US pol
trump
My wife and many of her friends are sociologists. She forwarded me this text that one of her friends found. Apparently it was also written by a sociologist. I found it helpful. Maybe you will too.
"As a sociologist, I need to tell you that your being overwhelmed is the goal.
1/ The flood of 200+ executive orders in Trump's first days exemplifies Naomi Klein's "shock doctrine" - using chaos and crisis to push through radical changes while people are too disoriented to effectively resist. This isn't just politics as usual - it's a strategic exploitation of cognitive limits.
2/ Media theorist McLuhan predicted this: When humans face information overload, they become passive and disengaged. The rapid-fire executive orders create a cognitive bottleneck, making it nearly impossible for citizens and media to thoroughly analyze any single policy.
3/ Agenda-setting theory explains the strategy: When multiple major policies compete for attention simultaneously, it fragments public discourse. Traditional media can't keep up with the pace, leading to superficial coverage.
The result? Weakened democratic oversight and reduced public engagement.
What now?
1/ Set boundaries: Pick 2-3 key issues you deeply care about and focus your attention there. You can't track everything - that's by design. Impact comes from sustained focus, not scattered awareness.
2/ Use aggregators & experts: Find trusted analysts who do the heavy lifting of synthesis. Look for those explaining patterns, not just events.
3/ Remember: Feeling overwhelmed is the point. When you recognize this, you regain some power. Take breaks. Process. This is a marathon.
4/ Practice going slow: Wait 48hrs before reacting to new policies. The urgent clouds the important. Initial reporting often misses context
5/ Build community: Share the cognitive load. Different people track different issues. Network intelligence beats individual overload.
Remember: They want you scattered. Your focus is resistance.”
UPDATE: it seems that this Threads post is the origin of the above sentiment: https://www.threads.net/@itsjenniferwalter/post/DFIu3Q2q-5P
While I don't love linking to Threads, I think it's important to give credit where credit is due.
Edited 249d ago
Vera Rubin Was a Pioneering Female Astronomer. Her Federal Bio Now Doesn’t Mention Efforts to Diversify Science.
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The edits to the webpage offer a glimpse into how far the Trump administration will go in refusing to acknowledge today’s inequalities as it purges federal initiatives promoting diversity, equity and inclusion.
Edited 247d ago
Fucking #FASCIST! In Dutch we have a word for this, 'kinderbeul'. In English that translates literally to 'child executioner', although it has a slightly different meaning. But this time it's not far from the truth. This week is clearly showing what he is; A FASCIST DICTATOR!
For everyone having a #transgender child or teenager as a family member or friend, or being a transgender child/teenager yourself, if you somehow read this: You have an immense number of allies! 
We've got your back! 
Never forget! 🏳️⚧️
The Guardian: *Trump signs executive order to curtail gender transition for people under 19*
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/28/trump-executive-order-transgender-transition
"Donald Trump has signed another executive order aimed at the transgender community on Tuesday, this time prohibiting gender transitions for people under the age of 19. …"
[Sorry for using the Guardian, but I couldn't find anything reliable non-US so fast. I say this because the Guardian had some negative (opinion) articles in the past.]
Edited 249d ago
The Nicaraguans who keep Wisconsin’s dairy farms, restaurants and factories working are sending home their most prized possessions, bracing for potential mass deportations.
“We don’t have much, but what we do have is important.”
“People Will Die”: The Trump Administration Said It Lifted Its Ban on Lifesaving Humanitarian Aid. That’s Not True.
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Organizations that provide vital care for desperate and vulnerable people around the world have been forced to halt operations, turn away patients and lay off staff. “I’ve never seen anything that scares me as much as this,” one doctor said.
#News #Trump #USPolitics #Palestine #Sudan #Ukraine #Yemen #Humanitarian #Aid
On Pete Hegseth's tattoos:
"Deus vult is the Latin for 'God wills it.' During the First Crusade, it was raised as a battle cry. This is its univocal origin and context, and Hegseth knows it well: In American Crusade, he refers to it as 'the rallying cry of Christian knights as they marched to Jerusalem,' a summons to 'followers of Christ to take up the sword in defense of their faith, their families, and their freedom.' It provides the last words in American Crusade: 'See you on the battlefield. Together, with God’s help, we will save America. Deus vult!' And have I mentioned that his book is titled American Crusade?"
https://www.thebulwark.com/p/whats-the-deal-with-pete-hegseth-crusader-tattoos
#Hegseth #PeteHegseth #ChristianNationalism #USPOL #Trump
1/5
Edited 322d ago
ICE Enforcement Official Tapped to Lead Unaccompanied Migrant Children Office, Triggering Alarms
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ICE official Mellissa Harper has been tapped to lead the Office of Refugee Resettlement. Her hire has concerned experts and advocates that information about children and their families could be shared for arrests and deportations.
#News #ICE #Immigration #Refugees #Children #Goverment #Trump
"A private citizen with zero Constitutional authority is effectively seizing control of critical government functions. 🚨
The Constitution explicitly requires Senate confirmation for anyone wielding significant federal power — a requirement Musk has simply ignored"
Here’s a thread with links to articles about the #ElonMusk takeover of the US #government.
Is it a #coup? Will anyone stop it?
#Oligarchy #Politics #USPol #Musk #Trump #GOP #News #USA #US #USNews
Donald Trump’s choice to lead HUD has a history of voting against protections for poor tenants. And Trump’s choice to lead the IRS once pushed to abolish the agency entirely.
Revisit ProPublica’s reporting on some of Trump’s key appointees:
https://www.propublica.org/article/donald-trump-appointments-cabinet-propublica-reporting?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post
#News #Trump #Government #Housing #Tax #Environment #Business #Health
In just two weeks, Trump has made drastic changes to the EPA, from firing top agency officials to freezing funding for community projects.
Here’s how that could impact efforts to reform toxic hot spots across the country.
Everything that is happening right now is because Musk has kicked into high gear the broligarchy’s plan to destroy our government, so that the US will fall apart and replaced with fiefdoms owned by Musk, Zuck, and the rest of the tech bros.
It hurts me to say this, as an #American, but people need to avoid the #USA for 2 years, at least, 2027, when the #Democrats can get a majority in #Congress and stonewall #Trump
If that doesn't happen (which would be a serious tragedy), then 4 years. And if we get a #MAGA/ Trump president in 2029, write off this country for a generation at least
"A #German Thru-Hiker Has Been Detained, Deported, and Banned From the #US Without a Hearing: Here’s What You Need To Know"
This one’s just plain #weird
The day after #SeanDuffy was confirmed as #Trump’s transportation secretary, he signed a memo dictating how federal #transportation funds should be allocated.
The list of new criteria included one directive that stood out: All of the department’s grant & loan programs should prioritize projects in “communities with marriage & birthrates higher than the national average,” to the extent allowed by #law.
[a buses for pregnant women policy?]
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/06/us/politics/trump-transportation-birth-rates.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
Unbelievable
#ElonMusk’s US #DOGE Service are feeding sensitive data into #AI software via #Microsoft’s #cloud
#Musk’s US #DOGE Service have fed sensitive data from across the #Education Dept into #ArtificialIntelligence software to probe the agency’s programs & spending…. The AI probe includes data w/personally identifiable info for people who manage grants, & sensitive internal financial data…
#law #security #InfoSec #CyberSecurity #NationalSecurity #Trump #TrumpCoup
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/02/06/elon-musk-doge-ai-department-education/
The blitz of Trump's immigration executive orders has continued, so fast and sweeping that it’s been hard to keep up, much less gauge their potential impact.
ProPublica and The Texas Tribune explain the most consequential changes he made on Day 1.
#News #Trump #Immigration #Immigrants #USPolitics #WhiteHouse
Musk: X may have prevented Holocaust
🧵1/2
When Elon Musk visited Auschwitz a year ago, he said (source: https://www.lemonde.fr/en/pixels/article/2024/01/23/elon-musk-says-he-was-naive-on-antisemitism-as-he-visits-auschwitz_6456954_13.html):
❝
had there been social media at the time of World War II, the Holocaust "would have been impossible to hide" and lives could have been saved.
❞
<cynicism>
Nobel peace price candidate?
<end of cynicism>
More can be read in the follow-up of this toot (🧵 2/2), describing even more hypocrisy of the maintaners of the former Auschwitz concentration camp. This includes their respectlessness w.r.t. Holocaust-victims in their automated stream of spam-toots - that get boosted a lot by naive Mastodonts.
Also do read the statement of the Auschwitz council at the bottom of https://www.auschwitz.org/en/museum/auschwitz-council/, which includes:
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Threatened in its existence, the State of Israel has the right to self-defense in accordance with international law and the principles of humanitarianism.
❞
If you still do not get that the Auschwitz Memorial (aka Museum aka Council) is an IDF (Isaeli Destruction Forces) propaganda channel; from https://www.auschwitz.org/en/museum/auschwitz-council/iac-members/avner-shalev/:
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Avner Shalev - Deputy Chairman
[...]
Born in 1939 in Jerusalem, Shalev served in the Israel Defense Forces between 1956 and 1980, reaching the rank of brigadier general. Shalev was wounded in action on the Egyptian front during the Six-Day War.
❞
And read what Avner Shalev wrote in https://www.yadvashem.org/about/former-chairmen/avner-shalev/if-everything-is-genocide.html:
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Recently, yet another Hamas spokesperson compared the situation in Gaza to events during the Holocaust.
[...]
The ubiquitous use of Holocaust imagery in the propaganda efforts of Hamas and other organizations is dangerous and worrying. Such toxic imagery is frequently invoked in combination with elements of classic anti-Semitism and virulent anti-Israel invective.
[...]
In the rest of the world as well, ostensibly objective observers have adopted this code, or uncritically parrot those who compare Gaza to the Warsaw Ghetto, ignoring both historical details and context.
Language has power. The words we choose to use carry weight, and are meaningful. If we elect to label every event a "genocide," or equate every event with the Holocaust, then we detract from the real meaning of those words and reduce their ability to represent true horror.
Subsequently, when faced with a real incident of genocidal murder, people will be less likely ot be moved to act. If everything is genocide, nothing is genocide.
❞
P.S.1: My grandfather was a Jew (born in 1900). His family was murdered by Nazis. I want to remember WWII victims when *I* find that approriate. I hate to be continuously distracted (on Mastodon and TV) by Zionists, corrupt politicians and naive parrots who insist that everybody should keep feeling sorry for "all those poor Jews". It is ordinary propaganda, intended to distract as many people as possible from the genocide that Israeli Jews are inflicting on Palestinians and other Arabs. I.e. humans with rights who are defending themselves against the theft of their land, deportation, massive bombing, snipers, torture in "prisons" and apartheid.
#OpenYourEyes
P.S.2: I'm blocking anyone who boosts Auschwitz spam-toots, favours them or likes them in comments. They are complicit to the abuse of Holocaust victims (without consent) for Israeli propaganda purposes. IMO more people should block such idiots....
P.S.3: Below two images can be seen. The first one shows an (a hypocrite as well) friend of Avner Shalev, Benjamin Netanyahu (at the time he should already have been on the #ICC "most wanted" list).
The second screenshot shows a picture of Doris Mireille Lewy, a Jewish BABY girl from Toulouse, who was "among 865 MURDERED after selection in gas chambers" - BEFORE she was TWO YEARS OLD.
The maintainers of the Auschwitz concentration camp do not care SHIT about Holocaust-victims (this is far from the only mishap in their spams, see 🧵2/2). Their intention is to distract you with "you *must* feel sorry for all Jews, they are ALWAYS the victims" bull shit. Tip: do read the naive comments in https://mastodon.world/@auschwitzmuseum/113881802587314353.
#Gaza #GazaGenocide #Holocaust #Spam #Auschwitz #AuschwitzIDF #AuschwitzHypocrisy #CIDI #EJA #AIPAC #UNWatch #NCAB #Jonet #CvI #Musk #Netanyahu #Trump #Gaviera #Smotrich #BenGvir #IDF #AvnerShalev #Shalev #IsraeliDestructionForces
Edited 240d ago
Trump Towers aan de Gavièra
Wat een *BRILJANTE* business opportunity! En nog win-win (*) ook!
(*) Er zíjn een paar verliezers, maar dankzij *betalende* Europeanen en Russen (vaak dronken, gewoon harder op inhakken, maar economisch VÉLE MALEN aantrekkelijker dan USAid behoevende Palestijnen) zullen gammele tenten op het strand worden vervangen door lekker liggende strandstoelen onder kleurige parasols.
Nb. vette witte dikbuikmannen en (al dan niet blote) hangtieten, c.q. kunstmatige plofuiers, leiden tot veel tevredener aandeelhouders dan zwarte hoofddoeken...
Met "dank" aan #AIPAC en #UNWatch die in de #VervuildeStaten aan de touwtjes trekken.
#Gaviera #GazanRiviera #StopCapitalism
#RespectHumanRights #Gaza #GazaGenocide #EthnicCleansing #Hitlerv2 #Trump #TrumpTower #AIPAC #UNWatch #RichJews #JankJoden
Edited 240d ago
Trump Wants to Cut Tribal College Funding by Nearly 90%, Putting Them at Risk of Closing
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ProPublica found that Congress was underfunding tribal colleges by a quarter-billion dollars per year. Rather than fixing the problem, proposed federal funding cuts unveiled this week would devastate the schools, tribal education leaders say.
https://www.propublica.org/article/tribal-colleges-universities-trump-cuts-funding?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post
#News #Native #Indigenous #Education #College #University #HigherEd #Trump
Dismissed by DEI: Trump’s Purge Made Black Women With Stable Federal Jobs an “Easy Target”
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The president’s attack on diversity efforts has derailed the government careers of highly educated civil servants — even though the jobs some lost were not directly involved with any DEI programs.
https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-dei-black-women-minorities-careers-jobs-dismissed?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post
The Department of Education Told Employees to End Support for Transgender Students
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The directive, which continues the Trump administration’s efforts to curb transgender rights, could end school-based mental health services and support for homeless students.
#News #Education #Trump #Trans #TransRights #Transgender #Students #Government
Memory-Holing Jan. 6: What Happens When You Try to Make History Vanish?
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The Trump administration’s decision to delete a DOJ database of cases against Capitol riot defendants places those who seek to preserve the historical record in direct opposition to their own government.
Among the data used by Cambridge Analytica to profile gun owners in the database: income, debt, religious affiliation, whether they liked the paintings of Thomas Kinkade and whether the underwear women had purchased was plus size or petite.
#News #Data #Privacy #Technology #Guns #Tech #USPolitics #Trump
By giving Elon Musk’s engineers access to USAID’s entire digital network, including personal information for thousands of employees, the Trump administration may have violated the Privacy Act of 1974, three experts told ProPublica.
Trump’s Jan. 6 pardons immediately upended the biggest single prosecution in U.S. history and signaled a broader reversal that threatens to create a more permissive climate in which extremists could regroup and weaken the FBI’s independence.