“The text below, dubbed the “Authoritarian Regime Survival Guide”, was published in social media in January 2017 in a series of improvised, spontaneous tweets, which reached 3 million views within one month. Their common element was their trademark signature, “- With love, your Eastern European friends”, and the accompanying hashtag #LearnFromEurope. The Guide went viral in the US and many other countries, being translated into several languages, from Turkish to Filipino. It was printed on placards during anti-Trump protests, studied at two American universities, quoted by CNBC’s Joy Reid on national TV and recommended by former US Secretary of Labor Robert Reich. Excerpts and summaries were published by various on-line media, but this is the first time it is published as a whole…”
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Category Archives: Free Speech
FCC’s Knives Are Out for First Amendment
Fairness & Accurately in Reporting (FAIR): Brendan Carr, newly appointed chair of the Federal Communications Commission, is waging a war on the news media, perhaps the most dangerous front in de jure President Donald Trump and de facto President Elon Musk’s quest to destroy freedom of the press and the First Amendment. Trump’s FCC has… Continue Reading
Database and dashboard – activities, groups and businesses supporting democracy through action
The Team at Horizons Project is keeping up a database about movement activity focusing on the range of activity against various pillars. The Pillars — principled collective action & loving defiance. Subject matter tools, links and resources authored by: government workers; business; faith based initiatives; professional associations; unions. Includes Tactics Used, Links and Further Details.… Continue Reading
Site tracks how much of Project 2025 has been implemented
Project 2025 Tracker – The site tracks overall progress now at 34% as well as well as detailed objectives specific to each government agency. This is a significant and very disconcerting tool. Thanks go out to the folks at the free project you can support via Patreon. See also Searchable Full Project 2025 Text: Mandate… Continue Reading
Climate and DEI Deleted From Government Websites, Federal Workers Fired
Via LLRX – Climate and DEI Deleted From Government Websites, Federal Workers Fired – Since January 20, 2025 America has been catapulted into an unimaginable inflection point. Sabrina I. Pacifici chronicles seismic events in recent weeks which have upended America’s democracy, jeopardized our economy, financial system, national security, science and medical communities, and fractured our… Continue Reading
The war on DEI is a smoke screen
The Verge – [unpaywalled] “Violent metaphors abound for what’s happening in Washington: Elon Musk and his allies have taken a “slash-and-burn” approach to the government and a “sledgehammer” to government institutions, doing away with supposed waste and excess while leaving the fundamental structure intact. All of this is being done with the stated goal of… Continue Reading
How Trump Could Remake the Supreme Court for a Generation
The Nation: Donald Trump is poised to become the first president since FDR to have appointed the majority of high-court justices. His potential picks are terrifying.This article appears in the March 2025 issue, with the headline “The Supreme Trump Court.” Donald Trump’s first term as president gave the republicans control over the most dangerous body… Continue Reading
The List of Trump’s Forbidden Words That Will Get Your Paper Flagged at NSF
Gizmodo – “It’s fascism, plain and simple.Every federal agency in the U.S. is currently trying to figure out how to purge forbidden words from documents posted online, in a desperate attempt to comply with President Donald Trump’s executive order to purge “DEI” from every facet of American life. And nowhere is that effort more bizarre… Continue Reading
Anatomy of an AI Coup
Tech Policy News: “Artificial intelligence (AI) is a technology for manufacturing excuses. While lacking clear definitions or tools for assessment, AI has nonetheless seized the imagination of politicians and managers across government, academia, and industry. But what AI is best at producing is justifications. If you want a labor force, a regulatory bureaucracy, or accountability… Continue Reading
Trump Freezes All Grant Funding to Libraries, Archives, and Museums
everylibrary – “While this “pause” will negatively impact millions of Americans, it will also considerably impact libraries. rump has demanded a freeze on all federal grants and for all agencies to “temporarily pause all activities related to obligations or disbursement of all Federal financial assistance.” The memo also calls for each agency to perform a… Continue Reading
A Spy in Your Pocket?
DemocracyNow – Ronan Farrow Exposes Secrets of High-Tech Spyware in New Film “Surveilled” – “Is that a spy in your pocket? In a holiday special we speak to Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ronan Farrow and filmmaker Matthew O’Neill about Surveilled, their new HBO documentary looking at how high-tech surveillance spyware is threatening democracy across the globe.… Continue Reading
Some Justice Department Lawyers Look for Protection and the Exits
WSJ via MSN – “Justice Department lawyers who have angered President-elect Donald Trump and his allies are facing tough decisions about whether to stay in government—and how to best protect themselves from threats of retribution after Inauguration Day. Dozens of prosecutors and agents have worked on cases that potentially make them vulnerable, such as special counsel … Continue Reading
