#libraryofcongress — Public Fediverse posts

What To Watch On YouTube Right Now – Part 138

Welcome back my readers, YouTube viewers and all others who followed this series of articles focused on YouTube videos worth watching.

Have you been searching for something fun or interesting to watch on YouTube? Do you feel bored right now and you crave for something to see on the world’s most popular online video destination?

I recommend you check out the following videos I found.

#1 How To Get The Strongest And Most Optimized Spaceship Crew In Starfield – This year, Bethesda launched several important updates to make their 2023 science fiction role-playing game Starfield better and they also offered new DLC for those who crave for new content. One of the more defining aspects of the game is space travel and this includes setting up your own crew for your spaceship and there is impact on its functions and capabilities. If you want to learn how to get the stronger and most optimized crew for your ship, I encourage you watch the video below.

https://youtu.be/vy8iOx7eqVU?si=gn7W1mZxTOQ4SSrd

#2 Mari Iijima And The Defining Song of Macross: Do You Remember Love? – I really love watching the 1984 anime feature film Macross: Do You Remember Love? Apart from the great animation, the spectacle, the memorable characters and the solid storytelling, the movie also has a great soundtrack made to delight the long-time Macross fans. Still, the movie has its very own song performed by none other than Mari Iijima (Minmay) and it is a classic among Macross fans. In the videos below, you will see Mari Iijima perform the song live in a 1980s TV broadcast and the song playing with selected footage of Macross: Do You Remember Love? Enjoy these!

https://youtu.be/OfuW_Wbt73c?si=Q1DE8eJxo4Zk90pc

https://youtu.be/uJBMYV9e1Nc?si=veDGYU4r7s0flQ_H

#3 The Tuna City In Japan Is Changing With Tourism In Mind – If you plan to visit Japan at all, you might want to discover Miura City located in Kanagawa Prefecture. Miura City is famous for its fresh tuna and in recent times there has been a series of changes as several room-only hotels and new trends have sprouted as the locality is finding new ways to turn visitors into overnight guests. This is a place I would like to visit someday if ever I get the opportunity to return to Japan. Watch and learn from the Nippon TV video below.

https://youtu.be/fUPP30fYH78?si=MrC6Dml3IRVe7fcV

#4 Women’s Rights Activist Marries Islamist And Things Went Wrong – Did you notice that there is a gradual rising number of feminists and women’s rights activists who not embrace Islam (wicked and ugly) but also marry Islamists believing that things will be alright and they can just continue their activism. Of course, many of them activists and feminists do not fully understand Islam nor the full content of the Quran. As such, when things go very wrong, they are get into deep trouble. Watch and learn from the video below.

https://youtu.be/bx3YvoyP6cw?si=omxqhyR8CQfpfhYK

#5 Islamists Violate Hindu Women In India And Get Arrested – Let’s be very clear here. Islamists are oriented to conquer others even though they may not be numerous within a locality. Believe it or not, a group of such people who wielded power inside a business violated the Hindu women (plus at least one male employee) with regards to cultural norms and doing things that go against their faith. Even forced religious conversion happened. Watch and learn from the video below.

https://youtu.be/9xjFS-3Vuws?si=xuDIivIonrp9tQux

#6 Meatballs Reaction And Retrospective – When it comes to cinematic comedy, Bill Murray is iconic and his early work in 1979’s Meatballs already involved the late Harold Ramis and the late director Ivan Reitman. That said, there is something about Meatballs – produced for less than $2 million – that helped it achieve tremendous commercial success with ticket sales of $70 million. Remember, three of the creative minds behind the classic Ghostbusters are involved in this old movie and you will see how You, Me and The Movies react to it in the video below. Be aware that as of this writing, there are not too many movie reaction videos about Meatballs on YouTube. Also posted below is an in-depth retrospective about Meatballs by GoodBadFlicks.

https://youtu.be/nhR9xUCvpAI?si=Zh6gjAX0SdIrtSfT

https://youtu.be/D0BS-K3K_vE?si=HtyR_VThLUKv0Wj6

#7 Ashleigh Burton Reacts To The Thin Man – Have you ever heard of The Thin Man? It’s not a UFO reference. It’s the 1934 American pre-Code comedy-mystery movie that was eventually named to the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress having been deemed “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” in 1997. Apart from its reputation in American film history, The Thin Man also resulted in five sequels. If you want to discover the 1934 movie but you don’t have the time nor resources to watch the movie, watch Ashleigh Burton’s reaction video and see how it impacts her.

https://youtu.be/IJRQXuw–20?si=mSYY7_Eb4EK6reBY

+++++

Thank you for reading. If you find this article engaging, please click the like button below, share this article to others and also please consider making a donation to support my publishing. If you are looking for a copywriter to create content for your special project or business, check out my services and my portfolio. Feel free to contact me with a private message. Also please feel free to visit my Facebook page Author Carlo Carrasco and follow me on Twitter at @CarloCarrascoPH as well as on Tumblr at https://carlocarrasco.tumblr.com/ and on Instagram athttps://www.instagram.com/authorcarlocarrasco

5 Startling Truths Behind the U.S. Showdown with Venezuela – A DWD Special Report

5 Startling Truths Behind the U.S. Showdown with Venezuela

Introduction: Beyond the Headlines

The news cycle is saturated with reports of escalating tensions between the United States and Venezuela. A significant U.S. military buildup in the Caribbean, officially dubbed “Operation Southern Spear,” is underway, featuring warships, advanced aircraft, and thousands of troops. President Trump has hinted that the days of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s authoritarian regime are numbered, while Caracas has denounced the American presence as a prelude to an illegal intervention.

Behind the headlines of tough talk and naval movements, however, a far more complex and consequential story is unfolding. This is not just another geopolitical standoff. It is a flashpoint testing the very boundaries of international law, redefining the nature of modern conflict, and signaling what may be a dramatic and assertive shift in American foreign policy for years to come.

This confrontation is therefore a crucible for the future of warfare, one where legal definitions are being rewritten on the fly to justify lethal force, where sovereign airspace is treated as a bargaining chip, and where a massive military deployment becomes a high-stakes test of geopolitical will. To understand what is truly at stake, one must look beyond the immediate conflict and examine the startling truths that define this high-stakes confrontation.

Special Editor’s Note: https://notebooklm.google.com/notebook/bf1cb435-c733-4fd9-8c75-e30386b55563 takes you to my shared NotebookLLM on this matter and post. There you will find audio and video overviews; notebook notes; a mindmap; reports; flashcards; and, a quiz. I hope that helps you dig deeper into this major issue for America and Americans. –DrWeb

——————————————————————————–

1. An Alleged “Kill Them All” Order Pushes Legal and Moral Boundaries

At the heart of the escalating military action is a deeply disturbing allegation. Reporting from Joyce Vance’s Civil Discourse details a verbal directive allegedly given by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth during a September strike on a suspected drug boat. According to two individuals with direct knowledge of the operation, the order was stark: “kill everybody.”

This directive reportedly led to a second strike after the initial attack. A live drone feed showed two survivors clinging to wreckage in the water; the special operations commander, to comply with Hegseth’s instructions, is said to have ordered a follow-on strike that “blew apart” the two men.

The legal and moral gravity of such an order is immense, a point articulated with startling clarity in an impassioned op-ed on the social platform Reddit by a respected, retired senior naval officer known as ‘SWO6’. Under the Geneva Conventions and the Law of Armed Conflict, attacking defenseless survivors is explicitly forbidden. Shipwrecked individuals are considered hors de combat—literally “out of the fight”—and must be treated as noncombatants. An order to show “no quarter,” or take no prisoners, has been prohibited for over a century. A former military lawyer, Todd Huntley, underscored this point:

“Even if the U.S. were at war with the traffickers, an order to kill all the boat’s occupants if they were no longer able to fight ‘would in essence be an order to show no quarter, which would be a war crime.’”

This principle is not an abstract concept. A key historical precedent is the Peleus trial of 1944, where the captain of a German U-boat was convicted of war crimes for ordering his crew to fire on the survivors of a sunken Greek merchant ship. The charges were specifically for attacking the survivors, not for sinking the ship itself, establishing a clear red line that has been upheld in international tribunals ever since.

The seriousness of the current allegations is not lost on Washington. The report has prompted bipartisan calls for “vigorous oversight” from the Senate Armed Services Committee, signaling that a full accounting of the September strike and the orders behind it will be sought at the highest levels.

2. It’s Not a “War on Drugs”—It’s a War on “Narco-Terrorists,” and the Distinction Matters

A critical element of the Trump administration’s strategy has been to officially reframe the conflict. The Maduro-tied Cartel de los Soles has been designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO), a move that fundamentally changes the legal and operational landscape.

Traditionally, international law views maritime drug interdiction not as combat, but as a law enforcement activity regulated by international human rights law. According to legal analysis on maritime security, this framework dictates that the use of deadly force is an absolute last resort, permissible only in cases of armed resistance or an imminent threat to life.

By relabeling the target from “criminal” to “terrorist,” the administration is shifting the legal paradigm from law enforcement to armed conflict. The FTO designation is not merely semantic; the Wikipedia entry on the administration’s foreign policy notes the designation is intended as a way to unlock additional powers to combat them, including military force. This move provides a legal justification for kinetic military strikes that would otherwise be considered illegal under the framework of maritime law enforcement. However, this FTO designation is disputed by experts who argue the gangs are motivated by money, not political ideology.

3. The Standoff is a “Giant Game of Chicken” with 15% of the Navy’s Deployed Fleet

Jeremy McDermott, co-director of the organized crime analysis group Insight Crime, has captured the core dynamic of the U.S.-Venezuela standoff with a simple but powerful metaphor:

“a giant game of chicken”

The scale of the U.S. commitment gives this metaphor its weight. As part of “Operation Southern Spear,” President Trump has dispatched the largest U.S. naval flotilla to the Caribbean since the Cuban Missile Crisis. According to reporting from The War Zone, the assets involved are staggering:

• Approximately 15% of the entire U.S. Navy’s deployed surface fleet.
• The USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group.
• A formidable array of aerial assets, including F-35B stealth fighters, MQ-9 Reaper drones, P-8 maritime patrol aircraft, AC-130 Ghostrider gunships, and B-52 bombers.
• Roughly 15,000 U.S. personnel deployed to the region.

The “chicken” dynamic is a test of wills and resources. The U.S. is betting that this overwhelming pressure will either provoke a coup from within Maduro’s regime or force him to capitulate to U.S. demands. Maduro, on the other hand, is betting that he can simply “hang on.” He knows the U.S. cannot sustain such a massive and costly deployment indefinitely. So long as Maduro doesn’t blink, time is on his side.

4. Airspace is Being Weaponized, Turning the Sky into a Political Battlefield

The confrontation is not limited to the seas; it has extended into the sky above. President Trump declared on social media that “THE AIRSPACE ABOVE AND SURROUNDING VENEZUELA TO BE CLOSED IN ITS ENTIRETY.” The Venezuelan government immediately denounced this as an “illegal and unjustified aggression” that violates the UN Charter and amounts to an explicit threat of force.

This political declaration is backed by real-world actions. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has issued a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) warning civilian pilots to exercise caution in the region. The notice cites heightened military activity and interference with Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) that could impact critical aircraft systems.

As an academic study on the Russia-Ukraine conflict published in PubMed Central illustrates, airspace bans are a potent tool of “aero-political conflict.” They are non-kinetic weapons that have severe effects, forcing commercial flights to undertake costly and time-consuming rerouting. One example from the study showed a flight from Frankfurt to Tokyo having its flight time extended by nearly two hours to avoid Russian airspace. This tactic shows that the sky itself has become a domain for exerting political pressure and a key battlefield in this modern, multi-domain standoff.

5. This Isn’t Just About Venezuela; It’s About a New “Monroe Doctrine”

The pressure campaign against Venezuela is not an isolated incident but rather the opening move in a muscular reinterpretation of the Monroe Doctrine for the 21st century. According to analysis of the second Trump administration’s foreign policy, these actions are part of a dramatic pivot to prioritize the Western Hemisphere.

Administration officials have explicitly stated their overarching goal is to “reassert American dominance over the Americas.” This ambition has led some foreign policy experts to believe the moves express a desire to divide the world into distinct “spheres of influence” between America, Russia, and China.

This broader strategic goal reframes the entire conflict. The military buildup is not just an isolated action against a single rogue regime. It is a potential opening move in a new, more assertive era of U.S. foreign policy—one in which the U.S. seeks to re-establish and enforce its primacy in its own hemisphere.

——————————————————————————–

Conclusion: Who Blinks First?

The showdown with Venezuela is far more than a simple military standoff. It is a flashpoint where profound legal questions about the rules of engagement are being tested, new forms of political and economic warfare are being deployed, and a fundamental realignment of U.S. global strategy may be underway. The legal distinction between drug traffickers and terrorists, the use of airspace as a weapon, and an alleged order to kill defenseless survivors all point to a conflict that is pushing established norms to their breaking point.

This is not just about one country or one leader; it is about setting precedents for a new era of international relations. As this high-stakes game of chicken plays out off the coast of South America, the world watches to see who will blink first—and what the rules of this new era will be when they do.

Source: https://notebooklm.google.com/notebook/bf1cb435-c733-4fd9-8c75-e30386b55563

#2025 #america #cnn #departmentOfDefense #donaldTrump #establishedNorms #health #history #joyceVance #lettersFromAnAmerican #libraries #library #libraryOfCongress #nationalPublicRadio #opinion #peteHegseth #politics #resistance #science #television #theNewYorkTimes #trump #trumpAdministration #unitedStates #venezuela #youtube

Vanderbilt Student Government and the Vanderbilt chapter of American Association of University Professors host campus Teach-In in response to Trump administration’s higher education compact – The Vanderbilt Hustler

Vanderbilt Student Government and the Vanderbilt chapter of American Association of University Professors host campus Teach-In in response to Trump administration’s higher education compact

Professors and graduate students gathered at the Teach-In to speak out against the compact.

By Ella Crocco, Staffer-in-Training, Oct 24, 2025

Vanderbilt Student Government and members of Vanderbilt’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors hosted a Teach-In on Oct. 17 regarding the higher education compact Vanderbilt was sent from the Trump administration. Students and faculty at the event discussed how they believe the compact could endanger academic freedom, education policy and the university’s core values, among other topics.   

Jessie Hock, associate English department chair and associate professor of English, opened the Teach-In with contextual remarks. Carwil Bjork-James, associate professor in social movements, indigenous rights and political anthropology, then spoke to the crowd about how he believes that if Vanderbilt agrees to the compact, it could have negative financial impacts for the university.  

“I think that our administrators are being misled by the promise of more research funding by an administration that is clearly cutting off research funding and restricting it at every level,” Bjork-James said.  

In an interview with The Hustler, Bjork-James said that the compact will not help ensure Vanderbilt is a space where students and faculty can freely express their thoughts.  

“I would say faculty are really committed to maintaining this campus as a place where [students] can speak freely, where [students] can come here with any political opinion, with any perspective, get an open education and where there are viable places to do scholarship and research and this compact is not the right way to do that,” Bjork-James said. 

Jada Benn Torres, associate professor in genetics, race and genetic ancestry, followed by speaking about how she believed Vanderbilt signing the compact would limit scientific research and free speech. In a message to The Hustler, Benn Torres said that the compact could contribute to the marginalization of communities and hopes Vanderbilt will continue to be a place where freedom of discussion is practiced.  

“I am very concerned that the compact will upend academic freedom and freedom of expression. Additionally, there are elements of the compact that further marginalize communities that are already marginalized,” Torres said. “Overall, I think that the university needs to be a place where we are free to ask difficult questions and grapple with uncomfortable answers.” 

Rebecca Epstein-Levy, assistant professor of Jewish studies and gender & sexuality studies, spoke about how she believes the compact has anti-trans provisions which would limit her ability to teach and research certain topics about Judaism and sex, sexuality, gender and disability.   

“I’m a Jewish ethicist, and I research and teach courses at the intersection of Jewish text, Jewish thought, and sex, sexuality, gender and disability,” Epstein-Levy said. “The compact’s claim that there are only two genders — a claim which is bigoted, venal and spectacularly wrong — would make it impossible for me to teach these subjects accurately and responsibly.” 

Jonathan Gilligan, earth and environmental studies and civil and environmental engineering professor, spoke about how he believes the compact could limit research and what is taught in science classes because topics may offend conservative policies. 

Gilligan shared in an interview with The Hustler that he and many of his colleagues are worried about government overreach. They believe that if the government enforces politicized versions of science upon universities, they will not stop with the biology of sex and gender.

Editor’s Note: I am proud of hopeful of American higher education. Stand up for your rights, and protect us all with your views and passion for Democracy. –DrWeb

Continue/Read Original Article Here: Vanderbilt Student Government and the Vanderbilt chapter of American Association of University Professors host campus Teach-In in response to Trump administration’s higher education compact – The Vanderbilt Hustler

#2025 #AAUP #AcademicFreedom #America #DEI #DonaldTrump #Education #Health #History #Libraries #Library #LibraryOfCongress #Opinion #Politics #Resistance #Science #StudentGovernment #TeachIn #TheVanderbiltHustler #Trump #TrumpAdministration #TrumpSCompact #UnitedStates #VanderbiltUniversity

Letters from an American – October 18, 2025 – Heather Cox Richardson

Letters from an American, October 18, 2025

By Heather Cox Richardson, Oct 18, 2025

Today, millions of Americans and their allies turned out across the United States and around the globe to demonstrate their commitment to American democracy and their opposition to a president and an administration apparently bent on replacing that democracy with a dictatorship.

Administration loyalists tried to claim the No Kings protests would be “hate America” rallies of “the pro-Hamas wing and Antifa people.” Texas governor Greg Abbott deployed the Texas National Guard ahead of the No Kings Day protests, warning that “[v]iolence and destruction will never be tolerated in Texas.”

In fact, protesters turned out waving American flags and wearing frog and unicorn and banana costumes and carrying homemade signs that demanded the release of the Epstein files and defended Lady Liberty. They laughed and danced and took selfies and sang. City police departments, including those of New York City, San Diego, and Washington, D.C., said they had made no protest-related arrests.

In Oakland, California, Mother Jones senior editor Michael Mechanic interviewed a man named Justin, asking him if, as a Black man, he had particular concerns about the actions of the Trump administration.

Justin answered: “You know…a lot of times I have a hopeless feeling, but…being out here today just reminds me about the beauty of America and American protests. And, you know, the fact that they tried to…stomp on this, step on this, you know, say it’s non-American, because that’s what I’ve been reading a lot about. No, this is the point of America right here: to be able to have this opportunity to protest…. [This] does not look like Antifa, Hamas, none of this stuff that they’re talking about…. [Y]ou know, this is the beauty of America.”

The No Kings demonstrations ran the gamut from hundreds of thousands of protesters in large, blue cities, to smaller crowds in small towns in Republican-dominated states. Together, they demonstrate that the administration’s claims to popularity are a lie. Such a high turnout means businesses and institutions that thought they must cater to the administration to appeal to a majority of Americans will be forced to recalculate.

And the protests showed that Americans care fervently about democracy.

Today, millions of Americans and their allies turned out across the United States and around the globe to demonstrate their commitment to American democracy and their opposition to a president and an administration apparently bent on replacing democracy with a dictatorship.

[Photo, “History has its eyes on U.S.” anonymous photographer, Boston, Massachusetts, October 18, 2025]

See Notes and Links online…

Continue/Read Original Article Here: October 18, 2025 – by Heather Cox Richardson

#2025 #America #CNN #DonaldTrump #Education #Film #Health #HeatherCoxRichardson #History #LettersFromAnAmerican #Libraries #LibraryOfCongress #NationalPublicRadio #NoDictators #NoKings #NoKingsDay #NoNazis #October18 #Opinion #Politics #Protests #Resistance #Science #Television #TheWashingtonPost #Trump #TrumpAdministration #UnitedStates #YouTube

Letters from an American – October 13, 2025 – Heather Cox Richardson

Letters from an American, October 13, 2025

By Heather Cox Richardson, Oct 13, 2025

Last Tuesday, President Donald J. Trump showed to Canadian officials a plan for a triumphal arch that would sit on the banks of the Potomac River opposite the Lincoln Memorial in a traffic rotary at the Virginia end of the Arlington Memorial Bridge below Arlington National Cemetery. The idea, apparently, is to build the arch to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the United States in July 2026.

On Thursday, the White House press pool reported, the plan was laid out on Trump’s desk in the Oval Office. The massive stone arch appears to be the same height as or taller than the Lincoln Memorial. Early in the morning on Saturday, October 11, Trump posted on social media an artist’s rendering of what such an arch might look like, complete with what appears to be a gold winged victory statue at the top of the arch.

Triumphal arches are free-standing structures consisting of one or more arches crowned with a flat top for engravings or statues. They hark back to ancient Rome, where leaders built them to commemorate military victories or significant public events. Those arches inspired others, like the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, France, built to honor those who died in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.

Observers immediately noted that the photographed plan showed the Lincoln Memorial facing the wrong way, and compared the Trump Arch both to the Arc de Triomphe and to another arch modeled on it: the German Arch of Triumph proposed by Adolph Hitler to commemorate Germany’s victory in World War II.

That triumphal arch was never built.

Architect Eric Jenkins told Daniel Jonas Roche of The Architect’s Newspaper that the proposed arch would disrupt the symbolic connection between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery. The two are connected not only by the Arlington Memorial Bridge, but also by the Civil War. During that war, the nation began to bury its hallowed dead on the grounds of the former home of General Robert E. Lee, who led the troops of the Confederacy. Lee’s Arlington House sits directly behind the memorial to Lincoln, who led the United States to stop the Confederates from dismantling the nation.

The proposed construction of a triumphal arch contrasts with the expected sale and probable demolition of the Wilbur J. Cohen Federal Building on Independence Avenue in Washington, D.C. Completed in 1940, the Wilbur J. Cohen Federal Building was built to house the Social Security Board, the precursor to the Social Security Administration.

In August 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act. That law established a federal system of old-age benefits; unemployment insurance; aid to homeless, dependent, and neglected children; funds to promote maternal and child welfare; and public health services. It was a sweeping reworking of the relationship between the government and its citizens, using the power of taxation to pool funds to provide a basic social safety net.

The vision of government behind the Social Security Act was very different from that of the Republicans who had run it in the 1920s. While men like President Herbert Hoover had embraced the idea of a “rugged individualism” in which men provided for their families on their own, those behind the Social Security Act recognized that the vision of a hardworking man supporting his wife and children was more myth than reality. They replaced that vision with one in which the government recognized that all Americans were equally valuable.

Their reworking of American government came from the conditions of the United States after the rise of modern industry. Americans had always depended on community, but the harsh conditions of industrialization in the late nineteenth century had made it clear that the government must protect that community. City governments like New York City’s Tammany Hall began to provide a basic system of social welfare for voters, making sure that they had jobs, food, and shelter and that women and children had a support network if a husband or father died.

Editor’s Note: Please subscribe if you can. Heather provides insights into the legal fiasco, Trump, legal challenges, and more.

Continue/Read Original Article Here: October 13, 2025 – by Heather Cox Richardson

#2025 #250AnniversityAmerica #America #ArcDeTriomphe #DonaldTrump #Education #Health #HeatherCoxRichardson #History #LettersFromAnAmerican #Libraries #Library #LibraryOfCongress #Opinion #Politics #Resistance #Science #Substack #triumphalArch #Trump #TrumpAdministration #UnitedStates #WashingtonDC

Court Temporarily Stops Trump-Vance Administration’s Unlawful Attempted Takeover of the Library of Congress – Democracy Forward

Court Temporarily Stops Trump-Vance Administration’s Unlawful Attempted Takeover of the Library of Congress

Press Release September 10, 2025

Washington, DC — In a significant victory for the separation of powers, a federal court today granted an injunction pending appeal, temporarily preventing the Trump-Vance administration from unlawfully removing the Register of Copyrights and Director of the U.S. Copyright Office, Shira Perlmutter, from her position, and from installing Executive Branch officials to run the Library of Congress and the Copyright Office. Democracy Forward is representing Perlmutter in this case. 

The decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia pauses, for now, what the court said might constitute a “grave intrusion by the President into the constitutional powers of a coordinate branch of government.” The ruling confirms that the President does not have the legal authority to fire or replace the Register of Copyrights — a position that can be filled only by the Librarian of Congress.

“This is a significant victory for the rule of law, the separation of powers, and the independence of Congress. The President does not have the authority to remove the Register of Copyrights or to install his own officials to run the nation’s library. We are proud to represent Shira Perlmutter in defending the integrity of our democratic institutions, and we will continue this fight as it proceeds,” said Brian Netter, Legal Director at Democracy Forward.

–Democracy Forward

This case challenges the President’s unlawful actions, including attempts to appoint a Justice Department official as Acting Register of Copyrights and to name an Acting Librarian of Congress under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act — an action that is legally invalid because Congress structured the Library of Congress to be part of the Legislative Branch under the Act, not the Executive.

The court’s order ensures that Perlmutter remains the lawful Register of Copyrights, and that any actions taken by improperly appointed officials at the Library of Congress have no legal effect, while the case continues.

The case is Perlmutter v. Blanche. Perlmutter is represented by Democracy Forward’s Brian Netter and Allyson Scher, and Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP.

The court’s decision can be read here [and PDF below], and Democracy Forward’s initial complaint and motion for a preliminary injunction can be read here. 

Continue/Read Original Article Here: Court Temporarily Stops Trump-Vance Administration’s Unlawful Attempted Takeover of the Library of Congress – Democracy Forward

#2025 #America #Books #BrianNetter #CopyrightOffice #DemocracyForward #DistrictOfColumbia #DonaldTrump #History #Libraries #Library #LibraryOfCongress #Opinion #Politics #RegisterOfCopyrights #Resistance #Science #Trump #TrumpAdministration #USCourtOfAppeals #UnitedStates

Monthly U.S. Elections Summary: August 2025

Monthly U.S. Elections Summary: August 2025

Here is the August 2025 summary update on major U.S. news and political trends as the nation heads toward the November 2026 elections, with current charts for Trump’s approval and congressional control signals. This report is prepared monthly by Perplexity Pro especially for and edited by DrWeb’s Domain.

Politics

• The 2026 midterm elections will decide all House seats, over a third of Senate seats, dozens of governorships, and many local offices, making it a pivotal contest for both parties.
• Democrats are currently leading in generic congressional ballot polling by 3–4 points, indicating an early advantage for potential House gains, while Senate forecasts favor notable Democratic advances due to Republican seat exposure in competitive states.

Economy

• Inflation remains voters’ top concern in late August 2025, with public mood sensitive to rising prices and economic performance, both likely to heavily influence campaign agendas in the coming months.

Social Issues

• Crime and immigration are high-profile topics for the electorate, matched by significant attention to global events such as conflict in Ukraine and the Middle East.
• Persistent partisan and demographic divides are evident in polling, suggesting continued polarization on key issues and strategies targeted by both parties.

Key Events

• Special congressional elections and 2026 primary dates are in motion, with each new cycle update potentially affecting momentum and party margins going into next year.

Charts

Trump’s Approval Ratings (August 2025)

• Trump’s approval: 44.1%
• Trump’s disapproval: 52.4%

Chart: Trump approval vs disapproval trend line for August 2025

House and Senate Control Signals (2026 Outlook)

• Democrats lead House polling by +3.7 points
• Senate models project Democratic net gains (+5 seats)

Chart: Bar chart showing current indicators for congressional control by party

This update tracks the latest polling, major issues, and election process milestones, with charts refreshed monthly through November 2026.

Top 7 Sources for Reference

1. 2026 United States elections overview
   Comprehensive Wikipedia summary: federal, statewide, local races; generic ballot polling; mayoral/county races; opinion polling tables.
   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_United_States_elections
2. August 2025 Harvard CAPS / Harris Poll results
   Trump approval rating, top voter issues, polarization, inflation vs. immigration priorities, policy support splits.
   https://harvardharrispoll.com/press-release-august-2025/
3. Sabato’s Crystal Ball: Ballot model: Democrats favored
   Conditional forecasts for House/Senate seat change; regression analysis; impact of seat exposure and generic ballot.
   https://centerforpolitics.org/crystalball/generic-ballot-model-gives-democrats-strong-chance-to-take-back-house-in-2026/
4. Nate Silver Bulletin: Trump approval rating aggregator
   Daily composite Trump approval/disapproval; historical net approval vs. previous presidents at same point; reliability notes.
   https://www.natesilver.net/p/trump-approval-ratings-nate-silver-bulletin
5. USAPP Blog: LSE ‘The road to the 2026 midterms’ series
   Calendar of 2025–2026 elections; special/primary/off-year races; Senate seat analysis and party control implications.
   https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/usappblog/2025/06/04/the-road-to-the-2026-midterm-elections/
6. Ballotpedia: Special Elections to the 119th Congress
   Dates, districts, results, implications for House/Senate control.
   https://ballotpedia.org/Special_elections_to_the_119th_United_States_Congress_(2025-2026)
7. Generic ballot poll aggregation – RCP/DDHQ
   RealClearPolitics, Decision Desk HQ, poll aggregators for current generic ballot and party lead data.
   See references/links inside Wikipedia and Sabato’s Crystal Ball cited above

Monthly summary compiled August 26, 2025. Next update: September 2025.

#2025 #America #August2025 #DonaldTrump #DrWebSDomain #Elections #Health #History #Libraries #LibraryOfCongress #Opinion #Politics #Reading #Resistance #Science #Trump #TrumpAdministration #USElections #UnitedStates

"The #Ukrainians are fighting and dying"
"#Russian occupation of Ukraine must end".
An image from the US Library of Congress.
Photographer: Marion S. #Trikosko
Created 20th September 1960.
#LibraryofCongress #NewYork #SlavaUkraini #Chruschtschow #UN #UnitedNations #Khrushchev #Demonstration #History #HistoryRepeating #Sovjet #Imperialism
URL https://www.loc.gov/resource/ppmsca.83276/