Fundraising efforts ramp up to open new chapters of influential far-right group as Kirk’s widow takes over as CEO

The powerful fundraising operation that rightwing activist Charlie Kirk led to build the influential college group Turning Point USA (TPUSA) is receiving a wave of support from large donors and Donald Trump allies since his murder, which suggests the group will remain a major force on the American right, campaign finance experts and consultants say.

New backing and appeals for help to sustain TPUSA have come from, among others, Lynn Friess, the widow of mega-donor Foster Friess, who was Kirk’s first major backer when he formed his campus-focused Republican group in 2012 at the age of 18. Friess pledged $1m to TPUSA days after the 31-year-old’s killing.

In an email to friends and allies on the right, Friess wrote on 14 September that her donation was to support a surge in “new TPUSA chapters springing up across the country … helping this incredible movement grow even stronger”.

Scientists at Kyoto University and Hiroshima University have achieved a breakthrough in quantum physics by successfully identifying the elusive W state of quantum entanglement, solving a 25-year-old challenge in the field[^1].

The team developed a method to measure entangled W states using photonic quantum circuits, demonstrating it successfully with three photons. This achievement is significant because W states, along with GHZ states, are fundamental building blocks for quantum networks[^1][^3].

"More than 25 years after the initial proposal concerning the entangled measurement for GHZ states, we have finally obtained the entangled measurement for the W state as well," said Shigeki Takeuchi, the study's corresponding author[^1].

The breakthrough enables single-shot identification of quantum states, eliminating the need for numerous measurements that grow exponentially with added photons. This advancement opens paths for:

• Quantum teleportation of information between distant locations
• New quantum communication protocols
• More efficient quantum computing methods
• Transfer of multi-photon quantum entangled states[^1][^8]

The research team used highly stable optical quantum circuits that could operate for extended periods without active control. They validated their method by successfully distinguishing different types of three-photon W states[^8].

[^1]: ScienceDaily - New quantum breakthrough could transform teleportation and computing

[^3]: RSInc - New Quantum breakthrough could transform Teleportation and Computing

[^8]: SciTechDaily - Scientists Capture W State, Unlocking Quantum Teleportation

President Donald Trump pledged to bring down grocery costs. But his administration’s policies are contributing to an acceleration in prices, food economists and companies say.

Grocery prices last month rose at their fastest pace in three years, stoked by Trump’s tariffs, a crackdown on immigration, and extreme weather hurting food production. Prices jumped 0.6% in August from the month prior, according to the latest reading from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and they are up 2.7% from a year ago.

Food prices are deeply personal to consumers, and weekly grocery bills shape their overall perceptions of the economy. More than half of Americans count grocery costs as a major stress in their lives.

Low-income and middle-income Americans, hit the hardest by rising grocery costs, are changing where they shop and what they buy. Companies are also taking extreme measures to appeal to shoppers strained by higher prices, such as bringing back paper coupons.

Latest podcast episode is up in which we repeatedly fail to wrap our tongues around the various place, people and concept names in one of the most ground breaking Sci Fi novels ever written. Sorry Ursula.

You can get it at source here, on the Fediverse via PeerTube here or any one of the seemingly infinite number of places that syndicate podcasts here.

No sponsors, no ads, just talk.

SponsorBlock, Timestamps, and Generated Summary below:

SponsorBlock Timestamp:

1. 0:00.000 - 0:10.022 Intermission
2. 45:40.000 - 45:59.850 Endcards/Credits

Video Description:

Timestamps:

1. (0:00) Intro
2. (2:16) The Silent Feud Between Israel and Kirk
3. (12:52) Netanyahu and Kirk
4. (19:54) Netanyahu’s courting of alt media
5. (23:19) The coming crackdown
6. (30:57) Years of Lead
7. (35:38) Rittenhouse
8. (39:30) McCarthyism
9. (45:22) Outro

Generated Summary:

Israel, Charlie Kirk, and the Weaponization of Murder: A Discussion with Max Blumenthal

This video features Chris Hedges interviewing Max Blumenthal about the assassination of Charlie Kirk and its implications for the United States, focusing on Kirk's relationship with the Zionist lobby and the potential weaponization of his murder.

Key Points:

• Charlie Kirk's evolving stance on Israel: Initially supported by the Israel lobby, Kirk later faced pressure from his grassroots base due to Israel's actions in Gaza. This led to Kirk inviting figures like Tucker Carlson, who criticized Israeli influence, to his events.
• Netanyahu's alleged attempts to influence Kirk: Blumenthal reports that Netanyahu personally offered to re-fund Kirk's organization with a massive infusion of Zionist money, which Kirk refused. This refusal reportedly left Kirk feeling frightened.
• Netanyahu's courting of alt-media: Netanyahu has been increasingly engaging with alternative media outlets, particularly right-wing podcasters, to bypass mainstream media and directly influence American public opinion.
• Weaponization of Kirk's murder: The Zionist lobby is allegedly using Kirk's assassination to target critics of Israel and the left in general, pushing for measures like revoking passports of those accused of supporting terrorism.
• The Red-Green Alliance: Netanyahu views the "marriage of radical leftism and Islam" as a significant threat in the U.S., using this narrative to justify crackdowns on dissent.
• Agenda of Mass Repression: Blumenthal argues that Kirk's death is being exploited to push an agenda of mass repression, criminalizing anti-Israel activity and expanding the powers of secret police.
• The influence of Zionist figures in US Politics: Blumenthal highlights the influence of Zionist figures like Stephen Miller in shaping US policy and the pressure exerted on politicians to align with Israeli interests.
• The chilling effect on free speech: Blumenthal describes a "dystopian scenario" where individuals are being doxxed and losing their jobs for expressing critical views of Israel or minimizing Kirk's death.
• Netanyahu's overcompensation: Netanyahu's repeated declarations of Charlie Kirk being a true friend of Israel felt like overcompensation and fear of the truth getting out.
• Listening Devices: Allegedly, listening devices were planted by Israeli agents on Secret Service emergency response vehicles during one of Netanyahu's visits to the US.

About Channel:

Chris Hedges, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, author and commentator provides compelling story telling, archive interviews & show content covering US foreign policy, economic realities and civil liberties in American society.

Background:

The parameters of acceptable journalist inquiry has dramatically narrowed over the nearly four decades I have been a reporter and author. Newspapers, where I began my career, have atrophied or died. The electronic media is in the hands of a half dozen corporations that impose a uniformity of opinion and ban the views of us who decry the crimes of empire, the permanent war economy, the apartheid state of Israel, our money saturated political process and social inequality. Whistleblowers, the life blood of investigative journalism, have been virtually silenced through a combination of wholesale government surveillance—the reason Edward Snowden immediately left the country after revealing that we were all being watched, tracked and monitored by the government—and the misuse of the Espionage Act to prosecute those who reveal government malfeasance and crimes. Julian Assange, who never committed a crime, is on the verge of being extradited to the United States and spending the rest of his life in prison, setting a dangerous legal precedent that criminalizes anyone who possesses or publishes government secrets, as other investigative reporters and I did at The New York Times. Algorithms imposed by digital media platforms such as Google, Facebook and Twitter, shadow ban critics or, as in the case of the New York Post, which was locked out of its own account so it could not disseminate the contents found on Hunter Biden’s laptop, censor them. America’s premier investigative journalist, Sy Hersh, who exposed the war crimes at My Lai and Abu Ghraib, has difficulty publishing in the United States.

My television show on TeleSur, which was later broadcast on RT America, went off the air when these two media outlets where shut down. The staff of Truthdig and I were fired by the wealthy publisher when we went on strike to protest her attempt to fire the legendary Editor-in-Chief Bob Scheer and demand a union. Bob, who had been a columnist for The Los Angeles Times, had been fired from the paper for opposing the Iraq war, similar to my own experience at The New York Times.

Substack is the last best hope for me to retain my independence and do the journalism and writing I find meaningful and impactful. The great investigative journalism, I.F. Stone, a victim of the McCarthyite witch hunts of the 1960s, unable to get a job even at The Nation magazine, founded I.F. Stone’s Weekly, which he printed in his basement. This Substack is an updated version of his weekly, begun for the same reasons and determined to replicate Stone’s fierce honesty and independence.

Corporations will not fund us. The model of relying on the wealthy does not work. The commercial press, along with National Public Radio and PBS, also heavily dependent on corporate funds, has been largely neutered.^[[1] https://chrishedges.substack.com/about]

Edit:

1. Added missing SponserBlock Timestamps; added source to About Channel section
2. Fixed about channel section naming

LinkedIn is preparing to switch on generative-AI training that draws from European members’ data, setting November 3, 2025 as the go-live date. The company says it will rely on “legitimate interests” as its legal basis and will offer an opt-out so members can refuse use of their data for training—promising that private messages are excluded. The change applies across the EU/EEA, United Kingdom, and Switzerland.

In the Northern Hemisphere, [days with equal day and night hours] happen a few days before the spring equinox (vernal equinox) and a few days after the autumn equinox. South of the equator, it's the other way around.

This guy is literally messaging people after he gets downvoted because he doesn't like the word "Bro".

"Bro" was literally used as an expression of disbelief.

from atomicpoet @piefed.social

You’re receiving this message because I consider the word “bro” to be offensive, and I noticed you downvoted my request that a commenter avoid using it.

I want to politely ask that you not encourage language or behaviour that could bring toxicity into !fediversenews@piefed.social .

This is a friendly warning. If it happens again, I will have to issue a ban.

Washington Post says announcement imminent despite guidelines showing drug – known as paracetamol elsewhere - is safe for pregnant women to take

Donald Trump’s administration is on Monday expected to tie pregnant women’s use of the popular medicine Tylenol – known as paracetamol elsewhere in the world – to a risk of autism, contrary to medical guidelines, the Washington Post has reported.

Trump officials are also expected to announce an effort to explore how the drug leucovorin could purportedly and potentially treat autism, according to the Post report published Sunday, which cited four sources with knowledge of the plans who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the announcement had not been made.

Medical guidelines say it is safe for pregnant women to take Tylenol, the over-the-counter pain medication whose active ingredient is known as acetaminophen in the US and paracetamol elsewhere in the world.

Archived version

The EU is moving to exclude Meta, Apple, Google and Amazon from a new system for sharing financial data that is designed to enable development of digital finance products for consumers.

Such a decision would hand a significant boost to banks in their efforts to fight off a competitive threat from Big Tech groups, which they fear will use their data to disintermediate them from their customers while extracting much of the value of knowing people’s spending and saving behaviour.

After more than two years, negotiations on the Financial Data Access (Fida) regulation are entering the final stages in coming weeks, with Big Tech groups facing almost certain defeat, according to diplomats.

...

As the announcements for the contest's next edition in Vienna are rolling out, the future is not looking good...

0:00 - The make-or-break year?

1:27 - Boycott pressure

6:40 - Muting the audience

9:24 - No critics allowed

14:28 - Audience protests

17:26 - Spanish commentators threatened

21:04 - Israel's astroturfing campaign

24:27 - Streaming vs. televote success

26:08 - Spoofing the voting app

29:26 - Why vote for Israel?

32:51 - Make-or-break: the answer

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/36498075

Jon Queally
Sep 21, 2025

The Congressional Progressive Caucus over the weekend officially endorsed a bill that would block the sale of many offensive US weapons to Israel. This move coincides with growing outrage from US voters from across the political spectrum who say they have seen enough of American complicity with the genocidal humanitarian blockade and bombardment of the Gaza Strip.

The Block the Bombs Act, first introduced in May by Rep. Delia C. Ramirez (D-Ill.) and now backed by 49 co-sponsors, calls for a prohibition on the sale of a variety of US weapons and a limitation on military services to the Israeli government, accused of committing a genocide in Gaza.

The vote by the caucus, which took place Saturday and was first reported by Zeteo, marks a historic shift—even for the most progressive group of lawmakers on Capitol Hill—that provides “a significant boost to efforts to hold Israel accountable for its genocidal war in Gaza.”

New research reveals that the DNA switches controlling human finger development originated from genes that regulated fish cloacas 380 million years ago[^1].

"Rather than building a new regulatory system for the digits, nature has repurposed an existing mechanism, initially active in the cloaca," explains developmental geneticist Denis Duboule from the University of Geneva[^1].

The research team discovered this by comparing fish and mouse genomes, focusing on Hoxd genes. When they tagged DNA switches with fluorescent markers, these lit up in mouse digits but in fish cloacas. Deleting these genetic elements using CRISPR-Cas9 disrupted finger development in mice and cloaca formation in fish[^1].

"The common feature between the cloaca and the digits is that they represent terminal parts," notes geneticist Aurélie Hintermann. "Sometimes they are the end of tubes in the digestive system, sometimes the end of feet and hands"[^1].

[^1]: ScienceAlert - Fish Buttholes May Be The Reason We Now Have Fingers, Study Finds

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/36299734

95 Democrats chose to celebrate a racist, misogynist, and very bad debater.

The report compiled by more than 50 international researchers compares fossil fuel expansion against the goals of the Paris climate accord, and found a chasm between promises and reality.

The Production Gap Report 2025 :: Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI)