USAID fought apartheid. Musk is killing it; The Ink, February 3, 2025

 The Ink; USAID fought apartheid. Musk is killing it

"As we speak, an unelected billionaire, born in South Africa, is staging an unconstitutional coup in the United States, shutting down an agency that happened to fight the apartheid regime he and his family thrived under as rich whites.

Now take a moment and read that again.

This is not a drill. All the drills are behind us now.

The billionaire, of course, is Elon Musk, who decided in recent days to disembowel USAID, the nation’s primary agency for foreign aid, an indispensable tool of diplomacy and the exercise of soft power, and one of the largest aid providers on the planet. Musk is reportedly (and by his own claims) overseeing the dismissal of security staff, followed by the apparent firings of 600 USAID employees over the weekend, and, more generally, his project to carry out Trump’s wish to destroy the agency. This is, of course, illegal and unconstitutional, as only Congress — certainly not an unelected consultant without even an appointment — can wind down an agency...

Which raises the question: What did USAID ever do to Elon Musk?...

USAID, it turns out, was important in bringing about the end of apartheid in South Africa. And, in an inversion of today’s anti-congressional coup, that work by the agency came about because Congress actually overrode former President Reagan’s veto of aid and asserted its leadership role in the making of U.S. law, in this case the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act (CAAA)."

Publishers, a library and others sue over Idaho’s law restricting youth access to ‘harmful’ books; AP, February 5, 2025

  REBECCA BOONE, AP; Publishers, a library and others sue over Idaho’s law restricting youth access to ‘harmful’ books

"Idaho’s law took effect last year, requiring schools and public libraries to move material deemed “harmful to minors” to an adults-only section or face lawsuits. If a community member complains that a book is harmful to minors, the library has 60 days to address it or children or their parents can sue for $250 in damages. The law relies on Idaho’s legal definition of obscene materials, which includes “any act of homosexuality.”

At the time, the Idaho Library Association warned that the law was vague and subjective, and said it would likely lead to significantly limited access to information for the public.

In fact, that’s exactly what happened, according to the lawsuit. The Donnelly Public Library operates the only after-school program in Donnelly, a town of about 250 residents, but it had to bar minors from entering unless a parent or guardian first completed a waiver. 

That’s because the library operates out of a small log cabin and a handful of teepees, and there is not enough room to create an adults-only section for some books like “The Handmaid’s Tale,” according to the lawsuit."

Publishers and library sue Idaho over book ban that defines 'homosexuality' as 'harmful to minors'; The Advocate, February 6, 2025

 Ryan Adamczeski, The Advocate; Publishers and library sue Idaho over book ban that defines 'homosexuality' as 'harmful to minors' 

"Several large book publishers and a small public library are suing the state of Idaho over its book ban that requires libraries to restrict content "harmful to minors" to patrons 18 and older.

House Bill 710, which went into effect on July 1, allows community members to request that their local library move books they claim are "harmful to minors" to an adults-only section within 60 days or be liable for $250 in damages. There is no appeal process outlined in the law.

"Harmful to minors" includes content that contains "sexual conduct," which the law defines as "any act of masturbation, homosexuality, sexual intercourse, or physical contact with a person's clothed or unclothed genitals, pubic area, buttocks or, if such person be a female, the breast."

President Trump's Self-Described "Takeover" of the Center is an Attack on Creative Freedom; PEN America, February 8, 2025

 PEN America; President Trump's Self-Described "Takeover" of the Center is an Attack on Creative Freedom

"In response to President Trump saying he is firing the Kennedy Center trustees and naming himself chair, Hadar Harris, PEN America’s Washington managing director, made the following comment:

“President Trump’s self-described “takeover” of the Kennedy Center is another salvo in his demonstrated attack on free expression. He is taking the unprecedented move of clearing out board members “who do not share our vision for a Golden Age in Arts and Culture.” Presidents should not be dictating a singular view of culture. The cultural sector must remain free from political control; that is fundamental to protecting creative freedom in a democracy.”

About PEN America

PEN America stands at the intersection of literature and human rights to protect free expression in the United States and worldwide. We champion the freedom to write, recognizing the power of the word to transform the world. Our mission is to unite writers and their allies to celebrate creative expression and defend the liberties that make it possible. Learn more at pen.org."

Pentagon cuts off Hegseth town hall webcast after transparency pledge; Navy Times, February 7, 2025

  Stephen Losey, Navy Times; Pentagon cuts off Hegseth town hall webcast after transparency pledge

"The Pentagon cut off a webcast of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s first town hall with troops and department employees Friday as soon as questions began, and shortly after Hegseth promised to be transparent with service members and the public.

Hegseth delivered about 15 minutes of opening remarks, which touched on issues such as grooming standards, readiness, border security and the administration’s desire to root out diversity, equity and inclusion programs from the military, before opening the floor to questions...

The broadcast ended less than two minutes after Hegseth pledged to be open with service members and the public.

“I appreciate the service so many of you give,” Hegseth said. “I know so many people watching. It’s the honor of a lifetime to come alongside you. No one will work harder. No one’s going to be more — attempt to be more transparent with the American people and with you.”

When asked a follow-up question about why the department stopped broadcasting when questions began, the Pentagon’s press office said, “The [defense secretary’s] opening remarks were televised to allow a larger audience. The Q&A portion was open to in-person participants only.”

It does not appear the Pentagon broadcast any portion of town halls held by Hegseth’s predecessor, Lloyd Austin.

However, the Pentagon did not indicate in its Friday morning email announcing Hegseth’s town hall that the questioning portion would not be broadcast. The webpage with the town hall feed originally indicated the broadcast was scheduled to run for about an hour and a half...

Hegseth said one of his top priorities is “restoring the warrior ethos,” before harshly criticizing the Pentagon’s previous focus on improving diversity in the ranks.

“I think the single dumbest phrase in military history is, ‘Our diversity is our strength,’” Hegseth said. “I think our strength is our unity. Our strength is our shared purpose, regardless of our background, regardless of how we grew up, regardless of our gender, regardless of our race. In this department, we will treat everyone equally, we will treat everyone with respect and we will judge you as an individual by your merit and by your commitment to the team and the mission.”

The Trump administration views diversity, equity and inclusion programs — referred to as DEI — as efforts to divide the military instead of uniting it, Hegseth said.

But the Pentagon’s initial efforts to comply with the administration’s DEI orders have been rocky."

Biglaw Firm Quietly Begins Purging Diversity Language From Website; Above The Law, February 7, 2025

 Joe Patrice , Above The Law; Biglaw Firm Quietly Begins Purging Diversity Language From Website

"This is the story we hoped wouldn’t happen, but let’s be honest — of course it did. It was always going to happen. 

Between the administration publicly threatening criminal action against private sector companies over diversity initiatives and law firms rushing to curry favor with the White House, it was only a matter of time before a Biglaw firm tried to memory-hole prior diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts.

As we’ve monitored Biglaw websites over the couple weeks since Trump returned to power, we took heart every time we noticed that a major firm still hadn’t tried to subtly purge its public-facing site of any mention of diversity. Unfortunately, though perhaps inevitably, the legal community is no longer pitching a perfect game...

The entire “Diversity and Inclusion”-turned-“Opportunity and Inclusion” page has changed. The old website included visual representations backing up the firm’s commitment. For example:

The accomplishments of these attorneys are now deleted. The page still offers general statements about inclusion, but any specific claims about individual achievements are gone, hiding from public view any way to measure the firm’s success in this area. The page also linked to “a robust educational toolkit” developed by the firm and a block set off in all caps recognizing that “WE PLEDGE TO FOLLOW THE MANSFIELD RULE.” 

And for what? If firms think scrubbing diversity efforts will shield them, they should ask Target how that worked out. The retail giant backtracked on its public DEI commitments — only to get sued by Trump’s fellow travelers anyway. These people won’t be satisfied until the entire workforce looks like a 1950s country club. It undermines firm culture for nothing."

Trump says he will fire Kennedy Center board members, appoint himself chairman; The Washington Post, February 7, 2025

  

Travis M. Andrews

 and 

Ben Brasch, The Washington Post; Trump says he will fire Kennedy Center board members, appoint himself chairman

"President Donald Trump on Friday announced plans to overhaul the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, writing that he had decided to “immediately terminate multiple individuals from the Board of Trustees,” including chairman David M. Rubenstein, in a post on Truth Social. He added that he plans to install himself as the new chairman of the prominent arts institution.

He did not say which board members he plans to terminate. It is unclear whether the president has the power to make such changes.

“The Kennedy Center is an American Jewel, and must reflect the brightest STARS on its stage from all across our Nation,” Trump wrote. “For the Kennedy Center, THE BEST IS YET TO COME!”"

‘In a real sense, US democracy has died’: how Trump is emulating Hungary’s Orbán; The Guardian, February 7, 2025

 David Smith in Washington, The Guardian; ‘In a real sense, US democracy has died’: how Trump is emulating Hungary’s Orbán

"pitiless crackdown on on illegal immigration. A hardline approach to law and order. A purge of “gender ideology” and “wokeness” from the nation’s schools. Erosions of academic freedom, judicial independence and the free press. An alliance with Christian nationalism. An assault on democratic institutions.

The “electoral autocracy” that is Viktor Orbán’s Hungary has been long revered by Donald Trump and his “Make America Great Again” (Maga) movement. Now admiration is turning into emulation. In the early weeks of Trump’s second term as US president, analysts say, there are alarming signs that the Orbánisation of America has begun.

With the tech billionaire Elon Musk at his side, Trump has moved with astonishing velocity to fire critics, punish media, reward allies, gut the federal government, exploit presidential immunity and test the limits of his authority. Many of their actions have been unconstitutional and illegal. With Congress impotent, only the federal courts have slowed them down."

Trump DEI crackdown targets books in Pentagon schools; The Washington Post, February 7, 2025

 Dan Lamothe , The Washington Post; Trump DEI crackdown targets books in Pentagon schools

"The Defense Department has begun restricting access to books and learning materials covering subjects from immigration to psychology in its school system serving U.S. military families, citing the Trump administration’s crackdown on diversity, equity and inclusion programs, according to defense officials familiar with the effort and a memo obtained by The Washington Post.

The effort affects curriculums for elementary school ages and up, and follows similar efforts at the U.S. military’s elite academies for prospective military officers. The Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) serves about 67,000 students spread across about 160 schools at military installations around the globe.

A list distributed with the memo details specific chapters from books, or entire books, that have been immediately removed, with their return uncertain while pending a compliance review...

A DoDEA spokesman, Will Griffin, said in a statement that the restrictions have been put in place as the agency examines which “instructional resources” are in compliance with two executive orders from President Donald Trump restricting discussion of transgender people and targeting what the administration calls the “radical indoctrination” of children by schools teaching DEI...

“One asked a school official why they removed photos on the walls of Susan B. Anthony and Dr. [Martin Luther] King [Jr.] but not Leonardo DaVinci and was told: ‘He was a real historical figure,’” Raskin’s post on X said."

A Judge Tried to Get Out of Jury Duty. What He Said Cost Him His Job.; The New York Times, February 6, 2025

 Ed Shanahan, The New York Times ; A Judge Tried to Get Out of Jury Duty. What He Said Cost Him His Job.

[Kip Currier: A bedrock principle of the American judicial system is a commitment to equity and fairness by those who are entrusted to be impartial adjudicators. This story reveals an individual who makes a mockery of that ethical imperative.]

[Excerpt]

"When Richard Snyder was running to be a town justice in tiny Petersburgh, N.Y., in 2013, he told a local news site that he would be fair and honest on the bench. Because he was not a lawyer, he also said he was “looking forward to learning about the law.”

He just learned something about it the hard way.

Mr. Snyder, a Republican, was unopposed in that 2013 race and won it with 329 votes. But in December he resigned after a disciplinary panel found that he had tried to get out of grand jury duty by introducing himself as a town justice and saying he could not be impartial based on his opinion of those who appeared in his court.

“I know they are guilty,” Mr. Snyder said in arguing to be excused, according to a court transcript. Otherwise, he explained, “they would not be in front of me.” (The judge dismissed him and notified the disciplinary panel.)"

Proud Boys Lose Control of Their Name to a Black Church They Vandalized; The New York Times, February 3, 2025

Alan Feuer, The New York Times; Proud Boys Lose Control of Their Name to a Black Church They Vandalized

"The Proud Boys no longer have control over their own name.

Under a ruling by a Washington judge on Monday, the infamous far-right group was stripped of control over the trademark “Proud Boys” and was barred from selling any merchandise with either its name or its symbols without the consent of a Black church in Washington that its members vandalized. In June 2023, the church won a $2.8 million default judgment against the Proud Boys after the organization’s former leader, Enrique Tarrio, and several of his subordinates attacked it in a night of violence after a pro-Trump rally in December 2020.

The ruling by the judge, Tanya M. Jones Bosier of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, effectively means that Proud Boys chapters across the country can no longer legally use their own name or the group’s traditional symbols without the permission of the church that was attacked, the Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church.

The ruling also clears the way for the church to try to seize any money that the Proud Boys might make by selling merchandise like hats or T-shirts emblazoned with their name or with any of their familiar logos, including a black and yellow laurel wreath."

Prison Library Support Network Volunteers Meet Incarcerated Information Needs with Grassroots Reference by Mail Service; Library Journal, January 30, 2025

 Claire Kelley, Library Journal; Prison Library Support Network Volunteers Meet Incarcerated Information Needs with Grassroots Reference by Mail Service

"People who are incarcerated can’t check social media, read any book they want, look up the latest basketball game score, surf the web to look for new shoes, or use online search engines to research a legal question. Traditional library reference services assume patrons have basic freedoms—the ability to check out books or to access the internet. This isn’t the case for prison reference, where answering even simple questions can become surprisingly complex, especially when responses must also meet prison surveillance requirements for length and content.

Willie Kearse has seen how even these constrained reference services for prison inmates are in high demand. Formerly incarcerated for 24 years over a wrongful conviction, Kearse is now the Community Engagement Specialist for Parole Prep, an organization that advocates for the release of people serving life sentences in New York State. "Libraries inside are often limited by strict rules, censorship, and resources going missing,” he said. “If you put in a book request, it’s not even there. You have to go to an outside organization, like [the Prison Library Support Network] PLSN, to get help.”

Established in 2015, PLSN works to meet the information needs of people who are incarcerated through a nationwide letter-writing project. Since the reference by mail program started in 2021, the New York City–based collective of librarians, graduate students, and activists has responded to nearly all of the 3,000 queries it has received from people in prisons across the United States, with the majority of letters coming from Texas, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Ohio, and Florida."

What happens after you ask Trump to ‘have mercy’? Threats, praise and hope.; The Washington Post, February 2, 2025

  Olivia George, The Washington Post; What happens after you ask Trump to ‘have mercy’? Threats, praise and hope.

"Last month, Rep. Josh Brecheen (R-Oklahoma) introduced a resolution calling for the House to recognize Budde’s sermon as a “display of political activism and condemning its distorted message.”

Budde, according to the resolution, promoted “political bias instead of advocating the full counsel of biblical teaching.”

On Sunday, after the service, she pondered the lawmaker’s action.

“It isn’t political activism for a pastor to ask for mercy,” she said. “It is an expression of Christian faith and the teachings of Jesus.”"

Timothy Snyder; The Logic of Destruction: And how to resist it, February 2, 2025

TIMOTHY SNYDER; The Logic of Destruction: And how to resist it

"What is a country? The way its people govern themselves. America exists because its people elect those who make and execute laws. The assumption of a democracy is that individuals have dignity and rights that they realize and protect by acting together.

The people who now dominate the executive branch of the government deny all of this, and are acting, quite deliberately, to destroy the nation. For them, only a few people, the very wealthy with a certain worldview, have rights, and the first among these is to dominate. 

For them, there is no such thing as an America, or Americans, or democracy, or citizens, and they act accordingly. Now that the oligarchs and their clients are inside the federal government, they are moving, illegally and unconstitutionally, to take over its institutions.

The parts of the government that work to implement laws have been maligned for decades. Americans have been told that the people who provide them with services are conspirators within a “deep state.” We have been instructed that the billionaires are the heroes.

All of this work was preparatory to the coup that is going on now. The federal government has immense capacity and control over trillions of dollars. That power was a cocreation of the American people. It belongs to them. The oligarchs around Trump are working now to take it for themselves.

Theirs is a logic of destruction. It is very hard to create a large, legitimate, functioning government. The oligarchs have no plan to govern. They will take what they can, and disable the rest. The destruction is the point. They don’t want to control the existing order. They want disorder in which their relative power will grow...

The best people in American federal law enforcement, national security, and national intelligence are being fired. The reasons given for this are DEI and trumpwashing the past. Of course, if you fire everyone who was concerned in some way with the investigations of January 6th or of Russia, that will be much or even most of the FBI. Those are bad reasons, but the reality is worse: the aim is lawlessness: to get the police and the patriots out of the way.

In the logic of destruction, there is no need to rebuild afterwards. In this chaos, the oligarchs will tell us that there is no choice but to have a strong man in charge. It can be a befuddled Trump signing ever larger pieces of paper for the cameras, or a conniving Vance who, unlike Trump, has always known the plot. Or someone else...

Almost everything that has happened during this attempted takeover is illegal. Lawsuits can be filed and courts can order that executive orders be halted. This is crucial work.

Much of what is happening, though, involves private individuals whose names are not even known, and who have no legal authority, wandering through government offices and issuing orders beyond even the questionable authority of executive orders. Their idea is that they will be immunized by their boldness. This must be proven wrong.

Some of this will reach the Supreme Court quickly. I am under no illusion that the majority of justices care about the rule of law. They know, however, that our belief in it makes their office something other than the undignified handmaiden of oligarchy. If they legalize the coup, they are irrelevant forever.

Individual Democrats in the Senate and House have legal and institutional tools to slow down the attempted oligarchical takeover. There should also be legislation. It might take a moment, but even Republican leaders might recognize that the Senate and House will no longer matter in a post-American oligarchy without citizens."

The Rewriting of a Pioneering Female Astronomer’s Legacy Shows How Far Trump’s DEI Purge Will Go; ProPublica, January 30, 2025

 Lisa Song, ProPublica ; The Rewriting of a Pioneering Female Astronomer’s Legacy Shows How Far Trump’s DEI Purge Will Go

[Kip Currier: Information professionals and centers can be leaders in preserving histories -- like that of influential astronomer Vera Rubin. Right now, too, libraries, archives, and museums can continue to collect books by and about these kinds of trailblazers. They can digitize and make available illuminating records and artifacts, like diaries and photos. They can create interactive exhibits and virtual reality experiences to raise our awareness of their struggles and triumphs. 

And when purges and sanitization actions occur, journalists can tell us about them, just as they did in this ProPublica story about Vera Rubin.

Once this phase of selective erasure and targeted minimization of historically marginalized persons and groups has inevitably passed, so too can information professionals, historians, reporters, authors, and myriad others work to restore these pioneering people to the historical record.

A larger question is why the current administration is laboring so hard to erase and undervalue the histories and achievements of individuals who have inarguably faced discrimination -- and in countless inspiring instances have surmounted formidable barriers -- as members of disenfranchised communities?

Why do they fear these histories and uplifting achievements?

They work to erase these histories so that others won't be empowered by these stories and lessons. Not knowing these stories enables the erasers to control the narratives and, more importantly, influence how people think. They don't want people to be aware of what boundary breakers have done to break through barriers to equal opportunities. Why?

They benefit from unequal power structures. They fear equality and change. They want to define "truth". So, they stoke fear, apathy, division, and distrust to fortify the inequitable power structures that advantage them and disadvantage everyone else.

The world has seen revisionist campaigns like this many times before, though, and I'm confident that truth and reason will eventually prevail again. But it's going to take hard work and strategy and creativity and resilience and teamwork to achieve.

Media outlets, like ProPublica and others committed to truth telling and accuracy of information, serve inestimable roles in uncovering deception, revealing truths, and reporting the facts. As the renowned lawyer John Adams (and future 2nd President of the United States from 1797-1801) pointed out to a Massachusetts court in 1770, "Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence."

Those of us in the information professions who care about truth and the historical record -- and the stories of everyone, not just the privileged few -- are going to have to do our parts to stand up to the self-appointed revisionists, censors, and erasers. Many information professionals are already stepping up in ways that make a positive difference every day. Like challenging those who want to remove books from our libraries.

Filmmakers, graphic novelists, photographers, screenwriters, faith leaders, investigative reporters, musicologists, grant funders, poets, independent bookstores, lawyers, actors, civil watchdog groups, data analysts, publishers, ethnographers, artisans, and countless others are also working to push back against erasure and disenfranchisement of diverse peoples.

I will share stories about ongoing efforts to counter the silencing of diverse voices in future blog posts throughout this year.]

[Excerpt]

"During his first presidential term, Donald Trump signed a congressional actnaming a federally funded observatory after the late astronomer Vera Rubin. The act celebrated her landmark research on dark matter — the invisible, mysterious substance that makes up much of the universe — and noted that she was an outspoken advocate for the equal treatment and representation of women in science.

“Vera herself offers an excellent example of what can happen when more minds participate in science,” the observatory’s website said of Rubin — up until recently.

By Monday morning, a section of her online biography titled, “She advocated for women in science,” was gone. It reappeared in a stripped-down form later that day amid a chaotic federal government response to Trump’s campaign against diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

While there are far more seismic changes afoot in America than the revision of three paragraphs on a website, the page’s edit trail provides an opportunity to peer into how institutions and agencies are navigating the new administration’s intolerance of anything perceived as “woke” and illuminates a calculation officials must make in answering a wide-open question:

How far is too far when it comes to acknowledging inequality and advocating against it?"

CDC site scrubs HIV content following Trump DEI policies; NBC News, January 31, 2025

 Berkeley Lovelace Jr. and Benjamin Ryan, NBC News; CDC site scrubs HIV content following Trump DEI policies

[Kip Currier: The late Toni Morrison, 1993 Nobel Prize Winner for Literature, observed that "Access to knowledge is the superb, the supreme act of truly great civilizations.” Fittingly, that inspirational declaration greets visitors at an entrance to New York Public Library, one of the world's greatest repositories of knowledge.

As the Trump administration, in just its first weeks, continues to "disappear" information and impede access to knowledge, as illustrated by this NBC News article, the role of libraries, archives, and museums in preserving information and providing access to knowledge and the full range of human experience has never been greater in the nearly 250 year history of the U.S.

It is incumbent upon those who work in and on behalf of libraries, archives, and museums to prepare themselves for the concerted governmental and oligarchic efforts and pressure that will likely soon manifest against them, as they strive to safeguard the nation's memory, historical record, and collections from censorship, removal, and destruction.]

[Excerpt]

"The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday is scrubbing a swath of HIV-related content from the agency’s website as a part of President Donald Trump’s broader effort to wipe out diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives across the federal government.

The CDC’s main HIV page was down temporarily but has been restored. The CDC began removing all content related to gender identity on Friday, according to one government staffer. HIV-related pages were apparently caught up in that action.

CDC employees were told in a Jan 29. email from Charles Ezell, the acting director of the U.S. office of personnel management, titled “Defending Women,” that they’re not to make references or promote “gender ideology” — a term often used by conservative groups to describe what they consider “woke” views on sex and gender — and that they are to recognize only two sexes, male and female, according to a memo obtained by NBC News.

Employees initially struggled with how to implement the new policy, with a deadline of Friday afternoon, the staffer said. Ultimately, agency staffers began pulling down numerous HIV-related webpages — regardless of whether it included gender — rushing to meet the deadline. It was unclear when the pages might be restored.

“The process is underway,” said the government agency staffer, who requested anonymity for fear of repercussions. “There’s just so much gender content in HIV that we have to take everything down in order to meet the deadline.”

The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Communications representatives within the CDC’s HIV and STD prevention departments did not return requests for comment; last week, the Trump administration ordered all employees of HHS, which includes the CDC, to stop communicating with external parties. 

Trump’s sweeping executive order to wipe out DEI programs across the federal government threatens to upend the CDC’s efforts to combat HIV among Black, Latino and transgender people — groups disproportionately affected by the virus — according to public health experts."

Trump Administration Halts H.I.V. Drug Distribution in Poor Countries; The New York Times, January 27, 2025

 Apoorva Mandavilli, The New York Times; Trump Administration Halts H.I.V. Drug Distribution in Poor Countries

"The Trump administration has instructed organizations in other countries to stop disbursing H.I.V. medications purchased with U.S. aid, even if the drugs have already been obtained and are sitting in local clinics.

The directive is part of a broader freeze on foreign aid initiated last week. It includes the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, the global health program started by George W. Bush that is credited with saving more than 25 million lives worldwide.

The administration had already moved to stop PEPFAR funding from moving to clinics, hospitals and other organizations in low-income countries.

Appointments are being canceled, and patients are being turned away from clinics, according to people with knowledge of the situation who feared retribution if they spoke publicly. Many people with H.I.V. are facing abrupt interruptions to their treatment...

“The partners we collaborate with are in shock, and they do not know what to do because their lifesaving mission and commitment has been breached,” said Asia Russell, executive director of the advocacy group Health Gap."

National Gallery of Art ends diversity programs due to Trump executive order; The Washington Post, January 24, 2025

 

Samantha Chery

, 

Kriston Capps

 and 

Sophia Nguyen, The Washington Post; National Gallery of Art ends diversity programs due to Trump executive order

"The National Gallery of Art said it has closed its diversity office and is reassigning staff, as institutions across the federal government are forced to comply with an executive order signed by President Donald Trump on Monday that declared diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives to be “illegal and immoral discrimination programs.”"

Trump’s anti-DEI order yanks air force videos of Tuskegee Airmen and female pilots; Reuters via The Guardian, January 25, 2025

 Reuters via The Guardian ; Trump’s anti-DEI order yanks air force videos of Tuskegee Airmen and female pilots

"Donald Trump’s order halting diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives has led the US air force to suspend course instruction on a documentary about the first Black airmen in the US military, known as the Tuskegee Airmen, a US official said on Saturday.

The famed Black aviators included 450 pilots who fought overseas in segregated units during the second world war. Their success in combat helped pave the way for Harry Truman’s decision to desegregate the armed forces in 1948.

Another video about civilian female pilots trained by the US military during the second world war, known as Women Airforce Service Pilots, or Wasps, was also pulled, the official said.

The air force did not directly comment on the decision, which was confirmed by an official who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity."

Trump campaign against diversity urges government employees to turn informer; Reuters, January 22, 2025

  Daniel Trotta,  Andrea Shalal and Bianca Flowers, Reuters ; Trump campaign against diversity urges government employees to turn informer

"The Trump administration on Wednesday urged government employees to inform on each other and their departments in order to root out any attempts to hide diversity programs.

The latest escalation in U.S. President Donald Trump's campaign against diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) comes a day after he pressured the private sector to join the initiative and told government employees in offices administering such programs they would be placed on paid leave."