https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BkevErwd-o
Monday, March 31, 2025
Weekly Roundup: War Plans Group Chat Goes Viral (Bradley Onishi and Daniel Miller; Straight White American Jesus podcast)
This episode of ‘Straight White American Jesus’ explores recent major political scandals, specifically the SignalGate scandal involving members of the Trump administration inadvertently adding journalist Jeffrey Goldberg to a Signal chat containing sensitive military information.
Brad and Dan analyze the implications of this incident on national security, foreign policy, and Trump’s leadership. They also discuss how this reflects broader issues of competence and loyalty within the administration.
Additionally, they draw connections between this scandal and themes of Christian masculinity and governance models. The episode concludes with updates on related deportation scandals and reflections on sources of hope amidst current events.
Interview:
Brad and Dan analyze the implications of this incident on national security, foreign policy, and Trump’s leadership. They also discuss how this reflects broader issues of competence and loyalty within the administration.
Additionally, they draw connections between this scandal and themes of Christian masculinity and governance models. The episode concludes with updates on related deportation scandals and reflections on sources of hope amidst current events.
Interview:
Take it to the High Side (Andrew McCabe and Allison Gill; Unjustified podcast)
At least 18 Trump administration officials used an unsecured Signal chat to discuss real-time attacks on Houthi militants in Yemen earlier this month as investigative journalist for The Atlantic Jeffrey Goldberg was inadvertently added to the group.
The Department of Justice is drastically changing their policy of prosecuting crimes in the United States prior to deportation.
The FBI has cut staffing in an office focused on domestic terrorism and has scrapped a tool used to track such investigations. This shift could undermine law enforcement’s ability to counter white supremacists and anti-government extremists.
Alina Habba was sworn in Friday as the interim U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey.
Plus listener questions.
Interview:
The Department of Justice is drastically changing their policy of prosecuting crimes in the United States prior to deportation.
The FBI has cut staffing in an office focused on domestic terrorism and has scrapped a tool used to track such investigations. This shift could undermine law enforcement’s ability to counter white supremacists and anti-government extremists.
Alina Habba was sworn in Friday as the interim U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey.
Plus listener questions.
Interview:
Jessica Yellin on Our Anxiety Producing News Cycle (Al Franken podcast)
A potentially catastrophic breach of security within The White House has set off alarm bells for both Republicans and Democrats in D.C. Independent journalist Jessica Yellin joins us to discuss SignalGate. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz are both under fire after The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg was added to a group chat that contained top secret war plans (or was it just attack plans?). Will anyone get fired for this?
Plus, we talk about the Trump administration’s lawlessness when it comes to deportations. What happens when a President blatantly defies a court order?
And Jessica shares why she left mainstream news and the importance of independent, online journalism, like her platform – News Not Noise.
Subscribe to Jessica’s Substack: https://newsnotnoisejessicayellin.substack.com/
Follow Jessica on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jessicayellin
Interview:
Plus, we talk about the Trump administration’s lawlessness when it comes to deportations. What happens when a President blatantly defies a court order?
And Jessica shares why she left mainstream news and the importance of independent, online journalism, like her platform – News Not Noise.
Subscribe to Jessica’s Substack: https://newsnotnoisejessicayellin.substack.com/
Follow Jessica on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jessicayellin
Interview:
Josh Cowen: How Billionaires Created a Culture War and Sold School Vouchers | FFRF Convention 2024 - YouTube
Josh Cowen speaks out against school voucher programs, warning that they undermine public education and exacerbate inequality. He explains that vouchers were initially framed as "school choice" but have become a tool for advancing Christian nationalism and defunding public schools. Cowen argues that vouchers benefit private, often religious, schools at the expense of vulnerable students, and he advocates for investing in public education to ensure better outcomes for all students.
Josh Cowen, a professor of education policy at Michigan State University, is the author of the new book, "The Privateers: How Billionaires Created a Culture War and Sold School Vouchers." His popular writing on education politics, school choice and culture wars has appeared in daily newspapers, "The Hechinger Report," "The New Republic" and more.
The CDC Buried a Measles Forecast That Stressed the Need for Vaccinations — ProPublica
Leaders at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ordered staff this week not to release their experts' assessment that found the risk of catching measles is high in areas near outbreaks where vaccination rates are lagging, according to internal records reviewed by ProPublica.
In an aborted plan to roll out the news, the agency would have emphasized the importance of vaccinating people against the highly contagious and potentially deadly disease that has spread to 19 states, the records show…
https://www.propublica.org/article/measles-vaccine-rfk-cdc-report
Trump seeks takeover of elections in a bid for more presidential power - The Washington Post
"It is to reduce turnout by people he thinks won't vote for him," the analyst said...
Trump grants clemency to Ozy Media co-founder convicted of fraud
In Watson's case, federal prosecutors for the eastern district of New York pursued the ex-cable news commentator for allegedly deceiving investors and lenders of his Ozy Media startup by inflating earnings figures from 2018 to 2021. They also said Watson lied about having completed business deals that either did not exist or were not finalized...
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/29/trump-clemency-ozy-media-co-founder-carlos-watson
Most employees at US Institute of Peace mass-fired via late-night email
Most employees at the US Institute of Peace, a congressionally created and funded thinktank now taken over by Elon Musk's unofficial "department of government efficiency", received email notices of their mass firing late Friday, the latest step in the Trump administration's government downsizing...
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/29/us-institute-of-peace-mass-firings
The Consequences of the Signal Breach - The Atlantic
"Had that information fallen into the hands of a U.S. adversary that had been in the group, or had [Goldberg] been a less scrupulous journalist and tweeted it, that information would then be known to the Houthis, who would be able to prepare defenses and a counterattack that absolutely would jeopardize the lives of U.S. forces," Harris continued…
https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2025/03/signal-breach-washington-week/682240/
Trump is using his executive order targeting the Smithsonian to rewrite history
…Trump, in his executive order expresses disappointment that the show "promotes the view that race is not a biological reality but a social construct."…
The s-word — stagflation — rippling through Wall Street and Main Street
Economic growth has flatlined so far this year. Inflation has picked up. And consumers expect both to get worse in the months ahead.
https://www.axios.com/2025/03/30/stagflation-economy-inflation-growth
Is It Fascism? (Conspirituality Brief podcast)
Derek and Julian discuss Robert Paxton's 2004 book, The Anatomy of Fascism, in light of 2025 America.
Interview:
Sunday, March 30, 2025
The News Roundup – Domestic and International (The 1A) 2025-03-28
Domestic
This week the Atlantic published messages shared between national security officials on a Signal group chat laying out plans for U.S airstrikes in Yemen. It appears that National Security Advisor Mike Waltz added The Atlantic Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg to the message thread.President Trump is threatening to suspend security clearances and access to federal buildings of lawyers he does not like. His targets consist of firms that have represented his political opponents, or who work with those who have helped prosecute the president in the past.
A federal judge blocked the Department of Government Efficiency from accessing sensitive information and private data of people working at the Department of Education, The Department of the Treasury, and the Office of Personnel Management.
Interview:
International
Israel continues its military campaign in Gaza after breaking the ceasefire agreement with Hamas earlier this month. The Israeli military has ordered the evacuation of the several areas in the Strip, displacing more than 100,000 people.The world is reacting to news that U.S. officials planned an attack in Yemen in a group chat on the Signal app. European leaders have been cautious in their comments on the scandal.
And five lions rescued from the frontlines of the war in Ukraine have now been resettled in England by the Wild Animals Rescue Center.
Interview:
New Jersey police chief accused of defecating on floor to harass co-workers
"Chief Farley has, on several occasions, pulled his pants down and defecated on the floor in front of his entire office staff."
Guzman added: "He has also left feces on the bathroom floor, apparently with the intent of having someone unknowingly step on it."…
"Chief Farley chases me around his office," Derrin wrote. "After cornering me in the filing area with no further room for retreat, he sticks a hypodermic needle through my jeans into the tip of my penis."…
"The chief would shave his body hair on people's property, their persons, and their food," adding: "He was also fond of scraping fluids from his underwear on to people seated in the chief's office."
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/27/new-jersey-police-chief-harrassment
The Privateers (Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor, Freethought Radio podcast)
After a roundup of state/church news around the country, we celebrate the birthday of Eric Idle, 82, (who calls himself an “old agnostic”) by listening to his irreverent song, “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life,” from the movie “Monty Python’s Life of Brian.”
Then, professor and author Josh Cowen tells us about his book The Privateers: How Billionaires Created a Culture War and Sold School Vouchers.
Interview:
Paula White’s Pay-To-Pray Scam (Hemant Mehta and Jessica Bluemke, The Friendly Atheist podast #576)
— Paula White’s pay-to-pray scam: Trump’s faith advisor wants your cash. (0:32)
— Columbus school district bans candy bribes used to lure kids to Bible classes. (15:00)
— Catholic college faces backlash for inviting former Irish president Mary McAleese to speak at graduation. (24:33)
— South Dakota governor gives employees time off to “celebrate the resurrection” of Jesus. (39:55)
— The global religious exodus: Why people are switching—and ditching—faith. (44:15)
— Utah law now allows religious franchise owners to remain closed on Sundays. (1:00:25)
Interview:
— Columbus school district bans candy bribes used to lure kids to Bible classes. (15:00)
— Catholic college faces backlash for inviting former Irish president Mary McAleese to speak at graduation. (24:33)
— South Dakota governor gives employees time off to “celebrate the resurrection” of Jesus. (39:55)
— The global religious exodus: Why people are switching—and ditching—faith. (44:15)
— Utah law now allows religious franchise owners to remain closed on Sundays. (1:00:25)
Interview:
Israel admits firing at ambulances in Gaza after Palestinians say rescuers missing in Rafah
Body of team leader found almost a week after six rescuers went missing, Gaza's civil defence agency says…
Top US vaccine official resigns over RFK Jr’s ‘misinformation and lies’
"It has become clear that truth and transparency are not desired by the secretary, but rather he wishes subservient confirmation of his misinformation and lies," Marks wrote in a resignation letter, referring to Kennedy.
He also issued a stark warning, according to media outlets who obtained the letter, saying: "Undermining confidence in well-established vaccines that have met the high standards for quality, safety and effectiveness that have been in place for decades at FDA is irresponsible, detrimental to public health and a clear danger to our nation's health, safety and security."…
Alarm as Florida Republicans move to fill deported workers’ jobs with children: ‘It’s insane, right?’
The answer, according to Florida lawmakers, is the state's schoolchildren, who as young as 14 could soon be allowed to work overnight shifts without a break – even on school nights.…
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/29/florida-republicans-immigrant-jobs-child-labor
Saturday, March 29, 2025
Donna Shalala criticizes Trump administration's HHS cuts
Former Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Donna Shalala criticized the Trump administration's efforts to cut back the department she once led, calling it an insult that puts Americans' health at risk.
In an op-ed for Stat News published Thursday, Shalala said the administration was "insulting a generation of patriotic federal workers, proposing a silly new bureaucracy, and appointing people who are anti-science and anti-government with no management or leadership experience."…
https://thehill.com/homenews/5219799-trump-hhs-cuts-donna-shalala/
I was an independent observer in the Greenpeace trial. What I saw was shocking
Greenpeace lost – not because it did something wrong but because it was denied a fair trial…
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/mar/28/greenpeace-verdict-pipeline-north-dakota
The US government is effectively kidnapping people for opposing genocide | Moira Donegan | The Guardian
Rumeysa Ozturk, a visa holder, was snatched off the streets by Ice agents and sent to a detention center 1,000 miles away for opposing war crimes in Gaza…
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/mar/28/rumeysa-ozturk-tufts-trump-immigration-gaza
Trump offers a problematic defense of his latest controversial pardon
…pardons are available to perceived political allies with whom Trump sympathizes…
Republicans divided on Trump's court order defiance - The Washington Post
Many right-leaning defenses of the deportations rationalize that these are bad people who aren't entitled to due process because they are migrants. But without due process, it's difficult to ascertain whether they are actually as bad as the administration suggests. That leaves open the possibility that the wrong people were targeted...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/03/28/gop-trump-poll-authoritarian-actions/
Supreme Court upholds federal regulation banning 'ghost guns' : NPR
The court says ghost guns, which are virtually untraceable weapons that require assembly, are considered "firearms" and subject to ATF regulation...
https://www.npr.org/2025/03/26/nx-s1-5341404/supreme-court-ghost-guns
Friday, March 28, 2025
Oil execs slam "uncertainty" in Trump trade policies
"'Drill, baby, drill' is nothing short of a myth and populist rallying cry. Tariff policy is impossible for us to predict and doesn't have a clear goal," said one exec who was quoted anonymously.
"Uncertainty around tariffs and trade policy continues to negatively impact our business, both for mid- to long-term planning and near-term costs," …
https://www.axios.com/2025/03/27/oil-trump-trade-policies-fed-survey
The real problem with the Signal chat leak is it shows systemic dishonesty
The leak exposes a system of broken accountability, where high-ranking officials can spill military secrets with apparent near-total immunity. Despite potential violations of classification protocols, federal record-keeping laws and promises of operational security, the leaders look to face no meaningful legal consequences...
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/27/signal-chat-leak-pete-hegseth
Mental health and addiction funding on the federal chopping block : NPR
"DOGE is now actively cutting funding aimed at reducing overdose deaths by clawing back money from states," wrote Regina LaBelle, an expert on drug policy at Georgetown University who served in the Biden administration in a post on social media. "With overdose deaths still exceeding 80,000 annually, is DOGE declaring victory?"…
"Senselessly ripping away this funding Congress provided will undermine our state's ability to protect families from infectious diseases like measles and bird flu and to help people get the mental health care and substance use treatment they need," said U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, a Democrat from Washington state, in a statement….
https://www.npr.org/2025/03/27/nx-s1-5342368/addiction-trump-mental-health-funding
Top Senate Republican Susan Collins challenges Trump over emergency funding move
"Just as the President does not have a line-item veto, he does not have the ability to pick and choose which emergency spending to designate. This interpretation is consistent with congressional intent and is the most logical and consistent reading of the law," they wrote...
https://thehill.com/business/budget/5217825-susan-collins-trump-emergency-funding/
Posts Make Unsupported Claims About Origin of Texas Measles Outbreak - FactCheck.org
No Evidence the Measles Vaccine Ever Transmits Virus…
Donald Trump says NPR, PBS should be defunded 'immediately'
A new Pew Research Center study out this week found a plurality of Americans say the federal government should continue to fund public broadcasters. The same survey found 32 percent of Democrats regularly get news from NPR, compared with 9 percent of Republicans...
https://thehill.com/homenews/media/5217113-donald-trump-npr-pbs-defund/
Trump administration at ‘war’ with mRNA technology: scientists alarmed vaccine skeptics could kill research
Public health experts are sounding the alarm over recent move by the NIH to collect information about funding for research into mRNA technology…
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/27/trump-vaccine-skeptics-research-funding
Disbanded anti-kleptocracy group had entangled Trump allies - The Washington Post
Left unmentioned in the memo was that the team's investigations had entangled three prominent allies of President Donald Trump who had done business with an accused kleptocrat or a close associate...
Document details federal worker layoff plans across government agencies - The Washington Post
"This fits with the narrative that these are administrative people, support people, bureaucrats," said Andrew Huddleston, communications director for the American Federation of Government Employees, the union that represents the largest number of federal workers. "But those people are the ones helping veterans get appointments and their paperwork in on time."…
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/03/27/federal-worker-layoffs-government-agencies/
Federal workers ordered back to office find chaos and shortages : NPR
As agencies scramble to comply with President Trump's Jan. 20 order terminating remote work, employees say the process has been marked by confusion, changing guidance and frustrating conditions...
https://www.npr.org/2025/03/26/nx-s1-5338945/federal-workers-return-to-office-chaos
Why Trump’s 25% tariffs on autos could backfire | Steven Greenhouse | The Guardian
When CEOs are feeling so uncertain due to Trump's volatility, capriciousness and antics – as well has him changing his mind every few days on trade policy – that Trump-induced sense of instability means auto executives are unlikely to do what Trump wants: to rush to invest a billion or two to build a new auto plant…
The Canadian Chamber of Commerce warned that Trump's auto tariffs could backfire badly. In a statement, the chamber said: "Throwing away tens of thousands of jobs on both sides of the border will mean giving up North America's auto leadership role, instead encouraging companies to build and hire anywhere else but here. This tax hike puts plants and workers at risk for generations, if not forever."
Extreme heat in Texas prisons without AC is unconstitutional, judge says - The Washington Post
Judge Robert Pitman ruled in favor of prisoners' rights advocates but stopped short of ordering the state to install air conditioners immediately...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/03/27/texas-prison-heat-unconstitutional/
US could see return of acid rain due to Trump’s rollbacks, says scientist who discovered it | Pollution | The Guardian
A blitzkrieg launched by Trump's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on clean air and water regulations could revert the US to a time when cities were routinely shrouded in smog and even help usher back acid rain, according to Gene Likens, whose experiments helped identify acidic rainwater in the 1960s…
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/mar/27/acid-rain-trump-epa
Social Security Changes Could Make It Harder to Claim Benefits - Business Insider
"There has been zero communication on this since that press release," they said. They said a coworker was currently fielding phone calls from beneficiaries about the new change, with nearly every call related to recipients asking if they needed to come into a field office.
"People are calling and we have no more info than that press release," they said. "We look like idiots."…
Thursday, March 27, 2025
How to protect your phone and data privacy at the US border | US immigration | The Guardian
With reports of people being turned away at airports over messages found on devices, here's what to do to minimize risks…
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/mar/26/phone-search-privacy-us-border-immigration
Marjorie Taylor Greene battles NPR and PBS leaders in House hearing - The Washington Post
"If shame [were] still a thing, this hearing would be shameful," Lynch said...
US war plans leak shows Five Eyes allies must ‘look out for ourselves’, says Mark Carney
Signal blunder likely to put strain on Five Eyes as it weighs how Trump administration handles classified information…
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/25/trump-signal-leak-reaction-canada-five-eyes
Iowa law banning books including 1984 and Ulysses blocked by US federal judge | Books | The Guardian
Judge rules that law banning school libraries and classrooms from carrying books depicting sex acts had been applied unconstitutionally…
A closer look at who relies on Medicaid | PBS News
Medicaid pays for around 2 in every 5 births in the country. The program accounts for about 20 percent of both hospital funding and total health care spending nationwide, according to KFF. That organization's analyses of hundreds of studies conducted since 2014 largely found that Medicaid expansion helped cut hospital costs associated with uninsured patients. Many studies also found that Medicaid expansion helped with overall hospital funding and resulted in fewer hospital closures, though KFF notes that may vary.
And Medicaid – not Medicare – is the single largest payer of long-term care coverage, including nursing home care.
Here are some of the ways Medicaid is crucial for so many Americans' health care...
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/a-closer-look-at-who-relies-on-medicaid
GOP lawmakers petition U.S. Supreme Court to hear case against Michigan election laws • Michigan Advance
Michigan voters have the right to petition and to vote to amend the state constitution, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said in a statement in response to the Republican lawmakers' request to the U.S. Supreme Court. And even if the nation's highest court were to take on the case, Benson said she would be ready to defend those rights.
"Michigan voters have a right to enact laws that reflect their values, and politicians have a duty to stand by the will of the voters. The idea that the time, place and manner of federal elections law-making is beyond the right of voters to self-determine is anti-democratic, and already multiple courts have reaffirmed this under law," Benson said...
Trump Administration Trying To Get Rid Of ACA Protection For Trans People | HuffPost Latest News
The Trump administration has quietly proposed a rule that would remove requirements that insurance providers must cover gender-affirming care as essential care on health insurance plans created by the Affordable Care Act. The practical effect would be that fewer plans would cover such care, while some states would have to shoulder the financial burden...
Appeals court upholds temporary block on Alien Enemies Act deportations - The Washington Post
In upholding Boasberg's order Wednesday, the appellate panel stressed the temporary nature of the ban, which the judge imposed to prevent deportations until he could hear arguments on their legality...
How Trump has helped Putin’s Russia with policy changes - The Washington Post
Under Trump, Putin is no longer seen as an unpredictable adversary bent on ending U.S. global hegemony, but a smart, gracious and likable friend, who, according to Witkoff, would not take any more Ukrainian territory or attack Europe in future...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/03/26/russia-washington-cyber-yale-policy-changes/
Federal judge blocks Texas A&M ban on drag shows - The Washington Post
Blocking the show "because it offends some members of the campus community is precisely what the First Amendment prohibits," U.S. District Judge Lee Rosenthal wrote Monday in a ruling that temporarily lifted the university system's ban...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/03/26/texas-university-drag-show/
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