GOP megabill extends and expands compensation for nuclear weapons radiation victims
The megabill revives a compensation program for victims who were exposed to this radiation and which lapsed last year.
It also expands it to new areas in states including Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Idaho and Missouri and ups compensation to $100,000 from either $50,000 or $75,000, depending on the disease.
Mary Dickson, an activist who grew up in Salt Lake City and believes her thyroid cancer came from living downwind of nuclear weapons testing in Nevada, told The Hill she expects to be eligible for compensation for the first time.
The government detonated 928 test bombs from 1951 to 1992 at the Nevada site.
'The winds blew the fallout across the country. Utah was blanketed. So we were exposed repeatedly to fallout,' Dickson said.
She said she was 'crying' when the legislation passed the House, calling it 'an acknowledgement that our government did this to us.'
At the same time, Dickson said, 'it's not going to bring back all the loved ones who have died' including her sister, who died of lupus, an autoimmune disease.
The inclusion marks a victory for lawmakers including Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) who has pushed for the program's expansion.
'To all the radiation survivors and nuclear veterans across the country: WE DID IT,' Hawley said in a post on X.
Hawley was one of the bill's key Senate holdouts, at first saying its cuts to Medicaid went too far while its cuts to renewable energy subsidies did not go far enough.
The radiation program he fought for, known as the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, had widespread Democratic support but was more controversial among Republicans, some of whom expressed concerns about the program's cost.
Kyle Ann Sebastian, a spokesperson for the Union of Concerned Scientists, said that the expansion was 'an incredibly important step' but was a compromise that left out parts of the country including Guam, Montana and Colorado.
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The Hill
an hour ago
- The Hill
‘Hit us, please' — America's left issues a ‘broken arrow' signal to Europe
'Broken arrow' is arguably the most chilling and desperate order that an American military commander can issue. When faced with an enemy about to overrun a surrounded force, a commander uses it to call in an air or artillery strike on his own position. This month, many on the American left are issuing their own 'broken arrow' signals, including calling on globalist allies to hit the U.S. with sanctions and other measures. They are seeking to achieve through sanctions what they could not achieve through elections. The most recent such call came from commentator Elie Mystal on 'The Joy Reid Show' this week. 'Our country needs to be sanctioned,' he said. 'We are the bad guys on the world stage. We are a menace to not only free people everywhere, but we are a menace to peaceful people everywhere at this point, and I'm not even going to say that we've only been a menace for the past three or four months.' Mystal's call was hardly a surprise for those familiar with his writings. A regular commentator on MSNBC, he previously called the Constitution 'trash' and urged not just the abolition of the U.S. Senate but also of 'all voter registration laws.' Yet, he is not alone in signaling that his position is being overrun by his fellow citizens. After Elon Musk bought Twitter with a pledge to dismantle its censorship system, former Democratic Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton called upon Europe to use its infamous Digital Services Act to force him to censor fellow Americans. Nina Jankowicz, the former head of Biden's infamous Disinformation Governance Board, appeared recently before the European Parliament. She called upon the 27 EU countries to fight against the U.S., which she described as a global threat. To the delight of globalists, she declared, 'Before I describe the details of Russia's recent online influence campaigns, I would like to call upon you to stand firm against another autocracy: The United States of America.' This year, I spoke in Berlin at the World Forum and was surprised to see many Americans joining European leaders in support of the forum's slogan, 'A New World Order with European Values.' Attended by figures such as Bill and Hillary Clinton, the conference heralded Europe as key to countering the threat posed by the U.S. Others denounced America as the world's villain with boycotts and protests during Fourth of July celebrations. One leading influencer declared that 'this country is beyond f**ked' and encouraged citizens to 'walk away from the illusion that they built' around this country. Democratic politicians and pundits have fueled the anger by claiming fighting the current U.S. government is like fighting against the Nazis, including most recently former Vice President Al Gore. Others like Rep. Pramila Jayapal have called ICE agents 'terrorists' for enforcing immigration laws. The crisis of faith on the left often seems to be triggered by any adverse decision or election. In 2022, the Pima County, Arizona Democratic Party tweeted 'F–k the Fourth' after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. This year, Fourth of July celebrations were canceled in Los Angeles under the claim that officials feared a mass arrest by ICE — rather implausible, considering that protests against ICE will be held as planned. Others are organizing protests this week, declaring 'F**k fourth of July. We have a king that we need to get rid of first.' The problem for those calling on the EU to fight the U.S. is democracy itself, something of a headache for the global elite in Brussels. European governments are cracking down on conservative and other groups, which are soaring in popularity, with calls for stronger borders and reversing mass immigration trends. Great Britain, France, Italy, Germany, and other countries have experienced a similar surge in the popularity of conservative parties. The fact is, many of the triggers for these 'No Kings' protests are the product of the democratic process from the 'Big Beautiful Bill' to changes in immigration policy. Citizens voted for change and successfully secured it, and some people are angry about it. At the same time, our courts continue to function as designed in reviewing these orders and policies. Trump has won some and lost some before the Supreme Court, as constitutional limits are defined and enforced. In my forthcoming book, Rage and the Republic: The Unfinished Story of the American Revolution, I explore the future of American democracy in the 21st Century in light of economic and political movements, including the current crisis of faith of many on the left over our fundamental values and institutions. The irony is that this crisis is largely centered among the most privileged classes. Yet recent Gallup polling shows patriotism is at an all-time low. However, the drop is found almost entirely among Democrats. Only 36 percent of Democrats reported being extremely or very proud to be American, compared to 92 percent of Republicans. Some are simply moving to foreign countries. The New York Times has fanned the flames of those claiming that the U.S. is a new fascist regime. Recently, it featured the declaration of three Yale professors fleeing American fascism for the free nation of Canada. In their piece, titled, 'We study fascism and we are leaving the United States,' the professors explain that 'the lesson of 1933 is that you get out sooner rather than later.' But what these professors call fascism looks a lot like the democratic process to others. The problem with democracy is that it does not always produce the outcome you want. For some, support for democratic choice seems to extend only to fellow citizens who make the 'right' choice, from their own perspective, of course. So faced with losses in elections and in Congress, many are shouting 'broken arrow' and hoping for external help in crushing the opposition. Yet the fact is, this country is not being 'overrun.' Those are fellow citizens who are calling for these policy changes and rejecting far-left policies. Just as many in Europe are calling on the EU to block far-right democratic victories, many in this country are advocating for the trashing of the Constitution or transnational interventions to reverse political voting trends. The fact is, the far left is not truly surrounded. They have simply retreated into smaller and smaller echo chambers rather than engage the rest of the country on these issues. Viewed from within the protected spaces of MSNBC or BlueSky, you can feel surrounded, but it remains a type of self-isolation. It is like watching wagons frantically circling on the plains without a hostile in sight. The problem is that most of America has moved on. In the end, the calls for a globalist intervention are a final desperate call of America's self-isolated left. Jonathan Turley is the Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington University and the best-selling author of 'The Indispensable Right.'
USA Today
an hour ago
- USA Today
Gen Z's declining patriotism worries me. Partisanship shouldn't define us.
There is now a massive generational and partisan divide in how much pride people have in being American. I don't know how to solve it, but I know why those who are losing faith in America are wrong. Show Caption A Gallup poll reveals a growing partisan divide in American patriotism, with Republicans expressing significantly more pride than Democrats. Democratic patriotism appears tied to the party in power, fluctuating with presidential administrations. Generation Z exhibits the lowest levels of patriotism compared to previous generations. Every year, Gallup conducts a poll on the patriotic leanings of Americans across all sorts of demographics. In recent years, this poll has produced worrying results. There is now a massive generational and partisan divide in how much pride people have in being American. I don't know how to solve it, but I know why those who are losing faith in America are wrong. In the 2025 iteration of this poll, a staggering 92% of Republicans were 'extremely' or 'very' proud to be American, whereas just 53% of independents and 36% of Democrats reported feeling the same. Until 2016, Democrats and Republicans remained rather similar in their patriotism, with both reaching values above 80% before the election of President Donald Trump. However, modern patriotism among Democrats is dependent on who is in the White House, rather than any genuine love of America. During the time that Joe Biden was in the White House, Republican pride in being American bottomed out at 84%. Over the same period, Democrats rose to a peak of just 62%. One significant driver of this decline is Generation Z, born between 1997 to 2012, whose patriotism lags far behind previous generations. Just 41% of Gen Z is extremely or very proud to be American, and among young Democrats, that falls to just 24%. Partisanship is getting in the way of patriotism for Democrats Being proud to be American has absolutely nothing to do with being proud of our current leaders. In their fluctuations in pride depending on who is in the White House, Democrats have lost sight of this. I am one of the most critical people of our government out there, and I think of that as being borne out of my patriotism. Criticizing the government when it does not strengthen America's foundational principles is a patriotic act. My fellow columnist Rex Huppke has the right idea. 'We can love this country and loathe the people in charge,' he wrote in a recent column. 'We can be simultaneously proud of this country and embarrassed of the things being done in its name.' Now, obviously, I am no Democrat, but it saddens me that this same principle apparently does not hold for many of them. To many Democrats in modern times, it seems as if their love for this country is contingent on their preferred candidates being in power. Interestingly, this seems to be a problem unique to Democrats. While some Republicans seemingly faltered in their patriotism over the previous four years, they did not see the massive swing between the Biden and Trump presidencies that Democrats saw over the same period. This is all evidence of the fact that Democrats have attached their pride to a political movement, rather than to a love of America's founding principles. For some, this is a problem of them simply being blinded by partisanship. For others, however, it marks a much deeper problem. America's failures to live up to her founding principles at times are not evidence of those principles being bad; they are evidence of human nature being imperfect. Gen Z doesn't know how good we have it Much of Gen Z has been captured by the progressive left, many of whom do genuinely believe that America's institutions and system of government need to be torn down completely. These revolutionaries are responsible for the complete lack of patriotism among Gen Z. Gen Z doesn't realize how lucky we are. We live in the greatest country and in the greatest time in history. There is no collective group that has it better at any point in history than we do right now. Many will disagree with me on this point, but they are mistaken. There is no place better constructed to safeguard your individual liberties than here. While we are very obviously imperfect in that goal, no other nation on earth is better equipped to pursue liberty through the freedoms that our Constitution protects. Tearing down the system that has led to such a wonderful place would be a mistake. Within a framework designed to preserve liberty is the best place to enact whatever political change it is that you want, unless your goal is not liberty. Those who advocate against America's foundation might feel entitled ‒ in the sense that they believe it is the job of government to provide for them ‒ have taken the freedoms that we have for granted or are delusional about how good others have it. I do not know how to solve the problem of restoring patriotism to those who have lost it. I am sympathetic to the frustrations young Americans have with the state of our politics, and I am hopeful that Gen Z will learn that they are better off trying to change this country, rather than destroy it. America is a wonderful place, and you would do best to fight for your political causes within her structure of liberty, rather than attempting to tear it down.
New York Post
an hour ago
- New York Post
I'm a neuroscientist — the ‘genuinely terrible' research that scares me the most about caffeine
Do you take your coffee with cream, sugar — or a side of brain damage? 'Caffeine in the neuroscience literature is genuinely terrible when combined with other drugs,' warned Dr. Natashia Swalve, a behavioral neuroscience professor at Grand Valley State University, in a recent TikTok. One drug in particular has her especially alarmed, with early research suggesting it may pose hazardous risks when mixed with even small amounts of the stimulant. Advertisement 5 Coffee is the most common source of caffeine for US adults. Izabela Magier – Roughly 90% of US adults consume some form of caffeine daily. The natural stimulant revs up the central nervous system, boosting alertness, focus and energy levels. The FDA considers up to 400 milligrams a day — about four or five 8-ounce cups of coffee — safe for healthy adults. Advertisement But that safety threshold flies out the window when caffeine starts interacting with other drugs in your system. 'Caffeine actually increases the toxicity of blow, and it potentially increases the toxicity of ADHD meds,' Swalve said. 'When combined with molly, it is particularly dangerous.' 5 Molly acts as both a stimulant and hallucinogen. blackday – Advertisement Molly — also known as MDMA or ecstasy — is a synthetic psychoactive drug that floods the brain with serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine, triggering euphoria, sharpened senses, increased sociability and a rush of energy. In recent years, MDMA has gained attention as a potential therapeutic tool, but it's still widely used recreationally at music festivals, nightclubs, raves and house parties. National surveys estimate that 7.5% of Americans over the age of 12 have tried molly at least once. But the feel-good high comes at a cost. The drug can bring on a host of adverse effects, including rapid heartbeat, muscle cramping and nausea. Advertisement It also disrupts the body's ability to regulate temperature — essentially cranking up its internal thermostat — which can lead to a dangerous and sometimes fatal condition known as hyperthermia. 5 Consuming molly raises your core body temperature — and caffeine can intensify the effect. dragonstock – 'In animal and cell studies, caffeine makes the hyperthermic effect of molly … far worse,' Swalve said. While caffeine alone doesn't typically affect body temperature, research in rats shows that combining it with MDMA significantly increases both the peak temperature and the duration of the hyperthermic response — making users much more vulnerable to overheating. 'Caffeine also can increase the other problematic effects of molly,' Swalve said. 'It can actually make the drug more neurotoxic, killing off those serotonin neurons in your brain.' Serotonin plays a wide range of important roles in the body, supporting mood, sleep, digestion, appetite and even blood clotting and wound healing. Animal studies show MDMA has the potential to inflict long-term damage on serotonin neurons, which may lead to memory issues, cognitive decline and mood disorders. Advertisement 5 Caffeine amplifies the effects of molly, potentially leading to dangerously high serotonin levels. Anusorn – 'Caffeine combined with molly might be even worse for those neurons, but the problem is that none of these studies have actually been translated into humans,' Swalve said. And it doesn't take much to trigger the reaction. Swalve notes that the interaction between caffeine and molly can occur at very low doses — like the amount in a chocolate bar or a third of a can of Coke. Advertisement 'We think these things might interact in very dangerous ways, but we can't actually really tell,' she said. 'Right now we have no research in humans, and that is what actually scares me.' Other potential risks of combining molly and caffeine include an increased risk of cardiovascular issues, depression, anxiety and serotonin syndrome — a life-threatening condition marked by confusion, high fever and a rapid heart rate. In one study, mixing caffeine with molly increased the party drug's lethality from 22% to 34% in rats. Advertisement 'This is a huge problem,' Swalve said. 'Barely anyone is thinking about the Red Bull they're having while driving to that festival and how that might interact with the drugs they're taking later.' 5 Molly is one of the most well-known and frequently used club drugs. Yuri Arcurs/ – Although several studies have looked at caffeine-MDMA interactions in animals and cells, researchers have run into roadblocks when attempting to test the combination in humans. Among them: molly is considered a Schedule I substance under federal law. These drugs are considered to have a high potential for abuse and no accepted medical use. Advertisement That has made it difficult for researchers to not only obtain molly, but also secure the funding and approvals necessary for such studies. Ethical concerns also come into play. The potential dangers of combining two powerful stimulants raise major red flags about participant safety in clinical trials — and make recruiting test subjects even harder. So, as scientists work to understand the short- and long-term consequences of mixing caffeine with other drugs, Americans will continue to sip, sniff, smoke and swallow a cocktail of prescription and recreational substances — often with little clue about the risks. 'I can't guarantee that any of those together are safe,' Swalve said. 'You probably are not even considering those interactions.'
