It Is Never The Answer

[Editorial]

Violence is never the answer.

I am very disheartened at all the vandalism and violence being directed at Tesla owners and the violence in general.

I know many Tesla owner and they are worried, they bought the car for the environment not for politics and now they are caught up in politics and if I had to guest I would say that many of the Tesla owners didn’t vote for the man in the office.

But that isn’t the only violence, here in Connecticut a twelve year old girl attacked two Muslim girls.

The level of animosity is increasing on both sides.

Those that were silenced before because of social pressures have now been given the green light to discriminate, to vocalize their bigotry and to act out their bottled up anger.

Trumps actions are designed to stir up his base and anger his opposition, look at his “modus operandi.” He attacks with these outrageous propositions… 50% tariffs! Or some other ridiculous ideas. Then he backs off and creates confusion. He keeps everyone off balanced.

Trump played to his base of Christians, bigots, racist, homophobes, and xenophobes, then he got got them to believe that they are under attack by the college educated liberal elitist. Just look at his attack on “DEI” what does DEI stand for? Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Stop and think for a moment what it is really saying to the people when he says he is against DEI?

This is what the dictionary says…

1. : a set of values and related policies and practices focused on establishing a group culture of equitable and inclusive treatment and on attracting and retaining a diverse group of participants, including people who have historically been excluded or discriminated against

2. : the state of having a diverse group of participants as well as policies and norms that are equitable and inclusive

So what they are really saying is that they want to bring back “Jim Crow!” Bring the LGBTQ+ people back into the closet! Bring back the backroom abortions!

For over forty years at work not once did I have to sign a diversity statement that said that I would give preferential treatment to any group or class of people, that I would only hire the best person for the job. But this past week Trump signed an Executive Order that according to Perplexity AI…

• Revokes Executive Order 11246 [signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson on September 24, 1965], which had required affirmative action plans for federal contractors.
• Eliminates federal contractors' obligations to create affirmative action plans based on race and gender.
• Requires federal contractors to certify that they do not operate DEI programs that violate federal anti-discrimination laws.
• Directs federal agencies to combat private sector discrimination, including through civil compliance investigations.

Trump has attacked and intimidated the independence of the court system by saying judges who rule against him should be impeached! He has gone after law firms that had clients he didn’t like. And he  told his Attorney General and Homeland Security Secretary to sanction law firms filing lawsuits deemed "frivolous" or "unreasonable" against the administration! What is the definition of "frivolous" or "unreasonable"? I foresee the government going after GLAD and ACLU for it lawsuit against banning trans servicemember. 

Trump has attacked the freedom of the press, he has directed the Justice Department and the FCC to go after CBS aired a segment on 60 Minutes he didn’t like. 

He has also had fired military leaders that he couldn’t control!

I ask you where have we seen all the before in history?

Possibly in the take over of the Venezuela government by Nicolás Maduro, or maybe further back in history in the 1930s by the National Socialist German Workers' Party in Germany and the National Fascist Party in Italy? And who backed them? The Industrialist! The billionaires of that time.

I started this editorial talking about violence and I end with violence has always been the tool of dictators and fascist. Back then Hitler had his “Brown Shirts” and Mussolini had his “Black Shirts” and Trump has his “White Shirts.”

And if you want to go further back in time go to the 1890s and the Robber Barons!

Are you scared yet?

[/Editorial]

Now Here Is An Idea!

All you Pride committees our there how about this?

In move that could cost organization tens of thousands of dollars, Cincinnati Pride cutting ties with sponsors

WLWT Ch 5

By Nicole Aponte

March 24, 2025

Cincinnati Pride is willingly giving up tens of thousands of dollars as it prepares for its biggest event of the year.

The LGBTQ advocacy organization says it's choosing to stop working with some of its sponsors even as it's in need of funding for its annual parade this summer.

Beginning at 7th and Plum, Cincinnati's pride parade in June costs hundreds of thousands of dollars to put on every year. It's made possible by donations, but as companies roll back diversity, equity and inclusion programs, the organization says they're re-evaluating their partnerships.

Cincinnati Pride says they're committed to equality for all and advancing the mission of celebrating the rich history and diverse culture of the LGBTQ community.

While not naming names, Cincinnati Pride says they'll separate from some corporate sponsors, ranging from small businesses to major retailers.

How about... your company dropped DEI, we don't want you for sponsors!

How about... your company donated to the Republican party, we don't want you for sponsors!

How about... your company donated to Trump... we don't want you for sponsors!

Companies are shaking in their boots that Trump & Company will come after them!

Sponsors drop San Francisco Pride as festival decries ‘rights backtracking’

Comcast, Anheuser-Busch and others cancel funding as US becomes increasingly hostile toward LGBTQ+ communities

The Guardian

By Dani Anguiano

Tue 18 Mar 2025

Pride, one of the largest LGBTQ+ celebrations in the world, has lost significant funding as major corporate sponsors – some who supported the festivities for years – have pulled out of the event.

Several companies, including Comcast, Diageo and Anheuser-Busch, which had provided about $300,000 in funding, told the organization that they did not have the budget to participate this year, Suzanne Ford, the executive director of San Francisco Pride, told the Guardian. Some of the companies had been a part of Pride for decades, Ford said. “We have relationship with all those people. It’s not just a number or transaction.”

Ford believes the sudden departure of long-term sponsors is the result of a political environment, driven by the Trump administration, that has become increasingly hostile to the LGBTQ+ community.

“The backtracking on rights for the LGBTQ community certainly have to be part of any [corporation’s] calculus on whether they give us money so I can’t pinpoint the exact reason, but, as we all know now, it’s more difficult than ever to stand up and say you support rights of LGBTQ people,” Ford told KRON4.

FEAR! Fear of legal action...

But maybe we should boycott the companies that put profit first before human rights?

Since taking office, Donald Trump’s administration has attacked LGBTQ+ people and diversity efforts with a barrage of executive orders. The president has ordered that the US only recognize two sexes, sought to ban trans people from the military, and repealed policies promoting racial equity and protecting LGBTQ+ people from discrimination. Major US companies from Amazon to Google have announced they will end their diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

The Christian Post.

The national retail chain Target is scaling back socially progressive policies, including phasing out its diversity and inclusion policies.

In a statement on Friday, Target said it is ending the "three-year diversity, equity and inclusion goals" as well as concluding its "Racial Equity Action and Change (REACH) initiatives in 2025 as planned."

Additionally, Target promised to stop "all external diversity-focused surveys," specifically naming the LGBT activist group Human Rights Campaign's Corporate Equality Index as an example.

The businesses fear the wrath of Trump & Company more than the wrath of a god.

FEAR! Fear of losing grants and funding...

Under threat from Trump, Columbia University agrees to policy changes

The announcement drew immediate condemnation from some faculty and free speech groups.

Boston.com

By JAKE OFFENHARTZ, Associated Press

March 21, 2025

Columbia University agreed Friday to put its Middle East studies department under new supervision and overhaul its rules for protests and student discipline, acquiescing to an extraordinary ultimatum by the Trump administration to implement those and other changes or risk losing billions of dollars in federal funding.

As part of the sweeping reforms, the university will also adopt a new definition of antisemitism and expand “intellectual diversity” by staffing up its Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies, according to a letter published Friday by the interim president, Katrina Armstrong.

The announcement drew immediate condemnation from some faculty and free speech groups, who accused the university of caving to President Donald Trump’s largely unprecedented intrusion upon the school’s academic freedom.

“Columbia’s capitulation endangers academic freedom and campus expression nationwide,” Donna Lieberman, the executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, said in a statement.

First they came for...

We are living in  Rev. Martin Niemöller poem.

There was this meme on Facebook:

It is time for Pride events look at who their sponsor are and if they are capitulating to Trump the way Neville Chamberlain capitulated to Hitler!

---

Updated: 3/26 @ 3:30AM

A Story Told!

As many of you know I am on the Governor's Advisory Council on Hate Crimes, at one meeting we had a guest, a rabbi from West Hartford who survived the Holocaust and he told his story of how he survived from the Nazis, now other have come forward to tell their stories

As Children, They Fled the Nazis Alone. Newly Found Papers Tell Their Story.

Just under 10,000 Jewish children fled to Britain from Europe from December 1938 to September 1939. Not much was known about their journeys, until recently.

Hartford Courant

By Claire Moses

March 19, 2025

When Hanna Zack Miley boarded a German train in July 1939, she did not know that the journey would permanently change her life.

She was 7 at the time, about to travel to Britain without her parents. She remembers saying goodbye to them on the platform of the train station in Cologne, Germany. “They told me it was a nice trip, and I believed it,” Ms. Miley, an only child, said. “I think they were trying to make it easy for me. I was the apple of their eye.”

As her short legs took her up the steep steps of the train, she wanted to take one more look at her parents. “I turned around, and I saw that they were crying,” Ms. Miley said. “It must have been awful for them.”

In that moment she realized that this was not, in fact, a nice trip.

She never saw her parents again.

---

Canada...

Trans families consider leaving U.S. after Trump's re-election

Fear over bathroom bills, loss of health-care funding forcing families to make tough decisions

CBC News

By Perlita Stroh 

Feb 04, 2025

Barbara Fowler has a go bag in the trunk of her car. In it are her family's documents, burner phones, clothes, medications and an address of a house in Canada — ready, should her family need to flee their country. 

Fowler lives in the United States.

Her daughter is one of the 1.6 million American citizens who identify as transgender — one in five of which are between the ages of 13 and 17, according to the Williams Institute think-tank at the University of California, Los Angeles. 

Donald Trump's re-election as president has filled Fowler with extraordinary anxiety.

"I cry and I rage and I carry so much fear for my family," said Fowler, who asked CBC News not to use her real name, location or the name of her daughter. "I don't know with this administration what will happen."

Germany: 1930s

United States: 2020s

Almost 100 years later.

Sh... It Is A Secret! The Selling Of America!

You see there is a simple answer... the billionaires are not rich enough and they want more of our money!

So to satisfy his oligarch masters Trump want to sell off the government services... like the weather bureau... the post office... the prisons... public schools...

This is from Trump's first term, "7 Things Trump Wants to Privatize" by AFGE,

• Federal jobs. The Trump budget lifts the ban on privatization studies of federal jobs, opening a flood gate of wholesale privatization of public jobs. It’s a well-known fact that contractors are two to three times more expensive than federal civilians. Most of the money goes straight to increase the bottom line or enrich the CEOs and executives while workers see their salaries, benefits, and pensions cut. 
• Prisons. Federal, state, and local governments have used private prisons for decades, but it was only recently when companies running private prisons drew a public outcry after it was revealed that two thirds of private prisons required that their prisons be 80-90 percent full otherwise the taxpayers would be on the hook for unused beds. The Obama administration decided to phase out private prisons after studies showed they have more safety, sanitary, and security problems than the ones run by the government. Within a month after taking office, however, Trump reversed the Obama-era decision. His budget increases funding for private prisons by $171 million.
• Veterans Affairs health care. The Trump administration expanded the VA privatization program that sends veterans to for-profit private hospitals, which often are inferior to VA hospitals. The Trump budget also cuts benefits for disabled veterans in order to pay for further privatization of veterans care.
• Public schools. The Trump budget cuts funding for public schools and transfers the money to for-profit companies. Public schools are designed to serve all students – rich, poor, healthy, disabled, easy to teach, difficult to teach. Private schools are not. Public schools guarantee equal opportunity and are essential to our country’s common good.
• Air traffic control. The administration has proposed to privatize the country’s air traffic control. This could raise operational costs by 20-29% after 10 years, which means passengers would have to shoulder heftier fees when buying plane tickets. Our current system is the busiest and safest in the world. Privatizing it would create chaos and put our national defense’s surveillance and communications systems at risk. 
• Roads and bridges. The administration proposed deep cuts to existing infrastructure programs and divert public money to investors who would rake in profits from highways, bridges, rest stops. As a result, the American people will be forced to pay expensive tolls or fees to use facilities that should belong to us all along.
• Public lands and national monuments. Trump in April signed an executive order directing the Interior Department to review national monuments and “suggest legislative changes or modifications,” laying the groundwork to remove protections on public lands and waters. The order is excellent news for Big Oil and its lobbyists but terrible news for the American public and the environment.

I want you to remember... this is all because they want to cut taxes. These are all government services that should not make a profit... they are services!!!!

Veterans Affairs... Trump want to privatizes it so that the insurance companies can rake in all those health dollars from the disabled veterans who were willing to give their lives for our country, whom Trump called "losers" so his billionaire friends can rake in billions from the most expensive healthcare system in the world.

DOGE’s real goal is privatizing government

The Seattle Times

By Patricia Lopez

March 18, 2025 

Republicans have long thought that what the federal government does can be done better, faster or cheaper by the private sector.

So it shouldn’t shock anyone that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent recently revealed a larger agenda that sheds light on the Trump administration’s seemingly indiscriminate cuts to federal workers and agencies. President Donald Trump’s overarching goal, Bessent said, is to “reprivatize the economy.”

That casts Elon Musk and his unofficial Department of Government Efficiency in a new light — as the vehicle for slashing agency functions to a skeletal state and outsourcing the rest to what would be a much more lightly regulated private sector. Musk himself at a recent Morgan Stanley conference suggested that the government privatize “as much as possible.”

The DOGE cuts so far are not enough to make a dent in the national debt or offset Trump’s proposed tax cuts for the wealthy. Nor do they make government more efficient, which would require a thoughtful assessment. There is no evidence that the “fraud, waste and abuse” Musk claims to have discovered amount to anything more than spending with which he and Trump disagree.

What gains that they did make are easily offset by Trump junkets to play golf at the Mar-a-Lago golf courses at 8 million dollars at a pop... and it has been every weekend since he took office (8 weekends x 8 million = $64 million dollars to play golf at his private club. But it is not his money but ours.)

But as a means to push the nation closer to mass privatization of services? Now the cuts make sense. There is little need of a robust National Weather Service if forecasting is going to be farmed out to private companies. Ditto for the U.S. Postal Service, which Trump has long wanted to privatize despite the fact that it is protected by the Constitution.

What gets me in the privatize of the USPS, did you know that on Rural Free Delivery (RFD) routes UPS, Fed Ex, and Amazon all hand over their packages to the USPS because they don't want anything to do with rural areas of the country, it is not a profit making business, At my cottage on Cape Cod, Amazon delivers to the local Post offices, I have to got to the PO to get my orders,

The problem with privatization is that it seldom works. Private companies operate under different parameters from the federal government. Their primary goal is to maximize profit.

Consider the post office. Mail must go to every nook and hamlet in the U.S., no matter how remote. Wells Fargo, in a report on privatizing the postal service, recommends eliminating the costly “universal service obligation.” Delivery to “unprofitable” regions such as rural areas could become intermittent or just stop. Trump won 63% of the vote in rural areas and small towns.

In many rural areas, mail carriers remain a lifeline, bringing vital prescriptions to seniors who are either housebound or far from a pharmacy. The Department of Veterans Affairs, for instance, fills 80% of its prescriptions by mail service. Moving to private mail delivery could reduce accessibility and raise prices. About 6 in 10 veterans voted for Trump.

But boosts profits for the billionaires while cutting services. Then we have Social Security...

I am old enough to remember when companies had retirement programs where they guaranteed your pension for the rest of your life... Well that was costing companies money and they begged the Republicans to help them make more money by dropping company retirement plans. Along came IRAs! Where the companies could divest themselves of costly retirement plans to IRAs where their employees can pay the cost of maintaining their retirement plans and the stock brokerage companies could make billions of of our retirement plans! Now we are watching out life saving tanks as Trump crashes the stock market!

So now they want to do that with Social Security! They are doing everything they can to wreck SS! My representative from Connecticut wrote...

CNBC: As Social Security faces an uncertain future, the debate on privatization…

President Donald Trump’s efforts to slash federal government spending have ignited a new debate about the future of Social Security.

One idea that has been brought up before — privatizing the now public program — is getting new attention.

BlackRock CEO Larry Fink said Wednesday he supports more individual ownership in Social Security, though he said he would not necessarily use the term privatizing because it has toxic connotations.

“The problem we have now, we have a plan called Social Security that doesn’t grow with the economy,” said Fink, speaking at the BlackRock retirement summit in Washington, D.C.

Social Security is a pay-as-you-go system — today’s payroll tax contributions generally fund benefits for current retirees and other beneficiaries.

Any leftover money that is not used to either pay benefits or fund the program’s administrative costs is put into the program’s trust funds, according to the Social Security Administration. That money is invested in special Treasury bonds that earn a market rate of interest and are guaranteed by the U.S. government, according to the agency.

Privatizing the program could provide a way to invest money on behalf of individual workers that potentially earns a higher return, according to supporters of the idea.

“If we create a plan that every American can grow with our economy, they’re going to feel more attached to our economy,” Fink said.

[...]

Generally, Social Security reform discussions focus on making changes to improve the current system — raising taxes, cutting benefits or a combination of both.

Larson has a proposal to improve Social Security’s solvency by raising taxes on the wealthy while implementing benefit increases.

Yet whether Republicans, who generally oppose tax increases, and Democrats, who do not want benefit cuts, can reach a bipartisan compromise is an open question.

Starting reform discussions based on the program’s current structure is limiting, Biggs said.

“We really do have a failure of imagination on Social Security reform,” Biggs said. “I think what Larry Fink is saying is, ‘Let’s think big on it.’ I think he’s absolutely correct on that point.”

But sh... the Republicans don't want to you to talk about that... Musk opened his yap!

The Hill wrote...

Republicans want Musk to shut up about Social Security

by Alexander Bolton

March 20, 205

Senate Republicans want Elon Musk to stop talking about Social Security, and the Department of Government Efficiency to leave it alone.

Musk’s statement that Social Security is a “Ponzi scheme,” and his plans to cut up to 12 percent of the Social Security Administration’s workforce, are giving GOP lawmakers heartburn.

They warn that Social Security reform is known as the “third rail” of politics for a reason: Any party that touches it is likely to get zapped come Election Day.

And Republicans fear that reductions in staff and field offices will boomerang on them, predicting constituents will grow frustrated if it becomes more difficult and time-consuming to address problems related to benefit claims.

“It doesn’t help the president when you have somebody who clearly is not worried about whether or not Social Security benefits are going to be there for him” leading the effort to shrink the Social Security Administration, said Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), referring to Musk, the world’s richest person.

That is how the Republicans are, they swear up and down on a stack of Bible that they are not going to do it! But just look at abortions. During the elections, "Oh we are not going to have a national ban on abortions. Day One of Congress: They introduce a national abortion ban! Now they want us to believe that they are not touching Social Security. Do you believe them?

The Brookings Institution has a good article on what this "downsizing" of government is really leading to, "How federal layoffs set the stage for greater privatization and automation of the US government".

Seven months after his acquisition of Twitter, Elon Musk required an immediate RTO of employees, who were promised flexible work arrangements prior to the sale. Twitter was the first company to mandate such policies, resulting in the attrition of 80% of the workforce mainly through termination. Musk is now leading the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), leading the federal workforce reduction efforts, making the actions of the last few days eerily familiar. In 2023, Meta’s RTO mandate required that employees be in the office at least three days per week and threatened workers with termination if they did not oblige. Around the same time, Meta promoted its augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) technologies, suggesting that hybrid employees could utilize the technology. In January, Amazon also joined its peers in requiring that employees be in the office five days per week, which already is leading to traffic congestion in its Seattle headquarters, lack of office space for returning employees, increased theft in open work environments, among other concerns being shared by employees.

The other day I got the run around by am AI, I was on a company website and I want to know something about the product I wanted to buy from them. I asked their chat line is they made a product like that... the answers: "I don't know" I don't understand" "I don't..." everyway I asked the question it didn't know. I went on the their competitor Chat Room. "Hi this Sarah how can I help you today?" I typed what I was looking for and she answer, "Gee I don't know, give me a second to look it up." About a minute later she came back on again... "Yes we have some like you are looking for" and she told me the model numbers.

This is coming to SS and AI bot to run you around in circles!

Making the government vulnerable to an industry where data is consistently monetized for economic gain is, at best, a dangerous proposition to all consumers of government services where some communities will be harmed by biased training data, online mistakes in eligibility, and in many instances, the lack of basic internet access to benefit from increased amounts of digital services.

As I said I am old enough to remember when electric utilities were deregulated... How's your electric bill? Do you know where the cheapest electrical rates are in Connecticut? Norwich Public Utilities. NPU is a municipal electric company! WFSB reported...

If you live in Norwich, you get electricity from Norwich Public Utilities. It’s one of six local power companies that make up CMEEC, the Connecticut Municipal Electric Energy Cooperative.

CMEEC CEO Dave Meisinger explained how the average electric bill within CMEEC compares to an Eversource or UI bill.

“We’re typically in the last 5 to 6 years, we’ve been roughly 20 to 40% less. There’s a lot of reasons for that,” said Meisinger.

Enough said.

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Updated @ Noon

I just found an article by AP News about the weather bureau...

Experts say US weather forecasts will worsen as DOGE cuts mean fewer balloon launches

By SETH BORENSTEIN

March 22, 2025

 With massive job cuts, the National Weather Service is eliminating or reducing vital weather balloon launches in eight northern locations, which meteorologists and former agency leaders said will degrade the accuracy of forecasts just as severe weather season kicks in.

The normally twice-daily launches of weather balloons in about 100 locations provide information that forecasters and computer models use to figure out what the weather will be and how dangerous it can get, so cutting back is a mistake, said eight different scientists, meteorologists and former top officials at National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration — the weather service's parent agency.

The balloons soar 100,000 feet in the air with sensors called radiosondes hanging about 20 feet below them that measure temperature, dew point, humidity, barometric pressure, wind speed and direction.

“The thing about weather balloons is that they give you information you can’t get any other way,” said D. James Baker, a former NOAA chief during the Clinton administration. He had to cut spending in the agency during his tenure but he said he refused to cut observations such as weather balloons. “It’s an absolutely essential piece of the forecasting system.”

Say good bye to the free weather forecasts... you'll probably have to pay a month subscription fee to get the forecast when they sell it off! 

Mini-Post: Authoritarianism

Remember the political party that used to say, “Get the government off your back”? The party just showed what it hid behind the curtain… autocracy. You don’t cross the king! Or you life is in peril.

Pentagon announces investigation into leaks that could include lie detector tests

CBS News

March 22, 2025

The Pentagon's intelligence and law enforcement arms are investigating what it says are leaks of national security information. Defense Department personnel could face polygraphs in the latest such inquiry by the Trump administration.

A memo late Friday from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's chief of staff Joe Kasper referred to "recent unauthorized disclosures" of such information but provided no details about alleged leaks.

Earlier in the day, President Trump rejected reports that adviser Elon Musk would be briefed on how the United States would fight a hypothetical war with China.

"If this effort results in information identifying a party responsible for an unauthorized disclosure," then such information "will be referred to the appropriate criminal entity for criminal prosecution," according to the memo.

You know one of the first things that a would be dictator does is control the media. Damn the Constitution! Damn the First Amendment! Damn a persons legal rights.

My first question is... How do we know that there even was "unauthorized disclosures"? You see with an authoritarian crisis are manufactured in order to justify that taking away of people rights... martial law needs a crisis. In my life time I just have to look at the Gulf of Tonkin incident.

Here is my prediction: This summer during a protest, Trump will order the military against it, just like Kent State.

Mini-Post: Little Boxes On The Hillside

Little boxes on the hillside

Little boxes made of ticky-tacky

Little boxes on the hillside

Little boxes all the same

Malvina Reynolds – Little Boxes

Yesterday I was up at UConn in Storrs and on the way up along Rt. 195 I noticed new apartment buildings going up, when I was driving around the campus there were more now apartment building that were built... the same as the ones along Rt. 195.

When I go home in town, there was apartments going up and you know what they were just like the ones in Storrs. Three stories with the same style of balconies, the same of siding.

Then in the center of town... there were the exact same style as all the other apartments, but had shops on the first floor.

And that reminded me of the song... Little Boxes. Now it nice to see all these apartments going up (And at least in town I know they need a certain number of low income apartment (But I bet you that there will not be one low income apartment over the requirement for low income apartment.) and that we really need more housing.

However, could they please modify the outside design so they all don't like like a bunch big ticky-tacky boxes on a hillside.

Hey Vermonters!

Now is your chance to bring one of the greatest film festivals to your state! Sundance is looking to relocate to a state that is pro-LGBTQ+ friendly!

Utah’s Hopes Of Keeping Sundance Threatened By Anti-Pride Flag Bill On Governor’s Desk

Deadline

By Dominic Patten

March 12, 2025

By the end of April, the new home of the Sundance Film Festival should be public knowledge with the Salt Lake City/Park City combo, Boulder, Colorado or Cincinnati bid picked as the host for the next decade. However, a bill heading toward Utah Gov. Spencer Cox’s desk that would ban the Pride flag in schools and other state government buildings might be an eleventh-hour obstacle to the Beehive State’s hopes of keeping the Robert Redford-founded shindig past 2026.

“What are they thinking?” a Sundance insider said late Tuesday of the bill to ban the LGBTQ+ flag after a virtual meeting between united Utah leaders and members of the festival’s selection committee. “Utah is Utah, but this goes to the heart of the community Sundance has worked years and years to develop.”

“It is a terrible law, a terrible look for the state,” the insider added of the Republican legislation that was passed by the state Senate on a 21-8 vote last week. “No matter what they say, we all know who it’s aimed at — the LGBTQ+ community, and that’s unacceptable.”

All you Vermonters here is an excellent time to bring Sundance to the east coast... how would Stratton or Sugarbush or Stowe or Mt. Snow!

KPCW writes...

At a press conference Wednesday to mark the start of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, event director Eugene Hernandez said the nonprofit is still evaluating a potential move to Boulder, Colorado or Cincinnati, Ohio.

What about Vermont?

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Today I am up at the new True Color SOGIE conference at UConn and I am giving a workshop on trans-history. The True Colors conference was the largest LGBTQ+ conference in the world! Hopefully the new conference will follow in their foot steps

Mini-Post: It Figures

We have slipped in world ratings since Trump... our happiness rating has dropped!

Finland is again ranked the happiest country in the world. The US falls to its lowest-ever position

AP News

By  KIRSTEN GRIESHABER

March 19, 2025

Finland is named the happiest country in the world for the eighth year in a row, according to the World Happiness Report 2025 published Thursday.

Other Nordic countries are also once again at the top of the happiness rankings in the annual report published by the Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford. Besides Finland, Denmark, Iceland and Sweden remain the top four and in the same order.

Country rankings were based on answers people give when asked to rate their own lives. The study was done in partnership with the analytics firm Gallup and the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network.

[...]

When it comes to decreasing happiness — or growing unhappiness —the United States has dropped to its lowest-ever position at 24, having previously peaked at 11th place in 2012. The report states that the number of people dining alone in the United States has increased 53% over the past two decades.

Gee... I wonder why?

A Judge Sees The Light!

A federal judge says "Hey wait a minute!" and says...

Pentagon 'cherry picked' studies to support transgender service member ban, judge says

The Pentagon's new transgender service member policy faces its first legal test.

ABC News

ByPeter Charalambous

March 12, 2025

A federal judge on Wednesday signaled that she was deeply skeptical that the Pentagon's handling of transgender service members complies with federal law, grilling a government attorney for hours about the scientific basis for the decision, its impact on military readiness, and the alleged harms to unit cohesion.

U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes said she plans to issue a ruling on the policy as early as next week, but appeared to rebuff most of the arguments defending the policy made by a DOJ attorney, who frequently appeared to be at a loss for words regarding how to respond to the judge's questions.

The Pentagon's new policy to separate transgender U.S. service members from the military is facing its first legal test as Judge Reyes considers issuing an order blocking the policy from taking effect.

"Let's just use the Secretary of Defense [Pete] Hegseth's own words: Transgender people lack warrior ethos, are liars, lack integrity, are not humble, are selfish and can't meet physical mental fitness requirements," Judge Reyes said during Wednesday's hearing. "You would agree with me that calling people liars and lacking integrity and not able to meet rigorous standards for discipline is insulting -- yes or no, or you can't say?"

"Maybe," the attorney responded, arguing that Trump's executive order and Hegseth's directive don't use that exact language.

"So, people with gender dysphoria can't be honest, humble, or have integrity. You think that's demeaning to people with gender dysphoria?" Judge Reyes later asked.

"I can't answer that question," the attorney responded.

Of course the Republicans are screaming "Activist Judge!" and "She was appointed by Biden!" as if only Republicans can appoint judges.

Judge questions data Trump's Pentagon relied on to ban transgender troops

U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes said she expects to decide by next week whether to pause Trump's policy while it's being challenged in court by transgender servicemembers.

USA TODAY

By Maureen Groppe

March 12, 2025

A federal judge deciding whether to pause Trump administration restrictions on transgender servicemembers chided the Defense Department on Wednesday for misrepresenting studies in an attempt to justify the ban.

“Do you agree that you can’t just pick and choose sentences from a study, right?” U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes asked the administration’s lawyers during a nearly five-hour hearing. Reyes is weighing whether to put the policy on hold while it's being challenged by transgender members of the military. She expects to decide by next week.

Reyes, who was equally blunt with the Defense Department lawyers about her concerns with their argument at a previous hearing, said the administration wants her to ignore “why someone would so misleadingly characterize a study other than to come to a preordained conclusion.”

Gee... for Republicans that is common practice! They do it all the time when they pass legislation against us. And the Republicans lawyers are baffled by the judges... you mean we just can't take one paragraph out of a 100 page research paper?

Reyes, a 2023 appointee to the bench by former President Joe Biden, responded that she’d never seen “this level of derogatory language towards a group of people in an executive order and a policy.”

The Republican lawyers are scratching their head wonder about what the judge is talking about, they use that language all the time. Just look at Rep. Keith Self when he misgendered Rep. McBride and the other Republican jumped up to support his bigotry.

The Trump administration claims the ban is necessary for military readiness totally ignoring that... Austria, Belgium, Britain, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden all allow trans servicemembers.

So maybe We will have a win and keep us in the military! The one thing that I worry about in Trump's pettiness he will put them all in one unit and ship them to Alaska.

---

Today I am up at the new True Color SOGIE conference at UConn and I am giving a workshop on trans-history. The True Colors conference was the largest LGBTQ+ conference in the world! Hopefully the new conference will follow in their foot steps

Breaking News: Trump Strips The ADA Of Protections!

Trump is now going after the ADA! He strip out many of the protections for the disablied.

DOJ reduces ADA compliance guidance, pointing to Trump order

The Hill

by Ashleigh Fields

March 20, 2025

The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Wednesday removed what it called “outdated” and “unnecessary” red tape for businesses to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

The department withdrew 11 pieces of compliance guidance in what it called an effort to streamline review processes and reduce costs for consumers.

The first five repealed pieces of guidance reference COVID-19 conditions including mask exemption policies, access to resources that help disabled employees explain their rights, and regulations for a medical or family aide in hospital settings, in addition to rules for street eateries to remain ADA compliant.

Yeah, I can go along with that, but...

The six other pieces related to accessible features in retail establishments and lodging facilities, customer service protocols at hotels, input from customers with disabilities, reaching out to customers with disabilities and assistance at self-service gas stations.

But not these!

Disability Scoop writes,

The canceled guidance includes a 10-part manual issued in 2005 for business owners and operators about what they need to do to comply with the ADA as well as documents aimed more specifically at requirements for hotels and lodging facilities, gas stations and retail establishments.

[...]

“The Americans with Disabilities Act guidance removed by the Department of Justice is both necessary and incredibly timely,” she said. “Although the Americans with Disabilities Act is close to 35 years old, disabled people frequently experience barriers in retail, lodging, and hospitals. Individuals, employers and other entities still need this guidance and still benefit from it.”

Who is next in Trump & Company's cavalcade of hatchet jobs?

What The H*ll Is Going On?

What is going on with Trump & Musk with plans to invade China?

Why did someone with out security clearance discuss invasion plans with Trump? Was Trump boasting to Musk... Oh look what I got! The war plans to China!

Elon Musk threatens Pentagon leakers after NYT report on secret China war briefing

“They will be found,” warns U.S. President Donald Trump’s billionaire adviser as White House lashes out at the media.

Politico

By Csongor Körömi

March 21, 2025

Donald Trump’s top adviser Elon Musk has openly threatened Pentagon employees who may have leaked information that the tech billionaire was due to get a briefing on a potential American war with China.

The story, published by the New York Times on Thursday evening U.S. time, said that — according to anonymous American officials — the Pentagon planned to brief Musk on Friday about the U.S. military’s plan for any war that might break out with China.

After the story went live, the planned meeting was confirmed by Pentagon officials and President Trump — but both denied that the session would discuss military plans involving China.

WTF is going on? Trump is limiting press coverage of the White House to only his crony friends in the news media... locking out NPR, AP, and other mainstream media outlets.

White House bars AP, Reuters and other media from covering Trump cabinet meeting

Reuters

By James Oliphant

February 26, 2025

The White House on Wednesday denied reporters from Reuters and other news organizations access to President Donald Trump’s first cabinet meeting in keeping with the administration’s new policy regarding media coverage.

The White House denied access to an Associated Press photographer and three reporters from Reuters, HuffPost and Der Tagesspiegel, a German newspaper.

But the Russian news agency Tass got into the White House!

The Politico article goes on to report,

The New York Times report that infuriated the White House emphasized that such a briefing by the Pentagon would expand Musk’s already wide-ranging role, and would highlight questions about potential conflicts of interest, as Musk reaches deep into the federal bureaucracy while continuing to run his companies like SpaceX, a major government contractor.

They are two birds of a feather, both are narcissist and glorifies their "importance/" Both are in a game of "one upmanship" on the other like two top alpha dog fighting for the leadership of the pack.

Alabama's PBS network AL.com reported,

The unusual access given to Musk, the billionaire and top donor to President Donald Trump, “would be a dramatic expansion of his already extensive role as an adviser to President Trump and leader of his effort to slash spending and purge the government of people and policies they oppose,” the New York Times reported, citing two unnamed U.S. officials.

[...]

Already facing accusations that his role with the Department of Government Efficiency conflicts with his business interests, Musk’s meeting at the Pentagon will cause further alarm.

Musk runs Tesla, which needs the Chinese government on its side to succeed there, and SpaceX, which secured $22 billion in federal government contracts -- including billions from the Defense Department -- last year.

I think Trump envies and fears Musk, he envies him for his wealth and he fears him because Trump is afraid that he will use his billions against him.

So You think Connecticut Is A Blue State?

Well get a load of what is going on in one  Connecticut town... Suffield.

‘New attempt to censor books’ at CT library targets LGBTQ+ content

Hartford Courant

By Livi Stanford

March 20, 2025

A Connecticut town that has previously come under fire for reportedly attempting to censor LGBTQ+ content from its library is considering a policy that would control what content is allowed in the children’s and young adult sections, again targeting LGBTQ+ materials.

Suffield’s Kent Memorial Library Commission Policy Subcommittee plans to discuss a proposed policy Thursday night that states that “materials and services presenting gender identity ideology are only permitted in the young adult section of the youth collection and only if balanced by other viewpoints regarding gender identity ideology directed to the same age group.”

The policy goes on to prohibit sexually explicit content in the youth collection.

You know I think almost all people would agree about sexually explicit but the problem is that they also define two boy holding hands or two girls where one says to the other "I love you." as sexually explicit!

“It is alarming,” said Scott C. Jarzombek, president of the Connecticut Library Association. “This is beyond best practice. This is really people who do not have the library’s best interest at heart. It will surprise me if there is not a lawsuit. It is going to cost the taxpayers a lot of money.”

[...]

Further, she referred to another case interpreting the Supreme Court decision in Missouri in 2012.

“In that case, the library installed a filter that specifically blacklisted websites expressing positive views toward the LGBTQ+ community,” she said. “The court noted that this filter systematically targeted positive LGBTQ+ informational sites as “sexual” in nature while assigning negative LGBTQ+ sites as “religious” in nature. This constituted viewpoint discrimination.”

It all boils down to is whose definition of sexually explicit. When you ban a whole community just because of who we are that's wrong! A friend was interviewed for the article and she said...

Melissa Combs, founder of the Out Accountability Project, which advocates for LGBTQ+ youth in education, said the KMLC’s “so called policy reads like a legal brief and aims to erase an entire community.

“There are gender queer people living in Suffield,” she said. “The library is there to serve everyone in the community and not just one segment. This policy is discriminatory. It cherry picks medical literature, citing the Cass Review in defense of banning or relocating these books.”

Just think for a moment what it teaches the children... because according to the Republicans it is all about the children.

First it says to the LGBTQ+ children that it invalidation of their identity, it also isolates and shams them and it says that somehow they are "dirty" It denies them a community. While for straight children reinforces the idea that LGBT identities are something "other" or "taboo," it can create prejudices and misunderstandings. It limits those who want to understand who we are.

Then we have the head of the Family Institute of Connecticut said this at a pro-abortion rally...

“We know we are behind enemy lines in this state,” Peter Wolfgang said.

If that how he feels those who don't agree with him as... "the enemy" in militaristic terms? That doesn't sound very Christian of you.

---

When I asked ChatGPT the question "When you say that LGBT books should not be allowed in a library what message does it send to LGBT children and straight children" it said "This content may violate our usage policies." and rewrote the question to "When you say that LGBT books should not be allowed in a library, it can send several harmful messages to both LGBT children and straight children"

Meanwhile Perplexity had no problem with the question.

The rejection was very interesting... I guess that means ChatGPT censors its answers.

---

Update: 3/21 @ 4:30 AM 

The meeting for the library was packed from the reports that I read...

"So many people showed up, it was a "fire hazard" and they had to cancel."

The Constitution? WTF Is That!

He just makes thing up that have no basis in reality!

His latest wacko claim is that President's Biden are void! Do you believe this cr*p?

Fact-checking Trump’s claim that Biden pardons are ‘void’ because he used an autopen

NPR  News

U.S. President Donald Trump at the Oval Office in Washington

By Louis Jacobson & Amy Sherman

Mar 18, 2025

President Donald Trump claimed some of former President Joe Biden’s pardons are invalid because Biden used an autopen.

“The ‘Pardons’ that Sleepy Joe Biden gave to the Unselect Committee of Political Thugs, and many others, are hereby declared VOID, VACANT, AND OF NO FURTHER FORCE OR EFFECT, because of the fact that they were done by Autopen,” Trump wrote March 17 on Truth Social. He referred to Biden’s pardons of congressional members who served on the committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol attack.

It’s uncertain to us whether Biden used an “autopen” — a mechanical device that uses a robotic arm with a pen attached — to sign the pardons. Yet, Trump also claimed that Biden “did not sign” the pardons and “did not know anything about them!”

[...]

“Everything was signed by autopen — almost everything,” Trump said March 13. “Nobody has ever heard of such a thing.”

Biden is not the first U.S. president to use an autopen. Presidents Barack Obama, John F. Kennedy and Thomas Jefferson used autopens or mechanized signing devices.

So! I see Hunter Biden getting arrested again... the legislators on the Jan 6 panel... Dr. Anthony Fauci... General Mark Milley... the members of the House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack and anyone Trump thinks "dissed him" being carted off in handcuffs for a perp walk.

The pardon portion of the Constitution’s Article II, Section 2, Clause 1 says the president has the power to grant pardons, but makes no mention of “sign” or “signature.” More than a half-dozen constitutional law experts told PolitiFact they see no restriction in the Constitution on the use of an autopen.

[...]

Frank O. Bowman III, a University of Missouri law professor, pointed to images of pardons from Abraham Lincoln’s presidency, which sometimes do not match each other, nor Lincoln’s documented signature elsewhere.

That’s because “in the 1800s, the secretary of state, or one of his functionaries, often prepared and signed pardon warrants in the name of the president,” Bowman said.

[...]

In 2005, during George W. Bush’s presidency, the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel wrote a memo to the president’s counsel about the legality of using an autopen to sign bills. The department concluded:

“The President need not personally perform the physical act of affixing his signature to a bill he approves and decides to sign in order for the bill to become law. Rather, the President may sign a bill within the meaning of Article I, Section 7 by directing a subordinate to affix the President’s signature to such a bill, for example by autopen.”

But the man in the White House doesn't believe in the Constitution or the law... he just lies his way through.

Mini-:Post: It Is Like A Plague

It spreads like a plague, it infects otherwise rational nations, it fuels hate... it is bigoty.

All around the world the world bigoty, hatred, and violence against us is spreading!

First out gay footballer Josh Cavallo says he faces ‘multiple death threats’ every day

Gay footballer Josh Cavallo has revealed that he faces “multiple, multiple, multiple death threats” every day.

Pink News

By Chantelle Billson

March 15, 2025

The 25-year-old midfielder and defender, who announced in December that he will be opening an LGBTQ+-inclusive hotel in Bali, told FIFPRO’s Footballers Unfiltered podcast about the threats he faces for being gay.

“There [are] multiple, multiple, multiple death threats that come my way daily still. It’s quite sad to see,” he said. “In the world of football, being an openly gay player is a very toxic place. It’s something that not everyone would be able to handle.

The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights writes...

More LGBTIQ people in Europe are now open about who they are. At the same time, they face more violence, harassment, and bullying than before. This is especially true for younger LGBTIQ people, who are particularly vulnerable. These are some of the findings of the latest survey of the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), based on responses from more than 100,000 LGBTIQ people across Europe.

The fascists have found their scapegoat! Us.

Who Elected Him?

He wants to get his grubby little hands on it!

After the federal government spent billions on Amtrak to modernizes the the passenger trains... Musk want to privatize it along with the post office, and long list of other agencies.

Musk's proposed privatizing of Amtrak has the stink of taxpayer rip-offs throughout railroad history

Daily Kos 

By Meteor Blades

March 18, 2025

With all the dark chaos being unfolded by the techbro supremo and his squad of young know-it-all software engineers at DOGE, some items understandably get lost to us in the overwhelming daily deluge of cruelty and incompetence. That was the case for a speech the world’s richest man gave at  a tech conference 13 days ago.

[...]

Musk reportedly said to those attending the Morgan Stanley Technology Media & Telecom conference, March 5: “If you go to China, you get epic bullet train rides. They’re amazing.” That is a widespread view. Even among people who despise the Chinese leadership for other things, there is almost uniform agreement that the Beijing government has built the world’s premiere high-speed rail system, 25,000 miles of it done quickly once the top-level political battle fought over getting the first high-speed line built was ended just 17 years ago. In addition to everything else, China’s HSR system is a powerful tool for cutting emissions. Never mind that the folks in charge don’t have to worry about local zoning laws or citizen protests and lawsuits causing delays.

At the tech conference, Musk didn’t stop at praising China’s system, he called Amtrak "embarrassing," saying it is “a sad situation. If you’re coming from another country, please don’t use our national rail. It can leave you with a very bad impression of America.” 

The billionaires want to do with it what they did to the hospitals, newspapers, housing, and other businesses milk them dry of capital and then toss the out as shells. Then push the price of tickets out the wind.

What Elon Musk's Amtrak Idea Means for High-Speed Rail

Newsweek

By Theo Burman

Mar 18, 2025

Elon Musk has voiced ambitions to privatize Amtrak, the biggest high-speed rail provider in the U.S., which could have a huge impact on the technology's future.

President Donald Trump's adviser said that Amtrak, which is supported by state and federal subsidies, was in "a sad situation" and that privatizing it would boost productivity for high-speed rail in the U.S.

[...]

Speaking at the Morgan Stanley conference on March 5, Musk told listeners that Amtrak was an example of a service that should be privatized, as it wasn't being properly managed.

"I think logically we should privatize anything that can reasonably be privatized," Musk said. "I think we should privatize the Post Office and Amtrak for example....We should privatize everything we possibly can."

He later said that the high-speed rail system "is a sad situation" and that "it will leave you with a very bad impression of America."

Amtrak is undergoing a major reconstruction... bridges built in the 1800s are being replaced, railroad stations are being upgraded, new rail cars and engines are being upgraded. Now the oligarchs want to get it at a fire sale!

Amtrak, in a statement: "Amtrak is meeting record demand, all while delivering mega construction projects, upgrading fleet, and serving more places with state partners. With strong federal support from the Trump-Vance administration, Amtrak can continue investments in American infrastructure and jobs, strengthen the economy, and make America a world leader in rail once again."

What else do the oligarchs want to get their hands on?

• U.S. Postal Service
• Medicare
• National Weather Service
• Public schools
• Air traffic control
• Veterans Affairs

All of these are services! In other words they do not make a profit and it they are privatized that will mean they will be looking to make a profit! Do you really want to pay each time you look at the weather?

Privatization has lead to erosion of service quality due to profit-driven cost-cutting measures, reduced accessibility, especially for marginalized groups, and as private entities prioritize profitability over public interest.

Do you think that if the post office and Amtrak are privatized there will be any competition for their services. Do you think you will have the same quality of service with a Fed Ex or a UPS running the mail? Do you think that you would get mail delivery in the woods of Maine like you do now? Heck now Fed Ex and UPS now give their rural customers packages to the USPS to deliver, on the tip of Cape Cod I have to go to the post office to pick up my Amazon packages because they don't deliver on that far out on the Cape. 

What about air traffic controls can there be competition for an air traffic control? Can you imagine two competing air traffic control companies as the planes fly across country?

How do you like our private healthcare? Do we have the lowest healthcare cost in the world? What about electric rates? Have the price of electricity gone down. Here in Connecticut Norwich Public Utilities that is owned by the city, the electric rates are approximately 30% lower than those of Eversource and United Illuminating!

We have seen lies after lies how privatizing lowers rate... but what has really happened is without competition the prices go up and the service quality goes down... Frontier Communication Frontier Communications generally receives negative customer service ratings about with issues with billing, customer support.

What do fascist authoritarian government usually do first? Reward their billionaire friends with privatized government agencies!

---

This is what Trump said on Truth Social...

This Radical Left Lunatic of a Judge, a troublemaker and agitator who was sadly appointed by Barack Hussein Obama, was not elected President - He didn’t WIN the popular VOTE (by a lot!), he didn’t WIN ALL SEVEN SWING STATES, he didn’t WIN 2,750 to 525 Counties, HE DIDN’T WIN ANYTHING! I WON FOR MANY REASONS, IN AN OVERWHELMING MANDATE, BUT FIGHTING ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION MAY HAVE BEEN THE NUMBER ONE REASON FOR THIS HISTORIC VICTORY. I’m just doing what the VOTERS wanted me to do. This judge, like many of the Crooked Judges’ I am forced to appear before, should be IMPEACHED!!! WE DON’T WANT VICIOUS, VIOLENT, AND DEMENTED CRIMINALS, MANY OF THEM DERANGED MURDERERS, IN OUR COUNTRY. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!

This is nothing but racist hogwash and trying to undermine the Constitution and the Courts!

Mini-Post: Yeah!

There is news coming out of Utah... bad news for the governor and legislature but good news from our community!

Utah’s ban on pride flags in schools, government buildings will be first in nation if Gov. Cox signs bill

“Today it’s pride flags. Tomorrow, it’s your freedom on the chopping block,” a spokesperson for ACLU of Utah said.

Salt Lake Tribune

Utah could become the first state in the nation to ban pride flags in all public schools and government buildings, as a bill that would disallow any unsanctioned flags awaits Gov. Spencer Cox’s signature or veto.

The bill, HB77, is sponsored by Rep. Trevor Lee, R-Layton, and was introduced in the wake of two failed attempts during the 2024 legislative session to ban pride flags in schools. In its original form, the bill only applied to schools, but a later version of the legislation expanded the ban to government buildings.

The flags approved for display in schools and government buildings under HB77 include the U.S. flag, Utah state flag, flags of Native American tribes, Olympic flags, military flags, flags of other countries and flags for colleges and universities. Historic versions of the U.S. and Utah flags would also be approved.

[...]

“If HB77 becomes law, Utah will earn the shameful distinction of being the first state in America to dictate which flags can be in schools and government property,” said Aaron Welcher, the ACLU of Utah’s director of communications, in a statement Friday. “Make no mistake — this isn’t about flags; it’s about advancing an agenda aimed at erasing LGBTQ+ Utahns from public life. Today it’s pride flags. Tomorrow, it’s your freedom on the chopping block."

We are living in the era of living in Martin Niemöller poem. We must speak up against injustice. They are counting on us remaining silent sheep ready for slaughter! United we stand!

This Past CBS Sunday Morning

The past Sunday on CBS they had What musicians did after an executive order on DEI led to the cancellation of U.S. Marine Band.

What musicians did after an executive order on DEI led to the cancellation of U.S. Marine Band collaboration

CBS Sunday Morning

By Scott Pelley

March 16, 2025

The United States Marine Band was founded in 1798. Thomas Jefferson gave it its nickname, "The President's Own." Today, 135 Marines still perform the score of the White House from parties to inaugurations. So, there was excitement, last year, when the Marines judged a contest for teenage musicians. The winners would perform with the band. Thirty students were chosen. The concert was scheduled. But, last month, it was canceled. President Trump had issued his executive order against diversity programs, and the young musicians were Black, Hispanic, Indian and Asian. Because they were silenced, many wanted to hear them including veterans of military bands who gathered in an improvised orchestra of equity that you might call America's own. 

This past Sunday, at the music center at Strathmore, near Washington, 22 students who had lost their chance to play tuned up with the military band veterans for the concert that was not meant to be heard. 

This music had been planned for the canceled concert. "Nobles of the Mystic Shrine" by John Philip Sousa. Sousa directed the Marine Band a century and a half ago and composed "Stars and Stripes Forever," the great classic in the songbook of patriots.

[...]

Rishab Jain: If we're a society that's suppressing art, we're a society that is afraid of what it might reveal about itself. If we're suppressing music, we're suppressing emotions, we're suppressing expression, we're suppressing vulnerability, we're suppressing the very essence of what makes us human. We are devaluing our own humanity. We are degrading our own humanity.

But then came along Trump's henchmen and racists!

But that executive order is just the beginning. All across the government, President Trump is rolling back 60 years of discrimination protections for women, older Americans, the disabled and people of color. 

Trump rescinded President Johnson's 1965 ban on employment bias. He closed the Social Security Office of Civil Rights and fired leaders of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, or EEOC, which investigates bias in the workplace.

[...]

Scott Pelley: Did you have the sense that the concert was canceled because of the color of your skin?

Rishab Jain: Absolutely. I mean, I couldn't think of another reason really. I had prepared. I had done everything I could to be at the top. And being Indian, I thought, yeah, what other reason would there be?

This segment is so heartwarming! whole anti-DEI is racist!

---

You Can watch the whole concert here!

This should be made into a special Sunday night prime time program for all to hear and see the band!

Mini-Post: We Have To Call It For What It Is

A racist administration!

Many of the cabinet members have been called racists including... besides Trump there is Jeff Sessions the Attorney General, Kirstjen Nielsen the Secretary of Homeland Security, and advisor Stephen Miller.

Jackie Robinson's Army History Deleted by Pentagon

Newsweek

By Khaleda Rahman

Mar 19, 2025

An article about baseball legend Jackie Robinson's time in the Army has been removed from the Department of Defense's website.

The webpage's URL now includes "dei" and leads to a "404 - Page not found" message," suggesting it may have been taken down as part of a purge of online content that the Trump administration considers related to diversity, equity and inclusion.

[...]

President Donald Trump and other DEI critics say such initiatives are discriminatory. He has signed executive orders that aim to eradicate DEI initiatives from the government and private sector. An appeals court on Friday ruled his administration could temporarily implement a ban on DEI programs at federal agencies and businesses with government contracts.

The Pentagon has already taken down thousands of pages honoring contributions by women and minority groups as part of its efforts to delete material the Trump administration considers DEI, Associated Press reported.

Trump's whole program is nothing but racist and all the other "ism"  With all this anti-DEI what they are really doing is trying to bring back the era of "Jim Crow"