It’s the Day of Labor! No, wait….
Climate change reshuffles where people are moving in Florida
Some of Florida’s biggest growth spots are now on former citrus groves and cattle pastures in the interior parts of the state far from the state’s famous beachside cities. That’s increasingly due to climate migrants escaping coastline risks like hurricanes and flooding, as well as the high cost of homeownership from skyrocketing insurance rates following a series of recent storms.
Miami Herald
Finding a job after prison comes with extra challenges. Here are ways to overcome them
Having a criminal record, as an estimated 1 in 3 American adults do, creates hurdles for people seeking employment, especially in fields that require licenses, according to the Vera Institute of Justice, a nonprofit that aims to end mass incarceration. Meeting with parole officers, a need to secure stable housing and other conditions of release, along with discrimination, compound the typical challenges of job hunting.
AP News
Former RNC chair backs Democrat in coveted Montana district
Marc Racicot’s endorsement of Sam Forstag gives Democrats a crossover asset in a red district the party is hoping to flip.
MS Now
Even in safe-haven Massachusetts, trans care is at risk. Young people are fighting to protect it
Organizers with the youth-led group Protect Trans Futures (PTF) took their hormone replacement therapy (HRT) in the lobby of her office building, then occupied the space, refusing to leave without a commitment to protect civil rights for trans kids.
The Guardian
Seven Vermont clergy arrested while protesting ICE targeting center
‘I think it is imperative on me, as a faith leader, to proclaim that human beings are not targets and that God is a God of justice and of love,’ said the Rev. Rebecca Girrell, a United Methodist pastor who was among those arrested.
Religion News Service
Everything you need to know about anti-union “right-to-work” laws
Worker interest in unions is at historic highs, and nearly 70% of the public approves of unions. Yet most of the 56 million workers who say they want a union contract can’t get one because of weak federal labor law and the spread of state anti-union “right-to-work” (RTW) laws. Suppression of union membership has in turn lowered workers’ wages and benefits while inequality has skyrocketed. This FAQ examines the meaning, origins, and impact of anti-union RTW laws, and the importance of restoring workers’ collective bargaining power by removing RTW laws and other obstacles to unionization.
Economic Policy Institute
HHS Cancels Infant Mortality, Postpartum Grants to Focus on Sperm Counts, ED
Officials at the Office of Minority Health told grantees that they’re prioritizing “root causes” of infertility and promoting exercise.
NotUs
Pentagon Launched ‘Unprecedented’ Polygraph Spree After Leaks Revealed Disastrous Truth About Iran War: NYT
Dozens of officers were grilled on whether they leaked classified information about the Iran War leaving the US with critical shortages in key munitions, The New York Times reported.
Common Dreams
Trump administration quietly closes criminal probe into Venezuela businessman amid oil deal
In recent months, federal prosecutors in Miami closed the Betancourt investigation on orders from the office of then-Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, they were told, according to two people briefed on the matter. The move came as part of an effort by Trump White House officials and Secretary of State Marco Rubio to enlist Betancourt to engineer a massive new oil deal with Venezuela’s government, the people briefed on the matter said.
CNN
Hurricane Helene Killed His Wife and Destroyed His Mobile Home. New Tenants Are Now Renting the Same Flood-Prone Land.
The federal government’s programs to buy out disaster-prone buildings are “the cornerstone of the Nation’s system for emergency management,” according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. But the program was developed with traditional homeowners in mind, and mobile homes, the country’s largest source of affordable housing, are often left out. Trailers, even when they become immovable and lifelong homes, aren’t typically considered real estate but instead personal property, like motorcycles and boats.
ProPublica
In latest win for voters, appeals court rejects bid to revive DHS voter purge database, for now
In a 2-1 decision, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals denied the administration’s emergency request to pause U.S. District Judge Sparkle Sooknanan’s ruling against the Department of Homeland Security’s modified Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) system.
Democracy Docket
Voters are fed up with data centers. Both parties are trying to cash in for midterms
The two major parties driving that spending are largely making the same argument: the sprawling facilities get too many tax breaks, drive up electricity bills and need reining in.
NPR
California Could Give Formerly Incarcerated Parents a Chance to Get Their Kids Back
People who lost parental rights helped pass a bill to reform California’s law blocking people with past convictions for violent felonies from reuniting with their children.
Bolts Magazine
Twilight fandom helps fund Quileute Tribe’s move to higher ground
Fans of the 2000s pop-culture phenomena are using online communities to fundraise for the tribe that says they never saw a cent after having their likeness used.
OPB
More People Have Died From 9/11 Than on 9/11
A Long Island doctor once treated 9/11 responders who were dying. Now she’s a reporter and trying to figure out why the illnesses haven’t stopped.
Reveal
From the Freedom Caucus to the democratic socialists, small groups inside parties can wreak havoc with leaders’ agenda in Congress
But history tells us that a “big tent” party is also likely to face big divisions and even bigger challenges when putting together a governing coalition in Congress. Depending on the size of the Democrats’ possible majorities, the DSA-affiliated lawmakers’ reach and power, despite their small numbers, could extend beyond elections and deep into the process of legislating.
The Conversation
Have you tried pawpaws yet? Here’s where you can forage — or buy — D.C.’s ‘tropical’ fruit
The delicious fruit is abundant throughout the D.C. region. Here’s how to get your paws on “nature’s best kept secret.”
The 51st
Yup’ik Immersion School Program in Alaska Opens Doors to Cultural Connection
Other Indigenous groups are looking to the K-8 language immersion program in Anchorage, Alaska, as an inspiring model.
truthout
Maryland Supreme Court upholds Democrats’ redistricting plan
Should voters approve the measure, it would clear the way for Maryland Democrats to redraw the state’s congressional districts for the 2028 election to counteract a wave of gerrymanders Republican-led states carried out over the past year at the behest of President Donald Trump.
Democracy Docket
Just Monday, as usual
Seen and silenced: How Russian surveillance software suppresses Georgian civilians rights
The recent surveillance mechanisms, involving face recognition software and an extensive network of AI-enabled cameras, helped authorities achieve what physical force alone could not: breaking the protest movement.
Global Voices
German exit polls suggest far-right party has big lead in regional election
Projections show the party is comfortably ahead of Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU), but it remains unclear whether the AfD will win enough seats to secure a majority in the state parliament.
NPR
Mexico’s Deportation Capital
Tapachula, five miles from Mexico’s border with Guatemala, has become a principal destination for the world’s deportees. And in a cruel twist, even Mexicans expelled from the United States have found themselves there, regrouping after being deported—not home to Mexico—but first to Central America.
Texas Observer
Claudia Sheinbaum Wants to Ban Dual Citizens From Office to Shield Mexico From Trump
“A Mexican president is Mexican and does not represent another country,” Sheinbaum said during her morning press conference on August 25. If adopted, her proposal would make Mexico’s presidency qualifications in some respects more restrictive than those of the United States, where a president must be born in the country but there is no explicit ban on dual citizenship.
The Intercept
Taiwan’s six-year hunt for China’s undercover chip labs
Previously unpublished government data reveals the scale of Taiwan’s crackdown on Chinese companies accused of hiding their ties while recruiting chip talent and pursuing sensitive technology.
Rest of World
Global justice report offers bold ideas but misses the realities of 2 billion informal workers – economists
Among the proposals it makes is the creation of a Global Justice Fund financed through additional taxes on the wealth and incomes of roughly the richest 1% of the world’s population. Much of the initial revenue would be invested in a World Sovereign Fund. The returns would finance continuing transfers to countries on an equal per-capita basis. These country dividends would support investment in health, education, climate action and infrastructure.
The Conversation
Whatever happened to the floating schools of Bangladesh?
The floating schools were a response to a longstanding local problem of seasonal floods and impassable, muddy roads that kept children from reaching conventional schools. Now, as we come back in 2026, climate-related disruptions are affecting schooling on a much larger scale, and that practical local solution has become more necessary and more relevant beyond Bangladesh.
NPR
Jerusalem Christian protest pushes Israel to allow Palestinian teachers to return
The Christian schools said Israel’s permit denials had come ‘suddenly and without notice,’ leaving them unable to prepare for the 2026-2027 school year.
Religion News Service
What does folklore have to say? It helps uncover untold facets of Indigenous stories overlooked for generations
Documenting Indigenous folklore is time-consuming work. One needs to spend time with the communities before they are comfortable enough to open up and share their folktales, songs, phrases and idioms, not to mention their personal experiences.
Global Voices
The Cost of Being Seen: Identity, Non-Passing Appearance, and Hiring Discrimination Against Transgender Women
This paper examines whether hiring discrimination against transgender women arises from gender identity, non-cisnormative appearance, or their interaction. In a German field experiment, I send 10,022 fictitious applications in matched pairs to real job postings. Applications randomly vary whether the applicant visually looks like a cisgender woman–that is, whether she “passes”–and whether she indirectly discloses a transgender identity through a male-to-female name change. Relative to otherwise similar cisgender women, applicants receive 4.1 percentage points (pp) fewer positive responses (9%) when they disclose a name change but pass and 4.6 pp fewer (10%) when they do not disclose but do not pass. Applicants with both signals receive 15.2 pp fewer responses (32%), significantly larger than the sum of individual penalties. The non-passing penalty is larger in postings with a male contact person and in customer-facing occupations; discrimination overall is larger when employers face less competition for workers. A follow-up survey experiment elicits perceptions of otherwise similar transgender and cisgender applicants to examine potential mechanisms and heterogeneity by characteristics unobservable in the field experiment.
SSRN
How big is Africa really? Why the UN voted to change the world map
The UN has urged countries to adopt a map that makes Africa, Latin America, South Asia and Oceania larger than the traditional Mercator projection.
AlJazeera
‘This is colonialism for clicks’: the influencers attempting to meet and film the world’s most isolated tribes
Increasingly, however, outsiders are trying to contact them – and make content from them. Survival and other organisations working to protect isolated peoples report they are increasingly being targeted by influencers chasing exclusive footage of “first contact” – and with it internet fame. For now, their numbers are believed to be few, with Polyakov a rare confirmed case, but advocates believe the threat to be real, growing and warranting action. Influencers were discussed at an international summit held in Jakarta in January, and again at a United Nations meeting in Brazil in June.
The Guardian
Warnings and Lessons from the Struggle Against Trumpism
Germany is facing the prospect of rightwing extremism in power. Time to push back hard against the narratives that have undermined the democratic response in the U.S.
Democracy Americana
Chinese businesses are giving away AI tokens with coffee, credit cards, and dumplings
Five unexpected ways computing power is entering everyday life in the country.
Rest of World
Palestinian Refugees in Lebanon Struggle to Survive as UNRWA Cuts Essential Aid
US and Israeli attacks on the agency have caused severe budget shortfalls, leading to aid cuts at six refugee camps.
truthout
When the lights go out in Libya’s Cyrenaica
Libya’s power crisis is national, but in Cyrenaica (Barqa) service failures carry added political meaning because of a longer history of centralisation and regional inequality.
Global Voices
At least four civilians killed in Houthi missile strike near Yemen’s Taiz
The attack on a crowded road comes amid fierce clashes across Taiz and Hodeidah and rapid civilian displacement.
AlJazeera
U.S. envoys in Moscow in new push for peace between Russia and Ukraine
The visit came as both sides escalated their aerial attacks. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Ukraine would halt airstrikes during the envoys’ trip and urged Moscow to do the same. Moscow did not publicly respond to the proposal.
NPR
