The Student Press Law Center is alarmed by reports by the Indiana Daily Student that administrators issued orders to interfere with content decisions and fired their long-time adviser. read more
Efforts by some encouraging the U.S. Air Force Academy to posthumously honor former conservative commentator and Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk were rejected on Friday, according to the nonprofit membership organization Academy's Association of Graduates (AOG).
The Trump administration plans to shift terrorism prevention funding from Democratic-led states toward those led by Republicans, government records show, as it overhauls a $1 billion program created after the 9/11 attacks. read more
"For many in our community, they're frustrated, like, 'Why don't you just get your kid vaccinated?'" said Dr. Mysheika Roberts, health commissioner for Columbus, Ohio. read more
Western automotive and green energy executives who visit China are returning humbled -- and even terrified. read more
@#67
Is Pres Trump now trying to recruit those members of groups he told to "stnd-by" into ICE with a $50K sign-up bonus?
ICE Drops Age Limits, Offering $50K Bonus To Lure Patriots'
www.tampafp.com
... New recruitment drive seeks 10,000 officers with incentives including a $50,000 signing bonus and student loan forgiveness. ...
When Pres Trump told the Proud Boys to stand back and stand by, he was not joking.
Trump doesn't disavow white supremacy, tells far-right extremist group to 'stand by' (2020)
www.pbs.org
... President Donald Trump on Tuesday didn't condemn white supremacist groups and their role in violence in some American cities this summer, branding it solely a "left-wing" problem and telling one far-right extremist group to "stand back and stand by."
"Almost everything I see is from the left wing, not from the right wing," said Trump, whose exchange with Democrat Joe Biden left the extremist group Proud Boys celebrating what some of its members saw as tacit approval.
He was responding to a question from debate moderator Chris Wallace, who asked the president if he would condemn white supremacist and militia groups that have showed up at some protests. Wallace specifically mentioned Kenosha, Wisconsin, where a white teenager was charged with killing two protesters during demonstrations over the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man. Trump has repeatedly blamed "antifa," which stands for the anti-fascist movement. ...
@#11 ... President Donald Trump has insisted he's not a king ...
Reminds me of ...
Impeachment process against Richard Nixon
en.wikipedia.org
... With momentum on impeachment quickly building in Congress, Nixon held a live one-hour televised press conference on November 17 to defend himself.
In addition to Watergate-related matters, the president addressed a variety of topics, including the nation's energy crisis and his personal finances.[53][54]
In response to a question concerning allegations of fraud on his tax returns, he stated categorically: "People have got to know whether or not their president is a crook. Well, I am not a crook."[55][56] ...
@#2 ... Mr Bezos apparently ordering Washington Post OpEd team that their editorials cannot criticize Pres Trump. ...
Bezos faces criticism after executives met with Trump on day of Post's non-endorsement (October 2024)
www.theguardian.com
... The multi-billionaire owner of the Washington Post, Jeff Bezos, continued facing criticism throughout the weekend because executives from his aerospace company met with Donald Trump on the same day the newspaper prevented its editorial team from publishing an endorsement of his opponent in the US presidential election.
Senior news and opinion leaders at the Washington Post flew to Miami in late September 2024 to meet with Bezos, who had reservations about the paper issuing an endorsement in the 5 November election, the New York Times reported.
Amazon and the space exploration company Blue Origin are among Bezos-owned businesses that still compete for lucrative federal government contracts.
And the Post on Friday announced it would not endorse a candidate in the 5 November election after its editorial board had already drafted its endorsement of Kamala Harris. ...
@#6 ... Didn't she use North Dakota as a personal piggy bank? ...
OK, I went to my search engine of choice, set a date range and asked about that.
One, of many, articles that were shown ...
American Oversight Sues South Dakota Governor for Records of Noem's Expenses (2022)
americanoversight.org
... On Tuesday, American Oversight sued the Office of South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem and the state's Department of Labor and Regulation (DLR) for failing to release public records about expenses related to Noem's activities while in office.
The lawsuit seeks information related to Noem's travel expenses, including five out-of-state taxpayer-funded trips. The suit also seeks records of any legal costs incurred by taxpayers from the alleged forced retirement of the director of South Dakota's Appraiser Certification Program following Noem's intervention in her daughter's application for a state appraiser license.
In May, American Oversight submitted a records request to the Office of the Governor seeking records of costs associated with five trips taken by Noem early in 2022, including several with overtly partisan destinations, such as a Conservative Political Action Conference event in Florida and a state Republican Party convention in New York.
Under South Dakota's Sunshine Law, the public has a right to access government records, including "any state ... expenditure involving public funds." While the law contains a narrow exception for sensitive security information, the request submitted by American Oversight specifically excluded records of "costs related to Governor Noem's security associated with this travel."
But in June, the governor's office refused to release any expense records at all, claiming that allowing the public to see any details of Noem's travel spending would create a security risk, without explaining why it wasn't able to redact only specific information that might reasonably be described as security-related. American Oversight followed up later that month with a formal request, which was again denied. ...
As 'No Kings' protests decry Trump, surveillance worries emerge
www.reuters.com
... People who take part in Saturday's mass "No Kings" protest against President Donald Trump's administration may be targeted for federal government surveillance with a range of technology that could include facial recognition and phone hacking, civil libertarians said.
"No Kings" organizers expect 2,600 rallies across all 50 U.S. states. But the level of surveillance at protests and the type of technology in use is likely to be both location-specific and dependent on the police forces present, said Thorin Klosowski, a security and privacy activist with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said Friday.
For instance, crowds in Washington, D.C., where anti-scale fencing has been erected around the White House complex, are likely to be surveilled differently than those in a small rural town.
"Under previous administrations, law enforcement surveillance of peaceful demonstrations was already commonplace and corrosive of free expression," Ryan Shapiro, executive director of government transparency group Property of the People, said in an email Friday.
"Given Trump's open hostility to even minor dissent, such surveillance now poses an existential threat to what remains of American democracy and only underscores the need for mass protest." ...
Whiskeytown - A Song For You (1999)
www.youtube.com
Lyrics excerpt ...
...
Oh my land is like a wild goose
Wanders all around everywhere
Trembles and it shakes til every tree is loose
It rolls the meadows and it rolls the nails
So take me down to your dance floor
And I won't mind the people when they stare
Paint a different color on your front door
And tomorrow we will still be there
Jesus built a ship to sing a song to
It sails the rivers and it sails the tide
Some of my friends don't know who they belong to
Some can't get a single thing to work inside
So take me down to your dance floor
And I won't mind the people when they stare
Paint a different color on your front door
And tomorrow we will still be there
...
FWIW, the album the song is on is one of my favorite tribute albums.
Return of the Grievous Angel: A Tribute to Gram Parsons
en.wikipedia.org
... Return of the Grievous Angel: A Tribute to Gram Parsons is a 1999 tribute album to pioneering country rock musician Gram Parsons, co-produced by his one-time singing partner, Emmylou Harris and featuring cover versions of songs written/co-written by or popularized by Parsons, performed by Harris, Beck, Wilco, The Pretenders, Cowboy Junkies, Elvis Costello, Sheryl Crow, Lucinda Williams, David Crosby, Steve Earle, Chris Hillman and many other artists.
The album was released from Almo Sounds and benefited Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation's "Campaign for a Landmine Free World." ...
Republicans mostly silent as millions of Americans protest Trump on No Kings day
www.theguardian.com
... Republican voices were mostly silent as No Kings rallies and marches against Trump administration policies unfurled on Saturday, many in the spirit of a street party that countered the "hate America" depiction advanced by senior members of the party.
Instead of provocation, there were marching bands, huge banners with "we the people" references to the US constitution, and protesters wearing inflatable costumes, particularly frogs, which have emerged as a sign of resistance.
It was the third mass mobilization since Trump's return to the White House and came against the backdrop of a government shutdown that not only has closed federal programs and services but is testing the core balance of power, as an aggressive executive confronts Congress and the courts in ways that protest organizers warn are a slide toward authoritarianism.
In comments Friday, Donald Trump opposed the protest organizers' characterization of him as a would-be monarch.
"They say they're referring to me as a king. I'm not a king," Trump said in a Fox News interview.
Later Friday, a Trump campaign social media account mocked the protests by posting a computer-generated video of the president clothed like a monarch, wearing a crown and waving from a balcony.
At a White House event on Wednesday, Trump tried to downplay the No Kings events. "I hear very few people [are] going to be there, by the way, but they have their day coming up and they want to have their day in the sun," he said. Trump is spending the weekend at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida.
In a counter-programming move, JD Vance and defense secretary Pete Hegseth were attending a live-fire amphibious capabilities demonstration at Camp Pendleton in California to commemorate the US Marine Corps' 250th birthday.
However, a plan to fire live artillery shells over a nearby highway drew objections from governor Gavin Newsom, who said it forced the California highway patrol to close a portion of a major interstate through southern California for safety reasons.
"The President is putting his ego over responsibility with this disregard for public safety," the Democratic governor said in a statement. "Firing live rounds over a busy highway isn't just wrong -- it's dangerous." ...
Meanwhile, polling of Pres Trump ...
President Trump Job Approval
www.realclearpolling.com
...
RCP Average 9/29 - 10/16
Approve: 45.4
Disapprove: 51.6
Spread: -6.2
President Trump Approval - Economy
www.realclearpolling.com
RCP Average 8/18 - 10/14
Approve: 40.7
Disapprove: 55.1
Spread: -14.4
President Trump Job Approval - Immigration
www.realclearpolling.com
RCP Average 8/18 - 10/13
Approve: 46.5
Disapprove: 50.5
Spread: -4.0
President Trump Job Approval - Inflation
www.realclearpolling.com
RCP Average 8/18 - 10/13
Approve: 36.7
Disapprove: 61.0
Spread: -24.3
President Trump Approval - Crime
www.realclearpolling.com
RCP Average 8/18 - 10/13
Approve: 47.5
Disapprove: 48.5
Spread: -0.6
@#34
Paula Cole - Where Have All The Cowboys Gone (1996)
www.youtube.com
Lyrics excerpt...
genius.com