Nature, Published online: 15 May 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-01500-6When LLMs are grouped together, they exhibit similar characteristics to human societies.

Nuggets interim coach David Adelman earned praise across the board for his performance during these playoffs and is considered a strong candidate to take over on a permanent basis.

Young and the New York Knicks have engaged in a rivalry since the 2021 NBA postseason.

In his first season with Florida, forward Brad Marchand became the first player in NHL history to defeat the same opponent in at least five winner-take-all games, as his Panthers crushed the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-1 in Game 7 of the second round on Sunday.

The WNBA is looking into allegations of "hateful fan comments" directed at Angel Reese after an incident involving Caitlin Clark and Reese in Saturday's Sky-Fever game.

Liberty beat No. 1 Texas A&M 6-5 on Sunday night to win the Bryan-College Station Regional and eliminate the top-seeded Aggies.

by Jake Pearson ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as theyre published. One of Elon Musks employees is earning between $100,001 and $1 million annually as a political adviser to his billionaire boss while simultaneously helping to dismantle the federal agency that regulates two of Musks biggest companies, according to court records and a financial disclosure report obtained by ProPublica. Ethics experts said Christopher Youngs dual role working for a Musk company as well as the Department of Government Efficiency likely violates federal conflict-of-interest regulations. Musk has publicly called for the elimination of the agency, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, arguing that it is duplicative. Government ethics rules bar employees from doing anything that would cause a reasonable person to question their impartiality and are designed to prevent even the appearance of using public office for private gain. Court records show Young, who works for a Musk company called Europa 100 LLC, was involved in the Trump administrations efforts to unwind the consumer agencys operations and fire most of its staff in early February.Youngs arrangement raises questions of where his loyalty lies, experts said. The dynamic is especially concerning, they said, given that the CFPB which regulates companies that provide financial services has jurisdiction over Musks electric car company, Tesla, which makes auto loans, and his social media site, X, which announced in January that it was partnering with Visa on mobile payments.The worlds richest man has in turn made no secret of his desire to do away with the bureau, posting just weeks after Donald Trumps election victory, Delete CFPB. There are too many duplicative regulatory agencies. Musk clearly has a conflict of interest and should recuse, said Claire Finkelstein, who directs the Center for Ethics and the Rule of Law at the University of Pennsylvania. And therefore an employee of his, who is answerable to him on the personal side, outside of government, and who stands to keep his job only if he supports Musks personal interests, should not be working for DOGE. Young, a 36-year-old Republican consultant, has been active in political circles for years, most recently serving as the campaign treasurer of Musks political action committee, helping the tech titan spend more than a quarter billion dollars to help elect Trump. Before joining Musks payroll, he worked as a vice president for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the trade association representing the pharmaceutical industrys interests, his disclosure shows. He also worked as a field organizer for the Republican National Committee and for former Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, the New York Times reported. Young was appointed a special governmental employee in the U.S. Office of Personnel Management on Jan. 30 and dispatched to work in the CFPB in early February, according to court records and his disclosure form. Someone with his position could be making as much as $190,000 a year in government salary, documents obtained by Bloomberg show. At the same time, Young collects a salary as an employee of Musks Texas-based Europa 100 LLC, where, according to his disclosure report, his duties are to advise political and public policy.Beyond that description, its not clear what, exactly, Young does at Europa 100 or what the companys activities are.It was created in July 2020 by Jared Birchall, a former banker who runs Musks family office, Excession LLC, according to state records. The company has been used to pay nannies to at least some of Musks children, according to a 2023 tabloid report, and, along with two other Musk entities, to facilitate tens of millions of dollars in campaign transactions, campaign finance reports show.As a special government employee, Young can maintain outside employment while serving for a limited amount of time. But such government workers are still required to abide by laws and rules governing conflicts of interest and personal and business relationships.Cynthia Brown, the senior ethics counsel at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, which has sued the administration to produce a range of public records documenting DOGEs activities, said that Youngs government work appears to benefit his private sector employer.Which hat are you wearing while youre serving the American people? Are you doing it for the interests of your outside job? she asked.In addition to his role at Europa 100, Young reported other ties to Musks private businesses. He affirmed in his disclosure form that he will continue to participate in a defined contribution plan sponsored by Excession, the Musk home office, and that he has served since February as a vice president of United States of America Inc., another Musk entity organized by Birchall, where he also advises on political and public policy, the records show. While he lists the latter among sources of compensation exceeding $5,000 in a year, the exact figure is not disclosed.Young did not return a call and emails seeking comment. The CFPB, DOGE and the White House did not respond to requests for comment. Musk didnt respond to an email seeking comment, and Birchall didnt return a call left at a number he lists in public formation records. A lawyer who helped form United States of America Inc. hung up when reached for comment and hasnt responded to a subsequent message. Asked about how his business interests and government work may intersect, Musk said in a February interview that, Ill recuse myself if it is a conflict.The revelation of Youngs apparent violation of federal standards of conduct follows a series of ProPublica stories documenting how another DOGE aide helped carry out the administrations attempts to implement mass layoffs at the CFPB while holding as much as $715,000 in stock that bureau employees are prohibited from owning actions one expert called a pretty clear-cut violation of the federal criminal conflict-of-interest statute. The White House has defended the aide, saying he did not even manage the layoffs, making this entire narrative an outright lie. A spokesperson also said the aide had until May 8 to divest, though it isnt clear whether he did and the White House hasnt answered questions about that. These allegations are another attempt to diminish DOGEs critical mission, the White House said. Following ProPublicas reporting, the aides work at the CFPB ended. On Monday, a group of 10 good government and consumer advocacy groups, citing ProPublicas coverage, sent a letter to the acting inspector general of the CFPB, asking him to swiftly investigate these clear conflicts of interest violations of Trump Administration officials acting in their own personal financial interest. ProPublica has identified nearly 90 officials assigned to DOGE, though its unclear how many, if any, have potential conflicts. Government agencies have been slow to release financial disclosure forms. But Finkelstein said the cases reported by ProPublica call into question the motivation behind DOGEs efforts to undo the consumer watchdog agency.It matters because it means that the officials who work for the government, who are supposed to be dedicated to the interests of the American people, are not necessarily focused on the good of the country but instead may be focused on the good of themselves, self enrichment, or trying to please their boss by focusing on enriching their bosses and growing their portfolios, she said.Unionized CFPB workers have sued the CFPBs acting director, Russell Vought, to stop his attempts to drastically scale down the bureaus staff and its operations. Since taking office, the Trump administration has twice attempted to fire nearly all of the agencys employees, tried canceling nearly all of its contracts and instituted stop-work mandates that have stifled virtually all agency work, including investigations into companies, ProPublica previously reported. The parties will appear before an appeals court this Friday for oral arguments in a case that will determine just how deeply Vought can cut the agency while still ensuring that it carries out dozens of mandates Congress tasked it with when lawmakers established the bureau in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. The court records produced in the litigation offer a window into the role Young played in gutting the CFPB during the administrations first attempt to unwind the bureau beginning in early February. He was dispatched to the CFPBs headquarters on Feb. 6, just two days after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, then the agencys acting director, told the staff and contractors to stop working. The following day, Young and other DOGE aides were given access to nonclassified CFPB systems, court records show. That same day, Musk posted CFPB RIP with a gravestone emoji. On Feb. 11 and 12, Young was included on emails with top agency officials. One of those messages discussed the cancellation of more than 100 contracts, an act that a contracting officer described in a sworn affidavit as including all contracts related to enforcement, supervision, external affairs, and consumer response. Another message involved how to transfer to the Treasury Department some of the more than $3 billion in civil penalties that the bureau has collected from companies to settle consumer protection cases, a move that could deny harmed consumers compensation. A third discussed the terms of an agreement that would allow for the mass layoff of staffers, court records show.In his financial disclosure form, which he signed on Feb. 15, Young listed his employment by Musks Europa 100 as active, beginning in August 2024 through the present. Then, in early March, as the legal fight over the administrations cuts played out before a federal judge, Young sent the CFPBs chief operating officer a message about forthcoming firings, known as a reduction in force, or RIF, in government parlance. In the email, he asked whether officials were prepared to implement the RIF if the judge lifted a temporary stay, according to a March district court opinion that has for the moment stopped most of the administrations proposed cuts. In addition to his employment, Youngs disclosure presents another potential conflict.He also lists owning as much as $15,000 in Amazon stock, a company that is on the bureaus Prohibited Holdings list. Agency employees are forbidden from having such investments, and ethics experts have said that participating in an agency action that could boost the stocks value such as stripping the CFPB of its staff constitutes a violation of the criminal conflict-of-interest statute. Young hasnt responded to questions about that either. Al Shaw contributed reporting and Alex Mierjeski contributed research.

by Lomi Kriel, ProPublica and The Texas Tribune, and Mica Rosenberg, ProPublica This article is co-published with The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan local newsroom that informs and engages with Texans. Sign up for The Brief Weekly to get up to speed on their essential coverage of Texas issues. It started with a call. A man identifying himself as a federal immigration agent contacted a Venezuelan father in San Antonio, interrogating him about his teenage son. The agent said officials planned to visit the familys apartment to assess the boys living conditions. Later that day, federal agents descended on his complex and covered the doors peephole with black tape, the father recalled. Agents repeatedly yelled the fathers and sons names, demanded they open the door and waited hours before leaving, according to the family. Terrified, the father, 37, texted an immigration attorney, who warned that the visit could be a pretext for deportation. The agents returned the next two days, causing the father such alarm that he skipped work at a mechanic shop. His son stayed home from school. Department of Homeland Security agents have carried out dozens of such visits across the country in recent months as part of a systematic search for children who arrived at the U.S.-Mexico border by themselves, and the sponsors who care for them while they pursue their immigration cases. The Office of Refugee Resettlement, which is responsible for the childrens care and for screening their sponsors, has assisted in the checks.The agencys welfare mission appears to be undergoing a stark transformation as President Donald Trump seeks to ramp up deportation numbers in his second term, a dozen current and former government officials told ProPublica and The Texas Tribune. They say that one of the clearest indications of that shift is the scale of the checks that immigration agents are conducting using information provided by the resettlement agency to target sponsors and children for deportation. Trump officials maintain that the administration is ensuring children are not abused or trafficked. But current and former agency employees, immigration lawyers and child advocates say the resettlement agency is drifting from its humanitarian mandate. Just last week, the Trump administration fired the agencys ombudsman, who had been hired by Democratic President Joe Bidens administration to act as its first watchdog.Congress set up a system to protect migrant children, in part by giving them to an agency that isnt part of immigration enforcement, said Scott Shuchart, a former official with Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement during Trumps first term and later under Biden. The Trump administration, Shuchart said, is trying to use that protective arrangement as a bludgeon to hurt the kids and the adults who are willing to step forward to take care of them.Republicans have called out ORR in the past, pointing to instances of children working in dangerous jobs as examples of the agencys lax oversight. Lawyers, advocates and agency officials say cases of abuse are rare and should be rooted out. They argue that the administrations recent changes are immigration enforcement tools that could make children and their sponsors more susceptible to harmful living and working conditions because they fear deportation. Project 2025, a right-wing blueprint to reshape the federal government, called for moving the resettlement agency under the Department of Homeland Security, which includes ICE, arguing that keeping the agencies separate has led to more unaccompanied minors entering the country illegally. Although Trump publicly distanced himself from the overall plan during his reelection campaign, many of his actions have aligned with its proposals. During Trumps first term, he required ORR to share some information about the children and their sponsors, who are usually relatives. That led to the arrests of at least 170 sponsors in the country illegally and spurred pushback from lawmakers and advocates who said the agency shouldnt be used to aid deportation. Immediately after starting his second term in January, Trump issued an executive order calling for more information sharing between the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the resettlement agency, and Homeland Security. Now, current and former employees of the resettlement agency say that some immigration enforcement officials have been given unfettered access to its databases, which contain sensitive and detailed case information.Data sharing for the sole purpose of immigration enforcement imperils the privacy and security of children and their sponsors, Sen. Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, wrote in a February letter to the Trump administration. In a March response to Wyden, Andrew Gradison, an acting assistant secretary at HHS, said the resettlement agency is complying with the presidents executive order and sharing information with other federal agencies to ensure immigrant children are safe. Wyden told the news organizations that he plans to continue pressing for answers. On Tuesday, he sent another letter to the administration, stating that he is increasingly concerned that ORR is sharing private information beyond the scope of what is allowed and exposing already vulnerable children to further risks. Two advocacy groups filed a federal lawsuit last week in Washington, arguing that the Trump administration unlawfully reversed key provisions of a 2024 Biden rule. Those provisions had barred ORR from using immigration status to deny sponsors the ability to care for children. They also had previously prohibited the agency from sharing sponsor information for the purpose of immigration enforcement. Undoing the provisions has led to the prolonged detention of children because sponsors are afraid or cant claim them because they are unable to meet requirements, the lawsuit alleges. The government has not responded to the lawsuit in court.In conjunction with those changes, Trump tapped an ICE official to lead ORR for the first time. That official was fired two months into her job because she failed to implement the administrations changes fast enough, her successor for the position, Angie Salazar, an ICE veteran, said in a March 6 recording obtained by ProPublica and the Tribune. Some of these policy changes took too long. Three weeks is too long, Salazar told staff without providing specifics. Salazar said that she would ramp up an effort to check on immigrant children and strengthen screenings of their sponsors. She told staff that, in nearly two weeks, ICE investigators had visited 1,500 residences of unaccompanied minors. Agents had uncovered a handful of instances of what she said were cases of sex and labor trafficking. Salazar did not provide details but said identifying even one case of abuse is significant. Those are my marching orders, Salazar told staffers. While I will never do something outside the law for anybody or anything, and while we are operating within the law, we will expect all of you to do so and be supportive of that.Salazar said she expected an increase in the number of children taken from their sponsors and placed back into federal custody, which in the past has been rare. Boxes packed with clothing and household goods in the Venezuelan familys San Antonio home. The family started keeping many of their belongings boxed up and ready to ship out of fear of deportation. (Chris Lee for ProPublica and The Texas Tribune) Since Salazar took charge, ORR has instituted a raft of strict vetting rules for sponsors of immigrant children that the agency argues are needed to ensure sponsors are properly screened. Those include no longer accepting foreign passports or IDs as forms of identification unless people have legal authorization to be in the U.S. The resettlement agency also expanded DNA checks of relatives and increased income requirements, including making sponsors submit recent pay stubs or tax returns. (The IRS recently announced that it would share tax information with ICE to facilitate deportations.) ORR said in a statement that it could not respond to ongoing litigation and did not answer detailed questions about Salazars comments or about the reasoning for some of the new requirements. Its policies are intended to ensure safe placement of unaccompanied minors, and the agency is not a law enforcement or immigration enforcement entity, the statement read. Andrew Nixon, an HHS spokesperson, also declined to comment on pending lawsuits. But he criticized how the agency within his department was run under Biden, saying it failed to protect unaccompanied children after they were released to sponsors while turning a blind eye to serious risks. Jen Smyers, a former ORR deputy director, disputed those claims, saying the Biden administration made strides to address longstanding concerns that included creating a unit to combat sponsor fraud and improving data systems to better track kids. Tricia McLaughlin, a DHS assistant secretary, did not respond to detailed questions but said in a statement that her agency shares the goal of ensuring that unaccompanied minors are safe. She did not answer questions about the Venezuelan family in San Antonio. She also declined to provide the number of homes the agents have visited across the country or say whether they found cases of abuse or detained anyone for the purpose of deportation. An April email obtained by ProPublica and the Tribune shows for the first time the scale of the operation in the Houston area alone, which over the past decade has resettled the largest number of unaccompanied immigrant children in the country. In the email, an ICE official informed the Harris County Sheriffs Office that the agency planned to visit more than 3,600 addresses associated with such minors. The sheriffs office did not assist in the checks, a spokesperson said. An internal ICE memo obtained last month through a Freedom of Information Act request by the National Immigration Project, a Washington-based advocacy group, instructed agents to find unaccompanied children and their sponsors. The document laid out a series of factors that federal agents should prioritize when seeking out children, including those who have not attended court hearings, may have gang ties or have pending deportation orders. The memo detailed crimes, such as smuggling, for which sponsors could be charged. In the case of the San Antonio family, the father has temporary protected status, a U.S. permit for certain people facing danger at home that allows him to live and work here legally. The news organizations could not find a criminal record for him in the U.S. His son is still awaiting an immigration court hearing since crossing the U.S.-Mexico border alone a year ago. The father stated in his U.S. asylum application that he left Venezuela after receiving death threats for protesting against President Nicols Maduros government. The father, who declined to be identified because he fears ICE enforcement, said in an interview that his son later fled for the same reason.Meanwhile, the avenues for families, like that of the Venezuelan man and his son, to raise concerns about ORRs conduct are shrinking. The Trump administration reduced staff at the agencys ombudsmans office. Mary Giovagnoli, who led the office, was terminated last week. An HHS official said the agency does not comment on personnel matters, but in a letter to Giovagnoli, the agency stated that her employment does not advance the public interest. Giovagnoli said the cuts curtail the offices ability to act as a watchdog to ensure the resettlement agency is meeting its congressionally established mission. Theres no effective oversight, she said. There is this encroachment on ORRs independence, and I think this close relationship with ICE makes everyone afraid that theres going to come a point in time where you dont know where one agency stops and the next begins. Doris Burke contributed research.

by Margaret Coker, The Current This article was produced for ProPublicas Local Reporting Network in partnership with The Current. Sign up for Dispatches to get stories like this one as soon as they are published. Last summer, as political debate swirled over the future of Georgias experiment with Medicaid work requirements, Gov. Brian Kemp held a press conference to unveil a three-minute testimonial video featuring a mechanic who works on classic cars.Luke Seaborn, a 54-year-old from rural Jefferson, became the de facto face of Georgia Pathways to Coverage, Kemps insurance program for impoverished Georgians. In a soft Southern drawl, Seaborn explained how having insurance had improved his life in the year that he had been enrolled: Pathways is a great program that offers health insurance to low-income professionals like myself.Kemp lauds Pathways as an innovative way to decrease the states high rate of uninsured adults while reining in government spending, holding the program up as an example to other Republican-led states eager to institute Medicaid work requirements. But in the nine months since Seaborns video testimonial was released, his opinion of Pathways has plummeted. His benefits have been canceled twice, he said, due to bureaucratic red tape. I used to think of Pathways as a blessing, Seaborn recently told The Current and ProPublica. Now, Im done with it. Rather than an enduring symbol of success, Seaborns experience illustrates why the program struggles to gain traction even as the state spends millions of dollars to burnish Pathways brand. The Current and ProPublica previously reported that many of the approximately 250,000 low-income adults potentially eligible for the health insurance program struggle to enroll or maintain coverage. The politics of Pathways were not on Seaborns mind when he received a phone call last summer from an insurance executive who handles Pathways clients. One of the first Georgians to enroll in the program in 2023, Seaborn had written a letter thanking his insurance provider for covering a procedure for his back pain. The executive from Amerigroup Community Care wanted to know: Would he take part in a promotional video for Pathways? Seaborn, a supporter of the governor, said yes without hesitation. Soon afterward, Kemps press secretary, Garrison Douglas, arrived at his auto repair shop, located a few miles from the governors hometown, and spent hours filming in the garage filled with vintage Ford and Chevy trucks and handpainted gas station signs. A trained chemical engineer, Seaborn had quit his corporate job to embrace his dream of repairing classic cars. But the realities of being a small business owner made that path difficult, Seaborn said, especially when it came to shouldering the cost of health insurance for himself and his son. Pathways eased the way, he said.Seaborn said he was surprised when the governor called him out by name weeks later at the press conference during which his testimonial video was released. He wasnt expecting to be the singular face of Pathways. By November, though, Seaborn encountered some of the problems that other Georgians say have soured their opinion on Pathways. Seaborn said he had logged his work hours into the online system once a month as required. But his benefits were canceled after he failed to complete a new form that he said the state had added without adequate warning. Seaborn said the form asked for the same information he had been submitting every month, just in a different format. The states Medicaid agency did not respond to questions about Seaborns experience or the new form. He said he called the same insurance executive who had asked him to take part in the testimonial. She told him she would be lunching with one of Kemps aides that day and promised to help, he recalled. Within 24 hours, Seaborn said, his benefits were restored, and a representative from Georgias Division of Family and Children Services, which administers federal benefits programs, called to apologize.Douglas said the governors office had no involvement in Mr. Seaborns case. The insurance company did not respond to requests for comment. Pathways enrollees must submit paperwork every month proving they had completed the requirements necessary for coverage: 80 hours of work, study or volunteering. But the state says it is not verifying the information on a monthly basis only during enrollment and upon annual renewal. Seaborn said that after his coverage was restored, his insurance company told him he would no longer have to file his work hours monthly; the next time he would need to submit such documentation would be during his annual reenrollment. Nevertheless, Seaborn said he signed up for text and email notifications from the Pathways program so that he wouldnt be caught off guard if requirements changed again. Even so, technical glitches and more red tape caused him to lose his coverage once more, he said. He stopped receiving texts from the Pathways program in February. When he logged in to the digital platform in early March to make sure everything was in order, a notice informed him that his benefits would be terminated on April 1. The reason: he had missed filing an annual income statement. He said the surprise requirement had popped up on the digital platform even though his coverage was not up for renewal. My head exploded, he said. I didnt get a text or an email. I did what I was supposed to, but that wasnt good enough.Seaborn said he went ahead and filed the information, although it was late. He tried to call his insurance provider again for an explanation and help. He reached out to the Division of Family and Children Services as well. This time, however, he said no one called him back. In April, Seaborn paid out of pocket for his and his sons prescription medications, an extra $40 that he said is difficult for him to afford. Ellen Brown, a spokesperson for Georgias Division of Family and Children Services, would not say why Seaborns benefits were terminated. We are sorry to hear this happened and are looking into how we can better serve our customers and resolve communication gaps in the future, Brown said in a written statement Friday. Every Georgian that seeks our services is important, and we take these matters very seriously. Meanwhile, Seaborn received a phone call that day from the same Division of Family and Children Services representative who had apologized to him after he was kicked off Pathways last fall. He said she told him she would make sure he got his coverage back. The representative did not respond to a request for comment from The Current and ProPublica.On Monday evening, Seaborn received a text message to alert him to a notification in the Pathways digital platform. He logged on: A notice confirmed that he had been reenrolled, a change of fortune that he credited to The Current and ProPublicas questions to state officials about his predicament because he had already given up on contacting people for help.I am so frustrated with this whole journey, Seaborn said. Im grateful for coverage. But what I dont understand is them leaving me like a mushroom in the dark and feeding me nothing, no information, for more than a month.

by Margaret Coker, The Current This article was produced for ProPublicas Local Reporting Network in partnership with The Current. Sign up for Dispatches to get stories like this one as soon as they are published. When the state of Georgia handed Deloitte Consulting a $10.7 million marketing contract last July to promote the nations only Medicaid work requirement program, the initiative was in need of serious PR. At the time, a year after the programs rollout, less than 2% of those eligible for Georgia Pathways to Coverage had enrolled, well short of state targets. To get the word out, the state turned again to the firm that it had relied on to build and manage the program. About 60% of the marketing contract went toward creating and placing ads about Pathways on television and radio, including during NFL games and morning talk shows. Much of the remainder of the seven-month contract would go toward two efforts: $250,000 per month for Deloitte-trained teams to hand out brochures and Pathways-branded merchandise at community events and $300,000 a month for Deloitte to produce reports about its own performance. When Deloittes publicity campaign ended in February, enrollment in Pathways remained less than 3% of the approximately 250,000 Georgians who are potentially eligible. The marketing contract is part of a larger suite of services that Georgia has commissioned from Deloitte for its Medicaid experiment. Deloitte has made at least $51 million as of Dec. 31 to manage Pathways, including creating and maintaining its problematic software platform, as The Current and ProPublica previously reported. It is also earning at least $3 million more to oversee the states relationship with federal regulators, including its application to extend the experiment beyond its expiration this fall. Deloittes outsize and unusual role in promoting the program it has built has allowed the firm to keep pulling in payments despite Pathways struggles. And there is virtually no public accounting of how well it is increasing enrollment, a key goal of the policy experiment. An excerpt of Deloittes marketing contract shows its $300,000 per month expenditure on reports on its own performance, $250,000 per month for community outreach and $10.7 million total budget. (Obtained by The Current and ProPublica. Highlighted by ProPublica.) The marketing contract, obtained through a public records request, allows Deloitte to charge the state nearly half a million dollars for a final report on its publicity campaign, which was due to be submitted in February. When The Current and ProPublica requested the monthly and final performance reports, the state said they needed to be reviewed first and demanded $900 for that work. The news outlets did not pay because previous responses to public records requests for Deloittes Pathways contracts were heavily redacted, with the general counsels office at the Department of Community Health citing confidential/trade secret. The agency did not charge for those records.The state recently approved another $10 million to Deloitte, Fiona Roberts, spokesperson for the Department of Community Health, Georgias Medicaid agency that oversees Pathways, said in response to questions about the effectiveness of Deloittes marketing efforts. The new marketing contract, which runs until November, includes more community meetings and a text message campaign by Salesforce Marketing Cloud rolling out in May to potentially eligible Georgians, Roberts said. In 20 years of researching these kinds of programs, I cant think of another instance like this in which a state has selected a for-profit company to both manage and market a federal benefit program, said Joan Alker, executive director for Georgetown Universitys McCourt School of Public Policy Center for Children and Families, where researchers have concluded that Medicaid work requirements prevent people from accessing health insurance. Deloitte has designed and managed Medicaid and other benefit programs for many states, including Georgia, making the firm one of the nations experts in government health policy. But Alker said that when states want to educate and enroll residents in federal safety net programs, they typically select local nonprofits that have established relationships with low-income communities. Georgias arrangement with Deloitte raises questions, she said, about whether the state is more committed to spending money on consultants or poor people.Deloitte, which has been in charge of the Pathways communications strategy for the past three years, declined to answer questions about its Georgia Pathways work, referring requests for information to the Department of Community Health. A contract signed in 2023 worth approximately $7 million stipulates that Deloitte would develop first draft of response to media inquiries on behalf of the Department of Community Health, but that responses will be submitted by DCH and not Deloitte. Deloittes duties also include drafting talking points for media interviews, including for the governor.Roberts declined repeated requests for an interview with agency officials. When asked about Deloittes marketing and outreach work and whether the firm has met the states goals, she described the effort as a robust, comprehensive awareness and outreach campaign throughout the state that has generated 1.6 million visitors to the Pathways website since the campaigns August 2024 launch. The state has invested heavily in marketing and outreach to reach Georgians potentially eligible for Pathways, Roberts said in a written statement. In 20 years of researching these kinds of programs, I cant think of another instance like this. Joan Alker, executive director for Georgetown Universitys McCourt School of Public Policy Center for Children and Families Gov. Brian Kemp has described Pathways as an innovative alternative to expanding Medicaid, something 40 other states have done. By contrast, Georgias program covers only the poorest individuals who can prove they are working, studying or volunteering at least 80 hours a month. Congressional Republicans are pointing to similar work requirements as a model in their budget negotiations. In early 2024, less than a year after Pathways launch, however, Georgia legislators including some of Kemps Republican allies considered ending the experiment and instead expanding Medicaid without any work requirements. Georgias uninsured rate was 11.4%, or 1.2 million people, compared to the national average of 8% in 2023, the latest data available, according to KFF, a nonprofit focused on national health issues. State data showed that Pathways enrollment was well under the first-year target of 25,000 published in Georgias agreement with the federal government. As of April 25, approximately 7,400 Georgians were enrolled, according to the Department of Community Health. An independent evaluation team commissioned by the state recommended ways to boost enrollment in a December 2024 report. The evaluators, Public Consulting Group, highlighted North Carolinas strategy of allowing residents from rural communities and communities of color to help create outreach campaigns for its expanded Medicaid program in 2023. North Carolina Medicaid officials told The Current and ProPublica that they designed their outreach efforts to maximize participation in the new program, with a two-year target of enrolling 600,000 people. They achieved that goal within one year. Georgia and Deloitte, however, took a different tack. The $10.7 million marketing contract does not lay out specific enrollment goals as a way of measuring the success of Deloittes efforts. The purpose of Pathways is not and has never been to enroll as many Georgians as possible, according to the states application to the federal government to continue the experiment. The contract budgeted $247,000 to create up to four testimonial videos featuring satisfied Pathways clients; only one can be found on the state Medicaid agencys YouTube channel, where it has received approximately 350 views since it was posted in January. The state did not respond when asked how many testimonials Deloitte produced. Few people stopped by the Georgia Pathways booth at the Washington County Health Fair in Sandersville, Georgia, in March. (Nicole Craine for ProPublica) Meanwhile, another part of Deloittes marketing strategy has also failed to catch wind: Deloitte had sent public relations teams to dozens of community events including farmers markets, a school Christmas pageant and a catfish festival to plug Pathways and encourage applications.In March, one such team drove two hours from Atlanta to a health fair in Central Georgias rural Washington County. At the Pathways booth, the Deloitte team barely looked up from their phones for three hours. Residents largely bypassed the team to chat with locals staffing other kiosks where they could receive diapers, information on subsidized in-home nursing care and blood pressure screenings. Of those who stopped at the Pathways booth, only a handful asked about enrollment.Other public events were tied to the states pursuit of federal permission to extend the Pathways program beyond September, when its original five-year mandate expires. Georgia is once again paying Deloitte to ensure that happens.The monthslong process, managed by Deloitte, requires opportunities for public comment. A summary of these comments must be submitted with the application, which Deloitte is drafting. Health advocacy organizations say public outreach for this effort, especially to Black Georgians, has been superficial at best. The only notice for two virtual public meetings appeared on a Department of Community Health web page that was not linked from the agencys homepage. During both virtual events, health care advocates criticized the programs inequitable access, but state officials did not engage with the speakers. A third event an in-person meeting in the rural 10,000-person town of Cordele was added later and posted on the same website just one week before it was scheduled to occur. Only about a dozen people, some traveling for more than 80 miles, showed up to the noon meeting on St. Patricks Day. Georgians traveled up to 80 miles to speak at a public meeting about Pathways held by the Georgia Department of Community Health in Cordele in March. (Nicole Craine for ProPublica) The town of Cordele has a population of around 10,000 people. (Nicole Craine for ProPublica) The low attendance reflected the meetings out-of-the-way location and holiday timing, not a lack of public interest, said attendee Sherrell Byrd, executive director of Sowega Rising, a community advocacy group based in the majority Black town of Albany. Inside the one-story cinder block building, three state health officials sat along a table at the front of the largely vacant room. One by one, attendees rose to the microphone to complain of technical glitches in the Pathways enrollment process, the lack of customer service and the generational health care inequalities faced by Black Georgians. Tanisha Corporal, who lives approximately 140 miles away in Atlanta, was the only person to participate virtually. She told the Department of Community Health officials that she had submitted a Pathways application three times over the Deloitte-built digital portal only to have her file disappear. The licensed clinical social worker whose nonprofit job ended in January 2024 said state agencies offered her little enrollment support. Grant Thomas, deputy commissioner for the Georgia Department of Community Health, sits in the back of the room during a public meeting on the Georgia Pathways program in Cordele. (Nicole Craine for ProPublica) The state health officials did not respond to any of the speakers during the meeting. Grant Thomas, Kemps former health policy advisor and deputy director of the state Medicaid agency, sat in the back of the room and did not interact with the attendees. Thomas declined to speak on the record.There is a lot of disdain for real-life problems of Georgians who look like us, Byrd said. Robin Kemp of The Current contributed reporting.

by Tony Schick and Monica Samayoa, Oregon Public Broadcasting This article was produced for ProPublicas Local Reporting Network in partnership with Oregon Public Broadcasting. Sign up for Dispatches to get our stories in your inbox every week. Electric companies in Oregon and Washington are hurtling toward deadlines to stop using power generated by coal, gas and other fuels that contribute to global warming. Yet the states are nowhere near achieving their goals, and the dramatic consequences are already being felt.During a winter storm in January 2024, for example, the Northwest barely had enough power to meet demand as homeowners cranked up electric heaters and energy prices surged to more than $1,000 per megawatt-hour, or 18 times higher than the usual price. Power lines were so congested that owners of the transmission network made an extra $100 million selling access to the highest bidder.Multiple utilities were operating in states of emergency during the storm, preparing for rotating power outages.The storm highlighted a tipping point and demonstrated how close the region is to a resource adequacy crisis, the Western Power Pool, a regionwide organization of utilities, wrote in its assessment of the event.Price spikes like this are one reason customers of major utilities in Oregon are paying 50% more on their power bills than they were in 2019. The number of utility customers disconnected last year for failure to pay soared to 70,000, the highest number on record.Forecasters predict periods of extreme weather in the Northwest will only bring more trouble in the future: the threat of rolling blackouts within the decade if the regions current energy trends continue.Wind, solar and other renewables are the only forms of power that can be added to solve the problem, thanks to Oregons and Washingtons green energy mandates. Yet better transmission lines are needed to carry new energy sources in the windy and sunny eastern parts of the region to big cities west of the Cascade Mountain Range. Experts say adding transmission lines in corridors that currently lack them would also enable utilities to keep power flowing when ice storms or wildfires threaten other parts of the grid.The biggest owner of these transmission lines, the federal Bonneville Power Administration, has been slow to spend on upgrades and slow to approve new green projects until upgrades are made.Bonnevilles parent agency, the Energy Department, declined to make officials available for an interview, but Bonneville answered written questions.The potential for blackouts in the Pacific Northwest is incredibly low, the agency said. Grid planners and operators will continue to ensure reliability.Washington and Oregon lawmakers failed to address the Bonneville bottleneck when they approved clean energy mandates in 2019 and 2021, as ProPublica and OPB reported recently.Oregon Rep. Ken Helm, a Portland-area Democrat who was a sponsor of the 2021 legislation, said the failure to prioritize transmission lines wasnt the only flaw with the legislation. He said the bill failed to provide accountability, having no penalties for when a utility did not reach certain deadlines for acquiring either solar or wind energy. Helm said now, House Bill 2021 is dead letter law.Senators and representatives like me, we cannot continue to believe our own PR, that we have been successful in promoting a renewable electricity future, said Helm, a member of the House Committee on Climate, Energy and Environment. We are not heading in that direction, and were going to have to take action to change that or nothing will happen.Some lawmakers tried to play catch-up this year. Legislators in each state drew up plans for state transmission authorities that could finance improvements independent of utilities and Bonneville. Those efforts failed.Oregon desperately needs to take some leadership here, said Nicole Hughes, executive director of the group Renewable Northwest, which advocates for weaning the region off of fossil fuels.The Northwests situation is only expected to get worse. The regions electrical demand is forecast to double over the next 20 years, in large part because data centers, rewarded with tax breaks in both Oregon and Washington, are driving an increase in power use the region hasnt experienced since the early 1980s.Abandoning Oregons and Washingtons renewable energy laws wouldnt help, Oregons Citizens Utility Board says, because new fossil fuel power plants would cost ratepayers more than wind or solar. Those plants would still have to contend with transmission lines that have no room for their power.The regions utilities, meanwhile, say theyd like to add 29,000 megawatts of generating capacity over the next 10 years an unprecedented addition that would be roughly equivalent to all the electricity that the Northwest currently consumes at any given time. The projects on their to-do list are powered entirely by renewable energy. Yet the utilities added only a little over half the power to their systems that they planned for last year. In fact, of the 469 projects that applied to connect to Bonnevilles grid in the past decade, the only one to win the agencys approval was in 2022. Growth in green energy in 2024 came from projects that began seeking a connection to Bonnevilles grid prior to 2015 or that connected to smaller transmission networks owned by private utilities.If the utilities continue to fall as short of their goals as they did in 2024, then projections from the Western Electricity Coordinating Council suggest residents will spend the equivalent of nearly a month annually under the threat of brownouts the inability to power all the circuits in a household or blackouts.In the next few years, we may start having to make some tough choices about the availability of electricity, Hughes said.Hughes has spent 20 years in the renewables industry.For now, she said, her family decided to buy a gas generator for times when their house loses power.

The episode happened in Fremont, Ohio, on Sunday night. The mayor said at least one person was missing and emergency crews were searching the Sandusky River.

At least 28 people have been killed in storms that have pummeled the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic regions since Friday. Kentucky and Missouri have been hit particularly hard.

A Mexican Navy ship never intended to sail under the Brooklyn Bridge. U.S. and Mexican officials are investigating what led to the accident that killed two crew members.

The agency said its trains would start running again on Tuesday morning.

The suspect, a 25-year-old man, targeted the fertility clinic in the bombing that damaged the facility and several blocks of downtown. Authorities are still looking for a motive.

Claiming they are targets of genocide and discrimination, the Trump administration has granted white South Africans expedited refugee status. Here are the measures the U.S. government is taking to help resettle Afrikaners.Requiring them to prove they are causing significant hardships in their home country.Mandating a health screening on arrival completed by a state or local eugenicist.Making sure theyre up-to-date on their vaccine conspiracies.Giving each a $13 billion contract for spaceflight technology.Providing protection from harmful extremists like human rights activists.Putting them in Black neighborhoods to see if theyll do another apartheid.Humming to drown out every answer during the admission interview before stamping approved on application.Resettling them directly into Tucker Carlsons home studio.The post How The U.S. Is Resettling White South African Refugees appeared first on The Onion.

WASHINGTONCondemning what he described as the disturbing and unjust treatment of the group, President Donald Trump granted refugee status this week to former SS guards. The discrimination these people are facing is absolutely sicktheyre literally hunting them down, said Trump, who greeted the small group of centenarians on the tarmac at Dulles International Airport and invited them back to the White House for an official welcome ceremony. Its targeted violence. The Schutzstaffel have been treated very unfairly for just doing their jobs. Their land was seized and turned into concentration camp museums. Thats why its so important that we get them all into the United States, where they can rest assured they wont be discriminated against. At press time, Trump was reportedly thanking senior advisor Elon Musk for bringing the plight of the Nazi people to the worlds attention.The post Trump Grants Refugee Status To Former SS Guards appeared first on The Onion.

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Pope Leo XIV's meets Vice President JD Vance after the formal inauguration of his pontificate in St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican, Sunday, May 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)2025-05-19T06:45:40Z ROME (AP) Two high-profile Catholics, Pope Leo XIV and U.S. Vice President JD Vance, met Monday ahead of a flurry of U.S.-led diplomatic efforts to make progress on a ceasefire in Russias war in Ukraine.Vances motorcade was seen entering Vatican City just after 7:30 a.m. Vance, a Catholic convert, had led the U.S. delegation to the formal Mass opening the pontificate of the first American pope. Joining Vance at the Vatican was Secretary of State Marco Rubio, also a Catholic, Vance spokesperson Luke Schroeder said.The Vatican listed Vances delegation as the first of several private audiences Leo was having Monday with people who had come to Rome for his inaugural Mass, including other Christian leaders and a group of faithful from his old diocese in Chiclayo, Peru.The Vatican, which was largely sidelined during the first three years of Russias war, has offered to host any peace talks while continuing humanitarian efforts to facilitate prisoner swaps and reunite Ukrainian children taken by Russia. After greeting Leo briefly at the end of Sundays Mass, Vance spent the rest of the day in separate meetings with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Leo, the former Cardinal Robert Prevost, is a Chicago-born Augustinian missionary who spent the bulk of his ministry in Chiclayo, a commercial city of around 800,000 on Perus northern Pacific coast. In the days since his May 8 election, Leo has vowed every effort to help bring peace to Ukraine. He also has emphasized his continuity with Pope Francis, who made caring for migrants and the poor a priority of his pontificate. Before his election, Prevost shared news articles on X that were critical of the Trump administrations plans for mass deportations of migrants.Vance was one of the last foreign officials to meet with Francis before the Argentine popes April 21 death. The two had tangled over migration, with Francis publicly rebuking the Trump administrations deportation plan and correcting Vances theological justification for it. Later Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump has planned separate phone calls with Russian leader Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr, as well as calls to NATO leaders.___Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the APs collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. NICOLE WINFIELD Winfield has been on the Vatican beat since 2001, covering the papacies of St. John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI and the Francis pontificate and traveling the world with them. JACQUELYN MARTIN Martin photographs politics at the White House and Congress and has circumnavigated the globe as a pool photographer covering every Secretary of State since 2010. She is known for her multidisciplinary enterprise feature packages and is fluent in Spanish. twitter instagram RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

A boy scrapes leftovers from an empty pot after all the meals were distributed at a community kitchen in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)2025-05-19T05:43:44Z BEIRUT (AP) Two cases pushed nutritionist Rana Soboh to wits end. First, a woman was rushed to a Gaza emergency room after fainting while she breastfed her newborn. She told Soboh she hadnt eaten in days.The next day at another medical facility, Soboh found a severely malnourished 1-year-old boy weighing 5 kilograms (11 pounds), less than half whats normal. He hadnt grown any teeth. He was too weak to cry. The mother was also malnourished, a skeleton, covered in skin.When the mother asked for food, Soboh started crying uncontrollably.A feeling of powerlessness has overwhelmed her. Soboh said sometimes she gives a little money or a bit of her own food. But now she, too, is struggling.This is the worst feeling, wanting to help but knowing you cant. I wished the earth would crack open and swallow me, she said. What more cruel scenes does the world need to see? After months of trying to raise alarm, humanitarian workers are overflowing with anger, frustration and horror over Israels nearly three-month blockade. The Associated Press spoke to over a dozen aid workers, some with years of experience in emergencies around the world and Palestinians who have worked through this and other wars. They say what is happening in Gaza is a catastrophe, among the worst they have ever seen. Its more painful, they say, because its man-made, caused by Israel cutting off all food, fuel, medicine and other supplies to the territory nearly 11 weeks ago. The worlds top authority on food crises last week warned of famine unless the blockade ends. Almost the entire population of around 2.3 million is acutely malnourished, and one in five Palestinians are on the brink of starvation, it said.Israel late Sunday said it would allow a basic amount of food into Gaza, saying it didnt want a hunger crisis to jeopardize its new military offensive. It was not immediately clear how much would be allowed in, or when, or how. Israel says it imposed the blockade to force Hamas to release hostages, a decision that rights groups call a starvation tactic and a violation of international law.Aid workers are also wrestling with moves by Israel and the U.S. to impose a new aid system, despite their objections. The system would limit distribution to a few locations and put it under armed private contractors to prevent theft by Hamas, Israel says. Humanitarian workers say it wont meet Gazas needs and violates humanitarian principles. The U.N. denies that significant aid diversion takes place.The workers say they should be allowed to do their jobs. Some 170,000 metric tons of aid, including food, sits in trucks a few miles away, just inside Israel.The humanitarian community is well-experienced and well-versed in terms of treating malnutrition, said Rachel Cummings, emergency coordinator for Save the Children in Gaza. But we need food into Gaza and to stop this, by design, attack on the children across the whole of Gaza. Last lifelines are closingCommunity kitchens are the last lifeline for most people, but more than 60% have shut down as supplies run out. Those still working can only produce 260,000 meals a day.At his kitchen in Khan Younis, Nihad Abu Kush and 10 cooks prepare enough meals for about 1,000 people a day. More than 2,000 show up every morning, he said.There are no lines, just a sea of people terrified of being among the half who will miss out. They push and shove, waving pots for portions from the vats of lentils, beans or peas in tomato sauce.I feel so helpless because the numbers grow every day, Abu Kush said. I look at their faces and I am unable to do anything.On a recent day, he gave up his own portion after he locked eyes with a child with an empty pot. I was among the 1,000 who didnt get any, Abu Kush said. A breaking point Soboh, a nutritionist with MedGlobal, said her team stretches supplies of malnutrition treatments. Each can of baby formula is divided among several mothers. Therapy food portions are reduced by half. They give supplements only to children up to a year old, no longer up to 2.But their fixes get overwhelmed in the rising need.Staff try to dissuade mothers too weak to breastfeed from giving newborns sugar water, which can cause deadly diarrhea and infections, Soboh said.But its the mothers only alternative. Flour sold in the markets is rotten, full of insects, devoid of nutrition and enormously expensive. Still, if they find the cash, parents take risky trips to get it just to fill their childrens stomachs, she said.Aid groups distributing water have reduced daily allowances to 5 liters a day per person, a third of the minimum in emergency conditions. Families must choose between using water to drink, wash hands or to cook, risking infection.Mahmoud al-Saqqa, Oxfams food security sector coordinator, said parents tell him their kids are dizzy from lack of food. They search through garbage for scraps. We see the hunger in their eyes, he said. His group, like most, distributed its last food stocks weeks ago.One of Sobohs colleagues, Fady Abed, said desperate adults in his neighborhood ask him for the nutty-butter bars used to treat severely malnourished children to slake their own hunger.You feel like you let them down refusing them, Abed said. He struggles to feed his own family.Fear of famine, he said, is in every home.Pumping air for 72 hoursMedical workers improvise alternatives as supplies run out and machines break down.Al-Awda Hospital in northern Gaza lacks fuel and oxygen cylinders, so staff use hand-pumped respirators to keep patients breathing, said hospital director Mohammed Salha.Staff took turns hand-pumping air for one patient for 72 hours straight. The patient still died.People are dying ... because we simply dont have the basics, he said.At Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza, doctors dont have drills, sealant or titanium plates to treat the many skull fractures from bombardment.They use expired gelatins to stop bleeding, but that doesnt stop spinal fluid from leaking, which can be deadly, said a foreign doctor volunteering with the aid group Medical Aid for Palestinians.Sometimes, theres nothing he can do. He has child patients whose cochlear implants are defective, but theres no way to replace them. Without them, they will never be able to develop normal speech, he said.The doctor spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations from his organization to avoid reprisals from Israeli authorities.Israel has cut in half the number of foreign doctors allowed into Gaza since March.New aid systemIsrael imposed the blockade and resumed its military campaign in March, breaking a two-month ceasefire with Hamas. COGAT, the Israeli military body in charge of overseeing aid, did not comment to the AP. Israeli officials have said they track the calories in Gaza and assert that there is enough aid after an influx during the ceasefire.Israel and the United States are pressing the U.N. and aid groups to join the planned new distribution system. The U.N. and most aid groups say they cant join because it enables Israel to use aid as a weapon for its political and military goals.In particular, it would depopulate much of Gaza by forcing Palestinians to move to planned distribution hubs.In the end, this is using food to humiliate, control and direct people, said al-Saqqa of Oxfam. Every human being has the right to food.___Follow APs war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war SARAH EL DEEB El Deeb is part of the APs Global Investigative team. She is based in the Middle East, a region she covered for two decades twitter mailto

The biggest names in the industry are clapping back.President Donald Trump has not been shy about his goal to demonize drag queens and the LGBTQ+ community and ban pornography. Since Project 2025 was first published, it became clear that adult content was on the chopping block, and so far, the new administration hasnt wavered from this goal. On May 8, Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah has introduced the Interstate Obscenity Definition Act (IODA) which would band porn of any kind at the federal level if passed. Backed by the Heritage Foundation, the architects behind the draconian Christian nationalist policy plan, Project 2025, the bill would redefine obscenity in the broadest possible terms so that everything from explicit adult content to more tame scenes in traditional films could be considered smut, MSNBC reports. Like every Republican who has tried to codify censorship into law, Lee claims the goal of IODA is to protect children. Adult content creators have known that conservatives were planning to threaten their livelihood, even creating a Hands Off My Porn campaign to try and sway young men to vote for former Vice President Kamala Harris. Much like porn stars and creators predicted, Lee and the Trump administration are using Project 2025, which says porn is to blame for the propagation of transgender ideology and sexualization of children, to try to outlaw porn all together. The bill would target the creators and distributors of pornography, paving the way for a nationwide ban and punishing the tech companies that try to continue publishing adult content, ignoring Supreme Court precedent.But what do LGBTQ+ adult performers and content creators think about IODA, the Trump administrations obsession with banning porn, and how it will impact their careers? Keep scrolling to find out!Related: Scott Hoying on his mother's reaction to his coming out: 'It makes me want to cry'Jkab Ethan DaleSee on InstagramPRIDE: The Senate has proposed the Interstate Obscenity Definition Act (IODA), which would prosecute people for sharing or hosting content deemed to be sexually explicit. What do you think about the bill?Jkab Ethan Dale: The bill is completely unnecessaryand very scary. We already have the Miller Test, which is the national standard for determining whether material is legally obscene in the United States. This new bill is a way for the far right to gain more power through vague language, and its further proof that they do not care about the Constitution. Its a direct threat to the First Amendment and will heavily impact marginalized communities. Its also more evidence that Project 2025 is real, and we all need to work together to stop it.Do you think IODA amounts to a ban on pornography? Why?With the current administration, anything is possibleso yes, this could absolutely lead to a ban on pornography. The language used to determine what is or isnt obscene in the bill is so vague that it could be interpreted to target LGBTQ+ identities, sexual education, and more. Theyre not even being subtletheyre openly calling it an anti-porn bill. This bill directly aligns with their Project 2025 agenda, which takes an uncompromising stance against all forms of pornography.How will this impact your livelihood if it passes?Im a full-time content creator. This could end my current business and completely change my entire life. Im scared. Whether or not the bill passes, weve already seen this administration show open defiance toward the checks and balances within our system. The way they fight and attack is deceptiveand dangerous to our democracy.What are your thoughts about how the Trump administration is attacking adult films?With GOP leaders controlling both the House and the Senate, I do think this bill has a real chance of passingultimately enforcing the most conservative interpretations of speech and morality across the country. Thats why we all need to stay informed and call our local representatives to make it clear that we stand against this infringement on our First Amendment rights to free speech and expression.This is also a powerful reminder of why local elections matterand why we have to keep fighting back.Jordan StarrSee on InstagramPRIDE: What do you think about the bill?Jordan Starr: This bill is really dangerous for people like me who work in the adult industry. Its part of a bigger effort from some politicians to ban porn and control sexual expression. One of the main backers, Senator Mike Lee, has been trying to push this kind of thing for years, and now, with Trump and his team (especially the folks behind Project 2025) back in the spotlight, theyre feeling more confident to go after us.Legally, theres a difference between porn and obscenity. Porn is protected by the First Amendment. Obscenity isnt. Since the 1970s, courts have used the Miller Test to decide what counts as obscene. Its not perfect, but its helped keep adult content legal. This bill tries to change those rules so that way more porn can be labeled obscene, which could make it illegal.Basically, they want to shut down adult content by changing definitionswithout coming right out and saying were banning porn. Its a sneaky, extreme move that goes against freedom of speech and artistic expression. Its all part of a bigger push to enforce a Christian nationalist agenda.Do you think this bill could eventually lead to a ban on pornography? Its important to understand this bill doesnt say its banning porn directlybecause that would be obviously unconstitutional. But it tries to change what counts as obscene, which could mean that a lot of what we currently call porn could be reclassified and taken down. So while its not a direct ban, it could still have the same effectshutting down content, censoring creators, and scaring platforms and companies into not working with us anymore.How will this impact your livelihood if it passes?If this bill passes, it could be the end of my career and the careers of thousands of other performers, creators, and workers in the adult industry. Websites could stop hosting our content. Credit card companies might cut ties with us. Platforms we rely on could shut down. This bill puts everything weve built at serious risk.What are your thoughts about how the Trump administration is attacking adult films?Honestly? Its ridiculous. The people pushing this act like adult films are some big threat, but theyre ignoring the fact that this is a real, legitimate industry with real people making a living. We tell stories. We connect with our audiences. We make art, even if its sexual. Trying to silence us like this is a jokebut its also dangerous.Dom KingSee on InstagramPRIDE: What do you think about the bill?Dom King: Its a broad and unnecessary bill. Obscenity is subjective, and giving the government power to define it risks censoring content thats fully legal.Do you think IODA amounts to a ban on pornography? Why?It could. Adult content is usually the first target when vague laws like this are passed.How will this impact your livelihood if it passes?It would directly impact it. This kind of bill puts the work I doand the platforms I useat risk. Its also how a lot of people pay their bills and support themselves and their families.What are your thoughts about how the Trump administration is attacking adult films?It fits with the Project 2025 agendaa push for more control over media. Adult content is just the starting point.Tyler Saint and Ace BannerSee on InstagramPRIDE: What do you think about the bill?Tyler Saint and Ace Banner: Well, Id love to see their browser history! Clearly, this bill is a simple infringement on free speech. Its gross overreach by the government to regulate our bedrooms. Do you think IODA amounts to a ban on pornography? Why?I dont think it will. Its a transparent page from Project 2025 engineered by the Heritage Foundation to reshape American culture, but the implications go far past just pornography. The definition of obscenity already exists with the Miller Test, but this is a clear attempt at an end-around and opens up the definition of obscene to almost anything that is beyond a G rating. Im not sure bros and horny dads want to lose their Game of Thrones! The bill seems to be rebuffed on both sides of the isle so far.How will this impact your livelihood if it passes?If it passes, wed have to find a work around. Our studio has already made moves to transfer operations to another country. Our fans platforms are already heavily regulated, but delivered from other countries. Unless they shut down all internet, porn will still get through. The human desire is too strongplus, I like to think we make good shit that people seem to want to watch. Wed find a way. What are your thoughts about how the Trump administration is attacking adult films?Its blatant pandering to the base. Trump has high marks from people who hate what he hates. Otherwise, its not a popular position and theres no way it passes the smell test in the judiciary.as long as they hold. However, just like abortion and trans issues, theyll keep hacking away. This is just the test case to see how much the public can tolerate. Lee is an expendable member of congress in a reliably red district. If he gets voted out because of it (which he wont), therell be another one behind him to keep trying. They lose nothing for the effort. The fight is just beginning.Tony GeniusSee on InstagramPRIDE: What do you think about the bill?Tony Genius: This bill demonizes legal consenting adults and tries to shame our work as immoral. This is in clear violation of our freedoms of expression through art and must never pass!Do you think IODA amounts to a ban on pornography? Why?I do believe that bills like these are funded by companies with an agenda to control others through religious morality. the more they try, the more they gain support for these legislative agendas. Our freedoms are being stripped from us, and even those who support these actions today, may be the victims of the actions tomorrow. How will this impact your livelihood if it passes?I would be fighting for my freedom because nothing they are presenting will stop me from my expression! What are your thoughts about how the Trump administration is attacking adult films?We all knew the ties between Trump and Project 2025, and we have been preparing for the actions of this administration to disappoint us all with far reaching government control and censorship.King DwarfSee on InstagramPRIDE: What do you think about the bill?King Dwarf: As someone who works in the adult film industry, I see the Interstate Obscenity Definition Act (IODA) as a serious threatnot just to my livelihood, but to free expression and the rights of consenting adults across the country. On a personal level, its frightening. This bill seems to criminalize the work I do, even though its legal, consensual, and involves adults choosing to engage with and create sexual content. It treats that work as inherently harmful or dirty, without acknowledging the humanity, agency, or professionalism of those of us in the industry.Do you think this bill could eventually lead to a ban on pornography? Why or why not?I absolutely think the IODA could lead to a ban on pornor at the very least, make it nearly impossible to create, share, or access it legally in the U.S. Even if it doesnt say porn is banned, the way its written gives the government way more power to decide what counts as obscene, without the usual protections weve relied on. Right now, there are rules that help protect what I do as free expressionespecially if it has artistic value, or if it reflects the standards of specific communities. This bill wipes that out and replaces it with a stricter, one-size-fits-all moral definition. Thats terrifying, because once you change the legal standard, its easy to start applying it to all kinds of porn. Suddenly, what I film or posteven if its consensual, legal, and made by adultscould be labeled obscene and criminal. And when that happens, platforms that host our work, payment processors, even social media companies will panic. Theyll kick us off just to be safe. Weve seen it beforeafter SESTA/FOSTA, a lot of sex workers lost access to the internet almost overnight.How will this impact your livelihood if it passes?If the IODA passes, it could devastate my livelihood. Right now, I earn a living by creating and distributing adult contentcontent thats legal, consensual, and made for adults who choose to view it. If this bill becomes law, that could all be at risk. Even before the law is enforced, platforms I rely onOnlyFans, JusrFor.Fans,might shut down adult content to avoid liability. Payment processors like Visa and Mastercard might follow, as theyve done before when they feared legal trouble. No platform = no income stream. If the definition of obscene content is broadened and federalized, theres a real chance I could be criminalized just for doing my job. That includes filming, posting, or even sharing behind-the-scenes content. The threat of jail time, fines, or getting caught in a legal fight is chillingnot just for me, but for everyone in this space.What are your thoughts about how the Trump administration is attacking adult films?As someone working in the adult film industry, I find the Trump administration's recent actions deeply concerning. The administration has supported legislation that could criminalize the production and distribution of adult content, such as the Interstate Obscenity Definition Act (IODA). Additionally, the administration's backing of initiatives like Project 2025, which includes proposals to ban pornography and prosecute those involved in its production, signals a significant threat to our livelihoods and freedom of expression. These measures not only jeopardize our ability to work safely and legally but also risk pushing the industry underground, where performers may face greater exploitation and fewer protections. It's essential to recognize that adult content is a form of expression and that those involved deserve the same rights and protections as workers in any other industry.Dallas SteeleSee on InstagramPRIDE: What do you think about the bill?Dallas Steele: This bill isnt surprising. The current administration has emboldened the extreme right to go after everything from abortion to marriage equality to immigrant rights and now, this attack on free speech. The courts have made clear that pornography IS protected by the First Amendment. But even if this were to become law and later, overturned by the Supreme Court, we have no guarantee this administration will follow the order. Look at how many court orders theyve failed to follow already.Do you think IODA amounts to a ban on pornography? Why?Republicans love porn too, though most would never admit it publicly. I dont see this bill going anywhere. Theyll say I support the idea, but our Constitution is clear about this. And ultimately, if it did pass, Trump a fan of escorts and by extension porn, would be unlikely to sign it, knowing it would most certainly end-up before the Supreme Court and overturned as unconstitutional.How will this impact your livelihood if it passes?Obviously if this were to become law, it would be devastating to a multi-billion dollar industry and the hundreds of thousands of people who make a living with adult content. The second effect, would be the creation of an underground industry, endangering women and children the very people republicans claim they want to protect.What are your thoughts about how the Trump administration is attacking adult films?I dont think Trump personally opposes porn but whats scary is his willingness to cooperate with the extremists in order to gain even more power. Weve seen it multiple times. Hed throw his best friend under the bus to make a buck or bolster his power.AlfonsoSee on InstagramPRIDE: What do you think about the bill?Alfonso: I think is a sensationalist exercise that goes on theme with the actual administration.Do you think this bill could eventually lead to a ban on pornography? Why or why not?It could if the Senate approves it. I dont think it goes through tho, that would impact the economy of a lot of people and the USA cant really afford affecting the economy even more right now.How will this impact your livelihood if it passes?Honestly it would affect me more emotionally as an Artist and a creator than economically, because at the time I couldnt really say that I live just from producing porn. I guess I would have to keep doing my work out of the States, I just dont see me quitting this lifestyle. Porn has been big part of my life for almost 10 years now, way before I started being in front of the camera. Its where my favorite network of people thrives.What are your thoughts about how the Trump administration is attacking adult films?I guess it makes sense. It has always been part of the conservative speech to ban different expressions of art. The thing with porn is that its an easy target because it shares a thin line with sex work. Nothing wrong with it, but theres people that just cant stand liberal arts or sex work. They care too much and they really think theyre doing the right thing by banning stuff instead of debating it.BenviPRIDE: What do you think about the bill?Benvi: As a sex worker, Im clearly not fond of the proposed bill. It was all laid out in Project 2025 though. Ive just been waiting for this threat to come to fruition much like many others mentioned in Project 2025.Do you think IODA amounts to a ban on pornography? Why?I dont think the establishment that currently run our country would abolish a billion dollar industry completely. It may become a lot more restrictive going forward but I have hopes that it wont be completely erased. Because ultimately The industry contributes greatly to our economy.How will this impact your livelihood if it passes?With everything else the current establishment is getting away with, Im incredibly worried for the future of my peers and I. A nationwide criminalization of porn would lead to so many people losing their entire livelihood, not just models or creators either. Theres so many people involved in the production side of this industry! Its a very scary time for all of us right now.What are your thoughts about how the Trump administration is attacking adult films?I think its incredibly weak of this administration to directly attack not only the porn industry but every single marginalized community in our country. My hope is that those who feel they havent yet been targeted, realize this and stand by our side before its too late. Also, the Bible Belt consumes more pornography than the rest of the country so Im really hoping that will be taken into consideration when they take it to the polls.Jaq QuicksilverSee on InstagramPRIDE: What do you think about the bill?Jaq Quicksilver: Somewhere online I found this image two men have protest signs that say "decent men protect indecent movies." I don't know the origins of this photo, but they were damn right. A discerning citizen can see that IODA is not just an attack on pornography but an attack on the right to think and to speak to each other.Do you think IODA amounts to a ban on pornography? Why?The proposed IODA is an attack on one of the basic rights of citizens of the United States. I do believe that one of its intended uses is an attempt to outright ban pornography, because it's straight out of the Project 2025 playbook. The writers and proponents of Project 2025 have outright stated one of their goals is to outlaw the creation and consumption of "obscene" media, from pornography to basic medical information for LGBT people.How will this impact your livelihood if it passes?The passage of this act would severely jeopardize my livelihood and my ability to support myself. Over 50% - maybe even up to 90% - of my income is from sales in the United States. Consumers are already measurably put off by state-level ID-requirement laws, preferring to go to less ethical websites from abroad, which don't require identification from consumers OR producers. I cannot imagine this would get better if the federal government decided to throttle access or even collect private information from porn consumers. My hard-earned financial freedom would be in tatters.What are your thoughts about how the Trump administration is attacking adult films? I think the Trump administration's attacks on adult films are despicable Christifascist power grabs... Not to be too blunt about it! This administration is using everything it can - from more conventional methods like IODA to shock-and-awe waves of Executive Orders - to erode the rights of citizens and to disempower us. They use the smokescreen of "obscenity" to attack transgender people, LGBT rights, women's rights, and the freedom of speech as a whole. Damien KingSee on InstagramPRIDE: What do you think about the bill?Damien King: I think on the surface that the bill is a blatant violation of the First Amendment and a breach of the separation of church and state. I also think that it lays the groundwork for a much broader attack on LGBT+ representation in the media.Do you think IODA amounts to a ban on pornography? Why?I think that that is the ultimate goal of republicans, yes. But I dont think that such a ban is likely, particularly because it is a more fringe idea. But Ive been wrong before, so Im also not being complacent.How will this impact your livelihood if it passes?Im very fortunate to have a primary source in a different sector, but it would put a dent in my discretionary spending. I do worry for my friends in the field whose primary source of income is adult films.What are your thoughts about how the Trump administration is attacking adult films?I think that this goes beyond the Trump administration not that hes blameless. I think its rooted in the discomfort with sex thats deeply rooted in conservative ideology. Their goal, at the end of the day, is that sex only leads to procreation. Any sex or portrayal of sex be it gay/lesbian or even straight but utilizing contraception - that is purely for enjoyment and not for procreation is under threat from them. As much as we,LGBT+ people will be the first to be attacked, we will not be the last.Sam and Ed (producers at AltSHIFT Films)PRIDE: What do you think about the bill?Sam and Ed: We think that this act is the far right trying to make anything they deem obscene prosecutable if its shared. They havent specifically defined what is obscene; its subjective and vague, making it difficult to apply with certainty to any given material; leaving them open to deem anything obscene which offends their version of morals; this could be anything from depictions of same sex relationships or any relationships such as polyamory which are not the nuclear 2.4 family model, kink events, video games with violence, queer comics and obviously all porn - as some examples. We think this bill could allow them to police all free speech and expression, not just in creative industries, but in how lives are lived and shared online.Do you think this bill could eventually lead to a ban on pornography? Why or why not?We think that this is a start to the US trying to ban all porn; already we are seeing big sites such as Pornhub being banned in some states; such as Texas, which is currently more to do with the law instituting age-verification measures; which are also effecting the UK with the Online safety Act." But it feels like these age verification acts, which are being masqueraded as a way to keep children safe online are really the soft launch to something like IODA which will ban all porn.How will this impact your livelihood if it passes?If porn is banned in the US it would affect us as we sell our films to a global market.Its not just the US that is looking at banning porn, the definitions of extreme porn in UK law are also vague and subject to the whims and moral code of the arbiters. We believe ethical porn means paying and treating the performers correctly, not whats depicted on screen. Our livelihoods are already in the balance, and the more we are driven underground, the less space there is for the protection and oversight of sex worker rights.What are your thoughts about how the Trump administration is attacking adult films?Project 2025 which is a far-right wish list for Trumps term, and calls for an outright ban on porn: "Pornography should be outlawed. The people who produce and distribute it should be imprisoned. Educators and public librarians who purvey it should be classed as registered sex offenders. And telecommunications and technology firms that facilitate its spread should be shuttered."They are not doing this in secret, they are loudly saying they want all porn to be banned. This is definitely an attack on the adult film industry, and the only hope is for people around the world who believe in freedom of speech and expression to call it out and take it seriously. Education will be imperative, so people understand that this will not affect just people producing porn, but those consuming it also.It is a Trojan bill to start policing all of our creative expression, sexuality, and right to live as we choose, and can only lead to more control on our lives.

Pope Leo XIV's brother seems to be part of Trump's MAGA crowd. The new pope's brother, Louis Martin Lou Prevost, reportedly shared a post on social media that used an objectifying slur to denigrate Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi as a drunk and fed into conspiracy theories that her husband had Grindr hookups.Prevost's Facebook account has since gone private, according to the Guardian, but he has confirmed the posts in multiple interviews with the media. He also said the posts represent his personal views and not those of the new pope.Related: Pope Leo XIV smacked down Trump & JD Vance on social mediaI wouldnt have posted it if I didnt kind of believe it, Prevost, who lives in Florida, told Piers Morgan on Piers Morgan Uncensored on Monday.On April 4, Prevost shared a post to his then-public Facebook account ostensibly about Pelosis changing positions on tariffs but also used the c-word to denigrate her and then claimed her husband, Paul Pelosi, used Grindr, according to The New York Post. Paul Pelosi was attacked in the Pelosi home in 2022. Afterward, conspiracy theories emerged online that the attack a member of the far-right had come to the house to meet with Paul Pelosi. Another post he shared suggested former President Barack Obama was a racist who destroyed the country.In yet another instance, Prevost shared a transphobic meme, the Guardian reports. Prevost described himself as someone who likes to stir the pot online, a hobby he believes he shares with Trump.He says things just to stir the pot, Prevost said of Trump. Cause its fun to like get into some of these debates with people sometimes from the other side.Related: Gay couple photobombs Pope Leo XIV with kiss on live TVPrevost said hes toned down his online presence since his brother was elected as pope earlier this month, and stressed he was not contacted by the Vatican over his past posts.And while he hasnt spoken to his brother since his elevation to the Catholic Churchs highest position, Prevost did share that he did not expect too many drastic changes from the past under Leo's leadership. Describing his brother as a centrist, he said not to expect to see female priests or marriage equality recognized by the church anytime soon.Leo has previously voted in Republican primaries. Records that the Will County Clerks Office in Illinois provided to CNN show he voted in the Republican primaries of 2012, 2014, and 2016. Illinois voters do not have to register as a member of a particular party, but they can choose a party primary in which to vote. 2012 and 2016 were presidential election years, with Mitt Romney becoming the Republican nominee in 2012 and Donald Trump in 2016.The new pontiff voted in the general elections of 2024, 2018, 2014 and 2012. Who he voted for in either primaries or general elections is secret, as it is for all American citizens.He has a mixed record on LGBTQ+ issues. In 2012, at a meeting of bishops, he criticized homosexual lifestyle and alternative families comprised of same-sex partners and their adopted children as being at odds with the gospel. He has also objected to the teaching of what he called gender ideology in schools. But at other times, he has expressed sympathy for the LGBTQ+ community.

Holy Schitt, Dan Levy just announced a new family comedy series, and it sounds like the next best thing to a Schitts Creek revival. During Netflixs 2025 upfront presentation today, the streamer announced that Levy had created a yet-untitled comedy series in which he will star, showrun, and co-executive produce (alongside Rachel Sennott). Starring along with Levy are beloved comedic actress Laurie Metcalf (The Conners) and Taylor Ortega who just starred in the Netflix series The Four Seasons.While details remain largely under wraps Netflix did share the official logline, "Two deeply incapable siblings are blackmailed into the world of organized crime." Presumably the trio of actors will be playing mother and siblings and the set up sounds rife for the kind of comedy that Levy excels at. Honestly were just delighted to have him heading back to our screens. And were not the only ones thrilled by the news. "I'm so excited to be bringing this truly chaotic family story to life with Netflix," Levy said in a statement. "Thrilled with the team were building both behind the scenes and in front of the camera. Taylor Ortega is going to become a household name and it's been my life's mission to get to call Laurie Metcalf 'mother.' Looking forward to getting to share this with everyone."As for when we will get to see the 8-episode limited series, thats still a bit of ways off. Production begins later this year. Gives us plenty of time to rewatch Schitt's Creek from top to bottom again.

Security guards dragged LGBTQ+ ally and Ben & Jerrys co-founder Ben Cohen out of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.s hearing after protesting the U.S.s support of Israels war in Gaza.Kennedy, President Donald Trumps Health and Human Services Secretary, was being grilled by Congress on Wednesday about Trumps health budget for the next fiscal year, when several protesters started shouting.RFK kills people with AIDS, one protester reportedly said while holding a protest sign. She was quickly picked up and carried out of the hearing room by security. There were two other protesters who were also removed.Cohen wasnt discouraged by the show of force from security and said, Congress pays for bombs that kill kids in Gaza! He then accused lawmakers of using money from Medicaid cuts to arm Israel for its war in Gaza, Mediaite reported. Cohen was then forced out by security as he yelled, Congress kills!In a video posted to X (formerly Twitter) by Cohen, he can be seen being manhandled by police as he is being arrested and then dragged down a hallway. When a reporter asks why he was being arrested, Cohen responded, Congress kills poor kids in Gaza by buying bombs and pays for it by kicking kids off Medicaid in the U.S. (@) Cohens ice cream company is well known for supporting liberal causes and candidates, keeping DEI policies in place amid Trump's demand that companies get rid of them, and speaking out against injustice. Ben & Jerry's even created a special ice cream in 2018 to resist Trump, with profits going to socially conscious organizations.We are expected to be good Americans and look the other way as Israel prevents food, water, and medicine from reaching the remaining people of Gaza, a spokesperson for Cohen said in a press release, per Mediaite. Israel is literally starving them to death We will not look away. We will not be silenced. We will do everything we can to get our government to stop being complicit in starving little kids to death.Ben Cohen couldn't immediately be reached for comment.

This week, actress Anna Camp became fam when she made headlines for coming out as having a girlfriend, but shes been a gay fave for years before that.Most people likely remember Camp for her starring role in the Pitch Perfect movies or her roles on shows like The Mindy Project, but she been a working actor for close to 20 years, and in that time she has managed to wow audiences over and over again, no matter how big or small the role is.So lets check out the most under-the-radar scene-stealing moments of her career!YouYou just released its fifth season and Camp has a starring role where she is playing twin sisters opposite Penn Badgleys Joe Goldberg. Camp is always a scene-stealing talent, but here shes performing double duty as the cruel Reagan and ditsy Maddie. People may have tuned in for Badgleys performance, but it was Camp that everyone was talking about the next day.True BloodCamp really shines in True Blood where she played the villainous Sarah Newlin, a televangelist whose husband runs the cult-like anti-vampire religious group Fellowship of the Sun. She was in 24 episodes and her prissy, angry, ladder-climber always steals the show.How I Met Your MotherOn an episode of the long-running sitcom where main characters Barney and Robin are getting married, Camp plays Teds date Cassie. Cassie is an emotional wreck, having just lost her boyfriend and job so the date quickly turns awkward as she mourns her loses and looses her sanity. Camp is fantastic and manages to steal every scene shes in.GleeCamp played Candace Dystra, a singing competition judge in an episode of Glee season 1, who says one of the most inappropriate things ever. Okay, I'm just gonna come out and say it, she said. This is a singing competition. I don't know how those deaf kids got in. They weren't singing; they were, like, honking and everyone was crying and I was, like, 'Get off the stage. You're terrible and you're making me super uncomfortable. A big yikes, but Camp is perfect in the role.The OfficeCamp played Pam Beeslys sister Penny on the two episodes of The Office where Pam and Jim get married in Niagara Falls. Its a memorable moment already, but Camp mistaking Kevin for Oscars boyfriend Gil once again shows off her comedy chops. Plus, she ends up being a good sister who checks in with Pam about the silly dance everyone does down the aisle before she joins in on the fun.Key & PeeleCamp was on an episode of sketch comedy show Key & Peele, where was in an 80s action movie spoof called Strike Force Eagle 3: The Reckoning. Camp plays a damsel in distress who is being held hostage by Jordan Peeles villain mustache-twirling character. Shes only in the sketch for a couple minutes at the very end, but the way she acted the lead up to the kiss with Keegan-Michael Keys Steven Seagal-inspired action hero is too funny and a spot on spoof.The LeagueCamp made a guest appearance on a wacky episode of The League where main character Andre got a cat named MLady who he took to a pet groomer played by Camp. Her zany character specializing in giving cats catitude and ends up shaving the cat and tattooing her body and dressing her in scarfs and a pink fedora. Its hilarious and Camp is memorable even opposite all of the amazing comedians on the show.

Nature, Published online: 14 May 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-01134-8Fossil evidence points to an earlier-than-expected timeline for when reptiles, members of the four-limbed group of animals called tetrapods, began to evolve.

Nature, Published online: 14 May 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-01459-4Forty years ago this month, scientists reported that human activities had punctured Earths protective ozone layer. What happened next offers a masterclass in international science-diplomacy.

Nature, Published online: 14 May 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-01339-xA prediction of the gravitational waves produced by interacting black holes achieves high precision and demonstrates the link between general relativity and geometry.

Nature, Published online: 14 May 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-01463-8Poll of 5,000 researchers finds contrasting views on when its acceptable to involve AI and what needs to be disclosed.

Nature, Published online: 14 May 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-01499-wTracks in Australia seem to be the earliest known prints of amniotes a group that includes reptiles, birds and mammals.

After being tied for the PGA Championship lead with nine holes to play, Jon Rahm came up seven shots short of winner Scottie Scheffler on Sunday.

Rory McIlroy's driver wasn't the only one the USGA deemed nonconforming in testing ahead of this week's PGA Championship. Scottie Scheffler confirmed Sunday after his five-stroke victory that he also was forced to use a new driver for the tournament.

Jon Rahm made it close for a while, but Scottie Scheffler's inevitability hung in the Charlotte air all day.

Christopher Bell passed Joey Logano with nine laps remaining and cruised to victory in an action-packed NASCAR All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway on Sunday night.

We explore the next moves each team should make this summer and forecast its 2025-26 outlook.

by Becca Savransky, Idaho Statesman This article was produced for ProPublicas Local Reporting Network in partnership with the Idaho Statesman. Sign up for Dispatches to get our stories in your inbox every week. Time and again, the U.S. Department of Education has been the last resort for parents who say the state of Idaho has failed to educate their children. The federal agency in 2023 ordered Idaho to stop blocking some students with learning disabilities, like dyslexia, from special education. That same year, it flagged that the states own reviews of districts and charters obscured the fact that just 20% were fully complying with the federal disability law. Last year, it told the state it must end long delays in services for infants and toddlers with disabilities, which could include speech or physical therapy.Now President Donald Trump has pledged to dismantle the department. Idahos superintendent of public instruction Debbie Critchfield has celebrated the proposal. She insisted that the move would not change the requirement that states provide special education to students who need it. That would take an act of Congress.But parents and advocates for students with disabilities say they are worried that no one will effectively ensure schools follow special education law. Historically, when left to their own devices, states dont necessarily do the right thing for kids with disabilities and their families, said Larry Wexler, a former division director at the federal Office of Special Education Programs, who retired last year after decades at the department.Former federal Education Department employees who worked on special education monitoring said oversight measures would likely be hampered by the layoffs, which included attorneys who worked with the special education office to provide state monitoring reports. Gregg Corr, a former division director with that office, said that without the group of attorneys who were focused on enforcing special education law, it will be really difficult for staff to finalize and issue these reports to states. He added there may also be a reluctance to take on more complicated issues without running them by attorneys. What might have been, you know, inconsistent with the legal requirements six months ago may be fine now it just depends on how its interpreted, Wexler said. Before Federal Law, Millions Denied ServicesFor parents who have been fighting for services for years, the federal oversight has been critical.After Ashley Brittain, an attorney and mom to children with dyslexia, moved to Idaho in 2021, she realized a key problem: Idahos criteria for qualifying students with specific learning disabilities such as dyslexia or dysgraphia was so narrow it disqualified some eligible students from receiving services, she said. Historically, when left to their own devices, states dont necessarily do the right thing for kids with disabilities and their families. Larry Wexler, a former division director at the federal Office of Special Education Programs Together with Robin Zikmund, the founder of Decoding Dyslexia Idaho who has a son with dyslexia and dysgraphia, Brittain has spent years trying to get the state to acknowledge the disability and provide services to dozens of kids who needed help.Were at the table time and time again, at the eligibility table, where school teams wouldnt qualify our dyslexic students, Zikmund previously told the Idaho Statesman and ProPublica. And it was like, What is going on?Brittain called state officials and told them they were breaking the law. State officials disagreed. No one took action, she said. In 2022, she wrote to the Office of Special Education Programs. In the letter she sent to the federal department, she said the Idaho Department of Education, under former superintendent Sherri Ybarra, was refusing to entertain any conversations about changing the way it determined which students were eligible for special education. Ybarra could not be reached for comment.Before Congress passed what is now known as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act in 1975 and created the U.S. Department of Education as an agency under the Cabinet about five years later, Brittain would have been on her own. At the time, nearly 1.8 million students with disabilities werent being served by the public schools, according to estimates. Some states had laws prohibiting students with certain disabilities from attending public schools, according to the federal governments own history. The law granted students with disabilities access to a free appropriate public education fitting the individual needs of the student and gave money to states to fulfill the promise. Now, the law also guarantees infants and toddlers with disabilities access to early interventions, such as physical or speech therapy. The U.S. Department of Education has since been responsible for making sure states follow the law, providing reviews of state performance, distributing money and offering technical assistance to help states improve learning outcomes for students in special education. The department conducts an annual review of each state, and a more intensive one thats supposed to be completed roughly every five years. The annual reviews look at discipline numbers, graduation rates and test scores to identify problems and help states to fix them. A five-year review includes a visit to the state and a look at state policies, student data and annual reports. When states need to take corrective action, the federal special education office monitors that they are making the changes. Idaho is one of about a dozen states currently being monitored, according to the most recent updates on the federal agencys website. Were at the table time and time again, at the eligibility table, where school teams wouldnt qualify our dyslexic students. And it was like, What is going on? Robin Zikmund, founder of Decoding Dyslexia Idaho Parent complaints can also trigger a review, as was the case with Brittain in Idaho. After Brittain alleged that the state was wrongfully keeping kids with dyslexia and other disabilities from special education, she waited over a year before she got an answer from the Office of Special Education Programs: She was right. Idaho, it turned out, accepted a lower percentage of students with specific learning disabilities, such as dyslexia, into special education compared to other states about half the national average, according to the most recent data reported to the U.S. Department of Education from the 2022-2023 school year.By then, Idaho had a new state superintendent of public instruction, Critchfield, for whom Brittain campaigned. The Office of Special Education Programs told Critchfield in 2023 that the state needed to demonstrate its policies complied with federal law or update them. In response, the Idaho Department of Education has updated its special education manual, which has since been approved by the Legislature. It has also directed school districts to review every student found ineligible for special education since 2023 to determine if they needed to be reevaluated. Parents in Idaho celebrated the victory, which could make it easier for some kids to qualify in a state that has one of the lowest percentages of students who receive special education. But they acknowledged the fix wasnt perfect and left out students who may have been found ineligible for special education before the federal office identified the problem. The state isnt tracking the number of students who have since qualified due to the change.Nicole Fuller, a policy manager at the National Center for Learning Disabilities, said a case like this, in which some students are being missed, truly underscores the need for federal oversight, and, of course, holding states accountable for accurately identifying disabilities.Federal oversight isnt perfect. By the time Idaho addressed Brittains complaint, the state had been out of compliance since at least 2015. States that fall out of compliance can be at risk of losing federal funding, although that penalty does not appear to have been used in decades. The federal government has never fulfilled its promise to fund 40% of each states special education costs, but Idaho relied on federal funding for about 18% around $60 million of its special education budget during the 2022-2023 school year, state officials said. The rest is made up by the state or by local school districts through referendums. A recent report by an independent Idaho state office estimated special education was underfunded by more than $80 million in 2023. But U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon, appointed by Trump in March, has said that closing the department wouldnt mean cutting off funds from those who depend on them but would eliminate the bureaucracy and regulations associated with them.Critchfield, Idahos superintendent, said on Idaho-based The Ranch Podcast that teachers involved in special education spend a lot of time filling out paperwork instead of focusing on how to help that child be successful. The changes are about removing the bureaucracy. But Critchfield acknowledged that cuts at the federal level could pose challenges if states have to take on more of an oversight role.As much as I am a champion of states doing that, the reality is there would be implications for Idaho and our department, she said in a statement to the Statesman and ProPublica. The state is looking at what it can do to prepare and where gaps would exist should more responsibilities fall to the states.Zikmund, the advocate who praised Critchfield for being responsive to parents and having an open-door policy, said that parents could be better off after the changes with good leadership at the state level, but without it, they could face a train wreck. One test will come in June, when the Office of Special Education Programs is expected to release reports telling states how they performed in their annual reviews. The layoffs and restructuring under Trump are making some advocates question if the federal government will truly hold states to account.

by Anjeanette Damon and Mollie Simon ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as theyre published. Ronald Carver was skeptical when his investment adviser first tried to sell him on an ugly houses investment opportunity eight years ago. But once the Texas retiree heard the details, it seemed like a no-lose situation.Carver would lend money to Charles Carrier, owner of Dallas-based C&C Residential Properties, a high-producing franchise in the HomeVestors of America house-flipping chain known for its ubiquitous We Buy Ugly Houses advertisements. The business would then use the dollars to purchase properties in which Carver would receive an ownership stake securing his investment and an annual return of 9%, paid in monthly installments.Worst case, I would end up with a property worth more than what the loan was, Carver said of the pitch.Carver started with a $115,000 loan in 2017. And sure enough, the interest payments arrived each month.He had worked three decades at a nuclear power plant, and retired without a pension and before he could collect Social Security. He and his wife lived off the investment income.The deal seemed so good, Carver talked his elderly father into investing, starting with $50,000. As the monthly checks arrived as promised, both men increased their investments. By 2024, Carver estimates they had about $700,000 invested with Carrier.Then, last fall, the checks stopped. The money Carver and his father had invested was gone. Carrier is accused of orchestrating a yearslong Ponzi scheme, bilking tens of millions of dollars from scores of investors, according to multiple lawsuits and interviews with people who said they lost money. The financial wreckage is strewn across Texas, having swept up both wealthy investors and older people with modest incomes who dug into retirement savings on the advice of the same investment advisor used by Carver.As early as 2020, Carrier had begun taking out multiple loans on individual properties some of which he never owned. In cases reviewed by ProPublica, as many as five notes were recorded against a single property, far exceeding the propertys value. Carrier also failed to properly record many deeds that were supposed to secure the loans, accumulating more debt than he could ever repay while investors remained unaware they had no collateral for their investments.Its incalculable the amount of damage this guy did, said one investor who lost about $1 million and asked not to be named to avoid embarrassment and not to interfere with a criminal investigation into Carriers scheme. Hes ruined some lives. Carrier, who declined an interview request, said in a brief phone conversation that hes not trying to avoid responsibility for the harm he caused. When this thing finally stopped, it was completely driven by me saying enough and going to the people and saying, Heres the mess Ive created, he said. This is a mess created by me.Investors also blame HomeVestors. For nearly two decades, Carrier used the companys carefully cultivated brand as the largest homebuyer in the United States to gain investors trust. They accuse HomeVestors of failing to provide oversight that could have prevented the fraud, despite claiming to hold its franchises accountable for best business practices. In its answers to their lawsuits, HomeVestors has denied responsibility for Carriers actions, claiming its franchises are independently operated, despite earning hundreds of thousands of dollars from Carriers business.HomeVestors revoked Carriers franchise on Oct. 24, about the time interest payments stopped arriving in investors accounts. The company said it had received a tip on its ethics hotline created in 2023, after ProPublica detailed predatory buying practices by multiple franchises. When confronted by HomeVestors, Carrier admitted that he and his business had entered into debts that they could not pay, a HomeVestors spokesperson said. The company reported him to the FBI. In May, HomeVestors filed suit against Carrier for trademark infringement and for not indemnifying it against these lawsuits.We take all allegations of misconduct incredibly seriously as demonstrated by our decisive action, the spokesperson said. It is truly disheartening for us that anyone who lent Mr. Carrier money was misled or harmed by his alleged fraudulent activity.Now, Carrier is under investigation by the Department of Justice, according to a recording of an April call between the lead prosecutor and potential victims. (The FBI and DOJ declined to comment.) A judge in one of the many lawsuits against Carrier has deemed allegations of fraudulent loans to be true because Carrier never answered the complaint. And the investors are in a race with one another to recoup even a small amount of what they lost, by either waiting for the DOJ to pay restitution, suing Carrier or trying to foreclose on properties still left in his portfolio.Just months after learning they had lost all of their investments, and before any restitution could be paid, Carvers father died. Five notes for a property on Glen Forest Lane in Dallas given to investors between 2019 and 2023. Two of the notes were not recorded until 2024. (Obtained, collaged and highlighted by ProPublica) A Top-Performing FranchiseIn 2005, Carrier opened a HomeVestors franchise in Dallas, where HomeVestors is headquartered. In the early days, records show, he relied on a handful of institutional lenders to finance his house purchases. Soon, the Wharton School of Business MBA who had come to house-flipping following a career at Pepsi and a food service equipment company, started cultivating his wealthy friends for loans. Carrier didnt fit any stereotype of a glad-handing huckster with a bad loan to sell. Those who knew him describe him as a serious person, cordial but very direct. He always had files in front of him, constantly focusing on his business. It made him seem trustworthy, one investor said.At HomeVestors, he was held up as a model franchise operator. C&C Residential Properties routinely made the top volume and top closer lists and was even named franchise of the year. Carrier led training sessions at company conferences and described his business as the largest and most successful HomeVestors franchise in the United States a claim that remained on the website for Carriers business through early May.Chas Carrier, for maybe 15 years, was one of the golden boys at HomeVestors, said Ben Ahern, who over two decades worked for a HomeVestors franchise and later owned one before leaving the company in 2021. Internally, it was like, Do whatever Chas Carriers doing.It isnt unusual for HomeVestors franchises to rely on private investors to finance their house-flipping. Banks arent typically interested in house-flipping loans, which are often short-term and riskier than a standard mortgage. Because of that risk, investors who lend to house-flippers earn a substantially higher return.To further minimize their risk and ensure they had a legitimate ownership stake in the house, savvy investors would verify the transaction with an independent title company to research whether there were other liens against the property and then record the deed with the county recorder. But many of Carriers investors, after years of consistent payments led them to trust him, let Carrier handle recording the deeds and did not confirm that hed done so.As Carrier grew his business, he began relying more on individual investors. ProPublica identified through public records at least 124 people who have lent money to Carrier since 2009. Not all of them have lost money.Carriers search for new investors was aided by Robert Welborn, an investment adviser in Granbury, Texas, southwest of Dallas. Welborn had built a network of clients in Granbury, a city of about 12,000 people on the Brazos River, through church, friendships and referrals. Many of his clients were older and had modest nest eggs, which Welborn said were well diversified. He said he built a relationship with Carrier in 2012, after researching his background for about two months. That Carrier was a successful franchisee lent him credibility, Welborn said.I never imagined the No. 1 franchisee with a fast-growing franchise company, HomeVestors, would defraud investors, he said.At the time, Welborn also solicited new investors with invitations to steak dinners where they would hear his pitch. An investment in Carriers business, according to Welborns sales material, which also featured the HomeVestors caveman mascot, Ug, was both lucrative and secure. Your investment is protected, the sales material assured potential clients.For loans he sent Carriers way, Welborn earned a 2% commission, he said. Welborn had at least two dozen clients who invested with Carrier, most of whom had multiple loans to him, according to a public records search. He would not comment on how many of his clients invested with Carrier.Many investors were happy for years in some cases, more than a decade. The interest payments came in like clockwork. A lot of Welborns clients relied on the payments for retirement income.I was real tickled with it, said Tom Walls, 85, who said he lost $50,000 of his retirement savings by investing with Carrier.Some investors noticed small problems a payment that arrived a few days late or an error on the paperwork to secure the loan. But Carrier always fixed the problems promptly, investors said.When you have this 10-year continuous, pleasant and mutually beneficial relationship, you build up a great deal of trust, said John Moses, who estimates he lost more than $1 million to Carrier.Looking back, the investors who spoke with ProPublica said they wished they had taken those warning signs more seriously. (Max Erwin for ProPublica) He Just Pencil Whipped Those DeedsBy fall 2024, Carriers payments to his lenders stopped. Thats when the house of cards fell.Carrier had spent that summer scrambling for money. Not only did Carrier have to make loan payments to scores of investors, but he also needed to keep up with the HomeVestors franchise fees and advertising payments. The company requires its franchises to make regular reports on sales and to open their books for audits, to provide financial statements when requested, and to report all assets and liabilities. Any of those reports could have called into question Carriers ability to stay solvent. But, according to former franchise owners and employees, HomeVestors audits of its franchises are mostly geared toward ensuring theyre paying all their franchise fees, which are based on sales.Before Carriers tangle of fraudulent loans collapsed and was exposed in court, there were signs of trouble.In 2016, Carrier was fined by the Texas Real Estate Commission for managing properties without a license. The HomeVestors franchise agreement requires owners to follow all laws and regulations, particularly real estate regulations. In 2020, two title insurance companies issued special alerts on Carriers business, advising their title officers not to enter into transactions with him without further legal and underwriting review. Carrier hasnt paid taxes on some of his properties since early 2023, according to court and public records, another violation of his franchise agreement. Despite the apparent violations, HomeVestors didnt terminate Carriers franchise agreement.I dont really think they do have much in place to prevent something like this, Ahern, the former HomeVestors franchise owner, said of the company. HomeVestors at the time didnt seem to have an internal system policing how franchises finance buying properties.A HomeVestors spokesperson said the company focuses on its franchise customers experiences selling their homes and does not dictate how franchises raise capital. The more than 950 franchises of HomeVestors are independent businesses with a wide variety of finance options available to them, the spokesperson said.Last spring, Carrier began borrowing against his future receipts in exchange for cash advances with exorbitant fees and annualized interest rates that he later claimed ranged as high as 600%. Between May and October, he did this at least seven times, racking up more than $1.2 million in debt beyond what he owed his investors, exhibits included with court filings show. By fall, he owed more than $75,000 in payments a week, according to the original terms. Seven companies filed suit over the cash-advance agreements, accusing him of default. Carrier has denied the allegations of default and has countersued four of the companies, claiming he was charged unreasonably high interest rates.The lending scheme appears to have fallen in a gray area for state and federal securities regulations. Its unclear whether the promissory notes Carrier issued to investors meet the definition of a security, two experts told ProPublica.In October, Carriers investors began to confront him about the missing payments, including Jeff Daly and Steve Needham, two of Carriers largest investors who had been lending him money for years. Carrier came clean to Daly, admitting he had been running a lending scheme for several years, according to a lawsuit Daly and Needham filed. He told Needham he had taken out multiple loans on individual properties without disclosing them to the investors, according to the lawsuit. The two men claimed in their lawsuit, which resulted in default judgments against Carrier, that combined they had lost $13.5 million to Carrier.The investor who spoke to ProPublica and asked not to be named said in an interview that Carrier broke down in tears when confronted about losing more than $1 million of the investors money. Carrier admitted the loans paid for his operating expenses, not for buying and refurbishing houses, the investor said.He just pencil whipped those deeds at the end, the investor said, explaining that Carrier drew up documents but didnt record them. Because the deeds were never recorded, the investor had no lien on the properties and therefore no collateral. Some deeds were for houses that Carrier didnt own or never bought, the investor said. It was a complete fabrication.Welborns clients, who typically invested much smaller amounts with Carrier, also learned of the house-flippers collapse in the fall, when their payments stopped. Carver said that Welborn called him a couple of days after the October payment was due and said, Hey, Im sorry to tell you this, but Chas has called me and admitted to fraud.Carver said he got in the car and drove to Welborns office, where he learned the nightmarish truth that all the money Carrier had taken was gone.A Life-Changing HitInvestors are deploying a variety of strategies to get their money back some of which pit bigger investors against smaller ones and early investors against more recent ones. Those who acted quickly are recovering some money through foreclosures and lawsuit settlements. Although Carrier is denying allegations in lawsuits brought by the cash-advance companies, hes not fighting individual investors who are suing him. Three of their lawsuits have resulted in judgments against Carrier, and he has so far not defended himself against the others.Welborn said hes doing his best to help his clients recover their money by providing the necessary paperwork, connecting them with buyers for the houses used as collateral and researching lien histories on the homes. When he first learned of the scheme, Welborn tried to convince his clients to sign on with his lawyer to sue Carrier. The lawyer, Anthony Cuesta, hoped a court would seize Carriers assets to help recover the investors lost funds. But he quickly learned there were too many investors and not enough equity in the properties to fund the litigation. Now, many of Welborns clients are waiting for the FBI and DOJ to act, while wealthier investors are foreclosing on properties and making them ineligible to be used for restitution. Welborn said some of his clients have been paid restitution through a DOJ-appointed real estate agents sale of Carriers properties, but he declined to provide details.Carver isnt optimistic: We are not going to get a dime.At least one investor went after Welborn individually. According to a Securities and Exchange Commission disclosure, the claim was settled for $130,000. In his response to the SEC disclosure, Welborn denied breaching fiduciary duty to the client and said he resolved the claim to avoid controversy. Welborn told ProPublica that $120,000 of the settlement came from the sale of the house used as collateral for the familys loan and he paid $10,000 for their attorney fees.Welborn said hes devastated by the loss of his clients money. But every day I drag myself to work with Gods help and spend most of my day helping lenders with their own personal restitution battles, he said.Some investors said they will have to go back to work after having retired or are scrambling to find some way to replace their lost income.Carver wishes he had paid more attention to red flags, like paperwork errors. But the monthly checks were so reliable, he didnt listen to his gut. Or his wife.Every time I added money, my wife would say, Dont do it, Carver said. My mother, too. She would push on my dad not to add any more. But he liked getting the monthly check.Carvers dad, Larry, believed it was the best performing investment he had ever made. When the money disappeared, Carver went to work trying to recoup some of it. Maybe he could write it off on his taxes, he thought. He wanted to get at least something back for his dad. But Larry was in ill health, and in February, he died.My dad passed thinking he lost all of his money to this guy, Carver said, adding he hopes Carrier goes to jail for a very long time.The investor who asked not to be named said the loss was a life-changing hit. He had retired at 53, after sticking it out in a job he hated until his stock options vested. When he finally quit, he put the money into Carriers business and lived off of the monthly payments. He may have to go back to work.He was an arrogant son of a bitch, the investor said. It was gone before he told anyone there was a problem. Thats the unforgivable piece. He squandered it all away. And he had to get backed into a corner before he admitted it was all gone. Byard Duncan contributed reporting.

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