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Today’s episode of the “DeProgram show” with political cartoonist Ted Rall and CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou confronts everything from the Trump administration’s visa denials targeting Palestinian Authority (PA) and Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) members planning to attend the UN General Assembly, where numerous countries will recognize Palestine, to the catastrophic event that probably brought life to earth.
- Visa Denials for PA and PLO Officials: The Trump administration is denying and revoking visas for Palestinian Authority (PA) and Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) members ahead of the September UN General Assembly. The State Department cites the PA’s failure to repudiate October 7, end incitement in education, and cease ICC/ICJ appeals over Israeli genocide in Gaza and the West Bank. France, the UK, Canada, and Australia prepare state recognition.
- Trump Rescinds Foreign Aid: The White House is invoking a pocket rescission to cancel $4.9 billion in congressionally approved foreign aid, targeting State Department and USAID programs like $445 million in UN peacekeeping and $132 million from the Democracy Fund. This untested maneuver, last used in 1977, withholds funds until fiscal year-end on September 30, bypassing a 45-day review to ensure lapse, amid USAID’s dismantling and prior $9 billion cuts. Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins condemns it as illegal under the Impoundment Control Act, while Democrats like Patty Murray and Chuck Schumer decry the power grab, warning it jeopardizes bipartisan shutdown avoidance and global soft power.
- No More Kamala Secret Service Protection: Trump is revoking Kamala Harris’s extended Secret Service detail effective September 1, ending Biden’s undisclosed 18-month extension beyond the standard six months that expired July 21. This decision, amid Harris’s heightened threats as the first woman and Black VP during her 2024 campaign, precedes her “107 Days” book tour, following similar revocations for Bolton, Pompeo, and Biden’s children. California Governor Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass denounce it as retaliatory endangerment, pledging local safeguards.
- Theia Impact Delivered Life to Earth: A University of Bern study is revealing that proto-Earth formed as a dry, rocky wasteland incapable of supporting life until a Mars-sized protoplanet Theia collided over 4 billion years ago, delivering essential volatiles like hydrogen, carbon, and sulfur from outer solar system regions. Analyzing meteorite isotopes and manganese-to-chromium decay timelines from the first 15 million years of Earth’s formation, researchers confirm Theia’s volatile-rich origin beyond the inner planets’ high temperatures, enabling habitability. Co-author Klaus Mezger emphasizes this chance event’s role, suggesting life-friendliness in the universe is rare, with implications for exoplanets and ongoing mantle water puzzles.
