Brendan Carr’s Baseless Xenophobia Derails New FCC ‘Internet Of Things’ (IOT) Device Security Standards

For many, many years security experts have warned that the “internet of things” (IOT) (or the myriad “smart home” devices we have scattered around our homes) was a security and privacy dumpster fire. A lot of these devices are made in China (often poorly) introducing new network attack vectors and widespread national security concerns.

So in 2023, the Biden FCC proposed a new voluntary program that would rank and label smart home devices if they adhered to some basic privacy and security standards. Under the program, the FCC would work with a private Illinois-based company named UL Solutions to study and test devices, then apply a “U.S. Cyber Trust Mark” on devices deemed relatively secure.

Enter Trumpism. The program’s creation has stalled out because of some baseless claims by Trump FCC boss Brendan Carr that UL Solutions, a company that has done this kind of testing for one-hundred-and-thirty years and which is well-known and well-respected in the field, also happens to do business in China and runs 18 China-based testing locations (which makes sense given the massive volume of such devices built in, you know, China).

So in June, Carr made a post to Elon Musk’s right wing propaganda website vaguely stating the program would be paused while his FCC “investigated” UL Solutions:

To be clear, this is about U.S. companies not wanting to have to adhere to any sort of oversight or privacy and security standards whatsoever (and this voluntary program probably would have not included serious penalties). Carr has just selected weird Chinese xenophobia as cover for regulatory capture.

Carr’s “investigation” is much like his other pseudo-investigations, which have included “investigating” Verizon for not being racist enough, “investigating” CBS for doing journalism critical of King Dingus, or “investigating” Dish Network for not giving its expensive spectrum to Elon Musk.

There is absolutely zero evidence of any kind that UL Solutions has done anything wrong, and the longer the program is delayed, the greater risk to the public:

“David Simon, a partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, said he was “not aware of any” other instance where the FCC investigated a company it had just approved to run one of its projects.

The uncertainty is already putting pressure on the program. “The longer one proceeds without trying to implement something like this, the more the risk is to the consumers,” said Paul Besozzi, a senior partner at Squire Patton Boggs. That includes both individual buyers and companies outfitting offices with smart devices.”

It’s now September and there’s zero update or transparency into the “investigation.” The whole thing is fairly representative of MAGA’s self-serving exploitation of “national security” and Chinese xenophobia when convenient.

Like the TikTok ban, which was floated for years (often by Carr) and even written into law, only to be scuttled because it upset the financial plans of a billionaire Trump ally. Or the “race to 5G,” which involved giving giant U.S. telecoms bottomless subsidies and tax cuts to “defeat the Chinese,” only for lawmakers to disappear when the efforts resulted in slow, expensive, and patchy U.S. 5G coverage.

Or all the GOP’s fear mongering about China’s Huawei, which involved a decade of hyperventilation over Chinese spying on U.S. telecom networks, and a bunch of programs the Trump administration is now dismantling so that rich people can get tax cuts. And most recently the AI wars, where we’re told we must give giant tech companies zero oversight and bottomless subsidies, again to best thwart the Chinese.

There are genuine security concerns related to China, and then there are greasy opportunists who leverage those fears for their own financial gain. And the U.S. press sucks at illustrating the difference, which is why it’s so easy for Carr to get away with this sort of vague bullshit.

While Carr professes to be super worried about Chinese threats to national security, with its other hand the Trump administration has gutted government cybersecurity programs (including a board investigating the biggest Chinese hack of U.S. telecom networks in history), dismantled the Cyber Safety Review Board (CSRB) (responsible for investigating significant cybersecurity incidents), and fired oodles of folks doing essential work at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).

Brendan Carr is also engaged in a massive effort to destroy whatever’s left of the FCC’s consumer protection and corporate oversight authority, despite the fact that the recent historic Chinese Salt Typhoon hack (caused in large part because major telecoms were too incompetent to change default administrative passwords) was a direct byproduct of this exact type of mindless deregulation.

The Trump administration’s stacked courts are also making it impossible to hold telecoms accountable for literally anything (see the Fifth Circuit’s recent reversal of a fine against AT&T for spying on customer movement), which also undermines consumer privacy and national security, and ensures zero real repercussions for companies that fail to secure their networks and sensitive data.

So even if the FCC did implement this labeling program, any penalties for non-compliance (which there aren’t because it’s voluntary) would never survive the MAGA zealot-stocked court system. Carr of course is well aware of this. I suspect this program never sees the light of day and remains permanently bogged down in bogus, utterly nontransparent inquiry.

China’s super useful as a distraction from corruption or regulatory capture, but with MAGA it’s always performative. In Carr’s case, his primary interest is in pleasing the giant U.S. companies (his inevitable future employers) who don’t want any privacy and security oversight (however modest). And his efforts are always aided by a lazy U.S. corporate press too feckless to illustrate the distinction.

2025-09-12 12:22:22 UTC

IOT

People killed in US boat strike were not Tren de Aragua, Venezuela minister says (Reuters)

Reuters:
People killed in US boat strike were not Tren de Aragua, Venezuela minister says  — Investigations show none of 11 dead were drug traffickers-Venezuela minister  — Trump administration has provided scant information about strike  — White House insists those killed were ‘narcoterrorists’

2025-09-12 12:05:00 UTC

Reuters

Why Hakeem Jeffries hasn't been able to bend Democrats to his will on redistricting (Politico)

Politico:
Why Hakeem Jeffries hasn't been able to bend Democrats to his will on redistricting … After a post-2020 Census revision, only three of the state's 17 congressional districts are represented by Republicans.  But up to four Democratic incumbents could face tougher races if those GOP-held seats …

2025-09-12 11:50:00 UTC

Politico

UC Berkeley gives Trump administration 160 names in antisemitism probe (Nanette Asimov/San Francisco Chronicle)

Nanette Asimov / San Francisco Chronicle:
UC Berkeley gives Trump administration 160 names in antisemitism probe  —  UC Berkeley has given the Trump administration the names of 160 students, faculty and staff and information about their “potential connection to reports of alleged antisemitism” to comply with a federal investigation …

2025-09-12 06:10:01 UTC

San Francisco Chronicle

No Arrests in Charlie Kirk's Killing as FBI Seeks Help From Public (New York Times)

New York Times:
No Arrests in Charlie Kirk's Killing as FBI Seeks Help From Public  —  After a day of hunting for a suspect in the assassination, investigators pleaded for help from the public.  —  The gunman who fatally shot the right-wing activist Charlie Kirk remained on the run Thursday night as a frantic …

2025-09-12 06:00:00 UTC

New York Times

Scrutiny Mounts Over F.B.I. Under Patel as Kirk's Killer Remains at Large (New York Times)

New York Times:
Scrutiny Mounts Over F.B.I. Under Patel as Kirk's Killer Remains at Large  —  Already, a series of missteps by Kash Patel, the F.B.I. director, in recent months have invited worries that he has eroded public confidence in the agency.  —  On Thursday morning, a day after hastily suggesting …

2025-09-12 03:35:03 UTC

New York Times

Scrutiny Mounts Over F.B.I. Under Patel as Kirk's Killer Remains at Large (New York Times)

New York Times:
Scrutiny Mounts Over F.B.I. Under Patel as Kirk's Killer Remains at Large  —  Already, a series of missteps by Kash Patel, the F.B.I. director, in recent months have invited worries that he has eroded public confidence in the agency.  —  On Thursday morning, a day after hastily suggesting …

2025-09-12 03:35:03 UTC

New York Times

Waymo Tells Cops: ‘Get A Warrant’

Despite being the somewhat crispied face of (extremely limited) unrest in Los Angeles in response to ICE activity, Waymo hasn’t suddenly decided it’s time to get snitchin’.

In fact, it’s chosen to go the other direction, as Riley McDermid reports for Gizmodo:

Waymo co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana recently emphasized that the company will challenge, limit, or reject robotaxi footage requests from law enforcement that are not backed by a valid legal process, such as a warrant or court order.

She stressed that while the company “follows the legal process to receive footage,” it reserves the right to push back on overly broad or undefined demands—a move aimed at preserving rider trust.

This is pretty remarkable for at least a couple of reasons. First, as noted above, Waymo’s cars got set on fire pretty frequently in Los Angeles, prompting the company to shut down service until the violence (most of it provoked by police) in downtown LA subsided a bit.

Second, the average Waymo car is a surveillance conveyance:

Each Waymo vehicle is outfitted with 29 external cameras, offering a comprehensive 360-degree view, and potentially additional internal sensors.

That definitely makes these vehicles tasty targets for law enforcement. And when cops start pounding on the virtual doors virtually non-stop in search of all this stuff, the most common response from tech companies is to simply open up, rather than demand to see some paperwork.

Caveat, the third: Waymo says warrants or “court orders.” There are plenty of court orders that don’t contain the protections of a warrant. A subpoena, for example, doesn’t need probable cause to be established. Things not considered covered by the Fourth Amendment (but rather the Third Party Doctrine) can be obtained without a judicially authorized warrant: things like route and passenger data that may not specifically identify passengers, but give the government enough other data (including payment info) that could identify passengers in Waymo cars.

That being said, it’s nice to see a tech company that had every reason to make cops its best friends (see also: the burning cars referenced above) decide it cares more about the privacy of its passengers than the well-being of its automated automobiles.

HOWEVER:

By making this demand of law enforcement, Waymo may be setting up the entire nation for another limitation of Fourth Amendment rights. Between the Third Party Doctrine and the automobile exception, cops may decide to press the issue in court after their warrantless demands for data are rebuffed, citing both of the above doctrines in support of their claims.

The automobile exception tends to lower the standard for searches from “probable cause” to “reasonable suspicion” under the assumption that vehicles traveling on public roads are not generally afforded an “expectation of privacy.” That’s why cops can look in windows and run drug dogs around cars and perform inventory searches of any vehicles they choose to tow.

The Third Party Doctrine says information voluntarily given to other people (including companies like Waymo) also isn’t covered by an expectation of privacy. Even if there’s no other option but to give Waymo your address, payment information, personal identification, phone number, etc. just to be able to hitch a ride, most courts consider this to be a “voluntary” relinquishment of otherwise private information. After all, you can always just walk.

Given all of this, we’ll have to see where this goes from here. It’s unclear at this point whether Waymo data/recordings are useful enough to law enforcement to make this something worth fighting in court. But no matter how things play out going forward, it’s nice to know a company has decided to put its foot down before its customers have asked it to. Too many companies only decide to do this after weeks or months of negative press, if they bother to do it at all. Waymo’s warrant demands may ultimately prove to be short-lived, but the fact that it’s pushing back means this company is similarly as sick of this administration and its bullshit, and won’t allow its vehicles to become nothing more than proxy snoops for cops.

2025-09-12 02:50:58 UTC

'Radicalized' Evergreen High School shooter appeared to hold antisemitic, violent views in online accounts (Denver Post)

Denver Post:
‘Radicalized’ Evergreen High School shooter appeared to hold antisemitic, violent views in online accounts  —  Officials say suspect, who fatally shot himself, was Desmond Holly.  Two students remain in critical condition.  —  sbradbury@denverpost.com |  The Denver Post, SETH KLAMANN |

2025-09-12 02:35:02 UTC

Denver Post

Let's Not Forget Who Charlie Kirk Really Was (Joan Walsh/The Nation)

Joan Walsh / The Nation:
Let's Not Forget Who Charlie Kirk Really Was  —  The right-wing influencer did not deserve to die, and we shouldn't forget the many despicable things he said and did.  —  Pocket  —  The murder of right-wing provocateur Charlie Kirk is a tragedy.  But the response augurs even bigger tragedies for American politics.

2025-09-12 02:00:01 UTC

The Nation

Grocery inflation highest since 2022 as Trump tariffs pile up (Axios)

Axios:
Grocery inflation highest since 2022 as Trump tariffs pile up  —  President Trump spent his 2024 campaign promising Americans he'd lower grocery prices.  — Virtually all major grocery categories are now more expensive than they were a year ago, some substantially so.

2025-09-12 01:40:00 UTC

Axios

Bolsonaro Sentenced to 27 Years in Prison for Plotting Coup in Brazil (New York Times)

New York Times:
Bolsonaro Sentenced to 27 Years in Prison for Plotting Coup in Brazil  —  Brazil's Supreme Court convicted the former president of trying to cling to power after losing the 2022 election, including a plan to assassinate his opponent.  —  Brazil's Supreme Court on Thursday convicted former …

2025-09-12 01:05:00 UTC

New York Times

The Charlie Kirk Shooting Is Just Another Sign of America's New Violent Era

This piece was first published by writer Jack Crosbie on Discourse Blog Substack. Zeteo is republishing it with its permission and a new headline.

Yesterday, conservative activist and provocateur Charlie Kirk was shot and killed during a rally at Utah Valley University. There are pictures and videos and rampant speculation all over the internet. You will not find them here. The shooter’s name and motivation are still unknown as of this writing. In the next few hours and days, we will likely have definitive answers to these questions, but we do not have them now.

What does seem clear is that the American ‘Years of Lead’ are here.

The term refers to a period of Italian history roughly between 1960 and 1980 that was defined by widespread political violence and domestic terrorism, perpetrated by both right and left-wing groups. The scale of the violence in Italy — hundreds dead in massacres, bombings, and assassinations — makes applying the term to the United States seem hyperbolic at first. But consider: Italy had a deeply divided political system, a repressive government, and widespread economic woes. It was filled with motivated and organized radical political groups on both the left and the right. It was quite a bit like our country today.

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And now we see the results. We are in a different era: the weapons are different, the tactics are different, the groups are different. The American Years of Lead will not look like Italy’s, but they are here all the same. In this country, any person can pick up a gun and find someone to shoot for ideological reasons. As we have seen time and time again, it is so very easy to do.

But access to firearms in this country is not new. You have been able to get a gun and shoot a lot of people for years. What’s different now is that, in the past half-decade, the contours of this violence have shifted. The motivations of mass shooters are still a difficult trend to map, but more and more people appear to be carrying out assassinations for very specific reasons, targeting very specific people. Put another way, Luigi Mangione was not an anomaly, and nor is the person who killed Charlie Kirk. In the next few years, I suspect they will become known simply as the start of a trend.

The structure of American society has deteriorated to the point where a growing number of people see violence as the only way they can change their world. In some ways, this has always been the case – as I’ve written before, basically all human governance comes down to the use of force at some point or another – but society is supposed to be structured to insulate everyday people from that truth.

The kind of violence that killed Kirk is supposed to be carried out by people who are so deranged, or crazy, or sick, or in pain, that they take an extreme action that is outside the bounds of what our society should permit. But look at where we’re at. Our society is increasing the number of people who are sick or in pain every day. It has broken down and squeezed so hard that ordinary people may feel deranged on a bad day. But most of all, for those who were already harboring thoughts of violence or hate – like so many on the far right – the chaos is an easy excuse. That the president looks fondly on their views or, at the very least, shows little interest in prosecuting them only adds to the opportunity. The country is full of loaded guns in shaky hands, swinging back and forth, from target to target.

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What this looks like, on a practical level, might be a bit different than what most people think. There will not be another American “civil war.” The country is too geographically and economically and socially enmeshed for that. But the lone wolves, the fringe groups, and the homicidally desperate will strike, again and again, killing both the innocent and guilty alike.

A few months ago, a man drove a truck bomb into a fertility clinic in Palm Springs. The bomber was the only one who died, but the intent was there. His successors will not be as sloppy. The story didn’t get much traction when it happened, but it has stuck in my mind ever since. I do not believe we will get large armed groups fighting each other in the streets. What we will get is more incidents like the Palm Springs one – single shots ringing out in public spaces, or a brief hail of gunfire. Schools and churches will continue to come under attack. People will weaponize their vehicles – the second-deadliest machines in the country – and turn them into battering rams and bombs to slam into buildings and crowds. The state will denounce the attacks it deems to be perpetrated by its enemies and use them to justify expanding its use of force in the streets. Nonlethal rounds shot at protesters will, perhaps, become live ammunition.

There is nothing now that we can do to stop this: ending it will take years of reform and an ease to the material hardships of this country to make it abate.

If that sounds hopeless, I’m sorry. I don’t want people to live their lives in a state of constant fear. It is extremely unlikely that any one person will be affected by this trend, statistically speaking – though marginalized groups are far more at risk. But however insulated we may personally be from some of this violence, what people must do is understand and recognize that it exists. This won’t go away if we do not first recognize that our society is broken and seek to fix it. That means we can’t trust people who want us to “return to normalcy,” or who offer hollow promises of stability without changing the rotten foundations that our violent country rests upon. A more peaceful world is possible. It will take new leadership and new ideas. We do not have those yet. We may not get them anytime soon. Until then, we live in the years of lead.

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Jack Crosbie is a writer who covers conflict, politics, labor, and the media for Discourse Blog. He was previously a contributing writer at Splinter and has written for Rolling Stone and The Atlantic.

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2025-09-12 01:00:42 UTC

MSNBC fires analyst Matthew Dowd over Charlie Kirk shooting remarks (Joseph Gedeon/The Guardian)

Joseph Gedeon / The Guardian:
MSNBC fires analyst Matthew Dowd over Charlie Kirk shooting remarks  —  Dowd said the slain activist's words may have fueled the violence that claimed his life, sparking backlash  —  MSNBC fired its senior political analyst Matthew Dowd after he suggested on air that the slain conservative …

2025-09-12 00:55:01 UTC

The Guardian

Megyn Kelly Unveils Furious New 'Mission' After Kirk Killing (Eboni Boykin-Patterson/The Daily Beast)

Eboni Boykin-Patterson / The Daily Beast:
Megyn Kelly Unveils Furious New ‘Mission’ After Kirk Killing  —  ‘WILL NOT BE SILENCED’  —  The conservative firebrand honored Kirk's “legacy” on Thursday by unleashing a torrent of anti-trans hate.  —  MAGA commentator Megyn Kelly declared she would make it her “mission” …

2025-09-12 00:50:00 UTC

The Daily Beast

Trump says 'we have to beat the hell' out of 'radical left lunatics' after Kirk killing (Ben Johansen/Politico)

Ben Johansen / Politico:
Trump says ‘we have to beat the hell’ out of ‘radical left lunatics’ after Kirk killing … The president added in a separate answer that he would urge his supporters to follow a nonviolent path in response to the shooting.  “He [Kirk] was an advocate of nonviolence,” Trump said.

2025-09-12 00:25:02 UTC

Politico

No credible threat at US Naval Academy, governor's office says; Here's what happened (Jake Shindel/WBAL)

Jake Shindel / WBAL:
No credible threat at US Naval Academy, governor's office says; Here's what happened  —  There is no credible threat to the U.S. Naval Academy, Gov. Wes Moore's office told 11 News.  —  In a statement, the governor's office said: “In working with local, state, and federal law enforcement authorities …

2025-09-12 00:25:02 UTC

WBAL

Did Trump Just Declare War on the American Left? (Susan B. Glasser/New Yorker)

Susan B. Glasser / New Yorker:
Did Trump Just Declare War on the American Left?  —  After Charlie Kirk's tragic killing, the President speaks not of ending political violence but of seeking political vengeance.  —  In the hours immediately after the conservative activist Charlie Kirk was shot and killed in front …

2025-09-12 00:20:01 UTC

New Yorker

El Paso family claims Border Patrol killed their dog during search, CBP reviewing incident (David Ibave/KFOX-TV)

David Ibave / KFOX-TV:
El Paso family claims Border Patrol killed their dog during search, CBP reviewing incident  —  EL PASO, Texas (KFOX14/CBS4) — U.S. Customs and Border Protection says they are reviewing a “use of force incident” in El Paso, after a family says a Border Patrol agent unjustifiably shot and killed their dog.

2025-09-12 00:15:02 UTC

KFOX-TV

How Trump's Crime Crackdown Muted Other Parts of D.C. Life (New York Times)

New York Times:
How Trump's Crime Crackdown Muted Other Parts of D.C. Life  —  If the aggressive show of force had a deterrent effect on crime, it appears to have deterred some entirely normal aspects of city life, too.  —  In the weeks after President Trump declared a crime emergency in Washington, D.C. …

2025-09-12 00:10:01 UTC

New York Times

$10 Million in Contraceptives Have Been Destroyed on Orders From Trump Officials (New York Times)

New York Times:
$10 Million in Contraceptives Have Been Destroyed on Orders From Trump Officials  —  The birth control pills, IUDs and hormonal implants were purchased by U.S.A.I.D. for women in low-income countries.  They had been in limbo in a Belgian warehouse after the U.S. cut much of its foreign aid.

2025-09-12 00:10:01 UTC

New York Times

'Chilling reminder': Multiple historically Black universities under lockdown after receiving threats (ABC News)

ABC News:
‘Chilling reminder’: Multiple historically Black universities under lockdown after receiving threats  —  At least six historically Black colleges halted activities and issued alerts.  —  The Alabama State University campus in Montgomery, Ala., Feb. 9, 2022.  Bamastate01

2025-09-11 23:10:01 UTC

ABC News

Congress' civility crisis erupts over Charlie Kirk shooting (Axios)

Axios:
Congress' civility crisis erupts over Charlie Kirk shooting  —  The shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk threatens to bring the already hostile relationship between Democrats and Republicans in Congress to a breaking point. … - Some of the most combative, conflict-prone members …

2025-09-11 23:10:01 UTC

Axios

Trump Says He Will Attend Funeral for Slain Ally Charlie Kirk (Bloomberg)

Bloomberg:
Trump Says He Will Attend Funeral for Slain Ally Charlie Kirk  —  President Donald Trump said he intends to attend the funeral for conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who was shot and killed at an event on a college campus in Utah.  —  “I will be,” Trump told reporters Thursday at the White House as he departed for a trip to New York.

2025-09-11 23:00:37 UTC

Bloomberg

Rubio vows US response following conviction of Brazil's Bolsonaro (Jasper Ward/Reuters)

Jasper Ward / Reuters:
Rubio vows US response following conviction of Brazil's Bolsonaro  —  U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday said the United States would “respond accordingly to this witch hunt” after former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was convicted of plotting a coup to remain in power after losing the 2022 election.

2025-09-11 22:55:01 UTC

Reuters

Potential threats trigger lockdowns at several HBCUs across the South (Alisha Ebrahimji/CNN)

Alisha Ebrahimji / CNN:
Potential threats trigger lockdowns at several HBCUs across the South  —  Multiple historically Black colleges and universities in the South were on lockdown or canceled classes on Thursday over potential threats.  —  Hampton University, Virginia State University, Bethune-Cookman University …

2025-09-11 22:40:00 UTC

CNN

US Black colleges and universities say they restricted campus activity after threats (Kanishka Singh/Reuters)

Kanishka Singh / Reuters:
US Black colleges and universities say they restricted campus activity after threats  —  Some U.S. Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) went into lockdown on Thursday after they received reports of threats against them that were probed by authorities, the educational institutions said.

2025-09-11 22:35:01 UTC

Reuters

Trump, 79, Called Out for 'Droopy' Face at 9/11 Memorial (Laura Esposito/The Daily Beast)

Laura Esposito / The Daily Beast:
Trump, 79, Called Out for ‘Droopy’ Face at 9/11 Memorial  —  BAD LOOK  —  The right side of the president's face sparked a wave of online speculation on Thursday.  —  President Donald Trump was sporting a doozy of a droopy face as he ventured outside the White House Thursday amid mounting questions about his health.

2025-09-11 22:30:01 UTC

The Daily Beast

Exclusive: Hyundai should have called me for visas, Lutnick says (Ben Berkowitz/Axios)

Ben Berkowitz / Axios:
Exclusive: Hyundai should have called me for visas, Lutnick says  —  The workers at a Hyundai-linked plant in Georgia raided by ICE last week had the wrong visas — and the company should have asked for help getting the right ones, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick tells Mike Allen in the premiere episode of “The Axios Show.”

2025-09-11 21:50:02 UTC

Axios

Florida officials watching for 'vile, sanctionable' behavior from teachers after Kirk killing (Andrew Atterbury/Politico)

Andrew Atterbury / Politico:
Florida officials watching for ‘vile, sanctionable’ behavior from teachers after Kirk killing … Kirk, an influential figure in conservative politics known for mobilizing young voters, was shot to death Wednesday while speaking at a college campus in Utah in an apparent act of political violence.

2025-09-11 21:45:00 UTC

Politico

Mehdi Destroys Ben Shapiro’s Claim That There Isn't a Genocide in Gaza

Mehdi made his first-ever appearance on the popular radio show ‘The Breakfast Club’ on Thursday in a wide-ranging 45-minute conversation with host Charlamagne Tha Great on everything from Israel bombing Qatar and the genocide in Gaza, to Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral campaign and the dire state of the Democratic Party.

During the conversation, Mehdi also destroys conservative pundit Ben Shapiro’s claim on a recent episode of ‘The Breakfast Club’ that Israel is not committing genocide in Gaza.

“He gave you bullshit on the whole topic,” Mehdi tells Charlamagne, before explaining the definition of genocide per the 1948 Genocide Convention and how Israel meets it, as well as bringing receipts on Shapiro’s own previous claims about genocide in Syria and Xinjiang, China.

Mehdi and Charlamagne also talk about whether progressives should ever go on Fox, his recent “debate” on Jubilee, the lessons from his book, Win Every Argument, and the awful state of mainstream journalism in the US.

“The media landscape is heading in a very right-wing direction which makes independent media so important,” Mehdi says. “That is the only option now because the corporations are not coming to save us.”

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Enjoy Mehdi’s full interview on ‘The Breakfast Club’ above, and do consider making a donation to Zeteo to support independent journalism.

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2025-09-11 21:38:47 UTC

Senate Republicans trigger 'nuclear option,' changing rules to speed up Trump nominees (NBC News)

NBC News:
Senate Republicans trigger ‘nuclear option,’ changing rules to speed up Trump nominees  —  The new rule, established by the GOP on party lines, will enable them to confirm Trump nominees in groups, rather than individually.  It's the latest move to erode minority powers.

2025-09-11 21:30:01 UTC

NBC News

Trump Asks Appeals Court to Allow Firing of Lisa Cook Ahead of Key Fed Meeting (New York Times)

New York Times:
Trump Asks Appeals Court to Allow Firing of Lisa Cook Ahead of Key Fed Meeting  —  Where Things Stand  — Federal Reserve: The Trump administration asked a federal appeals court to let it move ahead with firing Lisa Cook from the Federal Reserve's Board of Governors in an attempt to stop …

2025-09-11 21:05:00 UTC

New York Times

Appeals Court Lets Government Cut Off Medicaid Funds to Planned Parenthood (Zach Montague/New York Times)

Zach Montague / New York Times:
Appeals Court Lets Government Cut Off Medicaid Funds to Planned Parenthood  —  Where Things Stand  — Confirmation rules changes: Republicans have used a procedural measure to change the Senate rules to allow them to more easily confirm groups of low-level executive nominees.

2025-09-11 21:05:00 UTC

New York Times

Kennedy Center fires head of jazz programming, adding to string of exits (Washington Post)

Washington Post:
Kennedy Center fires head of jazz programming, adding to string of exits  —  The center terminated Kevin Struthers, who worked at the arts institution for 30 years, and Malka Lasky, the last member of its social impact team.  —  The Kennedy Center has fired the administrator overseeing its jazz offerings …

2025-09-11 20:45:01 UTC

Washington Post

Appeals court judges publicly admonish Supreme Court justices: 'We're out here flailing' (Politico)

Politico:
Appeals court judges publicly admonish Supreme Court justices: 'We're out here flailing' … “They cannot get amnesia in the future because they didn't write an opinion on it.  Write an opinion,” Wynn said.  “We need to understand why you did it.  We judges would just love to hear your reasoning as to why you rule that way.

2025-09-11 20:30:00 UTC

Politico

Bolsonaro found guilty in attempted coup, assassination plot (Marina Dias/Washington Post)

Marina Dias / Washington Post:
Bolsonaro found guilty in attempted coup, assassination plot  —  Brazil's Supreme Court ruled the former president tried to reverse his 2022 election loss with a plot that included plans to assassinate President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.  —  Just now

2025-09-11 20:20:01 UTC

Washington Post

Comedy Central Pulls Charlie Kirk South Park Episode After His Murder (Tim Molloy/MovieMaker Magazine)

Tim Molloy / MovieMaker Magazine:
Comedy Central Pulls Charlie Kirk South Park Episode After His Murder  —  Comedy Central has pulled an episode satirizing Charlie Kirk after the conservative activist was fatally shot during an event at a Utah university.  —  The second epispde of the current South Park season — Season 27 …

2025-09-11 20:15:01 UTC

MovieMaker Magazine

Right-Wing Activists Are Targeting People for Allegedly Celebrating Charlie Kirk's Death (David Gilbert/Wired)

David Gilbert / Wired:
Right-Wing Activists Are Targeting People for Allegedly Celebrating Charlie Kirk's Death  —  Extremists and an anonymously run website are posting identifying details about people accused of celebrating Charlie Kirk's murder online.  Some of those targeted are now getting death threats.

2025-09-11 20:15:01 UTC

Wired

Charlie Kirk Was Not Practicing Politics the Right Way (Jason Koebler/404 Media)

Jason Koebler / 404 Media:
Charlie Kirk Was Not Practicing Politics the Right Way  —  Thursday morning, Ezra Klein at the New York Times published a column titled “Charlie Kirk Was Practicing Politics the Right Way.”  Klein's general thesis is that Kirk was willing to talk to anyone, regardless of their beliefs …

2025-09-11 19:25:00 UTC

404 Media

Charlie Kirk's killing could send Congress into a tailspin. Mike Johnson is trying to avoid that. (Meredith Lee Hill/Politico)

Meredith Lee Hill / Politico:
Charlie Kirk's killing could send Congress into a tailspin.  Mike Johnson is trying to avoid that. … “What I'm going to do is what I've always done,” Johnson told reporters later Thursday.  “I'm always about turning down the temperature and encouraging members to walk in the dignity …

2025-09-11 19:20:02 UTC

Politico

Brazil's supreme court finds Bolsonaro guilty of plotting military coup (Tom Phillips/The Guardian)

Tom Phillips / The Guardian:
Brazil's supreme court finds Bolsonaro guilty of plotting military coup  —  Former president faces decades-long jail sentence for seeking to forcibly cling to power after losing 2022 election  —  A majority of Brazil's supreme court judges have voted to convict the country's former president Jair Bolsonaro …

2025-09-11 19:20:02 UTC

The Guardian

Utah Republican senator faces backlash over post condemning Kirk's killing (Ramon Antonio Vargas/The Guardian)

Ramon Antonio Vargas / The Guardian:
Utah Republican senator faces backlash over post condemning Kirk's killing  —  Only months ago, Mike Lee had posted disparaging tweets after Democrat Melissa Hortman and her husband were fatally shot  —  The official X account of Mike Lee, a Republican US senator, drew backlash …

2025-09-11 19:05:01 UTC

The Guardian

‘Full of Shit’: Ilhan Omar Dismisses Republican Attacks of the Left After Kirk Killing

Democratic Congresswoman and ‘Squad’ member Ilhan Omar joins Mehdi in a Zeteo livestream on YouTube and Substack to discuss her latest War Powers resolution seeking to block US President Donald Trump from conducting future military strikes without congressional approval. The resolution comes one week after the US struck a boat leaving Venezuela under the pretense that it was carrying drugs.

“It is Congress that declares war, and we have not been given that authority by this president,” Omar tells Mehdi and Zeteo subscribers watching the stream, “It's important for the people to recognize that we cannot just go out and terminate people. This is not something that is allowed under international law and is certainly not allowed under US law.”

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The two also discussed the other big story in the news, the killing of controversial right-wing commentator Charlie Kirk, who was gunned down at a Utah University campus on Wednesday. “It was really mortifying to hear the news, to see the video. All I could think about was his wife, his children. That image is going to live forever,” Omar says.

She also talks to Mehdi about how Kirk’s death is being weaponized by conservatives to attack the Left, by pretending he wasn’t the divisive figure he was.

“There are a lot of people who are out there talking about him [Kirk] just wanting to have a civil debate,” says Omar. “These people are full of shit, and it's important for us to call them out while we feel anger and sadness.”

Watch the full discussion above to hear more about the Congresswoman’s War Powers resolution, the concern for her own safety in the wake of Kirk’s killing, and the violent path the US is heading down under a Trump presidency.

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In case you missed them, here are some of our latest stories:

2025-09-11 18:51:16 UTC

Authorities Examine Rifle and Ammo as Manhunt for Kirk Shooter Stretches On (Wall Street Journal)

Wall Street Journal:
Authorities Examine Rifle and Ammo as Manhunt for Kirk Shooter Stretches On  —  Conservative activist Charlie Kirk died after being shot while on stage at Utah Valley University.  —  Political Activist Charlie Kirk Dead After Shooting at Utah Event  —  Conservative political activist …

2025-09-11 18:25:02 UTC

Wall Street Journal

Paramount Skydance Prepares Ellison-Backed Bid for Warner Bros. Discovery (Jessica Toonkel/Wall Street Journal)

Jessica Toonkel / Wall Street Journal:
Paramount Skydance Prepares Ellison-Backed Bid for Warner Bros. Discovery  —  The majority of the planned bid for Warner will be made up of cash  —  Paramount Skydance is preparing a majority cash bid for Warner Bros. Discovery that is backed by the Ellison family, according to people familiar with the situation.

2025-09-11 18:20:01 UTC

Wall Street Journal

Former Congressman Madison Cawthorn arrested in Cape Coral for failure to appear in court (James Curtis/WBBH)

James Curtis / WBBH:
Former Congressman Madison Cawthorn arrested in Cape Coral for failure to appear in court  —  CAPE CORAL, Fla. —  Former Republican North Carolina Congressman Madison Cawthorn was arrested Wednesday on an out-of-county warrant for failing to show up in court.

2025-09-11 18:05:00 UTC

WBBH

U.S. diplomats say they are reluctant to share inconvenient truths with the Trump administration (NBC News)

NBC News:
U.S. diplomats say they are reluctant to share inconvenient truths with the Trump administration  —  “What we're seeing in the diplomatic corps right now is fear,” John Dinkelman, president of the American Foreign Service Association, told NBC News.  —  Late last month, an alarming email landed …

2025-09-11 17:55:09 UTC

NBC News

Greek Parliament Approves Harsh Migration Bill: Prison Sentences, Fines and Ankle-Monitors

Athens, Greece — Amidst strong reactions, Greece’s Parliament voted on Wednesday, September 3 in favor of a new migration bill, which introduces prison sentences of two to five years for those who remain in the country after their asylum applications have been rejected, among other provisions.

The new law comes as part of a broader anti-immigrant policy recently adopted by the conservative New Democracy government. In July, increased refugee and migrant arrivals on the southern island of Crete prompted an emergency measure suspending asylum applications from people arriving to Crete from North Africa for three months. The measure remains in force.

Greece recorded 6,724 arrivals of refugees and migrants in July 2025, 3,534 of which were on Crete, According to data from the Ministry of Migration and Asylum. In August, UNHCR figures show that the total arrivals reached 3,555, bringing the total for 2025 to 29,425. Greek media reported that arrivals on Crete in August dropped to just 689.

The Greek government says the aim of its policy is to deter and counter irregular migration. However, domestic and international organizations as well as opposition parties have criticized the new law on human rights and racial justice grounds.

‘You are not welcome’

Under the bill’s provisions, asylum seekers whose applications are rejected are given a 14-day deadline to leave the country voluntarily; otherwise, they face a prison sentence of two to five years. The law also allows for electronic monitoring with ankle bracelets, and imposes a fine of at least € 5,000 (about $5,800) for those entering the country irregularly, rising to at least €10,000 (around $11,700) for repeat offenses.

Closing the parliamentary debate, Minister of Migration Thanos Plevris, referring to migrants who might defy the new law, declared: “The Greek State does not accept you, you are not tolerated. Once you have entered illegally, you have one choice: to go back. You are not welcome.” He nevertheless assured that those entitled to international protection will be granted asylum. “If your asylum claim is rejected, you have two options: either go to prison or return to your country of origin,” he added. 

The law also increases the maximum period of administrative detention from 18 to 24 months for those entering without valid documents, and abolishes the possibility of legalizing one’s status after seven years of residence in Greece.

Meanwhile, the emergency suspension of asylum applications announced by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in July remains in force. According to the government, the measure aimed to send a “clear message” to smuggling networks that Greece’s borders are closed.

The new law bears the imprint of Migration Minister Thanos Plevris, who describes himself as a “hardliner” and comes from the nationalist and far-right party LAOS (Popular Orthodox Rally). His father, Konstantinos Plevris, was active in far-right circles for decades and acted as legal counsel for members of the Greek neo-Nazi criminal organization Golden Dawn.

Reactions to the ‘Trumpian turn’

The bill did not pass without backlash. Opposition parties labeled it “racist” and “inhumane,” referring to a “Trumpian turn,” citing a recent Washington Post story highlighting Greece’s migration policy.

International and domestic organizations also voiced strong criticism, arguing that the new law violates international conventions and introduces unworkable measures. The Union of Administrative Judges of Greece stressed that “the migration–refugee issue cannot be addressed through repression and the tightening of procedures for granting residence permits or asylum.” In a statement, UNHCR warned: “These measures risk penalizing persons in need of international protection or whose international protection needs have not yet been assessed.” 

The Greek Council for Refugees (GCR) also weighed in, stressing that several provisions of the new law contradict articles of the 1951 Geneva Convention and are inconsistent with EU legislation. In its statement, GCR described the law as an “extreme case of instrumentalization of criminal law.”

Regarding the suspension of asylum applications still in place since July, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has issued two interim measures. The first concerned eight Sudanese nationals and the second four Eritreans, instructing the Greek government not to proceed with deportations before their asylum requests are examined.

Beyond institutional actors, civil society also showed its opposition. On the day of the vote, extra-parliamentary leftist parties, pro-refugee and migrant groups, and solidarity networks gathered outside Parliament and marched through central Athens.

The new legislative framework is considered one of the harshest in the European Union. At the same time, other countries also appear to be moving in a similar direction, with anti-immigration sentiment on the rise across Europe — a trend that carries the risk of further empowering the far right.

Cover image contributed by Romanos Lioutas.

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The post Greek Parliament Approves Harsh Migration Bill: Prison Sentences, Fines and Ankle-Monitors appeared first on UNICORN RIOT.

2025-09-11 17:50:22 UTC

State Department warns immigrants not to mock Kirk's death (Andrew Childers/Axios)

Andrew Childers / Axios:
State Department warns immigrants not to mock Kirk's death … - “I have been disgusted to see some on social media praising, rationalizing, or making light of the event, and have directed our consular officials to undertake appropriate action.” … - Kirk was killed Wednesday while speaking at Utah Valley University.

2025-09-11 17:25:00 UTC

Axios