We’re in the midst of an authoritarian takeover of the U.S. government.
It’s been coming and coming, and not everybody is prepared to read it that way.
The characters regarded as people to emulate, like Orban and Putin and so on, all indicate that the strategy is to create an illiberal democracy or an authoritarian democracy or a strongman democracy.
That’s what we’re experiencing.
Our problem in part is a failure of imagination.
We cannot get ourselves to see how this is going to unfold in its most frightening versions.
You neutralize the branches of government;
you neutralize the media;
you neutralize universities,
and you’re on your way.
We’re beginning to see the effects on universities.
It’s very, very frightening.
talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/o…
Observe, Orient, Decide, and Act: Notes on Preserving the American Republic
A short time ago, former U.S. Attorney Barb McQuade posted this passage from a Chronicle of Higher Education interview with Lee Bollinger…Josh Marshall (TPM - Talking Points Memo)
“A federal judge on Sunday ordered the Trump administration to respond to allegations that U.S. immigration enforcement "willfully disobeyed" an order halting the deportation of a Rhode Island doctor. …
In an order on Friday evening in response to a petition from Alawieh's cousin, federal Judge Leo T. Sorokin mandated 48 hours' notice before Alawieh could be deported.
But Alawieh was nonetheless placed on a flight to Paris, where she was detained as of Saturday.”
If Nikola Tesla were alive today he would file a court order to stop Elon Musk and his company from disgracing the Tesla name.
#tesla #musk #nikolatesla #teslatakedown
tj-actions/changed-files, corrupted to run credential-stealing memory scraper.
arstechnica.com/information-te…
blog.beerriot.com/2025/03/15/y…
BeerRiot Blog: Year of Linux: Part 4 - Backup
Now that I've started creating new things on my Linux laptop, I'd like to make sure that I don't accidentally lose it all. It's time to think about backups.blog.beerriot.com
I’ve got the first four (of twelve) sections of the Mega Multi Merino Gradient project spun and plied - and a plan to make a new lazy kate from something nicer-looking than a shoebox.
knittingpirate.com/2025/03/16/…
#KnittingPirate #spinning #handspun
In Which the Pirate Makes Progress.
I’ve got the first four (of twelve) sections of the Mega Multi Merino Gradient project spun and plied! It’s going pretty quickly. Each piece takes about 75 minutes to spin, and then it&…The Knitting Pirate
The US Department of State, acting on orders of very questionable legality, destroyed my new, already printed, waiting to be picked up passport for only one reason: it listed my sex as "X".
Please help replace my passport.
Fill this out. Monday is the last day.
action.aclu.org/reg-action/han…
Hands Off Our Passports: Stop Attacking Transgender Americans
The Trump administration is denying accurate passports to trans, intersex, and nonbinary people – so I’m joining the ACLU to fight back. Urge the State Department to reject this dangerous attack on our rights.action.aclu.org
reshared this
Wire Recording Speaks Again
hackaday.com/2025/03/16/wire-r…
Wire Recording Speaks Again
If you think of old recording technology, you probably think of magnetic tape, either in some kind of cassette or, maybe, on reels. But there’s an even older technology that recorded voice on…Hackaday
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and this is how and why you do it
upworthy.com/bartender-explain…
Bartender explains why he swiftly kicks out Nazis even if they're 'not bothering anyone'
Would you want to drink with a Nazi?Tod Perry (Upworthy)
Tesla Autopilot drives into Wile E Coyote fake road wall in camera vs lidar test
Tesla Autopilot drove into Wile E. Coyote-style fake road wall in the middle of the road in a camera versus...Fred Lambert (Electrek)
yep. you can't pass the buck in a fascist coup. you have to actually show solidarity. the courts could have used senate leverage! like, senators could have demanded compliance with court orders before they'd sign onto a bill.
French deputy asks for return of Statue of Liberty
France should take back the Statue of Liberty because the US no longer represents the values that led France to offer the statue, a French Euro-deputy said...AFP (Yahoo News)
THREAD: Most of you by now have heard news of Trump's latest executive order, effectively dismantling the Voice of America. I heard it from friends and colleagues at the network, among the 1,300 put on leave.
While there were various issues with the VOA, there's no doubting its critical importance.
The impact of the decision, while not as devastating as the USAID aid freeze, will be as long ranging and damaging to the world, and yes, US interests as well.
bbc.com/news/articles/cvge4l10…
Trump dismantles Voice of America with executive order
More than 1,300 staff placed on administrative leave as White House accuses VOA of being anti-Trump, "radical" and "leftist".Thomas Mackintosh (BBC News)
Glyn Moody reshared this.
I know how this is being interpreted in certain far left circles: "imperialists hate Russian media, but love "CIA" sponsored American VOA."
There is no questioning the fact that both Russia and the US have a lengthy track record backing dictators, facilitating atrocities & wreaking havoc in Africa.
However, the fact that the VOA's language department operate independently with only a journalism code of ethics to adhere to, is something widely acknowledged.
Non existent chez RT & Sputnik.
What I can tell you is this:
Many Ethiopian kids (myself included) grew up thinking that the words "Deutsche Welle" were part of the Amharic language.
Why? Our parents, even some of our grandparents grew up around the radio, waiting for German tax payer radio to relieve them from communist junta propaganda of the 70ies-80ies. Deutsche Welle was a source of relief in our own language from 1965 onwards, so much that it has been integrated into the Amharic language.
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@davew "I'd love to get a list of old school bloggers who are still at it."
Still at it. Started in 1997. Have not stopped.
Andrea Contino - Go With The Flow
Andrea Contino's weblog on communication, gaming, and technology. But also food, books, music, tv series and much more.Andrea Contino - Go With The Flow
Foldable iPhone and iPad to Enter Production Next Year, Analyst Says
Apple's first two foldable devices recently entered the New Product Introduction (NPI) phase at Foxconn, according to analyst Jeff Pu. In a...Joe Rossignol (MacRumors.com)
President Trump deports hundreds of migrants to El Salvador
https://www.npr.org/2025/03/16/nx-s1-5329790/president-trump-deports-hundreds-of-migrants-to-el-salvador?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub
Posted into All Things Considered @all-things-considered-npr
In the early days of the pandemic, a green space in Seattle was one woman's refuge
https://www.npr.org/2025/03/16/nx-s1-5321308/in-the-early-days-of-the-pandemic-a-green-space-in-seattle-was-one-womans-refuge?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub
Posted into All Things Considered @all-things-considered-npr
Sony launches its first new 4K Blu-ray player in over five years – and it's good and bad news
We're digging a nail out of 4K Blu-ray's coffin to celebrateLewis Empson (Future plc)
Some good news, in the news! 📰
🏳️⚧️ ✨
"By establishing that data protection extends to gender identity and explicitly forbidding surgical requirements, the Court has created a powerful legal framework that transcends national barriers. This ruling provides both protection and recognition. It tells every trans person in the EU: your lived identity matters, and no government can erase it through bureaucratic obstacles."
Kohler added this is far from just a victory for refugees in Hungary - "it's a declaration that across Europe, your gender is yours to define, not the state's to dictate."
wearequeeraf.com/a-trans-refug…
A trans refugee's court case against Hungary just improved Trans+ rights across all of Europe
A landmark case at the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) on Thursday set a significant precedence for Trans+ rights across Europe.Jamie Wareham (QueerAF)
Canadian Tesla protest signs are so... polite. No swastikas, no mention of Nazis, no F words. 😂
ctvnews.ca/ottawa/article/prot…
Protesters gather at Ottawa Tesla dealership calling out Trump, Musk
Dozens of people took to the Tesla showroom on Carling Avenue Saturday afternoon to sound off on the company’s CEO Elon Musk and U.S. President Donald Trump.Joshua Marano (CTVNews)
a friend invited my wife and me to visit them… and we were invited to an event i’ve wanted to do since childhood
had to turn both down because they’re in states where i can’t use the bathroom, and if i had to go to the hospital they’d forcibly detransition me by stopping my HRT
do you get it yet?
Paul Cantrell reshared this.
There are many reasons to not use airbnb either as a guest or to sublet your place. But, here is a doozy:
nytimes.com/2025/02/13/us/poli…
There are alternative services, or use a hotel or something. Cut 'em off.
(The company account has made some vague noise on X that they are trying to sell as "distancing" but don't buy it.)
I apologize for the NYTimes link, I just wanted to cross-verify this bit of news that I heard by word of mouth.
Billionaire Airbnb Co-Founder Is Said to Take Role in Musk’s Government Initiative
Joe Gebbia is a board member at Tesla and is close to Elon Musk, the company’s C.E.O.Theodore Schleifer (The New York Times)
The "cleaning fee" scam is another - rooms listed as $59 for one night but cleaning costs $120 more.
Even Booking.com is more honest but I'd love a better website. Anyone have suggestions?
If ghosts are not willing or able to go in Heaven's light, then they can always be forced to go in the Devil's name.
#Germany #folktale #folklore #ghost #ghoststory @germany @folklore
patreon.com/posts/out-of-sight…
17 March 1939 | A French Jewish boy, Gerard Levy, was born in Paris.
In December 1943 he was deported to #Auschwitz and murdered in a gas chamber.
"Where do Elon Musk’s #business interests end & Donald Trump’s #political interests begin? Trick question—they’re one & the same.
How else do you explain the jarring sight of the #POTUS hawking #Teslas on the #WhiteHouse South Lawn?"
wired.com/story/elon-musk-dona…
Here begins the 11th Elon Musk thread.
List of links to previous threads:
newsie.social/@ZhiZhu/11398694…
Cartoon source: contrarian.substack.com/p/fire…
#ElonMusk #Musk #Trump #Coup #Corruption #GOP #Politics #USPol #USPolitics #News #Threads #USA
![Sub-heading and text(edited for length):
Two lawsuits could provide further insight into DOGE
On Wednesday, US District Judge Tanya Chutkan ordered Musk and his DOGE collaborators to provide records and testimony about its plans to slash federal agencies. The order seeks to establish the “parameters of DOGE’s and Musk’s authority.” From Politico:
"[Chutkan’s order] is a win for a group of 14 Democratic state attorneys general who are suing President Donald Trump, Musk and DOGE, arguing that Musk has unconstitutionally wielded immense power in ways that are damaging their states. Any information the states glean as a result of Chutkan’s decision will help her determine whether to block Musk and DOGE’s government activities altogether. It’s the first time a judge has ordered Musk to produce documents in a court challenge to his aggressive campaign to slash and reshape the federal bureaucracy."
Musk and DOGE have three weeks to fulfill the discovery requests.
...a Monday night ruling from U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper requiring DOGE to expeditiously process Freedom of Information Act requests...
Remarking on the initiative’s “unusual secrecy,” Cooper wrote in a 37-page opinion that DOGE has exercised “unprecedented” authority without congressional input. “The rapid pace of [DOGE’s] actions, in turn, requires the quick release of information about its structure and activities,” the judge wrote. “That is especially so given the secrecy with which DOGE has operated.”](https://friendica.rogueproject.org/photo/preview/640/251031 "Sub-heading and text(edited for length):
Two lawsuits could provide further insight into DOGE
On Wednesday, US District Judge Tanya Chutkan ordered Musk and his DOGE collaborators to provide records and testimony about its plans to slash federal agencies. The order seeks to establish the “parameters of DOGE’s and Musk’s authority.” From Politico:
\"[Chutkan’s order] is a win for a group of 14 Democratic state attorneys general who are suing President Donald Trump, Musk and DOGE, arguing that Musk has unconstitutionally wielded immense power in ways that are damaging their states. Any information the states glean as a result of Chutkan’s decision will help her determine whether to block Musk and DOGE’s government activities altogether. It’s the first time a judge has ordered Musk to produce documents in a court challenge to his aggressive campaign to slash and reshape the federal bureaucracy.\"
Musk and DOGE have three weeks to fulfill the discovery requests.
...a Monday night ruling from U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper requiring DOGE to expeditiously process Freedom of Information Act requests...
Remarking on the initiative’s “unusual secrecy,” Cooper wrote in a 37-page opinion that DOGE has exercised “unprecedented” authority without congressional input. “The rapid pace of [DOGE’s] actions, in turn, requires the quick release of information about its structure and activities,” the judge wrote. “That is especially so given the secrecy with which DOGE has operated.”")
![Text from article:
While this drama is spilling out in the press, it’s legally relevant. Multiple challenges to Musk and the actions of his Department of Government Efficiency allege his vast authority violates the Appointments Clause, one of the Constitutions key anti-corruption measures. Under this clause, which the framers crafted to prevent the kingly practice of handing jobs and authority to unaccountable allies, any officer of the United States must be formally nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate. Moreover, such appointees must fill a role created by Congress. Musk’s exercise of vast authority, at least four lawsuits allege, is unconstitutional, as he was neither confirmed by the Senate nor is he serving in any role Congress created. “You don’t have to stretch the text very far to see that there is a problem under [the Appointments Clause in] Article Two,” says Jed Shugerman, a law professor and historian at Boston University School of Law.](https://friendica.rogueproject.org/photo/preview/640/278858 "Text from article:
While this drama is spilling out in the press, it’s legally relevant. Multiple challenges to Musk and the actions of his Department of Government Efficiency allege his vast authority violates the Appointments Clause, one of the Constitutions key anti-corruption measures. Under this clause, which the framers crafted to prevent the kingly practice of handing jobs and authority to unaccountable allies, any officer of the United States must be formally nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate. Moreover, such appointees must fill a role created by Congress. Musk’s exercise of vast authority, at least four lawsuits allege, is unconstitutional, as he was neither confirmed by the Senate nor is he serving in any role Congress created. “You don’t have to stretch the text very far to see that there is a problem under [the Appointments Clause in] Article Two,” says Jed Shugerman, a law professor and historian at Boston University School of Law.")
![Text from article(edited for length):
The Foreign Emoluments Clause creates a broad prohibition on accepting emoluments, which—according to the first judge to interpret the term in a 2018 case against Trump (District of Columbia v. Trump)—include “any profit, gain, or advantage, of more than de minimis value, received by [the President], directly or indirectly” from foreign governments...
Like Trump, Musk has wide-ranging business entanglements that could produce emoluments from foreign states. For example, Musk’s Tesla is heavily reliant on China—in recent years, Tesla received a $521 million loan from Chinese-state owned banks and a lower-than-standard corporate tax rate from the Shanghai government. Musk has met with prominent Chinese officials in various business dealings, and analysts have speculated that Musk’s lobbying in Congress was behind the decision to remove hostile provisions to China from a December 2024 bipartisan spending bill.
Beyond China, Musk’s company SpaceX is actively negotiating a $1.5 billion deal with the Italian government, and Musk’s artificial intelligence company, xAI, has received investments from the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, the latter of which also helped finance his buyout of X, along with Saudi Arabia.
Given this laundry list of foreign dealings, there is clearly the potential for Musk to receive further payments directly or indirectly from foreign governments.](https://friendica.rogueproject.org/photo/preview/640/293534 "Text from article(edited for length):
The Foreign Emoluments Clause creates a broad prohibition on accepting emoluments, which—according to the first judge to interpret the term in a 2018 case against Trump (District of Columbia v. Trump)—include “any profit, gain, or advantage, of more than de minimis value, received by [the President], directly or indirectly” from foreign governments...
Like Trump, Musk has wide-ranging business entanglements that could produce emoluments from foreign states. For example, Musk’s Tesla is heavily reliant on China—in recent years, Tesla received a $521 million loan from Chinese-state owned banks and a lower-than-standard corporate tax rate from the Shanghai government. Musk has met with prominent Chinese officials in various business dealings, and analysts have speculated that Musk’s lobbying in Congress was behind the decision to remove hostile provisions to China from a December 2024 bipartisan spending bill.
Beyond China, Musk’s company SpaceX is actively negotiating a $1.5 billion deal with the Italian government, and Musk’s artificial intelligence company, xAI, has received investments from the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, the latter of which also helped finance his buyout of X, along with Saudi Arabia.
Given this laundry list of foreign dealings, there is clearly the potential for Musk to receive further payments directly or indirectly from foreign governments.")
Elon Musk Freaks Out That People Are Bullying Him
Musk continues to insist he’s only doing “productive things.”
newrepublic.com/post/192904/el…
"Unfortunately for #Musk, #Tesla is not just a “peaceful” company but the customer-facing branch of his #corporate takeover of the US #government, which has seen essential lifesaving programs slashed & thousands of people out of #work.
And customer #feedback can be harsh."
#ElonMusk #Coup #Corruption #Trump #GOP #Politics #USPol #News #US #USA #Resist
DOGE’s Dodgy Numbers Employ a Tesla Technique
#Safety researchers claim Elon Musk’s auto company has a long #history of potentially misleading #stats. Now it looks like his #government dept is following suit.
wired.com/story/doges-dodgy-nu…
#DOGE “put out some numbers, they didn’t smell good, they switched things around,” alleges Noah Goodall, an independent transportation researcher. “That screamed #Tesla. You get the feeling they’re not really interested in the #truth.”
#Musk #Corruption #News #US
Writing Mon 17 Mar Nahvalur Key West and Diamine Solar Storm
Todays pen and ink
Nahvalur Key West <Broad> + Diamine Solar Storm
#edc #fountainpen #fountainpens #penoftheday #dailypen #NahvalurKeyWest #Nahvalur #Diamine #DiamineSolarStorm
FunHouse Radio
Novelty Records, Parodies, Weird Covers, Outsider Music, Oddities, Mashups, Comedy, Nonsense & Cringe.FunHouse Radio
The March Madness men's bracket is out, and the SEC dominates with a record 14 teams
https://www.npr.org/2025/03/16/g-s1-54180/march-madness-selection-sunday-ncaa-tournament-brackets?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub
Posted into Sports @sports-npr
Paul Cantrell
in reply to Ham on Wry • • •