Tootfinder

Let's conclude the "checks&balances" of US democracy are truly gone, nobody can or will stop Trump in militarizing Washington DC. The rest of the world is watching the fascist dictator Trump in action.
Apparently city government is no longer relevant or in charge...Democrats in Congress don't lift a finger, they should walk out and obstruct everything in government they can....
#trump

potus wants the federal government to take control of 61.4 square miles (159.03 square kilometers) of DC.
The same federal government that failed to maintain control of a single car (~119 sq. feet/11 sq. meters) being operated by Big Balls, is going to take control of an entire city.
Sure Jan.
Bluster and military cosplay aren’t going to make us forget his name is all over the Epstein files.

Trump threatens federal takeover of Washington DC after attack on ex-DOGE worker
Two 15-year-olds have been arrested in Washington for an attempted carjacking and beating of Edward Coristine, a prominent member of the Department of Government Efficiency. The incident happened early Sunday in Logan Circle. Police say a group of teenagers tried to carjack Coristine and his significant other. Coristine was attacked until officers intervened. The attack has renewed calls from President Donald Trump for federal control over Washington, citing crime concerns. Trump threatened to …

OpenAI is offering ChatGPT to US federal agencies at a nominal cost of $1 per year, in a bid to boost its adoption after the US GSA approved OpenAI as a vendor (Bloomberg)
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-08-06/openai…

To assist grant writers of all kinds, PEN America has compiled a list of words and phrases banned as WOKE by the US government. Use of these words can result in automatic denial of your grant applications.
https://pen.org/banned-words-list/

Federal Government's Growing Banned Words List Is Chilling Act of Censorship - PEN America
Banned words list 2025: The federal government is banning a growing number of words to comply with executive orders from President Trump.

Imagine if #Laravel, the company, actually shared news on their own website instead of X.
It would be like all the people everywhere could read it.
https://oldfriends.live/@paul/11480878

The Senate on Tuesday confirmed Emil Bove,
a top justice department official and former defense attorney for Donald Trump,
to a lifetime seat on a federal appeals court,
despite claims by whistleblowers that he advocated for ignoring court orders
“Like other individuals President Trump has installed in the highest positions of our government during his second term,
Mr Bove’s primary qualification appears to be his blind loyalty to this president,”
Dick Dur…

Huh?! This is beyond stupid, this is insane and also possibly unlawful.
First, US Federal regulation repeal must follow the Administrative Procedures Act.
Second, regulations are often based on experience and a well informed evaluation and weighing of competing interests, short term and long term.
The DOG-E's think they are so smart that they can use a chunk of software (inaccurately called "intelligence") to willy-nilly pick out regulations to discard.

Describing the email:
“It doesn’t sound like normal government communications, official communications. It sounds like – you know – partisan.”
“It’s disturbing to see Trump hijack a public institution to push blatant misinformation.”
#Sad (a word I heard someone use at various times) - that they have so little honesty and integrity. I

Experts detail how the Trump administration has seriously weakened the public-private partnerships that protect US critical infrastructure from cyberattacks (Eric Geller/Cybersecurity Dive)
https://www.cybersecuritydive.com/n…

‘Suspended animation’: US government upheaval has frayed partnerships with critical infrastructure
Recent federal cuts, reorganizations and other disruptions have alarmed industry leaders, who say the government is a less reliable partner even as cyber threats increase.

I’m so glad sane, rational leadership from the US Federal Government lead to smooth sailing for trade between most of Europe and most of North America.
Gratifying to see intelligible, useful agreement that won’t needlessly jeopardize the livelihoods of millions. /s
https://www.

EU and US spin conflicting versions of trade deal
The European Commission and the White House are making contradictory claims about the content and scope of the EU-US trade deal. #EuropeNews

Companies too. Like my gym. https://oldfriends.live/@paul/114808787833782813

What could possibly go wrong?
US government will ingest all federal data into AI models, WH tech director says - Defense One
https://www.defenseone.com/policy/2025/07/white-house-tech-director-breaks-down-plan-balance-ai-national-security-and-export-promotion/407102/

There will be some 300,000 fewer federal workers on the government payroll by the end of December than there were in January,
according to the Trump administration’s top human resources official.
That amounts to the loss of about one in eight federal civilian workers,
and would be the largest single-year reduction since World War II.

Year Will End With 300,000 Fewer Federal Workers, Trump Official Says
The reduction would be the largest single-year decline in civilian federal employment since World War II.

Sources: the US government restored xAI to its vendors list after removing it for Grok's antisemitic content; email: the White House asked GSA to add xAI "ASAP" (Zoë Schiffer/Wired)
https://www.wired.com/story/white-house-elon-musk-xai-grok/

The White House Apparently Ordered Federal Workers to Roll Out Grok 'ASAP'
A partnership between Elon Musk's xAI and the US government fell apart earlier this summer after Grok praised Hitler. Then the White House apparently got involved, per documents obtained by WIRED.

The Trump administration
illegally withheld funding
from the federal child care program, according to congressional investigators.
It’s the third time this year that
investigators from the Government Accountability Office
have determined the administration
defied Congress on spending.

Trump Administration Illegally Withheld Head Start Funds, Watchdog Finds
It’s the third time this year that investigators from the Government Accountability Office have determined the administration defied Congress on spending.

August 22, 2025 4:30-6:00 - Columbia Heights Plaza, Washington, DC: Prayer Vigil (to end the occupation)
1/2
#resist #WashingtonDC #DC

A federal judge on Wednesday blocked Donald Trump's asylum ban at the U.S.-Mexico border,
saying Trump exceeded his authority when he issued a proclamation declaring illegal immigration an emergency and setting aside existing legal processes.
https:…

The justification that Trump used to claim (illegally) federalize the California National Guard and deploy the marines is from 10 U.S. Code § 252:
> Whenever the President considers that unlawful obstructions, combinations, or assemblages, or rebellion against the authority of the United States, make it impracticable to enforce the laws of the United States in any State by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings, he may call into Federal service such of the militia of any State, and use such of the armed forces, as he considers necessary to enforce those laws or to suppress the rebellion.
Specifically he's called out the "make it impracticable to enforce the laws of the United States."
Trump cannot legally hold office because of his participation in an insurrection. Trump should have been impeached and removed on day 1 of his first administration based on the Emoluments clause. Trump colluded with Russia to manipulate the election, so even his swearing in was a failure of the US government to "enforce the laws of the United States." The supreme court justices he appointed explictly undermined and continue to "make it impracticable to enforce the laws of the United States," as with all of his appointees. The troops he has federalized remain deployed, even after being declared illegal.
When, then, do we call the entire time since January 20th, 2017 to now an insurrection and his government an illegal assembly? Who will order them to "disperse?"
#NoKingsDay

A federal judge rejects a joint motion by Ripple Labs and the US SEC to approve a reduced $50M fine to settle a lawsuit over XRP sales, and chastises both sides (Jonathan Stempel/Reuters)
https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/s

So potus is proud of raising $80 billion in tariffs this year so far.
Biden raised $50 billion in tariffs in 2022 without crippling industries and alienating the world’s commerce.
Also, the U.S. government spends $38.7 billion on paper in 2022.
The whole U.S. government budget: $5.35 trillion.
So in 33 years, #TrumpTariffs might pay for a single year.
pape…

Paper forms cost government $38.7B annually says US Chamber of Commerce
The organization finds federal agencies processed 9,858 unique forms and more than 106 billion total between September 2021 and August 2022.

“The billionaire agenda,
the corruption we’re seeing,
is changing the way government is functioning.
It’s leading to real-time and impactful ramifications for regular people,”
said Lisa Gilbert, co-president of Public Citizen.
“The gutting of Medicaid,
all the firings we’ve seen of federal workers,
the ravaging of families through Ice raids.
It’s just all coming together to cause people to stand up and say,
‘we are the people of this c…

Sources: Trump is planning EOs on July 23 to help US AI growth, including easing grid access for new power projects and offering federal land for data centers (Reuters)
https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/trump…

Donald Trump fired the federal government official in charge of labor statistics, hours after data revealed jobs growth stalled this summer. The US president claimed that Erika McEntarfer, had “faked” employment figures in the run-up to last year’s election, in an effort to boost Kamala Harris’s chances of victory.
Trump later claimed: “Today’s Jobs Numbers were RIGGED in order to make the Republicans, and ME, look bad.“
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/aug/01/trump-fires-erika-mcentarfer-labor-statistics?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

The justification that Trump used to claim (illegally) federalize the California National Guard and deploy the marines is from 10 U.S. Code § 252:
> Whenever the President considers that unlawful obstructions, combinations, or assemblages, or rebellion against the authority of the United States, make it impracticable to enforce the laws of the United States in any State by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings, he may call into Federal service such of the militia of any State, and use such of the armed forces, as he considers necessary to enforce those laws or to suppress the rebellion.
Specifically he's called out the "make it impracticable to enforce the laws of the United States."
Trump cannot legally hold office because of his participation in an insurrection. Trump should have been impeached and removed on day 1 of his first administration based on the Emoluments clause. Trump colluded with Russia to manipulate the election, so even his swearing in was a failure of the US government to "enforce the laws of the United States." The supreme court justices he appointed explictly undermined and continue to "make it impracticable to enforce the laws of the United States," as with all of his appointees. The troops he has federalized remain deployed, even after being declared illegal.
When, then, do we call the entire time since January 20th, 2017 to now an insurrection and his government an illegal assembly? Who will order them to "disperse?"
#NoKingsDay

Sources: xAI was part of a US government AI initiative alongside OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google, but was removed after Grok posted antisemitic content in July (Wired)
https://www.wired.com/story/xai-grok-government-contract-hitler/

xAI Was About to Land a Major Government Contract. Then Grok Praised Hitler
Internal emails obtained by WIRED show a hasty process to onboard OpenAI, Anthropic, and other AI providers to the federal government. xAI was on the list—until MechaHilter happened.

#NYTimes celebrates #LaborDay by reminding #GOV workers #DJT attempting to suspend #union

Trump Orders Have Stripped Nearly Half a Million Federal Workers of Union Rights
The president, who has targeted collective bargaining contracts for nearly one million government employees, has said their functions touch on national security.

Here's the start of an idea:
Those of us who end up directly getting a tariff payment demand on a purchase from overseas (especially if the purchase is from Brazil) might want to consider filing a personal Federal civil action against FFOTUS, as a private person, for recovery.
The basis would be an ultra vires government action, not authorized by law (this is why the Brazil path is particularly interesting, because there is no real way that this is in any way authorized by Co…

A federal judge on Thursday ordered that no more immigrant detainees be sent to a center in the Florida Everglades,
and that much of the facility be dismantled.
The ruling rebuked the state and federal governments for failing to consider potential environmental harms before building the facility, known as Alligator Alcatraz.
The judge gave both branches of the government 60 days to move out existing detainees
and begin to remove fencing, lighting, power generators and…

Judge Orders ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ Detention Center in Florida to Shut Down for Now
A judge ruled that the state and federal governments acted illegally by not conducting an environmental review before building the center in the Florida Everglades.

"Why the federal government is making climate data disappear"
#US #USA #America #Climate

Why the federal government is making climate data disappear
Under Trump, climate denial has given way to something even more dangerous: climate erasure.

Trump claimed that Joe Biden had “established toxic diversity, equity and inclusion ideology as a guiding principle of American AI development”.
“But the American people do not want woke Marxist lunacy in the AI models,” Trump said
Trump told assembled industry leaders that he wants them to “change the name” of artificial intelligence
and that they should not be forced to pay the authors of articles or books they use to train their large language models

Google will provide Gemini for Government to US federal agencies at $0.47 per agency through 2026; OpenAI and Anthropic are offering their products for $1/year (Julia Shapero/The Hill)
https://thehill.com/policy/technology/5463428-google-ai-cloud-services-fede…

Now personally, I'm not invested in the law and I reject the logical underpinnings of the whole thing. The US is founded on land that already had people on it, that already had multiple systems of authority, so there can be no claim that it has any legal authority to exist at all.
But it's hard to ignore the inconsistency here. Accepting the logic from the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, there is no way in which the current state can be legitimate and which Trump has the authority to do anything. The last legal president, again, following the logic that assumes such a thing even possible, was Barak Obama. Since the transfer of power, the country has failed to enforce the law.
If the executive cannot complete their oath, then they are considered vacant under the 25th amendment. If the cabinet fails to invoke article 4, then they too are involved in the insurrection (again, simply following the logic outlined pretty clearly here) as are any who would fail to support the invocation.
Since a full takeover of the federal government by insurrectionists wasn't really planned for, I'm guessing that it would necessarily go to the states, being the only remaining legal authority.

When the military is deployed to quell overwhelmingly peaceful protest,
when elected officials of the opposing party are arrested or handcuffed,
when student activists are jailed and deported,
and when a wide range of civic institutions
– non-profits, law firms, universities, news outlets, the arts, the civil service, scientists
– are targeted and penalized by the federal government,
it’s hard to avoid the conclusion that our core freedoms are disappea…

Trump has ordered the US government to consolidate its wildland firefighting force into a single program,
despite warnings from former federal officials that it could be costly and increase the risk of catastrophic blazes in the middle of peak wildfire season.
The order aims to centralize firefighting efforts,
which are now split among five agencies and two cabinet departments.
Trump’s proposed budget for next year calls for the creation of a new Federal Wildland Fire…

A United States senator forced to the floor and handcuffed by federal agents for interrupting a news conference.
A mayor taken into custody by masked officials in military-style fatigues.
A political candidate pushed against a wall and handcuffed in a dispute at an immigration courthouse.
A government crackdown is extending to the political opposition.
“This is executive authority, especially in the Department of Homeland Security, running out of control,” said Senator …

Images of Handcuffed Democrats Are Piling Up in Trump’s Immigration Crackdown
Federal agents have arrested a growing number of the party’s elected officials, fueling liberal outrage and conservative accusations that Democrats are carrying out publicity stunts.

A federal judge on Monday declared some of the Trump administration’s cuts to National Institutes of Health grants
“void and illegal,”
accusing the government of racial discrimination and prejudice against L.G.B.T.Q. individuals.
Ruling from the bench, Judge William G. Young of the Federal District Court for the District of Massachusetts
delivered a damning assessment of the Trump administrations’ motives in targeting hundreds of grants that focused on the health of Bl…

Trump Live Updates: Senate Republicans Propose Deeper Medicaid Cuts in Major Policy Bill

The National Park Service is the most popular government agency,
with just 7 percent of polled Americans rating it as unfavorable.
And the people want it funded:
Just 17 percent of polled U.S. residents support reducing funding for the National Park Service and other agencies that manage federal lands.
Yet none of this has deterred Donald Trump and congressional Republicans from seeking to devastate the National Park Service.
Trump’s proposed FY 2026 budget would …

The US Public Loves the National Park Service. Trump Is Destroying It Anyway.
Trump is pushing for cuts that could require 350 of the 433 sites run by the National Park Service to shut down.