Nostr notes by GW

‘Strongman Vibes’: Trump Plans Military Parade Amid Market ...

2025-04-11T04:41:58Z

‘Strongman Vibes’: Trump Plans Military Parade Amid Market Crashes and Federal Job Slashes

Trump is reportedly planning to spend millions of taxpayer money to honor himself on his 79th birthday in June.

In 2018, “Trump angrily and reluctantly canceled his plans after military leaders said it would cost $92 million and after District officials complained that heavy military equipment—tanks and planes included—would tear up the roadways and cost $21 million”

https://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/2025/04/strongman-vibes-trump-plans-military-parade-amid-market-crashes-and-federal-job-slashes/

Paul Krugman: 'Trump Is Stupid, Erratic and Weak' Nobel ...

2025-04-11T03:06:43Z

Paul Krugman: 'Trump Is Stupid, Erratic and Weak'

Nobel laureate Paul Krugman joined other economists Thursday in delivering some harsh words for Trump’s shifting tariff policies and those who think he’s doing a good job.

“Anyone sounding the all-clear on tariffs, or Trump economic policy in general, should be kept away from sharp objects and banned from operating heavy machinery,” Krugman, wrote in a Substack post titled “Trump Is Stupid, Erratic and Weak.”

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/paul-krugman-trump-tariffs_n_67f7fa44e4b09493c8d87c87

What Would a General Strike in the US Actually Look Like? Calls ...

2025-04-10T03:33:11Z

What Would a General Strike in the US Actually Look Like?

Calls for a general strike in the US are growing. It's important to understand how to organize one, given their key role in overcoming tyrants around the world.

Something is in the air: A perception that American democracy and livable conditions for working people may only be saved by the kind of large-scale nonviolent direct action variously called “general strikes,” “political strikes,”

https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/what-would-a-general-strike-in-the-us-actually-look-like/

DANGER! DANGER! DANGER! AUTHORITARIAN BEING CREATED! House votes ...

2025-04-10T02:15:53Z

DANGER! DANGER! DANGER!
AUTHORITARIAN BEING CREATED!

House votes to limit judges’ power to rein in Trump.

By a vote of 219-213, the GOP passed the "No Rogue Rulings Act" to limit judges’ ability to issue the kind of nationwide injunctions that have arguably kept the White House from consolidating government power through executive actions. The bill restricts judges’ decisions to apply only to the original plaintiffs that brought the suits.

https://www.alternet.org/judges-oppose-trump/

The Case Against European Rearmament If we truly want to ...

2025-03-28T03:25:15Z

The Case Against European Rearmament

If we truly want to strengthen Europe, the first step is not to rearm. It is to forge the democratic union without which stagnation will continue to erode Europe’s capacities, rendering it unable to rebuild what is left of Ukraine

Inducting Ukraine into NATO after forcing Russia back behind its pre-2014 borders has been the only strategic aim EU leaders have allowed themselves to contemplate since Russia’s invasion three years ago

https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-case-against-european-rearmament/

Where do they get this shit?

2025-03-27T03:40:22Z

In reply to nevent1q…w78p
_________________________

Where do they get this shit?

JD Vance will join wife on Greenland trip amid backlash it is ...

2025-03-26T04:24:45Z

JD Vance will join wife on Greenland trip amid backlash

it is "highly unusual" that a high-level delegation of US officials are visiting Greenland without being invited, especially after a national election in the country, where the parties are still in talks to form the next government.

INSULTING ARROGANCE

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvgwjllld1ro

The Weight of Fear: The Silent Erosion of Academic Freedom There ...

2025-03-25T02:43:40Z

The Weight of Fear: The Silent Erosion of Academic Freedom

There was a time when the university was imagined as a space of intellectual risk, where thought could move freely, unrestricted by the anxieties of power or professional survival.

That time is long gone. Today, for students and faculty alike, the act of writing – of producing knowledge, of articulating critique—is suffused with fear.

Not the productive fear that accompanies intellectual rigor...

https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-weight-of-fear-the-silent-erosion-of-academic-freedom/

Pam Bondi warns Jasmine Crockett to ‘tread very carefully’ in ...

2025-03-24T02:20:38Z

Pam Bondi warns Jasmine Crockett to ‘tread very carefully’ in what she says about Elon Musk

The warning comes days after the Democrat spoke at a virtual rally held for the The Tesla Takedown movement, a group rallying against Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency’s efforts to bulldoze the federal bureaucracy through boycotts and demonstrations at Tesla properties. The coalition is organizing 500 demonstrations March 29 at Tesla locations across the country.

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/03/23/bondi-jasmine-crockett-musk-tesla-protests-00244256

Who Will Defend the Defenders of the Constitution? If he ...

2025-03-23T05:56:48Z

Who Will Defend the Defenders of the Constitution?

If he continues to defy court orders, judges may need to begin holding his lawyers and aides in contempt.

Justice Roberts, as well as his Supreme Court colleagues, may have to become bolder about protecting the legal system they oversee.

Law firm leaders would do well to summon more patriotism and courage.

Members of Congress can do the same by asserting their own constitutional powers.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/22/opinion/law-firms-judges-intimidation.html

As Powerful Law Firms Roll Over for Trump, One Lawyer Has Had ...

2025-03-22T06:10:43Z

As Powerful Law Firms Roll Over for Trump, One Lawyer Has Had Enough

In a company-wide email that was publicized online, Rachel Cohen, condemned her employers for failing to speak out against the Trump administration’s retaliatory efforts. Cohen said that her letter should be considered a resignation unless any meaningful action emerged.

Paul Weiss’ decision to cave to the Trump administration on DEI, representation, and staffing has forced my hand,” she wrote

https://www.motherjones.com/criminal-justice/2025/03/rachel-cohen-skadden-paul-weiss-trump/

A Child Died of Measles. Then Her Parents Appeared in an Anti-Vax ...

2025-03-20T20:22:56Z

A Child Died of Measles. Then Her Parents Appeared in an Anti-Vax Video.

Staffers from the group that RFK Jr. led conducted the interview—and a fundraiser for unproven treatments.

“Absolutely not take the MMR [vaccine]. The measles wasn’t that bad. [The other children] got over it pretty quickly."

WHAT THE F#CK, ONLY ONE DIED! WHO NEEDS VACCINE?

YOU JUST CAN'T FIX STUPID!!!

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/03/rfk-jr-vaccine-measles-childrens-health-defense/

These brutal, murderous, terrorist cartel gangs have given up the ...

2025-03-18T04:01:56Z

In reply to nevent1q…n7dk
_________________________

These brutal, murderous, terrorist cartel gangs have given up the right to live among people who believe in the rule of law. The fact they are allowed to live at all is a show of empathy.

Israeli Blockade Leaves 1 Million Children in Gaza Without Basic ...

2025-03-17T17:56:42Z

Israeli Blockade Leaves 1 Million Children in Gaza Without Basic Necessities 'Yet Again': UNICEF

"My children are crying at home from hunger and I have nothing to give them," said one mother. "I can't afford to buy what we need. There's simply no way to survive."

After a four-day mission to the West Bank and Gaza, a top official for the United Nations' children's welfare agency on Sunday described the effects that Israel's blockade on all humanitarian aid

https://www.commondreams.org/news/israel-blocking-aid

Trump views himself as 'monarch ordained by a god' — ...

2025-03-17T17:31:00Z

Trump views himself as 'monarch ordained by a god' — not a 'public servant': analysis

"From using the White House's South Lawn to shill cars for his biggest campaign donor to demanding taxpayer-funded ads that claim he victoriously closed the southern border Trump is demonstrating that, as he stated in his first term, he has 'the right to do whatever I want' That's his twisted interpretation of Article 2 of the Constitution, which describes the power of the president"

https://www.alternet.org/trump-obama-roosevelt-truman/

I can't disagree; my own best mental sharpness sure ...

2025-03-17T05:10:19Z

In reply to nevent1q…vmqv
_________________________

I can't disagree; my own best mental sharpness sure hasn't improved since I passed seventy.
Now, getting closer to eighty, I'm certainly not as sharp and shouldn't be making decisions that would affect others.

Don’t Fool Yourself Into Thinking It Will Stop With Columbia ...

2025-03-17T03:51:56Z

Don’t Fool Yourself Into Thinking It Will Stop With Columbia

Columbia University is now the epicenter of the American culture war. The Trump administration is targeting a former Columbia student — and the university itself — as a test case for its new authoritarian regime.

The story of Columbia isn’t simply about Mahmoud Khalil, a former graduate student in international affairs there who was one of the leaders of the pro-Palestinian protests that burst into view

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/16/opinion/trump-khalil-columbia-speech.html

Chuck Schumer Is Facing a Biden Moment SCHUMER’S handling of ...

2025-03-17T03:14:17Z

Chuck Schumer Is Facing a Biden Moment

SCHUMER’S handling of the government funding fight has caused such damage to his standing in the party that even supporters were privately discussing this week whether it represented the nadir of his lengthy political career.

It wasn’t because they felt Schumer had erred in shepherding a House Republican-authored bill to passage in the Senate. It was how feeble he appeared to be in the process—a leader in title but not spirit.

https://www.thebulwark.com/p/chuck-schumer-is-facing-a-biden-moment

'Regret your vote now?': Reactions to Trump ordering ...

2025-03-16T00:29:00Z

'Regret your vote now?': Reactions to Trump ordering 'decisive' Yemen strike pour in

Trump also posted, "Our brave Warfighters are right now carrying out aerial attacks on the terrorists’ bases, leaders, and missile defenses to protect American shipping, air, and naval assets, and to restore Navigational Freedom. No terrorist force will stop American commercial and naval vessels from freely sailing the Waterways of the World.

https://www.alternet.org/trump-yemen-houthis/

'A stupid fight': Conservative blasts Trump for action ...

2025-03-14T00:40:03Z

'A stupid fight': Conservative blasts Trump for action 'too absurd to believe'

"Politically, it’s a stupid fight to pick. If the Trump administration and other pro-Israel conservatives are worried about the shifting opinions of younger generations in their view toward the Jewish state, the last thing they would want to do is kick off a high-profile First Amendment battle with flimsy, if any, evidence of wrongdoing, only galvanize the pro-Palestine movement

https://www.alternet.org/conservative-blasts-trump-absurd/

Make No Mistake, Trump Is Turning the US Into a Police State The ...

2025-03-13T01:35:44Z

Make No Mistake, Trump Is Turning the US Into a Police State

The arrest and detention of Mahmoud Khalil is a blatant attack on the civil liberties without which there can be no meaningful democracy for anyone. Our dark days are getting darker by the moment.

The arrest of Khalil Mahmoud is an offense to every citizen of the United States, and it sets a precedent that endangers us all.

Our dark time is getting darker by the day.

https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/trump-s-police-state

What's driving this MAGA madness? Trump allows people to ...

2025-03-12T05:27:13Z

What's driving this MAGA madness?

Trump allows people to express their racism and bigotry in a way that they haven’t been able to in quite a while, and they really love him for that.

It’s a shocking thing to realize people love nurturing their hatred more than they care about their own actual lives.

Proof positive of the unfortunate truth that human stupidity persists despite all attempts at education and enlightenment.

USAID staff told to shred and burn classified documents AFSA ...

2025-03-12T03:42:14Z

USAID staff told to shred and burn classified documents

AFSA noted that federal law dictates that government records must be preserved as they are "essential to transparency, accountability, and the integrity of the legal process".

The union warned that " the unlawful destruction of federal records could carry serious legal consequences for anyone directed to act in violation of the law."

The Federal Records Act sets out guidelines for the proper disposal of documents

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cjw2yywy3x7o

The US Is Undergoing a Corporate Coup. Sudan Shows How Dangerous ...

2025-03-11T03:21:01Z

The US Is Undergoing a Corporate Coup. Sudan Shows How Dangerous It Can Become.

This corporate coup may not look like the military coups we are familiar with — often backed by the U.S. itself — but it is not without precedent. The unfolding crises in Sudan show just how quickly this kind of unchecked corporate power can lead to state takeover and widespread violence. As the U.S. descends further down this path by the day, these examples hold a crucial warning.

https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-us-is-undergoing-a-corporate-coup-sudan-shows-how-dangerous-it-can-become/

USDA cancels $1B in local food purchasing for schools, food banks ...

2025-03-11T02:36:30Z

USDA cancels $1B in local food purchasing for schools, food banks

States have been notified that they will not receive 2025 funding for schools to buy food from nearby farms.

The Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program, which supports food banks and other feeding organizations, has also been cut. USDA notified states that it did not plan to carry out a second round of funding for fiscal year 2025.

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/03/10/usda-cancels-local-food-purchasing-for-schools-food-banks-00222796

Afghan women who fled Taliban to study abroad face imminent ...

2025-03-08T21:53:40Z

Afghan women who fled Taliban to study abroad face imminent return after USAID cuts

More than 80 Afghan women who fled the Taliban to pursue higher education in Oman now face imminent return back to Afghanistan, following the Trump administration's sweeping cuts to foreign aid programmes

"It was heart-breaking," one student told the BBC, speaking anonymously for fear of reprisals. "Everyone was shocked and crying. We've been told we will be sent back within two weeks"

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cg4k25wlw21o

US suspends intelligence sharing with Ukraine CIA Director John ...

2025-03-06T03:45:58Z

US suspends intelligence sharing with Ukraine

CIA Director John Ratcliffe confirms US ‘pause’ in intelligence sharing with Kyiv amid tensions between allies.

The cut-off comes after the US suspended military aid to Ukraine amid a dramatic collapse in relations between Trump and Zelenskyy.

Since the start of the war in 2022, the US has provided Ukraine with significant intelligence, including critical information its military needs for targeting purposes.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/3/5/us-suspends-intelligence-sharing-with-ukraine

John Kennedy introduces ‘no propaganda act’ to defund NPR and ...

2025-03-05T04:27:15Z

John Kennedy introduces ‘no propaganda act’ to defund NPR and PBS

“We’re spending half a billion dollars a year, 14 and a half billion dollars over time, to give to people at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and NPR and NPS [sic] to participate in opinion journalism, which they’re entitled to do, but they can’t do it on the taxpayer dime. They’re doing it on the taxpayer dime, but they shouldn’t be able to,” Kennedy said on the Senate floor.

https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/2025/03/04/media-news-daily-top-stories-for-03-04-2025/

Democrat Al Green removed from the chamber Speaker Mike Johnson, ...

2025-03-05T03:15:26Z

Democrat Al Green removed from the chamber

Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, instructed the sergeant at arms to remove Democrats jeering at Trump, and Democrat Al Green – who was seen waving his cane – was escorted out of the chamber.

Green, a prominent critic of Trump, said last month that he would bring impeachment charges against Trump over his proposal to ethnically cleanse Gaza to make room for high-end real estate development.

AMERICAN HERO!

Trump has taken over the Justice Department’s PR strategy ...

2025-03-04T05:57:45Z

Trump has taken over the Justice Department’s PR strategy

...the bureau’s investigative actions during the previous administration. Patel, who started in the director job only days before, said in a statement that “there will be no cover-ups, no missing documents, and no stone left unturned — and anyone from the prior or current Bureau who undermines this will be swiftly pursued. If there are gaps, we will find them. If records have been hidden, we will uncover them.”

https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/03/politics/justice-department-stephen-miller-strategy/index.html

How Trump’s compulsion to dominate sabotages dealmaking and ...

2025-03-03T01:54:58Z

How Trump’s compulsion to dominate sabotages dealmaking and threatens global stability

Trump’s compulsion to dominate both allies and enemies seems to have caused him to jettison the negotiation the moment that Zelenskyy declined to perform subservient fealty. The meeting, which was ended by Trump with no agreement signed, illustrated why authoritarians are lousy dealmakers, particularly when autocratic instincts are exacerbated by what’s known as toxic masculinity.

https://www.alternet.org/trump-dominate/

Ask yourself why Congress has allowed itself to be so manipulated ...

2025-02-23T19:48:16Z

Ask yourself why Congress has allowed itself to be so manipulated by Trump's radical policies.

It's due to a combination of two things: first, the fact that many lawmakers would rather not deal with the difficult task of reaching a compromise in legislation, which would give the Trump-Musk duo more power

Further, some of the president's party, in particular, are so worried about losing votes that they are willing to compromise on constitutional issues in order to avoid a fight

VOTE THEM OUT!

Billionaire predicts 'regime shift' after Trump policies ...

2025-02-22T04:12:14Z

Billionaire predicts 'regime shift' after Trump policies prove to be 'negative for the economy'

Cohen, predicted that GDP growth would slow from Trump's policies by anywhere from 1.5% to 2.5% in the latter half of 2025. He specifically mentioned Trump's mass deportations of undocumented immigrants, layoffs of thousands of federal workers due to budget cuts and the tariffs he imposed on goods imported from overseas.

https://www.alternet.org/trump-policies-economy/

RFK Jr., Onetime Environmentalist, Kills NIH Climate Change ...

2025-02-20T02:53:23Z

RFK Jr., Onetime Environmentalist, Kills NIH Climate Change Programs

He pulled HHS support from projects that aim to protect Americans’ health.

On February 14 of this year, his second day as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, he ended HHS funding for climate change and health programs at the National Institutes of Health, a move that will likely terminate this work.

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/02/robert-f-kennedy-jr-climate-change-health-national-institutes-of-health-ken-callahan/

Trump Tariffs Show GOP Aims to Make Working Class Fund ...

2025-02-20T01:54:49Z

Trump Tariffs Show GOP Aims to Make Working Class Fund 'Payday for Billionaires and Giant Corporations'

One critic said the party's "top priority is making working- and middle-class families pay more for healthcare, lifesaving medications, food, cars, and electronics, all to fund more tax breaks for the ultrawealthy."

Trump's promise of tariffs targeting the automobile industry, pharmaceuticals, and semiconductor chips

https://www.commondreams.org/news/tariffs-trump

'Uniquely egregious': Judge orders newspaper to delete ...

2025-02-20T00:53:46Z

'Uniquely egregious': Judge orders newspaper to delete editorial criticizing government

"It's hard to imagine a more unconstitutional order than one compelling a newspaper to take down an editorial critical of the government," he said. “And it’s particularly ironic when the editorial in question is about government secrecy undermining the public trust ... If anyone previously trusted the secretive officials involved in this censorship campaign, they shouldn't now.”

https://www.alternet.org/judge-newspaper-editorial/

Trump Blames Russia’s Invasion Of Ukraine On Zelenskyy ...

2025-02-19T04:07:55Z

Trump Blames Russia’s Invasion Of Ukraine On Zelenskyy

“[Zelenskyy] should’ve ended it in three years,” Trump, who has repeatedly and baselessly claimed the war wouldn’t have happened if he were in office at the time, said. “You should have never started it.

You could have made a deal. I could have made a deal for Ukraine that would have given them almost all of the land, and no people would have been killed, and no city would have been demolished and not one dome would have been knocked

Israel’s Destruction of Gaza Has Created an Environmental ...

2025-02-17T03:45:44Z

Israel’s Destruction of Gaza Has Created an Environmental Nightmare

Detailed satellite images taken since the ceasefire began show 80 percent of Gaza’s trees lost. In addition, vital wetlands, sand dunes, coastal waters, and the only significant river, the Wadi Gaza, have all suffered extensively. the stripping of trees, shrubs, and crops has so badly damaged the soils of the once-fertile, biodiverse, and well-watered territory that it faces long-term desertification.

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/02/israel-gaza-destruction-environmental-humanitarian-nightmare-united-nations-un/

'Cold and cruel': Former federal workers 'shocked, ...

2025-02-16T17:10:27Z

'Cold and cruel': Former federal workers 'shocked, angry and emotionally distraught'

As has been widely reported, the Trump administration has begun implementing mass layoffs across several federal agencies, leaving thousands of workers reeling.
"said they were shocked, angry and emotionally distraught by the terminations."

With a mortgage, preschool tuition and car payments looming, her family's financial stability has been abruptly upended.

https://www.alternet.org/fired-federal-workers/

JD Vance exposed as key architect of effort to 'entirely ...

2025-02-12T02:28:57Z

JD Vance exposed as key architect of effort to 'entirely upend' checks and balances

Vance defended comments he made in a 2021 podcast in which he said Trump should "fire every single midlevel bureaucrat, every civil servant in the administrative state" if reelected. He then argued that if the courts intervened to stop those firings, Trump should "stand before the country like Andrew Jackson did and say: ‘The chief justice has made his ruling. Now let him enforce it.'"

https://www.alternet.org/vance-constitutional-crisis/

'A surprise to most': Nobel Prize-winning economist warns ...

2025-02-11T04:30:09Z

'A surprise to most': Nobel Prize-winning economist warns US of 'unexpected decline' under Trump

Nobel Prize-winning economist Daron Acemoglu

Acemoglu imagines a scenario whereby Trump’s creation of the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) doesn’t “do much to improve the business environment or competitiveness,” but instead "further [weakens] oversight of corruption.”

https://www.alternet.org/trump-institutions/

'He's Building a Concentration Camp': Fears Grow as ...

2025-02-10T05:24:57Z

'He's Building a Concentration Camp': Fears Grow as Images Emerge of Offshore Prison at Gitmo

"There's no reason to build this in Guantánamo unless you want to do things you don't think you could get away with on the U.S. mainland. It's easy to put tents in Florida. But they're putting them in Cuba. Ask yourself why."

https://www.commondreams.org/news/gitmo-concentration-camp

Aim better

2025-02-04T04:51:24Z

In reply to nevent1q…972l
_________________________

Aim better

'Very dangerous': Trump dumps billions of gallons of ...

2025-02-01T03:18:21Z

'Very dangerous': Trump dumps billions of gallons of water farmers were counting on for summer

President Donald Trump recently ordered the release of massive amounts of water from two California dams, and now local farmers are scrambling to preserve precious freshwater resources needed for dry summer months.

"Everybody should be happy about this long fought Victory!" he tweeted. "I only wish they listened to me six years ago – There would have been no fire!"

https://www.alternet.org/trump-california-water/

Trump’s genocidal plan to ‘clean out’ Gaza was there all ...

2025-01-30T02:55:41Z

Trump’s genocidal plan to ‘clean out’ Gaza was there all along

The US president has clearly had only Israeli and real estate interests at heart.

It is a humbling sight watching battered Palestinians stream, mostly on foot

The quiet, dignified procession back to the flattened remnants of their homes and uncertain lives is a moving testament to the resolve of a people who, despite the pervasive grief and loss, are determined to reclaim and rebuild what a genocidal regime sought to erase.

How Fascists Rewrite History Rioters who assaulted police ...

2025-01-25T08:05:28Z

How Fascists Rewrite History

Rioters who assaulted police officers become "hostages" praised for their courage. Nearly 1,600 pardons are issued by that demagogue, who confidently rewrites history to serve his agenda.

Trump's Day 1 legal reprieves for the Capitol rioters represent both an assault on democratic principles and a stark warning. They demonstrate how rapidly truth can be degraded and distorted when someone systematically works to reshape reality for their own purposes.

'Freaked out': Details emerge from Trump’s ...

2025-01-25T03:06:44Z

'Freaked out': Details emerge from Trump’s 'horrendous' call with #Denmark over #Greenland

45-minute call between #Trump and Frederiksen, which took place last week. Five unnamed "current and former senior European officials" told the Times that the call went "very badly." Trump insisted to the Danish leader that Greenland — which belongs to Denmark — should be the property of the United States, arguing that it was necessary for "national security" purposes.

https://www.alternet.org/trump-greenland-denmark-call/

'Haunting' Footage as Gazans Return to Homes in Ruin ...

2025-01-23T03:17:57Z

'Haunting' Footage as Gazans Return to Homes in Ruin

"This wasn't an accident. The far-right members of the Israeli government wanted to render Gaza unlivable with the aim of forcing 2 million Palestinians to flee (forever)," said one human rights leader.

Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip are returning home after a cease-fire deal between Hamas and Israel went into effect Sunday, halting 15 months of war that local health officials say killed over 46,000 people.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/gazans-return-homes-destroyed

Alarm Bells Sound as #Trump Gets to Work on 'Extreme ...

2025-01-22T02:44:56Z

Alarm Bells Sound as #Trump Gets to Work on 'Extreme #Authoritarian Agenda'

"In the last 24 hours, Trump has passed dozens of executive orders—many beyond his powers," said Popular Democracy co-director Analilia Mejia and DaMareo Cooper in a Tuesday statement. "Yet, not one of them has lowered prices or made life better for Americans. Instead, he's focused on eroding #democracy, attacking constitutional rights, and spreading #fear, #cruelty, and #chaos

https://www.commondreams.org/news/trump-authoritarian

The Stagecraft That Ushered in the Trump Oligarchy The VIPs ...

2025-01-20T20:46:47Z

The Stagecraft That Ushered in the Trump Oligarchy

The VIPs behind the president were worth more than $1.3 trillion. The message they sent couldn’t have been clearer.

stewards of the American system—a special fourth branch of government.

You could learn most of what you needed to know about the tone and tenor of Trump’s second inauguration by the people who showed up to watch it. It was a perfectly 2025 mixture of influencers, fighters, billionaires, and bootlickers.

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/01/trump-inauguration-oligarchy-musk-bezos-zuckerberg-brin-billionaires/

'Melania was late': MAGA blames first lady after Trump ...

2025-01-20T19:55:41Z

'Melania was late': MAGA blames first lady after Trump doesn’t place hand on Bible during swearing-in

Steele posted an Associated Press (AP) photo from the swearing-in ceremony. In the photo, Trump is seen raising his right hand while his left hand is hanging at his side — not placed on the Bible, which First Lady Melania Trump was holding.

Writer Greg Cantwell mockingly tweeted, "He was afraid his hand would burn if he put it on the Bible and lied."

https://www.alternet.org/trump/trump-bible-michael-steele/

"NBC reported that tech billionaires Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, ...

2025-01-17T04:48:59Z

"NBC reported that tech billionaires Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg will all have prominent seats on the platform at Trump's inauguration. The symbolism is unmistakable."

"Those seats are usually reserved for family members, former presidents, and prominent politicians. Giving those seats to billionaires signals loudly that this is a new era of oligarchy, without even an attempt to feign allegiance to pre-Trump notions of government for and by the people.

https://www.alternet.org/trump-populism-marcotte/

A Year of Empty Threats and a “Smokescreen” Policy: How the ...

2025-01-16T04:18:03Z

A Year of Empty Threats and a “Smokescreen” Policy: How the State Department Let Israel Get Away With Horrors in Gaza

Israel has repeatedly crossed the Biden administration’s human rights red lines. But the U.S. continued to send weapons. Exclusive records and interviews reveal what happened inside the State Department.

https://www.propublica.org/article/biden-blinken-state-department-israel-gaza-human-rights-horrors

Israel and Palestine The Doctor Who Saw Children Shot in the Head ...

2025-01-12T02:41:11Z

Israel and Palestine

The Doctor Who Saw Children Shot in the Head in Gaza—and Tried to Tell the World

Dr. Feroze Sidhwa has spent six months talking about what he saw as an emergency physician in Gaza. Why don’t people believe him?

Dr. Sidhwa has volunteered as a trauma surgeon in Ukraine, Haiti, Burkina Faso, and Ghana. But when he went to Gaza in March and April of this year, it changed him. Sidhwa had never seen so much horror in his life.

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2024/10/feroze-sidhwa-new-york-times-children-gaza-shot-in-head-israel-palestine-doctor/

Reporter reveals what media misses in Trump coverage Pulitzer ...

2025-01-06T02:16:57Z

Reporter reveals what media misses in Trump coverage

Pulitzer Prize winner David Cay Johnston, who referred to the 45th and 47th president of the United States as "the greatest con artist in the history of the world."

"You’ve got to stop covering him like he’s just another politician, with a different agenda,” Johnston told Froomkin in December. “He’s a criminal and a con artist. And that has to be central to everything you cover about him.”

https://www.alternet.org/reporter-trump-coverage/

Mehmet Oz, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the ...

2025-01-02T04:14:28Z

Mehmet Oz, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, once said the uninsured “don’t have a right to health.”

The physician, better known as the TV celebrity Dr. Oz, made the comment during a 2013 address to the National Governor’s Association. He told attendees should be given “a way of crawling back out of the abyss

He added that the uninsured don’t have a right to health, only the right to access a chance at health.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143364952

Sanders Lays Out Plan to Fight Oligarchy as Wealth of Top ...

2025-01-01T04:42:37Z

Sanders Lays Out Plan to Fight Oligarchy as Wealth of Top Billionaires Passes $10 Trillion

"If there was ever a moment "Despair is not an option."

Just eight billionaires—Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Jensen Huang, Larry Ellison, Jeff Bezos, Michael Dell, Larry Page, and Sergey Brin—added more than $600 billion to their collective wealth in 2024 and accounted for 43% of the $1.5 trillion increase in net worth among the world's 500 richest people, according to Bloomberg.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/bernie-sanders-billionaire-wealth

Whistleblower Karen Silkwood’s Urgent Message for Us Karen ...

2024-12-31T02:40:57Z

Whistleblower Karen Silkwood’s Urgent Message for Us

Karen Silkwood died in 1974 while trying to expose dangerous conditions in her workplace. Her death — and the smear campaign that followed — highlights how retaliation against whistleblowers deflects scrutiny from power by targeting the messenger.

Silkwood’s story underscores a critical point: focusing on a whistleblower’s character distracts from the content of their claims.

https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/whistleblower-karen-silkwoods-urgent-message-for-us/

"It's not just the billionaire ownership and control over ...

2024-12-27T21:04:27Z

"It's not just the billionaire ownership and control over the economy and the media that should concern us.

The uber-rich are also buying our government and undermining American democracy,"

The United States is increasingly a country of have and have nots, and it will "move rapidly down the path of oligarchy and the rule of the super-rich" unless the people and political leaders fight for a government and economy that works for everyone.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/bernie-sanders-oligarchy-fox-op-ed

"Dire shortage": Elon Musk sparks MAGA backlash after ...

2024-12-26T21:33:17Z

"Dire shortage": Elon Musk sparks MAGA backlash after calling for more immigrant workers

The Tesla CEO argues the U.S. needs to court top talent after financing the loudest anti-immigration run in decades

South African-born Elon Musk was once an immigrant to the U.S., illegally overstaying his visa to build a future here. He employs hundreds of foreign-born engineers at his Tesla and SpaceX companies and says they fill a shortage of American-born workers.

https://www.salon.com/2024/12/26/dire-shortage-elon-musk-sparks-maga-backlash-after-calling-for-more-workers/

The DOJ Is Letting McKinsey Opioid Consultants Off the Hook The ...

2024-12-26T21:09:00Z

The DOJ Is Letting McKinsey Opioid Consultants Off the Hook

The new Justice Department policy is meant to provide leniency to corporations that cooperate with federal investigations and self-report crimes. But now McKinsey is benefiting from the new policy, even though prosecutors said that the consulting firm worked to obstruct their investigation.

https://jacobin.com/2024/12/biden-doj-mckinsey-opioid-epidemic

Billy Long, Trump’s Nominee to Lead the IRS, Touts a Credential ...

2024-12-26T17:43:16Z

Billy Long, Trump’s Nominee to Lead the IRS, Touts a Credential That Tax Experts Say Is Dubious

The former representative from Missouri, who once pushed to abolish the IRS, has marketed himself as a certified tax and business advisor after attending only a three-day seminar.

https://www.propublica.org/article/billy-long-irs-trump-certified-tax-business-advisor-missouri

Antisemitic and racist tweets spiked after Musk's ...

2024-12-21T04:51:26Z

Antisemitic and racist tweets spiked after Musk's acquisition; in the first 24 hours after his purchase, "over 1200 tweets and retweets" had spread antisemitism, the Anti-Defamation League said.

Hateful rhetoric towards Black people also increased, with The Washington Post finding a 500% increase in the use of the N-word on X just half a day after Musk's purchase.

https://theweek.com/elon-musk/1022182/elon-musks-most-controversial-moments

Fascism has arrived in America, it is draped in Christian ...

2024-12-21T03:50:48Z

Fascism has arrived in America, it is draped in Christian patriotic symbols. At the same time, a racist, womanizing demagogue and his oligarch puppet masters cherry-pick legal loopholes backed up by a corrupt Supreme Court, just as they have done to defend greed and keep women in positions of subservience.

Call for $2.5 Trillion in Cuts Proves GOP Wants to 'Steal Our ...

2024-12-20T22:06:40Z

Call for $2.5 Trillion in Cuts Proves GOP Wants to 'Steal Our Benefits'

"Nearly 60% of mandatory spending is for Medicare and Social Security," noted one expert. "If they don't touch those, they'd have to cut Medicaid to the bone."

With a potential government shutdown just hours away, House Republican leaders displayed a slide during a closed-door GOP conference meeting on Friday showing a draft agreement proposing $2.5 trillion in net mandatory spending cuts

If Musk Blocking a Key Spending Bill Isn’t Oligarchy, I Don’t ...

2024-12-20T03:44:33Z

If Musk Blocking a Key Spending Bill Isn’t Oligarchy, I Don’t Know What Is

You may not get access to services you depend on just before the holidays because an unelected billionaire shadow president wanted it that way.

https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/musk-government-shutdown

Sunflowers at Sunset ...

2023-08-22T03:30:46Z

Sunflowers at Sunset