Tuesday, January 21, 2025
Monday, January 20, 2025
Florida Panther: A Fight for Survival On The Brink Of Extinction
The Florida panther, a symbol of the state’s wild beauty, is in a perilous fight for survival. This iconic creature, once a common sight throughout the southeastern United States, is now facing the very real threat of extinction.
The panther’s population has dwindled to a small fraction of its historical size, and its range is now confined to a limited area in South Florida. The main culprits behind this decline are habitat loss, vehicle collisions, and disease.
Trump moves to make 'two genders' and anti-DEI policy official
Donald Trump has moved to change the US government's policies on gender and diversity, following through on promises he made on the campaign trail.
"As of today, it will henceforth be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders, male and female," Trump said during his inaugural address.
FACT FOCUS: A look at false and misleading claims Trump made at inaugural events
In his first address after being sworn in on Monday, President Donald Trump repeated several false and misleading statements that he made during his campaign. They included claims about immigration, the economy, electric vehicles and the Panama Canal. In remarks later at the Capitol’s Emancipation Hall, he issued a number of other false claims, including one that distorts pardons made by President Joe Biden as he left office. Here’s a look at the facts.
- Biden did not pardon 33 murderers
- Trump resurfaces false claim about the 2020 election
- Nancy Pelosi did not reject National Guard troops on Jan. 6
- Trump repeats unfounded claim about immigrants
- Inflation did not reach record highs under Biden
- Promise of an External Revenue Service to collect tariffs
- Calls for revocation of EV mandate that doesn’t exist
- China does not operate the Panama Canal
Biden commutes sentence for Indigenous activist Leonard Peltier, convicted in killing of FBI agents
Indigenous activist Leonard Peltier will return home nearly half a century after he was imprisoned for the 1975 killings of two FBI agents. President Joe Biden commuted Peltier’s sentence Monday following decades of community-led advocacy calling his imprisonment an example of the U.S. government’s mistreatment of Native Americans.....MORE
Sunday, January 19, 2025
What AOC says about TikTok & Trump
“Welcome back! Thanks for your patience and support. As a result of President Trump's efforts, TikTok is back in the U.S.!”
First of all, Donald Trump is not president right now.
He's a private citizen. He does not have access to presidential powers. He does not have the ability to do any of that.
Please understand that TikTok's decision to name Trump in the notification is a choice. They are signaling that they have agreed to privately collaborate with Donald Trump and the Trump administration.
For all of those concerns that people were saying that TikTok is gonna be used as a propaganda tool by the Chinese, understand they're using it as a propaganda tool for the right.
Now, I want you all to put all the pieces together because what this effectively means is that every mass social media platform in the United States has been taken over by the right wing, with the exception of Blue Sky (but Blue Sky is still very small, relatively).
So when I say put the pieces together:
Elon Musk took over Twitter, and there's open reporting that they have artificially manipulated the algorithms to boost right-wing content on X and to amplify harassment.
Then you have Meta. You have Mark Zuckerberg saying that they're basically also bending the knee to Trump with their changes to fact checking, regardless of how effective that was in the first place.
Now TikTok is now saying, “Hey, we are agreeing we will use our push notification system for all 170 million American users to promote Donald Trump.”
Just understand that government announcements like this with companies, they never name politicians — they will usually name law or policy. TikTok is making an explicit agreement to do this.
And if I were a betting person: they probably are making a deal with Donald Trump to not just use these push notifications — they probably would consider algorithmic changes. Which is ironic because at the time when people voted for the TikTok ban, because there was a lot of pro-Palestinian content, that argument was being used as being somehow “anti-American,” which, you know — I guess supporting human rights is somehow bad.
So what does this mean for us?
We are on the eve of an authoritarian administration. This is what 21st century fascism is starting to look like. Republicans model themselves after Viktor Orbán’s Hungary. You can look to Hungary to get a taste of how they will try to control media and companies in the United States. This is a kind of entrée to that.
As far as what we do:
This is a time of experimentation. A lot of people can and will still use platforms, but I also look towards places where you have more ownership and develop your audiences there — like Blue Sky.
More soon,
Alexandria
(bold text as in AOC's original message)
Davy Jones (aka David Bowie) with the Lower 3rd - 1965
Going by his birth name, Davy Jones (aka David Bowie) and The Lower 3rd released their first and only EP, The Manish Boys, containing 4 songs, in 1979. Even then, David Bowie displayed the talent that would later in his career bring him such exceptional and unique notoriety. David Jones adopted the stage name David Bowie so not to go by the name of the lead singer of The Monkeys.
In 1966, long before the the release of their EP, Davy Jones and The Lower 3rd released in the UK their first 45 rpm single with the songs Can't Help Thinking About Me and And I Say to Myself.
Saturday, January 18, 2025
The words for the 21st century are 'apathy' and 'rhetoric'
'We’ve left the domain of effective protest'
Just outside the White House on January 21, 2017, a dense sea of something like 500,000 protesters, known as the Women’s March on Washington, had formed, stretching from the marble steps of the United States Capitol past the towering Washington Monument.
Eight years have passed, and the Women’s March, rebranded as the People’s March, consist of a tenth the number of protesters, will march on Washington. The People's March is a reflection of the internal struggles that have roiled the movement, raising questions about who felt included — and who did not.
Friday, January 17, 2025
Face the facts: America has outsourced military supply chain to China
With President Trump’s inauguration coming up soon and Beijing already levying new export restrictions and sanctions, 2025 promises to be an eventful year for the U.S.-China trade war. And while the impact is likely to be widespread, Beijing is explicitly targeting the American defense sector.
The actions by China are forcing a reckoning with the uncomfortable reality that America has outsourced large parts of its military supply chain to President Xi Jinping and the Chinese Communist Party. Successfully infiltrating an adversary’s supply chain presents opportunities to conduct devastating acts of sabotage.
Decoding Donald Trump's new official portrait
Those are some of the descriptions of Donald Trump's newest official portrait, captured by his chief photographer, Daniel Torok. In the photo, the president-elect wears a stern expression, eyes cocked.
"The official portrait of the president is the most printed, most seen image of the president, ever," former White House photographer Eric Draper told the BBC.
The Senate advances a migrant detention bill that could be Trump’s first law to sign
The Senate is heading toward a final vote on legislation that would give states the power to challenge federal immigration policies and require federal authorities to detain migrants accused of theft and violent crimes, setting a new tone on immigration as Donald Trump enters the White House.
Newly in the majority, Senate Republicans have made the so-called Laken Riley Act — named after a Georgia student who was killed last year by a Venezuelan man — a top priority, potentially making it the first bill Trump signs as president.
Then they came for me
Trump inauguration protests underscore how the resistance has changed
First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.
—Martin Niemöller—
Protesters are set to descend on Washington, D.C., on Saturday ahead of President-elect Trump’s inauguration, an event that will lay bare how the resistance has changed in the eight years since he first took office.
Organizers of the People’s March, which is being put together by a diverse coalition of groups including the Women’s March, expect roughly 50,000 attendees Saturday — a stark contrast to the 500,000 that marched on Washington in 2017.
Experts say the difference reflects a shift in strategy in how they oppose Trump, as well fatigue among some advocates.
Medicare targets 15 more drugs for price negotiations — including Ozempic
The Biden administration, in its last full weekday in office, has announced the next 15 drugs up for Medicare price negotiation. Blockbuster diabetes drug Ozempic is on the list.
That means the federal government and the pharmaceuticals industry are about to go head-to-head once again. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services negotiated prices for a first batch of drugs last year — something it could only do because of the Inflation Reduction Act, which passed in 2022.....MORE
Kristi Noem has confirmation hearing today; Senate holds key vote on Laken Riley Act
Watch live HERE
Thursday, January 16, 2025
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