Law, Power, and Justice

Nicholas Kristof on AID, More Russian Abuses, More about the Trump State Capture

Thursday 6 February 2025

People I wish could be prevented from ever working again:

• The people who came up with the EMU commercials.

Well, this is one of those mornings where everything, and I mean everything hurts, muscles, joints, neck, everything.  The cats are still outside with Mike for their morning walk. 

News Notes (Moscow Times)

• Slovakia is not receiving Russian gas via Turkey.
• Well-known St. Petersburg musician falls to his death from a window of his 10^th floor apartment during a police search prompted by his alleged donations to the Ukrainian military.
• Ukrainian drone attack kills 3 in Russia’s Belgorod region.
• Russia revokes press accreditations of a French newspaper.
• A legally disabled Russian musician is sentenced to six years in prison for anti-war facebook posts. 
• Human rights groups have once again raised concerns over domestic abuse against women in the conservative North Caucasus republicans of Chechnya, Ingushetia and Dagestan.  Some women are returned to their families forcibly if they attempt to flee.
• Moldova has begun supplying EU funded gas to Transnistria as part of an emergency aid package.

CNN 2 PM

• 2m federal workers face deadline tonight on trump “buyout.”
• They are now attacking and threatening the Veterans.
• Challenge to ending birthright citizenship.  A judge issued a preliminary injunction.  Pause action until the whole thing can go to trial.  The theory is that release would irreparably harm people.
• FBI agents asking to block collecting and releasing names of agents who worked on anti-Trump cases.  5,000 agents.  Class action lawsuit.  Williams: Privacy matters and the names of these agents was released.  Employer is government and if they are being punished, it’s a First Amendment issue. 
• Elliott Williams, Former Federal Prosecutor: 1) Money for paying unemployed people has not been appropriated.
• DOGE creepy kids given “read only” access.  Williams: The mere release of documents which are private is a problem.
• Williams: “rescinded” the OMB memorandum.  Was the action rescinded?  People getting federal grants still don’t know whether they are getting their money.

MSNBC

• USAID, Pop-ups on devices have told federal workers that their devices may be monitored.  And, phones?
• Farmers are paid for surplus crops that are send through AID. They will loose money.
• “Trump believes DOGE is rooting out corruption.” 
• Nicolas Kristof: Column in NYT.  The richest man in the world is taking on the poorest people in the world.  “It’s killing children.”  Almost 100 people, employees of AID have died overseas in the line of duty.  Ebola was stopped in West AFrica on the ground (2014), by employees risking their lives.  There’s an Ebola outbreak now.  Because of Trump you don’t have AID employees trying to stop it from spreading.  “How often have Donald Trump and Elon Musk risked their lives in public service.”
• Kristof: Avian Flu outbreak worldwide.  Because of AID bird flu has been interrupted in 49 countries.  Now this is not in place.  “It’s about our values and about our interests.”
• Kristof: Kennedy proposed AID to save money, stop problems in the beginning rather than cleaning them up when they have gotten out of hand.  Mattis in his testimony before congress; “If you don’t invest in diplomacy you have to buy me more money.”
• Kristof: Trump calls AID fighting for a “radical lunatic cause.”  Dying children?  Rape?  Blindness?  Rubio was a few years calling for more investment in AID to compete with China.
• Firefighters cannot get on the website to report fires.  This is the biggest financial scam in the history of the world.