Category Archives: News you should know

Commanders say Iran war operations risk weakening homeland defense and deterrence in Europe and Asia Senior U.S. military commanders have warned Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that prolonging large-scale military operations against Iran is becoming unsustainable and could leave the United States less capable of responding to threats elsewhere, including attacks on the homeland, according toContinue reading “Pentagon brass sends warning about America’s ability to confront threats”

The Trump administration is promoting a $17.5 billion figure as “suspected health care fraud,” even though the money represents the value of financial activity that banks reported as suspicious — not actually stolen from Medicare, Medicaid, or private insurers. The distinction is significant because a suspicious activity report is not a criminal charge, much lessContinue reading “Trump administration lies, citing $17.5 billion as health care fraud, but it’s not”

By James J. Devine Al Qaeda’s attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, killed nearly 3,000 people, destroyed the World Trade Center, damaged the Pentagon, and delivered an economic and psychological shock unlike anything the United States had experienced in generations. The attacks were an atrocity committed by terrorists, but most of the damage that resulted wasContinue reading “Osama bin Laden’s victory left the United States weakened, impoverished, and divided”

When President Donald Trump pledged a $5,000 payment to every American adult if Republicans retain control of Congress, he apparently violated a federal statute prohibiting expenditures to influence voting. Speaking Wednesday night at the Republican Party’s midterm convention, Trump told the crowd: “If the Republicans win, you win with us and you get $5,000. ItContinue reading “Trump accused of violating federal vote-buying statute with $5,000 pledge at GOP convention”

The Reflecting Pool—that shimmering, solemn mirror of Lincoln’s gaze—was turned into a $16 million taxpayer-funded cesspool. The Trump administration’s dishonest defense blames vandals. Ghosts in the night with buckets of algae and sandpaper. They actually arrested a hapless tourist, paraded him before cameras, and whispered, “See? It wasn’t us.” Meanwhile, the Justice Department had toContinue reading “The Reflecting Pool scandal is a mirror of the condition of America”

A new book published by Mehring Books delivers a sweeping indictment of American political life, arguing that the United States has fallen under the control of a corporate-financial oligarchy that has cast aside democratic forms of rule in pursuit of unprecedented wealth and global dominance. “Oligarchy: Trump and the Breakdown of American Democracy” details howContinue reading “New book exposes the grip of greedy parasites on American democracy”

Trump administration officials are facing sharp criticism for lying –or making what economists and government watchdogs politely describe as “misleading claims”– about the nation’s $40 trillion federal debt. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent recently claimed, “There’s nothing magic about the $40 trillion number, and we can grow our way out of that.” Bessent repeated the lieContinue reading “Team Trump caught lying about the national debt and economic growth”

by Nikita Biryukov, New Jersey Monitor Gov. Rebecca ‘Mikie’ Sherrill, in her first public comments since news broke that her administration is investigating Lt. Gov. Dale Caldwell over alleged inappropriate conduct, defended herself Tuesday amid GOP calls for her to oust Caldwell and provide the public with more information about the probe. In a statementContinue reading “Gov. Sherrill defends silence amid investigation of lieutenant governor”

Disaster exposes a global ‘reverse Robin Hood’ dynamic in which profits and wealth accumulate at the top while ordinary people bear an increasing share of the costs of a warming planet A catastrophic wall of water, ice and rock swept through Himalayan communities in Nepal this week, killing hundreds and offering a devastating illustration ofContinue reading “Deadly Nepal flood shows climate crisis’s costs fall hardest on those with the least”

A prominent educator and city council candidate is raising concerns about an $87 million school bond referendum set for a Sept. 15 vote, questioning whether the district’s recent financial control history and the proposed appointment of a business administrator with a troubled employment record should give taxpayers pause. Marie M. Dupont, MS.Ed., Ph.D., a RoselleContinue reading “Roselle educator questions school district business administrator’s troubled past”

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released a pair of reports painting a stark picture of the nation’s fiscal health, projecting that federal debt will reach unprecedented levels over the next decade. The agency attributes the unsustainable trajectory to the 2025 reconciliation act, which permanently extended tax cuts for the wealthy, and a chaotic tariff policyContinue reading “CBO projects soaring federal deficits and record debt, sounding fiscal alarm”

S&P 500 chief executives averaged $22.8 million in compensation — 312 times the typical worker’s pay — as organized labor points to a widening divide between corporate wealth and household finances Chief executives at America’s largest corporations received an average of $22.8 million in compensation last year, 312 times the pay of the median U.S.Continue reading “CEO pay soars as working-class wages lag further behind the cost of living”

By Kelsey Reichmann | Courthouse News Service WASHINGTON (CN) — As the country prepares to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, the Supreme Court has been asked to weigh in on the disposal of controversial plea agreements that could provide closure to the long-delayed death penalty trial. Khalid Shaikh Mohammad, the manContinue reading “Nearly 25 years after attacks, Supreme Court asked to bring closure to 9/11 case”

The Trump administration today announced sweeping sanctions against an Italian technology collective and several other organizations, accusing them of providing digital infrastructure and support to “violent far-left terrorist groups.” The move, which designates the Autistici/Inventati (A/I) Collective as a “Specially Designated Global Terrorist,” represents a significant escalation in the use of post-9/11 counterterrorism tools againstContinue reading “US sanctions Italian tech collective, in politically motivated crackdown on dissent”

Veterans with treatment-resistant depression will receive experimental doses of psilocybin at five VA hospitals, including Philadelphia, as researchers test a promising but still unapproved psychedelic treatment The Trump administration is moving ahead with an experiment that will give psychedelic drugs to veterans suffering from severe depression, putting some of the nation’s former service members atContinue reading “Trump directs VA to launch clinical trial for veterans treated with psychedelic drugs”

For tens of thousands of people incarcerated in the United States, punishment can mean spending 22 or more hours a day alone in a cell barely larger than a parking space, with little human contact, limited recreation, and few opportunities for education or rehabilitation. The practice is known by many names — solitary confinement, restrictiveContinue reading “Solitary confinement can leave lasting damage long after a prisoner leaves the cell”

With barely two months remaining before Americans decide control of Congress, the Trump administration is asking the Supreme Court for permission to conduct an extraordinary experiment with the nation’s ballots. The U.S. Postal Service exists to deliver the mail. It does not exist to decide which Americans are entitled to receive election ballots. That elementaryContinue reading “Trump’s postal power grab threatens the midterm election”

A former mayor’s impromptu visit to Roselle Borough Hall this week devolved into a public spectacle that critics say lays bare the toxic culture gripping the Union County borough under Business Administrator Denise Wilkerson. Christine Dansereau, who served as Roselle’s first female mayor from 2015 to 2020, said she was treated with open hostility andContinue reading “Ex-mayor treated like a ‘zoo animal’ during visit to Roselle Borough Hall”

Twelve children and two adults were taken to hospitals after a dump truck plowed into stopped traffic and triggered a five-vehicle chain-reaction crash involving an elementary school bus in Gloucester County, authorities said. All 14 people transported following Thursday’s crash in Monroe Township have either been released from area hospitals or remain in stable conditionContinue reading “12 children, two adults hospitalized after school bus, dump trucks collide in Gloucester County”