Search This Blog

Sunday, April 26, 2026

Close to one-third of Democratic Socialists of America members make more than $100K

 That’s rich!

The Democratic Socialists of America rail against the one percent, but close to a third of them are clearing six-figure incomes a year, according to a newly surfaced internal survey.

As many as 28% of DSA members made more than $100,000, and 56% have cushy office jobs in academia, tech, the public or non-profit sector, white-collar work or health care.

Almost a third of DSA members had six figure salaries in 2021, so the number is likely higher today.Jack Forbes / NY Post Design

More than 80% are college educated, with 35% holding at least a master’s or professional degree — which is more than twice the national average.

The income data comes from a 2021 survey, which resurfaced this week, and is likely even higher today. The group refused to include it in its latest version in 2025.

Some of the DSA’s laptop class include members like Ahmed Husain, an engineer from Bahrain living in the Big Apple who recently called for “ending the US empire;” Leemah Nasrati, an immigration attorney who’s been hosting anti-ICE trainings; and Hanna Johnson, a DSA leader who doubles as State Assemblymember Emily Gallagher’s deputy chief of staff.

And the DSA’s poster boy, Mayor Zohran Mamdani – the son of Disney filmmaker Mira Nair – comes from a family whose vast wealth includes a lush compound in Uganda that boasts its own housekeeper, gardeners and security.

His mother’s cult film “Mississippi Masala,” with actor Denzel Washington, was filmed at the property.

The DSA regularly talks about Karl Marx’s theory of class struggle and has made “taxing the rich” a big legislative priority this session. Its latest merch even bears the slogan “decompose the rich.”

DSA member Leemah Nasrati is an immigration attorney who’s been hosting anti-ICE trainings for the group.leemahperu/Instagram

But the numbers shed light on the group’s staggering hypocrisy, critics said.

“You have to give them credit for convincing people who are 180 degrees different from them that these trust fund socialists are speaking up for their best interests,” quipped Former City Council Minority Leader Joe Borelli.

“They don’t know the working class, but they have read a lot of books on them.”

Hanna Johnson is a DSA leader who doubles as State Assemblymember Emily Gallagher’s deputy chief of staff.Hanna Johnson/ Linkedin

Few followed “Squad” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s (D-NY) lead and worked in a bar – with only 6% of members in the service or retail industry.

Even the self-described “Bronx girl,” a DSA member herself, is regularly mocked for trying to make her short stint as a bartender such a big part of her public image when she had a comfortable upbringing in Westchester.

An even smaller number of members – 4% had blue collar jobs, and another 4% were writers, performers or in the arts – like National Political Committee member and mime David Jenkins.

Another 5% were self-employed, 8% were students and 15% were unemployed or retired.

“Tax the rich” has been one of the DSA’s key campaigns this year.Michael Nagle

The socialist organization, which reached 100,000 members in February, saw a massive demographic shift in the mid-2010s, with younger members, galvanized by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ presidential run, joining what had previously been an organization made up mostly of aging hippies and retirees.

In 2013, the median age was 68. By 2021, it dropped to 33, with the majority of members, 73%, Millennials or Gen Zs.

As a sign of their financial comfort, 54% of members had either dished out personal funds on the DSA or bought merchandise, the survey reported.

The DSA has changed a lot in the past 15 years, attracting younger and wealthier members.Jack Forbes / NY Post Design

And despite its frenzied push for equity, black membership was at a measly 4% — well below the group’s 15% share of the American population.

One area where the DSA had representation that far exceeded that of the general population: 10% of DSA members identified as non-binary and a staggering 32% identified as LGBTQIA+.

The DSA did not return The Post’s request for comment.

https://nypost.com/2026/04/26/us-news/close-to-one-third-of-democratic-socialists-of-america-members-make-more-than-100k/

US turns to drones after retiring minesweepers to reopen Strait of Hormuz

 The U.S. is racing to reopen the Strait of Hormuz as Iran threatens one of the world’s most critical shipping lanes, testing a Navy that has recently retired most of its dedicated minesweepers and is now relying on a smaller fleet of unmanned systems to do the job.

President Donald Trump has warned Tehran against further escalation and signaled the U.S. is prepared to act to keep the strait open, while Iranian forces have laid mines and threatened commercial traffic in the narrow waterway that carries a significant share of global oil.

The confrontation is now testing a weakness in the Navy’s mine-warfare posture. As the U.S. moves to reopen the Strait of Hormuz after Iranian mining threats, it is doing so after retiring most of the ships once dedicated to that mission and while still relying on a limited mix of legacy vessels and newer unmanned systems to clear one of the world’s most critical shipping lanes.

At the current moment, any mine-clearing effort is unfolding amid an active standoff in the strait. The U.S. has imposed a naval blockade on Iranian ports, while Iran has responded with attacks on commercial vessels, seizures of ships and threats to close the waterway entirely.

At least several commercial ships have come under fire in recent days, and both sides have intercepted vessels as they attempt to move through the chokepoint, underscoring the risks facing any operation to restore traffic.

US Navy scrambles to reopen Strait of Hormuz after Iran’s mining threats.Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Iran has tied further negotiations to the lifting of the U.S. naval blockade, while Washington has insisted on security guarantees and reopening the strait, leaving little immediate path to a deal.

The operation comes after a major shift in how the Navy handles mine warfare. The service retired its four Bahrain-based minesweepers last year, ending a decades-long presence of dedicated mine-hunting ships in the Middle East.

At the start of the current crisis, the Navy’s remaining minesweepers were based in Japan, not the Persian Gulf, and newer littoral combat ships equipped for mine countermeasures were not all positioned in the region.

Multiple news outlets have reported Iran has laid at least a dozen mines in the strait, citing intelligence assessments, though some estimates put the number higher.

The shift has left the Navy relying on a mix of legacy ships being surged into theater and newer unmanned systems designed to detect and neutralize mines.

“To be honest, that the minesweepers retired was never a concern to me, because we had brought in newer technology,” retired Vice Adm. Kevin Donegan, who previously commanded the Navy’s 5th Fleet, told Fox News Digital.

But analysts say the Navy is still working through a transition as it replaces its older minesweepers with newer systems.

“We’re sort of at this nadir of the Navy’s mine sweeping capacity,” Bryan Clark, a defense analyst at the Hudson Institute, told Fox News Digital.

The Navy’s mine-clearing capacity is tested amid an active standoff, relying on new tech.via REUTERS

Clark said the Navy has spent years developing unmanned systems to replace legacy ships, but currently has a limited number of those systems available for large-scale operations.

U.S. forces are not sending ships blindly into minefields. Instead, the operation begins with a wave of unmanned systems scanning the seabed to identify potential threats.

Underwater drones — some torpedo-shaped — are deployed in grid patterns to map the ocean floor and detect objects that could be mines, using high-resolution sonar to distinguish them from debris.

“They kind of look like torpedoes and they map the bottom,” Donegan said.

In parallel, surface drones tow sonar systems through narrow lanes, while helicopters equipped with sensors scan for mines closer to the surface, allowing the Navy to build a detailed picture of what is actually in the water.

But identifying mines is only the first step.

“The mine neutralization part is really the long leg of the process,” Clark said.

Defense analyst Bryan Clark, from the Hudson Institute, warns Navy is at ‘nadir’ in mine-sweeping.REUTERS

Once a mine is located, operators deploy remotely controlled systems to disable it — either by detonating it in place or puncturing it so it sinks. Even then, the danger is not fully removed.

“You’ve got to then retrieve this thing with EOD personnel,” Clark said, referring to explosive ordnance disposal teams tasked with clearing debris that can still pose a hazard to passing ships.

Clearing mines remains a slow and methodical process that can stretch timelines depending on how many devices are in the water and how they are deployed.

The Pentagon has told Congress the effort could take as long as six months, according to a Washington Post report.

Clark said recent war-gaming suggests U.S. forces could identify and begin neutralizing mines within weeks, but fully removing them from key shipping lanes could take significantly longer.

“The finding part, you could do within a couple of weeks,” he said, adding that neutralizing mines could take additional time and that removing debris and ensuring lanes are completely safe could extend operations into months.

Donegan cautioned that timelines are difficult to predict, in part because U.S. forces must first confirm whether mines are actually present in the areas Iran has claimed.

“When somebody says they mined it, you have to go validate if that’s even true, and that takes time,” he said.

https://nypost.com/2026/04/25/us-news/us-turns-to-drones-after-retiring-minesweepers-to-reopen-strait-of-hormuz-as-iran-crisis-rages/

Blanche: Gunman's targets were Trump admin officials

 Acting United States Attorney General Todd Blanche told NBC News in an interview on Sunday that the suspected gunman who carried out a shooting at a White House dinner party is believed to have been after top officials from President Donald Trump's administration, according to preliminary findings.

"We're still investigating a motive, and that's something that will necessarily take a couple of days at least," Blanche commented. Trump was "likely "one of the targets, he added, stressing, however, that he would like to "wait and not get ahead of us on that [matter]."

Blanche concluded by saying that formal charges against the arrested individual will be brought tomorrow.

https://breakingthenews.net/Article/Blanche:-Gunman's-targets-were-Trump-admin-officials/66149968

Iron Dome tech said to have been sent to UAE for Iran war

 Israel's Iron Dome air defense system was sent to the United Arab Emirates so that it could be used "early in the war with Iran," Axios reported on Sunday, citing United States and Israeli officials.

The media outlet noted that this unprecedented fact was not shared with the public during the war, with the military cooperation between the UAE and Israel reaching new heights.

Israeli officials revealed that an Iron Dome battery and dozens of Israeli army operators were sent to the UAE after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received a call from the country, asking for help. One source detailed that the system managed to take down dozens of Iranian missiles.

https://breakingthenews.net/Article/Iron-Dome-tech-said-to-have-been-sent-to-UAE-for-Iran-war/66149915

Adagio positive six‑month pivotal FULCRUM‑VT IDE trial results for vCLAS Ventricular Ablation System

 

Adagio Medical reports positive six‑month pivotal FULCRUM‑VT IDE trial results for vCLAS Ventricular Ablation System

  • Company plans to use FULCRUM‑VT vCLAS Ventricular Ablation System data to support an FDA Premarket Approval application.

Tillis Says He’s Prepared to Move Ahead With Warsh Confirmation


Senator Thom Tillis said he’s dropping his blockade of Kevin Warsh’s nomination to head the Federal Reserve after the Justice Department ended a criminal probe targeting Fed Chair Jerome Powell.

The North Carolina Republican’s decision likely clears the way for Warsh’s swift confirmation to succeed Powell, whose term ends on May 15.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-04-26/tillis-says-he-s-prepared-to-move-ahead-with-warsh-confirmation

Alleged Chinese Spy Ship Lurking Near U.S. Base In Qatar Raises Questions

 The War Zone's Ian Ellis posted on X about a suspicious Chinese vessel operating in the Gulf area, which he described as a "Chinese surveillance ship" with "close ties" to the People's Liberation Army.

According to Ellis, Hai Yang Shi You (285) was moored not long ago, just 10 miles from U.S. assets, raising concerns about Chinese intelligence-gathering activity in the region amid the US-Iran conflict.

Chinese surveillance ship Hai Yang Shi You (285) got underway in the Gulf again, just before the ceasefire was set to expire.

The dual-use survey ship, with close ties to the PLA, rode out the ceasefire at port in Qatar, ~10 miles from U.S. assets forward-deployed at Al Udeid AB.

The latest ship-tracking data from Bloomberg shows that Hai Yang Shi You (285) has transited around the Gulf region, particularly around Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, over the last 60 days.

Ellis wrote in a separate X post that he closely monitors "20 Chinese research and surveillance ships."  

The question becomes: What was the Hai Yang Shi You 285 doing just ten miles from U.S. assets forward-deployed at Al Udeid Air Base?

The next question is whether the ship assisted Iran in attacks on the base. These are just basic questions.

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/alleged-chinese-spy-ship-lurking-near-us-base-qatar-raises-questions