yourreddancer

[yourreddancer]

When a sitting commander in chief authorizes acts like these, which many assert are clear violations of the law, men and women in uniform face an ethical dilemma: How should they respond to an order they believe is illegal?

The question may already be affecting troop morale. “The moral injuries of this operation, I think, will be enduring,” a National Guard member who had been deployed to quell public unrest over immigration arrests in Los Angeles told The New York Times. “This is not what the military of our country was designed to do, at all.”

Troops who are ordered to do something illegal are put in a bind – so much so that some argue that troops themselves are harmed when given such orders. They are not trained in legal nuances, and they are conditioned to obey. Yet if they obey “manifestly unlawful” orders, they can be prosecuted. Some analysts fear that U.S. troops are ill-equipped to recognize this threshold.

U.S. service members take an oath to uphold the Constitution. In addition, under Article 92 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice and the U.S. Manual for Courts-Martial, service members must obey lawful orders and disobey unlawful orders. Unlawful orders are those that clearly violate the U.S. Constitution, international human rights standards or the Geneva Conventions.

Service members who follow an illegal order can be held liable and court-martialed or subject to prosecution by international tribunals. Following orders from a superior is no defense.

Criminologist Eva Whitehead researched actual cases of troop disobedience of illegal orders and found that when some troops disobey – even indirectly – others can more easily find the courage to do the same.

Whitehead’s research showed that those who refuse to follow illegal or immoral orders are most effective when they stand up for their actions openly.

[yourreddancer]

ICE are all cowards Risk averse, cosplay wimps

[yourreddancer]

Israeli Officials Reportedly Held Talks About Displacing Palestinians to War-Torn South Sudan

"If implemented, the plans would amount to transferring people from one war-ravaged land at risk of famine to another," the Associated Press said.

[yourreddancer]

[yourreddancer]

California governor Gavin Newsom and I chatted earlier today about his announcement that California will hold a special election on November 4 for voters to consider redistricting the state temporarily if Texas redistricts to give President Donald Trump the five additional seats to which he believes he is “entitled.”

[yourreddancer]

The Democratic leadership is incapable of moving from soft, centrist politics to a progressive social and environmental agenda. In 2016 Democrats' electoral scheme of superdelegates undermined the democratic socialist insurgency and its millions of youthful followers.

Wedded to identity politics and fixated on quixotic undecided voters and presumably fence-post Republicans, the establishment wing of the Democrats runs away from thoroughgoing reform. Eschewing progressive populism—fearful of being branded leftist, socialist, and communist—the party has pursued an electoral platform of abstract ideas such as appeals to saving democracy and nearly politically meaningless allusions to joy and decency.

Without a genuine populist agenda the Democratic leadership drifts toward the political center, an increasingly conservative position as the center moves to the political right.

Now is the time for progressive Democrats to break from the party and, allying with politically independent progressives and others on the political left, put forth an agenda that forges an alternative vision of a healthy America, one that supports ordinary families through authentic social welfare and sound environmental policy.

To turn back a government takeover by the wealthy corporate class, progressives must seize this political moment. Their voice must be forceful, optimistic and youthful. They must aggressively challenge Trump, preying on his numerous points of vulnerability.

By staging powerful televised weekly press conferences, engineering appearances on televised and digital "talk shows," generating a compelling social media presence, and organizing public rallies and marches, progressives could present timely critiques of Trump's ongoing misrepresentations and regressive proposals and, even more importantly, put forth a platform of populist programs that will really benefit average Americans.

Such a campaign and strategy will energize and focus opponents of Trump, elevating the political discourse and conferring enormous credibility on progressive alternatives.

It will give anti-Trump forces a platform of specific programs and goals to confront his dictatorial intentions and methods. If progressives fail to lead at this critical juncture in the nation's history, they cede the immediate and long-term future to a self-serving dictator supported by a party of sycophants and opposed mainly by weak-kneed, unimaginative politicians.

[yourreddancer]

Nearly two-thirds of Americans said they disapprove of the Trump administration slashing the Social Security Administration workforce.

Marking the program's 90th anniversary, Sanders touted his Keep Billionaires Out of Social Security Act.

"This legislation would reverse all of the cuts that the Trump administration has made to the Social Security Administration," said Sanders. "It would make it easier, not harder, for seniors and people with disabilities to receive the benefits they have earned over the phone."

"Each and every year, some 30,000 people die—they die while waiting for their Social Security benefits to be approved," said Sanders. "And Trump's cuts will make this terrible situation even worse. We cannot and must not allow that to happen."

[yourreddancer]

FROM BERNIE............

Sisters and brothers -

These are crazy times. These are dangerous times.

It appears that every day we’re dealing with one crisis or another, outrageous decisions and statements from the White House, and the continued undermining of the Constitution by Trump.

One day he's calling on Greg Abbott and other Republican governors to redistrict their states mid-decade because he knows his agenda will lose him the House.

The next day he's deploying the National Guard on the streets of Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.

One day he's taking health care away from millions of people.

The next day he's picking undocumented workers off the streets in front of Home Depots.

One day it's tariffs or the Epstein files.

The next day he's hanging huge banners of himself off federal buildings and forcing the military to hold a parade for him on his birthday.

Crazy stuff. Every day. And on and on and on it goes.

Question. How does a man like this get elected? Why do millions of people — including working people, young people, and people of color vote for him?

Answer. The current political and economic systems are broken and failing ordinary Americans. As our major institutions collapse, the Democratic leadership offers nothing more than tinkering around the edges and defending the status quo.

Pathetically, despite his horrific anti-worker policies, Donald Trump has become the agent of “change.”

Take a hard look at the world you’re living in. In the wealthiest nation in the history of the world, we are not even providing the basic necessities of life for working families.

Wages have been stagnant for decades. Some 60% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck. Millions work for starvation wages. We have the highest rates of childhood and senior poverty of almost any major country on earth.

Millions can't find affordable housing. Some 800,000 Americans are homeless and 20 million households spend at least 50% of their incomes on shelter. All across the country, people are terrified that their landlords will raise their rent and drive them out of their homes.

Our health care system, despite being wildly expensive, is on the verge of collapse. 85 million are uninsured or under-insured and there are not enough doctors, nurses, dentists, or psychologists. We pay, by far, the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs, and some 60,000 Americans die each year because they don’t get to a doctor on time.

Our educational systems — from childcare to college to trade schools — are inadequate and far too expensive. We used to be the best educated country in the world. Not any more. Millions of young people leave school deeply in debt.

Our food system, dominated by agribusiness and the food industry, is making our kids sick. They supply children with addictive ultra-processed food which leads to obesity, diabetes, and other illnesses. Buying healthy food is unaffordable for most families.

Meanwhile, in the midst of all that, one person owns more wealth than the bottom 52% of households, Trump and Congress provide massive tax breaks to billionaires and politicians maintain a corrupt campaign finance system that allows the very rich to buy elections.

So where do we go from here?

In my view, we need to make it clear to the American people that now is not the time to think small. Given the major crises that we face, we need to think big.

We need to make it clear that, with all of the advances in worker productivity that exploding new technologies like AI and robotics will provide, we now have the opportunity to create the kind of society that has only been dreamed of in the past — a nation in which every man, woman and child has a decent standard of living. This is not utopian thinking. This is doable and exactly what we should be fighting for.

But how?

We must defend and expand our democracy: Working people need democracy and a responsive government which can advance their interests and put checks on the greed of the Oligarchs.

We must make the wealthy and large corporations pay their fair share of taxes: We need a fair and progressive tax system that demands that the wealthiest people in our country finally start paying their fair share of taxes so that we can fund the needs of the working class. No one should possess more than a billion dollars in wealth.

We must cut military spending: We can make significant cuts in military spending, retain the strong defense that we need and transfer tens of billions into social needs.

We must make certain that the working class benefits from new technology: AI and robotics cannot simply be a means by which the rich become richer while working class people lose out.

We must guarantee basic human needs: Yes. In the United States, we can afford to provide quality health care, education, nutrition, housing, and retirement security to all as a human right.

We must enact Medicare for All: The function of a rational health care system is not to make insurance companies and drug companies tens of billions a year in profits. It’s to provide quality care for all and focus on disease prevention.

We must provide quality education for all: Today our childcare system is broken, public education is under siege and higher education is extremely expensive. That has got to change. We must guarantee that every family in America can send their kids to high quality childcare, regardless of income.

We must make housing affordable: We must expand the National Housing Trust Fund to build at least 4 million more units of low-income and affordable housing, cap the price of rent, end the gentrification of neighborhoods, and stop Wall Street speculators from ripping off tenants and flipping homes.

We must improve the wages and benefits for the American people, pass the PRO Act to make it easier for people to form a union, raise the minimum wage to a living wage, $17 an hour, guarantee paid family and medical leave, expand Social Security, and bring back defined benefit pensions.

These are not pie-in-the-sky ideas. They are not radical. They are not fringe. They are not ideas to be afraid of.

These are all ideas widely accepted and supported by the majority of the American people. And I am not talking just about Democrats in so-called "blue states." I am talking about the working people coming out to our rallies in droves in places like West Virginia and Texas.

And I am talking about many of the working people who have fled the Democratic Party for Trump because he promised to bring about massive change.

In this difficult moment in American history, we must have the courage to stand together and fight back against corporate greed.

We must have the courage to fight back against massive income and wealth inequality.

We must have the courage to fight back against a corrupt political system and to listen to the needs of working families, and not just corporate CEOs.

It's not just good policy, but it is good politics.

And if we do that, we'll not only win elections everywhere, but we can finally create an economy and a government that works for all, not just the 1 percent.

In solidarity,

Bernie Sanders

[yourreddancer]

EJ Antoni, President Donald Trump's controversial nominee to head the Bureau of Labor Statistics, was among the insurrectionist mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, NBC News revealed Wednesday.

Video footage archived from the right-wing social media site Parler and posted online by a Republican-led congressional subcommittee shows Antoni among the crowd about half an hour before the MAGA mob began breaching barricades, attacking police, and swarming the Capitol. He is also seen walking away from the crowd.

"We just discovered a Trump [Department of Justice] official was at January 6, telling other traitors to 'kill' police," journalist and attorney Adam Cohen wrote on the social media site Bluesky, referring to Jared Wise, who was pardoned by Trump.

"Now we learn Trump's BLS nominee, E.J. Antoni—apart from being totally unqualified—was ALSO part of the insurrection," Cohen added. "The inmates are not only running the asylum. They're bringing in MORE inmates to help."

The West Virginia Federation of Democratic Women noted on the social media site X that "Trump fired the vetted woman who reported honest stats on job losses. His new guy was in the mob on January 6 and wrote Project 2025."

[yourreddancer]

The United Nations human rights expert assigned to the Palestinian territories illegally occupied by Israel is calling on countries around the world to send military forces to end the genocidal Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip.

Since March 2024, "I've warned the UN I serve at great personal cost: the destruction of Gaza's health system is clear proof of genocidal intent," Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese said on social media Wednesday. "I'm in disbelief at its paralysis. States must break the blockade, send NAVIES with aid, and stop the genocide. History will not forget."

Their comments came as a growing number of governments are recognizing the state of Palestine or threatening to do so. In a Wednesday interview with The Guardian, Albanese stressed that the renewed push for Palestinian statehood should not "distract the attention from where it should be: the genocide."

Meanwhile, in Gaza, the 22-month Israeli assault has left the coastal enclave in ruins and killed at least 61,776 Palestinians and wounded 154,906 others—though experts warn the real figures are likely far higher. Those who have survived so far are struggling to access essentials, including food, largely due to Israeli restrictions on humanitarian aid and killings of aid-seekers.

The coalition called on all governments to "press Israel to end the weaponization of aid," insist that NGOS not be "forced to share sensitive personal information," and "demand the immediate and unconditional opening of all land crossings and conditions for the delivery of lifesaving humanitarian aid."

[yourreddancer]

The cuts to Medicaid contained in the recently passed Republican budget law are already having a damaging impact in multiple states, as both local hospitals and state governments struggle financially to make up funding gaps.

"Who's going to be blamed when people are left out, when people are hungry and they lose out on educational opportunities?" he asked during a panel discussion. "If we as state legislators do not convey that it is a result of the decisionmakers in Washington, D.C., they will be at our doorstep as the place of last resort."

[yourreddancer]

During the first six months of his second term, President Donald Trump's administration has withdrawn or suspended enforcement actions against 165 companies in sectors across the U.S. economy, with Big Tech benefiting most from federal agencies' lax approach to corporate crime.

A report released Wednesday by the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen found that the Trump administration has halted or ended a third of misconduct investigations and enforcement actions targeting technology firms—including behemoths such as Meta, Tesla, and Google.

Both Meta and Google donated to Trump's inaugural fund, and Tesla CEO Elon Musk spent big in support of the president's 2024 White House bid. Public Citizen found that the tech corporations that have benefited from Trump administration decisions to drop enforcement efforts have spent a combined $1.2 billion trying to influence the president.

"The Trump administration is protecting lawbreaking corporate insiders from accountability instead of protecting Americans from corporate lawbreaking," said Rick Claypool, a research director for Public Citizen and author of the new report. "To Big Tech corporations, this sends the message there is little risk in breaking the law in pursuit of profit—especially if you are an ally of the administration."

[yourreddancer]

Run by the Covino family, San Antonio Aquarium is a shipwreck of a facility, where vulnerable animals endure the owners’ perfect storm of greed and incompetence. Various species are thrown into an endless onslaught of public encounters, each one endangering the health of the animals, staff, and visitors—all while the Covino family reaps the profits.

Wild animals don’t want to be pet, poked, or prodded by humans, and subjecting them to the stress of irregular sleep, mishandling, loud noises, and crowds of strangers for public encounters puts the animals and the public in danger of getting injured. At this exploitative operation, a giant Pacific octopus latched onto a boy’s arm and wouldn’t let go. Staff members reportedly took up to five minutes to free the boy, who was left with bruising from his wrist to his armpit.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has previously cited San Antonio Aquarium for several incidents in which endangered lemurs bit or scratched either staff or members of the public, finding that three of the six lemurs used in public encounters have injured visitors. The USDA also cited the facility for allowing animals to languish in temperatures nearing 90 degrees after the air conditioning failed, exposing many species to temperatures exceeding regulatory limits. Another citation described young kangaroos kept in a staff office alongside electrical cords and other supplies without a dedicated enclosure, which is required “to protect them from injury.”

Please never visit roadside zoos! Politely tell the Covinos to focus on animal-free entertainment and transfer the animals at San Antonio Aquarium to reputable facilities.

[yourreddancer]

couldn't agree more!! "Centrists" haven't gotten the job done. Most Americans, even if they don't identify as progressives, overwhelmingly support progressive ideas . Dems need to proudly be progressive!!!

[yourreddancer]

MAGA Republicans are once again proving they are terrified of the people and of democracy itself as they slash federal funding for election administration in 2026 to just $15 million.

That is just $300,000 per state to protect voting rights, replace outdated voting machines, fight disinformation, and ensure every American can cast a ballot.

In 2020, when voter participation surged, this funding was $825 million, which was critical to remove barriers for voters, especially in rural areas and low-income communities, and to prevent foreign and domestic interference in our elections. MAGA knows that fair, well-funded elections mean more voters, and more voters mean they lose.

They will say this is about “saving money” or “state responsibility,” but the truth is simple. Underfunded elections are vulnerable elections. When ballots take longer to count, when machines fail, when voting lines wrap around the block, people lose faith in the process, and that is exactly what MAGA wants.

We cannot allow extremists in Congress to dismantle our freedom to vote through budget cuts. If they cannot win with ideas or policies, they will win by choking off the very infrastructure of democracy.

Tell Congress to fully fund our elections and block any proposal that defunds our freedom to vote.Sign and Send

Election funding pays for trained poll workers, secure voting machines, cybersecurity protections, voter education, and language access. Without it, voters, especially those in marginalized communities, face longer lines, malfunctioning machines, and fewer places to vote.

Republicans are deliberately sabotaging these systems to create chaos and confusion that they can exploit in court and the media. They want voters to feel the system is broken, so fewer people show up. That is how democracy dies, not with one big law, but with a thousand budget cuts.

In 2020, we saw the power of a fully funded election system. Record turnout, rapid ballot counting in most states, and robust defenses against disinformation. We should be building on that success, not dismantling it.

Every day Congress delays funding elections, the cost of protecting them goes up. If they lock in this $15 million figure for 2026, we will be walking into the next presidential election with fewer protections than we had the last time Trump was in office.

Demand Congress block these cuts and restore full funding for our elections now.

Let’s make sure everyone is able to cast a vote and have their ballot counted.

- LeeAnn

LeeAnn Hall Director, National Campaign for Justice

[yourreddancer]

Since the Inauguration, the administration has systematically destroyed federal scientific systems. The Trump administration’s actions are not normal. This is an illegal power grab—a wholesale attack on the democratic systems upon which this nation was built.

Between January 20 and June 30 of this year, we documented 402 attacks on science. We define “attacks on science” as actions, statements, or decisions that originate from an elected official or political appointee in a federal agency that results in the censoring, manipulation, forging, or misinforming on scientific data, results, or conclusions conducted within the government or with federal funds.