Week in Review: February 16, 2025
Fighting Back Stuff:
Washington State Won't Go Along With His Plans
Miscellaneous Stuff:
Could Trump's Grab For Canada Backfire?
This Is What Rethinking Policing Looks Like
Higher Electricity Bills For A State That Voted For Trump. That's A Real Shame...
If The Dems Lose California, I Don't Know How We Ever Win Another Election...
Week in Review: Sunday February 9, 2025
Trump Stuff:
Trump Calls For 60 Minutes To Be Terminated And Tries To Rope CBS Into Politico Conspiracy Theory
It's important for us to pay attention to what Trump wants done to the media. A big part of authoritarianism is controlling the media. What they can and cannot say about the leader. What stories get to be told and what just disappears and we never know about...
The FCC’s battle with CBS over its Harris interview is raising red flags.
Legal Stuff:
Trump Third Term Constitutional Amendment
We knew this was a possibility. This is one to watch.
Federal Judge Issues 2nd Preliminary Injunction Trump Birthright EO
US Judge Blocks Trump Sending Transgender Women To Men's Prisons-2025-02-05/
US Judge Temporarily Blocks Musk's DOGE Accessing Payment Systems
Washington State Sues Trump Over Transgender Youth EO
Local Stuff:
Some WA Head Start Programs Can't Access Federal Funds A Week After Short-Lived Freeze
Original Burgermaster Location Closing Date
How Will Seattle City Council Prepare For Potential Trump Administration Cuts
Fact-Checking Stuff:
Musk Suspends Anti-Trump Users
There's a lot of bad stuff happening right now, so it's really important that we not make it even worse by spreading lies. Even if they fit with our narrative, it's important to focus on reality.
Interesting Stuff:
Incarcerated Firefighter What To Know
Boy Scouts Officially Changes Its Name
Book Recommendation:
Week in Review: Sunday, February 2, 2025
During the first Trump administration, I did a week in review blog project where I shared the news articles from the week that stood out to me. I also did stuff like review the Constitution, the three branches of government and their functions, and Supreme Court cases. It helped me feel somewhat in control of my life. I also obsessed over what was going on. I gave that man way too much of my mental and emotional bandwidth. Now that he's back, and worse than ever, I should probably be paying even more attention, but it's just not in me. I will try to find a balance between keeping informed, and maintaining my mental health.
Each week, I'll post articles that stand out to me. I will post videos and book recs, as I have them, and anything else that I want to. Readers can pick and choose what to read. And I would also like to note, that I am not an influencer. I am not making any sort of profit with this blog. I am not trying to benefit from this any more than just feeling like an informed citizen. Knowledge is power, and this might be the only power we're able to have in this new era.
Trump Stuff:
Trump and DEI in the Private Sector
Trump Seizes Wartime Powers In Battle For More Fossil Fuels
Donald Trump Pardon Recipients Are Being Charged New Crimes
US Government Websites Are Disappearing In Real Time
Fact Checking Stuff:
What We Can Verify Repeal 1965 Equal Employment Opportunity Executive Order
Can ICE now raid churches, schools and hospitals?
Speaking Out, Standing Up Stuff:
Shock And Awe Is The Point. We Have To Move Past It.
Small Acts of Rebellion Are Important In These Times.
The Wall Street Journal Apparently Hates Trump...
Local Stuff:
What To Do If ICE Shows Up At A Seattle Public School.
Lunar New Year Is Now A State Holiday In Washington.
Washington Bill Would Restrict When Outside National Guard Troops Can Enter The State.
Cool Stuff:
Supreme Court Ketanji Brown Jackson Is The Best!
Stuff We Can Do:
It's been over a year since I finished this antiracism project, and I find myself needing to add to it. Clearly I forgot some topics worth covering. So, here we will discuss the topic of white individuality, because too many of us are still not understanding why it's so damaging and unhelpful.
Why white People Must See Ourselves As A Collective
The only group of people in this nation allowed to see
themselves as individuals, is white people. We demand our individuality at
every possible turn. I’m not one of the ones who didn’t vote for Trump, I’m one
of the good ones, gosh darn it! And I should get credit for it! And I’ll make
sure to remind anybody I can, at any possible time, that I am in fact, one of
the good ones.--Does this sound and feel familiar to you?
Do you know that antiracists have to talk to white people
like this all day, every day? The extremely predictable arguments and demands
are cookie-cutter identical. Why? Because white people are a collective. We
think the same way, we argue the same way. But we think we’re clever and unique.
And yes, this applies to the liberal ones, too.
white people collectively elected Trump again last month.
Literally. The majority of us voted for him. That means that the minority of us
who did the work of trying to get Harris elected, failed. Why should we get
cookies or singled out as good for our failed efforts? We won’t dismantle white
supremacy by individual efforts, but with collective efforts.
There is no “us” and “them” when it comes to white people an
racism, there is only “us.” We collectively benefit from racism, and until we
collectively work to dismantle it, and actually dismantle it, our individual
efforts don’t mean anything. No cookies for me, or you.
Are you spending your time on social media arguing with
Black antiracists about this? Don’t lie, yes you are. You’ve been doing it all
day. You think you know the way to dismantle racism in this country, and
apparently it’s not seeing yourself in part of a larger collective, it’s in
arguing with people who actually experience racism as you try to get them to
change their minds so you don’t have to change yours. This is active racism and
you, the individual, are making it more difficult for us, the collective, to
end racism. You say you want to do the opposite, so why are you making it
worse?
I want to compile a list of resources that people can use to educate themselves, and others on Project 2025.
The Actual Project 2025 website
Learn what they have to say from their own mouths.
Here is the project in pdf format. Over 900 pages.
Below are written-format links to read up on either synopses or interpretations of the project's plans.
Below are tweets with further information or threads about Project 2025.
Below is a link to an audio-visual format resource.
Why Do Black People Get Arrested More Than white People?
This harkens back to past topics, including the school-to-prison pipeline, over-policing of Black and brown neighborhoods, and the 13th Amendment. All those issues add up to more Black people being arrested than white people. Please believe me when I say this is the system working as designed, it’s not broken.
Black and white people commit crimes at about the same rate, but the justice system, built to benefit white people, works to disproportionately affect Black and brown communities.
You might have gotten the idea in your head that Black people must be inherently more dangerous and likely to commit crimes, and this is because of how the media and entertainment industry reinforced what the legal system already does. We see it, we hear about it, but we never think about why. This is white supremacy in action. We are trained to excuse our own issues. white shooter?-lone wolf, mental illness, loneliness, improper upbringing, etc. But always that one person’s issue, never a collective issue. Black shooter? -Well, what do you expect? This is what society and the media beat into our brains daily.
Black people are arrested more because they are literally targeted more. They are overpoliced and the justice system is set up in such a way that people are encouraged to plead guilty in exchange for lesser sentences because it saves time and is less of a strain on an overburdened system. Even if they are not guilty. Keep this in mind.
We must start seeing how white supremacy works to protect white people from punishments Black people rarely are spared from. And get that idea out of your head right now that there is any sort of inherent criminality or violent tendencies by the Black community. That is just pure racism.
