francois maurin

Building a better world depends on not accepting atrocities in places like Gaza, not tolerating abuse of immigrants, standing against minimizing of trans people, not looking the other way from white supremacy, expecting support for mothers and children and the poor, changing exploitative systems.

I found a ‘dead’ person collecting Social Security in Seattle “Dead” Ned Johnson turns out to be very much alive. It took him weeks to convince the system he was breathing and to start clawing his benefits back.

The richest man in the world took over $5K out of this guy's bank account, claiming he was dead. The richest man in the world said he was saving money.

He was not dead.

These are the same Senate Democrats who lectured the base for years about the importance of preserving the filibuster so it would still be available when Democrats were in the minority

This moment requires an actual opposition party.

Senate moves ahead on shutdown votes Democrats agreed to speed up consideration of the bill to allow a vote on Friday in exchange for votes on four amendments.

I also want to reiterate that it took every single Democratic Senator to agree to this deal. A single Democratic Senator could have denied unanimous consent, pushed this into Monday, allowed more time for the discontent to fester. Every Senate Democrat is complicit.
www.politico.com/news/2025/03...

one thing i keep thinking about is how there is simply no way to design a constitutional system that can resist authoritarian incursion if participants in that system do not actually care that much

The Trump regime will arrest you in the middle of the night because you spoke your mind.

And federal agents in plain clothes who refuse to identify themselves will be the ones to do it.

If you think I'm being hyperbolic, watch this clip.

If you're going outside Amazon for used books, remember that Abebooks is owned by them. Alibris is not and I have been buying from them since the 1990s.

And I usually find better deals on international books via eBay.

South African car salesman tells U.S. Senator, American astronaut and U.S. Navy captain: "You are a traitor"

Look, folks, this is it. The entire ballgame. Either we're a Republic of laws & the Constitution, or we have a dictator. This is fascism, & the impeachment vote should be happening today. Every single university president in the country should be out, in front of microphones, condemning this.

For those supporting this obscene violation of due process and expansion of governmental overreach to detain and deport legal residents without due process, please research authoritarian regimes.

Today they'll use it against a group you don't like, but it will be turned on you tomorrow.

Real chilling effects A extraordinary pattern of government censorship and threats to speech

New, from me: you were told that the threats to free speech came from wokeness. Some compared it to Maoist China.

Now we are witnessing government power being used to silence dissent and censor ideas. Now we know what real society-wide chilling effects look like. 🧵
open.substack.com/pub/donmoyni...

This is some straight up, fascist bullshit right here

Criminalizing protest is a hallmark of authoritarian regimes

Is consumer protection dead? Will scams run rampant? Is the CFPB gutted? All this and more as I sit down with the former Director of the CFPB, Rohit Chopra. What happened to the CFPB? (ft. Rohit Chopra)

Is consumer protection dead? Will scams run rampant? Is the CFPB gutted? All this and more as I sit down with the former Director of the CFPB, Rohit Chopra. https://youtu.be/C7IJWclASvw

📌NOTE: Immediately after the vile attack on Zelensky by Putin's puppets Friday, Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries should have called a joint press conference and explained to the American public the significance, heinousness and danger of that sickening surrender.

📌They should STILL be talking now.

Get big money out of politics. Period.

It doesn’t matter which party does it, Republican or Democratic, I don’t care.

GIVE THE PEOPLE THE GOVERNMENT.

“Trump Dismantles Government Fight Against Foreign Influence Operations *** The cuts have focused on people who were not only combating false content online but also working on broader safeguards to protect elections from cyberattacks or other attempts to disrupt voting systems” 2/20/25
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YouTube video by Robert Reich The Trump-Putin Axis of A**holes | The Coffee Klatch with Robert Reich

The Trump-Zelenskyy Oval Office clash.

Musk's Cabinet meeting.

The GOP's reverse Robin Hood budget.

@rbreich.bsky.social and Heather Lofthouse break down this week's biggest stories on today's Coffee Klatch.

If Republicans make massive cuts to Medicaid, it will impact all aspects of our health care system. Millions of kids will lose coverage, hospital and insurance rates will soar and nursing homes will shut down.

All this in order to give huge tax breaks to billionaires. 

NO CUTS TO MEDICAID.

This is INSANE. Even if you think Zelenskyy was out of line or rude or whatever in the Oval, the US government is going to just throw the entire country of Ukraine under the (Russian) bus over this? Toddlers in kindergarten behave better, and more strategically, than this.

The idea that JD Vance—who has never been to Ukaine and chalks up his knowledge to shit he read on the internet—believes he knows more about the situation in Ukraine than the man who has led it for the past 5.5 years is a perfect encapsulation of the havoc this administration is wreaking worldwide

Trump and Vance act as if the problem is that Ukraine is resisting an ongoing Russian invasion. The problem is the ongoing Russian invasion. If they want to use American power to stop the war, apply it to the aggressor. Abusing the victim is not going to end a war of aggression.

Trump berates Zelensky, the leader of a democratic country courageously fighting Russian imperialism, while he allies himself with Putin, a dictator who started the bloodiest European war in 80 years.

Sorry, President Trump. We believe in democracy, not authoritarianism.

Jeff has this right. What we witnessed today was the most appalling public failure of US leadership in our foreign policy history. (The previous worst was Trump-Putin in Helsinki in 2018.)

Elon Musk’s penis rocket and exploding car companies have been given $38 billion in government funding, but he’s cutting funding for children’s cancer research, gutting the VA’s suicide prevention hotline and letting palettes of desperately needed food expire because it’s “wasteful spending.”

Did the 77 million Americans who voted for Trump vote for America to abandon our allies and side with Russia?
Did these voters want the entire federal government crippled by firing experienced staff?
Or massive cuts in support of the disabled, poor and children to give billionaires a huge tax break?

We just watched Trump & Vance do Putin’s bidding in the Oval Office & it was horrific. Not even two months into this administration & it’s a disaster for the free world.

I’m sick to my stomach. Unbelievable! BBC & Sky News are speechless! The world is watching and they’re witnessing the US completely Abandoning NATO at this point.