Read & Resist – April 18

Read & Resist – April 18 – a round up of articles I found, myself clicking to read and so I share with thee.

• To My Apolitical Friends, It’s Time You Got Political – “The greatest responsibility people of morality, faith, and conscience have is to leverage that privilege for the common good. I want to look back at the end of my life and know that I did all I could to protect diversity, equality, and justice.”
• ‘We are all afraid’: GOP’s Lisa Murkowski admits she fears retaliation – Know what is fucking scarier than retribution? LETTING IT ALL HAPPEN AND NOT DOING ANYTHING -“r”etribution or RETRIBUTION FOR ALL OF AMERICA. Step up. Or step aside.
• I CANNOT BELIEVE THIS IS AN OFFICIAL WHITE HOUSE GOVERNMENT WEBPAGE – what the fuck have we become?
• US strikes on oil port in Yemen kill 74 people– DID THIS GET ANY COVERAGE IN THE MEDIA?
• Internal budget document reveals extent of Trump’s proposed health cuts – “The rural hospital flexibility grants, state offices of rural health, rural residency development program and at-risk rural hospitals program grants are listed as eliminations under AHA.”
• Tariffs Are About to Hit Lifesaving Medical Equipment – “Research from data analytics and consulting firm GlobalData found that around 75 percent of US-marketed medical devices are, at least in part, manufactured abroad. It also found that respiratory devices—one of the most common medical device imports, and very much not optional for those who rely on them—are likely to be one of the more seriously impacted products.”
• Donald Trump wants to deport foreign students merely for what they say – He says his power over immigration overrides the First Amendment– The Trump administration is targeting a broad group of foreigners by making aggressive use of a 1952 immigration law. Under it, the secretary of state can decree someone “inadmissible” whose presence in the country “would have potentially serious adverse foreign-policy consequences”.
• DHS Tells 2 Massachusetts Immigration Lawyers, Both Citizens, to Self-Deport– The letter’s subject line reads, “Notice of Termination of Parole.” Within the body of the text, the email reiterates that the department is “terminating” their immigration parole status, which doesn’t apply to either of the two lawyers. “Do not attempt to remain in the United States — the federal government will find you,” the letter adds.
• Advocates Warn Funding and Staffing Cuts Imperil Mental Health Crisis Hotlines – The Trump administration has terminated $1 billion in grants that help fund states’ crisis helpline programs.
• Could polio be poised for a comeback? – “Two countries are seeing an increase in cases caused by the wild polio virus, which can cause paralysis and even death, particularly in infants and young children. And the cuts in USAID contracts that support polio vaccination raise concern that other countries will see a resurgence as well.”
• The Pardon-to-Prison Pipeline – Seeing so many people who received pardons get back in trouble with the law should be deeply embarrassing for Trump—though to be fair, pardoning people for a violent assault on the Capitol should have been embarrassing to him as well.
• A whistleblower’s disclosure details how DOGE may have taken sensitive labor data – “Members of the DOGE team asked that their activities not be logged on the system and then appeared to try to cover their tracks behind them, turning off monitoring tools and manually deleting records of their access — evasive behavior that several cybersecurity experts interviewed by NPR compared to what criminal or state-sponsored hackers might do.”