Conflict reporter/writer/cartoonist Ted Rall and political analyst Jamarl Thomas deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST.

Today we discuss:

• Tennessee Republicans propose a new congressional map that includes a district stretching nearly 300 miles from Memphis to the Nashville suburbs. The 9th Congressional District, which historically covers Memphis, would be redrawn to stretch from the bottom of Shelby County to the edge of Nashville. This move is designed to split Shelby County into three districts and split Nashville to maximize Republican representation. The new districts cover a massive geographic area, spanning from the state's poorest ZIP codes in Memphis to the wealthiest in Brentwood and Franklin, totaling a distance of nearly 300 miles. The proposal follows a special session called by Gov. Bill Lee aimed at redrawing the map following a Supreme Court ruling that weakened the Voting Rights Act, allowing for the elimination of a district that is 61% Black. Tennessee, which is 1/3 Democratic, would have zero Democratic Congressmen.

• Voters across Scotland and Wales will elect members of their national parliaments, while residents in many parts of England will choose members of local councils. In place of Labour and its traditional opponent, the Conservatives, many voters are embracing other parties in what experts say represents the largest transformation in British politics in a generation. The two biggest beneficiaries are Reform U.K., the right-wing populist party led by Nigel Farage, a supporter of President Trump, and — on the other side of the political spectrum — the leftist, pro-environment Green Party. Polls suggest that the Conservative Party, known as the Tories, will continue to lose seats after cratering in local and national elections over the past two years. In some parts of Britain, the party once led by the “Iron Lady” of British politics, Margaret Thatcher, could come in fourth or fifth, with support in the single digits.

• You might not have asked for an AI model on your computer, but you might have gotten it anyway. Google Chrome has been installing a 4GB model onto devices without asking or notifying users. Google has been installing Gemini Nano -- an AI model that runs on devices like smartphones and laptops instead of in the cloud -- onto some people's Chrome browsers, without their permission, according to Alexander Hanff, a Swedish computer scientist and lawyer known as That Privacy Guy. And Google doesn't tell you that it's on your device after it's installed. Hanff said Gemini Nano will only be installed if the person's device meets the hardware requirements. It's unknown how many people have gotten the install.

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Conflict reporter/writer/cartoonist Ted Rall and political analyst Jamarl Thomas deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST.

Today we discuss:

• Trump has used up his 60-day window to attack Iran without Congressional approval under the War Powers Act, so he’s resorting to a novel argument. Secretary of State Marco Rubio says Operation Epic Fury is over, and the US has begun Operation Freedom instead—which is now on hold just 48 hours in. Will the US wage its unpopular wars in 60-day increments?

• Axios reports Iran and the US are close to agreement on a one-page MOU. The deal would end the current war and launch a 30-day negotiation period for a full deal. Iran would accept a 12-15 year moratorium on uranium enrichment (negotiating duration), commits to no nuclear weapons or weaponization, removes highly enriched uranium, allows enhanced/snap UN inspections, and avoids underground nuclear sites. US agrees to gradually lift sanctions and release billions in frozen funds. Both sides ease restrictions on Strait of Hormuz shipping.

• Elections in Indiana, Ohio and Michigan showed that Trump still dominates the Republican Party, and that Democrats seem to have the momentum ahead of November’s midterm elections. In Indiana, where he backed primary challenges against seven Republican state senators who rejected his redistricting plan, five of the president’s candidates won. In Michigan, a Democrat comfortably won a state Senate race in a bellwether district.

• Senate Republicans proposed $1 billion to pay for new White House security measures, with lawmakers and White House officials disagreeing over whether the legislation would cover Trump’s planned ballroom.

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Conflict reporter/writer/cartoonist Ted Rall and political analyst Jamarl Thomas deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST.

Today we discuss:

• Iran issued warnings after two U.S. destroyers, closely followed by two merchant vessels, came under attack during successful transits of the Strait of Hormuz. The UAE reported an Iranian assault on an energy hub that caused a fire. Oman’s state media reported an attack in the country but did not identify a perpetrator. Iran fired cruise missiles and drones at the U.S. naval and commercial vessels. Iran also sent six fast boats after the commercial ships, but U.S. forces fired on and destroyed the vessels. This is not what a ceasefire looks like.

• A federal magistrate judge, Judge Zia Faruqui, tore into officials from the DC jail for mistreatment of the man who allegedly attempted to assassinate Trump at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. Cole Allen’s placement in severe lockdown — including being fully restrained by a five-point shackling system and a temporary suicide watch that required 24-hour-a-day placement in a padded, lighted cell without access to phone calls, books, religious material or recreational time — appeared to be unfairly punitive and not based on any known medical assessment.

• A car driven by Cornell’s President Michael Kotlikoff bumps into students after a confrontation over Gaza. After a debate over the war, students say the university president hit them with his vehicle. He says he was the victim.

• Trump declares that the US will withdraw 5,000 – and probably many more – troops stationed in Germany, after German Chancellor Friedrich Merz criticized the US handling of the Iran conflict, saying Tehran had humiliated Washington.

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Conflict reporter/writer/cartoonist Ted Rall and political analyst Jamarl Thomas deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST.

Today we discuss:

• Trump approval reaches new low, a Post-ABC-Ipsos poll finds. Democrats now hold a 5% advantage in support for Congress, up from 2% in February. Americans disapprove of him on Iran by 66% to 33%. He is down 7% on the economy, to 34%. He has fallen 5% in that time to 27% and his lowest rating comes on perceptions of his handling of the cost of living, with 23% approving vs. 76% disapproving.

• Oil traders doubted the effectiveness of a plan by Trump for the US to guide neutral ships out through the Strait of Hormuz. The US move was meant to enable vessels that have been stranded by the war with Iran to pass through the waterway. A tanker reported being hit by projectiles 78 nautical miles north of Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, the UK Maritime Trade Operations said.

• Rudy Giuliani is in critical condition.

• Spirit Airlines shuts down, stranding travelers. Republicans blame Biden.

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Editorial cartoonist Ted Rall and political analyst Jamarl Thomas deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM Eastern time.

Today we discuss:

• A suicide note purportedly written by Jeffrey Epstein in a Manhattan jail has been kept secret for nearly seven years, locked up in a New York courthouse. A cellmate said he discovered the note in July 2019, after Epstein was found unresponsive with a strip of cloth around his neck. Epstein survived but weeks later was found dead.

• Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth tells Congress that Trump does not have to comply with the War Powers Act requiring presidents to seek congressional authorization to continue a war beyond 60 days because the cease-fire agreement reached with Iran has paused the clock.

• Trump issued an executive order that expands access to retirement accounts for workers who don’t get 401(k)s. 54 million Americans lack access to an employer-based retirement plan.

• Labor unions, Democratic organizations and community groups march to commemorate May Day, International Workers Day. May Day Strong organizers are calling for “no school, no work, no shopping”, in protest of government policies that put billionaires’ needs above those of workers.

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Editorial cartoonist Ted Rall and political analyst Jamarl Thomas deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM Eastern time.

Ted is out today; Robby West fills in.

Today we discuss:

• RFK Jr. is haunted by 2024 arguments about “reparenting” American children, especially Blacks, on wellness farms, which he proposed building in rural communities across the US. “Every Black kid is now just standard put on Adderall, SSRIs, benzos, which are known to induce violence,” Kennedy has said. “Those kids are going to have a chance to go somewhere and get reparented and live in a community,” he said.

• Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says the biggest adversary the US faces is not Iran, but the “feckless and defeatist words” of Democrats and some Republican lawmakers. He repeatedly stressed that the war was necessary because Iran posed an “existential threat” to the United States. “I know the American people support that mission, despite your loose talk and words like ‘quagmire.’”

• A historic drop in representation by Black members of Congress may be on the way after the Supreme Court's landmark decision to further weaken the Voting Rights Act.

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Conflict reporter/writer/cartoonist Ted Rall and political analyst Jamarl Thomas deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST.

Today we discuss:

• Social media profiles attributed to Cole Tomas Allen, the 31-year-old Californian charged with attempting to assassinate President Trump over the weekend, are not radical. He’s centrist, moderate liberal. The same could be said of Luigi Mangione, accused of murdering the CEO of United Healthcare. Are we becoming radicalized—or are average people resorting to radicalized tactics?

• FCC Chairman Brendan Carr is reconsidering the broadcasting licenses of Disney’s 8 TV stations for “early renewal” years ahead of their due dates — suggesting the action was spurred by Disney’s DEI policies. The announcement comes one day after Trump and first lady Melania demanded that Disney-owned ABC fire late-night host Jimmy Kimmel over a joke about them.

• The world is threatened by a “suicidal” model of capitalism that is leading to war and the potential extinction of humanity, Colombian President Gustavo Petro says, as he convened 57 governments to address the climate crisis. “There is inertia in the power and the economy of this archaic form of energy – fossil fuels – that lead to death. Undoubtedly, that form of capital can commit suicide, taking with it humanity and [other] life,” he said. “The question that needs to be asked is whether capitalism can truly adapt to a non-fossil energy model.” The former economist said the world was in a perilous position: “We are heading towards barbarism. And barbarism is the prelude to, or the very essence of, fascism.”

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