❧ Last month, the people of Seattle voted overwhelmingly to become the first city in the U.S. to commit to building large-scale social housing. Better yet, they’ll be funding the project with a new “excess compensation tax” on businesses that pay any single employee over $1 million per year. After winning an impressive 63 percent of the vote, housing activists are now working to implement the program while battling the moneyed interests who have tried to destroy it. The first full year’s worth of tax will be collected at the start of 2026, and the newly minted Seattle Social Housing Developer agency has already begun hiring staff and looking for plots of land to buy.
InJacobin, Jordan Bollag interviewed Tiffani McCoy, the co-executive of the group House Our Neighbors, on how the social housing campaign will move forward:
McCoy: “We’ve been building this coalition up for the past four and a half years. It just keeps expanding. More and more people believe in this model and this fight. With the housing crisis and homelessness crisis worsening, people are looking to alternative models.”
The friendly house mascots probably helped win people over. (Image: Inequality.org)
❧ In New Orleans,Mardi Gras revelers booed a group of Tesla Cybertrucks so hard they had to leave a parade. The crowd also pelted the Swasticars with beads and other junk, to the extent that one of their supposedly-bulletproof windows cracked. Unfortunately, this won’t stop Elon Musk being the world’s richest fascist—but it’s a beautiful sight nonetheless. (Gizmodo)
❧ New York Governor Kathy Hochul has ordered the City College of New York to remove a Palestinian studies job listing after Zionist groups complained that it was “offensive.” The listing for CUNY’s Hunter College called for a scholar who’d “take a critical lens” to issues including “settler colonialism, genocide, human rights, apartheid” and other subjects. All of those subjects are pretty obviously relevant and applicable to the state of Israel, which is right now unambiguously moving forward with a U.S.-backed campaign to ethnically cleanse Gaza and settle it with Israelis. But according to Hochul, appointing a professor to discuss this fact ran the risk of “antisemitic theories” being propagated, and she immediately acted to make sure that the post was removed.
Columbia University, meanwhile, has been carrying out a secretive disciplinary process against students involved in pro-Palestine protests, according to a new report from Drop Site News. Some have been charged with “discrimination” for actions like describing Israel committing “genocide” or “apartheid” or calling for the U.S. to halt its arms sales. Students have been threatened with actions as extreme as expulsion or even the revocation of their degrees. But they also have no way to fight the claims:
After a student receives notification they are under investigation for discrimination based on their speech, Columbia requires them to sign a non-disclosure agreement in order to see the unredacted evidence against them—effectively banning them from discussing the accusations against them or the process of the office publicly.
These are just some of the latest pathetic capitulations by Democrats and other public institutions to the Trump administration, which has launched investigations into universities that had large pro-Palestine demonstrations for “antisemitism.” In a blatant First Amendment violation, Trump threatened this week to strip the funding of schools that do not expel students who engage in “illegal protests.” (What he considered an “illegal” protest he did not specify.) Regardless, this as an extreme, unconstitutional attack on protected speech, and politicians and universities need to oppose it rather than indulge it. (New York Times)
❧ Iowa has become the first state to strip civil rights protections from transgender people. In fact, this is the first time that any state has explicitly removed a group of people from protection against discrimination. Last week, Governor Kim Reynolds signed a law that formally removes gender identity from protections under Iowa’s Civil Rights Act, opening up the door for trans people to be denied housing, employment, education, and other aspects of public life. This dovetails with efforts by the Trump administration to eliminate any acknowledgment of trans people’s existence on federal government websites. Over the past week, more than 2,000 protesters amassed at the Iowa state capitol to protest the unprecedented rollback of civil rights. After the bill passed the state senate, they broke out in chants of “Who’s next?”
They are right to wonder. It’s horrifying enough that trans people are being singled out for attack, but Republicans have made it very clear that they will not stop there. Everyone’s rights are under threat and we need to stand in unison against this. (Des Moines Register)
Does Governor Reynolds realize the Republican rollback of civil rights will eventually
❧ Virginia’s Governor Glenn Youngkin has commuted the sentence of a killer cop. The officer, Sergeant Wesley Shifflett of the Fairfax County Police Department, had been convicted of recklessly handling a firearm and sentenced to three years in prison late last month. The case stemmed from an incident where Shifflett shot an unarmed Black man who was accused of shoplifting some sunglasses in a Nordstrom, claiming that he saw the man reach for his waistband. As it turned out, there was no weapon to reach for—but the suspect, 37-year-old Timothy Johnson, died all the same. Nevertheless, Governor Youngkin unilaterally decided on Monday that “the court’s sentence of incarceration is unjust” and let Shifflett go free. It’s just the latest example of how American cops literally get away with murder, and why they need to be disarmed, demilitarized, and defunded. (Associated Press)
❧ As if that weren’t bad enough, Ben Shapiro and Elon Musk are trying to get Derek Chauvin pardoned for the 2020 murder of George Floyd. Shapiro has launched a “Pardon Derek” petition, calling Chauvin’s conviction “the defining achievement of the Woke movement in American politics” and claiming that “righting this terrible wrong” would require letting Chauvin go free. Shapiro also claims that Floyd “likely died of excited delirium,” which is not a real medical condition. And as he does with every horrible idea he comes across, Elon Musk has boosted the campaign,sayingon Tuesday that it’s “something to think about.”
As journalist Radley Balko has written extensively, there is no real question about Chauvin’s guilt. Every revisionist attempt to claim he was wrongfully convicted has fallen apart under scrutiny. But this isn’t about justice. It’s about white supremacy. The goal is to reinforce the power of white cops to kill Black people, whenever and however they see fit, and ensure they face no real penalty when they do. There’s a real possibility Donald Trump will listen to Shapiro and Musk’s demands—and if he does, the rest of us will need to be ready to protest. (The Hill)
Appropriately, Shapiro announced his petition by doing the Kubrick Stare.
Yeah, officer from overseer You need a little clarity? Check the similarity! The overseer rode around the plantation The officer is off, patrollin’ all the nation
❧ The Trump administration has rolled back requirements for oil and gas industry ships to take precautions when approaching critically endangered whales off the Florida coast. Introduced in 2023, the rule required ships to slow down to 11 mph when approaching habitats of Rice’s whales and avoid traversing the areas at night, when the whales come up near the surface to rest. Rice’s whales—which were recently discovered to be distinct from the more numerous Byrde’s whales—are the rarest in the entire world, with fewer than 100 of them remaining in a sliver of the Gulf of Mexico. (Yes, we’re still calling it that.) Advocates have likened the rules to ones that require drivers to slow down in school zones. But although there is a history of these magnificent creatures being pulverized by passing boats, the oil industry seems to think that’s a fine price to pay. They are now celebrating that they will save billions of dollars. (Tampa Bay Times)
(Graphic: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)
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CROOKS vs. SICKOS (Or, “What are our politicians and oligarchs up to?”)
❧ The GOP’s budget is winding its way through Congress. Last week, we discussed how it will entail major cuts to Medicaid to pay for even more tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans. But it will also involve cuts to funding for climate change mitigation, which is also extremely important but is getting less attention from Democrats opposing the bill. Kate Aronoff writes for the New Republic:
Republican policies to expand fossil fuel production and tear up regulations—including a plan to slash the Environmental Protection Agency’s budget by 65 percent—would mean that even more people die. Dismantling Biden-era regulations on lead and PFAS will leave millions with toxic drinking water, contaminated with substances that contribute to cognitive impairment, asthma, and premature deaths from heart disease and cancer. Gutting the already understaffed, overworked U.S. Forest Service will starve efforts to reduce wildfire risk and leave fewer staff on hand to respond to flames fanned by rising temperatures, deepening a home insurance crisis that is already making homeownership and rent unaffordable in Florida, California, and several other states. The list goes on.
❧ The Supreme Court just ruled in favor of dumping raw sewage into oceans and rivers. Or rather, they ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency shouldn’t have much authority to prevent anyone dumping sewage, which amounts to the same thing. The city of San Francisco had sued the agency, arguing that the EPA overstepped its authority under the Clean Water Act when it placed limits on the amount of untreated sewage the city could dump into the Pacific.
In a 5-4 vote, the Court agreed, with Justice Samuel Alito writing that the EPA can’t mandate “that a particular end result must be achieved” with regard to pollution when it issues permits, unless it also provides a “concrete plan” for how to reach that result. It’s a major win for groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which has long been looking for a way to weaken the Clean Water Act. But it’s a defeat for, you know, anyone who doesn’t want fecal matter in the water supply. (Truthout)
❧ Meanwhile, Trump is also moving to “demolish” the Social Security Administration. His appointee to lead the agency, Leland Dudek, has reportedly ordered his subordinates to draw up plans for a 50 percent reduction in its workforce. To put it mildly, this is very bad. The SSA staff was already at a historic low before Trump’s election, and Martin O’Malley—Dudek’s predecessor from the Biden administration—estimates that “interruption of benefits” could result within “30-90 days” if the planned cuts are carried out. Once again: don’t you love that right-wing populism, folks? (Common Dreams)
CURRENT-EST AFFAIRS
For our latest interview, author, philosopher, and activist Dr. Cornel West stopped by the Current Affairs podcast to discuss the many horrors of our time—and how we might resist and overcome them. It’s a wide-ranging discussion, touching on everything from the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., to J.D. Vance’s cruel misunderstanding of Catholic moral teachings, to the importance of never surrendering to despair in difficult times. Check it out here:
❧ In a shocking turn of events that no one could have anticipated, Trump’s meme coin collapsed, causing supporters to lose $12 billion in just a month. It’s not just that Trump’s shitcoin was uniquely shitty, but that the entire crypto market has been relentlessly unstable: For instance, as of last week, Bitcoin, considered the most “reliable” cryptocurrency, had lost a fifthof its total value since Inauguration Day. It briefly rallied this week after Trump announced that he was planning to create a “strategic Bitcoin reserve,” before its value plunged again.
Economist Peter Schiff has called it a pretty blatant “pump and dump” scheme by Trump and demanded a congressional investigation into who had inside knowledge of his announcement. Even if there was no insider trading, this past week should just go to show how ridiculously volatile cryptocurrencies are and why the only people who stand to benefit from them are the rich hucksters who already control the economy. (The Telegraph)
❧ The Los Angeles Times has introduced an AI “bias meter” that seems designed to promote pro-Trump opinions. Like Jeff Bezos at the Washington Post, billionaire owner Patrick Soon-Shiong has been meddling in the Times’ coverage more and more, starting when he prevented the editors from making a presidential endorsement last November. Now, he’s introducing an AI feature called “Insights” to the paper’s opinion coverage that goes even further. In an open letter, Soon-Shiong pitches Insights as a way to help readers “identify where the views expressed may fall on the political spectrum” in any opinion article, and to provide “different views on the topic from a variety of sources.”
In practice, what that really means is that any op-ed critical of the Trump administration can be labeled as “biased,” and a pro-Trump rebuttal would be added at the end, making it seem like there are two equally legitimate opinions on everything—even when Trump is clearly in the wrong, as he often is. For instance, one recent article criticizing Trump’s stance on Ukraine was paired with an AI-generated response that described the president’s position as “a pragmatic reset of US foreign policy” instead. This is yet another example of the corporate media’s shameful toadying to Trump, and it’s exactly why billionaires shouldn’t be allowed to own news outlets. (The Guardian)
See, ours is useful.
AROUND THE WORLD
❧ The supply chains of multinational food and drink companies like Coca-Cola are linked to Sudanese rebel groups accused of war crimes. As you probably know, Sudan is in the middle of a horrifying civil war between its government and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary, in which the RSF has been documented committing mass killings, sexual violence, and other atrocities. But that hasn’t stopped huge international companies from doing business in territory the rebels control.
You see, Sudan is also the world’s largest supplier of gum arabic, a saplike substance that comes from acacia trees and is used as a thickener or emulsifier in everything from chocolate bars to soft drinks. Despite the horrors of the ongoing war, companies like Mars and Coca-Cola haven’t stopped buying Sudanese gum arabic—and as Reuters reports, it’s “increasingly being trafficked from rebel-held areas” through “informal border markets,” where it “can only be marketed by Sudanese traders in return for a fee to the RSF.” In other words, the bottles of Coke and packets of candy in your nearest vending machine might well be helping to fund the militia’s crimes.
Gum arabic in various stages of processing (Image: Wikimedia Commons)
❧ Following last week’s public humiliation of Ukrainian President Zelenskyy in the Oval Office, Trump has frozen all U.S. weapon sales to Ukraine. Trump has said that they will remain frozen until Zelenskyy shows a commitment to peace negotiations with Russia. Zelenskyy has protested that he does not want to agree to peace unless Russia, which has already occupied 20 percent of Ukraine’s territory, guarantees that it will not attack again, which seems pretty reasonable. But so far, Trump has not indicated that he wants to secure any such assurances from Russia.
This war absolutely needs to end, but it’s hard to not feel sort of bad for Zelenskyy and all of Ukraine. At the end of the day, his country is the one that was attacked, and he is now being forced to prostrate himself before a leader who is totally indifferent to the state of his country. (J.D. Vance, who chided Zelenskyy as an ingrate on Friday, has very literally said “I don’t really care what happens to Ukraine.”) Trump has already forced a nakedly imperialist mineral deal that will further drain the wealth from a country that is wrecked from a catastrophic war. At the very least, the U.S. is obligated to negotiate an end to this war on just terms.
❧ And in Palestine, the ceasefire deal is on the verge of collapse as Israel refuses to enter Phase 2 negotiations. Instead, the Netanyahu government wants to extend Phase 1 until an unspecified time after both Ramadan and Passover—and in the meantime, Israel has once again shut down all humanitarian aid from reaching Gaza, leading to a renewed outbreak of starvation. Also, the “fire” hasn’t actually “ceased” altogether, as Middle East Eye reports that a recent shelling has killed “at least five people and wounded 21 others.”
Scientists have created “wooly mice” using mammoth DNA!
The bioengineering company Colossal has a big goal. They want to create a real-life Jurassic—or rather, Pleistocene—Park scenario, in which they’d bring back woolly mammoths from extinction using genetic engineering. The idea is that, using genetic material from frozen mammoth remains, scientists would tinker with the DNA of Asian elephants until they closely resemble what prehistoric mammoths would have been like. In essence, the animals would be a new generation of mammoths. But that’s a big project, so they’ve started on mice.
This week, scientists at Colossal announced that they’ve successfully spliced mammoth DNA into the genome of lab mice. Specifically, they’ve given mouse embryos two of the mammoths’ signature traits: long, shaggy coats of fur and a unique way of metabolizing fat that helped the big pachyderms survive the Ice Age. And for the first time, the “woolly mice” were successfully born with the traits the scientists want them to have, and seem to be running happily around the lab! It’s a major success for “de-extinction” technology as a concept, and if things continue this way, we could soon see actual mammoths stomping around a zoo or nature reserve somewhere in the world.
But would that necessarily be a good thing? It certainly sounds cool, but other scientists are skeptical. “We’re looking at a warming world, and [Colossal’s researchers] want to bring back creatures that are adapted to the cold?” asked Elsa Panciroli, a Scottish paleontologist who was interviewed by Scientific American. “I study animals from the past, and they should stay in the past. Lack of habitat, human conflict, agriculture, climate change—the idea that they can fix that with gene editing is missing the big picture.”
Besides that, it’s not hard to see how this technology could be misused for profit, whether by people creating designer mammoths and dodos as pets for billionaires, or even for hunting and consumption as meat. So please, dear reader: if you plan to play around with genetic engineering and bring extinct creatures back from the dead, please do so ethically. A cute mouse only gets you so far.
A woolly mouse (left) with its regular, non-woolly counterpart. (Images: Colossal Biosciences)
Writing and research by Stephen Prager and Alex Skopic. Editing and additional material by Nathan J. Robinson and Lily Sánchez. Header graphic by Cali Traina Blume. This news briefing is a product of Current Affairs Magazine. Subscribe to our gorgeous and informative print edition here, and our delightful podcast here.
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