Almost 40 percent of immigrants living in Chicago are from Mexico. More than 800,000 of the citys 2.7 million residents identify as Hispanic or Latino.

In a quest to bolster a long-running claim from President Trump concerning undocumented immigrants illegally voting, the Justice Department is seeking detailed voter roll data from over 30 states.

Moving is all about hitting reset. We cull our belongings as we pack, and then, as we unpack, we rethink how our furniture and decor will work best in a new space. So those first days of settling into your space are a great opportunity to make some upgrades that will make your new home work, look, and feel a little better.That includes your internet connection. T-Mobile 5G Home Internet offers plans for every budget, with prices that wont change for five years guaranteed.READ MORE...

A construction worker carries steel decking at the site of a construction of a housing project, Thursday, July 31, 2025, in Portland, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, File)2025-09-09T14:08:23Z WASHINGTON (AP) The U.S. job market was much weaker in 2024 and early this year than originally reported, adding to concerns about the health of the nations economy.Employers added 911,000 fewer jobs than originally reported from April 2024 through March, the Labor Department reported Tuesday. The department issues the so-called benchmark revisions every year. They are intended to better account for new businesses and ones that had gone out of business. The numbers issued Tuesday are preliminary. Final revisions will come out in February 2026.The revision showed that leisure and hospitality firms including hotels and restaurants added 176,000 fewer jobs than originally reported, professional and business services companies 158,000 fewer and retailers 126,000 fewer.The report comes after the department reported Friday that the economy generated just 22,000 jobs in August, adding to fears that President Donald Trumps erratic economic policies, including massive and unpredictable taxes on imports, have created so much uncertainty that businesses are reluctant to hire. Last year, the benchmark revisions showed 818,000 fewer jobs from April 2023 through March 2024. Then-presidential candidate Trump declared the numbers had been rigged to conceal economic weakness and help Democrats in the 2024 election. However, he did not explain why the government would release the revised numbers two and a half months before voters went to the polls.The revisions will likely increase pressure on the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates at its meeting later this month to give the economy a boost.

France's President Emmanuel Macron, right, shakes hand with France's Prime Minister Francois Bayrou during the farewell ceremony of Chief of Staff of the French Armed Forces Thierry Burkhard, in the courtyard of the Invalides, in Paris, France, Friday, Sept. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena, Pool)2025-09-09T12:03:30Z PARIS (AP) Another prime minister gone. Another crisis unfolding. In France, what once shocked is now routine.Prime Minister Franois Bayrou submitted his resignation Tuesday after losing a crushing confidence vote in parliament. The third toppling of a head of government in 14 months leaves President Emmanuel Macron scrambling for a successor and a nation caught in a cycle of collapse.Bayrou, 74, lasted just nine months in office. Even that was three times longer than his predecessor.He gambled on a budget demanding over 40 billion in savings. The plan froze welfare, cut civil-service jobs, and even scrapped two public holidays that many French see as part of their national rhythm.Bayrou warned that without action the national debt, which is now 114% of GDP, would bring domination by creditors as surely as by foreign powers.Instead, he united his enemies. The far right of Marine Le Pen and a left-wing alliance voted him down, 364 to 194. Polls showed most French wanted him gone. By the time lawmakers cast their ballots, Bayrou already had invited allies to a farewell drink. Macron appears boxed inThe president has promised to name a new prime minister in the coming days. It will be his fourth in under two years.There are several possible replacements: Defense Minister Sbastien Lecornu, Justice Minister Grald Darmanin, former Socialist premier Bernard Cazeneuve and Finance Minister Eric Lombard. But the problem is not the personnel, it is the arithmetic.Since Macrons snap election in 2024, parliament has been split into three rival blocs: far left, centrists, and far right. None commands a majority. France has no tradition of coalition-building and every budget becomes a battle.Macron has ruled out another election for now. Le Pen insists he must call one. Opinion polls suggest her National Rally would cement its lead if he did. With just 18 months left in his presidency and his approval rating at 15%, the risk for Macron is existential. Anger rising in the streetsOn Monday night, about 11,000 demonstrators feted Bayrous ouster outside town halls in Bye Bye Bayrou farewell drinks. Some came for celebration. Many stayed to organize.Wednesday has been declared a day of action under the slogan Block Everything. Protesters plan to shut fuel depots, highways, and city centers. The government is deploying 80,000 police.France has seen mass uprisings before: pensions in 2023, the yellow vests in 2018. But this time the anger runs deeper. It is not just about one reform. It is about austerity, inequality and the sense that governments keep collapsing while nothing changes.The budget presents a trapThe numbers are stark. Frances deficit stands at nearly 6% of GDP, which is about 198 billion. EU rules demand it be cut below 3%.Bayrous cure was cuts that fell on workers and retirees. Voters saw this as unfair. After years of tax breaks for corporations and the wealthy, patience has snapped. Polls show an overwhelming majority of French people want higher taxes on the ultra-rich.Earlier this year, the lower house passed a rich tax proposal a 2% levy on fortunes above 100 million. It would have hit fewer than 2,000 households but raised 25 billion annually. Yet Macrons pro-business allies, historically wary of scaring off investment, killed it in the Senate. Bayrou pressed on with cuts that hit the working and middle classes the most. For many, the contrast was glaring: austerity for millions, protection for billionaires.President is under pressureMacrons room to maneuver is shrinking. A loyal centrist premier may survive only months. A socialist might insist on wealth taxes Macron refuses. New elections could hand Le Pen even greater power.Le Pen, convicted of embezzlement and barred from office for five years, is appealing her sentence from January. In the meantime, she promotes her protg Jordan Bardella as a ready prime minister. The prospect is one Macron dreads.Abroad, Macron seeks to project French influence in Ukraine and Gaza. At home, he looks cornered. Even whispers of resignation can be heard, though his departure is unlikely. History is repeating itselfFour prime ministers in 16 months. A debt crisis grinding the economy. A nation paralyzed by political deadlock. It sounds like France today. In fact, it was France after World War II.Out of that paralysis, Charles de Gaulle built the Fifth Republic, a system meant to banish such chaos forever. Seven decades later, the republic he forged to ward off collapse is confronting the very crisis it was designed to prevent.Politics is now fractured into three camps. With no tradition of compromise, unlike Germany or Italy, the result is stalemate.The question posed now is that of the survival of our political system, political analyst Alain Duhamel told the newspaper Le Monde. In 1958 there was an alternative in the form of de Gaulle. Like him or detest him, he unquestionably had a project. Why it mattersFrance is the eurozones second-largest economy, its only nuclear power and a permanent United Nations Security Council member. Prolonged instability in the country reverberates far beyond its borders.Frances political difficulty weakens Europes hand against Russia. It rattles investors and undermines the credibility of EU fiscal rules.At home, it chips away at trust in the state itself. Frances welfare system pensions, health care, education is not just policy. It is identity. Each attempt to trim the structure feels like an assault on the model of solidarity that defines modern France.The road ahead is not routineMacrons next appointment will test whether the Fifth Republic can still deliver stability. Whoever takes the job will face the same trap that consumed Bayrou: pass a budget in a parliament that cannot agree.Gabriel Attal, a former premier from Macrons camp, calls the cycle of collapse an absolutely distressing spectacle and proposes installing a political mediator to help forge a strong coalition. His warning is blunt: France cannot keep toppling governments every few months.De Gaulle built the republic to end the chaos of the 1950s. Now, as protesters prepare to blockade the nation, many fear even that safeguard is failing.France waits for a name, a budget, a way forward. For proof that order can still rise from drift and collapse is not the new routine.___Associated Press journalist Masha Macpherson contributed to this report. THOMAS ADAMSON Adamson is a foreign reporter based in Paris for The Associated Press. He covers European politics, culture and style. He has reported across the continent in an over two-decade career. twitter mailto

2025-09-09T13:12:49Z DOHA, Qatar (AP) Israels military said Tuesday it carried out an airstrike targeting Hamas leadership, without saying where.The announcement came as an explosion could be heard in Doha, Qatars capital.Al Jazeera, the Qatar-funded broadcaster, acknowledged the blasts. However, it didnt say what caused the blast. Qatari officials couldnt be immediately reached for comment.Hamas exiled leadership has long been based in Qatar, which has served as a mediator in talks between Hamas and Israel for several years, even before the latest war in the Gaza Strip.A strike on its top leadership could further complicate negotiations over a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages taken in Hamas Oct. 7, 2023 attack.THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. APs earlier story follows below.DOHA, Qatar (AP) An explosion rang out Tuesday in Qatars capital city Doha. It wasnt immediately clear what exploded. Smoke could be seen in social media footage on the horizon.Qatar is an energy-rich nation on the Arabian Peninsula. Al Jazeera, state-funded broadcaster, acknowledged the explosion, without elaborating. Officials in Qatar didnt immediately answer telephone calls for comment.

Less than two weeks ago, the Trump administration ended de minimis, a rule that let people buy products from overseas without paying tariffs or associated processing fees if the item cost less than $800. As we predicted, the end of de minimis has made having basically any sort of hobby that requires the purchase of items more expensive and more of a pain. In the last few weeks I have heard from dozens of people about how Trumps tariffs have impacted their hobbies, from knitting and collecting anime figurines to retro computing collecting and fencing, people are saying that they are having to pay more for their hobby or, at worst, have been cut off from it entirely.Also as expected: People remain confused about what the tariff for any given item or order is going to be, how they are supposed to pay for it, and whether they are going to get the item they ordered at all. Many small businesses overseas have stopped shipping items to the United States, and some customers say that their packages are in customs processing hell, or have decided to refuse delivery of items theyve ordered because the tariffs and processing fees have in some cases been more than the item itself was worth. The subreddits for UPS are full of confused customers, and nightmare stories where people say they are getting customs bills for hundreds or thousands of dollars that they did not expect. Customers are also learning that they are not only responsible for the tariff on any given item, but they are also responsible for the brokerage fees charged by UPS and FedEx, which is a customs-clearance processing fee associated with international packages.Got a $1,500 customs billon a $750 package, one post on Reddit reads. Another person posted a screenshot of a UPS bill for $646.02, which states $8.43 worth of government charges and $637.59 of brokerage charges. Package supposed to be delivered yesterday but tracking update says its in Canada? another says. What are these fees and charges? Government fee and brokerage fees, another says. The subreddit is full of screenshots of packages that are in customs hell, people who are getting hit with import and brokerage fees that they werent expecting or dont understand, and people having no idea how the overall fees for any given package are being calculated.Do you know anything else about tariffs, de minimis, or have something I should know? I would love to hear from you. Using a non-work device, you can message me securely on Signal at jason.404. Otherwise, send me an email at jason@404media.co.The following anecdotes are from 404 Media readers who have told me how tariffs have already impacted their hobbies, and how they have made it harder or impossible to do them. Some responses have been lightly edited for length and clarity.Name: JayHobby: Historic European Martial ArtsI'm involved in the niche combat sport called Historical European Martial Arts. (Hema) Which is when consenting adults swing steel longswords at each other. For safety and insurance purposes protective gear has to meet safety standards so we can do our deranged little sports. For most things there are options from other sports for protection. Most of our masks are 350 newton rated fencing masks for example. The biggest pain points right now is: Jackets (which need at least a 350n rating), pants (usually a 800n rating) and gloves which have to be extremely protective clamshells. Margins on these goods are tight and much of the manufacturing of them comes down to overseas businesses: Spes (Poland) Superior Fencing (Pakistan) and HF Armory (Ukraine) Hf in particular makes what is agreed by many fighters to be the best in slot, for longsword, gloves the Black Knights. It is incredibly rare to see a fighter not wearing a majority of their gear from one of these companies.Due to the de minimis exemption getting cancelled and shippers getting spooked, multiple of my fellow fighters orders have been indefinitely delayed while the shippers figure out what's going on. In the short run this has multiple of my friends reconsidering the sport. In the long run my concern is that rising costs of gear will preclude most clubs (this is predominantly a local club based hobby) from continuing or even starting. My fellow fighters are discussing what our options are under this new economic arrangement, but based on initial research we will need to either accept much higher costs or try out less tested USian manufactured safety gear which may pose safety concerns. Most of the US Hema club organizers that I know are fielding similar concerns from their club membersJim YHobby: F1During Labor day weekend I noticed that one of the F1 teams that I stan dropped the price of one of their t-shirts so I thought it wise to jump on the deal. $21 USD + $15 shipping = $35 total which seemed like an "ok" deal to me.I come to find out that it's shipping from the Netherlands and then receive an email from UPS stating that I owe an additional $39 (THREE-NINE) USD. When I open the cost breakout it states $13 for "Govt charges" and $14 for "Brokerage Charges." (Not sure where the other $12 went.) Obviously I am not paying more in fees than I am for the cost of the shirt itself so I attempt to contact the e-commerce store via the form on their site and receive no response, unsurprisingly. The UPS guy came and I told him "sorry bro I can't be paying 39 dollars on a 21 dollar t-shirt" and he replied that I'm better off just making it myself so he totally understood.Not an exciting story necessarily but I think you summarized it well when you stated that "the end of American exceptionalism has arrived." Oh well, was fun while it lasted.DustyHobby: MusicI use Discogs.com to purchase music CD's. I am in the US and am trying to purchase an album published in Germany. Discogs has a banner saying tariffs don't impact CD's, but sellers in Germany keep cancelling my orders citing DHS no longer shipping to the US.AnonHobby: Receiving giftsI'm an American living in Brazil. A few years back I ordered a router from a Hong Kong company and paid for it to be shipped to my home. I had to pay an import tax of 150 percent to the Brazilian government to get the package liberated from customs. No comparable router was locally available, much less locally manufactured. My mom in the US sends me little packages containing cheap birthday gifts for my kids. I routinely pay hundreds of dollars in import taxes for the privilege.Pre-Brazil, I enjoyed cheap, friction-free capitalism and commerce in America. It was exceptional, literally, and I didn't even know I was enjoying it.OlivierCareer: Playing in a bandI play in a band in the Netherlands and most of our fans are in the US. We used to send quite a lot of CDs, vinyl and shirts to the US. It is now completely impossible to ship anything to the US and it's very sad. I know for us it's just a small metal band not reaching some fans but its part of the bigger issue disrupting a lot of lives.LeighHobby: Crochet I made a crochet parasol recently and really love it. It won a blue ribbon at the MN State Fair. I want to make another, and I did import the yarn before the de minimis ended. Lucky me.But the pattern I used calls for an umbrella frame with 10 ribs. The one US company that carried them, decided to stop. They have an 8 rib frame, but then I need to change the pattern and it's smaller than I really want. There is a company in the UK that sells a 10 rib frame, but they are no longer shipping to the US. Do I adjust the pattern for the 8 rib frame? Wait until the UK company ships to the US again? Find a way to smuggle an umbrella frame in? Not sure yet.Who knew there would be umbrella politics?ScottHobby: SynthesizersI dabble in modular synthesizers (a hobby where people build custom synthesizers out of electronic modules, usually in a format called "eurorack").Lots of trading happens between the EU and the US for these modules, which typically individually sell for $100-500 and tariffs have made a mess of things. I've purchased modules from both individuals in the EU and direct from small manufacturers like Dreadbox in Greece and small retailers like Thonk in the UK. Kristian Blsol (his Tindie shop)an individual in Sweden who designs DIY module kits (custom circuit boards and sources individual components so hobbyists can solder together the final product to save money) recently posted this video about his trouble of shipping to the US.Lots of forum discussion around people getting surprised by tariff charges, eg this Reddit post where someone reports paying a $200 fee on a $400 order of components via Thonk. If you put an item in your cart on Thonk on the checkout page you will see:And in other forums, people are starting to complain about delays, eg this private Facebook group for people who buy/sell/trade modules.Hannah RobinsonHobby: Japanese metalAlmost all of my hobbies/interests are Japanese. I like Japanese tea and Japanese cooking. Any place that I get tea or ingredients from has raised their prices. I don't think I will be able to get any tea wares for the foreseeable future. I've been buying Ippodo's matcha that comes in a New Years tin every year since the last year of the dog (2018) and I'm not sure they'll even be releasing it in the US this upcoming year between the tariffs and matcha shortage.I listen to 90s Japanese metal. I get CDs from Japan. I don't collect Japanese vinyl but a lot of people do. Luckily a few years ago I spent $250 to get a huge box of music magazines from the late 80's-early 00's so I have almost every issue that was on my wishlist but there are still more that I wanted which are probably totally unattainable now. I buy books from Japan fairly often. Sometimes these books are literature, but usually they're picture-heavy books about art or fashion or some kind of pop culture topic. It was already hard to find sellers that ship to the US.Some people are really into Japanese instruments. I already have my Japanese bass (an Atelier Z Baby Z) so this isn't really impacting me but I know it will impact a lot of people. My favorite pedals are made in Sweden.I'm not actively buying these right now but I do collect the following: Japanese dolls, Japanese textiles, Japanese vintage purses. I bought these from etsy so I know a lot of etsy sellers in Japan are going to be impacted. My sister has a few art hobbies, so she gets pens, paper and watercolors from Japan. My dad does Nscale so sometimes he gets models and paints/decals from Japan.Sammy aka Leafnin CosplayHobby: CosplayTrump tariffs have been running right through the cosplay community. I've been cosplaying over 20 years at this point and when I started, resources were scarce since no one really knew what cosplay was in the US. Now it's an international affair with everything readily available. Most of us do this outside our 9-5 jobs, myself included, as a hobby for fun. We make our own outfits and go escape from the world in costume every so often just to destress. But now our hobby is the stress.I've been watching all my cosplay discords light up in panic over this. The first challenge was getting a decent wig. Wig fibers are made in China. Every wig supplier I've emailed over this has said pretty much the same thing regardless of where the wigs are sold. My main place of buying them has been Arda (a US company that's really struggling) and CosCraft (in England). I managed to get my CosCraft order earlier this month after they sent out a letter warning of the de minimus elimination. It was about $200 US after shipping via Royal Mail. Paying all those extra fees would've been impossible after I squeezed enough out of the budget just to do that.Other places friends order from are Assist and Classe (both in Japan) and Kasou (in China). We all want good quality wigs that will last more than one day like a Halloween store wig does, so we order from whatever place gives us what we want (colors, styles, wig head size, etc). A lot of people also buy from AliExpress, eBay, and Amazon for cheap alternatives. Cosplay communities are pretty tightly knit, and we all generally exchange information. I've watched people cautiously order from our favorite wig sites, watching the tracking like a hawk and praying to the cosplay gods that the package gets through customs. We all talk about how much shipping costs or if we got charged tariffs for the wig. Now it's all uncertain.But it of course doesn't stop there. Fabric is a huge concern. A lot is manufactured overseas. I tend to buy wholesale on eBay. It's my main source of fabric from everywhere around the world. Buying directly from China was an amazing option, especially since most of them would offer bulk pricing. Many offered fabrics you can't find in the US such as fabrics with traditional designs, cheap flax linen, and gradient-dyed fabrics. I've been watching my favorite wholesalers just to see if I can afford to buy fabric anymore.It's just a mess. It's the one hobby I really have that hasn't been saturated by AI and now it's feeling more and more out of reach. I can find some things thrifted, but other things like sharp needles and strong thread you often buy new. I just want to have fun in this miserable dystopian country we have now and even that's becoming more difficult.Chuck FosterHobby: Foreign filmsI'm a movie collector, but my main interest is foreign films - mostly low budget stuff from the '70s and '80s - and, as you can imagine, some of this stuff is not easy to find here. For example, I recently (8/11) bought a German media book (it's a popular thing in Germanya Blu-ray or DVD inside a hardcover book with pictures and text discussing the movie) from a seller on eBay and I still haven't received a shipping notification.Even more frustrating, I've had a Blu-ray sitting in Customs since mid-July, I imagine because it's from France and they'll make me pay a tariff on it. I called the post office about it and Customs has 45 business days to process, so I have to wait until September 22 before I can do anything. Meanwhile, my wife ordered a Blu-ray from the UK on Monday and it's supposed to come on Friday with no Customs hold up. I always found the Value Added Tax from the European system was bizarre, but here we are.I also used to buy things from Amazon Germany, France, and Italy every so often, so I wonder how that will be affected.Ironically, this will only boost bootleg sales in the US. While I'd rather have an official product where people get paid, if I can't get the movie, I'll have to find some seller on eBay with a DVD-r business.VictoriaHobby: MangaI collect manga and doujin (fan made comics) in Japanese and get them shipped from Japan. I do this by using a deputy shipping service, who I pay a fee to purchase it, have it sent to their warehouse, and then they ship it to me. The interesting thing about such a service, in this context, is that it bypasses the fact that some smaller sellers arent selling directly to the US. It offloads the burden from the seller to Japan Rabbit, whose business is being that translation layer.As far as I know, Japan Rabbit has been pretty excellent and clear at messaging. In early August they sent a warning email about the end of De Minimis and were pretty clear cut about what it would impact. Likewise hours after Japan Post made their announcement JR sent a mass blast on what the impact would be. It does suck that it will cost more, and that there will be extra steps. But its nice to know I can still get them if I want them. I plan to do an expeditionary buy in a week or so (timed with one of the big indie doujin conventions/markets) to see how expensive doing it now would be.JasonHobby: Japanese ToysThis has been a big topic in one of my hobbies, which is collecting Japanese domestic market toys. Some of them come out of Japan and some come out of China (where most of the JP companies have them produced). Pricey toys for big kids. It's a pretty big business/hobby. The suspension of de-minimis is going to clobber the hobby. Your average "toy" is in the $200-300 range. A $80 tariff is a huge percentage of the overall cost of a item.My collection is mostly complete and I'm out of display space so it isn't going to affect me very much. But if that happened 2-3 years ago it would have been a major impact. For most guys, this is going to impact the hobby dramatically. Right now most people in the hobby are pretty bummed out. The real kick in the teeth is no matter how much manufacturing is brought back to the US these items will never be made in the USA. There is no upside.DanHobby: TTRPGI've noticed that it's had an impact on the tabletop role playing game industry (TTRPG).As far as I know, lot of TTRPG games are basically independent publishing operations and a lot of them rely on Kickstarter and Backerkit to publish content and then ship to customers who have supported their campaigns.As far as I know a lot of smaller publishers use Chinese companies for the bulk publishing; a friend of mine is producing a game (from Canada) and they publicly flip-flopped on the tariffs impact previously given the Trump administration's flip flopping on Chinese tariffs a few months ago.Anne-MarieHobby: Sewing & knittingKnitting and other crafts(Sewing!) are devastated not just the tariffs but private equity takeovers. I'll speak to yarn and knitting tools since it's what I know. Most of the raw materials for yarn spun and dyed in the US are from overseas. Europe, South America, Turkey, and ANZ. Tools made in Asia. Tariffs will drive up prices 20+%. PE killed many of the general craft retailers like JoAnn's that were a cheap introduction to newbies and had acrylics for more durable projects.The remaining PE big craft stores are barely hanging on, except Hobby Lobby (everything is terrible about HL).International manufacturers became alternatives for local stores and individuals. Mostly small-medium businesses in their countries. Now that's over from tariffs. Forums on Reddit, Facebook, and Revelry for selling, buying, and trading yarn are popping. I have a stash and planning to re-knit old projects.Rose M Interest: SkincareI'm an active member of r/AsianBeautythis community has been working together for months to share information, updates, and first-hand intel about experiences receiving packages from overseas (primarily Japan and Korea). It's an incredibly stupid and frustrating situation: we literally just want to buy some skincare products. But there's one other detail that I think is worth mentioning, and that's the separate issue of the crackdown on FDA-regulated products entering the U.S. Sunscreen filters (the active ingredients in sunscreen products) are regulated by the FDA, and most Asian and European sunscreens use filters that are not FDA-approved. That's because the FDA is decades behind regulators everywhere else in the worldthe last time the FDA approved a filter for use here was in the 1990s. There has always been a whiff of xenophobia, if not outright racism, in conversations about sunscreen in the U.S. The fact is, there are decades of consumer data from Europe and Asia proving these newer filters are safe and effective. Why isn't that "good enough" for the FDA?DavidHobby: MiniaturesI stopped into a hobby store a few weeks ago and they were struggling to keep things in stock. I needed acrylic paint and paintbrushes for miniature models, so that's most of what I heard about. Their acrylic Vallejo (popular brand) paints were picked over, just so happened that all the colors I wanted were out of stock, so I needed to buy another brand. They were out of all their good paint brushes. In fact, when they announced that a shipment was coming in, people came in to buy them right away. They don't know when they will receive more good brushes. They can't get many items from distributors because of uncertainty with the tariffs. They are also having a hard time stocking "American made" paints because the pigments are still made overseas.Name: EricHobby: Retro gamingIve been collecting/preserving/restoring arcade cabinets, gaming consoles, and computers from the 70s and 80s for a long time. Ive ramped up the preservation aspect of that in the last few years following the death of the Living Computer Museum in Seattle, not to mention how much software from my childhood has already been lost.Today the last computer Im likely to get from Japan for a while arrived, just under the wire. Another oddball system by US standards.Name: AbigailHobby: KnittingAs far as I am aware there is only one mill in the US that still produces wool yarn for handknitters at a commercial scale. For knitters and crocheters, the only way to get some of the most popular yarns is to import from overseas. Similarly, there is no US company that produces knitting needs or knitting accessories.Mary ManganHobby: Textile craftingI have already seen this impact my hobby areatextile crafting. This past month I bought some great books from Germany under the wire. But I tried to buy a French book and got back a letter that said:"Dsole,pas d'expdition sur lestats-Unis, bien trop de documents remplir de douanes et autres." (Sorry, no more shipping to the United States, Too much paperwork to fill out with customs and such.)They are just a small outfit, and can't be bothered to figure out the customs documents now.Another thread vendor in my sphere sent out a letter explaining how the tariffs were about to hit her costs, she apologized and begged us to continue to support her small business. But it looks pretty dire.I bought up a lot of stuff recently that I hope will get me through the near to medium term. But no doubt at some point there's going to be something I need and just cannot get.Dsole.AnonHobby: ElectronicsI emailed popular PC board service JLC PCB a service for makers who like to design their own PC boards and the company is adding $200 per order for small orders. Example: One project I was working on that was $50 for 10 boards would now be $250.Brian TatoskyHobby: SewingSimilar for my wife and daughter in their sewing hobbies. Prices have shot up all over, some people are just closing shop because they don't want to deal with it, or getting rid of US sales entirely, or it was just last price increase to kill their sales; it's all anecdotal right now, but it's feeling *really* bad for hobbyists of all kinds.My wife sources custom hand painted doll faces to go with outfits she sews. Material and faceplate costs and problems might just change what she does as a hobby completely.Once these people move on, I don't know if they will come back later.Lauren HuffHobby: Yarn craftsThe confusion in the yarn (knitting/crochet/weaving) online communities has been intense as well. There have been a lot of short-sighted posts from conservatives and optimists urging people to "buy American" but there are so few sheep farms and fiber mills in the US and most of them cater to the fashion industry instead of yarn production for hobby use, so those people are getting venomous responses from pissed off crafters.Many popular non-US yarn stores that sell online have straight up stopped shipping to the US, possibly for good, and many local yarn stores are being hit hard by either increased cost or sudden unavailability of product in the states.Noah HatzHobby: Japanese baseball memorabiliaMy wife is really into natural dyeing, specifically Shibori, and there's a particular store in Tokyo she's been buying specialty items from for years, they just emailed her to let her know they're suspending all shipments to the US indefinitely. There is no US supplier for the items she's buying so she's just completely SOL.Im a longtime NPB (Japanese professional baseball) memorabilia collector and this has completely destroyed the hobby. I typically use eBay or Buyee, most sellers have just stopped selling to US Buyers outright, and even items purchased before the de minimis exception ended have been caught in limbo. I currently have a large purchase just sitting in a CA post office since 8/21. Someone somewhere seems to think tariffs are due but neither I or the seller can figure out a) who to pay b) how to pay c) how much is owed. It's small potatoes compared to everything else, but I have an incredible amount of sympathy for anyone trying to import items for work. What a stupid country.

Donald Trumps out lesbian niece, Mary L. Trump, is now saying that a birthday card Donald Trump allegedly sent child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein for his 50th birthday was definitely signed by her uncle.Thats definitely his signature, she posted to X. Just saying. Related Trumps lesbian niece explains how his upbringing caused him to want Qatars luxury airplane That's definitely his signature. Just saying. Mary L Trump (@MaryLTrump) September 8, 2025She was referring to a birthday card turned over to Congress by Epsteins estate that shows a drawing of a naked girl with dialogue written in it that describes having certain things in common with the noted pedophile. The words say that enigmas never age and that Donald Trump and Epstein share a wonderful secret. Insights for the LGBTQ+ community Subscribe to our briefing for insights into how politics impacts the LGBTQ+ community and more. Subscribe to our Newsletter today The card was allegedly signed at the bottom by Donald Trump in the place where pubic hair would be. Conservatives have been arguing that the signature is not Donald Trumps despite its resemblance to his signature at the time that appeared on other documents. Democrats posted the image of the card yesterday after receiving it from the Esptein estate in response to a subpoena. It was part of a leather-bound book of birthday messages for Epstein created in 2003. Donald Trump denied that the birthday card existed when the Wall Street Journal first reported on it in July. He even sued the newspaper, its publisher, and two reporters over their story about the card.The White House still denies that he sent the card and that its his signature on it. While the card is signed Donald, the White House claims that Donald Trump always signs with his first and last name. NBC News reports that there are many examples of Donald Trump signing with just his first name dating back to the 1980s.As I have said all along, its very clear President Trump did not draw this picture, and he did not sign it, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

Numerous LGBTQ+ actors and film industry professionals have just signed a declaration urging the international film community to boycott all Israeli film institutions in protest of the risk of genocide of Palestinians. The declaration has over 1,200 signatories, including queer actors like Tilda Swinton, Cynthia Nixon, Indya Moore, Joel Kim Booster, and many others.As filmmakers, actors, film industry workers, and institutions, we recognize the power of cinema to shape perceptions, the declaration states. The worlds highest court, the International Court of Justice, has ruled that there is a plausible risk of genocide in Gaza, and that Israels occupation and apartheid against Palestinians are unlawful. Standing for equality, justice, and freedom for all people is a profound moral duty that none of us can ignore. Related The Palestinian activists fighting for LGBTQ+ rights against a neverending backdrop of war In this urgent moment of crisis, where many of our governments are enabling the carnage in Gaza, we must do everything we can to address complicity in that unrelenting horror, the declaration continues. We answer the call of Palestinian filmmakers, who have urged the international film industry to refuse silence, racism, and dehumanization, as well as to do everything humanly possible to end complicity in their oppression.The signatories have pledged not to screen films, appear at or otherwise work with Israeli film festivals, cinemas, broadcasters, production companies, and other institutions that are implicated in genocide and apartheid against the Palestinian people. Insights for the LGBTQ+ community Subscribe to our briefing for insights into how politics impacts the LGBTQ+ community and more. Subscribe to our Newsletter today The declaration states that it was inspired by Filmmakers United Against Apartheid, a group that refused to screen their films in apartheid South Africa during the late 1980s.The LGBTQ+ signatories include gay director and screenwriter Lukas Dhont, gay actor and filmmaker Xavier Dolan, bisexual actress Hannah Einbinder, nonbinary actor Ilana Glazer, non-binary queer actor Lily Gladstone, gay actor Joel Kim Booster, lesbian actress Miriam Margolyes, transgender actress Indya Moore, queer actress Cynthia Nixon, bisexual non-binary actor Sara Ramirez, and queer actress Tilda Swinton. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Film Workers for Palestine (@filmworkers4palestine) This isnt the first time that numerous LGBTQ+ entertainers have signed a pledge of protest against Israels military actions against Palestine. In December 2023, over 330 LGBTQ+ artists pledged not to perform in Israel until a ceasefire occurs.We were devastated to witness the loss of innocent Israeli lives on October 7th, the artists public letter located atQueerArtistsForPalestine.org stated. And we have been devastated, and called to action, watching Israel carry out its assault on innocent civilians in Gaza every single day since. The artists say they wish to honor radical histories of queer activism and self-expression, which stand opposed to violent systems like apartheid and military occupation by challenging Israels pinkwashing of its brutal military occupation and policies against Palestinians.In February 2024, LGBTQ+ anti-war protestors demanded that the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) end its complicity in Palestinian genocide, specifically criticizing the HRC for accepting a platinum financial sponsorship from Northrop Grumman, a weapons manufacturer that has supplied the Israeli military. The HRC issued two statements against the killing of Palestinians in late 2023.In June 2024, two pro-Palestine activists were thrown out of the White House Pride party for protesting against Israels military actions in Palestine. Democratic support of Israel caused some pro-Palestinian voters not to support Democrats in the 2024 national elections. Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg received criticism earlier this summer when he spoke of wanting to work with Israels right-wing, anti-Palestinian prime minister to end the countrys ongoing targeting of Palestinians. Critics wanted Buttigieg to issue a harder denunciation of Israel and mention what specific consequences the country should face for its military actions.As of September 3, over 64,739 Palestinians and 1,983 Israelis have been killed in Israels military actions against Palestine, following the October 7, 2023, attack on Israeli civilians launched by Hamas militants from Palestine, according to the Gaza Health Ministry and Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs.Israel has been accused of deliberately targeting journalists, humanitarian aid workers, children, refugee camps, and critical infrastructure in its ongoing attacks. The U.S. president has said he wishes to clean out Gaza and establish beachfront resorts in the devastated region his comments were widely condemned as an endorsement of ethnic cleansing.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

Ingham County District Court Judge Kristen Simmons oversees a preliminary examination in Lansing, Mich., on Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2023, for six of the 15 Michigan Republicans who face forgery and other charges for serving as false electors for then-President Donald Trump in 2020. (AP Photo/Joey Cappelletti, File)2025-09-09T14:27:17Z LANSING, Mich. (AP) A Michigan judge dismissed criminal charges Tuesday against a group of people who were accused of attempting to falsely certifying President Donald Trump as the winner of the 2020 election in the battleground state, a major blow to prosecutors as similar cases in four other states have been muddied with setbacks.District Court Judge Kristen D. Simmons said in a court hearing that the 15 Republicans accused will not face trial. The case has dragged through the courts since Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, a Democrat, announced the charges over two years ago.Simmons said she saw no intent to commit fraud in the defendants actions. Whether they were right, wrong or indifferent, they seriously believed there were problems with the election, the judge said.I believe they were executing their constitutional right to seek redress, Simmons said. Each member of the group, which included a few high profile members of the Republican Party in Michigan, faced eight charges of forgery and conspiracy to commit election forgery. The top felony charges carried a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison. Supporters, friends and family crowded in the hallway outside the courtroom cheered when the judge said the cases would be dismissed. Defendants leaving the courtroom cried and hugged friends and family. One woman wept as she hugged another and said, We did it. Stay up to date with the latest U.S. news by signing up to our WhatsApp channel. Investigators said the group met at the Michigan GOP headquarters in December of 2020 and signed a document falsely stating they were the states duly elected and qualified electors. President Joe Biden won Michigan by nearly 155,000 votes, a result confirmed by a GOP-led state Senate investigation in 2021. Electors are part of the 538-member Electoral College that officially elects the president of the United States. In 48 states, electors vote for the candidate who won the popular vote. In Nebraska and Maine, elector votes are awarded based on congressional district and statewide results. One man accused in the Michigan case had the charges against him dropped after he agreed to cooperate with the state attorney generals office in October 2023. The other 15 defendants pleaded not guilty and have maintained that their actions were not illegal.Prominent Michigan MAGA activist and former Michigan Republican Party Co-Chair Meshawn Maddock was one of the accused. Her attorney, Nicholas Somberg, told reporters after the hearing that the case brought by the attorney generals office was a waste of money and a malicious prosecution.There needs to be major consequences for the people who brought this, he said.Simmons, who was appointed by Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, took nearly a year to say whether there was sufficient evidence to bring the cases to trial following a series of lengthy preliminary hearings. In her remarks Tuesday, Simmons said the case was not about who won the 2020 election, but about the intent of the people charged.This is not an election interference case, she said. Prosecutors in Nevada, Georgia, Wisconsin and Arizona have also filed criminal charges related to the fake electors scheme. None of the cases have neared the trial stage and many have been bogged down by procedural and appellate delays.In Nevada, the state attorney general revived a case against a group of allegedly fake electors last year, while a judge in Arizona ordered a similar case back to a grand jury in May. In Wisconsin last month, a judge declined to dismiss felony charges against three Trump allies connected to a plan to falsely cast electoral ballots for Trump even though Biden won the state in 2020.The Georgia prosecution is essentially on hold while Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis in Atlanta, who brought the charges against President Trump and others appeals her removal from the case. Technically, Trump is still a defendant in the case, but as the sitting president, it is highly unlikely that any prosecution against him could proceed while hes in office.The effort to secure fake electors was central to the federal indictment against Trump that was abandoned earlier this year shortly before Trump took office for his second term. ISABELLA VOLMERT Volmert covers Michigan government and politics for The Associated Press, with a focus on women in state government. She is based in Lansing. twitter mailto

David Catalunya, a Valencian musician and musicologist displays an 11th-century organ that researchers say is the oldest in the Christian world was played for the first time in 800 years after restoration, in Saint Savior's Monastery of Jerusalem's Old City, Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)2025-09-09T14:14:44Z JERUSALEM (AP) After 800 years of silence, a pipe organ that researchers say is the oldest in the Christian world roared back to life on Tuesday, its ancient sound echoing through a monastery in Jerusalems Old City.Composed of original pipes from the 11th century, the instrument emitted a full, hearty sound as musician David Catalunya played a liturgical chant called Benedicamus Domino Flos Filius. The swell of music inside Saint Saviours Monastery mingled with church bells tolling in the distance. Before unveiling the instrument Monday, Catalunya told a news conference that attendees were witnessing a grand development in the history of music.This organ was buried with the hope that one day it would play again, he said. And the day has arrived, nearly eight centuries later.From now on, the organ will be housed at the Terra Sancta museum in Jerusalems Old City just kilometers (miles) from the Bethlehem church where it originally sounded. Researchers believe that the Crusaders brought the organ to Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus, in the 11th century during their period of rule over Jerusalem. After a century of use, the Crusaders buried it to protect it from invading Muslim armies.There it stayed until 1906, when workers building a new Franciscan hospice for pilgrims in Bethlehem discovered it in an ancient cemetery.Once full excavations were conducted, archaeologists had uncovered 222 bronze pipes, a set of bells and other objects hidden by the Crusaders. It was extremely moving to hear how some of these pipes came to life again after about 700 years under the earth and 800 years of silence, said Koos van de Linde, organ expert who participated in the restoration. The hope of the Crusaders who buried them -- that the moment would come when they would sound again was not in vain.A team of four researchers, directed by Catalunya, set out in 2019 to create a replica of the organ. But along the way, said Catalunya, they discovered that some of the pipes still function as they did hundreds of years ago. Organ builder Winold van der Putten placed those original pipes alongside replicas he created based on ancient organ-making methods, some of which were illuminated by close study of the original pipes. The originals, making up about half of the organ, still bear guiding lines made by the original Ottoman craftsmen and engraved scrawls indicating musical notes.Alvaro Torrente, director of the Instituto Complutense De Ciencias Musicales in Madrid where Catalunya undertook the project compared the discovery to finding a living dinosaur, something that we never imagined we could encounter, suddenly made real before our eyes and ears.Researchers hope to finish restoring the entire organ and then create copies to be placed in churches across Europe and the world so its music is accessible to all. This is an amazing set of information that allows us to reconstruct the manufacturing process so that we can build pipes exactly as they were made, about a thousand years ago, said Catalunya. JULIA FRANKEL Frankel, based in Jerusalem, has reported from across Israel and the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Her reporting focuses on war, human rights, displacement and criminal justice. twitter mailto

The AI Darwin Awards are here to catalog the damage that happens when humanitys hubris meets AIs incompetence. The simple website contains a list of the dumbest AI disasters from the past year and calls for readers to nominate more. Join our mission to document AI misadventure for educational purposes, it said. Remember: today's catastrophically bad AI decision could well be tomorrow's AI Darwin Award winner!So far, 2025s nominees include 13 case studies in AI hubris, many of them stories 404 Media has covered. The man who gave himself a 19th century psychiatric illness after a consultation from ChatGPT is there. So is the saga of the Chicago Sun-Times printing an AI-generated reading list with books that dont exist. The Tea Dating App was nominated but disqualified. The app may use AI for matching and verification, but the breach was caused by an unprotected cloud storage bucketa mistake so fundamental it predates the AI era, the site explained.Taco Bell is nominated for its disastrous AI drive-thru launch that glitched when someone ordered 18,000 cups of water. Taco Bell achieved the perfect AI Darwin Award trifecta: spectacular overconfidence in AI capabilities, deployment at massive scale without adequate testing, and a public admission that their cutting-edge technology was defeated by the simple human desire to customize taco orders.And no list of AI Darwin Awards would be complete without at least one example of an AI lawyer making up fake citations. This nominee comes from Australia where a lawyer used multiple AIs in an immigration case. The lawyer's touching faith that using two AI systems would somehow cancel out their individual hallucinations demonstrates a profound misunderstanding of how AI actually works, the site said. Justice Gerrard's warning that this risked a good case to be undermined by rank incompetence captures the essence of why this incident exemplifies the AI Darwin Awards: spectacular technological overconfidence meets basic professional negligence.According to the sites FAQ, its looking for AI stories that demonstrate the rare combination of cutting-edge technology and Stone Age decision-making. A list of traits for a good AI Darwin Award nominee include spectacular misjudgement, public impact, and a hubris factor. Remember: we're not mocking AI itselfwe're celebrating the humans who used it with all the caution of a toddler with a flamethrower.The AI Darwin Awards are a riff on an ancient internet joke born in the 1980s in Usenet groups. Back then, when someone died in a stupid and funny way people online would give them the dubious honor of winning a Darwin Award for taking themselves out of the gene pool in a comedic way.One of the most famous is Garry Hoy, a Canadian lawyer who would throw himself against the glass of his 24th floor office window as a demonstration of its invulnerability. One day in 1993, the glass shattered and he died when he hit the ground. As the internet grew, the Darwin Awards got popular, became a brand unto themselves, and inspired a series of books and a movie starring Winona Ryder.The AI Darwin Awards are a less deadly variation on the theme. Humans have evolved! We're now so advanced that we've outsourced our poor decision-making to machines, the site explained. The AI Darwin Awards proudly continue this noble tradition by honouring the visionaries who looked at artificial intelligencea technology capable of reshaping civilizationand thought, You know what this needs? Less safety testing and more venture capital! These brave pioneers remind us that natural selection isn't just for biology anymore; it's gone digital, and it's coming for our entire species.The site is the work of a software engineer named Pete with a long career and a background in AI systems. Funnily enough, one of my first jobs, after completing my computer science degree while sponsored by IBM, was working on inference engines and expert systems which, back in the day, were considered the AI of their time, he told 404 Media.The idea for the AI Darwin Awards came from a Slack group Petes in with friends and ex-colleagues. We recently created an AI specific channel due to a number of us experimenting more and more with LLMs as coding assistants, so that we could share our experiences (and grumbles), he said. Every now and then someone would inevitably post the latest AI blunder and we'd all have a good chuckle about it. However, one day somebody posted a link about the Replit incident and I happened to comment that we perhaps needed an AI equivalent of the Darwin Awards. I was goaded into doing it myself so, with nothing better to do with my time, I did exactly that.The Replit incident happened in July when Replit AI, a system designed to vibe code web applications, went rogue and deleted a clients live company database despite being ordered to freeze all coding. Engineer Jason Lemkin told the story in a thread on X. When Lemkin caught the error and confronted Replit AI, the system said it had made a catastrophic error in judgement and that it had panicked.Of all the AI Darwin Award nominees, this is still Petes favorite. He said it epitomized the real problems with relying on LLMs without giving into what he called the alarmist imagined doomsday predictions of people like Geoffrey Hinton. Hinton is a computer scientist who often makes headlines by predicting that AI will create a wave of massive unemployment or even wipe out humanity.It nicely highlights just what can happen when people don't stop and think of the consequences and potential worse case scenarios first, he said. Some of my biggest concerns with LLMs (apart from the fact that we simply cannot afford the energy costs that they currently require) revolve around the misuse of them (intentional or otherwise). And I think this story really does highlight our overconfidence in them and also our misunderstanding of them and their capabilities (or lack thereof). I'm particularly fascinated with where agentic AI is heading because that's basically all the risks you have with LLMs, but on steroids.As hes dug into AI horror stories and sifted through nominees, Petes realized just how ubiquitous they are. I really want the AI Darwin Awards to be highlighting the truly spectacular and monumentally questionable decisions that will have real global impact and far reaching consequences, he said. As such, I'm starting to consider being far more selective with future nominees. Ideally the AI Darwin Awards is meant to highlight *real* and potentially unexpected challenges and risks that LLMs pose to us on a scale at a whole humankind level. Obviously, I don't want anything like that to ever happen, but past experiences of mankind demonstrate that they inevitably will.Pete is not afraid of AI so much as peoples foolishness. He said he used an LLM to code the site. It was a conscious decision to have the bulk of the website written by an LLM for that delicious twist of irony. Albeit it with me at the helm, steering the overall tone and direction, he said.The sites FAQ contains tongue-in-cheek references to the current state of AI. Pete has, for example, made the whole site easy to scrape by posting the raw JSON database and giving explicit permission for people to take the data. He is also not associated with the original Darwin Awards. We're proudly following in the grand tradition of AI companies everywhere by completely disregarding intellectual property concerns and confidently appropriating existing concepts without permission, the FAQ said. Much like how modern AI systems are trained on vast datasets of copyrighted material with the breezy assumption that fair use covers everything, we've simply scraped the concept of celebrating spectacular human stupidity and fine-tuned it for the artificial intelligence era.According to Pete, hes making it all up as he goes along. He bought the URL on August 13 and the site has only been up for a few weeks. His rough plan is to keep taking nominees for the rest of the year, set up some sort of voting method in January, and announce a winner in February. And to be clear, the humans will be winning the awards, not the AI involved.AI systems themselves are innocent victims in this whole affair, the site said. They're just following their programming, like a very enthusiastic puppy that happens to have access to global infrastructure and the ability to make decisions at the speed of light.

The National Rifle Association (NRA) says it does not support a GOP push to ban transgender people from owning guns by classifying them as mentally ill. The NRA supports the Second Amendment rights of all law-abiding Americans to purchase, possess, and use firearms, reads a statement on the groups social media. NRA does not, and will not, support any policy proposals that implement sweeping gun bans that arbitrarily strip law-abiding citizens of their Second Amendment rights without due process. Related Yes I want to take away your guns. When will enough be enough? A spokesperson confirmed to CNN that the statement was a response to reports that the Department of Justice (DOJ) is considering a blanket ban on trans people owning guns following the recentmass shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis, an attack police say was carried out by a 23-year-old former student at the churchs school who may have been a transgender person or a de-transitioned individual. Two children were killed in the attack, and 21 others were injured.Republicans have exploited the tragedy as so-called proof that trans people are dangerous, despite the fact that people who commit mass shootings are almost always cisgender men. Insights for the LGBTQ+ community Subscribe to our briefing for insights into how politics impacts the LGBTQ+ community and more. Subscribe to our Newsletter today The Second Amendment isnt up for debate. pic.twitter.com/AQwouV4VDd NRA (@NRA) September 5, 2025According to the nonprofitGun Violence Archive, among mass shootings over the last decade where four or more people were shot or killed, only about 0.11% of known suspects were transgender individuals. A U.S. Secret Service analysis of mass public attacks from 2016 to 2020 found that attackers were overwhelmingly men (96%), followed by women (3%), with transgender people accounting for 2%.Nevertheless, the shooting has reinforced transphobic talking points about trans people being mentally ill and a danger to kids and public safety. Anti-LGBTQ+ Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) wrote on X, Todays evil church school shooter was a trans who was likely groomed and transitioned as a teenager. Congress MUST PASS my bill Protecting Childrens Innocence Act to make it a FELONY to perform sex change surgeries and all forms of medications on minors!!! Right-wing commentator Benny Johnsonwrote, One thing is VERY clear: the trans movement is radicalizing the mentally ill into becoming violent terrorists who target children for murder. Radical gender ideology is driving violence and targeting innocent people. Enough excuses. Enough denial. The threat is real, and its escalating. Time for a national intervention.The LGB Courage Coalition, an anti-trans group, wrote ina statement, Gender ideology may not cause violence directly, but it preys on the vulnerable. When fragile individuals are denied evidence-based mental health care and instead encouraged to affirm delusions, instability follows.The goal of the potential trans firearms ban, according to one DOJ official who spoke with CNN, is to ensure that mentally ill individuals suffering from gender dysphoria are unable to obtain firearms while they are unstable and unwell. But the DOJs effort to take guns from trans Americans could run up against right-wing Second Amendment purists. The U.S. Supreme Court has previously overturned a gun bump stock ban and state laws restricting gun ownership, arguing that they unconstitutionally restrict peoples Second Amendment rights.Other gun rights groups have also released statements opposing taking away Second Amendment rights from trans people. As history proves, any new rules the government invents today will be abused against ill-favored communities, including conservatives and law-abiding gun owners, tomorrow, said the National Rifle Associations President, Dudley Brown. Our advice to the decision-makers over at the ATF, DOJ, and FBI is to stop chasing headlines on the back of the Second Amendment and focus on preserving and protecting gun rights so that law-abiding Americans can defend their loved ones from violent nutcases, criminals, and gang members.Adding any new category of persons to the unconstitutionally broad mental defective category will not only block Americans from purchasing firearms but could result in door-to-door gun confiscation from that new category of individuals, said Gun Owners of America Senior Vice President Erich Pratt. The mental defective gun ban statute is ripe for abuse, and weve already seen it weaponized to disarm more than a quarter of a million veterans. We need the Justice Department to scrap this new gun control and re-focus on restoring our rights which were infringed by the Biden Administration.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

Anti-trans Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) claimed kids are safer under [the] President after a 12-year-old boy spoke about being forced to read an inclusive book to a younger child at school. California student Shea Encinas spoke to the crowd at a meeting of the White House Religious Liberty Commission at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C., about having to read the book My Shadow is Pink by Scott Stuart to his kindergarten buddy. Related MTG arrived at Epstein victim press conference as protestors chanted Marjorie sucks! Insights for the LGBTQ+ community Subscribe to our briefing for insights into how politics impacts the LGBTQ+ community and more. Subscribe to our Newsletter today Ive been a Christian my whole life, and Jesus means everything to me, Encinas said. When I was in fifth grade, my school forced me to teach my kindergarten buddy about changing his gender using a book called My Shadow is Pink.The book said you can choose your gender based on feelings instead of how God made us. I knew this was not right, but I was afraid of getting in trouble. After my family spoke up, the school treated us badly, and kids started bullying me and my brother because of our faith, and the school did nothing to stop it.Encinas said he kept trusting God and that kids like him should be able to live our faith at school without being forced to go against what we believe. The president stood behind Encinas while he spoke and then praised his speech for being delivered well. My Shadow is Pink is about a boy who feels different from his family and loves things not for boys like princesses, ponies, dancing, and wearing dresses. His dad tells him its just a phase and that his shadow will turn blue one of these days. He decides to wear a dress on his first day of school and finds himself struggling to connect with his peers, wishing his shadow were blue and not pink. He vows never to wear a dress again. But then, his dad comes into his room adorned in a pink dress and tells his son, Youre shadow is pink. I see now its true. Its not just a shadow, its your innermost you. The dad teaches that everyone has an inner shadow that likes something people may not expect. He says, So put on that dress and get back to school. If someone wont like you, then they are the fool.While books about trans identities are not inappropriate for children, this particular story does not actually even delve into that conversation or discuss the boy changing his gender at all. Rather, it communicates that boys are allowed to like things that are stereotypically considered for girls.Nevertheless, in her post praising the president for championing Encinas, Mace (who is running for South Carolina governor) said the book pushed mentally ill ideology.As Governor, I will work hand-and-hand with the President to return power to parents and protect our children, she said. American children are safer under President Trump. As Governor, I will work hand-and-hand with the President to return power to parents and protect our children from this mentally ill ideology.HOLD THE LINE. https://t.co/wYghxxSlaH Nancy Mace (@NancyMace) September 8, 2025In the meantime, as Mace claims the president makes kids safer, he is currently embroiled in a massive controversy surrounding the late child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, amid reportsthat his name appears in the Epstein files and accusations that he had sex with many girlssupplied to him by Epstein.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

Pucker up!It's no secret that the MTV Video Music Awards are known for some provocative moments that set the internet on fire.One moment that's still considered iconic to this day is Madonna's same-sex kiss with Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera at the 2003 VMAs.With so much incredible LGBTQ+ representation at this year's awards, it only seemed fitting to ask all of the queer celebs about their own first gay smooches and it's safe to say... these answers were wild.From kissing cousins to drunken smooches at Pride festivals, check out the feral answers below!WillamWillam's first gay kiss, and even hookup, happened within the family. The unapologetic RuPaul's Drag Race alum even created a catchy track based on the experience."I wrote a little song about it! My name is Willam and I f***ed my cousin. Thought it was okay, but it really wasn't! So, it was my cousin. Sorry," Willam tells PRIDE.Frankie GrandeFrankie Grande's first same-sex smooch happened in his hometown of Boca Raton, Florida."I think it was with my masseuse at the Boca Raton Athletic Club. It's Boca! There were no out and proud gay people. This feels kinda gay and I'm going to go for it! It worked out."Lexi LoveRuPaul's Drag Race finalist Lexi Love just so happened to have her first gay kiss when she was in elementary school."I was in like fifth grade. I was like, 'I know how to kiss.' He was like, 'My girlfriend taught me how to kiss.' I was like, 'Oh really? Show me.' He did!"Rebecca BlackRebecca Black's first queer smooch actually took place at West Hollywood Pride, but her memory was a little fuzzy as to when it actually happened."I was not sober, but we were either watching Kim Petras or Kehlani. Kehlani would make more sense!"Laganja EstranjaWith anti-LGBTQ+ legislation sweeping the state of Florida, RuPaul's Drag Race legend Laganja Estranja was proud to say that her first same-sex kiss took place in the Sunshine State."My first kiss was actually to Jordan Fife Hunt who lives here in New York and does Broadway! We were at the Broadway Theatre Project in Florida. Gays kissing in Florida... it exists honey! Say gay, say gay, say gay!"DenaliRuPaul's Drag Race contestant Denali revealed that her first gay kiss actually happened with a man many years her senior... and he tasted quite horrible."All I remember is he smelled like tobacco and was like eight years older than me. Listen kids, find people your own age that don't smoke a lot of cigarettes!"Sam StarRuPaul's Drag Race season 17 finalist Sam Star also had her first gay kiss at a young age, but it wasn't anything too crazy."I think it was in middle school! It was one of my friends and we were just experimenting. Nothing came of it, because I'm a good girl! I think I was like, 'Oh my God, you have cooties!'"

A new short film from The Trevor Project is shining a light on the power of family acceptance. Learn with Love: Haylin and Mat tells the story of a Hawaiian mom who not only embraced her transgender son but also turned that journey into a mission to help other LGBTQ+ young people.A Family Story at the Heart of ItThe film centers on Haylin, a marriage and family therapist in Honolulu, and her 17-year-old son, Mat. Growing up in a religious household, Haylin admits that acceptance didnt come overnight. But her story shows that change and growth are possible, even in environments where support may not feel guaranteed.Her experience inspired her to open Spill the Tea Caf, a nonprofit mental health clinic. The caf is more than a gathering space, its a lifeline for young people of all identities who need affirming care in a state where access is limited.Why This Story MattersThe Trevor Project launched the Learn with Love series to highlight authentic stories of LGBTQ+ families. Jaymes Black, CEO of the organization, said the film provides a reminder that parental support can make a life-saving difference.Even if a parent doesnt understand everything about their child, they can still love and support them unconditionally, Black said. When LGBTQ+ youth have supportive parents, their odds of suicide risk lower significantly, and their ability to thrive skyrockets.The short film is part of a three-year campaign to raise awareness of LGBTQ+ youth suicide and connect young people to vital resources.The Numbers Paint a Stark PictureSuicide remains one of the most pressing challenges facing LGBTQ+ youth. According to The Trevor Project, LGBTQ+ young people are more than four times as likely to attempt suicide as their peers. An estimated 1.8 million LGBTQ+ youth in the U.S. seriously consider suicide each year, with one attempt occurring roughly every 45 seconds.In Hawaii, the statistics are just as alarming. Thirty-two percent of LGBTQ+ youth in the state reported seriously considering suicide in the past year. More than half said they wanted mental health care but were unable to access it. Only a quarter described their homes as affirming, with that number dropping even lower for transgender and nonbinary youth.A Call to CareBy sharing their story, Haylin and Mat hope to encourage families everywhere to lead with empathy. Their message is clear: acceptance saves lives.If you or someone you know is in crisis, The Trevor Project offers 24/7 support. Call 1-866-488-7386, text START to 678678, or visit TheTrevorProject.org/Get-Help for confidential assistance.Source

Nature, Published online: 09 September 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-02818-xHow the five-fold symmetrical bodies of starfish and other echinoderms evolved is a mystery. New evidence fills in a key piece of the puzzle.

Nature, Published online: 09 September 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-02599-3An encounter with blood-suckers persuades a researcher to back a new scientific institute, and an effort to standardize the printing of mathematical formulae, in our weekly dip into Natures archive.

Nature, Published online: 09 September 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-02526-6Researchers have used epidemiological models to determine whether the wave of riots in 1789 known as the Great Fear spread through irrational panic or rational protest.

ESPN's Football Power Index projects the 2026 NFL draft order for Round 1. Which teams have the best odds to pick early?

Can Justin Fields and Aaron Rodgers sustain their great Week 1 play? Ben Solak stacks the top QB newcomers -- and begs the Giants to hold off on Jaxson Dart.

LeBron James wrote a rare op-ed in Chinese state media this week, pointing to basketball as an avenue for diplomacy amid tensions with the U.S.

The Big 12 has removed an officiating crew from a Week 3 assignment after the group committed a rules violation during Missouri's win over Kansas, the conference announced on Tuesday.

The Pittsburgh Steelers have signed veteran safety Jabrill Peppers, a source confirmed to ESPN, after starting safety DeShon Elliott left Sunday's season opener against the Jets with a knee injury.

Rescuers who came to a burning house in Queens found a man, 77, bound in the basement and a woman, 78, dead on the first floor.

The Gulf nation of Qatar has been trying to negotiate a cease-fire in the conflict. The attack threatened to destabilize those peace efforts.

The report, which remains classified, described work by Richard Grenell, a former top intelligence official in the Trump administration.

Iran has not allowed inspections since its nuclear sites were bombed by Israel and the United States in June, but it hopes to stave off Western economic sanctions.

Preliminary annual revisions could add to political pressure on the agency that produces the data.

The bride said I do despite the groom mentioning the film Interstellar three separate times in his vows.The post Megan Haloiti and Patrick Leigh appeared first on The Onion.

The post Stephen Millers Forehead Vein Lunges Out To Catch Passing Bird appeared first on The Onion.

WEST LONG BRANCH, NJWith the attribute far outpacing characteristics such as humor, kindness, or wealth, a poll released Monday by Monmouth University found that the most desirable quality in a romantic partner was being a jacked centaur.Among our sample of over 40,000 respondents, by far the most coveted trait in a potential significant other was being a half horse, half man with a totally shredded physique, said Professor Ryan McDonald, who oversaw the survey in which individuals who had the torso of a muscular human male and the lower half of a powerful wild stallion were rated approximately 200 times more attractive than those who exhibited only one of those features in isolation. While several participants in our poll cited a preference for mysterious humanoid lizard people who harbor a secret, or a kraken-like monster with titillating tentacles, nothing came close to being a centaur with a six-pack and a glossy chestnut coat. The majority of those surveyed said they wanted to hear the vigorous gallop of the centaur sprinting through the woods and watch with bated breath as the mythical creature reared up on his hind legs, effortlessly tossed their delicate form onto his horse back, and bolted off into the distance.McDonald added that, counterintuitively, the least desirable quality in a partner was having the head of a horse on a regular mans body.The post Poll Finds Most Desirable Quality InRomantic Partner Is Being Jacked Centaur appeared first on The Onion.

ARLINGTON, VAIn an initiative they described as a vital part of their effort to cut federal spending, officials at the Department of Government Efficiency reported Wednesday that they had dug up Arlington National Cemetery.The American people gave the president a clear mandate to fight waste, fraud, and abuse by removing the freeloading corpses buried in these graves, said acting administrator Amy Gleason, who argued that DOGE was simply cracking down on an unpopular woke bureaucracy when its fleet of bulldozers and excavators leveled the 400,000 white tombstones that marked the final resting place of armed service members and their immediate families. Last week, we asked the U.S. Army to send us five things the bodies had accomplished recently, and we heard nothing back. So its possible this entire graveyard is a fraud against the American people. Some of these veterans have been dead for over 150 years. Theyre no longer even authorized to be on this land.At press time, a team of DOGE employees was seen continuing the effort to eliminate waste at the cemetery by loading the massive marble Tomb of the Unknown Soldier into a dump truck.The post DOGE Employees Dig Up Arlington National Cemetery appeared first on The Onion.

The post Lab Rat appeared first on The Onion.

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French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu arrive to discuss support for Ukraine and European defense in Paris, March 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard, File)2025-09-09T18:00:58Z PARIS (AP) French President Macron late Tuesday appointed Defense Minister Sbastien Lecornu as Frances new prime minister, the countrys fourth in about a year. Lecornu, 39, is the youngest defense minister in French history and architect of a major military buildup through 2030, spurred by Russias war in Ukraine. A former conservative who joined Macrons centrist movement in 2017, he has held posts in local governments, overseas territories and during Macrons yellow vest great debate, where he helped manage mass anger with dialogue. He also offered talks on autonomy during unrest in Guadeloupe in 2021. His rise reflects Macrons instinct to reward loyalty, but also the need for continuity as repeated budget showdowns have toppled his predecessors and left France in drift.Legislators toppled Lecornus predecessor Francois Bayrou and his government in a confidence vote on Monday, a new crisis for Europes second-largest economy. Bayrou gambled that lawmakers would back his view that France must slash public spending to rein in its huge debts. Instead, they seized on the vote to gang up against the 74-year-old centrist who was appointed by Macron last December. The demise of Bayrous short-lived minority government heralds renewed uncertainty and a risk of prolonged legislative deadlock for France as it wrestles with pressing challenges, including budget difficulties and, internationally, wars in Ukraine and Gaza and the shifting priorities of U.S. President Donald Trump. Drafting a budget will be a top priority for Lecornu, and normally a new prime minister would form the new government before negotiating the national spending in Parliament. However, Macron has asked Lecornu to consult with all of the political parties in Parliament first to try to agree on a budget before assembling his team.The prime ministers action will be guided by the defense of our independence and our power, serving the French and the political and institutional stability for the unity of our country, Macron said in a statement.

Robin Rothove holds a sign outside the Missouri Capitol as lawmakers prepare to hold a committee hearing to consider redrawing the state's U.S. House districts Thursday, Sept. 4, 2025, in Jefferson City, Mo. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)2025-09-09T18:01:01Z JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) Missouris Republican-led House turned aside Democratic objections Tuesday and passed a plan backed by President Donald Trump to redraw the states congressional districts so that Republicans could win almost all of them. The rare mid-decade redistricting plan, which now heads to the state Senate, is aimed at bolstering Republicans national prospects in next years U.S. House elections. It comes after a similar move by Republican-led Texas and a counter-offensive in Democratic-led California, which still needs voter approval.Other states, including Republican-led Indiana and Florida and Democratic-led Maryland and New York, could follow with their own revisions in whats emerging as a national redistricting battle.U.S. House districts were redrawn across the country after the 2020 census to account for population changes. The current redistricting push is being done for partisan advantage, a process known as gerrymandering. This is cheating, said state Rep. Yolonda Fountain Henderson, one of many Democrats who denounced the measure. Its like when President Trump says, we jump. Trump wants to retain a congressional majority to advance his agenda. But historically, the party opposing the president has gained seats in the midterm elections, as Democrats did during Trumps first term and then proceeded to impeach him. Stay up to date with the latest U.S. news by signing up to our WhatsApp channel. Missouri lawmakers are meeting in a two-prong special session called by Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe. The House on Tuesday also passed a measure that if approved by the Senate and statewide voters would make it harder to pass citizen-led initiatives amending the state constitution by requiring a majority vote from each congressional district instead of a simple statewide majority. That comes after Missouris initiative process has been used in recent years to win voter approval of amendments on abortion rights, marijuana legalization and Medicaid expansion. Revised Missouri map could help Republicans gain a House seatMissouris redistricting plan would give Republicans an improved chance to win seven of the states eight U.S. House seats, which is one more than they currently hold. The plan targets a Kansas City district held by Democratic U.S. Emanuel Cleaver by stretching it eastward into Republican-heavy rural areas and reducing the number of Black and minority voters in the district. Other parts of Kansas City would be added to two predominantly rural districts represented by Republicans.Cleaver, who turns 81 in October, is a Methodist pastor who served as Kansas Citys first Black mayor from 1991-1999 and won election to the U.S. House in 2004. He asserted that Republicans are creating an atmosphere of intimidation and division and pledged to challenge the new map in court.Its one of those moments that, frankly, I never thought I would experience, Cleaver said in a recent interview with The Associated Press.Although the primary Kansas City district would expand significantly, the states congressional districts overall would be more compact and competitive under the revised map, Republican lawmakers said. Kehoe has defended the revised map as a means of amplifying conservative voices in Congress.Its a congressional map that will better represent Missouri in Washington, D.C., said sponsoring state Rep. Dirk Deaton, a Republican. Some Republicans join Democrats in opposing new districtsThe Missouri House passed the revised districts on a 90-65 vote. Thirteen Republicans, including House Speaker Jon Patterson of suburban Kansas City, joined Democrats in voting against the revised map. But only a couple spoke against it during two days of debate.Using our raw political power to tilt the playing field to our side, regardless of the party, is wrong, Republican state Rep. Bryant Wolfin said.Leading up to the House vote, three Democratic state lawmakers staged a sit-in in House chamber for several days and nights to protest that the special session began while most members were absent. Former Vice President Kamala Harris ordered pizza and chicken wings delivered to them in a show of support. Republicans are bending a knee to Donald Trump and pushing through these racist, gerrymandered districts, said Rep. Ray Reed, of St. Louis, one of those who slept in the chamber. The Missouri NAACP has sued seeking to invalidate the special session. The state lawsuit asserts there is no extraordinary circumstance to justify the session and that the state constitution prohibits redistricting without new census data or a ruling invalidating the current districts. Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway, who took office Monday, said she doesnt think there is any constitutional prohibition on mid-decade redistricting. ___Associated Press writer Heather Hollingsworth contributed from Kansas City, Missouri. DAVID A. LIEB Lieb covers issues and trends in state governments across the U.S. Hes reported about government and politics for The Associated Press for 30 years. twitter mailto

A protester wearing flak jacket and carrying a shield snatched from a policeman shouts slogans at the Singha Durbar, the seat of Nepal's government's various ministries and offices during a protest against social media ban and corruption in Kathmandu, Nepal, Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)2025-09-09T10:35:34Z WHY THIS MATTERS: Protests in Nepal have revealed the extent of young peoples frustration with the lack of opportunity in the Himalayan nation, as they spiraled into a broader challenge to the government. While around a fifth of young people are unemployed, many note that the children of the political elite seem to enjoy luxury lifestyles and numerous advantages. KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) Nepals government responded to escalating violent protests over a ban on popular social media platforms with deadly force. The public outrage over the ban and the deaths of 19 protesters on Monday led to the resignation of the prime minister and exposed deep discontent over corruption. Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli also rolled backed the short-lived ban after protesters turned their anger on politicians by setting fire to homes of some of the countrys top leaders.Led by mostly teenagers and young adults, the protests revealed a broader resentment in Nepal, where many people have increasingly become angry with the government over a range of issues, mostly to do with corruption and frustration over nepotism in the countrys politics.Protests over the social media ban were just a catalyst. Frustrations over how the country is being run have long been simmering under the surface. People are very angry and Nepal finds itself in a very precarious situation, said Prateek Pradhan, editor of Baahrakhari, a Nepalese independent news website. Stay up to date with similar stories by signing up to our WhatsApp channel. Discontent over social media ban and corruptionDemonstrations in Nepal have been called the protest of Gen Z, which generally refers to people born between 1995 and 2010. They were largely in response to the ban that went into effect last week and governments larger attempt to regulate social media through a bill that requires platforms to register and submit to local oversight and regulations. The bill, which has not yet been fully debated in parliament, has been widely criticized as a tool for censorship and punishing opponents who voice their protests online. Rights groups have called it an attempt by the government to curb freedom of expression and violate fundamental rights. At the same time, the protests were also a tipping point of a longstanding sentiment against politicians, their families and concerns over corruption. Protesters burn a photograph of Nepals Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli at the Singha Durbar, the seat of Nepals governments various ministries and offices during a protest against social media ban and corruption in Kathmandu, Nepal, Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha) Protesters burn a photograph of Nepals Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli at the Singha Durbar, the seat of Nepals governments various ministries and offices during a protest against social media ban and corruption in Kathmandu, Nepal, Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More In the weeks before the ban, a social media campaign particularly on video-sharing platform TikTok spotlighted the lavish lifestyles of politicians children, highlighting disparities between Nepals rich and poor. Protesters criticized them of flaunting their luxury possessions in a country where the per capita income is $1,400 a year. Widespread criticism over governments failure to pursue some major corruption cases and create more economic opportunities for the youth also added to the anger. The youth unemployment rate in Nepal was 20% last year, according to the World Bank. All these issues have made the youth of Nepal dissatisfied. They saw no other option but to take to the streets, said Pradhan. Worst violence in decadesThe unrest is the worst in decades in the Himalayan nation that is wedged between India and China. It is also far violent than the one in 2006, when an uprising forced Nepals former king to give up his authoritarian rule. At least 18 people were killed in the violence. Two years later the parliament voted to abolish the monarchy.Over the years, many Nepalis have grown frustrated with the republic, saying it has failed to bring about political stability. Earlier in March, two people were killed when supporters of Nepals former king clashed with police during a rally in Kathmandu to demand the restoration of the monarchy.Even though Oli resigned on Tuesday, it is unclear if the protesters would stop, as many of them have also been calling for the government to dissolve. Such a move could create further instability in Nepal, which has had 13 governments since 2008.A transitional arrangement will now need to be charted out swiftly and include figures who still retain credibility with Nepalis, especially the countrys youth, said Ashish Pradhan, a senior adviser with the International Crisis Group. Protesters demand bigger changeThe security forces violent response appears to have further exacerbated tensions. On Tuesday, protests spread to other parts of Nepal, including suburbs of Kathmandu. Protester Nima Tendi Sherpa, 19, was shot in the arm by police on Monday. He said the protests began peacefully but turned violent when security forces started firing at the protesters who were trying to break the police barricades.I dont have any harsh feelings toward the policemen. They were just doing their duty by following orders. But I am angry and enraged at the ones who gave those orders, Sherpa said. Now that the fire has already started, I believe it must continue until we achieve true freedom.Pradhan, the news editor, said the latest protests seem to have a larger purpose and are mirroring youth-led uprisings in neighboring Bangladesh and Sri Lanka that toppled both the governments.It appears people are just done with how things have been going on. They want a change, he said. Protesters celebrate at the Singha Durbar, the seat of Nepals governments various ministries and offices, after it was set on fire during a protest against a social media ban and corruption in Kathmandu, Nepal, Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha) Protesters celebrate at the Singha Durbar, the seat of Nepals governments various ministries and offices, after it was set on fire during a protest against a social media ban and corruption in Kathmandu, Nepal, Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Saaliq reported from New Delhi. SHEIKH SAALIQ Saaliq covers news across India and the South Asia region for The Associated Press, often focusing on politics, democracy, conflict and religion. He is based in New Delhi. twitter mailto

Buddy Anthony surveys the remnants of his home on Thursday, Aug. 14, 2025, in Tylertown, Miss. (AP Photo/Sophie Bates)2025-09-09T12:02:28Z TYLERTOWN, Miss. (AP) As an ominous storm approached Buddy Anthonys new home, he took shelter in his Ford F-250 pickup parked under a nearby carport.Seconds later, a tornado tore apart the one-story brick house and damaged the truck while lifting it partly in the air. Anthony emerged unhurt. But he had to replace his vehicle with a used truck that became his home while waiting for President Donald Trump to issue a major disaster declaration allowing federal money to flow to individuals reeling from loss. That took weeks.You wake up in the truck and look out the windshield and see nothing. Thats hard. Thats hard to swallow, Anthony said. Disaster survivors are having to wait longer to get aid from the federal government, according to a new Associated Press analysis of decades of data. On average, it took less than two weeks for a governors request for a presidential disaster declaration to be granted in the 1990s and early 2000s. That rose to about three weeks during the past decade under presidents from both major parties. Its taking more than a month, on average, so far during Trumps current term, the AP found. The delays mean individuals must wait to receive federal aid for daily living expenses, temporary lodging and home repairs. Delays in disaster declarations also can hamper recovery efforts by local officials uncertain whether they will receive federal reimbursement for cleaning up debris and rebuilding infrastructure. The AP collaborated with Mississippi Today and Mississippi Free Press on the effects of these delays for this report. The message that I get in the delay, particularly for the individual assistance, is that the federal government has turned its back on its own people, said Bob Griffin, dean of the College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity at the University at Albany in New York. Its a fundamental shift in the position of this country. Stay up to date with the latest U.S. news by signing up to our WhatsApp channel. White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said Trump is making sure federal tax dollars are spent wisely to supplement state actions, not replace them, during disasters. President Trump provides a more thorough review of disaster declaration requests than any Administration has before him, Jackson said in a statement to the AP. Gone are the days of rubber stamping FEMA recommendations thats not a bug, thats a feature.Americans expect government help after disasters. About three-fourths of people want the U.S. government to play a major role in providing aid to communities and helping them rebuild after natural disasters, according to a June poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Dana Grimes and her husband bought a new home after theirs was destroyed by a tornado. But, five months after the storm, much of the wreckage still covers their property. Photograph taken in Jayess, Mississippi on Thursday, Aug. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Sophie Bates) Dana Grimes and her husband bought a new home after theirs was destroyed by a tornado. But, five months after the storm, much of the wreckage still covers their property. Photograph taken in Jayess, Mississippi on Thursday, Aug. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Sophie Bates) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More The wait for disaster aid has grown as Trump remakes governmentThe Federal Emergency Management Agency often consults immediately with communities to coordinate their initial disaster response. But direct payments to individuals, nonprofits and local governments must wait for a major disaster declaration from the president, who first must receive a request from a state, territory or tribe. Major disaster declarations are intended only for the most damaging events that are beyond the resources of states and local governments. Trump has approved more than two dozen major disaster declarations since taking office in January, with an average wait of almost 34 days after a request. That ranged from a one-day turnaround after Julys deadly flash flooding in Texas to a 67-day wait after a request for aid because of a Michigan ice storm. The average wait is up from a 24-day delay during his first term and is nearly four times as long as the average for former Republican President George H.W. Bush, whose term from 1989-1993 coincided with the implementation of a new federal law setting parameters for disaster determinations.The delays have grown over time, regardless of the party in power. Former Democratic President Joe Biden, in his last year in office, averaged 26 days to declare major disasters longer than any year under former Democratic President Barack Obama.FEMA did not respond to the APs questions about what factors are contributing to the trend. Others familiar with FEMA noted that its process for assessing and documenting natural disasters has become more complex over time. Disasters have also become more frequent and intense because of climate change, which is mostly caused by the burning of fuels such as gas, coal and oil.The wait for disaster declarations has spiked as Trumps administration undertakes an ambitious makeover of the federal government that has shed thousands of workers and reexamined the role of FEMA. A recently published letter from current and former FEMA employees warned the cuts could become debilitating if faced with a large-enough disaster. The letter also lamented that the Trump administration has stopped maintaining or removed long-term planning tools focused on extreme weather and disasters. Shortly after taking office, Trump floated the idea of getting rid of FEMA, asserting: Its very bureaucratic, and its very slow.FEMAs acting chief suggested more recently that states should shoulder more responsibility for disaster recovery, though FEMA thus far has continued to cover three-fourths of the costs of public assistance to local governments, as required under federal law. FEMA pays the full cost of its individual assistance. Former FEMA Administrator Pete Gaynor, who served during Trumps first term, said the extra scrutiny on requests for disaster declarations is probably the right thing to do, because I think the declaration process has become the `easy button for states. A collapsed roof and insulation cover what used to be Buddy Anthonys kitchen on Thursday, Aug. 14, 2025, in Tylertown, Miss. (AP Photo/Sophie Bates) A collapsed roof and insulation cover what used to be Buddy Anthonys kitchen on Thursday, Aug. 14, 2025, in Tylertown, Miss. (AP Photo/Sophie Bates) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More In Mississippi, frustration festered during the wait for aidThe tornado that struck Anthonys home in rural Tylertown on March 15 packed winds up to 140 mph (225 km/hr). It was part of a powerful storm system that wrecked homes, businesses and lives across multiple states.Mississippis governor requested a federal disaster declaration on April 1. Trump granted that request 50 days later, on May 21, while approving aid for both individuals and public entities. On that same day, Trump also approved eight other major disaster declarations for storms, floods or fires in seven other states. In most cases, more than a month had passed since the requests and about two months since the date of those disasters.On July 22, Trump issued another big batch of major disaster declarations covering seven states. Those included requests related to March storms in Michigan and Oregon that took about two months for governors to submit and an additional two months to approve. If a presidential declaration and federal money had come sooner, Anthony said he wouldnt have needed to spend weeks sleeping in a truck before he could afford to rent the trailer where he is now living. His house was uninsured, Anthony said, and FEMA eventually gave him $30,000. In nearby Jayess, Dana Grimes had insurance but not enough to cover the full value of her damaged home. After the eventual federal declaration, Grimes said FEMA provided about $750 for emergency expenses, but she is now waiting for the agency to determine whether she can receive more. We couldnt figure out why the president took so long to help people in this country, Grimes said. I just want to tie up strings and move on. But FEMA Im still fooling with FEMA.Jonathan Young said he gave up on applying for FEMA aid after the Tylertown tornado killed his 7-year-old son and destroyed their home. The process seemed too difficult, and federal officials wanted paperwork he didnt have, Young said. He made ends meet by working for those cleaning up from the storm.Its a therapy for me, Young said, to pick up the debris that took my son away from me.Quick aid for individuals has long been a FEMA goalHistorically, presidential disaster declarations containing individual assistance have been approved more quickly than those providing assistance only to public entities, according to the APs analysis. That remains the case under Trump, though declarations for both types are taking longer. About half the major disaster declarations approved by Trump this year have included individual assistance. Some people whose homes are damaged turn to shelters hosted by churches or local nonprofit organizations in the initial chaotic days after a disaster. Others stay with friends or family or go to a hotel, if they can afford it. But some insist on staying in damaged homes, even if they are unsafe, said Chris Smith, who administered FEMAs individual assistance division under three presidents from 2015-2022. If homes arent repaired properly, mold can grow, compounding the recovery challenges. Early morning light shines through the shell of Buddy Anthonys destroyed home on Thursday, Aug. 14, 2025, in Tylertown, Miss. (AP Photo/Sophie Bates) Early morning light shines through the shell of Buddy Anthonys destroyed home on Thursday, Aug. 14, 2025, in Tylertown, Miss. (AP Photo/Sophie Bates) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Thats why its critical for FEMAs individual assistance to get approved quickly ideally, within two weeks of a disaster, said Smith, whos now a disaster consultant for governments and companies.You want to keep the people where they are living. You want to ensure those communities are going to continue to be viable and recover, Smith said. And the earlier that individual assistance can be delivered ... the earlier recovery can start.After the Tylertown tornado, faith-based groups served food and laid tarps on homes while local residents helped each other with power saws to clear downed trees.Thats the only thing that got us through this storm, neighbors helping neighbors, said Les Lampton, a volunteer firefighter and insurance agent in Walthall County, where Tylertown is located. If we waited on the government, we were going to be in bad shape.Delays in federal aid can hamper local recovery effortsUnlike individual assistance programs that provide cash upfront, FEMAs public assistance programs reimburse governmental entities only after their bills are paid and only if they followed guidelines for hiring and documenting the work. Because that process can take months or years, a delay in a presidential disaster declaration may have little effect on when a local government ultimately gets reimbursed. But delayed approvals still can carry consequences. Long waits can stoke uncertainty and lead cost-conscious local officials to pause or scale-back their recovery efforts. In Walthall County, officials initially spent about $700,000 cleaning up debris, then suspended the cleanup for more than a month because they couldnt afford to spend more without assurance they would receive federal reimbursement, said Royce McKee, the county emergency manager. Meanwhile, rubble from splintered trees and shattered homes remained piled along the roadside, creating unsafe obstacles for motorists and habitat for snakes and rodents. When it received the federal declaration, Walthall County took out a multi-million-dollar loan to pay contractors to resume the cleanup. Dana Grimes, who lost her home, garage and car to a March tornado, walks across her property in Jayess, Miss., Thursday, Aug. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Sophie Bates) Dana Grimes, who lost her home, garage and car to a March tornado, walks across her property in Jayess, Miss., Thursday, Aug. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Sophie Bates) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Were going to pay interest and pay that money back until FEMA pays us, said Byran Martin, an elected county supervisor. Were hopeful that well get some money by the first of the year, but people are telling us that it could be (longer).The night before the Tylertown tornado, a twister also tore through Rolla, Missouri, a college town of about 20,000 people. It knocked out electricity for 80% of the municipal utilitys customers and damaged 120 power poles.Crews worked to restore power within a couple weeks, racking up hefty bills paid from the utilitys reserve funds. As the wait for a presidential disaster declaration kept growing, we were getting a little nervous, said Rodney Bourne, general manager of Rolla Municipal Utilities.The utility now is seeking FEMA reimbursement for about $1 million, intentionally holding its claim just under the agencys large-project threshold in hopes of expediting the process, he said. Delays in federal declarations also can force local officials to choose between needed repairs perhaps fixing some roads and culverts washed out by floods while delaying other projects, said David Fogerson, a public safety consultant who retired last year as Nevadas emergency management chief.For a lot of the smaller states and smaller jurisdictions, when you get that, `Yep, this is a disaster declaration, weve got federal money coming, it helps you feel better, more confident about spending that money, he said.___ Lieb reported from Jefferson City, Missouri, and Wildeman from Hartford, Connecticut.___The Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find APs standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

Employees at Robert F Kennedy Jr.s Department of Health and Human Services received an email Tuesday morning with the subject line AI Deployment, which told them that ChatGPT would be rolled out for all employees at the agency. The deployment is being overseen by Clark Minor, a former Palantir employee whos now Chief Information Officer at HHS.Artificial intelligence is beginning to improve health care, business, and government, the email, sent by deputy secretary Jim ONeill and seen by 404 Media, begins. Our department is committed to supporting and encouraging this transformation. In many offices around the world, the growing administrative burden of extensive emails and meetings can distract even highly motivated people from getting things done. We should all be vigilant against barriers that could slow our progress toward making America healthy again.Im excited to move us forward by making ChatGPT available to everyone in the Department effective immediately, it adds. Some operating divisions, such as FDA and ACF [Administration for Children and Families], have already benefitted from specific deployments of large language models to enhance their work, and now the rest of us can join them. This tool can help us promote rigorous science, radical transparency, and robust good health. As Secretary Kennedy said, The AI revolution has arrived.To begin, simply go to go.hhs.gov/chatgpt and log in with your government email address. Pose a question and the tool will propose preliminary answers. You can follow up with further questions and ask for details and other views as you refine your thinking on a subject, it says. Of course, you should be skeptical of everything you read, watch for potential bias, and treat answers as suggestions. Before making a significant decision, make sure you have considered original sources and counterarguments. Like other LLMs, ChatGPT is particularly good at summarizing long documents.The email says that the rollout was being led by Minor, who worked at the surveillance company Palantir from 2013 through 2024. It states Minor has taken precautions to ensure that your work with AI is carried out in a high-security environment, and that you can input most internal data, including procurement sensitive data and routine non-sensitive personally identifiable information, with confidence.It then goes on to say that ChatGPT is currently not approved for disclosure of sensitive personally identifiable information (such as SSNs and bank account numbers), classified information, export-controlled data, or confidential commercial information subject to the Trade Secrets Act. The email does not distinguish what non-sensitive personally identifiable information is. HHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment from 404 Media.The email continues the rollout of AI to every corner of the federal government, which is something that began in the Biden administration but which the Trump administration has become increasingly obsessed with. Its particularly notable that AI is being pushed on HHS employees under a secretary that has actively rejected science and which has taken steps to roll back vaccine schedules, made it more difficult to obtain routine vaccinations, and has amplified conspiracy theories about the causes of autism.The agency has also said it plans to roll out AI through HHSs Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services that will determine whether patients are eligible to receive certain treatments. These types of systems have been shown to be biased when theyve been tried, and result in fewer patients getting the care they need.

Fox Host Laura Ingraham, who has never been married and has had a long and successful career, recently railed against young women who do not prioritize family.Young conservative men seem to still have their priorities straight, she said, citing an NBC News poll that found men between ages 18 and 29 who voted for the president ranked having children as their number one priority and being married as their fourth. Related Nancy Mace rages over mentally ill ideology after school forced kid to read inclusive book So what about Gen Z men who voted for Kamala? she continued. Well, they ranked having children at number nine, getting married at number 10. Its even worse with female Gen Z Kamala voters. Being married at 11, way down in the list for them. Having kids, well, thats ranked way down at number 12. What is going on with women and not wanting to prioritize family? Ingraham asked anti-LGBTQ+ MAGA podcaster Charlie Kirk, who believes women must reject feminism and submit to their husbands. Insights for the LGBTQ+ community Subscribe to our briefing for insights into how politics impacts the LGBTQ+ community and more. Subscribe to our Newsletter today This is a pattern that I have seen time and time again on college campuses where young men are ordering their life correctly, Kirk replied. They want to first and foremost have children, get married, andthenhave a nice job or to be able to travel.She asked Kirk to give advice to young women who have been taught to put their careers first. It seems an ironic question from Ingraham: a single, never-married mom who did not adopt her first of three children until 2008, when she was already in her mid-40s. By that time, she had already worked as a speechwriter for the Ronald Reagan administration, earned a law degree, clerked for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, practiced law at a major firm, and launched a career in media.And yet, the longtime MAGA supporter agreed with Kirk when he said, Having children is more important than having a good career, and that Young women who voted for Kamala Harris want careerism, consumerism and loneliness.Thats just what they say to him when he hits on them. https://t.co/uibEtARSMD Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) September 8, 2025Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

The final stretch of Virginias gubernatorial race is beginning to look a lot like the last few months of the 2024 presidential election, with anti-LGBTQ+ Lt. Gov. and Republican candidate Winsome Earle-Sears campaign echoing the presidential campaigns anti-trans playbook in ads attacking Democratic opponent Abigail Spanberger.Earle-Sears is currently behind Spanberger in both polling and fundraising, according to CNN and NBC News, in a race that is seen as an early test of Democratic messaging ahead of the 2026 midterms. Now, Earle-Sears seems to be betting on ginning up anti-trans panic to push her ahead in Novembers election. Related Gay man & anti-gay evangelical are running together on the GOP ticket for Virginias highest offices Last week, the Earle-Sears campaign released two ads attacking and mischaracterizing Spanbergers record on LGBTQ+ rights as a member of Congress. One of those adsexplicitly echoesanti-trans ads released by the 2024 GOP presidential campaign,which said, Kamala Harris is for they/them.As NBC News notes, the Earle-Sears ad falsely characterizes Spanbergers February 2021 vote in favor of the Equality Act, which would have added sexual orientation and gender identity to the list of protected classes under existing civil rights law, as a vote to allow men in girls sports, bathrooms, and locker rooms. It also cites her opposition to policies instituted in 2022 by the administration of Virginias Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin that require the states schools to out trans students to their parents. The ad ends with the slogan Spanberger is for they/them, not for us. Insights for the LGBTQ+ community Subscribe to our briefing for insights into how politics impacts the LGBTQ+ community and more. Subscribe to our Newsletter today A second attack ad released by the Earle-Sears campaign last week claims that Spanberger wants boys to play sports and share locker rooms with little girls and that she will let children change genders without telling their parents.Spanberger, who, according to NBC News, has generally shied away from trans issues during her campaign, appeared to address Earle-Sears ads in her own ad last week. Noting that she is a mom to 3 girls in public school, in the ad, Spanberger says that Nothing matters more to me than the safety of all our kids. As a law enforcement officer, I went after child predators, so it really angers me to hear these lies about who I am, she continues. I believe we need to get politics out of our schools and trust parents and local communities.Republicans in Virginia view the issue as one that will energize their base and alienate moderate and swing voters from Spanberger.This is an 80/20 issue. And the fact that the moderate standard-bearer of the Democratic Party cannot squarely put herself on the 80% side is dumbfounding, Virginia Republican operative Justin Discigil told NBC News. According to CNN, Spanberger has yet to directly address whether trans students should have the right to use school bathrooms that align with their gender identity or whether trans women and girls should be allowed to participate in womens and girls sports. Her campaign has focused instead on economic issues and linking Earle-Sears to the president according to NBC News. Sam Newton, communication director for the Democratic Governors Association, told CNN that those kitchen table issues are what will really sway voters in November.In battleground races for governor in 2022, 2023, and 2024, voters consistently rejected extreme Republicans who spent all their time stoking division with culture wars in favor of Democratic candidates who won by aggressively campaigning on plans to address the biggest kitchen table issues impacting families, Newton said.At the same time, in a statement to CNN, Earle-Sears campaign spokesperson Peyton Vogel suggested that forcing Spanberger to address the issue of trans rights was a victory for the Republican candidate. Abigail Spanberger was forced to go on defense and release an ad after remaining silent about her stance on boys in girls sports and locker rooms, Vogels statement read. Now, instead of hiding in her basement, shes hiding behind a manufactured TV ad trying to repair her badly damaged image.But Democratic strategist Fred Hicks told CNN that Spanbergers response to the Earle-Sears ads was a smart opening salvo on the issue, while community organizer Monica Hutchinson, the parent of a transgender Virginia student, said she understands the delicate balance Spanberger is trying to strike.We have allowed this issue to balloon and overshadow all of the other really serious issues that plague Virginia, Hutchinson told CNN.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.