Inside a community still fighting for maternity care

 

Hi Reader, A story that I’m particularly proud of this year is a piece I wrote for our September Health Month series titled “Two years after the closure of Leominster’s maternity unit, a region is struggling.” This in-depth story explores the reality of maternity care access in Leominster two years after the city lost its local maternity ward.  In my reporting, I heard accounts of women giving birth in cars, ambulances, emergency departments, or reaching a maternity unit just in time to deliver. These experiences are a far cry from what many expect in a state that consistently ranks first in the country for its health care system, and telling this story helped shed light on an increasingly grave issue in a state assumed to be working well for everyone. Not only was I able to spotlight the Gateway City of Leominster and the North-Central Massachusetts region in this piece, I was also able to explore the statewide landscape of maternity care access following a string of labor and delivery unit closures in the last decade. Elevating their stories makes it clear that their challenges aren’t isolated and are part of a statewide trend that deserves far more attention.  I’m new to Massachusetts – having joined CommonWealth Beacon in July – and reporting this story was a chance for me to connect with residents, officials, and health care workers in the city of Leominster and show them that somebody still cared about telling the story of maternal health care access in this region, even two years later. It reminded me why public service journalism, and the time it takes to do it well, matters so deeply. There are more stories like this waiting to be told. With your support, I can keep asking hard questions and bringing essential reporting to communities across the state that need to be heard. SUPPORT OUR NEWSROOM Hallie Claflin Gateway Cities Reporter           MAKE A GIFT P.S. — Prefer to give by mail? Checks can be sent to 11 Beacon Street, Suite 500, Boston, MA 02108. We also gratefully accept donations through donor-advised funds via our EIN: 04-3271457. 11 Beacon St., Suite 500 Boston, MA 02108 CommonWealth Beacon relies on donations, and fundraisers like this one, to exist. We appreciate your patience with extra emails during these times.

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Criticize Israel, and AIPAC will bury you

 

 

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee has become the No. 1 biggest outside spender in Democratic Party primaries, pouring in $100 million in 2024 alone to attack members of Congress who spoke out against Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Their message: If you criticize Israel, we will bury you. Now, with the 2026 midterm primaries heating up, we’re already seeing AIPAC and their donors step in to boost pro-Israel candidates and attack Democrats who have dared to advocate for Palestinian human rights. Yet despite AIPAC’s enormous clout and massive spending, corporate news outlets are still almost totally ignoring the group, allowing their pro-Israel donors to escape the scrutiny that other big-money special interests face. That’s where The Intercept comes in. In the last election cycle, we documented every dollar AIPAC spent in painstaking detail across 389 total races. Now we’re gearing up to expose any and all efforts by AIPAC and their donors to buy the midterm elections. Here’s the problem: The Intercept’s donations have fallen off significantly in recent months after an initial surge following Donald Trump’s return to office. That’s why we’re asking you today: Will you donate $5 to help support The Intercept and our hard-hitting investigation to expose AIPAC’s big-money influence? If you’ve saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your donation will go through immediately: DONATE $15 → DONATE $25 → DONATE $50 → DONATE $100 → DONATE ANOTHER AMOUNT → Thank you, The Intercept team The Intercept is a recognized 501(c)(3) charitable organization. The Intercept’s mailing address is: P.O. Box 9201 New York, NY 10008 The Intercept is an award-winning nonprofit news organization dedicated to holding the powerful accountable through fearless, adversarial journalism. Our in-depth investigations and unflinching analysis focus on surveillance, war, corruption, the environment, technology, criminal justice, the media and more.

Support our truly independent journalism.   Watch now   NEW! Pentagon Ordered Evidence Destroyed in Second Possible War Crimes Incident Melissa Corrigan breaks: Video of detainees deleted by admiral-level order in October strike — while Hegseth defends September double-tap Zev Shalev, Nick Paro, Melissa Corrigan, she/her, and Dean Blundell Dec 9 Dean was out today, so I brought in the experts who’ve been breaking this story wide open. Nick Paro and Melissa Corrigan joined me for what turned into one of the most significant FiveStack episodes we’ve done. Melissa broke news that changes everything about the Hegseth scandal, and what we learned suggests systematic criminality at the highest levels of the Pentagon. That wasn’t the only breaking news. BREAKING NEWS: RUSSIA’S INFORMATION WARFARE Russian state television released footage from last week’s Putin meeting with Trump’s negotiators—Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. They waited five days to drop this, and what you see is pure stagecraft. The Americans walk in looking unsophisticated, wandering around admiring Kremlin interiors. “Visibly amazed by the grandeur,” according to Kremlin journalist Pavel Zarubin. But here’s the key frame: Putin’s aide Yuri Ushakov walks in with the American delegation, embedded in their group. This isn’t accidental. The message to Russian audiences is clear—we own these negotiations. While Russian state media celebrates American deference, 5️⃣ HEGSETH’S SECOND COVERUP Melissa Corrigan broke this story this weekend on Blue Amp Media, and legacy press is ignoring it. In mid-October—about 47 days ago, a month after the September double-tap strike—there was another incident. Two survivors of a strike were brought onto the USS Iwo Jima. They were photographed per standard shipboard procedure. Then the order came down: delete that video. They deleted it. Two detainees were in US custody for over 24 hours with virtually no evidence of what happened. One was returned to Colombia on a ventilator, unconscious. The other went back to Ecuador. Both countries released them—no evidence of wrongdoing. Blue Amp Media EXCLUSIVE: US Navy Deleted Video of October Boat Attack Survivors On a crystal blue sea, multiple explosive assaults from the sky have blown small boats to pieces, almost always ending the lives of those on board… Read more 2 days ago · 587 likes · 72 comments · Melissa Corrigan, she/her and David Shuster According to Corrigan, when Marines brought these detainees onboard, there was conflict between Marines and sailors about whether to take photos. Marines said the Commodore ordered no video. Melissa’s sources say the deletion order came from the admiral level, which means it likely came from Hegseth himself. This isn’t just one war crime—it’s a pattern with active coverup. As Nick Paro pointed out, you document everything in military detention precisely to protect service members legally and prevent diplomatic crises. Deleting evidence means Hegseth could lie to Congress and blame enlisted personnel with no footage to contradict him. 4️⃣ EUROPE BREAKS WITH TRUMP While Kushner was in Moscow, Macron, Germany’s likely next chancellor Friedrich Merz, and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer met with Zelensky in London. Macron’s message was direct: Europe and Ukraine have “a lot of cards in our hands”—a shot at Trump’s claim that Zelensky “doesn’t have the cards.” The transatlantic alliance is fracturing in real time. Nick noted that moving the entire Ford Strike Group out of the Mediterranean for the first time in 80 years to chase drug boats in the Caribbean is exactly what Putin wants—NATO presence withdrawn, allies isolated, American credibility shattered. 3️⃣ MTG GIVES PERMISSION TO LEAVE MAGA Marjorie Taylor Greene told 60 Minutes that Republican colleagues are “terrified to step out of line and get a nasty Truth Social post.” When Leslie Stahl asked if they talk differently behind closed doors, MTG confirmed it. But here’s what matters: she kept saying “I’m America First” not MAGA. That’s not an accident. She’s positioning for what comes next—either a presidential run or leadership of a rebranded party. Melissa nailed it: “She’s giving permission for your average MAGA woman to step away from the MAGA movement.” And there are women looking for exactly that permission. Trump attacked 60 Minutes and Paramount on Truth Social minutes after the interview aired. 2️⃣ JARED KUSHNER AND JEFF ZUCKER ATTEMPT CNN TAKEOVER WITH SAUDI AND UAE MONEY David Ellison launched a $108.4 billion hostile bid for Warner Bros Discovery—$18 billion more cash than the Netflix deal. Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners backs this with Saudi, Qatari, and UAE sovereign wealth funds. The same Kushner who just spent five hours with Putin. And Jeff Zucker—remember him from CNN?—his UAE-funded venture firm is the other party in this deal. They’re coming for CNN, for Warner Bros, for everything. Paramount claims no national security review is needed because foreign investors “forgo governance rights,” but we’re talking about the same foreign money that gave Kushner $2 billion as a bribe at the end of the last administration. As Nick said: “He’s positioned himself with zero accountability because he’s not a diplomat. He’s just a random dude running around doing unregistered agent work for foreign nations. We call those spies.” 1️⃣ SCOTUS POISED TO ELIMINATE INDEPENDENT AGENCIES The Supreme Court heard Trump v. Slaughter today—can the president fire Federal Trade Commission commissioners at will? If he wins, every independent agency becomes an extension of presidential power. The Federal Reserve, FCC, SEC, FTC, NLRB—institutions designed to operate beyond direct political control. Trump has already fired Democrats from all of them, daring the Court to stop him. Last September’s 6-3 ruling allowing presidential removal of an NLRB general counsel showed where this is headed. The Roberts Court has denied only one of Trump’s 32 emergency petitions. This is Project 2025 made real. As Nick pointed out, we can impeach Supreme Court justices—impeachment can’t be pardoned. We need overwhelming victories in 2026 to take back the House and Senate. Melissa used a Navy analogy: when the hull is breached on one side, you flood spaces on the alternate side to keep the ship righted. “If we don’t flood this election, the ship’s going down.” BONUS: ALEX KARP’S MELTDOWN We ended with footage of Palantir CEO Alex Karp at the New York Times Deal Book summit, physically twitching and defensively listing everything he thinks Palantir has given the West. He enunciated one word carefully: “American superiority.” The man who controls the military’s data infrastructure has a God complex and the masks are off. The same summit platformed Ehud Barak—Jeffrey Epstein’s handler and Virginia Giuffre’s abuser. We’re all taking notes on who the New York Times chooses to elevate. This isn’t one story. It’s systematic institutional capture happening in real time—from coverups at the Pentagon to foreign wealth funds buying media to courts eliminating agency independence. Melissa and Nick both noted they could be recalled to active duty and court-martialed for their reporting. That’s where we are. Support their work: Melissa Corrigan, she/her and Blue Amp. Nick Paro at Sick of this Shit Publications and Banner & Backbone Media. They’re doing the reporting legacy media won’t touch. The FiveStack is available as an audio podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Advertising inquiries email next@narativ.org. The FiveStack is a co-production of deanblundell.substack.com and narativ.org. Thank you Centered America, Lawrence Winnerman, Cat, Kathy Utley, Beth Cruz, and many others for tuning into my live video with Melissa Corrigan, she/her and Nick Paro! Join me for my next live video in the app. Get more from Zev Shalev in the Substack app Available for iOS and Android A guest post by Melissa Corrigan, she/her US Navy veteran, freelance writer & investigative columnist, philosopher & community builder. Ally. Advocate. Armed with truth and a keyboard. A guest post by Dean Blundell Media guy, content provider, dog whisperer, Canadian raconteur, muckraker.

 

 

How Sick Is He?

The physical and mental health of the president is a state secret

Dan Rather and Team Steady Dec 9

Credit: Getty Images

We need to have a serious conversation about Donald Trump’s health — what we know, and, more importantly, what we don’t know, which is a lot. Just how bad or good is it? We’ve tallied many indications of flagging vitality, just in his second term alone, and by any reasonable analysis he is not a picture of good health, to say the least.

Ronald Reagan was 69 when he took office. In his second term, Trump was almost ten years older than Reagan. Now, for a normal 79½-year-old, he is doing just fine. He holds down a full-time job. Much of his life is lived in front of cameras. He manages to get up and down the long flight of stairs to Air Force One without help.

But he is the President of the United States, arguably the most powerful and pressurized position in the world. A President of the United States has to be better than just fine. Trump’s multiple instances of physical and mental decline over the past 11 months should be raising serious questions. We simply don’t know what is actually going on. The lack of information and transparency is indefensible. Even any small dribble of information about his health quickly gets back-burnered by his latest outrageous behavior.

Historically, Trump has been minimally forthcoming about his health, though he claims otherwise. There are no rules about what he does and does not have to reveal. His doctors have repeatedly refused to take questions, even when he was severely ill from COVID in 2020. They have released summaries of his various exams that contain little to no detail.

The only things they do dole out are platitudes. “President Trump exhibits excellent cognitive and physical health and is fully fit to execute the duties of the commander in chief and head of state,” his physician, Dr. Sean Barbabella, wrote in April after his first annual physical. He also mentioned Trump’s frequent golf wins.

Oftentimes, he does not look like a well man. Trump claims to be 224 pounds, suspiciously just under what is considered obese for someone 6 feet 3 inches tall — especially since he rejects physical exercise as a concept and happily eats Big Macs, plural, in one sitting. Reportedly, his go-to McDonald’s order contains more than 2,400 calories. He is said to down a dozen Diet Cokes a day.

The first signs of physical decline during his second term came in February when significant bruising could be seen on the back of Trump’s hand. He has since tried to hide the consistent bruise marks with makeup and Band-Aids. The White House said the bruising was from taking aspirin and shaking so many hands.

A more likely possibility is that he is getting some kind of intravenous infusion. For what, we have no idea. Doctors have speculated he might be getting blood thinners, medications for kidney disease, or ones that slow the effects of dementia. Without facts it’s impossible to determine the extent of any health issue he might have, and easy for speculation to run wild.

In July, photos revealed that Trump had visibly swollen ankles. In a rare moment of transparency, the White House revealed that the president had chronic venous insufficiency, a blood vessel disease that affects circulation.

At the end of August, Trump, who has never met a camera he doesn’t like, was not seen in person for six days, his longest absence from public view in more than ten years. Online theorizing that he was sick or dead was rampant. JD Vance’s August 27 assertion that he had “gotten a lot of good on-the-job training over the last 200 days,” to USA Today helped fan those flames.

When Trump finally did emerge from the White House, it was to go to his golf club in Virginia. The few photos snapped of him getting into the presidential limousine seem to indicate he was not well.

At a September 11th event, heavy drooping can be seen on the right side of his face, causing many to speculate that he had an ischemic stroke over the Labor Day holiday.

Again, speculation because there was no information given.

Six weeks later, he had his second “annual” physical. If someone had even a light stroke, six weeks would be the timeframe for a recheck. During that trip to Walter Reed Medical Center Trump said he had an MRI and a “very hard IQ test” that he “aced.”

When asked later about the MRI Trump couldn’t remember which part of his body was imaged. And the White House claimed it was “preventative.” However, Dr. Jeremy Faust, MedPage Today’s editor-in-chief, told CNN that “there’s really no such thing as having an MRI for routine prevention. If we knew exactly what imaging he received, it would give us a better idea of what conditions they are worried about.”

As for the “IQ test,” it was actually the MoCA test or Montreal Cognitive Assessment. It is designed to identify cognitive decline, including signs of dementia and/or Alzheimer’s. During the 30 question test Trump could have been asked to copy a drawing of a cube, count backward from 100 and/or identify a certain animal.

On a trip to Asia in late October, Trump was seen wandering during an official welcome ceremony in Japan. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi had to physically guide him to the correct location several times. Upon returning from that trip, Trump, who does not drink alcohol, looked tipsy trying to walk from Air Force One to his waiting car.

The most recent evidence of Trump’s decline is his penchant for falling asleep in the middle of the day, in the middle of a meeting. On November 6, he fell asleep during an Oval Office event with cameras clicking. Last week he dozed during one of his sycophantic pep-rallies-cum-cabinet-meetings as Secretary of State Marco Rubio praised his leadership.

It is no wonder he was sleepy since he spent much of the night before on a social media tirade, shooting off 160 posts into the wee hours. Meanwhile, spokesperson Karoline Leavitt tried to spin Trump’s vertical nap as “listening attentively.” To those who question the president’s vigor, she pointed to the “epic moment” during the meeting when he attacked the Somali population of Minnesota, calling them “garbage.” Leavitt called it epic, others would call it unhinged.

Trump has certainly “aced” the test of signs of cognitive decline:

• Inability to remember words and names — Trump mistakenly called his Homeland Security Secretary, Kristi Noem, “Cristie Kerr,” who is a professional golfer.

• Getting lost in familiar places — He recently had a sign put up in the outside area near the Oval Office that read “The Oval Office.”

• Memory loss — During a September press conference, he said his first term “started around 2015,” then corrected himself to 2016. It began in January 2017.

• Confabulation — He claims his uncle, a professor at MIT, taught the Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski. His uncle died 11 years before Kaczynski was identified as the Unabomber, and he did not attend MIT.

• Increased aggression — He has posted thousands of all-caps social media rants aimed at everyone from California Governor Gavin Newsom to The New York Times.

• Confusion — He believes giant, energy-producing windmills “are killing us.”

• Verbal incoherence — The White House has removed from its website some of Trump’s official remarks that are particularly inscrutable. This is just part of one speech that has been scrubbed: “I got rid of – just one I got rid of the other night, you buy a house, they have a faucet in the house, Joe, and the faucet the water doesn’t come out. They have a restrictor. You can’t – in areas where you have so much water they don’t know what to do with it. Uh, you have a shower head the shower doesn’t uh, the shower doesn’t, you think it’s not working. It is working. The water’s dripping out and that’s no good for me. I like this hair lace and [sic] – I like that hair nice and wet.”

Trump’s temper has flared at any mention of his age or physical and mental decline in the media. Arguably, there has not been enough reporting on this topic. A recent Times piece, tamely titled, “Shorter Days, Signs of Fatigue: Trump Faces Realities of Aging in Office,” sent the president into a tailspin, shooting off angry social media posts in response, and calling the female reporter who wrote the piece “ugly, both inside and out.”

What are your medical issues, Mr. President? The American people deserve to know. Since so little has been revealed about the president’s health, all citizens can do is to consider the evidence, then wait and wonder. The question as to whether Trump is still fit to hold office has become front and center.

Steady is free, but to support my team’s efforts to protect our democracy through the power of independent journalism, we’d appreciate it if you would consider joining as a paid subscriber. It keeps Steady sustainable and accessible for all.

No matter how you subscribe, I thank you for reading.

Stay Steady,
Dan