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September 19, 2025
More Than a Dozen Elected Officials Arrested While Protesting Conditions at NYC Immigration Holding Facility
(Seattle Times) The officials — including the city’s fiscal watchdog and state lawmakers — were among 77 people detained during protests at 26 Federal Plaza in Manhattan. The government building, home to immigration court, the FBI‘s New York field office and other federal offices, has become a hotbed of arrests and detention amid President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration. Eleven officials were arrested inside the building while attempting to inspect holding rooms on the 10th floor that are the subject of ongoing litigation alleging squalid conditions and overcrowding, according to a coalition of politicians, advocates and faith leaders involved in the protest.
Go to discussionTrump says he is looking to send U.S. troops back into Afghanistan
(US News & World Report) U.S. President Donald Trump's goal of re-occupying Bagram air base in Afghanistan might end up looking like a re-invasion of the country, requiring more than 10,000 troops as well as deployment of advanced air defenses, current and former U.S. officials say. Trump, speaking to reporters on Thursday during a trip to London, said "we want that base back" and cited what he called its strategic location near China.
Go to discussionTrump Expected to Fire US Attorney After Finding No Evidence Letitia James Committed Mortgage Fraud
(Mediaite) President Donald Trump is expected to fire U.S. Attorney Erik Siebert after Siebert’s office was unable to find sufficient evidence that New York Attorney General Letitia James committed mortgage fraud, ABC News reported on Thursday night. The president has reportedly been leaning on federal prosecutors to bring charges against James for alleged mortgage fraud. She has been accused of falsely claiming her house in Virginia as her primary residence despite being legally required to live in New York as an elected official there.
Go to discussionRepublicans Sour on Direction of the Country
(Political Wire) AP-NORC poll: “The share of Republicans who see the country headed in the right direction has fallen sharply in recent months…Today, only about half in the GOP see the nation on the right course, down from 70% in June. The shift is even more glaring among Republican women and the party’s under-45 crowd ... Overall, about one-quarter of Americans say things in the country are headed in the right direction, down from about 4 in 10 in June. Democrats and independents didn’t shift meaningfully.”
Go to discussion'Goons!' Legendary late-night comedian unleashes on Trump official over Kimmel suspension
(Raw Story) Former "Late Show" host David Letterman spoke at "The Atlantic's" Festival on Thursday morning, blasting the networks for caving into an authoritarian government. “We all see where this is going, correct? It’s managed media,” Letterman said of ABC's firing of Jimmy Kimmel. “You can’t go around firing somebody because you’re fearful or trying to suck up to an authoritarian, a criminal administration in the Oval Office,” Letterman said. “That’s just not how this works.”
Go to discussionNortheast US states form health alliance in response to federal vaccine limits
(Reuters) Seven northeastern U.S. states, including New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, have banded together to form a new public health coalition that will make its own vaccine recommendations in response to the Trump administration's changes to federal vaccine policy. The effort, called the Northeast Public Health Collaborative, resembles a similar collective of California and three other western states known as the West Coast Health Alliance, which issued its own vaccine recommendations on Wednesday that went further than the federal government's latest guidelines.
Go to discussionWalt Disney Executives To Meet With Jimmy Kimmel, Assess Talk Show Future
(Huff Post) Walt Disney DIS.0 representatives and talk-show host Jimmy Kimmel raced to find the right words on Wednesday to calm a social media furor that erupted following criticism of his remarks about slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters. A representative for Kimmel did not respond to Reuters’ request for comment. Executives will meet with Kimmel to discuss the future of his program, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday, citing three people with knowledge of the matter.
Go to discussionFCC pressure gets Jimmy Kimmel suspended for a joke? What a bunch of snowflakes.
(Rex Huppke/USA Today) Free speech has gotten really confusing in Trump America. If I’m following things correctly, Republicans and President Donald Trump are celebrating the indefinite suspension of Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show because he said something they didn’t like. These are the same folks who, for I don’t know how long, have been hollering that free speech is a God-given American right, even if that speech offends sensitive snowflake liberals like myself.
Go to discussion