Umm...wasn't the strikes on Iran a "distraction" from the Epstein files? Or was that the parade? I guess this dose of "Epstein files" are to distract from the mass child drownings in Texas? These distractions just feed on each other, I don't thing distraction means what you think it means.
Personally, I don't think these distractions are planned. These people have no idea what they're doing, you can't ignore how inept they truly aspire to be. I have now heard that Texas will get FEMA relief...but where are they? Apparently, FEMA hasn't shown up yet at all. That could be that they're not coming or Trump figured out you can't just turn FEMA on and off like a light switch. Either way, I don't think either story will distract from the other. Put the screws to Trump, his mental decline is showing.
Life under the Trump 2 Dictatorship
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The Evil Genius
- Posts: 785
- Joined: Tue Feb 11, 2025 4:03 pm
- Reactions score: 399
- Location: Gallifery
US judge rules Abrego's challenge to wrongful deportation can proceed
A U.S. judge ruled on Monday that Kilmar Abrego's legal challenge to his wrongful deportation to El Salvador can continue despite the decision by President Donald Trump's administration to bring him back to the United States to face criminal charges.
Maryland-based U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis found that there were ongoing issues to resolve in the case, including whether the administration fully complied with prior orders to facilitate Abrego's return and allow his immigration case to be handled as though he had not been improperly deported.
Justice Department lawyers had argued that the case was moot given Abrego's return from El Salvador in June to face U.S. charges accusing him of unlawfully transporting migrants living illegally in the United States. Abrego has pleaded not guilty to the charges in Tennessee.
Abrego is a Salvadoran national who was living in Maryland when the U.S. government deported him in March to El Salvador despite a 2019 judicial order barring such a move on the grounds that he could face persecution by gangs in his home country. His wife and young son are American citizens.
Xinis during Monday's hearing expressed frustration over the administration's handling of the case, particularly the uncertainty over a potential second deportation. A federal judge overseeing Abrego's criminal case ordered last month that Abrego be released, but the Trump administration has said it plans to immediately take him into immigration custody and bring new deportation proceedings.
"It's chaos, and it's chaos that can be avoided," Xinis said on Monday.
Xinis ordered U.S. officials to testify on Thursday about the administration's plans for Abrego if he is released from criminal custody.
In rejecting the administration's bid to end the civil lawsuit, Xinis found there was a risk that Abrego could be improperly deported again.
"For three months your clients told the world they weren’t going to do anything to bring him back," Xinis told a Justice Department lawyer. "Am I really supposed to ignore all that?"
Click on the link for the full article
A U.S. judge ruled on Monday that Kilmar Abrego's legal challenge to his wrongful deportation to El Salvador can continue despite the decision by President Donald Trump's administration to bring him back to the United States to face criminal charges.
Maryland-based U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis found that there were ongoing issues to resolve in the case, including whether the administration fully complied with prior orders to facilitate Abrego's return and allow his immigration case to be handled as though he had not been improperly deported.
Justice Department lawyers had argued that the case was moot given Abrego's return from El Salvador in June to face U.S. charges accusing him of unlawfully transporting migrants living illegally in the United States. Abrego has pleaded not guilty to the charges in Tennessee.
Abrego is a Salvadoran national who was living in Maryland when the U.S. government deported him in March to El Salvador despite a 2019 judicial order barring such a move on the grounds that he could face persecution by gangs in his home country. His wife and young son are American citizens.
Xinis during Monday's hearing expressed frustration over the administration's handling of the case, particularly the uncertainty over a potential second deportation. A federal judge overseeing Abrego's criminal case ordered last month that Abrego be released, but the Trump administration has said it plans to immediately take him into immigration custody and bring new deportation proceedings.
"It's chaos, and it's chaos that can be avoided," Xinis said on Monday.
Xinis ordered U.S. officials to testify on Thursday about the administration's plans for Abrego if he is released from criminal custody.
In rejecting the administration's bid to end the civil lawsuit, Xinis found there was a risk that Abrego could be improperly deported again.
"For three months your clients told the world they weren’t going to do anything to bring him back," Xinis told a Justice Department lawyer. "Am I really supposed to ignore all that?"
Click on the link for the full article
And there's more:
‘Like nailing jello to a wall’: Judge scolds DOJ for shifting positions on Abrego deportation
A federal judge grew frustrated Monday over the Trump administration’s shifting claims about its handling of Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s illegal deportation to El Salvador — and whether it plans to deport him again before a criminal case against him is resolved.
U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis said getting certain answers from the administration was like “nailing jello to a wall” and ordered the Justice Department to produce a witness from the Department of Homeland Security on Thursday to testify about its designs for Abrego.
Click on the link for the full article
‘Like nailing jello to a wall’: Judge scolds DOJ for shifting positions on Abrego deportation
A federal judge grew frustrated Monday over the Trump administration’s shifting claims about its handling of Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s illegal deportation to El Salvador — and whether it plans to deport him again before a criminal case against him is resolved.
U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis said getting certain answers from the administration was like “nailing jello to a wall” and ordered the Justice Department to produce a witness from the Department of Homeland Security on Thursday to testify about its designs for Abrego.
Click on the link for the full article
Judge blocks Trump from cutting off Planned Parenthood funding under "big, beautiful bill"
A judge on Monday temporarily barred the Trump administration from revoking Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood, partially freezing a provision of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act just days after President Trump signed it into law.
The temporary restraining order by U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani lasts 14 days and directs the Department of Health and Human Services to "take all steps necessary to ensure that Medicaid funding continues to be disbursed" to Planned Parenthood. The ruling, which came after a lawsuit from Planned Parenthood, doesn't apply to any other health care providers.
The lawsuit takes aim at a portion of Mr. Trump's signature domestic policy bill that would cut off any federal Medicaid funding to groups "primarily engaged in family planning services, reproductive health, and related medical care" that provide abortions.
The provision doesn't directly mention Planned Parenthood by name, but the group argues it's a "naked attempt to leverage the government's spending power to attack and penalize Planned Parenthood and impermissibly single it out for unfavorable treatment."
Federal Medicaid dollars already cannot be used to cover abortions except in cases of rape, incest or risk to a mother's life. But Planned Parenthood argues this new provision would make it harder for patients to access the non-abortion services offered by the group's local members, like screenings for cancer and sexually transmitted infections.
Planned Parenthood also said more than half of its patients use Medicaid, so a funding cutoff would have "devastating effects" on the group and its local affiliates, forcing some local health centers to close.
Click on the link for the full article
A judge on Monday temporarily barred the Trump administration from revoking Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood, partially freezing a provision of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act just days after President Trump signed it into law.
The temporary restraining order by U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani lasts 14 days and directs the Department of Health and Human Services to "take all steps necessary to ensure that Medicaid funding continues to be disbursed" to Planned Parenthood. The ruling, which came after a lawsuit from Planned Parenthood, doesn't apply to any other health care providers.
The lawsuit takes aim at a portion of Mr. Trump's signature domestic policy bill that would cut off any federal Medicaid funding to groups "primarily engaged in family planning services, reproductive health, and related medical care" that provide abortions.
The provision doesn't directly mention Planned Parenthood by name, but the group argues it's a "naked attempt to leverage the government's spending power to attack and penalize Planned Parenthood and impermissibly single it out for unfavorable treatment."
Federal Medicaid dollars already cannot be used to cover abortions except in cases of rape, incest or risk to a mother's life. But Planned Parenthood argues this new provision would make it harder for patients to access the non-abortion services offered by the group's local members, like screenings for cancer and sexually transmitted infections.
Planned Parenthood also said more than half of its patients use Medicaid, so a funding cutoff would have "devastating effects" on the group and its local affiliates, forcing some local health centers to close.
Click on the link for the full article
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Emir of Schmoe
- Posts: 82
- Joined: Tue Jan 28, 2025 10:14 am
- Reactions score: 29
National seashore lacks lifeguards as Chincoteague fumes
Visitors are flocking to Assateague Island National Seashore in record numbers. The annual Chincoteague pony swim and auction — and the peak of the summer tourism season — is three weeks away.
But Chincoteague Mayor Denise Bowden is worried, as the Eastern Shore town faces new responsibilities because President Donald Trump‘s administration never hired lifeguards to protect people thronging the 37-mile-long barrier island in Virginia and Maryland.
As in zero lifeguards, with 13 positions unfilled, according to the National Parks Conservation Association.
“It’s really put us in a bind,” said Bowden, who also serves in the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company. “We’re not happy.”
...
The hiring freeze that Trump ordered on his first day of office came as the park service was hiring seasonal workers, including lifeguards. The agency stopped hiring and rescinded offers it had made, only to reverse again when the new administration lifted its freeze on filling up to 8,000 seasonal jobs. Five months later, about half of those remain vacant, including the chief lifeguard at Assateague and six lifeguard jobs on each side of the state line that divides the national seashore.
“They never posted the positions,” said Ed Stierli, senior Mid-Atlantic regional director of the parks conservation association.
https://richmond.com/news/state-regiona ... a8ae7.html
Visitors are flocking to Assateague Island National Seashore in record numbers. The annual Chincoteague pony swim and auction — and the peak of the summer tourism season — is three weeks away.
But Chincoteague Mayor Denise Bowden is worried, as the Eastern Shore town faces new responsibilities because President Donald Trump‘s administration never hired lifeguards to protect people thronging the 37-mile-long barrier island in Virginia and Maryland.
As in zero lifeguards, with 13 positions unfilled, according to the National Parks Conservation Association.
“It’s really put us in a bind,” said Bowden, who also serves in the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company. “We’re not happy.”
...
The hiring freeze that Trump ordered on his first day of office came as the park service was hiring seasonal workers, including lifeguards. The agency stopped hiring and rescinded offers it had made, only to reverse again when the new administration lifted its freeze on filling up to 8,000 seasonal jobs. Five months later, about half of those remain vacant, including the chief lifeguard at Assateague and six lifeguard jobs on each side of the state line that divides the national seashore.
“They never posted the positions,” said Ed Stierli, senior Mid-Atlantic regional director of the parks conservation association.
https://richmond.com/news/state-regiona ... a8ae7.html
'Indefensible': Trump Budget Law Subsidizes Private Jet Owners While Taking Healthcare From Millions
The Republican budget measure that U.S. President Donald Trump signed into law late last week contains a provision that analysts say will allow private jet owners to write off the full cost of their aircraft in the first year of purchase, a boon to the ultra-rich that comes as millions of people are set to lose healthcare under the same legislation.
FlyUSA, a private aviation provider, gushed in a blog post that with final passage of the unpopular budget reconciliation package, "business jet ownership has never looked more fiscally attractive or more fun to explain to your accountant."
Click on the link for the full article
The Republican budget measure that U.S. President Donald Trump signed into law late last week contains a provision that analysts say will allow private jet owners to write off the full cost of their aircraft in the first year of purchase, a boon to the ultra-rich that comes as millions of people are set to lose healthcare under the same legislation.
FlyUSA, a private aviation provider, gushed in a blog post that with final passage of the unpopular budget reconciliation package, "business jet ownership has never looked more fiscally attractive or more fun to explain to your accountant."
Click on the link for the full article
'They’ve done a very foolish thing': Fired Trump officials pledge to stop him
Officials recently fired by President Donald Trump from USAID and the State Department are now repurposing their years of experience battling authoritarian regimes abroad to resist what they see as growing authoritarianism in the United States.
For years, these democracy-building experts — ousted earlier this year by the Trump administration — were dispatched to support opposition movements and civil-society actors in autocratic countries. Today, equipped with time and a vast network of former colleagues, they are redirecting that expertise to challenge what they see as an attack on democracy, NOTUS reported Monday.
The purge began in February, when Trump abruptly fired USAID’s inspector general, Paul K. Martin, after his office reported on the impact of the administration’s aid freeze. Shortly thereafter, roughly 83% of programs were cancelled, 94% of personnel laid off, and USAID was folded into the State Department — a move observers called an “advance of authoritarianism."
The dismantling sparked harsh rebukes from former presidents, international partners, and aid advocates.
“Take it from those of us who worked in authoritarian countries: We’ve become one,” a current federal official, who was not named, told NOTUS.
“They were so quick to disband AID, the group that supposedly instigates color revolutions. But they’ve done a very foolish thing. You just released a bunch of well‑trained individuals into your population. If you kept our offices going and had us play solitaire in the office, it might have been safer to keep your regime," the source added.
The fired experts are mobilizing rapidly, per the report. They are said to be hosting digital briefings for journalists, providing consulting to grassroots organizations, coordinating litigation strategies and advising state attorneys general on constitutional challenges to executive authority.
Some within this informal network of Trump opponents have even begun circulating a decades‑old CIA pamphlet among allies still serving in government — titled “Simple Sabotage.”
Click on the link for the full article
Officials recently fired by President Donald Trump from USAID and the State Department are now repurposing their years of experience battling authoritarian regimes abroad to resist what they see as growing authoritarianism in the United States.
For years, these democracy-building experts — ousted earlier this year by the Trump administration — were dispatched to support opposition movements and civil-society actors in autocratic countries. Today, equipped with time and a vast network of former colleagues, they are redirecting that expertise to challenge what they see as an attack on democracy, NOTUS reported Monday.
The purge began in February, when Trump abruptly fired USAID’s inspector general, Paul K. Martin, after his office reported on the impact of the administration’s aid freeze. Shortly thereafter, roughly 83% of programs were cancelled, 94% of personnel laid off, and USAID was folded into the State Department — a move observers called an “advance of authoritarianism."
The dismantling sparked harsh rebukes from former presidents, international partners, and aid advocates.
“Take it from those of us who worked in authoritarian countries: We’ve become one,” a current federal official, who was not named, told NOTUS.
“They were so quick to disband AID, the group that supposedly instigates color revolutions. But they’ve done a very foolish thing. You just released a bunch of well‑trained individuals into your population. If you kept our offices going and had us play solitaire in the office, it might have been safer to keep your regime," the source added.
The fired experts are mobilizing rapidly, per the report. They are said to be hosting digital briefings for journalists, providing consulting to grassroots organizations, coordinating litigation strategies and advising state attorneys general on constitutional challenges to executive authority.
Some within this informal network of Trump opponents have even begun circulating a decades‑old CIA pamphlet among allies still serving in government — titled “Simple Sabotage.”
Click on the link for the full article