A crowd of about 350 people turned out at noon today to loudly protest the ongoing coup of the federal government by convicted felon, adjudicated sexual abuser and President Donald Trump and his unelected provocateur Elon Musk, the richest billionaire on Earth who purchased the ability to use Trump’s presidency for himself with a $250 million donation to Trump’s presidential campaign. Trump and Musk have been in almost continuous violation of the U.S. Constitution and U.S. laws since Trump was inaugurated January 20. The two have been working together quickly to destroy entire federal agencies that Americans rely on for essential services, that help starving and sick people and that distribute foreign aid, and they’ve been working to hobble the federal government’s ability to keep U.S. citizens safe in the air, safe from financial fraud and grift, and safe from attacks on U.S. soil.
Activism, Lobbying, Social Justice
Protesting? Know your rights!
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Activism, Crime, Dangerous Republicans, Democracy under threat, Extremism, Law and Order under threat, Republicans violating rules
“Not My President’s Day” national day of protest announced for Feb. 17, 2025, @ noon at City Hall
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A super PAC is urging Americans to rally en masse nationwide February 17th at noon at city halls across the country to show opposition to “co-presidents” Elon Musk and Donald Trump’s lawless dragging of the nation into fascism and oligarchy. It is the same group that organized the #50501 protests at state capitals across the country February 5th.
Dangerous Republicans, Environment, Ethics, Local concerns, Oligarchy
Trump administration working to change or eliminate boundaries of national monuments to allow increased mining & drilling
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Colorado National Monument (Photo: National Park Service)
The Trump administration has started reviewing the boundaries of protected public lands with the intent of increasing mining for minerals and drilling for fossil fuels, actions that could drastically change existing national monuments, a category that includes the Colorado National Monument.
Trump’s newly-appointed Secretary of the Interior, Doug Burgum, issued a 7-page directive (pdf) on February 3, 2025 to implement Trump’s January 20 Executive Order #14154, “Unleashing American Energy,” which has a goal of boosting mineral mining and fossil fuel exploration and production on all federal lands. Burgum’s directive orders federal officials to consider redrawing the boundaries of federally-protected areas that were set aside by past presidents to protect their unique landscapes and cultural resources.
Previous conservation policies are now gone
Burgum’s directive tells federal land managers to “suspend, revise, or rescind” previous conservation policies that include bans on oil, mining, and gas drilling in sensitive locations on public lands. Burgum gave officials at federal agencies until February 18 to submit plans on ways to comply with his order, which includes taking “actions to review and, as appropriate, revise all withdrawn public lands” to facilitate more fossil fuel production and mining for minerals.
National parks and monuments are considered “withdrawn,” or protected, from extractive industrial activities like mining and drilling.
Conservation groups are worried that changes in the borders of national monuments will shrink or eliminate them in favor of increased mining and drilling for fossil fuels.
Activism, Extremism, Republicans violating laws, Trump Insanity
Backlash growing to co-presidents Trump/Musk:
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Hundreds shout “Shut down the Senate!” at protest of Elon Musk’s takeover of USAID in Washington, D.C.
Hundreds of protesters gathered yesterday, February 4, 2025 to protest Trump and billionaire Elon Musk’s illegal intrusion into federal government offices, and seizure of the U.S. Treasury. Protest signs read “COUP,” “Nobody elected Elon,” “Felon!,”Impeach President Musk,” “Stop the billionaire grift!,” “Stop the felons’ smash and grab,” “America is not for sale.”
Activism, Economics, Grassroots advocacy, Human rights, Worker advocacy
Group organizing a national labor strike
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A decentralized group, GeneralStrike.us, is organizing a generalized national labor strike in the U.S. in an effort to force significant changes aimed at benefitting hard working, underpaid Americans who are struggling to stay afloat due to low wages and escalating costs of living. The appeal to join the strike is going out to all workers including, but not limited to teachers, fast food workers, drivers, gig workers, waiters, actors, artists, athletes, retail and grocery store workers and more.
GeneralStrike.us says “Our greatest power is our labor and our right to refuse it,” and “We are not one singular organization. We are a network of regular people united by our shared values, committed to a general strike to radically change our country.”
Corruption
Trump hands Musk control over the U.S. Treasury & government payment system
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Photo: ABC News
Whistleblowers confirmed late Friday that convicted felon and President Trump has handed his unelected billionaire co-president Elon Musk control of the U.S. Treasury and access its sensitive payment system that disburses payments each year totaling $6 trillion. Musk, an unaccountable billionaire who is ineligible for a security clearance due to his ties to the Chinese government through his factories there, now has access to control all payments made by the U.S. government and access to every American’s personal information including Social Security numbers, bank account information, dates of birth, home address, Medicare and Medicaid payment and other personal data.
Members of Musk’s non-government “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) stormed the Treasury building, ordered the longtime Treasury employees out their jobs, and seized control of the servers and payment system.
This is an illegal act.
Crime, Dangerous Republicans, Ethics, Extremism, Freedom under threat, Law and Order under threat, Oligarchy, Trump Insanity
A convicted felon now in charge of the country, Trump is moving quickly to end law enforcement as we know it
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Letter sent to federal law enforcement officials who worked on the criminal cases against convicted felon and now U.S. President Donald Trump. The two federal cases against him were for his attempts to subvert the outcome of the 2020 election and for hoarding classified and top secret government documents and refusing to return them to the federal government. The letter notifies federal law enforcement employees they are being fired because their investigations did not please Trump.
The following analysis of Trump’s ongoing mass purge of federal law enforcement officials was taken from Rachel Maddow’s show 1/31/25 show, starting at 17:12 into the show (video). I transcribed her presentation and then lightly edited the text to make it clearer as a written, rather than a spoken piece. I also included links to further information. I chose to highlight Maddow’s presentation because it is perhaps the fullest, clearest and most concise explanation of the current state of affairs ongoing on under Trump that has been broadcast so far. (Note: Italicized, bolded and capitalized emphasis are mine.):
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Trump is punishing law enforcement officials at the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) who pursued violent January 6 criminals to gain revenge on law enforcement personnel who participated in a previous investigation that is now over. The point of Trump’s actions is to permanently, irrevocably change law enforcement in the United States so FBI and prosecutors will no longer pursue criminal investigations and cases against suspects if the suspected criminals are associated with Trump and his supporters.
Trump is trying to get rid of American law enforcement as we know it.
They are trying to get rid of the very idea of an independent “justice-is-blind” system that makes America who we are. It is hard to see how this can be corrected or undone.
Activism, Acts of kindness, Dangerous Republicans, Democracy under threat, Education, Extremism, Harassment, Immigration, Latino community, Local concerns, School District 51, Social Justice, Trump Insanity, Xenophobia
As public school districts across Colorado take steps to protect students from ICE raids, Mesa Valley School District 51 says it is “obligated to comply”
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First page of the letter sent to “District 51 families and colleagues” saying the District “will remain politically neutral,” and telling parents to update their student’s emergency contacts
On January 20, convicted felon, sexual abuser and now President Trump rescinded the decades-old federal policy (pdf) of not pursuing immigrants in “sensitive places” (pdf), including schools, hospitals, churches, synagogues, mosques, funerals, weddings, parades and public demonstrations like marches and rallies.
U.S. Department of Education policy says that in the U.S., all children are entitled to a public education (pdf) regardless of their immigration status.
News from today indicates Trump is going after immigrant kids. White House “border czar” Tom Homan, who is carrying out Trump’s mass deportation, says the data they seek on children won’t be used for enforcement, but rather to “ensure that children were placed in the best possible homes,” according to the Washington Post.
But Trump recently enacted a change in federal policy that will now allow Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents enter and arrest immigrants in these places.
As he started his term, Trump promised to prioritize removing “violent criminal” immigrants, but has since changed his stance and now considers every undocumented person in the U.S. to be a “criminal,” even though being in the U.S. without legal status is a civil and not a criminal violation.
Trump says he seeks to pursue criminals, but as the first U.S. president who is a convicted felon, Trump himself is a criminal.
Activism, Bad behavior, Cringeworthy, Dangerous Republicans, Embarrassing Republicans, Extremism, Inept Republicans, Lies, Public health, Quackery, Trump Insanity
Caroline Kennedy’s recorded statement to U.S. Senators warning of the dangers of approving her cousin, RFK Jr., to lead DHHS
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Caroline Kennedy, daughter of John F. Kennedy, niece of Robert F. Kennedy, Sr. and cousin of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., recorded this video of herself reading a scathing letter she sent to all U.S. Senators warning them that her cousin, RFK, Jr., who was nominated to head the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), is not just completely unqualified for the position, but that he has personality traits that are extremely disturbing and worrisome.
Dangerous Republicans, Democracy under threat, Republican lies, Republicans violating laws
Trump violates law in after-hours firing of 17 independent inspectors general
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Trump sleeping during a religious service (Photo: YouTube)
Late on Friday, January 24, convicted felon and President Donald Trump fired 17 Inspectors General of federal agencies.
Inspectors General are independent government watchdogs who investigate allegations of waste, fraud and abuse inside government agencies.
Trump’s action was done in a way that violated 5 U.S. Code Chapter 4, §415 (e)(2) of the Inspector Generals Act of 1978, which says he must give both houses of Congress 30 days notice of the removal:
(2) Inspector general removed or transferred.— If an Inspector General is removed from office or is transferred to another position or location within a designated Federal entity, the head of the designated Federal entity shall communicate in writing the reasons for any such removal or transfer to both Houses of Congress, not later than 30 days before the removal or transfer.
In legal terms, the word “shall” indicates an absolute obligation. It clearly imposes a specific duty upon a person. Trump also violated another part of the same law that requires the President first supply “substantive rationale, including detailed and case-specific reasons for the change” to both houses of Congress:
(B) If the President places an Inspector General on non-duty status, the President shall communicate in writing the substantive rationale, including detailed and case-specific reasons, for the change in status to both Houses of Congress (including to the appropriate congressional committees) not later than 15 days before the date on which the change in status takes effect…”
Trump defended his move by lying to the public. He said that a mass removal of inspectors general was “a very standard thing to do.”
It is not.
Children, Conservatives, Dangerous Republicans, Equal rights, Extremism, Freedom under threat, Law and Order under threat, Republicans violating laws, Trump Insanity
The practical effects of Trump’s effort to end birthright citizenship
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Presidents have no authority to change the rules of citizenship on their own, as adjudicated sexual abuser, convicted felon and President Donald Trump is trying to do, but if Trump’s recent dictatorial attempt to end birthright citizenship at the stroke of a pen were to ultimately be realized, it would create negative repercussions for parents and babies born in the U.S. after February 19, 2025. Estimates are that about 150,000 children born in the U.S. each year and their parents could face obstacles under this system.
Corruption, Crime, Democracy under threat, Economics, Ethics, Fake patriotism, Inept Republicans, Oligarchy
A reminder of the dangers of putting wealthy business leaders in charge of government
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Photo: FBI
For those of you who think big business leaders are automatically qualified to run government or head it’s important agencies, here is a picture of the Enron Code of Ethics, signed by the Company’s former Chairman and CEO Kenneth Lay. The foreword in the Code states that Enron “enjoys a reputation for fairness and honesty… but no matter [what]… Enron’s reputation… depends on its people, on you and me.”
Remember Enron?
Anti-semitism, Cringeworthy, Dangerous Republicans, Democracy under threat, Extremism, Freedom under threat, Hate, Law and Order under threat, Propaganda, Trump Insanity, White Supremacists
Billionaire Elon Musk, Trump’s “First Buddy,” gives Nazi salute twice during speech at Trump’s inaugural celebration
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Billionaire Elon Musk, who spent $277 million to get Trump elected and who publicly declared himself Trump’s “First Buddy” in a November 11, 2024 tweet, gave a Nazi salute not once but twice during his talk at Trump’s inaugural celebration at the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. on January 20, 2025 [Video clip: PBS]
Musk, who is facing global criticism over the gesture, has not explicitly denied it was a Nazi salute. Instead he dismissed the criticism as a “tired” attack, writing on his social media platform that “The ‘everyone is Hitler’ attack is sooo tired.”
Right wing extremists celebrated Musk’s use of gesture.
It is illegal to perform this gesture in Germany.
In an article by investigative reporter Bernard Condon posted January 21 on Associated Press, Kurt Braddock, a professor of communication at American University who studies extremism, radicalization and terrorism, said the gesture was a fascist salute and that “people shouldn’t doubt what they saw.”
Crime, Extremism, Insurrection, Law and Order under threat, Trump Insanity, Violence
Trump embraces lawlessness by pardoning all Jan. 6 rioters, including the most violent offenders
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Violent insurrectionist David Dempsey in front on the gallows set up at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 (Photo: U.S. District Court)
On his first day back in office, President Donald Trump showed the extent to which he is willing to disrespect the laws of the United States when it comes to protecting those who commit violence and sedition in his name.
As one of his first acts, Trump pardoned approximately 1,500 January 6 rioters, including the most violent offenders and those convicted of seditious conspiracy (the crime of conspiring against the U.S. government). Among them are David Dempsey, who was serving a 20 year prison sentence for viciously assaulting Capitol Police using crutches, flag poles, pieces of broken furniture, pepper spray and anything else he could get his hands on. Dempsey struck Washington D.C. Police Seargent Jason Mastony so hard with a metal crutch that Mastony collapsed and was left stunned with a gash in his head. Trump also commuted the 18-year sentence of Stewart Rhodes, leader of the far-right anti-government paramilitary militia the Oath Keepers, who was convicted of seditious conspiracy and evidence tampering, and Enrique Tarrio, former national chairman of the neo-fascist group Proud Boys, who was serving a 22 year sentence in prison.
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
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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.”
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
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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.
Conservatives, Corruption, Cronyism, Dangerous Republicans, Democracy under threat, Ethics, Extremism, Freedom under threat, Lies, Trump Insanity
Meta’s Abandonment of Fact-Checking Empowers a President Who Traffics in Lies
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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?