Read & Resist – May 3

Read & Resist – May 3. I know it’s dated. (How odd to suggest, just a few days makes something *dated* – I still remember the world BEFORE BREAKING NEWS!) Anyhow, the content remains important to share AND I’ve updated past Read & Resist posts and organized everything into pages – click any header below or click here for the full archive.

The Courts Must Stop Presuming Donald Trump is a Regular President

•  “As one early Supreme Court case stated, government officials “are assumed to be men of conscience and intellectual discipline, capable of judging a particular controversy fairly on the basis of its own circumstances.”
• “The time has come for the judiciary to scrap the presumption of regularity. It is yet another outdated norm that we can no longer afford. Those fighting to preserve democracy already face a daunting task without judges reflexively giving Trump the benefit of the doubt.”

CENSORSHIP

• Reporters Without Borders Sounds Alarm on US Press Freedom Under Trump – “The U.S. has been trending downward on RSF’s index since 2013, when it ranked 32nd in global press freedom. A decade later, it had fallen to 45th place before plunging to 55th place last year amid Trump’s attacks on the media.”
• Trump signs executive order directing federal funding cuts to PBS and NPR – “The White House, in a social media posting announcing the signing, said the outlets “receive millions from taxpayers to spread radical, woke propaganda disguised as ‘news.’ It’s the latest move by Trump and his administration to utilize federal powers to control or hamstring institutions whose actions or viewpoints he disagrees with.”

ECONOMIC POLICY & TARIFFS

• Tariffs threaten a pharmaceuticals shortage, as 95% of ibuprofen comes from China – “More than 90% of the supply of anti-inflammation steroid hydrocortisone also comes from China, as well as 70% of acetaminophen and 45% of the U.S.’s penicillin imports. The U.S. is particularly reliant on China for more affordable, generic drugs, and generic drugs make up 90% of prescriptions filled in the U.S., according to the Food and Drug Administration.”

EDUCATION

• Email mistake reveals secret plans to end research on Head Start and other child safety net programs – “The document listed more than 150 research projects under consideration for termination by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. “
• Trump administration to cancel $1bn in Biden-era school mental health grants– “A gun violence bill signed by Joe Biden in 2022 sent $1bn to the grant programs to help schools hire more psychologists, counselors and other mental health workers…A new notice said an education department review of the programs found they violated the purpose of civil rights law, conflicted with the department’s policy of prioritizing merit and fairness, and amounted to an inappropriate use of federal money.”

ETHICS

HEALTH CARE

• Worker safety agency NIOSH lays off most remaining staff – “Nearly all of the remaining staff at the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health were laid off… gutting programs ranging from approvals of new safety equipment to firefighter health.”
• Trump’s USDA Dismantled Decades of Federal Food Policy in Just 100 Days – “Despite its widespread perception, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is involved in much more than farming. The federal agency, established in 1862, is made up of 29 subagencies and offices and just last year was staffed by nearly 100,000 employees. It has an annual budget of hundreds of billions of dollars. Altogether it administers funding, technical support, and regulations for: international trade, food assistance, forest and grasslands management, livestock rearing, global scientific research, economic data, land conservation, rural housing, disaster aid, water management, startup capital, crop insurance, food safety, and plant health. “
• The Cruelty of the OMB Budget Proposal: An Advocacy Guide for Public Health– “Unlike Medicaid, the work of public health does not have a natural constituency, because when it succeeds, no one notices not getting sick. That creates a risk that, in the mayhem, attacks on CDC’s funding or structure will be overlooked. Those of us who understand population-based prevention therefore have an obligation to scream bloody murder, starting now.”
• Justice Department’s Grant Cuts Endanger Public Safety – “In an unprecedented move, the Department of Justice has canceled more than $810 million in grants already awarded in recent years. Last week’s abrupt cuts to at least 365 grants affect a large swath of anti-crime programs run by nonprofit organizations, often in collaboration with state and local government agencies, such as local law enforcement.”
• Insider issues ‘incredible’ warning to avoid critical air hub ‘at all costs’ over safety – “He said, It is not safe. ‘It is not a safe situation right now for the flying public,” Costello said. “Really an incredible statement, unsolicited. He just said that to me, and separately, ‘Don’t fly into Newark. Avoid Newark at all costs.”

• Israel Is Demolishing Homes in the West Bank to Force Palestinians to Leave– “Since 2023, home demolitions have displaced 7,392 Palestinians. “
• Ship Carrying Humanitarian Aid for Gaza Bombed Off Coast of Malta – “Friday’s attack comes as major aid groups warn that the entire humanitarian aid operation in Gaza is on the verge of total collapse because of Israel’s total aid blockade that has gone on for seven weeks now.