So, they are also coming for pro #Ukraine / #AntiRussia students and professors. Evidence that #Trump is SUCKING UP to #Putin! WHERE WILL IT END?! #RESIST!

#KseniyaPetrova, Russian scientist from Harvard Medical School detained in U.S., faces deportation and likely arrest upon return due to #AntiWar stance

The Insider
27 March 2025

"A Russian scientist working at Harvard Medical School has been detained in the United States and placed in immigration detention. According to multiple independent Russian media outlets and the scientist’s friends, she now faces possible deportation to Russia, where she could be subject to political persecution over her anti-war stance.

"The news of her detention was shared on Facebook by her friend and colleague Cora Anderson. Friends of the scientist also launched a GoFundMe campaign, which has already raised over $14,000 to support her legal and living expenses.
'#Kseniia is in danger,' a person familiar with the case told the Telegram channel Mozhem Obyasnit’ (lit. “We Can Explain”).

"Kseniia, a Russian bioinformatics researcher, arrived in Boston from the #RepublicOfGeorgia in the spring of 2023 to work at Harvard Medical School. She had been compelled to leave Russia due to her outspoken anti-war stance, which could have led to criminal charges back home. While her surname was not disclosed in the original posts, Mozhem Obyasnit’ was able to locate her Facebook page, suggesting her name is Kseniya (Kseniia) Petrova, a graduate of MIPT (Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology). Her page includes multiple posts criticizing the Russian government and denouncing the invasion of Ukraine. Petrova's page on Linkedin listed her as an associate researcher at Harvard Medical School working in Dr. Marc Kirschner's lab in the Department of Systems Biology.

"On Feb. 16, after returning from a trip to France, she was detained at Boston Logan International Airport, where her visa was revoked. When Kseniia stated that she feared persecution if she were to return to Russia, she was transferred to immigration detention, first in Vermont, then in Louisiana. She is now being held in an ICE detention facility, in a room shared with 80 other women. The exact reason for the cancellation of her visa has not been disclosed by her friends."

Read more:
https://theins.ru/en/news/280037
#Resistance #ResistAuthoritarianism #ResistDOGE #TrumpIsABully #TrumpIsPutinsPuppet #FreeUkraine #FreePalestine #FuckOligarchs #USPol #WorldPol

#PineTreeActivism Calendar - Scheduled Events - Updated 3/27/2025 (cont'd)

March 29, Sat 12:30 (& every Sat) - #BucksportME / #VeronaME - Route 1, Bucksport-Verona Bridge, Maine Solidarity Bucksport Gathering

March 30, 12-1PM (& every Sun) - #EllsworthME - Main Street, River Bridge - For Peace & Palestine

March 30, Sun 1-2PM (& every Sun) - #WatervilleME - 1 Kennedy memorial Drive (on the bridge next to CVS) - Stand Up to Preserve and Restore Our Country https://www.mobilize.us/indivisible/event/762149

March 30, Sun 4:00PM - #BarHarborME - MDI YMCA, 21 Park St. - Town Hall Meeting: Help Protest Women's services at MDIH. To register: forms/gle/ia1pMS1wJTV4e58J7

March 30, Sun 4-5PM (& every Sun) - #PortsmouthNH - In front of North Church off Market Square - #CivilRightsSundays - take a stand to defend our democracy! Hosted by #OccupySeacoast.

April 1, Tues 8-10AM (& every Tue) - #FreeportME - Corner of Main & School Streets - Americans United in Common Cause

April 1, Tue 11AM-1PM (& every Tue) - #BangorME - Federal Building, 202 Harlow Street - Weekly peaceful protest

April 1, Tue 12-1PM (& every Tue) - #WatervilleME - Stand at #Tesla - 334 Main Street (Elm Plaza Tesla charging station) https://www.mobilize.us/indivisible/event/762157/

https://bsky.app/profile/pinetreeactivism.bsky.social/post/3lleaks7bp22i
#MaineResistance #MaineResists
#Resistance #MaineProtests #MEPolitics #Maine #StrongerTogether #ResistAuthoritarianism #ResistDOGE

#PineTreeActivism Calendar - Scheduled Events - Updated 3/27/2025

March 28, Fri, 4-5:30PM (& every Fri) - #BiddefordME - Senator Susan Collins' office, 160 Main St. - Stop The Coup Protest - #Indivisible / Biddeford Saco Area SURJ - https://www.mobile.us/indivisible/event/758315/

March 29, Sat 10-11AM - #PortsmouthNH - Public sidewalk at traffic light, 2454 Lafayette Road - #TeslaTakedown - Do NOT park in the shopping center. For parking and more info: https://actionnetwork.org/events/tesla-takedown-portsmouth-nh-2

March 29, Sat 11AM-12PM (& every Sat) - #PortlandME, Monument Square Protest against this admin's assaults on representative democracy. Speakers welcomed. Bring a friend, creative signs encouraged.

March 29, Sat 11:30AM-12:30PM (& every Sat thru April 19) - #BathME, Bath Iron Works Admin Bldg, 700 Washington St. - Vigil for Disarmament - Say No! to the production of weapons of Mass destruction in Maine. FMI - Smilin' Trees Disarmament Farm: 207-763-4062.

March 29, Sat 12-1PM - #WatervilleME - Stand at #Tesla - 334 Main St - Down with Musk, DOGE, Trump and fascism! Peaceful gathering as part of nat'l/int'l "Big Day of Action - #TeslaTakedown" https://www.mobilize.us/indivisible/event/767978/

March 29, #RocklandME - Sat 12-1PM (& every Sat) - Chapman Park, 294 Main St (corner of Park & Main) - Weekly Sing Out with protest group Audacity https://www.mobilize.us/indivisible/755899/

https://bsky.app/profile/pinetreeactivism.bsky.social/post/3lleair5v7c2i
#MaineResistance #MaineResists
#Resistance #MaineProtests #MEPolitics #Maine #StrongerTogether #ResistAuthoritarianism #ResistDOGE

HT @WesternWatershedsProject: "This just in: Trump is hellbent on removing fired federal workers who have just been given their jobs back. "

Trump administration asks Supreme Court to allow mass firings of probationary workers

The appeal is part of a nascent effort by the Trump administration to press the Supreme Court to rein in district court judges.

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/03/24/trump-supreme-court-fired-probationary-workers-00244890
#USPol #ResistDOGE #FederalWorkers #SCOTUS #Trump

A list of the #SocialSecurity offices across the US expected to close this year

By MEG KINNARD
Updated 12:59 PM EDT, March 19, 2025

WASHINGTON (AP) — "Dozens of Social Security Administration [#SSA] offices across the country are slated to close this year due to actions taken by #ElonMusk’s Department of Government Efficiency as part of the #Trump administration’s unprecedented effort to shrink the size of government.

"#DOGE has published a list of nearly 800 federal real estate leases that it is seeking to cancel. The Associated Press has obtained an internal planning document from the General Services Administration, which manages federal real estate, which shows when nearly two-thirds of those cancellations are expected to go into effect.

"The offices are closing despite a new requirement that tighter identity-proofing measures be put in place to prevent fraud and abuse. These steps will require millions of recipients and applicants to visit agency field offices rather than interact with agency employees over the phone.

"The AP also obtained more information about each lease on DOGE’s list through other publicly available datasets, including their addresses, the dates the leases had started and were originally expected to expire, and the landlords who own the properties."

Read more (includes a list of offices that will be closing):
https://apnews.com/article/social-security-offices-closures-doge-trump-b2b1a5b2ba4fb968abc3379bf90715ff
#ResistDOGE #TakeToTheStreets #KillThePoor #USPol #KillTheElderly #HungerGames #Authoritarianism #Oligarchy #DisabilityRights #ElderRights #TakeCareOfThePoor #SocialSecurityPayments #SocialSecurityAdministration

#Trump Admin Threatens to Stop #SocialSecurity If #DOGE Can’t Have #PersonalData

Trump’s interim Social Security chief says he wants to turn off the program if Musk and DOGE can’t access Americans’ most sensitive data

by Andrew Perez, March 21, 2025

"Donald Trump’s interim Social Security chief suggested Thursday night he will effectively turn off the agency that manages the essential safety net program for seniors and the disabled, if Elon Musk and his so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) can’t access the non-anonymized sensitive personal information and data of hundreds of millions of Americans, based on a judge’s order.

"'My anti-fraud team would be DOGE affiliates. My IT staff would be DOGE affiliates,' said #LeeDudek, acting Social Security Administration (#SSA) commissioner, arguing the order was too broad, according to Bloomberg News. 'As it stands, I will follow it exactly and terminate access by all SSA employees to our IT systems,' he said, adding: 'Really, I want to turn it off and let the courts figure out how they want to run a federal agency.'

"Dudek’s threat to block SSA employees from using the agency’s IT systems — a move that could halt #SocialSecurityPayments — came in response to a judge’s temporary restraining order in a case brought by the #AFLCIO #LaborUnion. The order bars Social Security Administration officials from allowing DOGE, including Musk, and the SSA’s DOGE team to access personally identifiable information. It also directs Musk and DOGE to delete from their possession all non-anonymized personal data, and bars them from having access to SSA computers or code.

"Judge Ellen Lipton Hollander wrote that the SSA had likely violated administrative and privacy laws when it gave DOGE 'unbridled access to the personal and private data of millions of Americans, including but not limited to Social Security numbers, medical records, mental health records, hospitalization records, drivers’ license numbers, bank and credit card information, tax information, income history, work history, birth and marriage certificates, and home and work addresses.'

"She added that the 'defendants, with so-called experts on the DOGE Team, never identified or articulated even a single reason for which the DOGE Team needs unlimited access to SSA’s entire record systems, thereby exposing personal, confidential, sensitive, and private information that millions of Americans entrusted to their government.'"

Read more:
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/trump-musk-stop-social-security-doge-data-1235300785/

Archived version:
https://archive.ph/vvgMF
#ResistDOGE #TakeToTheStreets #KillThePoor #USPol #KillTheElderly #HungerGames #Authoritarianism #Oligarchy #DisabilityRights #ElderRights #TakeCareOfThePoor

#Musk links #trans people to #Tesla attacks the same day his estranged daughter critiques him in #TeenVogue interview

Story by Liam Reilly, March 21, 2025

"The same day #VivianJennaWilson, #ElonMusk’s estranged daughter, published her second-ever interview with a media outlet, the billionaire media mogul used his X platform to insinuate trans people are behind reports of attacks on #Teslas.

"During her interview with Teen Vogue, Wilson said she doesn’t “give a f**k” about Musk, calling him a 'pathetic man-child.'"

Read more:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/musk-links-trans-people-to-tesla-attacks-the-same-day-his-estranged-daughter-critiques-him-in-teen-vogue-interview/ar-AA1BlSRU?ocid=winp2fptaskbarhoverent&cvid=4d33d9e4451e465c80fd1b4762c53eb8&ei=14
#TeslaTakedown #TransLivesMatter #VivianWilson #ElonMuskIsAPatheticManChild #ResistDOGE #TechOligarchs

Who needs a #TeslaTakedown when they are built so shoddily! They practically takedown themselves!

In latest blow to Tesla, regulators recall nearly all #Cybertrucks

By MATT OTT
Updated 3:32 PM EDT, March 20, 2025

"U.S. safety regulators on Thursday recalled virtually all Cybertrucks on the road, the eighth recall of the Tesla-made vehicles since deliveries to customers began just over a year ago.

"The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s recall, which covers more than 46,000 Cybertrucks, warned that an exterior panel that runs along the left and right side of the windshield can detach while driving, creating a dangerous road hazard for other drivers, increasing the risk of a crash.

"The stainless steel strip, called a cant rail assembly, between the windshield and the roof on both sides, is bound to the truck’s assembly with a structural adhesive, the NHTSA report said. The remedy uses an adhesive that’s not been found to be vulnerable to 'environmental embrittlement,' the NHTSA said, and includes additional reinforcements.

"Tesla will replace the panel free of charge. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed May 19, 2025.

"The recall of 46,096 Cybertrucks covers all 2024 and 2025 model years, manufactured from November 13, 2023, to February 27, 2025. The NHTSA order says that Tesla became aware of the problem early this year."

https://apnews.com/article/cybertruck-recall-tesla-elon-musk-nhtsa-8c517e21aa1119d74b9db39f6aca01b7?utm_source=firefox-newtab-en-us
#ResistDOGE #ElonMusk #ResistOligarchy #TechOligarchs #USPol #TeslaSucks

'#Delusional' #Trump Threatens to Send #Tesla #Vandals to Prison for 20 Years... in #ElSalvador

"If genuine steps are taken to remove U.S. citizens convicted of crimes to prisons in El Salvador," said one legal expert, "this removal would violate not only U.S. law but the U.S. Constitution."

Jon Queally, Mar 21, 2025

"President Donald Trump on Friday morning said anyone caught vandalizing Tesla cars or dealerships would be sent to the notoriously violent prisons of El Salvador for a 20-year sentence, a threat characterized by critics as 'delusional' as well as overtly #unlawful.

"'People that get caught sabotaging Teslas will stand a very good chance of going to jail for up to twenty years, and that includes the funders,' Trump stated overnight, adding in all caps: 'WE ARE LOOKING FOR YOU!!!'

"Several hours later, Trump took up the issue again on his TruthSocial platform, saying: 'I look forward to watching the sick terrorist thugs get 20-year jail sentences for what they are doing to #ElonMusk and Tesla. Perhaps they could serve them in the prisons of El Salvador, which have become so recently famous for such lovely conditions!'

"#CivilRightsAttorney #SherrilynIfill said the threat, which follows on Trump's highly controversial deportation of alleged gang members to El Salvador last week, should not be taken lightly.

"'Remember that this is where his discussions with El Salvador began,' said Ifill in response to Trump's rantings on Friday. 'The #MigrantDetentions there are the dry run. He wants to ship U.S. prisoners to El Salvador. We cannot sleepwalk through this.'

"The #TeslaTakedown movement has gained steam over recent weeks, with people nationwide angered by Elon Musk's wholesale assault on cherished government agencies and programs. The world's richest man, #Musk, has been empowered by Trump to spearhead his invented Department of Government Efficiency, or #DOGE.

"As Axios reports, in response to the popular anger directed at Tesla, "Trump has put the full weight of the U.S. government behind defending and promoting 'first buddy' Elon Musk's car company, which has seen both its sales and stock price slump."

Read more:
https://www.commondreams.org/news/trump-tesla-el-salvador
#USPol #CharacteristicsOfFascism #Oligarchy #Authoritarianism #CorporateFascism #ResistDOGE #Resistance

#Trump Admin Threatens to Stop #SocialSecurity If #DOGE Can’t Have Personal Data

By Andrew Perez, March 21, 2025

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/trump-musk-stop-social-security-doge-data-1235300785/
#ResistDOGE #USPol

#Teachers sue #Trump admin for stopping affordable #StudentLoan repayment plans

The American Federation of Teachers represents 1.8 million educators.

By Leah Sarnoff, March 19, 2025

"One of America's largest unions is taking aim at President Donald Trump's administration for shutting down access to affordable student loan repayment plans -- saying the decision is 'effectively breaking' the system.

"The American Federation of Teachers (#AFT), representing 1.8 million educators across the country, filed a lawsuit against the #DepartmentOfEducation in Washington, D.C., hoping to restore the programs that have now been shuttered for three weeks.

"The filing alleges the administration halting the application process for all Income-Driven Repayment (#IDR) plans and ordering student loan servicers to stop all processing violates #FederalLaw.

"AFT sued the United States Department of Education (ED) for effectively breaking the student loan system, denying borrowers' access to affordable loan payments and blocking progress towards Public Service Loan Forgiveness (#PSLF), in violation of federal law,' the union said in a statement Wednesday."

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/teachers-sue-trump-admin-stopping-affordable-student-loan/story?id=119965907
#CharacteristicsOfFascism #BadDOGE #ResistDOGE #Authoritarianism #USPol

#Trump signs order gutting #DepartmentOfEducation

Trump signed the order in a ceremony while flanked by schoolchildren.

By Katherine Faulders, Rachel Scott, and Arthur Jones II
March 20, 2025

"By dismantling ED, President Trump is implementing his own philosophy on education which can be summed up in his own words, 'I love the poorly educated,'" - Bobby Scott, D-Va.

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-expected-sign-order-gutting-department-education-sources/story?id=119967268
#CharacteristicsOfFascism #BadDOGE #ResistDOGE #Authoritarianism #USPol

#HealthcareWorkers in #PortlandME are also taking to the streets today (yesterday it was #Teachers, #Students and parents).
#MaineResists #Resistance #ResistDOGE

#PostalWorkers Rally at #MonumentSquare in #PortlandME RIGHT NOW! (#BangorME as well)
#MaineResists #ResistDOGE #USPol #Protests #Maine

#BostonMA protest calls for end of war in #Gaza, release of activist #MahmoudKhalil

Nationwide demonstrations were scheduled this weekend to protest the arrest of Mahmoud Khalil

By Thea DiGiammerino, March 16, 2025

"Hundreds calling for the end of the war in Gaza rallied in the streets of Boston Sunday, one of many demonstrations across the country protesting not only the violence but also recent action by the Trump administration toward a man who was arrested by immigration officials after speaking out about the issue.

"Chanting '#FreePalestine,' and other mottos calling for the end of the war, the crowd gathered in Copley Square then marched to the Mass. Ave Bridge, where they blocked traffic for around 10 minutes before moving off the streets.

"Massachusetts State Police said they monitored the event and no arrests were made."

[...]

"'When the Trump administration detained multiple people from the #PalestineMovement we could have seen our communities react in fear, we could have seen hundreds of Bostonians staying home today. And that’s not what we’re seeing because we know people will stand up against this #bullying,' one attendee told NBC10 Boston.

"Tensions over the situation in the Middle East and the #Trump administration's policies concerning the war remain high. Last week, the #DepartmentOfEducation issued a warning to 60 colleges and universities that they were under investigation for allegations of antisemitism. The Department of Justice also announced the creation of a federal task force to investigate the issue, and said Boston would be one of the cities targeted in the work."

https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/hundreds-rally-calling-for-end-to-war-in-gaza-release-of-activist-mahmoud-khalil/3660014/
#USPol #FreeMahmoudKhalil #FreeSpeech #ResistFascism #ResistDOGE #ResistICE

#Trump Officials Are ‘Pretending’ a Judge Didn’t Bar His #AntiDiversity Orders

A judge blocked the administration from forcing organizations to accept anti-diversity contract terms. Trump officials haven’t let them know

By Asawin Suebsaeng, Andrew Perez
March 12, 2025

"Last month, a federal judge issued an injunction blocking President Donald Trump’s administration from implementing multiple executive orders designed to purge the government of anything related to diversity — including an order to prohibit contractors and grant recipients from doing literally anything to promote the concepts of diversity, equity, and inclusion (#DEI) within their organizations.

"Trump’s Justice Department decided the fairly broad injunction only covered certain agencies. This month, certain parts of the administration, including the U.S. State Department, continued attempting to force this provision on contractors and grant recipients, threatening their funding if they failed to sign it, according to three knowledgeable sources in and outside of government. Rolling Stone has also reviewed documentation supporting these accounts.

"After the judge clarified on Monday that his injunction does, indeed, bar the whole federal government from enforcing Trump’s anti-diversity orders, the administration hasn’t bothered to inform various nonprofits and grant recipients they do not currently have to comply with the president’s orders, according to two of the sources. The new contract terms the Trump administration attempted to foist on these organizations and recipients remain on their desks, with the threats about failure to sign still dangling over them.

"'We haven’t even received a generic email about the judicial ruling,' says one senior executive at an international nonprofit and longstanding implementing partner with the U.S. government. ' They are just pretending it didn’t happen, it seems.'

"The episode is part of a broader pattern in which the second Trump administration has operated under the impression that judges’ orders and rulings don’t much matter. Vice President J.D. Vance has publicly argued that Trump can ignore judges’ orders, asserting: 'Judges aren’t allowed to control the executive’s legitimate power.' Trump, for his part, has threatened to 'look at' judges who rule against Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Over Presidents Day weekend, Trump admitted he thinks he can break any law he wants to — so long as he can loosely define doing so as part of his mission to ' save' the country.'"

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/trump-officials-diversity-orders-dei-pretending-1235294937/
#ResistDOGE #Resistance #BadDOGE #Fascism #Authoritarianism #CharacteristicsOfFascism #USPol

#UselessSusanCollins not so useless! #Protests and #PublicOutcry works!

#UniversityOfMaine’s #USDA funding restored

by WABI News Desk
Published: Mar. 12, 2025 at 9:05 PM EDT

Maine (WABI) - "Senator #SusanCollins announced Wednesday that the University of Maine’s funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture has been restored.

"On Monday the University received notice that funding from the USDA was paused.

"According to UMS, the notice stated the pause was temporary while the USDA evaluated potential follow-up actions related to prospective Title VI (6) or Title IX (9) violations.

"Collins released at statement saying:

'This USDA funding is critically important not only to the University of Maine, but to our farmers and loggers, as well as to the many people who work in #Maine’s #agriculture, #aquaculture, and #forestry industries. Now that funding has been restored, the work that the University does in partnership with the many people and communities who depend on these programs can continue.'"

https://www.wabi.tv/2025/03/13/university-maines-usda-funding-restored/
#ResistDOGE #MaineResists #MaineResistance #District13