jayschool2013
jayschool2013's JournalVoters See Trump's Use of Power as Overreaching, Times/Siena Poll Finds
Source: New York Times (Gift Link)
Voters believe President Trump is overreaching with his aggressive efforts to expand executive power, and they have deep doubts about some of the signature pieces of his agenda, a New York Times/Siena College poll found.
The turbulent early months of Mr. Trump’s administration are seen as “chaotic” and “scary” by majorities of voters — even many who approve of the job he is doing. Voters do not view him as understanding the problems in their daily lives and have soured on his leadership as he approaches his 100th day in office.
Mr. Trump’s approval rating sits at 42 percent. His standing is historically low for a president this early in a term, but it is in line with his stubborn unpopularity, which did not prevent him from sweeping the battleground states in last year’s election.
Now, however, voters express dimming confidence about Mr. Trump’s handling of some of the top issues that propelled him back to the White House, including the economy and immigration, even as most Americans support deportations. Only 43 percent said they approved of how he has managed the economy this term, a serious erosion on an issue long seen as a strength.
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/25/us/politics/trump-poll-approval.html?unlocked_article_code=1.CU8.QlCt.t0QdfaMKEpUo&smid=url-share
"Voters" — like that matters anymore.
Trump calls Kilmar Abrego Garcia 'unbelievably bad'
Source: The Associated Press via the Baltimore Banner
After days of denying that he knew much about Kilmar Abrego Garcia, President Donald Trump on Friday said he knew Abrego Garcia was “unbelievably bad” and called him an “illegal alien” and “foreign terrorist.”
Trump, while speaking to reporters, had an aide fetch a piece of paper he said had information about Abrego Garcia. He said it came from the State Department and “very legitimate sources.”
“I’m just giving you what they handed to me but this is supposed to be certified stuff,” he said.
He said Abrego Garcia is a member of MS-13, though Abrego Garcia has never been criminally charged in the U.S. with gang involvement. He also highlighted how the man’s wife admitted she once filed a protective order against him despite now advocating for his return.
Read more: https://www.thebaltimorebanner.com/politics-power/national-politics/trump-kilmar-abrego-garcia-comments-GWRDNO4HKRC4HP2KHKXBKYAKJQ/
Oy.
Naval Academy's full list of nearly 400 books on race, gender pulled from library
From the Baltimore BannerDarreonna Davis
4/4/2025 8:54 p.m. EDT
The U.S. Naval Academy released the list of nearly 400 pieces of literature removed from its library that explored themes of white supremacy, race and racism in America, gender identity and sexuality and diversity.
The book removals follow executive orders from the Trump administration.
Titles from prominent Black politicians Stacey Abrams and Bakari Sellers, literary luminary Maya Angelou, activists Ibram X. Kendi and Tamika D. Mallory and a host of historians and academicians were among the removed books.
Kendi’s National Book Award-winning, New York Times best-selling “How to be an Antiracist” topped the list. Fiction novels, such as Mohsin Hamid’s “The Last White Man” and Angie Thomas’ “The Hate U Give,” which also became a popular film with the same title, were also eliminated from the library’s collection.
The Full List courtesy the U.S. Navy
Wired is dropping paywalls for FOIA-based reporting. Others should follow
March 18, 2025 / Freedom of the Press FoundationThe news business isn’t just any business — it serves a vital role in our democracy, recognized by the First Amendment. But media outlets can’t serve that role if they’re bankrupt. And as a result, news readers often find themselves blocked by paywalls from reading important stories about government business.
That experience is particularly frustrating for readers who are unable to access the groundbreaking investigative reports outlets like Wired magazine have been publishing, particularly over the first couple months of the Trump administration. Fortunately, Wired has a solution — it’s going to stop paywalling articles that are primarily based on public records obtained through the Freedom of Information Act.
This approach makes a lot of sense from the standpoint of civil duty. They’re called public records for a reason, after all. And access to public documents is more important than ever at this moment, with government websites and records disappearing, Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency doing its best to operate outside the public’s view, and the National Archives in disarray.
But some may argue that, from a business standpoint, not charging for stories primarily relying on public records automatically means fewer subscriptions and therefore less revenue. We disagree. Sure, the FOIA process is time- and labor-intensive. Reporters face stonewalling, baseless denials, lengthy appeals processes, and countless other obstacles and delays. Investigative reports based on public records are among the most expensive stories to produce and share with the public.
MORE AT LINK ABOVE
'Journalism is needed most' amid anti-press rhetoric, professors say
Subhead:
As press freedoms face challenges, educators remind student journalists to stand firm and continue their work
Author:
Chatwan Mongkol on Substack
Mar 17, 2025
As President Donald Trump’s anti-media rhetoric turns into action, educators are reminding student journalists that this is when “journalism is needed most.”
SNIP
Scott Brinston, a journalism professor at Hofstra University, worries high school students who love English, journalism and writing might be dissuaded from the profession, thinking, “What’s the point?” That, he said, is his biggest fear.
“Of course, the point is that’s the moment when you’re digging in and saying this is the time where I have to fight harder as a journalist, as an investigator, as a writer,” Brinston said.
In his advanced reporting class, Brinston divided it into two parts: Covering government meetings and investigative reporting. The focus remains on challenging authority by asking tough questions.
END OF EXCERPTS
MY comment: Of course, Columbia University has advised its student-journalists to practice caution when writing about Gaza, Ukraine and other topics that could land them in the crosshairs of ICE or the so-called Department of Justice.
I teach journalism and advise the student news site at a private university in Maryland. My students have very little interest in rocking the boat, despite my encouragement to do just that. Of course, we don't have a journalism school, major or department, so virtually none of my students have an interest in pursuing journalism other than working in PR or social media for an athletic department of professional sports franchise.
'It's scary right now': ICE holds detainees for days in bedless Baltimore cells
Source: The Baltimore Banner
John-John Williams IV and Daniel Zawodny
3/14/2025 5:30 a.m. EDT
She slept on a cold cement floor because there weren’t any beds. She wasn’t allowed to shower or brush her teeth. When she complained about the food, she said they stopped feeding her altogether.
April Amaya-Luis said she never imagined she would be held under such harsh conditions in a temporary holding cell in ICE’s Baltimore office for seven days while waiting to be sent to a detention center out of state. With little contact with the outside world, she said she battled suicidal thoughts as a result of the experience last month.
Ordeals similar to what was experienced by Amaya-Luis are increasingly common for those detained by federal immigration agents, where immigrants are held at ICE’s Baltimore field office for multiple days at a time, according to interviews with more than a half-dozen local immigration attorneys.
The extended use of a temporary holding facility not equipped for overnight stays comes as President Donald Trump’s administration is moving aggressively to curb immigration and to deport people living in the United States without documentation.
Read more: https://www.thebaltimorebanner.com/politics-power/state-government/ice-baltimore-trump-immigration-deportation-detention-WNRGQUGLTVHD3MBFV4QUMEKDYM/?schk=YES&rchk=YES&utm_source=The+Baltimore+Banner&utm_campaign=d721b3c970-NL_AMSC_20250314_0700&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-d721b3c970-600294936&mc_cid=d721b3c970&mc_eid=7572628fb8
Trump Signs Executive Order Making Official Language Of U.S. Remedial English
The Onion, so satire, naturally.WASHINGTON—In a move designed to promote unity and establish efficiency at the federal level, President Donald Trump signed an executive order Friday making the nation’s official language remedial English.
“Going forward, all government communications must be really short and lack any kind of coherent grammatical structure,” read the executive order, which also mandated that official documents could not contain words that were more than one syllable long, could not use difficult modifiers like adverbs, and should ideally include numerous misspellings.
“We will no longer permit fancy-sounding grown-up words, but will instead use ones that are easy to sound out if you think real hard. For instance, words that start with “kn,” “gn,” or a silent “h” are bad. But words like ‘dog,’ ‘mom,’ and ‘dad’ are good.”
At press time, the Department of Education had released new guidelines forbidding schools from teaching students more than five words total.
Naval Academy faculty told to avoid 'divisive concepts' like 'systemic racism'
Ellie Wolfe
The Baltimore Banner
Naval Academy faculty told to avoid ‘divisive concepts’ like ‘systemic racism’
SUBHEAD:
The guidance from the provost follows President Trump’s recent DEI-focused executive order, which some say seeks to erase history and diversity.
Faculty at the Naval Academy are no longer permitted to use materials in the classroom that teach about systemic racism and sexism, according to an internal email obtained by The Baltimore Banner.
Instructors have also been told not to promote the concepts of “environmental justice” or “gender ideology.“ Officials at the military college confirmed to The Banner that the email was sent by the provost’s office earlier this week.
SNIP
U.S. Rep. Sarah Elfreth, a new congressional appointee to the academy’s board of visitors, voiced concern about the Trump administration’s actions.
“A Navy and Marine Corps that look like our country — and receive an education that teaches the accurate history of our nation — is critical to our national security and ability to influence strong democratic principles abroad,“ the Maryland Democrat said in a statement Friday. “This Administration’s clear goal of erasing the history and diversity of our great nation only sets us back.”
People Have the Power (from 2019)
But still true today. Let's make it so.
A passage from an article in The Atlantic
Trump opened the meeting by boasting that millions of Americans had welcomed his presidency with “jubilation,” then outlined his plans for expunging key government officials and filling their positions with loyalists. At this point he turned to his main agenda item: the empowering law that, he argued, would give him the time (four years, according to the stipulations laid out in the draft of the law) and the authority necessary to make good on his campaign promises to revive the economy, reduce unemployment, increase military spending, withdraw from international treaty obligations, purge the country of foreigners he claimed were “poisoning” the blood of the nation, and exact revenge on political opponents. “Heads will roll in the sand,” Trump had vowed at one rally.
Oh, wait, sorry.
Here's the real passage:
Hitler opened the meeting by boasting that millions of Germans had welcomed his chancellorship with “jubilation,” then outlined his plans for expunging key government officials and filling their positions with loyalists. At this point he turned to his main agenda item: the empowering law that, he argued, would give him the time (four years, according to the stipulations laid out in the draft of the law) and the authority necessary to make good on his campaign promises to revive the economy, reduce unemployment, increase military spending, withdraw from international treaty obligations, purge the country of foreigners he claimed were “poisoning” the blood of the nation, and exact revenge on political opponents. “Heads will roll in the sand,” Hitler had vowed at one rally.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/01/hitler-germany-constitution-authoritarianism/681233/
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