Author: Harris L

Trump’s terrible RIFs to the Department of Education

Trump really meant it when he said he loves the poorly educated.

We are hearing that almost all of the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE) has been let go. This is devastating news for both the employees, who are being treated as nothing more than political pawns, and for K–12 education in this country—both deserve better.

— Alt Department of Education (@altdepted.bsky.social) 2025-10-10T21:40:53.524Z

There are reports that the *entire* office of special education at the US Dept of Education has been cut. These hardworking folks ensure kids with disabilities get equal access to a quality education. America’s children deserve better than this.

— Sara Partridge, Ph.D. (@sarapartridge.bsky.social) 2025-10-11T16:51:19.554Z

Trump’s terrible RIFs to the CDC’

Does he think his cult doesn’t get cancer, too? It’s not just Democrats who will be affected by this awful decision..

FULL STORY HERE: Emails began flooding CDC inboxes late Friday night announcing dozens of layoffs. HR people brought back from furlough to oversee the RIFs. Disease detectives, entire Washington office, global health, injury prevention, MMWR staff among those hit.www.nytimes.com/2025/10/11/u…

— Sheryl Gay Stolberg (@sherylnyt.bsky.social) 2025-10-11T04:49:12.553Z

NEW: @CDCgov hit hard by massive firings that several staff describe to me as a “bloodbath.” Among those RIFd:—leadership of the center for immunization and respiratory diseases;—leadership of global health center—leadership of the measles outbreak response; 1/4

— Lena Sun (@lenasun.bsky.social) 2025-10-11T12:49:36.988Z

More on the CDC tonight: @jeremyfaust.bsky.social , who is impeccably sourced there (physician, Harvard faculty) has details on the divisions hit by the apparently illegal RIFS. insidemedicine.substack.com/p/breaking-n…

— Maryn McKenna (@marynmck.bsky.social) 2025-10-11T02:58:49.361Z

This is beyond bad. All of our disease defenses are down now. We are sitting ducks. This is #RussellVought #DonaldTrump #RFKJr. They are endangering American lives with their insane crusade. These men are hazardous to your health and dangerous to the republic. http://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/11/u…

— Gregg Gonsalves (@gregggonsalves.bsky.social) 2025-10-11T10:08:37.483Z

Fake right wing photo of Portland

“.. On closer inspection, however, it turned out that the image was not a photograph of a real event in Portland, but instead a fabrication created by combining two photographs of scenes that unfolded in South America nearly a decade apart ..”@theguardian.com http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025…

— Carl Quintanilla (@carlquintanilla.bsky.social) 2025-10-07T11:47:18.899Z

Good story – and as we reported, misleading videos about the Portland protests were also created and posted by the Trump administration itself http://www.washingtonpost.com/investigatio…

— Drew Harwell (@drewharwell.com) 2025-11-12T16:25:01.679Z

More on farmers screwed by Trump’s tariffs and foreign responses

I have no sympathy for any farmer who voted for Trump. They had a similar situation in his first administration. Remember?

The shutdown is delaying Trump’s farm bailout. Farmers say it won’t be enough even when it happens.

Farm bankruptcies are back in the news, so it's time to pull this chart out again.Hey look they kept rising during Trump's first term. Then they went way down under Biden.Now they're up again? So weird. Thanks Farm Bureau for the graphic

— Sarah Taber (@sarahtaber.bsky.social) 2025-10-10T17:41:24.210Z

Soybean farmers, coffee importers, tea importers, banana importers — all facing an existential crisis because the president is surrounded by hostile hyper-morons

— Brandon Friedman (@brandonfriedman.bsky.social) 2025-10-08T00:38:32.847Z

We have spent a lot of time talking w South Dakota farmers over the past decade.What has happened to the US soybean-growing business is comparable to Great Depression. Black Plague, etc.By "what has happened," I mean "what Trump did to them," with these idiotic tariffs.

— James Fallows (@jfallows.bsky.social) 2025-10-02T18:20:44.042Z

Straight up: I’m not onboard with farmers getting another bailout when so many voted for Trump two and three times. But what Trump is doing to them is brutal. I want to believe they’ve learned their lesson this time, but I don’t.Watch all the way through.

— Christopher Webb (@cwebbonline.com) 2025-10-02T02:41:58.012Z

Death by piano!

This is an unbelievable way to die. It was at America’s first topless bar, too.

I read this post on the death of the manager of the Condor Club in San Francisco. The article linked to beloew links to has a link to another story on the club that mentions the death by piano.

Mark Calcagni, the general manager of the Condor Club in San Francisco’s North Beach neighborhood, was found dead 350 feet from his home in Santa Rosa.

— San Francisco Chronicle (@sfchronicle.com) 2025-10-08T06:30:07.956Z

The SFGate article and the video below have more information. From SFGate:

“The Condor Club first opened in 1958 as a music venue but became notorious in 1964 when waitress Carol Doda started dancing topless for patrons, making the Condor Club the first topless bar in America. The club also made the news in 1983 for a bizarre death, in which bouncer Jimmy Ferrozzo was crushed to death while having sex with his girlfriend, dancer Theresa Hill, on top of the club’s mechanical piano. The mechanism was accidentally turned on and rose to the ceiling, asphyxiating Ferrozzo. “

Death In A Strip Club

Trump lies about the Associated Press (AP)

He lost the case.

The AP pushes back:"In fact, the AP won its case against Trump, but the president successfully earned a delay in getting the ruling enforced before the U.S. Court of Appeals considers the issue. Arguments on the president's appeal are scheduled for November."apnews.com/article/ap-t…

— Bob Burgess (@bobburgess.bsky.social) 2025-10-06T20:16:15.146Z

OVERLOOKED: Trump praised judge/his ruling in case over AP being kicked out of White House pool. Called Judge Trevor McFadden (his own appointee, Trump DOJ atty, Colloton clerk) "somewhat liberal." McFadden found WH 'brazen' move violated AP's 1A rights http://www.politico.com/news/2025/04…

— Josh Gerstein (@joshgerstein.bsky.social) 2025-10-01T17:45:18.769Z

Trump telling warfighters about his war with The AP: "We won in court. How bout that? Isn't that so cool?"

— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter.bsky.social) 2025-09-30T13:46:52.162Z

Trump: "We got sued by the Associated Press, and they lost. In fact, the judge was so good he said, 'He's calling it the Gulf of America. He's got all the approvals' … they got thrown out of court. In fact, they're almost not allowed to cover me anymore because of that. It was a big hit."

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2025-10-05T20:56:22.814Z

The DC Circuit is set to consider whether Trump violated the First Amendment by expelling the Associated Press from the White House press pool. @knightcolumbia.org's brief, just filed. knightcolumbia.org/content/knig…

— Jameel Jaffer (@jameeljaffer.bsky.social) 2025-10-06T19:27:18.522Z

A Trump coin would be illegal

This administration doesn’t care and nobody will stop them.

It is not clear that Mr. Trump’s image can be featured on a coin. An 1866 law enshrined a tradition that only deceased people could appear on U.S. currency to avoid the appearance that America was a monarchy. Trump admin is planning to do it anyway.By Alan Rappeportwww.nytimes.com/2025/10/03/b…

— Eric Lipton NYT (@ericlipton.nytimes.com) 2025-10-04T02:50:50.952Z

The only thing I can conclude from this is that the U.S. Treasury Dept. is planning on doing something pretty drastic to ensure they comply with U.S. code.

— Charles Ghoul-ba ✡️ (@charlesgaba.com) 2025-10-06T19:24:10.045Z

The terrible Supreme Court will make more bad rulings

They will continue to help Trump.

🚨The Supreme Court's new term begins TODAY, where it will hear voting rights cases that could hold significant implications for democracy. @afj.org's Rachel Rossi offers insights into what to expect from the conservative-majority court. https://bit.ly/4o4pzOT

— Democracy Docket (@democracydocket.com) 2025-10-06T19:06:04.758661913Z

It's the first Monday in October which means the Supreme Court is back in session. Here's my preview of all the cruelty and evil they will visit upon us this term.My *cover story* in @thenation.com :)www.thenation.com/article/soci…

— ElieNYC (@elienyc.bsky.social) 2025-10-06T16:22:38.756Z

Happy first Monday in October to all who celebrate. The Supreme Court is back in session. Here’s what you need to know about key cases this term. joycevance.substack.com/p/the-week-a…

— Joyce White Vance (@joycewhitevance.bsky.social) 2025-10-06T12:18:11.446Z

The Supreme Court begins its new term next week. The coming months will test what's left of its credibility.bit.ly/4757OJq

— Brennan Center (@brennancenter.org) 2025-10-05T14:05:12.232Z

Doctors Frankenstein forced to grapple with monster…Supreme Court will be forced to grapple with Trump in new term http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202…

— Jeff (Gutenberg Parenthesis) Jarvis (@jeffjarvis.bsky.social) 2025-10-05T11:03:19.652Z

Trump has sought emergency intervention by the Supreme Court 28 times in the first eight months of his new term, more than Bush, Obama and Biden did combined over 20 years. http://www.wsj.com/us-news/law/…

— Peter Baker (@peterbakernyt.bsky.social) 2025-10-03T12:06:55.051Z