Iranians Risking Everything for Freedom
One reason the Iranian protests were so big, was because Trump called for protest and said he would help. So far, he has left them hanging.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1Pjm6HdVbA
Tag: authoritarianism
How to be a Latin American Dictator Trump Ignores
“Nicaragua is run by Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo, a husband and wife who take the term “power couple” somewhat literally. They are now co-presidents of the Central American nation of 7 million. Over the years, they’ve rigged elections, wrested control over other branches of the government and crushed the opposition, while apparently grooming their children to succeed them. It has been a strange and circular journey for a pair of one-time Sandinista revolutionaries who previously fought to bring down a dynastic dictatorship.
Hundreds of thousands of Nicaraguans have fled the impoverished country, some to the United States. Meanwhile, the regime has enhanced ties to Russia, China and other U.S. adversaries, while having rocky relations with Washington. Nicaragua is part of a free trade agreement with Washington, but it has also faced U.S. sanctions, tariffs and other penalties for oppressing its people, eroding democracy and having ties to Russia. Even the current Trump administration has used such measures against it, but the regime hasn’t buckled.
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Unlike Venezuela, Nicaragua isn’t a major source of oil, the natural resource Trump covets most. It has gold, but not enough of that or other minerals to truly stand out. (Although yes, I know, Trump loves gold.) It’s also not a major source of migrants to the U.S.”
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2026/01/13/latin-america-trump-nicaragua-00725393
‘Unconstitutional conspiracy’: Judge slams Trump administration over targeted deportations
“A federal judge handling a lawsuit over the deportation of pro-Palestinian activists excoriated top administration officials, including President Donald Trump, for trampling on the First Amendment and for what the judge described as a fearful approach to freedom.
“There was no policy here,” said U.S. District Judge William Young, an 85-year-old Reagan appointee who has been on the federal bench in Boston for 40 years. “What happened here is an unconstitutional conspiracy to pick off certain people.”
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“I find it breathtaking that I have been compelled on the evidence to find the conduct of such high-level officers of our government — cabinet secretaries — conspired to infringe the First Amendment rights of people with such rights here in the United States,” Young said. “These cabinet secretaries have failed in their sworn duty to uphold the Constitution.”
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Young used extraordinarily stark language during the hearing, describing Trump as an “authoritarian” while insisting that he was choosing the term carefully, rather than simply using a “pejorative.”
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The judge found the president and his aides targeted the members of the group for their First Amendment-protected views and speech, guided by an anonymously run private website targeting Palestinian students in the United States.
“I’ve asked myself why — how did this happen? How could our own government, the highest officials in our government, seek to infringe the rights of people lawfully here in the United States? And I’ve come to believe that there’s a concept of freedom here that I don’t understand,” the judge continued. “The record in this case convinces me that these high officials, and I include the president of the United States, have a fearful view of freedom.”
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“These professionals were taken off anti-terrorist investigations. They were taken off human trafficking investigations all to look up … what dirt they could find on this group that some private agency, at the very highest levels of the DHS decided — that’s the best use of those people,” Young said. “If ever you want chapter and verse about how the government can be weaponized against a disfavored group, that’s the record of it.””
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/01/15/unconstitutional-conspiracy-judge-slams-trump-administration-over-targeted-deportations-00733070
Trump will pardon Puerto Rico’s former governor
Support Trump politically, get a pardon.
“Wanda Vázquez Garced, who endorsed Trump in 2020, faced campaign bribery charges and pleaded guilty last year.”
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/01/16/trump-pardon-former-puerto-rico-governor-00734044?utm_medium=bluesky&utm_source=dlvr.it
Now or Never: US Preps Iran Strikes
Masked agents of the state killing people and the leaders calling the killed: terrorists.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7oWkPBn6MA
ICE Shot a 21-Year-Old in the Face and Blinded Him
ICE repeatedly exercises a gratuitous use of force.
Multiple ICE agents have threatened protestors by referring to the killing of Renee Good. These are threats to kill people by law enforcement, often for simply being annoying. The implications are more aggressive than simply, ‘hey, if you protest or/and don’t listen to my orders, we may possibly get into the situation where I have to kill you to defend myself.’ The implications are, ‘Keep annoying me or disobeying me, and I’ll fucking kill you like we did that woman.’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnM8_4dFoCI
El Salvador Has Changed
El Salvador had serious and deadly gang problems. They then heavily cracked down on crime while reaching out to youth with programs offering alternatives to a life of crime. The crime crackdown came with human rights issues and a weakening of democracy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-ed-O80Vtg
Trump’s D.O.J. Went After the Fed. It Backfired.
Trump called his Department of Justice lawyers weak and told them they needed to get on his retribution campaign. After this meeting, the lawyers went after the Fed chairman, Jerome Powell.
Unusually, some Republican Congressmen are breaking with Trump and criticizing this move.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owKy9QrEWZA
3 Areas Where the Courts Pushed Back Against Trump’s Attempts To Avoid Judicial Review in 2025
“First, the men at the center of the 60 Minutes segment were in fact shipped off to CECOT without any sort of judicial review. Second, even after the Supreme Court ruled that alleged “alien enemies” have a due process right to challenge their removal via habeas corpus petitions, the administration made that option nearly impossible to pursue in practice, as the Court subsequently recognized. Third, the government maintains that federal courts have, at most, a highly circumscribed role in these cases, saying they have no authority to question Trump’s historically unprecedented invocation of the AEA against alleged gang members.
Trump’s assertion of unreviewable power under the AEA is part of a broader pattern that became clear during his first year in office. He has made similar claims regarding his tariffs and National Guard deployments. In these and other cases, Trump’s position undermines civil liberties, the rule of law, and the separation of powers by attacking the crucial role that the judicial branch plays in making sure that presidents respect statutory and constitutional limits on their authority.”
https://reason.com/2026/01/01/3-areas-where-the-courts-pushed-back-against-trumps-attempts-to-avoid-judicial-review-in-2025/
Iran’s Unprecedented Crackdown
Iran appears to be massacring its people.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Grs_vJofF-k