Recently a friend said we're about to see the Red Lobstering of the #US, referring to the time the restaurant chain was bought out, had its supply chain directed vertically, and then sent into bankruptcy.

At first I thought he was just going on one of his normally nutty rants, but then I realized he had a point, just in the opposite way from what he meant.

We've been in the Red Lobstering process for a long time. Measures ranging from national debt through public dissatisfaction with how power has been used point to that.

So what we're seeing now is the end of the story, not the beginning: the bankruptcy.

I always point out that #Trump is the result, not the cause. In this case, he's tearing things up like the bankruptcy administrator when things can't keep going as they were.

Yes, it's painful. Bankruptcy always is. And it didn't have to be this way.

But here we are.

#USPolitics

Canadian MP, Tommy Douglas was right:

"Fascism begins the moment a ruling class, fearing the people may use their political democracy to gain economic democracy, begins to destroy political democracy in order to retain its power of exploitation and special privilege."

#Canpoli #US

People trek through the caverns and snow at Ice Castles in New Hampshire. Since 2011, Ice Castles has been dedicated to creating a world of ice caves, frozen waterfalls and glaciers formed into archways, caverns, slides and tunnels, North Woodstock, #US

Photograph: Joseph Prezioso/AFP/Getty Images

@photography
#ice

"Despite this #history of failure, Americans haven’t shaken the hope that some benevolent, hyperrational leader... will step in to redesign the nation, to solve the problems that politicians can’t...

But in his short stay in Washington, #Musk has already evinced the same moral shortcoming that afflicted Hoover & McNamara, the same inability to calculate the costs of #cruelty.

[To Musk] #democracy is waste and inefficiency."
theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/…

#ElonMusk #Coup #TechnoCoup #Tech #News #US

"Trumpists might be surprised to know that they are fulfilling a dream first conceived by a 19th-century French crank, Henri de Saint-Simon...

His despair led him to shoot himself seven times in the head, a failed suicide attempt.
theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/…

❔ How do you shoot yourself in the head SEVEN TIMES and still not kill yourself?❔

#Weird #News #Trump #GOP #Politics #USA #US #USNews

The Dictatorship of the Engineer

The right claims to loathe technocracy—but it has empowered Elon Musk to remake the government.

^{Franklin Foer (The Atlantic)}

An activist dressed as the statue of Liberty is pulled in shackles near a large effigy of the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin #Netanyahu, during a rally in support of Palestinians near the White House, Washington, #US

Photograph: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images

@photography
#protest

Stop the nazi-republican coup and demand #Congress investigate the seizure of our US Treasury, USaid, DoE, the nazi corruption of the DoJ, FBI and IRS. Criminals move to destroy our government.

Rep. Jasmine Crockett

#usa #us #VoteDemocraticInEveryRace

A person looks from a window of the U.S. #Treasury Department, as demonstrators rally outside after it was reported billionaire Elon Musk, who is heading U.S. President Donald Trump's drive to shrink the federal government, has gained access to Treasury's federal payments system that sends out more than $6 trillion per year in payments on behalf of federal agencies and contains the personal information of millions of Americans, in Washington. REUTERS/Kent Nishimura

@photography
#US

A drone view shows a cut in the trees marking the border between Canada and the U.S. in Champlain, New York. REUTERS/Brian Snyder

@photography
#Canada
#US
#border

#BreakingNews

#TrumpCoup #USpol #TrumpMuskDuumvirate
#NOAA #DefundScience #WeatherControl

(7/7)

...on thriving oceans and productive fisheries for their jobs, businesses, and seafood dinners, and our oceans depend on #Noaa,”..."

//

Do read on:

theguardian.com/us-news/2025/f…

1) *👉#RachelMaddow on the dismantling of the Fourth Estate in the #US (excellent report:)👈*

msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/…

Doge staffers enter Noaa headquarters and incite reports of cuts and threats

Members reportedly sought access to IT systems at agency that Project 2025 has called ‘harmful to US prosperity’

^{Michael Sainato (The Guardian)}

@theguardianrss

#BreakingNews

#TrumpCoup #USpol #TrumpMuskDuumvirate
#NOAA #DefundScience #WeatherControl

(5/n)

...prevent the agency from making the data public, instead of giving it directly to private corporations that create products based on it, such as weather forecasting services.

He also argued there is 👉no legal authority to abolish Noaa or reduce its budget👈, outside of reducing it through #Congress...."

'...#BethLowell, #US vice-president of the #OceanConservation...

@theguardianrss

#BreakingNews

#TrumpCoup #USpol #TrumpMuskDuumvirate
#NOAA #DefundScience #WeatherControl

(4/n)

...by several former #Trump staffers [and coordinated by the infamous rightwing #HeritageFoundation], has 👉called for the agency to be “broken up and downsized”, claiming the agency is “harmful to #US prosperity” for its role in #ClimateScience.👈 [aka "#BigOil" and tRump's crucial #DrillBabyDrill campaign.]

...it’s been a longtime goal of corporations that rely on Noaa data to...

@theguardianrss

#BreakingNews

#TrumpCoup #USpol #TrumpMuskDuumvirate
#NOAA #DefundScience #WeatherControl

(3/n)

...concerns of downsizing at the agency.

“They apparently just sort of 👉walked past security and said: ‘Get out of my way,’ and they’re looking for access for the IT systems👈, as they have in other agencies,” [e.g. the #US #Treasury]...

They will have access to the entire computer system, a lot of which is confidential information.”

#Project2025, written...

#Eilnachricht #USpol
#TrumpCoup #TreasuryTakeover:

Via #WiredNews in #TheBackChannel #TPM

"[Musks] #DOGE...hat nicht nur 👉vollen Zugang zu diesen Systemen, er hat bereits umfangreiche Änderungen an der Code-Basis für diese kritischen Zahlungssystem[e] vorgenommen. Ein 25-j...Mitarbeiter namens #MarkoElez 1)hat...👉Adminzugriff für diese kritischen Systeme👈, die etwa 95 % der Zahlungen der #US-Regierung, einschließlich der Sozialversicherungsschecks,...auszahlen..."
talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/m…

Musk Cronies Dive Into Treasury Dept Payments Code Base

Overnight, Wired reported that, contrary to published reports that DOGE operatives at the Treasury Department are limited to “read only” access to department…

^{Josh Marshall (TPM - Talking Points Memo)}

#USpol #Treasury #TrumpCoup

#AltText:
"Treasury: DOGE currently will have read-only access to data."

-> The emphasis being on "currently".

Let's just, for instance, imagine the billions of dollars of the #US #Treasury payments being diverted for an hour or so to some #CryptoCurrency exchanges...for starters.

ETA:
At least one of Musks minions has admin privileges and has already been altering the coding...see today's BreakingNews thread of mine.

#TrumpCoup #USpol

PS

Meanwhile #Musk's ongoing real coup in the #US:

mstdn.social/@DemocracyMatters…

Sidenote:

Accusing political oponents and other adversaries of acts one has comitted or is about to commit is right out of Goebbel's' Nazi playbook.

Democracy Matters :verified:

2025-02-04 20:39:33

Elon Musk’s Power Grab Is Lawless, Dangerous, and—Yes—a Coup
slate.com/news-and-politics/20…

#StopTrumpNow #GOPCoup #TrumpDidThis #RepublicansDidThis #RepublicansOwnThis #GOPKakistocracy #GOPWeirdos #NoRepublicansEverAgain #USPol

Elon Musk’s Power Grab Is Lawless, Dangerous, and—Yes—a Coup

What do we call it when the president is too lazy to gut the government himself, and gives away his power to a zealous and unaccountable friend?

^{Dahlia Lithwick (Slate)}

How China allegedly contributes to the deadly fentanyl crisis

> President #DonaldTrump has slapped new #tariffs on Chinese goods, partly in response to Beijing's alleged role in a deadly opioid epidemic in the United States.

> Washington has long accused Beijing of turning a blind eye to the deadly #fentanyl trade, which #US authorities estimate caused tens of thousands of deaths a year. #China denies responsibility. channelnewsasia.com/east-asia/… #nacotics #OpiumWar

China counters with tariffs on US products. It will also investigate Google

> China has countered President #DonaldTrump’s tariffs on Chinese products with #tariffs of its own on multiple #US imports as well as announcing an antitrust investigation into #Google and other trade measures abcnews.go.com/Business/wireSt… #trade #economy

China counters with tariffs on US products. It will also investigate Google

China has countered President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Chinese products with tariffs of its own on multiple U.S. imports as well as announcing an antitrust investigation into Google and other trade measures

^{EMILY WANG FUJIYAMA Associated Press (ABC News)}

#USpol #Health #LifeExpectancy
(2/2)

...improved.

Last, but not least: #healthcare access in the #US is pretty much a "pay yourself" issue. By forgiving millions in student loans and boosting child-tax credit I assume that many people were able to invest in their own health, maybe for the 1st time.
This would have to be cross-checked statistically, OFC.
In particular, IDK how life expectancy at birth is measured, derived, and forecast.
//

#USpol #Health #LifeExpectancy
(1/2)

While I don't analyze health statistics on a regular basis, as you do, Dominik (👍,) I have been following #US politics continuously.

Actually, the uptick in 2023 is not surprising to me: former President #JoeBiden made #health a top priority of its administration, also due to personal experiences. Out of the top of my head, he did make many major life-saving drugs available for lower-income residents. Also, general healthcare access...

#Health #Population #US

Very interesting, but no surprise: #Americans began to lose out in comparison to their European peers, despite Chernobyl, during the #Reagan years. 1)

As the #TelegramAndGazette puts it:

"Reagan, #Bush robbed #SocialSecurity fund..." 2)

swiss.social/@dominiksteiger/1…

1)
nytimes.com/1981/05/13/us/firs…

2)
eu.telegram.com/story/news/loc…

Dominik Steiger

2025-02-04 09:30:42

American Carnage

If #Trump is declaring a trade war, #Canada's #unions want to give him one.

The Canadian Labour Congress is demanding that electricity, oil, gas and critical mineral shipments be cut-off to the #US

#CanadianPolitics #cdnpoli #tradewar #labour #labor #workersrights #tradeunions #uspolitics #uspoli

canadianlabour.ca/cut-off-u-s-…

Cut Off U.S. Energy and Resources Now: No Electricity, No Critical Minerals, No Oil and Gas  | Canadian Labour Congress

WINNIPEG – Bea Bruske, President of the Canadian Labour Congress, issued the following statement today:  Donald Trump’s reckless tariffs are an attack on Canadian workers and our economy. With 2.

^{cstdenis (Canadian Labour Congress)}

*#GleichschaltungDerPresse in den #USA--Stufe 2*
#USpol #Sicherheit #Datenschutz
#Spyware #Meta #Zuckerberg
#WhatsApp #ParagonSolutions
(3/3)
...US-Einwanderungs- 5 Zollbehörde #ICE abgeschlossen hat.👈"
#ParagonSolutions soll vor kurzem von der #US-Private-Equity-Firma AE Industrial Partners gekauft worden sein. 3)//

3)
"... #Graphite"-Software, die sich auf die Extraktion von Informationen aus verschlüsselten Apps konzentriert & dabei ethische Beschränkungen einhält."
m.jpost.com/jpost-tech/article…

*#GleichschaltungDerPresse in den #USA--Stufe 2*
#USpol #Sicherheit #Datenschutz

(1/n)

Nach dem Einsatz von #Thiels #Palantir u.a. gegen Journalisten in Lateinamerika soll nun auch die "ethische" "#Graphite"-Software gegen #US-Journalisten eingesetzt worden sein

"👉Nahezu 100 Journalisten + andere Mitglieder der Zivilgesellschaft, die #WhatsApp nutzen, wurden durch #Spionagesoftware 3) von #ParagonSolutions, einem #israelischen Hersteller von #Hacking-Software,...

1)
theguardian.com/technology/202…

WhatsApp says journalists and civil society members were targets of Israeli spyware

Messaging app said it had ‘high confidence’ some users were targeted and ‘possibly compromised’ by Paragon Solutions spyware

^{Stephanie Kirchgaessner (The Guardian)}

This has to be actionable.

#Musk aides lock #GovernmentWorkers out of computer systems at #US #FederalAgency

Aides to #ElonMusk charged have locked career #CivilServants at #OPM out of computer systems that contain the #personal #data of millions of federal #employees…

Since taking office, #Trump has embarked on a massive govt makeover, firing & sidelining hundreds of civil servants & installing more loyalists.

#law #cybersecurity #oversight #NationalSecurity #InfoSec
reuters.com/world/us/musk-aide…

For many companies, though, moving a major chunk of production to the #US is unrealistic, said Agathe Demarais, a snr policy fellow at the European Council for #ForeignRelations.

#Costs are too high. American #workers are not willing to accept the low #wages that initially drove companies to move to countries like #Mexico.

Mazda & Toyota have already struggled to ramp up production at their joint US factory because of a lack of workers.

#Trump #tariffs #economy #business #USpol #geopolitics

#Mexico is the largest exporter of #automotive parts to the #US. #Honda, for instance, produces around 200k vehicles in Mexico, & ships about 160k of those to the US. American carmakers like #GeneralMotors & #Ford Motor, which have major plants in Mexico & #Canada, would be similarly affected by #Trump’s #tariffs.

…Mexico is also home to other major manufacturers that make #aerospace equipment, #electronics, home #appliances & more. It is the largest exporter of #MedicalDevices to the US.

High Stakes for #Global Companies [& #US #consumers] in #Trump’s Latest #Tariff Threats

Manufacturers from #Asia, #Europe & elsewhere have poured billions into North American #SupplyChains that could be hit by new taxes on #Mexico, #Canada & #China.

Trump’s threat to impose a 25% tariff on all imports from Mexico & Canada as early as Saturday [TOMORROW] has hit companies like a freak ice storm in summer.

#economy #business #inflation #prices #USpol #geopolitics
nytimes.com/2025/01/31/busines…

#DavidLebryk, who served in nonpolitical roles at #Treasury for several decades, is expected to leave the agency soon. #Trump named Lebryk as acting secretary upon taking office last week. Lebryk had a dispute w/ #ElonMusk’s surrogates over access to the payment system the #US government uses to disburse trillions of dollars every year….

#law #TreasuryDepartment #economy #USpol #FederalAgencies #kleptocracy #plutocracy #broligarchy #tyranny #autocracy

New Mexico, #US

People try to enter the US through a hole in a section of the US-Mexico border wall, in Sunland Park.

Photograph: José Luis González/Reuters

@photography
#migrants

‘Paranoia and distrust’: How Trump’s mass firing of government watchdogs will affect climate policy

Experts fear the president will replace the fired inspectors general with loyalists who will turn a blind eye to corruption

grist.org/accountability/paran…

#USA #US #ClimateChange #GlobalWarming #IrreversibleOverheating #GlobalBurning #ClimateDestruction #ClimateSuicide #MassExtinction #pollution #ecology #environment #climate

‘Paranoia and distrust’: How Trump’s mass firing of government watchdogs will affect climate policy

Experts fear the president will replace the fired inspectors general with loyalists who will turn a blind eye to corruption.

^{Zoya Teirstein (Grist)}