March 22, 1933 The Nazi German concentration camp at Dachau was opened, the first of many such camps built for the incarceration and extermination of those considered unfit: Jews, Polish Catholics, Communists, the Roma (frequently referred to as Gypsies), the “work-shy,” homosexuals, the “hereditary asocial,” and those with mental and/or physical handicaps. The gate to Dachau “Work will make you free” Over 200,000 prisoners were registered at Dachau, nearly all of whom died there. The early days of Dachau
March 22, 1956 Civil rights leader Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., was convicted of organizing an allegedly illegal boycott by black passengers of buses in Montgomery, Alabama. He was fined $500 but when his lawyers indicated his intent to appeal, the sentence was changed to 386 days of imprisonment. Story of the Montgomery Bus Boycott
March 22, 1965 3,200 civil rights demonstrators, led by the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., and under protection of a federalized National Guard, began a third attempt at a week-long march from Selma, Alabama, to the state capitol at Montgomery in support of voting rights for black Americans. Marchers on their way to Montgomery A week before, the march had been violently stopped before leaving Selma. People from all over the country arrived to support the effort for enfranchisement of African Americans in the South whose right to vote had been systematically denied. From Selma to Montgomery: An Introduction to the 1965 Marches – Lesson Plan
March 22, 1974 The Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (ERA) was passed by both houses of Congress with two-thirds majorities. The amendment, to give women full equality under law, was ratified by the legislatures of only 35 states, short of the required three-quarters of the 50 states, and thus never became law. Detailed history of the Equal Rights Amendment
March 22, 1980 30,000 marched in Washington, DC against re-introduction of draft registration. Denise Levertov’s lines from her poem, “A Speech for Antidraft Rally, D.C., March 22, 1980″”…Let our different dream, and more than dream, our acts of constructive refusal generate struggle. And love. We must dare to win not wars, but a future in which to live.” The entire poem(pdf)
March 21, 1937 On Palm Sunday (the Sunday before Easter), the Nationalist Party of Puerto Rico was to march in Ponce (city on the southern coast of the island) in support of Puerto Rican independence. They were also protesting the imprisonment of Albizu Campos, leader of the Party and the lawyer for the sugarcane workers who had led a general strike.The colonial military governor, Blanton Winship (a Georgian who had been Judge Advocate General of the U.S. Army), revoked the parade permit at the last minute. Nationalists insisted on marching regardless and, surrounded by the well armed police, were fired upon as they began. Whoever fired the first shot, 18 Nationalists and 2 policemen died. 200 others, Nationalists and bystanders, were injured, 150 arrested. This incident is known as Masacre de Ponce, or “The Ponce Massacre.” Families of those who died in the Ponce Massacre A history of Puerto Rico The Ponce massacre remembered
March 21, 1960 South African police opened fire on unarmed demonstrators in the black township of Sharpeville near Johannesburg. The demonstrators were protesting the establishment of apartheid pass laws which restricted movement of non-whites. In Sharpeville itself, 69 were killed and 176 wounded when police fired on the crowd, 63 of them shot in the back. In the aftermath of the Sharpeville massacre, protests broke out in Cape Town and elsewhere, and there were further casualties. Overall, 13,000 were jailed. The organizer, Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe, head of the Pan-Africanist Congress, had written to the police commissioner, notifying him of the plans, and had said at a press conference, “I have appealed to the African people to make sure that this campaign is conducted in a spirit of absolute nonviolence, and I am quite certain they will heed my call.” The Sharpeville Massacre and its significance in South African history
March 21, 2003 The report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa was released. The commission was led by the Reverend Desmond Tutu, a bishop in the Anglican Church, the first black General Secretary of the South African Council of Churches, and Nobel Peace Prize winner for his efforts to bring peace and justice to all South Africans. .Archbishop Desmond Mpilo Tutu The Commission was charged with investigating and providing “as complete a picture as possible of the nature, causes and extent of gross violations of human rights” under the racial separatist apartheid regime from 1960 until the inauguration of Nelson Mandela in 1994, South Africa’s first black president. But the Commission sought to go beyond truth-finding to promote national unity and reconciliation, to facilitate the granting of amnesty to those who made full factual disclosure, to restore the human and civil dignity of victims by providing them an opportunity to tell their own stories, and to make recommendations to the president on measures to prevent future human rights violations. Reverand Tutu concluded in his foreword to the report, “Quite improbably, we as South Africans have become a beacon of hope to others locked in deadly conflict that peace, that a just resolution, is possible. If it could happen in South Africa, then it can certainly happen anywhere else. Such is the exquisite divine sense of humour.” The complete report of the Commission
March 21, 2008 More than 300 people participated in an annual Good Friday peace action at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, organized by Tri-Valley Communities Against a Radioactive Environment (CARES). The lab is a key participant in the design of all weapons in the U.S. nuclear arsenal. The Alameda County Sheriff arrested 91 of the protesters. CARES Executive Director Marylia Kelley said, “The emphasis is on nonviolence and rejecting violence.” The organization behind the action
March 21, 2011 An estimated 14 million Egyptians voted in an essentially problem-free election. 77% voted to endorse a process that would bring elections for parliament within six months and a presidential election later.
If it can happen to them, being held without due process. It can happen to any of us. We know it has happened before with US citizens of Mexican heritage that were not allowed any due process but just deported. We know tRump had unmarked black bag groups just adduct people off the streets during the BLM protests. They were held with no charges, interrogated by people who did not identify themselves, and had their items take and phones searched. In some cases they never got their phones back. It can and will happen to any of us if it is not stopped now. Hugs
A man being held by ICE at the KROME detention center in Miami is posting videos to TikTok about the inhumane conditions and treatment.
You’ve likely heard that Judge Theodore Chuang has enjoined DOGE in the context of its destruction of USAID.
Just as importantly, he has ruled that an Appointments Clause challenge to DOGE is likely to succeed. As I have repeatedly argued, such a challenge — arguing that to wield as much power as Elon Musk does, you have to be Senate confirmed in a position created by Congress — would be most likely to survive a SCOTUS review. (It’s the same basis Aileen Cannon used to throw out the Jack Smith case.)
To be sure, I’m a bit skeptical about the order and injunction. The latter only enjoins DOGE from doing anything on their own; if they get USAID approval, they can do whatever they want to do.
But the opinion notes that the Appointments ruling only applies to two things that, the record before the court shows, Elon did himself: shutting down USAID as an agency and shutting down the building. While the injunction requires USAID to stop any further terminations and let employees start accessing payment systems again, even though it notes that Gavin Kliger sent the email that terminated at least a few of the plaintiffs, those decisions involved Marco Rubio and Pete Marocco.
The opinion is most fun for the two extended sections where it dismisses the government’s claim that Elon is not in charge of DOGE.
Most notably, on February 19, 2025, President Trump publicly stated, “I signed an order creating the Department of Government Efficiency and put a man named Elon Musk in charge.” J.R. 568. Musk spoke on behalf of DOGE at a joint press conference with the President on February 11, in a joint interview with the President on February 18, and at the Cabinet meeting on February 26.
Musk’s public statements and posts on X, in which he has stated on multiple occasions that DOGE will take action, and such action occurred shortly thereafter, demonstrate that he has firm control over DOGE.
[snip]
Althought the White House announced on February 25, 2025, that Amy Gleason is now the Acting USDS Administrator, that same day, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt maintained that “the president tasked Elon Musk to oversee the DOGE effort” while noting that others “are helping to run DOGE on a day-to-day basis.” J.R. 616. Notably, at the February 28, 2025 hearing on this Motion, Defendants’ counsel could not identify, despite having made an inquiry, who the USDS Administrator was before Gleason.
We shall see how this survives appeal (the suit was filed in Maryland, so it’ll go through a different Circuit than most DOGE challenges, including the New Mexico one that is closest to this stage).
But for the moment, it has held that Elon has absolutely no authority to do most of what he has done.
so, obviously, NSFW, for blue language (I tried to put space in, but the preview showed it didn’t work.) Enjoy when you can; resistance is happening everywhere! -A.
let’s all watch some MAGA shithead get bounced from a bar by Jeff Tiedrich
“I’m not fucking around. get out of my bar right now.” Read on Substack
everything sucks right now, so let’s put the focus on our hero of the day. sit back and enjoy the shit out of this bartender eighty-sixing some Trumpist fuckwad.
bartender: “get out of the bar.” MAGA: “why?” bartender: “because you’re a Trump supporter.” MAGA: “I know, but don’t you guys want our money?” bartender: “no, actually, we don’t. get out of my bar right now. [picks up baseball bat] I’m not fucking around. get out of my bar right now.” MAGA: “are you serious? bartender: “I’m dead serious. out.” MAGA: “because I’m wearing a Trump hat.” bartender: “yes.” MAGA: “that’s wild.” bartender: “I don’t care. get out.” second bartender: “we can call the police, or you can just leave.” MAGA: “you know this is, like, discrimination, right?” bartender: “boo hoo. boo fucking hoo. get out of my bar.”
fuck yeah. that was satisfying. boo fucking hoo, indeed. here’s your binky, MAGA. now take a hike.
here’s the backstory.
the MAGA asshole who got bounced — and is now whining to the press about it — wants you to believe that she was some innocent victim who wandered into a random bar and met up with some surly bartender.
that’s not the case at all. the cultist — and her friends — showed up to cause trouble, and they got what was coming to them.
the bar in question is the Chatterbox Jazz Club in Indianapolis. the joint is LGBTQ+ inclusive, and much of the staff is trans.
it’s possible that Fuckface von Maga and her fuckface friends didn’t even know any of that when they showed up to make a scene. maybe they were just offended by the pride flag hanging outside the bar, and decided that it was their divine mission to stir up shit.
here’s David Andrichik, the bar’s owner, to explain.
“We were set up. This was a plan to do something like this. We don’t believe the people that came in to instigate even knew what Chatterbox was, but they came in because of our pride flag,” which is displayed outside the jazz bar.
premeditated or not, these MAGA shitstains stepped inside the Chatterbox and immediately cranked the asshole dial way past eleven. they shouted. they got abusive and confrontational. they deliberately misgendered the bartender. and they got tossed the fuck out.
and then, they came back in and recorded the clip you saw at top of this post — and went whining to the media about it.
look at us, we’re the real victims here! they hated us for our hats! so unfair! come see the violence inherent in the system!
like their beloved Dear Leader, the cultists always imagine they’re the real victims — everything is unfair, and everything is rigged against them.
all we wanted was to hang out. the bartender was so mean to us.
MAGA, you are cordially invited to fuck straight off with your divisive hate. could you just fucking well leave people alone? they just want to live their lives in peace. next time you see a pride flag, just walk on by. the Earth won’t fall off its axis. I promise.
cultists, can we talk? you’re getting played by the ruling class, and you don’t even realize it. you’re being distracted from the real enemy.
‘keep the people ignorant and fighting each other, and they won’t notice the plutocrats picking their pockets’ is right on page one of the oligarch’s playbook.
and please shut the fuck up already about how unfairly you got treated. you acted like an asshole and you got treated like one.
you fucked around, and you found out. enjoy the tiniest of violins.
On Friday, March 14th, a group of individuals visited Chatterbox and intentionally misgendered and harassed a Chatterbox employee, resulting in them being asked to leave by our staff. They then continued verbally assaulting our patrons and staff, threatened our establishment, and returned to record a video which has now been posted on multiple social media platforms.
The Chatterbox is home to a diverse group of staff and patrons. We do not tolerate dehumanizing or disrespectful language or symbolism in our establishment. We have a right, by law, to refuse service to anyone who disrupts our business. We look forward to continue being a home for people who love music and appreciate our community.
I was at a shitty crustpunk bar once getting an after-work beer. One of those shitholes where the bartenders clearly hate you. So the bartender and I were ignoring one another when someone sits next to me and he immediately says, “no. get out.”
And the dude next to me says, “hey i’m not doing anything, i’m a paying customer.” and the bartender reaches under the counter for a bat or something and says, “out. now.” and the dude leaves, kind of yelling. And he was dressed in a punk uniform, I noticed
Anyway, I asked what that was about and the bartender was like, “you didn’t see his vest but it was all nazi shit. Iron crosses and stuff. You get to recognize them.” And i was like, oh ok and he continues.
“you have to nip it in the bud immediately. These guys come in and it’s always a nice, polite one. And you serve them because you don’t want to cause a scene. And then they become a regular and after awhile they bring a friend. And that dude is cool too.”
“And then THEY bring friends and the friends bring friends and they stop being cool and then you realize, oh shit, this is a Nazi bar now. And it’s too late because they’re entrenched and if you try to kick them out, they cause a PROBLEM. So you have to shut them down.”
of course, what happened at the Chatterbox isn’t totally analogous — Fuckface von MAGA and her friends weren’t polite, and they certainly weren’t there to infiltrate — but the lesson is the same: you have to nip that shit in the bud. zero tolerance for Nazi assholes.
fuck around and find out is in short supply right now. let’s celebrate when it happens.
if you find yourself in Indianapolis, stop by the Chatterbox and show them your support.
here’s your daily reminder that I can be found on Blue Sky at this link.
this is going to be my closing message for the foreseeable future:
practice self-care. do what you need to do to keep sane. if that means you need to disengage with my daily posts for a while, I get it. this community of ours will still be here when you return.
to all the people who have signed on in the days since the election, welcome aboard. settle in as we all try to deal with the shitfuckery that’s ahead of us.
we are all in this together, and we are all here for each other.
… is the latest indication of the Trump administration’s move away from President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s commitment to holding Mr. Putin personally accountable for crimes committed against Ukrainians.
The group was created to hold the leadership of Russia, along with its allies in Belarus, North Korea and Iran, accountable for a category of crimes — defined as aggression under international law and treaties that violates another country’s sovereignty and is not initiated in self-defense.
Such a request would align the Trump administration with the position of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has long seen Crimea as his nation’s territory.
Trump weighs recognizing Crimea as Russian territory in bid to end war.Any alliance with the US is worthless and untrustworthy.Taiwan is watching this one closely.www.semafor.com/article/03/1…
Now read the posts below. As noted here before, Ian Miles Cheong has never stepped foot in the United States, yet he is frequently retweeted by prominent cultists including Elon Musk.
And Russia’s friend China also loves the shutting down of Voice Of America. Hugs
Gill, the son-in-law of notorious cultist Dinesh D’Souza, ran a fleet of clickbait fake news sites and promoted D’Souza’s debunked “2000 Mules” film before being elected in 2024.
Earlier this month Gill introduced a resolution that would replace Ben Franklin with Trump on the $100 bill.
Last month Gill earned national headlines when he called for deporting Rep. Ilhan Omar over of a fake Russian video promoted by Elon Musk.
Gill first appeared here when he called for Trump to seize Greenland and Panama by military force.
His tweet below currently has over 34 million views thanks to it being shared by Elon Musk to his 220 million followers.
Alawieh, who had worked and lived in Rhode Island previously, was detained at least 36 hours, through Friday, and was going to be sent back to Lebanon, the complaint said. Alawieh, a kidney transplant specialist, was to start work at Brown University as an assistant professor of medicine.
“Oopsie…Too late,” Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, a Trump ally who agreed to house about 300 migrants for a year at a cost of $6 million in his country’s prisons, wrote on the social media site X above an article about Boasberg’s ruling. That post was recirculated by White House communications director Steven Cheung.
Prince is the most famous mercenary of the contemporary era and the founder of the now defunct private military company Blackwater. For a time, it was a prolific privateer in the “war on terror,” racking up millions in US government contracts by providing soldiers of fortune to the CIA, Pentagon and beyond.
Now he is a central figure among a web of other contractors trying to sell Trump advisers on a $25 billion deal to privatize the mass deportations of 12 million migrants. Prince also has the ear of Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, and was a character witness for her Senate confirmation.
Politico first reported on Prince’s deportation pitch to the Trump administration late last month.
Prince, the brother of former Education Sec. Betsy Devos, appeared here in 2023 when he went on trial in Austria for arms trafficking.
In 2022, he appeared here when he told then-Fox News host Tucker Carlson that he could have prevented Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Also in 2022, he told Steve Bannon that the US should be supporting Putin because he hates LGBTQ people.
Later that year, Prince was exposed for having spied on progressive groups.
In 2021, Prince was charging Afghan refugees $6500 for seats on planes doing evacuations.
White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller “orchestrated” the process in the West Wing in tandem with Homeland Security Secretary Kristy Noem. Few outside their teams knew what was happening.
A federal court’s jurisdiction does *not* stop at the water’s edge. The question is whether the *defendants* are subject to the court order, not *where* the conduct being challenged takes place.Were it otherwise, the government could act lawlessly overseas and courts would be powerless to stop it.
March 18, 1922 Gandhi’s “Great Trial” for writing seditious articles opposing British colonial rule began in Ahmedabad, India. The accused, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, aged 53, described himself as a farmer and weaver by profession, and spoke in his own defense, pleading guilty. Mahatma Gandhi “I hold it to be a virtue to be disaffected towards a government which, in its totality, has done more harm to India than any other system . . . . ” . . . I do not ask for mercy. I am to invite and cheerfully submit to the highest penalty that can be inflicted upon me for what in law is a deliberate crime and what appears to me to be the highest duty of the citizen.” More on the trial ================================================= March 18, 1962 Algeria became a sovereign nation after 130 years of French colonial rule. The struggle for independence inspired “The Battle of Algiers,” a movie by Gillo Pontecorvo. The film was shown extensively in the Pentagon to help understand the Iraqi insurgency. French army confront demonstrators for Algerian independence in 1960 Read about the movie The movie and the Pentagon ============================================ March 18, 1970 The first strike against the U.S. government and the first mass work stoppage in the 195-year history of the Postal Service began with a walkout of letter carriers in Brooklyn and Manhattan who were demanding better wages. Ultimately, 210,000 (in 30 cities) of the nation’s 750,000 postal employees participated in the wildcat strike. With mail service virtually paralyzed in New York, Detroit, and Philadelphia, Pres. Nixon declared a state of national emergency and assigned military units to New York City post offices. The stand-off ended one week later. Congress voted a six percent raise for the workers retroactive to December. More about the strike from APWU Video of the strike ============================================= March 18, 1970 Country Joe McDonald Country Joe McDonald was convicted of obscenity and fined $500 for leading a crowd in his infamous Fish Cheer (“Gimme an F !”) at a concert in Massachusetts. It was the band’s introduction to “I Feel Like I’m Fixin’ to Die Rag,” a Vietnam protest song. The lyrics: Listen to the song: ============================================= March 18, 1992 In a referendum, the last whites-only election held in South Africa, voters overwhelmingly gave the government authority to negotiate a new constitution with the African National Congress and other black political groups, and an end to the system of racial separation know as apartheid. When white South Africans voted for change ============================================== March 18, 2011 As a means to thwart a growing reform movement in the kingdom of Bahrain, the government destroyed the structure in the middle of the Pearl Roundabout, the focal point of demonstrations over the previous six weeks. Groups of Shiite Muslims, treated as second-class citizens by the ruling Sunni government led by the ruling al-Khalifa family, had gathered there repeatedly. <Pearl before demo Pearl after demo>
Not about diversity; they have only a little to connect them other than I saw them and thought we’d be interested. I don’t know if I’m still recovering from DST, or if have come down with a weak little something, but I’ve been tired the past few days, and have some upcoming commitments, so will be taking things a little easier for a few days. Enjoy!
The United States Postal Service is under federal scrutiny. It’s not the first time.
A United States Postal Service mail handler works to unload her mail truck at the Processing and Distribution Center in Miami, Florida. Getty
Though the Postal Service might not come to mind as a great factor in the long march toward social equity in the United States, its policies have had a serious impact on the rights of marginalized Americans since its inception in 1775. Activism, civil rights, and politics are ingrained—at least implicitly—in postal history.
Benjamin Franklin worked for the colonial postal service, controlled by the British, for years before he helped establish the independent American Post Office. Back in 1737, he ran the Philadelphia Post Office where he was focused more on the logistics of such a large operation than on how the institution might affect different demographic groups. Still, his work left a legacy of social transformation.
Many of these letters were delivered by enslaved African Americans, some of whom were forced in the years before emancipation to serve as messengers going relatively short distances between plantations and towns.
“If the inhabitants … should deem their letters safe with a faithful black, I should not refuse him,” Postmaster General Timothy Pickering wrote in 1794 regarding a mail route in Maryland. “I suppose the planters entrust more valuable things to some of their blacks.”
Yet this trust was soon eroded as slave rebellions increased throughout the Americas, and, in 1802, Black Americans were banned from carrying mail until Reconstruction.
The Post Office Department, like the rest of the federal government, updated its policies to become more inclusive in its hiring practices over the centuries. But the Post Office was unique in hiring Black Americans and white women beginning in significant numbers in the 1860s—before either group had been granted the right to vote nationwide (white women got it in 1920; Black men in 1870). Postal jobs were generally desirable. They were salaried and safe. (snip-MORE, and it’s good; not tl, dr)
Republicans, with the help of a few Democrats, voted to keep the government open so they can keep destroying it.
It’s not like Republicans voted to keep the government open so they can do their jobs. They didn’t keep it open to provide oversight. They didn’t keep it open so they can serve as the third branch of the federal government. They didn’t even keep it open to do their job of restraining Elon Musk and DOGE.
DOGE is not an official agency of the government, meaning what it’s doing is not legal. A lot of lawsuits have been fired against the Trump administration over all the bullshit DOGE is doing, but there should be a lawsuit questioning DOGE’s existent.
The President can NOT create agencies or departments. Article 1, Section 1 of the United States Constitution gives that power to Congress. Donald Trump should not be able to create a new department and have it cut budgets and fire government employees. Not only is Congress allowing this happen, but they won’t even talk to Elon Musk about it in public.
Republicans in Congress have had a lunch with Elon but behind closed doors. Neither the Republican-controlled House nor the Republican-controlled Senate will even subpoena Elon. What’s even worse is that Elon is conducting all this business in secret. Saying you’re transparent doesn’t make you transparent.
It astounds me that there are so many Republicans who trust that DOGE is transparent just because Elon says it is. Don’t they have eyes? Haven’t they noticed they’re not seeing anything?
Trump and Republicans even use unelected bureaucrats to justify giving carte blanche to Elon, an unelected bureaucrat. You don’t replace a swamp with a bigger swamp.
Even while Elon is destroying our government and the lives of federal workers, Trump is building sympathy for him. You may have lost your job, but at least Trump got a brand new Tesla.
I can’t tell you how much sleep I’ve lost worrying about Elon’s finances. At least Germany only had ONE Hitler.
America, this is the beginning of the end.
Creative note: I started on this idea, but I wasn’t feeling great about it, so I started on another idea, finished drawing most of it, and realized I wasn’t loving it either. So, I came back to this, started feeling it, and the next thing I knew, it was after 5 p.m. on a Saturday. That’s why you got a short blog. I need food.
I’m punching out until tomorrow, when you will get TWO cartoons and blogs. I’m not reading any emails until Monday. I get 20 from readers on a slow day (though several of them are from the same readers).
Scottie's Playtime 