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Greg Bovino and ICE thugs "In Your Face" outside Newsom presser
Further

Nabbing the Worst Of the Worst Strawberry Sellers

After much stellar trolling of "THE LOWEST POLLING PRESIDENT IN RECENT HISTORY" with "NEW, MORE BEAUTIFUL MAPS" that will end his reign - "YOU WON’T LIKE IT!!" - Gavin Newson, "AMERICA’S FAVORITE GOVERNOR!!" urged California voters to support vital redistricting at a presser promptly crashed - bullies gonna bully - by armed, masked ICE thugs sent by the presiding "WEAK LITTLE MAN!!!” Still, Newsom declared, "We will not be complicit." The thugs, "making L.A. safer," arrested one worker. SAD.

Newsom's appearance at L.A.'s Japanese American National Museum, in the city's Little Tokyo neighborhood, was to unveil a new initiative asking California voters to approve early Congressional redistricting in a November special election aimed at offsetting a sleazy ploy by Texas Republicans to eliminate five Democratic seats in next year's elections Trump feels "entitled" to. Directly warning Trump, "You have poked the bear, and we will punch back," Newsom said his Election Rigging Response Act would in turn target five House GOP seats in his state if Texas goes ahead with its morally dubious, possibly illegal move; his ingenious "flipping the script" on the GOP would allow Californians to temporarily redraw their Congressional map before ultimately returning that authority to the independent commission it's long used for the task.

Leading up to his own theatrical, unprecedented, expedient proposal, Newsom - or his brilliant media team led by Camille Zapata - undertook a savage campaign mocking the dark bluster and lowbrow idiocy of the mad king himself in his many gonzo diatribes. "DONALD TRUMP, IF YOU DO NOT STAND DOWN, WE WILL BE FORCED TO LEAD AN EFFORT TO REDRAW THE MAPS IN CA TO OFFSET THE RIGGING OF MAPS IN RED STATES," his office screeched online. "THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER!" Then, praise for "CALIFORNIA’S BEAUTIFUL MAPS. PEOPLE ARE SAYING THEY ARE THE GREATEST MAPS EVER CREATED — EVEN BETTER THAN CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS...THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER.”

Then, “DONALD TRUMP, THE LOWEST POLLING PRESIDENT IN RECENT HISTORY, THIS IS YOUR SECOND-TO-LAST WARNING!!!" followed by the helpful clarifier for history's dumbest president, "(THE NEXT ONE IS THE LAST ONE!).” Then, "DONALD 'TACO' TRUMP, AS MANY CALL HIM, 'MISSED' THE DEADLINE!!! CALIFORNIA WILL NOW DRAW NEW, MORE 'BEAUTIFUL MAPS,' (that will end his PRESIDENCY when DEMS TAKE BACK THE HOUSE!!) YOU WILL NOT LIKE IT! THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER!" And, "PRESS CONFERENCE COMING — HOSTED BY AMERICA’S FAVORITE GOVERNOR, GAVIN NEWSOM. HISTORY WILL BE MADE. Newsom even stole Trump's, and Ice Barbie's, favorite, outlandish name, calling it, "LIBERATION DAY FOR AMERICA."

In his speech, Newsom skipped the comedy to gravely address the "serious moment" facing America. "We're here with the clarity of our purpose and conviction, to recognize that we need to reconcile the world we’re living in," he said. "We do have agency. We can shape the future, and that’s what we intend to do." Citing Trump's Jan. 6th attempt to "light Democracy on fire," he noted, "Here he is again, trying to rig the system" by demanding a Texas governor ‘find me five seats'...He doesn't play by a different set of rules - he doesn’t believe in the rules. As a consequence, we need to disabuse ourselves of the way things have been done, (and) meet fire with fire." At this key juncture, he declared, "We will not be complicit." In other words, many cheered, the governor of the country's most populous state and the world's fourth largest economy in the world "brought a gun to a gunfight."

It remains unclear how successful his bold, rare redistricting move will be: Polls suggest less than 40% of voters support returning that authority to state lawmakers, and a majority is needed to pass a statewide ballot initiative. But at least one member of the commission urged voters to "set aside the good work of California" as a "one-time occurrence" to address the current crisis. And at the launch, Newson was flanked by Dem allies who likewise urged action, including Sen. Alex Padilla, who in June was assaulted and handcuffed for trying to ask a question at another presser held by ICE.Barbie. Given the repressive times, he again pointedly asked voters, "Are we ready to stand up for our democracy?"

The event might have been largely dismissed as a symbolic launch if its fragile, thin-skinned schoolyard bully of a target hadn't again overplayed his hand and, demonstrating his usual lack of strategy or subtlety, sent in a beefy battalion of masked, armed, camoed, rifle-and-zip-tie-toting goons to hulk outside in clumsy bunches looking alternately scary, dumbfounded, overdressed and comic-book-villainous. The San Francisco Chronicle proclaimed they'd "crashed" the event led by Border Patrol Chief Gregory Bovino, famously last seen pointlessly sweeping MacArthur Park for imaginary bad guys. "We’re here making Los Angeles a safer place," he snarled. "Since we don’t have politicians who will do that, we do it ourselves.”

Bovino claimed he had no idea the governor was in the building behind him, insisting the action was part of "routine roving patrols" - which have, in fact, already been struck down as unconstitutional "racial profiling" by multiple courts and may now go to SCOTUS. But meh, who needs the law: One MAGA moron freaked out at the audacity of the wholly aimless venture with, "HOLY SHT Bovino just EXPOSED Gavin Newscum right outside his venue: ABSOLUTE MIC DROP." Newsom was less impressed, calling the move "sick and pathetic." Who sends thugs, he asked: "Someone who is weak, who's broken," whose weakness is masquerading as authoritarian strength. "You think it's coincidental?” Newsom asked. "Wake up, America.”

Meanwhile, his team kept trolling: "BORDER PATROL HAS SHOWED UP AT OUR BIG BEAUTIFUL PRESS CONFERENCE! WE WILL NOT BE INTIMIDATED!" Mayor Bass charged a regime that's "run amok" and is "the source of the disorder" came to "thumb their nose in front of the governor’s face.” Kristi Noem, simultaneously live on Fox, defended the "in your face" move, blathering ICE operations are "built on information, on investigative work. Remember, we're focusing on the worst of the worst. So I don’t know specific to what information that they had for that operation but it was based on the investigative work that all law enforcement officers do for every single operation they conduct" - to uncover, lest we forget, "the worst of the worst."

Ultimately, Bovino said, "We did make an apprehension of one person." Video shows a short brown guy in jeans and t-shirt, hands cuffed behind him, being hauled away by several thugs as Bovino slaps the back of one and says, "Well done, brother." Around them, fellow residents of the city Bovino says he's keeping "safer" loudly express their gratitude. People in cars are furiously honking and yelling "Fuck you!"; people on the sidewalk are filming and screaming, "They are arresting our people!", "What the fuck is wrong with you?", "Where is your warrant?", "Go arrest criminals!", "These are working people!", "Fucking cowards!" and "Fucking fascists go home!" Their victim: "Angel was just doing his normal delivery," said his friend Carlos. “It’s pretty sad, because I’ve got to go to work tomorrow and Angel isn’t going to be there.” They were selling strawberries.

Later, amidst widespread outrage and mockery of Trump's "stupid" authoritarian moves, Newsom's account was still churning. "DONALD IS FINISHED...FIRST THE HANDS (SO TINY) AND NOW ME — GAVIN C. NEWSOM — HAVE TAKEN AWAY HIS 'STEP.' MANY ARE SAYING HE CAN’T EVEN DO THE “BIG STAIRS” ON AIR FORCE ONE ANYMORE — USES THE LITTLE BABY STAIRS NOW. SAD!...YOU’RE WELCOME FOR LIBERATION DAY, AMERICA!" On Friday, a new tack. "MANY PEOPLE ARE SAYING — AND I AGREE — THAT I, GAVIN C. NEWSOM (AMERICA’S FAVORITE GOVERNOR) DESERVE THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE. WHY? BECAUSE OF THE “MOST INCREDIBLE MAPS IN THE HISTORY OF MAPPING” (EVEN COLUMBUS)...PEACE THROUGH MAPS — NO ONE HAS EVER THOUGHT OF THIS BEFORE..THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER!"

"The devil, the prowde spirit...cannot endure to be mocked." - Thomas More

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Cheers Erupt as Tucson City Council Unanimously Kills Massive Amazon-Linked Data Centers
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Cheers Erupt as Tucson City Council Unanimously Kills Massive Amazon-Linked Data Centers

A Wednesday evening city council meeting in Tucson, Arizona ended with boisterous cheers from attendees after lawmakers voted unanimously to kill a massive Amazon-linked data center project amid concerns over its impact on the city's water supply.

As reported by The Tucson Sentinel, the Project Blue data centers being spearheaded by development firm Beale Infrastructure went down in defeat during a lengthy meeting in which representatives from the company tried to assuage locals' concerns about the project's impact on their community and environment.

Although the company behind the proposed data centers had initially been a mystery, the Sentinel reported that documents mistakenly released by Pima County revealed that Amazon Web Services was the project's "final customer."

Opposition to the project grew over the summer after city officials released estimates showing the two planned data centers under Project Blue would use 2,000 acre-feet of water per year, which would be more than the annual use of four golf courses. Even though city officials emphasized that the project would be "net water positive" because its developers would invest in projects that would "offset their consumptive use, gallon-for-gallon," this wasn't enough to satisfy many Tucson residents.

During the Wednesday meeting, Councilmember Nikki Lee said she decided to oppose the construction of the data centers after listening to the constituents in her ward who were vehemently opposed.

"Project Blue represents a lot of things to a lot of people right now, more than just the data center and the project itself," she explained, according to The Tuscon Sentinel. "It's a distrust in government. It's a distrust in corporations. It's a very large distrust in tech companies, a distrust in technology and privacy in general, and a fear of artificial intelligence and how fast things are moving and how little control we have."

Councilmember Lane Santa Cruz also expressed a general distrust with corporate America in justifying her opposition to the project.

"What I've learned is simple, giant corporations prefer to operate in the shadows," explained Santa Cruz. "Cities across the country are being sold the same story, promises of jobs, innovation, and progress, but what's not being talked about is who really benefits and what it will cost us."

Local resident Vivek Bharathan, who campaigned against the initiative, told Arizona Luminaria that he was grateful that pressure from community organizations such as No Desert Data Center had pushed the council to scrap the project.

"I had hope but zero expectations," he told the publication. "This is a huge win."

Local resident Maria Renée, who had helped with No Desert Data Center's campaign, told Arizona Luminaria that she felt as though "a weight has totally lifted" after the project's demise, although she vowed to continue her advocacy for "policy that puts guard rails on large water users" in the community.

Video taken of the event by KVOA journalist Eric Fink showed that people attending the Wednesday city council meeting erupted in cheers after the council voted to scrap the project.

Arizona Luminaria also reported that Project Blue isn't entirely dead despite the council's vote, as Beale Infrastructure could still build out data centers in locations that are close to Tucson.

"Beale and Pima County entered into a purchase and sale agreement for 290 acres of unincorporated land in June," the publication explained. "The project developer was interested in having that land annexed into Tucson to access city water supplies, but could consider other locations to build outside Tucson city limits."

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Senator Warren Holds A Press Conference On Social Security
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On Social Security's 90th Anniversary, Trump's Attacks on Program Top List of Policies Americans Oppose

As the US marked the 90th anniversary of one of its most broadly popular public programs, Social Security, on Thursday, President Donald Trump marked the occasion by claiming at an Oval Office event that his administration has saved the retirees' safety net from "fraud" perpetrated by undocumented immigrants—but new polling showed that Trump's approach to the Social Security Administration is among his most unpopular agenda items.

The progressive think tank Data for Progress asked 1,176 likely voters about eight key Trump administration agenda items, including pushing for staffing cuts at the Social Security Administration; signing the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which is projected to raise the cost of living for millions as people will be shut out of food assistance and Medicaid; and firing tens of thousands of federal workers—and found that some of Americans' biggest concerns are about the fate of the agency that SSA chief Frank Bisignano has pledged to make "digital-first."

Sixty-three percent of respondents said they oppose the proposed layoffs of about 7,000 SSA staffers, or about 12% of its workforce—which, as progressives including Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) have warned, have led to longer wait times for beneficiaries who rely on their monthly earned Social Security checks to pay for groceries, housing, medications, and other essentials.

Forty-five percent of people surveyed said they were "very concerned" about the cuts.

Only the Trump administration's decision not to release files related to the Jeffrey Epstein case was more opposed by respondents, with 65% saying they disapproved of the failure to disclose the documents, which involve the financier and convicted sex offender who was a known friend of the president. But fewer voters—about 39%—said they were "very concerned" about the files.

Among "persuadable voters"—those who said they were as likely to vote for candidates from either major political party in upcoming elections—70% said they opposed the cuts to Social Security.

The staffing cuts have forced Social Security field offices across the country to close, and as Sanders said Wednesday as he introduced the Keep Billionaires Out of Social Security Act, the 1-800 number beneficiaries have to call to receive their benefits "is a mess," with staffers overwhelmed due to the loss of more than 4,000 employees so far.

As Common Dreams reported in July, another policy change this month is expected to leave senior citizens and beneficiaries with disabilities unable to perform routine tasks related to their benefits over the phone, as they have for decades—forcing them to rely on a complicated online verification process.

Late last month, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent admitted that despite repeated claims from Trump that he won't attempt to privatize Social Security, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act offers a "backdoor way" for Republicans to do just that.

The law's inclusion of tax-deferred investment accounts called "Trump accounts" that will be available to US citizen children starting next July could allow the GOP to privatize the program as it has hoped to for decades.

"Right now, the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress are quietly creating problems for Social Security so they can later hand it off to their private equity buddies," said Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) on Thursday.

Marking the program's 90th anniversary, Sanders touted his Keep Billionaires Out of Social Security Act.

"This legislation would reverse all of the cuts that the Trump administration has made to the Social Security Administration," said Sanders. "It would make it easier, not harder, for seniors and people with disabilities to receive the benefits they have earned over the phone."

"Each and every year, some 30,000 people die—they die while waiting for their Social Security benefits to be approved," said Sanders. "And Trump's cuts will make this terrible situation even worse. We cannot and must not allow that to happen."

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Residents Revolt as 'Free DC' Protests Target Trump's National Guard Deployment
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Residents Revolt as 'Free DC' Protests Target Trump's National Guard Deployment

Residents of Washington, DC over the weekend demonstrated against US President Donald Trump's deployment of the National Guard in their city.

As reported by NBC Washington, demonstrators gathered on Saturday at DuPont Circle and then marched to the White House to direct their anger at Trump for sending the National Guard to Washington DC, and for his efforts to take over the Metropolitan Police Department.

In an interview with NBC Washington, one protester said that it was important for the administration to see that residents weren't intimidated by the presence of military personnel roaming their streets.

"I know a lot of people are scared," the protester said. "We've got the FBI patrolling the streets. We've got National Guard set up as a show of force. What's scarier is if we allow this."

Saturday protests against the presence of the National Guard are expected to be a weekly occurrence, organizers told NBC Washington.

Hours after the march to the White House, other demonstrators began to gather at Union Station to protest the presence of the National Guard units there. Audio obtained by freelance journalist Andrew Leyden reveals that the National Guard decided to move their forces out of the area in reaction to what dispatchers called "growing demonstrations."

Even residents who didn't take part in formal demonstrations over the weekend managed to express their displeasure with the National Guard patrolling the city. According to The Washington Post, locals who spent a night on the town in the U Street neighborhood on Friday night made their unhappiness with law enforcement in the city very well known.

"At the sight of local and federal law enforcement throughout the night, people pooled on the sidewalk—watching, filming, booing," wrote the Post. "Such interactions played out again and again as the night drew on. Onlookers heckled the police as they did their job and applauded as officers left."

Trump last week ordered the National Guard into Washington, DC and tried to take control the Metropolitan Police, purportedly in order to reduce crime in the city. Statistics released earlier this year, however, showed a significant drop in crime in the nation's capital.

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'Fight the Trump Takeover' Protests Against GOP Election-Rigging Plot Planned for Saturday
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'Fight the Trump Takeover' Protests Against GOP Election-Rigging Plot Planned for Saturday

Nationwide protests against US President Donald Trump's scheme to get Republican state legislatures to redraw their congressional maps are set to kick off this weekend.

The "Fight the Trump Takeover" movement is planning a national day of action on Saturday, August 16 that will feature coast-to-coast demonstrations from as far east as Lubec, Maine, to as far west as Anchorage, Alaska.

"Trump is trying to steal the 2026 election by rigging the system and changing electoral maps," the coalition behind the protests said on its website. "He started in Texas, but he won’t stop there. We are fighting back."

The protests are being done in partnership with several prominent progressive groups, including Indivisible, MoveOn, Human Rights Campaign, Public Citizen, and the Communication Workers of America. Some Texas-specific groups—including Texas Freedom Network, Texas AFL-CIO, and Texas for All—are also partners in the protest.

Axios reports that an "anchor rally" in Austin, Texas will kick off the nationwide events and will feature speakers including Democratic US Reps. Greg Casar and Lloyd Doggett, as well as former Democratic Rep. Beto O'Rourke and labor activist Dolores Huerta.

The location of the Austin rally is symbolically important because Texas is trying to become the first state to redraw its maps to benefit Republicans under Trump's nationwide gerrymandering scheme, which in the coming weeks could include states such as Ohio, Indiana, Florida, and Missouri.

Texas House Democratic Caucus Chair Gene Wu told Axios that "this fight is bigger than any one state" because "we're defending our entire country from the Trump takeover, and I'm honored to stand with every patriotic American who refuses to let extremists rig the system."

Ezra Levin, the co-founder and co-executive director of progressive organizing group Indivisible, told Axios that Trump's plan "is as crooked as it gets" and described it as part of a larger plot to "lock in minority rule for a generation."

Democratic-controlled states, led by California under Gov. Gavin Newsom, have started to fight back against the Trump plan by proposing their own redrawn maps aimed at squeezing out Republicans in their states. Newsom this week held a big rally in Los Angeles with other California Democratic heavyweights where he stressed the need for Democrats to give Republicans a taste of their own medicine.

"It's not enough to just hold hands, have a candlelight vigil, and talk about way the world should be," Newsom said at the rally. "We have got to recognize the cards that have been dealt, and we have got to meet fire with fire!"

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Marco Rubio Repeatedly Put on the Spot for Trump's Failure to Secure Ukraine Cease-Fire Deal
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Marco Rubio Repeatedly Put on the Spot for Trump's Failure to Secure Ukraine Cease-Fire Deal

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday was repeatedly put on the spot over the failure of US President Donald Trump to secure a cease-fire deal between Russia and Ukraine.

Rubio appeared on news programs across all major networks on Sunday morning and he was asked on all of them about Trump's summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin ending without any kind of agreement to end the conflict with Ukraine, which has now lasted for more than three years.

During an interview on ABC's "This Week," Rubio was grilled by Martha Raddatz about the purported "progress" being made toward bringing the war to a close. She also zeroed in on Trump's own statements saying that he wanted to see Russia agree to a cease-fire by the end of last week's summit.

"The president went in to that meeting saying he wanted a ceasefire, and there would be consequences if they didn't agree on a ceasefire in that meeting, and they didn't agree to a ceasefire," she said. "So where are the consequences?"

"That's not the aim of this," Rubio replied. "First of all..."

"The president said that was the aim!" Raddatz interjected.

"Yeah, but you're not going to reach a cease-fire or a peace agreement in a meeting in which only one side is represented," Rubio replied. "That's why it's important to bring both leaders together, that's the goal here."

Rubio also made an appearance on CBS' "Face the Nation," where host Margaret Brennan similarly pressed him about the expectations Trump had set going into the summit.

"The president told those European leaders last week he wanted a ceasefire," she pointed out. "He went on television and said he would walk out of the meeting if Putin didn't agree to one, he said there would be severe consequences if he didn't agree to one. He said he'd walk out in two minutes—he spent three hours talking to Vladimir Putin and he did not get one. So there's mixed messages here."

"Our goal is not to stage some production for the world to say, 'Oh, how dramatic, he walked out,'" Rubio shot back. "Our goal is to have a peace agreement to end this war, OK? And obviously we felt, and I agreed, that there was enough progress, not a lot of progress, but enough progress made in those talks to allow us to move to the next phase."

Rubio then insisted that now was not the time to hit Russia with new sanctions, despite Trump's recent threats to do so, because it would end talks all together.

During an appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press," host Kristen Welker asked Rubio about the "severe consequences" Trump had promised for Russia if it did not agree to a cease-fire.

"Why not impose more sanctions on [Russia] and force them to agree to a cease-fire, instead of accepting that Putin won't agree to one?" Welker asked.

"Well, first, that's something that I think a lot of people go around saying that I don't necessarily think is true," he replied. "I don't think new sanctions on Russia are going to force them to accept a cease-fire. They are already under severe sanctions... you can argue that could be a consequence of refusing to agree to a cease-fire or the end of hostilities."

He went on to say that he hoped the US would not be forced to put more sanctions on Russia "because that means peace talks failed."

During the 2024 presidential campaign, Trump said that he could end the war between Russian and Ukraine within the span of a single day. In the seven months since his inauguration, the war has only gotten more intense as Russia has stepped up its daily attacks on Ukrainian cities and infrastructure.

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