Legal experts say the charges against Afghanistan war veteran Bajun Mavalwalla II mark an escalation in the Trump administration’s crackdown on first amendment rights

From the Open Economics Blog.

LA Art Activism calls out to all Southern California activists to converge on the Park Row Bridge over the 110 Fwy located in Elysian Park, adjacent to Dodger Stadium, before the LA Dodgers vs San Die...

Join the Movement | Defend Democracy | Protect our Communities LA Art Activism, with NELA Alliance for Democracy and the Greater LA Pro-Democracy Coalition, calls out to all Southern California activists to converge onto the Park Row Bridge over the 110 Fwy located in Elysian Park, adjacent to Dodger Stadium Before the LA Dodger vs San Diego Padres game, Friday evening, August 15th. We encourage activists to dress in or carry Monarch themed colors, bring hand held drums/noisemakers, puppets, and banners large enough to be viewable form the highway below. The metamorphosis will be televised (we will have drone coverage) Although all of us are heartened by the large Los Angeles protests against ICE raids and the broader Trump administration assault, we are disturbed by the larger, deeper historical biases and injustices that have allowed this administration to begin a fascist takeover of our country. MAGA has used misogyny, homophobia, transphobia, racism, extreme nationalism, the idea of "survival of the fittest", and a large network of disinformation to promote hatred and division. In addition, the new U.S. federal budget includes $175 billion for the Department of Homeland Security, with funds for thousands more ICE agents, border patrol agents, the building of new prisons, renovation of older prisons, and the expansion of the border wall. All of this while cutting basic services and programs that will impact and hurt millions. The idea behind this demonstration is to gather as many people as possible dressed in Monarch themed costumes to converge on the bridge during the hours leading up to the Padre-Dodger game (4-8pm) on the evening of August 15. The bridge is somewhat isolated but easily accessible by car and on foot from both sides of the bridge. The bridge spans the 110 Fwy Southbound lanes at Academy Road, approaching downtown Los Angeles. The bridge offers a safe, accessible, visually stunning demonstration platform from which to communicate our communities’ displeasure with a wide range of issues propagated by the dictator in the White House, who has hijacked our democracy.

In ‘Operation Trojan Horse’, masked officers in unmarked vehicle arrest 16 people, despite court order halting raids

GOP lawmakers used a controversial accounting tactic to minimize the cost of tax cuts in their megabill. Now they're telling voters the cuts were the biggest in history.

A new Senate report uncovers how Elon Musk’s DOGE initiative, launched under Donald Trump, resulted in $21.7 billion in wasted federal funds—paying over 300,000 federal employees to remain idle.

It’s another discrepancy between what White House advisers say and the administration’s legal posture.

Revealed: records show border patrol gave inaccurate testimony about people it jailed. Prosecutors now face ‘embarrassing’ dismissals