#going on in u.s. gov right now

[pridetempt]

❤️ for short lil starters maybe ? probably canon quotes , but not necessarily lu's :)

[karadin]

While you were sleeping ...

Federal judge puts back funding to USAID

Federal judge demands US put back health related federal websites

Judge Tanya Chutkan investigating Elon Musk's ability to run DOGE

The Department of Energy blocks firings of hundreds of employees who work for a key agency maintaining the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile

Federal judge stops Trump from sending detainees to Cuba

Federal judge stops Trump from shutting down Consumer Protection Agency

DOGE now at CMS which covers Medicare, Medicaid, the Children's Health Insurance Program, and the Health Insurance Marketplace and are allied with Rachel Riley who worked at privatizing healthcare under Trump's first term.

Trump seeks to gut the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and privatize the nation's weather reports and news

Judge blocks DOGE from sensitive Treasury Dept payment system, system being studied and re-programmed after DOGE invasion. expected to finish in August 25.

DOGE database on DOGE site found compromised, anyone can open and edit

Hundreds of federal workers illegally 'fired' from FEMA, DHS, CIS, CPA, the Coast Guard, USCIS, DHS' Science and Technology Directorate, the VA, Education and the US Forestry Service as well as half of the CDC Epidemic Intelligence Service, The Indian (Native American) Health Service. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the National Institutes for Health, HUD and NOAA.

There have been illegal mass firings of 'probationary' federal employees, those who have just taken on jobs up to those who have were hired 2 years ago.

After seven prosecutors quit refusing to give a Trump deal to NYC mayor, prosecutors put into room and all told they would be fired unless a prosecutor signed off on the deal - Eric Adams case has been dropped and as a result, Adams is allowing Trump immigration to invade NYC.

Trump signs order to block funding for schools that mandate Covid vaccines

Trump has already captured funds to house the homeless in NYC that were disbursed by FEMA

Elon Musk has charged the US gov 16 million to hack at government departments so far.

Elon Musk was granted a 400million deal to sell the US gov cybertrucks

Elon Musk is now going after NASA, despite being a contractor for NASA, Trump says Musk will 'police' his own conflicts of interest.

Trump inserts himself into 'negotiations' between Russia and Ukraine, siding with Russia and not guaranteeing that Ukraine will return to pre-war borders.

Apparently at negotiations, US handed President Zelenskyy a note (mafia style) seeking half of Ukraine's mineral rights, which Zelenskyy refused to acknowlege.

at Munich Security Conference VP Vance pushes the right-wing in Europe, shocking and angering NATO allies, changing US policy towards Putin and China. Trump now says there is no US intent to 'beat China'.

FAKE DOGE 'employees' appear in San Francisco city hall demanding access to state systems and data, leaving when confronted.

Trump makes himself head of the Kennedy Center for the Arts many staff resign and many artist pull out of sold-out shows.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Paul Blest at More Perfect Union:

Thousands of workers at a Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee have voted to join the United Auto Workers, defying an all-out union-busting effort from the state’s political leaders and marking a key victory for the United Auto Workers in their renewed effort to organize the South and non-union plants.

Unofficial results tallied Friday showed that after three days of voting, more than two-thirds of workers voted to join the UAW. The win in Chattanooga is the first successful attempt to organize a non-union automaker in decades and comes after multiple failed attempts to organize the plant, including in 2014 and 2019. More than 4,300 workers were eligible to vote this week.  “I can't explain it. It's not like the first times,” Renee Berry, who has worked at the Chattanooga plant for 14 years and through two prior facility-wide votes, told us in the lead-up to the election. “The first few times was hell…now it's like we can roll our shoulders back, because we got it.”  Volkswagen is the world’s largest auto company by revenue, and until today, every one of its plants around the globe has been unionized except for one.

"This is going to be in history books down the road. This is huge—forever huge,” Robert Soderstrom, a worker at the plant, told More Perfect Union. “People recognize for the first time in a long time, on a mass scale, that there's got to be some changes. And some of the power and stuff that's gone to the corporate world needs to come back to us little guys.” The victory in Tennessee continues a winning streak for the UAW, which negotiated record contracts at the Detroit Three of Ford, GM, and Stellantis last year following a lengthy “stand-up” strike. After passing the contracts, UAW President Shawn Fain announced a $40 million effort to organize non-union U.S. plants, largely based in right-to-work states like Tennessee and owned by auto companies based in Europe, Japan, and South Korea, as well as EV manufacturers like Tesla and Rivian. 

Since launching that new effort, more than 10,000 autoworkers around the country have signed union cards, according to the UAW. Earlier this month, workers at a Mercedes plant in Vance, Alabama became the second group to file for an election, which will be held from May 13 to 17. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey and the state Chamber of Commerce have forcefully opposed the unionization effort, claiming it would hurt Alabama autoworkers—who, even before the pandemic, were making less than they did in 2002 when adjusted for inflation. The same dynamic has played out in Tennessee. Gov. Bill Lee, who denounced the last unsuccessful union campaign in 2019, said it would be a “mistake” for workers at the Chattanooga plant to unionize and boasted about the state’s “right-to-work” law. 

🚨🚨 BREAKING:🚨🚨 Workers at the Volkswagen (VW) plant in Chattanooga have voted yes to join the United Auto Workers (UAW) after 2 failed attempts in 2014 and 2019. #UAW #VWChattanooga #1u

[dandelionsresilience]

Good News - August 8-14

Like these weekly* compilations? Tip me at $kaybarr1735 or check out my new(ly repurposed) Patreon! (*sorry this one’s a day late, I had a family emergency)

1. Rio’s grassroots agroforestry sustains birds, bees & communities

“[Community-created and -maintained] agroforests have reshaped the urban landscape and now attract an array of fauna, from birds to bees and even fireflies, drawn by the diversity of plant life thriving on improved soils. Perhaps most importantly, the agroforests offer free food and medicines to residents in need, plus shade and educational opportunities for the whole community[….]”

2. First giant pandas from China in decades make their public debut in San Diego

(image source) “Tensions between the U.S. and China had temporarily paused the program known as "panda diplomacy" in which China loans its native animals to zoos around the world […] as a show of goodwill[….] But the presence of [the two pandas in San Diego] appears to show a mending of the diplomatic relationship, which Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged to work toward in a meeting with President Biden last year. [… Gov. Newsom] called the giant pandas an example of how strong worldly partnerships can protect wildlife and their habitats[….]”

3. Good news for Europe's top economies as disposable income rises

“Poland experienced the largest increase in disposable income per capita, rising by 10.2% compared with a decrease of 2.7% in the last quarter of 2023. According to the OECD, this growth was "mainly driven by increases in employee compensation, social benefits other than in-kind transfers, and property income". […] In Germany, [household income per capita] rose by 1.4%, compared to just 0.1% in the previous quarter, partly driven by an increase in employee compensation.”

4. FDA approves nasal spray as first needle-free treatment for anaphylaxis

“The spray, which will be sold under the brand name Neffy, is seen as an alternative to EpiPen and other autoinjectors. […] “Some people, particularly children, may delay or avoid treatment due to fear of injections,” said Kelly Stone, an associate director at the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, adding that the availability of the nasal spray may reduce barriers to rapid treatment.”

5. [Colin Farrell] is launching a foundation to support adult[s] who have an intellectual disability

““We want to take a good look at residential potential for families with young adults who are ready to go out into the world and have a greater sense of community and connection,” says the actor. […] "It’s really important for James and for all of our kids to feel like they are wanted, to feel like they’re part of the community. Not just out of charitable endeavors or being nice and doing the right thing, but out of a sincere desire to engage and learn about each other."”

6. The Berlin Zoo is hoping for more German-born giant pandas as scans confirm a pregnancy

“Giant pandas have difficulty breeding and births are particularly welcomed. There are about 1,800 pandas living in the wild in China and a few hundred in captivity worldwide. […] The zoo noted that female pandas are only capable of reproducing for about 72 hours per year.”

7. Arizona school district highlights the benefits of free lunch

“A study by the University of Washington found free meals at school help reduce hunger, reduce the stigma tied to free lunch, and can help reduce childhood obesity. [… A cafeteria worker] said since the school district began offering free lunch, they have seen a positive shift in the cafeteria culture, and students seem happier. […] In September of 2023, the USDA […] loosened up its application threshold for applicants, allowing an estimated 3,000 more school districts in high-need areas to participate in the [CEP] program.”

8. Gigantic millipede lost to science for 126 years rediscovered in remote Madagascan jungle

“A further 20 species 'lost' to science were rediscovered during the expedition, including three iridescent species of fish and several species of ant-like flower beetles.”

9. The climate law’s $8.8B in home energy rebates are starting to roll out

“New York and Wisconsin are the first to launch their long-awaited Inflation Reduction Act programs meant to deploy everything from heat pumps to insulation. […] Once deployed, the DOE estimates, the home energy rebates will help save consumers up to $1 billion in annual energy costs and support an estimated 50,000 U.S. jobs in construction, manufacturing, and other sectors. They’ll also help clean up buildings, one of the biggest sources of carbon pollution in the country.”

10. Advance in stem cell therapy: New technique for manipulating stem cells opens door to novel treatments

“Recently, a team of McGill researchers discovered that by stretching, bending and flattening the nuclei of stem cells to differing degrees, they could generate precisely targeted cells that they could direct to become either bone or fat cells. […] The first applications of this discovery are likely to involve bone regeneration, possibly relating to dental or cranio-facial repair[….]”

August 1-7 news here | (all credit for images and written material can be found at the source linked; I don’t claim credit for anything but curating.)

[tsmass]

Whenever gay Americans get angry abt what our government is doing to Palestinians (and why), there's always someone who loves to be like "Who's gonna tell these dummies homosexuality is illegal in Gaza?"

That's so crazy.

I'm a gay Texan in my mid 20s. When I was a little kid, homosexuality was illegal. Here in Texas, where I lived and where I still happily live.

So (TW "war" crimes) I guess it would've been fair enough if the U.S. and Israel had bombed me and my family and neighbors, our houses and jobsites and whole communities, the girls I played with down the street, my baby brothers, my grandparents at work, the trans Texans who used to meet up downtown in the city, everybody else etc. If they had deliberately driven us from our homes and forced us to live in terror every night and every day, maiming our children, burning our parents alive, attacking&cutting off our food and water, blocking our aid, methodically starving us out and telling us straight up that we needed to be scrubbed off the face of the earth so they could take everything we have and not worry about keeping it.

I mean, damn I guess we would've had it coming. Homosexuality wasn't even legal, right? Sounds like a Texas problem. What do I care what the gov spends all those $$,$$$,$$$,$$$ and lives doing?

*Just to be clear, gay sex between men was a crime here until 2003 (when I was definitely kicking around, painting my nails with markers and eating bugs).

If I wanted to see penalties that were exactly the same as (or often harsher than) what's been left on the books in Gaza (and maybe sometimes ? enforced), I just have to go back one generation to my parents' lifetime, when men were getting 10 years in prison and, unlike in Palestine, police were setting up sting operations to actively crack down on the gay problem (again, smth that doesn't even happen in Gaza).

This is not, like, a weird feature of some "foreign" culture to me, and it really shouldn't be for any American who isn't super young or who knows her history. That doesn't make it right (at all), but you can't believe the lie that "these people aren't like you". Pretending this has any relevance on the genocide other than to say that queer Palestinians are even more greatly impacted by it is crazy and disgusting.

-- This really doesn't need to be added, but if we're supposed to play this stupid game, Palestinians in the West Bank took their anti-gay laws off the books in the early 1950s, at the same time basically all U.S. state governments were creating new laws specifically targeting gay (and trans) ppl and categorizing gay sex as a felony with harsh prison sentences. Now should our American grandparents/parents have been starved and scrubbed off the earth?? I would say... No!

The laws in Gaza are definitely not good for gay and trans Gazans -- stigma is very real, and gay rights aren't explicitly protected under the freedoms and human rights guaranteed by the Palestinian constitution. This is wrong, but obv genocide makes it a million times worse and is indescribably more horrible for all Palestinians, queer and straight.

And I don't get how anybody living in the "anglo-sphere" can pretend like this is some distant culture we're talking about -- these laws were imposed by the British Empire on occupied Palestine in the 1930s and then left on the books. Incredibly, Palestinians are normal people, and I think there's a good reason so many lgbt's see right through this bullshit.

We understand that the same politicians who weaponize "family values" can condemn families to death to line their own pockets.

We've heard "save the children" from people happy to condemn children to the horrors of genocide.

And when bought-out politicians defend our gay rights, they still don't hesitate to drop bombs on our mangled gay bodies.

[f1ghtsoftly]

All The Women’s News You Missed Last Week:

9/9/24-9/16/24

US Reproductive Rights:

The Young Woman Making Kamala Harris’ Strongest Case on Abortion Rights

A judge strikes down North Dakota’s abortion ban and rules that access is protected

Missouri’s ballot will include abortion rights measure in November, court rules

More Women Had Their Tubes Tied After Roe V. Wade Was Overturned

Transgender/Gender Critical:

A look at Trump's 'transgender operations on illegal aliens' debate claim

Transgender New Hampshire teens can play for girls' sports teams during lawsuit, judge says

Sarah McBride is one step closer to becoming the first trans member of Congress

Greens hit with £90,000 bill after discrimination case

Graham Linehan 'subjected to discrimination in Belfast pub over gender critical beliefs'

US:

Trump says 'I hate Taylor Swift' after pop star endorses Harris

If Harris wins, she would make history. But she isn’t talking about that

A’ja Wilson becomes 1st WNBA player to reach 1,000 points in a season as Aces top Sun

WNY high school athletes, transgender advocates bring awareness to NY PROP 1

New York officials to release new renderings of possible Gilgo Beach victim

The anti-abortion activist urging followers not to support Trump

Trailblazing ballerina Michaela DePrince dies aged 29

Arkansas’ gov says Medicaid extension for new moms isn’t needed. Advisers disagree

Biden commemorates Violence Against Women Act as 'proudest' legislative win on eve of its 30th anniversary

She couldn't go to her daughter's graduation, so the hospital brought it to her

A venture capital grant program for Black women officially ends after court ruling

U.S. urges Israel to swiftly investigate killing of American woman in West Bank

Global:

Man accused of killing a Ugandan Olympian by setting her on fire, dies of burn wounds

Channel 4 will not remove alleged abuser from show

'Baby Reindeer' is facing a lawsuit — that didn't stop it from winning 6 Emmys

Kidnapped and trafficked twice - a sex worker's life in Sierra Leone

Couple accused of murdering teen to steal baby acquitted

'Lashed for a social media photo' in Iran

Olympic runner Cheptegei defied her violent ex. She lost her life anyway

Former prominent BBC news anchor gets suspended sentence for indecent images of children on phone

A union leader freed from prison vows to continue a strike against Cambodia’s’s biggest casino

Mother in Gaza longs for triplets in Jerusalem hospital

Princess Kate completes chemotherapy treatment for cancer

A Filipino preacher on the run from sexual abuse charges surrenders

Culture:

Profiles in clean energy: She founded a business to keep EV charging stations up and running

Hillary Clinton takes stock of life’s wins and losses in a memoir inspired by a Joni Mitchell lyric

Her piano concert was six years in the making. Then Puerto Rico's power went out

'I wanted to make a gay Clueless': Jamie Babbit on how her lesbian comedy But I'm a Cheerleader became a cult classic

'Criminally underrated': Why My Brilliant Friend is one of the best shows on TV

Jessica Pratt cracks open the sunny veneer of the California dream

Cooking for the most powerful person in the world

Rachel Kushner's new espionage thriller may be her coolest book yet

Want this emailed to you instead? Subscribe here.

As always, this is global and domestic news from a US perspective covering feminist issues and women in the news more generally. As of right now, I do not cover Women’s Sports. Published each Monday afternoon. 

I am looking for better sources on women’s arts and culture outside of the English-speaking world, if you know of any-please be in touch.

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

by Alana Goodman

CHICAGO—The longtime leader of the Anti-Defamation League, who now serves as director emeritus, expressed concern about Jews being forced to meet in "secret locations" at the Democratic National Convention due to security threats and anti-Semitism.

"I know in my heart that in the future, it will be better, for Jews in America, then [sic] it is today. But I fear it will never be the same," said Abraham Foxman in a Twitter post on Wednesday.

"After 50 years fighting anti-Semitism in America, I could not have imagined a time Jews would have to meet in secret locations in Chicago at DNC."

Foxman, a Holocaust survivor, served as director of the Jewish civil rights organization from 1987 to 2015. The ADL is now run by Jonathan Greenblatt, a former Obama aide, who has steered it in a much more partisan direction.

Foxman’s comments come as Jewish groups holding events on the sidelines of the convention have kept their meeting locations a closely guarded secret.

The Jewish Democratic Council of America held panel discussions with former U.S. ambassador to Spain Alan Solomont and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D., Fla.), but attendees were required to register before receiving the location. Private security and metal detectors were present at both events.

The Israeli-American Council only disclosed the location for its "Hostage Square" discussion to attendees a few hours before it started, the Times of Israel reported on Wednesday.

The security concerns appeared justified. On Tuesday, pro-Hamas agitators disrupted a DNC event with hostage families hosted by Agudath Israel of America, an Orthodox Jewish group. The protesters shouted, "Zionism has got to fall" and "Shame on you" at attendees. Dozens of anti-Israel protesters were also arrested after clashing with police near the convention Tuesday night.

Jewish Democratic leaders acknowledged the concerns about anti-Semitism at the DNC but also downplayed the divisions within their party.

Wasserman Schultz, speaking at a JDCA event on Thursday, said she had "angst for over a week over what the reaction would be" when the parents of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, one of the eight Americans being held captive by Hamas, spoke at the DNC on Wednesday.

Wasserman Schultz said there was a lot of "hype about how many protesters there were going to be," and she felt relieved when there were no disruptions from the audience.

But Democratic politicians have also seemed reluctant to mention Israel’s war with Hamas and the Oct. 7 attacks on the convention stage. None of the prominent Jewish Democratic speakers—including second gentleman Doug Emhoff, Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer, and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro—mentioned Israel or the hostage crisis in their remarks.

The only speakers to broach the subject were Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.) and Minnesota attorney general Keith Ellison, who are aligned with the left-leaning anti-Israel movement. Both politicians called for an Israeli ceasefire.

President Joe Biden briefly acknowledged the anti-Israel protests in his speech on Monday, saying the activists "have a point."

[mariacallous]

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris’s selection of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate was met with enthusiasm from Democrats across the party, including from the party’s left wing. A big part of this is Walz’s solidly pro-labor governing record and his appeal to working-class voters, which was on display on Wednesday when he spoke at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

Although his championing of working Americans’ jobs, pay, and rights has obvious and important domestic appeal, it also has a potentially significant implication for foreign policy under a Harris-Walz administration.

One of the Biden administration’s most important projects, sometimes summarized as “post-neoliberalism,” has been the move away from unfettered so-called free trade—the pro-corporate theology that dominated the past few decades of economic policymaking. The government is now fully back in the business of investing in U.S. workers and communities. (A 2023 report tracking this progress was published by the Roosevelt Institute, a think tank helping to drive this transformation.)

As vice president, Harris has played a key role in this pivotal project, and selecting one of the  most pro-worker governors in the country as a running mate signals that she is all-in on this shift. This is great news, because not only is this post-neoliberal, pro-worker agenda likely where the election will be won, but it is also central to the larger goal of defending global democracy.

Conservatives have noticed. “By picking Tim Walz as her running mate, Harris has gone a long way toward bolstering her left-populist flank and neutralizing [Republican vice presidential candidate J.D.] Vance’s potential appeal,” wrote Sohrab Ahmari, the founder and editor of the conservative nationalist magazine Compact and a leading voice of the populist new right, when the pick was announced. “Walz can’t be framed as a neoliberal Democrat in the Clinton-Obama mold.”

Vance’s own speech at the Republican National Convention in July was billed as foreign policy-focused, but it was really all about how U.S. elites had failed the country’s struggling workers. Playing up his family roots in a small Ohio town—“a place that had been cast aside and forgotten by America’s ruling class in Washington”—Vance attacked U.S. President Joe Biden for his past support of the North American Free Trade Agreement, for China’s entry into the World Trade Organization, and for “the disastrous invasion of Iraq.”

“At each step of the way, in small towns like mine in Ohio, or next door in Pennsylvania or Michigan, in other states across our country, jobs were sent overseas, and our children were sent to war,” Vance said. While larded over with common right-wing tropes and xenophobic invective, the speech sounded like a road map for how the Republican Party intends to capture the working class.

In its own way, Vance’s speech was a darker, divisive version of a more affirmative and unifying  address that U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan gave in April 2023, which laid out the Biden administration’s global economic agenda. Confronting the flawed assumptions that dominated U.S. statecraft in the past 40 years—“that markets always allocate capital productively and efficiently”—Sullivan rejected the philosophy that “championed tax cutting and deregulation, privatization over public action, and trade liberalization as an end in itself.”

Like Vance a year later, Sullivan acknowledged that elites had failed working people in the United States. He said that not only had an economic integration approach failed as a geopolitical strategy—not stopping China from military expansion or deterring Russia from invading its neighbors—but it also radically increased economic and political inequality, both globally and domestically. The speech marked an important step forward in Washington’s thinking.

However, much less noticed was a speech that Sullivan gave a week later at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, which showed how the Biden administration still had one foot in the previous era. In that speech, Sullivan laid out the administration’s plan to maintain U.S. hegemony in the Middle East by buttressing relationships with various repressive, undemocratic regimes and stitching together an alliance intended both to contain Iran and box China out of the region.

I noted to administration colleagues at the time that the second speech was a formula for squandering the opportunities of the first. While the Biden administration had discarded some of the flawed foreign-policy assumptions of the past, it continued to hold fast to the idea that Washington can purchase security and prosperity for U.S. workers by exporting insecurity and repression to others, whether in the Middle East, China, or anywhere else. The past 10 months of catastrophic war in Gaza should have discredited that notion, if it wasn’t already.

The United States can build a more equitable global order, or it can frantically try to maintain global primacy, but it can’t do both. The Harris-Walz team has an important task and a big opportunity to diminish this contradiction and complete this transformation. Just as the neoliberal era proved that giving carte blanche to big corporations—whether they’re car companies or weapons manufacturers—is not a means for achieving broad economic progress or security, the past 20 years of the “war on terror” showed that a heavily militarized foreign policy feeds global insecurity and shreds the fabric of international norms.

As outlined by Trump and Vance, the Republican vision is essentially zero-sum: The United States and its workers only win by others losing, and vice versa. The Harris-Walz team can offer a vision of contrasting solidarity, which doesn’t seek to build political consensus by vilifying the foreign enemy of the moment but rather seeks ways to uplifts workers and their communities in every country.

The U.S. public needs to hear more about how diplomacy and cooperation—including with China, can provide other benefits for Americans, as evidenced recently when China imposed new controls on fentanyl precursor chemicals—and about how the issue of irregular migration, which has been a driving force in far-right populism, can only be addressed by improving conditions and reducing violence in the home countries of those migrants—a shared struggle that the labor movement understands and embraces.

A real pro-worker foreign policy doesn’t pit the security and prosperity of Americans against workers in other countries but recognizes that our security and prosperity are bound together. We saw the outlines of that in the speech from Walz, the good neighbor and the inspiring coach, on Wednesday. That is the winning global vision that he and Harris should embrace.

[posttexasstressdisorder]

WhatMatters

Your guide to California policy and politics

By Lynn La

February 12, 2025

Presented by California Hispanic Chambers of Commerce, California Water Service, Uber and Dairy Cares

 

 

Good morning, California.

LA mobile home park fire victims face uncertain future

An aerial view of the Palisades Fire devastation at the Palisades Bowl Mobile Home Park on Feb. 8, 2025. Photo by Ted Soqui, SIPA USA via Reuters

The Palisades Fire that ignited in January and killed 12 people engulfed several luxury homes, beachfront properties and celebrity mansions. But it also razed the homes of those living in more affordable communities, including two mobile home parks. 

For those residents, the long road to recovery includes even more uncertainties and barriers, writes CalMatters’ Felicia Mello.

The Pacific Palisades Bowl Mobile Estates and Tahitian Terrace together housed hundreds of retirees and other long-time residents. Some residents who moved in decades prior paid just $600 a month for rent-controlled lots. 

But that all changed on Jan. 7, and the limitations of state and local rules ensuring affordable housing in Los Angeles are becoming clearer. For instance, under California law, mobile home park owners who rebuild after a natural disaster must allow tenants to return — but they can also increase rents to cover rebuilding costs.

For Colby Biggs, the co-owner of the 150-unit Palisades Bowl, being unable to recover costs could mean foregoing rebuilding the grounds altogether. 

Biggs: “If we have to go invest $100 million to rebuild the park and we’re not able to recoup that in some fashion, then it’s not likely we will rebuild the park. … We’re not evicting anybody. But if the park’s not rebuilt, then obviously the residents wouldn’t have the right to reoccupy the park.”

Biggs said it could be “a different story” if he can secure state or federal funding. But that’s a big question too: Gov. Gavin Newsom flew to Washington D.C. last week to lobby for disaster aid, following President Donald Trump’s repeated threats to withhold aid to California if the state didn’t change its water or voting policies. Trump has also floated the idea of “getting rid” of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, adding another wrinkle to recovery efforts. 

Read more here.

Focus on Inland Empire: Each Wednesday, CalMatters Inland Empire reporter Deborah Brennan surveys the big stories from that part of California. Read her newsletter and sign up here to receive it.

CalMatters events: On Feb. 25 CalMatters’ Adam Echelman will hold a panel to discuss what the state is doing to help employment outcomes for Californians ages 16 to 24. Register here to attend in person at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles or virtually.

Other Stories You Should Know

 

 

Rainfall could cause deadly debris flow

Heavy machinery hauls dirt and sediment during the clearing of the debris basin at Sierra Madre Dam on Jan. 29, 2025. Photo by Jules Hotz for CalMatters

The other devastating Southern California January fire, the Eaton Fire, is also completely contained — but its potential to cause deadly debris flow has experts on high alert, report CalMatters’ Julie Cart and Alastair Bland.

The U.S. National Forest Service on Tuesday released a damage assessment report that found that the “probabilities of hyper-concentrated flows and/or debris flows are high to very high” in the Eaton Fire burn area. 

Heavy rainfall expected on Thursday and Friday could increase the chances of mud, boulders and debris rushing toward the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains — endangering the nearly 170,000 people living in Altadena, Pasadena and other nearby communities.

For fire-scarred parts of these mountains, there is no more vegetation to stabilize the earth. The soil, now coated with ash, repels water, and can roll off easily down hillsides instead of soaking back into the ground. Together with other sediment, they form debris flows, which can travel as fast as 40 miles an hour.

In addition to crushing bridges, buildings and vehicles in their paths, the flows can claim lives: The subsequent debris flow of 2017’s Thomas Fire killed 23 people in Montecito.

Read more here.

 

Insurance costs grow in wake of fires

The remains of a home affected by the Eaton Fire in an Altadena neighborhood of Los Angeles on Jan. 8, 2025. Photo by Jules Hotz for CalMatters

To keep itself solvent, the state-run fire insurance plan of last resort is turning to private insurers — and, in turn, their customers — for a bailout.

As CalMatters’ Levi Sumagaysay explains, the California FAIR Plan offers customers limited coverage when no private company will cover them. Severe wildfire seasons in the past few years have driven up the number of FAIR Plan customers to more than 451,000, as more insurance companies stopped writing or renewing policies in the state.

The FAIR Plan has predicted it will run out of money by March, so on Tuesday the state Insurance Department approved its request to impose a $1 billion charge on private insurance companies to cover claims from the L.A.-area fires. Most California home and fire insurance customers will likely see temporary fees added to their insurance bills.

Meanwhile, the consumer advocacy group Consumer Watchdog is considering suing over the new charges customers will pay.

Read more here.

 

And lastly: CA’s ex-firefighter, GOP lawmaker

State Sen. Kelly Seyarto during a Senate committee hearing at the Capitol Annex Swing Space in Sacramento on Oct. 7, 2024. Photo by Fred Greaves for CalMatters

State Sen. Kelly Seyarto spent 35 years fighting fires in Southern California, and is one of the few career firefighters to have served in the Legislature. But despite his expertise, Seyarto said being a Republican excluded him from discussions on the special session bills related to the L.A. fires. Find out more about the Murrieta lawmaker from CalMatters’ Sameea Kamal.

 

California Voices

CalMatters columnist Dan Walters: A 1995 court ruling that doubled down on the federal government’s exclusive power to regulate immigration may help Trump’s current fight against state sanctuary laws.

 Other things worth your time:

 Some stories may require a subscription to read.

 Billions of gallons of water wasted in CA in what now appears to be a Trump political stunt // The Guardian

Danes launch petition to buy CA in response to Trump // San Francisco Chronicle

Flu deaths surpass COVID deaths in CA for first time since start of pandemic // The Mercury News

New database tracks learning loss and gains in US school districts, including CA // EdSource

Trump funding freeze halts key environmental projects in LA area // Los Angeles Daily News

Huntington Beach’s city attorney joins Trump’s Justice Department // Los Angeles Times

New details of toxic chemicals released after Martinez refinery fire // KQED

Stanislaus County warns of toxic industrial chemical being found in street fentanyl // The Modesto Bee

Lawsuit alleges LAUSD misused millions in Prop. 28 money meant for arts education // Los Angeles Times

 

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[beardedmrbean]

Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee for president, fired back at pro-Palestinian protesters of Israel's war in Gaza as they interrupted her speech during a Wednesday night campaign rally in Detroit.

"You know what? If you want Donald Trump to win, then say that. Otherwise, I'm speaking," Harris said with a long stare, drawing loud cheers from supporters in the crowd before chants of, "Not going back!"

The exchange was a reminder of the lingering divisions among Democrats over the war in the Middle East that pose challenges for Harris in her race against former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee.

As Harris spoke, a group of protesters interrupted the vice president about halfway through her remarks: "Kamala, Kamala, you can’t hide! We won’t vote for genocide,” they shouted.

Harris initially responded: “I’m here because I believe in democracy. I believe everyone’s voice matters. But I’m speaking now. I am speaking now." But the interruptions continued as Harris tried to discuss the ramifications of a second Trump presidency.

More than 15,000 people attended the Harris rally held at a Detroit airport hangar with Air Force Two in the background − the type of campaign setting Trump has made a staple during his three runs for president.

It was the largest rally yet for the still-young Harris campaign as she conducts a multi-state blitz with her new running-mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, this week.

Throughout the year, protesters have regularly followed President Joe Biden at his public events but the demonstrations have been less of a reoccurrence for Harris, who launched her campaign after Biden dropped out of the race July 21.

Pro-Gaza group seeks meeting with Harris to push demands

Dearborn, Michigan outside of Detroit is home to a large Arab American and Muslim population that has criticized the Biden administration's support for Israel's war against Hamas following the militant group's Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel.

In Michigan's Democratic primary in February, a majority of primary voters in Dearborn, 57%, chose "uncommitted" over Biden in a protest over his position on Israel's war in Gaza.

Before the rally started, two members of the Pro-Palestinian group "Uncommitted" − co-founders Layla Elabed and Abbas Alawieh − said they spoke briefly with Harris and Walz as they took photos and shook hands with supporters. They asked for a formal meeting with Harris to discuss their demands, which include a U.S. arms embargo in Israel and a permanent Gaza cease-fire, and said Harris "expressed an openness to a meeting."

“Since October 7, the Vice President has prioritized engaging with Arab, Muslim, and Palestinian community members and others regarding the war in Gaza," Harris campaign spokeswoman Lauren Hitt said in a statement. "In this brief engagement, she reaffirmed that her campaign will continue to engage with those communities."

Hitt reiterated Harris' long-held position on the war in Gaza. "The Vice President has been clear: she will always work to ensure Israel is able to defend itself against Iran and Iran-backed terrorist groups."

She added that Harris is "focused on securing the ceasefire and hostage deal currently on the table. As she has said, it is time for this war to end in a way where: Israel is secure, hostages are released, the suffering of Palestinian civilians ends, and the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity, freedom, and self-determination.”

Michigan, with 15 electoral votes up for grabs, is a critical battleground state that Biden carried in 2020 en route to his election victory over Trump.

Although Harris, like Biden, has remained steadfast in her backing of Israel, she helped take the lead in the administration's criticism of Israel for the number of Palestinian casualties in Gaza. "Too many innocent Palestinians have been killed," Harris said last December. “Frankly, the scale of civilian suffering and the images and videos coming from Gaza are devastating."

Harris last month told reporters, "We cannot allow ourselves to become numb to the suffering, and I will not be silent."

[moontyger]

Dier is one of 15 people suing the state over the law Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry signed last June, which mandates that the Ten Commandments be displayed in all classrooms, including K-12 public schools and any college or university that accepts state dollars. That means science classes, math classes — even gyms.

It’s part of a larger shift to bring religion into public schools. The 2022 SCOTUS decision Kennedy v. Bremerton allowing a coach to pray after school football games stoked the flames of Christian nationalism, and far-right groups are encouraging legislators to keep the fire burning. “This decision does a disservice to schools and the young citizens they serve,” wrote Justice Sonia Sotomayor in her dissent. “In doing so, the court sets us further down a perilous path in forcing states to entangle themselves with religion, with all our rights hanging in the balance.”

Along with the Louisiana Ten Commandments law, and similar legislation Texas plans to file in 2025, there are laws like the one in Oklahoma, which was introduced last summer and mandates the Bible be taught in grades five through 12. The conservative think tank Heritage Foundation, which is the architect of Project 2025, has been advising superintendents in states like Louisiana and Oklahoma on how to implement their plans. 

Dier is the first educator to sue over the Louisiana law. His argument is that the state is requiring teachers to use classrooms as spaces of proselytization and coercion, pressuring him and his students to worship a state-sponsored religion. The ACLU along with nine families in Louisiana are also suing the government to stop it. They filed the first lawsuit immediately after the law was signed, arguing it will isolate students who don’t follow this specific Protestant version of the Ten Commandments. 

In November, U.S. District Judge John deGravelles in Baton Rouge called the law “overtly religious” and “unconstitutional on its face,” and granted the families’ request to temporarily pause the law from going into effect until he hears the full case. There are many ways this law can get to the Supreme Court, where right-wing justices hold a supermajority — what’s being argued right now is whether the posters can go up while we wait for the law itself to be debated. The state appealed deGravelles’ decision to the ultraconservative Fifth Circuit, which  temporarily upheld it, but will hear more arguments at the end of January.

This is just the beginning of this fight. In 2022, SCOTUS issued rulings in two cases that chipped away at the separation between church and state, allowing prayer at football games in a Washington state school and requiring Maine to fund religious education in rural areas without public education. The case has the potential to earn landmark status alongside the Scopes trial, otherwise known as the Monkey Trial. Dubbed the “trial of the century” in 1925, the hearing was essentially a fight on whether or not Darwinism and evolution could be taught in school. The Tennessee Supreme Court ruled that the law banning evolutionary teaching was constitutional, which spurred copycat laws in other Southern states — something opponents of the Louisiana law fear will happen today, a hundred years later. (Tennessee ended up repealing the law in 1967, a year before the U.S. Supreme Court eventually struck down a copycat Arkansas law.)

“What’s happening in Louisiana is potentially a model for the rest of the nation in terms of infusing conservative Christianity into public education,” says Rachel Laser, the president and CEO of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, one of the law firms suing Louisiana. “It’s religious coercion for some of our most vulnerable citizens: children.” 

...

Taking It to Court

On Oct. 21 in Baton Rouge, the Ten Commandments law had its first hearing in federal court with Roake v. Brumley. DeGravelles, an Obama appointee, heard arguments from civil-­liberties groups defending the nine families suing the state, as well as lawyers from the Louisiana attorney general’s office. (Dier’s lawsuit has been assigned to a Trump appointee and will be heard at a later date.) The Monday-­morning trial was open to the public, and there were about 50 people in the gallery during the six-hour hearing. One man in a priest collar occasionally clasped his hands in prayer during the brief breaks. 

There were debates about whether the court would grant a preliminary injunction to stop schools from displaying the posters until a final decision was made on the law, whether a legal historian could testify as an expert witness, and whether the case was premature since the posters weren’t up in classrooms yet. Attorneys for the families argued that the state was “indoctrinating students” in a violation of the parents’ right to raise their children with the religious education they wanted.

“Gov. Landry has said that he wants students to live by the Ten Commandments, lawmakers have said they want students to see God’s laws up there on the wall, so we know that they designed it with that end in mind,” attorney Heather Weaver said in her rapid-fire speech. “They could present it in a world-religion class … but they haven’t done that. Instead, they’ve decided to hit students over the head with it every single day, so that when they go from classroom to classroom, the thing that’s going to be constant is that they’re going to see a Protestant version of the Ten Commandments.”

For years, the religious right has made the claim that Christianity and the founding of the United States are inextricably linked. Lawyers for the plaintiffs spent the first few hours of the hearing seeking to dismantle this argument with testimony from their witness, legal historian Steven K. Green, a First Amendment law and religious-studies professor at Willamette University in Oregon.

He explained that the Ten Commandments in the law seems to be the Protestant version, looking at both the words used and the number order of the commandments, which differ from the Catholic and Jewish versions. He added, “Most religions in the world would not revere or follow the Ten Commandments.”

Attorney Jonathan Youngwood asked Green, “Did you find any evidence that the Ten Commandments were permanently displayed in early American public schools?” Green answered, “I could not find any evidence of that.”

“There is next to no evidence that the founders considered the Ten Commandments at all when they were drafting the essential documents of the American government,” Green testified. It was a point he reiterated throughout the day, later saying, “We have a lot of founding myths, and this is one of them.”

In the law, a quote attributed to founding father James Madison says: “We have staked the whole future of our new nation upon … the capacity of each of ourselves to govern ourselves according to the moral principles of the Ten Commandments.”

Green pointed out in his testimony: “This has been floating around since the 1990s, but there’s no record of this at all.” The judge raised his eyebrows in surprise as Green told the courtroom the source of this quote is in fact a renowned Christian nationalist named David Barton, who claimed Madison said it but did not have adequate documentation to back this up.

Instead of bringing their own legal historian to counter Green’s claims, the state argued during the hearing that history was subjective, and therefore a historian was not necessary as an expert witness at all. This is similar to a tactic used in the Scopes trial in Tennessee a century ago by the populist Christian firebrand William Jennings Bryan, when the state insisted they didn’t need a scientist as an expert. “I’m simply trying to protect the word of God against the biggest atheist, or agnostic, in the world,” Bryan famously said when on the stand.

“I’m not saying history is irrelevant to the case,” Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill told reporters after the court hearing. “I just don’t think we need a historian to be an expert witness in this case.”

Weeks later, DeGravelles ultimately allowed Green’s testimony.

[alaraxia]

I'm being Really Normal about Fallen Hero rn but my ipads charging so I can't draw and I need to keep this momentum going, so anyway stream of consciousness on (Ricardo) Ortega's fashion (or potential lack thereof depending on interpretations) below the cut with examples.

Is this just an excuse to headcanon outfits I personally like and make y’all read about it? Yes.

So we all joke about Gucci with Ortega because of the escape outfit he brings us, but I'd like to give some thoughts and examples on how I think someone like Ortega—a public figure/celebrity in their late 30s with access to stylists—would potentially dress.

First issue: most Gucci rn is just not it. Now that's extremely subjective because they do have some pieces that are pretty nice, but this is my post and I can say what I want. In general modern Gucci and the logomania resurgence of the 2010s and sorta more public recognizability of the brand in my mind hasn't done it any favors, and unless it’s very much his personal taste I don’t think a styling team would put him in it.

This is not to say logomania doesn't have extremely interesting and important roots in streetwear and fashion, but for the purposes of how I picture Ricardo to dress I don't think his stylists would go that route, and I think anything he does choose out of his own volition wouldn't align with a lot of their current offerings (and him not being into fashion, only into things that are expensive and pretty, definitely would not have him be into vintage Gucci). If anything it can also be justified by the stylists pushing him away from obvious logo usage due to being a representative of the U.S. Gov, etc.

Though he definitely has at least one full Gucci tracksuit because he's just Like That.

So this was mostly inspired by seeing some styles from stoffa's new stuff so I'm pretty much just pulling fit pics from there (current and older) that I could see Ricardo in that move his fashion beyond say just more stylish button ups and chino lookin pants. If you’re looking for insightful analysis on why I picked these, there really isn’t any, this is vibes I get from him and personal taste while taking climate and cost into account. Not going to consider more casual gym wear or undercover looks in this, he definitely has them and wears them a lot but this is more “he’s being styled”.

First off: expensive, very casual

Not much to say here, just if he’s got a fashion budget and stylists to point him in the right direction I could see him in these more put together but still very expensive casual looks.

Second: Still comfortable but more fashionable for daily wear

These are things I could see him in for just day to day outside of the office, I think he would favor a lot of lighter airy fabrics and colors (though I wish I was better with color because I think he’d have a bit more than what’s represented in these)

Third: dressing up, but in a very laid back and confident way, not for things like the gala but for nicer parties or fancy drinks.

Something a bit more modern and comfortable than just a traditional suit, think going out/filmed interview looks.

For both these kind of looks and even the fashionable daily wear I think he would definitely accessories with very expensive mechanical watches and other expensive belts, which may be where he tries to throw in Gucci (in accessories moreso).

Anyway that’s it, all subjective and my personal fashion biases, etc. All that being said he would definitely own this stupid Gucci jacket too.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Paige Skinner at HuffPost:

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) ripped into President Donald Trump’s federal funding freeze on Tuesday, calling it “stupid, buffoonish and childish.” “Donald Trump’s reckless action cut off funding to law enforcement, farmers, child care and veterans’ health care,” Walz said Tuesday at a news conference. “While he was out golfing, he threw the country into crisis.” On Tuesday evening, District Judge Loren AliKhan issued a temporary restraining order to stop the Trump-ordered freeze on all federal grants and loans from going into effect. But before that, Walz, who ran as Kamala Harris’ running mate on the Democratic ticket against Trump last year, said at a news conference that the president has “no idea the implications” of the freeze and said it’s right out of Project 2025 to “undermine” the U.S. “It will not stand; it cannot stand,” Walz said. [...] Later on Tuesday, Walz said on “The Rachel Maddow Show” that people shouldn’t be surprised by the freeze because it was laid out in Project 2025, a playbook written by Trump loyalists to guide the actions of his new administration. He also called out Republican governors, saying, “Shame on you” for staying silent about the freeze.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) nails it: “While he was out golfing, he threw the country into crisis.” Just wish he was VP right now, instead of MAGA lackey Vance.

[bearded-shepherd]

Walz signs executive order protecting gender-affirming care in Minnesota!!

Quotes:

“Every single day is a risk to these children and the people involved,” Walz said. “And while we're waiting for the process to work its way through the Legislature, we're making sure that we put up … the protections that we can offer now.” ~Gov. Tim Waltz

“You can believe whatever you want. I'm not trying to infringe on your rights,” Finke told reporters at the order signing. “Just acknowledge that your belief about me should not in any way interfere with my ability or anyone’s ability to access our care.” ~Rep. Leigh Finke

“All she wants is to be protected, all she wants is to be loved, all she wants is to be cared for,” Nguyen said. “All she wants is not to have to be woken up in the morning by her parents to say … it's come to Minnesota.” ~Ramsey County Attorney Hao Nguyen

The order will go into effect in 15 days (:

[follow-up-news]

Reproductive rights advocates sued Arizona on Tuesday to undo a 15-week abortion ban that conflicts with a constitutional amendment recently approved by voters to expand access up to fetal viability. The American Civil Liberties Union, Planned Parenthood and the Center for Reproductive Rights filed the lawsuit in Maricopa County Superior Court on behalf of the local chapter of Planned Parenthood and two physicians, arguing the law interferes with pregnant Arizonans’ fundamental right to abortion and individual autonomy. It’s the first step in efforts to dismantle existing laws they say are too restrictive. The Republican-controlled Arizona Legislature approved the 15-week ban months before the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, but it didn’t go into effect until after. Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes agreed not to enforce the 15-week ban while the lawsuit plays out, spokesperson Richie Taylor said Tuesday. Democratic Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs said in a statement Tuesday that the ban should be removed from the books. “Arizonans made it clear that they support reproductive freedom, and there is no question that a ban with no exceptions for rape or incest should be removed from our laws,” she said, adding that she is “glad Arizonans are working to finish the job and enforce the constitutional protections we now enjoy.”

[dailydoseofrant]

What. The. Hell. Is. Happening.

I'm actually devastated this has to be said but this is were the world is at right now.

Currently in America there is a rap!st/felonist in charge of the country, who allows his friends with no experience into positions of power, is friends with a Nazi and prides himself of talking about his daughters body in a sexualised way.

Lets break this down.

HIS FIRST PRECIDENCY 2017 - 2021:

Donald John Trump (The most basic bitch name out there). Was first elected into office on January 20, 2017, becoming the 45th president after winning against Hillary Clinton (A women keep this in mind.)

His 2017 - 2021 presidency fell on the outbreak of Covid-19, which has been ranked as the 6th most deadly plague in History. He downplayed the seriousness of the COVID-19 virus early on, which contributed to the spread of the disease in the U.S. He then very publicly disagreed with health experts, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, before suggesting it was a bright idea to inject disinfectant into the body to kill the illness. He was immediately met with outrage from medical professionals saying things such as

"This notion of injecting or ingesting any type of cleansing product into the body is irresponsible and it's dangerous.

"It's a common method that people utilise when they want to kill themselves."

"Don't take medical advice from Trump."

Though his cult like followers seemed to like Trumps pea-brained ideas over warnings from those who have studied at university for years on end. After his comment at least 5 U.S.A states reported an increase in poison control calls. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said his state received “hundreds of calls." But it wasn’t just Maryland and Michigan residents who took Trump’s advice seriously. New York City’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene said it saw an increase in calls within the 18-hour period after Trump’s briefing on Thursday. The poison control center recorded 30 cases by Friday, including nine “specifically about exposure to Lysol, 10 cases specifically about bleach and 11 cases about exposures to other household cleaners,” department spokesperson Pedro F. Frisneda told NPR. Kansas Poison Control reported an increase of 40% in cleaning chemical cases.

Next we have The Charlottesville Response. A violent white nationalist rally which took place in Charlottesville, Virginia left in one death and leaving more than a dozen others injured counter-protesters dead after a car attack. Trump then publicly stated that there were “very fine people on both sides,” failing to condemn white supremacy.

Now we are on to the Travel Ban.

President Trump issued an executive order blocking refugees and travellers with passports from seven Muslim-majority countries.

The ban was cruel, inhumane, and violated international law.

With the stroke of a pen, the President banned Syrian refugees from the USA indefinitely and prevented anyone (including refugees) from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen from entering the USA for 90 days.

He also halted the US refugee resettlement programme for 120 days, and indicated that when this restarts the US will slash the maximum number of refugees it will receive from 110,000 to 50,000.

These countries all have one thing in common: most people seeking asylum from these countries are trying to escape serious human rights abuses like torture and mass murder. For most, returning home is not a choice.

He is a result of numerous other harmful things that happened in 2017 - 2021 (such as referring to Mexicans as animals) but going through each one will take me my grave, so instead lets skip to towards the end where its announced that he has lost the 2021 - 2024 election against Joe Biden (A man keep this in mind)

After the 2020 election results were certified, Trump repeatedly refused to concede to Joe Biden, claiming widespread voter fraud without providing credible evidence. This led to a months-long campaign of challenging the election results in court, where almost all of his lawsuits were dismissed. He continued to make baseless claims about the election being "stolen" and pushed these claims to his supporters and the media

On January 6, 2021, a joint session of Congress was in the process of certifying Joe Biden's Electoral College victory when a mob of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol building. The rioters disrupted the certification process and caused significant damage to the Capitol. Trump had earlier given a speech in which he repeated claims of election fraud and told the crowd to "peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard," but his rhetoric contributed to the violence. The attack resulted in deaths, injuries, arrests, and widespread damage, and it prompted the evacuation of lawmakers.

Then before leaving the White-house Trump stole "hundreds of classified documents," They then transported the boxes to Mar-a-Lago — Trump’s golf club and new residence — and at one point stored them in a ballroom and a shower, among other locations

All of this is just disgusting, but somehow he managed to get into office again for 2025 after winning against his opponent Kamala Harris (A women.)

And so far he's brought hell.

Second Precedency 2025:

The years only just started and he's screwed up America already.

Here is a list:

Changed the Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America

Brought back the death penalty

Signed to say that native Americans don't have equal birth rights to 'normal' American's.

Made abortion punishable by death/reducing women's reproductive care

Pulled funding out of schools

Started mass deportation, where men, women and CHILDREN and being dragged out of the country in CHAINS.

Closed border between Mexico/America

Pulled out of Paris agreement

Pulled out of World Health Organisation

Halted processing of immigrants/asylum seekers

Carrying out ICE raids, even in places such as church's and ELEMENTARY schools

Approved oil drilling in Antarctica

Raised prices

Trans people can't serve in the Military

Trans people can't leave country

States banning same sex marriage

Freezing federal funding

Declaring there are only 2 genders

Ended the Green New Deal

Paused foreign aid

Tried to buy bloody Greenland and Canada

And you know what? I don't even think that's all. And you know what? IT'S FUCKING FEBUARY

Going through every single thing listed above will as well take me to my grave. So I've made each thing on the list pretty self explanatory. He's going to run America to the ground. The hate I feel for this man as a women in undeniable, as it seems his supporters have conveniently forgotten the things he as said about his OWN DAUGHTER.

Aides said he talked about Ivanka Trump’s breasts, her backside, and what it might be like to have sex with her, remarks that prompted Kelly to remind the president that Ivanka was his daughter,”

In a 2015 interview with Rolling Stone, Trump reportedly celebrated Ivanka Trump’s “beauty” and said, “If I weren’t happily married and, ya know, her father …”

“If Ivanka weren’t my daughter, perhaps I’d be dating her. Isn’t that terrible? How terrible? Is that terrible?”

Yes you sick horrible man that is terrible.

During a Feb. 27, 2013, interview on The Wendy Williams Show, Trump was asked what he and his daughter both consider their favorite things. Trump answered, “I was going to say sex, but I can relate to [golf and real estate].” 

Donald Trump had this to say about his daughter Ivanka: “You know who’s one of the great beauties of the world, according to everybody? And I helped create her. Ivanka. My daughter, Ivanka. She’s 6 feet tall, she’s got the best body.”

So if he's saying that imagine what he says to other women. Oh wait, rapes them not talks to them.

Also both times Trump has gotten his way into office us when his competitor is a women. Did you notice that? Cause I sure as hell did.

I could spend another three hours adding onto this on what he has done but I have Netball Training.

Yes

Netball Training.

Because I am a teenage girl, and I have to worry about my future and my friends future because the adults currently in charge of running one of the most powerful country's is acting like a toddler. I can guarantee you, put anyone one of my classmates in power and you'll find America still standing at the end of the 4 years, because we're taught wrong from right, we know how to be humane, how not to be sexist, racist or want to commit incest with your own family. We know rape is wrong.

And it's sad a world leader can't leader can say the same as a bunch of teenagers.

To end this my heart goes out to anyone who's suffered from outcomes of the elections. And I hope you know you've got support from me if not anyone else.

And for those Trump cultist that might try come at me because I'm a kid and I don't know what I'm talking about. Put a sock in your mouth and do some research like I did.