Documents revealed that the Trump administration has allowed British Columbia-based mining company, Midas Gold, largely influence the writing of an environmental report. According to conservation group, Earthworks, which obtained the documents, the input Midas Gold will contribute will aid government approval for its Idaho gold mine project.
An Idaho statesman claimed that access to the environmental report proposed open-pit gold mines in central Idaho, USA, which were previously rebuffed from the Forest Service.
The report, called a biological assessment, would typically be written by the Forest Service or an independent contractor. Its purpose is to examine the potential effect the open-pit mines would have on salmon, steelhead and bull trout protected under the Endangered Species Act.
In February 2018, internal documents show the agency denied Midas Gold’s request to participate as a non-federal representative in writing the assessment because the massive project would likely harm protected fish. However, by October 2018, Midas Gold was both participating and leading the writing of the document.
The company claims that Idaho there is over 113 million grams of gold and more than 45 million kilograms of antinomy at the Idaho site. The company plans on additional mining in the two open pits already there and to create a third open pit, doubling the size of the area utilised for the mining. They say they will restore ‘much of the area’ when they finish mining.
A former senior Homeland Security official who previously accused Donald Trump’s administration of telling his department to stop providing intelligence reports on the threat of Russian interference in the 2020 election told CNN on Tuesday morning that they were also hindered by the former president’s people from alerting the public about the rising tide of white nationalists in the U.S.
Speaking with CNN host Jim Sciutto, Brian Murphy, who was in charge of intelligence and analysis at DHS before filing a whistleblower complaint less than two months before the presidential election Trump lost, used the racist attack in a predominately Black community in Buffalo, New York that left ten dead as a springboard to talk government efforts to deal with white supremacists.
While discussing the Saturday attack by an 18-year-old man on the grocery store – who also published a hate-filled manifesto aimed at minorities based on the so-called conspiratorial “white replacement” conspiracy pushed by conservatives and Fox News personalities – Murphy recalled his experiences in the Trump administration.
Apparently, not everyone is excited about rising political star Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The Democratic rep from New York’s 14th has had a target on her back put there by right-wingers for a while now, but a new report from The Hill indicates she may soon see pressure from another side: her own party.
“What I have recommended to the New York delegation is that you find her a primary opponent and make her a one-term congressperson,” an anonymous Democratic lawmaker in the House told The Hill. “You’ve got numerous council people and state legislators who’ve been waiting 20 years for that seat. I’m sure they can find numerous people who want that seat in that district.”
AOC addressed the idea that folks have been waiting two decades for her seat on Twitter, writing, “That broken mentality, that public office is something you wait in line for, instead of earning through hard organizing, is exactly what voters want to change. Shows you how disconnected some folks here are.”
As a transgender reporter, it has been both exhausting and sobering to report on the relentless and systematic attacks on the trans community by the Trump administration, and today is no different. To the dismay of LGBTQ activists, the Supreme Court has allowed President Donald Trump’s widely disavowed trans military ban to go temporarily into effect in a 5-4 ruling, CNN reported.
The impact of the trans military ban will be far-reaching and devastating. According to some estimates, the United States is the largest employer of transgender people in the world, with an estimated 15,500 active-duty service members in its employ.
President Trump first announced his military ban in July 2017 on Twitter, inciting a swift and furious backlash. “Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that trans in the military would entail,” he said. “Thank you.”
In this op-ed, writer Phillip Henry examines why criticizing candidates in the 2020 Democratic presidential primaries is so important.
Presidential election cycles have always been a pretty contentious and stressful time for many of us. After all, choosing the next “leader of the free world” is pretty high stakes and should be treated as such. But since Donald Trump was elected in 2016, many in the U.S. (and most 2016 voters, considering he lost the popular vote) have felt the pressure to ensure, above all else, that he doesn’t get reelected for a second term. It is, to many, the most significant moral imperative of the next 15 months, and can be all-consuming on the way to voting again in November 2020.
SinceDemocratic candidates put their hats in the ring for a chance to be the next president of the United States, we have examined their values,policies, and visions for a better America. When we as voters decide on a candidate we think can win, it often becomes our mission (as supporters) to rally others to back our candidate. Often the way we engage in that is not just by highlighting our favorite’s accomplishments, but by critiquing the proposals,voting histories, and resumés of other candidates (though we should do the same with our own candidate as well).
The truth is that no single candidate is going to represent the values and ideals of all people perfectly. They are all flawed, and their past isn’t necessarily an indictment of their future, but it is important that we criticize and analyze all of the candidates’ shortcomings and our concerns about them. That way we can have confidence in their abilities as leaders and see their vulnerabilities ahead of what’s sure to be a bitter general election. It is, in a way, the most democratic and productive thing we can do.
1.Don’t Open the Door — ICE can’t enter your home without a warrant signed by a judge.
2.Ask to Speak to a Lawyer— TheNational Immigration Law Center (NILC) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) both advise asking for a lawyer before you speak to ICE. If you’re at risk, try to speak with an attorney as soon as possible. If you need help finding an immigration attorney in your area, there are resources online, including the National Lawyers Guild National Immigration Project, which has state-by-state listings (though not all 50 states have attorneys included).
3.Remain Silent or Tell ICE You Wish to Do So — You have the right to remain silent in any interaction with an ICE agent, and you can tell them so. What you say can be used against you in immigration court or deportation proceedings.
4.Don’t Sign Anything — Unless you’ve already spoken to a lawyer who advises it, the NILCandACLU say you shouldn’t sign any documents ICE asks you to.
That is approximately how many people under age 18 have died as a result of gun violence in the United States exactly one year since the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, according to a new reporting initiative, “Since Parkland.” The shooting was the impetus for March for Our Lives, a nationwide movement that has included sit-ins, die-ins, and school walkouts, launching students to the forefront of the gun control conversation.
In a long-form report released just days before the one-year anniversary of the Parkland shooting, more than 200 teen journalists explained just how many gun-related deaths have struck young Americans. “Since Parkland,” a collaborative reporting project among The Trace, The Miami Herald, and the McClatchy newspaper group, showcases the lives of the more than 1,200 victims of gun violence — age zero to 18 — who have been killed in the 12 months since the Florida tragedy.
The goal of the project? To “create three-dimensional human begins that were more than just another statistic — more than just another kid dead,” The Trace senior project editor Katina Paron tells Teen Vogue.
“The [Trump] administration had ample warning about a likely pandemic. In fact, a high-level simulation was run as recently as [October 2019]. Trump has reacted during his years in office in the manner to which we have become accustomed—by defunding and dismantling every relevant part of government, and assiduously implementing instructions from his corporate masters to eliminate the regulations that impede profits and save lives. He is also leading the race to the abyss of the environmental catastrophe, by far his greatest crime—in fact, the greatest crime in history when we consider the consequences.
"By early January, there was little doubt of what was happening. On December 31, [2019,] China informed the World Health Organization of the spread of pneumonia-like symptoms with unknown etiology. On January 7, [2020,] China informed the WHO that scientists had identified the source as a coronavirus and had sequenced the genome, which they made available to the scientific world. Through January and February, US intelligence was trying hard to reach Trump’s ear, but failed. Officials informed the press that ‘they just couldn’t get him to do anything about it. The system was blinking red.’
"Trump was not silent, however. He issued a stream of confident pronouncements informing the public that it was just a cough; he has everything under control; he gets a 10 out of 10 for his handling of the crisis; it’s very serious but he knew it was a pandemic before anyone else; and the rest of the sorry performance. The technique is well-designed, much like the practice of reeling out lies so fast that the very concept of truth vanishes. Whatever happens, Trump is sure to be vindicated among his loyal followers. When you shoot arrows at random, some are likely to hit the target.
"To crown this impressive record, on February 10, [2020,] when the virus was sweeping the country, the White House released its annual budget proposal, which made even sharper cuts in all the main health-related parts of the government (in fact just about anything that might help people) while increasing funding for what’s really important: the military and the wall.
"One effect is the shocking belated and limited testing, well below others, making it impossible to implement the successful test-and-trace strategies that have prevented the epidemic from breaking out of control in functioning societies. Even the best hospitals lack basic equipment. The US is now the global epicenter of the crisis.
"This only skims the surface of Trumpian malevolence, but there’s no space for more here.”
–Noam Chomsky, “Ventilator Shortage Exposes the Cruelty of Neoliberal Capitalism,'” in The Precipice: Neoliberalism, the Pandemic and the Urgent Need for Social Change (Chicago: Haymarket Books, 2021), 289-290
Destiny Lopez, Co-Director of All* Above All, issued the following statement in response to President-Elect Donald Trump’s announcement that his nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services will be Representative Tom Price (R-GA).
“Price has voted for extreme bans on abortion care and coverage and vowed to end Obamacare. This nomination is yet another signal that Trump plans to make good on his promise to repeal Obamacare, defund Planned Parenthood, and punish women who have abortions by making the Hyde Amendment permanent. Trump has no mandate to take away women’s basic rights and we plan to fight these heinous proposals every step of the way.”
Reblogging from a friend who said this is terrifying, and while it is scary, it also has a silver lining. CNN published this article verbatim - in other words, they put this article out to their subscribers, with all its criticism of Spicer and of his boss behind him.
CNN has also refused to air Trump press conferences live, until further notice - which is fairly unprecedented for a major news network.
I’m hoping this continues the trend of press showing some backbone. My parents were both journalists for 30 years each. There are good members of the media who are strong and brave. Keep that in mind.
[Image: headline and excerpts from an article on CNN Money, dated January 21.
White House press secretary attacks media for accurately reporting inauguration crowds
by Brian Stelter
“That’s what you guys should be writing and covering,” new White House press secretary Sean Spicer angrily lectured reporters on Saturday during his first remarks from the podium of the press briefing room.
He was referring to the delay in Senate confirmation for President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the CIA, Congressman Mike Pompeo, but the comment came after a long digression about how many people had shown up to watch Trump be sworn in as president.
Friday’s ceremony had the largest inauguration crowd ever, “period,” Spicer said, contradicting all available data.
He also expressed objections to specific Twitter posts from journalists on Friday.
And he said, “we’re going to hold the press accountable,” partly by bypassing major news outlets and going directly to the public through social networking sites.
Spicer, at times almost yelling while reading a prepared statement, took no questions.
Some longtime White House correspondents were stunned by the tirade.
Glenn Thrush of The New York Times wrote on Twitter, “Jaw meet floor.”
Karen Tumulty of the Washington Post said Spicer’s assertion about “what you guys should be writing” was “chilling.”
Ari Fleischer, who had the same job as Spicer during the George W. Bush administration, tweeted, “This is called a statement you’re told to make by the President. And you know the President is watching.”
And Brian Fallon, who was in line to become press secretary if Hillary Clinton had won, wrote, “Sean Spicer lacks the guts or integrity to refuse orders to go out and lie. He is a failure in this job on his first full day.”]
“no heterosexual brother of the Fraternity shall masturbate more than one time in any calendar month”.
(But Why?!)
Overview
Ideology: Primarily alt lite: Misogynistic, Islamophobic, transphobic and anti-immigration. Some members espouse white supremacist and anti-Semitic ideologies and/or engage with white supremacist groups.
Membership: Unknown, likely several hundred.
Notable characteristics: Members frequently wear black and yellow Fred Perry polo shirts.
Global footprint: Proud Boys have chapters in most states and several international chapters in Britain, Norway and Australia.
Membership: Controlled by local chapter leadership and subject to initiation rituals.
Tactics: Public rallies and protests. Members have been known to engage in violent tactics; several members have been convicted of violent crimes.
