expendables

It's remarkable how often I agree 100% with Allen Clifton in his writings. It's as if there were some ethereal channel of the universal consciousness that multiple persons could tap into, whether intentionally or not. Or, maybe not. Similar education and experience, perhaps? A tendency towards logical, or apparently logical reasoning? Uh oh, I'm having a deja vu....

Please do not let this story about Donald Trump cowardly running away from Air Force One to hide in a catering vehicle, leaving everyone else to potentially be targets of a dangerous attack aimed at him, get swept under the rug, because there’s more to it than I think many people might realize.

Look, I understand that a president’s safety is first and foremost on the minds of the Secret Service, and for the sake of national security, it doesn’t matter who that person might be.

That said, the fact that, prior to his departure from Turkey, Trump went on social media to announce that he would be using the old Air Force One rather than his new Qatar plane — when he knew he wasn’t going to be on either — is, in my opinion, the bigger part of this story.

Why make that announcement at all?

Unless you’re Trump, and you’re hoping to divert any potential attack toward the old Air Force One rather than your new, shiny luxury Qatar plane.

And, hey, that plane is full of reporters, most of whom he hates anyway, so who cares what happens to them, right?

I know that sounds dark, morbid, and fairly conspiratorial, but what other reason would Trump have for making that social media post in which he oddly announced that he would be flying on the old plane rather than his new one?

It was unnecessary.

They could have done all of this without any attention-seeking post by Trump containing some lie about showing off his new plane to troops in the U.K. who were supposedly “begging” to see it.

They could have just boarded, left, and done whatever they were going to do to transport Trump safely, and that would have been that.

Except it seems like Trump really wanted to make it clear to any potential attackers that, if they were going to target a plane, they should make sure not to go after his new, shiny luxury Qatar airplane — but instead make sure they targeted the old one, full of reporters and other apparently disposable White House staffers.

Maybe that’s just me being a bit too cynical after dealing with this lowlife piece of crap for over a decade, but is it really so far-fetched to believe that Trump’s main concern, other than saving himself, would be protecting a plane he really wanted and finally had painted just the way he has always wanted an Air Force One to be painted, just for him?

I don’t think that it is.

This is someone who mocked the death of Rob Reiner, publicly celebrated the passing of Robert Mueller, and said he didn’t feel sorry for Joe Biden having terminal cancer. There’s really no low to which this scumbag won’t stoop as long as it benefits his interests.

And if putting a plane full of reporters and other White House staffers in harm’s way, while he ran away on a catering truck to safety and his new, shiny Qatar plane was no longer the focal point of a potential attack, meant making that post declaring that he would be on the old Air Force One — then I think that’s exactly what Trump would do.

Again, maybe I’m being overly cynical — which is entirely possible — but I don’t believe that I am.

I’m not saying this is why Donald Trump made that post. All I’m saying is that, based on what I’ve seen from this scumbag all these years, that’s what I think his social media post was largely about.

Protecting himself and his shiny new Qatar plane — while leaving everyone else on board that old Air Force One in danger.

Because, yes, I do think Donald Trump is that much of a sick, disgusting, lowlife piece of sh*t.

Allen Clifton. You can also find Allen on Substack.

Canada Resists

Discovered the "Canada Resists" site recently. Good stuff. This one is about the "taxes" that Trump has imposed on everyone: physical, mental, emotional and otherwise. 

The Trump Tax: Costs on Our Mental Well-Being and How To Claim Some Deductions

Reflections on the cognitive burden readers have shared and what to do about it.

CANADA RESISTS

Aug 10, 2026

I had asked you all about the Trump Tax. That's the cognitive burden we are carrying around whether we want to or not. Here are the themes that emerged after analyzing over 109 different comments on the Trump Tax. As importantly as the tax, we need to look at ways to claim potential tax deductions! What we can do to minimize the price we pay without sacrificing information and the ability to resist?

The biggest finding is that I erroneous asked you about ‘hours spent’ on Trump each week. That turned out to be the wrong metric to use and you made that clear. It was more like “a ghost in our house constantly clanking his chains,” as one commenter pointed out, years might be a better unit of measurement. I came to understand there are two general flavours of taxation going on for you: 

The Direct Tax

Direct tax are the activities you can assign hours or minutes to, such as reading the news, talking about him, helping the vulnerable, or protesting. With that in mind, people gave actual estimates ranged from a couple of hours a week/day to 20, 40, 70+ hours a week. Several said 168 hours (apparently the number in a week). This latter point captures the next tax flavour:

The Ambient Tax

This is the one you can’t count by hours but it is always there. You may not necessarily be thinking about Trump but he occupies some degree of your background processing. It’s cognitive occupation with questions floating around regarding what happened, what’s going to happen, when does this end. I think this comment captured it best: “an immersive state of mind…a generalized feeling of ‘What will he do next?’”

What Are You Actually Paying? 

Based on your responses, I came up with seven lines of Trump Tax, though they also overlap a lot.

The Vigilance Tax

I think this was the most dominant theme. It reflects constantly being on edge for the next thing coming down the line. It’s the unpredictability that makes it so burdensome. And it is not remotely normal political concern. Some comments capturing this are: “Each day begins with ‘what has he done now?"; “I find myself needing to see if the next outburst changes something else”'; and “Just waiting for the next outrageous move.”

The Attention Tax

As we all know, Trump demands constant attention. Yet as one stated, he does not deserve any cognitive real estate. One commenter noted that she cannot concentrate at work because she’s continually checking the news. And a Canadian says the U.S. has displaced attention she once gave to Québec City, Québec and Canadian politics. She now knows American governors, attorneys general and local political developments she never would have followed before.

The Emotional Tax

The words you used to capture it were amazingly consistent: Anxiety, fear, anger, rage, grief, sadness, shame, exhaustion, helplessness and disillusionment. And it’s important to point out that it’s not just fear but rather feelings that have a moral component to them. You are repeatedly disturbed by cruelty, corruption, lying, abandonment of democratic norms and watching others tolerate conduct they consider profoundly wrong. You are not just worried for yourself, but more often than not, for what is or is going to happen to other people.

The Physical Health Tax

Although mentioned less than the above two, it is perhaps more consequential when it occurs. A number of you explicitly mentioned losing sleep, waking with a start, staying awake late worrying, panic attacks, eating in response to stress and seeking mental help support. One retired mental-health provider described developing major depression after the new administration began for which she sought out and received successful treatment. I have lost count of the number of subscribers who sound genuinely depressed.

The Social Tax

Trump doesn’t merely take individual attention, but he also colonizes social time. From conversations with spouses, get-togethers with friends, connections over fences, the recurrent discussion is “can you believe it?” As someone described, “Time seems to be spent ranting about the situation whenever we meet with our friends.” As subscriber Anne wrote, “Each day begins with ‘what’s he done now?’ followed by ‘what can I do today?’ I’d like to just go for a swim…”

The Resistance Tax

This one is a tax we want to keep on paying! And happily so. But it has likely replaced other things we used to be able to do. Respondents mentioned considerable time working on resistance efforts, from calling representatives, emailing, election-integrity work to organizing protests, donating, boycotting, helping vulnerable others. One estimated four hours a day when he added together news, activism, and supporting others.

The Opportunity Tax

Given the burden people are carrying, mentally and with their time, what is it they have had to give up since there are only a fixed number of hours in a day? In this regard, Trump creates a genuine opportunity cost for each of us. Subscribers mention abandoning plans, losing time meant for family that is instead spent on politics. One commenter worried about losing volunteers because people have had to direct their energy elsewhere. And of course we collectively wonder what governments, institutions and societies are not working on because so many resources are being diverted to react to Trump. So he creates both a personal opportunity cost, as well as a societal one. What could we have done this past 1.5 years? What could society have done?

How To Claim Some Tax Deductions

A number of you shared how you are already reducing your Trump taxation rate. Several mentioned limiting their consumption of news or selectively choosing their source. Another, a Canadian, has deliberately turned back to a focus on his province and country. One subscriber wrote about stepping away from political news for an entire month only to return and discover how little had changed. “I kept having to check the dates on everything.” Others mentioned coping strategies that involve focusing on things like gardening, faith, walks, activities, boycotts and bounded political action. Here are some other suggestions: 

Audit Your Trump Spending
For several days, try to notice the difference between useful engagement and repetitive consumption. How much goes into each? Can you change it? Reading enough news to understand an issue is one thing but reading a dozen versions on the same development is another.

Shift from Surveillance to Briefings
Despite the pull, you absolutely do not need to monitor democracy like a trader following the stock ticker. Choose one or two points in the day when you deliberately find out what happened. Oh and if you’re like me, you might want to set a timer on that ‘finding out’. 

Ask the Action Question
Is there something useful I can do with this information? If yes, do it. If not, another hour of processing it probably is not civic engagement but it is wear and tear on your well-being.

Cap Commiseration
Connecting with other people matters, more now than ever. And some degree of commiseration is a vital coping mechanism. Think support groups. But what is also important is getting away from politics to connecting on something that brings you so much more. After the third round of the Can you believe this? game, nobody is learning anything new and it can actually make you feel worse. So bring with you to conversations a lighthearted story or a question to redirect the conversation after you’ve had a chance to debrief with one another. 

Take Back Some Territory 
There have to be no politics zones in your life. Start small and grow these territories. This could be say during all meals, or a given friendship, or maybe you will make the bedroom off-limits. These are places that Trump and company are not allowed into. Protect them as sacred spaces.

Recover Displaced Attention
What have you been neglecting from your attention? What news are you missing? I keep asking myself what news would be covered if the Trump administration wasn’t dominating it daily? So dig and find out what happened in your town, province, state or country today that is not about the Trump administration. Especially for Canadians: the American presidency shouldn’t be allowed to become Canada’s local news.

Protect Sleep
Nothing Trump does at 9:47 p.m. requires our immediate attention. It will still be there tomorrow. And each night when you go to bed just think of how you might awake to the morning you keep waiting for. You know what I'm talking about. Sleep is important to your health but it also helps you cope better the next day.

Spend Distress on Action
If civic engagement is important to you, decide what you will actually do. Take some steps: make a call, give a donation, volunteer a shift, help someone get their passport ordered, or look up the next protest. Do THAT instead of going back to your newsfeed. You will have made a meaningful difference.

Do Not Equate Distress With Care

I have noticed an implicit moral logic often emerges when talking about the distress. The logic goes like this: “if this is terrible, I should feel terrible” and therefore “if I stop feeling terrible, perhaps I’m becoming complacent or worse, implicitly accepting it.” But they are not the same thing. You can believe something is profoundly wrong and serious and take action to fight it without also having to feel distress every waking hour. You are absolutely allowed to not feel bad 24/7.

Trump Cannot Be Allowed to Also Tax Joy 

If you want to go swimming, please go swimming. Find a dog to pat or take him or her for a walk. Go on a trip to a place where politics seems to be invisible. Enjoy your garden. Start a non-serious book club. These are the things that make up the life we are fighting to protect. Do not give these things up to them.

Multiple things can and should happen simultaneously. You can take daily actions to fight the authoritarian regime or help those at risk, AND enjoy your life. That joy is critical to your mental well being, your physical health and the strength you need to keep resisting and helping others. 

So please of course stay strategically informed, take some actions that matter, but also… go for a swim! 

Thanks for Reading!
Canada Resists, yes, they have a Substack and they are on Newsbreak.

DOGE=BS

Something we expected: DOGE was a malevolent, stupid waste of time and resources. The fact that Musk was given access to sensitive, secure governmental systems is most likely a crime in and of itself. We don't need ignorant, biased, incompetent billionaires deciding which government programs should continue and which should be terminated. Musk is a liar like his idol Trump.

GAO AUDIT OF DOGE

Two days ago, the Government Accountability Office released its audit of DOGE’s so called Wall of Receipts.

Elon Musk claimed DOGE saved taxpayers $215 billion. The GAO found billions in supposed savings that weren’t real at all. More than $27 billion came from contracts DOGE said it terminated that were never actually terminated. Auditors couldn’t verify how DOGE calculated 96% of its claimed grant savings, and many of the leases DOGE took credit for eliminating were already being closed before DOGE existed.

Independent analysis has put the amount of clearly identifiable savings much closer to $5 billion.

But even the word ‘savings’ is a lie.

They didn’t find waste, fraud or abuse. They saved money by stopping the government from providing services that helped Americans as well as humanitarian programs overseas that we’d supported for decades because they saved lives, prevented disease and instability, and served America’s interests around the world.

USAID programs providing food, clean water, vaccines and treatment for HIV, tuberculosis and malaria disappeared. More than 80% of its humanitarian programs were canceled. At Social Security, staffing cuts contributed to longer waits and problems processing claims for elderly and disabled Americans.

Federal agencies lost scientists, IT specialists, claims processors and experienced employees who actually made government work. There are documented purchasing problems, service delays and increased costs across numerous agencies thanks to these unnecessary cuts.

And the human cost was much bigger than the dollar savings. About 386,000 federal civilians lost their jobs as a result of the Trump downsizing, while a Boston University researcher’s model estimates that cuts to USAID programs contributed to more than 780,000 additional deaths worldwide in the first year, including roughly half a million kids.

So when MUSK says he ‘saved’ money, ask the obvious question. Saved it from what?

From treating malaria. Feeding starving children. Processing Social Security claims. Keeping experienced people in government. Maintaining programs Americans had already decided were worth paying for.

Does Elon have any grasp of what it’s like to be a retired, working class American living on a limited income? Does he understand the nightmare of living in a third world country where food is scarce and medical care is desperately needed? He doesn’t know or care.

Musk talked about saving $2 trillion. DOGE claimed $215 billion. We may have gotten something closer to $5 billion in identifiable savings, while destroying services worth far more to the people who depended on them.

That’s like saving money on your electric bill by burning down your house. Many of us already knew this. Now a GAO audit has officially confirmed it.

Elon Musk waved his golden chainsaw around onstage like a demented clown while thousands lost critical services and hundreds of thousands died. DOGE was enormous in its own right.

Compared to everything else he’s done to the federal government, DOGE was just another disgusting act in Trump’s corrupt circus.

08/08/2026 Sources: 

U.S. Government Accountability Office, “DOGE Wall of Receipts: More Transparency Needed on How Savings Are Derived from Contract, Grant, and Lease Terminations,” August 6, 2026; 

Reuters, “100 Days of DOGE: Lots of Chaos, Not So Much Efficiency,” April 24, 2025; 

Reuters, “From Fighting HIV to Interpreters, USAID Cuts Wide Swath of Programs,” March 6, 2025; 

Reuters, “U.S. Government Workforce Shrinks by 12% Since September 2024,” March 4, 2026; 

Boston University, “Tracking Anticipated Deaths from USAID Funding Cuts,” March 21, 2025; 

Forbes, “Musk Escalates Unproven USAID Claims in Fiery Posts as Studies Link DOGE Cuts to Child Deaths,” July 1, 2026. 

#douglasarthurjohnson

AI illustration made using ChatGPT

Douglas Arthur Johnson (Facebook)

Abdul el-Sayed

The Democrats are going to have to come together, regardless of their differences, to defeat the Republicans come election day this November. Progressives? Establishment? Centrists? Anti- or pro-Israel? It's essential they bury their differences and vote together to take back our government from the fascists.

It seems certain that Trump and his fascist enablers will try to rig the election to keep the Groping Old Pedophiles (GOP) in power. Trump is trying every trick in the book, and he will probably try to declare some kind of bullshit "emergency" to justify trying to take over elections. 

We should be proud that someone like Abdul ran and won the Democratic nomination for Senate from Michigan. Immigrants are what America is all about. They make the nation stronger, no matter what the white supremacists say. What we are experiencing in America is only a temporary setback. These fascists will also pass from the scene. Hopefully we can get it done without too much blood being spilled.

Julie Donoho introduces us to Abdul el-Sayed.

NBC News is announcing that Michigan democrats just nominated some guy as their senate candidate.

He was born in Rochester Hills, a suburb of Detroit.

This guy grew up playing youth hockey, but had to give it up because it conflicted with football in high school. Giving up hockey allowed him not only to play high school football but to wrestle and play lacrosse, too. He went on to captain his public high school wrestling, football and lacrosse teams.

After high school he attended the University of Michigan where he played on Michigan's men's club lacrosse team while double majoring in biology and political science.

He graduated with highest distinction and delivered the commencement address at his graduation at UofM.

Following undergrad he attended Michigan Medicine on a full ride for two years before heading to Oxford University on a Rhodes Scholarship where he earned a Doctorate of Philosophy in public health. He then went back and completed his MD at Columbia University.

The guy is an academic and athletic standout coming from a Michigan Public High School who then launched his higher education journey at our own flagship Public University.

He is an expert in health policy.

He is not a private school, trust fund nepo baby.

He is married to the mother of his children.

Over the coming weeks you're going to see SO MANY bots, political pages, campaign staffers, TV idiots and garden variety racists reverting to tropes, prejudices and fears.

They're going to draw attention to this man's name, his skin tone and his religion.

They will ignore every other aspect of his character, his accomplishments, and his policy positions.

Regardless of how anyone votes, we should absolutely be proud of this guy. We may not all agree politically, but Abdul El-Sayed is as American as any of us, and he's truly one of the best and brightest minds our state has produced.

Julie Donoho

ICE abuse

This one is no surprise. ICE has hired every misfit they can find. Bully? Come on! Sex abuser? Welcome! Elementary school dropout? You're smart!! Ignorant fool? You're our kind of guy! 

Border Patrol agents have a bad reputation here in South Texas. So, naturally, many of them have joined ICE where they have even more authority to terrorize the population. And these are only the instances that we are aware of.

Reich Wing Watch

 

A new report on ICE criminals should be a five-alarm fire, and somehow it’s barely a headline.

The Ohio Immigrant Alliance just released “They Walk Among Us,” a 36-page analysis of 59 current or former ICE and Border Patrol employees accused, charged, or convicted of violent or sexual offenses. The findings:

→ 50 of 59 cases (84.7%) involve s*x offense charges or convictions

→ 37 of 59 (62.7%) involve crimes against children

→ 35 cases specifically allege s*x offenses against children — the single largest category in the whole report

→ 25 of the 59 cases happened in just 2025-2026 alone

Read that last one again. Nearly half the cases in this report are from the last two years. This is not a legacy problem — it’s an accelerating one.

The report gives names: Brashad Johnson, the DHS official who ran background investigations on other agents, was himself later convicted of soliciting prostitution involving a minor. Former Border Patrol agent John Daly III is identified as the “East Valley Serial Rapist.” Juan David Ortiz, a former Border Patrol supervisor, was convicted of murdering four women.

Ohio Immigrant Alliance director Lynn Tramonte says her team started digging after spotting a pattern of Cincinnati ICE agents committing offenses against women — and found “an inordinate number” of cases involving children, committed by agents with a decade or two on the job.

The report also points to gutted vetting and training: a former ICE attorney testified the agency cut 240 hours out of its 584-hour training program.

No Vetting, No Training, No Accountability

The report details how DHS has systematically weakened the safeguards meant to prevent dangerous individuals from becoming federal agents, and warns that this list of 59 agents will likely grow unless emergency measures are implemented. 

Last year, NBC reported that ICE began skipping the prior background check process to rush recruits through hiring and training, resulting in the acceptance of some individuals with pending domestic violence charges. In addition to lax vetting, the Trump administration weakened other requirements and standards that have made ICE and Border Patrol agents more dangerous than ever for local communities.

A former ICE lawyer responsible for training testified that the current instruction program is “deficient, defective and broken.” He said, “On my first day, I received secretive orders to teach new cadets to violate the Constitution by entering homes without a judicial warrant. For the last five months, I watched ICE dismantle the training program, cutting 240 hours of vital classes from a 584-hour program.”

The report’s own framing is blunt: this isn’t an aberration. It’s a culture. And the org is calling on Congress to freeze ICE/CBP funding until real oversight exists.

Worth noting: the report’s 59 cases span the full spectrum from allegations to convictions — not everyone listed has been convicted. But the pattern of an agency failing to screen out or remove people who should never have been armed with federal authority over immigrants and children? That part isn’t in dispute.

Full report via Ohio Immigrant Alliance / reporting by Davis Vanguard

Mr Corruption

Still playing catch-up from our recent vacation to the mountains. Bad weather is becoming an everyday thing now. Heavy flooding rains, big hail, high winds, tornadoes, wildfires, you name it. We are entering a period of climate chaos. Just watch the nightly news. And we have Republicans trying to dismantle the agencies that keep an eye on this crazy weather. We hit some bad weather on the drive up and back, but fortunately for us no flooding, and no wildfires very close to us.

Meanwhile, in DC, Mr Corruption is still at it. Another from Allen Clifton.

I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to rant for a second, and I'm definitely going to use "adult language."

Donald Trump sued his own government for $10 billion, then had his Department of Justice "settle" the lawsuit for $1.8 billion.

Oh, and to give himself and his family perpetual immunity from IRS scrutiny.

Since that's not f*cking insane — complete immunity from the IRS.

I don't have the words, honestly.

And I don't give a sh*t if it's dead, it gets revived, or what happens with it. Yes, I hope it's done with and we can move on, but I don't believe that for a second. This president and his crooked administration have no ethics, and Republicans in Congress have already showcased, repeatedly, that they're spineless and won't hold him accountable for anything.

That said, even if this slush fund never pays out a penny to anyone — Trump tried to get this through.

That's what matters.

Can anyone logically explain to me how it's constitutional or legal for a sitting president to sue the very government of which he's the executive, then have the Department of Justice, run by people he chose to lead the agency, "settle" with him for nearly $2 billion of taxpayers' money?

I don't give a damn what warped view anyone might have of the Constitution — there's absolutely no way our Founding Fathers ever conceived of such a blatantly corrupt act being carried out by a president.

Actually, I'm wrong. They did.

It's called impeaching and removing them from office.

Bill Clinton was impeached for lying about a consensual affair.

Donald Trump won't face any repercussions for literally trying to steal $1.8 billion in taxpayer money to create a slush fund for himself.

I'm so f*cking tired of this MAGA cult defending this bullsh*t.

If you all want to just admit that you don't care what he does and you're fine with the corruption, then say that. I'll think you're a lowlife piece of crap — just like Trump — but at least you'll be honest.

But please don't sit there and try to treat the rest of us like we're all stupid and try to defend a sitting president suing their own government and having their own DOJ "settle" for nearly $2 billion.

And don't dare sit there and act as if you would be okay with this if a Democrat tried the same thing. You all lost your damn minds when Barack Obama wore a tan suit, so I know you wouldn't be okay with him trying to take $1.8 billion in taxpayer dollars.

It really is incredible that this is how far down the GOP has gone. How brainwashed the typical conservative voter is. That even with something as clearly unethical and corrupt as this, they don't care.

They're still over there obsessed about Hunter Biden's laptop while Trump is trying to steal nearly $2 billion from taxpayers, and they don't seem to care.

And the guy who helped him do all of this in the first place, Todd Blanche, is the person these Republicans are going to confirm as our next attorney general — this president's former personal attorney.

Because, yeah, what could possibly be corrupt or unethical about the former personal lawyer for a sitting president serving as the nation's attorney general? That doesn't scream "conflict of interest" or anything.

Again, this is the same acting attorney general who helped oversee this entire $1.8 billion settlement effort in the first place.

The reality that those two facts didn't automatically disqualify Blanche — he's Trump's former lawyer and he was part of this $1.8 billion deal — is embarrassing.

I'm exhausted with these right-wing sheep treating the rest of us like we're as stupid as they are and pretending we don't see what this clearly was: Trump abusing his power to try to steal nearly $2 billion in taxpayer dollars and shield himself and his businesses from IRS scrutiny.

Nothing the right does anymore surprises me. As I've said plenty of times, there's nothing they can do, no matter how low they go, that surprises me.

Hell, they're okay with Trump protecting child predators through his coverup of the Epstein files — which Blanche is also helping with — and you really don't get any lower than that.

That said, it's still sickening to sit here and realize this is where we're at in this country.

Corruption that's so blatant it's being defended by Trump supporters, who are claiming that it's clearly not unethical because he's not trying to hide any of this — he's doing it all out in the open.

Yeah, no sh*t he is. Why wouldn't he?

When he's backed by a cult that never holds him accountable for anything, why should he go through all the trouble of trying to hide any of this?

Donald Trump treats his supporters like mindless idiots who will defend anything he does, and the vast majority of them never disappoint him by doing just that.

Allen Clifton