Things are not going well for the President of the United States. As revealed by the mostly breaking news stories covered on today's BradCast, today may be seen as one of the worst days he has ever had. Here's hoping for more such days. [Audio link to full show follows below this summary.]

• Tuesday began pleasantly enough, with Donald Trump offering Saudi Arabia's crown prince a royal welcome to the White House in advance of a black tie dinner, despite the fact that the CIA determined that Mohammed bin Salman likely personally approved the 2018 bone saw murder of Washington Post journalist and U.S. resident Jamal Khashoggi. After the regal parade of Saudi and U.S. flag-draped black horses and a rare flyover by six U.S. fighter jets to celebrate the arrival of the killer prince and major Trump Family business partner, Trump berated a reporter for daring to ask about the murder. He claimed, appallingly, that "a lot of people didn't like" Khashoggi anyway, that bin Salman "knew nothing about it", and, even if he did, hey, "things happen."

• Around the same time, on the other end of Pennsylvania Ave., victims of Trump's longtime best friend and convicted pedophile, the late Jeffrey Epstein, were rallying on the steps of the U.S. Capitol with the lead, bi-partisan co-sponsors of a bill mandating the Dept. of Justice release the "Epstein Files". One of the survivors, a Trump voter who was introduced to Epstein when she was just 14 years old, described the President as a "national embarrassment". The bill was finally to be voted on today, after months of attempted obstruction by both Trump and supposedly very Christian Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson. Today's vote happened only thanks to a Discharge Petition signed by a majority of House members (all Democrats, 4 Republicans) demanding it. Despite Trump's months of cover-up, blocking the DOJ from releasing the files that he could have ordered released in full at any time, the four sentence legislation was adopted nearly unanimously by the U.S. House in a 427 to 1 vote. Apparently, nobody other than Rep. Clay Higgins (R-LA) wanted to be regarded as having voted to protect pedophiles.

• Within hours, remarkably, the U.S. Senate, without debate, adopted the same bill by another veto-proof margin. The measure was passed by unanimous consent before heading to Donald Trump's desk for his signature. You think he'll hold one of his big signing ceremonies to do it?

• With all of that seemingly very good news, we echo the caveat I offered on yesterday's show. A provision in the legislation (the third of four sentences) allows the DOJ to "withhold certain information" including "materials that would jeopardize an active federal investigation." As luck would have it, just last week, months after Trump's DOJ declared there was nothing left to investigate in the Epstein matter, and days before Trump would pretend to flip-flop to favor the bill, he asked his corrupt Attorney General Pam Bondi to open an investigation into the involvement of his political foes with Epstein. She complied within hours, of course. On Sunday, Republican co-sponsor of the Discharge Petition in the House, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-LA), warned the new investigations might prevent the DOJ release of the files. Today, before the vote, at the presser on the steps of the U.S. Capitol, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) --- who deserves credit for taking on the President by keeping her name on the Petition --- warned same. That, after Trump's pretend change of heart on Sunday calling for the release of the files by instructing Republicans to vote for the bill so that lawmakers "can have whatever they are legally entitled to". The latter part of that phrase, observed David Kurtz today, is "doing a lot of work there."

• As rare as successful Discharge Petitions are in forcing votes on bills that the House Speaker refuses to bring to the floor, it happened yet again on Monday! A majority of House members, with the help of a few swing district Republicans signed on to force a vote --- within seven days, as required by House rules --- on a bill that would roll back Trump's Executive Orders earlier this year blocking collective bargaining rights for most federal workers.

• But things got even worse for Trump as today wore on. This time on the Gerrymandering Wars front. A three-judge federal appeals court panel in Texas blocked the new Trump-ordered gerrymander of the state's already gerrymandered U.S. House map, finding it to be an unlawful and unconstitutional racial gerrymander. Following a ten day hearing, the 2 to 1 ruling by the court panel, written by a Trump-appointed federal judge, blocked the new map from going into effect for the 2026 election --- at least for now. The new map was written by the GOP state Legislature to flip five, largely minority House seats from "blue" to "red" next year. It resulted in California voters recently adopting a new map, in an overwhelming statewide vote, to flip the same number of seats from "red" to "blue" in response. That map --- and perhaps a similar one now in the works by Democrats in Virginia --- will stay in place next year, unless otherwise blocked by a court for some reason. Texas' Republican Governor Greg Abbott vowed to appeal today's ruling to his friends on the corrupted U.S. Supreme Court.

• The ruling in the Lone Star State comes on the heels of the decision late last week by the Republican leaders of the Indiana state Legislature, to not redistrict the state's already very red U.S. House map in a Special Session this year, despite heavy pressure from Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance. The decision resulted in social media threats by Trump against both men, and a swatting attack against one of them. Despite that dangerous situation just hours after Trump's initial threat --- and his laughable opposition to political violence --- he issued another similar one against Republican lawmakers in the Hoosier State on Sunday.

• Finally, also not great news for Trump in today's Green News Report with Desi Doyen, as Trump's joke of a FEMA Director is pushed out after just six months; the U.N. climate summit under way in Brazil (which the U.S. sent no representatives to) declares it will finally be taking on climate disinformation by the fossil fuel industry and its supporters (like Trump); and that, speaking of, new documents reveal Exxon has been quietly funding climate denial and disinformation campaigns across Latin American for years...

As noted, it was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day for Donald Trump, which is generally a very good day for the rest of us, as described with much more context, detail, insight, color, sound and special effects on today's program. I hope you'll tune in...

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IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: Trump's embattled Acting Director of FEMA resigns; U.N. COP30 climate summit in Brazil finally tackles climate disinformation; PLUS: Speaking of disinformation, documents reveal Exxon funded climate denial campaigns across Latin America... All that and more in today's Green News Report!

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IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see links below): An Amazon climate summit built on contradiction, creating unease for California delegates; Nepal village has survived for 1,000 years but now recurring floods threaten its future; Nearly 47 million Americans at risk of health hazards from fossil fuel infrastructure; Television "Landman" skips the facts on West Texas wind energy; What policies can help solve Iran's climate-driven water shortage?... PLUS: Disaster and insurance costs are rising. The middle class is struggling to hang on... and much, MUCH more! ...

We've got a lot of news from all over the world, and no small amount of explainers to go with it on today's BradCast. [Audio link to full show follows this summary.]

Among our coverage today...

• Deadly, record-shattering Hurricane Melissa finally makes landfall in Jamaica as a catastrophic, slow moving, 185 mph Category 5 storm. As discussed, this is likely to be very very bad. The island nation has set up a support and donations site here.

• So much for Donald Trump's recent declaration of "everlasting peace" in the Middle East, as Israel reignites its brutal attack on Gaza following its claim that Hamas has violated the recent peace agreement.

• "Peace President" Donald Trump continues his unlawful killing spree in international waters with the announcement that he ordered the U.S. military murder of another 14 alleged "narco-terrorists" on four small boats off of Mexico's Pacific coast. That, as the Administration redeploys its largest aircraft carrier to the Caribbean, not to help storm victims in Jamaica, but almost certainly to wage --- or, at least, threaten --- war on Venezuela (and, perhaps, Colombia).

• Weird and related?: U.S. Defense Dept. officials are being required to sign NDAs. WTF?

• Twenty-three Democratic state Attorneys General announced they are suing the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture to continue food assistance to some 42 million low-income Americans via the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (or SNAP, previously known as food stamps). The suit follows the agency's flip-flop on using already-appropriated emergency contingency funds to feed hungry American families amid the ongoing federal government shutdown. If funding ends on November 1, as planned by the USDA, it would be the first time in the 60-year history of the program.

• Following Friday's announcement by Trump's corrupted Dept. of Justice that it plans to send federal monitors to polling places in five counties in California and one in New Jersey during next Tuesday's November 4th elections, for unexplained reasons, the Golden State has announced it plans to dispatch state monitors to oversee the federal ones.

• The Gerrymandering Wars continue and expand. Following Trump's arm-twisting of state GOP lawmakers in Texas, Missouri and North Carolina to rewrite U.S. House district maps to steal seats from Democrats next year --- and Democrats' attempted responses in California and Virginia --- Indiana's Republican Governor has called a special session of the legislature to try and steal another GOP House seat from Democratic voters. But Dems aren't done responding yet, as House Speaker Hakeem Jeffries is said to be in talks with Illinois lawmakers about redrawing that state's map to further favor Dems next year. We do all of the math for ya today, breaking down which party's voters would come out ahead if all of these plans are successful. The answer may surprise you. But the corrupted, rightwing, activist U.S. Supreme Court could still blow up everything (in favor of Republicans) before all is said and done in the critical 2026 midterms.

• Finally, Desi Doyen is back with our latest Green News Report with more on the monstrous Hurricane Melissa; the Trump Administration's withholding of disaster funding to states that didn't vote for him; and the deadly, expensive climate change threats that continue to worsen, whether the Administration removes climate science data from its websites or not...

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IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: Monster Hurricane Melissa batters Jamaica, the strongest storm of the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season; Trump Administration denies disaster funding to blue states that did not vote for him; PLUS: Billion-dollar weather disasters hit new record the United States... All that and more in today's Green News Report!

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IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see links below): Storm drenches Central Florida, creating 'particularly dangerous' situation; Trump Transportation secretary says he will pull $160M from California over non-citizen truck licenses; EPA plan to kill a major climate rule is worrying business leaders; Trump offshore drilling plan faces fierce opposition in Congress; Exxon sues California over new climate disclosure laws... PLUS: Ranchers agreed to leave a national park. Then RFK Jr. got involved... and much, MUCH more! ...

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IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: CO2 levels in the atmosphere hit highest ever recorded, U.N. says, warning of more extreme weather to come; Victims of July 4 Texas Floods still struggling to get financial aid from Trump's FEMA; Sea levels are rising faster than ever due to man-made global warming; PLUS: Salmon reach Klamath River headwaters for the first time in more than a century... All that and more in today's Green News Report!

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IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see links below): The government is shut down, but not for fossil fuels; 'Leaving the world’s poorest behind': Nearly 900 million poor people face climate shocks, says UN; Mystery heatwave warms Pacific Ocean to new record; New Florida law blocks communities' efforts to be more sustainable and resilient; California has a new law to prevent big grid battery fires... PLUS: Brazil OKs oil drilling near mouth of Amazon River ahead of UN Climate Summit... and much, MUCH more! ...

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IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: Massive oil refinery fire in Southern California set to spike gasoline prices; FEMA halts $300 million in emergency preparedness grants to states; PLUS: Trump Administration blocks billions in transit and clean energy funding to blue states... All that and more in today's Green News Report!

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IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see links below): How shutdown gridlock could impede disaster preparedness; How Big Agriculture got its way in the latest MAHA report; Fracking waste in a landfill again poses a pollution problem in PA; Rising sea levels threaten over 100m buildings. Where does Europe stand?; Climate change is disrupting global wind speeds, impacting planetary health... PLUS: MAGA or Markets? Who will win the war on solar?... and much, MUCH more! ...

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IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: After Republicans shut down the federal government, Trump pulls funding for New York infrastructure projects; Defense Sec. Pete Hegseth denies 40 years of Defense Dept. climate threat assessments; Remembering renowned conservationist Jane Goodall; PLUS: Pope Leo XIV rebukes climate science deniers for contributing to the destruction of Creation... All that and more in today's Green News Report!

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IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see links below): Despite Trump efforts to suppress it, climate science is alive and well online; National parks open with limited staff, oil and gas permitting continues apace in government shutdown; Judge orders Trump administration to preserve $233M in FEMA grants it attempted to pull from blue states; An explosion left a black town contaminated. Politics are stunting the cleanup; Ford, GM will extend $7500 credit on EVs, hearing China’s footsteps... PLUS: Wright Is Wrong: On key facts related to Texas, the Secretary of Energy is either purposefully misleading or misinformed... and much, MUCH more! ...

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IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: Hurricane season wakes up, as National Weather Service struggles with staffing amid Trump layoffs; Trump Administration unveils plans for taxpayers to bail out Big Coal; PLUS: Energy Department orders staffers: 'Don't say climate change'... All that and more in today's Green News Report!

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IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see links below): Trump is doing everything he can to raise your energy bills; Hurricanes swerve: Disaster response might avoid a stress test; 'Ludicrous': Bureau of Land Management to sell off federal coal reserve leases in Wyoming; UNESCO designates 26 new biosphere reserves amid biodiversity challenges and climate change; Indigenous land defender killed as Ecuador cracks down on activists... PLUS: World ocean acidity crosses critical threshold for marine life: study... and much, MUCH more! ...

We're back on today's BradCast after a much-needed, "end of Summer" break. That's either good or bad news depending on how you (or I) might see it. [Audio link to full show follows this summary.]

The good news for me, I suppose, is that we missed one of the most insanely busy news weeks of Trump's second term. The bad news is that I need to get both you and me caught up on "our story so far", so everything makes sense (or, as much as is possible amidst this insanity) going forward into the Fall (and pending government shutdown at the end of this month.)

To that end, we've got a day-by-day, blow-by-blow, collected summary of much --- if not all --- of the key news from over the last week today. From many of the ongoing losses for Trump in the (lower) courts, to some very encouraging electoral news on several fronts for Democrats, to Americans pushing back (effectively) against the regime on several levels, to some of the not so good news, including natural and man-made disasters and tragedies, and the ever-ongoing, non-stop, self-destructive idiocy of the Trump Administration.

Also, Desi Doyen is here with our latest Green News Report, catching you up with some maddening and important stuff there as well!

It doesn't make too much sense for me to go into the details here. I'd be writing and linking all night. So tune in to get caught up on a lot of the unofficial "end of Summer" news to help get yourself buckled up for all the madness that most assuredly lies ahead...

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We've got another mix of good, horrible and hilarious news for the world and the nation today. Ya know, just another day on The BradCast. [Audio link to full show follows summary.]

Tune in for the juiciest of details, as I'm short on time this evening, but among our stories today...

• The U.N.'s International Court of Justice (ICJ), sometimes known as the world court, issued a landmark climate change-related ruling on Wednesday. The unanimous decision --- finding, among other things, that a healthy environment is, indeed, a human right --- comes in response to a lawsuit brought by the island nation of Vanuatu. The tiny South Pacific state is already facing an existential threat from a convergence of brutal, climate-driven forces, including quickly rising seas, flooded coastal communities preparing to migrate inland, saltwater contaminated drinking water, a dying coral reef system and multiple Category 4+ cyclones in recent years. The ICJ determined that wealthy countries, and the private companies within them (which those nations are accountable for), must abide by international commitments to curb planet warming gasses or risk having to pay restitution and compensation to poorer nations that are not responsible for the consequences of decades of unfettered burning of fossil fuels. The surprisingly good unanimous ruling, confirming again the existential threat of climate change, is likely to be cited in thousands of climate-related lawsuits currently working their way through courts in some 60 nations around the world.

• Back here in the U.S. --- historically the world's largest emitter of climate warming gasses through the burning of fossil fuels --- the Trump Administration is currently in the process of undermining the Biden Administration's transition to cheaper, clean, renewable energy as called for by the IJC. Making matters even worse, this week, Trump's FEMA rejected Maryland's application for about $16 million in federal disaster aid following extraordinary flooding caused by climate-driven extreme rainfall in May. Trump's rejection of disaster assistance to a state which voted for his opponent in last year's Presidential election, came the day after the petty little tyrant approved FEMA aid to four other states that did vote him. For the record, the most affected counties in MD, are heavily Republican-leaning.

• Donald Trump's ham-fisted attempted cover-up of his longtime friendship with the late sex-trafficking pedophile Jeffrey Epstein continues to drive the news out of D.C. this week. We've got a lot to cover on this particular beat today, as we catch up with a deposition from 2010 in which Epstein was asked about whether he and Trump "socialized" with girls under the age of 18; as the Wall Street Journal reports that Trump was informed by his Attorney General in May that he was named "multiple times" in the "Epstein Files" (which he directly lied about to reporters just last week); as several MAGA Republicans in Congress vote to subpoena the DOJ for Epstein documents and convicted Epstein accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, for testimony; and as Trump sends his criminal defense attorney turned #2 at DOJ down to speak to Maxwell in Florida...for some reason. We've got a ton of stuff on all of that and related news today, as we try to explain what is and isn't going on, and set expectations for where things are likely headed in this matter.

• Finally, Desi Doyen joins us for our latest Green News Report, with more on Wednesday's landmark world court ruling; new U.N. analyses finding that cheap, clean, renewable energy is booming and at a tipping point around the globe, if not yet here in the U.S. thanks to a Trump Administration working hard to Make America Polluted Again...

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IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: Yet another heat dome broils much of the U.S., so hot even corn is sweating (literally); Senate Democrats propose classifying extreme heat as a disaster to free up federal funding; Oregon grapples with the first mega-fire of 2025; PLUS: Analysis finds U.S. spent nearly $1 trillion on climate damages last year... All that and more in today's Green News Report!

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IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see links below): E.P.A. says it will eliminate its scientific research arm; US to withdraw from UN scientific and cultural agency UNESCO again, White House says; Trump radically overhauls EPA mission and scope in first six months; Dismantling of EPA’s scientific arm fulfills key chemical industry goal; Weather extremes caused by climate change are driving up food prices: report; US wetlands 'restored' using treated sewage tainted with forever chemicals... PLUS: Texas flood protest goes to D.C.: ‘No more kids lost to climate disasters'... and much, MUCH more! ...

On today's BradCast: Like everywhere else in the federal government, the Trump Administration's IRS seems determined to undermine decades of the rule of law. Specifically, 75-years of tax law as it regards elections and the separation between church and state. But why would he stop there? [Audio link to full show follows this summary.]

A few headlines before we get to today's main story...

• A lively Democratic primary election was underway on Tuesday in Arizona's 7th Congressional District for a Special Election to fill the vacant seat of Democratic Rep. Raúl Grijalva, who passed away in March. Among the five candidates running are Grijalva's 54-year old daughter and a 25-year old political influencer. Both are progressives, as the race appears more about generational change than ideology. Republicans are holding a three-way primary as well today, in the geographically large and otherwise very "blue" district stretching into Tucson and across the southern border of the state.

• New figures from the Dept. of Labor out today find consumer prices rising again, as Donald Trump's inflationary tariffs begin to take hold, just as pretty much all legit economists had long warned. The overall rate ticked up to 2.7% in June after clocking in at 2.4% the month prior. Trump has promised still larger tariffs in the weeks ahead, even as he pressures the Fed to lower interest rates --- which could further spike inflation.

• Both the New York Times and Washington Post recently filed stories focused on implementation of new tax policy by the Administration following the Trump/GOP budget law that is now set to slash more than $4 trillion in taxes, mostly for the wealthy. The Times highlights Ken Kies, the longtime corporate lobbyist who Trump has tapped to head-up tax policy at the Treasury Department. After decades helping the ultra-rich and major corporations dodge taxes, Kies --- who was approved last month on a party-line vote in the Senate --- will now be able to adapt those tax-cheating skills to writing policy for the federal government itself.

• THEN... Speaking of both taxes and election, we're joined by Professor ELLEN APRILL, longtime, recently retired tax law expert at Loyola Law School, now Senior Scholar in Residence for Philanthropy and Nonprofits at the UCLA School of Law.

  Last week, lawyers for Trump's Internal Revenue Service filed a stunning settlement agreement [PDF] in court, in a case filed against the government by several Texas churches and a group of religious broadcasters. The agreement, if accepted by the court, would allow houses of worship to endorse political candidates, despite their tax-exempt nonprofit status.

  The settlement would, at least for the specific challengers in this case, block the 75-year old Johnson Amendment which mandates that churches and other nonprofits may not participate in "any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for public office."

  That news was reported last week with much fanfare, suggesting the Trump Administration's IRS had declared it lawful for churches to endorse political candidates from the pulpit. The truth is not quite as awful...thought it's close. And it could quickly get worse if this agreement is approved by the judge in this case.

  "Technically, it is not a new statement of general application from the IRS," Aprill tells me today. "It is simply a settlement of a particular case involving two plaintiffs --- two churches and the National Religious Broadcasters --- and if the judge were to rule the way that the government and the plaintiffs have asked, it would enjoin enforcement of the Johnson Amendment for statements during worship [but] only for these two churches."

  But, as Aprill told the New York Times last week, "Even Las Vegas doesn’t stay in Las Vegas these days." The agreement on its own, if finalized, does not set legal precedent, she explains. But it may help to clear that path moving forward. And, in the meantime, she notes, it wouldn't just apply to places of worship communicating with their members --- like “a family discussion concerning candidates --- as the IRS motion characterized it. It could be used to endorse candidates on web sites run by churches with tens of thousands of members and, of course, millions of viewers across the country.

  Moreover, non-religious 501(c)(3) nonprofits are likely to soon say, "I don't know why you can do it for them, and not for me," warns Aprill. "They are really arguing for expanding the rule, not taking it away from houses of worship."

  It could also lead, she worries, to "faux churches, faux houses of worship, being formed just to get the tax deductible contributions" since "unlike other 501(c)(3)s, houses of worship do not have to file to become tax exempt, they do not have to file the annual information return that other 501(c)(3)s do."

  As if we don't have enough Dark Money in our electoral system already, this Administration --- led by a President who, in 2017, vowed to "get rid of and totally destroy the Johnson Amendment" --- seems hell bent (pun intended) on corrupting what's left of our democracy even further.

• FINALLY... Desi Doyen joins us for our latest Green News Report, as deadly flash flooding spreads throughout the U.S.; as Kristi Noem and FEMA faces questions about their failures during horrific July 4th flooding in Texas; and as a National Park treasure is lost in a wildfire over the weekend that park officials allowed to burn on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon...

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IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: Outrage grows over Trump Administration's delayed FEMA response to deadly Texas flood disaster; As new flash flooding strikes around the U.S., new data reveals inadequacy of FEMA flood maps; PLUS: Wildfire allowed to burn at Grand Canyon National Park's North Rim, destroys a National Park treasure... All that and more in today's Green News Report!

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IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see links below): Why Kristi Noem hates FEMA; Dangerous weather predictions will get tougher after these Trump administration actions; The Trump admin just hired 3 outspoken climate contrarians; Texas Flood Survivors: "Trump Knows Best"; Trump admin says it won't publish climate report on NASA site as promised; Recurrent wildfires across the Mediterranean region are changing the landscape; An Ohio solar project overcomes local opposition and misinformation... PLUS: 10 Ways to keep your home cool this summer... and much, MUCH more! ...

Yes, we are under a fascistic, authoritarian takeover of the United States. Yes, it can be frightening. But our wannabe authoritarians also happen to be clowns and fools and incompetent buffoons, and should be called out at such. And so we do on today's BradCast, even while our best chance to kick these degenerates to history's curb remains at the ballot box. Which is why they are fighting so hard to game it. Again. [Audio link to full show follows this summary.]

Among our coverage today...

• Trump's EPA reverses its position to do the right thing after all regarding the Biden Administration's ban of cancer-causing asbestos? Can it really be true?

• Donald Trump meets with African leaders at the White House, admires the Liberian President's excellent English and wonders how he learned to speak it so "beautifully". (Spoiler: English is the official language of Liberia.)

• As recovery efforts continue following deadly flash flooding last Friday in Texas (and on Sunday in North Carolina, and on Tuesday in New Mexico), dullard DHS Sec. Kristi Noem convenes a meeting to discuss the Admin's stated plans for dismantling FEMA entirely. Her argument for doing so this week? A report that she claims reveals that FEMA's response to the 2023 wildfires in Maui, Hawaii was so bad that "one in six survivors were forced to trade sexual favors...for just basic supplies." But that's not what the report claims at all, and one of its authors calls Noem's interpretation a "gross manipulation" of their work.

• Native American voters won a 2023 trial challenging North Dakota's racially gerrymandered legislative maps. But then the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals tossed out their 2023 victory, claiming the challengers lacked standing to sue because Article 2 of the Voting Rights Act doesn't explicitly allow individual groups or voters to challenge violations of the Act. Only the Dept. of Justice may do so, according to the 8th Circuit, despite decades of rulings to the contrary in the 60 years since passage of the VRA. The court's ruling last year now prevents private suits against discriminatory election laws in the seven states (Arkansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota) comprising the 8th Circuit. On Wednesday, the tribes announced they were filing for a stay at the Appeals Court, as they intend to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

• Speaking of racial gerrymandering, on Wednesday, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott --- even as recovery efforts continue on the Guadalupe River where more than 100 are now dead and 160 still missing following Friday's flash-flooding --- wants the state legislature to convene a special session to...redistrict U.S. House seats in the state. TX Republicans already hold twice as many Congressional seats as Dems in the already-gerrymandered state. But the Trump White House and its corrupted DOJ have been pressuring TX to carry out a rare, mid-decade redrawing of its Congressional map in order to make four Democratic, minority-held seats around Houston and Dallas less...um...colorful. Abbott appears happy to oblige...

• Finally, Desi Doyen joins us for our latest Green News Report, with more on flash flooding in four U.S. states, in the North, South, East and West over the past week alone; thousands now dead from an extreme heat wave in Europe; and new warnings from experts that no country is currently prepared for the climate impacts to come...

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IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: Yet another deadly flash flooding event, in the third state in five days, this time in New Mexico; Extreme heat wave killed thousands in Western Europe; PLUS: 'We need to adapt' --- Climate experts warn no country is prepared for climate impacts... All that and more in today's Green News Report!

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IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see links below): As Texas Flood Raged, Camp Mystic Was Left to Fend for Itself; As Trump slashed weather agency, his appointees have ties to companies that stand to benefit from privatizing forecasts; Trump Hires Scientists Who Doubt the Consensus on Climate Change; Trump Wants to Kill a Chemical Safety Board. Chemical Makers Object ... PLUS: EPA employees sweat through workplace discomfort that some worry may be more than disrepair... and much, MUCH more! ...