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  • “Then we’ll do a few at a time”

    Trump outlines his plan for continuing to invade American cities:

    Trump: “We’re going to Memphis.”

    Jones: “That’s the next city?”

    Trump: “Memphis is deeply troubled. We’re gonna fix that just like we did Washington. I would have preferred going to Chicago. […] I said, ‘So what do you think? Where should we go next, as a city?’ ‘Cause we’re gonna go one, two, three, and then we’ll do a few at a time. We’re gonna straighten out the crime in these cities. So we’re going to Memphis, I’m just announcing that now, and we’ll straighten that out.”

    Earhardt: “National Guard?”

    Trump: “National Guard, and anybody else we need. And, by the way, we’ll bring in the military too, if we need it.”

    Trump Reveals the Next City for Federal Crime Crackdown: ‘We’re Going to Memphis’ (Mediaite)

    September 15, 2025
  • Republicans have mostly shrugged

    The Trump administration continues to erode the power of Congress, trampling on its constitutional prerogatives in ways large and small. Through it all, Republicans in charge have mostly shrugged — and in some cases, outright applauded — as their powers, once jealously guarded, diminish in ways that will be difficult to reverse.

    Trump Tramples Congress’s Power, With Little Challenge From G.O.P. (New York Times)

    Fediverse reactions
    • Joerg Baltschun
    September 8, 2025
  • “And then we decided to go woke”

    September 7, 2025
  • Maybe it’s happening right now

    Asked Tuesday if the US would consider strikes on Venezuelan soil against the Maduro regime, Secretary of State Marco Rubio didn’t count out the possibility.

    “This is a counter-drug operation,” Rubio said. “We are going to take on drug cartels wherever they are, wherever they are operating against the interests of the US.”

    Rubio added more detail to the boat strike on Wednesday, saying, “Instead of interdicting it, on the president’s orders, we blew it up. And it’ll happen again. Maybe it’s happening right now,” Rubio added.

    Trump weighs strikes targeting cartels inside Venezuela, part of wider pressure campaign on Maduro, sources say (CNN)

    September 6, 2025
  • The question about causation

    The question about causation

    But the study’s authors cautioned that the finding did not mean that acetaminophen was causing autism: The women who took acetaminophen during pregnancy may also have differed in important ways from the women who did not.

    “We cannot answer the question about causation — that is very important to clarify,” said Dr. Diddier Prada, an epidemiologist at Mt. Sinai who conducted the study.

    Debate Flares Over an Unproven Link Between Tylenol and Autism (New York Times)

    September 6, 2025
  • Named a loyalist to run the department

    When last month’s jobs report showed unexpected weakness in the labor market, President Trump fired the head of the agency that produces the data and named a loyalist to run the department that produces those numbers.

    Is the Jobs Data Still Reliable? Yes, at Least for Now. (New York Times)

    September 6, 2025
  • “Chicago about to find out”

    Sickening.

    Truth Social post from Donald Trump: "I love the smell of deportations in the morning... Chicago about to find out why it's called the Department of WAR 🚁", with an AI-generated image of him kneeling in front of a blazing red Chicago skyline with military helicopters overhead, and the text "Chipocalypse Now"
    Fediverse reactions
    • 🇱🇺Pinus Banksiana 🇺🇦
    • mmalc
    September 6, 2025
  • For contradicting that it was rigged

    He has dismantled broad swaths of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, part of the Department of Homeland Security, because its mission of defending against foreign and domestic cyberattacks included securing election systems. He even ordered the Justice Department to investigate the agency’s chief during the 2020 elections, for his declaration that it was one of the most secure in history, contradicting his insistence that it was rigged to elect Joseph R. Biden Jr.

    The Return of the ‘War Department’ Is More Than Nostalgia. It’s a Message. (New York Times)

    September 6, 2025
  • Go wild

    But in the seven months since he was sworn in, Mr. Kennedy has delivered a lukewarm endorsement of the measles vaccine; dismantled a panel of experts who make vaccine recommendations to the government; taken steps that will effectively restrict access to Covid-19 vaccines; canceled $500 million of grants and contracts for the development of mRNA vaccines; and, just last week, forced out the new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention because she disagreed with him on vaccine policy.

    President Trump memorably said he would let Mr. Kennedy “go wild on health.”

    A Defiant Kennedy Defends Vaccine Changes and C.D.C. Shake-Up (New York Times)

    Fediverse reactions
    • Nomdeb
    • Huskify
    September 5, 2025
  • “A Great American”

    Sickening.

    A Truth Social post from Donald Trump: "As previously mentioned, we are giving serious thought to taking away Rosie O'Donnell's Citizenship. She is not a Great American and is, in my opinion, incapable of being so!" with an unflattering egregiously doctored image of her.
    Fediverse reactions
    • K_L_Cooper
    • K_L_Cooper
    September 4, 2025
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The Periscope

The Periscope

A New Englander keeping a news diary

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