Latest news with #MAGA-fied
Black America Web
01-07-2025
- Politics
- Black America Web
Why Is The Lead Pipe Replacement In Flint Still Unfinished Nearly 11 Years After Water Crisis Began?
Source: picture alliance / Getty It has been more than a decade since 2014, when a Michigan state-appointed emergency manager decided it was a good idea to save money by a contract with Detroit's water system and switched to the Flint River, causing the Flint water crisis by ditching a system that didn't need treatment to prevent corrosion that put lead in the water pipes for one that did. It's been eight years since 2017, when Flint entered into a settlement that required the replacement of all lead pipes so residents would be assured clean water to drink and bathe in. Well, apparently, the job still ain't done. From the Associated Press: Although the city recently said it completed work required under a legal settlement, the agreement didn't cover vacant homes and allowed owners to refuse, potentially leaving hundreds of pipes in the ground. The state agreed to oversee work on those properties and says it's determined to finish by fall. Flint's missteps offer lessons for municipalities that face a recently imposed federal mandate to replace their own lead service lines. The Trump administration is expected to soon tell a federal appeals court if it will stand by that mandate. 'I think other cities are racing not to be Flint,' said Margie Kelly, a spokesperson with the environmental nonprofit Natural Resources Defense Council, which reached a settlement with the city to force it to replace lead pipes. (Side note: If anyone is banking on the Trump administration to reinforce the mandate in a predominantly Black city, they should probably know that the same administration, in April, ended a wastewater settlement for a mostly Black Alabama town, falsely calling it 'environmental justice as viewed through a distorting, DEI lens,' simply because environmental racism was addressed in the reaching of the settlement. Seeing as the Flint water crisis has often served as a rallying event for pro-Black activists and environmentalists, one shouldn't put it past President Donald Trump and his MAGA-fied Justice Department to simply decide the federal mandate was 'woke' waste, despite it being implemented during his first term. Just sayin'.) According to AP, when the city of Flint entered into the agreement, funds were directed to fix homes that had known lead lines, meaning contractors weren't able to simply go neighborhood by neighborhood and fix everything. And because many city records were inaccurate or missing, with 'some handwritten on notecards dating to the early 1900s,' AP reported, even finding those select homes proved difficult. Source: picture alliance / Getty 'The city's overall management of the program was ineffective,' NRDC attorney Sarah Tallman told AP, arguing that a better strategy would have been to coordinate the pipe replacements geographically. (The issues with city records proved so troublesome that, ultimately, contractors ended up having to check all the pipes anyway.) As for the Flint homeowners who had opted out of having their pipes replaced, according to Flint Department of Public Works Director Kenneth Miller, who was just hired last year, the city didn't know how many residents had opted out and how many homes still had dead pipes due to oversight. 'Just like any other organization, people get lax, people stop doing things, people get laid off and the person that used to do it doesn't do it anymore,' Miller said. So, what's being done to fix all of this finally? Well, last year, the city adopted an ordinance to prevent homeowners from opting out, and 'officials are working from a list of more than 4,000 properties where there could be a lead line, sending letters and making in-person visits to homes, if needed,' AP reported. That number includes thousands of homes that have been left vacant due to the steep population loss in Flint over the years. It should be noted that while the people of Flint were failed by government officials at every level, in 2023, the Flint water crisis case was 'closed' without a single person being held criminally liable or accountable at all, despite dozens of deaths that can be attributed, at least in part, to lead pipes. Where's the justice? Where's the accountability? And when will it all finally be fixed? SEE ALSO: Michigan Renames Office Focused On Black Healthcare Due To DEI Concerns The Caribbean Water Crisis, Its Root Causes And Effective, Affordable Ways To Improve Supply Systems SEE ALSO Why Is The Lead Pipe Replacement In Flint Still Unfinished Nearly 11 Years After Water Crisis Began? was originally published on
Black America Web
25-06-2025
- Politics
- Black America Web
New York AG Letitia James Wins Lawsuit Over Trump's Medical Funding Cuts, Which Judge Called ‘Government Racial Discrimination'
Source: Spencer Platt / Getty New York Attorney General Letitia James announced Monday that she has, once again, landed a victory in the courtroom against the Trump administration. In early April, James announced via press release that she had 'joined a coalition of 15 other attorneys general in suing the administration after it terminated millions of dollars in grant funding for previously approved research projects, including projects focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), LGBTQ+ health, and vaccine hesitancy.' According to Monday's news release, U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, Judge William Young ruled that the administration's cuts to NIH funding were illegal, and he ordered the restoration of more than $4.5 million in grants for New York-based health projects. Young also said plainly that what the MAGA-fied White House tried to do was racist AF. From The Harvard Crimson: All the canceled projects centered around themes of gender and sexuality, Covid-19 and vaccines for the disease, or health disparities. Many included key words in their abstracts, like 'race,' 'barrier,' 'inequity,' and 'minority,' that were reportedly used to target projects for cuts. Young, a 1985 Reagan appointee, said at the hearing that he has 'never seen government racial discrimination like this' in his 40-year career, calling the funding cuts 'arbitrary and capricious, and unlawful' in his ruling. 'Have we no shame?' he said at the end of Monday's hearing. The ruling voided 11 memoranda and directives issued from the NIH and the Department of Health and Human Services that specifically cut grants based on politically-motivated language. Just imagine how Republicans would feel if a Democratic administration decided which federal grant programs to cut by nixing any program associated with the words 'MAGA,' 'illegals,' 'deport,' 'Confederate,' and 'no more woke.' More than likely, they would have immediately started slinging around words like 'tyranny,' 'oppression,' and certainly 'unconstitutional,' but, as usual, these people really only care about the Constitution when it's convenient for them to do so. Anyway, let's go back to how much Trump must hate to see James coming into a courtroom at this point. James had already shut down the Trump Foundation after bringing a case against him in 2019, accusing his charity of misuse of donations. Then, last year, she beat the Trump empire again after bringing a case that resulted in the president being ordered to $454 million in penalties linked to fraud allegations. And the New York AG isn't done yet. In April, James joined attorney generals from 19 states in filing a lawsuit against the White House, seeking to block its plans to withhold billions in federal funding over DEI efforts in K-12 schools. The same month, she joined 12 other states in filing a suit challenging the legality of Trump's disastrous tariff agenda, arguing it unlawfully undermines Congress. This is why the MAGA world hates James and other prominent Black women in law and politics so much. It's just too bad Trump supporters won't direct that energy to really interrogating why the administration of the guy they believe is such a great commander in chief is facing multiple lawsuits filed by damn near half the country. Maybe he's just bad at his job. SEE ALSO: NY AG Letitia James Considers Probe Into Trump's Tariff Flip-Flop NY AG Letitia James Calls Mortgage Fraud Claims 'Baseless' SEE ALSO New York AG Letitia James Wins Lawsuit Over Trump's Medical Funding Cuts, Which Judge Called 'Government Racial Discrimination' was originally published on
Black America Web
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Black America Web
Federal Judge Temporarily Blocks Trump's Ban On Foreign Students Enrolling At Harvard
Source: CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / Getty A federal judge has temporarily blocked the Trump administration's move to bar Harvard University from enrolling foreign students, which appeared to be President Donald Trump's latest retaliatory move against any institution that refuses to bow down to his unproven claims of rampant on-campus antisemitism as well as his anti-diversity, equity, and inclusion directives. (Or maybe Trump just hates education and non-white foreigners. Probably all of the above, actually.) According to The Guardian , US District Judge Allison Burroughs issued the temporary restraining order Friday morning, just hours after Harvard filed a lawsuit against the White House over its abrupt ban on foreign students, which the administration's Department of Homeland Security issued (for reasons that had absolutely nothing to do with homeland security) on Thursday. Harvard announced the lawsuit, which was filed in federal court in Boston, early Friday morning. The lawsuit argues that the government's ban on non-U.S. students violates the First Amendment and will have an 'immediate and devastating effect for Harvard and more than 7,000 visa holders.' 'With the stroke of a pen, the government has sought to erase a quarter of Harvard's student body, international students who contribute significantly to the university and its mission,' the suit reads. 'Without its international students, Harvard is not Harvard,' it also declared. The White House, of course, called the lawsuit 'frivolous,' which is rich coming from an administration that is trying to justify an arbitrary action that appears to serve no practical purpose outside of presidential pettiness against an Ivy League institution that won't bow to an overreaching federal government. Also, the administration appears to be following its Columbia University playbook, threatening the school and students who have engaged in protests and other causes that go against the ideology of the MAGA-fied government. (Some people might call that fascism. Trump and his GOP just call it another day of the week.) From The Guardian : The Harvard Crimson student newspaper reported that the Department of Homeland Security gave Harvard 72 hours to turn over all documents on all international students' disciplinary records and paper, audio or video records on protest activity over the past five years in order to have the 'opportunity' to have its eligibility to enroll foreign students reinstated. 'The government's action is unlawful,' said a statement from Harvard on the action. 'This retaliatory action threatens serious harm to the Harvard community and our country, and undermines Harvard's academic and research mission.' Harvard President Alan Garber wrote an open letter to students, 'The revocation (of foreign enrollments) continues a series of government actions to retaliate against Harvard for our refusal to surrender our academic independence and to submit to the federal government's illegal assertion of control over our curriculum, our faculty, and our student body.' Harvard's lawsuit lists Garber and 'fellows of Harvard' as plaintiffs. The lengthy list of defendants includes the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Department of Justice, the Department of State, the government's Student and Exchange Visitor Program, Homeland Securety Secretary Kristi Noem (the official who doesn't appear to know what habeas corpus is), US Attorney General Pam Bondi, Secretay of State Marco Rubio, and acting ICE director Todd Lyons. SEE ALSO Federal Judge Temporarily Blocks Trump's Ban On Foreign Students Enrolling At Harvard was originally published on Black America Web Featured Video CLOSE
Black America Web
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Black America Web
Ben Crump Rip's Trump Administrations Decision To End Police Reform Agreement Reached In Wake Of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor
Source: Anadolu / Getty Famed civil attorney Ben Crump has weighed in on the MAGA-fied U.S. Department of Justice's recent decision to end Biden-era police-accountability agreements with Minneapolis and Louisville that came as a result of extensive investigations following the police killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. It's the latest decision made by the DOJ's civil rights division that indicates the Trump administration's intent to halt any and all civil rights progress aimed at correcting systemic racism, except, of course, for the fictional systemic racism against white Americans (and, apparently, white Afrikaners in South Africa). First, here's Crump's full statement: 'Just days before the fifth anniversary of George Floyd's murder — a moment that galvanized a global movement for justice — the U.S. Department of Justice has chosen to turn its back on the very communities it pledged to protect. By walking away from consent decrees in Minneapolis and Louisville, and closing its investigation into the Memphis Police Department while retracting findings of serious constitutional violations, the DOJ is not just rolling back reform, it is attempting to erase truth and contradicting the very principles for which justice stands. 'This decision is a slap in the face to the families of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Tyre Nichols, and to every community that has endured the trauma of police violence and the false promises of accountability. These consent decrees and investigations were not symbolic gestures, they were lifelines for communities crying out for change, rooted in years of organizing, suffering, and advocacy. 'These moves will only deepen the divide between law enforcement and the people they are sworn to protect and serve. Trust is built with transparency and accountability, not with denial and retreat. 'But let me be clear: We will not give up. This movement will not be swayed or deterred by fickle politics. It is anchored in the irrefutable truth that Black lives matter, and that justice should not depend on who is in power. 'We will continue to fight for the reforms we know are necessary. For federal oversight that holds police departments accountable. For an end to the brutalization of our communities. For a future where justice is not an exception, but the rule.' Mind you, the announcement of the DOJ decision also came just one day after it was announced that the very same DOJ approved a nearly $5 million settlement for the family of Ashli Babbitt—the Jan. 6 Capitol rioter who got herself shot and killed by a Capitol police officer, Lt. Michael Byrd, while climbing over a barricade inside the Capitol building that rioters were warned not to breach. It's almost as if this administration isn't even bothering to hide its not-so-subtle intention to make white supremacy great again. It's worth noting that, according to The Washington Post, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey responded to the DOJ's announcement that it will rescind the police reform agreement by declaring that his city will still follow through with it. Leaders in Louisville reportedly said the same. 'We will comply with every sentence of every paragraph of the 169-page consent decree that we signed this year,' Frey said during a recent news briefing. Of course, it's also worth mentioning that the DOJ said it also plans to close investigations into local police departments in Phoenix, Memphis, Oklahoma City and other cities that were launched under President Joe Biden. In short: if you want any semblance of police reform, you pretty much have to be a Jan. 6 Capitol rioter. SEE ALSO: Op-Ed: Unpacking Trump's Factless Claims About 'White Genocide' Trump's DOJ Thinks Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson Hired Too Many Black People, So It Launched An Investigation SEE ALSO Ben Crump Rip's Trump Administrations Decision To End Police Reform Agreement Reached In Wake Of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor was originally published on Black America Web Featured Video CLOSE
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Korea Herald
27-04-2025
- Business
- Korea Herald
[Marcel Fratzscher] EU must revive multilateralism
US President Donald Trump's misguided trade war against the rest of the world could mark the beginning of the end for both his political dominance and his 'Make America Great Again' movement -- but only if Germany and Europe can coordinate a powerful international response. The European Commission and the outgoing German government's biggest mistake was to signal a willingness to concede to Trump's demands, potentially turning his economic blunder into a political victory. It should be clear by now that appeasing Trump will only hasten the collapse of the multilateral trading system and further undermine democratic governance worldwide. The European Union's response will be pivotal in determining whether the Trump administration (which is intent on dismantling the multilateral trading order) or China (which seeks to preserve it) will prevail. European leaders face a clear choice: stand for multilateralism and align with China or side with Trump's MAGA-fied United States. There is no third option. Germany and Europe cannot remain neutral in this conflict. Giving in to Trump's demands by pursuing a bilateral trade agreement would be tantamount to endorsing the end of multilateralism. The EU's ongoing failure to push back against Trump's policies reflects shocking shortsightedness and political naivete. While the direct economic impact of Trump's tariffs on Europe will likely be limited, the long-term consequences -- especially for Germany's export-driven economic model -- could be dire. Yielding to Trump would threaten the very foundation of German prosperity, which depends more than that of any other European country on open global trade grounded in non-discrimination, fairness, and competition. So, how should Germany and the EU respond to Trump's tariffs? The incoming German government -- together with France, the United Kingdom and other European partners -- must defend multilateralism by aligning with China and imposing reciprocal tariffs on American goods. In future negotiations with the US, European leaders must also insist on two key conditions. First, they should call for a renewed commitment to multilateralism as the foundation of the global trade system. That includes not only rolling back tariffs and other trade barriers to pre-crisis levels, but also revitalizing multilateral institutions like the World Trade Organization, which the US has systematically undermined by blocking the appointment of new judges to its appellate body. Importantly, the focus should not be limited to the WTO. Other multilateral institutions such as the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank must also be empowered to play a more active role, particularly in representing and protecting the interests of the weakest economies in the Global South. Second, Europe should push for fair competition and common rules, especially when it comes to regulating US-based tech giants. These companies pay little to no tax and routinely violate EU laws and regulations concerning data protection, ethical standards and market competition. The recent US court ruling that Google has indeed built an illegal monopoly in search underscores the urgency of the issue. As German Finance Minister Jorg Kukies recently observed, European countries are increasingly reliant on services provided by US tech giants. If the EU fails to act now, this harmful dependence will continue to deepen, making Europe even more vulnerable to Trump-style political and commercial blackmail. Reviving multilateralism will also require meaningful concessions and reforms from China, the EU and Germany to help correct global imbalances. Through massive subsidies and other forms of support for domestic firms, China has repeatedly undermined multilateral rules to gain unfair advantages. But Germany also must reduce its own gigantic current account surpluses, which are largely driven by domestic regulations and other structural barriers that make it harder for foreign companies to enter its market. Given that addressing these distortions could offer considerable benefits to American companies, there is good reason to believe that such a balanced trade agreement might appeal to Trump and encourage him to change course. Despite its economic costs, Trump's global tariff war offers Europe a chance to establish itself as a mediator and defender of multilateralism in an increasingly multipolar world. It is high time that Europe stood up for its values and coordinated a unified response with partners like China, Canada, Mexico, the UK and Japan. By provoking a confrontation with all the world's major economies at once, Trump has made a serious strategic miscalculation. Pushing back may cost Europe in the short term, but allowing Trump to prevail and dismantle the multilateral trading system would be far more damaging -- both to the EU economy and to democracy itself. Marcel Fratzscher, a former senior manager at the European Central Bank, is President of the think tank DIW Berlin and Professor of Macroeconomics and Finance at Humboldt University of Berlin. The views expressed here are the writer's own. -- Ed.
