Ken Schles

16 of us were just arrested in Albany, for resisting Kathy Hochul. She’s working to repeal the CLCPA - one of the most ambitious climate laws in the county. She’s doing Trump’s dirty work for him. We are raising funds to cover the legal fees. Please donate at the link in my bio. If you can’t donate, please share with others. Photos by @kenschles & @justinbelmondo

A coalition of 100+ activists led by @sunrisemvmtnyc blockaded the @nyse on May Day/International Workers Day, demanding taxation on the rich; end ICE/stop war/eliminate the privatization and profiteering of policing; and additionally a call for the expansion of democracy after the capture of government by the billionaire class and the systematic destruction of our voting rights. The holiday started 1886 in the U.S. to commemorate laborers striking for an 8 hour work day who were machine gunned down by the National Guard in Chicago. That event became a worldwide call for workers rights that were enshrined in worker protections in countries around the world. Denying our own history and national shame, the holiday, Labor Day, was moved to September by President Grover Cleveland to disassociate the U.S. holiday with the government massacre. President Eisenhower renamed May 1st, “Law Day,” countering the populist uprising. The NY Stock Exchange (as you can see in the photo) refers to the day as “National Investing Day,” an absolute co-opting of the day, memorializing a 1975 Securities Exchange Commission decision to eliminate fixed commission rates on stock trades. Concentration of extreme wealth was the foundation of this country and its unchecked crimes and injustices have accompanied us throughout our history. A pendulum of promise opened up possibilities for what might be offered in America. The Civil War was a turning point that marked a great shift in freedoms that, sadly, by century’s end were closed again by Jim Crow. The women’s suffrage movement reawakened movements that opened up new potential that grew in strength along with expanding labor and civil rights mvmnts post WWII. But the pendulum swings negatively again. This week’s loss of the 1965 voting rights act, the ongoing federalization of policing through DHS, the rise of the surveillance society and the destruction of the EPA shows a renewed entrenchment of oligarchs and a drastic shift towards authoritarianism — a dark stain for the planet. But the deep unpopularity of the current regime gives hope for a better future and a more just, accountable, caring state. ✊ Time to take it back.

Trumpy Hochul wanted it all, Fighting for oil was her ultimate goal— All the court said was to “uphold the law, The climate’s the thing, You’re not the king.” But Trumpy Hochul wouldn’t comply. She held the state hostage despite all the damage. She’d rewrite the law instead of doing its bidding, while citizens and scientists looked on in dismay and said they weren’t kidding. She just doesn’t care, she won’t budge at all. Even if it means disobeying a judge. She rather have her way instead of doing Democracy’s bidding. We all pay the price. No one is winning. Her cronies rake it in, increasing her coffers. Running for office unopposed is her process. With AMOC collapse just around the corner, And fresh water supplies just getting shorter. Food prices rising along with the oceans. Climate catastrophe is costing us lives and retirees’ pensions. But oil’s the thing, not our health or our homes. Oil’s the game to hold onto Hochul’s throne. Sunshine’s from heaven, Oil’s from hell, the advocates yelled. Hochul just wouldn’t listen, she just turned away. Democracy’s brittle, We see that today, She’d rather it crack than support New Yorker’s backs. Instead of upholding NY’s climate law, the CLCPA. She’d hold the state hostage despite all our knowledge. Delaying, delaying, the budget state process. She listens to fools who’ve sacrificed our futures. The budget is late, But the climate won’t wait. We all need a livable future. Scroll through to see where we are with the amount of toxic methane, 85x more powerful a greenhouse gas than CO2, in our atmosphere. There is nothing “natural” about this self-inflicted harm. We are 400% above any historical norms going back 800,000 years. It’s methane gas that @govkathyhochul wants to loosen regulations for — regulations that are currently written into law. She’s holding up ratification of the NYS budget in Albany to administratively change the law. This undemocratic maneuvering would slash NY’s climate goals. Goals currently unmet because she refuses to do the work necessary to meet them. Goals that if met would lower our utility costs and ensure a healthier and safer future for NYers. Have a blessed Earth Week.

Here are some more shots from the talented @kenschles on the Thursday rally to protect New York's climate law led by faith leaders from @greenfaith.us !

More 📸s from Monday’s powerful blockade of the offices of @senschumer and @senkirstengillibrand led by @jvpny ahead of Wednesday’s vote by the U.S. Senate on bills introduced by @sensanders to stop arms and materiel going to Israel in service of Israel’s genocidal acts and hegemonic goals in the Middle East. The Wednesday vote marked an important shift away from rote unilateral congressional support for these illegal arms sales and materiel transfers. While not enough to stop the transfers, the vote reflected growing public outcry against the horrors coming out of the region: increased contempt for the Netanyahu regime in Israel (and their expansionist crimes); backlash against the ill conceived joint U.S./Israeli attempt at regime change in Iran; an outcry against ethnic cleansing in Palestine and Lebanon (that has displaced millions); the ongoing shock of war crimes against the Iranian people (Lebanese/Palestinians/etc.); the re-ignition of inflation here at home; and the diminishment of the influence of AIPAC in American politics. These sales raise “urgent legal and moral concerns,” with munitions used in “densely populated areas in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran, with significant documentated civilian casualties,” said a letter to congressional members authored by JVP, @indivisibleteam @moveon @jstreetdotorg and others. 37 Senators voted to block sales of 12,000 1000lb bombs and 40 senators voted to block $295m for bulldozers used to commit ongoing war crimes. NY senators did not join their caucus in voting against the sales. While they hold powerful positions of leadership within the party, they are seen as increasingly out of touch with their constituents on this issue. @rokhannausa demanded Schumer step aside as leader. A fragile cease-fire has been agreed to as oil shocks rocked world markets. With a dire risk for food shocks in the weeks and months to come and ongoing climate shocks worsening outlooks for near, middle and long term prognoses, it seems the public increasingly wants to decouple itself from ethnonationalist stake holders that have had a grip on U.S. leadership of late. Nearly 100 were arrested at Monday’s demonstration.

Hundreds of protesters led by @jvpny blockaded the offices of @senschumer and @senkirstengillibrand in NYC Monday demanding they block the sales of weapons and bulldozers to Israel after a series of Joint Resolutions of Disapproval were introduced by Senator Bernie Sanders. Over 90 were arrested after halting traffic on Third Avenue for over an hour. Right now, using weapons manufactured and paid for by the U.S., the Israeli military is flattening southern Lebanon, ethnically cleansing Palestinians from the West Bank, and continuing its genocide in Gaza. Although there is now a fragile ceasefire with Iran, thousands of Iranians have been killed in U.S.-Israeli airstrikes with millions more injured or displaced. The most important thing we can do to pressure our Senators to vote to block weapons and bulldozers to Israel is to drive as many calls as possible to their offices to show mass demand. That vote is happening 4/15/26. ☎️ your senators ‼️ (You can find a call script here: jvp.org/senate vote ) Trump’s naive foray into this war “of choice” is a complete disaster sending oil, price, climate and food shocks radiating across the globe. Professor John Mersheimer at the 11th Annual Arab Center Conference on 4/12 told attendees in Washington DC that the US is helping Israel to commit “the greatest of all crimes.” “We know what happened to all those people who executed the genocide between 1941 and 1945 in Europe.” “There’s no exit option here [for Trump] except admitting defeat.” Trump is playing a “losing hand” and “can’t go up the escalation ladder.” Mearsheimer speculated that if Trump continues along this path the US risks pushing the global economy off a cliff. He went on further to say that he believed Israel would preemptively use nuclear force if it suspected Iran pursued acquiring nuclear weapons — and that the US would do nothing to stop Israel in that scenario. The protesters pleaded to Schumer and Gillibrand in absentia: “You’re sending bombs, how can you sleep?” “Healthcare, not warfare.” “Stop arming Israel, let Gaza live.” “Stop the war machine, fund community.” “Stop the bombs, end the killing. Fight like hell for the living.”

I do not consent (the 10 plagues of Trump) Narcissist Liar Grifter Rapist (pedo) Felon Receiver of Emoluments Demander of subservience and sycophancy Racist Treasonous Traitor War Criminal Creator of Oil Shocks Market Shocks Food Shocks Climate Shocks Threatening to wipe out whole civilizations Evoke the 25th.

Transcript from Paul Krugman: “America as we knew it may end Tuesday. […]Sunday morning update. Yesterday, I talked about how awful Trump’s message about glory to God and all of that was, but it’s looking much, much worse today. I’ll quote Trump in a second. But let me do a Heather Cox Richardson here and talk about history for a second. Think about what Abraham Lincoln, a president who was actually winning his war, said in his second inaugural. You’ve all probably heard the magnificent conclusion, which begins, ‘with malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in.’ Determination, humility, decency. Now, let me read you Donald Trump’s Truth Social post from this morning: ‘Tuesday will be power plant day and bridge day, all wrapped up in one in Iran. There will be nothing like it. Open the fuckin strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in hell. Just watch. Praise be to Allah.’ What happened to us? This is not the country we were supposed to be. If Trump is actually going to give the order for massive war crimes, for destruction of civilian infrastructure, power plants, bridges, which will, among other things, lead to a lot of deaths in Iran, will the military obey it? A year ago, I would have said no. But what we do know now is that, first of all, there turns out to be at least a significant MAGA component inside the officer corps. And we know that Pete Hexeth has been systematically corrupting, dismantling the military over the past 14 months. Generals who raise ethical concerns have been fired. Officers who even just want to be intelligent about warfare. and not believe that it’s all about warrior ethos and lethality have been fired, so it’s quite possible that there’s a quorum of officers who will follow instructions to commit war crimes. You can get even more pessimistic. Tim Snyder has been arguing that we’re basically in preparation for a coup, that somehow or other the war will be a pretense and arguing that this insane expansion of military spending in the latest Trump budget is a bribe to the military.” 📷: @risenresistnyc 4/4 vigil

@risenresistnyc was in Times Square today to protest the Trump wars. Imagine this war criminal just a few months ago practically begging for a Nobel Peace Prize. Well, thankfully, he didn’t get it. So many dying and paying the price of his deceits. From USAID cancellations to child separation and imprisonments, his cruelties span the globe. Felon. Child rapist. Skipping along with his cronies, Hegseth, et al. Stealing his way and stealing away our futures while bombing civilians in foreign lands. We’re in that quiet moment before the oil shock hits. None of this makes sense.

🚨Parents & Caregivers just rallied & blocked Third Avenue outside @govkathyhochul 's office to protest her attempts to weaken our state climate law through the budget process. Families know that renewables are cheaper than fossil fuels, and a just transition off fossil fuels is the only way to make energy more affordable and keep our families safe. Trump is dismantling federal climate and environmental protections, putting all our children at risk. That makes state leadership essential. Legislators must defend and implement the CLCPA — for affordability and for our children's health and futures. Photo credit @kenschles

No Kings III NYC March 28, 2026. The day we filled the avenues and streets across America in the largest protest in US history. 🇺🇸

On Saturday, March 21, ACT UP (AIDS Coalition To Unleash Power) marks its 39th anniversary of fighting the AIDS epidemic by protesting the Trump administration’s slashing of HIV/AIDS budgets while increasing budgets for ICE and the current war on Iran. Last summer under the #OneBigUglyBill (H.R. 1), the Trump Regime and their congressional allies enacted huge spending cuts of more than $1 trillion that decimated federal healthcare and HIV/AIDS programs and the agencies that operate them. These programs include Medicaid, Medicare, the Affordable Care Act, PEPFAR, and more, threatening the lives of millions across the globe. Money was taken away from these programs in order to... Dramatically increase funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and for the Department of Defense. Give HUGE permanent tax cuts to large corporations, special interests, and the ultra-wealthy. ICE and CBP funding tripled to nearly $200 billion under this new law. The ICE portion is used to greatly expand masked government thugs who aggressively abduct (mostly black and brown) immigrants (and sometimes their whole families) from their communities. They then imprison them in large warehouse concentration camps awaiting deportation. The living conditions in these camps are inhumane, and their health care services are nearly non-existent and very substandard. Dozens of people have died in them. ICE contracts with Palantir Technologies, a software company founded by far-right businessperson Peter Thiel, to enable ICE carry out this work, and the firm profits handsomely, earning billions of dollars a year. The Pentagon is using its new additional funding ($155 billion) to wage Trump’s new unauthorized war in against Iran, also using Palantir. Mark Milano was a friend and longtime AIDS and healthcare activist in NYC who died of cancer in early January. He was a leader in the early years of the ACT UP movement, and later in the Trump resistance movement (Rise and Resist.) ACT UP 39th Year Anniversary March – March 21, 2026