Tag Archives: Columbia

El Mundo: Children of the Chinese political elite are no longer welcome in the United States

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The daughter of the supreme leader, Xi Mingze, was enrolled at Harvard University in 2010.

Chinese students studying abroad who return to their country are known as “haigui,” which literally means “returning home from overseas.” Although the same word has a homophone that is often referred to in a joking tone: “Sea turtles.” Many of these “sea turtles” are children of high-ranking officials of the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP), who have been sending their offspring to study at the best universities in the West, especially in the United States.

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On Wednesday, Rubio directly targeted China. “The United States will begin revoking visas for Chinese students, including those with ties to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields,” the secretary stated in a post.

This is so wrong. A “university”, as the word implies, mixes together a universe of students, faculty, and ideas. We don’t need government bureaucrats to censor what students and ideas we are exposed to. Nothing that a typical student is exposed to is classified or confidential — the textbooks can be purchased and shipped overseas, lecture notes are readily available on the internet, etc. This is a vengeful solution in search of a problem.

Children of the Chinese political elite are no longer welcome in the United States
Chinese students studying abroad who return to their country are known as “haigui,” which literally means “returning home from overseas.” Although the same word…

https://www.mundoamerica.com/news/2025/05/30/68395a32e4d4d86d068b4570.html

Guardian: A hidden measure in the Republican budget bill would crown Trump king

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The bill could stop federal courts from enforcing their rulings, eliminating any restraint on Trump

Robert Reich

So what’s the next step? Will the supreme court and lower courts hold the administration in contempt and enforce the contempt citations?

Trump and his Republican stooges in Congress apparently anticipated this. Hidden inside their Big Ugly Bill is a provision intended to block the courts from using contempt to enforce its orders. It reads:

“No court of the United States may use appropriated funds to enforce a contempt citation for failure to comply with an injunction or temporary restraining order if no security was given when the injunction or order was issued …”

Translated: no federal court may enforce a contempt citation.

The measure would make most existing injunctions – in antitrust cases, police reform cases, school desegregation cases and others – unenforceable.

Its only purpose is to weaken the power of the federal courts.

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But the provision inside the bill that neuters the federal courts is even worse. It would remove the last remaining constraint on Trump, and thereby effectively end American democracy.

A hidden measure in the Republican budget bill would crown Trump king | Robert Reich
The bill could stop federal courts from enforcing their rulings, eliminating any restraint on Trump

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/may/27/a-hidden-measure-in-the-republican-budget-bill-would-crown-trump-king

Variety: NPR Sues Trump Over Executive Order to Cut Funding: ‘Clear Violation of the Constitution’

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National Public Radio is suing President Trump, alleging his executive order seeking to cease all federal funding to NPR and PBS is a “clear violation” of the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment.

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Trump on May 1 issued an executive order seeking to cut all federal funding to NPR and PBS, alleging they have engaged with “biased and partisan news coverage.” The order instructs the board of the Corporation of Public Broadcasting to “cease direct funding to NPR and PBS” to the “maximum extent allowed by law.”

Trump’s order “is a clear violation of the Constitution and the First Amendment’s protections for freedom of speech and association, and freedom of the press,” NPR CEO Katherine Maher said in a statement. “It is an affront to the rights of NPR and NPR’s 246 Member stations, which are locally owned, nonprofit, noncommercial media organizations serving all 50 states and territories. Today, we challenge its constitutionality in the nation’s independent courts.”

She noted that the executive order “is directly counter to Congress’s long standing intent, as expressed in the Public Broadcasting Act, to foster vibrant institutions that achieve that mission, serving all Americans independent of political influence. The Order threatens the existence of the public broadcasting system, upon which tens of millions of Americans rely for vital news, information, and emergency alerts.”

NPR Sues Trump Over Executive Order to Cut Funding: ‘Clear Violation of the Constitution’
NPR sued President Trump, alleging his executive order seeking to cut public media funding is a “clear violation” of the Constitution.

https://variety.com/2025/biz/news/npr-sues-trump-cut-funding-violation-of-the-constitution-1236410731

Sacramento Bee: More Than 80 Student Arrests at Columbia University

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Columbia University has faced major repercussions following protests by anti-Israel activists that led to over 80 student arrests. The New York Police Department responded quickly to the university’s request for assistance amid scrutiny from the federal government and substantial funding cuts under President Donald Trump. The campus atmosphere has reportedly shifted dramatically, with many students hesitant to engage in political debate.

Following the protest, students hurried through security checkpoints, avoiding expressions of opinion. Some voiced concerns about discussing sensitive topics due to potential repercussions from university authorities.

Criticism of the university’s response has emerged from within the community, with some arguing that its actions align too closely with the demands of Trump. The rapid police intervention contrasted sharply with NYPD’s previous attempts to engage with student activists.

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Some students have expressed uncertainty about navigating academic responsibilities alongside personal beliefs. As Columbia navigates the challenges, contrasting responses from Harvard University have complicated the matter.

Harvard is setting the example. Columbia’s current administrators are a bunch of wusses sucking up to our wannabe dictator.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/more-than-80-student-arrests-at-columbia-university/ss-AA1FmOl5

Law & Crime: ‘We say enough’: Whistleblower lawyer targeted by Trump asks judge to speed up proceedings so he can get back to work

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Prominent national security attorney Mark Zaid has filed a preliminary injunction request to restore his security clearance that the Trump administration revoked.

In late March, President Donald Trump rescinded the security clearance of Zaid and other well-known lawyers, politicians, and officials. Zaid sued the Trump administration in early May over this revocation, arguing the president’s executive order represented “dangerous, unconstitutional retaliation.”

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“We say enough of Trump taking away security clearances out of retaliation & with no basis,” attorney Norman Eisen added on social media, along with a photo of the motion.

Whistleblower attorney requests injunction over Trump’s revocation of his security clearance
Prominent national security attorney Mark Zaid has filed a preliminary injunction request to restore his security clearance that the Trump administration revoked.
‘We say enough’: Whistleblower lawyer targeted by Trump asks judge to speed up proceedings so he can get back to work

New York Times: If We Can’t Prosecute Trump’s Foes, We’ll ‘Shame’ Them, Justice Dept. Official Says

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Few, if any, of those singled out have done anything to invite conventional prosecutorial scrutiny, much less committed crimes to warrant an indictment under federal law.

President Trump has kept up a steady bombardment of suggestions, requests and demands to arrest, investigate or prosecute targets of his choosing — the former F.B.I. director James B. Comey, various Democrats, officials who refuted his election lies, Beyoncé, the Boss.

But Mr. Trump’s directives have so far hit a stubborn snag. Few, if any, of those singled out have done anything to invite conventional prosecutorial scrutiny, much less committed prosecutable crimes to warrant an indictment under federal law.

But a Trump loyalist, given new, vague and possibly vast power, has found a workaround.

In recent days, Ed Martin, the incoming leader of the Justice Department’s “weaponization” group, made a candid if unsurprising admission: He plans to use his authority to expose and discredit those he believes to be guilty, even if he cannot find sufficient evidence to prosecute them — weaponizing an institution he has been hired to de-weaponize, in the view of critics.

In other words, if they can’t prosecute their target, they’ll engage in character assassination.

So much for a professional Department of Justice!

https://archive.is/SLN1j#selection-707.0-730.0

Washington Examiner: Judge rules Trump administration violated court order with migrant flight to Africa

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A federal judge ruled that the Trump administration violated an order he issued last month barring officials from deporting people to countries they are not from without first giving them an adequate chance to object to their removal.

The decision from Judge Brian E. Murphy came after a hearing in Boston to consider an emergency motion filed by lawyers on behalf of a group of men who they said were being deported and sent to South Sudan.

When the hearing began, officials from the Department of Homeland Security said eight immigrants were deported Tuesday on a flight. The officials did not say which country the men were being sent to.

Murphy said the government gave the deported men just over 24 hours’ notice that they were being removed from the country. He called the time frame “plainly insufficient.” 

“The department’s actions in this case are unquestionably violative of this court’s order,” he said.

And King Donald gets bent all out of shape:

The Trump administration slammed Murphy as an “activist judge” after the hearing, accusing him of trying to protect “criminal illegal immigrant monsters.”

“A local judge in Massachusetts is trying to force the United States to bring back these uniquely barbaric monsters …

No, King Donald, they are human beings just like you and I, and they are entitled to their day in court.

Judge rules Trump administration violated court order with migrant flight to Africa
The Trump administration slammed Judge Brian E. Murphy as an “activist judge” after the hearing, accusing him of trying to protect “criminal illegal immigrant monsters.”
Judge rules Trump administration violated court order with migrant flight to Africa

Also here (no paywall):

Judge rules Trump administration violated court order with migrant flight to Africa
A federal judge ruled that the Trump administration violated an order he issued last month barring officials from deporting people to countries they are not from without first giving them an adequate chance to object to their removal. The decision from Judge Brian E. Murphy came after a hearing in Boston to consider an emergency […]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/judge-rules-trump-administration-violated-court-order-with-migrant-flight-to-africa/ar-AA1FdWGa

CBS News: Columbia University acting president booed during graduation speech

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Columbia University acting President Claire Shipman was greeted with boos and chants of “free Mahmoud” as she took the lectern to speak at the school’s graduation ceremony on Tuesday.

Videos posted to social media showed Shipman pausing while students heckled her before she could begin speaking.

“I know that many of you feel some amount of frustration with me and I know you feel it with the administration. And I know that we have a strong, strong tradition of free speech at this university. And I am always open to feedback, which I am getting right now,” Shipman said at the start of her remarks, allowing for another round of boos after each sentence.

Later in her speech, Shipman was interrupted by students chanting “free Mahmoud,” in reference to Mahmoud Khalil, a graduate student who was detained by immigration authorities in March in New York City and remains in custody in Louisiana. 

What do you expect when you suck up to Trump and help his ICE Gestapo arrest and deport your students?

You asked for it! You got it! Toyota!

Columbia University acting president booed during graduation speech, faces chants of “free Mahmoud”
Columbia University acting President Claire Shipman was greeted with boos and chants of “free Mahmoud” as she took the lectern to speak at the school’s graduation ceremony.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/columbia-university-acting-president-booed-during-graduation-speech

Washington Post: Court lifts block on Trump order to strip federal workers of union rights

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The injunction had frozen the president’s order seeking to remove collective bargaining rights from workers at dozens of government agencies and offices.

This sucks:

A federal appeals court on Friday lifted a block on an executive order from President Donald Trump that seeks to strip union rights from federal workers at dozens of agencies and offices.

Trump in March issued an executive order that said that parts of the United States Code that protect federal workers’ rights to organize and collectively bargain would no longer apply to agencies including most or all of the Departments of Treasury, Defense, Veterans Affairs, State and Justice. The executive order covers about two-thirds of the federal workforce, according to the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU), which filed a lawsuit challenging it.

It had been blocked by a federal judge last month as part of the NTEU lawsuit, but that block was lifted Friday by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. In its order canceling the injunction, the appeals court’s 2-1 majority said the union had not proved it would suffer “irreparable harm” if the executive order was executed while the lawsuit challenging it was ongoing.

Court lifts block on Trump order to strip federal workers of union rights
The injunction had frozen the president’s order seeking to remove collective bargaining rights from workers at dozens of government agencies and offices.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/05/17/trump-executive-order-unions-block-lifted

The Atlantic: The Disturbing Rise of MAGA Maoism

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Trump seems to be ceding the future to China while emulating its past.

China may well come to dominate the next century—because President Donald Trump is taking a page from the most famous Chinese leader of the previous one.

The United States remains the world’s preeminent soft power. It’s a financial and cultural juggernaut, whose entertainment and celebrities bestride the planet. But as an industrial power, the U.S. is not so much at risk of falling behind as it is objectively behind already. A recent essay in the journal Foreign Affairs by Rush Doshi and Kurt Campbell, both China experts who served in the Biden administration, made the case with alarming specificity. China makes 20 times more cement and 13 times more steel than the U.S. It makes more than two-thirds of the world’s electric vehicles, more than three-quarters of its electric batteries, 80 percent of its consumer drones, and 90 percent of its solar panels. China’s shipbuilding capacity is several orders of magnitude larger than America’s, and its navy will be 50 percent larger than the U.S. Navy by 2030.

The Trump administration clearly recognizes the need to rebuild industrial capacity. In its executive order published on “Liberation Day,” the White House suggested that, without high tariffs, America’s “defense-industrial base” is too “dependent on foreign adversaries”—a clear allusion to China.

But …

But Trump’s approach to countering China has been so scattershot, so inept, so face-smackingly absurd, that it sometimes seems like covert policy to destroy America’s reputation. Rather than build a global trading and supply-chain alliance to match the scale of China, we’ve threatened to invade Canada and slapped new tariffs on our European and East Asian allies. Rather than invest in scientific discovery, which is the basis of our technological supremacy, the administration threatens to decimate the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation while attacking major research universities, including Harvard and Columbia. Rather than compete on clean energy, the White House has targeted solar and wind subsidies for destruction. Rather than invest in nuclear power by expanding the Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office, which provides billion-dollar loan guarantees for nuclear projects, the administration dismissed 60 percent of its staff. Rather than secure our reputation as the world’s premier destination for global talent, we’re driving away foreign students.

https://archive.is/j0lGD#selection-673.0-708.0