Nearly half of young Americans, 46%, believe that the United States’ relationship with Israel is mostly a burden to the United States, according to a new survey from the Institute of Politics at the Harvard Kennedy School.

The Harvard Youth Poll, which polled 2,018 Americans aged 18 to 29, found that just 16% of those surveyed described the U.S. relationship with Israel as mostly a benefit.

Respondents were asked about their view of other U.S. alliances, including Canada, which 53% saw as beneficial, and Ukraine, which 21% saw as beneficial. Israel received the lowest perceived benefit of any country tested.

The survey also found that 55% of young Americans believe the U.S. military action in Iran is not in the best interest of the American people.

It comes as attitudes about Israel among young Americans in recent years have grown sharply negative. Earlier this month, a Pew Research Center survey found that 70% of Americans aged 18 to 49 held a somewhat or very negative opinion of Israel. That view was split among partisan lines, with 84% of Democrats in that demographic holding a negative view of Israel, compared to 57% of Republicans.

The Harvard survey was conducted by Ipsos Public Affairs between March 26 and April 3 and had a margin of error of 2.74 percentage points.

Archived

American service members will no longer be required to get a yearly flu shot under a new Defense Department policy described by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth as an effort to “restore freedom and strength to our joint force.”

Calling the Covid-19 vaccine mandate part of an “era of betrayal” that was now “over,” Hegseth said the Pentagon was discarding “absurd, overreaching mandates that only weaken our war fighting capabilities,” such as “the universal flu vaccine and the mandate behind it.”

What stage of imperial decline is this?

The Capitol Police are arresting US military veterans for protesting war and genocide. That’s how sick our society is. Protesting war and genocide lands you in jail while supporting war and funding genocide gets you a job in Congress and the White House.

Video link -> https://video.twimg.com/amplify_video/2046329763019833344/vid/avc1/720x1280/baaqPHRMqME2jhLf.mp4

Source -> https://xcancel.com/ProudSocialist/status/2046329821265850775#m

New link has more footage -> https://video.twimg.com/amplify_video/2046469562347225088/vid/avc1/706x1280/CWGLJzkJXEUsnEbK.mp4

Rahm Emanuel has joined growing calls for the United States to end subsidies tied to its military sales to Israel, arguing that Israel should purchase weapons on the same terms as other U.S. allies.

“The days of taxpayers subsidizing Israel militarily, that’s over,” Emanuel said during an appearance on Bill Maher’s HBO Max show “Real Time.” “No more financial aid.”

Emanuel is the Jewish former mayor of Chicago who is seen as a likely 2028 Democratic presidential candidate. His comments come months after he said that […] Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli government bore responsibility for the starvation of Palestinians in Gaza last summer.

Now, as support for Israel hits a record low among Democrats and party leaders increasingly move away from the United States’ longstanding backing of the country, calls to end U.S. military aid to Israel are gaining traction.

Last week, all but seven Senate Democrats voted to block the sales of certain weapons to Israel, marking a doubling in the number of lawmakers backing similar resolutions in just two years.

Emanuel, whose father was born in Jerusalem and who volunteered as a civilian with the Israeli army during the Gulf War in the 1990s, told Maher that Israel should be able to fund its own military — and implied that it might not meet the United States’ standards for being able to purchase U.S.-made weapons.

“Israel is a very wealthy nation. There should be no more taxpayer support for what they want to do and they get the same deal that any one of our allies do,” Emanuel said. “They have to abide by the laws of the United States if they’re going to buy X weapons, and that’s how it should be constructed.”

In January, Netanyahu said for the first time that he wanted to “taper off” U.S. military aid to Israel over the next decade until it reaches zero. His pledge was quickly met with support from South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, who said at the time, “We need not wait 10 years.”

Speaking of the joint U.S.-Israeli war in Iran, Emanuel said the move amounted to a “violation of a rule Israel’s had for 78 years,” arguing that Israel had long sought to avoid pulling the United States into conflicts with its neighbors.

“The United States should never spill any blood for the state of Israel’s security,” Emanuel said. “What happened here going into Iran with the United States and Israel fighting together, which has never happened in 78 years, is a major change in policy for the State of Israel, which comes with political risk, and now they’re seeing it.”

On March 14th, the Choctaw Nation Council passed a bill to approve the purchase of a 1.2 million square foot facility that was formerly owned by the retail company BigLots. The facility is located very close to the Choctaw Nation headquarters and the city of Durant, which is located on tribal lands.

Officials became concerned because they heard local sheriffs were in talks with DHS officials to purchase the facility and turn it into an ICE detention center. “Choctaw Nation council members sounded the alarm that the facility is ‘unacceptably close to the nation’s governmental headquarters and community-serving facilities, including childcare and elderly services.’”

Both the city and Choctaw Nation headquarters decided to work quickly to pass an ordinance affirming that they did not want the warehouse to be turned into an ICE facility. After growing concern that this would not be enough, the Council approved the purchase of the facility so ICE can’t have it.

(Taken from an email sent to me by Never Again Action.)

We are sad to learn that Nurul Amin Shah died by homicide. Shah was a visually impaired Rohingya refugee from Myanmar who had come to the U.S. to escape the near-genocidal persecution of the Rohingya in Myanmar.

New York’s attorney general, Letitia James, opened an investigation into Shah’s death in March. The Erie county district attorney’s office requested the autopsy as part of its parallel investigation. While such investigations cannot return Shah to his wife and children, strongly enforced accountability may help prevent recurrence of this kind of tragedy.

(Taken from an email sent to me by Never Again Action.)

Reporters at the San Francisco Chronicle reviewed records of each of the 48 deaths that have happened in ICE custody since Trump returned to office. This is the highest rate of death under ICE supervision, ever. Even more tragic and infuriating, these deaths were mostly preventable. Doctors who reviewed the files said that many of the deaths were due to inexcusable delays, missed diagnoses, care workers ignoring emergencies, or workers waiting too long to provide care.

When asked for comment, CoreCivic, GEO Group, and DHS all claimed that detainees receive high standards of medical care. Every single expert consulted by the Chronicle disagrees with that assessment. The Chronicle points out that standards of questionable care by ICE and DHS precede the current administration. This is true, because cruel deterrence policies stretch back decades. The cruelty is, and has long been, the point.

(Taken from an email sent to me by Never Again Action.)

Rosa María Carranza, like over 100,000 other workers, has been paying part of her wages into Medicare and Social Security over many years. Records show she made contributions totaling tens of thousands of dollars. Now, thanks to the current regime, she and many more like her will be “disenrolled” from these programs. That’s a polite term for “kicked off” and it hides the truth that peoples’ payments into these systems are intended to be returned to them in their times of need.

In plain language, the BBB is stealing millions of dollars from people who can least afford it, while depriving them of health care and retirement possibilities.

(Taken from an email sent to me by Never Again Action.)

Individual states are uniquely able to pass legislation reigning in the unconstitutional terror perpetrated by the federal Department of Homeland Security. States like California and Washington have passed legislation either banning the wearing of masks by federal agents (except in cases of medical necessity) or, in the case of the Washington law, allowing anyone detained by a masked agent to sue for damages.

Responding to the duress created by the Trump administration requires our collective creativity. These laws demonstrate legal agility and have, so far, met with success when challenged in court.

(Taken from an email sent to me by Never Again Action.)

In January, the nation’s largest nurse’s union issued a statement demanding that Congress abolish ICE. Hours later, ICE agents killed nurse Alex Pretti, executing him in cold blood. This moment galvanized nurses and other hospital workers in Minnesota and across the nation. As patient advocates, nurses were already being put in horrifying, impossible positions. Now, both union organizing and person-to-person organizing have strengthened hospital workers’ resolve to defend their patients and shield them from terror in their most vulnerable moments.

(Taken from an email sent to me by Never Again Action.)

Only one U.S. university ranks in the world’s top 10 in STEM. In 2020, U.S. and Europe dominated the top 10. But now nine of those spots are held by Chinese institutions.

Raytheon supplies Israel with the bombs it uses to bombard Gaza; it is one of the world's largest arms manufacturers.

May the fire burn all the criminals who profit from killing children.

Video link -> https://video.twimg.com/amplify_video/2045069495006294016/vid/avc1/1290x2148/1oiMGeHqCJ2iMh-7.mp4

US source -> https://wgxa.tv/news/local/investigation-underway-after-early-morning-fire-at-raytheon-building-in-warner-robins-engineering-company-specializing-in-us-defense-systems-aerospace-rtx-corporation

Tensions have boiled over in Compton, California, as a worker's death at an Amazon warehouse and the manager's alleged refusal to allow other employees to help him has sparked the latest in a string of warehouse arson incidents across the United States. This marks the seventh such fire in just one week, as public outrage over worker mistreatment continues to manifest in violent acts targeting major corporations.

Why it matters

The rash of warehouse fires reflects a growing public backlash against perceived corporate indifference to worker safety and well-being. These incidents highlight the simmering anger over issues like poor working conditions, inadequate safety protocols, and a lack of compassion from management when tragedies occur. The situation underscores the need for companies to prioritize the welfare of their workforce and rebuild public trust.

The details

According to reports, an unnamed Amazon worker died at the Compton facility after a manager allegedly prohibited other employees from providing aid. This tragedy sparked an immediate response, with a group of individuals setting fire to the warehouse. The Compton incident marks the seventh such arson attack on a company warehouse in the past week across the United States, a troubling trend that authorities are struggling to contain.

A disgruntled Inland Empire employee accused of causing $500 million in damage invoked Luigi Mangione as he filmed himself torching a warehouse as he railed against wages, authorities said.

Chamel Abdulkarim, 29, of Highland, California, is charged with deliberately setting the April 7 inferno that destroyed a 1.2 million-square-foot Kimberly-Clark distribution center in Ontario. He pleaded not guilty Monday to federal and state charges, authorities said.

According to a Department of Justice criminal complaint, Abdulkarim, who worked at the facility through a third-party logistics provider, filmed himself setting multiple pallets of paper goods on fire in the early morning hours.

In the video, he allegedly complained about wages, saying, "If you’re not going to pay us enough to [expletive] live… at least pay us enough not to do this," according to the DOJ affidavit.

Federal prosecutors say the flames quickly spread, collapsing the roof and leveling the entire facility, which stored household products like Kleenex and Cottonelle.

Investigators allege Abdulkarim later bragged about the destruction in texts and phone calls, including one message that read, "I just cost these [expletive] billions," while railing against corporate profits and shareholders.

In a separate call, U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said Abdulkarim compared himself to Mangione — the suspect accused in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

"Luigi popped that mutherf---er," Abdulkarim said, according to the federal complaint, adding "a lot of people are going to understand."

Fox News contributor and former FBI special agent Nicole Parker told Fox News Digital that Abdulkarim seems to have used similar tactics as Mangione, calling it the "Luigi effect."

"Luigi garnered a substantial amount of attention and empathy from many because of his ‘cause’ as a justification for his grievance," she said. "Several are now copying him to one degree or another in an effort to gain that same level of attention and hero status."

Abdulkarim "believes he was speaking and acting out on behalf of the American people" as he ranted about workers being paid enough to live.

"Chamel was proud to have cost over $1 billion to the company," Parker said. "It is a troubling time in our society when offenders will go to all lengths no matter how destructive or evil to prove a point for their cause.

"I refer to it as the ‘Luigi effect’ where offenders have learned to focus attention on their grievance through violence due to the sensationalization from online platforms and social media. Law enforcement and specifically the FBI will be digging into his behaviors and what led him down the path to violence. Turning to violence to settle a grievance is never the answer. He chose to carry out these awful crimes, but he will not choose the consequence."

(...)

Authorities say the fire caused losses far exceeding $10 million, a key threshold that elevates the severity of the charge, while federal officials estimate total damage at roughly $500 million.

https://archive.ph/aTJ2G

Six in 10 Americans say they have a very or somewhat unfavorable view of Israel, up 20 points since 2022, according to a new Pew Research Center survey released this week.

About half of them say they have a “very unfavorable” view of Israel, a proportion that has tripled in the last four years.

The survey of 3,500 U.S. adults conducted late last month, weeks into the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, offers the latest signal that anti-Israel sentiment is surging among Americans. Multiple previous polls have shown that Americans newly sympathize more often with the Palestinians over the Israelis.

The poll results come as politicians on both sides of the aisle are pushing for Israel to receive less or no U.S. aid, and as the pro-Israel lobby AIPAC has become a punching bag especially among Democrats.

The latest poll replicated the partisan divide widely detected in polling, with about 80% of Democrats saying they have an unfavorable view of Israel, compared to 40% of Republicans. Nearly half of Democrats under age 50 said they have a “very unfavorable” view of Israel.

While Republicans continue to hold an overall favorable view of Israel, they are split on their assessment of its leader, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to the Pew survey, which had a margin of error of 1.9 percentage points. As many have little or no confidence in him as have a lot or some confidence — though among Republicans under 50, only 30% said they had any confidence in him.

The poll is the second released this week to detect opposition to the Israeli government among Jewish Americans specifically. The Pew survey found that 56% of U.S. Jews have little or no confidence in Netanyahu when it comes to world affairs. A smaller survey by the Jewish Electorate Institute found that 63% of respondents described themselves as both “pro-Israel” and critical of Israeli government policies.

Automatic registration into the U.S. military draft pool for eligible men is slated to begin in December, following efforts from lawmakers and the selective service agency to streamline the previous self-registration process.

The Selective Service System, the federal agency that maintains a database of registered U.S. males who are considered draft-eligible in the event of a national emergency, submitted a proposed rule to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs on March 30, according to the office’s dashboard.

Automatic registration into Selective Service was mandated in December 2025, when President Donald Trump signed into law the fiscal year 2026 National Defense Authorization Act, the agency’s website says.

“This statutory change transfers responsibility for registration from individual men to SSS through integration with federal data sources,” the website reads.

Putting the effort in motion by this December is a move to simplify the registration process and the equivalent “workforce realignment,” according to the website.

The proposed rule is currently under review by the regulatory affairs office, awaiting finalization, per the dashboard.

The SSS coordinated with Congress throughout the 2026 NDAA process, the agency’s website says. In May 2024, lawmakers worked to incorporate language about the automatic registration into the annual defense authorization bill, citing money and legal challenges. The SSS costs around $30,000 a year.

“This will also allow us to rededicate resources — basically that means money — towards [readiness] and towards mobilization … rather than towards education and advertising campaigns driven to register people,” Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa., who sponsored the language, said at the time.

Currently, almost all male U.S. citizens and immigrants aged 18 through 25 are required to self-register within 30 days of their 18th birthday, with late registration available until an individual turns 26.

Men who fail to register are considered to be in violation of the Military Selective Service Act and can face penalties, such as ineligibility for federal programs, a fine up to $250,000 or five years imprisonment.

Registration for the draft has dwindled in recent years, partly because the option to register was removed from federal student loan forms in 2022, which accounted for nearly a quarter of all previous registrations.

Meanwhile, after some attempts from lawmakers, women are still exempt from registration.

The SSS was established in 1917 by President Woodrow Wilson after the U.S. entered World War I. President Gerald Ford suspended the draft in 1975, but it was reinstated just five years later in 1980 by President Jimmy Carter when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan.

The U.S. hasn’t activated the draft since 1973 during the Vietnam War and has relied on volunteers ever since.