Charlie Kirk’s Memory Is the Only Thing Uniting AmericaFest Attendees Just three months after its founder's assassination, Turning Point USA is split over Israel, antisemitism, white nationalism — and Nicki Minaj

My report from AmFest 2025

I found this a really illuminating thread on what demonstrations do and why they matter.

Inside the program cuts, workforce purges, and secretive reorganization of the USDA As the Trump administration shrinks the Department of Agriculture, rural farming communities are left to pay the price.

Inside the program cuts, workforce purges, and secretive reorganization of the USDA.

As the Trump administration shrinks the Department of Agriculture, rural farming communities are left to pay the price.

grist.org/food-and-agr...

#USDA #Climate #Food #Agriculture #Farming #Farms #Farmers

The deceptive phrase behind Trump's Medicaid purge How the idea of “able-bodied” is abused

“Able-bodied” may sound like a medical determination, but, as disability activist @imanibarbarin.bsky.social says, it’s really just a vague way “to signal this idea that disability can be seen.”

Texas University System Bans Talking About Trans & Nonbinary Identities “I’m emotionally shellshocked right now,” one professor told the New York Times.

“I’m emotionally shellshocked right now,” one professor told the New York Times.
www.jezebel.com/texas-univer...

ICE officer seen on video pushing woman to ground has returned to duty An ICE officer who was initially relieved of his duties after being captured on video pushing a woman to the ground has been returned to duty, two U.S. officials familiar with the matter told CBS News...

In today’s completely unsurprising news, the ICE officer very briefly, taken off duty for shoving a woman to the ground in New York is back on the job not even a week later.

www.cbsnews.com/news/ice-off...

A Guide to the Everyday Acts That Can Gum Up the Fascist Machine Inspired by a Danish anti-Nazi list of 10 commandments, a group of artists and organizers made their own list to encourage ordinary people to resist the Trump administration.

www.thenation.com/article/acti...

Guess Who’s Eligible for Student Loan Forgiveness: New ICE Agents Thanks to the Supreme Court and the Trump administration, student loan forgiveness is out of reach for many — unless you work for ICE.

New ICE agents are now eligible for student loan forgiveness. theintercept.com/2025/08/02/s...

'It's erasure': One of San Francisco's most celebrated sites is at a crossroads "This is part of an extraordinary case."

“The site of the Compton's Cafeteria Riot is now owned by one of the country's largest private prison companies.”

www.sfgate.com/local/articl...

Are you attending ASLE this year? Consider signing up for the pre-conference "Wikipedia, Academia, and ASLE: Research Methodology for Combating Injustice & Harm in Online Knowledge Repositories" workshop at ASLE 2025
(lnkd.in/eHjiZKZr).

Happy news! I'll be starting this fall as an Asst Prof in Lyman Briggs College & the Dept of English at Michigan State University.

Deep gratitude to the many people who laughed & cried with me along the way! Special thanks to @sarahdwald.bsky.social (dissertation advisor extraordinaire).

Democracy doesn’t exist in the United States: Chris Hedges Marc Lamont Hill speaks with the former war correspondent about liberal democracy and Trump’s second term.

“The only power we have is collective.” aje.io/tzame1

Do you know why a president would do all the most evil and heinous shit via Executive Order? Because his party can't easily make it law. And if they can't make it law, they can't make it last.

Don't let anyone make you feel like this is The End. Do not let them demoralize you. Live to see them die.

Over 15 Navajo Nation Members Wrongly Detained or Questioned in Trump Immigration Raids One Navajo Nation official said that “many fear for the threat of being deported.”…

Federal agents are racially profiling Navajo Nation tribal members, detaining them on suspicion of being undocumented.

“No one is illegal on stolen land,” Jackson said. “People have to understand that this is not the way to live or to be honorable and neighborly with each other.”

Which vaccines will RFK Jr. come for? Trump promised him free rein over health. Here's what he could do with it.

For reasons, sharing my @motherjones.com blog on RFK Jr attacking like every childhood vaccine in his most recent book. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

Donald Trump Built a National Debt So Big (Even Before the Pandemic) That It’ll Weigh Down the Economy for Years The “King of Debt” promised to reduce the national debt — then his tax cuts made it surge. Add in the pandemic, and he oversaw the third-biggest deficit increase of any president.

When Trump took office in 2017, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office was projecting federal budget deficits would be 2% to 3% of our gross domestic product during Trump’s term.

Instead, the deficit reached nearly 4% of gross domestic product in 2018 and 4.6% in 2019. propub.li/3Q1Harz

RFK Jr. wants to send people addicted to antidepressants to government "wellness farms" The farms will "reparent" them.

When Smith brought up Kennedy’s controversial plan to treat SSRI “addicts” at wellness farms, he attempted to distance himself from it.

As @kieraevebutler.bsky.social reported, he did lump users of those meds with people who are dependent on opioids, referring to that broad group as “addicts.”

A story excerpt that reads: Vought laid out how his think tank is crafting the legal rationale for invoking the Insurrection Act, a law that gives the president broad power to use the military for domestic law enforcement. The Washington Post previously reported the issue was at the top of the Center for Renewing America’s priorities. “We want to be able to shut down the riots and not have the legal community or the defense community come in and say, ‘That’s an inappropriate use of what you’re trying to do,’” he said. Vought held up the summer 2020 unrest following George Floyd’s murder as an example of when Trump ought to have had the ability to deploy the armed forces but was stymied.

6/ Vought says his team drafted legal rationales for executive actions like using the Insurrection Act.

“We want to be able to shut down the riots & not have the legal community or the defense community come in and say, ‘That’s an inappropriate use of what you’re trying to do.’”

“Put Them in Trauma”: Inside a Key MAGA Leader’s Plans for a New Trump Agenda Private videos reveal Trump adviser Russ Vought’s “shadow” plans for using the military on protesters, defunding the EPA and villainizing civil servants.

4/ If Vought gets confirmed as OMB director, he'll wield real power. So what does he believe?

In the videos we obtained, Vought describes “shadow” planning to
- use the military on American soil
- defund agencies like the EPA
- put civil servants “in trauma”
www.propublica.org/article/vide...

1/ I want to tell you about Russ Vought, the man Trump just named to run an obscure yet hugely influential gov't office.

It's called the Office of Management and Budget.

Vought could turn OMB into the tip of the spear for Trump's most far-reaching and extreme policies.

Here's how... 🧵🧵🧵

How Do Abortion Pills Work? Answers to Frequently Asked Questions. The FDA says abortion pills are safe if taken as directed. Here’s what patients should expect.

RFK Jr says Trump asked him to "study the safety of mifepristone."

Decades of use have demonstrated its safety.

Nearly 6 million women have used mifepristone. Only 32 deaths from those who'd used it were reported to the FDA through 2022, REGARDLESS of whether the drug played a role in the death.

This is Phyllis Fong. I very much respect that she made them physically remove her from her office, which remains hers by right, because she hasn’t been legally terminated.

RFK Jr. signals he’ll give the anti-abortion movement exactly what they want The abortion pill has been FDA-approved for 25 years. Trump's HHS pick would reevaluate its safety.

Under questioning from senators, Kennedy said that he would instruct the NIH and FDA to study the safety of mifepristone—a medication that has been FDA-approved to end pregnancies for 25 years, with vast amounts of research supporting its safety and effectiveness.

I hope folks understand what’s happening here. Some in the administration view concentration camps inside the US as *maybe* a bridge too far.

So they’re starting with Guantanamo Bay, away from prying eyes and 24/7 coverage.

Trump Is Already Planning Colossal Tax Giveaways to Corporations and Billionaires President Trump campaigned on lowering prices for Americans. Instead, his first priority is to cut taxes for the super rich while slashing social programs for working people.

"Trump and his Republican colleagues are readying a supersized set of high-end tax breaks that would make his 2017 legislation look like child’s play."

Edison wants to raise rates to pay for wildfires linked to its equipment As Southern California Edison fights claims that it caused the deadly Eaton fire, the company is lobbying state regulators to have its customers cover more than $7 billion for damages it paid to the victims of two massive wildfires in 2017 and 2018.

As Southern California Edison fights claims that it caused the deadly Eaton fire, the company is lobbying state regulators to have its customers cover more than $7 billion for damages it paid to the victims of two massive wildfires in 2017 and 2018.

Trump says he’s sending water to LA. It’s actually going to megafarms. President Trump's executive orders on California water will help irrigate Central Valley farms. They won’t do anything to fight wildfires.

Trump says he’s sending water to LA. It’s actually going to megafarms.

The president’s executive orders on California water will help irrigate Central Valley farms. They won’t do anything to fight wildfires.

grist.org/politics/tru...

#Farms #California #LA #Trump #Water

My quilt about women’s reproductive rights has been banned from all American Quilters Society shows this year. It’s been part of a traveling show with SAQA. My artist statement is too long for here. It’s on my website: laurashaw.net/quilts#/your-mother

#quiltsky