The Conversation -- June 3, 2025
Marianne LeVine & Maria Paul of the Washington Post: “The family of the man accused of using molotov cocktails to attack people at a Colorado demonstration to support Israeli hostages in Gaza is being taken into the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, an official said Tuesday. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem announced on X that Mohamed Sabry Soliman’s family was being detained. 'We are investigating to what extent his family knew about this heinous attack, if they had knowledge of it, or if they provided support to it,' she stated. Soliman has been charged with a federal hate crime and state charges of attempted murder. He told investigators that he had planned the Sunday attack against the Jewish organization for a year....”
History illustrates, in no uncertain terms, the dangers of state-dictated ‘scientific truths.’... State-sponsored programs in Nazi Germany based on the ‘science’ of eugenics led to the genocide of millions of Jews, people with disabilities, and people identifying as L.G.B.T.Q.+ who were deemed to have ‘life unworthy of life.’ -- Six Thousand Plus Scientists, Open Letter ~~~
~~~ Somini Sengupta of the New York Times: Donald “Trump has ordered what he called a restoration of a 'gold standard science' across federal agencies and national laboratories. But the May 23 executive order puts his political appointees in charge of vetting scientific research and gives them the authority to 'correct scientific information,' control the way it is communicated to the public and the power to 'discipline' anyone who violates the way the administration views science. It has prompted an open letter, signed by more than 6,000 scientists, academics, physicians, researchers and others, saying the order would destroy scientific independence. Agency heads have 30 days to comply with the order.” ~~~
~~~ “The Suicide of a Superpower.” Max Boot of the Washington Post: “Even as ... [Donald Trump] wants to showcase U.S. military power, he is doing grave and possibly irreparable damage to the real sources of U.S. strength, including its long-term investment in scientific research. Trump is declaring war on science, and the casualty will be the U.S. economy. Since the 1940s, when the University of Chicago, Columbia University and the University of California played a central role in the Manhattan Project, the engine driving U.S. economic and military competitiveness has been federal support of research universities. That partnership has produced most of the key inventions of the information age, including the internet, GPS, smartphones and artificial intelligence. Federal support of university research has also made possible the success of the United States’ world-leading biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries.... Now Trump is sabotaging a research and development pipeline that is the envy of the world.... Trump is undercutting long-term U.S. military and economic competitiveness with his anti-intellectual animus. The weapons systems that will be paraded in Washington on June 14 won’t be of much help to the United States in the future if it falls behind in the R&D race with China.” This is a gift link. ~~~
~~~ Marie: I know you don't need much convincing when it comes to Musk's Boot's [thanks to NiskyGuy for the catch] point, but he does sum up some of the ways in which Trump is bludgeoning scientific development. Trump's sustained attack on science is just one of the reasons I suspect that Trump is purposely trying to destroy the United States. I don't know if he's doing this because he's working as an agent of a foreign government or because he truly has no idea what "Makes American Great." My guess would be that the latter is more likely but that malign world leaders have at least influenced him and pointed him down the path to destruction.
Newark Mayor Sues Trump Lawyer for Malicious Prosecution. Tracey Tully of the New York Times: “Mayor Ras J. Baraka of Newark, a Democratic candidate for governor who was arrested last month outside an immigration detention center, filed a federal lawsuit on Tuesday against Alina Habba, the interim U.S. attorney for New Jersey, that argues that his arrest was motivated by political malice, not justice. The lawsuit also names Ricky Patel, a supervising agent with Homeland Security Investigations who led the arrest of Mr. Baraka on May 9 outside a 1,000-bed detention center near Newark Liberty International Airport that has become a flashpoint in ... [Donald] Trump’s immigration crackdown. Mr. Baraka’s lawsuit accuses the federal authorities of false arrest and malicious prosecution. It also accuses Ms. Habba of defamation. The suit comes as polling locations opened Tuesday for six days of early voting ahead of a June 10 primary that has pitted Mr. Baraka against five other Democrats.” Politico's report is here.
Musk Calls Trump Bill a “Disgusting Abomination,” Bible Mike Is “Disappointed.” Giselle Ewing of Politico: “Elon Musk came out swinging against ... Donald Trump’s 'Big Beautiful Bill' on Tuesday, slamming the reconciliation package as a 'disgusting abomination' in a massive break from the president just days after stepping away from his role in the administration. 'I’m sorry, but I just can’t stand it anymore,' Musk wrote on his social media platform X. 'This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination. Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it.'... Musk ... went on to criticize the bill for setting up Congress to 'increase the already gigantic budget deficit to $2.5 trillion (!!!)' and saddle Americans with 'crushingly unsustainable debt.'... Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), one of two Republican defections against the bill last month, was quick to boost Musk’s tirade, writing 'He’s right' in a post on X. And Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who Trump criticized repeatedly earlier Tuesday for his opposition to the bill, came out in support of Musk.... Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) also jumped on the post.... But the message came as a blow to House Speaker Mike Johnson.... Musk 'coming out and panning' the GOP megabill is 'very disappointing,' Johnson told reporters at the Capitol, 'and very surprising in light of the conversation I had with him.'”
All the Best People, Ctd. Hiroko Tabuchi of the New York Times: “Michael Boren, founder of a billion-dollar tech company, Idaho ranch owner and Trump donor, has clashed with the U.S. Forest Service for years. He was accused of flying a helicopter dangerously close to a crew building a Forest Service trail, prompting officials to seek a restraining order. He got a caution from the Forest Service, and criticism from his neighbors, when he built a private airstrip on his Hell Roaring Ranch in a national recreation area. And in the fall, the Forest Service sent a cease-and-desist letter accusing a company that Mr. Boren controlled of building an unauthorized cabin on National Forest land. Now, Mr. Boren is Mr. Trump’s nominee to oversee the very agency he has tussled with repeatedly. On Tuesday, the Senate Agriculture Committee is scheduled to hold a confirmation hearing on Mr. Boren’s nomination to be the under secretary of agriculture for natural resources and environment, a role that would put him in charge of the Forest Service.”
Linda Qiu of the New York Times: “As the Senate considers a domestic policy bill to enact the White House’s agenda..., [Donald] Trump and his allies have sought to assuage some lawmakers’ concerns over its price tag and cuts to Medicaid with inaccurate claims. They have dismissed estimates of the effect of the 'one big, beautiful bill' on the deficit as incorrect and described cuts to the health insurance program for poor Americans as simply trimming 'waste, fraud and abuse.' Here’s a fact-check of some of their claims.... Most of the changes to Medicaid have little to do with waste, fraud or abuse as defined by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service.”
Peter Beaumont & Artem Mazhulin of the Guardian: “Ukraine has detonated a massive underwater blast targeting the key road and rail bridge connecting the Russian-occupied Crimean peninsula to Russia, damaging its underwater pillars. The operation, claimed by Kyiv’s SBU security service, is the second high-profile operation by Ukraine in days striking significant Russian assets after a sophisticated drone raid on Moscow’s strategic bomber fleet on Sunday.... The latest strike on the 12-mile-long Kerch Bridge – a prestige project of the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, which he opened in 2018 – comes amid what appear to be determined efforts by Ukraine to change the narrative promoted by the Trump administration that Kyiv holds few cards in the war.” Thanks to RAS for the link. ~~~
~~~ As President Zelensky himself pointed out in remarks made over the weekend, the attacks Ukraine has carried out are aimed at things, not people. This of course contrasts with Russian attacks, which aim at civilian populations.
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Tyler Pager of the New York Times: “Many Trump critics argue that the president seems more comfortable combating antisemitism when it dovetails with his broader political objectives — targeting elite universities, cracking down on immigration or fighting with political opponents — than when it involves physically protecting Jews.... When it comes to using the bully pulpit, Trump has been surprisingly slow, or conspicuously quiet, in responding to a string of high-profile attacks against American Jews. In a social-media post on Monday afternoon, Trump condemned Sunday’s attack in Boulder, Colo., where witnesses said a man threw two Molotov cocktails at people attending a peaceful march in support of Israeli hostages in Gaza, wounding at least 12.... But Trump’s post made no mention of Jews or antisemitism. He pinned blame for the attack on former President Joe Biden’s immigration policies and said it was a reminder of 'why we must keep our borders SECURE.' (Soliman, who emigrated from Egypt, had overstayed his visa and applied for asylum, officials at the Department of Homeland Security said.)... Monday was far from the first time Trump has been criticized for a tepid response to a violent episode in which Jews were the targets.”
Niha Masih of the Washington Post: “In the latest presidential portrait revealed Monday by the White House..., Donald Trump ... stares at the camera with a serious gaze, in a similar vein to his notable mug shot from two years ago. The White House website and Trump’s official Facebook account updated the pages with the new portrait, hung in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building next to the West Wing.... The new image is a far cry from Trump’s first-term portrait, in which he is smiling at the camera, that is more typical of official photographs.”
Scott MacFarlane of CBS News: "The federal prosecutor who helped lead the largest federal criminal case in American history has resigned his position in the Justice Department. Longtime Assistant U.S. Attorney Greg Rosen, the chief of the Justice Department's Capitol Siege Section, has departed for a post with a private law firm. In an interview with CBS News, Rosen said ... [Donald] Trump's pardons of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol rioters continue to shock and alarm the federal investigators who handled the cases. 'The message that [the pardons] send is that political violence towards a political goal is acceptable in a modern democratic society,' Rosen said. 'That, from my perspective, is anathema to a constitutional republic.' Rosen helped oversee a team of Justice Department attorneys as the agency grappled with an historically large onslaught of criminal cases after the Capitol riot...."
~~~ Rebecca Beitsch of the Hill: “The Justice Department disclosed that Secretary of State Marco Rubio is leading negotiations for the return of a Venezuelan man sent to a Salvadoran prison. The disclosure, made in Monday court filings, is no guarantee the Trump administration will secure the return of a man known only in court documents as Cristian, who was deported in spite of court-ordered protections. But it strikes a less aggressive tone as the Trump administration has otherwise resisted efforts to comply with various court orders requiring them to return migrants who were wrongly removed. The filing notes Rubio’s long-standing relationship with Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele.” ~~~
~~~ Nicole Acevedo of NBC News: “An athlete, a musician, an exceptional high school student.... This is how community members in Milford, Massachusetts, described Marcelo Gomes Da Silva, an 18-year-old high school junior who was arrested by immigration authorities and sent to a detention center this weekend. Gomes Da Silva was driving his father's car on his way to volleyball practice with some of his teammates Saturday morning when immigration authorities stopped him. Immigration authorities made the traffic stop because they were looking for Gomes Da Silva’s father, who is unlawfully present in the country, according to Todd Lyons, acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. After learning Gomes Da Silva was also unlawfully present in the U.S., ICE officers took him into custody, Lyons said Monday at a news conference. Gomes Da Silva was born in Brazil but has attended Milford Public Schools since he was 6 years old.... His absence [from graduation ceremonies] was palpable during Milford High School’s commencement as his bandmates performed without him, sparking a post-graduation protest demanding his release.” ~~~
~~~ Leah Willingham of the AP: “The head of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Monday defended his tactics against criticism that authorities are being too heavy-handed as they ramp up arrests toward ... Donald Trump’s promises of mass deportations. San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria said he was 'deeply upset' by an ICE operation at a popular Italian restaurant just before the dinner rush on Friday. A chaotic showdown unfolded outside as customers and witnesses shouted, smoke filled the air, and agents wore heavy tactical gear to face an angry crowd. Todd Lyons, ICE’s acting director, turned emotional when asked to explain why officials wear masks. He said some have received death threats and been harassed online.” ~~~
~~~ Bill Kristol Isn't Buying It. Michael Luciano of Mediaite: “Conservative Bill Kristol ripped federal law enforcement officials who wear masks while they arrest immigrants.... 'They shouldn’t wear masks. It’s total nonsense, and it’s for intimidation. It’s not really for their protection. It’s ridiculous.' Kristol said on CNN.” ~~~
~~~ Rachel Maddow believes the agents, who are from a unit not trained to make arrests, just don't know what they're doing. This video is a pirated copy, so I don't know how long it will last: ~~~
Michael Schmidt & Michael Bender of the New York Times: “The Justice Department quietly approached Harvard University last month with startling claims, even by the extraordinary standards of the Trump administration’s monthslong assault on the elite college. The department signaled that it was reviewing claims of discrimination against white men at The Harvard Law Review, and accused the renowned publication of destroying evidence in an open investigation. The administration demanded that Harvard 'cease and desist' from interfering. In a series of letters that have not been previously reported, the government also disclosed that it had a 'cooperating witness' inside the student-run journal. That witness now works in the White House under Stephen Miller, the architect of the administration’s domestic policy agenda, Trump officials confirmed.... But the aggressive language in the letters from the Justice Department’s two top civil rights lawyers appeared to have overstated the allegations in pursuit of an additional way to punish Harvard. In that way, the episode fits a broader trend in how the administration is wielding federal investigatory powers to impose its political agenda.... The Law Review is independent of Harvard University.... ”
Sheera Frenkel & Aaron Krolik of the New York Times [May 30]: “In March..., [Donald] Trump signed an executive order calling for the federal government to share data across agencies, raising questions over whether he might compile a master list of personal information on Americans that could give him untold surveillance power. Mr. Trump has not publicly talked about the effort since. But behind the scenes, officials have quietly put technological building blocks into place to enable his plan. In particular, they have turned to one company: Palantir, the data analysis and technology firm.... Palantir’s selection as a chief vendor for the project was driven by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.... At least three DOGE members formerly worked at Palantir, while two others had worked at companies funded by Peter Thiel, an investor and a founder of Palantir.... The Trump administration has already sought access to hundreds of data points on citizens and others through government databases, including their bank account numbers, the amount of their student debt, their medical claims and any disability status. Mr. Trump could potentially use such information to advance his political agenda by policing immigrants and punishing critics, Democratic lawmakers and critics have said.” This is a gift link via RAS. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ In yesterday's Comments, laura h. pointed us to this BlueSky thread by a user called Dittie who aggregates reports on said Peter Thiel. It looks as if Thiel may be one tech bro billionaire who has been able to maintain his popularity with Trump and the lackeys in his Cabinet of Deplorables. (Also linked yesterday.)
Lisa Friedman of the New York Times: “The Trump administration said on Monday that it planned to eliminate federal protections across millions of acres of Alaskan wilderness, a move that would allow drilling and mining in some of the last remaining pristine wilderness in the country. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said the Biden administration had exceeded its authority last year when it banned oil and gas drilling in more than half of the 23 million-acre area, known as the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. The proposed repeal is part of ... [Donald] Trump’s aggressive agenda to 'drill, baby, drill,' which calls for increased oil and gas extraction on public lands and the repeal of virtually all climate and environmental protections.” The Guardian's report is here.
All the Best People, Ctd. Christopher Flavelle & Lisa Friedman of the New York Times: “The acting head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency told employees on Monday that he did not know the United States has a hurricane season, according to two people who heard the remarks and said it was unclear if he was serious. The official, David Richardson, has served in the Marines and worked in the Department of Homeland Security’s Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office. After he joined FEMA in May, some FEMA workers expressed concern about his lack of experience in emergency management. The remark, coming a day after the start of the Atlantic hurricane season, could deepen those concerns.... The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees FEMA, said in a statement that Mr. Richardson was joking.... On his first full day as acting administrator, Mr. Richardson told the agency’s employees that if any of them tried to obstruct his agenda, 'I will run right over you.'” The CBS News story is here. MB: Richardson doesn't sound to me like much of a joker. Rather, I would take him for ignorant and mean until proved otherwise.
Anna Merlan of Mother Jones: "On Friday, Elon Musk once again pledged to depart his role at DOGE, taking with him his bad personality, weird public behavior, complicated family life, troubled businesses, alleged regular illegal drug use, compulsive social media habits, exploding rockets, messianic conviction that he control all of earth’s resources so as to colonize Mars, and a remarkably poor track record in his brief life as a quasi-public servant. He leaves behind the incredible destruction DOGE has wrought, and of course, DOGE itself, which will continue its work, as Project 2025 architect and Office of Management and Budget director Russell Vought reportedly floats making its cuts permanent without the approval of Congress. But it would be a mistake to think that Musk’s grip on the government is lessening; beyond his continued relationship with the Trump administration, Musk’s companies will still have billions in lucrative and influential federal contracts. And as his recent travel shows, there are clear signs that Musk is also using his relationship with ... [Donald] Trump to pursue business, especially in the Middle East." ~~~
~~~ Mike Masnick of Techdirt: "Picture this: You’re a researcher who has spent years developing a grant proposal, gone through layers of expert review, and received National Science Foundation (NSF) approval. Then some kid barely out of college — whose main qualification appears to be founding a company that puts ads on the blockchain — logs into a Zoom meeting, pays more attention to his fingernails than the discussion, and kills your grant with an uninterested thumbs down. Welcome to science under DOGE. This isn't hyperbole.... Meet Zachary Terrell, DOGE’s apparent authority on scientific merit. Fedscoop identified him as one of three DOGE operatives deployed to NSF.... Terrell’s apparent qualifications for overruling decades of scientific expertise? A 2022 bachelor’s degree from Kansas State and a brief career in crypto."
Will Lockett, an independent journalist, on Substack: "After nine test flights, [SpaceX] still [hasn’t] figured out how to prevent Starship from blowing up or disintegrating.... We will look back at this period in history and realise that letting a billionaire’s ego drive innovation — rather than as part of a collective effort, as seen with Apollo and the Saturn V — was a grave mistake." Thanks to laura h. for the link. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: I have no idea whether or not Lockett is correct in all of his particulars. But at least on the surface, it seems obvious to a layperson that entrusting the "adolescent" (see Matt Bai column, linked below) billionaire designer of the ugly, dysfunctional Cybertruck with billions of taxpayer dollars to develop a huge spaceship was not a good idea. Maybe we should cut our $7,000,000,000 (yeah, all those zeroes) losses and look for Plan B, which might require the application of some of the caution we've seen coming from those boring, plodding goverment engineers.
Big Bad Bill Attacks Obamacare. Paige Cunningham of the Washington Post: “Congressional Republicans are pursuing changes to the Affordable Care Act that would mean 10.7 million fewer Americans using its insurance marketplaces and Medicaid, a huge reduction that some view as a way to accomplish part of the health-care coverage cancellation that failed in 2017. They’re not branding it a repeal of ... Barack Obama’s signature health care law this time around, and this year’s effort wouldn’t erase its marketplaces or Medicaid expansion. Congress tried that the last time ... Donald Trump was in office but abandoned it amid an outcry from the health care industry, advocates and voters. But the GOP plan making its way through Congress would sharply increase the number of people without health insurance, largely by narrowing the path for poor Americans to gain coverage and making it easier for them to be booted off it. It would target the twin pillars of Medicaid expansion and federally subsidized insurance marketplaces, with new rules Republicans say will reduce waste, fraud and abuse.”
Liz Goodwin of the Washington Post: “Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pennsylvania) continued to distance himself from his fellow Democrats on Monday, telling an audience that he has lost support from liberals for his belief that border security is important and his support for Israel. Speaking with his fellow senator from Pennsylvania, Dave McCormick, a Republican, at an event celebrating bipartisanship, Fetterman praised ... Donald Trump for removing the United States from the Obama-era Iran nuclear deal, moving the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem and pushing for an agreement between Japanese-owned Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel. He said his party had make a 'mistake' on border security.”
Joni Ernst, if you want to know how a real Republican senator handles a bully GOP president*, take a lesson from your colleague Lisa Murkowski. Like you, Murkowski is afraid of Trump (she has said so), but unlike you, she stands up to him. You may boast you know how to make pigs squeal, but when it comes to the one in the White House.... See yesterday's Conversation for links to Joni Ernst's weird story. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ you kinda make me think of a fat ole sow rolling around in your own shit. ~~~
~~~ Catie Edmondson of the New York Times: “Senator Lisa Murkowski was listing all the ways that ... [Donald] Trump’s efforts to slash the federal government had harmed Alaska, from the funding freezes on programs the state depends on to the layoffs of federal workers who live there, when she delivered something of an understatement. 'It’s a challenging time right now,' she recently told a crowd at a state infrastructure conference here in the state’s largest city. 'I could use nice words about it — but I don’t.' At a time when the Republican Congress has grown increasingly deferential to Mr. Trump, Ms. Murkowski has veered in the opposite direction from her party, using sharp words and her vote on the Senate floor to push back on him and his administration time and again.” MB: Needless to say, I disagree with a lot of Murkowski's policy prescriptions. I would. But I respect her for being one of the few GOP senators who has the fortitude to stand up to a bully who is threatening her constituents -- and her. (Also linked yesterday.)
Deciding Not to Decide. Adam Liptak of the New York Times: “The Supreme Court announced on Monday that it would not hear a major Second Amendment challenge to a Maryland law banning semiautomatic rifles like the AR-15. As is the court’s practice, its brief order gave no reasons. The move, over the objections of three conservative justices, let the ban stand and reflected the court’s intermittent engagement with gun rights. It has issued only three significant Second Amendment decisions since recognizing an individual right to own guns in 2008. The Maryland law was enacted in 2013 in response to the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut the previous year. It banned many semiautomatic rifles and imposed a 10-round limit on gun magazines. In dissent, Justice Clarence Thomas said the court should have considered the question, which the justices have repeatedly declined to resolve....
“Justices Samuel A. Alito Jr. and Neil M. Gorsuch said they too would have heard the case but did not provide reasons. Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh, who could have supplied the fourth vote needed to add the case to the court’s docket, issued a statement saying the question was significant and could soon warrant review but that he hoped additional opinions from lower courts could assist the justices on the issue. He wrote that the Supreme Court 'should and presumably will address the AR-15 issue soon, in the next term or two.'” (Also linked yesterday.)
Friends of the Court, Not of Trump. Adam Liptak of the New York Times: “A powerful sign that [Donald] Trump’s tariff-driven trade war is at risk came in a friend-of-the-court brief filed in April by a coalition that included many prominent conservative and libertarian lawyers, scholars and former officials. The brief was also a signal of a deepening rift between Mr. Trump and the conservative legal movement, one that burst into public view last week with the president’s attacks on the Federalist Society, whose leaders helped pick the judges and justices he nominated in his first term. Among the people who signed the brief in the tariffs case was Richard Epstein, who teaches at New York University and is an influential libertarian legal scholar. 'You have to understand that the conservative movement is now, as an intellectual movement, consistently anti-Trump on most issues,' he said.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ You can read the brief here, via the (right-wing) Hoover Institution. The caption includes a list of the amici. (Also linked yesterday.)
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Colorado. Ben Brasch, et al., of the Washington Post: “The man accused of attacking an event organized by a Jewish group, injuring 12 people, faces a federal hate crime charge and several felonies, including attempted murder charges. Authorities said they are investigating the incident as a targeted act of terrorism. Mohammed Sabry Soliman, 45, yelled 'Free Palestine' as he used a makeshift flamethrower and tossed an incendiary device into the crowd at the Colorado pedestrian mall, where there was an event calling for the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza, police said Sunday, citing witness accounts. Law enforcement recovered 16 unused molotov cocktails after the incident, authorities said during a news conference Monday. A criminal complaint said Soliman 'specifically targeted the “Zionist Group” that had gathered in Boulder, having learned about the group from an online search,' and that he had been planning the attack for a year.... The attack quickly became a flash point on the right over immigration, as the Department of Homeland Security said Soliman entered the country on a B-2 tourist visa in August 2022. The visa expired in February 2023, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said, though Soliman applied for asylum in September 2022.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: Of course the right is emphasizing the fact that Soliman is an immigrant, though it's not clear to me that he is here illegally since the courts can't seem to decide for sure, for sure if someone who has applied for asylum is here legally or illegally. BUT I heard on the news that Soliman had attempted to get a gun to use in this attack but was not able to purchase one because he is not a citizen. So for me, the lesson is that -- as terrible and sickening as his crimes were (one of his victims reportedly was an 88-year-old Holocaust survivor) -- this nutter would have killed a lot of innocent people had he had access to a firearm. He's a living advertisement for strict gun laws. Lives were saved because a lunatic was not permitted to obtain a gun.
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Israel/Palestine. Patrick Kingsley & Rawan Ahmad of the New York Times: “Israeli soldiers opened fire on Tuesday morning near crowds of Palestinians walking toward a new food distribution site in southern Gaza, the Israeli military said. The Gaza health ministry said that the troops killed at least 27 people and wounded dozens. The military said the troops fired near 'a few' people who had strayed from the designated route to the site and who did not respond to warning shots. The statement called them “suspects” and said they had “posed a threat” to soldiers, but a military spokeswoman declined to explain the nature of the perceived threat. It added that was 'aware of reports regarding casualties, and the details of the incident are being looked into.'” ~~~
~~~ Marie: We are rightly upset when a crazy individual injured & attempts to kill innocent people. The incident is cause for the POTUS* & other high government officials to comment and condemn the man and for the state and the national government to bring such criminal charges against him that he will not ever again walk free. But what happens day after day in Gaza is not a crazed individual committing atrocities but a state we support with our tax dollars committing those atrocities, then time and again making excuses for its actions. These are coldblooded, state-sanctioned, mass murders of the people the state is starving.
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"Other Trump White House Food Acronyms"
Trump Burger doesn't want people asking whether they serve chicken tacos.
Ernst's choices
Yesterday I posted a link to a gift article from WSJ about large companies avoiding law firms who settled with the Trump administration. Apparently that link didn't work as intended, so I found this Newsweek story which basically relates the highlights of the pay-walled Journal piece:
https://www.newsweek.com/major-companies-abandon-law-firms-that-signed-deals-trump-report-2079712
"San Diego neighborhood makes ICE agents retreat - video
Newsweek
"Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers were surrounded on Friday by protesters who chanted "shame" after carrying out operations at two restaurants in San Diego."
Crimea
Ukraine hits bridge linking Crimea to Russia with underwater explosives
Operation ‘severely damaged’ base of Kerch Bridge, opened by Putin in 2018, Kyiv’s SBU security service says
Ukraine has detonated a massive underwater blast targeting the key road and rail bridge connecting the Russian-occupied Crimean peninsula to Russia, damaging its underwater pillars.
The operation, claimed by Kyiv’s SBU security service, is the second high-profile operation by Ukraine in days striking significant Russian assets after a sophisticated drone raid on Moscow’s strategic bomber fleet on Sunday."
Gee, looks like President Zelensky has some cards after all.
He just dropped a full house on Putin’s ass.
Know who doesn’t have the cards? The fat TACO boy in the Blight House.
And not for nothin’, but if Zelensky didn’t “have the cards”, as TACO whined, how has he been able to hold off the full night of the Russian military for three years? Not just hold them off, but destroy their battleships, tanks, and aircraft?
Fat Hitler needs to read him some Hoyle. Then maybe he’d figure out that it’s not the biggest mouth that wins hands, it’s the guy who has the cards.
Moron.
Cullen Murphy, in The Atlantic, considers if Feudalism Is Our Future
"More and more public functions are now likely to be outsourced. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has been pushing for years to privatize health care for veterans. Another administration official, Mehmet Oz, has argued for privatizing Medicare—a program he now oversees. The administration has shown interest in taking apart the National Weather Service and spinning off some of its functions. It is looking into fully privatizing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which underpin the nation’s mortgage industry.
The president has floated the idea of privatizing the United States Postal Service. On his first day in office, he issued an executive order allowing the Justice Department to again send inmates to prisons run by private companies, reversing the Biden administration’s policy.
....
Public police forces with a mission to protect everyone are largely a 19th-century invention. But police forces are shrinking. In the U.S., anyone with money and a need now hires private security guards, who outnumber police officers by a ratio of 2 to 1. Among companies based in the U.S., the third-largest global employer—after Amazon and Walmart—is a private security firm, Allied Universal."
Hate
"Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered the Navy to take the rare step of renaming a ship, one that bears the name of a gay rights icon, documents and sources show.
Military.com reviewed a memorandum from the Office of the Secretary of the Navy -- the official who holds the power to name Navy ships -- that showed the sea service had come up with rollout plans for the renaming of the oiler ship USNS Harvey Milk.
A defense official confirmed that the Navy was making preparations to strip the ship of its name but noted that Navy Secretary John Phelan was ordered to do so by Hegseth. The official also said that the timing of the announcement — occurring during Pride month — was intentional.
CBS reported Tuesday that the Navy is also considering renaming other John Lewis-class oilers including the USNS Thurgood Marshall, USNS Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and USNS Harriet Tubman. Both Marshall and Ginsburg were Supreme Court justices, and Tubman was a Black abolitionist who helped slaves escape the South via the Underground Railroad."
AMANDA SEITZ and GEOFF MULVIHILL for AP News
T**** admin revokes guidance to the nation’s hospitals that directed them to provide emergency abortions for women when they are necessary to stabilize their medical condition
"The Biden administration had argued that hospitals — including states with near-total bans — needed to provide emergency abortions under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act. That law requires emergency rooms that receive Medicare dollars to provide an exam and stabilizing treatment for all patients. Nearly all emergency rooms in the U.S. rely on Medicare funds.
The Trump administration announced on Tuesday that it would no longer enforce that policy The move prompted concerns from some doctors and abortion rights advocates that women will not get emergency abortions in states with strict bans."