April 2, 2026

'Dress for arrest': Florida man in jail outfit arrested for trespassing, sheriff says

A Florida man apparently dressed for the occasion when he was arrested for trespassing while wearing a stolen jail outfit, authorities said.

Brevard County Sheriff's Office officials said deputies had been called to a hotel on Friday for a guest who was staying past his reservation time and refusing to leave.

Deputies found the man, Farron Fullerton, wearing a full jail outfit and told him he had to leave but he refused, officials said.

When deputies tried to arrest him, he resisted being put in handcuffs but was eventually taken into custody, officials said. ....................(more)

https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/dress-for-arrest-florida-man-in-jail-outfit-arrested-for-trespassing-sheriff-says/3784890/

April 2, 2026

Florida man arrested after human remains found in suitcases 'saturated by vultures,' cops say

A 19-year-old Florida man was arrested after suitcases containing human remains were found in Palm Bay, police said.

Lucas Jones was arrested Sunday and booked into the Brevard County Jail on charges including abuse of a dead human body, improper disposal of human remains, and tampering with evidence in a criminal proceeding, records showed.

On Saturday, Palm Bay Police officers had responded to a remote area called the "Compound" after receiving a report about a suitcase lying on the ground "saturated by vultures," an arrest report said.

Officers found one suitcase that was lying in tall grass an emitting an odor with a flap partially open, the report said. .......................(more)

https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/florida-man-arrested-after-human-remains-found-in-suitcases-saturated-by-vultures-cops-say/3788918/

April 2, 2026

Heather Cox Richardson: A Picture of a President Not up to the Task

Topics covered in today’s Politics Chat: No Kings rallies, Trump's social media post on the Strait of Hormuz, Wall Street Journal leak on Iran war exit conditions, stock market rally, Brent crude prices, DHS leaks targeting Kristi Noem and Corey Lewandowski, Laura Ingraham and Alex Jones breaking with Trump on Iran, court order halting White House ballroom construction, judge blocking NPR and PBS defunding, NATO allies restricting U.S. airspace, Trump executive order on mail-in voting, Save Act Senate push, Supreme Court hearing on birthright citizenship, and the 14th Amendment's Reconstruction-era origins.

From Politics Chat, March 31, 2026

April 2, 2026

Trump Continues Destroying America For White Supremacy, Greed, and Russia

Apr 1, 2026

Why Modern “Flood the Zone” Tactics Are Designed to Break Your Spirit—and How to Reclaim Your Intellectual Sovereignty as Trump and MAGA are Actively Destroying America

Donald Trump is addressing the nation later tonight about his failed war in Iran, and he was the first President to appear at oral arguments at the Supreme Court, where one of his white nationalist Reeks made the case to end birthright citizenship.

MAGA’s white supremacist death march has only weakened America and made Russia, China, and possibly even Iran great again.

This is the murder-suicide of the United States.

Meanwhile, the Democratic establishment refuses to meet its base, and the majority, when it comes to Israel, the broligarchy, or embracing an anti-elitist message. Instead, they’re still sucking at the teat of AIPAC and billionaires. Taking advantage, Nick Fuentes, Tucker Carlson, and other deranged extremists are moving to the left on these issues and winning over radicalized Americans who desperately want change and reform

April 2, 2026

Defending Our Democracy - A Conversation With Marc Elias

Apr 1, 2026

Greetings all. I'm very excited to share a new interview recorded late yesterday with Democratic super lawyer and great American patriot Marc Elias. This is a wonderful and compelling discussion with one of the true heroes of the moment, and I encourage everyone here to take the time to watch, listen or read the transcript to help you gain a much greater understanding of what Trump can and cannot do to illicitly try to keep Republicans in power this year.

April 2, 2026

The Epstein Cabal Exposed: How Donald and Bill Barr Helpd Create and Protect Jeffrey Epstein

Apr 1, 2026

Why did Donald Barr hire an unqualified Jeffrey Epstein as a teacher at the prestigious Dalton School?

It sounds like nutty conspiracy theories, folks, but the evidence is all in front of you. It’s a big club, and you ain’t in it. Thankfully, investigative journalist Kait Justice spent the time connecting the dots, and she joins Ellie Leonard and me to expose the Epstein cabal that continues to rape our girls, our Earth, and our resources for its pleasure.

April 2, 2026

The slow death of academic freedom

The slow death of academic freedom
As academic freedom erodes at universities, saving it will require dedicated infrastructure and long-term support

By Tracy Kuo Lin
Published April 2, 2026 9:00AM (EDT)


(Salon) State legislatures restricting what faculty can teach about race or gender — banning discussions on transgender and nonbinary identities. Public health scholars facing political retaliation for vaccine research and guidance. Legally mandated-national climate assessment reports disappearing from government websites.

These are not hypotheticals — this is what universities and research communities are facing right now. To see how quickly academic freedom can erode when legislatures meddle, look at the University of Texas. Faculty senates have been dissolved, courses are subjected to political approval, leadership appointments are based on ideology and professors are quietly changing syllabi out of fear.

But it’s not just happening in red states like Texas. Universities nationwide are making changes in an attempt to hang on to funding from the federal government. The Trump administration reportedly pressured lawyers to find evidence of antisemitism at the University of California, Los Angeles as an excuse to gut a renowned public university and exert political influence over its speech, disciplinary processes and institutional autonomy.

As the chair of the University of California, San Francisco’s Committee on Academic Freedom, I’ve witnessed first-hand how precarious that freedom can be. Recent proposed revisions to the University of California’s academic personnel manual included language that would shift academic freedom from a protected right to a mitigating factor in disciplinary processes. There’s a profound chilling effect when faculty are no longer protected for speech the university deems troublesome, and academic freedom is merely a consideration they can raise while going through a burdensome and stressful disciplinary process. Although there was backlash against the policy at all 10 University of California campuses and a task force has been formed to evaluate the policy, it’s unclear whether the university will ultimately listen to their faculty. ..................(more)

https://www.salon.com/2026/04/02/the-slow-death-of-academic-freedom/

April 2, 2026

Not just ICE: Do we need DHS?

Not just ICE: Do we need DHS?
In it’s 24 year history DHS has failed to make Americans safer and has become increasingly politicized

By Russell Payne
Staff Reporter
Published April 2, 2026 6:30AM (EDT)


(Salon) The shutdown at the Department of Homeland Security is stretching into its second month with no end in sight, raising the ire of critics on both the left and right, with some asking whether the department’s duties would be better handled by other government agencies.

DHS has been partially shut down since Feb. 14, but with Congress on recess until mid April, the lack of funding is poised to go on for at least a couple more weeks. The record-breaking shutdown has produced chaotic, long lines at airports, owing to the Transportation Security Administration, a division of DHS, not being paid for most of the shutdown. This has been the most public pain point, affecting the greatest number of Americans.

Considering the fact that DHS is the fourth-largest federal department and the largest department not related to the military, critics are pointing out that the shutdown seems to have had little impact on most American’s lives. President Donald Trump even felt comfortable attacking Iran alongside Israel, despite the fact that DHS — a department founded on the notion that it could protect Americans from terrorism — was not operating beyond its essential capacity.

....(snip)....

David Perry, a University of Minnesota historian who has previously advocated for entirely dismantling the department, told Salon in an interview that he thinks this shutdown should serve as an opportunity to rethink whether the country even needs DHS.

“We have to start pressuring people right now,” Perry said. “Put bureaucracy with bureaucracy, put enforcement with enforcement, separate the [Federal Emergency Management Agency] and give it independence again. That’s three bullet points. I would like to see those three bullet points in the party platform. I think we can do it.” ...................(more)

https://www.salon.com/2026/04/02/not-just-ice-do-we-need-dhs/

April 2, 2026

Democracy Docket: Trump's Epstein Cover-Up Is Getting Worse

Mar 31, 2026

Marc Elias breaks down the timeline of the Trump administration's handling of the Epstein files, exposing a massive cover-up by the Department of Justice to protect President Donald Trump.

April 2, 2026

There is no one left to sell Trump's war

There is no one left to sell Trump’s war
One month into his war of choice with Iran, Donald Trump will finally address the nation on Operation Epic Fury

By Sophia Tesfaye
Senior Writer
Published April 1, 2026 12:25PM (EDT)


(Salon) Tonight, on April Fools’ Day — the first night of Passover, with the bond markets closing early tomorrow ahead of Good Friday — Donald Trump will finally address the American people about the war he started with Israel in Iran. It has taken him more than a month to do so.

The administration seems to believe that if it can just find the right messenger or the right primetime moment, the narrative for war will click into place. But the timing of Trump’s address, after weeks of deflection and delay, dropped into a narrow window between market closures, feels revealing. Trump’s war in Iran is built on so many contradictions that MAGA’s disciplined propaganda machine of administration officials, media outlets like Fox News, podcasters and influencers is starting to crack under the strain.

For weeks the president has tried to outsource the job of selling the war to the American people, first to the Pentagon, as former Fox News anchor turned Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth was supposed to be the perfect vessel for this message. Bombastic, unwaveringly loyal and constitutionally incapable of doubt, Hegseth has stood at the Pentagon podium for four weeks and attacked reporters, called dead service members a PR operation designed to make “the president look bad” and belligerently insisted each offensive action in Iran was a military success.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was awkwardly dispatched to soothe the financial markets while doubling as a kind of economic war correspondent. The nation’s top economic official argued that the war is under control because markets are “functioning,” that disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz are “manageable” and, ironically, that energy price spikes are “transitory.” On one level, it makes sense. This war is being fought as much through global trade as with airstrikes. The administration knows that if the financial system panics — if oil prices spiral further or if shipping grinds to a halt — the political consequences will be immediate and severe. Thus their priority has not been trying to explain the conflict to the American people. They are trying to manage the market reaction to it. ..................(more)

https://www.salon.com/2026/04/01/there-is-no-one-left-to-sell-trumps-war/