Another fascist EO from the Great Red-Ass Baboon Read on Substack
MAGA re-education continues.
Donald Trump has issued an executive order for Vice President (sic) JD Vance to work with Congress to rid the Smithsonian Museum and National Zoo of “improper ideology” that is “inconsistent with federal law.”
First, what is “improper” ideology? Even Nazi ideology isn’t illegal, so what is Trump talking about here? And what’s “improper” about any ideology at the non-partisan Smithsonian? Is Fonzie’s jacket too woke? Is the Enola Gay gaying up the Air and Space Museum?
And what is “improper” ideology at the zoo? Are the zebras more Black than White? Are the Giant Pandas too Chinese? Are the Black bears getting preferential treatment over the polar bears? Do we need to deport the Brown bears to El Salvador? Maybe JD will remove all the animals that have exhibited gay behavior, which would include lions, bats, giraffes, bonobos, penguins, macaques, flamingos (obviously), lizards, gulls, and the mascot of the Republican Party, elephants, except they don’t stay in the closet and lie about it.
The Vice President is on the board of The Smithsonian, even if he’s a mascara-wearing couch-humping dolphin porn-searching gaslighting lying racist moron. However, while the federal government helps fund the Smithsonian (which includes the National Zoo), it’s not owned or under the government’s control. It’s not the responsibility of any of the three branches or even Elon’s fake and unconstitutional fourth branch.
All JD and Congress can do is cut funding if they don’t do as Trump “desires,” which is the way JD put it to Greenland, “We can’t just ignore the president’s desires.”
The executive order on “restoring truth and sanity to American history” alleges that the country has undergone “a concerted and widespread effort to rewrite our Nation’s history.” It instructs Vice President Numb-Nuts to work with Congress to prohibit spending on “exhibits or programs that degrade shared American values, divide Americans based on race, or promote programs or ideologies inconsistent with federal law and policy.”
We don’t have laws that ban “improper” ideology. We have laws that PROTECT ideology.
Among the exhibits Trump wants to ban are those in the American Women’s History Museum that “recognize men as women in any respect.” The order also calls out an exhibit on race and sculpture at the Smithsonian.
Trump’s EO also instructs the Secretary of the Interior (Dough Burgum) to reinstate any national monuments or statues within his jurisdiction that were “removed or changed to perpetuate a false reconstruction of American history.” You know, Confederate statues.
This falls right in line with Trump deporting a green card holder for protesting, cutting funds to universities for allowing protests, deporting people for writing Op-Eds, revoking hundreds of visas from student protesters, and banning words like “black,” “gay,” and “women” from government websites.
The Trump regime is trying to rewrite history while engaging in censorship. It’s re-educating. Renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America and making English our “official” language is a part of this, too.
This is what fascist governments do. The Nazis, the Soviets, and Imperial Japan all attempted to change history, currency, and even the languages in nations they captured. In North Korea, they tell the people their leader is a god who doesn’t even need to poop and he can talk to dolphins. By the way, dolphins can be gay, too. Russia claims that nobody is gay in the country, not even the dolphins.
The Smithsonian is wonderful, and now I’m scolding myself for not visiting the place in over a decade. It has 19 museums, 14 education and research centers, and the National Zoo, and they’re all FREE. I’ve been there several times, with most of it spent in the Air and Space Museum because I couldn’t drag my kid out of there.
If you’re in Washington, visit the Smithsonian. Hell, make a special trip to visit Washington (use the Metro while you’re here). I love the zoo, and the pandas are back. Visit it soon before Donald Trump destroys it, like he’s also planning to do with the Kennedy Center.
Everything Donald Trump touches dies.
Music notes: I listened to The Who and some Pete Townsend solo stuff. He really wants to kiss those rough boys, but not in Russia.
March 30, 1891 Signaling a growing movement toward direct political action among desperate western farmers, “Sockless” Jerry Simpson called on the Kansas Farmers’ Alliance to work for a takeover of the state government. “Sockless” Jerry Simpson Simpson was one of the most well-known and influential leaders among Populist-minded western and midwestern farmers of the late 19th century. Angered over low crop prices, high-interest bank loans and unaffordable shipping rates, farmers began to unite in self-help groups like the Grange and the Farmers’ Alliances. Initially, these groups primarily provided mutual assistance to members while agitating for the regulation of railroads and grain elevators. Increasingly, though, they became centers of support for more sweeping political change by uniting to help form the nationwide third-party movement known as the Populists. More about Populist “Sockless” Jerry Simpson
March 30, 1919 Shops were closed and thousands demonstrated in protest against Rowlatt Acts in New Delhi, Amritsar, and other Indian cities. The hastily passed law permanently extended wartime civil liberties restrictions such as trial without jury and internment without trial.
March 30, 1948 Henry Wallace, former vice-president (under Franklin D. Roosevelt) and then Progressive Party presidential candidate, lashed out at the Cold War policies of President Harry S. Truman. Wallace and his supporters were among the few Americans who actively voiced criticisms of America’s Cold War mindset during the late 1940s and 1950s. Read more on his warnings about American fascists
March 30, 1976 Land Day, 1978. (Photo: Gidon Gitai) Became known as “Land Day” when Palestinians in occupied territories stood strong against the Zionist entity’s attempted confiscation of thousands of acres of land. Their grassroots protests were met with aggressive violence in which the Zionist police force killed six and injured hundreds of its Palestinian citizens. What is LandDay? | more 1982 AP photo/Castelnuove; Marchers protest for Land Day on March 30, 1982 in the Arab village of Sakhnine in northern Israel. 2018 Palestinian people mobilized en masse along the Gaza border to demand an end to a brutal “Israeli” blockade and to demand the rights for displaced Palestinians to return to their homeland. On that day, tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza put their lives on the line to participate in demonstrations that continued every Friday for over a year. Over 250 Palestinian demonstrators have been killed and over 30,000 injured. Rightfully called the Great March of Return, this unwavering display of strength solidified the Palestinian commitment to liberation and sent a clear message that Palestinians will not be silenced.
March 30, 1980 80,000 demonstrated against construction of a commercial nuclear reprocessing plant in Wackersdorf, Germany. The project was ultimately abandoned.
Transgender Day of Visibility, held every March 31, was founded 16 years ago to give trans people a day to celebrate trans life and community. At a time when transgender people are facing unprecedented vitriol and attacks, it’s more important than ever to seek out accurate and affirming portrayals of trans life.
The 19th asked 10 trans icons, from Elliot Page to Peppermint, to reflect on the movies that move them and that and affirm the dignity of trans people.
Responses have been edited for length and clarity.
Elliot Page
Actor (he/him)
(Courtesy of Elliot Page)
Recommended film: “Framing Agnes”
“‘Framing Agnes’ highlights two fundamental truths about the transgender community: One, that we have always existed, and two, we have always found clever ways to get what we need to live more authentically and ultimately survive. It’s crucial now more than ever, for trans and cis people alike, to learn about the history of the trans community, to defend trans rights and advocate for our humanity to be acknowledged and respected — because as seen in the film, our world has always had trans people in it, and it always will.”
Peppermint
Actress and singer (she/her)
(Davide Laffe)
Recommended film: “Monica”
“I’d recommend people watch ‘Monica’ because it shows a trans woman in a normal context where she was able to connect with her family and display a more motherly and nurturing nature towards the end of the film, which is something we don’t often get to see trans women, portrayed in ways that are actually true to how many of us are.”
Brian Michael Smith
Actor (he/him)
(Rich Polk/Getty Images for IMDb)
Recommended film: “Disclosure: Trans Lives on Screen”
“My pick is definitely ‘Disclosure: Trans Lives on Screen.’ It powerfully unpacks how decades of misrepresentation in media have fueled harmful narratives, directly contributing to the unprecedented wave of anti-trans legislation we’re seeing nationwide — laws targeting our health care, sports participation and basic rights. It’s groundbreaking because it centers trans voices authentically sharing our own experiences, created entirely by trans filmmakers — unlike many films, articles and legal discussions that talk about us without ever including us. It’s essential viewing right now to counter misinformation, uplift our community and reclaim our stories during this critical fight for our humanity.”
Geena Rocero
Author, writer and director (she/her)
(Geena Rocero)
Recommended films: “Joyland,” “Lingua Franca,” “Asog” and “Tangerine”
“These are films that center trans characters in their complex humanity. As a writer and director, these kinds of character studies fascinate me. In our current political culture that dehumanizes trans folks, these films present trans lives full of agency.”
Tuck Dowrey
Director of development for PAGEBOY Productions (he/him)
(Erik Tanner)
Recommended film: “Changing the Game”
“This documentary is incredibly timely given the current attacks on trans youth and their right to just be kids, which includes their right to participate in sports. ‘Changing the Game’ highlights the benefits of sport for young people, particularly the social and developmental benefits, and sheds a light on the shameful and needless bullying of transgender children by adults and lawmakers. Arguments to exclude trans kids also inevitably adversely impact all girls and women, because if we begin to allow certain bodies to be questioned and investigated, it sets a dangerous precedent for anyone who exists outside of rigid gender stereotypes — in athletics and beyond. As a trans man and athlete, I passionately believe all kids should have access to the life-saving outlet of sports. ‘Changing the Game’ cuts through the misinformation and shows that trans kids in sport are no different than anyone else, and they deserve to play. It’s a must-watch for everyone.”
“At a time when certain political forces are aiming to pit historically excluded communities against each other, a film like ‘Kokomo City’ — bold and uncompromising in its focus on the relationships between Black trans women and the broader Black community — stands firmly at the intersection. Director D. Smith’s propulsive interrogation is at once entertaining and informative, raw and inspiring, and I’m sure you’ve likely never seen a film like this, especially not from this vantage. You’ll be craving more authentic Black trans narratives after watching.”
Sav Rodgers
Filmmaker and founder of the Transgender Film Center (he/him)
(Greg Doherty/Getty Images)
Recommended film: “Heightened Scrutiny”
“While ‘Heightened Scrutiny’doesn’t have traditional distribution yet, it’s a documentary well worth your time to seek out as it travels through the film festival circuit. Sam Feder’s follow-up to ‘Disclosure’follows [American Civil Liberties Union] attorney Chase Strangio as he prepares to argue a landmark trans rights case, United States v. Skrmetti, before the Supreme Court. The case, which is still pending, will determine whether bans on trans healthcare for minors violate the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.
“The most powerful aspect of this timely documentary draws a direct link between irresponsible, prejudiced reporting at major media institutions like the New York Times and how quickly these half-baked op-eds become cited as ‘evidence’ in anti-trans legislation around the country. Despite how bleak the world is, this film presents a case for hope: hope that we will endure, that people are fighting for us and that we can continue to fight for each other.”
Hope Giselle
DEI consultant and activist (she/her/Beyoncé)
(Courtesy of Hope Giselle)
Recommended film: “The Mudge Boy”
“This is a queer love story that I know isn’t beautiful, but is honest and a depiction of the way that a lot of AMAB folks experience what we think is love for the first time. A film that’s hard to watch at times, but so beautiful to see happens so that you don’t feel alone.”
Tuck Woodstock
Host of the Gender Reveal Podcast and editor of “2 Trans 2 Furious” (he/him)
(Courtesy of Tuck Woodstock)
Recommended films: “The Aggressives” and “Beyond the Aggressives: 25 Years Later” double feature
“In a society where transness is continually misrepresented as some kind of hot new trend for predominantly White youth, it’s an incredible gift to watch this quartet of (broadly) transmasculine queers of color grow and evolve over a quarter century. While the documentaries don’t shy away from the obstacles faced by their subjects — including everything from relationship conflict and (lack of) health care access to incarceration and [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] detention — they nevertheless capture the freedom and relief of living in the world as exactly yourself.”
Kae Petrin
Co-executive director of the Trans Journalists Association and Data & graphics reporter for Civic News Company (they/ze/hir)
(Courtesy of Kae Petrin)
Recommended film: “Neptune Frost”
“After a divine gender transformation, a lost runaway joins forces with an escaped miner who’s mourning the death of his brother. Together they become beacons of hope and resistance, forming an anticolonialist hacking collective in the mountains of Burundi. The collective takes on The Authority, a totalitarian regime that ravages the workers and the environment with a violent military and aggressive drone attacks. Despite the dark subject, an unshakeable optimism and hope thread through the Afrofuturist parable. Also, it’s technically a musical. It has everything: worker solidarity, gender magic, meddling gods, romance and song breaks. And it feels particularly resonant now, even though its U.S. release came several years ago.”
Alex Schmider
Senior director of entertainment at GLAAD (he/him)
(Courtesy of Alex Schmider)
Recommended film: “Will & Harper”
“‘Will & Harper’ is a story about friendship. Harper Steele and Will Ferrell have been friends for over 30 years after meeting while working on ‘Saturday Night Live.’ After Harper’s transition, they hit the open road to reintroduce her to the American small towns, dive bars and stock car races that she has always loved — now, as herself — while processing what this new stage of life means for them individually and as friends. When trans people are so often portrayed as existing in isolation from other people, this documentary is a joy to watch as Harper and Will traverse the country making each other laugh and drinking bad beer. Comedy is a powerful tool that can create connection with an audience when they are laughing with us, not at us. ‘Will & Harper’ is a funny, sincere and enjoyable ride with two comedians who are at their best when together.”
Disclosure: Alex Schmider is a board member of The 19th. Find a full list of our board members here.
Most brain surgery requires doctors to remove part of the skull to access hard-to-reach areas or tumours. It’s invasive, risky, and it takes a long time for the patient to recover.
We have developed new, tiny robotic surgical tools that may let surgeons perform “keyhole surgery” on the brain. Despite their small size, our tools can mimic the full range of motion of a surgeon’s wrist, creating new possibilities for less-invasive brain surgery.
Robotic surgical tools (around 8 millimetres in diameter) have been used for decades in keyhole surgery for other parts of the body. The challenge has been making a tool small enough (3mm in diameter) for neurosurgery.
In a project led by the University of Toronto, where I was a postdoctoral fellow, we collaborated with The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) in Canada to develop a set of very small neurosurgery tools.
Their extremely small size is possible as they are powered not by motors but by external magnetic fields.
Three magnetic tools: a cutter, a gripper and forceps. Changyan He
Current robotic surgical tools are typically driven by cables connected to electric motors. They work in much the same way as human fingers, which are manipulated by tendons in the hand connected to muscles in the wrist.
However, pulleys smaller than several millimetres wide to control the instruments are weak and prone to friction, stretch and fracture. This creates challenges in scaling down the instruments, because of difficulties in making the parts of the system, assembling the mechanisms and managing friction in the cables.
Magnetic controls
The new robotic system consists of two parts. The first is the tiny tools themselves: a gripper, a scalpel and a set of forceps. The second part is what we call a “coil table”, which is a surgical table with several electromagnetic coils embedded inside.
In this design, the patient would be positioned with their head on top of the embedded coils, and the robotic tools would be inserted into the brain via a small incision.
Patients would lie on a ‘coil table’ containing magnets which are used to control the surgical tools. Changyan He
By altering the amount of electricity flowing into the coils, we can manipulate the magnetic fields, causing the tools to grip, pull or cut tissue as desired.
In open brain surgery, the surgeon relies on their own dexterous wrist to pivot the tools and tilt their tips to access hard-to-reach areas, such as removing a tumour inside the central cavity of the brain. Unlike other tools, our robotic neurosurgical tools can mimic this with “wristed” movements.
Surprising precision
We tested the tools in pre-clinical trials where we simulated the mechanical properties of the brain tissue they would need to work with. In some tests, we used pieces of tofu and raspberry placed inside a model of the brain.
We compared the performance of these magnetically operated tools with that of standard tools handled by trained surgeons.
We found the cuts made with the magnetic scalpel were consistent and narrow, with an average width of 0.3–0.4mm. That was even more precise than those from traditional hand tools, which ranged from 0.6 to 2.1mm.
The magnetic scalpel, shown slicing some tofu inside a model of the brain, can make cuts more precise than those done with traditional tools. Changyan He
As for the grippers, they could pick up the target 76% of the time.
The magnetic grippers (shown here picking up some raspberry) were successful 76% of the time. Changyan He
We were surprised by how well the robotic tools performed. However, there is still a long way to go until this technology could help patients. It can take years, even decades, to develop medical devices, especially surgical robots.
This study is part of a broader project based on years of work led by Eric Diller from the University of Toronto, an expert on magnet-driven micro-robots.
Now, the team wants to make sure the robotic arm and magnetic system can fit comfortably in a hospital operating room. The team also wants to make it compatible with imaging systems such as fluoroscopy, which uses x-rays. After that, the tools may be ready for clinical trials.
We’re excited about the potential for a new era of minimally invasive neurosurgical tools.
When wind bent dandelions in puffy winglets, & wisdom did raise her voice & not say weed&
when the toad did raise its spikes at the same time as federal codes & the try-to-be-perfect raised its voice?
Did the clang of copper collectors & the too-many lawns begin in Arizona
while peel-paint steeples rose over dirt for the prism of progress,
minerals torn from mines with no mouths but you had a mouth & sang early?
When nuclear testing began north of love & the Remington computer was placed in office use,
when there was just as much beauty & sex as later, while some lay down at drive-ins in Chevies on seats the color of crushed berries & phone calls went up to a dime?
When Congress loaned money to countries because their grains had ancient fungus claviceps purpuria that caused visions & swelling under the silent claw of the predator?
Was shame in you born before beauty? Was beauty was shame was beauty?
As white gravel spread under the white churches as silver sequins on danceless dresses tacked on each “hanging by a thread”
like drops of sweat on horses at the city’s edge
while downcast daisies were mimicked on sisterly aprons catching sugars from women making pudding from boxes under swamp coolers
with slightly mildewy pads in a breeze created for doing housework by yourself?
Was it odd to be born when two types of purslane in the west were called weed, even agave used to make soap, though it was home to the yucca moth, central & sweet, its
terminal clusters piercing thunderheads over red pick-up trucks,
& lowly dogbane hiding from developers with sibling roots of fungi with “no downsides to pesticides” & florets like diamond periods on certain fonts also were called weed?
Was it odd to be born near hillsides with radars like baby ears of question marks
under the silent claw of the predator, when mountains shook toward sabino canyons
& there was Jello salad at picnics?
Here from this century can you say was it wild to be born?
Was there anything else like this, anything at all?
will crawl out of the drain and try to kill you like some 80s horror flick. The picture of us at the Santa Fe Railyard, foreheads glistening. The black widow creeping from the mound of linens still warm from our bodies. Mechanical hum of crickets when you push into me in the middle of the night, when I can’t sleep and the years replay like a foreign movie, a terrible one where the voices sound underwater. Failed poems will steal your breath when you wake parched, hungover, emptied in a room full of the steady buzz of the refrigerator. When all that excites you is momentary, an earthquake in which all the books shake in place, and nothing falls. No one ever reads failed poems, but they follow you home in the dark and tuck in beside you. Failed poems are cute grim reapers that live in cartoon snowcaps. They’re midnight döner kebabs that give you heartburn. Once, in Zurich, we were served rabbit paella at a party celebrating an exhibition of an artist from Venice Beach who used to be homeless but drinks $25 Erewhon smoothies and paints hundreds maybe thousands of happy faces with his feet. His canvasses go for $25,000. Toe paintings are better or at least significantly more profitable than failed poems. Failed poems won’t help you earn a living. You will probably have to do freelance marketing to sustain the creation of failed poems. Failed poems accrue interest. They seep into dreams where all your friends line up to blow your husband. They cost a monthly cloud subscription to maintain. Failed poems are injected into your father’s veins when he ODs for the second time this year. They’re shared to infinity when you’re canceled for fringe political views. When you’re six feet under, a failed poem is written on your head. It’s a prayer in the form of a failed poem, the last words you hear on earth
I want to say I’ve seen this bird, but I don’t know how I could have, other than maybe when I was younger on one of dad’s business trips through the South, as a combo summer vacation. Over 50 years ago, but the bird looks familiar. I bet there are readers here who get to see them often! Click through for facts and to hear their song.
Yeah, this happened and has been happening here. I’m not Satanist, but we all have the same rights, including all who showed up, as long as there is no violence and no one takes away anyone else’s rights to freedom of speech and assembly. Many here know I’m a Christian believer, so of course when one side says “We’re here so that God can be in control, not Satan,” I smile, since God handled that with Satan centuries ago (so it is written. I’m not proselytizing, or even testifying, though my point is either people believe or they don’t; if they do, they know or should know that God doesn’t need human protection. Anyway.) I don’t know how far out from Kansas this story has gone, but Friday was the day, and here is the local story as of 10 PM Friday. Enjoy. There is a video on the page I can’t embed, but Kate Devine is a fine reporter on camera. There is also a text story below.
TOPEKA, Kan. (KAKE) — The leader of a Satanic group was arrested Friday after entering the Kansas Statehouse and performing a ritual, despite warnings from law enforcement.
Michael Stewart, president of the Kansas Satanic Grotto, attempted to enter the building during the group’s Black Mass event outside the Statehouse. Authorities allowed him inside as a private citizen but told him he could not hold a demonstration.
Once inside the rotunda, Stewart raised his arms in dedication to Satan, prompting a confrontation with Christian protesters. Capitol Police intervened and took him into custody.
“Our governor, Laura Kelly, after forcing us out of the building, said basically if we come back in, we are going to get arrested,” Stewart said. “So we feel like this is a violation of our First Amendment rights.”
Outside, Christian protesters held prayers and recited hymns in opposition to the event.
“We heard that Satanists were here to claim Kansas, and we said no way,” said Susan Jones, a Christian protester from Baxter Springs. “God is in control here, not Satan.”
The event, which had been planned for weeks, was originally approved to take place inside the Statehouse but was later restricted to the outside grounds. A petition opposing the event gathered nearly 100,000 signatures.
Christian groups say they gathered to pray and stand in opposition, while Satanic organizers argue their right to religious expression was violated.
March 29, 1925 Black leaders in Charleston, West Virginia, protested the showing of D. W. Griffith’s movie, Birth of a Nation, scheduled to open at the Rialto Theatre on April 1. They said it violated a 1919 state law prohibiting any entertainment which demeaned another race. Mayor W.W. Wertz and the West Virginia Supreme Court supported their argument and prevented the showing of the film; efforts to ban the film met with mixed results around the country. Ku Klux Klan “justice” as portrayed in Birth of a Nation. The efforts to censor the film What made this movie (after a book called The Clansmen) exceptional in cinema history
March 29, 1971 U.S. Army Lieutenant William Calley was found guilty at a court martial for his part in the My Lai massacre which claimed the lives of hundreds of South Vietnamese civilians. Convicted for the premeditated murder of at least 22 Vietnamese civilians, he was sentenced to three years under house arrest. Resources and links about My Lai
March 29, 1973 The last American combat troops left South Vietnam, ending direct U.S. military involvement in the Vietnam War. Military advisors to the South Vietnamese Army remained, as did Marines protecting U.S. installations, and thousands of Defense Department civilians.Of the more than 3 million Americans who served in the war, almost 58,000 had died, and more than 1,000 were missing in action. Some 150,000 Americans had been seriously wounded. The loss of Vietnamese killed and wounded was in the millions and damage to the countryside persists to this day. The 615th MP Company was inactivated in Vietnam on the last day of American military combat presence. Timeline on the war in Vietnam Learn about the persisting problem of Agent Orange
Scottie's Playtime 