Neo-liberalism

In Spite of Court Order, Trump White House Keeps ‘Contemptuous’ Ban on AP

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Original article by Jon Queally republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

US President Donald Trump speaks after signing an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House on April 9, 2025.
 9Photo by Saul Loeb / AFP via Getty Images)

“Is it a constitutional crisis yet?” asked one journalist.

Despite a federal court ruling last week, journalists with the Associated Press were blocked from reporting on several White House events on Monday, leading to fresh accusations that President Donald Trump is openly violating court orders as well as core constitutional protections, in this case freedom of speech and the press.

“Our journalists were blocked from the Oval Office today,” said Lauren Easton, an AP spokesperson, following a press event with Trump and El Salvador President Nayib Bukele. “We expect the White House to restore AP’s participation in the pool as of today, as provided in the injunction order.”

A pair of AP photographers were later allowed to attend an event on the South Lawn, but a print journalist was barred from entry.

According to the AP:

Last week’s federal court decision forbidding the Trump administration from punishing the AP for refusing to rename the Gulf of Mexico was to take effect Monday. The administration is appealing the decision and arguing with the news outlet over whether it needs to change anything until those appeals are exhausted.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. circuit set a Thursday hearing on Trump’s request that any changes be delayed while case is reviewed. The AP is fighting for more access as soon as possible.

“Is it a constitutional crisis yet?” asked Missouri-based journalist Steve Lambson in response to the latest developments.

“More contemptuous behavior by this administration,” added attorney Bernadette Foley. “What will the courts do about it? What will GOP do?”

In the federal court ruling last week, the presiding judge wrote that access to presidential events “must be reasonable and not viewpoint-based,” though the White House has been clear the decision was a punitive response to editorial decisions by AP with which it disagreed.

“While the AP does not have a constitutional right to enter the Oval Office,” the judge said, “it does have a right to not be excluded because of its viewpoint. … All the AP wants, and all it gets, is a level playing field.”

Original article by Jon Queally republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

Neo-Fascist Climate Science Denier Donald Trump says Burn, Baby, Burn.
Neo-Fascist Climate Science Denier Donald Trump says Burn, Baby, Burn.
Elon Musk urges you to be a Fascist like him, says that you can ignore facts and reality then.
Elon Musk urges you to be a Fascist like him, says that you can ignore facts and reality then.
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The original Fascists Mussolini and Hitler

Continue ReadingIn Spite of Court Order, Trump White House Keeps ‘Contemptuous’ Ban on AP

Rental prices have risen three times faster than inflation, new figures find

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/rental-prices-have-risen-three-times-faster-inflation-new-figures-find

CAMPAIGNERS intensified demands for limits on rent hikes after damning new research found that rents are soaring at triple the rate of inflation.

New figures from the Office for National Statistics have shown that the average rent in Britain has increased by 7.7 per cent to £1,332 in the last 12 months to March.

The increase is three times more than the current level of Consumer Price Index inflation, which measures how much the overall price of everyday goods and services has increased.

The figures show a steep 8.9 per cent increase in Wales, where the average rent is £792. In Scotland, rents were up by 5.7 per cent to £1,001.

According to a December 2024 report from Zoopla, rents for new lets are now £270 per month higher than they were three years ago.

The figures mean that a staggering £3,240 has been added to the annual cost of renting since 2021, equating to a 27 per cent increase.

Generation Rent chief executive Ben Twomey said: “When we are forced to spend too much of our income on rent, the effects ripple across the rest of our lives.

…

Article continues at https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/rental-prices-have-risen-three-times-faster-inflation-new-figures-find

Continue ReadingRental prices have risen three times faster than inflation, new figures find

Sewage could have been pumped into Scotland’s rivers, lochs and seas every 90 seconds, warn campaigners

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/sewage-could-have-been-pumped-scotlands-rivers-lochs-and-seas-every-90-seconds-warn

The snow-covered peak of Beinn Eighe and the mountains of Torridon are reflected in Loch Droma near Ullapool, Wester Ross, December 3, 2023

RAW sewage could have been pumped into Scotland’s rivers, lochs, and seas every 90 seconds last year, according to a new report by campaign group Surfers Against Sewage (SAS).

While Scottish Water recorded 23,498 sewage discharges lasting a total of 208,377 hours in 2024, this accounts for only 6.7 per cent of the company’s total network, the research found.

Just 1,116 of Scottish Water’s 4,080 “combined sewage overflows” — where sewage is released directly into waterways or the sea — appear on its real-time sewage discharge map.

That 73 per cent data gap means SAS’s Safer Seas and Rivers Service providing sewage alerts across Britain is forced to leave Scotland blank, but their latest report estimates the public are being put at risk with as many as 364,629 effectively unreported discharges a year — amounting one every 90 seconds.

SAS chief executive Giles Bristow slammed “Scottish Water’s reckless approach to monitoring and public safety.”

He said: “Scotland’s coastline, lochs and rivers are some of the most stunning on the planet, with surfers, swimmers and paddle boarders wanting to make the most of these beautiful blue spaces.

“But these waters are far from pristine.

“With no legal requirement to issue sewage alerts in Scotland, water users have no idea whether or not it’s safe to enter the water.

…

Article continues at https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/sewage-could-have-been-pumped-scotlands-rivers-lochs-and-seas-every-90-seconds-warn

Continue ReadingSewage could have been pumped into Scotland’s rivers, lochs and seas every 90 seconds, warn campaigners

As White House Doubles Down, Judge Launches Inquiry of Refusal to Return Kilmar Abrego Garcia

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Original article by Jessica Corbett republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). 

Jennifer Vasquez Sura, a U.S. citizen and the wife of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador, speaks to the media before she enters federal court on April 15, 2025 in Greenbelt, Maryland. (Photo: Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

“There will be no tolerance for gamesmanship or grandstanding,” the judge said. “Cancel vacations, cancel other appointments… I expect all hands on deck.”

As White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Tuesday had a “full-blown meltdown” after a reporter asked about the Maryland man wrongly deported to a prison in his native El Salvador, U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis launched an inquiry into the Trump administration’s refusal to seek the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia to the United States.

The Trump administration has previously admitted in court that Abrego Garcia was mistakenly sent to the notorious Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT)—despite an immigration judge’s 2019 order barring his deportation to El Salvador—due to an administrative error. Xinis ordered the administration to facilitate his release, a decision unanimously affirmed last week by the U.S. Supreme Court.

However, Abrego Garcia remained imprisoned as the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) argued in a Sunday filing that Xinis has “no authority” to compel the administration to bring him home, and as President Donald Trump on Monday welcomed Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele to the White House. Their meeting was followed by a Tuesday court hearing.

According to NBC News: “Attorneys for Abrego Garcia had asked that the administration be found in contempt of court over its inaction. The judge said she wants to review the evidence the administration submits, which is expected to include sworn depositions, before ruling on the matter.”

During the hearing, Drew Ensign of the DOJ told Xinis—who was appointed to the District of Maryland by former President Barack Obama—that if Abrego Garcia “appears at a port of entry or U.S. Embassy we will facilitate his return.”

Meanwhile, the judge called out the administration, saying: “What the record shows is that nothing has been done. Nothing. I asked for reports from individuals with direct knowledge, and I’ve gotten very little information of any value.”

“We’re going to move. There will be no tolerance for gamesmanship or grandstanding,” Xinis continued. “There are no business hours while we do this… Cancel vacations, cancel other appointments. I’m usually pretty good about things like that in my court, but not this time. So, I expect all hands on deck.”

NEW: Judge Xinis authorizes up to 15 interrogatories, 15 document requests, depositions from all govt declarants (Cerna, Katz, Kozak, and Mazzara) and up to two others to assess what the govt has done to "facilitate" Kilmar Abrego Garcia's release storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us…

— Joshua J. Friedman (@joshuajfriedman.com) 2025-04-15T22:36:55.397Z

At the White House on Tuesday, a reporter asked Leavitt who is responsible for Abrego Garcia and where he is going to end up. The press secretary responded by sharing unfounded allegations that he is a “terrorist” and member of the gang MS-13, and said that “deporting him back to El Salvador was always going to be the end result.”

Leavitt also used Bukele’s framing from the Oval Office event, when he suggested that returning the Maryland resident would mean smuggling a terrorist into the country. In addition to Abrego Garcia, the Trump administration has sent 238 Venezuelan migrants to CECOT, and the president on Monday expressed interest in sending “homegrown” American prisoners there.

“This is what mass deportation looks like,” Vanessa Cárdenas, executive director of the advocacy group America’s Voice, said in a Tuesday statement. “The concept of stripping citizenship from U.S. citizens and sending them to El Salvador prisons without due process is the stuff of nightmares and undemocratic regimes, yet here we are.”

“It’s hard to overstate what the stakes are for our democracy and core American principles given what we’re seeing and what the administration is now floating as the next steps in their larger deportation agenda,” Cárdenas added. “And it’s time Americans of all political perspectives stand up and speak out in opposition.”

Some Democrats in Congress have blasted the Trump administration’s anti-immigrant agenda and are part of the battle to bring Abrego Garcia home—including U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, who is aiming to travel to El Salvador if the deported man is not swiftly returned to his state. Multiple Democratic members of the House of Representatives have signaled that they plan to join the trip.

Original article by Jessica Corbett republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). 

Power-mad orange gasbag Donald Trump says Burn, Baby, Burn.
Power-mad Neo-Fascist orange gasbag Donald Trump says Burn, Baby, Burn.
Elon Musk urges you to be a Fascist like him, says that you can ignore facts and reality then.
Elon Musk urges you to be a Fascist like him, says that you can ignore facts and reality then.
Continue ReadingAs White House Doubles Down, Judge Launches Inquiry of Refusal to Return Kilmar Abrego Garcia

White House Budget Would Slash Funding for NOAA Climate Research

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https://www.ecowatch.com/white-house-budget-noaa-climate-research-funding.html

A satellite Image from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) shows Hurricane Katia in the Atlantic Ocean on Sept. 1, 2011. NOAA via Getty Images

The Trump administration plans to eliminate the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)’s research arm, close climate and weather labs and slash the budgets of several NOAA offices, internal documents said.

If Congress approves the plan, funding for NOAA’s Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR) office would be drastically reduced from $485 million to $171 million, reported The Guardian.

Retired OAR Director Craig McLean told The Guardian the cuts would “compromise the safety, economic competitiveness, and security of the American people.”

One document stated all budgets for weather, ocean and climate labs would be emptied, with that level of funding resulting in OAR being “eliminated as a line office.”

“The elimination of NOAA’s research line office and all of its research capabilities is a crushing blow to the ability of our country to protect our citizens and also to lead the world,” said former NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad, who called the recommendations “extraordinarily devastating.”

Under the proposed reductions, more than $324 million would be cut from the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), with instructions for the agency to follow administration priorities in its work to “unleash American energy.”

Grants for habitat restoration, conservation and species recovery, as well as the fisheries grant program, would all lose their funding.

The uncertainty at NOAA has been felt all over the world, as researchers from other countries become more concerned about potential interruptions to crucial climate data from the many NOAA Earth-observing missions, Inside Climate News reported.

…

Article continues at https://www.ecowatch.com/white-house-budget-noaa-climate-research-funding.html

Orcas discuss Donald Trump and the killer apes' concept of democracy. Front Orca warns that Trump is crashing his country's economy and that everything he does he does for the fantastically wealthy.
Orcas discuss Donald Trump and the killer apes’ concept of democracy. Front Orca warns that Trump is crashing his country’s economy and that everything he does he does for the fantastically wealthy.
Climate Science Denier Donald Trump says Burn, Baby, Burn.
Climate Science Denier Donald Trump says Burn, Baby, Burn.
Elon Musk urges you to be a Fascist like him, says that you can ignore facts and reality then.
Elon Musk urges you to be a Fascist like him, says that you can ignore facts and reality then.
Continue ReadingWhite House Budget Would Slash Funding for NOAA Climate Research