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Senate Democrat Blocks Immediate Passage Of House-Passed Data Center Utility Rate Bill

A Senate Democrat on Sept. 17 blocked Republicans from moving to immediate passage on the Ratepayer Protection Act, a House-passed law that would encourage states to require data centers to pay for their own energy costs.

The bill previously passed the House in a 417-3 vote on Wednesday evening.

Though progressives in the lower chamber had expressed concerns about the bill’s lack of enforcement mechanisms, the faction ultimately backed the bill. It seemed on track for a painless passage of the Senate under unanimous consent, a procedure that allows uncontroversial bills to pass quickly.

The bill was introduced on the Senate floor Thursday by Sen. Jon Husted (R-Ohio), the bill’s sponsor in the upper chamber, who noted that as many as 1,000 new data center constructions are expected in the United States in the next five years.

“Americans are becoming ever more reliant on computing power from data centers for their daily lives, from medicine to manufacturing, education to agriculture, national defense, and the way we deliver basic services. Data centers are used not just for AI; they support almost every aspect of modern life, including online shopping, streaming video, social media, and the broadcast of this very debate.”

The law would require states to consider the adoption of models to require data centers to fund their own energy within a year, but would set no requirements that states ultimately adopt those models.

Husted moved for unanimous consent to pass the legislation and was blocked by Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), who said that the bill to address this topic should have more stringent federal enforcement mechanisms.

“It’s not enough for us to tell states to consider making data centers pay for grid updates. Rather than voluntary pledges or suggestions to states, Congress needs to pass real legislation with real teeth,” Heinrich said.

Heinrich noted that for many Americans, utility rates had already increased – and that such Americans wouldn’t gain relief from the state opt-in process of the Ratepayer Protection Act.

Instead, he proposed consideration of his bill, the Grid Savings Act, “to require – not a voluntary agreement – to require large-load customers like data centers to pay for the facilities needed to connect them to the grid. Not to consider it, not to make pledges – to actually do it, to pay for the upgrades they need.”

Data centers are top of mind for many American voters this year.

The data centers used to power artificial intelligence (AI) services such as ChatGPT, Claude.ai, Grok, and others – aside from their extensive land requirements – require massive amounts of energy.

Estimates indicate that currently, data centers use about 4 percent of the U.S. electric grid, according to online energy shopping and consultation platform Electric Choice.

The energy used to power these facilities, which draw roughly 176 terawatt-hours of electricity per year, could otherwise be used to power 16 million homes, according to Electric Choice.

The Energy Department and other analysts have estimated that that share could skyrocket to 12 percent of the national power grid in the coming years.

Despite promises by many data centers to provide their own power, residents in areas where such centers have been built have reported spikes in their energy bills.

Anxiety over the possibility of such utility price jumps has driven many voters to be skeptical or outright hostile to the construction of such facilities in their area.

Likewise, cooling the computers that execute AI queries requires significant amounts of water, raising fears that energy might not be the only utility cost affected by the data centers.

Other residents living near data centers have also reported that the facilities are noisy. According to these residents, the massive fan and cooling system used to keep the servers from overheating is loud enough to travel through walls and disturb sleep.

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Russian National Sentenced to Six Years in Prison for Voter Fraud, ID Theft Scam in Florida

Dmitry Shushlebin, 45, a Russian citizen living in Miami Beach, Florida, was sentenced on Wednesday to six years in prison and three years of supervised release for organizing an identity theft fraud scheme and ordered to pay $458,839.69 in restitution.

According to the Department of Justice (DOJ), Shushlebin’s scheme included efforts to submit more than 100 fraudulent voter registration applications to create fake identities that he could use to commit financial fraud.

Per the DOJ:

On July 24, 2025, the United States filed a four-count superseding information charging Shushlebin with conspiracy to give false information in registering to vote and submit fraudulent voter registrations, wire fraud, making false statements, and aggravated identity theft. Shushlebin pleaded guilty to all four counts on July 25, 2025.

According to court documents, Shushlebin hired Sanjar Jamilov, an Uzbekistani national, and others to submit more than 100 fraudulent voter registration applications to the Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections in February and March 2023.

One purpose of registering these fake voters was to create synthetic or fake identities that Shushlebin could use to commit financial fraud. Shushlebin used the fake identities to obtain fraudulent credit cards and loans. He perpetrated this scheme against the victim financial institutions hundreds of times using hundreds of different synthetic identities.

Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division noted, “Those who engage in fraud and deception in our election processes will be investigated and prosecuted.”

“After arriving in the United States, Dmitry Shushlebin created sham companies to facilitate a multi-year financial fraud scheme. He used these companies to commit identity theft, which allowed him to create synthetic or fake identities that appeared real after they were used to submit over 100 false voter registrations.”

U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe for the Middle District of Florida added, “Voting is one of the most significant rights and responsibilities Americans have.”

“We will continue to investigate threats to the integrity of our electoral process and prosecute those who engage in fraud or other means to violate our nation’s voting laws.”

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Long-Time Republican Missouri Prosecutor Found Dead Inside Courthouse at 53 Following Reported “Incident”

A long-time Missouri Republican prosecutor has been discovered deceased inside a place he regularly practiced his profession.

As Fox 4 Kansas City reported, law enforcement officials responded to the Platte County Courthouse on Thursday, where they discovered the body of Platte County Prosecuting Attorney Eric Zahnd. He was just 53 years old.

The Platte County Sheriff’s Office confirmed Zahnd died following a reported “incident” at the Platte County Courthouse.

The building was closed at 2:15 local time on Thursday and remains shut down. All employees were sent home.

The courthouse is expected to reopen on Monday.

Authorities have not determined an official cause of death and continue to investigate. They have assured the public that there is no threat.

Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway released the following statement in response to Zahnd’s passing:

I am deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Platte County Prosecutor Eric Zahnd.

I have known Eric for many years and have always held him in the highest regard. Eric was a true patriot, a person of remarkable character and integrity, and a public servant who cared deeply about his community.

We are very grateful for his dedication to public safety, the rule of law, and Platte County.

My thoughts and prayers are with his wife, Tracy, and sons, Benjamin and Luke, during this incredibly difficult time.

Zahnd, a Republican, was the longest serving prosecuting attorney in Platte County’s history. He had been in the role since 2002.

He was recognized as Missouri’s Prosecutor of the Year in 2014.

Zahnd announced in April that he would be retiring after serving more than two decades in politics.

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Flock Camera Ping Jails Innocent Woman For 13 Days

A 23-year-old Palm Coast Florida woman spent 13 days in a Volusia County jail cell facing life in prison after Florida Highway Patrol troopers treated a Flock Safety camera hit like a confession.

Lindsey Brooke Isaacs did not cause the crash. Her black Dodge Durango had no collision damage. A 911 caller had already described a maroon Durango and a partial plate that was not hers. None of that stopped the machine-assisted hunt.

The October 4, 2025 hit-and-run on eastbound I-4 near DeBary killed motorcyclist Joaquin Deno, Flagler County Deputy Administrator Jorge Salinas, and Salinas’ wife, Nancy. A fourth person was badly hurt. Witnesses described a Dodge Durango fleeing the scene. Investigators searched nearby Flock cameras for a black Durango and found Isaacs’ tag, RJVN10, crossing the Seminole-Volusia line at 9:51 p.m., about three miles west of a wreck that started around 9:53 p.m.

That ping became the case.

Troopers later pounded on Isaacs’ door while she was asleep. “I thought I was getting set up. I didn’t understand what was going on,” she said. They seized the Durango for months and claimed “marks” consistent with the crash.

Photographs later showed an immaculate 2025 SUV. “Where is the damage on the vehicle? Because I’m standing right in front of it and I don’t see any damage,” Isaacs recalled.

On April 17, 2026, FHP booked her on eight felonies, including three counts of vehicular homicide and three counts of leaving the scene of a crash involving death. She was held without bond, then sat in G Block for 13 days. “Being incarcerated, falsely incarcerated, in jail, in G Block, was the worst 13 days in my life,” she said. “I was devastated, I was scared. I thought my life was over.”

Attorney Patrick McGeehan did the work the camera search replaced. A time-and-distance analysis using the same Flock timestamp put Isaacs past the crash site when the collision happened. “In Lindsey’s case, there was nothing indicating that she was ever there,” he said.

A 911 caller described a maroon Durango and the partial plate “458.” Paint transfer on a struck Ford Focus was maroon. Isaacs’ plate did not match. Witnesses had described three different vehicles: black, white, and maroon. “For some reason, [Florida Highway Patrol] never went past the black Dodge Durango,” McGeehan said. “They hooked onto this black Dodge Durango to the exclusion of everything else.” He called it “confirmation bias, to the highest degree” and “a major failure of basic investigative skills.”

“Lindsey wasn’t even at the crash scene,” he told NewsNation. “These were investigators that got it in their mind that there was a black Dodge Durango involved. They got on Flock, found the first black Dodge Durango, that belonged to Lindsey Isaacs, and pinned that on her.”

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REPORT: Pentagon May Cut a Third of US Forces in Europe – 25,000 Troops Would Be Pulled Along With Planes, Ships and Weapons

Germany alone could reportedly lose as many as 5,000 troops.

It’s well known that the US administration of Donald J. Trump is reconfiguring its alliance with Europe, as the old-world Globalist powers show limited loyalty to America, and their efforts to rearm face multiple hurdles.

Now, reports arise that ‘the Pentagon may pull planes, ships, weapons and tens of thousands of US troops from Europe’, in a drastic (but not unexpected) move.

The NBC report is sourced to ‘seven current and former U.S. and Western officials.’ Meaning that it is another ‘secret source’ report that we need to take in with a pinch of salt – even if it sounds in line with known initiatives by Trump’s Department of War.

“The reduction could be roughly one-third of all U.S. troops in Europe, or roughly 25,000. One U.S. official and another person with knowledge of the deliberations say it could be even larger — as much as half, or up to 40,000 troops. If carried out, it would be the most significant scaling back of the 80,000-strong U.S. military presence in Europe since the aftermath of the Cold War in the 1990s.”

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NYC candidate endorsed by Democratic Socialists of America promises to fight for Mexico in Congress

laire Valdez, a socialist running for New York’s 7th Congressional District seat, said if she wins in November, she would “carry that fight” of Mexicans who fought for independence against Spain to Congress. 

“215 years ago, Mexicans fought an empire that demanded our land and our labor. And we won. I’ll carry that fight with me to Congress as New York’s first Mexican American representative,” Valdez wrote on Instagram Thursday. 

Valdez is one of a slate of socialists running for office in the midterms this year, The Post Millennial reported. She is running to fill the seat left open by departing Democrat Rep. Nydia Velázquez. 

Valdez has received the endorsement of the New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, as well as support from New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. 

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Trump Signs Memo To Remove Canadian Goods From US Federal Procurement

U.S. President Donald Trump has signed a memorandum directing the removal of Canadian-origin goods from the federal civil procurement system, following through on a commitment he made earlier this month.

The Sept. 16 memo authorizes the director of the Office of Management and Budget, the United States Trade Representative, and the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council to “identify and take all steps toward removing or otherwise making non-available for purchase Canadian-origin items in the federal civil procurement system.”

The memo also directs U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer to monitor “Canada’s continued treatment of U.S. origin goods in Canadian government procurement.”

The action follows Trump’s Sept. 8 directive to the General Services Administration (GSA) to remove Canadian-origin products from its Multiple Award Schedules, a government-wide contracting program that manages more than US$50 billion in federal procurement. The GSA schedules give federal agencies access to millions of commercial products and services.

“Everyone knows that Canada doesn’t let our Great Dairy Farmers sell into the Canadian Market, and that the only reason Canada makes Autos is because of previous disastrous Trade Agreements while other Presidents were in Office,” Trump said on social media after issuing the GSA directive.

Trump also said Canadian governments, including provincial governments, have “banned American Small Businesses and Companies from selling into their Government Procurement Markets.”

The procurement measures come amid an escalating trade dispute between the two countries.

Canada imposed new counter-tariffs on Sept. 8 covering about US$20 billion in U.S. imports, with rates of 15, 25, and 50 percent. The tariffs target products including steel and aluminum, dairy, appliances, agricultural equipment, pulp and paper, plastics and electronics.

The Canadian measures matched U.S. tariffs of 50 percent on about the same value of Canadian products imposed under Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930, effective Aug. 22.

Canada has also implemented a “Buy Canadian” policy, while all provinces except Alberta have restricted or prohibited the sale of U.S. alcoholic products, or imposed tariffs on them, and have also enacted measures to prioritize Canadian suppliers for government contracts.

Since Canada first announced its intention to impose counter-tariffs in response to the new U.S. tariffs that went into force on Aug. 22, Trump also announced new 50 percent tariffs on Canadian vehicles and auto parts beginning in 2027. He also said he would ban the sale of products made by Canadian aviation giant Bombardier in the United States unless they are made in America, and announced new import bans on certain Canadian goods beginning on Sept. 29.

Some of the Canadian products banned for U.S. import include most alcoholic products, certain dairy products, and motorcycles.

Trump said while visiting Ireland on Sept. 12 that the two countries could have a trade deal “fairly soon,” while repeating his criticism of Canada’s trade practices.

“We actually have a good [relationship] with Canada, but the United States has been ripped off for 50 years by Canada,” Trump said.

Carney said on Sept. 14 that he welcomes the president’s comments that a deal could be reached soon.

“We’re ready to sit down and negotiate that and move it forward,” Carney told Bloomberg.

Carney has said that diversifying away from the United States is a priority for his government.

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New Jersey’s Dirty Voter Rolls Are Just The Tip Of The Iceberg — And Democrats Are Covering It Up

New Jersey’s non-citizens on the voter rolls scandal is not a glitch. It is a window into a complete breakdown in a system of election integrity and Congress is finally looking through it.

This week, the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Constitution held a hearing, “Restoring Election Integrity: Oversight of Voter Fraud in New Jersey.” According to information gathered by Republican investigators in the Garden State, in 2023 and 2024 alone, at least 6,600 non-citizens were placed on the state’s voter rolls. Hundreds of them even went on to cast ballots in various elections. Democratic Gov. Mikie Sherrill finally admitted the huge problem after she was forced into making the confession by the GOP investigators and a formal warning letter from DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin.

Then she stonewalled the Department of Justice.

“‘Coverup’ is the polite way to say, in political terms, you don’t want this to come to light,” Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-NJ, said of Gov. Sherrill and her administration in relation to the allegations of a coverup.

As the House Judiciary subcommittee continued to dig through the voter fraud scandal in New Jersey, experts on election integrity testified that what happened in the Garden State is likely to have happened in other states, on dates other than those cited by Governor Sherrill. Jason Sena, an election law attorney from New Jersey, noted that non-citizens had registered to vote in the state before and after the so-called ‘glitch’ in software that Governor Sherrill said caused the problem, through means having nothing to do with the Motor Vehicle Commission. Josh Findlay, a research analyst with the America First Policy Institute, concurred with Sena, adding, “New Jersey may be just the tip of the iceberg.”

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Researchers Used Claude To Hack OpenAI Employee Accounts

Three security researchers used Anthropic’s Claude to breach OpenAI employee accounts and gain access to private company software in a July attack that began with an image upload to the company’s public help forum.

The researchers, Harsh Jaiswal, Mohan Pedhapati and Rahul Maini of Hacktron AI, described the July 25 breach in a report published September 13. They said the work took less than 72 hours from the initial discovery to demonstrating access to an internal OpenAI software repository. OpenAI subsequently paid them a $6,500 bounty.

The disclosure follows a separate incident earlier in July in which OpenAI’s own AI agents escaped a testing environment and attacked Hugging Face, a platform used to host AI models and datasets. In that case, OpenAI says the agents took dangerous actions that weren’t directed by a human – the incident being used to spook everyone into letting far-left technocommies run AI oversight. 

Hacktron’s team directed its own operation, reported the vulnerabilities to OpenAI and stopped after demonstrating access.

How A Forum Upload Reached Internal Software

The entry point was OpenAI’s public discussion forum, which runs on software supplied by Discourse (3rd party software that manages discussion boards). A flaw in an image-processing component called libheif allowed a specially crafted image upload to make the server execute the researchers’ instructions. Discourse’s security advisory confirms the vulnerability required no interaction from a victim.

Hacktron said the faulty code had been changed in 2025, but the change was not identified as a security fix. The forum was still running a vulnerable version.

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58 Democrats join House vote to grant Trump additional war and tariff powers

Fifty-eight Democrats in the House of Representatives voted with Republicans Wednesday to grant US President Donald Trump additional war and tariff powers, including the authority to put tariffs as high as 100 percent on goods from China and India.

The 58 House Democrats included former Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California, former Majority Whip James Clyburn of South Carolina and former Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland, who co-wrote the bill in the House.

The vote is only the latest expression of the fact that the Democrats, far from opposing Trump’s program of global war, support escalating it and criticize Trump for being insufficiently aggressive against Russia.

The majority of House Democrats, who voted against the bill, fully support the sanctions against Russia and Iran, and the ongoing wars but objected to giving Trump additional tariff authority.

The bill is named after the warmongering Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who died suddenly in July after returning from a trip to Kiev. It comes amid a spiraling escalation of the Ukraine war. On Sunday Russian forces struck a passenger train with a drone at Yahodyn station, 2 kilometers from the Polish border, shortly after a train carrying former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson had left it.

On Tuesday Polish Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz announced that soldiers of the 18th Engineer Regiment were reinforcing the checkpoints and border guard posts on the Ukrainian border; and on Thursday Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, in a provocative speech to parliament, accused Russia of planning drone or rocket strikes on Poland and other countries supplying Ukraine. Early Tuesday an Italian fighter jet flying for NATO shot down a drone carrying an explosive charge over Lithuania, and Poland and Romania scrambled jets against Russian drones near their borders.

The Russian strike was the response to months of NATO escalation: Germany’s lifting of range restrictions on the weapons it supplies to Ukraine, Germany’s agreement in Kiev in May to build “deep-strike” drones jointly with Ukraine, Ukraine’s attacks on oil refineries in Perm and Tatarstan on September 7, and the visit of Johnson and other European officials to Kiev.

The sanctions and tariffs are instruments of the US-NATO war against Russia in Ukraine, and the bill turns them against China and India, two of the largest buyers of Russian crude oil.

It also extends for five years the US sanctions on the energy and arms industries of Iran, which the United States and Israel attacked on February 28 and which US warships are blockading.

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