by Julianne McShane | Jun 9, 2026 | News Analysis
UPDATE (June 8, 2026, 9:25 p.m. ET): Los Angeles Council member Nithya Raman will advance to the November general election in the mayoral race to face the incumbent, Karen Bass, after overtaking ex-reality TV star Spencer Pratt in the primary, The Associated Press projects.President Donald Trump and some of his top allies are repeating a familiar but false refrain: An election is “rigged,” as evidenced by their preferred candidate’s poor performance.
This time, their focus is on ex-reality TV star and Los Angeles mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt.
On the night of the Tuesday primary, Pratt maintained a 9-point lead over his closest challenger, LA Council member Nithya Raman, leading his supporters to believe he would proceed to the November runoff against incumbent Mayor Karen Bass. But as mail-in ballots trickled in throughout the week, Pratt’s lead over Raman steadily narrowed, and by Sunday night, she had overtaken him by less than 1 point, with more than 80% of votes counted, according to The Associated Press. (The AP has not yet projected the second-place finisher to proceed to the runoff as of Monday afternoon.)
To Trump and his MAGA allies, a democratic socialist’s surge over a registered Republican with no political experience in a deep-blue city can only be indicative of one thing: fraud.
“No way this could have happened. Rigged Election!” Trump wrote on Truth Social early Monday morning.
A few hours later, Trump followed up with another Truth Social post.
“Not possible for Spencer Pratt to have lost the L.A. runoffs after the big lead he had. 3rd World Nation. Rigged Elections!” he wrote.
Far-right activist Laura Loomer, a close ally of the president, told her 1.9 million
by Paul Messersmith-Glavin | Jun 5, 2026 | AI, big tech, Capitalism, Climate Crisis, Data Center, data centers, Donald Trump, Indigenous Activism, Indigenous Resistance, MAGA, News Analysis, Organizing, Resistance, Toxic Waste
Between 4,000 and 5,000 data centers are actively humming in the U.S. right now, draining energy and, in the case of some of the hyperscale ones, consuming as much as 5 million gallons of water per day. Even this does not satisfy the demand cultivated by the tech industry, however: At least 3,000 more data centers are under construction or planned, prompting a diverse grassroots mobilization…
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by Hend Salama Abo Helow | Jun 4, 2026 | Blockade, ceasefire, Gaza, Gaza Blockade, health care, Israel, medical care, Medication, News Analysis, Palestine, Public Health
My mother has been a hypertension patient for the past 25 years. Ever since her initial diagnosis, she has adhered strictly to her prescribed medication. Yet since the genocide broke out, her medicine gradually ran out until it vanished from the markets altogether, with no clinic, pharmacy, warehouse, or stockpile left untouched by the shortage. Eventually, my mother was forced to redraw her…
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by Shahad Ali | Jun 3, 2026 | Gaza, Israel, News Analysis, Palestine, Yellow Line
As part of the first phase of the U.S.-brokered ceasefire in Gaza in October last year, the Israeli army withdrew to what it called the “Yellow Line” — a temporary demarcation line inside the Gaza Strip that separated areas under Israeli military control from areas where people in Gaza are allowed to live and move. At the time, the Israeli military controlled 53 percent of the Gaza Strip.
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by Ja'han Jones | Jun 2, 2026 | News Analysis
Happy Tuesday! Here’s your Tuesday Tech Drop, some of the past week’s top stories from the intersection of technology and politics.
Florida files suit against OpenAI
Florida has filed a lawsuit accusing OpenAI of putting the public at risk by prioritizing profit over safety. The suit accuses the artificial intelligence company of aiding and abetting mass shooters and makes reference to the alleged use of ChatGPT to help plan a shooting at Florida State University last year.
OpenAI previously denied responsibility in the fatal shooting at FSU, which has led to a civil lawsuit against the company, and said it implements safeguards to “detect harmful intent, limit misuse, and respond appropriately when safety risks arise.”
Read more at NPR.
Epstein’s eerie genetic dream
A recent report from The New York Times on the Epstein files — that is, the ones not currently being withheld by President Donald Trump’s Justice Department — reveals details about late financier Jeffrey Epstein’s arrangements to have his sperm held in a cryobank after he died.
The arrangement, made with a California-based company that said it no longer has Epstein’s genetic material, raises obvious questions about the convicted sex offender’s reported goal of seeding the human race with his DNA.
Read more at the Times.
Google’s ‘debugging’ program
Google is seeking the federal government’s permission to release up to 32 million mosquitoes in Florida and California as part of a project aimed at lowering the number of illness-spreading bugs.
Read more at The Guardian.
Roblox under review
Connecticut Attorney General William Tong has launched an investigation into Roblox over reports about the gaming platform leaving children vulnerable to abuse. Roblox has previously responded to such concerns by saying that
by Ben Freeman | May 30, 2026 | Israel, military aid, National Defense Authorization Act, News Analysis, Pentagon, US Military
At a time when the American public is expressing unprecedented levels of distrust in the Israeli government, Congress just proposed tying the U.S. to the Israeli military more than ever before. Buried in the House’s version of the 2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) released on Tuesday, is section 224, entitled “United States-Israel Defense Technology Cooperation Initiative.
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