A Call to Arms

Apparently sitting down is a trans people thing now?

Why are transphobes so fucking weird.

President Donald Trump reportedly invited a German delegation to take various items from a room in the White House, saying they could be sold for "thousands of dollars."

In a piece published by The Wall Street Journal on Sunday, the paper described a previously unreported meeting of European heads of government back in January, after Trump reiterated his desire to acquire Greenland, the autonomous North Atlantic and Arctic Circle territory from Denmark.

Legendary pop singer Bonnie Tyler, best known for hits including “Total Eclipse of the Heart,” has died after weeks in the hospital, her family said Thursday. She was 75.

“Bonnie’s family and team are heartbroken to announce that Bonnie unexpectedly passed away last night in hospital in Portugal as a result of the illness that she was being treated for,” a statement said on her official social media accounts.

The raspy-voiced Welsh singer gained global popularity in the 1970s and 1980s for her power ballads including “Holding Out for a Hero” and “It’s a Heartache.”

[...] “Total Eclipse of the Heart,” came out in 1983 and made it to No. 1 on both the U.S. and U.K. charts. The bombastic ballad then became a karaoke anthem. It has had more than 1 billion streams, boosted by real eclipses in 2017 and 2024.

“I never get tired of singing it,” she once told BBC News. “I love it because everyone can’t wait to sing it.”

Jack Winstanley and Hanne MacDonald at MMFA:

As novel AI tools continue to emerge and massive data center construction projects generate local and national controversy, right-wing media are divided over the impacts of the technology and the infrastructure that supports it. Some right-wing figures have been critical of AI, arguing it poses an “existential threat” to civilization and that data centers “deserve the rap they’re getting.” Others have championed continued growth of AI and data center construction, claiming that “data centers are good for society, good for the economy” and downplaying concerns that people living near them “might have to put on some earmuffs” or “might have to move.” 

Trump administration takes steps to regulate AI as the technology comes under scrutiny

On June 2, President Donald Trump signed an executive order asking companies to provide the government with early access to new AI models before they launch to assess them for cybersecurity risks. The executive order came after the Department of Defense’s showdown with Anthropic, which has been blacklisted by the Pentagon over security concerns, and the release of the company's Mythos product, which was explicitly marketed to exploit cybersecurity vulnerabilities. [CNN, 6/2/26; White House, 6/2/26; Anthropic, 4/7/26]

Trump initially delayed signing the executive order, citing fears that it would impede U.S. competitiveness. The delay, which reportedly followed a call from former White House crypto and AI czar David Sacks, also coincided with splits within the administration over the extent to which the federal government should be stepping in to regulate AI models. Sacks reportedly advocated an anti-regulatory stance while Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was “pushing for greater barriers to Mythos-type models.” [NBC News, 5/21/26; Politico, 5/28/26; Bloomberg, 12/6/24]

On June 12, the Trump administration imposed export controls on Anthropic’s Fable and Mythos models, citing “national security authority.” Politico reports that the administration's move came after “tense calls” between Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and administration officials who could not come to an agreement on how to remedy the White House's concerns. [Politico, 6/13/26]

Data centers are facing widespread backlash across the country — including Shark Tank investor Kevin O’Leary’s formerly planned 40,000-acre data center project in Utah — with some localities even prohibiting their construction. The rapid growth of data centers has angered residents across Utah. A coalition of groups in New Jersey have petitioned the governor to pause all data center projects due to their impacts on residents and the environment. Denver’s city council approved a one-year moratorium on new data center projects following public pushback. And, backlash against data centers has also begun to emerge in the Make America Healthy Again coalition, with one MAHA media figure calling the continued construction of data centers “not compatible with the promise to Make America Healthy Again.” [Fortune, 5/11/26; Inside Climate News, 5/14/26; NewJersey.com, 5/17/26; Axios Denver, 5/18/26; Media Matters, 6/10/26]

Amid the growing data center backlash, right-wing media personalities have had mixed reactions, with some suggesting that China is behind the protests, while others have admitted that “a lot of the opposition is grassroots.” In one Fox Business appearance, O’Leary stated that “the Communist government of China is undermining the U.S. by fueling anti-AI data center protests.” Fox News later made on-air apologies for O'Leary's claim, noting there was “no evidence” and that Fox News “apologizes for the error.” [Media Matters, 6/10/26; Business Insider, 6/29/26]

Calls for regulation around AI have been brewing within the MAGA camp, with an open-letter signed by over 60 “loyal allies of President Trump,” including Steve Bannon, urging government security testing and approval of AI models. In the past year, several other open letters calling for limits or regulations on AI development were directed toward the administration. At least two were co-signed by Bannon, and at least one was signed by conservative media personality Glenn Beck. [Axios, 5/18/26; NBC News, 3/4/26; Time, 10/22/25]

By Thomas Frank

07/08/2026 12:53 PM EDT

President Donald Trump denied disaster aid to four Democratic-led states in a move that is raising new questions about whether he’s injecting political motivations into emergency management decisions.

Trump on Friday rejected $227 million in aid requests from New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Rhode Island for help recovering from a major snowstorm in February. Two days earlier, Trump approved Federal Emergency Management Agency disaster aid for six Republican-led states, while extolling the political virtues of GOP politicians and candidates in the states.

White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in a statement that “there is no politicization to the President’s decisions on disaster relief,” adding that Trump “provides a more thorough review of disaster declaration requests than any Administration has before him.”

Democrats immediately questioned Trump’s denials, arguing that they follow a pattern disclosed by POLITICO in March of Trump mostly rejecting disaster aid for Democratic-led states while approving it for states that are led by officials in his party.

“On the same day you approved major disaster declarations for several Republican-led states, you chose to leave Rhode Islanders out in the cold,” the state’s congressional delegation — comprising four Democrats — told Trump in a letter Monday. “It is unacceptable to politicize the disaster declaration process.”

New Jersey Sen. Andy Kim, another Democrat, put the onus on Trump to show the public that his disaster policies are untainted by politics.

No matter how injured. If a parent doesn't deem it necessary to see a doctor, it doesn't happen. Teachers can suggest a doctor visit, but unless it's a very acute injury (and even then), it's ultimately up to the parents.

You can be 13. Twisted, maybe broken ankle. You teacher lets you sit out in PE. She's concerned, and tells you to rest when you go home, and see a doctor. You get home, ur parents fill a bath and add some Epsom salts, and then laugh at you for using it moms old colorguard stick as a cane. Take some ibuprofen they say. It's just a little sprain, ur a kid.

You go to school the next day, go to ur office assistant time. Office calls ur mom to come get you, because you're clearly in too much pain for school. Your mom laughs when she gets you, says you just were so determined not to miss school. Scolds you for making the office ladies worry.

You never see a doctor for the injury.

Your parents come into the exam room at every visit. This does not stop with age, except for gynecologist. But your parents are on the medical release forms. They fill them out for you, with you. You do not get to take them off.

You never get to tell s doctor about the ankle. Even though it never quote healed right, and it hurts every day.

Then your 18. In college. Still on your parents insurance, and have no car. The on campus clinic only does std testing. You fall down some stairs. Same injury. You call your parents, crying from the pain. You are using a mop as a cane. They console you and say to have a bath, take some meds, and let them know how it feels in a few days. You end up borrowing your roommates rolling chair to get around for the weekend.

By Monday, you can walk again. You walk miles to class every day. You ask to see a doctor, but your parents won't drive the hour to come take you, and you don't have the insurance card. You are still at their mercy for medical care. The ankle tries to heal again. This time worse than before. The tendons click with every step.

Now you're in your twenties. Finally have your own healthcare. You see a doctor. You get to mention the ankle! They say it's been too long to really even know what was damaged. That you have arthritis now. It healed wrong but it can no longer be fixed.