The Data Center Distraction: The House is Counting Trees While The Forest is burning

Is that what we asked you to do? Who cares who pays the electric bill when the real price is environmental destruction and the degradation of our communities?

DATA CENTERS

September 16 2026

The House has just passed a bill designed to protect consumers from a single consequence of America’s data-center boom: higher electricity bills. The vote was 417-3, an extraordinary display of bipartisan agreement. WHAT A JOKE!!! On all of us. Apparently, the House can’t see the forest for the trees. The Ratepayer Protection Act raises the question of whether data-center companies should pay for the additional power generation, transmission, and grid infrastructure they require. That is a legitimate question if you are a concerned consumer. But we have already moved beyond that question. This legitimate concern is simply not the biggest issue being raised in communities where these facilities are appearing, and this bill is a distraction from the far more serious concerns about the environmental damage, resource consumption, and degradation of the communities where data centers are being built.

Trump administration plans to send powerful bombs to Israel in $2.8 billion weapons sale

BY MICHELLE L. PRICE AND MATTHEW LEE
Updated 5:18 PM PDT, September 15, 2026
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is planning to deliver powerful 2,000-pound bombs to Israel as part of an upcoming arms deal, weapons that prompted such concerns about the possibility of mass casualties in Gaza that the Biden administration paused their delivery two years ago.

The $2.8 billion package includes 40,000 of the bombs, made up of 20,000 Mk84s and 20,000 BLU-117s, according to two U.S. officials and a person familiar with the plan who spoke Tuesday on condition of anonymity to discuss the package, which is not yet final.

Democrats keep pressure on Hakeem Jeffries to punish rogue members

 POLITICO 

3 hours ago

Many Democrats — including No. 2 Katherine Clark — are signaling that Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez should lose her spot on the Appropriations Committee

Riley Rogerson

09/16/2026, 8:50pm ET

House Democrats aren’t letting rogue members off the hook for bucking their party. They hope Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries won’t either.

Economics Needs a New Approach to Inflation

By Andrew Elrod

September 13, 2026

The question isn’t whether the mainstream economic consensus on inflation is right or wrong. It’s clearly wrong. The question is, can we do anything about it?

Review of Inflation: A Guide for Users and Losers by Mark Blyth and Nicolò Fraccaroli (W. W. Norton & Co., 2025)

Johnson-Massie feud boils over: "Why are we taking days off our calendar?"

3 hours ago - Politics & Policy

Kate Santaliz

Mike Johnson's decision to send the House home early — again — is fueling an increasingly bitter feud with Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) over whether the speaker is using the calendar to dodge politically painful votes.

Why it matters: The House will now be gone for more than six weeks ahead of the midterms, delaying Massie's effort to force a vote on impeaching Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over his handling of the Iran war.

Trump threatens to impose ‘serious tariffs’ on Europe if Canada joins EU as associate member

The president's threat comes as Canada seeks closer ties with Europe amid its deteriorating relationship with Washington

By Jalen Beckford

09/16/2026 05:36 PM GMT-7

President Donald Trump pulled out one of his favorite words as he threatened retaliation if the European Union were to admit Canada as an associate member. Trump told reporters Wednesday that he might respond with “serious tariffs” if Canada were to become integrated with the 27-member EU to a degree that he perceived would be hostile to the U.S. amid a trade war with its northern neighbor.

House Votes to End U.S. Hostilities With Iran — But Curb Your Enthusiasm Cause the War Does Not End Yet

IRAN WAR

September 15, 2026

The House of Representatives voted 220–204 on Sept. 15 to direct President Donald Trump to remove U.S. armed forces from hostilities with Iran. All Democrats who voted were joined by seven Republicans, the largest Republican break with Trump on the conflict so far. The resolution is the third House attempt this year to invoke Congress' war powers and halt the U.S. military campaign. 

Although the vote is significant, it does not immediately stop the fighting. The measure must still pass the Senate, where its prospects are uncertain, and the Trump administration has argued that Congress cannot use the War Powers Resolution to restrict the president's authority as commander in chief. Previous attempts have failed to produce a change in U.S. military operations.

State of U.S. democracy reaches new low, report finds

World

September 15, 20262:57 PM ET

Heard on All Things Considered

Rob Schmitz

U.S. democracy has reached its lowest levels in 50 years, according to a new global report that tracks democratic performance around the world

For several years, Dr. Seema Shah, who heads the Stockholm-based International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance's democracy assessment team, said their researchers have observed a global pattern of democratic decline: "Severe drops in scores that measure freedom of expression, freedom of the press, credible elections, effective parliament," she said.

Europe Is Becoming Canada’s Second Economic Pillar

September 15, 2026

By Yiannis Damellos

For most of its modern history, Canada has lived economically in the shadow of the United States. Geography made it mandatory: the world's largest economy sits immediately south of Canada, connected by roads, railways, pipelines, electricity grids and integrated supply chains. But under Mark Carney, Ottawa is attempting something much more ambitious than negotiating better terms with Trump's hegemonic apparatus. It is beginning to redesign Canada’s economic geography. Europe and Great Britain are emerging as the second pillar of that strategy—not as a replacement for the United States, but as a safety net, to build the foundation of a more diversified and strategically autonomous Canada.  

UK in talks about joining global defence bank led by Canada

3 hours ago

Harry Farley, Political correspondent

Kate Whannel, Political reporter

The UK government is in discussions about joining a global investment bank, aimed at raising more money for defence spending 

Chancellor John Healey is considering a bid to join the Defence, Security and Resilience Bank (DSRB), not long after his predecessor Rachel Reeves rejected the idea. Canada has been leading efforts to establish the bank, which supporters say would enable governments to borrow at lower costs to increase military spending.

Saudi-led coalition intercepts Houthi drone headed for Mecca

Noor Kareem, Al Jazeera Staff and Reuters

Tue, 15 September 2026 at 6:09 pm GMT-7

3 min read

Saudi Arabia has said that a drone launched by the Houthis towards Mecca has been intercepted and destroyed, in an escalation that could threaten the holy city. The Saudi-led coalition spokesperson, Turki al-Maliki, said Royal Saudi Air Defence Forces intercepted the hostile drone before it entered the restricted airspace on Tuesday evening.

Seven Months of Bombing — So Why Does Iran Still Rain Chaos onto US Bases and Its Allies?

Sources: CBS, CNN

September 15, 2026

The pictures are shocking. Smuggled out by active-duty U.S. service members on condition of anonymity due to rigid military media restrictions, the images tell a story the Pentagon has tried to downplay. A plane torn apart by Iranian strikes at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia. Smoke and ruins masking the aftermath of an attack on Camp Buehring in Kuwait. A shattered building at Camp Arifjan.They all check out. They aren’t fakes. They aren’t AI. They are real hits.

Kennedy Center board votes to close for renovations after chaotic call with Trump

By Kasie Hunt, Sunlen Serfaty, Tierney Sneed
Updated 13 min ago
The Kennedy Center board voted to close the center Tuesday after a tense meeting in which President Donald Trump called in to berate a Democratic congresswoman who serves on the panel, according to three sources familiar with the matter.

“It was f**king crazy,” said one source familiar with the exchange between Trump and Rep. Joyce Beatty, whose lawsuit has prevented Trump’s name from being added to the building.

The Supreme Court rejects Trump's mail voting restrictions for this year's midterms

 

Elections

Updated September 14, 2026 8:01 PM ET
Hansi Lo Wang

The Supreme Court has ruled against President Trump, rejecting his efforts to enact new mail-in voting restrictions for the midterm election.

The ruling released Monday by the high court means the U.S. Postal Service is expected to continue delivering ballots as usual.

Sweden’s political parties launch coalition talks as both blocs try to secure power

Miranda Bryant, Nordic correspondent

Centre-left bloc led by Social Democrats has narrow lead with 95% of vote counted, but faces internal policy battle

Sweden’s political parties have launched coalition negotiations as the Social Democrats leader, Magdalena Andersson, started the long and difficult process of trying to form a new government. Full results from Sunday’s election are not expected until after overseas votes are counted on Wednesday, but with 95% of the votes counted, the Social Democrats and the centre-left bloc had a narrow but growing lead of 176 seats to the right-leaning parties’ 173.

Zelenskyy says Ukraine will pause strikes on Russia if Kremlin spares critical infrastructure

World 

Sep 14, 2026 5:57 PM EDT

By Claudia Ciobanu, Elise Morton, Hanna Arhirova

Associated Press

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday that Ukraine is ready to halt its strikes on Russian territory if allies can secure a genuine Russian commitment not to hit Ukraine's critical infrastructure. His comments came after U.S. President Donald Trump claimed in a social media post that Russia and Ukraine had agreed "not to hit" each other's energy infrastructure, though Trump did not offer further details on the purported agreement.

Trump says AI doesn’t need guardrails, only a ‘high IQ’ president

He also alleged the existence of a ‘sick conspiracy’ against AI and data centers, at a time when Americans are increasingly concerned about the technology

Sept. 14, 2026, 8:26 AM PDT 

Updated Sept. 14, 2026, 10:47 AM PDT

By Megan Brand

President Donald Trump rejected the idea of placing guardrails on artificial intelligence, saying in a Truth Social post Monday that the only control needed is “a STRONG AND SMART (High IQ!) PRESIDENT, and the U.S.A. has that, in spades!”

Donald Trump Jr.’s Bahamas Wedding Was Secretly Bankrolled by Russian Oligarch Close to Putin

Trump Administration

The oligarch, Umar Kremlev, spent hundreds of thousands on expenses like renting out a private island. He appears to have met Trump Jr. only recently, but he attended the intimate wedding with a large group of other Russian guests.

By Justin Elliott, Brett Murphy, Joshua Kaplan and Alex MierjeskiSeptember 14, 2026, 5:00 am