Another in a (generally ) weekly series of posts with interesting reading / viewing material (note: some linked articles contain adult language).
It’s been a busy couple of weeks, but let’s kick off with some good news. No Kings 3 — wow! Close to 9 million people showed up in more than 3,300 locations in all 50 states and abroad — congratulations to all that attended!
In case you were curious about the roots of our current problems, Adam Kinzinger has started a series of columns on the history of Trump family corruption — part 1 is out now. On a somewhat related note, another group of “young” Republicans has outed themselves as Nazis — who would have guessed?
The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hauled Bill and Hillary Clinton in for depositions, and… things didn’t go as planned. If you have 9 or 10 hours to spend on it, you can now watch the video of their questioning.
Remember when inflation was news-breaking? Between the war with Iran and tariffs, we can expect to see it return with a vengeance.
The biggest recent news on this front, though, is the DOJ’s behavior w.r.t. Trump’s involvement in the files. Despite Pam Bondi’s protestation, there appears to be credibleevidence to support criminal allegations against Trump. NPR reports that 53 pages of additionalallegationswereremoved from the files by the DOJ. But predictably, those 53 pages are starting to leak (and they’re predictably ugly). Backing up those allegations are snippets of a 2018 BBC documentary that have recently resurfaced. The full episode video is not online (that I can find), but textualsummaries are available.
Trump’s State of the Union address — it was certainly… something. At the very least, it was the longest SOTU speech in U. S. history (nearly 2 hours long), breaking the record he set last year. We didn’t watch, opting instead to wait for the Democraticresponse (quite good), and read online analysis of the main event.
At least the folks at Turner Classic Movies knew how to make a statement with their SOTU counter-programming:
Palantir — everybody’s least favorite big brother. As you may have heard, Palantir left Denver for Miami (the corporate offices moved, but they still have software developers here). Westword readers have thoughts about the news.
If you’re having trouble dealing with the feelings engendered by our current situation, a little action may help. Here’s a flyer that 50501 has been handing out:
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem managed to stir up a hornets’ nest online (not much coverage in the corporate media) when she discussed the upcoming midterms — stating that “we’ve been proactive to make sure that we have the right people voting, electing the right leaders…” Sounds like election subversion to me, and to someother folks too.
This is a bit of an oldie — but maybe it counts since I just ran across it? “Adam Ruins Everything” produced this educational summary of the disturbing history of the suburbs (it has so much impact on modern life).
Looking for an issue to engage with? Obviously, there are so many to choose from that it’s easy to get overwhelmed. Here are some straightforward ones:
It’s not too late to save NCAR, and it’s important! Submit feedback to the National Science Foundation by March 13, 2026. In 1–2 pages, tell NSF that you support NCAR and that its work must continue. Even if you’re not a scientist, your voice matters — our future depends on this research. Submit to: NSF_NCAR@nsf.gov. You can also call your U.S. Senators and House Representative and urge them to join Rep. Joe Neguse’s bipartisan effort to keep NCAR operating.
Resist and Unsubscribe — a new initiative to push back against the tech companies that have an outsized influence on the economy and our president. The Bulwark goes a bit broader in their explanation of this effort.
Meanwhile, in temporarily shutdown DHS-land, NBC News lays out the damages caused by ICE’s use of “less lethal” munitions on protesters. Of course, they’re still misusing regular ammo — this time, at least, less fatally than evidenced by the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.
Another in a (hopefully) weekly series of posts with interesting reading / viewing material.
In the United States, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is a unique legal entity with characteristics unlike any other, which then allow its powers to be abused unlike any other. Lawyers have long seen ICE as a threat to American democracy, and for good reason. An immigration attorney explains Why Lawyers Want to Abolish ICE (YouTube, 35 minutes). Meanwhile, Wired magazine explains how to film ICE and CBP as safely as possible while still having an impact.
Democratic members of the House and Senate Oversight Committees held a joint hearing on the violence and murder that have been inflicted on Americans by Homeland Security. The forum was convened by the ranking Democratic members of both committees, and perhaps because of that, no Republican members of Congress bothered to attend. Still, the testimony was compelling and more than a little chilling.
Another in a (hopefully) weekly series of posts with miscellaneous interesting reading / viewing material.
Earlier this week, I stumbled across the Albert Einstein Institution online — “a nonprofit organization founded by Dr. Gene Sharp in 1983 to advance the study and use of strategic nonviolent action…” The site has an awesome online library (click on the “Resources” tab) of material, great stuff for people looking for additional ways to push back against authoritarianism. A 2-page flyer, “198 Methods of Nonviolent Action,” is the sort of thing that you can print out and hang on a wall for inspiration.
