Barbara 🇺🇦 @babs_at_masto@qoto.org

Trump administration is likely in criminal contempt in deportation case, judge rules
https://www.npr.org/2025/04/16/nx-s1-5366721/trump-administration-is-likely-in-criminal-contempt-in-deportation-case-judge-rules?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub

Posted into U.S. News @u-s-news-npr

Update: Trump administration pauses $2.2 billion in multi-year grants and $60 million in multi-year contracts to Harvard over its decision earlier today to reject the White House’s demands. https://www.thecrimson.com/thread/2025/4/15/harvard-will-fight-demands-live/

"The only ethical principle which has made #science possible is that the truth shall be told all the time. If we do not penalize false statements made in error, we open up the way for false statements by intention. And a false statement of fact, made deliberately, is the most serious crime"
— C.P. Snow, In The Search (1934)

HHS layoffs put Meals on Wheels and other services for seniors, disabled at risk
https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2025/04/01/g-s1-57716/hhs-layoffs-seniors-disabled-liheap-acl?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub

Posted into Health @health-npr

“Naval operations in the coming half century may be drastically affected by the impact of global climate change. For the Navy to be fully prepared for operations in this future climate environment, resources of both mind and money must be committed to the problem."

Source. 1990: Global #Climate Change: Implications for the United States: U.S. Navy War College, Newport, RI

https://www.gleick.com/blog/a-history-of-u-s-defense-intelligence-and-security-assessments-of-climate

"Environmental threats do not heed national borders and can pose long-term dangers to our security and well-being. Natural resource scarcities often trigger and exacerbate conflict. Environmental threats such as #climate change, ozone depletion and the transnational movement of dangerous chemicals directly threaten the health of U.S. citizens. We must work closely with other countries to respond aggressively to these and other environmental threats."

Source. May 1997: A National Security Strategy for a New Century. The White House, Washington, D.C.

https://www.gleick.com/blog/a-history-of-u-s-defense-intelligence-and-security-assessments-of-climate

NEW: Trump fired FEC Chair Ellen Weintraub in January.

She and others say it's illegal.

But the FEC is moving ahead as if it isn't, and last week issued several rulings with out her.

me, for @Forbes

1/

#news #law #USPol

https://www.forbes.com/sites/zacheverson/2025/03/27/trump-fec-ellen-weintraub-firing/

“My top priority now (and filing this amicus brief is part of it) is to continue to raise my voice about threats to our democratic system and constitutional order,” Weintraub told Forbes. “Turns out one doesn’t need a dot.gov email address to do that.”

/6

"If you accept that non-citizens have no right to due process, you are accepting that citizens have no right to due process. All the government has to do is claim that you are not a citizen; without due process you have no chance to prove the contrary."

~ Timothy Snyder

#Trump #ICE #immigrants #LawandOrder #fascism #authoritarianism

https://bsky.app/profile/timothysnyder.bsky.social/post/3ll5rxk57tk2t

Emily Jazmin Tatum Perez was a West Point graduate. While serving in Iraq, she was killed in action by an I.E.D., the first black female officer in U.S. military history to die in combat and the first female graduate of West Point to die in Iraq.

The video documenting why she chose to serve in the Army and in combat has been deleted by the Army under the Trump Administration.

Erasing her from the collective memory of America will not be tolerated. - Mel Tansill

o_0

Trump Order Shifts the Financial Burden of Climate Change Onto Individuals
—

The change would effectively transfer financial responsibility from oil drillers, auto manufacturers and others and leave Americans to face greater direct costs as warming continues.

https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-climate-change-social-cost-of-carbon-executive-order?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post

#News #Trump #Climate #Environment #ClimateChange #Carbon #Oil

Lawyers for the Trump administration said on Wednesday that it was ending nearly 10,000 U.S. Agency for International Development and State Department contracts and grants, including H.I.V. prevention and treatment efforts that had previously been exempted from a blanket foreign aid freeze.

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/02/26/us/trump-musk-news#trump-usaid-foreign-aid

I am frequently and highly critical of The Washington Post. But *this* is the way to play this story and write this headline about betrayal of an ally and surrender to an enemy: direct, true. More of this, please. #GoodPost

Musk and his incel cyber-terrorist crew has left vital government websites wide open for vandalism.

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7296906241954512896/

From hummingbirds to bees: discover how different pollinators influence Rhododendron flower traits across continents. New study explores climate's role in this complex relationship.

https://wp.me/pdRZhH-lJU

Bruce Schneier Davi Ottenheimer have written a tremendous piece for Foreign Policy that everyone should read called "DOGE is Hacking America." It clearly explains why what DOGE is doing has to be stopped, and what's at stake here.

https://foreignpolicy.com/2025/02/11/doge-cyberattack-united-states-treasury/

I used to subscribe to FP but then found it came with my Apple News subscription. But I realize not everyone has that, so:
https://archive.ph/lSHkJ

Here's an excerpt:

"But the most alarming aspect isn’t just the access being granted. It’s the systematic dismantling of security measures that would detect and prevent misuse—including standard incident response protocols, auditing, and change-tracking mechanisms—by removing the career officials in charge of those security measures and replacing them with inexperienced operators.

The Treasury’s computer systems have such an impact on national security that they were designed with the same principle that guides nuclear launch protocols: No single person should have unlimited power. Just as launching a nuclear missile requires two separate officers turning their keys simultaneously, making changes to critical financial systems traditionally requires multiple authorized personnel working in concert.

This approach, known as “separation of duties,” isn’t just bureaucratic red tape; it’s a fundamental security principle as old as banking itself. When your local bank processes a large transfer, it requires two different employees to verify the transaction. When a company issues a major financial report, separate teams must review and approve it. These aren’t just formalities—they’re essential safeguards against corruption and error.

These measures have been bypassed or ignored. It’s as if someone found a way to rob Fort Knox by simply declaring that the new official policy is to fire all the guards and allow unescorted visits to the vault.

The implications for national security are staggering. Sen. Ron Wyden said his office had learned that the attackers gained privileges that allow them to modify core programs in Treasury Department computers that verify federal payments, access encrypted keys that secure financial transactions, and alter audit logs that record system changes. Over at OPM, reports indicate that individuals associated with DOGE connected an unauthorized server into the network. They are also reportedly training AI software on all of this sensitive data."

The Government’s Computing Experts Say They Are Terrified:

Four IT professionals lay out just how destructive Elon Musk’s incursion into the US govt could be.
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2025/02/elon-musk-doge-security/681600/

"“This is the largest data breach & the largest #IT #security breach in our country’s #history—at least that’s publicly known”...

nobody yet knows which info #DOGE has access to, or what it plans to do with it...

“I don’t think the public quite understands the level of danger.”"

#Musk #Coup #Tech #News #USA

Can anyone explain to me why Trump's World Liberty Financial is making dozens of small ETH buys an hour? Thanks!

#crypto #ETH #finance

https://intel.arkm.com/explorer/address/0x5be9a4959308A0D0c7bC0870E319314d8D957dBB