Mel
@mel-33.bsky.social
Psychologist and nature lover; looking for my friends who believe in democracy
Reposted by Mel
This has largely been memory-holed but in Trump 1.0, he picked a big public trade fight with China. They retaliated by cutting off agriculture purchases, farmers got squeezed, Trump mailed them checks and had to go crawling back to Xi for a face-saving "deal".
Sound familiar?
Sound familiar?
December 9, 2025 at 2:09 PM
This has largely been memory-holed but in Trump 1.0, he picked a big public trade fight with China. They retaliated by cutting off agriculture purchases, farmers got squeezed, Trump mailed them checks and had to go crawling back to Xi for a face-saving "deal".
Sound familiar?
Sound familiar?
Reposted by Mel
WATCH: Tapper & CNN finally get around to debunking Trump’s “I ended 8 wars” lie 🤥
(H/T @blueatlgeorgia )
(H/T @blueatlgeorgia )
December 9, 2025 at 3:47 AM
WATCH: Tapper & CNN finally get around to debunking Trump’s “I ended 8 wars” lie 🤥
(H/T @blueatlgeorgia )
(H/T @blueatlgeorgia )
Reposted by Mel
Reposted by Mel
‘I feel it’s a friend’: quarter of teenagers turn to AI chatbots for mental health support www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
‘I feel it’s a friend’: quarter of teenagers turn to AI chatbots for mental health support
Experts warn of dangers as England and Wales study shows 13- to 17-year-olds consulting AI amid long waiting lists for services
www.theguardian.com
December 9, 2025 at 6:53 AM
‘I feel it’s a friend’: quarter of teenagers turn to AI chatbots for mental health support www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Reposted by Mel
Trump has asserted executive privilege over more than 4,100 documents, along with other evidence from police and lawmakers suing him over the Jan. 6 riot, in a long-running lawsuit that accuses him of stoking violence at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
www.politico.com/news/2025/12...
www.politico.com/news/2025/12...
Trump asserts executive privilege to thwart Jan. 6 lawsuit
The White House said records sought in Capitol riot litigation are “clearly constitutionally protected.”
www.politico.com
December 9, 2025 at 10:02 AM
Trump has asserted executive privilege over more than 4,100 documents, along with other evidence from police and lawmakers suing him over the Jan. 6 riot, in a long-running lawsuit that accuses him of stoking violence at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
www.politico.com/news/2025/12...
www.politico.com/news/2025/12...
Reposted by Mel
Trump's National Security Strategy shocked many in pushing to overturn our alliances and cozy up to Russia. Reports now say it was largely written by Michael Anton, one of the first to push election-fraud claims in 2020: "Game on for the Coup", he wrote. Today's players are still the Jan 6 crew. 1/
December 9, 2025 at 11:54 AM
Trump's National Security Strategy shocked many in pushing to overturn our alliances and cozy up to Russia. Reports now say it was largely written by Michael Anton, one of the first to push election-fraud claims in 2020: "Game on for the Coup", he wrote. Today's players are still the Jan 6 crew. 1/
Reposted by Mel
Anton, a fellow at both the Claremont Institute and Hillsdale College, is part of a circle of faux-intellectuals who try to rationalize fascism. In Sept. 2016 he wrote an essay saying electing Trump was worth violence. Vanity Fair called him "Machiavelli in the White House". 2/
Is This the Most Powerful Man in Trump’s Administration?
Can Michael Anton, a Machiavelli enthusiast and amateur sartorialist, wrap Trumpism in a veneer of respectability and sell it to the Republican establishment?
www.vanityfair.com
December 9, 2025 at 11:54 AM
Anton, a fellow at both the Claremont Institute and Hillsdale College, is part of a circle of faux-intellectuals who try to rationalize fascism. In Sept. 2016 he wrote an essay saying electing Trump was worth violence. Vanity Fair called him "Machiavelli in the White House". 2/
Reposted by Mel
The National Security Strategy is just a piece of paper, but it shows what Anton and many around Trump are pushing for: a world obsessed over non-white immigration, fixated on cultural grievances, and withdrawing from Europe while handing Ukraine to Russia. 5/
www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/u...
www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/u...
December 9, 2025 at 11:54 AM
The National Security Strategy is just a piece of paper, but it shows what Anton and many around Trump are pushing for: a world obsessed over non-white immigration, fixated on cultural grievances, and withdrawing from Europe while handing Ukraine to Russia. 5/
www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/u...
www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/u...
Reposted by Mel
“Offers for front-line contracts appear on the messaging app Telegram alongside group chats and news alerts, promising signing bonuses of up to $50,000 — life-changing money in a country where average monthly wages remain below $1,000.”
How Russia keeps raising an army to replace its dead.
Tldr its money and money is getting tight
www.politico.com/news/2025/12...
Tldr its money and money is getting tight
www.politico.com/news/2025/12...
How Russia keeps raising an army to replace its dead
An online bazaar of freelance headhunters finds new recruits to fight Ukraine, emboldening Vladimir Putin at the negotiating table and scaring European leaders about what his growing army might do nex...
www.politico.com
December 9, 2025 at 12:09 PM
“Offers for front-line contracts appear on the messaging app Telegram alongside group chats and news alerts, promising signing bonuses of up to $50,000 — life-changing money in a country where average monthly wages remain below $1,000.”
Reposted by Mel
Your regular reminder that the single greatest threat to NATO, the 🇪🇺, transatlantic relations, & European security is neither 🇷🇺, nor 🇨🇳, nor any other external threat, but rather the authoritarian calls coming from inside the house.
💰SCOOP: Hungary is in advanced talks with Russia on a plan to bypass US sanctions on Serbia’s mostly Russian-owned NIS oil firm by having a Hungarian firm buy shares. My sources say this is foreign minister Péter Szijjártó’s main topic at today’s Moscow trip—just 11 days after Orbán's Kremlin visit.
December 9, 2025 at 12:08 PM
Your regular reminder that the single greatest threat to NATO, the 🇪🇺, transatlantic relations, & European security is neither 🇷🇺, nor 🇨🇳, nor any other external threat, but rather the authoritarian calls coming from inside the house.
Reposted by Mel
“China's emissions have been flat or falling for 18 months, the first time energy demand growth hasn't resulted in more emissions.”
"In the first half of this year, China built more solar than the rest of the world combined. China accounts for 74% of all large scale solar and wind under construction... More than a quarter of China's economic growth in 2024 came from wind, solar and battery technologies"
How China, not the U.S., became the main climate solution story in 2025
The U.S. has become a "side character" in the global story of renewable energy, experts say. China dominates the sector, with positive implications for the climate and their economy.
www.npr.org
December 9, 2025 at 12:04 PM
“China's emissions have been flat or falling for 18 months, the first time energy demand growth hasn't resulted in more emissions.”
Reposted by Mel
ICE is now setting up racial profiling checkpoints to stop people on major US highways. These checkpoints are being seen near Washington, DC on the Baltimore-Washington Pkwy, on the DC/Maryland border.
(12|8/25)
(12|8/25)
December 9, 2025 at 3:42 AM
ICE is now setting up racial profiling checkpoints to stop people on major US highways. These checkpoints are being seen near Washington, DC on the Baltimore-Washington Pkwy, on the DC/Maryland border.
(12|8/25)
(12|8/25)
Reposted by Mel
The other reporters in the White House press corps are apparently waiting until the president actually takes a swing at one of their female colleagues before they say anything
December 9, 2025 at 12:53 PM
The other reporters in the White House press corps are apparently waiting until the president actually takes a swing at one of their female colleagues before they say anything
Reposted by Mel
The issue at stake in 1686 was whether the king was bound by the law.
How are we back here again?
How are we back here again?
In The New Republic, historian Holly Brewer compares the Court's decision to Godden v. Hales, a 1686 case affirming that James II was above the law – which was only repudiated when James II was overthrown in the Glorious Revolution. newrepublic.com/article/1833...
March 20, 2025 at 4:34 PM
The issue at stake in 1686 was whether the king was bound by the law.
How are we back here again?
How are we back here again?
Reposted by Mel
Nobody treats the Republican base with more contempt or counts on them being stupid more than Republicans
Karoline Leavitt lies with impunity on Fox & Friends: "Don't forget -- a year ago, President Trump inherited the worst inflation crisis in modern American history from the Biden administration."
December 9, 2025 at 1:00 PM
Nobody treats the Republican base with more contempt or counts on them being stupid more than Republicans
Reposted by Mel
"The danger is once you compile all this information, then hackers only have to go to one place instead of going to all 50-plus jurisdictions that run elections... It’s a hacker’s dream to have all of this private, sensitive information collected somewhere..."
www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
Trump’s DOJ is building a voter purge machine—powered by your private data
The federal agency ordinarily would prevent attacks on voting rights. Now it’s carrying them out.
www.motherjones.com
December 7, 2025 at 6:57 PM
"The danger is once you compile all this information, then hackers only have to go to one place instead of going to all 50-plus jurisdictions that run elections... It’s a hacker’s dream to have all of this private, sensitive information collected somewhere..."
www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
Reposted by Mel
It is bizarre and shameful that the richest man on earth—who could be curing disease after disease—instead devotes much of each day to spitting extremist, racist froth
December 9, 2025 at 3:54 AM
It is bizarre and shameful that the richest man on earth—who could be curing disease after disease—instead devotes much of each day to spitting extremist, racist froth
Reposted by Mel
Hilarious.
Anyone with common sense knows a Trump pardon means nothing outside the U.S. Oops.
🚨 NEW: Honduran Authorities Issue Arrest Warrant for Ex-President Pardoned by Trump
Anyone with common sense knows a Trump pardon means nothing outside the U.S. Oops.
🚨 NEW: Honduran Authorities Issue Arrest Warrant for Ex-President Pardoned by Trump
December 9, 2025 at 4:10 AM
Hilarious.
Anyone with common sense knows a Trump pardon means nothing outside the U.S. Oops.
🚨 NEW: Honduran Authorities Issue Arrest Warrant for Ex-President Pardoned by Trump
Anyone with common sense knows a Trump pardon means nothing outside the U.S. Oops.
🚨 NEW: Honduran Authorities Issue Arrest Warrant for Ex-President Pardoned by Trump
Reposted by Mel
"During a December visit to Washington, David Ellison offered assurances to Trump administration officials that if he bought Warner, he'd make sweeping changes to CNN, a common target of President Trump's ire..."
www.wsj.com/business/med...
www.wsj.com/business/med...
Behind Paramount’s Relentless Campaign to Woo Warner Discovery and President Trump
David Ellison has launched a hostile takeover bid for Warner Discovery, taking his case directly to shareholders after Netflix clinched a deal.
www.wsj.com
December 9, 2025 at 3:44 AM
"During a December visit to Washington, David Ellison offered assurances to Trump administration officials that if he bought Warner, he'd make sweeping changes to CNN, a common target of President Trump's ire..."
www.wsj.com/business/med...
www.wsj.com/business/med...
Reposted by Mel
"What’s impossible to ignore are the parallels between the slow normalization of extremism from 1918 onwards and what we see happening in the United States now."
Friday Round Up! 12/5/25
Thinking about lessons from history.
by @asharangappa.bsky.social
asharangappa.substack.com/p/friday-rou...
Friday Round Up! 12/5/25
Thinking about lessons from history.
by @asharangappa.bsky.social
asharangappa.substack.com/p/friday-rou...
Friday Round Up! 12/5/25
Thinking about lessons from history.
asharangappa.substack.com
December 7, 2025 at 12:59 AM
"What’s impossible to ignore are the parallels between the slow normalization of extremism from 1918 onwards and what we see happening in the United States now."
Friday Round Up! 12/5/25
Thinking about lessons from history.
by @asharangappa.bsky.social
asharangappa.substack.com/p/friday-rou...
Friday Round Up! 12/5/25
Thinking about lessons from history.
by @asharangappa.bsky.social
asharangappa.substack.com/p/friday-rou...
Reposted by Mel
don't worry, john roberts says this is a legitimate exercise of presidential power and if we did anything to curb it, we would be robbing the executive of the energy he needs to do his job
Trump rages that Henry Cuellar didn’t pay him back for a pardon by switching parties, blasting Cuellar for a “lack of LOYALTY.”
In other words, Trump admits he was trying to use his pardon power to buy Republicans a House seat.
In other words, Trump admits he was trying to use his pardon power to buy Republicans a House seat.
December 7, 2025 at 3:32 PM
don't worry, john roberts says this is a legitimate exercise of presidential power and if we did anything to curb it, we would be robbing the executive of the energy he needs to do his job
Reposted by Mel
They're using the confinement box, one of the most horrific methods of CIA torture in the post-9/11 black sites, against migrants now. This is the direct result of the lack of consequences for the architects of the torture program. Either there will be criminal penalties for this or it will expand.
Torture Techniques from CIA Black Sites Were Used at Alligator Alcatraz
Amnesty International, interviewing migrant detainees, identifies use of the confinement box. There can be no denying it is a torture prison
www.forever-wars.com
December 8, 2025 at 9:40 PM
They're using the confinement box, one of the most horrific methods of CIA torture in the post-9/11 black sites, against migrants now. This is the direct result of the lack of consequences for the architects of the torture program. Either there will be criminal penalties for this or it will expand.
Reposted by Mel
Trump's DOT just forgave $11M in fines against Southwest Airlines for its 2022 holiday meltdown.
This follows the agency scrapping a Biden-era rule requiring airlines to compensate and rebook passengers for lengthy delays or cancellations.
Trump is making flying suck even more.
This follows the agency scrapping a Biden-era rule requiring airlines to compensate and rebook passengers for lengthy delays or cancellations.
Trump is making flying suck even more.
December 8, 2025 at 8:45 PM
Trump's DOT just forgave $11M in fines against Southwest Airlines for its 2022 holiday meltdown.
This follows the agency scrapping a Biden-era rule requiring airlines to compensate and rebook passengers for lengthy delays or cancellations.
Trump is making flying suck even more.
This follows the agency scrapping a Biden-era rule requiring airlines to compensate and rebook passengers for lengthy delays or cancellations.
Trump is making flying suck even more.
Reposted by Mel
Ah, but there's a critical legal distinction: Lisa Cook is a Black woman in a job where Trump wants to put some white guy crony. So it's a crime worthy of prosecution for her, but not for <looks at list> oh hey every Trump official and Trump himself, all of whom have done it.
NEW: The Trump administration has argued that Fed board member Lisa Cook may have committed mortgage fraud by declaring more than one primary residence on her loans.
We found that Trump once did the very thing he claimed could be a crime.
We found that Trump once did the very thing he claimed could be a crime.
Trump’s Own Mortgages Match His Description of Mortgage Fraud, Records Reveal
The Trump administration has argued that Fed board member Lisa Cook may have committed mortgage fraud by declaring more than one primary residence on her loans. We found Trump once did the very thing he called “deceitful and potentially criminal.”
www.propublica.org
December 8, 2025 at 12:20 PM
Ah, but there's a critical legal distinction: Lisa Cook is a Black woman in a job where Trump wants to put some white guy crony. So it's a crime worthy of prosecution for her, but not for <looks at list> oh hey every Trump official and Trump himself, all of whom have done it.
Reposted by Mel
One thing about "original intent" is that the original Constitution was so hostile to the President that their rival was made Vice President, but now we have SCOTUS "originalists" happily giving the President absolute power over everything.*
* So long as they're a Republican.
* So long as they're a Republican.
the whole structure of this argument — independent agencies are politically unaccountable therefore the president must have removal power — treats congress as if it were a total nullity, or as if only the president truly represents the public.
December 8, 2025 at 4:50 PM
One thing about "original intent" is that the original Constitution was so hostile to the President that their rival was made Vice President, but now we have SCOTUS "originalists" happily giving the President absolute power over everything.*
* So long as they're a Republican.
* So long as they're a Republican.