a twice-weekly news round-up,
usually on Tuesdays and Saturdays
It’s weary making — whatever’s dumb, they’ll do it, and whatever’s mean. There is no strategy, except being dumb and mean. There is no law, except as a weapon against their enemies. There is no common sense, at all. The only question is how much of their dumbness and meanness all our complicated systems can endure before everything starts tumbling into total collapse.
We are all riding a roller-coaster, but now nobody’s allowed to check the brakes, oil the moving parts, tighten loose screws, and they fired the guy who used to inspect the looming loop-de-loops.
Faster! Dumber! Meaner! Wheeeee!
AND NOW THE NEWS
#516
MAY 6, 2025
Justice Department switches focus from voting rights to, well, the opposite
US supreme court allows Trump military trans-ban to take effect
Wingnut reporters welcome for White House briefings
TO HELL WITH HEALTH AND SCIENCE
National Science Foundation is getting out of the science business
Medical journals hit with threatening letters from Justice Department
Wrestling exec turned Secretary of Education sends deranged MAGA letter to Harvard
RFK Jr wants you to know HHS is committed to stopping chemtrails from poisoning you
GIVE US YOUR TIRED, YOUR POOR, YOUR HUDDLED MASSES YEARNING TO BREATHE FREE, SO WE CAN IMPRISON THEM
Rwanda in early talks with US to take expelled migrants
Trump is sending Latino immigrants to a gulag in El Salvador, and soon African immigrants to Rwanda. Next he’ll cut a deal with North Korea, to send our Asian immigrants there.
Declassified intelligence memo debunks Trump’s claims linking gang to Venezuelan government
Trump’s deportees to El Salvador are now “ghosts” in US courts
ICE detainee dies after HIV undiagnosed for months during custody
US deported Bhutanese who were here legally. They are now stateless.
ONLY THE RICH HAVE RIGHTS
Trump turns civil rights upside down in ‘biggest rollback’ since Reconstruction
Musk gets his company town — Starbase City is official
A LITTLE GOOD NEWS
Drag activist testifies against Texas anti-story time bill while wearing names of disgraced pastors
Federal judge permanently bars Trump’s ‘unconstitutional’ retaliation against law firm Perkins Coie
ProPublica wins Pulitzer for reporting on deaths caused by abortion bans
BACK TO THE BAD NEWS
Trump administration plans to end Energy Star program for home appliances
FBI launches task force targeting anti-Tesla ‘domestic terrorism’
National Endowment for the Arts begins terminating grants, prepping for shutdown
Some US cities are canceling cultural events over fears of ICE raids and deportations
AND I SAY TO MYSELF, WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD
Operation Gideon’s Chariots: Gaza will be entirely destroyed, Israeli official says
Starvation looms as Israel’s total blockade on Gaza enters its third month
Trump admin anti-trans snitch site targeted Canadian doctors
FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF DYSTOPIA
Trump tells FBI, Homeland Security to reopen Alcatraz — closed since 1963 — as a prison
Republicans should also re-open Shawshank and The Village.
⦿ And guess what movie Trump watched just before this brilliant brainstorm?
Trump orders 100% tariff on foreign-made movies to save ‘dying’ Hollywood
Former aide who refuted Trump’s false 2020 election claims is under federal investigation
HORRID, HORRID PEOPLE
Author of Texas bill to ban furries in schools cannot come up with examples of it happening
Trump and DOJ try to spring former county clerk, imprisoned for election improprieties
MAGA world helps raise over $600,000 after woman hurls racist slur at a child in Minnesota
Washington town yanks Narcan vending machine, closes homeless shelter
EYE ON AI
Judge allows AI testimony in manslaughter case
Excerpt: The state asked for a 9.5-year sentence, and the judge ended up giving Horcasitas 10.5 years for manslaughter, after being so moved by the powerful video, family says. The judge even referred to the video in his closing sentencing statements.
DOGE put a college student in charge of using AI to rewrite regulations
NBC using AI to bring beloved NBA voice Jim Fagan back from the grave
MY BROWSER HISTORY, MINUS THE PORN
There was no “unitary executive” until some dudes made the idea up to save Nixon
American police are out of control — 4/30/2025
Ignoring the climate emergency — 5/5/2025
The Lord works in mysterious ways — 5/2/2025
And that’s the way it is,
and nothing will
meaningfully improve
until billionaires fear for their lives
5/6/2025
Logo illustration by Jeff Meyer. Tip ‘o the hat to the Anderson Valley Advertiser, Bleepity-Bleep, Lorem Ipsum Dolor, Sloth Unleashed, Toad’s Lily Pad, Voenix Rising, and anywhere else I’ve stolen links, illustrations, or inspiration.
Special thanks to Linden Arden, Becky Jo, Joey Jo Jo emeritus, Jeff Meyer, John the Basket, Dave S, Name Withheld, and always extra special thanks to my lovely late Stephanie, who gave me 21 years and proved that the world isn’t always shitty.
Leave a Reply