It's been 1,615 days since the January 6th insurrection and President Trump finally called in the National Guard. Only he called it in on the "violent, insurrectionist mobs" protesting ICE arrests and tactics in Los Angeles. The move threatens to turn the LA protests into an actual emergency. But California shouldn't feel singled out about being labeled a state of emergency. Somehow, since inauguration day, everything is. Trump has declared more emergencies than a 911 dispatcher. We have an emergency at the border. We have an emergency in our economy. We have an energy emergency. Declaring these emergenciesgives Trump increased executive powers to declare new policies like building walls, levying tariffs, and increasing fossil fuel production. If the emergencies escalate, Trump will too, possibly invoking the Insurrection Act ("which would allow troops to directly participate in civilian law enforcement.") You don't want that. But he does. That's why anytime there's a spark, you can count on the Trump administration to start air-dropping gasoline (as a bonus, they get to make climate change worse in the process). Look out your window and you won't see the state of emergency described in the fever dreams of Fox News and Truth Social. That's because the only real emergency taking place in America today is happening in the Oval Office. 2Your Place or Mines?"Many of the policies he promised never panned out. As James Browning, a thoughtful drug counselor and grandson of a coal miner killed in a mining accident, recalled, he never brought back coal or 'great, new jobs.' He did 'nothing about drugs.' But Mr. Trump’s story of stolen pride did take hold. With the fall of coal and American manufacturing, he told his followers, you lost your pride. That’s because others stole it from you, just as they stole the 2020 election, and they still want more — your guns, your families, your way of life. I’ll take revenge on them, he declared: on the pet-eating immigrants, uppity women, spying international students, idle government workers, and the institutions behind them — the universities, the mainstream press, the judiciary, the deep state." A very interesting look at what attracts voters to Trump (and whether that attraction is weakening) from sociologist Arlie Russell Hochschild. NYT (Gift Article): My Journey Deep in the Heart of Trump Country. 3Laws of Attraction"For more than a decade, the United States has failed to develop an alternative to China’s supply of a specific kind of rare earth crucial for the manufacture of magnets for missiles, fighter jets, smart bombs and a lot of other military gear." That gives China some serious leverage in the restarted trade talks. NYT (Gift Article): China’s Chokehold on This Obscure Mineral Threatens the West’s Militaries. 4Watch PartyJennifer Wilson decided to train for Hollywood's most controversial job. The New Yorker: How I Learned to Become an Intimacy Coördinator. "Earlier this year—Valentine’s Day weekend, to be precise—I found myself sitting on the floor of a loft in downtown Los Angeles with eight other adults, learning how to fake an orgasm. We had been told to make three 'oo' sounds punctuated by a sharp inhale. Next, we bit our lower lips and exhaled on the letter 'V.' 'Vuh, vuh, vuhhhhhhh,' we harmonized. After a few rounds of this, I started feeling out of breath." (This sounds exactly like me when I recently tried pilates.) 5Extra, ExtraWelcome (Paddy) Wagon: "Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland man whose erroneous deportation to El Salvador became a protracted battle over due process and a test of wills, was returned to the United States." But now he's facing new charges. 6Bottom of the News"According to officials, they tried to go down the cliff to get the phones they dropped but became stuck." 2 rescued from San Francisco cliff after dropping phones. (They were rescued almost immediately. Whatever happened to teachable moments?) |
Monday, June 9, 2025
La La Landmine
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