At the end of Return of the Jedi, Luke Skywalker handed the Emperor $300 billion and told him that the Rebels respected the Empire’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

In return, Palpatine agreed to reopen the Kessel Run within 30 days. #USPol #iranwar

Morning, all,

it's déjà vu all over again...

On 16 June 2026, Admiral Gregorovich fired shots at a British civilian yacht in the English Channel.

The Russian Navy has form; on 22 October 1904, Admiral Rozhestvensky fired on trawlers from Hull fishing on the Dogger Bank sinking one and killing two British fishermen.

The Russian Baltic Fleet, under the ludicrous impression they were torpedo boats of the Imperial Japanese Navy, was intent on avenging Japan's attack on Port Arthur.

Tzarist Russia is no more; under Vladimir Putin, Tzarist Russia is back again.

Being such a fan of History, Putin should recall that it didn't end well for the Tzar's Baltic Fleet. Of its 11 battleships, seven were sunk and four were captured by Admiral Tōgō at the Battle of Tsushima, in May 1905.

#UKpol #USpol
#EUpol #NATO
#DesperateDespots
#Trump #TrumpsHandler
#PutinsWar #IranWar
https://youtu.be/nPzpMEL1-hg?si=WOXYNFovOb2WKj9N

The war in the Pacific ended when the US Air Force dropped $300 billion on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. #USPol #iranwar

You know when you’ve won a war when you have to pay your opponent $300 billion. #USPol #iranwar

Video Message

"Francesca Albanese is trying to stop a genocide. That is her crime."

"The US & Israel are trying to stop her – by destroying her life, her career, her family, & her voice".

Albanese gives a video update on "the current state of affairs regarding the US imposed sanctions on her & the ongoing legal battle in the US to have them removed":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdKD1KDVrI0

#USPol #EUPol #FrancescaAlbanese #UN #ICC #IsraeliCrimes #USCrimes #news .

#FuckBillionaires
Down with the #plutocracy!!
Down with the #aristocracy!!
#Revolution!!!

#EatTheRich!

#USpol

When you show up at a party, where everyone is hugging and kissing and laughing and exchanging notes, but not with you.
🙁
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHizoSJ2Rxs
#UsPol
1/n

Oh yeah, take it from a Brit, Labour have absolutely fucked it. The votes they lost aren't coming back either, thankfully it's not so much of a two horse race over here.

https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/warning-from-uk-for-dems

#USPol #USPolitics #UKPolitics #UKPol #Labour #Dems

Alt...

If Democrats get to Washington, take the gavels, and decide the job is just to clean up after Donald Trump and keep the machine humming, we know how this ends. We just watched it play out in Britain. The winners were supposed to be an alternative to right-wing crazy, but now are losing the whole country to their own MAGA because a real alternative takes work. That's the thing about the so-called adults in the room. The centrists, the moderates, the corporatists, they won't do the hard work. In part because they're bankrolled by entrenched interests who will use every weapon in the arsenal to maintain status quo. And in part because of fear. They're terrified of blame, so they'd rather keep walking toward disaster than take a chance on something better. Real reform means changing the whole structure, the democracy, the social fabric, the economy itself, and that’s going to take fight. People are desperate for a life that works, but it's easier for Dems to keep their heads down, push gently for incremental change, and hope things will get better on their own.

I thought his comment that "you couldn't make The Office today " was a bit silly and maybe taken out of context but he's right here on the shitshow over the Maine Misogynist

Is the Right seriously whining about his Nazi tattoo? Like, have they seen themselves recently?

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/6/16/800055985/elections/the-office-star-rips-the-right-and-left-over-platner-hypocrisy/

#RainnWilson #USPol #USPolitics #Platner

HT @SmudgeTheInsultCat

#USPol #TrumpSucks

Alt...

(On a T-shirt) THERE ARE 2 TYPES OF TRUMP SUPPORTERS: 1.BILLIONAIRES 2.IDIOTS CHECK YOUR BANK ACCOUNT TO SEE WHICH ONE YOU ARE.

Did she say this at the time?

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jun/16/hillary-clinton-joe-biden-2024-election

#HillaryClinton #JoeBiden #USPol #USPolitics

RE: https://mastodon.social/@thejapantimes/116762424183352572

"Victory Deal"

#IranWar #Iran #USPol #USPolitics #Trump

1984 with original #Eurythmics soundtrack (Winston's Diary scene)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sdSiU8NdBo

#USPol #WorldPol #Orwellian #Orwell #Nineteeneightyfour #WinstonsDiary #BigBrotherIsWatchingYou

The true state of Trump's hair can be seen in this shot.

Take it as a marker of his general physical and mental health.

GOP, too.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/carney-trump-chinese-evs-g7-9.7237002

#uspol #trump #epstein

#BreakingNews #USpol

One of my fears is that #DJT drops dead and the #Veep becomes then next #POTUS.

After watching this commented Video of #JDVance being grilled by #WhoopieGoldberg and 5 other women on #TheView:

- the Epstein files,
- immigration and #ICE
- inflation,
- and the Trump administration’s discrimination of Black Americans,
I feel better.

"Unlike Trump, he can’t simply bulldoze through difficult questions when the facts aren’t on his side. " 😆

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lN_EAC78x38

Oh great. Put #RFKJr in charge of #SpecialEducation and the #InjusticeDepartment in charge of #CivilRights in Education. That should go well...

#TrumpSucks ramps up #EducationDepartment’s dismantling with changes on special education and civil rights

By ANNIE MA
Updated 5:42 PM EDT, June 16, 2026

WASHINGTON (AP) — "President Donald Trump’s administration on Tuesday accelerated its dismantling of the Education Department, delegating much of its work to protect the nation’s at-risk students in a move that carves away the vast majority of its functions for other agencies to handle.

"The Department of Justice will take on enforcement of civil rights in education, while the Department of Health and Human Services will oversee special education, administration officials announced.

"The two agencies involved — the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services and the Office for Civil Rights — defend the rights of children with #disabilities and those who experience #discrimination based on race, sex or religion. Advocates worry the change could mean lapses in communication for families and school officials who need help.

"Trump, a Republican, campaigned on shutting down the Education Department, saying he would 'move education back to the states where it belongs.' While only Congress can close the department, Trump’s education secretary, #LindaMcMahon, a billionaire and former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment [#WWE], has formed agreements with other federal agencies to handle much of her department’s work."

Read more:
https://apnews.com/article/trump-civil-rights-special-education-3483478a51ea8001fcc70e8a77d08d9a

#USPol

More profiteering:🚨"In 512 days as president, #Trump has visited the resorts & golf courses he still profits from on 191 days.

That's more visits🚨to properties than there have been weekend days in his term & over 1/3 of his presidency so far.

Taxpayers aren’t just paying for rooms at MAL. Getting to a propertu from the WH: costly.🚨Trump travels on AF1, it costs ~$200K/hr to operate.

Trump’s 1st term in off:🚨USSS spent nearly $2M at Trump properties.

#Corruption #USPol
https://www.citizensforethics.org/reports-investigations/crew-investigations/trump-has-visited-his-properties-on-37-of-his-days-in-office/

It would work under the guise of "super-patriotism" and "super-Americanism." Fascist leaders are neither stupid nor naive. They know that they must hand out a line that "sells." Huey Long is said to have remarked that if fascism came to America, it would be on a program of "Americanism."
#fascism #uspol #history #propaganda

Setting aside the absurd premise of this op-ed, I love that the writer felt the need to hedge with "not that has been reported"

"No one's reported that one of the most famous popstars in the world dated a man who at the time was a random oyster farmer from Maine, BUT IT IS POSSIBLE"

#USpol #MESen #WSJ

Alt...

@ wsjopinion 13h Did Taylor Swift once date Graham Platner? Not that has been reported, but her songs about dissolute men do echo accounts of women who dated the Maine Democratic Senate nominee, writes Allysia Finley WSJ wsj.com Opinion | Taylor Swift Sings About Graham Platner and Donald Trump

RE: https://mstdn.social/@MaryAustinBooks/116756046291743395

#MAGA = Make Algae Great Again - in the #ReflectingPool.

#Resist #USpol hilariously!

RE: https://mastodon.online/@mastodonmigration/116760310339713515

Desperation times at the White House.
Now they are dumping Hydrogen Peroxide into the Lincoln Reflecting Pool.
🤢
https://fosstodon.org/@mastodonmigration@mastodon.online/116760310441118442
#UsPol
4/n

Mastodon Migration » 🌐 2026-06-16
@mastodonmigration@mastodon.online

"This morning at the reflecting pool"

"Hydrogen Peroxide 12 Percent"

That should do it...

cc: @AkaSci

Alt...

Yikes... this is how they're trying to fix the algae problem... the birds don't stand a chance... bob kovach Tr noo This morning at the reflecting pool

A view of the Lincoln Reflecting Pool yesterday, that prompted the new H2O2 assault on the algae feasting in the extra warm waters.

Maybe, this is a precursor to a peace deal with the algae. A $300 billion offer just might get the Strait of the Lincoln Reflecting Pool open again.
😜
https://www.rawstory.com/reflecting-pool-hydrogen-peroxide/
#UsPol
5/n

instead of blaming Obama, he has the chance to do the funniest thing....

#trump #obama #maga #reflectingpool #washington #uspol #photoshop #meme

Alt...

Trump dressed up in a Leprechaun costume tipping his green top hat as workers in high-visibility vests work to clear up the green algae in the Reflecting Pool in the background. Photoshop Edit

@cdarwin which was the original total estimate, iirc?

Meaning $700M go to tRumpo's pocket.

#TurdReich #EpsteinBallroom #USPol

Report: Israel’s ever expanding so-called "buffer zone" means endless displacement for Gazans.

Israel has continually expanded the yellow line (plus an "orange line") to annex additional territory & "has established military observation mounds over ancient Palestinian cemeteries."

It is one of "Israel’s methods of psychological warfare to punish Palestinians & "appears aimed at forcing residents into the al-Mawasi area."

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/gazas-palestinians-israels-ever-expanding-buffer-zone-means-endless-displacement

#USPol #EUPol #GazaGenocide #news #palestine .

Today's California primary prediction: Whattayou got, election nerds?

I'm gonna go way out on a limb and say the corporate Dems' choices' support is an illusion. It will be Steyer and Hilton in the runoff for Governor, and Raman and Pratt will go to the runoff for L.A. Mayor.

Interested to see what others think.

#losangeles #california #uspol #socialism #uspolitics

The US Postal Service (USPS) published a proposed rule to allow the federal government to control who can cast a mail-in or absentee ballot. States would have to send a list of every voter slated to receive a ballot by mail to the USPS.

Public comments are now being accepted on this rule. See link for info on how to send an email with your comment.

https://5calls.org/issue/usps-mail-voting-rule/

#USPol #USPS #VoteByMail #VoterSuppression #Elections #Resist

RE: https://kolektiva.social/@DoomsdaysCW/110832318168556366

#Trump and fiends are getting rid of Income-Based Repayment Programs and Student Loan Forgiveness.

Characteristics of #Fascism number 11!

#StudentLoans #IBR #SAVEProgram #USPol #DumbingUsDown

DoomsdaysCW boosted

DoomsdaysCW » 🌐 2023-08-04 / 2026-02-27
@DoomsdaysCW@kolektiva.social

Lawrence W. Britt: 14 Characteristics of #Fascism

[Unattributed, but based on the writings of #UmbertoEco]

"#Historian #LawrenceBritt studied the fascist regimes of #Hitler (Germany), #Mussolini (Italy), #Franco (Spain), #Suharto (Indonesia), and #Pinochet (Chile) and found they had 14 elements in common. He calls these the identifying characteristics of fascism.

1. Powerful and Continuing #Nationalism
Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of #patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. #Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays.

2. Disdain for the Recognition of #HumanRights
Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of “need.” The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, and long incarcerations of prisoners.

3. Identification of #Enemies / #Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause
The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: #racial, #ethnic or #religious #minorities; #liberals; #communists; #socialists, #terrorists…

4. Supremacy of the #Military
Even when there are widespread #domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized.

5. Rampant #Sexism
The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional #gender roles are made more rigid. Opposition to #abortion is high, as is #homophobia and anti-#gay legislation.

6. Controlled #MassMedia
Sometimes the media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation or by sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Government #censorship and #secrecy especially in war time, are very common.

7. Obsession with #NationalSecurity
Fear of hostile foreign powers is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses.

8. #Religion and Government are Intertwined
Governments in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common from government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion are diametrically opposed to the government’s policies or actions.

9. Protection of #Corporate Power
The #industrial and business #aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite.

10. Suppression of #Labor Power
Because the organizing power of labor is the only real threat to a fascist government, labor #unions are either eliminated entirely, or are severely suppressed.

11. Disdain for #Intellectuals and the #Arts
Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to #HigherEducation and academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other #academics to be censored or even arrested. Free expression in the arts is openly attacked, and governments often refuse to fund the arts.

12. Obsession with #Crime and #Punishment
Under fascist regimes, the #police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are often willing to overlook police abuses and even forego #CivilLiberties in the name of patriotism. There is often a national police force with virtually unlimited power in fascist nations.

13. Rampant #Cronyism and #Corruption
Fascist regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to government positions and use governmental power and authority to protect their friends from accountability. It is not uncommon in fascist regimes for national resources and even treasures to be appropriated or even outright stolen by government leaders.

14. #FraudulentElections
Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by #SmearCampaigns against or even assassination of opposition candidates, use of legislation to control #voting numbers or political district boundaries, and manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections.

This post is a summary of Fascism, Anyone? by Lawrence W. Britt published in 2003 by Free Inquiry magazine."

https://voxpopulisphere.com/2017/08/23/lawrence-britt-14-characteristics-of-fascism/

#History #Histodon #RabidRight #Antifa #Antifascism #FarRight #Trump #Putin #Russia #MAGA #Project2025 #CharacteristicsOfFascism #DetentionCenters #VoterDisenfranchisement #VoterIDLaws #SilencingDissent #CriminalizingDissent

Alt...

The 14 Defining Characteristics of Fascism 1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism 2. Disdain for Human Rights 3. Identification of Enemies As A Unifying Cause 4. Supremacy of the Military 5. Rampant Sexism 6. Controlled Mass Media 7. Obsession With National Security 8. Religion and Government Intertwined 9. Corporate Power Protected 10. Labor Power Suppressed 11. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts 12. Obsession With Crime and Punishment 13. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption 14. Fraudulent Elections

RE: https://kolektiva.social/@DoomsdaysCW/114378564490983261

But hey, if you're a #TrumpSucks friend, get your loans forgiven!

#USPol

Like I said before, #Trump will use ANY excuse to withhold funding. And he has NOT restored #ColumbiaUniversity's funding yet, despite their caving to the #BullyInChief's demands! Today, it's #TransgenderAthletes and #FreePalestine #Protestors. Tomorrow it will be...? The capitulation has to stop NOW!

#Academia Confronts a Watershed Moment at Columbia, and the Right Revels

Threatened with losing $400 million in federal funding, the university agreed to overhaul its protest policies and security practices.

"The end is not clear. Columbia’s moves on Friday — revealed in a letter to the campus from the interim president, Dr. Katrina A. Armstrong — were essentially an opening bid in negotiations with the federal government to let the $400 million flow again. But the Trump administration has not publicly said what other concessions it might seek from Columbia or the dozens of other universities, from Hawaii to Harvard, that it has started to scrutinize since taking power on Jan. 20."

by Troy Closson, Alan Blinder and Katherine Rosman, March 22, 2025

"Many professors saw it as surrender, a reward to the Trump administration’s heavy hand. Conservative critics of academia celebrated it as an overdue, righteous reset by an Ivy League university.

"Columbia University’s concession on Friday to a roster of government demands as it sought to restore about $400 million in federal funding is being widely viewed as a watershed in Washington’s relationships with the nation’s colleges.

"By design, the consequences will be felt immediately on Columbia’s campus, where, for example, some security personnel will soon have arrest powers and an academic department that had drawn conservative scrutiny is expected to face stringent oversight. But they also stand to shape colleges far from Manhattan.

"'Columbia is folding and the other universities will follow suit,' Christopher Rufo, an activist and senior fellow at the #ManhattanInstitute, a conservative think tank, wrote on social media after the university’s announcement on Friday."

[...]

"Many worry that the administration’s pursuit of Columbia was a test drive — a way to gauge public reaction, assess the prospects of legal pushback and develop a precedent. On Wednesday, the administration seemed to bring another test case, saying it would withhold about $175 million from Penn because the university had allowed an openly transgender woman on its women’s swim team in 2022."

Read more:
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/22/nyregion/columbia-trump-concessions-watershed.html

Archived version:
https://archive.ph/xQeLn
#CharacteristicsOfFascism #USPol #HigherEducation #DumbingUsDown

#Trump demands unprecedented control at #ColumbiaUniversity, alarming scholars and speech groups

By COLLIN BINKLEY and JAKE OFFENHARTZ
Updated 7:52 PM EDT, March 14, 2025

NEW YORK (AP) — "The Trump administration brushed aside decades of precedent when it ordered Columbia University to oust the leadership of an academic department, a demand seen as a direct attack on academic freedom and a warning of what’s to come for other colleges facing federal scrutiny.

"Federal officials told the university it must immediately place its #MiddleEasternStudies, #SouthAsianStudies, and #AfricanStudies Department under 'academic receivership for a minimum of five years.' The demand was among several described as conditions for receiving federal funding, including $400 million already pulled over allegations of #antisemitism.

"Across #academia, it was seen as a stunning intrusion.

"'It’s an escalation of a kind that is unheard of,' said Joan Scott, a historian and member of the academic freedom committee of the American Association of University Professors [#AAUP]. 'Even during the #McCarthy period in the United States, this was not done.'"

https://apnews.com/article/columbia-university-mahmoud-khalil-ice-arrests-1921e26f6b5a8585ad5cbda790846324
#CharacteristicsOfFascism #USPol #Censorship #DumbingUsDown #Authoritarianism #SilencingDissent #AcademicFreedom #Fascism

#CharacteristicsOfFascism

11. Disdain for #Intellectuals and the #Arts
"#Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to #HigherEducation and #academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other #academics to be censored or even arrested. #FreeExpression in the arts is openly attacked, and governments often refuse to fund the arts."

Fascism, Anyone? by Lawrence W. Britt published in 2003 by Free Inquiry magazine.

https://voxpopulisphere.com/2017/08/23/lawrence-britt-14-characteristics-of-fascism/
#USPol #DepartmentOfEducation #DEI #DumbingUsDown

Wave Goodbye to the Last Normal Year for #AmericanSchools

Thanks to Trump’s “#BigBeautifulBill,” the ’26–’27 school year will look wildly different.

By Adam Laats, June 01, 2026

"As schools send children home for the summer, we need to recognize a frightening fact: This could be the last year of public schooling the way we’ve known it. Donald Trump’s new school funding scheme, pushed through as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, will kick in during the middle of the next school year, in January 2027. It’s going to create a financial tsunami for public schools. The real tragedy is that there’s no mystery to it: We already know what will happen, because the scheme is not really new at all. It brings us back to the bad old days, to the failed and inadequate divided school budgets from before the Civil War. Trump’s plan brings back the devasting problem that our modern public school systems were designed to fix."

Read more:
https://slate.com/life/2026/06/donald-trump-school-vouchers-education-funding-bbb.html

#TrumpSucks #USPol #BigUglyBill #DumbingUsDown #USEducation #PublicSchools

Kill a load of people, lose many bases in the Middle East while playing the Stock Market like a violin

#Trump #IranWar #USPol #USpolitics #OperationEpicFuckUp

Alt...

What did Trump do differently to Obama on Iran?

"Congress is a silent partner in Trump's astonishing corruption"

by Lynn Schmidt for @stltoday

#news #uspol #Politics #trump

https://www.stltoday.com/opinion/column/lynn-schmidt/article_769649b7-1418-48e9-af7b-66ad60ebc85c.html

Analysis: "Israel makes no secret of the fact that it is opposing [the US-Iran] agreement & will do whatever it can to sabotage it."

"Netanyahu spent decades pushing US presidents towards military action against Iran. Finally he found one president who was willing to do it, & it is a total failure."

"We are now in the same position right before the war, & maybe even worse".

~Gideon Levy

https://aje.news/y3hc1w?update=4658013

#USPol #EUPol #IranWar #news #Netanyahu #IsraeliCrimes .

Alt...

Smotrich, bibi

The Gaza genocide was planned decades ago

Just as today, soldier testimonials from the 1967 war show ethnic cleansing & murder was Israeli policy:

"At first I wasn't willing to execute Arabs who weren't resisting," one soldier said. Then we concluded "that we had to kill." We ceased "to see them as human beings."

"300,000 Arabs were expelled or displaced from the West Bank, Gaza & the Golan Heights" in the 6-day war.

https://archive.is/GFb0B

#USPol #EUPol #6DayWar #news #palestine .

Alt...

1967 nakba family

Report: Israel’s ever expanding so-called "buffer zone" means endless displacement for Gazans.

Israel has continually expanded the yellow line (plus an "orange line") to annex additional territory & "has established military observation mounds over ancient Palestinian cemeteries."

It is one of "Israel’s methods of psychological warfare to punish Palestinians & "appears aimed at forcing residents into the al-Mawasi area."

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/gazas-palestinians-israels-ever-expanding-buffer-zone-means-endless-displacement

#USPol #EUPol #GazaGenocide #news #palestine .

New modeling from The Lancet suggests the USAID funding cuts will kill 14 million people.

Many of them are children.

600,000 have already died.

The man who gutted the program?

Elon Musk. The world’s first trillionaire.

He has a trillionaire dollars and is murdering the poorest people on earth.

He should be in jail.

Billionaires and trillionaires should not exist in a world where millions die from poverty every year.

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/langlo/article/PIIS2214-109X%2825%2900281-5/fulltext

#usaid #disability #ableism #eugenics #musk #capitalism #poverty #publichealth #uspol

Fighting on front of the White House during the UFC fight on Trump's birthday.

#uspol #politics

RE: https://universeodon.com/@tafnn/116745088976256095

"Are We The Baddies? We Put Babies In Cages..."

#USPol #USPolitics #Immigration #Fascism

$130 billion in #datacenter projects blocked by #protests so far this year

Winning fight against #AIDatacenters gives people a “taste of political power.”

Ashley Belanger – Jun 12, 2026

It’s clear that communities now have an effective playbook to block data center construction. This week, researchers flagged the first quarter of 2026 as producing the 'most blocked and delayed data center projects on record,' NBC News reported.

"#DataCenterWatch, a project from AI intelligence firm 10a Labs that tracks data center fights around the US, reported that protestors 'blocked or delayed at least 75 projects nationwide worth about $130 billion from January through March,' NBC News reported.

"That’s 'the most in a three-month period since the group began tracking in 2023,' and it shouldn’t be parsed as 'a cyclical spike,' the researchers said. Instead, there’s been a 'structural shift,' as 'communities have internalized an opposition playbook, legislative sessions introduced formal regulatory uncertainty, and the number of active opposition groups more than doubled to 833 across 49 states,' researchers said.

"The political momentum behind data center protests is expected to influence the upcoming midterm elections, with both parties increasingly sympathizing with resistance as opposition intensifies."

Read more:
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/06/130-billion-in-data-center-projects-blocked-by-protests-so-far-this-year/

#USPol #WorldPol #ResistanceIsFertile #PowerToThePeople #HumanPowered #NoDatacenters #NoAI #Datacentres

“I honestly think that across world leaders, there has always been a recognition that leaders have to take steps to protect children.”
~ Kier Starmer

Has he read any of the news about Donald Trump and children over the last decade? 😄

#UKPol #USPol #OSA

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/jun/15/uk-ministers-lobby-trump-backlash-social-media-ban

The motherfuckers.
#USpol

“Some officials pushing President Trump’s mass deportation agenda, chiefly White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, wanted to get rid of the key right, which compels the government to explain in court why it has detained a person. Miller’s goal was to prevent immigrants in government custody from receiving hearings or court orders blocking their deportation.” - Hafiz Rashid

https://newrepublic.com/post/211828/trump-close-suspend-constitutional-right-habeas-corpus

"The American Academy of Pediatricians has indicated, since 1997, when the first big case about children’s detention came out, that any time in detention for a child is extremely harmful. It causes #children to suffer; it creates long-term developmental problems." https://www.texasobserver.org/dilley-family-detention-immigration-habeas-corpus-sb-4/

#ICE #HumanRights #fascism #law #politics #USpol #news #immigration

On June 5, a fed judge in RI didn’t just rule agst the govt⚡-erased it.

Judge McConnell⚡vacated 4 int #USCIS directives that'd frozen adjudications for appls from 39 Cs.

Unfortunately:
Proposed Rule🚨Could Strip Work Permits From 100s of 1000s.

Asylum Seekers🚨Now Pay a Tax. Every Year. Just to Wait.

All IMM crt fees must now be paid thru EOIR’s online portal *non-refundable.

System:🚨backlogged, underfunded +more expensive *little harder to survive.

#Immigrants #USPol
https://migrantinsider.com/p/three-quiet-bombshells-just-reshaped

RE: https://kolektiva.social/@DoomsdaysCW/110832318168556366

14 of 14, I'd say...!

#USPol #CharacteristicsOfFascism

DoomsdaysCW boosted

DoomsdaysCW » 🌐 2023-08-04 / 2026-02-27
@DoomsdaysCW@kolektiva.social

Lawrence W. Britt: 14 Characteristics of #Fascism

[Unattributed, but based on the writings of #UmbertoEco]

"#Historian #LawrenceBritt studied the fascist regimes of #Hitler (Germany), #Mussolini (Italy), #Franco (Spain), #Suharto (Indonesia), and #Pinochet (Chile) and found they had 14 elements in common. He calls these the identifying characteristics of fascism.

1. Powerful and Continuing #Nationalism
Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of #patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. #Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays.

2. Disdain for the Recognition of #HumanRights
Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of “need.” The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, and long incarcerations of prisoners.

3. Identification of #Enemies / #Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause
The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: #racial, #ethnic or #religious #minorities; #liberals; #communists; #socialists, #terrorists…

4. Supremacy of the #Military
Even when there are widespread #domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized.

5. Rampant #Sexism
The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional #gender roles are made more rigid. Opposition to #abortion is high, as is #homophobia and anti-#gay legislation.

6. Controlled #MassMedia
Sometimes the media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation or by sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Government #censorship and #secrecy especially in war time, are very common.

7. Obsession with #NationalSecurity
Fear of hostile foreign powers is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses.

8. #Religion and Government are Intertwined
Governments in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common from government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion are diametrically opposed to the government’s policies or actions.

9. Protection of #Corporate Power
The #industrial and business #aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite.

10. Suppression of #Labor Power
Because the organizing power of labor is the only real threat to a fascist government, labor #unions are either eliminated entirely, or are severely suppressed.

11. Disdain for #Intellectuals and the #Arts
Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to #HigherEducation and academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other #academics to be censored or even arrested. Free expression in the arts is openly attacked, and governments often refuse to fund the arts.

12. Obsession with #Crime and #Punishment
Under fascist regimes, the #police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are often willing to overlook police abuses and even forego #CivilLiberties in the name of patriotism. There is often a national police force with virtually unlimited power in fascist nations.

13. Rampant #Cronyism and #Corruption
Fascist regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to government positions and use governmental power and authority to protect their friends from accountability. It is not uncommon in fascist regimes for national resources and even treasures to be appropriated or even outright stolen by government leaders.

14. #FraudulentElections
Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by #SmearCampaigns against or even assassination of opposition candidates, use of legislation to control #voting numbers or political district boundaries, and manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections.

This post is a summary of Fascism, Anyone? by Lawrence W. Britt published in 2003 by Free Inquiry magazine."

https://voxpopulisphere.com/2017/08/23/lawrence-britt-14-characteristics-of-fascism/

#History #Histodon #RabidRight #Antifa #Antifascism #FarRight #Trump #Putin #Russia #MAGA #Project2025 #CharacteristicsOfFascism #DetentionCenters #VoterDisenfranchisement #VoterIDLaws #SilencingDissent #CriminalizingDissent

Alt...

The 14 Defining Characteristics of Fascism 1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism 2. Disdain for Human Rights 3. Identification of Enemies As A Unifying Cause 4. Supremacy of the Military 5. Rampant Sexism 6. Controlled Mass Media 7. Obsession With National Security 8. Religion and Government Intertwined 9. Corporate Power Protected 10. Labor Power Suppressed 11. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts 12. Obsession With Crime and Punishment 13. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption 14. Fraudulent Elections