Sheila Curran Bernard

Most Americans oppose East Wing demolition for Trump ballroom, poll finds Fifty-six percent say they oppose President Donald Trump’s decision to tear down part of the White House to build a 90,000-square-foot ballroom building.

Who would've thought building a $300 million gold-plated ballroom as kids go hungry and health care costs soar would be unpopular?

This is so strange.

Trump Officials Move Into Military Residences in D.C. Area

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth moved into a home at Fort McNair traditionally reserved for the Army’s vice chief of staff. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and others also now live in military housing.

My prediction shortly after Election Day 2024 has proven correct, as the Republican government shutdown is putting into sharp relief. Speaker Johnson actions are a great example: He refuses to seat a duly elected member and has entirely sidelined the legislative branch that he leads.

A runner-up award in this category goes to Sheila Curran Bernard for Bring Judgment Day: Reclaiming Lead Belly’s Truths from Jim Crow’s Lies, published by Cambridge University Press” #music #nonfiction #history @universitypress.cambridge.org

Day 24 of Emmanuel Garcia being in federal custody.

He’s a 15 year old autistic boy who went missing 4 weeks ago. Houston PD found him, contacted ICE & his Mom is fighting to get him back

She’s not allowed to visit him.

They’re keeping a disabled kid from his family & the media is largely silent

Senators, advocates demand explanation on asbestos risks from East Wing Asbestos, which can pose serious health risks to those exposed during demolition, was frequently used in projects at the time of the East Wing’s construction.

#ThePeoplesHouse www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

FL is moving forward w/ plan to end all childhood vaccine mandates. Starting with hepatitis B, chickenpox, and the bacteria causing meningitis and pneumonia. Then next year GOP FL legislature is expected to revisit 1977 law re: whooping cough, measles, polio, rubella, mumps, diphtheria, and tetanus.

This is fucking amazing

Highlights from the 2025 ASCAP Foundation Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Awards The 56th annual ASCAP Foundation Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Awards, established to honor the best in music writing and criticism, celebrated authors, journalists, and filmmakers who are helping fans ...

"A special nod went to Sheila Curran Bernard for Bring Judgment Day: Reclaiming Lead Belly’s Truths from Jim Crow’s Lies, a historical reclamation that pulls no punches in unpacking the racism surrounding one of America’s greatest folk voices." ASCAP Foundation Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Awards!

sure, let him keep the nuclear codes

Welch: "This has nothing to do with the shutdown. The law requires and the funds are available to continue SNAP right now without any interruption. So that is a decision the president is making on his own to allow people to go hungry."

SNAP users account for 20% of grocery sales in Mass. Stores are bracing for a hit As more than 1 million SNAP recipients in Massachusetts brace for their food benefits to run out Saturday due to the government shutdown, businesses who count on these customers are also girding for a...

This morning in WBUR Today: SNAP users account for 20% of grocery sales in Mass. Stores are bracing for a hit

Plus:
— Family of detained 13-year-old seeks "voluntary departure"
— Quincy mayor proposed scaled-down $66k raise
— Star Market over Pike closed
www.wbur.org/news/2025/10... @wbur.org

Trump says we’re going to restart nuclear weapons testing. Halted in 1992.

ICE and CBP Agents Are Scanning Peoples’ Faces on the Street To Verify Citizenship Videos on social media show officers from ICE and CBP using facial recognition technology on people in the field. One expert described the practice as “pure dystopian creep.”

New: Videos show ICE/CBP agents are scanning peoples' faces on the street to verify citizenship. ICE has tool to instantly look up unprecedented number of databases with just a photo

“I’m an American citizen so leave me alone”

“Alright, we just got to verify that”

www.404media.co/ice-and-cbp-...

Ranking member of the House Homeland Security Committee Bennie G. Thompson said in a statement “Mobile Fortify is a dangerous tool in the hands of ICE, and it puts American citizens at risk of detention and even deportation.” He also said “ICE officials have told us that an apparent biometric match by Mobile Fortify is a ‘definitive’ determination of a person’s status and that an ICE officer may ignore evidence of American citizenship—including a birth certificate—if the app says the person is an alien. ICE using a mobile biometrics app in ways its developers at CBP never intended or tested is a frightening, repugnant, and unconstitutional attack on Americans’ rights and freedoms.”

New incredible detail here: ICE says a match in its facial recognition app Mobile Fortify is a "definitive" determination of a person's status, and that this overrides birth certificates. This is an app ICE is using in the field to scan people

www.404media.co/ice-and-cbp-...

Trump Team Takes Aim at State Laws Shielding Consumers' Credit Scores From Medical Debt - KFF Health News Reversing guidance from the Biden administration, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau concludes that states cannot bar medical debt from their residents’ credit reports.

As Trump tries to jack up the cost of health insurance — kicking people off — he also wants medical debt to tank people’s credit.

California & other states exclude medical debt from credit scores. Medical debt shouldn’t prevent you from getting a mortgage or car loan. Trump thinks it should.

In Utah, Trump’s Vision for Homelessness Begins to Take Shape

Under Trump, the draconian future of homelessness policy is coming into focus: mass internment. Utah is building a 16-acre site to detain up to 1,300 homeless people inside locked "accountability centers." This is profoundly alarming.

Vital reporting from @ellenbarry.bsky.social and Jason DeParle:

Even if the House was fully functional, they're in session for an avg of 147 days and out for 218.

Under Speaker Johnson, Congress has been in session only 12 of the last 97 days, and he still won't swear in Representative-elect Adelita Grijalva.

These are the people who demand Work Requirements.😐

This document is scheduled to be published in the Federal Register on 10/30/2025 and available online at https://federalregister.gov/d/2025-19702, and on https://govinfo.gov DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY: Removal of the Automatic Extension of Employment Authorization Documents AGENCY: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Department of Homeland Security (DHS). ACTION: Interim final rule (“IFR”) with request for comments. ______________________________________________________________________ SUMMARY: This IFR amends DHS regulations to end the practice of automatically extending the validity of employment authorization documents (Forms I-766 or EADs) for aliens who have timely filed an application to renew their EAD in certain employment authorization categories. The purpose of this change is to prioritize the proper vetting and screening of aliens before granting a new period of employment authorization and/or a new EAD. This IFR does not impact the validity of EADs that were automatically extended prior to [INSERT DATE OF PUBLICATION IN THE FEDERAL REGISTER] or which are otherwise automatically extended by law or Federal Register notice.

NEW: The Trump admin just ended the practice of automatically extending work permits when people file to renew them — meaning that if USCIS takes too long to process a renewal the applicant loses their authorization to work legally.

The interim final rule applies to renewals filed after tomorrow.

We checked DHS’s videos of chaos and protests. Here’s what they leave out. Official videos purporting to show the triumph of recent immigration operations used footage that was months old or recorded thousands of miles away, a Washington Post analysis found.

WaPo: "Trump administration videos purporting to show the triumph of recent immigration operations used footage that was months old or recorded thousands of miles away, an analysis found."

Exclusive: US military officials required to sign NDAs tied to Latin America mission, sources say U.S. military officials involved with President Donald Trump's expanding operations in Latin America have been asked to sign non-disclosure agreements, three U.S. officials say, a development that raises new questions about a military buildup that Venezuela fears may lead to an invasion.

www.reuters.com/world/americ...

That is how you bankrupt a Casino in the USA!

Tim Hannan

“Trump’s ballroom construction is just a money laundering scheme.”

YouTube video by Forbes Breaking News White House Demolition Isn’t Trump's First Time Leveling A Building— Or Ignoring Preservationists

Watch: "White House Demolition Isn’t Trump's First Time Leveling A Building— Or Ignoring Preservationists"

me, with Brittany Lewis for @forbes.com

White House fires arts commission expected to review Trump construction projects The moves comes as President Donald Trump pursues efforts to build a White House ballroom and a triumphal arch in Washington.

Breaking WaPo:

The White House just fired all six members of the Commission of Fine Arts, an independent federal agency that was expected to review some of Trump's construction projects, including his planned arch in Washington. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Your Call Could Not Be Completed - Bianca Tylek - Inquest Under Biden, the FCC made unprecedented progress toward ending price gouging for prison phone calls. Tomorrow, Trump’s FCC is expected to undo it all.

"Families impacted by incarceration have spent years advocating to reduce the extortionary cost of prison phone calls. Tomorrow Trump’s FCC is expected to vote on revised regulations that would unravel" all recent progress. @biancatylek.bsky.social @worthrises.bsky.social

At the behest of corporate lobbyists, Trump's CFPB will block states from erasing medical debt from credit reports.

This comes as the GOP allows ACA subsidies to expire – which could cause millions to go uninsured and medical debt to skyrocket.

A perfect storm of cruelty.

JD Vance Funded AcreTrader. Here’s Why That Matters. The real estate platform streamlines investing in US farmland. Now farms are fast becoming a portfolio staple for investors worldwide.

Anyone doubt that Trump is fucking up farmers so they will have to sell land to private equity?

Just remember that Bill Gates (The Wonderful Company) and billionaire media mogul John Malone are the top owners of U.S. farmland.

Trump cuts probably hindered warning process for Alaska storm that displaced hundreds, experts say Reductions in weather balloon launches could have degraded forecasts that residents depend on to prepare

"A majority of western Alaska’s weather balloon network was not operating during the landfall of the storm last weekend due to staffing constraints inflicted by the Trump administration..."

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...