ソ-ラ-バ-ド-のおん: Solarbird Makes Noises

I have been rather overwhelmed lately. I apologise for that.

This is a catch-up round of news. I'm not attempting to make it complete, but I think it's a reasonable overview of some of the worst, at least, before this weekend.

( It's May 29th, 2017; let's get caught up on the news )

Well, if we didn't know already, this is the crux of the matter.

If meaningful, _critical_ actions are not taken _now_, the GOP will take no action, at all, ever.

We _have to_ assume that Mr. Trump could order tanks into the streets and the Republican Party would be fine with it. We _have to_ assume he could shoot people down in cold blood and they'd go along. We have to assume there will be no help from the ruling party. _None_.

The institutions that could act meaningfully have failed, because, in the end, is is not the institutions, but the people who occupy them. And the occupants are looters, criminals, and traitors who have one, single goal: the strip-mining of all value available, to themselves, or the masters they serve.

This doesn't mean we can't resist, because we can. But it means the two-year war will not be short-circuited, and must be fought heavily at the state level. The Republicans will do _everything_ in their power to suppress votes, to gerrymander beyond anything we've seen even so far, and steal the next election, by hook or by crook. _If you want there to be elections in the future_, you _have to_ oust Republicans, en masse, in 2018. I don't care about how big a sellout your local Democrat is - stow it. You want to primary some people from the left, go for it, but when the primary is over, _get the fuck in line_, because this is existential to the _goddamn republic_.

News follows.

Trump, Russia, and Treason:

• Trump Revealed Highly Classified Intelligence to Russia, in Break With Ally, Officials Say
• ‘Far worse than what has already been reported’: Trump’s Russian disclosures so serious Senate had to be alerted
• Comey Memo Says Trump Asked Him to End Flynn Investigation
• Republicans Demand More Detail on Trump’s Meeting With Russians
• Source: There is "whole lot of interfering" in Russia investigation
• Trump on Comey 'tapes': 'I can't talk about that'
• Authoritarians thrive on ritual humiliation.
• I have lived through nearly 4,500 weeks in my life, and I have never seen a week like the one we just had.
• Clapper: Putin did it to demean Clinton and help elect Trump
• Trump/Comey: What's this week's political firestorm actually about?
• Here’s Why There Won’t Be An Independent Investigation Into Russia Anytime Soon
• ‘He Doesn’t Give a Crap Who He Fires’
• Donald Trump's tax law firm has 'deep' ties to Russia
• Trump must be impeached. Here’s why.

Trump, Authoritarianism (and neofascism), and Corruption:

• Trump Is Trying to Control the FBI. It’s Time to Freak Out.
• The Law Can’t Stop Trump. Only Impeachment Can.
• Americans are witnessing a slow-motion coup
• Telling Trump Fans He’s Betraying Them Won’t Work
• Card handed out at #RPW2017 by @wisgop US Senate hopeful John Schiess.

Good luck out there.

( It's May 17th, 2017; this is the news. )

This is the second news post today. The lowkey item to pay attention to here, probably, is the departure of the Census head. Harper screwed with the census too; I'm presuming the Trumpists will do so as well, to aid in their extensive voter-suppression and gerrymandering efforts. (U.S. Census director resigns amid turmoil over funding of 2020 count, Departure of U.S. census director threatens 2020 count).

In pre-Comey Russian news, "Where are they now? The Russian bots that disrupted the 2016 election" follows the Russian botnets in the first few months of this year. And "6 Takeaways From Monday’s Senate Hearing on Russia" isn't that great, but leads well into a whole series of stories about the attempt to intimidate Sally Yeats. (That's a felony, by the way.) To wit, "And now, 6hrs before #SallyYates testifies against him & his cronies I'm pretty sure this constitutes as a POTUS intimidating a witness," and "‘The president is threatening a witness’: CNN analyst slams Trump’s ‘disturbing’ Sally Yates tweets" cover that. They also had "Per @axios, WH plans to smear Sally Yates tomorrow as a "Democratic operative." She was a nonpolitical, career DOJ attorney for two decades" queued up.

But her testimony was damning nonetheless. "Spicer: White House Didn't Act on Sally Yates' Warning Because She's a "Political Opponent"." "Trump Is So Freaked Out By Sally Yates He Changed His Goddamn Twitter Profile" and "Yates: Alarm about Russian blackmail led to warning on Flynn" are also important

Sessions's justice department is moving against Cascadian groups protecting immigrant rights, sending cease-and-deists to them. They're fighting back. ("Group sues to continue giving immigrants legal help"). We also have a first-person report from Desiree Fairooz, the woman arrested for laughing at Jeff Sessions. ("I'm facing jail time after laughing at Jeff Sessions. I regret nothing.") Sessions is also trying to revive discredited (and overtly racist) Supreme Court decisions of the past. (The racist, discredited argument Trump’s DOJ just made in a federal court). Also, Sessions continues the tradition of trying to get Julian Assange in jail, with "The government wants Julian Assange in jail. That could hurt the rest of us." Yes, he's a Russian tool, but he's not a US citizen and he's not acting on US soil, and publishing data - even curated with political intent - isn't criminal.

Have a little cultural warfare, scarecrow: "Texas Bill Could Let Agencies Bar LGBT, Atheist, Single Parents From Adopting" (another 'religious liberty' bill), "Tennessee 'Natural Meaning' Law Raises Fears in LGBT Community" (an attempt to weasel in general inefficiencies targeting LGBT couples trying to use their rights under the law), and "Alabama Governor Signs Law Allowing Adoption Agencies to Discriminate Against Gay Couples" (more 'religious liberty' horseshit).

Suppression of Science: "Interior Dept. freezes work of advisory boards." Reportedly some haven't met in years, and those are fine, but this a broad brush. And given everything else we've seen, it'd be stupid not to assume the worst.

"White House advisors called Ottawa to urge Trudeau to help talk Trump down from scrapping NAFTA." YES, REALLY. THAT IS THE STORY FROM A REAL CANADIAN NEWSPAPER. Christ.

Other Racism: "99% of students handcuffed by NYPD in public schools were black or Hispanic: report."

Other Fascism: "The Healthcare Bill Exposes Trump's Chilling Authoritarian Agenda."

Other "alt-facts," a.k.a. lies, discredited in "Noncitizen Voting: The Missing Millions."

A bit of opinion: "Yes, House Republicans, the heartless health-care vote will define you," and "Washington Loves General McMaster, But Trump Doesn't."

As always - good luck out there.

( It's May 10th, 2017; this is the news )

Trump and Corruption starts with "Flynn was warned by Trump transition officials about contacts with Russian ambassador." Apparently it was bad enough even some of their team found it dodgy. Or at least, revealing. Meanwhile, "In a Beijing ballroom, Kushner family pushes $500,000 ‘investor visa’ to wealthy Chinese" - perfectly legal visas, but it you want to make it any clearer that this is a looting operation, I'm not sure how you would. "E.P.A. Dismisses Members of Major Scientific Review Board" - to replace them with reps of the industries the EPA regulates. Because regulatory capture isn't complete until you can really rub peoples' noses in it.

In neofascism and similar tactics, we have "The great British Brexit robbery: how our democracy was hijacked," which is more into Palintir and Cambridge Analytics and so on. Important background data. "White House argues Dems shouldn’t hurt Trump’s feelings" sounds like something out of a tinhorn dictatorship, but there it is and there you have it. "The American Health Care Act's Prosperity Gospel" outlines the specifically fundamentalist Christian version of all this, and ties back in to my essay on the social takeover of the GOP by the fundamentalist mindset. "FDA is now all Fox News, all the time" - you know this by now, there have been several stories, but the vision of propaganda blasting from every point is pretty vivid.

Meanwhile, "Lawsuit depicts Fox News as not just sexist. Not just misogynistic. Barbaric." which is pretty strong language even now, and "Why Opposing Trump Isn't Like the GOP Obstructing Obama" talks about media gaslighting of antifascist opposition.

Racism and the war on women - which ties into the previous section - includes "Texas police chiefs slam sanctuary city bill," as in yes, Texas police chiefs think it goes too far. Think about that. "ICE 'Victim-Blames' Immigrants With Sexual Assault Policies" - but it's more obvious in Spanish than in English, where I guess they thought they could get away with more. "GOP rep says no need for Planned Parenthood, women can simply get birth control at the grocery store." What aisle has pap smears and cervical cancer screenings? And, of course, "Republicans defend having no women in health care group," because their complete and stunning disgust with anything having to do with women's health hasn't been made clear enough already.

Finally, we close with, "Did Macron Outsmart Campaign Hackers?" - spoiler alert: probably; well done, Team Macron - and "What the last Nuremberg prosecutor alive wants the world to know."

Good luck out there.

( It's May 8th, 2017; this is the news )

Pettiness, but only a particularly petty example thereof, in "A Woman Is On Trial For Laughing During A Congressional Hearing." Lots of protesters are being prosecuted. "Robert Reich: Now Trump Is Threatening the Independence of Judges" - gosh, you noticed? From "Historian Timothy Snyder: “It’s pretty much inevitable” that Trump will try to stage a coup and overthrow democracy," which is pretty gloom-and-doomy, but we're going to see how deep the Republican absolutist/only-Repulicans-are-citizens thought runs. "This is Amazing" is a column which seems to lack a headline for this particular entry, but it's about Ivanka's new foundation, most likely to be another money pump.

Don't count any of the white supremacists and neofascists out until they're actually gone; "Rotating players is a typical authoritarian PR tactic," notes Sarah Kendzior‏ on Twitter. And don't even think you'll get internal reflection or accountability; "Trump walks away in middle of @CBSNews interview as soon as he gets pressed on his bogus Obama wire-tapping claims."

I'm mad at Seattle Weekly for the headline of "A Brief, Ugly Altercation at the May Day Anti-Communist March" because it's not an "anti-Communist march," it's a Trump rally and pretty fascist, as you'll see if you watch the videos. It's literally a circle of Trumpist bros getting off on trapping and physically restraining a woman. "The 'Alt-Right' Is Scaring Some Students Away From a Liberal College in Washington" crowd, pretty much.

War on Blue States: "Trump will test Democrats' tax patriotism: Glenn Reynolds." Reynolds is a Trumpist, and what the actual proposal is actually about is shifting even more of the tax burdon over onto blue states, because apparently red states - which are massively subsidised by blue states, on the whole, now - need to be subsidised even more. Understand this: _this is yet more economic war on Democratic-controlled states_, a form of looting and provision to reward Trumpists.

Looting is always part of this kind of agenda, of course. "Congress to rent Secret Service space at Trump Tower as part of security spending bill" is just a small sample. "Trump Adviser Kushner’s Undisclosed Partners Include Goldman and Soros," says the Wall Street Journal. "Man Trump Named to Fix Mortgage Markets Figured in Infamous Financial Crisis Episode" - by helping create some of the most toxic CDOs.

"US ISPs claim to love net neutrality while praising death of net neutrality rules," of course. Here are "5 Things to Know About the Next Battle Over Net Neutrality."

Civil rights are being thrown into the dumpster as quickly as possible. African-Americans are getting the worst of it, as always. "Justice Department will not charge Baton Rouge officers in fatal shooting of Alton Sterling," "Family angry at reports of DOJ decision in police shooting death of Alton Sterling." Alton Sterling was legally selling CDs outside a store with the store owner's permission. He did this all the time. Cops showed up, attacked him, and shot him dead. Nothing; the Sessions era will be one of legal law-enforcement lynchings.

"White House aims for Thursday signing of religious liberty executive order" would be the anti-LGBT order leaked in February, reportedly, letting any fundamentalist asshole refuse to do their jobs for any reason if they decide they don't like who they're supposed to be serving. Queers are nr. 1 on that agenda, but women doing The Wrong Things and racial minorities will be a close nr. 2. "Trump Administration Reverses Course on Obamacare’s Civil Rights Protections" ends a fleet of executive protections for pregnant people and for transgendered people.

"Trump’s Family Planning Pick Believes ‘Contraception Doesn’t Work’." Not even in some greater-social-good sense, she's a contraception denialist. This is pretty common in fundamentalist circles, mostly amongst people who want to _ban_ contraception, so this is very much a worst-case appointee. Meanwhile, "Trump Army secretary pick gave a lecture arguing against the theory of evolution."

Finally, "New changes to essential benefits in GOP health bill could jeopardize protections against catastrophic costs, even for people with job-based coverage." Don't think you're safe just because you've got employer coverage. "The Whole Grain Terror In School Lunches Is About To End" deals with weakening standards for school lunch nutrition. Finally, "How a Professional Climate Change Denier Discovered the Lies and Decided to Fight for Science" and "EPA website removes climate science site from public view after two decades."

Good luck out there.

( It's May 3rd, 2017; this is the news )

Well, I've at least managed to clear my browser tabs.

Fascism/authoritarianism and the corporatist state:

• Rep. Adam Schiff on @MSNBC: It sounds like the W.H. has paperwork from Mike Flynn that they weren't willing to give to the Oversight Cmte.
• Justices Alarmed by Government’s Hard-Line Stance in Citizenship Case
• Trump says he may break up 9th Circuit Court after rulings go against him
• Juvenile criminal defense attorneys forced to agree to Taser's terms of service to see the state's evidence

Corruption and looting:

• The tale of the dictator’s daughter and her prince
• Mar-a-Lago blog was not reviewed before posting on State site
• Whitehouse Files Hatch Act Complaint Over Pruitt Participation in Oklahoma GOP Fundraiser
• Nominee to head FDA joined effort to get a drug company more fentanyl
• Trump tax proposal would slash taxes for his businesses
• At Trump’s EPA, Less Science and More Industry
• Trump orders review of national monuments to allow development
• MNUCHIN: we are going to eliminate on the personal side all tax deductions other than mortgage interest and charitable deductions.
• Trump Tax Plan Slashes Individual and Corporate Rates

Xenophobia and reactions against:

• White House Optimism on Shutdown Complicated by Trump Demands
• When is a wall not a wall? GOP redefines Trump’s border wall
• Police Chief Meidl: In Spokane, undocumented immigrant crime is practically nonexistent

Trumpcare/Chumpcare 2.0:

• Republicans exempt their own insurance from their latest health care proposal
• Apparently repealing Obamacare could violate international law

Trade:

• Trump puts EU ahead of Britain in trade queue
• Trump Administration Puts Trade Deal With EU Ahead of Post-Brexit Britain
• Republicans tell Trump to hold up on NAFTA withdrawal

Brutal horribleness:

• Sandy Hook truther Alex Jones asks for privacy in custody battle ‘for the sake of my children’

(Alex Jones spent a lot of time siccing conspiracy theory haters on the parents of the children murdered at Sandy Hook, claiming the shooting didn't happen and was staged. The abuse, stalking, and harassment the parents of the dead children suffered was truly barbaric, and Alex Jones was the primary motivator here.)

Everything else:

• Different president, same old government shutdown threats
• Republican North Carolina judge resigns — and slams the GOP on the way out
• Trump’s over-the-top, boastful AP interview, annotated

Good luck out there.

( It's April 27th, 2017; this is the news )

Sorry this is a short summary. A proper post takes a few hours and I've been too busy the last couple of days. :/

Reports of a new ACA repeal:
White House Officials, Craving Progress, Push Revised Health Bill
White House pressures GOP leaders on Obamacare showdown next week.

Fascism and Racism:
Tax-Dodging Nazi Sovereign Citizen Furries Forced To Cancel Denver Furry Convention. Yes, Really.
Why gay French men are voting far right
AG Sessions says he's 'amazed' a judge 'on an island in the Pacific' can block Trump's immigration order

Russia, et al:
House intel panel invites former acting AG Sally Yates to testify
Leader Of Justice Department National Security Division On The Way Out

Vote suppression:
Georgia Is Trying To Block Newly Registered Voters From Taking Part In Fierce Runoff Election

An Actual Real Life False Flag:
Borussia Dortmund bombs: 'Speculator' charged with bus attack

Environment and corruption:
AP Exclusive: Pesticide maker tries to kill risk study

Finally, culture war:
Army Secretary Nom: Trans People Are 'Evil' Who Must Be 'Crushed'

(  It's April 22nd, 2017; this is the news )

"Ivanka's biz prospers as politics mixes with business" and "Ivanka Trump awarded 3 China trademarks on the same day she dined with Chinese president: report" are talking about some of the same corruption.

Russia: "Blackwater Founder Prince Said to Have Advised Trump Team" - this ties in with his secret (and denied) trip to set up a Putin backchannel. "Alexander Dugin and Steve Bannon’s Ideological Ties to Vladimir Putin’s Russia" talks about how while Bannon-Putin ties are not showing up as much, the ideological ties are very clear.

White supremacy/neofascism: "Globe editorial: Turkey, Erdogan and the end of liberal democracy." Basically, Turkey just passed - in a very dirty election - their version of Nazis' Enabling Act. Trump tweeted his congratulations to Erdogan, so we see what he thinks of representative government. Also, "White nationalist argues Trump should be liable for inciting violence at rally." "At least 100 gay men in Chechnya have been abducted by police" talks about the long and brutal history in Chechnya of targeting LGBT people (and others) to prop up support for their absolutist government within the Russian Federation. And "Spicer Argues That More Public Disclosure Is Unnecessary, Even Harmful" speaks more or less for itself. "Betsy DeVos wants more character development in schools. That’s a big problem." And the problem is that it's mostly about beefing up the school-to-prison-pipeline. And it's a lot easier to run a dictatorship when fewer people are going to notice: "A month after dismissing federal prosecutors, Justice Department does not have any U.S. attorneys in place."

Other Trump actions: "Donald Trump’s nuked credibility: How can a flagrantly dishonest president manage an international crisis?" The problem is I don't even entirely think he knows when he's lying. I'm not sure of that, but... damn. "The Latest: White House cancels meeting on Paris accords." They're claiming they'll reschedule. "Trump targets visas program for highly skilled workers" - which would be less of a problem if tech stopped driving women out of the workforce through harassment. Maybe that'll be the silver lining HAHAHAHAHAHAHA I kid, I kid.

"No cameras for ‘worst political attack on women’s health in a generation’" is so underreported.

"Amazon workers rail against company ads on Breitbart" is a good bit of resistance, but the number should be larger. Steve Ballmer is _shocked_ that so many tax subsidies go to the well off, in "Steve Ballmer Serves Up a Fascinating Data Trove." "Hiring Anti-Trump Conservative Is Part Of New York Times' Effort To Expand Opinion" - too bad he's a climate denialist. But then, what sanity is left?

"Opening of UN files on Holocaust will 'rewrite chapters of history'" - or won't, really? But will make a _lot_ more direct evidence directly public. I don't know that it'll help with that kind of denialism, really, but it won't hurt.

Finally, some environmental commentary: "Joel Connelly: Inslee calls Trump budget cuts 'devastating'." Because they are.

Good luck out there.

( It's April 19th, 2017; this is the news )

I wasn't going to do a news post this evening, but this is too important:

"AP Exclusive: Manafort firm received Ukraine ledger payout." This is a smoking gun. "Here are 10 things about the explosive Washington Post story on Carter Page that only lawyers and #Russiagate analysts would catch." And Trump's response? "As FBI probe continues, Trump says it’s ‘not too late’ to fire Comey."

Comey is not a political appointee. Trump's threatening to fire him. Keep that in mind.

"CNN Exclusive: Classified docs contradict Nunes surveillance claims, GOP and Dem sources say." This particular vector is turning into "everyone vs. Trump," even the Republicans. Blood in the water?

"Trump Says He Offered China Better Trade Terms in Exchange for Help on North Korea" isn't so interesting for the headline or the offer but the _amazing_ degree of unpreparedness and ignorance he walked into that meeting carrying. Seriously, it's _blinding_.

"Sadly, Sean Spicer's Hitler comments serve as a useful distraction for Trump." I don't agree with that, I think it's very important in and of itself in highlighting the white supremacy and holocaust denialism, and that is _not_ a distraction. But still, here it is, along with "Team Bannon ‘Laying Low,’ After Being ‘Blindsided’ by Trump" - Bannon, meet bus? One can only hope.

It's Only Sharia If Brown People Do It: "Alabama senate votes to allow church to form own police force." No, really. 24-4 vote. In other culture war news, "Fake “Radical Feminist” group actually paid political front for anti-LGBT James Dobson organization." The fundamentalist right isn't just propping up TERF groups; it's making fake ones of their own. This is actually pretty traditional for them, but it's good seeing the money trail.

"Sessions orders Justice Dept. to end forensic science commission, suspend review policy," because invalid data, bad science, and fake forensics are good as long as it lets you throw more people - particularly people of colour - into jail. It's grotesque.

More attempts at ACA sabotage: "Trump Threatens to Withhold Payments to Insurers to Press Democrats on Health Bill." This would be a straight-up refusal to issue payments due under the law. Fun times.

"Report: Body of country's first female Muslim judge found in Hudson River" does NOT, I must stress NOT, show signs of foul play at press time. But keep an eye on this.

Also on the 11th, "United passenger threatened with handcuffs to make room for 'higher-priority' traveler." Like the doctor dragged off the plane, this guy, too, had a boarding pass and was seated.

Finally, in COMPLY OR GET THE BEATDOWN, "How the Government Is Turning Protesters Into Felons."

Now I'm going to go to Norwescon and try to act like things are normal for a few days. It won't work, but I can try.

Good luck out there.

( It's April 13, 2017; this is the news )

"Horrifying News out of Chechnya: 'World's First Concentration Camp for Homosexuals Since Hitler's in the 1930s'. Multiple translations of the original article (which was in Russian) are translating their term as 'concentration camps,' not just ones going through the Daily Fail. Fortunately, "Chechnya has opened concentration camps for gay men" doesn't involve the Fail story - but I'm running with both.

UN Ambassador "Haley on Russia and Iran: 'I don't think anything is off the table'" seems to be contradicting earlier Trump administration statements, but I guess since the entire team - what there is of it - consists of clusterfuck after clusterfuck, we shouldn't be surprised. "Trump aide drew plan on napkin to partition Libya into three" - that would-be imperial realignment mastermind would in fact be neo-fascist Gorka. We also have "U.S. Threatens More Pressure on Syria After Missile Strikes," "Trump’s foreign policy is dangerously impulsive," and the most important statement, "The Scariest Part About the Syria Attacks Is What Donald Trump Will Learn from Them."

Though no, that's wrong, the most important thing is that this missile attack started media normalisation of the Trump administration, and that can't be allowed to happen. Journalists need to be reminded that this is still not a normal administration and to stop treating it like one, because they're trying to reset to that mode now that they've seen something familiar: bombing runs.

But we also need not to start digging into conspiracy bullshit. "MSNBC host’s conspiracy theory: What if Putin planned the Syrian chemical attack to help Trump?" NO EVIDENCE. Until such evidence exists, DO NOT DO THIS. DO NOT PROMOTE THIS. (The MSNBC version, not the article calling it out.) We can't let the shitty mainstream media suddenly make "Fake News" into an actual thing across the board in the same way that the right has made all the weird conspiracy theories of the 90s become real! It's the only thing we have.

I haven't seen anything on the Russia-Trump election meddling except for this weird little story: "Tillerson: Election Meddling Something 'Russia Needs To Confront Themselves'." Um, how about an independent investigation confronting it? That'd be good.

In corrosion of civil rights news, we have "After violently dragging a passenger from overbooked flight, United Airlines apologizes to everyone else," and "My phone was searched at LAX, which apparently is the new normal." I imagine you've seen the violent assault on the passenger. The LAX story is targeting a US citizen at a US airport and threatening her with more abuse to come.

Finally, "Big Pharma Funds “Independent” Advocacy Groups Attacking Drug-Price Reduction Bill." It's more ordinary corporatism, but I thought I'd bring it in.

Good luck out there.

( It's April 11, 2017; this is the news )