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Mamdani Hands 9/11 Signing Pen to Counsel Who Defended Al-Qaeda Operative
New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani signed two executive orders Friday, marking the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, then had NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch pass the ceremonial pen to chief counsel Ramzi Kassem. Kassem previously served as lead counsel for Ahmed al-Darbi, an al-Qaeda operative who pleaded guilty in 2014 to conspiracy in the 2002 bombing of the French tanker MV Limburg off Yemen, was convicted in 2017, and was later transferred from Guantanamo Bay to Saudi Arabia. Al-Darbiâs sister was married to Khalid al-Mihdhar, one of the hijackers aboard the plane that struck the Pentagon. City Hall said Kassemâs team drafted the orders establishing a Day of Remembrance and tightening terror defenses. Relatives of 9/11 victims and city officials called the handoff tone-deaf at a ceremony meant for the dead.
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Trump Administration Makes Third High Court Push on USPS Mail Ballot Rule
The Trump administration on Sunday asked the Supreme Court for a third time to stay a federal injunction blocking a U.S. Postal Service rule on mail-in ballots. U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani, an Obama appointee, on Friday converted her Aug. 27 temporary restraining order into a preliminary injunction that keeps the rule from taking effect before the Nov. 3 midterms. Solicitor General John Sauer said ballots have already been mailed in North Carolina and that Alabama and at least five other states are set to follow this week. He warned that envelopes already in the mailstream cannot be retrieved and that leaving compliance voluntary risks confusion. The rule, issued under a March 31 executive order, would require official Election Mail markings, automation-compatible envelopes with Intelligent Mail barcodes, and state submission of voter names, addresses, and barcode data through a federal portal. The administration says USPS would not determine eligibility or count ballots. The court previously allowed the rule to proceed without ruling on its legality. The Justice Department seeks a stay pending appeal to the 1st Circuit so the rule can apply through Election Day.
Maryland High Court Puts Gerrymander Amendment on Fall Ballot After Rewriting Wording
The Maryland Supreme Court on Sept. 3 allowed a Democrat-backed constitutional amendment on congressional redistricting to appear as Question 3 on the November ballot, reversing two lower courts that had blocked it. The measure would confine compactness and geographic standards in the state constitution to legislative districts only and state that the Maryland Constitution supplies no criteria for congressional maps. Justices found the General Assemblyâs original ballot language misleading and ordered it replaced with the billâs purpose paragraph. Dissenting justices said the court should not rewrite a question they viewed as deceptive. Democrats, including Gov. Wes Moore, said the ruling lets voters decide; Republicans said it still leaves voters poorly informed about a change aimed at a 2028 remap that could target the stateâs only Republican House seat.
Appeals Court Leaves Expanded SAVE Citizenship Checks Dark
A divided D.C. Circuit panel voted 2-1 Friday to leave in place a nationwide block on the Trump administrationâs expanded Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements system. Chief Judge Sri Srinivasan and Judge Robert Wilkins, both Obama appointees, refused a Justice Department stay of U.S. District Judge Sparkle Sooknananâs June order. Trump appointee Judge Gregory Katsas dissented. The majority did not rule on whether the overhaul was lawful. It said the government forfeited key Social Security Act arguments in the trial court and skipped a post-judgment motion the district judge invited. The expansion linked SAVE to Social Security records, added full and partial Social Security number searches, and allowed bulk uploads. At least 25 states had already run about 67 million voter registrations through it. A Florida judge separately ordered the Department of Homeland Security to restore those features for Florida, Ohio, Iowa and Indiana under a 2025 settlement, leaving the agency with clashing court orders. The circuit set an expedited appeal and gave both sides 10 days to propose a briefing schedule. Until then, the expanded system stays offline.
Georgian Illegal Alien Charged in $1.3 Billion Medicare Billing Scheme
A Massachusetts federal grand jury has charged Erekle Gugava, 33, an illegal alien from the country of Georgia, with conspiracy to launder money from a $1.3 billion health care fraud scheme. Prosecutors say Gugava purported to own Pennsylvania durable medical equipment firm ND Medical Solutions LLC from February through July 2025. In those five months, the company submitted at least $1.3 billion in fraudulent claims to Medicare, Medicare supplemental insurers, employer plans, and other insurers, which paid about $6.5 million before the scheme was stopped. Gugava allegedly opened company bank accounts as the sole signatory, deposited reimbursement checks, and moved the money overseas for a Russia-based criminal network tied to Operation Gold Rush, which the Justice Department calls the largest health care fraud case it has ever prosecuted. Stolen identities of elderly and disabled Americans were used to justify the billings. Gugava fled the United States in July 2025 and faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
Justice Department Urges High Court To Invalidate State AR-15 Bans
Solicitor General D. John Sauer filed a brief Friday asking the Supreme Court to reverse Second and Seventh Circuit rulings that upheld AR-15-style rifle bans in Connecticut and Cook County, Illinois. The Justice Department told the justices that the AR-15 is commonly used by law-abiding citizens for self-defense, target shooting, and hunting, and that it remains lawful at the federal level and in 40 states. The government rejected claims that the rifles can be banned because of military origins, firepower, or use in mass shootings, noting that handguns are used in far more crimes and already enjoy constitutional protection. The consolidated cases, Viramontes v. Cook County and Grant v. Higgins, are set for argument Dec. 2, with respondent briefs due Oct. 21.
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Masked Speaker at Chicago Socialism Conference Calls Fitness a Fascist Ideal
A masked speaker at the Socialism 2026 conference in Chicago told attendees that the left should abandon the âfantasy of being fitter than the fascists.â Beatrice Adler-Bolton said fitness is âa measure of relative disposability under capitalismâ and that socialists should not try to beat opponents âat their own gameâ by becoming âfitter, more eugenic.â She added, âIn fact, the more dysgenic, the better, I think,â and said revolution is not âa contest between optimized and properly prepared bodies.â A second clip from the same gathering showed DaâShaun L. Harrison linking BMI, diet culture and the policing of âBlack fat fleshâ to what Harrison called âbody fascism.â Organizers required N95 or K95 masks in formal session rooms at the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place gathering, which drew more than 2,600 registered attendees over Labor Day weekend.
New York DSA Nominee Vows to Build Black Socialism in Congress
Democratic Socialists of America member Darializa Avila Chevalier, the Democrat nominee in New Yorkâs 13th Congressional District after unseating US Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-NY), said in a Sept. 4 interview on ELR News that she is âvery excitedâ to âbuild black socialism within the caucuses of DSA.â Chevalier said her campaign was âvery intentionalâ about not talking about socialism only in general terms, instead emphasizing âthe legacy of socialism in our district,â including âblack socialismâ and âLatino socialism,â framed as racial justice as economic justice. The Columbia-educated organizer has previously called for abolishing police, prisons, and borders, opposed all deportations, and deleted older social media posts praising Marxist and communist figures. She is favored in the heavily Democrat district in November.
LAPD Impounds 200 Vehicles and Arrests 69 at Harbor Gateway Street Takeover
Los Angeles Police Department officers, joined by the Los Angeles County Sheriffâs Department and California Highway Patrol, moved on an estimated 700 people at South Figueroa Street and West Alondra Boulevard around 2 a.m. Saturday in Operation Street Sweeper. Authorities arrested 69 people, most for taking part in or aiding a street race or takeover, issued 570 citations, including 442 for spectating and 128 for juvenile curfew violations, and impounded more than 200 vehicles. Seven firearms and nitrous oxide canisters were recovered. One impounded car caught fire. Chief Jim McDonnell said drone tracking helped locate four gatherings that had merged into a single scene and warned parents that children as young as 11 were present at an active crime scene.
Communist Activist Brands Ozempic a Fascist Plot to Wipe Out Fat People
DaâShaun L. Harrison, an Atlanta-based writer and self-described anarcho-communist who uses they/them pronouns, told the Socialism 2026 conference that the political use of GLP-1 drugs such as Ozempic is fascistic. Harrison said those drugs exist in a world fixated on genociding fat people. Harrison tied the claim to Frantz Fanon and what Harrison called Black flesh under colonial surveillance.
Danbury Council Opens Police Hiring to Noncitizens After ICE Sweeps
Danburyâs Democrat-controlled City Council voted 18-2 on Tuesday to amend city rules so lawful permanent residents and DACA recipients can apply to become sworn police officers. The change followed days of ICE operations in western Connecticut that produced more than 60 arrests. Police Chief Patrick Ridenhour said the move aligns Danbury with Connecticut Police Officer Standards and Training Council rules that dropped a citizenship requirement for green-card holders in 2020 and later added DACA recipients. Mayor Roberto Alves, who has said he grew up undocumented and became a citizen in 2017, called the old rule an unnecessary barrier and said hiring standards would not change. Councilman Joe Britton said the vote sent a welcome message to immigrants. Two Republicans opposed the ordinance. Applicants would still face background checks, polygraph tests, medical screenings, and academy training.
ON THIS DAY IN 1916:
The First Self-Service Grocery Store Opens: Clarence Saunders opened the first Piggly Wiggly store in Memphis, Tennessee. By providing shopping carts, price tags on items, and direct access to shelves, it revolutionized the modern retail grocery model.
đ International
Iran Plans Coordinated Multi-Front Strike on Israel With Terror Proxies
Iran is preparing a coordinated multi-front assault on Israel with Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis and Iraqi militias, according to Israeli intelligence assessments cited Sept. 5. Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps officials have held planning meetings with proxy leaders, staged joint training and ramped up drone and missile production to restock arsenals depleted in earlier fighting. The reported plan seeks simultaneous pressure from several fronts rather than the piecemeal response that followed Hamasâs Oct. 7, 2023 massacre, which killed about 1,200 people and took 250 hostages. Assessments say Yahya Sinwar had hoped other fronts would join that attack, but Iran and Hezbollah were not given the date in advance and did not launch a full parallel invasion.
Canadian Industry Minister Says Tariffs Aim at U.S. States Ahead of Midterms
Canadian Industry Minister Melanie Joly said Ottawa selected retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods to target particular American states and apply political pressure as the November midterm elections approach. The comments followed the collapse of trade talks and U.S. tariffs on about $20 billion in Canadian imports. Canada announced dollar-for-dollar counter-tariffs of 15 to 50 percent on more than 700 American products, including steel, dairy, appliances, seafood and farm equipment, set to take effect Sept. 8. Joly said the measures were meant to protect Canadian firms and also to hit products from politically sensitive U.S. regions. Officials in both countries have said talks are unlikely to resume before the midterms.
UN Panel Presses Britain for African Statues as Slavery Atonement
A United Nations racial discrimination committee has advised former slave-trading states, including Britain, to honor people of African descent with public statues, artworks and memorials as part of âreparatory justice.â The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination guidance, issued after a March General Assembly vote that Britain abstained from, also calls for school curricula on the transatlantic trade, public education on reparations, and steps against what it terms misinformation and xenophobia toward migrants. Historians noted Britain banned the trade in 1807, abolished slavery in 1833, and ran a decades-long Royal Navy campaign that seized slaving ships and freed tens of thousands. Critics said the committee ignored African and Arab participation in the trade and present-day slavery outside the West.
Editorâs Note: It is time to end the United Nations. They continuously expand beyond their charter mission and are increasingly ridiculous.
Jamaican Ministers Take Slavery Petition to King Charles
Jamaicaâs culture minister, Olivia Grange, is leading a government delegation to London to file a petition asking King Charles, as Jamaicaâs head of state, to refer three questions on transatlantic chattel slavery to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. The questions ask whether the forced transport and enslavement of Africans in Jamaica were lawful under English law, whether they amounted to crimes against humanity under international law, and whether Britain now has a legal duty to provide redress. Officials say the Monday filing is the first time a Commonwealth state has used this 1833 legal route for reparatory justice. The delegation also plans to hold talks with the British Museum about returning artifacts taken from Jamaica. Britain has long declined cash reparations, while Jamaica frames the petition as a request for legal answers rather than an immediate demand for payment.
UN Assembly Backs Equal Earth Map After Lone US No Vote, Six Abstentions
The United Nations General Assembly voted 164-1 with six abstentions on Sept. 4 to adopt a nonbinding resolution encouraging the use of the Equal Earth projection instead of the 1569 Mercator map. The Togo-sponsored measure, backed by the African Union, aims to make relative landmass sizes more accurate, so Africa appears larger while Europe and North America appear smaller. The United States cast the sole opposing vote, with its representative calling the debate a distraction from the real problems of peace and prosperity and arguing that it promoted an ideological agenda tied to reparations and cognitive justice. The resolution does not ban Mercator maps, which remain suited to navigation.
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