Trina's Kitchen: 2025

Friday, March 07, 2025

Asparagus Side Dish in the Kitchen

Belinda is gearing up for spring and looking for good vegetable recipes. From All Recipes, she really loves this one:

Ingredients

1 bunch fresh asparagus, trimmed
⅔ cup water
¼ cup olive oil
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
10 grape tomatoes, halved

Directions

Add asparagus and water to a 10-inch skillet over medium heat; cover. Steam asparagus until tender, about 10 minutes; drain.

Return asparagus in skillet to heat; reduce heat to low. Drizzle asparagus with olive oil; sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Add grape tomatoes to the skillet; cover and allow to sit, covered, until cheese melts and tomatoes are slightly steamed, about 2 minutes.

News? Robert Reich explains regarding Social Security:

I remain optimistic about the longer term, but I still awaken each morning with a sense of dread. I’m sure some of you do, too.

Start with Elon Musk’s bonkers comment that Social Security is “the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time.”

In a Ponzi scheme, a con artist lures investors into a fake investment project, pockets the cash, and then gets new “investors” to funnel their cash to the earlier investors — until there are no new recruits and the whole thing collapses. The last ones in are suckers left holding worthless bags.

Social Security is not a Ponzi scheme. It’s a high-functioning, universal, and exceptionally efficient part of the American social safety net — the opposite of a Ponzi scheme. Which is why the overwhelming majority of Americans oppose cutting it.

Social Security is a simple “pay as you go” program. Current workers, via the payroll tax, fund payouts for retirees and disabled people. In 2024, about 1 in 5 U.S. residents received Social Security.

I used to be a trustee of the Social Security trust fund. I know what I’m talking about.

As the Social Security Administration explains, “In 2025, when you work, about 85 cents of every Social Security tax dollar you pay goes to a trust fund. This fund pays monthly benefits to current retirees and their families and to surviving spouses and children of workers who have died. About 15 cents goes to a trust fund that pays benefits to people with disabilities and their families.”

The only reason that the Social Security trust fund is slowly running out of money is the trustees never anticipated that so much of the nation’s total income would be in the hands of so few people (such as Elon Musk).

The simple way to fix this is to lift the cap on income subject to Social Security payroll taxes, which is now $176,100.

Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg fulfilled their 2025 Social Security payroll tax obligations a few minutes past midnight on January 1. Most Americans continue paying payroll taxes all year.

Exactly. It is wrong to put the burden on those who can't afford it. Everyone should have to pay the same percentage. It's wrong to put a cap on it for the wealthy. .

And, on the Pope, Vatican News reports:

"I thank you with all my heart for the prayers you offer for my health from [St. Peter’s] Square. I accompany you from here. May God bless you, and may the Virgin protect you. Thank you."

Pope Francis' message of thanks, recorded in Spanish, for the many testimonies of love and closeness that he has received since being admitted to hospital on 14 February, was broadcast in St. Peter’s Square at 9 pm Rome at the beginning of the Rosary prayer, led on Friday evening by Cardinal Ángel Fernández Artime, Pro-prefect of the Dicastery for the Institutes of Consecrated Life and the Societies of Apostolic Life.

Starting on Monday, 24 February, thousands of believers have joined the Cardinals residing in Rome, along with all collaborators of the Roman Curia and the Diocese of Rome, in St. Peter‘s Square to recite the Holy Rosary for the health of Pope Francis, who is being treated for pneumonia in the Gemelli Hospital.

God bless him. I continue to pray. Pope Francis has turned out to be the finest pope in my lifetime. I am very grateful for the leadership and love he has provided.

This is C.I.'s "The Snapshot" for Thursday:

Thursday, March 6, 2025. Chump and his steady Alien Musk want to rip the hard earned dollars out of the hands of American workers and give them over to billionaires.

Last night on MSNBC, Rachel Maddow gave an overview of the first six weeks in Chump Land.

Emily Prescott (KANSAS CITY STAR) reports, "In a significant workforce reduction initiative, approximately 30,000 federal employees have received termination notices from Trump administration officials. Among the affected agencies, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has seen the termination of 4,200 probationary employees. A laid off USDA employee recently addressed President Donald Trump in a viral message online, expressing disappointment over being terminated for alleged performance issues." And it's happening all around the country which is why, see Mike's "," the GOP has decided no more townhalls. Though they can't take the heat they are determined to hide in their DC kitchen.

With Convicted Felon Donald Chump in the White House, the whole country suffers. That's even true of members of the administration. For example?

Last Friday morning, former US Senator Marco Rubio woke up with the possibility of a political future. That same afternoon, it all came crashing down in the Oval Office as he realized he was working with a moron but he lacked the guts to publicly break from Chump. With each day that passed, the Secretary of State became more and more of a has-been on his way to The Land of Forgotten. Tuesday night just drove that reality home as Chump spoke to the nation and mocked Marco.

Demian Bio (LATIN TIMES) notes:

President Donald Trump made what seemed to be a joke to Secretary of State Marco Rubio during his address to Congress, but many observers interpreted it differently.

"Good luck, Marco. Now we know who to blame if anything goes wrong. No, Marco has been amazing and he's going to do a great job. Think of it. He got 100 votes (...) And I'm either very, very happy about that or I'm very concerned about it. But he's already proven - I mean he's a great gentleman, he's respected by everybody and we appreciate you voting for Marco. He's going to do a fantastic job," Trump said during a passage of his speech.

Trump's message was received with laughter by Republicans in the chamber, but others focused on Rubio's expression, claiming it mostly showed concern.

William Vaillancourt (DAILY BEAST) notes Marco's dour and sour puss as well. He turns 54 in May and his political career has pretty much ended. Do we get how sad that is? -- as Lou Grant tells Mary Richards In season one, episode twenty-four of THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW "The 45-Year-Old Man," Lou Grant (Ed Asner) tells Mary Richards (MTM), "I'm forty-five years old. If I were in politics, they'd call me 'the kid'."

Yet, although Marco's not even 54 yet, it appears his political career is over, that it ends as a member of a corrupt and ignorant administration.

An administration that's taking a nose dive. Brad Reed (RAW STORY) notes:

Andrew Wilson, deputy secretary-general of the International Chamber of Commerce, is issuing a red alert about the trade wars sparked by President Donald Trump in the last day.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Wilson warned that Trump's tariffs against Canada and Mexico could be putting the global economy on the path to an economic depression that rivals the Great Depression of the 1930s.

"Our deep concern is that this could be the start of a downward spiral that puts us in 1930s trade-war territory," he said.

In an interview with the Journal, Wilson said that at the moment the chances of such a catastrophic decision were a "coin flip" and said that the determining factor in whether it would happen would be "whether the U.S. administration is willing to rethink the utility of tariffs."

And BARRON'S Paul R. La Monica notes:

The Trump put is done. The stock market has erased all of its meteoric gains notched since Election Day.

Hopes for deregulation, tax cuts, and other fiscal stimulus from President Donald Trump have been replaced by fears that his tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China will ignite a full-blown trade war. That outcome would most certainly hurt consumers and corporate profits—and revive the economic threat of inflation.

That’s why Wall Street is suddenly worried again, instead of excited about Republicans controlling the White House and Congress. There is no sign of the so-called Trump put—the expectation that he will do what he can to keep the stock market happy.

Instead, Tuesday offered a broad-based, though volatile, selloff after Trump’s tariffs on Canada and Mexico went into effect.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500, and Nasdaq all ended Tuesday’s trading session in the red. The Nasdaq was up more than 1% at one point Tuesday before giving up all its gains, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 closed 1.6% and 1.2% lower, respectively.

Investors remained skittish Wednesday following Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress Tuesday night. Stocks opened with only modest gains.

He's destroying the country. As Senator Elizabeth Warren notes, that is the plan -- to destroy the country for working Americans and to take all their hard earned money and turn it over to billionaires:

Senator Warren joined Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, Massachusetts Congressional Delegation ahead of President Trump’s joint address to Congress

Warren: “The whole Republican plan fits on a bumper sticker: Billionaires win; families lose.”

Washington, D.C. – At a press conference today, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) joined Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, Senator Ed Markey (D-Mass.), and the Massachusetts Congressional Delegation in delivering remarks on Trump’s agenda to benefit billionaires while hurting working people ahead of Trump’s Joint Address to Congress.

Senator Warren called the first six weeks of the new administration a “sandstorm of chaos” meant to distract from President Trump’s goal of jamming through trillions in tax cuts to billionaires at the expense of health care, Social Security, and programs that benefit working people.

Senator Warren was joined by her guest Doug Kowalewski, a former National Science Foundation employee from Wellesley who, after six years of service, was fired unexpectedly in Elon Musk’s and the Department of Government Efficiency’s gutting of the federal workforce. Doug shared his story at Senator Warren’s recent town hall in Framingham, Massachusetts.

Transcript: Press Conference with Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, Massachusetts Congressional Delegation
U.S. Senate
March 4, 2025

Senator Elizabeth Warren: We are all here today as the federal representatives of the seven million people of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. And we stand proudly with the Mayor of Boston, who has been “invited” – I think that’s still a word – she has been invited by the Republicans to come and defend Boston and to defend the values that we fight for every day in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. So we want to be here, in part, to talk about what this fight is about.

Over the last six weeks, Donald Trump has created a sandstorm of chaos to try to distract us from his real agenda: Tax cuts for billionaires, paid for by cuts to health care and Social Security. These are programs that mommas and daddies and babies and seniors rely on every single day.

Trump and his unelected co-president Elon Musk are dismantling our government, piece by piece, so that it works better for those same billionaires and worse for everyone else. The whole Republican plan fits on a bumper sticker: Billionaires win; families lose.

Trump promised, you may remember, to lower costs “on day one.” Instead, he and co-President Musk have tried to fire the financial cops that keep Americans from getting cheated. They have slashed funding that supports research for cures for cancer and Alzheimer’s. And they have fired thousands of hardworking public servants, including the people who keep us safe when we fly on airplanes, the people who make sure that nuclear materials are safely stored, and people who inspect our food.

One of those hardworking public servants is Doug. Up until two weeks ago, Doug worked at the National Science Foundation — until out of nowhere, he was fired along with over one hundred of his colleagues. And I’ve invited Doug here to share his story. Doug, come on over.

Doug Kowalewski, Senator Warren’s Guest for Trump’s Joint Address to Congress: So, after six years of service at the National Science Foundation, I was fired two weeks ago from today. And me, along with 167 of my colleagues were called into a Zoom meeting to get a mass termination firing with no cause. And this doesn’t just impact me — this impacts all of Massachusetts. A limited workforce at NSF or NST or NIH jeopardizes the billions of federal investments that directly fund our top-notch research and researchers in Massachusetts and powers our local economy.

So, I’m scared for our country. Millions of Americans who have dedicated their lives and dedicated their careers to this country are suffering because of unelected billionaires. I’m here with Senator Warren to fight back against these illegal terminations and to stand up for hardworking civil servants. Thank you.

Senator Warren: Thank you very much, Doug. And I appreciate Doug being here. I just want to say, this is what happens when you go to town halls. I had a town hall in Framingham a week ago and Doug stood up and told his story, as have lots of other people in Massachusetts.

I would say the biggest question at that town hall is: What can we do? And Doug is living proof of what we can do. We can tell our stories because they matter. We build a grassroots movement across this story by not using big words and abstract terms, but by telling the story person by person by person about what kind of work you do and what it means when you just get called in and told, “You’re fired,” because it fits in someone else’s political agendas, so thank you for being here, Doug. I appreciate it.

Alright, I just want to say: Doug is standing up, he’s pushing back and that’s what we’ve all got to do.

###

This morning, Paul Krugman observes:

Here’s the story: last month hackers looted Ethereum coins worth $1.5 billion from Bybit, a Dubai-based crypto exchange — apparently the most money anyone has ever stolen in a single caper. The FBI believes that the North Korean regime was behind the hack. Most of the coins have already been laundered into Bitcoin, and will eventually be turned into real money that will be used to sustain Kim Jong Un’s brutal dictatorship.

It’s quite a story, yet it has only recently begun to get major coverage. The likeliest explanation of this lag is that crypto-related fraud and theft is so rife that reporters and editors have grown blasé.

But small investors continue to lose large sums in crypto scams, like “rug-pulls.” And the biggest rug-pull yet is underway: Donald Trump’s plan for a “strategic crypto reserve.”

What’s a rug-pull? A textbook example just happened in Argentina, where Javier Milei, the president, touted a new cryptocurrency called $Libra. The currency’s price soared as thousands of small players bought in, while insiders sold their holdings for huge profits. Then the price collapsed, leaving small players owning worthless bits of code.

Does this sound familiar? It should: the $Trump coin, introduced with great fanfare by Trump in January, attracted billions in dollars from MAGA fans, then quickly lost more than 80 percent of its value. The great bulk of $Trump coins were initially bought by a handful of “whales,” large investors, although it’s not clear whether their intent was to scam small buyers or simply to bribe the president.

While both Milei and Donald Trump deny that they personally profited from the rug-pulls they enabled, I seriously doubt that anyone believes them. And if Trump manages to establish a federal “strategic crypto reserve,” paid for by US tax dollars, the scams associated with $Libra and $Trump will look like chump change.

We're being robbed. And that's why Chump is seeing the country turn on him so quickly and his honeymoon ended before he even got in all the slap and tickle he wanted with Alien Musk. Alex Kirshner (SLATE) observes the cratering of Chump's mастера секса Alien Musk:

Musk has garnered lots of attention for this power move. Some is positive. Most is not. Tesla, his biggest company, has become the subject of widespread boycotting calls by his and Trump’s opponents. There are frequent protests outside of Tesla showrooms. Barely a day passes without the viral egging of a Cybertruck. Tesla owners are getting international press attention for flipping their cars at a loss just to get rid of them. “I’m selling the Nazi mobile,” one dissatisfied driver says. The social internet might create an outsized impression of how common those acts of resistance are, but they still seem at least reflective of a shift. Public approval of Musk’s government obliteration really is low, and disapproval of Tesla itself is higher than ever.

Meanwhile, Tesla’s stock price is declining rapidly. Musk’s largest company lost 24 percent of its value in February. It was the stock’s second worst month ever, and then it fell another 3 percent on Monday, the first trading day of March. What a coincidence it would be if none of that had anything to do with the ever-growing, controversial public persona of its very famous chief executive. Big left-of-center social media accounts are celebrating their work: “Congrats, everyone—the Elon boycott is working!” a Bluesky post from a mysterious account with 800,000 followers reads.

Danielle Antosz (MONEYWISE) reports on how any association with the Alien can harm business:

Public perception of the automaker and its billionaire owner seem to be at an all-time low. One person even claims to have lost $70,000 in business contracts because customers didn't like that he drives a Tesla Cybertruck.

"I have a dilemma. I started to lose customers because I have [a] Cybertruck," Yoni Menaker wrote in what appears to be a now-deleted Facebook post, as cited by Torque News. "I got some bad reviews, and I am not sure what to do."

Menaker added he loves the vehicle and "it's the best truck" he's ever had.

The name Yoni Menaker is attached to a company called Blue Angels Roofing, which operates in Alabama and Georgia. A couple of negative online reviews scornfully mentioned the company's use of a Cybertruck.

Blue Angels Roofing isn't alone. A medical spa owner in Massachusetts told NBC Boston in February he's faced harassment and client cancellations after purchasing a gold-wrapped Cybertruck to promote his business.

It's not just small business owners facing backlash. Tesla's stock slide from mid-December to late February wiped out more than $650 billion in market value, according to a Barron's report.

While EV sales in the U.S. have grown in volume — up 7.3% in 2024 — Tesla's sales fell more than any other manufacturer, according to Cox Automotive. Sales figures in other regions, including Europe and China, have also trended downward.

At MOTHER JONES, Monika Bauerlein has an interesting call to arms worth reading. It contains some strong observations. It also contradicts itself.

She thinks she understands Chump. That's so cute. She doesn't. I don't. Both of us can talk to where he's coming from but she actually thinks she's got some skill -- that she shares with Clara -- on being able to know what's important and what's not and when to ignore Chump's statements and when not to.

She doesn't.

And I say that because it's true and it also let's me answer a question for people writing to the public e-mail account. I have not forgotten _____. I'm just not interested in highlighting him. He also knew what Chump was going to do and when Chump was serious and blah blah blah

When Chump started his attacks on Canada, we called him out. We ended up compling all the countries he'd verbally lashed out at. And while we were doing that a YOUTUBER wanted the world to know tht was just Chump bluster and those mentioning it were wasting time.

I shrugged as someone who emphasized international relations for my undergraduate and graduate work (along with campaign politics). There were so many ways that could be wrong -- that person could be wrong.

But we don't all have to agree. And though he was wrong on that, he was right on other things so I continued to highlight him until I got the angry e-mail about how he had covered this and Chump wasn't going to do anything on this topic and this was a distraction and I needed to apply my time better.

That's when we were done with him.

As time has demonstrated, those of us educated in international relations were right to raise flags immediately. But I could have been wrong Wouldn't be the first time.

The difference is: I don't ask anyone for money. Daily content here includes one piece of writing a day by me. Except for when I went into my diabetic coma, I have had something new that I wrote (most likely dictated) up here every day for over 20 years. And never charged a cent. Never begged for a cent.

So I don't really see where you can write an angry e-mail to me telling me that I'm wasting people's time and that I'm stupid because as soon as Chump's sworn in, he's going to stop trashing other countries and he's going to this and to that.

At any rate, that YOUTUBER is banned here by me. He could get honest. I don't mean apologize to me. I do mean he could say on a new segment, "Hey, when I told all of you to ignore the comments Chump was making about other countries and the Panama Canal and all the rest, I was wrong. It wasn't just distraction. It was the new foreign policy for the US under Chump."

There are so many things each day that warrant and deserve coverage.

I can't do it all and don't pretend to. I've noted that often on Mondays when the snapshot includes a statement about how too much happened over the weekend.

So I'm picking and choosing. (And I'm aware that the community sites pick up many topics and I can sometimes rule a topic because I know someone else in the community is already covering it.)

And I'm not above criticism -- though you'll never be able to criticize me more harshly than I already do. But when I'm writing garbage here about how we need to make Jon Stewart our party's presidential nominee in 2028? When I'm doing that kind of political masturbation? Then I really need to be slammed.

However, I'm not among the four YOUTUBERS who did that. (And, yes, the one banned was one of the four.) That is wasting time. And they didn't even know Jon's stances. Which is why last month they were attacking him. Jon's a comedian and a good one. He goes for the laugh. He's also overly concerned about being seen as fair.

Monika's piece is worth reading but it's also worth noting that she doesn't have a crystal ball and it's really not for her to say what's important and what's not. She can say that for herself -- I can say that for myself -- but if you're gut's telling you something different, you should go with your gut. Do a YOUTUBE video, write a post, whatever. If you think something important is taking place that needs attention -- much more than it's getting -- that's what you can do and should do.

Last night, Chris Hayes gave us all a scorecard on DOGE.

Morgan Music (LATIN TIMES) reports:

Kyle Schutt, a software engineer embedded at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, is making $195,200—the maximum salary allowed for a federal employee. Nate Cavanaugh, a 28-year-old tech entrepreneur playing a leading role in DOGE's GSA restructuring efforts, is earning $120,500.

These revelations, uncovered by WIRED, stand in direct contrast to Musk's previous statements. Last November, as he and Vivek Ramaswamy recruited for DOGE, Musk insisted that working for the agency would be "tedious" and compensated at zero dollars.

However, the investigation found that DOGE's budget has ballooned to $40 million, and its recruitment page now openly discusses "full-time, salaried positions" for engineers and other specialists.

"It does seem worth understanding what these employees are being paid," Don Moynihan, a public policy professor at the University of Michigan told WIRED. "Especially if they are being paid significantly more than technologists who have been fired, given that many of the DOGE staff have less relevant experience."

As Chris Hayes noted on MSNBC last night, there is no transparency. They don't even issue corrections. They just wait until they hope people aren't looking and then they remove one of their lies from their lists of claims.

There is no transparency and there is no accountability. There is Alien Musk joking that sometimes mistakes will be made. Thousands of Americans are out of their jobs and that's the closet to accountability Alien's going to offer: Woops!

Millions and millions of Americans are at risk because of these firings and "Woopsie" and a bad joke is all we're going to get in the form of an apology or an acknowledgement.

It doesn't matter to Alien Musk.

He's not an American. Canada's got a move currently to strip him of his Canadian citizenship but even if they did? He could still go home to South Africa. The racist doesn't want to do that because the racist system of apartheid that he was raised under and benefited from no longer exists in South Africa.

But he can go elsewhere.

He's not an American. He didn't grow up here, he didn't bother to learn about the country and he lies daily to the citizens of this country.

He doesn't care what happens to the American people. He does care about stealing as many of our tax dollars as he can.

Erik De La Garza (RAW STORY) notes:

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy flatly rejected the idea that Elon Musk’s Starlink is the key to fixing FAA’s struggling air traffic control system.

Duffy delivered the slap down of the tech billionaire's satellite internet network while speaking to Fox News on Tuesday about air traffic control shortages and other issues plaguing the agency following a series of deadly aviation disasters in the opening weeks of 2025.

All Alien wants is our tax dollars. He's a welfare queen who has lived off our tax dollars and the tax dollars of citizens of other countries. That's 'his' wealth.

Senator Patty Murray's office issued the following:

Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and a senior member and former Chair of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, issued the following statement on the Trump administration’s plans to fire 80,000 employees at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), seriously risking the medical care and benefits that veterans have earned and deserve.More than 25 percent of VA’s workforce are veterans themselves.

“Donald Trump and Elon Musk are escalating their full-scale, no-holds-barred assault on veterans–and putting the health care and benefits they have earned in grave danger. It’s infuriating that two billionaires think they can fire tens of thousands of people responsible for administering the services and care that over nine million veterans across the country count on. It’s flat-out immoral and a breach of the sacred commitment we make to our veterans to take care of them when they return home.

“Just yesterday, I spoke with a disabled veteran who worked at the Seattle VA helping homeless veterans. He told me how devastating it was when, without warning, without cause, and without explanation, he was suddenly terminated from a role that meant everything to him and was cast aside by the very system he had fought in combat to defend. Now, there will be thousands more stories like his and millions more veterans who will pay the price. Trump’s own attorney has said that this administration thinks veterans they laid off for NO REASON may not be ‘fit to have a job at this moment’ —it’s an astounding level of contempt for our veterans that’s reflected throughout this administration’s thoughtless mass firings.

“These arbitrary mass layoffs, at the very least, are going to mean longer processing times for disability or education claims veterans are desperately waiting on, and longer wait times for veterans to see a doctor–to say nothing of the serious threat to patient safety or the threat of VA medical centers closing. Make no mistake: this will only empower Elon to privatize VA by breaking it first. The consequences of Trump and Elon’s sheer recklessness will reverberate for generations—in more veterans sick and unable to get their benefits, more veterans out of a job, and fewer men and women willing to sign up to serve a nation that shows it will not keep their promises to them.”

ENDANGERING VETERANS’ ACCESS TO BENEFITS AND CARE—AND PATIENT SAFETY

Firing VA employees will–among much else–likely force veterans to wait longer:

To see health care providers;
To have their disability claims adjudicated;
To have someone to pick up their calls at the Veterans Crisis Line;
To have burial and funeral expense reimbursement requests processed;
And much more.

A number of staff supporting the Veterans Crisis Line–which provides 24/7, confidential crisis support for veterans and their loved ones–were among those fired by Trump and Musk.

In 2022, Congress also passed the PACT Act, the largest expansion of veterans’ benefits in two decades, which requires a significant influx of resources and staff to deliver the benefits and care under the law. Trump and Musk’s firings–and hiring freeze–badly undercut VA’s ability to process claims under the law. The mass firings and the ongoing hiring freeze, which prohibits new disability claims raters from coming on board, will force the backlog of unprocessed claims to grow above 254,000.

Firing long-time VA researchers also puts clinical trials that veterans are enrolled in at risk and jeopardizes research that could yield critical breakthroughs for veterans.

Ongoing VA research is examining treatment options for PTSD and opioid addiction, as well as for cancer that was caused by veterans’ exposure to toxic chemicals, among much else.
According to VA, in fiscal year 2024, there were 102 active research sites nationwide, with 3,685 active principal investigators who led 7,278 active funded research projects involving teams of researchers. In addition, VA investigators authored or coauthored 11,732 published research articles.

Recent dangerous directives from VA last week, which they have already begun to walk back, cause more harmful chaos and confusion and also have detrimental impacts on the ability of veterans to receive their care and benefits.

VA issued a blanket cancellation last Tuesday of nearly 900 contracts–supporting patient safety efforts like chemical waste disposal and monitoring of hospital air quality, systems providing secure storage of veterans’ private records, clinical recruitment efforts, and more.
VA also implemented a decision to reduce purchase card limits to $1–curbing VA medical centers’ ability to purchase supplies and equipment they need to serve veterans or to provide lodging for transplant patients.

While the Trump administration tries to rehire clinical staff they have already fired and may ultimately walk back the purchase card limits and contract cancellations, it is clear that they are acting before thinking–and the people paying the price are veterans.

BETRAYING VETERANS WITH ZERO JUSTIFICATION

Beyond indiscriminately firing workers who help get veterans the benefits and care they have earned, Trump and Musk have also already indiscriminately fired thousands of veterans who have served our country in uniform. In firing probationary and other federal workers across government, Trump and Musk have fired scores of veterans.

Veterans make up 30% of the federal workforce, and the federal government is the largest single employer of veterans in the country.
Trump and Musk have already fired nearly 6,000 veterans, by one recent estimate.
Federal agencies uniquely work to hire and accommodate veterans with service-related disabilities. Longstanding law requires, for example, that veterans who are disabled or who serve on active duty in the Armed Forces in military campaigns are entitled to preference over others in hiring from a list of eligible, competitive applicants. In 2021, there were 337,000 disabled Veterans serving in the federal government, making up 16% of the federal workforce.

As veterans working at VA in Washington state who were recently laid off through no fault of their own have told Senator Murray:

“I swore an oath to serve our country—first in the U.S. Army and then at the VA—only to be abruptly terminated by the very institution that promised to care for those who have served. My termination isn’t just a personal tragedy; it’s a stark reminder that our federal government is dismantling essential support systems for veterans and vulnerable communities. When cost-cutting means sacrificing dedicated, disabled service members and committed federal employees, it isn’t about efficiency—it’s about eroding the trust and dignity that our nation owes to those who answer the call to serve.” — Raphael Garcia, former Management Analyst for VA, Seattle

“Working at the VA gave me purpose. I understood the struggles veterans faced, whether physical, mental, or emotional. I took pride in being part of something bigger than myself, in continuing to serve even after taking off the uniform… The next chapter in my service led me to working with unhoused Veterans. Limiting roles like mine, means other VA employees will have to take on more and cutting into valuable clinical time directly serving veterans. That’s why it was so devastating when, without warning, without cause, I was terminated. No explanation, no justification just a cold dismissal from a role that meant everything to me. It felt like a betrayal, not just of my dedication but of the values I thought the VA stood for. I had fought through war, through cancer, and through every challenge life had thrown at me only to be cast aside by the very system I had believed in.” — Scott Olson, former Program Support for VA’s Community Housing Program, Seattle

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The following sites updated:

Wednesday, March 05, 2025

Dump-and-Bake Boneless Baked Pork Chops in the Kitchen

Suzette and Julie are two sisters who love to cook and they love The Seasoned Mom's recipe for Dump-and-Bake Boneless Baked Pork Chops with Apples:

Ingredients

1 small onion sliced

2 apples peeled, cored and sliced

4 thick-cut boneless pork chops (about 6 ounces each)

1 ½ teaspoons soy sauce

1 ½ teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoons brown sugar

1 tablespoons olive oil

1 8 oz. package (about 3 ¾ cups) dry stuffing mix (I used Pepperidge Farm Herb Seasoned Stuffing Mix)

1 stick (8 tablespoons) butter, melted

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375F (190C). Spray a baking dish with cooking spray (I used a 10-inch round dish, but any dish that holds your pork chops will work).

Arrange sliced onion and sliced apples in the bottom of the prepared dish.

1 small onion,2 apples

Place pork chops on top of apples and onions. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

4 thick-cut boneless pork chops

In a small bowl (or in a jar), whisk together (or shake) soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, and olive oil until completely combined. Drizzle sauce over the pork chops.

1 ½ teaspoons soy sauce,1 ½ teaspoons Worcestershire sauce,1 tablespoons brown sugar,1 tablespoons olive oil

In a large bowl, mix together dry stuffing mix and melted butter. Spread evenly over the pork chops.

1 8 oz. package (about 3 ¾ cups) dry stuffing mix,1 stick (8 tablespoons) butter, melted

Cover dish with foil and bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake for an additional 10-20 minutes, or until pork is cooked through and reaches an internal temperature of 145 degrees F. The cooking time will vary based on the size and thickness of your pork chops. If the topping starts to get too brown before the pork is done, just lightly cover with foil for the remaining baking time.

Notes

Season the pork chops with one teaspoon salt and pepper to help flavor and tenderize the meat.

Season the apples and onions with fresh herbs for even more flavor — fresh sage, fresh thyme, rosemary, oregano, or an Italian seasoning blend will infuse a lot of flavor on the apples and onions, making them an even better side to serve with the tender, juicy pork chops.

Swap out the soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce for a quick and easy apple cider gravy if you want even more Fall flavors (or serve the gravy on the side with mashed potatoes or other veggies).

Use a meat thermometer to check the internal temperature of the pork chops. To avoid overcooking, check the pork chops after the first 30 minutes and then again at 10-minute increments until they hit an internal temperature of 145 degrees. Overcooked pork chops are tough and dry — even with all the extra steps we took to seal in the juices!

Use your preferred stuffing mix for your favorite flavors. I use Pepperidge Farm Herb Seasoned Stuffing Mix, but there are other flavors, varieties, and brands on the market (including the ever-popular Stove Top stuffing mix) which can also be used.

Cooking just for two? I buy thick-cut pork chops in packages of two, so it’s easy to purchase and prepare two pork chops instead of 4! Just cut the remaining ingredients in half as well, and bake in a smaller dish that accommodates two pork chops. The cooking instructions remain the same.

Suzette (the older sister) and Julie (the younger) had some comments so let me note that as well.

They love pork chops and Julie says that her kids could eat pork chops every night of the week. She also wonders if anyone remembers the episode of The Brady Bunch where Peter says "pork chops and apple sauce" over and over trying to be Humphrey Bogart? Yes, I do and, via YouTube, here it is.

Suzette loves pork chops almost as much as her sister. And she says that I don't note pork chop recipes here very often. Is that the case? It probably is. Nothing against pork chops, but I rarely cook them. We eat them. But my husband usually cooks them outdoors on the backyard grill or inside on the George Foreman. So if I don't note recipes for pork chops, that's why. I rarely cook them -- maybe once every three years I'll cook smothered pork chops.

News? AP has a report on Sister JoAnn Persch and Sister Pat Murphy, two nuns who have spent more than 40 years "fighting for immigrant rights." Please make a point to check it out. Those two women are amazing and have lived a life worth living. Vatican News reports:

The Holy See Press Office released the following statement on Wednesday evening providing the daily medical update on Pope Francis' health.

"The Holy Father remained stable today as well, without any episodes of respiratory insufficiency.

"As planned, he utilized supplemental, high-flow oxygenation, and non-invasive mechanical ventilation will be resumed tonight.

"The Holy Father increased his respiratory and active motor physiotherapy. He spent the day in his armchair.

"Given the complexity of the clinical situation, the prognosis remains guarded.

They note that Pope Francis also spoke today, over the phone, with Father Gabriel Romanelli at the Holy Family Church in Gaza.

I continue to pray for Pope Francis. In non Catholic news, Rex Huppke (USA Today) observes:

Just when you thought the Trump administration’s denigration of the federal workers it's sending to unemployment lines couldn’t get worse, one official decided to demean the many veterans who work in government offices.

Alina Habba, counsel to President Donald Trump, was talking about the Elon Musk-led firing of federal employees Tuesday – hours before Trump was scheduled to address a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night – when she suggested some workers who are veterans might not be “fit to have a job.”

Veterans make up about 30% of the federal workforce. In 2021, according to data from the Office of Personnel Management, 53% of those workers were disabled veterans.

Habba was asked about the thousands of veterans who’ve lost their jobs in the recent federal purge and “what the administration can do to at least help salvage their lives.”

She responded: “We have a fiscal responsibility to use taxpayer dollars to pay people that actually work. That doesn’t mean that we forget our veterans by any means. We are going to care for them in the right way, but perhaps they’re not fit to have a job at this moment, or not willing to come to work.”

She is disgusting. She's also Catholic so I'm still in Catholic news. Rex writes a lot of funny stuff for USA Today and I tend to read him for that reason. I was shocked by what Habba did. I called C.I. to make sure this wasn't a joke I was missing. Nope. She also informed me that Habba identifies as being from Iraq (she was born here after her parents moved here -- possibly from Kurdistan) and that she's Catholic (or her parents were).

This is C.I.'s "The Snapshot" for Wednesday:

Wednesday, March 5, 2025. Donald Chump embarrasses himself (and the country) yet again, Pete Hegseth feels the best he can do as Secretary of Defense is to promote racism, Robert Kennedy Junior thinks posting at FOX "NEWS" nullifies the need to post at the HHS website, and much more.

Last night, Convicted Felon Donald Chump delivered the State of the Fat Guy address and it was frightening.

Ahead of the State of the Fat Guy address, Senator Patty Murray's office issued the following:

ICYMI: Senator Murray statement on why she won’t be attending Trump’s Joint Address

Murray has been a leading voice raising the alarm on Trump and Musk’s indiscriminate mass firings that are hurting people in Washington state and across the country— holding multiple press calls with WA federal workers, releasing fact sheets, and speaking out at every opportunity

***WATCH VIDEO HERE; DOWNLOAD HERE***

Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, held a virtual press conference with federal workers in Washington state who worked at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), U.S. Forest Service, and National Park Service before being recently fired—through no fault of their own and with zero justification—as part of Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s unprecedented assault on the federal workforce. Joining Senator Murray for the press conference today were: Scott Olson, a disabled veteran in Seattle who previously worked at the VA helping homeless veterans; Jordan Lewis from Seattle, a former landscape architect designing projects for the National Parks Service across Washington state; Ray Beaupre, a former seasonal worker with the U.S. Forest Service in the Methow Valley; and Ambrose Dieringer, an analyst in the supervision division of the CFPB who lives in West Seattle.

Ahead of President Trump’s Joint Address to Congress, Senator Murray is lifting up the stories of real people in Washington state who are being hurt by Donald Trump’s reckless and illegal moves—from his indiscriminate mass firings across the federal workforce that will undermine services we all rely on and put lives at risk, to his illegal funding freezes that are seriously harming businesses and organizations across Washington state and putting them in financial jeopardy. Senator Murray’s statement on why she won’t be attending the Joint Address tonight is HERE.

“President Trump is coming here to the Capitol… this evening to give what he is calling the State of the Union. But I expect that he will give his own fantasy version of an update on how he and Elon Musk are running the country. Because it is pretty painfully clear to me… that these two out-of-touch billionaires really have no idea what they are doing… In short, they really have no sense at all of the actual state of our union. Because they have never really taken the time to listen to the people on the frontlines who are serving our communities before they fired them!” Senator Murray said on the press call today. “Elon and Trump may not care about what these workers did; they may not get that it matters—probably because they don’t take commercial flights, or rely on Social Security benefits, or send their kids to public schools, or struggle to get health care, or have to worry about being scammed by predatory lenders. But you know what? Regular people get it. Regular people understand their work has value, it has dignity, and it makes our lives better. And regular people also understand that mass firing people, like the workers we’ll hear from right now, will make their lives worse.”

“That may not be the narrative Elon Musk and Donald Trump try and spin tonight. But it is the truth, and the people need to hear it,” Murray continued. “I am going to keep doing what I can to lift up federal workers who can share their stories, warn everyone about what is happening, and what it’s going to mean for our country, and push to reverse as much of this damage as possible as fast as possible.”

“Working at the VA gave me purpose. I understood the struggles veterans faced, whether physical, mental, or emotional. I took pride in being part of something bigger than myself, in continuing to serve even after taking off the uniform,” said Scott Olson, a disabled veteran who served for eight years in the Army, including time in combat, and was diagnosed with cancer twice after serving in Iraq for 15 months. Scott worked at the VA in Seattle in Program Support for VA’s Community Housing Program—helping homeless veterans—before he was suddenly fired without cause last Monday, as part of Trump and Elon Musk’s mass layoffs at VA. “The next chapter in my service led me to working with unhoused Veterans. My role was to serve as the initial contact when they came in looking for help with resources. I supported the social workers ensuring they had the ability to transport Veterans in the community. Limiting roles like mine, means other VA employees will have to take on more and cutting into valuable clinical time directly serving veterans. That’s why it was so devastating when, without warning, without cause, I was terminated. No explanation, no justification just a cold dismissal from a role that meant everything to me. It felt like a betrayal, not just of my dedication but of the values I thought the VA stood for. I had fought through war, through cancer, and through every challenge life had thrown at me only to be cast aside by the very system I had believed in.”

“The CFPB has been open for less than 14 years, but in that time has returned over $21 billion dollars to harmed consumers in the form of compensation, principal reduction, canceled debts, and other relief. Fo every $1 spent, about $2.85 has been returned to consumers. How is that inefficient?,” said Ambrose Dieringer, an analyst in the supervision division of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) who resides in Seattle. Ambrose and many of his colleagues were suddenly put on administrative leave last month and ordered to cease working after Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russ Vought took over as Acting Director of the CFPB, where he is working with Trump and Elon Musk to cripple the nation’s leading agency protecting consumers from financial fraud—raising serious conflict of interest concerns.

“These recent firings are a disaster for public lands, we are already suffering from years of backlog maintenance and the effects of heavy wildfire damage across the landscape. If we do not act now to save these recreation programs, they will be lost forever along with our beloved trails,” said Ray Beaupre, who was a permanent seasonal volunteer coordinator and trails lead with the U.S. Forest Service in the Methow Valley Ranger District, before being recently laid off without cause by Trump and Musk.

“In my role with the NPS, I was responsible for planning and implementing critical repair and upgrade projects across national park sites in the Pacific West Region, including Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, Hawaii and the Pacific Islands. My work included renovating campgrounds impacted by wildfires, upgrades to picnic areas and outdoor restroom facilities, implementing trail projects, and much needed visitor center improvements for accessibility,” said Jordan Lewis from Seattle, a former landscape architect with the National Park Service who worked on several important projects across Washington state including: a trail project at San Juan Island National Historical Park to protect endangered Marble Butterfly habitat, a roadway safety project for bicyclists and pedestrians also at San Juan Island National Historic Park, critical upgrades to aging visitor facilities at Ross Lake Overlook and Cascade Pass in North Cascades National Park, and needed accessibility improvements at Fort Vancouver National Historic Site to meet compliance with ADA laws. “On February 14^th at 4:50 PM, without warning, I received a generic email terminating me immediately. The letter stated that my skills and abilities did not meet the needs of the Department and that my position was no longer required—despite an exceptional performance review and a backlog of urgent repair projects I was hired to implement. Overnight, my dream job was taken from me and my life has been turned upside down by people I have never met. But beyond my personal loss, these mass firings of probationary employees are already having serious consequences for our national parks. On February 14th, more than 1,000 probationary employees were fired from NPS alone, creating staffing shortages that are now affecting park units nationwide. Our division has been forced to indefinitely suspend several critical projects due to the indiscriminate removal of dedicated NPS employees.”

Senator Murray has been raising the alarm nonstop about how mass firings at all manner of federal agencies will hurt families, veterans, small businesses, farmers, and so many others in Washington state and across the country. Senator Murray has spoken out on the Senate floor against this administration’s attacks on federal workers and held multiple press conferences to call attention to how Trump and Musk’s mass layoffs are hurting federal workers in Washington state and undermining services for everyone. Earlier this month, she released both a national fact sheet and a Washington state fact sheet detailing what we know about the mass layoffs so far. Senator Murray also sent an open letter to federal workers and a newsletter to her constituents in Washington state outlining her concerns with the administration’s so-called “Fork in the Road” offer.

Senator Murray has also sent a flurry of recent oversight letters demanding answers about indiscriminate staffing reductions across federal agencies—including letters to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on mass firings across HHS as well as a letter focused specifically on firings at FDA, Energy Secretary Chris Wright on indiscriminate firings at BPA, HUD Secretary Scott Turner on reports of massive staff cuts at HUD, Interior Secretary Doug Burham on National Parks Service staffing cuts, and Acting USDA Secretary Gary Washington on the universal hiring pause for USDA firefighters, among others.

Senator Murray’s full remarks, as delivered on today’s press call, are below and video is HERE:

“Thank you to all of you for joining us today. I think as everybody knows, President Trump is coming here to the Capitol, where I am, this evening, to give what he is calling the State of the Union. But I expect that he will give his own fantasy version of an update on how he and Elon Musk are running the country.

“Because it is pretty painfully clear to me, from all of the contacts we are getting from around our state and everywhere, that it’s pretty clear that these two out-of-touch billionaires really have no idea what they are doing. They have no idea how painful cuts and mass firings they have gone on with such glee—how that’s hurting our families, and in short, they really have no sense at all of the actual state of our union.

“Because they have never really taken the time to listen to the people on the frontlines who are serving our communities before they fired them.

“So on this call, today, I am going to make sure we hear from some real people, real federal workers who were actually doing the work of the American people, and know what the damaging effects have been over the last few weeks.

“Because the truth is: the state of the union is that Trump fired forest rangers. The state of the union is that he fired cancer researchers. He fired people who keep Social Security running. And he fired thousands upon thousands of veterans who work to serve all of our communities.

“And at risk of saying the obvious—that will make our country weaker, it will make life a lot worse for folks back home. It is going to mean less safe conditions, longer lines at our National Parks and forests, places like Mt. Rainer, and North Cascades, and Olympic National Park, and Mount St. Helens. […]

“It’s going to mean longer wait times to get help with Social Security benefits. It is going to mean clinical trials at the Fred Hutch getting canceled, and promising cures will not happen, they’ll just get tossed in the shredder. It is going to mean slower response to disease outbreaks, and slower recalls of contaminated food. It is going to mean less help for people trying to get health insurance, or find child care. Fewer workers supporting air traffic control that keeps our skies safe at SeaTac.

“And despite what we might hear from Trump tonight, we know it’s not about saving money. Because we actually saw them fire Bonneville Power Administration workers—they are not paid by taxpayers, they are paid by ratepayers in the Pacific Northwest.

“We also know this is not about merit, because they mass fired so many people who had recently been promoted for doing a good job!

“Right here in Washington state, they even fired a NOAA employee of the year—someone who worked on saving orcas, and salmon, and wildlife from oil spills.

“I don’t know who Trump and Musk think they are fooling, but it doesn’t take a lot of common sense to realize: you don’t make the government work better by giving the richest man in the world a baseball bat and letting him smash it to pieces. This has been just heartbreaking, and infuriating.

“I have spoken to so many federal workers, public servants—who took so much pride in the work they do to strengthen our country, building our communities, supporting families, helping our neighbors.

“As you will hear this evening, the work they do is because they care. Because they know it’s important. And that’s why they were federal employees.

“Elon and Trump may not care about what these workers did; they may not get that it matters—probably because they don’t take commercial flights, or rely on Social Security benefits, or send their kids to public schools, or struggle to get health care, or have to worry about being scammed by predatory lenders.

“But you know what? Regular people get it. Regular people understand their work has value, it has dignity, and it makes our lives better. And regular people also understand that mass firing people, like the workers we’ll hear from right now, will make their lives worse.

“That may not be the narrative that Elon Musk and Donald Trump try to spin tonight for everybody. But it’s the truth, and it’s really important that people hear it.

“And I am going to keep doing what I can to lift up our federal workers, help share their stories, warn people about what’s happening, what it will mean for our communities and our country, and really work hard to reverse the damage that’s happening so fast.

“So I really appreciate the workers who are on here tonight to share their personal stories. I know it’s been really traumatic and difficult for all of you, so thank you for coming on this evening.”

###

While Patty addressed actual issues, Chump delivered none.

His speech was never-ending -- and people complained about Adrian Brody's speech Sunday?

Why did he talk so long? Because he was singing his own praises.

Buy a clue, when you have to sing your own praises, there's a reason -- no one else is praising you.

It was disgusting and never ending giving you plenty of time to wonder how someone ends up so screwed up.

Did Daddy make Donald touch his wee-wee?

Is that what damaged him so?

He turns 79 years old in a few months and that's really too old -- regardless of your baggage -- to act that way.

He delivered another performance of victimhood that I'm sure spoke to all the other impotent males out there who tug away furiously but never get stiff.

The speech was not about America or where we can go and what we can be.

It was about an elderly boy with Daddy issues insisting with rage that he was somebody and he had accomplished something and Daddy was wrong about him.

No, Donald, whatever your father said to you? He was being too kind.

You are a failure and you've been one your entire life.

When he used to mock and tell you that you weren't a man?

He was right.

Anytime you could have offered service, you ran like the coward you were, are and forever will be.

It didn't start with Vietnam but, yes, avoiding that war did prove you weren't a man. Your father was right there.

And that judgment that he passed on you is the same judgment we continue to pass.

You can scream and you can bully but all we see is an elderly brat who never grew up and never knew how to.

You embarrassed and shamed the country last night. Your lies promoting yourself cheapen the office. Your tantrum was seen on the world stage.

Not being a man, you merely repeat on others the cycle of abuse you endured from you own father. And that's why your children will breathe a sigh of relief when you finally pass away. You've screwed them up and screwed them over.

You blustered and bullied and acted like the crazy maniac that you are.

And it's gotten old.

Lets move on.

Cara Lynn Shultz (PEOPLE) reports:

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has called the deadly measles outbreak in Texas a “top priority” for his department — after previously calling the situation “not unusual.”

“I am deeply concerned,” Kennedy, the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said in a op-ed piece for Fox News — where the longtime vaccine skeptic touted the benefits of the measles vaccine: “Vaccines not only protect individual children from measles, but also contribute to community immunity, protecting those who are unable to be vaccinated due to medical reasons,” he wrote.

The most recent update from the Texas Department of State Health Services confirms that there are 146 cases of measles, with 20 hospitalizations, and one death of a school-aged child.

No, Cara, he isn't "deeply concerned" and he hasn't made this a "top priority." You did very well on stenography and we'll be sure to let HR know that you're ready should a secretary job open up. But you're not a reporter, are you?

Kat noted Monday ("That disgusting anti vax freak Junior") that Junior's 'big' statement on vaccines? Is available for the public to read . . . at FOX "NEWS." At the government website for Health and Human Services, it wasn't there. As Kat noted, the most recent thing on Monday was about Chump's attack on trans people. There is a new one. No, not Junior on measles. It's this "HHS, ED, and GSA Announce Additional Measures to End Anti-Semitic Harassment on College Campuses."

Please note that Alien Musk also avoids government websites and instead misuses his post to drive traffic to Twitter -- which he owns. There is nothing but corruption in this administration and they can't even post public notices on government websites. This isn't transparency and don't pretend that it is.

(The Justice Dept continues to issue press releases.)

Junior has no plan, is doing nothing and his mealy mouth statements are embarrassing even for a Chump administration. Erika Edwards (NBC NEWS) reminds:

It’s a stark contrast in messaging from the previous Trump administration.

In 2019, when two measles outbreaks in New York threatened to reverse the United States' status of having eliminated measles, then-HHS Secretary Alex Azar didn’t mince words.

“Measles vaccines are among the most extensively studied medical products we have, their safety has been firmly established over many years,” Azar said in an April 2019 HHS statement.

He went on to say that “measles is not a harmless childhood illness, but a highly contagious, potentially life-threatening disease.”

We should never forget that Chump attacks trans people. Why? Because they're Americans and Chump doesn't like America. He attacks every group of Americans he can -- and works to tank our economy and destroy our democracy. But let's zoom in on how he's attacked Black people. BIM reports:

US Army Lieutenant General Telita Crosland, who heads the military's health agency and is one of the most senior Black female Army officers, was reportedly forced to end her career.

On Friday (February 28), Crosland was forced to retire from her military role just a week after President Donald Trump fired the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and other senior officers, sources told Reuters.

Crosland's retirement was publicly announced Friday, but Reuters reported that the senior officer was told she must resign.

"I want to thank Crosland for her dedication to the nation, to the military health system, and to Army medicine for the past 32 years," Stephen Ferrara, acting assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, said in a statement Friday.

The sources, a current and former official, said Crosland wasn't given a reason why she had to retire. The Pentagon also declined to provide a reason why Crosland allegedly resigned.

Crosland's departure comes amid Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's efforts to eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives at the Pentagon. Last month, Hegseth said he believed that "diversity is our strength" was the "single dumbest phrase in military history." The defense secretary also moved to end commemorations for Black History Month, Women's History Month, and more.

Really, Petey? Because I believe the single dumbest phrase in military history is, "Meet Pete Hegseth, he's the new Secretary of Defense."

Joni Ernst, you put a racist in charge. As Elaine noted last night ("PROPUBLICA reports what happened to Senator Joni Ernst's spine"), we know why now. You're catting around, slutting it up, led you open to charges of unethical conduct and that's what Chump & Company blackmailed you with. Maybe next time, keep your legs closed or chose a bed partner who doesn't have business before the committees you're on.

Hope you got screwed good, Joni, because you certainly screwed over the country -- and women in the military.

In other efforts to promote racism, Pete Hegseth keeps renaming military bases to honor racists and losers -- if, in 2025, you can't admit that the Confederate Army was both racist and a loser, no wonder you don't like history taught in schools.

Noah Robertson (ARMY TIMES) catches us up:

Hegseth first changed Fort Liberty in Fayetteville, North Carolina, back to Fort Bragg, with a memorandum Feb. 10. Rather than recognizing Braxton Bragg, the Confederate general it was once named after, the memo said the name now honored Pfc. Roland L. Bragg, a World War II veteran awarded the Silver Star and Purple Heart.

Critics of the administration have said the choice amounts to a cynical loophole, given that Congress banned the military from naming posts after members of the Confederacy.

"By instead invoking the name of World War II soldier Private Roland Bragg, Secretary Hegseth has not violated the letter of the law, but he has violated its spirit," Senate Armed Services Committee ranking member Jack Reed, D-R.I., wrote in a February statement.

Noah also covers the second one that Racist Pete has renamed:

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reinstated the name "Fort Benning" on Monday for one of the nation's largest military bases - the second such reversal he's ordered and the first that requires actually removing the name of a U.S. service member.

The base, located in Columbus, Georgia, had been renamed Fort Moore after Lt. Gen. Hal Moore, whose memoir "We Were Soldiers Once ... and Young" chronicled his service in Vietnam. The name also commemorated his wife, Julia, who pushed the military to develop a more humane system for notifying family members of casualties.

Fort Moore, which was officially renamed in May 2023, was the first base named after a military family.

"I'm incredibly saddened," said David Moore, the son of Hal and Julia, who helped lead the effort to rename the post after his parents. "My only conclusion is that [Hegseth] chose to reject Hal and Julia Moore."

[. . .]

Dave Moore had suspected the base would be renamed after he saw the redesignation of Fort Liberty to Fort Bragg last month. Still, he wasn't certain it would change, especially since he believed his parents represented many of the qualities Hegseth publicly affirms - a focus on fighting wars among them.

"I thought we had a fighting chance," Moore said.

Instead, after receiving the news from the base's commanding general Monday afternoon and sharing it with his family, Moore said he was shocked, angry and confused.

"I don't believe we understand what he stands for," Moore said of Hegseth. "Everything he commended Fred Benning for is what he already had in Hal and Julia Moore."

Dave, what Pete stands for is racism. It's what he stands for and it is who he is. His actions make that clear as does that ridiculous tattoo. In other news of the Chump administration's policy of racism, sexism and homophobia, Nick Penzenstadler and Tom Vanden Brook (USA TODAY) report:

A Black soldier in Michigan says superiors referred to him as a “coon.”

Another in Maryland was passed over for promotions by his white superiors.

A gay soldier in Idaho says his commander called gay marriage “immoral” and transgender people “sexual deviants.”

These are three of dozens of incidents documented by the National Guard that paint a picture of discrimination from Topeka, Kansas to Puerto Rico. They come as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has made it his mission to eradicate "woke" sensitivities in the military.

"I think the single dumbest phrase in military history is ‘our diversity is our strength,’" Hegseth said at the Pentagon weeks after being sworn in.

Hegseth, who served in the National Guard and came to President Donald Trump's attention as a Fox & Friends television co-host, now presides over an increasingly diverse force. In 2010, 19.5% of guardsmen were racial minorities. By 2023, the latest figures available, that percentage had risen to 24.2%. Hegseth fired Air Force Gen. CQ Brown, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a Black officer, on Feb. 21. On Friday, the Black head of the Pentagon’s sprawling health care system resigned abruptly.

"It feels pretty racist," said retired Army Maj. Gen. Dana Pittard, who is also Black. "I know CQ Brown, I know he's a warrior. I served with him in the Middle East. He was doing well as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He did well as the chief of staff of the Air Force. It gives the impression that unless you're a white male in this administration, you're thought of less than. That's a terrible signal to send to the U.S. military and the American people."

Again, this is a war on all Americans. Eric Garcia (INDEPENDENT) reports:

A special program to help autistic students successfully navigate careers in math and science now faces an existential threat thanks to the Trump administration’s bid to curtail diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in American institutions.

Keivan Stassun, a world-renowned physicist and astronomer at Vanderbilt University, is the founding director of the Frist Center for Autism and Innovation at Vanderbilt’s School of Engineering, which has been focused on finding ways to foster neurodiverse talent in higher education and the workforce. But Donald Trump’s focus on ending diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and its slash-and-burn approach to pausing research grants puts Stassun’s work at risk.

“The tragedy is that our project could not be seen as ‘woke DEI’ by anyone: it is workforce development for the nation's science and technology enterprise, filling the large talent gap that tech companies are facing in AI, cybersecurity, and all forms of engineering,” Stassun said in a text message. “We had a large set of corporate partners involved, and a large network of the biggest engineering schools partnered as well.”

In 2024, Stassun received a MacArthur Fellowship, often called a “genius grant,” for his efforts. For him, the work is also personal: He is the father of an autistic son, named Jamie. The center also includes many people who are autistic themselves, like Dave Caudel, its associate director.

Everyone is a target in Chumpland -- unless you were an on air personality at FOX "NEWS."

We'll wind down with this from Senator Elizabeth Warren's office:

Senator Warren joined Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, Massachusetts Congressional Delegation ahead of President Trump’s joint address to Congress

Warren: “The whole Republican plan fits on a bumper sticker: Billionaires win; families lose.”

Transcript: Press Conference with Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, Massachusetts Congressional Delegation
U.S. Senate
March 4, 2025