Notices by MoiraEve (moiraeve@mastodon.world)

From Heather Cox Richardson: The decision to steer around government systems and use Signal to plan the March 15 U.S. attack on the Houthis in Yemen was possibly an attempt to hide conversations, since the app was set to erase some messages after a week and others after four weeks. >>By law, government communications must be archived. << Yes, THIS!

U.S. District Judge Beryl A. Howell: “I’m very offended by how DOGE has operated at the institute,” Howell said. “But that concern about how this has gone down is not one that can sway me in my consideration of factors of the TRO. // I, for one, have always been a little skeptical of that “U.S. Institute for Peace”. May be an oxymoron.

WaPo Gift Article | How Trump is reshaping reality by hiding data
Curating reality is an old political game, but Trump’s sweeping statistical purges are part of a broader attempt to reinvent “truth.”https://wapo.st/4iCmMtn #USPolitics

Privatizing Amtrak?: Speaking at a tech conference, Elon Musk added Amtrak to the list of government-funded services on his chopping board.

Beginning October 01, 2026, Microsoft Publisher will no longer be supported as part of Microsoft 365.

Conservative former British cabinet minister Rory Stewart asks on X, “Was it for this that the US spent 80 years building power and alliances? Not to be a force for good. But instead to impoverish neighbours, threaten those it protected, rob minerals from war-torn countries, and break its promises to 100s of millions of the poorest in the world?” #USPolitics

Paul Klugman: Several news organizations, including Bloomberg, the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal have gone through the DOGE list of supposed $55 Billion dollars worth of savings from cancelled government contracts, , and found that it’s a steaming pile of, um, DOGEshit. #USPolitics

I’m taking a beginning drawing class to distract myself from all the poorly-executed and incompetent moves of the current US government, and I’m really enjoying the class immensely.

trump put jack posobiec on the Ukraine negotiating team. Jack Posobiec is a total Nazi. To elevate this Nazi is an insult to all Americans.

Thousands of people protest in Washington, D.C., and across the U.S. on Presidents Day https://www.npr.org/2025/02/17/nx-s1-5299915/dc-protests

As both the New York Times and the Washington Post reported today, the big winner from all the cuts to the government has been Musk himself, who has eliminated the agencies that were scrutinizing his businesses. #USPolitics

Vought Restores CFPB Procedure That Sustains Mortgage Markets
The situation reveals that sometimes, even arsonists need the building they’re burning down to stay upright. By David Dayen https://prospect.org/economy/2025-02-11-vought-restores-cfpb-procedure-that-sustains-mortgage-markets/?utm_source=ActiveCampaign&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Trump%20Finds%20a%20Set%20of%20Refugees%20He%20Welcomes&utm_campaign=20250211%20Meyerson%20on%20TAP&vgo_ee=u%2FkMKggTO5l%2Fz1g0sdVzuANMZLplUN8xqvosnb0pwS14Tw%3D%3D%3AlRd9aAQKc0Og33pzDvBxA11jVsFUnA73 #USPolitics

From Morning Consult: Voters are turning on Trump’s economic and trade approach
(and a whole lot more, but that’s just from me)
And I should think so! Farmers are bearing the brunt of these trumpTaxes and then it’ll be food consumers—us!

Donald Trump Has Found a New Way to Threaten the Economy
The markets haven’t freaked out about the president’s weird contention that he might renege on a portion of the national debt yet. But if he keeps talking about it—watch out. https://newrepublic.com/article/191367/trump-treasury-default-bond-market Your president is not a well man. #USPolitics

Both trump’s wife, Melania, and his daughter Ivanka have worked with and praised the agency.

In 2018, Melania Trump — who was First Lady at the time — visited Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, and Malawi with USAID.

On a trip to Africa of her own, Ivanka visited Ivory Coast and Ethiopia to announce millions in USAID assistance for women entrepreneurs.

By dissolving USAID — in clear disregard for the law and the Constitution — Trump has touched off a global humanitarian catastrophe.

All the calling we did to our senators to get them to vote NO on Russel Vought (and Kash Patel, Tulsi Gabbard, and Bobby Kennedy) made the Senate phone system crash multiple times today. Good! #USPolitics

Alphons Mucha, 1860-1939. Czech artist and graphic designer, made revolutionary contributions to graphic design and the enduring influence of his signature style. Huge infuence in the vibrant poster art of the counterculture movement, becoming a hallmark of psychedelic rock posters, album covers, comic books, and Japanese manga, his style was copied by artists for the Grateful Dead, Rolling Stones, and many others. #art

@kissane In advocating for this, I suggest calling them family bathrooms. Language is important in widening support. Finding a bathroom where I could take my children to, unassisted, was CRITICALLY important to me as a young mother.

The dumbing down of a nation, one presser at a time. #USPolitics

Oh! So RFKJr vaccinates his own children, while building a following who don’t vaccinate their kids.