Thousands gathered at Rhode Island State House to protest Trump, Musk and "lawless billionaires"

Protests grow around the country against President Musk and King Donald

Steve Ahlquist

Hey Charlestown. Is this guy not a dead-ringer
for ex-CCA leader Tom Gentz? It's not, of course,
but the resemblance is uncanny. - Will Collette.
Steve Ahlquist photo.

On Saturday, Thousands gathered on the south side of the Rhode Island State House to “fight back against the lawless billionaires that are defying the Constitution and ignoring a United States District Court ruling in Rhode Island.” I covered the words of United States Representatives Seth Magaziner (Democrat, District 1, Rhode Island) and Gabe Amo ((Democrat, District 2, Rhode Island) here.

To help Rhode Islanders in need, the rally raised a large amount of food and additional monetary donations for the Rhode Island Food Bank, which faces State and federal cuts. Six SUVs and trucks were filled with food.

Indivisible RI organized the event in partnership with Climate Action RI, RI Working Families Party, Black Lives Matter RI PAC, and Reclaim RI.

Here’s the video: Fight Back & Give Back: RI Protects Our Own from Lawless Billionaires

The transcript has been edited for clarity:

MAGA, take your medicine

Suckers!

Why Politicians Keep Blaming DEI for Disasters, Even When It’s Laughably Untrue

Better to blame bad leadership and policies

By Peter Certo

In this chaotic news cycle, America’s worst plane crash in a generation already feels a generation old.

But the administration’s response to the tragic January collision that killed 67 people over the Potomac is worth revisiting. Not only because the loved ones of those lost deserve answers, but because it highlights a MAGA playbook we’ve seen repeatedly now — and we’ll see again very soon.

We don’t yet know what caused the crash. But shortly before it, Trump disbanded a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) safety committee, fired the FAA administrator, and implemented a federal hiring freeze despite a shortage of air traffic controllers. (Staffing at the local tower was “not normal” the night of the collision, The New York Times reported.)

Speculation has even emerged that Elon Musk, the unelected billionaire bureaucrat who’s been illegally gutting the federal government, urged the FAA administrator’s firing in retaliation for past fines against his SpaceX company.

Did any of that contribute? That’s for a proper investigation to determine. But one thing’s for sure: It wasn’t the “DEI” initiatives President Trump immediately blamed.

Trump suggested that unqualified minority hires caused the accident because the prior administration thought “the workforce was too white.” When pressed for even a shred of evidence, he shrugged that it was “common sense.” Administration figures like Vice President Vance stuck with the claim even after learning that both pilots involved were white.

The claim was ridiculous, but it sucked up attention that might have gone to the Trump administration’s own moves instead. And that’s exactly why we keep seeing lies like these — to protect incompetent politicians and the corporate interests that prop them up.

Once you realize that, you’ll start noticing it everywhere.

Popular weight loss, diabetes drug shows promise in reducing cravings for alcohol

Unexpected benefit

By Leigh Hopper

The blockbuster drug semaglutide, better known as Ozempic for diabetes and Wegovy for obesity, could also help people cut down on their alcohol intake, according to new research led by a USC investigator.

The findings, published in JAMA Psychiatry, showed that weekly injections of semaglutide — compared with placebo injections — reduced alcohol craving, drinking quantity and the frequency of heavy drinking days in adults with symptoms of alcohol use disorder.

The discovery could help address an important treatment gap: An estimated 178,000 U.S. deaths per year can be attributed to alcohol, which is linked to liver disease, cardiovascular disease and is a known cause of cancer, as noted recently by the U.S. surgeon general. Nearly a third of American adults have met criteria for problem drinking at some point in their lives, yet very few seek or receive treatment.

The study affirms a common observation by many patients and doctors since Ozempic and drugs like it exploded in popularity: People begin weekly injections of semaglutide for obesity or diabetes — and suddenly lose their desire for alcohol.

This is the first randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial of semaglutide designed to study the phenomenon, said Christian Hendershot, first author of the study and director of clinical research at USC’s Institute for Addiction Science.

The drugs currently approved to treat alcohol use disorder aren’t widely used. The popularity of semaglutide and other GLP-1 receptor agonists increases the chances of broad adoption of these treatments for alcohol use disorder, if approved for this indication, said Hendershot, a professor of population and public health sciences at the Keck School of Medicine of USC.

These results justify larger studies of GLP-1 receptor agonists for alcohol use disorder, Hendershot added.

Rhode Island researchers wary as court battle over federal research funding continues

Demoralized by unprecedented attack on medical research

By Alexander Castro, Rhode Island Current

Rhode Island scholars and scientists will be closely watching the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts Friday as a battalion of blue state attorneys general wrestles again with the Trump administration — this time, over a proposal to slim reimbursements for overhead costs in research funding. 

One of the scientists awaiting the outcome is Bongsup Cho, a professor of pharmacy at the University of Rhode Island (URI) and also program director of the school’s Rhode Island IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence (RI-INBRE). 

Of the current mood at the school’s research labs, Cho said, “The morale of staff and researchers and students is very low.”

URI receives a 57.5% indirect reimbursement rate for things like overhead and administrative expenses for research funded through the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Cho said. That’s a lot higher than the 15% cap on such costs outlined in a Feb. 7 policy change notice from the NIH — a reduction of such potential scale and impact he likened it to a “sledgehammer.” The instruments at RI-INBRE are available to any biomedical researcher in Rhode Island, Cho said, for a “very nominal fee.” The reimbursement cap could make it harder to maintain those facilities.

“These days, maintaining core facilities is not a joke,” Cho said. “I always kind of joke to the leadership that if you don’t have this grant, then the core facility will be out of business, and literally, it’s going to be a junkyard.”

The NIH awarded around $47 billion in grants to U.S. researchers last year, and traditionally has negotiated rates directly with grant-receiving institutions. In the current fiscal year, there were 717 active projects listed in the NIH grants database for Rhode Island, totaling about $332 million.

Now they're bothered by pension plans

The right's war on woke is coming for pension plans

by Lisa Needham, Daily Kos Contributor

Conservative Texas District Judge Reed O’Connor took time out of his packed schedule of trying to destroy the Affordable Care Act to hand down a genuinely unhinged decision.

According to O’Connor, American Airlines violated federal law by offering 401(k) plans that included funds managed by investment companies with environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) goals. It’s the newest—and dumbest—front in the war on “woke.” 

The Employee Retirement Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) requires people who manage retirement investments to act in the best interests of their participants. This is a good thing! It means that fund managers can’t put their own financial interests first and must diversify a fund’s investments to minimize the risk of significant losses. 

This lawsuit arose when a former pilot sued American Airlines in 2023, saying it violated ERISA by mismanaging 401(k) funds. Was it because somehow the company lined its pockets with the hard-earned cash of retirees? Nope. Was it because the company’s 401(k) funds were performing terribly? Nope. It was because American Airlines hired BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager that oversees trillions of investment dollars, to manage its retirement funds.

Several years ago, BlackRock started positioning itself as a leader in its focus on environmental sustainability in investing. In 2021, BlackRock, then the second-largest holder of Exxon stock, cast a proxy vote on behalf of activist investors who wanted climate-conscious directors on the corporation’s board. 

President Musk announces shift in US foreign policy

Musk didn't....

Senator Whitehall trolls the King

Sheldon nails it

Andrew Gilbert 

Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse hilariously trolled Donald Trump for claiming to be the new monarch of America and blasting out "LONG LIVE THE KING!" to his followers on Truth Social.

This is EXACTLY how every American should react to this would-be tyrant...

It all started when Trump declared via social media that he had ended the "congestion pricing" tolls in New York City and then added the aforementioned "KING" remark.

The White House X account then reinforced the idea by tweeting out a fake Time magazine cover depicting Trump in a crown with the words "LONG LIVE THE KING."

The disturbing messaging came as strong confirmation of what many of us have long believed: MAGA is a cult with Trump as its god-king leader. These people do not believe in democracy and given the opportunity they would crown him for real.

During an appearance on CNN, Senator Whitehouse was asked about the king rhetoric.

"Do you think he's just trolling Americans or is there truth in jest here?" asked the host.

"Yeah, I trolled back and said, 'Does this make him a royal pain in the ass?'" replied Whitehouse.

It was a short response but an effective one. The truth is that there is nothing regal about Donald Trump. He's an incompetent former reality TV star who managed to con this country into electing him president.

America will never accept a king.

While President Musk and Trump dismantle food safety agencies....

Illnesses and deaths from food outbreaks skyrocketed in 2024

We need MORE food inspectors, not less

Shannon Kelleher 

Hospitalizations and deaths from foodborne illnesses more than doubled in 2024 over the prior year, with most people sickened in a small number of high-profile outbreaks involving lunch meat, eggs, cucumbers and other commonly consumed foods, according to a report published Thursday.

The report comes as some US lawmakers are pushing legislation that would bar the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) from implementing a new regulatory framework proposed under former President Joe Biden aimed at addressing Salmonella contamination in raw poultry.

A total of 1,392 were sickened from contaminated food in 2024, up from 1,1118 people in 2023, and the health impacts of the outbreaks was more severe, with 487 people hospitalized last year compared to 230 the previous year. Nineteen people died after eating contaminated food in 2024, compared to eight in 2023, according to the report.

Across 13 total outbreaks in 2024, almost all of the illnesses were caused by E. coli, Listeria, and Salmonella bacteria, including a large outbreak of illnesses tied to E. coli contaminated onions in McDonald’s Quarter Pounder burgers. A large outbreak that landed 60 people in the hospital was linked to listeria-contaminated products traced back to a now-shuttered Boar’s Head plant in Virginia.

Inflation is heating up again, putting pressure on Trump to cool it on tariffs

Predictably, terrible policies yield terrible results

Jason Reed, University of Notre Dame

Inflation figures released on Feb. 12, 2025, will come as a disappointment to Americans who hoped President Donald Trump would be true to his word on bringing down prices “on Day One.” It will also put pressure on the new administration to be wary of policies that may heat up inflation – and that includes tariffs.

The consumer price index, which measures the change in prices paid by consumers for a representative basket of goods and services, rose unexpectedly from December to January by 0.5%. It means consumers are paying around 3% more on item prices than they were a year ago.

Economists had been expecting the pace of inflation to slow in January.

The news isn’t good for anyone concerned. It means inflation remains above the Federal Reserve’s long-run target of 2% – making it harder for the central bank to cut rates at its next meeting on March 19. At its last meeting, the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee kept its benchmark federal funds rate unchanged at a range of 4.25-4.50%.

Following the release of the latest inflation data, markets have a stronger conviction that the Fed will again hold rates steady when it meets in March.

It also means more pain for consumers. Higher interest rates set by the Fed play a large role in determining rates for mortgages, credit cards and auto loans. If January’s rate of inflation were to continue throughout 2025, consumers would see a painful 6.2% annualized inflation rate.

And although it would be churlish to link the latest jump in inflation to an administration just weeks old, it does put into focus the current slate of Trump economic policies. Economists have long warned that imposing tariffs on imports and cutting taxes does little to curb inflation – rather, they may contribute to faster price increases.

If this is not a coup d’etat, I don’t know what is.

Corporate Media Failing to Call This What It Is: A Coup

Robert Reich for Inequality Media

I want to talk today about the media’s coverage of the Trump-Vance-Musk coup.

I’m not referring to coverage by the bonkers right-wing media of Rupert Murdoch’s Fox News and its imitators.

I’m referring to the U.S. mainstream media — The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, The Atlantic, The New Yorker, National Public Radio — and the mainstream media abroad, such as the BBC and The Guardian.

By not calling it a coup, the mainstream media is failing to communicate the gravity of what is occurring.

Yesterday’s opinion by The New York Times’ editorial board offers a pathetic example. It concedes that Trump and his top associates “are stress-testing the Constitution, and the nation, to a degree not seen since the Civil War” but then asks: “Are we in a constitutional crisis yet?” and answers that what Trump is doing “should be taken as a flashing warning sign.”

Warning sign?

Elon Musk’s meddling into the machinery of government is a part of the coup. Musk and his muskrats have no legal right to break into the federal payments system or any of the other sensitive data systems they’re invading, for which they continue to gather computer code.

This data is the lifeblood of our government. It is used to pay Social Security and Medicare. It measures inflation and jobs. Americans have entrusted our private information to professional civil servants who are bound by law to use it only for the purposes to which it is intended. In the wrong hands, without legal authority, it could be used to control or mislead Americans.

A kid's guide to racism

Trump with his favorite pimp Jeffrey Epstein