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Activism, Corporations, Corruption, Dangerous Republicans, Ethics, Extremism, Freedom under threat, Human rights, Liberals, Oligarchy, politics, Tech, Trump Insanity

People’s March unites locals who oppose oligarchy, loss of rights & right wing extremism

by Anne Landman • January 19, 2025 • 9 Comments

The People’s March on Saturday, January 18, provided a chance for a large group of Mesa County’s growing number of liberal residents to get together, enjoy camaraderie, speeches, free hot coffee, chai and cookies provided by Octopus Coffee. People were bundled up as the temperature was just below freezing.

The crowd numbered around 300 people.

On Wednesday, January 15, President Biden gave a farewell address to the public in which he warned Americans of a coming “dangerous concentration of power in the hands of very few ultra-wealthy people, and the dangerous consequences if their abuse of power is left unchecked.” Biden said,

“Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power, and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms, and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead.”

Trump nominated about a dozen billionaires to fill his cabinet, many of whom, if approved by Congress, will oversee the very agencies that regulate their own businesses — a clear conflict of interest. Tech billionaire Elon Musk, the richest man on Earth, who spent over $250 million to get Trump elected, is now cashing in on his investment in Trump. Word is Trump plans to give Musk, whose companies hold billions of dollars in federal contracts and who now refers to himself as Trump’s “First Buddy”, his own office adjacent to the White House.

Following are some scenes and signs from the day’s event:

A definition/description of oligarchy is here.

Anti-vaccine, Conspiracy theories, Crazy Republicans, Dangerous Republicans, Disinformation, Extremism, Public health, Racism

Trump’s nominee to head public health agencies pushed FDA to revoke approval of Covid vaccines during a deadly phase of pandemic

by Anne Landman • January 18, 2025 • 2 Comments

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has no medical background and no experience running a large agency. (Photo: Encyclopedia Britannica).

Activist and vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy, whom Trump has nominated to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) despite his having no experience in public health, formally petitioned (pdf) the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in May of 2021 to revoke the Emergency Use Authorization for Covid vaccines at a time when thousands of Americans were dying weekly from Covid infections.

Meta’s Abandonment of Fact-Checking Empowers a President Who Traffics in Lies

by Anne Landman • January 17, 2025 • 9 Comments

Republished from The Contrarian with permission from the author, Barbara McQuade, a professor at the University of Michigan Law School, former U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan and author of the New York Times bestseller Attack from Within: How Disinformation is Sabotaging America. As a legal analyst, her work has appeared in The Washington Post, Foreign Policy, Lawfare, Just Security, Slate, and National Public Radio, and she has been quoted in The New York Times, Time, Newsweek, Politico, and other publications.

As false information about wildfires in Los Angeles rages online, Mark Zuckerberg is fanning the flames of disinformation.

Last week, the Meta CEO announced that the company would stop fact-checking posts on its social media sites. Meta will move to a community notes model, similar to that used by the X platform, relying on users to flag false claims rather than using professional fact-checkers, such as PolitiFact. While conceding that more “bad stuff” will appear on Meta’s platforms — Facebook, Instagram and Threads — Zuckerberg said the change was necessary to prevent “too much censorship.”

Disinformation now identified as the greatest global threat

At a time when the World Economic Forum identifies disinformation as the greatest global threat, Zuckerberg is burning down the defense system of a social media company with 3.5 billion users worldwide. What could possibly motivate a move that will certainly lead to more chaos and upheaval in society?

People’s March to be held Saturday, Jan. 18 @ 1 p.m., to bring together people who fear second Trump administration

by Anne Landman • January 9, 2025 • 11 Comments

The Womens’ March held around the time of Trump’s first inauguration in 2017 is coming back in 2025, but this time it has been rebranded as “The People’s March,” to be even more inclusive.

The 2025 Grand Junction People’s March will start at the Old Courthouse on 6th and Rood Ave. on Saturday, January 18 at 1:00 p.m. in Grand Junction, just prior to Trump’s inauguration on January 20. The event will coincide with a national People’s March will in Washington, D.C. scheduled to start 10:00 a.m. Eastern Standard Time.

Trump threatens to seize Greenland and the Panama canal, and use economic pressure to make Canada the 51st state

by Anne Landman • January 7, 2025 • 22 Comments

Trump said he wouldn’t rule out the use of military force to seize Greenland from Denmark and seize the Panama Canal from Panama. He also says he wants to erase Canada’s borders and make Canada America’s 51st state

In an hour long news conference on Tuesday, January 7, 2025, convicted felon, sexual abuser and president-elect Trump insisted Denmark should “give up” Greenland to the United States and refused to rule out use of military force to seize the island. Trump also repeated his desire that the U.S. should seize the Panama Canal from Panama. The canal, which was built by the U.S. over a century ago and returned to Panama by the Panama Canal treaty, signed by President Jimmy Carter in 1977. Trump also suggested using “economic force” instead of military force to make Canada into America’s 51st state. Trump has threatened Canada with a 25% tariff on all Canadian goods coming into the U.S., and told reporters that if Canada voluntarily merges with the U.S., there “would be no tariffs.” Trump mused, “Canada and the United States. That would really be something.”

Trump also said he wants to rename the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America.”

Red Rock Auto asks for more than $210K in attorney fees in case of former employee who sued company for wage theft

by Anne Landman • January 7, 2025 • 11 Comments

Excerpt from Page 13 of the motion Red Rock’s attorneys filed on January 2, 2024 seeking reimbursement of attorneys fees from Derek Paiz, who filed a wage theft case against the company that he filed pro se (without an attorney) in 2023.

Attorneys for Red Rock Auto filed a 15 page motion on January 2, 2025 asking the court to award the company $210,746.50 in attorney fees in the wage theft lawsuit brought by former vehicle detailer Derek Paíz, who worked for Red Rock GMC for about 4 months in 2022 and served as his own attorney in the case.

Red Rock said in its the motion that “Plaintiff’s claims were…frivolous, objectively unreasonable, and groundless” and also that part of the purpose of asking Paíz for attorneys’ fees was to deter other employees from bringing similar cases:

CO House Rep. Matt Soper (R-District 54) posts & then deletes controversial comment on Jimmy Carter’s death

by Anne Landman • January 3, 2025 • 15 Comments

Colorado House Rep. Matt Soper posted this comment about the death of former President Jimmy Carter on Twitter/X at 11:51 p.m. on 12/29/2024, the day Carter died. Soper deleted the comment shortly after, but not before a lot of people noticed and got screen shots of it.

Arrest affidavit: Trump’s racist, anti-immigrant rhetoric motivated strangulation attack on local TV reporter

by Anne Landman • December 28, 2024 • 22 Comments

Patrick Thomas Egan, 39, who attacked and attempted to strangle KKCO TV reporter Ja’Ronn Alex

KKCO TV News reporter Ja’Ronn Alex was followed and physically attacked December 18 by a Trump supporter who yelled “Are you even a U.S. citizen! This is Trump’s America now! I took an oath to protect this country from people like you!”

Trump’s tax policies will raise taxes on less wealthy Americans & cut taxes for those making over $360k/year

by Anne Landman • December 26, 2024 • 5 Comments

Chart from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy

The tax policies that convicted felon and President-elect Donald Trump wants to enact will raise taxes on working-class Americans, like those in Mesa County, while cutting taxes for the wealthiest Americans.

Policies that raise taxes on poorer people while disproportionately benefitting wealthier people are called “regressive taxes.” A regressive tax essentially takes the most from people who can least afford it.

House Ethics report finds “substantial evidence” that Matt Gaetz, Trump’s first pick for Attorney General, paid women for sex, had sex with an underage girl, used & possessed illegal drugs, accepted impermissible gifts and more

by Anne Landman • December 23, 2024 • 14 Comments

Matt Gaetz, Trump’s first pick to be United States Attorney General (AG). The AG serves as the chief law enforcement officer of the United States and principal legal advisor to the U.S. President

On December 23, 2024, the U.S. House of Representatives’ Ethics Committee, whose “singular mission is to protect the integrity of the House,” released a long-awaited report on the behavior of former House Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Florida) (pdf), who was president-elect Donald J. Trump’s first choice to be Attorney General of the United States.

Gaetz resigned from his Congressional seat after his nomination to be AG, and prior to the release of the report.

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