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There’s no question that Trump and his administration, virtually from the top much of the way down just do not like protest or protestors. The whole gang and their larger tribe from Congress to statehouses are lightning quick to label the least resistance as domestic terrorism, deep conspiracy, or Trump’s personal favorite, the illusive antifa. This is true in general and specifically when it comes to their obsession with heavy handed mass deportation of anyone who looks like any immigrant. It’s ironic to read about Trump’s nominee to replace the inept, narcissist South Dakota’s former governor Kristi Noem with the Oklahoma Senator who in his hearing is having to walk back his kneejerk claim that the Minneapolis nurse and citizen observer murdered by ICE was a terrorist. 

John Bonifaz: 
Yes. No question about it. And look, the other thing they say, right, and this was said by Hakim Jefferies and Katherine Clark and Pete Aguilar in their statement as to why they were voting present is impeachment is a complicated process. It requires thousands of hours of investigation. It requires multiple witnesses. 

It requires months of hearings. We are not living in a conventional time here. And we are dealing here with in plain sight clear abuses of power that don't require thousands of hours of hearings, multiple witnesses. You know, this unconstitutional attack on Iran, the most recent abuse of power here is plain as day as why Donald Trump needs to be impeached or removed from power. 

The latest 2026 report from global democracy watchdogs marks a moment that would have been difficult to imagine only a generation ago. According to the V-Dem Institute, the United States now ranks 51st out of 179 countries in measures of liberal democracy—a sharp fall from its previous position near the top tier, placing United States between Slovakia and Greece. While rankings alone do not tell the whole story, the trajectory is difficult to dismiss. This is not a statistical anomaly, but the visible outcome of long-developing institutional strain.

Democratic erosion in the United States has unfolded gradually over decades. It is reflected not only in the weakening of voting protections and the increasing politicization of the judiciary, but also in the steady degradation of norms surrounding information, accountability, and public discourse. A particularly telling dimension of this decline is the growing pressure placed on the free press and on freedom of expression—core pillars of any functioning democracy.

I have always found it interesting, and at times revealing, when seasoned activists and intellectuals in the West, including those who see themselves as deeply committed to Palestine, raise the same familiar point: Arab governments must stand up to Israel and the United States in solidarity with their brethren in Palestine.

The argument often comes wrapped in a perplexed question: why are Arabs and Muslims not doing anything for Palestine?

What makes this particularly puzzling is that the question is often posed by respected analysts and historians—people who should recognize that the issue is far less sentimental than structural.

At first glance, the question may not seem bizarre. Palestinians are tied to their neighbors through history, geography, demography, religion, language, collective memory, and a shared experience of Western domination and Israeli colonial violence. 

It is hard to come-up with adjectives to describe the lunatic president of the US who is a puppet of Netanyahu (Epstein Mossad files), another lunatic who just noted that Jesus Christ does not have an advantage over Genkiz Khan. Israeli colonial settlers went on a rampage yesterday torching property in nine Palestinian villages while destroying Lebanon and starving Gaza.  Now Iranian missiles arrive here with no sirens since most US/Israeli detection radars were knocked out. Desperate flailing Trump just threatened to attack Iran's energy infrastructure within 48 hours, a country of 93 million people! Iran in turn, said that if this happens, the infrastructure tied to the US and Israel will be attacked (energy and water desalination). Global starvation and destruction to follow (see links below). As I and many others have demonstrated for years, the apartheid genocidal regime will drag the US and potentially the world to ruins. It is a suicidal, genocidal, and ecocidal regime.

US President Donald Trump did not invent the phrase “fake news,” but he undoubtedly transformed it into a political weapon, relentlessly accusing critical media of fabricating unfavorable narratives.

The deeper irony, however, is harder to dismiss. Trump himself has exhibited a persistent disregard for factual consistency. Whether he believes his own claims is ultimately beside the point; what matters is that his record has eroded any reasonable basis for trust.

His war on Iran illustrates this contradiction with striking clarity. Trump has repeatedly spoken of his commitment to a negotiated resolution with Tehran. Yet, at critical junctures—often in tandem with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu—his administration has moved toward escalation, authorizing or supporting strikes even as diplomatic language dominated public discourse.

This is not an isolated contradiction, but a pattern.

Electricity costs in PJM rose 56 percent in 2025

The burst of current and planned data center development in mid-Atlantic and Great Lakes states led to a 56 percent increase in overall wholesale electricity prices within the PJM operational territory, the region's market monitor reported last week.

PJM, is the electricity grid operator responsible for managing power distribution in 13 Mid-Atlantic and Midwestern states which include all of PA, OH, Virginia, West Virginia, NJ, MD, DE and parts of NC, KY, MI, IN, IL plus the District of Columbia,

Energy costs, which accounted for 60 percent of total costs in 2025, were up 51 percent year over year. Capacity costs -which are fees paid to generators to ensure power is available during peak demand periods - increased the most over that period — 262 percent — and accounted for about 16 percent of total costs last year. In 2024 capacity costs only accounted for 6.5 percent of wholesale energy prices. Transmission costs were up 4.5 percent and accounted for 22 percent of total costs in 2025.