The heads of three major big-box stores met with President Donald Trump on Monday, to warn him that in two weeks, store shelves will be bare and prices will skyrocket thanks to his nonsensical trade policy, Axios reported.
According to Axios, the CEOs of Home Depot, Target, and Walmart were blunt about the impacts the massive “Liberation Day” tariffs he's placed on China and other major U.S. trade partners will have on consumers and the economy.
"The big box CEOs flat out told him [Trump] the prices aren't going up, they're steady right now, but they will go up. And this wasn't about food. But he was told that shelves will be empty," an unnamed Trump administration official told Axios.
The warning must have really spooked Trump, as Tuesday night he said that he is likely to lower the punishing 145% tariffs he's levied on Chinese imports—though he said the tariffs "won't be zero."
“We’re doing fine with China,” Trump told reporters.
“We’re going to live together very happily and ideally work together,” he added, saying he’s likely to “substantially” lower the tariffs on the country that produces the vast majority of the electronics, clothing, and toys Americans buy.
If he caves on the Chinese tariffs, it wouldn’t be the first time.
Trump already issued a 90-day pause on the reciprocal tariffs, though he kept a 10% blanket tariff on nearly every country in the world, as well as the 145% tariff on Chinese imports.
The stock markets responded favorably to Trump's admission that he is going to fold—at least somewhat—on his idiotic tariffs. The Dow Jones Industrial Average opened 2% higher on Wednesday, as investors grow more hopeful that the tariffs will be lifted.
However, it's unclear when Trump will actually make an announcement about tariff changes—and if it will be in time for retailers to regroup and order goods to keep shelves stocked.
Import bookings at ports across the U.S. were down 64% the week of April 9—after Trump announced the tariffs—according to a report from Reuters.
“It’s a tough environment to operate in because there’s no certainty around what’s happening or not happening," Lee Mayer, CEO and founder of the company Havenly Brands, told Reuters. "There’s a lot standing in place. No one wants to talk costs yet. No one wants to talk re-sourcing yet."
Ultimately, Trump's policies are tanking his standing with voters. A new Ipsos poll released on Tuesday, found just 37% of voters approve of Trump's handling of the economy.
That’s likely because voters do not support the tariffs—which amount to a tax on consumers.
And a Civiqs poll conducted for Daily Kos found that 67% of voters believe tariffs will raise prices, with 53% of voters saying they want Republicans in Congress to limit Trump’s tariffs.
The top producer of legendary news show “60 Minutes” abruptly quit on Tuesday, suggesting that CBS News has surrendered to President Donald Trump and abandoned journalistic freedom.
Executive producer Bill Owens wrote a memo to his staff saying it’s “become clear I would not be allowed to run the show” without interference or “make independent decisions based on what’s right for ‘60 Minutes,’ what’s right for the audience.”
“Having defended this show—and what we stand for—from every angle, over time with everything I could, I am stepping aside so the show can move forward,” he wrote.
Bill Owens was only the third executive producer in the storied CBS news show's 57-year run.
Owens’ exit comes as Trump wages a $10 billion lawsuit against “60 Minutes” over its campaign-trail interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris, accusing the show of editing the segment to make her look good. CBS denies the claim, but the Federal Communications Commission—now stacked with hand-picked Trump allies—is investigating the network, an unprecedented move with potentially massive implications for media freedom.
Trump’s attacks on CBS go well beyond the lawsuit. Earlier this month, he erupted on his Truth Social site after “60 Minutes” aired two segments he didn’t like—one with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and another about Trump’s bizarre obsession with buying Greenland. During the rant, Trump called for CBS to be stripped of its broadcast license.
Behind the scenes, that pressure seems to be shaping decisions at the network. CBS parent company Paramount and its controlling shareholder have reportedly pushed for a settlement, fearing the lawsuit could derail a multibillion-dollar merger with Skydance Media—a deal that will need clearance from Trump administration regulators.Staffers are furious, with some warning that surrendering to Trump would effectively gut the network’s credibility.
And CBS isn’t alone. The Washington Post has tacked right under billionaire ownerJeff Bezos, earning Trump’s praise but costing the outlet subscribers and talent. Then there’s the Los Angeles Times, where owner Patrick Soon-Shiong reportedly told the editorial board in December to “take a break” from writing about the president, even as he wreaks havoc on the federal government. The fallout cost the paper several of its most prominent reporters and editorial writers.
Trump has also targeted other networks in court. ABC News settled a defamation suit in December and agreed to pay $15 million to the president’s future presidential library—a move that blindsided journalists there.
CBS seems to be following the same conciliatory path. According to The New York Times, settlement talks with Trump are underway, and a mediator has already been appointed.
Owens’ resignation may be the clearest sign yet that even flagship news programs aren’t immune from Trump’s grip on the press. His exit is especially striking: a CBS lifer, Owens first joined the network as a summer intern in 1988 and became just the third executive producer in “60 Minutes” history when he took the reins in 2019.
And this isn’t happening in a vacuum. Earlier this month, Trump backed an appeal to a judge’s order forcing the White House to reinstate the Associated Press’ credentials after the outlet was punished for refusing to call the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America.”
In a message to staff, CBS News and Stations CEO Wendy McMahon said she was “committed to ‘60 Minutes’ and to ensuring that the mission and the work remain our priority.”
But Owens’ abrupt departure sends a different message: Trump’s pressure campaign is working. More and more outlets are caving to the aspiring autocrat—and if that trend continues, all that’s left will be a MAGA-friendly right-wing echo chamber.
Ever see a cake so deliberately confusing that you're sure you're missing something obvious? I mean, look at this thing:
Someone went through a massive amount of effort - different colors, squiggle techniques, flotsam arrangement - all to make a senseless, saggy clown volcano. Why? What does it mean?
Or how about this snapshot of prehistoric life found in a bakery window?
How I imagine this went down:
"Is that a bridge over all the dinosaurs?"
"Yeah. The Brooklyn Bridge."
".... are you sure?"
"100%"
And now, what appears to be candy corn, sandwiched between two half-rounds of plain cake, all smashed onto a bed of... pimento... brains?
Remember when balloons on cake was a thing? And flowers? Those were the days.
And finally, Susan found this under the heading (heh) "Naughty but Nice," so I assume it's NSFW... but I can't for the life of me figure out HOW:
Somebody get me a old priest, a young priest, and an anatomy book.
Thanks to Vanessa, Jacob B., Andrea P., & Susan C. for the world's naughtiest furry hockey stick.
*****
P.S. Here's a (hilarious) reminder that English is almost as confusing as these cakes:
Conspiracy theorist Ron Johnson, who moonlights as a Republican senator from Wisconsin, wants to hold congressional hearings to prove that the federal government is covering up information on the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
In an interview with a right-wing podcaster, Ron Johnson falsely claimed the attacks that killed thousands of people across New York, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania were an inside job.
"My guess is there's an awful lot being covered up, in terms of what the American government knows about 9/11," Johnson said Monday, also noting that he thought President Donald Trump “should have some interest, being a New Yorker himself."
Johnson went on to claim that 7 World Trade Center, which collapsed after the twin towers fell due to fire weakening structural beams within it, was actually felled by a "controlled demolition," saying he thinks someone "ordered the destruction and removal" of evidence in the building. Cuckoo much?
Needless to say, Johnson’s ideas about 9/11 have been thoroughly and repeatedly debunked.
He also said he will team up with former Rep. Curt Weldon, Republican of Pennsylvania, who has also been spreading 9/11 conspiracy theories on former Fox News host and Russian propagandist Tucker Carlson's show, to find out what happened in the attack.
"I will work with him to expose what he's willing to expose," Johnson said. "My eyes have been opened up."
This is not the only absurd and offensive conspiracy theory that the senior senator from Wisconsin has spread.
In September, Johnson claimed the Great Depression was planned.
“The Great Depression was pretty well planned,” he said in an interview with a right-wing radio program. “You know, all the big money men were pretty well warned that they were going to finally collapse the system. They had booms and busts. They had to finally just collapse the system, kind of start all over.”
“I know it really sounds like conspiracy theory,” Johnson continued. “I don't completely understand it, but it sure seems—it’s just in my bones, I just feel there’s a great deal of corruption and control there that the vast majority of people do not understand.”
x
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) claims, without evidence, that the Great Depression was an inside job.
"The Great Depression was pretty well planned ... I know it really sounds like conspiracy theory. I don't completely understand it, but I just feel it in my bones..." pic.twitter.com/kMicxcM8Yx
How comforting that a sitting U.S. senator is spreading a conspiracy theory without any evidence other than a feeling in his “bones.”
Johnson has also pushed conspiracy theories about the Jan. 6, 2021, attack in the U.S. Capitol, when thousands of Trump supporters violently broke into the building to stop the certification of then-President-elect Joe Biden’s victory. Johnson falsely claimed that the insurrectionists weren't supporters of Trump but rather “agents-provocateurs" who "whipped the crowd and breached the Capitol."
Of course, an independent watchdog found that there were no undercover agents in the crowd on Jan. 6, and that it really was just rabid Trumpers who wanted to keep Dear Leader in office despite his loss.
Johnson has also promoted COVID-19 misinformation, including falsely claiming that people could use mouthwash to prevent infection.
It's unclear why Johnson is reopening a can of worms about 9/11 now, more than 20 years after the attack. But it could be because he has an ally in Trump, who has never met a conspiracy theory he didn’t like.
Since taking office in January, Trump has released files on the assassinations of former President John F. Kennedy and former Sen. Robert F Kennedy.
The release of documents from RFK’s assassination have angered his daughter, Kerry Kennedy, who condemned the Trump administration for releasing images from the autopsy report.
It was hard to be an 8-year-old girl who lost her father to a man with a gun. It was hard to absorb that violence. It was hard to imagine what his final moments were like. It was hard knowing that anytime I watched a movie or show about the 1960s, I’d inevitably relive the worst moment of my life.
As of yesterday—Good Friday—it will be hard in a new and unimaginable way. Anytime I, or one of my siblings, children, nieces, or nephews, come across images of my father—the man who hugged me every morning and kissed me goodnight—we won’t just see him as we remember him. Instead, we’ll be confronted with graphic, explicit photos of his mangled body from an autopsy report.
Meanwhile, Attorney General Bondi waged a failed PR stunt to release files surrounding now-deceased sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, handing out binders with documents that had already been made public to a select few pro-Trump influencers.
The failed stunt angered Trump allies, who called the release "unprofessional" and a “complete disappointment.”
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Are you interested in the rescue and preservation of fanworks? Are you a good wiki editor? The Organization for Transformative Works is recruiting!
We’re excited to announce the opening of applications for:
Open Doors Import Assistant – closing 30 April 2025 at 23:59 UTC [or after 35 applications]
Fanlore Policy & Admin Volunteer – closing 30 April 2025 at 23:59 UTC [or after 40 applications]
We have included more information on each role below. Open roles and applications will always be available at the volunteering page. If you don’t see a role that fits with your skills and interests now, keep an eye on the listings. We plan to put up new applications every few weeks, and we will also publicize new roles as they become available.
All applications generate a confirmation page and an auto-reply to your e-mail address. We encourage you to read the confirmation page and to whitelist our email address in your e-mail client. If you do not receive the auto-reply within 24 hours, please check your spam filters and then contact us.
If you have questions regarding volunteering for the OTW, check out our Volunteering FAQ.
Open Doors Import Assistant
Do you enjoy spreadsheets, self-paced projects, and helping protect fanworks from getting lost over time? Are you interested in the rescue and preservation of fanworks? Do you still guiltily—or not so guiltily—love the first fanwork that opened your eyes to fandom?
Open Doors is a committee dedicated to preserving fanworks in their many formats, and we’re looking for volunteers to support this goal. The work we do preserves fan history, love, and dedication to fandom: we keep fanworks from offline and at-risk archives from being lost, divert fanzines from the trash, and more.
Our import assistants contribute to our goal by:
Importing works to AO3 from rescued digital archives and fanzines
Searching AO3 for existing copies of works that creators have already uploaded themselves (to prevent us from importing duplicate versions when we import an archive)
Compiling and correcting spreadsheets of works from an archive to be imported and/or tags to use on those works
Copyediting/proofreading works from fanzines that have been scanned from PDFs (to ensure that the scanned works were transcribed properly by the software we used)
The training is self-directed, and so is the work for the most part, though we also have weekly working meetings/parties for people to all chip in and work on tasks together! Import assistants can generally alternate the types of tasks they work on. At any one time, we usually have several tasks of different types available.
To apply for this role, you must be at least 18 years old and legally of age to open explicit fanworks in your local jurisdiction.
If you’re interested, click on through for a longer description of what we’re looking for and the time commitment. For your application to be considered, you will be required to complete a short task within 3 days of submitting your application.
Applications are due 30 April 2025 [or after 35 applications]
Do you have an interest in preserving fannish history? Do you have an interest in wiki editing, or writing help documentation? Fanlore is recruiting for Policy & Admin volunteers!
Fanlore’s Policy & Admin volunteers are responsible for dealing with all the behind the scenes stuff to ensure that Fanlore runs smoothly. We respond to questions and complaints; shape Fanlore’s policies, tutorials, and guidelines; and assist Fanlore gardeners and other editors. No extensive experience is required—just a strong interest in documenting and preserving fandom, good communication skills, and a willingness to work with a team and further Fanlore’s mission. Join us!
Applications are due 30 April 2025 [or after 40 applications]
You’d think White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller’s plate would be full, what with cosplaying Slenderman and trying to cover up his ever-receding hairline. You’d also think he’d be happy, as his lifetime commitment to xenophobia and racism is finally paying off as the Trump administration gears up to deport millions.
White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller
But Miller is not happy because you people won’t stop whining about how Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was wrongfully deported to a Salvadorean prison, is entitled to due process. You know who didn’t get due process, according to Miller? The Jan. 6 insurrectionists.
Here’s Miller over at X, Elon Musk’s Nazi bar: “If you were an American falsely accused of wrongdoing on January 6th it wasn't merely difficult to get ‘due process,’ it was impossible. The entire system was rigged against you. All of it. Those persecuted Americans could only dream of the ‘due process’ afforded illegal aliens.”
Hoo boy. Where to even start? Let’s count the myriad ways that the abduction of Abrego Garcia is not remotely similar to anything that happened to the Jan. 6 rioters.
1. The Jan. 6 rioters were actually charged with crimes.
Abrego Garcia was deported despite there being no charges against him. The Trump administration has already admitted he was deported in error, a thing they’re now trying to walk back. In contrast, the Jan. 6 insurrectionists were criminally charged as part of the largest investigation in FBI history. That investigation led to the arrest of at least 1,583 people.
That’s not evidence of some nefarious plot to deprive the insurrectionists of due process. In fact, it’s the opposite. There were roughly 10,000 people on the Capitol grounds that day, meaning nearly 85% of the rioters never even faced arrest, much less a trial or a conviction or a deportation.
2. The insurrectionists got trials and plea deals.
Out of those 1,583 arrests, 1,270 were convicted, with 1,009, or 79%, pleading guilty. Two hundred twenty-one of the Jan. 6 defendants were convicted after a trial, with an additional 40 convicted after stipulated trials, where a defendant admits to facts without agreeing they constitute a crime. That number of plea deals might seem high, but it’s lower than the typical rate in federal courts, where 89.5% of defendants pleaded guilty in fiscal year 2022.
Abrego Garcia has not been arrested. He has not been convicted. He did not get to have a trial. He did not get to make a plea deal. He was deported illegally, and the administration refuses to bring him back. Miller knows full well these things aren’t remotely comparable.
3. Nobody manufactured evidence against the Jan. 6 criminals.
It’s not just that Trump posted a doctored photograph, photoshopping “MS-13” onto Abrego Garcia’s knuckles. There’s also White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt’s now-routine habit of straight-up lying to justify the administration’s actions. Earlier this month, Leavitt called Abrego Garcia a “leader” of MS-13, but when asked to provide details, couldn’t be bothered, saying, “There’s a lot of evidence, and the Department of Homeland Security and ICE have that evidence, and I saw it this morning.”
Last week, Leavitt accused Abrego Garcia of being detained on suspicion of human trafficking, when the reality was that he was stopped for speeding and veering out of his lane.
In contrast, there was no need to manufacture evidence against the Jan. 6 insurrectionists. Hundreds of them filmed themselves rioting at the Capitol. Plenty bragged about it on social media. And, of course, the nation watched everything unfold in real time.
4. Many Jan. 6 rioters already had criminal records.
Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen, right, speaks with Kilmar Abrego Garcia.
At least 159 convicted insurrectionists had previous criminal records. We’re not talking something like jaywalking here. NPR found that dozens had charges or convictions for serious crimes like manslaughter, rape, drug trafficking, domestic violence, sexual assault of a minor, and production of child sexual abuse material.
Abrego Garcia has no criminal record in the United States or El Salvador. He was arrested once in 2019 by a now-disgraced cop who later pleaded guilty to misconduct. That cop’s evidence for Abrego Garcia’s membership in MS-13? He had a Chicago Bulls cap, which the officer said was “indicative of the Hispanic gang culture.” Of course, it’s also indicative of liking the Chicago Bulls, which is not actually a crime.
5. The Supreme Court gave hundreds of the Jan. 6 rioters a little treat.
Roughly 350 of the Jan. 6 insurrectionists were charged under a federal criminal law that makes it a felony to obstruct official proceedings. You’d think that a riot that tried to block the certification of electoral votes and sent members of Congress into hiding would count as an obstruction of an official proceeding, but you’d be wrong. In 2024, the Supreme Court ruled that the provision applied only to evidence tampering, not rioting.
Fun fact: This was also one of the charges against Trump, not that it matters anymore.
6. Republicans were very concerned about jail conditions for the insurrectionists.
Led by Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Republican members of Congress made a 2023 pilgrimage to see 20 insurrectionists housed at the D.C. jail. Greene howled about a “two-tier justice system” and declared the 20 were “political prisoners,” which is the same nonsense pushed by Trump. These were not people who were being persecuted for their beliefs. And 17 of those 20 were charged with assaulting law enforcement officers.
Greene also ostentatiously worried about the conditions at the jail, saying that inmates had been threatened and denied medical care. She’s correct that conditions at the jail have been bad for a long time, but her passion for fair treatment of the incarcerated extends only to Jan. 6 protesters.
When it comes to Abrego Garcia’s wrongful imprisonment in a notoriously violent foreign prison, Greene’s stance is that it is “dangerously close to treason” for people to advocate for Abrego Garcia’s return. So, it’s treason to demand that the government follow the laws and give Abrego Garcia the due process to which he is entitled, but it’s not treason to try to overturn an election with violence. Got it.
7. The Jan. 6 rioters had Trump in their corner.
On the campaign trail in 2024, Trump made no secret of the fact that if he were elected, he’d pardon the rioters, who he said were “hostages.” He showed up at fundraisers on their behalf. He described the violence perpetrated by his supporters as a display of “spirit and faith and love,” and said he’d never seen anything like “the love in the air” that day.
Trump was so smitten that he joined the Washington, D.C. jail inmates in song, sort of. Trump recited the “Pledge of Allegiance,” which was then layered over the “J6 Prison Choir” singing “The Star-Spangled Banner.” FBI Director Kash Patel produced this monstrosity, but when he was asked about it during his confirmation hearings, he suddenly couldn’t recall a thing about his involvement.
8. The Jan. 6 insurrectionists were pardoned.
One of Trump’s first official acts of 2025 was to pardon his merry band of treasonists, including people who had violently assaulted police officers. So, not only did they receive all the due process owed to them as criminal defendants, but they also received the gift of a clean slate.
For some defendants, that clean slate was extra-generous. Several had been charged with additional, unrelated crimes, such as weapons charges, that turned up during investigations into their actions on Jan. 6. In at least seven cases, the DOJ then argued that Trump’s pardon covered the unrelated crimes, as the crime wouldn’t have been discovered but for the Jan. 6 investigation. Quite the deal!
9. The rioters were not shipped off to a maximum security prison in El Salvador.
Besides the part where they are no longer burdened with any criminal charges, the Jan. 6 rioters are, well, here. They were not transported to El Salvador in the dead of night. They’re not being kept in El Salvador in defiance of a Supreme Court order. And unlike what the White House is saying about Abrego Garcia, senior officials in the Biden administration didn’t mock Jan. 6 prisoners and brag that they were never coming home.
It’s honestly unclear what additional due process Miller thinks the Jan. 6 defendants should have received. His real complaint is that he doesn’t believe they should have ever been charged, regardless of the evidence. When it comes to Abrego Garcia, however, Miller doesn’t believe in due process at all.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is continuing his life’s work of making public health more precarious as the Food and Drug Administration, which he oversees, is suspending its quality-control testing of raw fluid milk and other dairy products due to budget cuts, according to Reuters.
The suspension of testing begins this week and includes Grade “A” raw milk and other finished dairy products. Grade “A” is the nation’s highest sanitary standard for milk, making sure it does not contain harmful pathogens.
According to a spokesperson, the FDA's Moffett Center Proficiency Testing Laboratory, which conducts such food safety testing, has been “decommissioned.” That, along with massive Trump administration budget cuts, has left the FDA "no longer able to provide laboratory support for proficiency testing and data analysis,” according to an internal email obtained by Reuters.
Dairy cows in Gilmanton Ironworks, New Hampshire, on Dec. 5, 2016.
This news follows the suspension of programs focused on bird flu outbreaks, which included studies showing how pasteurized milk can kill the virus, after Kennedy fired senior veterinarians designing them.
In his quest to fund tax for the wealthy, President Donald Trump’s administration demanded that the HHS, which includes the FDA, cut $40 billion from its budget. Since January, HHS has lost an estimated 20,000 positions in its workforce.
It remains unclear whether Kennedy will be able to slap together a replacement testing program, like the one at the now-closed Moffett Center Proficiency Testing Laboratory. Like many of the government agencies decimated by Trump and Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency, the scramble to rehire essential employees seems to have become a weekly crisis.
As Trump continues to pretend that he has conquered soaring egg prices, which are still largely driven by one of the worst outbreaks of avian flu in U.S. history, his budget cuts and the decision to have Kennedy run public health leave no clear end in sight.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt used Tuesday’s briefing with reporters to praise right-wing podcaster Tim Pool, who was granted the privilege of asking her the first question of the day.
Pool then proceeded to team up with the White House spokesperson to spew lies about Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Salvadoran immigrant who was abducted due to an “administrative error” by the Trump administration and deported to El Salvador, where he was held in a notorious maximum security prison.
Leavitt gushed in her introduction that Pool has “millions of followers, a very big platform,” and promoted the podcasts that he produces. She described Pool’s guests as having a “diverse range” of opinions but failed to note that Pool hasfrequently platformed white supremacists.
Pool launched into a tirade about news organizations purportedly promoting “false narratives,” citing reports that President Donald Trump called Nazis “very fine people” (which he did) and the “Maryland man hoax.” Right-wing media and the Trump administration have insisted that Abrego Garcia, who lives in Maryland with his wife and children, is not a “Maryland man.” He is, in fact, a Maryland man and union member who works as a sheet metal apprentice, as well as a father to three children.
Pool also referred to Abrego Garcia, who has no criminal record, as an MS-13 gang member, but federal Judge Paula Xinis disagreed in a decision handed down on April 6.
“The ‘evidence’ against Abrego Garcia consisted of nothing more than his Chicago Bulls hat and hoodie, and a vague, uncorroborated allegation from a confidential informant claiming he belonged to MS-13’s ‘Western’ clique in New York — a place he has never lived,” Xinis wrote.
Pool then claimed that criticism of the “new media” pro-MAGA outlets that the Trump administration has welcomed to White House briefings is “unprofessional.”
Leavitt, taking the softball pitch from Pool, praised him and other pro-MAGA outlets as “unbiased journalists.” She then reiterated her previous claims that Abrego Garcia was a gang member and “terrorist” who should not be readmitted to the U.S., even though the Supreme Court has determined he should be because he has been denied due process rights in court.
Prior to helping the White House with its spin, Pool was most recently in the news in September 2024 when it wasrevealed that he and several other conservative podcasters had received payments from a front for the Russian government.
Pool is a conspiracy theorist whohas floated debunked theories about COVID-19 lockdowns, among other topics. Heonce accused a teacher of being a pedophile because she shared a book about LGBTQ people with students.
In addition to hosting white supremacists, Poolhas accused “multiculturalism” of playing a role in mass shootings andsaid women should be shamed based on the number of sexual partners they’ve had.
Pool is a perfect example of the bigoted, serial misinformers that the Trump administrationhopes to prioritize in their press briefing room. While platforming these deeply problematic pundits, the administration continues to attack honest reporting and corporate media outlets increasinglybend and twist the news to favor the conservative point of view.
The former half-term governor turned failed vice presidential candidate turned failed reality TV star turned failed congressional candidate turned forever laughingstock of America tried her gosh darndest to make The New York Times pay her for making her feel real sad about herself.
Palin claimed in her lawsuit that the meanies at the Times deliberately included an error in a 2017 editorial and wanted a big ol’ pile of cash because the Times supposedly damaged her reputation. Said meanies suggested in said editorial that Palin had incited the tragic mass shooting in Arizona that seriously injured then-Rep. Gabby Giffords and killed six others.
Never mind that the Times corrected the error less than a day after it was published. And never mind that by 2017, Palin’s reputation was already in the garbage from all of the many, many, many ways she embarrassed herself on the national stage.
And also never mind that this is the second time a jury has told Palin to get over herself. This case previously went to trial in 2022, when both a judge and jury ruled against her. But she appealed the verdict and got to plead her defamation case all over again.
A Republican congresswoman is getting torched online for a racist jab at a Democratic colleague who did something she refuses to: call out President Donald Trump.
In a clip posted to X by left-leaning media outlet Heartland Signal on Monday, GOP Rep. Diana Harshbarger of Tennessee referred to Texas Rep. Al Green as “boy,” a term long recognized to be racist when used to describe Black men.
“Gosh dang it, boy, put that— He does not need that cane. That cane is a prop. I swear it’s not real,” Harshbarger said during an interview with F.A.M.E Ministries, mocking Green. “And I’m wondering, one of my colleagues said, ‘Screw the gold part off of it, and see if there’s a gun in there.” And I’m like, I don’t know about that man. He’s just Weird Al.”
Harshbarger was referring to Green’s protest during Trump’slie-filled speech to Congress in March, where Green shouted, “You have no mandate!” The move earned Green a censure from the House, with even 10 Democrats voting against him. But Harshbarger couldn’t resist circling back weeks later, using the moment not just to make a jab at Green but to drop a racial slur in the process.
The term “boy” isn’t some casual insult—it’s a word steeped in an ugly racial history. Martin Luther King Jr. referred to it as a daily humiliation inflicted on Black Americans. Harshbarger likely knows this, but she said it anyway.
But Harshbarger is not just a racist. She’s also a coward.
Green took a public stand against Trump, but Harshbarger has refused to do the same, even as her constituents protest her support of the chaos Trump and tech billionaire Elon Musk are unleashing on the government.
Democratic Rep. Al Green of Texas shouts as President Donald Trump addresses a joint session of Congress at the U.S. Capitol on March 4.
At a February event Harshbarger held in her district, voters showed up with anti-Trump and -Musk signs. Others blasted the representative for backing an administration that’s undercutting veterans and gutting public services.
In other words, like many of her GOP colleagues, Harshbarger is getting grilled at town halls—but instead of holding the White House accountable, she’s lashing out at Democrats.
She’s not alone in targeting Green, either. In March, Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado referred to his cane as a “pimp cane,” which caused some House Democrats to call for her to be censured. Boebert expressed zero remorse, however, and later doubled down on her remarks.
In the same interview, Harshbarger also had more hate to spread.
Attacking LGBTQ+ people, she said, “I never saw so many fairies in the White House! Dancing around—I don’t know where they got ’em. … My job is to love ’em into the love of Christ, but I gotta watch what I say.”
Too late.
Harshbarger may want to clean up her house before trashing others’. Her constituents are turning on her. And her husband, Robert Harshbarger, was sentenced to four years in federal prison after pleading guilty in 2013 to distributing misbranded drugs from China to patients undergoing kidney dialysis.
Secretary of State Marco Rubioannounced on Tuesday that he is reorganizing the State Department—and that reorganization plan hinges on gutting key offices that have been instrumental in strengthening American diplomacy via diversity.
Among the divisions that will be shut down or severely curtailed are the offices of Global Women’s Issues and the Diversity and Inclusion Office.
Ina statement, Rubio branded the changes as part of an effort to create an “America First State Department,” echoing President Donald Trump’s campaign messages and policies that denigrate the contributions of women and minorities.
“Redundant offices will be removed, and non-statutory programs that are misaligned with America’s core national interests will cease to exist,” Rubio said. Healso said the reorganization would reverse “decades of bloat and bureaucracy.”
The Global Women’s Issues office has been used for years to integrate issues pertaining to the rights of women and girls into American foreign policy. In a 2013 statement, then-Secretary of State John Kerrynoted, “No country can get ahead if it leaves half of its people behind. This is why the United States believes gender equality is critical to our shared goals of prosperity, stability, and peace, and why investing in women and girls worldwide is critical to U.S. foreign policy.”
The Diversity and Inclusion office was intended to create a pipeline of diverse candidates that would become a part of the American diplomatic mission. In a 2024statement, former Secretary of State Antony Blinken said this was necessary “because recruiting, nurturing, and promoting the most capable workforce possible is critical to our national security.”
The MAGA-fueled announcement is another instance of Rubio, whoonce called Trump a “con man” who sought to perpetrate “the biggest scam in American political history” during the 2016 election, completelysubmitting himself to the aspiring autocrat.
Trump has beenon a tear since taking office in January, attacking the foundations of American civil rights gains and working to undermine decades of efforts toward equality on the basis of gender and sexual orientation.
When Trump nominated Rubio, the former Florida senator received unanimous support from his colleagues. Everyone present voted to confirm him, including the members of the Senate Democratic Caucus. Since then, as Rubio has completely embraced Trumpism—including praising the abduction of people from American cities and revoking students’ visas for exercising their First Amendment rights—many of those Democratshave expressed regrets.
“I regret to say I regret that vote, because once installed in office, he is essentially abandoning the positions he took here as United States senator,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland told CNN in February.
The Department of Education announced Monday that it will resume collections on defaulted student loans starting May 5—just as the stock market hits historic lows and inflation continues to climb.
On a call with reporters, officials confirmed that borrowers who don’t pay up could face wage garnishment by summer. Others could be hounded by debt collectors or shoved into income-based repayment plans. The Treasury Department will administer the process through its offset program, and borrowers will be notified within the next two weeks.
“American taxpayers will no longer be forced to serve as collateral for irresponsible student loan policies,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in a statement.
This marks the official end of a pandemic-era pause on collections that began in March 2020. No defaulted federal loans have been referred to collections since, but that ends now—arguably at the worst possible moment.
The economy is in worse shape than it was during the pandemic, thanks in no small part to Trump’s erratic economic policies: self-sabotaging tariffs, nonstop bashing of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, and a general war on basic stability.
Trump has also repeatedly threatened to dismantle the Education Department, which has made it harder for borrowers to get clear answers, even if they want to pay. Now he’s making sure the agency goes out swinging by garnishing paychecks on the way out the door. It’s not just cruel. It’s deliberate.
“Things are really difficult to understand right now. Things are changing every day,” Kristin McGuire, the executive director for Young Invincibles, which focuses on economic security for young adults, told the Associated Press. “We can’t assume that people are in default because they don’t want to pay their loans. People are in default because they can’t pay their loans and because they don’t know how.”
And of course, every day Americans will pay the price. With grocery bills rising and wages stagnating, the White House has warned that defaulted borrowers could be referred to federal collectors—losing access to aid, wrecking their credit, and facing long-term financial damage.
This isn’t some niche issue. The Education Department says roughly 5.3 million borrowers are already in default, but it expects that number to nearly double. Another four million are in late-stage delinquency, meaning 91 to 180 days behind in paying. Less than 40% of all borrowers are current on their loans.
Trump hasn’t offered borrowers relief—just a bill.
It was former President Joe Biden who fought to cancel up to $20,000 in student debt for anyone who had received a Pell Grant to be able to go to college and bring millions of borrowers back into good standing. While the Supreme Court blocked his broad forgiveness plan, Biden still managed to cancel over $183 billion in debt for more than five million borrowers.
Now, under Trump, the collections are back, and the compassion is gone.
“There will not be any mass loan forgiveness,” McMahon said. She added, “Going forward, the Department of Education, in conjunction with the Department of Treasury, will shepherd the student loan program responsibly and according to the law, which means helping borrowers return to repayment—both for the sake of their own financial health and our nation’s economic outlook.”
But the timing couldn’t be worse. Trump’s economic chaos is gutting consumer confidence and stretching household budgets thin. Millions of borrowers are about to get hit with a bill they can’t afford. Miss it, and they could watch their credit sink, their wages shrink, and their financial stability collapse.
“You’ve gotten people out of the habit of repaying now for the better part of five years,” Colleen Campbell, the former head of loan portfolio management at the Education Department, told The New York Times. “For some borrowers, several cohorts of them, you’ve never built the repayment habit at all.”
Trump’s message? Too bad. Pay up—while he burns the economy down around you.
Garlic Press and Poison Pen Press, publishers of Star Trek: The Original Series fanzines including Spockanalia and Masiform D, are importing the zines’ fanworks to the Archive of Our Own (AO3).
Spockanalia (1967-1970) was the very first all-Star Trek fanzine ever published, and Masiform D (1971-1998) was the longest running Star Trek fanzine, so Open Doors is delighted to be preserving these fanzines’ works as part of the AO3 Fanzine Scan Hosting Project (FSHP).
The purpose of the Open Doors Committee’s AO3 Fanzine Scan Hosting Project (FSHP) is to assist publishers of fanzines to incorporate the fanworks from those fanzines into the Archive of Our Own. It is extremely important to Open Doors that we work in collaboration with publishers who want to import their fanzines and that we fully credit creators, giving them as much control as possible over their fanworks. Open Doors will be working with Garlic Press and Poison Pen Press to import the fanzines listed above into separate, searchable collections on the Archive of Our Own. As part of preserving the fanzines in their entirety, all art in the fanzines will be hosted on the OTW’s servers and embedded in their own AO3 work pages.
We will begin importing works from Garlic Press and Poison Pen Press’s fanzines to the AO3 after April. However, the import may not take place for several months or even years, depending on the size and complexity of the task. Creators are always welcome to import their own works and add them to the collections in the meantime.
We will send an import notification to the email address we have for each creator. We’ll do our best to check for an existing copy of any works before importing. If we find a copy already on the AO3, we will add it to the collection instead of importing it. All works archived on behalf of a creator will include their name in the byline or the summary of the work.
All imported works will be set to be viewable only by logged-in AO3 users. Once you claim your works, you can make them publicly-viewable if you choose. After 30 days, all unclaimed imported works will be made visible to all visitors.
Please contact Open Doors with your creator pseud(s) and email address(es), if:
You’d like us to import your works, but you need the notification sent to a different email address than the publishers have a record of.
You already have an AO3 account and have imported your works already yourself.
You’d like to import your works yourself (including if you don’t have an AO3 account yet).
You would NOT like your works moved to the AO3, or would NOT like your works added to the fanzine collections.
You are happy for us to preserve your works on the AO3, but would like us to remove your name.
You have any other questions we can help you with.
Please include the name of the publisher or fanzine in the subject heading of your email. If you no longer have access to the email account the publishers have a record of, please contact Open Doors and we’ll help you out. (If you’ve posted the works elsewhere, or have an easy way to verify that they’re yours, that’s great; if not, we will work with Garlic Press and Poison Pen Press to confirm your claims.)
We’re excited to be able to help preserve Garlic Press and Poison Pen Press’s fanzines!
– The Open Doors team and Devra Langsam
Commenting on this post will be disabled in 14 days. If you have any questions, concerns, or comments regarding this import after that date, please contact Open Doors.
Republican Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida held a town hall on Monday where his staff prescreened attendees to make sure they lived in his deeply conservative southwestern Florida district, an attempt to prevent being heckled like his fellow Republican lawmakers have been.
“Elon Musk and DOGE have been authorized by the president of the United States—" Donalds said, and then was drowned out by boos.
“Do you want to yell, or do you want to hear?” he said to the audience.
Donalds is not the first Republican lawmaker to have facedtestytown halls as constituents rage over DOGE cuts and other destructive Trump administration policies.
A number of House Republicans have brushed off the anger, falsely claiming that those who show up were paid protesters who aren’t from their districts.
“The videos you saw of the town halls were for paid protesters in many of those places,” House Speaker Mike Johnson told CNN in late February. “These are Democrats who went to the events early and filled up the seats.”
Yet Donalds cannot make this claim for his event because, according to information from his own office, attendees had to show proof that they lived in his district before they were let in.
“Only voting constituents of Florida’s 19th Congressional District are eligible,” reads the event page on Donalds’ House website, which added that attendees had to show identification that had an address within the district.
“Non-voting constituents will not be allowed to enter the event,” the event page added.
Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried made this point to explain why Donalds' town hall was an abject disaster.
"This is actually worse than it looks,” Fried wrote in a post on X, above a video from the town hall. “There was room for 700 people, you had to be a resident of the district and could only sign up a certain amount of people per family. Byron pre-screened the audience in deep red Lee County and this is still what he got. Angry constituents.”
Town hall events have been so ugly for Republicans that GOP leadership has advised their members not to hold in-person events at all—a way to avoid video images of Republicans being challenged by their voters.
And it’s no wonder Republicans are worried. The last time Republicans faced such rowdy town halls was in 2017 and 2018, before Democrats romped their way back to the House majority in the midterms during Trump's first term.
On the eve of what most analysts believe will be a grim earnings report from carmaker Tesla, MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow took on the disastrous tenure of the company’s CEO, Elon Musk, in his dual role as Donald Trump’s co-president.
“His time in Washington kind of started bad and has just been scuttling worse and worse all the time,” Maddow began. “His Department of Government Efficiency thing is a mix of embarrassment for its errors and its palpable confusion, and horror and anger for how much damage it is doing to the U.S. government, with really nothing positive to show for itself at all.”
“The Trump administration is spending more on a daily basis than the Biden administration was,” Maddow continued. “So even if the whole good idea of DOGE is less government spending, it has absolutely failed at that.”
Tesla’s stock has dropped nearly 50% from its record high, which might give Musk an excuse for turning tail and running out of the Washington, D.C. spotlight. He’s the world’s richest man, so he won’t go very far, but fingers crossed, he steps far enough away to lessen some of the harm he’s done to our country.
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dailykos_feed) wrote2025-04-23 03:03 pm
