general

Trump hit with new Congressional effort to block ‘mistake of radioactive proportions’

President Donald Trump’s surprise order to resume nuclear weapons testing has set off concerns about a potential global arms race, but one Democratic senator is working to stop it from happening. Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) on Thursday introduced emergency legislation to prevent the president from resuming nuclear weapons tests, which experts have warned could undermine global geopolitical stability as more nations could respond by ramping up weapons tests of their own. The text of Markey’s bill is just two pages and it states that “none of the funds authorized to be appropriated or otherwise made available for fiscal year 2026, or authorized to be appropriated or otherwise made available for any fiscal year before fiscal year 2026, and available for obligation as of the date of the enactment of this act, may be obligated or expended to conduct or make preparations for any explosive nuclear weapons test that produces any yield.”In a statement promoting the bill, Markey warned that restarting nuclear weapons tests would be “a mistake of radioactive proportions,” which Congress should intervene to block.“The United States has not conducted a nuclear test since 1992, and there is absolutely no need to resume,” Markey said. “A Trumpatomics plan would provoke Russia and China to resume nuclear testing, and China in particular has much more to gain from this than does the United States. This is a reckless directive from Trump that will only make the country and the world less safe and lead to a terrible new nuclear arms race.”Markey, who co-chairs the Nuclear Weapons and Arms Control Working Group, also urged the US Senate to finally ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, which was first adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1996 and which has been ratified by 178 other nations. The UK-based Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) on Thursday put out a statement condemning Trump’s weapons testing announcement, which it described as “a wake-up call that the threat of nuclear war is real and accelerating.”The organization also pointed out that resuming nuclear tests was not the only way that the US under the leadership of both Trump and former President Joe Biden is increasing the risks of nuclear war. Among other things, CND pointed to risks posed by the “Golden Dome” missile shield being pushed by Trump, as well as the AUKUS Agreement signed during Biden’s tenure that gives Australia access to nuclear-powered submarines. CND general secretary Sophie Bol warned of the dire consequences of a global nuclear arms race and said “it is absolutely critical that we rachet up the political pressure to make these world leaders-including the British government-step back from this nuclear escalation.”In an editorial published by Common Dreams on Thursday, Pavel Devyatkin, nonresident fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, argued that the resumption of nuclear weapons tests “marks a dangerous turning point in international security.”In particular, Devyatkin argued that resuming such tests would imperil chances of extending the nuclear arms treaty between the US and Russia that has been in effect since 2011.“The New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START), the last agreement limiting US and Russian nuclear weapons, expires in February 2026,” he explained. “For over a decade, New START has kept a cap on deployed warheads and compelled both sides to transparency through data exchanges and inspections. If this agreement expires, there would be no binding limits on the two countries’ nuclear arsenals.”.

businesseconomypolitics

WSJ delivers devastating blow to MAGA candidate’s Senate dreams after Tylenol suit

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton received a brutal smackdown by the conservative Wall Street Journal editorial board on Wednesday evening over his lawsuit against the manufacturer of Tylenol over Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s unsubstantiated claims it causes autism when taken during pregnancy. Paxton, the board argued, is doing everything that the conservative movement hates and resents about liberal trial lawyers, soaking businesses under “dubious” pretenses to make a political statement.”‘By holding Big Pharma accountable for poisoning our people, we will help Make America Healthy Again,’ the AG said,” wrote the board. “Our people? The people he’s really standing up for are his friends and donors in the plaintiff bar. Their claim that acetaminophen the main active ingredient in Tylenol can cause autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder if taken during pregnancy was rejected in federal multi-district litigation in 2023. Mr. Paxton is bringing the claims under Texas law in state court.”The lawsuit against Kenvue, which makes Tylenol, and its former parent company Johnson & Johnson, “notably omits that the Food and Drug Administration has periodically reviewed the evidence of acetaminophen’s neuro-developmental risks over the last decade. The FDA repeatedly determined a causal link hadn’t been shown that would merit a change in its safety label,” the board wrote. “Adding a safety warning based on flimsy evidence creates its own risks, such as deterring pregnant women from taking the pain killer and fever reducer when they need it” and indeed, there is more evidence linking autism to untreated fevers in pregnancy than to Tylenol. Nonetheless, the board wrote, Paxton “apparently believes women and courts should take orders from Mr. Kennedy,” as his litigation “quotes alarmist and unscientific statements by the Health and Human Services Secretary.”In short, the board concluded, Paxton is acting as “a valet for the trial bar out to soak business for political gain and campaign donations. His anti-Tylenol suit is one more reason Texas Republicans would be wise to deny his bid to join the U. S. Senate.”All of this comes as Trump similarly jumps on the bandwagon and proclaims pregnant women should just “tough it out” rather than take Tylenol, something that runs contrary to the broad majority of medical advice and even his own Food and Drug Administration.

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