A Chronology of the Catastrophe

Where we perceive a chain of events, he sees one single catastrophe which keeps piling wreckage and hurls it in front of his feet. —Benjamin

Last updated: 6/11/2025

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Trump to ramp up transfers to Guantánamo, including citizens of allies - The Washington Post

Trump to ramp up transfers to Guantánamo, including citizens of allies - The Washington Post

archived 10 Jun 2025 22:12:05 UTC

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6/11/2025
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/06/07/la-ice-arrests-protests-national-gaurd/#link-RRUUG6G36JHRFFD5FHHRWZWA7I?utm_campaign=wp_main&utm_source={SOCIAL_NETWORK}&utm_medium=social

Live updates: National Guard stages in L.A. on Trump’s order to intervene in protests over ICE raids - The Washington Post

6/8/2025
Exclusive: FEMA staff confused after head said he was unaware of US hurricane season, sources say | Reuters

Exclusive: FEMA staff confused after head said he was unaware of US hurricane season, sources say | Reuters

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6/2/2025
Federal Cuts Become ‘All Consuming’ at Harvard’s Public Health School - The New York Times

Federal Cuts Become ‘All Consuming’ at Harvard’s Public Health School - The New York Times

At the T.H. Chan School of Public Health, which relies heavily on federal support, a crisis response is underway and a reshaping of the institution feels inevitable.

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5/21/2025
US immigration authorities appear to have begun deporting migrants to South Sudan, attorneys say | AP News

US immigration authorities appear to have begun deporting migrants to South Sudan, attorneys say | AP News

Immigration attorneys say the Trump administration appears to have begun deporting people from Myanmar and Vietnam to South Sudan despite a court order restricting removals to other countries.

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5/21/2025
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/05/17/trump-administration-brain-drain-doge/

Trump’s actions are pushing thousands of experts to flee government - The Washington Post

5/19/2025
The MAGA revolution threatens America’s most innovative place

The MAGA revolution threatens America’s most innovative place

Cuts to funding risk hobbling Boston’s science establishment

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5/19/2025
NSF Plans to Abolish Divisions - Eos

NSF Plans to Abolish Divisions - Eos

The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) plans to abolish dozens of divisions across all eight of its directorates and reduce the number of programs within those divisions, according to Science. A spokesperson for NSF told Science that the reason behind the decision was to “reduce the number of SES positions in the agency and create new non-executive positions to better align with the needs of the agency.”

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5/17/2025
US will stop tracking the costs of extreme weather fueled by climate change | AP News

US will stop tracking the costs of extreme weather fueled by climate change | AP News

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said it will no longer track the cost of weather disasters, including floods, heat waves, wildfires and more.

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5/9/2025
This ‘College Protester’ Isn’t Real. It’s an AI-Powered Undercover Bot for Cops | WIRED

This ‘College Protester’ Isn’t Real. It’s an AI-Powered Undercover Bot for Cops | WIRED

Massive Blue is helping cops deploy AI-powered social media bots to talk to people they suspect are anything from violent sex criminals all the way to vaguely defined “protesters.”

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5/4/2025
Exclusive: NIH to end billions of dollars in foreign research grants

Exclusive: NIH to end billions of dollars in foreign research grants

Move by US biomedical agency jeopardizes thousands of projects on infectious diseases, cancer and more.

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5/2/2025
National Weather Service forecasting is more crippled than previously thought as hurricane season nears | CNN

National Weather Service forecasting is more crippled than previously thought as hurricane season nears | CNN

Several current and former agency meteorologists and staff told CNN they are concerned warnings won’t be issued in time as hurricane season nears.

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5/2/2025
Education Department Rolls Back Decades of Civil Rights Progress Under Trump — ProPublica

Education Department Rolls Back Decades of Civil Rights Progress Under Trump — ProPublica

The Trump administration is subverting the traditional priorities of the department’s decimated civil rights office by making discrimination investigations practically impossible — instead enforcing its own anti-diversity campaign.

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5/2/2025
Exclusive: NSF stops awarding new grants and funding existing ones

Exclusive: NSF stops awarding new grants and funding existing ones

US science funder also plans to screen grant applications for compliance with ‘agency priorities’.

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5/2/2025
DOGE Put a College Student in Charge of Using AI to Rewrite Regulations | WIRED

DOGE Put a College Student in Charge of Using AI to Rewrite Regulations | WIRED

A DOGE operative has been tasked with using AI to propose rewrites to the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s regulations—an effort sources are told will roll out across government.

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4/30/2025
Port of Los Angeles sees shipping volume down 35% next week as tariffs bite

Port of Los Angeles sees shipping volume down 35% next week as tariffs bite

Shipments from China to the U.S. west coast appear poised to drop sharply in May.

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4/30/2025
https://www.npr.org/2025/04/28/nx-s1-5378684/doge-energy-department-nuclear-secrets-access

DOGE team gain accounts on classified systems with nuclear secrets : NPR

4/28/2025
After Trump Aid Cuts, Food Banks Scrounge and Scrimp - The New York Times

After Trump Aid Cuts, Food Banks Scrounge and Scrimp - The New York Times

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4/28/2025
U.S. officials inject new uncertainty into approval process for Covid boosters

U.S. officials inject new uncertainty into approval process for Covid boosters

Confusion over the FDA delay in granting full approval to Novavax’s Covid-19 vaccine deepened over the weekend, with possible implications for Pfizer and Moderna.

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4/28/2025
Benjamin Balthaser: "Indiana state legislature just staged a hostile takeover of IU, functionally eliminating tenure, promising to close smaller (hum) majors, taking over the IU board, and cutting the IU budget. This is so bleak" — Bluesky

Benjamin Balthaser: "Indiana state legislature just staged a hostile takeover of IU, functionally eliminating tenure, promising to close smaller (hum) majors, taking over the IU board, and cutting the IU budget. This is so bleak" — Bluesky

Post

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4/26/2025
ICE Deports 3 U.S. Citizen Children Held Incommunicado Prior to the Deportation | American Civil Liberties Union

ICE Deports 3 U.S. Citizen Children Held Incommunicado Prior to the Deportation | American Civil Liberties Union

Families disappeared and isolated without legal access; one child with cancer deported without medication and pregnant mother deported as well

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4/26/2025
The Government’s Chemical Disaster Tracking Tool Just Went Dark

The Government’s Chemical Disaster Tracking Tool Just Went Dark

The chemical lobby demanded Trump make the locations of high-risk chemical plants secret. The EPA did just that.

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4/26/2025
Judge says 2-year-old US citizen appears to have been deported with ‘no meaningful process’ - POLITICO

Judge says 2-year-old US citizen appears to have been deported with ‘no meaningful process’ - POLITICO

The girl was deported Friday with her mother to Honduras, despite her father’s efforts to keep her in the United States.

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4/26/2025
Governor JB Pritzker: "" — Bluesky

Governor JB Pritzker: "" — Bluesky

This is a heavily interactive web application, and JavaScript is required. Simple HTML interfaces are possible, but that is not what this is. Governor JB Pritzker govpritzker.illinois.gov did:plc:khkaorxvl6o5xvmzmuxn2rl5 2025-04-25T19:43:29.778Z

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4/26/2025
Trump DOJ goon threatens Wikipedia | The Verge

Trump DOJ goon threatens Wikipedia | The Verge

Wikipedia is facing another threat.

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4/26/2025
Melanie D’Arrigo: "ICE can enter anyone’s home, and abduct and deport them to a foreign prison indefinitely because the DOJ says they can ignore the 4th, 5th and 15th amendments. If there’s no due process or protections against illegal search and seizures, none of us are safe." — Bluesky

Melanie D’Arrigo: "ICE can enter anyone’s home, and abduct and deport them to a foreign prison indefinitely because the DOJ says they can ignore the 4th, 5th and 15th amendments. If there’s no due process or protections against illegal search and seizures, none of us are safe." — Bluesky

ICE can enter anyone's home, and abduct and deport them to a foreign prison indefinitely because the DOJ says they can ignore the 4th, 5th and 15th amendments. If there's no due process or protections against illegal search and seizures, none of us are safe.

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4/25/2025
DOGE slashes disability and aging services - POLITICO

DOGE slashes disability and aging services - POLITICO

Welcome to POLITICO’s West Wing Playbook: Remaking Government, your guide to Donald Trump’s unprecedented overhaul of the federal government — the key decisions, the critical characters and the power dynamics that are upending Washington and beyond.

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4/25/2025
DOJ announces plans to revoke critical protections for journalists

DOJ announces plans to revoke critical protections for journalists

“Strong protections for journalists serve the American public by safeguarding the free flow of information.”

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4/25/2025
LA County ports expect roughly 40% drop in traffic as Trump's tariffs continue - CBS Los Angeles

LA County ports expect roughly 40% drop in traffic as Trump's tariffs continue - CBS Los Angeles

A report from the LA County Economic Development Corporation said the tariffs threaten $500 billion in revenue for the region and put 2 million local workers at risk.

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4/25/2025
Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan charged with felonies in ICE case

Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan charged with felonies in ICE case

Brady McCarron, spokesman for U.S. Marshals Service in Washington, D.C., confirmed Dugan was arrested at about 8 a.m. at the Milwaukee County Courthouse and is in federal custody.

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4/25/2025
Justice Department to crack down on leaks by subpoenaing journalists | AP News

Justice Department to crack down on leaks by subpoenaing journalists | AP News

The Justice Department is poised to crack down on leaks of information to the news media, authorizing prosecutors to issue subpoenas to news organizations as part of leak investigations, serve search warrants when appropriate and force journalists to testify about their sources.

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4/25/2025
BLACKPRESSUSA UPDATE COMING SOON – The Smithsonian PURGE: Trump Team Removes Artifacts of Black Resistance – BlackPressUSA

BLACKPRESSUSA UPDATE COMING SOON – The Smithsonian PURGE: Trump Team Removes Artifacts of Black Resistance – BlackPressUSA

Critics warn: it’s not just history being erased—it’s identity.

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4/25/2025
Josh Marshall: "Speaking of "waste fraud and abuse", Elon's little sociopath-grunions cut several hundred thousand of NEH grants that help fund the Internet Archive (aka Wayback Machine). sfstandard.com/2025/04/17/d..." — Bluesky

Josh Marshall: "Speaking of "waste fraud and abuse", Elon's little sociopath-grunions cut several hundred thousand of NEH grants that help fund the Internet Archive (aka Wayback Machine). sfstandard.com/2025/04/17/d..." — Bluesky

Speaking of "waste fraud and abuse", Elon's little sociopath-grunions cut several hundred thousand of NEH grants that help fund the Internet Archive (aka Wayback Machine). https://sfstandard.com/2025/04/17/doge-neh-funding-cuts-sf/

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4/25/2025
Tom Scocca: ""The Agriculture Department will not require poultry companies to limit salmonella bacteria in their products, halting a Biden Administration effort to prevent food poisoning from contaminated meat." www.seattletimes.com/business/usd..." — Bluesky

Tom Scocca: ""The Agriculture Department will not require poultry companies to limit salmonella bacteria in their products, halting a Biden Administration effort to prevent food poisoning from contaminated meat." www.seattletimes.com/business/usd..." — Bluesky

“The Agriculture Department will not require poultry companies to limit salmonella bacteria in their products, halting a Biden Administration effort to prevent food poisoning from contaminated meat.” https://www.seattletimes.com/business/usda-withdraws-a-plan-to-limit-salmonella-levels-in-raw-poultry/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_seattle-news

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4/25/2025
Newsweek: "A new executive order from the White House targets the Equal Credit Opportunity Act which was written to prevent sex-based credit discrimination." — Bluesky

Newsweek: "A new executive order from the White House targets the Equal Credit Opportunity Act which was written to prevent sex-based credit discrimination." — Bluesky

A new executive order from the White House targets the Equal Credit Opportunity Act which was written to prevent sex-based credit discrimination. https://www.newsweek.com/trump-executive-order-raises-alarm-over-women-financial-independence-2063733?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Bluesky#Echobox=1745518520

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4/25/2025
Chris Geidner: "BREAKING: ICE contradicts DOJ filing at SCOTUS that a pending habeas case blocks AEA removal. DOJ argued the Trump admin would not remove people under the AEA while a habeas petition is pending. An ICE official has stated there are multiple exceptions. Law Dork: www.lawdork.com/p/ice-contra..." — Bluesky

Chris Geidner: "BREAKING: ICE contradicts DOJ filing at SCOTUS that a pending habeas case blocks AEA removal. DOJ argued the Trump admin would not remove people under the AEA while a habeas petition is pending. An ICE official has stated there are multiple exceptions. Law Dork: www.lawdork.com/p/ice-contra..." — Bluesky

BREAKING: ICE contradicts DOJ filing at SCOTUS that a pending habeas case blocks AEA removal. DOJ argued the Trump admin would not remove people under the AEA while a habeas petition is pending. An ICE official has stated there are multiple exceptions. Law Dork: https://www.lawdork.com/p/ice-contradicts-doj-on-aea-removals

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4/25/2025
‘Vladimir, stop!’ Trump in rare rebuke to Putin as Kyiv attack toll rises to 12 | Ukraine | The Guardian

‘Vladimir, stop!’ Trump in rare rebuke to Putin as Kyiv attack toll rises to 12 | Ukraine | The Guardian

Intervention comes as US president makes renewed push to end war, reportedly on terms favourable to Moscow

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4/25/2025
Trump to target Democratic fundraising powerhouse ActBlue with DOJ probe | CNN Politics

Trump to target Democratic fundraising powerhouse ActBlue with DOJ probe | CNN Politics

President Donald Trump is slated to issue a memorandum on Thursday targeting ActBlue, the Democratic Party’s main fundraising platform – taking aim at one of the key pillars of the financial infrastructure for Democratic candidates.

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4/24/2025
A letter to the president: Revoking visas of international students makes America smaller, not stronger - Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

A letter to the president: Revoking visas of international students makes America smaller, not stronger - Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

In an open letter to President Trump, a University of Chicago official explains why revoking visas of international graduate students makes America smaller, not stronger.

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4/24/2025
NIH guts its first and largest study centered on women | Science | AAAS

NIH guts its first and largest study centered on women | Science | AAAS

The Women’s Health Initiative has produced numerous influential findings

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4/24/2025
Reforming Accreditation to Strengthen Higher Education – The White House

Reforming Accreditation to Strengthen Higher Education – The White House

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered: Section 1.

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4/24/2025
“The concept of progress must be grounded in the idea of catastrophe. That things are "status quo" is the catastrophe. It is not an ever-present possibility but what in each case is given. Thus hell is not something that awaits us, but this life here and now.” ― Walter Benjamin, The Arcades Project
4/24/2025
Restoring Equality of Opportunity and Meritocracy – The White House

Restoring Equality of Opportunity and Meritocracy – The White House

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered: Section 1. Purpose. A

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4/24/2025
Sarah Rose: "I guess we are doing this now — drivers, keep your passport with you" — Bluesky

Sarah Rose: "I guess we are doing this now — drivers, keep your passport with you" — Bluesky

I guess we are doing this now - drivers, keep your passport with you

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4/24/2025
U.S. Texts Barnard Employees and Asks if They Are Jewish - The New York Times

U.S. Texts Barnard Employees and Asks if They Are Jewish - The New York Times

A questionnaire from a federal commission also inquired about whether professors and other college staff members had been harassed.

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4/24/2025