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Trumpism Sneaks Into All The Government   #336

By Hank Silverberg 


While much of the media reports on name changes for the Gulf of Mexico, the protests by fired government employees and vandalism to Teslas, they may be missing something more important and more ominous. 

(Library of Congress) 
Just one example from this past week. The President fired Carla Hayden, the long time Librarian of Congress, expressing his concerns about her focus on diversity, equity and inclusion. Hayden, who is Black, had strong backing in Congress when she was first approved, but her ten-year term would have been up next year anyway. Trump couldn't wait for that, and you must wonder why.  The Library of Congress preserves millions of books, films, photos and manuscripts, and is also home to the Copyright office which protects the creative work on millions of writers, artists and musicians. 

But there's more to the story. Just a day after Hayden was fired, Trump also fired the Registrar of Copyrights, Shira Perlmutter, who had been chosen by Hayden. Why was Perlmutter fired? A day earlier Perlmutter refused to let Elon Musk get access to copyrighted works to train AI models for his company. In fact, she had written a report about how this material was being used and the concerns it raised about the improper use of copyrighted material.  

https://www.yahoo.com/news/first-black-woman-head-library-210309431.html?fr=yhssrp_catchall

https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-fires-top-us-copyright-005542397.html?fr=yhssrp_catchall

Slowly but surely, Trumpism is moving into every aspect of the government that is supposed to be free from political influence. This move appears to be part of his effort to control the flow of information similar to his attacks on VOA, NPR and PBS, but may also be part of his payback to Elon Musk.

It's not the only place. The President's FY26 Budget now being considered in Congress abandons much of NASA's Science Mission Directorate, like the Perseverance Rover mission currently underway which has been collecting samples of the Mars surface.  Also likely canceled is the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, which investigates dark energy and exoplanets, and the DaVinci mission to Venus which was supposed to study that planet's atmosphere. The budget, if approved in its current form, would cut funding from $7.3 billion to $3.9 billion. 

It also will cut back the Orion crew capsule and the Space Launch System designed to carry U.S. astronauts back to the Moon under the Artemis program. 

That leaves much of the future of space exploration up to private companies, including Space X, which is owned by Elon Musk. 

https://theconversation.com/nasas-planned-budget-cuts-could-set-back-space-science-but-show-how-to-future-proof-the-agency-256103

https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/nasa-awards-spacex-second-contract-option-for-artemis-moon-landing/


Sea Levels Rising Fast

You may want to rethink that beach house you were planning to buy. Scientists say since the beginning of the 20th century, sea levels have been slowly rising. Now in the 21st century, the speed of rising sea levels has accelerated and has raised an alarm. 

A recent NASA analysis of satellite data shows the annual rate of sea level rise has doubled in the past 30 years, with the global sea levels increasing four inches since 1993. That could spell trouble in the future with predictions based on current evidence that by 2050, global sea levels could go up six inches and as much as 10 to 12 inches along the United States coastline. By 2100 the oceans could rise as much as three feet.   

The reason, of course, is global warming. Oceans absorb roughly 90% of all excess heat produced by the burning of fossil fuels. As you probably learned in middle school science class, water expands as it heats up.  

The heat in the atmosphere is also melting ice in Greenland and in the Antarctic, and those combined hold enough fresh water to raise global sea levels by about 213 feet, but last year, the hottest year on record, ocean warming also became the main worry. 

All of this has scientists taking a closer look and trying to predict the impact in the not-so-distant future and looking at ways to deal with it. But here in the United States, that becomes more difficult because President Trump has cut back funding for the federal agencies which monitor the oceans. You can learn more in this NASA video:  



 https://www.nasa.gov/missions/jason-cs-sentinel-6/sentinel-6-michael-freilich/nasa-analysis-shows-unexpected-amount-of-sea-level-rise-in-2024/


Dumbest Quote of The Week!

This week's dumb quote comes from Health and Human Services Secretary, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. And it probably won't be the last time he says something very false or dumb while in office.   

Speaking on Fox News, and talking about the current measles outbreak that has now reached 884 people in 30 states, he said:

 "The MMR vaccine that we currently use has millions of particles that were created from aborted fetal tissue, millions of DNA fragments."  

He claims that's why some people have religious objections to the vaccines. But that allegation is blatantly false and irresponsible. 

The article linked from health.com explains how all this started. But there is no human DNA in the current vaccine.

https://www.health.com/mmr-vaccine-aborted-fetus-debris-11726546


(Your comments and suggestions are welcome)


My recent book "The Campaign" can be purchased at the links below. Or you can buy a copy by emailing me at:

HankSilverberg@gmail.com  for instructions on how to get a copy at a reduced price and with my signature)                       

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B084Q7K6M5/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-campaign-hank-silverberg/1126429796


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