Yesterday’s News 2026-09-05

curated news excerpts & citations
… trying to ‘unbury the lede’

Tony Romm, Colby Smith @ NY Times:
Trump Threatens to Halt Some Trade Unless the Fed Cuts Rates

Robert Reich:
The biggest problem facing the U.S. economy right now is Trump

The Labor Department reported this morning that the United States added 162,000 jobs in August. That’s more than expected, especially given how few jobs the country has added over the last few months.

But I want to let you in on a little secret (which shouldn’t be secret): Monthly jobs reports are now barely worth the paper they’re printed on, because the Bureau of Labor Statistics has so little experience dealing with a labor market suddenly depleted by Trump’s mass deportations and the almost-as-sudden retirement of the giant boomer generation. In other words, much of what the BLS is now trying to do relies on pure guesswork.

But there are three real reasons to be concerned:

1. Wages. Prices continue to rise faster than wages — which means most Americans are getting poorer. …
2. Job stagnation. Another concern I have is that while employers aren’t firing many workers, they’re also not hiring. A low-hire, low-fire labor market doesn’t create opportunities for advancement. It’s also difficult for young people to get into.
3. Trump. He’s interfering in the jobs market and the economy in ways that will make things worse. Bad enough that he’s waging a costly war in Iran and imposing costly tariffs around the world — both of which are driving up prices.

   He’s also making really, really stupid threats. … The very notion of ending trade with all countries from whom we buy more than we sell — a very large portion of the world — is absurd.

(Robert Reich   more…)

• Georgia Gilholy @ National Security Journal:
  Trump Has a New Strait of Hormuz Problem: The Number of Ships Getting Out Is Starting to Drop Fast

  Iran Is Starting to Look Like One Big Crisis

  Stephen Quillen @ Al Jazeera:
  Trump says the US is helping around 30 ships cross the waterway daily, but ship-tracking data suggests the number is far fewer.

  Lucian Staiano-Daniels @ Foreign Policy:
  After Hormuz, global waterways will return to being sites of bloody contention.

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• Drilled News:
  Nepal Floods Put Climate Loss and Damage Fund to the Test

  
  
  
  …
  The Fund was operationalized at COP28 in Dubai where various countries pledged around $850 million. But only about 50% of the money has been put into the fund. If we remove operational costs and secretariat costs, the fund has only about $350 million for its program, called Barbados Implementation Modalities, to support countries. So far, the applications by developing countries to access the fund have been overwhelming—it stands at about $2.8 billion. And until now, no money has actually been provided for program-related work. Nepal also has a pending application for a flooding disaster from a few years ago. …
  (Drilled News   more…)

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• Em Knepp:
  ICE is creating infrastructure designed to outlast the current administration

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• Heather Delaney Reese:
  When Donald Trump’s cruelty hits home

  
  
  
  (Heather Delaney Reese   more…)

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• Miles Taylor:
  Eighty-three percent of Republicans

  
  
  
  … By a supermajority, Donald Trump’s own voters believe the government is rotten. He promised he’d drain the swamp, yet they can see the gold-leaf ballroom rising on their televisions, built with their money, while the First Family’s crypto ventures mint billions and while Trump himself is minting literal coins with his face on them.
  (Miles Taylor   more…)

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• Anne Applebaum:
  The Myth of the “Censorship Industrial Complex”

  …
  This unprecedented investigation was meant to expose the Biden administration’s “censorship–industrial complex,” a shadowy network allegedly dedicated to the mass suppression of American free speech. Since 2020, internet trolls have accused Biden-administration officials, social-media companies, and university researchers of weaving a nefarious plot to censor conservatives. Since 2025, MAGA ideologues have been using this alleged plot as an excuse to dismantle government programs, stifle research, intimidate American citizens, and even distort American foreign policy.

  And yet for the past year and half, neither Beattie nor anyone else has actually managed to prove that the plot ever existed. Like a soap bubble that vanishes with the touch of a hand, the “censorship–industrial complex” belongs to that mystical category of things that disappear when you examine them too closely.
  (Anne Applebaum   more…)

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• James Eagle:
  Americans face Social Security crisis

  
  
  
  (James Eagle   more…)

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• Heather Cox Richardson:
  Letters from an American – September 4, 2026

  On September 5, 1882, workers in New York City celebrated the first Labor Day holiday with a parade. …
  (Heather Cox Richardson   more…)

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  Last Days in Two Nations

  Climate.us

  formerly Climate.gov

  Climate Solutions Explorer

  Have I Been Flocked?

  Brockovich AI Data Center Reporting

  resources tracking the “Andes” hantavirus outbreak

  Apocalypse Early Warning System

  Al Jazeera Death toll and injuries live tracker

  Mike Ludwig @ truthout: ICE Says 51 People Died in Custody Under Trump. Experts Say That’s an Undercount.

  ICE Accountability Project

  Sergio Martínez-Beltrán, Ximena Bustillo, Jasmine Garsd @ NPR: Deaths of migrants in ICE custody hit record high under Trump

  1. August 31: Pierre Damas Bel
  2. August 1: Edwin Lopez-Cornejo
  3. July 19: Jose Chajon-Raxon
  4. July 14: Juan Jairo Coronilla Duran
  5. July 13: Joan Sebastian Guerrero
  6. July 7: Lorenzo Salgado Araujo
  7. June 4: Mamuka Artmeladze
  8. April 16: Aled Damien Carbonell-Betancourt
  9. March 25: Jose Guadalupe Ramos-Solano
  10. March 16: Royer Perez-Jimenez
  11. March 14: Naseer Paktiawil
  12. February 25: Nurul Amin Shah Alam
      April 1 – Jennifer Peltz and Jake Offenhartz @ AP: Death of a refugee left at a Buffalo doughnut shop by Border Patrol is ruled a homicide

  13. January 24: Alex Pretti
  14. January 14: Heber Sanchaz Dominguez
  15. January 14: Victor Manuel Diaz
  16. January 9: Parady La
  17. January 7: Renée Good
  18. January 6: Luis Beltran Yanez-Cruz
  19. January 5: Luis Gustavo Nunez Caceres
  20. January 3: Geraldo Lunas Campos
  21. December 31, 2025: Keith Porter

  Suffering Under President Obama

  NACDL Criminal Case Tracker

  Texas Tribune: A Walk for Peace: photos of Fort Worth monks’ journey to Washington

  Walk for Peace – Dhammacetiya – The Ancient Sacred Buddhist Scripture Stupas

  Margaret Chase Smith: Declaration of Conscience

  NPR: January 6, 2021: A visual archive

  Accountability Initiative ICE List

  GriftMatrix

  Trump Action Tracker

  Timeline: Tracking the Trump Justice Department’s Anti-Voting Shift

  Tracking the Lawsuits Against Trump’s Agenda

  Trump Pardons Database

  Project 2025 Tracker

  DOGE Tracker

  ProPublica: Elon Musk’s Demolition Crew

  Wired: 6 Tools for Tracking the Trump Administration’s Attacks on Civil Liberties

  1. The Impact Map
  2. United States Disappeared Tracker
  3. ICE Flight Tracking
  4. Regulatory Changes Tracker
  5. Trump Administration Litigation Trackers
  6. Far Right Groups Targeting Pride Month