As citizens and individuals, you guys should of course be worried about speaking out and putting yourselves in danger or losing your jobs. As a gremlin with no life and too many illnesses to do anything else, on the other hand, I am perfectly willing to be a loud extreme fringe if it will help at all.
In other news, I’m going to singlehandedly tear down the American government and replace it with the socialist state early American labour agitators dreamed of.
The Indiana state legislature is considering an authoritarian bill that would essentially allow police to kill protesters with zero accountability.
Republican senator Jim Tomes introduced Senate Bill 285 in January, though it was given its first committee hearing on Wednesday. The bill authorizes city officials to use “any means necessary” to break up a group of 10 or more protesters blocking traffic, “even to the point of costing lives.”
Keep an eye on this bill. Keep an eye on it’s progress and it’s refutations and it’s inevitable day in court if it gets passed.
This is what I call a canary bill. If it passes both the legislative and judicial branches of the government, it serves as a hallmark on how far gone we are. If it passes the state and is deemed constitutional by the Supreme Court, then we have passed a point from which we cannot return.
Trump has instituted a social media ban for employees at the Environmental Protection Agency, the AP reported on Tuesday.
EPA employees are now banned from posting updates on social media or giving updates to the press.
News broke on Monday
that the EPA is under orders from the Trump administration to freeze
its grant programs, which include funding for education, water testing
and air quality monitoring.
The Huffington Post reported on Monday that it’s unclear whether the freeze will be indefinite. Read more
You know, the Richard Spencer getting punched thing has made it VERY clear which groups of people I’m not actually safe around, if push comes to shove. People who had SAID that they’d defend Jewish people, or even promised that, if shit hit the fan, they’d hide me, have said that this was inexcusable, and now I’m not wasting emotional energy on them. Because they won’t.
If you think you’d have hidden Jews during the Holocaust, but think that punching Richard Spencer was “inexcusable,” then you’re kidding yourself.
Body language experts told Mic behavior like this could be one of many signs of an unhappy relationship.
“If you didn’t know that they were married, you wouldn’t know that they are married,” communication and body language expert Susan Constantine said in a phone interview Monday.
“Not only did he not wait, he went up the stairs and greeted the Obamas,” body language expert and professional speaker Patti Wood said in a phone call. “He didn’t even look back to see if she was there or help her up the stairs.”
Wood elaborated: “He does not, as she comes to his side, hold her, greet her, bring her in close. He does a quick glance as if she was anybody and he doesn’t touch her.
Constantine believes the Obamas’ body language demonstrates a much stronger relationship. “Melania is an object to [Trump],” Constantine said. “I don’t see any warmth or true love and compassion in that relationship whatsoever.“ Read more
The vote to confirm Betsy DeVos as Sec of Education was delayed. The hearing of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions will now be held at 10 a.m. Jan. 31, according to an advisory from the committee.
And now to act! Billionaire Betsy DeVos is up for confirmation as U.S. Education Secretary, and many, many educators have expressed strongly that she is not qualified to ensure quality education in this country. She’s corrupt, she’s an explicit opponent of public schools, she’s incapable of answering basic questions about education policy.
Please consider calling one of the following Republican Senators (key in the confirmation vote) to express your opinion on the appointment. At least 3 of these need to be convinced in order to block DeVos’ nomination. Don’t email. Don’t tweet. Don’t complain on Facebook. Call them!
Then, PLEASE SHARE WIDELY: If you live in one of the states represented below, PLEASE call YOUR Senator, If you don’t, pick one and call him/her: Susan Collins (ME) 207.622.8414..&..202.224.2523 Lamar Alexander (TN) Fax line to Knoxville office: (865) 545-4252 and Phone line to Knoxville: (865) 545-4253 Lisa Murkowski (AK) 907.586.7277..&..202.224.6665 Johnny Isakson (GA) 770.661.0999..&..202.224.3643 Orrin Hatch (UT) 801.524.4380..&..202.224.5251 Richard Burr (NC) 336.631.5125..&..202.224.3154..&.. 910.251.1058..&..828.350.2437 Michael Enzi (WY) 202.224.3424 Dr. Bill Cassidy (LA) 202.224.5824 Pat Roberts (KS) 202.224.4774 Tim Scott (SC) 202.224.6121 Rand Paul (KY) 202.224.4343
I have seen a lot of people talking about the issues that were removed from the White House website. What I have seen little discussion of (or any, tbh) is what’s gone up in their place. There are exactly six issues now listed:
America First Energy Plan
America First Foreign Policy
Bringing Back Jobs And Growth
Making Our Military Strong Again
Standing Up For Our Law Enforcement Community
Trade Deals Working For All Americans
Just those headings should be terrifying enough: between the focus on state violence and the coded “America First” white ultranationalism, this is an unabashedly, literally fascist platform. But when you dive into the content, it becomes even more clear:
“Peace through strength will be at the center of that foreign policy.”
“[W]e will rebuild the American military.”
“President Trump is committed to reversing this trend [of a military that is marginally smaller in some areas than it was in 1991], because he knows that our military dominance must be unquestioned.”
“The world will be more peaceful and more prosperous with a stronger and more respected America.”
“Our military needs every asset at its disposal to defend America. We cannot allow other nations to surpass our military capability. The Trump Administration will pursue the highest level of military readiness.”
“For too long, Americans have been forced to accept trade deals that put the interests of insiders and the Washington elite over the hard-working men and women of this country.”
“The Trump Administration will be a law and order administration.”
“Our job is not to make life more comfortable for the rioter, the looter, or the violent disrupter.”
“President Trump is committed to building a border wall[.]”
“[Trump] is dedicated to enforcing our border laws, ending sanctuary cities, and stemming the tide of lawlessness associated with illegal immigration.”
“The dangerous anti-police atmosphere in America is wrong. The Trump Administration will end it.”
This is fascism. This is literally, unhyperbolically fascism. If you do not find this utterly terrifying down to the marrow of your bones, it is because
either
you do not think fascism will come for you and the people you love, or you have paid absolutely no attention to historical precedent about how these people operate and what their ultimate goals are.
Fascism does not stomp up to you, shouting its five-point plan for how it’s going to get rid of the Jews and the Muslims and the queers
the Black people
and the disabled people and the (”wrong kind of”) immigrants and and everybody else who stands in the way of a white nationalist state. It sidles up. It puts its arm around your shoulder. It says, “I am going to make you strong.” It says, “I am going to make you proud.” It says, “I am going to make you succeed, because I know exactly who’s been keeping you from all the things you know you deserve.”
This administration is telling us exactly who they are.
We need to believe them.
You know, I hadn’t even looked at the new website but you’re absolutely right – this is terrifying, and this is textbook.
Just in case y’all needed any more reasons to loathe and despise Donald Trump, he just appointed an FCC chief who is expressly anti-net-neutrality and gives zero shits about the potential of cable companies merging to form a monopoly over both TV and internet.
Best hope social media and regular media/news sites are in the first/basic tier of internet packages, because that’s what’s coming without net neutrality: cable companies will prioritize traffic to certain websites, and websites will have to pay more to make their site prioritized, and we will probably be sold the internet in much the same way we are sold television: in packages and tiers of channels, based on how much you’re willing to pay. Imagine a world where you paying your cable bill no longer gets you access to an open internet, but rather, you must pay extra to get access to certain levels of information on the internet. Imagine people with less money getting a smaller internet, with less information and less access. Because that could be what’s coming.
I will fight, tooth and nail, against this fuckery. Not in my lifetime. Not in my country. Access to information is a right. An open, accessible internet is not something we can compromise on. Net neutrality is a must.
Timelapse view of lava moving on the plains near Pu’u O’o, Hawaii. The hill in the distance is called the “Pali”, it is the mark of a large normal fault created by part of the island sliding out towards the sea. Lava cascades over the Pali on its way to the ocean during the eruption. This is substantially sped up from how fast Pahoehoe lava typically flows.
Right now, the black bloc protesters from the D.C. protest are facing a decade in jail and a fine (each) of $25,000. No one was hurt during their protest, but Starbucks and McDonald’s had to replace some windows and a limousine, a symbol of America’s wealth disparity, burned. And meanwhile, liberals are gleefully making memes of a black bloc protester engaging in the great American pastime of punching Nazis. Lots of people secretly really like the black bloc. If you doubt that, just Google ‘Richard Spencer gets punched in the face’ to see just how fond people are of the black bloc’s direct action approach to stopping Nazis in their tracks. And that’s what we need to do right now. Many progressives have been raised to tolerate outlandish ideologies in the spirit of inclusivity, but the far-right is now exploiting the sanctity of safe spaces in order to advance fascism, which will destroy our democracy. You don’t hug and coddle Nazis. It doesn’t work. Fascists only understand aggressive defeat. Radical protest creates the space for actions like the Women’s March. By pushing the Overton Window left, the black bloc makes the Women’s March look like a hyper-reasonable movement. ‘We’d better deal with these nice white ladies,’ some in power might say, ‘They’re nothing like those crazy kids dressed in black.’ I promise you: the Nazis don’t fear peaceful liberal protests, but they may think twice about marching in public if the black bloc is there to meet them.
Right now, the black bloc protesters from the D.C. protest are facing a decade in jail and a fine (each) of $25,000.
If you want to talk about their tactics, talk about their tactics, but if you enjoyed seeing that asshole get hit in the face, put $5 into their legal defense fund or the NLG defense fund. Your meme hero could easily have been among the ones arrested.
Also please donate to the DisruptJ20 legal fund to help #L12. The fine is up to $250,000, actually. They mass arrested everyone indiscriminately on one block – including legal observers, street medics, and journalists. They were kettled, had excessive force used against them (which the DC police tried to lie about – despite video evidence) and held for 8.5 hours without access to food, water, or bathrooms before finally being arrested. Most of them are being charged with felony rioting, which is rarely used. There was a class-action lawsuit filed on Friday. Please donate and spread the word!
A Middleground 