Mark Jacob

Harvard President Garber Tells Faculty He Is Not Considering a $500 Million Deal With Trump

Harvard Is Said to Be Open to Spending Up to $500 Million to Resolve Trump Dispute The sum sought by the government is more than twice as much as the $200 million fine that Columbia University said it would pay when it settled its clash with the White House last week.

Reporting by college journalists sure makes it look like the @nytimes.com went with a Trump admin lie on Harvard. Yikes.

Garber said "the suggestion that Harvard was open to paying $500 million is “false” and claimed that the figure was apparently leaked to the press by White House officials" 1/

I look forward to reaping the rich reward of drug companies paying me exorbitant sums to use their products!

A massive regressive national sales tax imposed upon every American by a president with no constitutional authority to impose a national sales tax. The reason why the founders gave this power to Congress is because this would never pass any Congress- even this one.

Texas Democrats leave the state to block vote on redrawn House map backed by Trump Texas Democrats are leaving the state in an attempt to prevent a vote on new congressional maps that Republicans hope will net them additional U.S. House seats.

When MAGA fascists are trying to steal voting power from citizens, obstruction is patriotism.
Welcome to Illinois, Texas Democrats.

YouTube video by COURIER Trump’s Media Takeover Is Happening.

I enjoyed being interviewed for the “How Is This Better” video podcast by‪ @akilahhughes.com‬. It was an opportunity to frankly discuss the Trump regime’s assault on independent news. Also interviewed was Courier founder @taraemcg.bsky.social‬, one of the most visionary voices in journalism today.

Tariffs without Congressional approval are taxation without representation. Time to throw tea into the harbor.

Nailed it.

Senate Republicans' objection to the BLS firing is lip service unless they do something about it, which they won't. They'll just keep endorsing whatever Trump decrees, as they did with his Medicaid cuts and his outrageous nominations of Pete Hegseth, Emil Bove and Jeanine Pirro.

The Trump regime is blocking release of the Epstein files after promising their release.
It's giving preferential treatment to child molester Ghislaine Maxwell in hopes she won't reveal Trump's connection to the scandal.
Keep reminding people about this. It matters.

Thread on Trump's mind-blowingly corrupt presidency, which is enriching itself by selling out the public.

If the takeover was complete, I wouldn't be allowed to post what I post on Bluesky. It's not too late, but almost.

The media’s weasel wording helps Trump Here are 5 ways news outlets sugar-coat fascism with euphemisms.

NYT feels compelled to use distancing language like that. Trump "strains the bounds of propriety" and is “flirting with lawless defiance of court orders.” Yes. "flirting." I wrote recently about this cowardly behavior.

Dear pollsters,
Please include a question asking Americans whether they think Trump is in the process of creating a dictatorship. He is, of course. But I suspect most people have no idea this is happening. We need to know the depth of the problem.
Sincerely,
Mark

Trump’s Efforts to Control Information Echo an Authoritarian Playbook

It’s so infrequent that the New York Times uses “Trump” and “Authoritarian” in the same headline that it’s worth noting when they do. Now they need to say clearly and loudly that he’s in the process of building a dictatorship. Because he is.

Newsmax promotes this as an “exclusive.” They take pride in allowing a maniacal man to make promises that are mathematically impossible to achieve.

Senate confirms former Fox News host Pirro as top federal prosecutor for the nation’s capital The Senate has confirmed former Fox News host Jeanine Pirro as the top federal prosecutor for the nation’s capital, filling the post after President Donald Trump withdrew his controversial first pick,...

Senate Republicans don’t care what happens to our country. They care only about their own short-term personal ambitions. That’s why they always go along with Trump’s appointments of crooks and incompetents.

Hey David Ellison: you got your merger, now leave CBS News alone A CBS investigative piece on the Epstein jail video broke important new ground. Under Ellison's new MAGA mandate, that story might never be allowed.

It's laughable that Ellison & his cronies are promising us 'objective news' while also agreeing to a Pravda-like newsroom minder. The new owners don’t give a damn about journalism. If they did, they'd leave CBS News alone to keep doing good work. My latest:

open.substack.com/pub/jennifer...

It’s a technical term for a particular way of seizing dictatorial power. If you just call it a “coup,” you run the risk of people thinking, “He got elected — it can’t be a coup.”

The newer the coup, the easier to un-coup. There’s still a resistance. If the dictatorship was complete, I wouldn’t be allowed to type this.

Hitler was lawfully named chancellor by Hindenburg. He quickly abused his powers and began arresting people. That went into overdrive when he used the Reichstag Fire as an excuse to get emergency powers from the legislature in a vote that socialist lawmakers were barred from. Enabling Act followed.

Yes indeed.

A “self-coup” is when a leader who gained power through legal means overturns the rule of law to seize dictatorial power. It’s what Ferdinand Marcos did in the Philippines. It’s what Bolsonaro tried to do in Brazil. It’s what Trump is doing now in the U.S.

University sidelines scientist who exposed toxic metals in Lake Maurepas The SELU scientist who discovered alarming levels of toxic chemicals in Lake Maurepas was abruptly removed from her research position without explanation.

A university scientist who discovered alarming levels of toxic chemicals in a lake in southeastern Louisiana was abruptly removed from her research position this week without explanation

Why the Washington Post is dead to me And why I haven’t canceled the NY Times despite its flaws

Well, they're on double-secret probation. I explained my feelings about it in this newsletter.

Nice.

Expecting Republicans to eventually break with Trump is as naive as saying "What can I bring?" when Jeffrey Dahmer invites you over for dinner.

When it comes time for Trump's goons to frog-march the staff of the New York Times out of the newsroom and off to jail, will the Times describe it as "an impromptu relocation based on a policy dispute over press freedom”?

“Civil disobedience becomes a sacred duty when the state has become lawless or corrupt.”
—Mohandas Gandhi

Thank you.

The New York Times shows a disproportionate *lack of* intensity.