CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M

'Revenue-generating diagnoses': DOJ investigates UnitedHealth Group for fraud

FILE PHOTO: Luigi Mangione, the suspect in the killing of UnitedHealth Group chief executive Brian Thompson, appears in Manhattan Supreme Court for his arraignment hearing in New York City, U.S., December 23, 2024. Curtis Means/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo


Naomi LaChance 

February 21, 2025

ALTERNET

The Justice Department is reportedly investigating UnitedHealth Group for fraud related to upcoding — encouraging doctors to diagnose patients with conditions they do not have for profit. The group has been the target of anger regarding the health insurance industry following the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in December.

“The new civil fraud investigation is examining the company’s practices for recording diagnoses that trigger extra payments to its Medicare Advantage plans, including at physician groups the insurance giant owns,” the Wall Street Journal reported Friday.

UnitedHealth shares dropped by 12 percent following the Journal’s report, CNBC reported. They are also facing an antitrust investigation by the DOJ.

READ MORE: 'Boiling cauldron': Experts say CEO shooting exposes deep national rage over denied claims

A series of investigations by the Journal found that “Medicare paid UnitedHealth billions of dollars for questionable diagnoses.”

Insurers get a payment from the federal government for patients on a Medicare Advantage plan. The payments increase for certain diagnoses, “creating an incentive to diagnose more diseases,” write the Journal’s Christopher Weaver and Anna Wilde Mathews.

Thompson’s killing elicited an outpour of emotion about the health insurance industry, with patients sharing their stories on social media. The person charged with killing him, Luigi Mangione, has since gained a fawning cult following.

“Doctors said UnitedHealth, based in the Minneapolis area, trained them to document revenue-generating diagnoses, including some they felt were obscure or irrelevant. The company also used software to suggest conditions and paid bonuses for considering the suggestions, among other tactics, according to the doctors,” Weaver and Mathews write.

READ MORE: 'Unnecessary care': Leaked video shows UnitedHealth chief defending company’s denials

Three doctors who were contacted by the DOJ following the Journal’s investigations said “they were questioned about specific diagnoses UnitedHealth promoted for employees to use with patients, incentive arrangements and pressure to add the diagnoses. At least two provided documents, including a contract with a UnitedHealth unit, to the Justice Department,” according to the report.

For example, the company often suggested an obscure condition called secondary hyperaldosteronism — without lab tests. The condition, the Journal found, was “rarely diagnosed by Medicare doctors not working for UnitedHealth.”

The investigators were looking for abuse, according to nurse practitioner Valerie O’Meara, who was interviewed by DOJ attorneys in January.

Mangione is set to appear in New York state court Friday. He is facing murder and terror charges.

Taiwan bounty hunters kill invading iguanas as numbers soar

Agence France-Presse
February 16, 2025 

Asian Water Dragon (Shutterstock)

by Allison Jackson, I-Hwa Cheng and Akio Wang

The iguana population has exploded since the spikey-backed giant lizards were introduced from Central and South America more than 20 years ago as exotic petsArmed with a slingshot, Taiwanese bounty hunter Wu Cheng-hua bends sideways and aims his lethal weapon up at a green iguana, one of tens of thousands in the crosshairs of a government cull.

Taiwan's iguana population has exploded since the spikey-backed giant lizards were introduced from Central and South America more than 20 years ago as exotic pets.

Many escaped, or were dumped, and have bred rapidly in the warm climate of the island's south, invading neighbourhoods and ravaging farmers' crops.

After Wu finishes his shift at a breakfast eatery, he joins a group of hunters hired by the Pingtung County government, which pays up to NT$500 (US$15) per iguana.

"Sometimes we've been lucky and caught 300 iguanas in a day," Wu, 25, told AFP.

"Sometimes we were not so lucky and caught two, three or a dozen."


Carrying harpoon slingshots used for spearfishing and wearing rubber boots, the hunters crane their necks as they scan the thick forest for iguanas, which live in the canopy.

There are more misses than hits as the men fire their stainless steel darts at the prehistoric-looking creatures high up in the trees and shielded by leaves and branches.
AFP journalists watch as an iguana plunges several metres to the ground and runs for its life. Another is shot multiple times before it is pulled out of the tree still alive.

The men bind the legs of the captured iguanas to stop them escaping and leave them on the ground as they carry on hunting.

- 'A perfect storm' -

Taiwan began culling iguanas nearly 10 years ago and this year's target has been set at more than 100,000.

Experts and government officials say the effort is unlikely to eradicate the reptiles, which have also become pests in other countries, including the United States.
Some estimates put Taiwan's green iguana population at 200,000. A female iguana breeds once a year, laying dozens of eggs at a time.

"Climate anomalies" have fuelled iguana numbers in recent years, said Chen Tien-hsi, a wildlife expert at the National Pingtung University of Science and Technology.

A lack of seasonal rain and unusually warm winters have increased hatching and survival rates of the young, which Chen said had created "a perfect storm for explosive population growth".

Pingtung County has ramped up its iguana cull from a few hundred a year in the beginning to 48,000 last year, Agriculture Department director-general Cheng Yung-yu said.

But Cheng said more effective "removal strategies" were needed.

"Despite significant manpower and resources being spent on their removal annually, their population continues to grow almost exponentially," he said.
- 'They move very fast' -

Local farmer Cheng Hui-jung has watched iguanas decimate her family's red bean crop, even after they installed fishing nets to protect their fields from the herbivores.


The iguanas live in the dense bamboo growing between her land and a river, and come down during the day to feast on the red bean shoots.

"They move very fast and we couldn't catch them," Cheng told AFP, who worries some farmers will resort to cutting down the trees or give up planting crops altogether.

Regular people are being encouraged to get involved in the iguana cull.
Hsin Tseng-kuan said she was scared the first time she encountered an iguana on her farm and resolved to learn how to catch them.

"They're not even afraid of people," said Hsin, 58, one of more than 80 people taking part in a government training session where they are shown how to use a snare pole to lasso a soft toy iguana.

"When we first saw one, we were the ones who were scared," Hsin told AFP.

"It really looked like a small dinosaur."
- 'Minimise suffering' -

Animal rights group PETA has urged Taiwan to find "non-lethal strategies" for controlling its iguana population or, if culling was deemed necessary, to "minimise suffering" of the creatures.

Several hunters told AFP they would be able to kill more efficiently and humanely if they were allowed to use air guns, the use of which is tightly controlled in Taiwan.Wu and his colleagues end their hunt in the early evening after catching 14 iguanas in three hours.

The reptiles -- some of them alive and bloodied -- are laid on the ground before being tossed into a plastic box.

Hunters are required to euthanise the iguanas and keep them in a freezer until they can be incinerated by the government.

While hunting was physically harder than his cooking job, Wu said he liked helping farmers protect their crops.

"Otherwise, everything they grow will be eaten up," Wu said.

Trump Jr.'s hunting party faces criminal probe in Italy: report

Daniel Hampton
February 18, 2025 

RAW STORY

FILE PHOTO: Donald Trump Jr. speaks during the AmericaFest 2024 conference sponsored by conservative group Turning Point in Phoenix, Arizona, U.S. December 19, 2024. REUTERS/Cheney Orr//File Photo

Prosecutors in Venice have initiated a criminal investigation into Donald Trump Jr.'s hunting party concerning a recent duck hunting trip, as reported by a regional daily newspaper in Italy on Tuesday.

The probe revolves around whether Trump Jr. or his associates killed a protected, rare orange plumed Ruddy Shelduck in December, La Nuova Venezia reported.

Public prosecutor Daniela Moroni opened the inquiry after Venetian councilor Andrea Zanoni and various environmental groups raised the allegation based on a video of Trump Jr.'s hunting trip that circulated on social media.

In the video, a member of the group said Trump Jr. and his shooting partner killed 50 ducks.

Trump Jr.’s spokesman previously told CNN he had the necessary authorization to hunt and would cooperate with any investigation.

“Don and his group had all the proper permits and were hunting in a legally allowed area, where there were countless other hunting groups present,” Andy Surabian told CNN in a statement.

“While it’s unclear whether this single duck was unintentionally shot by someone in Don’s hunting group, another hunting group or killed in a different manner and retrieved by the group's hunting dog, Don takes following all rules, regulations and conservation on his hunts very seriously and plans on fully cooperating with any investigation,” Surabian added.

"It is very sad to see them like this."

amj/mtp/fox

IRONY

Rights groups slam Australian plan to transfer criminals to Nauru

Agence France-Presse
February 17, 2025 

A beach in Ewa on the Pacific island of Nauru where Australia plans to send three violent foreign criminals as part of a resettlement deal (Mike LEYRAL/AFP)


by Laura CHUNG

Rights groups on Monday denounced an Australian plan to send three violent foreign criminals -- including a murderer -- to live on the tiny Pacific nation of Nauru.

Canberra said Sunday it had paid an undisclosed sum to Nauru -- population about 13,000 -- in return for it issuing 30-year visas to the trio, who lost their Australian visas due to criminal activity.

"There has to be consideration of the lawfulness of banishing people offshore when they've been living as part of our community," said Jane Favero, deputy chief executive of the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre.

"It's a complete disregard of people's human rights."

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said the three would be held in immigration detention until they are put on a flight to Nauru or a legal challenge is lodged.

"When somebody has come and treated Australia in a way that has shown appalling character their visas do get cancelled, and when their visas are cancelled they should leave," Burke told reporters.

"All three, though, are violent offenders. One is a murderer," he said.

Once in Nauru, they would live in individual dwellings with a shared kitchen space and be allowed to work and move freely, Burke added.

Authorities have not disclosed the identities, gender or nationalities of the trio, or said whether they had served sentences for their crimes.

Nauru is one of the world's smallest countries with a mainland measuring just 20 square kilometers (around eight square miles).

Phosphate mining once made Nauru one of the world's richest countries per capita, but that boon has long dried up, leaving much of the mainland a barren moonscape and its people facing high unemployment and health issues.


Australia's government has been searching for a way to deal with migrants who have no other country to go to when their visas are cancelled.

- 'Mental damage' -

The High Court ruled in 2023 that indefinite detention was "unlawful" if deportation was not an option, leading to the release of 220 people in that situation, including the three now destined for Nauru.

Burke said any decision to transfer others to the Pacific island would depend on the Nauru government.

Refugee Council of Australia head Paul Power said the government had a duty to ensure any solution was humane and ensured people's rights and dignity.

"History has shown us the deep mental and physical damage indefinite detention on Nauru has caused," he said.


Under a hardline policy introduced in 2012, Australia sent thousands of migrants attempting to reach the country by boat to "offshore processing" centers.

They were held in two detention centers -- one on Nauru and another, since shuttered, on Papua New Guinea's Manus Island.

The scheme was gradually scaled back following 14 detainee deaths, multiple suicide attempts, and at least six referrals to the International Criminal Court.

Nauru still held 87 people as of August 31, 2024, according to latest Australian government figures.

© Agence France-Presse

Bolivia's Morales launches 4th presidential bid, defying term limit

Agence France-Presse
February 21, 2025

Evo Morales was Bolivia's first Indigenous president (AIZAR RALDES/AFP)

by Gonzalo TORRICO

Bolivian ex-president Evo Morales launched a fresh election bid Thursday ahead of polls in August, in defiance of a constitutional term limit and pending criminal charges.

"We will win," Morales told reporters in his political fiefdom of Cochabamba in central Bolivia in announcing his run.

Morales, 65, claims to be the victim of a campaign to sideline him politically, led by incumbent President Luis Arce who was once an ally but now his main rival.

Morales is the subject of an arrest warrant in an ongoing investigation into claims he had a sexual relationship with a teenage girl while in office from 2006 to 2019.

Rising from dire poverty to become Bolivia's first-ever Indigenous president, he retains a large following in the South American country.

His refusal to give up power in 2019 led to a tumultuous exit that cast a shadow over nearly 14 years of economic progress and poverty reduction.

Courts have since upheld Bolivia's constitutional two-term limit, which Morales had previously managed to evade due to a change to the rules during his first term.

He said Thursday he would seek re-election with a party other than the left-wing MAS he and Arce have both represented.

Instead, he will run on the ticket of a small leftist group named "The Front for Victory" that has no seats in parliament.

Amid the tussle between Morales and Arce -- who has not said whether he will seek reelection -- Bolivia is also battling a severe economic crisis with inflation at its highest in nearly two decades and a ballooning fiscal deficit.

With biting shortages of foreign currency, fuel, medicine and food, prices have soared, prompting numerous protests.

Morales has remained holed up in Cochabamba since a warrant was issued in December for his arrest on charges of "human trafficking involving a minor."

Last year, the ex-president's mostly Indigenous supporters barricaded highways leading to Cochabamba to prevent his threatened arrest.

© Agence France-Presse

German far left in surprise comeback ahead of election

Agence France-Presse
February 21, 2025 

Anti-immigration leftwinger Sahra Wagenknecht has seen her support fall 

(Fabrizio Bensch/AFP)

by Claudia HORN and Femke COLBORNE

Germany's far-left Die Linke party has enjoyed a late poll surge ahead of Sunday's elections, boosted by a spirited anti-fascist speech by its new rising star that quickly went viral.

"I say to everyone out there: don't give up, fight back, resist fascism," Heidi Reichinnek said in a recent parliament speech against the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) and those who cooperate with it.

"To the barricades!" declared the 36-year-old, who has a picture of the revolutionary left's icon Rosa Luxemburg tattooed on her left forearm, in a fiery speech that has racked up over 6.5 million views on TikTok.

Die Linke has been especially popular among young voters with its promise to fight for social justice, tax the rich, bring down surging rents and make public transport cheaper.

With the anti-immigration AfD polling at a record 20 percent ahead of Sunday's election, Die Linke has become a standard bearer in the pushback against the extreme right.

Founded from the ashes of communist East Germany's ruling party, it had been plagued by infighting and a damaging defection and until recently faced the threat of political oblivion.

Only weeks ago, Die Linke was polling below the five-percent threshold for reentry into parliament, but latest polls give it between seven and nine percent.

It's a strong comeback for the party that was in disarray after its key figure Sahra Wagenknecht left the party early last year to found her own "left-wing conservative" movement, the BSW.


But while Die Linke has been on the up and up in recent weeks, the BSW, which also demands curbs on irregular immigration, is now hovering around the five-percent death zone and must fear for its survival.
- 'Anger in my belly' -

Reichinnek joined Die Linke in 2015 with "anger in my belly about many social injustices", she told AFP.


The MP who spent time in Cairo during the Arab Spring protests also has an arm tattoo of a street art image showing ancient Egypt's queen Nefertiti with a gas mask.

"I really wanted to find people who saw things the same way as me, with whom I could change things together, and I found them in Die Linke," she said.

Reichinnek was relatively unknown before her blistering speech in the Bundestag against the AfD and the conservative CDU/CSU alliance.


The conservatives had breached a long-standing taboo by accepting AfD votes to push through a motion calling for an immigration crackdown.

The shattering of the anti-AfD "firewall" sparked mass street protests.

Since the fateful vote and Reichinnek's spirited response, Die Linke has seen a surge in grassroots support with membership reaching its highest point in 15 years.


In a recent mock election of under-18s, Die Linke emerged as the biggest party at 20.8 percent.

The party had already laid the groundwork with a light-hearted social media campaign centred around three of its "old comrades" aged in their 60s and 70s -- Bodo Ramelow, Dietmar Bartsch and Gregor Gysi.

Die Linke has run an "effective" campaign and set "very clear priorities", said political scientist Antonios Souris of Berlin's Free University.


Berlin student Thomas Jaeschke, 23, who has been distributing Linke flyers and putting up campaign posters, said the mood in the party was "very positive".

"At the campaign events there are really a lot of people there, some from all over Germany and a lot of newcomers," Jaeschke said.

He puts this down to a "well-communicated" campaign focused on core left-wing values such as "rent prices and redistribution of wealth", but also credited Reichinnek with "mobilising younger people in particular".

- 'German duty' -

It's a far cry from a year ago, when Die Linke was plunged into crisis as Wagenknecht, 55, left to set up the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW).

The new, Moscow-friendly party made a strong start, scoring 6.2 percent at EU elections last June and entering the government after two eastern regional elections.

Die Linke scored just 2.7 percent of the EU vote.

But support for BSW has waned this year as the party was hit by infighting and corruption allegations.

BSW drew the ire of many left-wingers when it also joined the AfD in voting for a drastic crackdown on immigration in parliament.

"In the end, Wagenknecht has not made the impact in the media that BSW might have hoped for," Souris said.


Berlin hairdresser Thomas Marienfeld, 43, said he voted for BSW in the EU elections but has now joined Die Linke.

Backing Wagenknecht in June was an "impulsive" decision that he regretted when he saw her party "voting with the AfD", he said.

Watching Reichinnek's speech, he said "I was 100 percent saying, 'Yes!' If the world swings to the right, then it is my German duty to go left."

© Agence France-Presse

German anti-fascist activist on trial in FASCIST Hungary over alleged assault

Agence France-Presse
February 21, 2025 

German anti-fascist suspect Maja T. is accused of attacking far-right activists in Budapest (Attila KISBENEDEK/AFP)

A German anti-fascist activist accused of allegedly participating in violent attacks against neo-Nazis went on trial on Friday in Hungary, as nationalist premier Viktor Orban has vowed to clamp down on "far-left violence".

During a preliminary hearing, the 24-year-old activist -- who identifies as non-binary -- was led into a Budapest court room handcuffed and with feet shackled.

The defendant, known as Maja T., is accused of four counts of attempted assault against far-right activists in February 2023.

According to a court statement, the accused acted as part of a criminal organization that "inflicted various life-threatening injuries" on the presumed neo-Nazis.

Maja T. was handed over to Hungary last summer, a decision that was severely criticized by a German constitutional court earlier this month, which said it had failed to take into account potentially dangerous prison conditions in Hungary, especially for LGBTQ people.

"I am accused in a country, where I do not exist as Maja," said the defendant in front of a packed courtroom, denouncing human rights violations in Hungary.


According to the local news website Index, the German national complained about being placed in solitary confinement in a cell infested with cockroaches and bedbugs.

Outside the court house, some anti-fascist protesters gathered to demand the defendant's release while chanting "Free Maja!" and holding up banners.

- Dangerous prison conditions -

Maja T. was arrested in Germany in 2023 and handed over to Hungarian authorities after a regional court in Berlin greenlit the extradition.

But the German constitutional court in Karlsruhe said judges had not appropriately considered the conditions in Hungary's prisons -- including "overcrowding" -- and statements by Hungarian authorities were not "sufficient to rule out" torture and inhumane treatment.

The 2023 attacks happened in the days preceding the so-called annual "Day of Honour" commemoration in Budapest, where European far-right groups gather to mark a failed attempt by Nazi forces in 1945 to break out of the city during the Soviet army's siege.

Several activists have since been prosecuted in Hungary and could face prison sentences for the violence.

One of them, Ilaria Salis, an Italian teacher, made international headlines when she appeared in a Budapest court in 2024, with her feet shackled.

She has since been released from house arrest due to the immunity she obtained following her election to the EU parliament.

Six people suspected of participating in the attacks in Budapest turned themselves in in Germany in a bid to avoid extradition to Hungary, their lawyers said.

A second defendant in Maja T.'s case, an Italian activist named Gabriele Marchesi, was freed from prison after a Milanese court found there are risks of "inhumane and degrading treatment" in Hungarian prisons, according to Italian media reports.

© Agence France-Presse

Cambodia nears Khmer Rouge survivor's dream of eradicating malaria

Agence France-Presse
February 14, 2025 


Yeang Chheang received the 'Unsung Hero' at the United Nations Climate Change Conference for his work combatting malaria © TANG CHHIN Sothy / AFP
by Suy SE

Cambodian scientist Yeang Chheang has spent six decades fighting malaria -- even in the Khmer Rouge labour camp where his wife and baby died -- and stands tantalizingly close to fulfilling his life's work.

The kingdom is stepping up a "last mile" push to wipe out the mosquito-borne disease, focusing on hard-to-reach communities in remote, forested or mountainous areas.

From 170,000 cases and 865 deaths from malaria in 1997, only 355 cases were recorded last year -- and not a single fatality has been reported since 2018.

The hope is for zero cases this year -- a remarkable turnaround for a country that was formerly an epicenter of multi-drug resistant strains. And the landmark would be unthinkable without the work of Yeang Chheang, who rebuilt the malaria control program after the fall of the Khmer Rouge.

The communist regime murdered, starved or worked to death around two million people during its 1975-79 rule -- including Yeang Chheang's three brothers, sister, mother, wife and son.

Aged 17, he began training as Cambodia's first medical entomologist with a French expert in 1954.

He helped with the first malaria elimination pilot project, setting up a lab under a leaf-roofed office, catching mosquitoes and larvae for experiments when he was deployed to a malaria hotspot in the northeast in the 1960s.

"When we started the work, it was so difficult because we lacked people with good knowledge," the 87-year-old told AFP from his home in Phnom Penh.

- Starved to death -

When the Khmer Rouge took power, Yeang Chheang and his family were sent from Phnom Penh to a labour camp where his wife and baby son starved to death.

Despite fearing for his life, he continued treating malaria patients, secretly handing out pills he had picked up from piles of medicine dumped in the streets when he left Phnom Penh.


That could have seen him killed for violating Khmer Rouge rules.

But the cadres spared him after a top commander fell sick with malaria.

"Because of my medicines, I could survive and did not have to work hard carrying soil or digging canals," Yeang Chheang said.


"The tablets saved our lives," he added, referring to himself and his three other sons.

After the Khmer Rouge was ousted in 1979, he joined with a handful of others to restore the national malaria control program.

There were multiple outbreaks in subsequent years, and he led his team on foot through villages riddled with landmines in the former Khmer Rouge stronghold of Pailin, a hotpsot for drug-resistant malaria.

- 'Last inch' -

Malaria, caused by parasites transmitted via mosquitoes, was for decades a major cause of illness and death in Cambodia.

The government launched a national action plan in 2011, aiming to eliminate all cases in the country by 2025.

Within three years the kingdom stopped drug-resistant malaria, and in 2020 launched the so-called "last mile" efforts.

Nearly two-thirds of last year's reported cases were in the remote northeast, where local volunteers have signed up to help.

Nhoun Niyok, 37, joined the campaign a decade ago in Pu Kesh village in Mondulkiri province.

He carries out rapid tests, administers medicines and advises people on using insecticide-treated mosquito nets to protect themselves.

"I am so happy I could help my community and I think villagers won't be sick with malaria again," he said.

He last recorded a malaria case in his village in September.

"Perhaps, the dream will come true," he said. "It looks like malaria will be gone soon."


If there are no malaria cases this year, Cambodia would need to sustain zero indigenous infections for another three consecutive years from 2026 to be certified as malaria-free by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Success would make it only the second country in continental Asia to achieve the feat, after China.

"This year, we are entering the last inch, not last mile anymore," Huy Rekol, director of the National Center for Parasitology, Entomology and Malaria Control, told AFP.


Marianna Trias, the WHO representative to Cambodia, added that certification would set "a powerful example for other countries, inspiring them to pursue the same goal".

Experts warn climate change and cross-border transmission involving migrants and mobile populations could yet derail Cambodia's efforts.

And some of its initiatives were funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID), with no clarity yet on whether they will be impacted by the Trump administration's aid freeze.

There were an estimated 263 million malaria cases worldwide in 2023 -- up 11 million on the previous year -- and 597,000 deaths, according to the WHO.

Despite Cambodia's success, Yeang Chheang considers global elimination of the disease "absolutely impossible" due to human migration.

"It will be around," he said. "I believe it won't be totally eliminated."

© Agence France-Presse

SPACE/COSMOS

Moon or Mars? NASA's future at a crossroads under Trump

Agence France-Presse
February 21, 2025 

The planet Mars (AFP)

by Issam AHMED


Is NASA still Moonbound, or will the next giant leap mean skipping straight to Mars?

Speculation is mounting that the Trump administration may scale back or cancel NASA's Artemis missions following the departure of a key official and Boeing's plans to lay off hundreds of employees working on its lunar rocket.

Late Wednesday, NASA abruptly announced the retirement of longtime associate administrator Jim Free, effective Saturday.

No reason was given for Free's departure after his 30-year rise to NASA's top civil-service position. However, he was a strong advocate for Artemis, which aims to return crews to the Moon, establish a sustained presence, and use that experience to prepare for a Mars mission.

Though Artemis was conceived in President Donald Trump's first term, he has openly mused about bypassing the Moon and heading straight to Mars -- a notion gaining traction as Elon Musk, the world's richest person and SpaceX's owner, becomes a key ally and advisor.

Musk's SpaceX, founded to make humanity a multiplanetary species, is betting heavily on its prototype Starship rocket for a future Mars mission.

Trump has also tapped private astronaut and e-payments billionaire Jared Isaacman, a close Musk ally who has flown to space twice with SpaceX, as his next NASA chief.

Boeing this month told employees it could 400 jobs from the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket program to "align with revisions to the Artemis program and cost expectation."


"This will require 60-day notices of involuntary layoff be issued to impacted employees in coming weeks, in accordance with the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act," the aerospace giant told AFP.

Boeing "saw the writing on the wall," Keith Cowing, a former NASA scientist and founder of NASA Watch, told AFP.

To date, SLS has flown just one mission -- 2022's uncrewed Artemis 1 -- and has proven exceedingly costly. It's "likely to fly only one or two missions, or they'll cancel it outright," Cowing added.

- Reform or scrap? -

Skepticism about the exceedingly expensive SLS and the Orion crew capsule -- whose heat shield issues delayed future Artemis missions -- is widespread among space watchers.

Still, many advocate reform, not repeal.


"We need to stick with the plan we have now," Free said at an American Astronautical Society meeting in October.

"That doesn't mean we can't perform better... but we need to keep this destination of the Moon from a human spaceflight perspective. If we lose that, I believe we will fall apart and wander, and other people in this world will pass us by."

Space policy analyst Laura Forczyk noted Free had been in line to become NASA's interim administrator before being passed over in favor of another official, Janet Petro.


She warned that eliminating the Moon would remove a crucial testbed for technologies needed to ensure a safe Mars journey.

While Musk has called Artemis a "jobs-maximizing program" and said "something entirely new is needed," the initiative enjoys strong congressional backing.

It supports tens of thousands of jobs in states including Texas, Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida, with support from key Republicans, including Senator Ted Cruz.


Abandoning the Moon would also leave China unchallenged to plant its flag on the lunar south pole with a planned 2030 crewed mission.

Forczyk believes Artemis is more likely to be reformed than scrapped, with SLS potentially limited to one or two flights before private companies -- such as SpaceX or Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin -- assume key roles.

"However, the Trump administration is unpredictable, and we really cannot get in the minds of Donald Trump or Musk," she told AFP.

Another looming uncertainty has been how Trump's broader effort to downsize the federal government could affect NASA.


A NASA spokeswoman told AFP on Thursday that about five percent of the workforce had accepted a "deferred resignation" offer allowing them to remain on administrative leave while continuing to receive pay until September.

© Agence France-Presse



'City killer' asteroid now has 3.1% chance of hitting Earth: NASA

Agence France-Presse
February 19, 2025 

This handout picture provided by NASA shows asteroid 2024 YR4 as observed by the Magdalena Ridge 2.4m telescope at the New Mexico Institute of Technology on January 27, 2025 (Handout)

by Issam Ahmed with Daniel Lawler in Paris

An asteroid that could level a city now has a 3.1-percent chance of striking Earth in 2032, according to NASA data released Tuesday -- making it the most threatening space rock ever recorded by modern forecasting.

Despite the rising odds, experts say there is no need for alarm. The global astronomical community is closely monitoring the situation and the James Webb Space Telescope is set to fix its gaze on the object, known as 2024 YR4, next month.

"I'm not panicking," Bruce Betts, chief scientist for the nonprofit Planetary Society told AFP.

"Naturally when you see the percentages go up, it doesn't make you feel warm and fuzzy and good," he added, but explained that as astronomers gather more data, the probability will likely edge up before rapidly dropping to zero.

2024 YR4 was first detected on December 27 last year by the El Sauce Observatory in Chile.

Astronomers estimate its size to be between 130 and 300 feet (40–90 meters) wide, based on its brightness. Analysis of its light signatures suggests it has a fairly typical composition, rather than being a rare metal-rich asteroid.

The International Asteroid Warning Network (IAWN), a worldwide planetary defense collaboration, issued a warning memo on January 29 after the impact probability had crossed one percent. Since then, the figure has fluctuated but continues to trend upward.

NASA's latest calculations estimate the impact probability at 3.1 percent, with a potential Earth impact date of December 22, 2032.


That translates to odds of one in 32 -- roughly the same as correctly guessing the outcome of five consecutive coin tosses.

The last time an asteroid of greater than 30 meters in size posed such a significant risk was Apophis in 2004, when it briefly had a 2.7 percent chance of striking Earth in 2029 -- a possibility later ruled out by additional observations.

Surpassing that threshold is "historic," said Richard Moissl, head of the European Space Agency's planetary defense office, which puts the risk slightly lower at 2.8 percent.

- Webb observations in March -

"It's a very, very rare event," he told AFP, but added: "This is not a crisis at this point in time. This is not the dinosaur killer. This is not the planet killer. This is at most dangerous for a city."

Data from the Webb telescope -- the most powerful space observatory -- will be key in better understanding its trajectory, said the Planetary Society's Betts.


"Webb is able to see things that are very, very dim," he said -- which is key because the asteroid's orbit is currently taking it out towards Jupiter, and its next close approach will not be until 2028.

If the risk rises over 10 percent, IAWN would issue a formal warning, leading to a "recommendation for all UN members who have territories in potentially threatened areas to start terrestrial preparedness," explained Moissl.

Unlike the six-mile-wide (10-kilometer-wide) asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs 66 million years ago, 2024 YR4 is classified as a "city killer" -- not a global catastrophe, but still capable of causing significant destruction.

Its potential devastation comes less from its size and more from its velocity, which could be nearly 40,000 miles per hour if it hits.

If it enters Earth's atmosphere, the most likely scenario is an airburst, meaning it would explode midair with a force of approximately eight megatons of TNT -- more than 500 times the power of the Hiroshima bomb.

But an impact crater cannot be ruled out if the size is closer to the higher end of estimates, said Betts.

The potential impact corridor spans the eastern Pacific, northern South America, the Atlantic, Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and South Asia -- though Moissl emphasized it is far too early for people to consider drastic decisions like relocation.

The good news: there's ample time to act.

NASA's 2022 DART mission proved that spacecraft can successfully alter an asteroid's path, and scientists have theorized other methods, such as using lasers to create thrust by vaporizing part of the surface, pulling it off course with a spacecraft's gravity, or even using nuclear explosions as a last resort.

© Agence France-Presse

UKRAINE , GAZA JUST REAL ESTATE TO TRUMP

'Game changer': US reportedly threatens to revoke Ukraine's Starlink access over minerals

Daniel Hampton
February 21, 2025 
RAW STORY

FILE PHOTO: Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy meet at Trump Tower in New York City, U.S., September 27, 2024. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton/File Photo

American negotiators reportedly threatened to revoke Ukraine's access to Elon Musk's vital Starlink satellite internet network if they refuse to give the U.S. access to critical minerals, according to a report.

Three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Friday that Ukraine's access to the network of satellites was raised during talks between officials between the two nations after Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy rejected a proposal from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

Starlink access was raised again Thursday, according to the report, and Ukraine was threatened that's its access could be imminently shut off.

"Ukraine runs on Starlink. They consider it their North Star," a source told Reuters. "Losing Starlink ... would be a massive blow."

The Trump administration has proposed a deal to Ukraine that would give the U.S. access to a significant portion of the country's rare earth minerals in exchange for continued military support. An initial proposal sought half of the revenue from Ukraine's rare earth minerals and other natural resources.


Zelensky declined the deal and said he couldn't "sell the country off." The Trump administration later provided an "improved" draft of the minerals deal.

Musk brought thousands of Starlink terminals to Ukraine after Russia destroyed Ukraine's communications services.

“Losing Starlink would be a game changer,” Melinda Haring, a senior fellow with the Atlantic Council, told Reuters.

THE R WORD REDUX: RECESSION

Billionaire predicts 'regime shift' after Trump policies prove 'negative for the economy'

Carl Gibson, 

AlterNet
February 21, 2025 

One billionaire investor is predicting a sharp policy reversal from President Donald Trump's administration after his policies caused shock throughout the economy.

CNBC reported Friday that Steve Cohen — the billionaire hedge fund manager who owns the New York Mets baseball team — is bearish on the economy in the wake of Trump's signature policies. He specifically mentioned Trump's mass deportations of undocumented immigrants, layoffs of thousands of federal workers due to budget cuts and the tariffs he imposed on goods imported from overseas.

"Tariffs cannot be positive, okay? I mean, it’s a tax,” Cohen said during a talk in Miami Beach, Florida. “On top of that, we have slowing immigration, which means the labor force will not grow as rapidly as ... the last five years and so.”

Cohen, who is ranked by Forbes as the 39th richest person in the United States with a net worth of $21.3 billion, predicted that GDP growth would slow from Trump's policies by anywhere from 1.5% to 2.5% in the latter half of 2025. However, he said that it likely wouldn't be a "disaster" that the U.S. economy would be unable to bounce back from in the future.

"When that money has been coursing through the economy over many years, and now, potentially it will be reduced or stopped in many ways, has got to be negative for the economy," Cohen said. "I think we’re seeing the regime shift a little bit. It may only last a year or so, but it’s definitely a period where I think the best gains have been had and wouldn’t surprise me to see a significant correction."

Cohen's remarks come on the same day that the S&P 500 saw all post-inauguration gains wiped out, according to the New York Times. Even though the index recently hit a record high, investors are wary that corporations will continue to perform at such a high level due to the new economic climate. Additionally, the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index — which marks how American consumers feel about the economy — hit its lowest point in roughly a year.

The Times reported that consumers are expecting prices for goods to increase by roughly 3.5% annually over the next five to ten years, which would be the highest rate of increase since 1995. The Federal Reserve has also said it's unlikely to lower interest rates throughout the remainder of 2025, unless inflation rates drop back down to its target of 2%.

Click here to read CNBC's full report, and click here to read the Times' article in full (subscription required).

Musk, Trump threats to NOAA could harm Great Lakes  

WHICH U$ SHARES WITH CANADA

Henry Redman, 

Wisconsin Examiner
February 21, 2025 


Mobile phone with website of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) on screen in front of logo. (Photo credit: T. Schneider / Shutterstock)

by Henry Redman, 

Ohio Capital Journal
February 21, 2025

Kayakers on Wisconsin’s Lake Superior coastline rely on data collected by buoys operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to determine if conditions are safe enough for a weekend paddle or if the swells and wind could spell danger on a lake famous for wrecking much larger watercraft.

Surfers in Sheboygan use buoys on Lake Michigan to figure out if the city is living up to its name as the “Malibu of the Midwest” on a given day. Anglers on the shores and on the ice all over the lakes rely on the buoy data to track fish populations.

Freighters sailing from Duluth, Minnesota and Superior use NOAA data to track weather patterns and ice coverage.

Wisconsin’s maritime economy provides nearly 50,000 jobs and nearly $3 billion to the state’s gross domestic product, according to a 2024 NOAA report, but in the first month of the administration of President Donald Trump, the agency is being threatened.

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s School of Freshwater Sciences, UW-Madison’s Sea Grant and UW Extension’s National Estuarine Research Reserve use funds through NOAA grant programs to study the state’s two Great Lakes.

Faculty at universities across the state receive NOAA money to study weather forecasting, severe droughts and precipitation on the Pacific Ocean. NOAA helps the state Department of Administration manage more than 1,000 miles of coastline and funds local efforts to control erosion and prevent flooding. A previous NOAA project worked with the state’s Native American tribes to study manoomin, also known as wild rice, to help maintain the plant that is sacred to the tribes and plays an important ecological role.

All of that research could be at risk if cuts are made at NOAA.

Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) — named for an internet meme of a shiba inu (a breed of Japanese hunting dog) first made popular more than a decade ago — has set its sights on NOAA. In early February, staffers with DOGE entered NOAA’s offices seeking access to its IT system, the Guardian reported. A week later, the outlet reported that scientists at the agency would need to gain approval from a Trump appointee before communicating with foreign nationals. The agency has been asked to identify climate change-related grant projects.

To run the agency, Trump has nominated Neil Jacobs as NOAA administrator. Jacobs was cited for misconduct after he and other officials put pressure on NOAA scientists to alter forecasts about 2019’s Hurricane Dorian in a scandal that became known as “Sharpiegate.” Trump has also nominated Taylor Jordan as the assistant Secretary of Commerce overseeing NOAA. Jordan previously worked as a lobbyist for private weather forecasting agencies that would benefit from the dismantling of NOAA — which runs the National Weather Service.

A suggested Trump administration plan for NOAA was laid out in the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 blueprint. The plan calls for NOAA to “be dismantled and many of its functions eliminated, sent to other agencies, privatized, or placed under the control of states and territories,” because it has “become one of the main drivers of the climate change alarm industry and, as such, is harmful to future U.S. prosperity.”

Sara Hudson, the city of Ashland’s director of parks and recreation, says the community is dependent on Lake Superior year round and funding from NOAA helps the city manage its coastline. She says the city has about $1.2 million in grant funding that could be affected by cuts at NOAA. The city’s total 2024-25 budget is about $2.4 million.

“With the funding that Ashland has, we really don’t have a lot of access to be able to do coastal resiliency or coastal management projects,” she says. “So we rely on grants to be able to do extra.” Among the affected projects, she says, could be coastal resiliency projects that help maintain public access to a waterfront trail along Lake Superior, projects to help improve water quality including the Bay City Creek project and work on invasive species and promoting native species within public lands.

Even if Trump and Musk are trying to erase climate change research from NOAA’s mandate, the effect of a warming climate could have dire consequences for Ashland’s lake-based economy, according to Hudson. Hundreds of businesses on Lake Superior can’t survive if the tourism season ends in the fall.

“For a community that relies on winter and every year sees less winter, economically it could be devastating,” Hudson says. “We need to have tourism 12 months out of the year. And if our winters go away, that really, that’s going to be a pivot to us. But our winter … that’s the only way our businesses can stay alive here.”


The Great Lakes provide drinking water for about 40 million people across the United States and Canada. Organizations like the National Estuarine Research Reserve are funded by NOAA to help make sure that water is healthy.

“We’re doing things like tracking algae blooms and changes in water quality that are really important for tourism and fishing and drinking water,” Deanna Erickson, the research reserve’s director, says. “On Lake Superior we’re working in rural communities on flood emergencies and emergency management and coastal erosion; 70% of the reserve’s operational funding comes through NOAA, and that’s matched with state funds. So in Superior, Wisconsin, that’s, you know, a pretty big economic impact here we have about a million dollars in funding for our operations.”

Eric Peace, vice president of the Ohio-based Lake Carriers Association, says that cuts to NOAA could have drastic effects on Great Lakes shipping because the data collected by the agency is crucial to navigating the lakes safely.


“On Lake Michigan, those buoys are critical to navigation safety, because what they do is provide real time data on wind, waves, current water temperatures, etc,” he says. “And our captains use those extensively to avoid storms and to find places to transit and leave.”

Further north on Lake Superior, real-time reports on water conditions are crucial because of how dangerous the lake can get.

“I was stationed on a buoy tender in Alaska, and I’d take the 30-footers that you get up there over the 10-footers you get on Lake Superior, because they’re so close together here,” says Peace, who spent more than 20 years in the U.S. Coast Guard. “They’re all wind-driven, and they’re dangerous. Couple that with icing and everything else, you have a recipe for disaster.”

The DOGE mandate for NOAA scientists to stop communicating with foreign nationals could have a significant impact on Great Lakes shipping because the agency coordinates with the Coast Guard and a Canadian agency to track ice conditions on the Great Lakes.

“That is one area that would be detrimental,” Peace says. “We wouldn’t have that ice forecasting from the Canadians. We would have to assume control of that completely for our own sake.”

U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin recently introduced a bipartisan bill with a group of senators from seven other Great Lakes states to increase funding for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. The initiative involves 12 federal agencies, including NOAA, to keep the lakes clean. In a statement, Baldwin said she’d work to fight against any efforts that would harm Wisconsin’s Great Lakes.

“Republicans are slashing support for our veterans, cancer research, and now, they are coming after resources that keep our Great Lakes clean and open for business — all to find room in the budget to give their billionaire friends a tax break,” she said. “Wisconsin communities, farmers, and businesses rely on our Great Lakes, and I’ll stand up to any efforts that will hurt them and their way of life.”


Ohio Capital Journal is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Ohio Capital Journal maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor David Dewitt for questions: info@ohiocapitaljournal.com

'Just awful': Outrage as Trump ousts Joint Chiefs chairman

HIS ARMY IS WHITE STR8 CHRISTIAN MALE

PREPING FOR THE END TIMES

Matthew Chapman
February 21, 2025 

RAW STORY


FILE PHOTO: U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Charles Q. Brown speaks during annual Memorial Day in Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, U.S., May 27, 2024. REUTERS/Ken Cedeno/File Photo


President Donald Trump announced on Friday that he is ousting C.Q. Brown as chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

"Today, I am honored to announce that I am nominating Air Force Lieutenant General Dan 'Razin' Caine to be the next Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. General Caine is an accomplished pilot, national security expert, successful entrepreneur, and a 'warfighter' with significant interagency and special operations experience," Trump posted to his Truth Social platform. "Despite being highly qualified and respected to serve on the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the previous administration, General Caine was passed over for promotion by Sleepy Joe Biden. But not anymore!"

Brown's ouster, which came despite furious warnings from analysts not to remove senior military officials, triggered an intense reaction from commenters on social media — many of whom speculated Trump wanted to get rid of Brown because he had been a champion of diversifying the military.

"This is just awful," wrote former U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul. "I have had the honor of working with and meeting many Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs over the decades. General CQ Brown was one the finest of them all, especially suited for the challenges of our current era of great power competition with China."

"Remember, they want to fire Gen. CQ Brown because he’s Black, and to them, minorities don’t earn their jobs," wrote journalist Kevin Baron. "He also supports a diverse military. Like every. Single. Other. Joint. Chief."

"We knew General CQ Brown’s days were numbered since Election Day - Trump simply was NOT going to sit next to a Black Joint Chief’s Chairman," wrote political strategist Drexel Heard.

"General CQ Brown, Chairman of the Joints Chief of Staff, was just apparently 'fired' by Trump via a social media post by Trump," wrote Meidas Touch co-founder Ben Meiselas. "Just an hour ago General Brown posted this so it seems he wasn’t expecting Trump’s post firing him."

He shared a post from Brown on Friday afternoon, talking about his commitment to securing the border.

"President Trump just fired Joint Chiefs Chairman CQ Brown — no reason given," wrote former Joe Biden strategist Chris D. Jackson. "That’s another highly qualified African American official ousted, only to be replaced by a white guy. This is what 'America First' looks like? So sad."

Trump's 'anti-diversity' executive order dealt a blow in court

Matthew Chapman
February 21, 2025 

RAW STORY

A federal judge has blocked President Donald Trump's far-reaching order banning diversity, equity, and inclusion, or DEI, programs in the government, reported The Associated Press on Friday.

This marks the latest in a series of court actions blocking Trump's massive array of start-of-term executive orders.

" Trump signed an order his first day in office directing federal agencies to terminate all 'equity-related' grants or contracts. He signed a follow-up order requiring federal contractors to certify that they don’t promote DEI," said the report.

However, "the plaintiffs — including the city of Baltimore and higher education groups — sued the Trump administration earlier this month, arguing the executive orders are unconstitutional and a blatant overreach of presidential authority. They also allege the directives have a chilling effect on free speech."

Judge Adam Abelson, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, agreed that the order likely violates freedom of speech, and issued an order preventing the government from enforcing the order while the litigation continues.

Trump's order had been so broadly written that the Defense Intelligence Agency even advised its staff not to publicly recognize Martin Luther King Day, Holocaust Remembrance Day, or Black History Month, and removed several non-white history pieces from the agency museum.

OK Education Department seeks to buy bible lessons for elementary kids

Jennifer Palmer, Oklahoma Watch
February 21, 2025 

Reading the Bible (Shutterstock)


While its effort to buy Bibles for classrooms is tied up in court, the Oklahoma Department of Education initiated a new vendor search to purchase materials containing Bible-infused character lessons for elementary-aged students.

The department is looking to buy supplemental instructional materials containing age-appropriate biblical content that demonstrates how biblical figures influenced the United States. Additionally, the materials must emphasize virtues, significant historical events, and key figures throughout Oklahoma history, according to bid documents published Friday.




The request for proposals doesn’t specify how many copies the state wants to buy, only that the vendor must be willing to ship directly to districts.

Like the Bibles the department sought in the fall, this request could be challenged under the state constitution, which prohibits public money from being spent for religious purposes.

“This RFP seems to be another constitutional violation,” said Alex Luchenitser, an attorney for Americans United for Separation of Church and State and one of the attorneys representing Oklahomans in the Bible lawsuit.


“It seeks to inject the Bible into public school curricula, and only refers to the Bible and doesn’t refer to any other religious texts, so it’s clearly a move to push Christianity,” he said.

The Education Department wants the character materials to align with Oklahoma’s new social studies standards, which have been revised to contain more than 40 references to the Bible and Christianity, compared to two in the current version. But the proposed standards haven’t been approved.

Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters is expected to present the standards to the Board of Education at its next meeting, scheduled for Thursday. It will be the first time the board meets since Gov. Kevin Stitt replaced three members. If approved, the standards will move to the Legislature for consideration.

The standards review committee included several nationally prominent conservatives: Dennis Prager of PragerU, David Barton of the Christian Nationalist organization Wallbuilders, and the president of the Heritage Foundation, Kevin Roberts.

While standards guide what schools are to teach, school districts have sole authority to choose curriculum and books.

In November, the state abruptly canceled a search to buy 55,000 King James Bibles, an effort that attracted criticism for appearing to exclude all Bibles except an expensive version endorsed by President Donald Trump.


Walters vowed to reissue that request, but a coalition of parents, students, teachers and faith leaders asked the Oklahoma State Supreme Court to block the purchase and Walters’ mandate to teach the Bible.

The Office of Management and Enterprise Services, the state’s central purchasing agency, also wants to wait. It asked the court for an order allowing it to delay the new Bible request for proposals until the case is resolved. Two OMES employees are named in the lawsuit.

This article first appeared on Oklahoma Watch and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

\

'Not the greatest pick': 'Religious row' reportedly ignites over Trump's new appointment

Erik De La Garza
February 21, 2025 

A Crucifix and an American flag stand at St Mary's Church in Champlain, a town at the Canada-U.S. border between the U.S. state of New York and the Canadian province of Quebec, in Champlain, New York, U.S., January 22, 2025. REUTERS/Carlos Osorio

A disagreement in conservative Christian circles being described as a “religious row” has broken out over President Donald Trump’s re-appointment of the evangelical Rev. Paula White-Cain to head the White House Faith Office, according to a new report.

That decision set off a flurry of criticism among the Christian far-right – with naming-calling, second-guessing and accusations of potentially incriminating videos on the horizon – flying from religious leaders angry at the pick.

Right-wing megachurch pastor Doug Wilson, an influential Trump supporter, described White-Cain to Religion News Service as an “erratic woman preacher who has been all over the map.”

“It’s not the greatest pick in the world,” he told the outlet, adding that she was “the kind of person that embarrassing video footage can be rolled out almost at will.”

His remarks are just the latest in a series of blowbacks set off just after Trump announced earlier this month that the Faith Office would once again be run by White-Cain, who Religion News Service said has been “long regarded as Trump’s closest religious adviser.”

“Unlike critiques from Trump and White-Cain’s numerous liberal detractors, the latest round of criticism has pitted prominent Pentecostal and charismatic Christians such as White-Cain, who have made up an important part of Trump’s evangelical Christian base, against a cadre of conservative Calvinists — including a subset influential among some of Trump’s advisers and cabinet members,” according to the religious outlet.

Matthew Taylor, a scholar at the Institute for Islamic, Christian and Jewish Studies who has studied the influence of charismatic Christianity on Trump, told Religion News Service that while White-Cain faced opposition during Trump’s first term from moderate evangelicals uncomfortable with Pentecostalism, “this time the fight is more of a ‘sibling rivalry’ between different factions of the ‘Christian far-right.’”

“Paula White and her circle truly dominate the Trump advisory circles, the evangelical advisory circles,” Taylor told Religion News Service. “Now you have these kind of natalist, radical traditionalist Catholics that see an avenue to power through JD Vance, and you see these kind of Reconstructionist Calvinist-types who see an avenue through Pete Hegseth and maybe Russ Vought. So now there’s real power and policy in play.”

White-Cain served in the same position toward the end of Trump's first term and was among the speakers at the "Stop the Steal" rally on Jan. 6, 2021, before a mob of MAGA rioters attacked the Capitol.

U$ Medicare Defenders Slam 'Obscene' Looming Cuts to Telehealth Coverage


"We have trillions to spend on tax breaks for the rich and corporations," said one economic policy expert, "but we can't afford to cover telehealth visits for seniors?"

A patient receives a teleconsultation with a specialist in this stock photo.
(Photo: BSIP/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Brett Wilkins
Feb 21, 2025
COMMON DREAMS


The announcement Thursday that Medicare will no longer cover many telehealth services starting April 1 prompted elder and telemedicine advocates to urge the Trump administration to continue the provision of vital remote care for millions of Americans.

According to the Medicare website, "you can get telehealth services at any location in the U.S., including your home" until March 31. Beginning April 1, "you must be in an office or medical facility located in a rural area... for most telehealth services. If you aren't in a rural healthcare setting, you can still get certain Medicare telehealth services on or after April 1."

These services include monthly kidney dialysis treatments; diagnosis, evaluation, or treatment of acute stroke symptoms; and mental and behavioral health services, including addiction treatment.

"What is the rationale for this, other than making life more difficult for many seniors?"

The announcement came as the White House signaled Republican U.S. President Donald Trump's openness to slashing Medicare's budget under the guise of the Department of Government Efficiency's (DOGE) mission of reducing "waste, fraud, and abuse."

"Unreal," economic policy expert Michael Linden said on social media. "We have trillions to spend on tax breaks for the rich and corporations, but we can't afford to cover telehealth visits for seniors?"




One Trump supporter asked on social media: "Why is Medicare eliminating telemedicine? I'm a senior and find it very convenient. If it's fraud, figure out a way to prevent fraud. Have calls made over a government app! I want to know why!"

Congressman Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) asked, "What is the rationale for this, other than making life more difficult for many seniors?"

Campaign for New York Health executive director Melanie D'Arrigo accused Trump of "killing telehealth for seniors, because many seniors will skip seeing a doctor if they have to go in person."


"Patients skipping appointments saves money, but also leads to more preventable deaths," D'Arrigo added. "Guess which he cares about more?"

Dean Baker, senior economist at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, quipped: "Not sure who this is a handout to. I know Trump wants to burn as much fossil fuel as possible, so that is one motivation. Maybe people were getting fewer unnecessary tests with telemedicine, so the medical testing industry could also have been a factor. Any other explanations?"



Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association—an advocacy group for U.S. public health professionals—toldRoute Fifty's Kaitlyn Levinson Thursday that "the federal contribution is absolutely essential for [telemedicine] to be a seamless system."

However, Benjamin said that "it is unclear what the Trump administration's financial policies will be in terms of supporting telemedicine and incentivizing telemedicine."

Benjamin added that he hopes the Trump administration will "provide supplemental funding and support for states that want to beef up their telemedicine capacity."

The American Telemedicine Association (ATA), another advocacy group, last month praised Trump for temporarily expanding Medicare telehealth coverage during the Covid-19 pandemic.

"Trump can cement his legacy as the president to modernize the American healthcare system by permanently enabling omnichannel care delivery that leverages both in-person and virtual care," ATA senior vice president for public policy Kyle Zebley said in a statement.

"In doing so," Zebley added, "he will expand access to needed care for millions of patients, boost a beleaguered provider population, and create greater efficiencies and operational successes for struggling healthcare organizations."

American Medical Association president Dr. Bruce A. Scott said last month that "congressional action is required to prevent the severe limitations on telehealth that existed before the Covid-19 pandemic from being restored."

"We must make these flexibilities permanent and secure telehealth's future as an essential element of our patient toolbox, and ensure that all Americans—including rural, underserved, and historically marginalized populations—can receive full access to the care they need," Scott added.

Ousted workers dispute claims DOGE saved Medicare and disease jobs from cuts: report

Sarah K. Burris
February 18, 2025

FILE PHOTO: Elon Musk listens to U.S. President Donald Trump speak in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 11, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo

The Trump administration's insistence that it's avoiding cutting certain healthcare workers — including those involved with disease response and Medicare — appears to be false, according to a report.

An anonymous official in the administration told Politico last week they were trying to be "thoughtful about critical functions that the government needs to perform."

But not so, laid-off workers told HuffPost.

Even those "keeping dangerous chemicals out of the food supply, and those on a project to reduce America’s notoriously high maternal mortality rate" are now gone, reported Jonathan Cohn.

Two HHS employees who work on Medicare were given dismissal notices. The sources told HuffPost "plenty more" were cut, including those hired to renegotiate drug prices for Medicare.

"But the idea that this effort is 'thoughtful' seems pretty dubious, given the broad, chaotic way firings have taken place ― and the fact that, as employees told HuffPost, many of the people who lost jobs were working on projects to reduce costs, to guard against fraud or to promote better health outcomes," wrote Cohen.

Trump claimed DOGE's goal was to reduce "waste, fraud, and abuse," but one worker told HuffPost that the cuts are not being made efficiently and will not help save taxpayer dollars.

“If you want to talk about saving money for taxpayers, we were the ones that were ensuring that it actually was budget neutral for the federal government,” that worker said.


Trump tasked Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency initiative with finding what should be cut, resulting in an indiscriminate firing of whole offices.

At the Department of Energy, for example, as many as 350 National Nuclear Security Administration employees were laid off last week, leaving offices vacant for some of the most sensitive nuclear positions. The White House team wanted to bring them back once they realized their mistake, but couldn't find any contact information, NBC News said.

While the U.S. faces a bird flu outbreak, the administration fired those at the Department of Agriculture on Friday who were working on it. DOGE fired those tasked with disease detection, The Independent reported Monday. Like with the Department of Energy, the administration is now scrambling to find those workers to ask them to return.


Read the full list here.