Tag: Bigotry

Some more news items I want to share. These are only small quotes there is much more to each story if you follow the links

Trump’s Attack on ActBlue’s “Dark Money” Was Backed by Elon Musk’s Dark Money

Trump’s Attack on ActBlue’s “Dark Money” Was Backed by Elon Musk’s Dark Money

The billionaire helped fund an effort to gin up fraud claims against the Democratic donation platform.

Trump’s claim that he can order the Justice Department to investigate a fundraising platform used by his political foes based on vague allegations is part of his ongoing effort to use the government’s powers to target political enemies. It’s not a particularly realistic accusation—the fact sheet claims it’s targeting “straw donor” schemes, in which one person donates on behalf of another. Given the fairly strict limitations on campaign contributions, any straw donor scheme that wants to inject any noticeable amount of money into an electoral system that had $15.5 billion run through it is a great deal of tedious, high-risk work for a scammer.

On the other hand, in the post-Citizens United era, there are plenty of ways to inject unaccounted-for money—even, theoretically, foreign money—into the election. Super-PACs can accept unlimited donations from fairly easy-to-obscure sources, for instance, which makes the idea of anyone using a small-dollar conduit like ActBlue (or the GOP equivalent WinRed) fairly silly.

And notably, the funding for some of Trump’s “data” on an alleged ActBlue “fraud” seems to have come from just such a source: a super-PAC bankrolled by Elon Musk.

Last year, an opaque group called the Fair Election Fund began promising to pay “whistleblowers” who cited election fraud “with payment from our $5 million fund.” That never panned out, but the same organization found more success with a claim that 60,000 people who were named as small-dollar donors in the Biden-Harris campaign’s July Federal Election Commission report did not recall making the contribution when contacted by the Fair Election Fund.

As Mother Jones reported last year, the Fair Election Fund appears to have generated this finding by blasting out ominous-sounding texts and emails telling ActBlue donors that their donations had been “flagged,” then tallying people who responded—accurately or not—by checking a box saying they did not recall making the contribution.

More at the link above

Israel carrying out ‘live-streamed genocide’ in Gaza, Amnesty says

Amnesty accuses US President Donald Trump of committing a ‘multiplicity of assaults’ on human rights.

Israel is perpetrating a “live-streamed genocide” in Gaza, committing illegal acts with the “specific intent” of wiping out Palestinians, Amnesty International has said.

Israeli forces in Gaza have violated the United Nations Genocide Convention with acts that include “causing serious bodily or mental harm to civilians” and “deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about their physical destruction”, the human rights organisation said in its annual report released on Monday.

Israeli air strikes have also frequently hit civilians who were following evacuation orders, while its forces continued to “arbitrarily detain and, in some cases, forcibly disappear Palestinians”, the rights group said.

DOGE has made a big impact on Washington. But government spending is up.

Elon Musk and his shadowy “tech support” team have ripped through Washington, reshaping the government and culling the federal workforce with astonishing speed and scope.

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/04/29/doge-impact-washington-spending-100days-00316587

Nearly a quarter of a million workers have or are expected to leave their federal jobs. That includes more than 112,000 federal workers who have opted into the deferred resignation program, according to a POLITICO analysis of previous reporting and conversations with administration officials. It also includes some 121,000 workers across agencies who have been fired, according to a CNN analysis.

DOGE has hollowed out or shut down 11 federal agencies and says it has terminated more than 8,500 contracts and 10,000 grants. It has wiped out foreign aid and volunteerism in the U.S., slashed education spending and made sweeping changes to the way the government makes procurements, hires contractors and shares data.

DOGE, after promising $2 trillion in savings, now says it has saved the government $160 billion. But even these reported savings, so far, have not led to any meaningful decline in total government spending this year, according to the nonpartisan Penn Wharton Budget Model, which tracks weekly Treasury data.

In fact, the government has actually been spending more compared to this time last year, the model found.

Total spending rose by 6.3 percent, or $156 billion since Trump took office, compared to the first four months of 2024, said Kent Smetters, a Wharton professor who directs the model. Even when accounting for inflation, the federal government has still added $81.2 billion more spending to its books compared to the same period last year, he added.

AAP Statement on HHS Report Treatment for Pediatric Gender Dysphoria

https://www.aap.org/en/news-room/news-releases/aap/2025/aap-statement-on-hhs-report-treatment-for-pediatric-gender-dysphoria/

By: Susan J. Kressly, MD, FAAP, president, American Academy of Pediatrics

“The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is deeply alarmed by the report released by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today on medical care for transgender and gender-diverse individuals and the process that informed its development. For such an analysis to carry credibility, it must consider the totality of available data and the full spectrum of clinical outcomes rather than relying on select perspectives and a narrow set of data.  

This report misrepresents the current medical consensus and fails to reflect the realities of pediatric care.   

As we have seen with immunizations, bypassing medical expertise and scientific evidence has real consequences for the health of America’s children. AAP was not consulted in the development of this report, yet our policy and intentions behind our recommendations were cited throughout in inaccurate and misleading ways. The report prioritizes opinions over dispassionate reviews of evidence. 

Patients, their families, and their physicians—not politicians or government officials —should be the ones to make decisions together about what care is best for them based on evidence-based, age-appropriate care.  

We urge government officials and policymakers to approach these conversations with care, humility, and a commitment to considering the full breadth of peer-reviewed research. The AAP remains focused on supporting pediatricians in delivering the best possible care to every child, informed by science and the lived experiences of patients and families. We will continue to support the well-being of all children and access to high-quality care that meets their needs.” 

‘We’re citizens!’: Oklahoma City family traumatized after ICE raids home, but they weren’t suspects

https://kfor.com/news/local/were-citizens-oklahoma-city-family-traumatized-after-ice-raids-home-but-they-werent-suspects/?fbclid=IwY2xjawJ_QL1leHRuA2FlbQIxMQBicmlkETFHRjV0Y2EwTnI4R2pqMVI2AR4zcnV54IV6xDFtZ-JOWbTSuWUuEbqjxQ6L9UtKOYQqJcYHbnAMbUUbj-GG_A_aem_BSYWD8eZJzFS9TH_rbpK5g

ICE is a thug unit run by a major thug.   This family was badly mistreated, in some ways brutalized.   I read earlier where the mother said the 20 ICE agents who broke into their home with no warring then wanted the women, one adult and the others teenagers to remove their clothing in front of them to get dressed before being forced outside in the rain.   The report said the mother refused saying even her husband had not seen the children nude and she did not want them to do that in front of these men.  They were ordered in their “underwear” outside in the rain where they were kept for hours.   Is this the government / police any way people should be treated by law enforcement in the US.  They so disrespected this family sure in the fact they were correct with no room for any doubt.  They had no empathy, no common sense.  In the time I was an axillary sheriff’s deputy we were trained never to act like that.  We were taught to respect the rights of people but be aware they might be lying and the danger of the situation.   Respect the rights of the people.  All people on US soil, in the country regardless of status have due process rights.   The right wing haters want to tell you that if you are here illegally you have no rights but SCOTUS has repeatedly said every person here does.  Hugs  

As for Marissa’s phones, electronics, and cash, they have no idea which agency has those belongings or how to get those items back.  

by: 

Posted: 

Updated: 

Update: 4.30.25

At this time, there is not a fundraising campaign set up for the family. KFOR will share any details if that happens.

Original:

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — A woman says her family’s fresh start in Oklahoma turned into a nightmare after federal immigration agents raided their home, taking their phones, laptops, and life savings – even though they were not the suspects the agents were looking for.

The agents had a search warrant for the home, but the suspects listed on the warrant do not live in the house.

The woman who actually lives in the house had just moved to Oklahoma City from Maryland with her family about two weeks earlier.

The woman, who News 4 will refer to as “Marisa”, and her three daughters came to Oklahoma looking for a slower, more affordable pace of life.

They rented a house in a seemingly safe northwest Oklahoma City neighborhood.

Her husband stayed back in Maryland a couple of extra weeks, planning to join them this weekend.

“I was like, ‘okay, Oklahoma’s my home now,’” Marisa said.

But any comfort they had disappeared Thursday morning when about 20 men, armed with guns, busted through the door.

“I don’t know who they were,” she said. “It was dark. All the lights were off.”

Marisa said the men identified themselves as federal agents with the U.S. Marshals, ICE, and the FBI.

On Tuesday, a spokesperson for the U.S. Marshals Service denied having agents present during the raid, telling News 4 they were “aware of the operation before it happened,” but did not assist in any capacity.

“I keep asking them, ‘who are you? What are you doing here? What’s happening,’” she said. “And they said, ‘we have a warrant for the house, a search warrant.’”

She said they ordered her and her daughters outside into the rain before they could even put on clothes.

“They wanted me to change in front of all of them, in between all of them,” she said. “My husband has not even seen my daughter in her undergarments—her own dad, because it’s respectful. You have her out there, a minor, in her underwear.”

Marisa said the names on the search warrant were not hers or anyone in her family.

She recognized them as names listed on mail still arriving at the house—likely former residents.

“We just moved here from Maryland,” she said. “We’re citizens. That’s what I kept saying. We’re citizens.”

She said the agents didn’t care.

“They were very dismissive, very rough, very careless,” she said. “I kept pleading. I kept telling them we weren’t criminals. They were treating us like criminals. We were here by ourselves. We didn’t do anything.”

Marisa said the agents tore apart every square inch of the house and what few belongings they had, seizing their phones, laptops and their life savings in cash as “evidence.”

“I told them before they left, I said you took my phone. We have no money. I just moved here,” she said. “I have to feed my children. I’m going to need gas money. I need to be able to get around. Like, how do you just leave me like this? Like an abandoned dog.”

Before they left, Marisa said one of the agents made a comment.

“One of them said, ‘I know it was a little rough this morning,’” she said. “It was so denigrating. That you do all of this to a family, to women, your fellow citizens. And it was a little rough? You literally traumatized me and my daughters for life. We’re going to have to go get help or get over this somehow.”

Now, Marisa said they have, quite literally, nothing.

“I said, ‘when are we going to get our stuff back?’ They said it could be days or it could be months,” she said.

Marisa said she is left with nothing but questions.

“What if I would have been armed,” she said. “You’re breaking in. What am I supposed to think? My initial thought was we were being robbed—that my daughters, being females, were being kidnapped. You have guns pointed in our faces. Can you just reprogram yourself and see us as humans, as women? A little bit of mercy. Care a little bit about your fellow human, about your fellow citizen, fellow resident. We bleed too. We work. We bleed just like anybody else bleeds. We’re scared. You could see our faces that we were terrified. What makes you so much more worthier of your peace? What makes you so much more worthier of protecting your children? What makes you so much more worthy of your citizenship? What makes you more worthy of safety? Of being given the right that they took from me to protect my daughters?”

Marisa told News 4 the agents wouldn’t even leave her a business card.

She said she has no idea who to contact to get her things back.

Marissa told KFOR the U.S. Marshal’s Service and the FBI were involved in this raid.

However, a representative for the U.S. Marshal’s Service says their team was not involved.

News 4 reached out to the FBI. Last week, a spokesperson said they were assisting on this case and directed inquiries to Homeland Security.

A spokesperson for Homeland Security told News 4 they are looking into it and will get back to us, but we have not heard from them.

As for Marissa’s phones, electronics, and cash, they have no idea which agency has those belongings or how to get those items back.

 

LGBTQ+ news

Poland finally repealed the country’s last “LGBT-free” zone

The zones backfired, drawing widespread condemnation and economic consequences for the east European country.

Ten years after the far-right Law and Justice Party was elected to power in Poland, and two years after their defeat in national elections, a last vestige of the party’s state-sanctioned anti-LGBTQ+ policies has finally been eliminated.

On Thursday, a council in the southeastern Polish town of Łańcut officially abolished the country’s last remaining ‘LGBT-free’ resolution.

UK

Gay, lesbian and bi people at greater risk of self-harm and suicide, new figures show

https://www.thepinknews.com/2025/04/10/suicide-ideation-gay-lesbian-bisexual/

Gay, lesbian and bisexual people are twice as likely as their straight peers to attempt suicide or have thoughts of taking their own life, new figures have revealed.

Requests to remove books from library shelves are on the rise in the UK, as the influence of pressure groups behind book bans in the US crosses the Atlantic, according to those working in the sector.

Most of the UK challenges appear to come from individuals or small groups, unlike in the US, where 72% of demands to censor books last year were brought forward by organised groups, according to the American Library Association earlier this week.

However, evidence suggests that the work of US action groups is reaching UK libraries too. Alison Hicks, an associate professor in library and information studies at UCL, interviewed 10 UK-based school librarians who had experienced book challenges. One “spoke of finding propaganda from one of these groups left on her desk”, while another “was directly targeted by one of these groups”. Respondents “also spoke of being trolled by US pressure groups on social media, for example when responding to free book giveaways”.

The types of books targeted may also differ. “Almost all the UK attacks reported in my study centred on LGBTQ+ materials, while US attacks appear to target material related to race, ethnicity and social justice as well as LGBTQ+ issues,” said Hicks.

This supports the findings of an Index on Censorship survey last year, in which 28 of 53 librarians polled reported that they had been asked to remove books from library shelves, many of which were LGBTQ+ titles. In more than half of those cases, books were taken off shelves.

Tennessee county sued for banning books without even reading them

They’re accused of just using an anti-LGBTQ+ organization’s book ban list to deny students access to tomes like Toni Morrison’s “Beloved.”

The plaintiffs in this case are three families, who wish to remain anonymous, of two freshmen and a senior who will attend a Rutherford County school next year. Joining in on the lawsuit is PEN America, a nonprofit freedom of expression advocacy group for writers. Thirty-two writers in the organization have seen 53 of their books included in the ban.

Trump DOJ Ordered ICE to Invade Homes Without Search Warrant

The Justice Department quietly authorized immigration agents to seize power in arresting people under the Alien Enemies Act—no warrant required.

https://newrepublic.com/post/194440/donald-trump-restores-foreign-students-visas-legal-losses

The Justice Department quietly invoked the Alien Enemies act last month to give Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents the power to conduct warrantless searches of people’s homes as long as they suspect them to be an “alien enemy.” USA Today obtained the memo that contained this order on Friday.

In the memo, the Justice Department defined an “alien enemy” as anyone who is 14 years of age or older, not a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident, a citizen of Venezuela, and “a member of the hostile enemy Tren de Aragua,” per the Alien Enemy Validation Guide, a document that has already been slammed by immigration experts.

The broad definition has already resulted in the apprehension and deportation of more than 200 men to El Salvador who just happened to have tattoos, like gay makeup artist Andry José Hernández Romero.

This type of order will likely lead to more indiscriminate arrests and wanton racial profiling. The memo, which is from March 14, is another massive departure from the U.S. immigration norms.

White House Confirms Trump Is Exploring Ways To ‘Deport’ U.S. Citizens

The administration could try removing American citizens if it identifies a pathway it can claim to be legal.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday that President Donald Trump is exploring legal pathways to “deport” U.S. citizens to El Salvador, where the administration has already arranged to house deported immigrants in a prison known for its human rights abuses. (Watch the video, above.)

Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday that he “love[s]” the idea of removing U.S. citizens, adding that it would be an “honor” to send them to El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele — an eager partner in Trump’s schemes.

“I look forward to watching the sick terrorist thugs get 20 year jail sentences for what they are doing to Elon Musk and Tesla,” Trump wrote. “Perhaps they could serve them in the prisons of El Salvador, which have become so recently famous for such lovely conditions!”

Shocking report reveals HIV deaths will explode due to Trump’s foreign aid cuts

Nearly 500,000 children could die from AIDS by 2030 without PEPFAR funding.

https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2025/04/shocking-report-reveals-hiv-deaths-will-explode-due-to-trumps-foreign-aid-cuts/

Nearly half a million children could die from AIDS-related causes by 2030 without restoration of PEPFAR programs cut by the Trump administration, a new study published in the Lancet reveals.

The new health policy analysis estimates that one million children could become infected with HIV and nearly half a million could die from AIDS by 2030. Additionally, 2.8 million children could experience orphanhood in sub-Saharan Africa (because their parents died from preventable HIV-related illnesses) if the PEPFAR funding isn’t restored.

A study released by UNAIDS in March showed an uptick in new HIV infections has already started as local HIV prevention programs funded by PEPFAR have been thrown into chaos.

Men who have sex with men, girls, and young women between the ages of 15 and 24 not pregnant or breastfeeding, and sex workers and people who inject drugs “can not” be offered PrEP during the pause or “until further notice,” Trump administration officials wrote.

 

You won’t believe this stuff, but they are doing it

Mob of Orthodox Jewish men chases woman after protest at Brooklyn synagogue

Woman, who requested anonymity, says ‘a group of 100 men’ followed her, shouting threats and kicking her

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/28/mob-orthodox-jewish-men-chases-woman?CMP=share_btn_url

“They were shouting at me, threatening to rape me, chanting ‘death to Arabs’. I thought the police would protect me from the mob, but they did nothing to intervene,” she said.

At one point, she and the police officer were nearly cornered against a building, the video shows. “I felt sheer terror,” the woman recalled. “I realized at that point that I couldn’t lead this mob of men to my home. I had nowhere to go. I didn’t know what to do. I was just terrified.”

After several blocks, the officer hustled the woman into a police vehicle, prompting one man to yell, “Get her!” The crowd erupted in cheers as she was driven away.

Elon Musk’s Doge conflicts of interest worth $2.37bn, Senate report says

Committee calls figure a ‘conservative estimate’ and warns Musk may seek to use his influence to avoid legal liability

“While the $2.37 billion figure represents a credible, conservative estimate, it drastically understates the true benefit Mr Musk may gain from legal risk avoidance alone as a result of his position in government,” the report states.

UPDATED: Super Hornet Assigned to USS Harry S. Truman Lost at Sea

UPDATED: Super Hornet Assigned to USS Harry S. Truman Lost at Sea

The single-seat Super Hornet assigned to the “Knighthawks” of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 136, “was actively under tow in the hangar bay when the move crew lost control of the aircraft. The aircraft and tow tractor were lost overboard,” reads the statement.
“Sailors towing the aircraft took immediate action to move clear of the aircraft before it fell overboard. An investigation is underway.”

DOGE employees gain accounts on classified networks holding nuclear secrets

https://www.npr.org/2025/04/28/nx-s1-5378684/doge-energy-department-nuclear-secrets-access

Two members of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency were given accounts on classified networks that hold highly guarded details about America’s nuclear weapons, two sources tell NPR.

Luke Farritor, a 23-year-old former SpaceX intern, and Adam Ramada, a Miami-based venture capitalist, have had accounts on the computer systems for at least two weeks, according to the sources who also have access to the networks. Prior to their work at DOGE, neither Farritor nor Ramada appear to have had experience with either nuclear weapons or handling classified information.

Karoline Leavitt Boasts Trump Wouldn’t Hesitate to Arrest SCOTUS Justices

https://www.thedailybeast.com/wh-press-sec-suggests-doj-could-arrest-supreme-court-justices/

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt suggested the Trump administration would consider arresting high-ranking judges—including Supreme Court justices—at a press briefing Monday.

“As you guys look at other judges, would you ever arrest somebody higher up on the judicial food chain, like a federal judge or even a Supreme Court justice?” Fox News reporter Peter Doocy asked.

Leavitt said no judge is safe from the administration’s crackdown on the judiciary.

Trump: ‘I run the country and the world’

Trump: ‘I run the country and the world’

“The first time, I had two things to do — run the country and survive; I had all these crooked guys,” Trump said in the interview published Monday. “And the second time, I run the country and the world.”

Johnson says it’s ‘game time’ as House committees draft first piece of Trump agenda

https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/28/politics/house-gop-johnson-trump-agenda/index.html

The $150 billion in defense programs includes $25 billion for Trump’s “Golden Dome” for missile defense, $34 billion in ship building and more than $20 billion in munitions purchases. The House Armed Services Committee plans to begin voting on Tuesday on this aspect of the bill.

On border security, the House Homeland Security Committee proposes $46.5 billion for new border barriers, $5 billion for new Customs and Border Protection facilities and $4 billion for new Customs officials and border personnel.

The committee proposes several billion dollars more in new technology to tighten security measures at the border and also includes $1 billion for security and planning for the 2028 Olympics, as well as $625 million for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Rev. William Barber arrested in Capitol Rotunda after praying against Republican-led budget

Reached for comment, a Capitol police spokesperson said Barber and two others were charged with “crowding, obstructing and incommoding,” explaining demonstrations in congressional buildings are “not allowed in any form, to include but not limited to sitting, kneeling, group praying, singing, chanting, etc.”

Some quickly argued that Barber’s arrest appeared incongruous with President Donald Trump’s efforts to eliminate “anti-Christian bias” in federal agencies.

“Arresting Rev. Barber and others at the Capitol after announcing a task force to eradicate anti-Christian bias in government is an absolute travesty,” Anthea Butler, a professor of religion at the University of Pennsylvania, said in a text message. “Seems like this administration only wants Christians who are supporters of Trump to have access to pray in the Capitol and express their faith.”

 

 

“Durbin’s Due”, Elie v. U.S.

I enjoy this man’s commentary. He’s always seemed to know whereof he speaks. Every weekend I intend to post this newsletter, and every weekend gets by me without me getting it done. This is a copy-paste of my newsletter; I receive it in email from “The Nation” magazine. All links within are live.

A retirement for the ages
 Illinois Senator Dick Durbin, who has been in Congress or the Senate for nearly my entire life, has announced that he will not seek reelection in 2026. The 80-year-old’s retirement will touch off a firestorm of a Democratic primary in Illinois, and I’m already dreading the prospect of a heap of progressives jumping into the race, cannibalizing each other, and clearing the path for the wealthiest available moderate white man to buy the nomination. If progressives could just coalesce around one candidate and stick together, they’d win this thing. Then again, if I had wheels, I’d be a wagon. In any event, Durbin’s long overdue retirement is more important to what I cover than the primary, because Durbin is the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which controls the judicial nomination process. He was the head of the committee during Joe Biden’s presidency—a job he got by literally pulling rank over the guy who was best suited for the post (according to me), Senator Sheldon Whitehouse. The last four Democratic leaders on Judiciary have been, pretty much, a disaster. Durbin was preceded by Diane Feinstein, who was preceded by Patrick Leahy, who was preceded by Joe Biden. All four of these people were establishment moderates who were more concerned with formalities and courtesies than fighting for control of the courts. It was during their watch that the Federalist Society was able to overrun the judiciary with Republican judges who have literally taken away constitutional rights and redefined the law as a tool of the Republican political agenda. The Judiciary Committee desperately needs new, energetic leadership, to say nothing of a fighting spirit. I can only hope that Durbin’s retirement marks the end of the era of Democrats’ getting punked on judicial nominations.
The Bad and The Ugly
SCOTUSblog, a popular website that reports on the Supreme Court, has been acquired by the right-wing media outlet The Dispatch. The acquisition likely marks the end of one of the few nonpartisan sources of information about the Supreme Court and plunges yet another independent outlet into the dark morass of the white-wing media ecosystem. I have a ton of respect for the website’s senior editor, Amy Howe, and I know she will fight like hell to retain the site’s nonpartisan independence. But this ain’t no fairy tale. When you lie down with dogs, you wake up with fleas.The number of young people who are incarcerated is going down, but the racial disparities among the children we put behind bars are “the highest in decades.” Black and Native American children are getting the worst of it, according to NPR.
Pope Francis died. Francis was from Argentina. He was the first pope from Latin America, the first pope from the Southern Hemisphere, the first Jesuit pope, and the first pope born and raised outside of Europe since the 8th century. He was also one of the most progressive popes in the history of that office, though admittedly that’s a bit like saying he was the least fungal fungus. For my lapsed-Catholic part, I liked him. I hope the next pope is the second pope who can claim to be most of these things.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has been caught up in yet more Signal-inspired controversy. I know I’m supposed to care, but I don’t. They put a Fox News host in charge of the American military; what the hell did people think was going to happen? Decency? Competence?
A group of bigoted parents went before the Supreme Court this week and asked the justices to allow them to object to books in school that mention gay people. The Republican justices on the court fell all over themselves to agree with the parents. I am once again asking bigoted religious wing nuts to homeschool their children and leave the rest of us who want to live in a society alone.
Inspired Takes
In The Nation, my colleague Joan Walsh took on the Trump administration’s ridiculous and sexist obsession with white birth rates. For my part, I am willing to help the administration accomplish its goals: If it really wants white birth rates to go up, all it has to do is make most white people poor again. The lesson from literally all today’s high-income societies is that birth rates go down as economic prosperity goes up, so the solution is actually pretty simple. Maybe that’s the real reason behind Trump’s tariffs?
Contraband Camp has put out a “Trump Administration Discrimination Database.” So now, whenever your MAGA uncle says, “Point to one thing Trump has done that is racist,” you have a reference source.
I used to feed my dog a “raw food” diet. It made sense to me, in an unthinking way (dog = wolf = murderous carnivore = “Aww… who’s the good girl who wants to feast on the raw viscera of your slain enemies?”). The fru-fru suburban veterinarian I go to didn’t immediately tell me it was a bad idea. But then, I happened to run into my old, hardscrabble city veterinarian and she basically said, “What the fuck? Don’t do that. I thought you were a smart person?” She then gave me some research. Now, we’re back to kibble. For people who don’t have the benefit of knowing a frank-talking vet, Emmet Frazier explains in The Nation why your fully domesticated dog doesn’t need to be eating rabbit liver.
Worst Argument of the Week
This isn’t really an argument, but I read a story in Gothamist that almost made me cry. The Trump administration has largely cut off funding for legal aid programs that would provide lawyers to immigrant children sent here without their parents or legal guardians. That has forced thousands of children in New York City to go through the court process—which can lead to their deportation (among other things)—with no legal representation. We’re talking about children as young as 4 being hauled into a courtroom without a lawyer. I do not know what kind of sick fucks think this is OK. I cannot fathom the base, racist, cruelty and inhumanity you have to be comfortable with to think that Trump is right to cut this funding. I cannot conceive of the argument one might make to support this. All I know is that whatever argument one has for making this OK is wrong.
What I Wrote
I was not prepared to engage with a Supreme Court decision at 1 o’clock on Saturday morning, but I’m very glad the court was still working. It issued a ruling that prevented Trump from deporting another group of immigrants, and in so doing, probably saved some of their lives.
The Harvard lawsuit against the Trump administration over his illegal and unconstitutional freeze of the university’s research funding is very strong. Harvard should win, if winning in court still matters.
In News Unrelated to the Ongoing Chaos
You should watch Andor. The first episode of its second season just came out and, trust me, you should just watch it. Forget that it’s part of the Star Wars franchise. Forget that it’s another Disney-owned media property looking to milk that franchise for all its worth. This show is about fighting fascism. It is the most relevant piece of dramatic fiction of this era.

Kennedy Center’s events scheduled for LGBTQ+ pride celebration canceled, organizers say

https://apnews.com/article/world-pride-kennedy-center-trump-lgbtq-69fbf0ca20c2f9c36f49f8311f8bf1b6

The Kennedy Center is seen Aug. 13, 2019, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

The Kennedy Center is seen Aug. 13, 2019, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

 

By  ASHRAF KHALIL
Updated 7:47 PM EDT, April 25, 2025

 Organizers and the Kennedy Center have canceled a week’s worth of events celebrating LGBTQ+ rights for this summer’s World Pride festival in Washington, D.C., amid a shift in priorities and the ousting of leadership at one of the nation’s premier cultural institutions.

Multiple artists and producers involved in the center’s Tapestry of Pride schedule, which had been planned for June 5 to 8, told The Associated Press that their events had been quietly canceled or moved to other venues. And in the wake of the cancellations, Washington’s Capital Pride Alliance has disassociated itself from the Kennedy Center.

“We are a resilient community, and we have found other avenues to celebrate,” said June Crenshaw, deputy director of the alliance. “We are finding another path to the celebration … but the fact that we have to maneuver in this way is disappointing.”

The Kennedy Center’s website still lists Tapestry of Pride on its website with a general description and a link to the World Pride site. There are no other details.

The Kennedy Center did not respond to a request from the AP for comment.

The move comes on the heels of massive changes at the Kennedy Center, with President Donald Trump firing both the president and chairman in early February. Trump replaced most of the board with loyalists, who then elected him the new Kennedy Center chairman.

The World Pride event, held every two years, starts in just under a month — running from May 17 through June 8 with performances and celebrations planned across the capital city. But Trump administration policies on transgender rights and comments about Kennedy Center drag performances have sparked concern about what kind of reception attendees will receive.

“I know that D.C. as a community will be very excited to be hosting World Pride, but I know the community is a little bit different than the government,” said Michael Roest, founder and director of the International Pride Orchestra, which had its June 5 performance at the Kennedy Center abruptly canceled within days of Trump’s takeover.

Roest told the AP he was in the final stages of planning the Kennedy Center performance after months of emails and Zoom calls. He was waiting on a final contract when Trump posted on social media Feb. 7 of the leadership changes and his intention to transform the Kennedy Center’s programming.

Immediately the Kennedy Center became nonresponsive, Roest said. On Feb. 12, he said, he received a one-sentence email from a Kennedy Center staffer stating, “We are no longer able to advance your contract at this time.”

“They went from very eager to host to nothing,” he said. “We have not since heard a word from anybody at the Kennedy Center, but that’s not going to stop us.”

In the wake of the cancellation, Roest said he managed to move the International Pride Orchestra performance to the Strathmore theater in nearby Bethesda, Maryland.

Crenshaw said some other events, including a drag story time and a display of parts of the AIDS Memorial Quilt, would be moved to the World Pride welcome center in Chinatown.

Monica Alford, a veteran arts and culture journalist and event planner, was scheduled to organize an event June 8 as part of Tapestry of Pride, but said she also saw communication abruptly end within days of Trump’s takeover.

Alford has a long history with the Kennedy Center and organized the first-ever drag brunch on the Kennedy Center rooftop in 2024, and said she regarded the institution — and its recent expansion known as The Reach — as “my home base” and “a safe space for the queer community”

She said she was still finalizing the details of her event, which she described as “meant to be family-friendly, just like the drag brunch was family-friendly and classy and sophisticated.”

She said she mourns the loss of the partnership she nurtured with the Kennedy Center.

“We’re doing our community a disservice — not just the queer community but the entire community,” she said.

Roest said he never received an explanation as to why the performance was canceled so late in the planning stages. He said his orchestra would no longer consider performing at the Kennedy Center, and he believes most queer artists would make the same choice.

“There would need to be a very, very public statement of inclusivity from the administration, from that board, for us to consider that,” he said. “Otherwise it is a hostile performance space.”

ASHRAF KHALIL
ASHRAF KHALIL
Khalil writes about local issues in Washington, D.C., for The Associated Press and covers the social safety net around the country.

 

What was the sin of Sodom?

BLACKPRESSUSA UPDATE COMING SOON – The Smithsonian PURGE: Trump Team Removes Artifacts of Black Resistance

BLACKPRESSUSA UPDATE COMING SOON – The Smithsonian PURGE: Trump Team Removes Artifacts of Black Resistance

The racism in this tRump administration is incredible.  They are desperate to remove anything positive done by people who are not white cis straight males.  They want nothing that shows women or brown / black people.  They want segregation back.    They want subservient women who have to do as a male tells them.  They are desperate to have a white straight cis male dominated society.  The adminstartion is full of white supramcists who believe that teaching the true history, that telling people the truth is “… improper ideology”.   Hugs

Attorney Lindsey Halligan is reportedly consulting Vice President JD Vance to “remove improper ideology” from Smithsonian properties. According to a recent Washington Post article, Halligan told Trump the Smithsonian needs “changing,” and he has since ordered her to act.

Critics warn: it’s not just history being erased—it’s identity.

 

Greensboro lunch counter exhibit

April Ryan

BLACKPRESSUSA UPDATE COMING SOON – The Smithsonian PURGE: Trump Team Removes Artifacts of Black Resistance

Critics warn: it’s not just history being erased—it’s identity.

 
Greensboro lunch counter exhibit

1960 Woolworth’s lunch counter sit-in display

 

By April D. Ryan
Washington Bureau Chief

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE – Black Press USA has learned that Trump officials are sending back exhibit items to their rightful owners and dismantling them—starting with the 1960 Woolworth’s lunch counter sit-in exhibit.

“This president is a master of distraction and is destroying what it took 250 years to build. Here’s another distraction in his quest for attention. Another failure of his first 100 days,” said North Carolina Rep. Alma Adams, responding to efforts to physically remove the Greensboro, North Carolina, Woolworth’s lunch counter exhibit from the National Museum of African American History and Culture—affectionately known as the “Blacksonian.”

The exhibit features portions of the original lunch counter and highlights the story of four Black male students from North Carolina A&T who were brutally attacked after sitting at the whites-only counter Feb. 1, 1960. When denied service, the students refused to leave. Their defiance ignited a wave of lunch counter sit-ins across the South and became a major flashpoint in the Civil Rights Movement.

Adams added, “We are long past the time when you can erase history—anyone’s history. You can take down exhibits, close buildings, take down websites, ban books, and try to change history, but we are long past that point. We will never forget!”

Black Press USA has also obtained a letter from Dr. Amos Brown, long-standing civil rights leader and pastor of Third Baptist Church in San Francisco—also known as the home church of former Vice President Kamala Harris.

The letter notifies Dr. Brown that the museum is returning a Bible and George W. Williams’s History of the Negro Race in America, 1618-1880, one of the first books on racism in the U.S. Black Press USA has obtained emails from April 10 and 15, 2025, confirming the transfer.

The excerpt obtained by Black Press USA reads:

Dear Reverend Brown,
“I wanted to alert you that the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) will be returning your Bible and book we borrowed for our exhibition, Segregation.” (Email to Dr. Amos Brown)

These artifacts have been on display since the museum’s opening in September 2016. Dr. Brown has confirmed he will accept their return.

For Dr. Amos Brown, the artifacts meant something.

“Those two books and the summary of my civil rights activism and my picture right there next to Medgar Evers, John Lewis, and Fred Shuttlesworth in the desegregation of civil rights exhibit… That book [History of the Negro Race in America] inspired me before there were even African studies published. In my home, in that 3rd Street Baptist Church, we studied that book. The Bible—that’s my father’s Bible and the Bible I used in the Civil Rights Movement. When we went on demonstrations, we always had the Bible.”

While civil rights leaders are seeing their history returned behind the scenes, other actors are influencing the future of national memory.

Attorney Lindsey Halligan is reportedly consulting Vice President JD Vance to “remove improper ideology” from Smithsonian properties. According to a recent Washington Post article, Halligan told Trump the Smithsonian needs “changing,” and he has since ordered her to act.

Halligan stated, “I would say that improper ideology would be weaponizing history. We don’t need to overemphasize the negative to teach people that certain aspects of our nation’s history may have been bad.” That overemphasis, she argued, “just makes us grow further and further apart.”

Emails from April 10 and 152025

New Mexico judge and wife arrested for hiding an alleged Venezuelan gang member in their house

https://www.msn.com/en-us/crime/general/new-mexico-judge-and-wife-arrested-for-hiding-an-alleged-venezuelan-gang-member-in-their-house/ar-AA1DCdVU

These people are not undocumented.  They had immigration papers.  Plus the  Tren de Aragua gang do not have common tattoos nor hand signals.  So everything the government claims is again suspect and wrong.  I offer the quotes below.  They had papers saying this person is not subject to removal but ICE took them anyway.   Hugs

 

“Let me be as crystal clear as possible,” Cano wrote in his resignation, obtained by KOAT. “The very first time I ever heard that the boys could possibly have any association with Tren de Aragua was when I was informed of that by [the] agents on the day of the raid.”

He added that each of the men had immigration paperwork that suggested that they were not subject to removal. “Their papers stated in the upper right-hand corner, ‘This Person is Not Subject to Removal.’ They each had a specific court date regarding their asylum hearing,” Cano stated.

Story by Kelly Rissman
 • 23h

Immigration authorities raided a former New Mexico judge’s home, where they accused him of harboring an alleged Tren de Aragua gang member, and took him into custody.

Former Dona Ana County Magistrate Judge Joel Cano, 67, and his wife, Nancy Cano, 68, were arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcementx Thursday after a tipster claimed that undocumented migrants associated with the Venezuelan gang were staying at their home. The couple has been charged with tampering with evidence, jail records show.

The investigation began in January 2025 after ICE received an anonymous tip that “an illegal alien from Venezuela and a suspected member of a criminal gang, was residing with other illegal aliens in the United States” at the judge’s home in Las Cruces and was in possession of firearms, according to court filings.

Two search warrants were executed at the Canos’ home on February 28, during which authorities seized four guns and took three immigrants into custody, documents say.

The judge resigned in March after federal authorities accused the couple of housing an undocumented Venezuelan immigrant, Cristhian Ortega-Lopez, at their home.

A former New Mexico judge, Joel Cano, and his wife, Nancy Cano, were arrested after ICE accused them of harboring members of a Venezuelan gang (Dona Ana County Jail)

“Let me be as crystal clear as possible,” Cano wrote in his resignation, obtained by KOAT. “The very first time I ever heard that the boys could possibly have any association with Tren de Aragua was when I was informed of that by [the] agents on the day of the raid.”

He added that each of the men had immigration paperwork that suggested that they were not subject to removal. “Their papers stated in the upper right-hand corner, ‘This Person is Not Subject to Removal.’ They each had a specific court date regarding their asylum hearing,” Cano stated.

He continued: “I have three grandkids that I love dearly. Their ages are 15, 8 and 6. There is no way in the world that I would have allowed my grandkids to have any contact with the boys if I had sensed danger.”

Ortego-Lopez installed a glass door for Nancy Cano in late 2023, according to court documents. He continued doing a few jobs for her in 2024 and after he was evicted from his apartment in April 2024, she offered him a stay in their “casita,” a small house on their property. There, Ortego-Lopez was given access to guns, the filing says.

Ortega-Lopez allegedly posted photos of himself on social media holding guns. Agents also looked at the social media accounts of the other undocumented immigrants staying at the judge’s house that suggests “clear indicators” of association with the Venezuelan gang.

“These indicators included tattoos, clothing apparel and displaying hand gestures,” the government wrote.

Nancy Cano has been accused of witness tampering after she allegedly let Venezuelan gang members live in a ‘casita’ on her property (Dona Ana County Jail)

President Donald Trump’s administration has repeatedly relied on tattoos to identify alleged gang members. ICE has been apparently relying on a scorecard — the “Alien Enemies Act Validation Guide” — to determine whether Venezuelan immigrants are eligible for deportation, ACLU lawyers have said. If migrants reach a score of eight points or higher, they are “validated as members” of the Tren de Aragua gang, the guide states. Tattoos are worth four points.

Last month, the administration sent three planes carrying dozens of Venezuelans to a notorious prison in El Salvador after the president invoked the Alien Enemies Act, a 1798 wartime law.

The president’s order states that “all Venezuelan citizens 14 years of age or older who are members of [Tren de Aragua], are within the United States, and are not actually naturalized or lawful permanent residents of the United States are liable to be apprehended, restrained, secured, and removed as Alien Enemies.” The ACLU sued administration officials over their use of the Alien Enemies Act and a judge issued a temporary restraining order barring the migrants from being deported. Still, the planes flew to El Salvador; the judge this month said he found “probable cause” to hold the Trump administration in criminal contempt.

The Supreme Court ruled earlier this month that the Trump administration has the authority to deport migrants under the centuries-old act but also ordered that the government provide detainees an opportunity to contest their removals in court districts nearest to the detention centers where they are being held.

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