CURRENT EVENTS May 22 - July 5

[nycfan]

Trump administration to shut down LGBTQ youth suicide hotline​

The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline will no longer utilize its LGBTQ youth service line starting July 17. The Trump administration says the move will "focus on serving all help seekers."

Trump administration to shut down LGBTQ youth suicide hotline

The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline will no longer utilize its LGBTQ youth service line starting July 17. The Trump administration says the move will "focus on serving all help seekers."

www.nbcnews.com

“The Trump administration will shut down the national LGBTQ youth suicide lifeline in 30 days.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration announced Tuesday that the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline will no longer utilize its LGBTQ youth services, also known as the “Press 3 option,” effective July 17.

The agency said it will "no longer silo LGB+ youth services" — notably removing the "T" representing the trans community in the acronym — to "focus on serving all help seekers, including those previously served through the Press 3 option."

The Press 3 option rolled out as a pilot program in 2022 in a government contract with the Trevor Project, a suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for LGBTQ people. Those in need of help would call 988 and be given the option to “press 3” to connect with counselors trained to assist people up to the age of 25.

The Trevor Project was initially the sole provider of the youth specialized service, and is now one of seven centers that make up the LGBTQ Youth Subnetwork.

It came about under legislation signed by President Donald Trump during his first term that acknowledged disproportionately high suicide rates among LGBTQ youth.…”

“… When asked for comment about that proposed cut, Rachel Cauley, a spokesperson for the White House’s Office of Management and Budget, told NBC News the proposed budget wouldn’t “grant taxpayer money to a chat service where children are encouraged to embrace radical gender ideology by ‘counselors’ without consent or knowledge of their parents.”

That term, "radical gender ideology," is one that has been adopted by conservatives and the Trump administration to describe transgender people and the trans rights movement, which it considers harmful to children.“

 

[sringwal]

Inside the clashes between Trump and Gabbard​

The director of national intelligence has rankled Trump with her statements about nuclear war, and the president has suggested she’s off message.

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/06/17/gabbard-trump-00411685

“As President Donald Trump privately mulled joining Israel’s campaign against Iran this month, one member of his Cabinet sent what he viewed as an audacious attempt to steer him in the opposite direction.

At 5:30 a.m. on June 10, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard tweeted a cryptic, three-minute video warning that “political elite and warmongers” are “carelessly fomenting fear and tensions between nuclear powers” — and that the world is “on the brink of nuclear annihilation.”

Trump saw the unauthorized video and became incensed, complaining to associates at the White House that she had spoken out of turn, according to three people familiar with the episode — two of them inside the administration and all granted anonymity to describe sensitive dynamics.
Her post came a few days after Israel hawks met with Trump at the White House to lobby him to support Israel’s attacks on Iran. In the eyes of Trump and some close to him, Gabbard was warning him not to greenlight Israel attacking Iran. Trump even expressed his disapproval to her personally, the three people said.

“I don’t think he dislikes Tulsi as a person … But certainly the video made him not super hot on her … and he doesn’t like it when people are off message,” said one of the people, a senior administration official. The official added that Trump also doesn’t appreciate it when people appear to be correcting him and that “many took that video as trying to correct the administration’s position.”…”

(Inwardly panicking) - “Everything is fine.”

 

[nycfan]

A pox on both their houses

 

[1moretimeagain]

I wish they had announced the stake was for sale.

 

[nycfan]

Flashback - Feb 2025

'People will starve' because of US aid cut to Sudan​

Sudan conflict: USAID cut hits people 'screaming from hunger' - BBC News

Nearly two million people who have relied on community kitchens for food have lost this lifeline.

www.bbc.com

“
The freezing of US humanitarian assistance has forced the closure of almost 80% of the emergency food kitchens set up to help people left destitute by Sudan's civil war, the BBC has learned.

Aid volunteers said the impact of President Donald Trump's executive order halting contributions from the US government's development organisation (USAID) for 90 days meant more than 1,100 communal kitchens had shut.

It is estimated that nearly two million people struggling to survive have been affected….”

Flashback - April 2025


The stark consequences of the rollback are evident in few places as clearly as in Sudan, where a brutal civil war has combined with a staggering humanitarian catastrophe.

As Famine Rages in Sudan, U.S. Aid Remains Scarce

The stark consequences of the rollback are evident in few places as clearly as in Sudan, where a brutal civil war has combined with a staggering humanitarian catastrophe.

www.nytimes.com

“…The stark consequences of Mr. Trump’s slashing of U.S. aid are evident in few places as clearly as in Sudan, where a brutal civil war has set off a staggering humanitarian catastrophe and left 25 million people — more than half of the country’s population — acutely hungry.

… Last year, the United States gave $830 million in emergency aid, helping 4.4 million Sudanese, the United Nations estimates. That was far more aid than any other country provided. But after Mr. Trump halted that lifeline in January by dismantling the U.S. Agency for International Development, the effect in Khartoum was devastating.

… The Trump administration has said that lifesaving aid is exempt from the cuts. In an email, a State Department spokesman said that the United States was still helping four million people inside Sudan, as well as 3.8 million refugees in neighboring countries.

But on the ground, aid groups say the flow of American money stopped for almost two months and has resumed only in fits and starts, if at all.

The U.S.A.I.D. officials who once helped make the payments have been fired. A work force of about 10,000 is being reduced to about 15 positions, leaving the American chain of assistance mired in chaos, delays and uncertainty.…”

 

[nycfan]

Trump Travel Restrictions Bar Residents Needed at U.S. Hospitals​

Limits on travel and visa appointments have delayed or prevented foreign doctors from entering the country for jobs set to begin in weeks.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/18/health/medical-residents-travel-ban.html

“…
Foreign medical residents often serve as the frontline caregivers at busy safety-net hospitals in low-income communities. Normally the residents begin work on July 1. Orientation programs for some of them already started this week.

Now some of those hospitals are racing to prevent staffing shortages.

“If international medical graduates can’t start their medical residencies on time on July 1, the ramifications are so far-reaching that it is really unconscionable,” said Kimberly Pierce Burke, executive director of the Alliance of Independent Academic Medical Centers.

Senior residents leave hospitals in June and go on to start their careers, she noted. Hospitals rely on new residents to replenish their ranks. “If they don’t come on July 1, that leaves a hole in the patient care team,” Ms. Burke said. “Who’s going to pick up the slack?”

On May 27, the Trump administration suspended new interview appointments for foreign nationals applying for J-1 visas. The visas, for participants in cultural or educational exchange programs, are used by most medical residents arriving from overseas.

On Wednesday, the State Department lifted the pause on visa appointments, according to an official who spoke anonymously to discuss an internal policy change. It was not immediately clear how many, or how quickly, physicians could be granted their visas.

The process now includes “enhanced social media vetting,” intended to ferret out potential security risks, the official said.…”

 

[nycfan]

Trump Travel Restrictions Bar Residents Needed at U.S. Hospitals​

Limits on travel and visa appointments have delayed or prevented foreign doctors from entering the country for jobs set to begin in weeks.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/18/health/medical-residents-travel-ban.html

“…
Foreign medical residents often serve as the frontline caregivers at busy safety-net hospitals in low-income communities. Normally the residents begin work on July 1. Orientation programs for some of them already started this week.

Now some of those hospitals are racing to prevent staffing shortages.

“If international medical graduates can’t start their medical residencies on time on July 1, the ramifications are so far-reaching that it is really unconscionable,” said Kimberly Pierce Burke, executive director of the Alliance of Independent Academic Medical Centers.

Senior residents leave hospitals in June and go on to start their careers, she noted. Hospitals rely on new residents to replenish their ranks. “If they don’t come on July 1, that leaves a hole in the patient care team,” Ms. Burke said. “Who’s going to pick up the slack?”

On May 27, the Trump administration suspended new interview appointments for foreign nationals applying for J-1 visas. The visas, for participants in cultural or educational exchange programs, are used by most medical residents arriving from overseas.

On Wednesday, the State Department lifted the pause on visa appointments, according to an official who spoke anonymously to discuss an internal policy change. It was not immediately clear how many, or how quickly, physicians could be granted their visas.

The process now includes “enhanced social media vetting,” intended to ferret out potential security risks, the official said.…”

“…
The American medical system relies heavily on physicians from other countries. One in five U.S. physicians was born and educated overseas, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges.

New doctors from other countries account for one in six medical residents and specializing fellows at U.S. teaching hospitals. In 2024, the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates sponsored more than 15,500 doctorsfrom over 150 countries to fill residency or fellowship training spots at 770 hospitals.…”

 

[mpaer]

“…
The American medical system relies heavily on physicians from other countries. One in five U.S. physicians was born and educated overseas, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges.

New doctors from other countries account for one in six medical residents and specializing fellows at U.S. teaching hospitals. In 2024, the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates sponsored more than 15,500 doctorsfrom over 150 countries to fill residency or fellowship training spots at 770 hospitals.…”

Wow

 

[nycfan]

U.S. to Review Social Media Posts of Student and Scholar Visa Applicants​

The State Department is restarting the processing of visa applications from students and visiting scholars, but is screening for “hostility” toward the United States.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/18/us/politics/student-visa-applications.html

“… Applicants will be screened for perceived “hostility” toward the United States, and they will be asked to make their social media accounts “public” for the review, State Department officials said on Wednesday.

All applications for F, M and J nonimmigrant visas, which are for scholarly exchanges and research, will be reviewed, the officials said.

Consular officers at missions overseas are being told to look for “any indications of hostility toward the citizens, culture, government, institutions or founding principles of the United States.” The State Department did not provide further details on how officers would define that criteria.…”

 

[WaynetheDrain]

She looks like her Vag would stink.

Dude…

 

[nycfan]

The D.N.C. Is in Chaos and Desperate for Cash​

Under its new leader, Ken Martin, the Democratic National Committee has been plagued by infighting and a drop in big donations, raising alarms from Democrats as they try to win back power.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/18/us/politics/dnc-ken-martin.html

“…Fund-raising from major donors — some of whom Mr. Martin has still not spoken with — has slowed sharply. At the same time, he has expanded the party’s financial commitments to every state, and even to far-flung territories like Guam.

Fellow Democrats are grumbling that Mr. Martin, who quietly accepted a raise after taking the post, has been badly distracted by internal battles. So far, they say, he has been unable to help unite his party against Republicans, who control the federal government.

A protracted and public fight with David Hogg, the 25-year-old activist turned D.N.C. vice chair who blindsided party officials with a plan to challenge incumbent Democrats, made things worse. The clash included the leak of embarrassing audio of Mr. Martin questioning his own role and ended in Mr. Hogg’s unceremonious exit this month.

That was soon followed by the news that two of the country’s most influential labor leaders, who represent a combined 3.2 million workers, were also leaving the D.N.C. Both questioned the party’s direction under Mr. Martin.…”

 

[nycfan]

 

[altmin]

The D.N.C. Is in Chaos and Desperate for Cash​

Under its new leader, Ken Martin, the Democratic National Committee has been plagued by infighting and a drop in big donations, raising alarms from Democrats as they try to win back power.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/18/us/politics/dnc-ken-martin.html

“…Fund-raising from major donors — some of whom Mr. Martin has still not spoken with — has slowed sharply. At the same time, he has expanded the party’s financial commitments to every state, and even to far-flung territories like Guam.

Fellow Democrats are grumbling that Mr. Martin, who quietly accepted a raise after taking the post, has been badly distracted by internal battles. So far, they say, he has been unable to help unite his party against Republicans, who control the federal government.

A protracted and public fight with David Hogg, the 25-year-old activist turned D.N.C. vice chair who blindsided party officials with a plan to challenge incumbent Democrats, made things worse. The clash included the leak of embarrassing audio of Mr. Martin questioning his own role and ended in Mr. Hogg’s unceremonious exit this month.

That was soon followed by the news that two of the country’s most influential labor leaders, who represent a combined 3.2 million workers, were also leaving the D.N.C. Both questioned the party’s direction under Mr. Martin.…”

didn't help that people donated record numbers to the Harris campaign and it mattered nothing. People are bracing for the the Trump recession; they are not eager to pour money into a hole.

 

[altmin]

‘He stole a piece of our souls’: Christian music star Michael Tait accused of sexual assault by three men

Tait posted on Instagram days ago that for 20 years he lived a ‘double life’ but is working on ‘repentance and healing’

www.theguardian.com

The Christian music legend Michael Tait, whose hit song God’s Not Dead became an anthem for Donald Trump’s Maga movement, has been accused of sexually assaulting three men, two who believed they were drugged by the rock star in the early 2000s, according to a months-long Guardian investigation. Four other men have alleged that Tait, a founding member of DC Talk and later a frontman for Newsboys, engaged in inappropriate behavior such as unwanted touching and sexual advances.

The Guardian is publishing these allegations days after Tait posted an extraordinary confession on his Instagram account, admitting that for 20 years he had been “leading a double life”, abusing alcohol and cocaine, “and, at times, touched men in an unwanted sensual way”, according to his statement.


The statement appears to be a response to a separate report published earlier this month by the Christian media outlet the Roys Report, which also investigated Tait and revealed similar allegations of drug use and sexual assault against young, male musicians.


...
Over the last 38 years, Tait has emerged as one of the most iconic names in Contemporary Christian Music (CCM). The genre and industry often exists in its own commercial and cultural ecosystem – yet mimics popular trends of mainstream music – creating multi-platinum superstars who are marketed to teens (and their parents) as wholesome alternatives to the “sinful lifestyles” of mainstream rock stars.

Tait was one-third of the rap-rock group, DC Talk, which formed in 1987 while its members were attending the evangelical Liberty University, whose founder, Jerry Falwell, launched the Moral Majority, the political organization that first galvanized evangelical voters around the Republican party in 1980, forever changing the American political landscape. Falwell was a mentor to young Tait – whom he referred to as “my white daddy” – and helped boost DC Talk to stardom.

...

The fight for Christian nationalism was also a premier theme of DC Talk’s music – as well as the book Under God, co-authored by Tait – claiming the US is suffering a collapse of moral values because of the secularization of government and public schools. This was underscored with frightening urgency by their songs warning of the coming rapture. As recently as 2021, Tait warned: “I believe we are living in the last days [before the rapture].”

...

DC Talk went on a hiatus in 2000 and for nearly a decade Tait performed as a solo artist until he became the frontman of the legendary CCM supergroup Newsboys. In 2011, their rock song God’s Not Dead became a rallying cry for disaffected evangelicals in the Obama era. In 2014, Tait and Newsboys appeared in God’s Not Dead, a movie centered around the fictional story of an atheist college professor who threatens to fail his students if they refuse to sign a form declaring “God is dead”. Tait would make an appearance in four subsequent sequels, becoming a recognizable face in the fight against perceived anti-Christian discrimination, a central theme of Donald Trump’s presidential campaigns.

Tait endorsed Ted Cruz in 2016, but shifted his allegiance to Trump after the Florida pastor Paula White – chair of the evangelical advisory board for Trump’s 2016 campaign and leader of the White House faith office in 2024 – invited him to pray over Trump before a Florida campaign stop. Tait soon became a key bridge between the candidate and white evangelical voters. Newsboys performed for Trump at the White House in 2019, and the following year Tait sang at evangelical “Let Us Worship” events, which were centered around the false claim that President Joe Biden was using Covid lockdowns to repress church attendance in the US.

 

[nycfan]

Senate passes GENIUS stablecoin bill, giving crypto industry first major legislative win

This is the first legislative victory for the digital asset industry, which put around $250 million in the 2024 election cycle.

www.cnbc.com

“…GENIUS now heads to the House, which has its own version of a stablecoin bill dubbed STABLE. Both prohibit yield-bearing consumer stablecoins — but diverge on who regulates what.

The Senate's version centralizes oversight with Treasury, while the House splits authority between the Federal Reserve, the Comptroller of the Currency, and others. Reconciling the two could take a while, according to congressional aides.

The GENIUS Act was supposed to be the easiest crypto bill to pass, but took months to reach the Senate floor, failed once, and passed only after fierce negotiations….”

Vote was 68-30.

 

[uncjhodges]

‘He stole a piece of our souls’: Christian music star Michael Tait accused of sexual assault by three men

Tait posted on Instagram days ago that for 20 years he lived a ‘double life’ but is working on ‘repentance and healing’

www.theguardian.com

The Christian music legend Michael Tait, whose hit song God’s Not Dead became an anthem for Donald Trump’s Maga movement, has been accused of sexually assaulting three men, two who believed they were drugged by the rock star in the early 2000s, according to a months-long Guardian investigation. Four other men have alleged that Tait, a founding member of DC Talk and later a frontman for Newsboys, engaged in inappropriate behavior such as unwanted touching and sexual advances.

The Guardian is publishing these allegations days after Tait posted an extraordinary confession on his Instagram account, admitting that for 20 years he had been “leading a double life”, abusing alcohol and cocaine, “and, at times, touched men in an unwanted sensual way”, according to his statement.


The statement appears to be a response to a separate report published earlier this month by the Christian media outlet the Roys Report, which also investigated Tait and revealed similar allegations of drug use and sexual assault against young, male musicians.


...
Over the last 38 years, Tait has emerged as one of the most iconic names in Contemporary Christian Music (CCM). The genre and industry often exists in its own commercial and cultural ecosystem – yet mimics popular trends of mainstream music – creating multi-platinum superstars who are marketed to teens (and their parents) as wholesome alternatives to the “sinful lifestyles” of mainstream rock stars.

Tait was one-third of the rap-rock group, DC Talk, which formed in 1987 while its members were attending the evangelical Liberty University, whose founder, Jerry Falwell, launched the Moral Majority, the political organization that first galvanized evangelical voters around the Republican party in 1980, forever changing the American political landscape. Falwell was a mentor to young Tait – whom he referred to as “my white daddy” – and helped boost DC Talk to stardom.

...

The fight for Christian nationalism was also a premier theme of DC Talk’s music – as well as the book Under God, co-authored by Tait – claiming the US is suffering a collapse of moral values because of the secularization of government and public schools. This was underscored with frightening urgency by their songs warning of the coming rapture. As recently as 2021, Tait warned: “I believe we are living in the last days [before the rapture].”

...

DC Talk went on a hiatus in 2000 and for nearly a decade Tait performed as a solo artist until he became the frontman of the legendary CCM supergroup Newsboys. In 2011, their rock song God’s Not Dead became a rallying cry for disaffected evangelicals in the Obama era. In 2014, Tait and Newsboys appeared in God’s Not Dead, a movie centered around the fictional story of an atheist college professor who threatens to fail his students if they refuse to sign a form declaring “God is dead”. Tait would make an appearance in four subsequent sequels, becoming a recognizable face in the fight against perceived anti-Christian discrimination, a central theme of Donald Trump’s presidential campaigns.

Tait endorsed Ted Cruz in 2016, but shifted his allegiance to Trump after the Florida pastor Paula White – chair of the evangelical advisory board for Trump’s 2016 campaign and leader of the White House faith office in 2024 – invited him to pray over Trump before a Florida campaign stop. Tait soon became a key bridge between the candidate and white evangelical voters. Newsboys performed for Trump at the White House in 2019, and the following year Tait sang at evangelical “Let Us Worship” events, which were centered around the false claim that President Joe Biden was using Covid lockdowns to repress church attendance in the US.

it’s always the ones you most suspect

 

[nycfan]

“… In his ongoing war on “woke,” President Trump has instructed the National Park Service to scrub any language he would deem negative, unpatriotic or smacking of “improper partisan ideology” from signs and presentations visitors encounter at national parks and historic sites.

Instead, his administration has ordered the national parks and hundreds of other monuments and museums supervised by the Department of the Interior to ensure that all of their signage reminds Americans of our “extraordinary heritage, consistent progress toward becoming a more perfect Union, and unmatched record of advancing liberty, prosperity and human flourishing.”

Those marching orders, which went into effect late last week, have left Trump opponents and free speech advocates gasping in disbelief, wondering how park employees are supposed to put a sunny spin on monuments acknowledging slavery and Jim Crow laws. And how they’ll square the story of Japanese Americans shipped off to incarceration camps during World War II with an “unmatched record of advancing liberty.”…”

 

[nycfan]

“… In his ongoing war on “woke,” President Trump has instructed the National Park Service to scrub any language he would deem negative, unpatriotic or smacking of “improper partisan ideology” from signs and presentations visitors encounter at national parks and historic sites.

Instead, his administration has ordered the national parks and hundreds of other monuments and museums supervised by the Department of the Interior to ensure that all of their signage reminds Americans of our “extraordinary heritage, consistent progress toward becoming a more perfect Union, and unmatched record of advancing liberty, prosperity and human flourishing.”

Those marching orders, which went into effect late last week, have left Trump opponents and free speech advocates gasping in disbelief, wondering how park employees are supposed to put a sunny spin on monuments acknowledging slavery and Jim Crow laws. And how they’ll square the story of Japanese Americans shipped off to incarceration camps during World War II with an “unmatched record of advancing liberty.”…”

“… [notices posted at national parks and monuments include a] QR code visitors can use to report any signs they see that are “negative about either past or living Americans or that fail to emphasize the beauty, grandeur, and abundance of landscapes”.

…
Trump titled his March 27 executive orderrequiring federal sign writers to look on the bright side “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History.” He specifically instructed the Interior Department to scrutinize any signs put up since January 2020 — the beginning of the Biden administration — for language that perpetuates “a false reconstruction” of American history.

Trump called out signs that “undermine the remarkable achievements of the United States by casting its founding principles and historical milestones in a negative light.”

… He specifically cited the National Historical Park in Philadelphia and the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C., as bowing to what he described as the previous administration’s zeal to cast “our Nation’s unparalleled legacy of advancing liberty, individual rights, and human happiness” as “inherently racist, sexist, oppressive, or otherwise irredeemably flawed.”

His solution? Order federal employees and historians to rewrite the “revisionist” history with language that exudes patriotism.…”

 

[nycfan]

 

[dukeman92]

Wait... now Fox News is against him?