Trump’s DOT Hires Unqualified Gamers to Fill Air Traffic Controller Vacancies

Mike Lindell lost by 45,000 votes and won't concede, sailors on the USS Lincoln are trying to jump overboard, and 92 percent of Americans won't see a doctor because they can't afford it

Good afternoon. I’m Ryan Rose, and this is AlterNet America.

The Trump administration has hired 2,000 video gamers to serve as air traffic controllers. Mike Lindell trailed by more than 45,000 votes in Minnesota’s Republican primary and still refuses to concede. Desperate sailors aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln have tried to jump overboard during an extended Middle East deployment. And 92 percent of American adults are now skipping the doctor because they can’t afford it.

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Trump’s DOT Is Staffing Vacant Air Traffic Controller Positions With Gamers

Your flight is now being guided by a guy who once threw a controller through drywall because he died in Fortnite.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced that the administration has hired 2,000 video gamers to serve as air traffic controllers, calling the results “HISTORIC” in an all-caps social media post. He said another 2,000 hires were “in the pipeline.”

The FAA’s reasoning was that only about 25 percent of controllers hold a traditional college degree, and that gaming teaches people to “think quickly, stay focused, and manage complexity.”

Michael O’Donnell, a former FAA official, cautioned that gaming experience “doesn’t replace aptitude, or discipline, or decision making under pressure.” Another expert said it plainly: “If they f*ck up, people die. They can’t just restart a new game.”

Supporters, including billionaire Bill Ackman and actress Justine Bateman, dismissed the critics as “Debbie Downers” and “Negative Nellys.” One fan warned only that a new World of Warcraft expansion might cause planes to fall out of the sky.

Mike Lindell Refuses to Concede Minnesota Primary Despite Landslide Loss

Mike Lindell got 32 percent of the vote and somehow thinks the other 68 percent is the mistake.

The MyPillow salesman and Trump-endorsed candidate has refused to concede Minnesota’s Republican gubernatorial primary despite trailing by a double-digit margin the morning after polls closed.

The Associated Press called the race for Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth, who beat Lindell by more than 45,000 votes, 43.4 percent to 32.5 percent.

Lindell dismissed the AP outright and insisted hundreds of thousands of votes remained uncounted. “I’m not going to give up this race until the votes are counted,” he said. “That’s nonsense.”

Lindell has spent what he says were tens of millions of dollars promoting the theory that Dominion Voting Systems rigged the 2020 election against Donald Trump. Dominion sued him for $1.3 billion, which he settled last month on confidential terms after taunting Fox News for paying $787 million to settle a similar lawsuit.

He also spent weeks not registered to vote in the state he wanted to govern, as his registration was still tied to a property in Lufkin, Texas. The voters, picky as ever, preferred someone who had been living in the state.

Desperate Sailors Tried to Jump Off the USS Abraham Lincoln

Jumping off an aircraft carrier means a five-story fall into open ocean at night, and right now, that’s beating the alternative.

Families say sailors aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln have tried to jump overboard during an extended deployment in the Middle East. The carrier, crewed by around 5,000 sailors and Marines, has been deployed since November 21. It was expected to return in May, and has no current return date.

Annabelle Loma said her husband is now on medical hold after trying to jump. “He’s scared,” she said. Maria Rodriguez said her husband hauled another shipmate off the edge with the help of four other sailors. At a town hall last week with Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao, one wife said her husband messaged that he “hopes he doesn’t wake up tomorrow.”

Vice Admiral Joseph Cahill told them, “We hear you loud and clear.”

Families have reported sailors eating half a cup of rice and two tortillas a day, showering in mold, and running out of toothpaste. The Office of the Chief of Naval Operations had dismissed reports of food shortages aboard the ship as “false,” insisting every crew member was receiving healthy, balanced meals.

The Navy has not clarified whether mold counts as a food group.

Shocking 92 Percent of Americans Skip the Doctor Due to Cost

The good news is almost every American has something in common. The bad news is it’s not being able to afford a doctor.

A new JG Wentworth survey of 1,507 adults found that 92 percent have delayed or abandoned medical care because of cost. Among adults aged 18 to 28, the figure climbs to 94.2 percent.

Nearly 20 percent of adults said their health got worse because they skipped a visit, 31 percent have opted for over-the-counter medication instead of prescriptions, and 19 percent skip doses or cut pills in half to make them last.

A doctor’s office visit for the uninsured averages $171 across major cities. About 85 percent of Americans now carry medical debt, totaling $220 billion collectively.

The Trump administration’s “The Great Healthcare Plan” promised to lower drug costs. Then 953 of the 971 drugs available went up in price in January, marking the second-highest number of price hikes in five years.

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POSITIVE STORIES YOU MAY HAVE MISSED:

Republican Voters Keep Rejecting Trump-Endorsed Candidates. Trump’s reputation as a Republican king-maker is crumbling in the very primaries where his endorsement should mean the most. Amir Hassan of Michigan, Andy Ogles of Tennessee, and Mike Lindell of Minnesota all lost after Trump backed them, while South Carolina’s Darline Graham is nowhere near the 50 percent she needs to avoid a runoff. Hassan lost by over 10,000 votes to Thomas Smith, a candidate who had already dropped out and stopped campaigning. Lindell went down by about 11 points (45,000 votes) and lost to Lisa Demuth. Losing to the candidate who quit is a new low, even for Republicans.

The Intercept Sues Trump for Selling Premium Access to His Own Posts. The Intercept and the Freedom of the Press Foundation on Wednesday filed suit against Trump and his employees over plans by Trump Media to charge up to $100,000 per month for early access to his Truth Social posts. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, contends that the “Truth API” proposal contravenes the First Amendment right of equal access to official government information, allowing Trump to sell access to his own public communications. The plan comes amid efforts to get the Trump Media & Technology Group company profitable after reporting a $238 million loss in the second quarter.

Kansas Reporter Settles Lawsuit for $850K Three Years After Police Raid on Newspaper. In 2023, police in Marion, Kansas, raided a small-town newspaper after a reporter looked up a public driving record. The publisher’s 98-year-old mother died the day after officers barged into her home. A federal judge later found that there was no probable cause for the raid. The police chief, Gideon Cody, has since resigned, moved to Hawaii, been charged with obstruction for telling someone to delete their texts, and lost his own lawyers. Meanwhile, the reporter who made the initial request has collected $1.45 million in settlements from the city and county.

John Oliver’s Buc-ee’s Beef Raised $500K for Charity. Following a report on the convenience store chain Buc-ee’s filing more than a dozen lawsuits against small businesses that have animal mascots, Last Week Tonight host John Oliver opened a “Buc-Off Shop” on its website that features a squirrel mascot of his own and dares the Texas-based company to sue him for trademark infringement. All proceeds from the merchandise, which will be sold until Sept. 8, go to Hunger Free America, and Oliver said the store has already raised nearly $500,000. While no one from Buc-ee’s has reached out to Oliver’s legal team, the company did recently file suit against Beaver Mini Mart, a small independent store outside Dayton, Ohio, where residents now flock to buy groceries in solidarity.