Notices by Randahl Fink (randahl@mastodon.social)

This is so funny. Everyone on the planet can see Trump’s blatant corruption. But when Trump is getting a USD 400 million plane from Qatar, even MAGA celebrity Laura Loomer can see there is a problem.

But here is the fun bit: She reacts, not because it is corrupt, but — and this is real — because Trump is accepting the bribe from Muslims. Had the bribe only been from Israel, or Russia or the American oligarchy, everything would have been MAGA approved.

They breathe culture war.

Every MAGA celebrity including Laura Loomer is completely losing it over the Catholics choosing a compassionate pope.

It is the self proclaimed religious complaining that the new Catholic leader is actually religious.

“This man has no double standards!!!”

I love it.

Perfection is, when Trump is applauding the election of the new pope, and the new pope begins by calling Putin’s war an “imperialist invasion”.

Source: https://kyivindependent.com/pope-leo-xiv-condemns-russias-imperialist-invasion-of-ukraine/

Putin just rejected the 30 day ceasefire, and Trump thinks this is a “potentially great day” that will save “hundreds of thousands of lives”.

Yep, Putin wants peace — right after Mexico pays for that wall.

Yesterday western leaders demanded a 30 day ceasefire in Ukraine beginning Monday.

Putin then held a speech where he did not accept the ceasefire but tried to prolong the war by suggesting more negotiations to be held in Istanbul, while his war machine keeps destroying Ukraine.

Meanwhile, the US embassy in Kyiv issued a warning that Russia is preparing a large missile attack on Kyiv.

We will only have peace when Putin is defeated.

This week’s most beautiful graph: The price of Russian oil.

When the war started:
USD 96 / barrel

Now:
USD 55 / barrel

Have a great Sunday everyone!

So Trump is making US companies less competitive by tariffing their imports, while jailing foreign students, and defunding universities, and persecuting both ethnic and sexual minorities.

If his real goal was to get academics to move to Canada or the EU, I would call his politics quite effective.

“There is no evidence here.”

With these words, US federal Judge William K. Sessions ordered Turkish student Rümeysa Öztürk freed from prison, where she has been since Trump’s ICE goons snatched her off the streets because she wrote an op-ed debating the war in Gaza.

She spent 45 days in prison for saying something, Trump does not like. I hope she counter sues the living daylights of of Trump’s mafia administration.

https://www.npr.org/2025/05/09/nx-s1-5393055/tufts-student-rumeysa-ozturk-ordered-freed-from-immigration-detention

Trump is shutting out European movies from the US market by putting a 100 percent tariff on them.

Put a 100 percent tariff on US streaming services, and let us see if Trump still has the support of Jeff Bezos, owner of Amazon Prime.

US retailer Target is in trouble. They followed Trump's orders and ended their diversity programmes, but that angered consumers so much, they have lost 9.5 percent of their customers, and the boycott initiatives continue.

https://eu.azcentral.com/story/entertainment/life/2025/04/30/why-are-people-boycotting-target/83367977007/

This is the news we need right now:

American rock band R.E.M. remixes their old song Radio Free Europe, and rereleases it with all proceeds going to the actual Radio Free Europe, which Donald Trump is trying to shut down by cutting all funding.

News story about this rebel move:
https://youtu.be/FNy_hM0b_ro?si=bW4VANBJOqTGAPyO

Listen to the song on Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/track/5jeQ6qxfi7nrDIP7WeBonZ?si=jQkDqppaRL-Uvg04C8BNVg&context=spotify%3Aalbum%3A3WUyr8kiPJQ8c7fYnDkm86

It is starting to feel like summer in my city Vejle, and the dining area called The Midpoint have put up their colorful umbrellas.

I love this time of year. ♥️

When Reporters without Borders started measuring press freedom in 2002, the US was ranked 17th, which many thought was too low.

Under Trump the US is ranked 57th, just above Gambia, and Trump has now signed an executive order to defund NPR and PBS.

https://youtu.be/rrR-MjMbVyw?si=bkkFp-Hw2i6pVnNx

TikTok is fined €530 million for illegally sending user data to China and failing to disclose its dubious practices to TikTok users.

I simply love the EU. Ordnung muss sein!
🇪🇺♥️🇪🇺

https://www.theverge.com/news/660047/tiktok-fine-600-million-ireland-gdpr-data-china

I find it interesting, that France delivered 600 AASM Hammer missiles in 2024, and that production has been increased to 1200 this year.

Depending on the version, these missiles enable Ukraine to drop from 250 kg to 1000 kg of explosives with high precision on a target 70 km away.

If all 1200 are going to Ukraine this year, Ukraine will be able to take out 3 high value targets deep behind the frontlines every single day, all year round, with these missiles alone.

Ukraine and the US has signed a mineral deal. Trump got nothing:

1. The US does not get payment for weapons delivered before Trump took office.

2. Ukraine retains all ownership of mines.

3. Ukraine remains on the path to EU ascension.

4. A fund is created where the two parties have a 50/50 say.

5. Existing mining companies remain owned by Ukraine.

6. The US must give weapons to Ukraine to invest in the fund.

7. All proceeds from the fund must be reinvested.

https://www.obozrevatel.com/ukr/ekonomika-glavnaya/analytics-and-forecasts/ukraina-ta-ssha-pidpisali-ugodu-pro-korisni-kopalini-scho-vidomo.htm#goog_rewarded

To cut waste, fraud, and abuse in the military, Trump now wants to merge the US European command with the US Africa Command.

Imagine sitting in a US command bunker in Stuttgart, and then having to respond to a terrorist attack in a village in Mali.

Good luck with that.

Source: https://www.stripes.com/theaters/us/2025-04-03/senate-cavoli-langley-eucom-africom-17356867.html

Over the weekend, more than 100 lawyers quit the US Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, as Trump changes their focus from protecting civil rights, to persecuting universities and waging Trump's culture war against #trans gender humans, "wokeness", etc.

It will take a long time to rebuild the federal government once the elephant is finally thrown out of the porcelain shop.

Update: CNN writes 200 lawyers.

https://abcnews.go.com/amp/US/exodus-doj-civil-rights-division-official-100-attorneys/story?id=121257205

Breaking: US representative Shri Thanedar has filed articles of impeachment against Donald Trump for “tyrannical overreach” and more.

After having bombed civilians in Ukraine for 1159 days, Putin now wants a ceasefire from May 7 to May 10, so he can come out from his bunker and take part in the Russian victory day celebrations.

I have a sense, Budanov from the Ukrainian military intelligence service is smiling broadly while whispering: "Here kitty kitty".