Genova Pesto and have a milk or walnut allergy are urged not to consume the product and to discard or return it to any nearby store for a full refund.

Instant Cold Brew Coffee

Also in May, Trader Joe’s voluntarily recalled its Instant Cold Brew Coffee (SKU# 67436) for potential glass in the product. The affected product contains expiration dates 6/13/2024, 11/26/2024, and 12/30/2024.

According to the chain, no injuries have been reported to date, and all potentially affected product has been removed from sale. TJ’s advised all consumers who purchased or received donations of any Instant Cold Brew Coffee with the listed date codes to discard the product immediately or return it to their nearby store for a full refund.

Almond Windmill Cookies

The following month, TJ’s recalled its Almond Windmill Cookies (SKU# 98744), which may contain rocks. The cookies contain “Sell By” dates 10/02/23 and 10/19/23 through 10/21/23.

At this time, all potentially affected product has been removed from sale and destroyed, TJ’s said. Those who purchased or received any donations of Almond Windmill Cookies are urged to not eat them and instead, discard the product or return it to their nearby store for a full refund.

Dark Chocolate Chunk and Almond Cookies

TJ’s also recalled its Dark Chocolate Chunk and Almond Cookies (SKU# 82752) due to the same exact issue. The cookies contain “Sell By” dates 10/17/23 through 10/21/23.

Organic Tropical Fruit Blend

TJ’s third June recall was its Organic Tropical Fruit Blend (SKU# 51191) , which may have the potential to be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. No illnesses have been reported to date, and all potentially affected product has been removed from sale and destroyed.

If you purchased or received any donations of the packaged fruit, TJ’s recommended discarding the product or returning it to any nearby store for a full refund.

Unexpected Broccoli Cheddar Soup

On July 27, TJ’s recalled its Unexpected Broccoli Cheddar Soup (SKU# 68470) following an alert from their supplier, saying the product may contain insects. The affected soup contains “Use By” dates 07/18/23 – 09/15/23.

No known adverse health effects have been reported to date, and all potentially affected product has been removed from sale and destroyed. Consumers who purchased or received any donations of Unexpected Broccoli Cheddar Soup should discard the product or return it to their nearby store for a full refund.

Fully Cooked Falafel

The following day, TJ’s recalled its Fully Cooked Falafel (SKU# 93935), which may contain rocks. The affected product was sold in 35 states along with Washington, D.C.

All potentially affected product has been removed from sale and destroyed. If you purchased or received any donations of Fully Cooked Falafel, TJ’s urged discarding the product or returning it to any nearby store for a full refund.

Multigrain Crackers with Sunflower and Flax Seeds

In August, TJ’s recalled its Multigrain Crackers with Sunflower and Flax Seeds (SKU# 76156) because it may contain metal. The affected crackers have “Best If Used By” dates 03/01/24 – 03/05/24.

No injuries have been reported at this time, and all potentially affected product has been removed from sale and destroyed. Consumers who purchased or received any donations of Multigrain Crackers with Sunflower and Flax Seeds should discard the product or return it to their nearby store for a full refund.

Texas Tamale Company Gourmet Black Bean Tamales

TJ’s most recent recall is its Texas Tamale Company Gourmet Black Bean Tamales, which may contain undeclared milk. The affected product contains a “Best Before” date of 06/19/25 and Lot code 17023.

Per the chain, no illnesses have been reported to date, and all potentially affected product has been removed from sale. If you purchased or received any donations of Texas Tamale Company Gourmet Black Bean Tamales, TJ’s urged discarding the product or returning it to any nearby store for a full refund.

about food safety:

As more abortion bans occur, many patients must travel hundreds of miles for care — or be stranded

Earlier this month, Indiana became the 15th state to nearly totally ban abortions after Roe v. Wade was overturned by the Supreme Court in June 2022. In the ripple effects of the court case, laws restricting abortion access were proposed and are still being contended in states like Texas, Iowa and Utah.

As abortion access dwindles in certain states, people are traveling more than 1,000 miles to seek care in states without restrictive abortion policies. According to a study published yesterday in JAMA Network Open, the number of out-of-state residents seeking abortions in Massachusetts, for example, rose 37% in the four months after the Supreme Court ruled on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. Some patients traveled from as far away as Texas.

An Ohio high-risk OBGYN on abortion fears come true and life one year post-Dobbs

There have been observed increases in the number of people traveling to states like Minnesota or Illinois because they border states with abortion bans or even extreme restrictions on reproductive care — but this study demonstrates people seeking abortions are traveling much further distances to get care. Sometimes they must trek across nearly half the country, said study author Elizabeth Janiak, ScD, an assistant professor at obstetrics at Brigham & Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

“I would hypothesize that some of the increase in funding might also be because more folks are having later abortions, which tend to be more expensive.”

The study also found the proportion of out-of-state travelers who received charitable funding to help defray the cost of abortion care rose from 8% pre-Dobbs to 18% post-Dobbs. That could be because of higher costs associated with greater distances traveled to receive care, Janiak said.

“I would hypothesize that some of the increase in funding might also be because more folks are having later abortions, which tend to be more expensive than earlier abortions,” Janiak told Salon in a phone interview. “I would hypothesize that’s happening because delays in accessing care force them [to seek abortions] later in pregnancy than they might have if they accessed abortion in their home state.”

The Dobbs ruling that overturned Roe left the power to regulate abortions in states’ hands. Even before Dobbs in 2014, 20% of pregnant individuals had to travel about 50 miles to access abortion care in most states. But this ruling effectively “opened the floodgates,” for states to increase abortion restrictions, implementing legal penalties for patients and doctors providing abortions, said Seema Mohapatra, a law professor at the SMU Dedman School of Law. As a result, some abortion providers fled states with restrictions and clinics shuttered.

“What we’re seeing after Dobbs is states that have conservative legislators taking the opportunity to almost abolish abortion care or restrict it so much that essentially, people in that state don’t have access to abortion care anymore,” Mohapatra told Salon in a phone interview.

One year after the fall of Roe v. Wade, abortion care has become a patchwork of confusing state laws

The Turnaway Study found women who went on to give birth after not being able to access an abortion experienced increases in poverty, debt and evictions compared to women who were able to access abortions. The study also linked unintended pregnancies to increased rates of pregnancy complications, domestic violence and child development issues.

“There’s a whole host of both economic and personal issues that go along with people that are forced to carry to term when they are seeking an abortion — and we’re going to have more and more people [facing those issues],” Mohapatra said.

People seeking abortion have been shown to be disproportionately low-income and already parenting children. Restrictive bans on abortion care have also been shown to have a disproportionate impact on people of color, low-income patients and younger people, Mohapatra said. Many seeking an abortion may not be able to take multi-day trips to reach an abortion clinic.

“There is a big financial burden, and only certain people can take that,” Mohapatra said. “As a result, you’re going to see who can access this kind of care to be very limited to people who can afford it.”

“You’re going to see who can access this kind of care to be very limited to people who can afford it.”

Another study also published in JAMA Network Open last week found telehealth could mitigate some of the disparities in abortion care, providing healthcare for people who cannot travel long distances to seek an abortion. However, even in that study, people with limited access to abortion care — like younger people, those with health conditions or people who spoke languages other than English — accessed telehealth at lower rates for abortion care.

“Efforts to educate patients about telehealth procedures and improve availability of language support are needed to make telehealth medication abortion services feasible for diverse populations,” the authors wrote.

Another new study published in the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management projects how additional bans in other states will continue to shape the post-Roe landscape of abortion care in the coming months or years. The Guttmacher Institute is tracking which states enact abortion bans and in January 2023, predicted that 24 states have or will soon ban abortions. In this scenario, people seeking abortions could have to travel hundreds of additional miles to receive care — but many won’t have the means to and will end up giving birth instead, the study found.

Abortions were projected to decrease by 8.5% and births to increase by 1.5%, equating about 79,126 fewer abortions and 56,000 more births per year.

Specifically, the research found one-quarter of people seeking abortions would be unable to get one due to distance should abortion bans take effect in 24 states, with three-quarters of those people trapped giving birth as a result, according to study author Caitlin Myers, an economics professor at Middlebury College. Overall, abortions were projected to decrease by 8.5% and births to increase by 1.5%. That equates to about 79,126 fewer abortions and 56,000 more births per year.

“When distance to a brick and mortar abortion facility goes up, there are a lot of people who end up trapped and can’t get there and give birth as a result,” Myers told Salon in a phone interview.

To forecast how distances to abortion clinics would change as a result of legislation, Myers looked at policies enacted in the past decade leading up to Dobbs that caused abortion clinics to close. She extrapolated what could happen if states enacted similar restrictions in the future using records of how the rate of abortions and births in the region changed after bans went into place.

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In Myers’ study, the first 100-mile increase in distance had a larger effect on access than greater distances. Prior research involving patients on California Medicaid showed 12% of people seeking an abortion will travel 50 miles to get care whereas just 4% will travel 100 miles or more.

As Myers explained: “In some places, distances have gone up even more than we’ve ever seen before, but I’m not sure in some ways that matters because the people who get trapped mostly get trapped within the first 100 miles.”

Myers’ study doesn’t account for alternative ways to access abortion services, such as people increasingly ordering abortion pills online. That could mean some instances in which people accessed abortions would not have been included and Myers’ projections could be overestimated, she said.

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On the other hand, the study assumes people living within reach of an abortion clinic are able to secure an appointment, which may not be the case as centers struggle to meet the demand of people flooding in from states with abortion bans. In this case, Myers’ projections may have underestimated the number of people trapped, she added.

Regardless, one measurement in the study is closely monitored and serves as a reliable way to demonstrate the impact of shuttered abortion clinics: live births. And in this study, those rose.

“Nobody has a perfect crystal ball, but what I would say is, I think this is probably about as good as we could do at reliably forecasting what’s to happen,” Myers said.

about abortion

California’s Salton Sea eyed for lithium extraction with new tech

When Sonia Herbert, 78, opened a restaurant in Bombay Beach, a small California neighborhood about 80 miles northeast of San Diego, she welcomed the bustle of tourists and locals visiting the Salton Sea shoreline. Located in Imperial County, the lake and its wetlands offer crucial habitats for migratory birds and a refuge for people from the hot desert sun.

But for more than 20 years, she’s watched the once-thriving oasis become increasingly desiccated and polluted with agricultural runoff and waste. Rising salinity, exacerbated by a shrinking freshwater supply from the chronically drought-plagued Colorado River, has made the Salton Sea uninhabitable for many aquatic species. The low-income community’s economy suffered, too, as the flow of visitors slowed.

This story was originally published by Inside Climate News and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration.

“People would go water skiing, fishing, and swimming,” Herbert remembers. “We used to have thousands of birds come through here migrating and now, you don’t see the big white pelicans anymore.

But recently, the Salton Sea has become a hotbed of industrial activity filled with promise for the future. Beneath its shores lie untouched lithium deposits that experts believe could play a role in the world’s clean energy future.

Scientists warned of a Salton Sea disaster. No one listened

With the rising demand for lithium during the clean energy transition, the area — also known as “Lithium Valley” — has become an attractive location for major energy companies to explore advanced mining techniques like direct lithium extraction, or DLE. Through DLE, companies can directly capture lithium from brine deposits using a special “lithium filter,” bypassing the traditional, resource-intensive open-pit mining and evaporation pond processes.

Several questions remain on whether the technologies will deliver the breakthrough investors seek, and if they will be as environmentally friendly as they’re sold to be.

Companies with billionaire backing are buying in, with the likes of Warren Buffet, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, and others betting big on the idea. In August 2023, automaker Stellantis, Jeep’s parent company, announced that it would invest $100 million in one of the DLE projects. The U.S. Department of Energy also granted close to $11 million for the technology. Companies and some researchers say that the technologies can minimize the environmental impact of lithium mining commonly associated with conventional mining practices.

However, no DLE plant in the United States has successfully scaled up production to a commercial level. While there are a few established DLE plants in South America, none is based on a deposit as tricky and hard to work with as it would be in Lithium Valley.

Several questions remain on whether the technologies will deliver the breakthrough investors seek, and if they will be as environmentally friendly as they’re sold to be. The Salton Sea community is hopeful about the economic opportunities DLE may bring to the region, but not without concerns. “I think there are some things that are not being addressed,” Herbert says. “I want to know more about the downside.”

Known as “white gold,” lithium is crucial to making batteries for things like electric vehicles, iPhones, and utility-scale energy storage systems. The automotive industry, especially, requires more and more of it.

In 2022, about 130,000 tons of lithium were produced globally, mostly for manufacturing lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles. A handful of countries, including Australia, China, and Chile, currently dominate the market.

The Biden administration has emphasized efforts to strengthen lithium’s domestic supply chain.

“The interesting thing about lithium is that it’s not rare,” says Chris Berry, an analyst at House Mountain Partners, a Washington D.C.-based energy metals consulting firm. “What is rare is mining capacity, lithium refining, and conversion capacity.”

While the United States has significant lithium deposits, its domestic mining and processing capacity has been stagnant for decades. There is only one operating lithium mine in Nevada, Silver Peak, which opened decades ago. It currently produces around 5,000 tons of lithium per year.

Wary of growing dependence on rival countries for lithium to supply the automotive industry, the Biden administration has emphasized efforts to strengthen lithium’s domestic supply chain. Various federal agencies have since introduced incentives to boost domestic production of it and other critical minerals.

However, the rise of these new mining endeavors has been met with significant controversy due to their potential to damage the surrounding land and environment. In Nevada, several Indigenous tribes filed lawsuits against the proposed Thacker Pass mine, arguing that it would desecrate sacred land and violate cultural rights. Environmental organizations also opposed the project because it would use billions of gallons of groundwater at a time the region is suffering from drought, and would deplete clean water sources while destroying important wildlife habitats.

A neighboring proposed project, the Rhyolite Ridge lithium mine, also faces fierce opposition from various environmental groups because of concerns that the project will drive an endangered plant, Tiehm’s buckwheat, to extinction.

Patrick Donnelly, a Great Basin director at the Center for Biological Diversity who opposes the Rhyolite Ridge project, acknowledges that the U.S. is caught in a double bind as it pursues a necessary transition to cleaner transportation and energy.

He and others argue it is possible to meet some of the demand for lithium by ramping up battery recycling and designing less car-dependent communities, rather than approving new mining projects. But he acknowledges these long-term solutions won’t solve the immediate supply bottleneck. “Unfortunately, we’re not going to build dense, walkable communities in the next decade,” he says. “That will be a decades-long project.”

Given that the United States will need a lot more lithium, quickly, Donnelly is monitoring the feasibility of emerging mining methods. Among the potential solutions, DLE technologies emerge as the most promising — albeit with some challenges to overcome.

As the name suggests, the groundwater near the Salton Sea is highly saline and mineral-rich. The lake is situated atop the San Andreas Fault system, which creates substantial geothermal activity and an abundance of geothermal heat.

Generating electricity from geothermal heat requires extracting hot brine, a concentrated saltwater found in underground aquifers, to produce steam that drives turbines. After the brine is cooled, the plant reinjects the brine back into the ground to avoid depleting aquifers.

“Imagine a hole in the ground that’s the size of Central Park and as deep as the Empire State Building.”

Only recently did companies begin to unlock the previously untapped potential of extracting resources beyond just heat from the brine. The aquifers near the Salton Sea hold enough lithium to supply close to 40 percent of the global demand. Using DLE technologies, some companies now extract lithium from the brine after using it for geothermal energy. Previously, the lithium-rich brine had been only a geothermal energy waste product.

These new technologies have several advantages over other extraction methods. Open pit mines often lead to the destruction of vegetation and habitat, soil erosion, and air pollution. “Imagine a hole in the ground that’s the size of Central Park and as deep as the Empire State Building,” Donnelly says.

While brine extraction doesn’t involve digging a massive hole, it uses an extensive amount of water and may cause salinization of the soil, making it infertile for vegetation and agriculture. Also, the evaporation process can take up to several years, making it difficult for companies to respond to the quickly changing demand.

DLE solves many of these problems. Because lithium extraction takes place inside a facility, it does not require digging an open pit. Additionally, companies claim that DLE technologies consume less water than the evaporative pond system.

Michael McKibben, a geologist at the University of California Riverside who studies mining technologies, says DLE’s advantage is that it minimizes disruption to existing brine deposits. “You pump the brine up, you pass it through the filter, and then you pump that brine back into the ground,” he says. “You’re not depleting the groundwater, at least not as extensively as the evaporation ponds.”

Unlike open-pit mining, which often relies on energy from fossil fuels, DLE also offers an approach with a lower carbon footprint. It is integrated into existing geothermal systems, which already release CO2 during steam generation. This avoids additional emissions and minimizes the carbon footprint. “Overall, I’m optimistic about it,” McKibben says.

Several companies are trying to get a foothold in this nascent industry. Berkshire Hathaway Energy is the biggest and the oldest. It already operates 10 geothermal plants on the southern shore of the Salton Sea, and recently commissioned a DLE test facility. Researchers say that while slow-moving, BHE will likely produce the most lithium, if it successfully scales up its pilot facility.

Meanwhile, two other firms, EnergySource Minerals and Controlled Thermal Resources, are working to achieve fully-fledged commercial operations. CTR, in particular, aims to achieve a milestone of producing 25,000 tons of battery-grade lithium compounds by 2025, an amount of more than 3 percent of all global production in 2022.

Despite the industry’s rosy outlook, the unique environment of the Salton Sea could present challenges. The sheer amount of brine and the speed at which it must be handled is one issue; the Salton Sea geothermal field produces 50,000 gallons of brine per minute. McKibben describes this processing challenge as “drinking out of a fire hose.” This substantial flow rate requires companies to quickly extract lithium without overwhelming the system.

“Things that work at a lab don’t always necessarily work when you try and scale it up to that kind of flow rate,” he says.

With roughly 180,000 residents, Imperial County is home to majority Hispanic and Latino communities and is the second-poorest county in California. The region’s economy heavily relies on its status as one of the state’s leading agricultural producers. Notably, it ranks as the 10th most immigrant-heavy county in the United States, with newcomers from Mexico and Central American countries seeking employment as farmworkers. Despite the productive output of vegetables, livestock, grains, and other commodities, the community continues to grapple with persistently high unemployment rates that exceed three times the national average.

Chile’s national lithium strategy raises questions about the environmental and social costs of EVs

Luis Olmedo, an executive director of a grassroots civic group Comite Civico del Valle, points out that despite promises by the agricultural industry to uplift the community and share profits, they have not lived up to these commitments. While the industry keeps racking up profits, he says, working people remain in poverty and have little economic opportunity.

“Everything here is about the agricultural industry,” he said in an interview with Inside Climate News. “The industry celebrates itself. But what about the farmworker who came from Mexico or from South America? From China and the Philippines?”

This is why Olmedo is skeptical about lithium mining companies and their promises to bring wealth to the impoverished county. CTR, for example, claims that it will create more than 4,000 jobs that will bring “much-needed economic stimulus and opportunities” to the region. It also says that the company is working to develop a clean energy campus that can potentially create 7,000 additional jobs.

But Olmedo says promises of bringing jobs are not enough. He advocates that proposed DLE projects must meet the community’s demands in benefits and labor agreements while making sure that the tax incentives go toward the most disadvantaged communities.

Ultimately, he believes that the mining companies must ensure they’ll create meaningful, positive changes in the communities they are extracting from. “Some of these companies have been operating here for 50 years,” says Olmedo, adding that he has not seen the kind of improvement that the companies are promising now.

“It is not our strategy to kill the business,” he says. “We’re neither their cheerleader nor their opposition. Our motto is, we want prosperity, we want jobs, we want opportunities. And it’s going to be a fair negotiation.”

In January 2023, with the DLE projects gaining momentum, the Lithium Valley Commission began holding meetings to educate the community about the lithium boom, as well as hear and address their concerns.

According to public meeting notes, residents are cautiously optimistic about the new DLE mining projects. Many are intrigued by the potential employment and economic opportunities the projects could bring to the county. They express a keen interest in specialized education and training programs tailored to the demands of the new industry.

At the same time, residents remain wary of the effects lithium plants will have on the landscape and their lives. The primary areas of concern are air pollution, water usage, geologic hazards, and the protection of Indigenous rights. Sonia Herbert, a long-time resident of the county, says she wants the profit from the lithium projects to help restore the Salton Sea. There is already a multi-agency restoration project underway to increase water flow and improve water quality, but funding has always been a big roadblock.

Herbert hopes that these lithium projects will not only boost the local economy but also present a vital opportunity to address climate change and the kinds of environmental challenges that contributed to the Salton Sea drying up in the first place.

about California and the environment

Trump vs. Biden 2024 will be all-time ugly — and the media’s making it worse

The fact that Donald Trump’s Georgia RICO trial will almost certainly be broadcast on live TV should scare the living hell out of him.

He won’t be able to control the narrative, and he won’t be able to hide from the bright light of facts.

Currently, Trump can get away with anything he wants on social media and in the press. Depending on the day of the week or the time of day, according to him Joe Biden is either “Sleepy Joe” or “Crooked Joe.”

On the one hand, Trump claims that Biden doesn’t rise from bed before noon and spends little time in the Oval Office. On the other hand, Trump claims Biden is a crime lord who never sleeps — a supervillain looting and pillaging at will, while only owning a modest house in the boondocks of Delaware.

Trump’s plans to become a dictator — denial will not save you

Trump himself never spent much time in the Oval Office. That’s a documented fact. He also lives in multiple homes and has his own private jet — but I digress.

As the summer grinds to a close and we eagerly look forward to weather below triple digits, the presidential campaign season will begin to heat up. And Donald Trump doesn’t want you looking under his hood.

Facing 91 felony charges in four different jurisdictions, Trump currently clings tenaciously to the Republican throne. According to polls that no one questions — but everyone should — he also remains in a dead heat with Biden in the race to claim the White House in 2024. The two biggest questions about all this nonsense remain:

How can Donald Trump remain so popular when he’s obviously such a grifter?
Why doesn’t everyone understand that Biden is better than Trump?

But before you consider those two questions, please consider this superseding question: Why does the press continue to report on this nonsense? (People on both the right and the left ask this one, by the way.)

The answer? The human population of this planet is delusional.

Just ask your pets.

Human beings believe we’re the apex predator and at the top of the food chain. But you won’t convince your dog or cat of that. We provide them free food, housing and health care for a lifetime, and we clean up their waste.

I heard my dogs talking the other day — they know they’re really in charge. At any rate, your family pet is doing better than most homeless human beings on the planet.

As always, it is a matter of perspective.

Why does the press keep reporting all the dumbest nonsense about Trump? Perhaps the human population of this planet is delusional.

And perspective is what’s sorely lacking in American politics, as is context. The polls are disturbing not only for what they say, but for the fact that we continue to report on them as if they were gospel. Some of the polls we’ve seen are nothing more than wishful thinking. Who’s paying for them, and how are they being conducted? It turns out, as the New Republic recently reported, that Trump’s former pollster helped cook the books.

Of course we live in a time when our politics have little relationship to reality, and our reality is as cartoonish as it could possibly be. If things were any more warped, we might see dogs and cats on the ballot. The villains seem to have sprung from the pages of cheap graphic novels that make pulp fiction look like Shakespeare. All that’s missing is someone dropping an anvil on someone’s head — even odds that if that happens, Marjorie Taylor Greene will be involved in some fashion.

The Democrats continue to wonder why they can’t get their message out — even as they refuse to put their message out. Meanwhile, on the Republican side far too much oxygen is consumed by reporting on the frivolous lies of Donald J. Trump. Whatever he says, we print — and he never shuts up.

The Biden administration has the best intentions, along with some demonstrable results. But all Donald Trump has to do is lie about his weight during a criminal arraignment and we happily cover that instead of the facts. We fell for it again. Problem is, we keep spouting nonsense and people keep eagerly consuming it. It’s garbage in, garbage out — in an unending cycle of crap of which Trump is the master.

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Anderson Cooper, in a recent interview with the New York Times Magazine, discussed the challenges of covering Trump. He said there was a “steep learning curve in figuring out how to deal with a candidate who is completely willing to lie.”

With respect to Cooper, maybe that’s just his problem. He also said there was “only so much you can do about it from a reporting standpoint.” I would say he’s missing the point.

Reporting on Trump’s many criminal indictments warrants our time and dedication. But when we report on how much he claims to weigh, that takes up valuable airtime we could spend on the real crimes — or on better things. I submit that the only learning curve you need to overcome in covering Trump is the one that allows you to identify bullshit when you see it. On that, Cooper may be right — many of us just cannot do it.

Cooper also misses something else. In expressing concern about overly partisan content dominating the media, he adds, “It is easy to look at another time and think it was so much better.” He doesn’t believe in the good old days.

He’s right about that. There was no “golden age” of journalism. Newsrooms were different 50 years ago, and largely populated of white men. But they were also, for the most part, experienced white men. There were also a few experienced women and minorities, but their representation in the newsrooms of yesterday was extremely limited. Today our newsrooms are far more diverse, but we lack the experience that existed half a century ago.

That’s the real problem. So with respect to Anderson Cooper, who is the product of wealth and privilege, I’ll take him and other network reporters more seriously after they spend a few years covering local politics, the statehouse, school board meetings and high school sports.

We spend too much time covering the easiest and most cartoonish of stories, apparently because we don’t even understand that anything better exists. Editors, producers and managers who do know the difference prefer the clickbait that’s easier to digest and is nothing more than fast food for the brain.

Reporters got a rare chance to talk to Biden this weekend. They asked him about Burning Man.

As President Biden stepped out of church in Rehoboth Beach this week, he stopped and, in highly uncharacteristic fashion, took a moment to speak with the traveling press pool. With the war in Ukraine and mounting climate disasters around the world; with economic troubles, a potential impeachment inquiry and the prospect of a government shutdown, what did we ask the president?

“Have you heard the Burning Man news? Any reaction to that?” one reporter asked.

Another reporter asked whether Biden was “homeless” because his house in Delaware is being renovated. Seriously? Burning Man got flooded and the president is homeless even though he lives in . . . wait for it . . . the White House? Riveting stuff.

Biden is often criticized for not speaking to the press. I’m one of those who scream it the loudest. He doesn’t hold press conferences, he’s never visited the Brady Briefing Room and he doesn’t even do chopper-talk like his predecessor, who loved to hold court in a variety of venues. Biden has been an absentee president more than any other I’ve covered since Ronald Reagan — and Reagan was roundly criticized by the press for his refusal to interact with us.

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If the quality of our understanding of what’s really important is as obtuse as it seemed this past weekend, I can understand why Biden doesn’t want to engage with us. It’s hard to have a meaningful conversation, given the “Romper Room” mentality that predominates among the White House press corps.

Still, that’s no excuse. The Democrats moan about all the attention lavished on Trump, yet they never try to compete with his dominance of the news cycle. They don’t get it. We don’t get it. Donald Trump is still getting it and will continue to dominate the news — not just because of his indictments but because he’s a big fat guy who can’t even tell the truth about what it says on the bathroom scale.

Millions of people don’t believe Biden is a good choice for president, and it’s mostly because he doesn’t pound his message into the electorate at anywhere near the frequency that Trump does. Because of that lack of interaction, some people are convinced Biden is senile. If he doesn’t talk to us, the vacuum will be filled with something — and usually that will be misinformation.

Never mind that Biden is only three years older than Trump, is in far better physical shape and isn’t facing 91 felony charges. According to Trump, of course, Biden is a sleepy crime lord who should be in prison.

If Biden is indicted, I’ll cover it. If there’s any real evidence produced against him, I’ll report it. Otherwise, and even if that were to happen, he needs to get in front of the cameras more often.

In the meantime, can we quit falling for Donald Trump’s bullshit? He is indicted. In four different courts! He was impeached — twice! He is a continuing menace to democracy and decency. If you’re going to cover him as a reporter, you need to remember that — and get over the easy clickbait stories about nothing.

Those in my profession need to knuckle down and do real work. As the rebel commander told Luke Skywalker when he was attacking the Death Star, “Stay on target.”

The best way to do that, for everyone, will be to watch Trump’s live-streamed trial in Georgia, when and if that finally happens. It will be a showdown: reality vs. delusion. We can only hope reality wins.

This next year and a half will be the crucible in which the United States is either reborn or dies.

And seeing what Donald Trump and Joe Biden are really all about will be the key.

from Brian Karem on Biden, Trump and America

A common plant-based supplement was able to restore hearing in mice. Human ears could be next

While the term “high cholesterol” is usually associated with health problems, there is at least one way in which most people would prefer to have high cholesterol: In their inner ear, so that they will continue to have strong hearing as they get older. At least, that is the premise a recent study in the scientific journal PLOS Biology, whose authors found that plant-based substances called phytosterols — which look and act like cholesterol — improved the hearing in mice who had grown deaf while losing their inner ear cholesterol.

“Aging triggers cholesterol loss from sensory cells of the inner ear.”

The Argentinian scientists speculated that because hearing loss occurs as people get older and the outer hair cells (OHCs) in their inner ears lose their elasticity, there could be a connection between this tendency and the fact that the brain loses cholesterol with age. Similarly, they wanted to test whether a common over-the-counter drug could help treat this condition.

What’s so hard about making movies accessible?

To test their hypothesis, the scientists measured an enzyme called CYP46A1 in mice inner ear OHCs because its presence is inversely correlated to the presence of cholesterol. After determining that older mice had more CYP46A1 in their inner ears than younger mice, and therefore had less cholesterol, the researchers used an HIV drug called efavirenz to induce hearing loss in mice. This allowed them to test whether the presence of cholesterol was linked to hearing.

They discovered that when CYP46A1 was over-activated in younger mice, they suffered hearing loss. Yet when the researchers treated the mice with a plant-based cholesterol-like compound called phytosterols, the artificially deafened mice experienced improvement in their hearing.

“Our findings are very promising because they provide the first proof-of-principle supporting phytosterols supplementation as a possible approach for prevention or treatment of hearing loss,” the authors wrote, concluding, “our findings point towards the importance of cholesterol homeostasis in the inner ear as an innovative therapeutic strategy in preventing and/or delaying hearing loss.”.

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“Our findings point towards the importance of cholesterol homeostasis in the inner ear as an innovative therapeutic strategy in preventing and/or delaying hearing loss.”

Phytosterols, which can be easily purchased in many pharmacies and nutritional stores, are currently used to help treat cholesterol problems. They work by having a cell structure that looks and acts like cholesterol, and therefore competes with cholesterol in the digestive system. As a consequence of this competition, the body digests the phytosterols instead of the cholesterol and removes some of that cholesterol as waste. Phytosterols can thereby lower the unhealthy form of cholesterol known as low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL), which can clog the heart and arteries and thereby cause serious cardiovascular diseases.

That is not to say that phytosterols are without risk. If people have a genetic condition called sitosterolemia, cholesterol will build up in the body when consumed and so will phytosterols. There is also the possibility that taking too many phytosterols can lead to atherosclerosis, a disease in which the walls of arteries develop abnormalities or lesions. Pregnant people or children should also avoid them.

The recent study is also significant because, as the authors explain, “the role of cholesterol homeostasis in the physiopathology of the inner ear has not been studied.”

Of course, just because this treatment was promising in mice, that doesn’t always mean it will translate to humans. But it does give scientists a place to start and in general, phytosterols are well-tolerated supplements. It could one day lead to a treatment for age-related hearing loss.

That said, further research on the subject is necessary. As the authors point out in their paper, other scientists will need to replicate their studies on other strains of mice before doctors can feel comfortable testing this on human beings. In addition,”although our results show that in aged cochlear tissue there is a reduction in cholesterol content in sensory cells of the inner ear — assessed by filipin labeling — and that this reduction is correlated with an increase in the immunofluorescence of CYP46A1, it will be important to test alternative methods for CYP46A1 quantification in specific cell populations.”

about deafness

Not just Trump: The trial of Texas attorney general Ken Paxton shows MAGA loves crooks as leaders

When feeling defensive about their love for Donald Trump, it’s become common for MAGA Americans to pretend it’s about “his policies,” not his personality. This is, of course, a lie, and not just because none of them can produce an example of a Trump “policy” they like. Everything that decent people find repulsive about Trump — his criminality, his racism, his genital-grabbing misogyny — is what draws the MAGA base to him, like flies to garbage. We know this because his poll numbers with GOP voters rise with his number of felony indictments. We know this also because his primary opponents share his “policies,” yet none of them can compete with Trump’s villainous air. Even Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida has the energy of a henchman and not a wannabe gangster, and so is losing interest from the base.

Now there’s even more evidence that what really gets the MAGA juices going is a politician who is extravagantly evil: The impeachment and trial of Texas’s attorney general, Ken Paxton, a man so audaciously malignant that he might make Trump jealous.

Paxton’s unbridled corruption has been long understood by Texas Republicans, who have, until recently, not had a problem with it. He was indicted on securities fraud in 2015, on allegations that he recommended that investors purchase stocks without telling them he was getting a kickback. He’s employed Trumpian delay tactics to evade a trial date for 8 years. He routinely abuses his powers for political stunts, such as using false allegations of fraud to sue to invalidate President Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral win. He refuses to do the basic work of the attorney general, representing state agencies in court, likely because he can’t use it for fundraising and campaigning. He once got so aggressive trying to escape a subpoena that the process server described him dashing to a car and peeling away.

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Then there’s his relationship with Austin real estate investor and big-time GOP donor Nate Paul. Paul is under 8 felony indictments for fraud. He is reported to have responded by asking his buddy, Paxton, to retaliate with nuisance investigations of people he believes turned him in. Four whistleblowers who work for Paxton allege that Paul bribed the attorney general with free home renovations. I regret to inform readers there’s a sexual angle, as well: Paul reportedly helped Paxton carry on an extramarital affair by giving his mistress a job and footing the bills for phones and taxis to keep the relationship secret. Paxton responded to being outed by illegally firing the whistleblowers.

Everything that decent people find repulsive about Trump — his criminality, his racism, his genital-grabbing misogyny — is what draws the MAGA base to him, like flies to garbage.

None of this seems to have bothered the leadership of the Texas GOP until the whistleblowers won their lawsuit against Paxton’s office, which put the state on the hook for over $3 million. Some Republican state legislators started to worry it was politically unpalatable to use taxpayer money to finance Paxton’s bottomless corruption. By a vote of nearly 3-to-1, Texas House Republicans voted to impeach Paxton in May, and now he’s on trial in front of the GOP-controlled Senate.

But even though Paxton is being held to account by other Republicans, the MAGA machinery kicked into gear to paint him as an “innocent” Republican victim of Democratic witch hunts. Failed Republican Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake laughably claimed Texas is under control of an anti-conservative “Uniparty.”

GOP donor at center of Ken Paxton scandal charged with 8 felonies as prosecutors seek $172 million

I am praying for Texas AG @KenPaxtonTX today as the Texas Uniparty (Democrats and a bunch of spineless Republicans) try to impeach the duly elected and the most conservative AG in America.

— Kari Lake (@KariLake) September 5, 2023

Donald Trump claimed it’s a “RINO” attack on Paxton, even though over 70% of House Republicans voted to impeach. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Tex., last seen pretending Democrats want to ban beer, called the impeachment a “travesty.” Steve Bannon has been raving on his podcast that the trial is proof “the Bush junta has teamed with Democrats.” Donald Trump Jr. went full gaslighting mode, by claiming the floridly corrupt Paxton “will survive and will continue to combat the Swamp in Texas.”

Today marks another milestone in Ken Paxton’s career of fighting the Austin Swamp and Establishment. Ken will survive and will continue to combat the Swamp in Texas to put America First.

I’m looking forward to the upcoming 2024 primary season. RINO hunting season starts soon!!!

— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) September 5, 2023

This “rally ’round the bad guy” effect is showing up in polls. While 47% of Texans overall think Paxton should be removed from office, only 24% of Texas Republican voters agree. As Sergio Martínez-Beltrán of the Texas Newsroom reports, Republicans across the state are defending Paxton in language that is familiar to anyone who has heard similar excuse-making for Trump. “Is there, perhaps, some sinister plot behind getting rid of the attorney general?” John Myers, vice chair of the Collin County GOP, told Martínez-Beltrán.

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The question is rhetorical, but in truth, the answer is obvious: No, there is not a sinister plot. The evidence is overwhelming that Paxton took massive bribes, including assistance in adultery, to help a friend in criminal trouble and then retaliated against employees who spoke out about it. The man oozes corruption from every pore. He’s so bad that the Texas GOP felt he had crossed a line. That’s like finding a cannibal serial killer so gory he grosses out Jeffrey Dahmer.

It’s unlikely that Paxton’s supporters are unaware that the man is pure scum. As with Trump, they love Paxton because, not despite, his massive corruption. When people like Paxton or Trump break the law with impunity, it reinforces a core MAGA belief, captured famously in “Wilhoit’s law”: “Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition, to wit: There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect.” In MAGA’s view, conservative white men should get to break whatever law they want, if only to prove they can get away with behavior that would ruin anyone else. What is privilege, if you can’t flout it?

Paxton has only doubled down his commitment to showy shamelessness in light of his impeachment trial. As Martínez-Beltrán told Slate, he and his legal team have been loudly complaining he has supposedly not had “an opportunity to defend himself from these articles of impeachment.” But one of their first moves this week was to argue Paxton had no duty to testify in his impeachment trial, which the Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick agreed to. Instead of defending himself, as he claimed he dearly wished to do, Paxton has peaced out to get pricey massages at a local spa.

Senators have been at the Texas Capitol nearly all year and now they're captive to the Paxton impeachment trial. But where's Paxton?
Now there's a report he skipped out of his own trial to get a massage at the Omni Barton Creek resort https://t.co/DivE3WCvYq #txlege

— Scott Braddock (@scottbraddock) September 6, 2023

Ken Paxton makes a run for it: Fleeing a subpoena, the Texas AG epitomizes cowardice of GOP bullies

And, in true Trumpian style, he’s fundraising off this impeachment trial, with protest-too-much denials that he’s considering resignation.

Suspended AG Ken Paxton, in a fundraising message to supporters, doubles down on his statement over the weekend dismissing rumors that he will step down before his impeachment trial begins Tuesday.

“I will NEVER surrender,” he says. https://t.co/4EmAOW0pf3 #txlege https://t.co/4mXgySzqTe pic.twitter.com/oAKK5Eg9EG

— Taylor Goldenstein (@taygoldenstein) August 30, 2023

Just to make the whole thing weirder, Paxton’s allegedly cheated-upon wife, Angela Paxton, is a Texas senator. The rest of the state senate has decided she can’t be allowed a vote because, believe it or not, they believe she’s still prejudiced in his favor. After all, she played the role of the getaway driver when he fled the process server last year, so clearly she’s got a history of being a willing patsy for her husband’s shady behavior. After all, she also got some lovely free house renovations out of the whole deal.

Whatever Republicans who control the Texas senate decide to do, the whole debacle underscores what is apparently now a MAGA commandment: Being opposed to corruption in any way makes you a RINO. A true Republican not only accepts all bribe-taking and law-breaking. To be really MAGA, one should go out of his way to cheat the system as often as he can, just to show that he can. After all, the more flagrant the abuses, the more the base will love you.

about MAGA

Trump plans to become a dictator — denial will not save you

Donald Trump is a dictator in waiting. Like other dictators, he is threatening to put his “enemies” in prison – and to do even worse things to them. These are not idle threats or empty acts of ideation: Donald Trump is a violent man who is a proven enemy of democracy and freedom.

These threats of violence against his enemies are part of a much larger pattern of violent and dangerous behavior that is only growing worse as he faces criminal trials and the possibility of going to prison for hundreds of years.

In the most recent example, Donald Trump told Glenn Beck during an interview last week that he is going to put President Biden and other “enemies” in prison when he takes by the White House in 2025.

In a Sunday evening post on his Truth Social disinformation social media platform, Trump was even more explicit with his threats of violence and harm, threatening that he would treat Biden and the other “enemies” like they do in “banana republics”:

The Crooked Joe Biden Campaign has thrown so many Indictments and lawsuits against me that Republicans are already thinking about what we are going to do to Biden and the Communists when it’s our turn. They have started a whole new Banana Republic way of thinking about political campaigns. So cheap and dirty, but that’s where America is right now. Be careful what you wish for!

In “banana republics” the enemies of the leader and the regime are usually imprisoned, tortured, executed, and face death squads and mass executions. Trump himself has publicly expressed his admiration for murderous dictators and autocrats such as Vladimir Putin and N. Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.

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The corporate news media — with MSNBC being a notable exception — as is their policy, mostly ignored Trump’s most recent threats to kill and imprison President Joe Biden and the other “enemies” of the MAGA movement. Ignoring the danger will not make it disappear or otherwise go away; moreover, to ignore Trumpism and neofascism is to normalize them.

During an interview Saturday on MSNBC, Miles Taylor, who was a senior member of Trump’s administration and author of the New York Times’ “Anonymous” op-ed, warned that the ex-president’s desires to imprison his “enemies” are not new:

A number of folks who worked in the Trump administration with me and have since spoken out against the ex-president, we joke darkly about the fact that in a second term, a number of us will be in orange jumpsuits in Guantanamo Bay. I say that the comment is half facetious because Donald Trump actually did have a vision while I was in the administration to go use the terrorist prison at Guantanamo Bay to house political prisoners. And in that case what he wanted to do is use it to move people from the southern border to send a message and put them in the same place where people like Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks, sits behind bars, and send a message. The only reason Donald Trump didn’t start sending people to Gitmo is because he was convinced it would be too expensive, and the facility couldn’t house the number of people he wanted to send there. That was the mindset of the man when he was president of the United States. You have seen him since double down on his intention to again use the justice system for political purposes, and specifically admitting that he would do so to go after his enemies. I think that’s very chilling.

In a recent conversation here at Salon, Taylor also issued this warning:

If I were to bet on who is going to be the next president of the United States, I would put my money on Donald Trump. Obviously, that is the last thing I want to see happen. But if I had to make a bet today, despite the impeachments and the indictments, and the widespread opposition to him, I think he’s likely to be the next President of the United States. That should be a five-alarm fire for our democracy. Our democracy right now is at very grave risk of going through a period of destruction, and in many ways it already has. … As the saying goes, “Stalin was bad, but the little Stalins were a hell of a lot worse”. And that is what we would be seeing in a second Trump term. As bad as Donald Trump will be if he wins a second term, his lieutenants will likely be people who are even more evil than he is. That is going to be true of Trump’s successors too because they will be following his authoritarian playbook to win the MAGA base.

During a fake interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson two weeks ago, Trump engaged in obvious acts of mental projection and fantasy as he shared his fears of being assassinated by “the left’, the Democrats, the “deep state” and other imagined enemies.

The most foolish and dangerous example of wish-casting is the argument that “Trump can’t win anyway” or that he will be in prison or disqualified under the 14th Amendment.

These lies are part of a right-wing disinformation campaign in service to the Big Lie that Trump won the 2020 presidential election and that it was stolen from him by Biden and the Democrats. No evidence exists to support such claims.

The reality: Law enforcement and other experts have repeatedly warned (and documented) that the greatest threat to the country’s domestic safety is from right-wing extremism. One such right-wing terrorist, a neo-Nazi terrorist, murdered three black people at a Dollar General Store in Jacksonville, Florida two Saturdays ago.

The NRA’s toxic fuel: When racism and guns unite

The “enemies” that Trump and his next regime want to put in prison or worse, include not just President Biden, the Democratic Party’s leadership, and the members of law enforcement who are prosecuting Trump for his crimes, but all people who he and the Republican fascists and MAGA movement deem to be “the enemy” and “un-American”.

Here are some specific examples.

If you do not support Donald Trump and the Republican fascists and the MAGA movement (or are deemed insufficiently loyal) you will face prison or worse.

The American right-wing wing has been trained for decades by their news media and other political leaders and influentials to believe that Democrats, liberals, progressives, feminists, progressives and others who are not “real Americans” are to be eliminated and subjected to other genocidal violence.

If you are a black or brown person, a Muslim, Jewish, an atheist, not a White Christian, a members of the LGBTQI community, believe in women’s reproductive rights and freedoms, are deemed to be “Woke” or tainted by the “Critical Race Theory Mind Virus” or otherwise deemed to be the Other you will also be targeted by Trump’s next regime and movement.

Dictators and other authoritarians expand the category of “the enemy” in response to political necessity and the whims, grievances, and others mercurial needs and impulses of the leader(s). This dynamic is even more powerful in a political personality cult such as Trumpism.

Even more so in personality cult such as Trumpism. No American, not even Trump’s MAGA supporters and other Republican voters, will be safe from being put in prison or targeted for violence by the next Trump regime.

Trump and his advisers are actively creating the infrastructure for him to follow through on his plans to be a dictator when/if he retakes the White House in 2025. Trump’s Agenda 47 is a plan to radically remake the presidency and American government (and American society) in service to his neofascist vision that includes such goals as ending birthright citizenship, criminalizing migrants and refugees, putting homeless people in camps, instituting national stop and frisk laws, restricting freedom of the press, ending academic freedom at the country’s universities and colleges and other institutions of higher education, replacing quality public education that teaches critical thinking and the country’s real history with a form of fascist “patriotic” indoctrination, ending environmental regulations, more gangster capitalism and power for the richest Americans and corporations, reversing the progress of the civil rights movement and the Black Freedom Struggle, taking away the rights of gays and lesbians and other queer people, further restricting women’s civil and human rights, and ending US support for Ukraine.

Project 2025 is a strategy that has been developed by right-wing think tanks and interest groups such as the Heritage Foundation. The main focus of Project 2025 is to launch a blitzkrieg assault on the American government by ending career civil service and replacing it with Trump loyalists with the goal of eliminating any internal opposition to the Trump dictatorship. In essence, these Trump loyalists will place his vision above the Constitution and the rule of law.

Salon’s Areeba Shah explains more:

A network of conservative groups is gearing up for the potential reelection of Donald Trump, actively enlisting an “army” of Americans to come to Washington with a mission to disassemble the federal government and substitute it with a vision that aligns more closely with their own beliefs and ideas, according to The Associated Press.

Organized by the Heritage Foundation, the sweeping new initiative called Project 2025, offers a policy agenda, transition plan, a playbook for the first 180 days and a personnel database for the next GOP president to access from the very beginning to take control, reform, and eliminate what Republicans criticize as the “deep state” bureaucracy. Their plan includes the possibility of firing as many as 50,000 federal employees.

Democracy experts view Project 2025 as an authoritarian attempt to seize power by filling the federal government, including the Department of Justice and the FBI, with unwavering Trump supporters, which could potentially erode the country’s system of checks and balances.

“The irony of course is that in the name of ‘draining the swamp’, it creates opportunities to make the federal government actually quite corrupt and turn the country into a more authoritarian kind of government,” Matt Dallek, a professor at George Washington’s Graduate School of Political Management, who studies the American right, told Salon.

Those who remain in denial about the realities of Trump’s plans to become a dictator and the country’s worsening democracy crisis, would likely object to these warnings with foolish deflections such as Trump is just making “empty threats” and that he is “disorganized and not disciplined” and “the law would stop him” because “of American Exceptionalism” and “the institutions and the guardrails of democracy…”.

Such voices have learned little, which seven years later is a choice, from the Age of Trump, the horrors it unleashed, and the system’s failures that vomited it out.

By definition, fascists and other authoritarians such as Donald Trump and his fake populist MAGA movement do not care about the law or “institutions”. The cry “that’s illegal!” is one of the final things that many people in societies around the world have said when an authoritarian and their forces take power.

In addition, the last seven years have also highlighted how vulnerable and weak America’s governing social and political institutions are to neofascism and other forms of authoritarianism and illiberalism. A second Trump regime, and the Republican Party and “conservative movement” more generally, have gained great experience with exploiting these vulnerabilities and are now trying to fully explode them – from both inside and outside the country’s governing institutions.

The most foolish and dangerous example of wish-casting is the argument that “Trump can’t win anyway” or that he will be in prison or disqualified under the 14th Amendment. Trump is a symbol and leader of a movement. The decades-long neofascist campaign to end multiracial pluralistic democracy will continue without him and will likely become even more effective and dangerous if a committed and disciplined ideologue in the mold of Ron DeSantis were to become its leader.

Or perhaps those members of the news media, political class, and among the general public who want to ignore or downplay Trump’s escalating dictatorial threats would heed the warnings of former Republicans, the same people who helped to create the circumstances for Trump and the MAGA movement’s rise to power?

As a group those Never-Trumpers and other pro-democracy voices from the “conservative” movement are sounding the alarm, almost screaming, that Donald Trump means everything that he says about becoming a dictator for life and getting revenge on those people who dare(d) to oppose him. Those same people are also warning, repeatedly, that Trump’s chances of winning the 2024 Election are much higher than the mainstream news media and pundit class want to admit.

If Donald Trump was a private citizen and he was threatening his neighbors with violence and other harm, he would likely be put in jail or otherwise removed from society. But Donald Trump is not a regular person. He is a former president who commands the loyalty of tens of millions of people. When a person tells you who they are believe them. That wisdom and warning most certainly applies to Trump and his MAGAites and the other neofascists and members of the white right. Denial will not save you no matter how much you wish it would.

about Trump’s bizarre current predicament

Legal experts warn Trump’s threats could result in “mistrial”: Just one juror “can nullify the law”

Special counsel Jack Smith said in a court filing Tuesday that Donald Trump’s “daily extrajudicial statements” threaten to “prejudice” the jury pool in the criminal case, which charges the former president with attempting to overturn the outcomes of the 2020 presidential election.

The claim arose during a dispute between Smith’s office and the ex-president’s legal team over a sealed request that the government wants to file. The filings remain largely under seal, but prosecutors revealed that their motion describes Trump’s “daily extrajudicial statements,” Bloomberg reported.

Trump’s incendiary remarks about both Smith’s team and U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, have been a focal point since the indictment was lodged last month. Prosecutors have faced harassment and threats online with Chutkan even warning against inflammatory comments from Trump that could potentially intimidate witnesses or prejudice potential jurors.

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“Threats aimed at intimidating judges, prosecutors and witnesses, reduce the fairness and accuracy of the proceedings,” James Sample, a Hofstra University constitutional law professor, told Salon. “Preserving and protecting due process – a fair trial – is the most fundamental responsibility of a judge.”

Trump’s public statements to his “very motivated” supporters – many of whom have already “demonstrated a propensity for violence” – about the judges, prosecutors, and potential witnesses, implicate “fundamental fairness concerns,” Sample added.

While Chutkan did not impose any specific speech restrictions, she indicated the possibility of moving up the trial date from its current schedule on March 4 if Trump’s statements might compromise the integrity of the jury pool.

In the past, the former president has accused Chutkan of being “very biased & unfair” against him and claimed that she “obviously wants [him] behind bars” and referred to Smith’s ongoing investigations into him as “witch hunts.”

Trump’s latest remarks came Tuesday, when he mocked Chutkan on his Truth Social platform, sarcastically mentioning that “she will be very fair” in his case. In a separate post, he also attacked Smith, calling him “Deranged” and referring to his investigation as the “Fake” election interference case.

One MAGA juror can ruin it all

“Trump’s statements that portray his criminal cases as political plots to interfere with the 2024 election risk tainting the jury pool,” former U.S. Attorney Barb McQuade, a University of Michigan law professor, told Salon. “We have seen through his false claims of a stolen election his power to mislead members of the public. Just one juror who buys into Trump’s claims can nullify the law and hang the jury, resulting in a mistrial.”

Jury selection inevitably presents “unique challenges” in any case in which the defendant is a former president, Sample added. While it is “unrealistic” to expect jurors not to have preexisting opinions about the defendant, it “remains fundamental” that jurors decide cases based on the evidence presented in court, and not on unsupported claims made outside the court, he explained.

Jurors are not supposed to have strong feelings on a case that could impact their impartiality towards the evidence, pointed out Nina Marino, a partner with the white collar criminal defense firm Kaplan Marino.

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“If Trump is going to face accountability for past comments, it will be based on the totality of comments occurring on a daily basis in the media,” Marino said. “In terms of impact on the cases against him, the courts will need to weigh his First Amendment right to free speech against the danger of contaminating the jury pool and witness intimidation. Witness intimidation could be demonstrated if potential witnesses were to report that his comments put them in fear.”

When prosecutors on Tuesday tried to file court documents partially under seal and publish a redacted version on the public docket, Trump’s team argued that the filings should not be posted under seal until they have 14 days to respond.

But Smith’s team responded saying, “Such a requirement would grind litigation in this case to a halt, which is particularly infeasible given the pressing matters before the Court — including the defendant’s daily extrajudicial statements that threaten to prejudice the jury pool in this case, as described in the Government’s motion.”

Chutkan ordered both sides to file additional legal briefs next week on whether and how the underlying Smith submission should be posted on the docket.

“The judges in the four cases are being asked to perform unenviable high-wire acts, Sample said. “Each judge must balance numerous competing interests ranging from fundamental fairness concerns, to the safety of court officers and prosecutors, to the speech rights of a presidential candidate. The questions are unprecedented and difficult. The answers are, at best, ambiguous and unsatisfying.”

about Trump’s threats

Navy secretary slams Tuberville for “aiding and abetting communists” with military blockades

Three U.S. military branch leaders admonished Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., over his eight-month stoppage of senior military promotions, Politico reports, with one accusing the conservative senator of "aiding and abetting communists." Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro levied the critique during an Tuesday appearance on CNN alongside Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall and Army Secretary Christine Wormuth after the trio published an op-ed in The Washington Post calling for an end to the hold.

"For someone who was born in a communist country, I would have never imagined that actually one of our own senators would actually be aiding and abetting communists and other autocratic regimes around the world," Del Toro, a Cuban-born veteran, said, adding, "This is having a real negative impact and will continue to have a real negative impact on our combat readiness." According to the Pentagon, Tuberville's blockade has forced over 300 officers to extend their tours or be sent on temporary assignments as they await its end. It has also halted the promotion of junior officers, placing the status of more military members on hold and their families in a bind.

"Our potential adversaries are paying attention," Kendall told host Jake Tapper. "It is affecting how they view the United States and our military capabilities and support for the military. This needs to stop." Wormuth added, "It is just unprecedented to be attacking apolitical general officers and flag officers in this way. It is taking our apolitical military institution. That's a core principle of our constitutional democracy and eroding its foundation."

Despite facing critique from other Republicans, Tuberville has vowed to continue the blockade until the Pentagon reneges its policy reimbursing service members who travel to another state to receive abortion and other reproductive care. "The more Democrats attack Coach, the more he digs in," Tuberville told the Military Times in response to criticism from Rhode Island Sen. Jack Reed, R.I.

New Trump idea: He says he would “love to debate” Meghan Markle

Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he would “love to debate” Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex and wife to Prince Harry. During a radio interview, conservative talk-show host Hugh Hewitt asked Trump if he was interested in a sit-down with the duchess and her husband, to which the ex-president replied, “Let’s go do something. I’d love to debate her. I would love it.”

“I disagree so much with what they’re doing,” he continued, adding that he felt Markle and her husband had demonstrated “great disrespect” to the late Queen Elizabeth II. “I said that I don’t think they are very appropriate, what they’re saying, what they’re doing, and I didn’t like the way she dealt with the queen,” an apparent reference to the way the couple distanced themselves from the royal family in 2020. “I didn’t like the idea that they were getting U.S. security when they came over here,” Trump said.

When Hewitt added that he believed the duo didn’t “like” Trump, the former president disagreed, saying, “Well, I don’t know that they don’t like me. I think it’s not a good situation going on with the two of them, but I didn’t know that they don’t like me. Somebody mentioned it might be possible. They wouldn’t be the only ones.”

When fans mourn a celebrity breakup

A summer filled with celebrity divorces shouldn’t make this one any more shocking than the rest but it is. After seven years together and two kids, Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner are getting a divorce.

You may ask why we care. They’re both young, hot, and famous — it was only written in the textbook of celebrity relationships that this was going to end, the cynical skeptic would say. But the reaction and speculation surrounding this particularly popular relationship has shed light on something deeper than just tabloid fodder and online stan theories.

Jonas began his decades-long career as a child star in the millennial, Jesus-loving Disney-backed band of three brothers called the Jonas Brothers. The brothers broke out as the 2000s suburban girls’ favorite boy band. They would go on to star in their own television show and films before leaving Disney and hitting the mainstream.

Here’s why you’re taking the tragic Bennifer break-up so personally

Turner also survived similar child star heights relatively unscathed. The now 27-year-old starred in one of HBO’s most popular television shows “Game of Thrones” starting from when she was only 14. Playing one of the main leads, Sansa Stark, she essentially spent the next eight seasons growing up on camera for a global audience. In 2016 while “Game of Thrones” was still airing, Jonas slid into Turner’s Instagram DMs when she was 20 and he was 27, and thus a relationship was born. They were engaged a year later and eloped in Las Vegas in 2019.

Since then Turner has starred in Jonas Brothers’ “Sucker” music video alongside Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Danielle Jonas – the spouses of Nick and Kevin Jonas – calling themselves the “J-Sisters.”

The celebrity couple has projected an image to their joint fanbases that they are young, enjoy roasting each other, and most importantly, they’re in love. So in love that Turner was spotted at a Jonas Brothers concert three weeks ago and even posted about it on Instagram. Therefore nobody expected that on Tuesday, Jonas would be filing to divorce Turner after four years and two kids together. The court filing stated that “the marriage between the parties is irretrievably broken.”

The couple posted a joint statement on Wednesday: “After four wonderful years of marriage we have mutually decided to amicably end our marriage. There are many speculative narratives as to why but, truly this is a united decision and we sincerely hope that everyone can respect our wishes for privacy for us and our children.”

Whatever fantasy of love we were projecting onto the young Hollywood couple appears to have shattered as quickly and painfully as the end of their relationship. As painful as a time this must be for the couple, rabid stans on the internet and tabloids have fueled a specific narrative that the couple addressed in the statement. TMZ reports were speculating that Jonas was caring for their infant children all the time even as the Jonas Brothers tour across the country. Other whispers allegedly from Jonas’ camp said, “She likes to party. He likes to stay at home. They have very different lifestyles.”

If you put aside all the thinly veiled misogynistic speculation that Turner was an absentee mother who partied, you really can sharply deduce that all the speculation in the world could never really tell us what happened in the private breakdown of their relationship and marriage. That’s the crux of why we are always so confused when the couples we think are so madly in love break up. It shifts our reality and makes us question what about the image that they are showing us is real? Was it just an illusion?

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A portion of our parasocial relationships with celebrities exist because we yearn for their pristine images of wealth, perfection, endless opportunities and success. They exist as symbols for us to aspire to. But what we fail to recognize is the price that is paid to project such an image of perfection. They illustrate a magical, fictionalized unreal life. Through their Instagram photo dumps or quirky TikToks at home, we think we see an unfiltered reality of their lifestyles but even curated authenticity is still curated to an extent.

In a culture so dead set on performing it’s no wonder that Turner and Jonas’ relationship fell apart behind the scenes while they acted like they were still a stable unit in front of the world and cameras. There are so many factors that could have easily caused the steady decline in their celebrity relationship including the fact that they both have spent a large majority of their adolescence entrenched in the fame machine. Turner is seven years younger than Jonas and had two children before she turned 30. Their rigorous, exhausting schedules as an in-demand musician and actor could have also taken its toll. The circumstances are endless, and we just don’t have any of the answers.

At the end of the day, none of us really know Turner or Jonas even if we watched Sansa Stark turn into the indomitable Queen of the North or crushed on Jonas during our teen and adult years. Their relationship ending is a difficult reality for people to swallow. Even if you tweet “love is dead” — their relationship is still a part of a fantasy that we have to detach from as an audience member as we continue to watch their lives play out minute by minute on our screens.

about this topic

George Santos in talks with prosecutors about “possible paths forward” amid fraud case

Rep. George Santos, the embattled New York Republican who has been revealed as a serial fabricator and accused of numerous crimes, has reportedly begun talking to federal prosecutors about “possible paths forward,” signaling that a plea deal may be on the table in his fraud case. In a Tuesday filing, prosecutors in the Eastern District of New York wrote that they expected to make “another substantial production” of evidence against the first-term congressman this week, asking that a court conference originally scheduled for Thursday be delayed until Oct. 27. The letter also added that both parties “have continued to discuss possible paths forward in this matter,” and would need “additional time to continue those discussions,” according to the New York Times. Santos later that day shared a tweet that did not clarify matters, writing: “Word of the day: Speculation. Meaning: The forming of a theory or conjecture without firm evidence.”

Word of the day: Speculation

Meaning:

The forming of a theory or conjecture without firm evidence.

— Pants On Fire with George Santos (@MrSantosNY) September 5, 2023

Santos, who has pleaded not guilty on all charges, could face up to 20 years in prison on 13 felony counts, including seven counts of wire fraud, one count of theft of public funds, three counts of money laundering and two counts of making materially false statements to the House of Representatives. He has denied wrongdoing in the most serious criminal charges, although he has already admitted to making many misleading statements about his education, financial status and work history, as reported by CNN.

“The View”: Alyssa Farah Griffin thinks Biden at 80 might be too old to run for reelection

“The View” tackled the topic of ageism in politics after Republican presidential hopeful Nikki Haley slammed the Senate as the “most privileged nursing home in the country.” The remarks were made last week in the wake of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell appearing to freeze again during a new conference in his state of Kentucky. Haley also threw jabs at 90-year-old Senator Dianne Feinstein and 80-year-old President Joe Biden, who announced his reelection campaign back in April.

Biden’s age became a heated topic amongst Wednesday’s panel when host Alyssa Farah Griffin seemed to contradict her claim that older congressional lawmakers should be judged on their job performance rather than their number of years.

“Age is something we have to address in this country. It’s a factor with Joe Biden,” Farah Griffin said before citing a recent Wall Street Journal poll, in which 73% of respondents think Biden is too old to run for president again. Additionally, 60% of respondents said they do not believe Biden is “mentally up for the job.”

“You could continue to live a super-full life through your 90s, but I don’t necessarily think you should be the leader of the free world,” she added.

Joy Behar countered, stating that Fox News and other right-wing outlets “keep showing pictures of him tripping” to diminish his presidential capabilities.

“By the way, if you’re going to run as the oldest president, you need to have a vice president who’s seen as the most ready vice president to assume office day one,” Farah Griffin continued.

“Kamala is ready!” Sunny Hostin responded.

“Necessary to defend our republic”: Republicans sue to keep Trump off ballot in battleground state

Washington-based ethics watchdog Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics filed a lawsuit Wednesday on behalf of a small group of voters — including former elected Republican officeholders — aiming to keep former President Donald Trump off of Colorado's 2024 ballot.

Section 3 of the 14th Amendment bars someone from holding future office if, while they were in office, they took an oath to uphold the Constitution but later "engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or [gave] aid or comfort to the enemies thereof," unless a two-thirds vote of Congress grants them amnesty. The group's lawsuit hinges on this section, arguing that it applies to Trump because of his efforts to reverse his 2020 election loss and accusing the former president of inciting the mob that carried out the Capitol attack.

The lawsuit "is necessary to defend our republic both today and in the future," CREW President Noah Bookbinder told ABC News.

"In my decade of service in the House of Representatives, I certified multiple presidential elections and saw firsthand the importance of ethics, the rule of law and the peaceful transfer of power in our democracy," said former Republican member of Congress Claudine (Cmarada) Schneider. "This lawsuit is crucial to protecting and fortifying those fundamental democratic values, and I'm honored to be a part of it."

Trump's team quickly dismissed the suit with the GOP primary frontrunner denying all wrongdoing and dubbing the efforts "election interference." His campaign spokesman Steven Cheung in a statement called the suit an "absurd conspiracy theory and political attack" on Trump, and claimed its filers "are stretching the law beyond recognition."

Previous attempts to remove other Republicans from the ballot under section 3 have failed, but CREW successfully advocated last year to remove a New Mexico county official convicted of trespassing in connection to Jan. 6. A broader effort to keep Trump off the ballot under the 14th Amendment is underway as a write-in Republican presidential candidate has filed and docketed cases in multiple states.

“Without merit”: Judge smacks down Trump’s attempt to delay trial as Tish James seeks new sanctions

New York Attorney General Letitia James on Tuesday requested a civil judge order sanctions on Donald Trump and his attorneys on the grounds that they improperly cited previously rejected arguments when seeking the dismissal of the $250 million lawsuit, which alleges that the Trump Organization inflated the value of its assets to get favorable loan and insurance rates and skirt taxes.

According to The Washington Post, James’ office argued that lawyers for Trump and the other defendants made meritless arguments — that James doesn’t have the authority to bring the suit against the former president and his companies, that the public was not harmed by his business dealings, and that firms were informed that his figures were not verified — in legal documents at least five times in the case, including most recently in a pretrial summary judgment motion submitted a month ago. Those claims were rejected by New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron thrice last year and by an appellate court in June.

Engoron could impose hefty sanctions and fines against Trump, his sons and his company in the bench trial slated for Oct. 2. James had previously asked Engoron to sanction the former president’s legal team in January, arguing that their response to the suit hinged on a false denial of facts, but no sanctions were issued. A lawyer for the Trump family Tuesday night wrote a letter to the attorney general’s office demanding the withdrawal of the most recent sanctions request.

The defense also separately sought a delay in the start of the trial Tuesday. To that, the presiding judge responded in nine words: “Decline to sign; Defendants’ arguments are completely without merit.”

“Climate breakdown has begun,” U.N. official warns, as hottest summer ever shatters records

Summer 2023 has proved to be a literally historic season, at least as far as climate change is concerned. In a recent statement, United Nations (UN) Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned that the global climate is “breaking down,” adding that the past three months were the warmest ever recorded in human history. “Our planet has just endured a season of simmering — the hottest summer on record. Climate breakdown has begun,” Guterres declared, later employing a vivid metaphor: “The dog days of summer are not just barking, they are biting.”

Guterres was responding to a report by the World Meteorological Association which found that over the past three months Earth experienced the hottest temperatures ever recorded, including historic sea surface temperatures and a series of extreme weather events. August 2023 proved to be the second hottest month ever recorded, only surpassed by July 2023. Overall, the period of June through August 2023 the average global temperature was 16.77°C (62.19°F), constituting a significant increase of 0.66°C (33.19°F) above the normal average.

Global temperatures this summer were the highest on record, EU agency says pic.twitter.com/th7olvxqHs

— BNO News (@BNONews) September 6, 2023

Perhaps the most conspicuous detail of the Summer 2023 heatwave was the extreme weather that accompanied it, particularly wildfires. According to a July 2023 study in the scientific journal PNAS, the combination of heatwaves with other extreme weather events like droughts will increasingly harm ordinary people. “Compound drought and heatwaves severely threaten socio-ecological systems, leading to greater impacts — e.g., wildfires, crop failure, and heat-related mortalities,” co-author Dr. Ashok Mishra, a professor at Clemson University’s Department of Environmental Engineering and Earth’s Science, told Salon at the time.