The current administration of Columbia and the Board of Trustees appear shameless. No regard for the welfare of students and faculty and no regard for academic integrity. A tragic chapter in the history of this once great university. And the compassionate students who tried to stand against the genocide in Palestine are paying a heavy price.
American private universities are about making money. That is why we told our daughter if she wanted to attend one she could take on the debt herself but we were not going to support these institutions, even though my husband works for one of them. She is now in a public university abroad. We have to pay her living expenses, but she has no tuition and her fees for each semester this year, has been 299€. That includes a transportation pass, and discounts at the Mensas, which are student cafeterias, where the food is good, nutritious and environmentally conscious. She can get a meal for less than 2 € most days, and it is huge portions. The cost of living except for her apartment is much cheaper than in the US. However, she is also not free in Europe to say anything against the State of Israel. My neighbor in Chicago went to Switzerland to talk about Gaza because he was invited and the Swiss authorities did not let him in. A woman with international diplomatic immunity was speaking about the war on Gaza in Germany and the German government got silenced even though she had diplomatic immunity. Here is a discussion of this. Also, in the video the speaker is saying European countries have democracy, but you can see the Flashes of White Supremacy. I agree with this, and I live in Europe right now. But I can see White Supremacy in the US and I do not have the standard of living there that I have here.
Though there are rallies all the time against the genocide in Gaza, the boundaries are not clear. Freedom of speech is protected except for things that have to do with Israel. Also, Germany is providing money for weapons in Israel, but I cannot tell if they have quietly decreased this or what. From these few articles it seems that they have not. They have some very skeptical seeming assurances from Israel that they won't be using them for war. Well, what the hell else are war weapons for
They are coming for all of us who are against this genocide and if you think you and I are safe from this Gestapo-like system, then wait till they are cuffing you in plain clothes and taking you without charging you with a crime.
The indifference of the Columbia University administration to the welfare of its students is shocking! As an academic, I would advise any prospective students to think twice before applying for admission to this university.
Excellent investigative journalism! I lived thru Vietnam and Watergate, anxious that I would be drafted. Journalists like you and media like Zeteo insured that I was properly informed beyond the CBS/ABC/NBC cabal.
I will repeat this over and over again wherever I can. If you are an international student in the United States right now, you are in danger of having your visa revoked without notice and be given a notice of deportation. It doesn't matter anymore whether you participated in any of the campus protests last year or at anytime in the past. All of you are now targets for ICE. If you can afford to, make plans to leave the U.S. at the end of this semester and do not return for your own safety. Find another university in a safer country to finish your degree program. Trump is cutting funding for all research programs anyway, so you're not losing much, other than maybe a little tuition money. It's not worth jeopardizing your safety or even your life for. I say life as we read stories of how the Turkish PHD scholar is being denied her asthma medicine and her bond request was denied because a local immigration judge in Louisiana judged her a flight risk and a danger to the public. All lies but this is how these people think of foreigners. Your life is in danger as long as Trump is in office.
I read your very good article. Your research was spot on. Although I am too old to worry about any university attendance, I do have a foreign born wife with just a green card. We have already had some conversations about what if Trump comes for her and her friends. As for myself, I am of the Irish diaspora in the U.S., with one foot in the U.S. and one foot out. I am currently looking into a possible Canadian citizenship certificate via a maternal grandfather. That might take a while to set up and I'm concerned as to whether I have enough time to sort that out. I am a very publicly outspoken activist so I am starting to look over my shoulder a bit now.
I'm glad to see that you've found a good life outside of the U.S. I hope the German economy doesn't tank so badly with everything that's going on there now that will make you regret being there. Whatever happens there, stay out of the U.S. until Trump is long gone.
Keep an eye on the election. I am Canadian and if Pierre Pollieuevre wins we will be heading the same direction. He sees us Pro Palestinians as terrorists.
Columbia's behaviour has been shameful and cowardly in the extreme. It will take a very long time, if ever, for their reputation to recover from this crawling to an illegal authority, literally collaborating with Trump's Gleichschaltung. Sickening.
Berulis the whistleblower who just showed us what the Nazi goons did at NLRB should be very concerning DOGE has been into the federal databases at many different agencies now and they are cultivating a database outside govt to be used by the Nazi party for nefarious purposes
One purpose that should very much concern all of us is the use of DMF(death master files) which are meant to affect immigrants but other citizens as well whose social security numbers can be deleted so that the affected can no longer function financially in the country(being wrongfully identified as dead leads to benefit termination causing financial hardship and distress)
Think for a moment about being financially dead You can't access your bank accounts, credit cards, pay your mortgage, collect social security These files are potentially being created as I write this to be used for all kinds of twisted corrupt reasons but the most important is killing voters ability to cast votes in 2026
Contact your state AG and tell them of this concern This activity must be guarded against
Just when you think you have heard it all, another story comes along that burns your soul Colleges & Universities used to be incubators for free & critical thinking. NOT ANYMORE!
This a terrible story of injustice & intolerance!
No one, no matter how intelligent, no matter if scholarship is offered, should EVER apply or attend Columbia University.
I could write a longer piece about how private universities are a racket, but most Americans do not know anything else. It can be less about money and more about education and independence.
And foreign students should get out now! Don't want to get a notice from immigration, or a knock on your door from ICE, or being picked up in the streets.
I hope the brightest and the best now and in the future avoid Columbia because the university clearly will not help or protect you and it does not deserve your money or attendance.
One of my daughter's friends is in her second year in an East Coast Liberal Arts College. She has been preparing all year to transfer to a German university. She is at the point where she is terrified for her friends who are from other countries, and she cannot wait to get out of the US. She is terrified for herself too.
One of my adult friends who is Jewish and gay is looking to activate citizenship to Europe that she can have from her grandfather who left before the Holocaust. She is not feeling safe in the US under Trump as a Jew or as a Lesbian and her children have brown skin and are female. They do not feel safe.
She should be careful going to Germany right now, if she has any humanity towards Palestinians in her, because, unfortunately, the German government does not.
Joy, please read the articles I have linked below on this. She is not going to Germany, she already lives in Germany for 2 years as a student. She feels safe, but she is not the one going out and protesting. She does not like crowds. My husband is that way too. She has gone on demonstrations her whole life with me, but would not go on her own.
I have my own crowd to demonstrate with and we live in different cities. I am not going to be saying the slogans that are forbidden though.
Every demonstration I have been to the past 2 years in Germany has had a Palestinian contingent, and I was in Berlin a couple of weekends ago for a Hands Off rally, and there was a huge Palestinian rally. So, it is not clear cut. If there is no vandalism I think you can do it. In fact, there have been marches with Palestinian and Israeli flags and no clashes.
I have brown skin and live in Germany. I am a dual citizen and I have not generally had problems, but anywhere I live I choose where I am going to be, and who I am going to be with. I live in a city that is welcoming of immigrants, and did not vote for the CDU or the AfD in the majority.
That's great to know. Seeing what has happened, including to Francesca Albanese recently, the situation looks quite worrying. I visited Berlin last year over Easter. That's a great time to be there. I'm probably not going back anytime soon. I am glad I went last year., even thought The Ring production was dreadful, but, at least I finally got to see the remodelled Unter den Linden theatre. I have dear friends I spent a lot of quality time with on non-Ring Days. Gosh, this has gotten quite chatty, and off-topic. Sorry.
Yes. I read about Francesca Albanese not being allowed to speak even though she had diplomatic immunity. I also know that my Chicago neighbor was not allowed into Switzerland even though he had been invited to give two speeches because he writes for the Electronic Intifada. So, I see this happening in Europe in general as the speaker here is saying that a lot of western countries right now are doing this and points out that White Supremacy can rear its ugly head.
I have chosen Europe despite the White Supremacy I am used to it from the US. I can have sexism, racism, homophobia and global climate catastrophe regularly, but would like to reduce them, and so these factors were all considered. I also knew that I did not want to live in the US with a second Trump term.
I have to think about health insurance, long term care, other quality of life issues that the US is not there yet to have or do. Republicans have hit the peak of how horrible they are, but even the Dems do not elevate the quality of life enough in the US. This is my story of how I ended up mostly in Europe, and now maybe only in Europe.
Here, our daughter will come out of Uni debt free, which is hardly true for many Americans. I don't live in Berlin, and my cost of living is much less than the US, as well as living in a city that is still welcoming to immigrants, as Chicago is. However, Chicago does not have clean air, has too many guns, and other problems. I miss my friends and family but I talk to them regularly. I also go back and visit. I will need to pack up in Chicago and sell my home and that is that. Here is do go to demonstrations all the time. I support democracy and am working on organizing some regular creative gatherings for democracy in my new home.
That's great, I will check out your post. I wonder if you are involved with DiEM25? I am a member but I don't quite know how to connect with it, although I support what they are trying to do.
I was against the US universities telling their students to return to the US before January 20th in case something happened with their visas. I said to friends this is self interested. They want to commit those students to paying tuition for the semester so that they can count on the money.
What would have been responsible would have been to tell them to stay away until one knew what was happening and they would arrange for them to continue their studies from afar. They could also have offered them to study and get accommodations on campuses they have in other countries. That is the wealthy ones often do have these places.
Why would you tell someone to come back if you thought they would have problems with their visas, so instead of getting support from the bosom of their families, they are ending up in ICE prisons from H**L! I have read that in Louisiana women are 27 to a cell, and have to sleep on the same concrete floors where they have to defecate. This is what American universities who invited their students back before January 20 have helped them into. I am not working at a university and yet I knew that a visa that the US under Trump does not want to give is not going to just exist because people are here. The Universities' immigration lawyers should have known this too. We also heard Trump say he was going to be getting rid of immigrants.
Now we know, I am recommending that foreign students get out of the US and transfer elsewhere. This is a piece I wrote on that.
I also have to say that I am recommending that Harvard, as a plan B, look for property to buy in another country, like Canada, Scotland, Ireland, England and threaten Trump with moving their university to another country. How would that look to Trump? Instead of making Harvard bend the knee and being able to brag about it, he can brag that one of the US's most prestigious unis left and took their students and faculty with them.
And then, they can rescind all of the degrees that anyone in the Trump Administration, Congress and any state, who has in any way supported the Trump administration's mistreatment of education and students.
Groups like Betar and Canary Mission are HATE GROUPS and belong on that list. According to a recent Forbes report, 39 universities are "Trump proof" as most of their funding is private... question is, how man Zionists are funding them? More universities need to say NO to Trump.
Just remember, when you are silent because they are coming for anti-genocide students, then they would come for anti-poverty students, anti-war students- then when they go for you, there would be no one to defend you Betar.
April 19th Will Be A Day of Reckoning The People Will Be Heard. Everyday, since Trump’s unwelcome return to the White House, a fresh bucketful of effluent flows from the Oval Office. The mad wanna-be king and his infamous black Sharpie have been pumping out an endless assault on democracy, via the mountainous stack of Executive Orders prepared by the Heritage Foundation’s 920 page guidelines in Project 2025. None of this should come as a surprise, except to a few of his unsuspecting MAGA cult members, who by now are starting to feel some of the ill effects of the Trump 2.0 revenge tour. In his thirst for retribution, Trump has lain siege to almost all the bastions of civil society. His narcissistic and psychopathic tendencies are the cruel bullying tactics of an insignificant and insecure man. One who despite his many false claims of extensive wealth and savvy business acumen, is still regarded as an outlier by the old money societal set. Trump has always demanded loyalty and adoration from the peons that surround him, but his rule by fear has left him as emotionally isolated in adult life, as he was during his childhood. Since his youth, his heartless father and his ruthless mentor Roy Cohn have tutored Trump that winning at all costs is the most important achievement in life. That it doesn’t matter how many people you betray, humiliate or swindle as long as your greed is momentarily satiated. Despite his upbringing of worshipping the almighty dollar above all else, Trump never fully developed much credible business skill. He has been bankrupt 6 times, including 2 casinos, which is an unheard of feat in that lucrative business. Many of his business forays from Trump Steaks to the fake Trump University, have been penalized and revealed as con games. The Trump family are forbidden from operating a charity in New York, due to fraud. Earning money legally has never been Trump’s forte. In fact, he has made a profession out of testing the elasticity of the rule of law. Whenever he encountered difficulties with obtaining permits or labour for his grand building schemes, Trump sought assistance from New York’s Italian mob. During the 1980s, when banks finally saw through his self-inflated financial charade, he turned to money laundering for the Russian mob, to finance his garish lifestyle. Somehow, despite his questionable past and non-existent ethics, he managed to secure the Republican nomination and elevate his crooked ass to the highest office in the land in 2016. By spewing racism, hate and decrying immigrants as vermin, he endeared himself to the fringe factions that encompass MAGA. For the next 4 years, America was subjected to rule by the least classy man to ever hold the office of president. His entire term in office was tainted by cruel policies and misguided management, resulting in 2 impeachment attempts and countless other court challenges. Trump’s term in office only furthered the divisions between U.S. citizens. Even when he lost the 2020 election, the public’s collective sigh of relief was quickly stifled by the realization that he wasn’t going anywhere. His false claims of a stolen election and his fomenting of the January 6th insurrection were just the beginning. For the next 4 years Trump’s despised traitorous image dominated the daily news cycle, as a constant irritating reminder of his malignant character. Once again, America and the world find themselves under the thumb of a this deranged coward, who is intent on destroying all that is good. Trump immediately reminded us of his criminality as soon as he returned to the Oval Office, by pardoning the 1500 treasonous perpetrators of the J6 assault on the nation’s capital. The onslaught of E.O.s, aimed at neutering every government agency by removing any official that would defy his illegal orders, further demonstrated his utter contempt for the rule of law. Emboldened by the brain trust of the nefarious Heritage Foundation, Trump set out to effectively eliminate any obstacle to his supreme power. Through threats and intimidation he has cowered much of the judiciary. The judges who have defied him have simply been ignored and discounted in smear campaigns calling for impeachment. If unchecked, the detainment and persecution of minorities and foreign students will continue, as will the demonization of immigrants. The future holds the promise that anyone who opposes the current regime, will be deported to gulags on foreign soil, without due process or recourse. The early capitulation by corporations, law firms and academic institutions has only added fuel to the fire threatening to incinerate the American experiment. The gutting of federal oversight and law enforcement agencies will serve to remove all restraints against the destruction of civil society. The contemptuous dismantling of charitable programs and environmental agencies will turn America into another tin-pot dictatorship intent on raping and pillaging the natural wonders of the U.S. and its neighbours. While Trump is focussed on amassing a fortune in crypto grift and bribes from foreign countries and business executives alike, he has released the scourge of DOGE to further consolidate his grip on power. The incalculable amount of data harvesting being done by Musk and his minions is the greatest threat to national security the country has ever seen. That Russia and perhaps China has access to the hoards of confidential information on every U.S. citizens via Musk, is a chilling realization. None of this is being done to enhance efficiency of government, but rather to destroy democracy from within. Unless they are stopped soon, Trump will join his dictator peers in ruling over America with an iron fist. Tomorrow the people speak. Their voices will be amplified by outrage at the indignities inflicted upon them by a cancerous administration seeking to render the constitution null and void. The thunderous echo of their disgust will be heard. They will scream out loud for the indignities inflicted upon Kilmar Abrego Garcia and the countless other innocents being unjustly persecuted. They will make their stand in defence of the sacred rights and freedoms guaranteed by the constitution.They are not the left or the right. They are the righteous, and they will defy Trump and his cabal of sycophant loyalists, who seek to condemn them to servitude. They will engage in a protest that may well shape the future of the United States of America, as well as the democratic countries of the world. I wish them Godspeed and extend my sincerest gratitude for their unwavering dedication and their steadfast perseverance. Thanks for reading john king! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.
The Hind Rajab Foundation has filed a request for prosecution in the United States against Yuval Shatel, an Israeli soldier accused of serious violations of international humanitarian law during Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.
The request, which outlines the evidence and criminal charges against Shatel, was submitted to both the U.S. Department of Justice and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and calls for Shatel’s immediate arrest and prosecution under U.S. federal law for:
War crimes under 18 U.S.C. § 2441
Conspiracy to commit war crimes under 18 U.S.C. § 371
Genocide and conspiracy to commit genocide under 18 U.S.C. § 1091
The Hind Rajab Foundation can use our help. Please join me in making a contribution.
The current administration of Columbia and the Board of Trustees appear shameless. No regard for the welfare of students and faculty and no regard for academic integrity. A tragic chapter in the history of this once great university. And the compassionate students who tried to stand against the genocide in Palestine are paying a heavy price.
The apathy and cowardice are bone-chilling. I have zero respect left for Columbia.
American private universities are about making money. That is why we told our daughter if she wanted to attend one she could take on the debt herself but we were not going to support these institutions, even though my husband works for one of them. She is now in a public university abroad. We have to pay her living expenses, but she has no tuition and her fees for each semester this year, has been 299€. That includes a transportation pass, and discounts at the Mensas, which are student cafeterias, where the food is good, nutritious and environmentally conscious. She can get a meal for less than 2 € most days, and it is huge portions. The cost of living except for her apartment is much cheaper than in the US. However, she is also not free in Europe to say anything against the State of Israel. My neighbor in Chicago went to Switzerland to talk about Gaza because he was invited and the Swiss authorities did not let him in. A woman with international diplomatic immunity was speaking about the war on Gaza in Germany and the German government got silenced even though she had diplomatic immunity. Here is a discussion of this. Also, in the video the speaker is saying European countries have democracy, but you can see the Flashes of White Supremacy. I agree with this, and I live in Europe right now. But I can see White Supremacy in the US and I do not have the standard of living there that I have here.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/germany-israel-bends-international-law-continue-selling-arms
Though there are rallies all the time against the genocide in Gaza, the boundaries are not clear. Freedom of speech is protected except for things that have to do with Israel. Also, Germany is providing money for weapons in Israel, but I cannot tell if they have quietly decreased this or what. From these few articles it seems that they have not. They have some very skeptical seeming assurances from Israel that they won't be using them for war. Well, what the hell else are war weapons for
https://www.reuters.com/world/germany-has-stopped-approving-war-weapons-exports-israel-source-says-2024-09-18/
https://www.timesofisrael.com/germany-approves-over-100-million-in-arms-exports-to-israel-angering-rights-groups/
https://www.ecchr.eu/en/case/no-german-weapons-to-israel/
They are coming for all of us who are against this genocide and if you think you and I are safe from this Gestapo-like system, then wait till they are cuffing you in plain clothes and taking you without charging you with a crime.
The indifference of the Columbia University administration to the welfare of its students is shocking! As an academic, I would advise any prospective students to think twice before applying for admission to this university.
I would not recommend that people be applying to US universities anyway. Here is my recommendation. Study Abroad.
https://lindaweide.substack.com/p/study-abroad?r=f0qfn
Excellent investigative journalism! I lived thru Vietnam and Watergate, anxious that I would be drafted. Journalists like you and media like Zeteo insured that I was properly informed beyond the CBS/ABC/NBC cabal.
Thank You Zeteo, Drop Site News & Democracy Now!!!
I will repeat this over and over again wherever I can. If you are an international student in the United States right now, you are in danger of having your visa revoked without notice and be given a notice of deportation. It doesn't matter anymore whether you participated in any of the campus protests last year or at anytime in the past. All of you are now targets for ICE. If you can afford to, make plans to leave the U.S. at the end of this semester and do not return for your own safety. Find another university in a safer country to finish your degree program. Trump is cutting funding for all research programs anyway, so you're not losing much, other than maybe a little tuition money. It's not worth jeopardizing your safety or even your life for. I say life as we read stories of how the Turkish PHD scholar is being denied her asthma medicine and her bond request was denied because a local immigration judge in Louisiana judged her a flight risk and a danger to the public. All lies but this is how these people think of foreigners. Your life is in danger as long as Trump is in office.
I am saying the same thing. I am saying to transfer. Life is a journey you need to be able to pivot to a new direction.
https://lindaweide.substack.com/p/foreign-students-at-a-us-university?r=f0qfn
The US does not deserve to have students that it treats inhumanely. You can do better.
I read your very good article. Your research was spot on. Although I am too old to worry about any university attendance, I do have a foreign born wife with just a green card. We have already had some conversations about what if Trump comes for her and her friends. As for myself, I am of the Irish diaspora in the U.S., with one foot in the U.S. and one foot out. I am currently looking into a possible Canadian citizenship certificate via a maternal grandfather. That might take a while to set up and I'm concerned as to whether I have enough time to sort that out. I am a very publicly outspoken activist so I am starting to look over my shoulder a bit now.
I'm glad to see that you've found a good life outside of the U.S. I hope the German economy doesn't tank so badly with everything that's going on there now that will make you regret being there. Whatever happens there, stay out of the U.S. until Trump is long gone.
Keep an eye on the election. I am Canadian and if Pierre Pollieuevre wins we will be heading the same direction. He sees us Pro Palestinians as terrorists.
I am watching the elections up there. I have a vested interest as I have Canadian ancestors and maybe even some distant cousins in P.E.I.
Columbia's behaviour has been shameful and cowardly in the extreme. It will take a very long time, if ever, for their reputation to recover from this crawling to an illegal authority, literally collaborating with Trump's Gleichschaltung. Sickening.
Danger Looming for 2026 Midterms
Berulis the whistleblower who just showed us what the Nazi goons did at NLRB should be very concerning DOGE has been into the federal databases at many different agencies now and they are cultivating a database outside govt to be used by the Nazi party for nefarious purposes
One purpose that should very much concern all of us is the use of DMF(death master files) which are meant to affect immigrants but other citizens as well whose social security numbers can be deleted so that the affected can no longer function financially in the country(being wrongfully identified as dead leads to benefit termination causing financial hardship and distress)
Think for a moment about being financially dead You can't access your bank accounts, credit cards, pay your mortgage, collect social security These files are potentially being created as I write this to be used for all kinds of twisted corrupt reasons but the most important is killing voters ability to cast votes in 2026
Contact your state AG and tell them of this concern This activity must be guarded against
Plan A stay and fight, Plan B leave.
https://lindaweide.substack.com/p/a-plan-b-for-catastrophe?r=f0qfn
This one is specifically for students.
https://lindaweide.substack.com/p/study-abroad?r=f0qfn
Just when you think you have heard it all, another story comes along that burns your soul Colleges & Universities used to be incubators for free & critical thinking. NOT ANYMORE!
This a terrible story of injustice & intolerance!
No one, no matter how intelligent, no matter if scholarship is offered, should EVER apply or attend Columbia University.
I could write a longer piece about how private universities are a racket, but most Americans do not know anything else. It can be less about money and more about education and independence.
https://lindaweide.substack.com/p/study-abroad?r=f0qfn
And foreign students should get out now! Don't want to get a notice from immigration, or a knock on your door from ICE, or being picked up in the streets.
https://lindaweide.substack.com/p/foreign-students-at-a-us-university?r=f0qfn
I agree, but, if they were to change policies, then surely we can't support a continued punishment.
I hope the brightest and the best now and in the future avoid Columbia because the university clearly will not help or protect you and it does not deserve your money or attendance.
My recommendations are again,
For US students go abroad.
https://lindaweide.substack.com/p/study-abroad?r=f0qfn
For foreign Students leave the US now! Do not wait to have a problem. Move elsewhere and apply and try to get financial aid.
https://lindaweide.substack.com/p/foreign-students-at-a-us-university?r=f0qfn
One of my daughter's friends is in her second year in an East Coast Liberal Arts College. She has been preparing all year to transfer to a German university. She is at the point where she is terrified for her friends who are from other countries, and she cannot wait to get out of the US. She is terrified for herself too.
One of my adult friends who is Jewish and gay is looking to activate citizenship to Europe that she can have from her grandfather who left before the Holocaust. She is not feeling safe in the US under Trump as a Jew or as a Lesbian and her children have brown skin and are female. They do not feel safe.
She should be careful going to Germany right now, if she has any humanity towards Palestinians in her, because, unfortunately, the German government does not.
Joy, please read the articles I have linked below on this. She is not going to Germany, she already lives in Germany for 2 years as a student. She feels safe, but she is not the one going out and protesting. She does not like crowds. My husband is that way too. She has gone on demonstrations her whole life with me, but would not go on her own.
I have my own crowd to demonstrate with and we live in different cities. I am not going to be saying the slogans that are forbidden though.
Every demonstration I have been to the past 2 years in Germany has had a Palestinian contingent, and I was in Berlin a couple of weekends ago for a Hands Off rally, and there was a huge Palestinian rally. So, it is not clear cut. If there is no vandalism I think you can do it. In fact, there have been marches with Palestinian and Israeli flags and no clashes.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/germany-israel-bends-international-law-continue-selling-arms
Germany is not more strict than the US under Trump. Also, there are people suing them for selling Arms to Israel.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/germany-israel-bends-international-law-continue-selling-arms
I have brown skin and live in Germany. I am a dual citizen and I have not generally had problems, but anywhere I live I choose where I am going to be, and who I am going to be with. I live in a city that is welcoming of immigrants, and did not vote for the CDU or the AfD in the majority.
That's great to know. Seeing what has happened, including to Francesca Albanese recently, the situation looks quite worrying. I visited Berlin last year over Easter. That's a great time to be there. I'm probably not going back anytime soon. I am glad I went last year., even thought The Ring production was dreadful, but, at least I finally got to see the remodelled Unter den Linden theatre. I have dear friends I spent a lot of quality time with on non-Ring Days. Gosh, this has gotten quite chatty, and off-topic. Sorry.
Yes. I read about Francesca Albanese not being allowed to speak even though she had diplomatic immunity. I also know that my Chicago neighbor was not allowed into Switzerland even though he had been invited to give two speeches because he writes for the Electronic Intifada. So, I see this happening in Europe in general as the speaker here is saying that a lot of western countries right now are doing this and points out that White Supremacy can rear its ugly head.
https://youtu.be/yPxN79zeTms?si=SMJmnHKwYeEo6BLM
I have chosen Europe despite the White Supremacy I am used to it from the US. I can have sexism, racism, homophobia and global climate catastrophe regularly, but would like to reduce them, and so these factors were all considered. I also knew that I did not want to live in the US with a second Trump term.
I have to think about health insurance, long term care, other quality of life issues that the US is not there yet to have or do. Republicans have hit the peak of how horrible they are, but even the Dems do not elevate the quality of life enough in the US. This is my story of how I ended up mostly in Europe, and now maybe only in Europe.
https://open.substack.com/pub/lindaweide/p/coming-soon?r=f0qfn&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false
Here, our daughter will come out of Uni debt free, which is hardly true for many Americans. I don't live in Berlin, and my cost of living is much less than the US, as well as living in a city that is still welcoming to immigrants, as Chicago is. However, Chicago does not have clean air, has too many guns, and other problems. I miss my friends and family but I talk to them regularly. I also go back and visit. I will need to pack up in Chicago and sell my home and that is that. Here is do go to demonstrations all the time. I support democracy and am working on organizing some regular creative gatherings for democracy in my new home.
That's great, I will check out your post. I wonder if you are involved with DiEM25? I am a member but I don't quite know how to connect with it, although I support what they are trying to do.
I was against the US universities telling their students to return to the US before January 20th in case something happened with their visas. I said to friends this is self interested. They want to commit those students to paying tuition for the semester so that they can count on the money.
What would have been responsible would have been to tell them to stay away until one knew what was happening and they would arrange for them to continue their studies from afar. They could also have offered them to study and get accommodations on campuses they have in other countries. That is the wealthy ones often do have these places.
Why would you tell someone to come back if you thought they would have problems with their visas, so instead of getting support from the bosom of their families, they are ending up in ICE prisons from H**L! I have read that in Louisiana women are 27 to a cell, and have to sleep on the same concrete floors where they have to defecate. This is what American universities who invited their students back before January 20 have helped them into. I am not working at a university and yet I knew that a visa that the US under Trump does not want to give is not going to just exist because people are here. The Universities' immigration lawyers should have known this too. We also heard Trump say he was going to be getting rid of immigrants.
Now we know, I am recommending that foreign students get out of the US and transfer elsewhere. This is a piece I wrote on that.
https://lindaweide.substack.com/p/foreign-students-at-a-us-university?r=f0qfn
I also have to say that I am recommending that Harvard, as a plan B, look for property to buy in another country, like Canada, Scotland, Ireland, England and threaten Trump with moving their university to another country. How would that look to Trump? Instead of making Harvard bend the knee and being able to brag about it, he can brag that one of the US's most prestigious unis left and took their students and faculty with them.
And then, they can rescind all of the degrees that anyone in the Trump Administration, Congress and any state, who has in any way supported the Trump administration's mistreatment of education and students.
I like innovate approaches. That's what it will take, and many of them, to break through this disastrous system.
Groups like Betar and Canary Mission are HATE GROUPS and belong on that list. According to a recent Forbes report, 39 universities are "Trump proof" as most of their funding is private... question is, how man Zionists are funding them? More universities need to say NO to Trump.
Just remember, when you are silent because they are coming for anti-genocide students, then they would come for anti-poverty students, anti-war students- then when they go for you, there would be no one to defend you Betar.
The fear he must have been feeling. Truly awful stuff.
…and “One Day, Everyone will have always been against this”!!! (Omar El Akkad)
April 19th Will Be A Day of Reckoning The People Will Be Heard. Everyday, since Trump’s unwelcome return to the White House, a fresh bucketful of effluent flows from the Oval Office. The mad wanna-be king and his infamous black Sharpie have been pumping out an endless assault on democracy, via the mountainous stack of Executive Orders prepared by the Heritage Foundation’s 920 page guidelines in Project 2025. None of this should come as a surprise, except to a few of his unsuspecting MAGA cult members, who by now are starting to feel some of the ill effects of the Trump 2.0 revenge tour. In his thirst for retribution, Trump has lain siege to almost all the bastions of civil society. His narcissistic and psychopathic tendencies are the cruel bullying tactics of an insignificant and insecure man. One who despite his many false claims of extensive wealth and savvy business acumen, is still regarded as an outlier by the old money societal set. Trump has always demanded loyalty and adoration from the peons that surround him, but his rule by fear has left him as emotionally isolated in adult life, as he was during his childhood. Since his youth, his heartless father and his ruthless mentor Roy Cohn have tutored Trump that winning at all costs is the most important achievement in life. That it doesn’t matter how many people you betray, humiliate or swindle as long as your greed is momentarily satiated. Despite his upbringing of worshipping the almighty dollar above all else, Trump never fully developed much credible business skill. He has been bankrupt 6 times, including 2 casinos, which is an unheard of feat in that lucrative business. Many of his business forays from Trump Steaks to the fake Trump University, have been penalized and revealed as con games. The Trump family are forbidden from operating a charity in New York, due to fraud. Earning money legally has never been Trump’s forte. In fact, he has made a profession out of testing the elasticity of the rule of law. Whenever he encountered difficulties with obtaining permits or labour for his grand building schemes, Trump sought assistance from New York’s Italian mob. During the 1980s, when banks finally saw through his self-inflated financial charade, he turned to money laundering for the Russian mob, to finance his garish lifestyle. Somehow, despite his questionable past and non-existent ethics, he managed to secure the Republican nomination and elevate his crooked ass to the highest office in the land in 2016. By spewing racism, hate and decrying immigrants as vermin, he endeared himself to the fringe factions that encompass MAGA. For the next 4 years, America was subjected to rule by the least classy man to ever hold the office of president. His entire term in office was tainted by cruel policies and misguided management, resulting in 2 impeachment attempts and countless other court challenges. Trump’s term in office only furthered the divisions between U.S. citizens. Even when he lost the 2020 election, the public’s collective sigh of relief was quickly stifled by the realization that he wasn’t going anywhere. His false claims of a stolen election and his fomenting of the January 6th insurrection were just the beginning. For the next 4 years Trump’s despised traitorous image dominated the daily news cycle, as a constant irritating reminder of his malignant character. Once again, America and the world find themselves under the thumb of a this deranged coward, who is intent on destroying all that is good. Trump immediately reminded us of his criminality as soon as he returned to the Oval Office, by pardoning the 1500 treasonous perpetrators of the J6 assault on the nation’s capital. The onslaught of E.O.s, aimed at neutering every government agency by removing any official that would defy his illegal orders, further demonstrated his utter contempt for the rule of law. Emboldened by the brain trust of the nefarious Heritage Foundation, Trump set out to effectively eliminate any obstacle to his supreme power. Through threats and intimidation he has cowered much of the judiciary. The judges who have defied him have simply been ignored and discounted in smear campaigns calling for impeachment. If unchecked, the detainment and persecution of minorities and foreign students will continue, as will the demonization of immigrants. The future holds the promise that anyone who opposes the current regime, will be deported to gulags on foreign soil, without due process or recourse. The early capitulation by corporations, law firms and academic institutions has only added fuel to the fire threatening to incinerate the American experiment. The gutting of federal oversight and law enforcement agencies will serve to remove all restraints against the destruction of civil society. The contemptuous dismantling of charitable programs and environmental agencies will turn America into another tin-pot dictatorship intent on raping and pillaging the natural wonders of the U.S. and its neighbours. While Trump is focussed on amassing a fortune in crypto grift and bribes from foreign countries and business executives alike, he has released the scourge of DOGE to further consolidate his grip on power. The incalculable amount of data harvesting being done by Musk and his minions is the greatest threat to national security the country has ever seen. That Russia and perhaps China has access to the hoards of confidential information on every U.S. citizens via Musk, is a chilling realization. None of this is being done to enhance efficiency of government, but rather to destroy democracy from within. Unless they are stopped soon, Trump will join his dictator peers in ruling over America with an iron fist. Tomorrow the people speak. Their voices will be amplified by outrage at the indignities inflicted upon them by a cancerous administration seeking to render the constitution null and void. The thunderous echo of their disgust will be heard. They will scream out loud for the indignities inflicted upon Kilmar Abrego Garcia and the countless other innocents being unjustly persecuted. They will make their stand in defence of the sacred rights and freedoms guaranteed by the constitution.They are not the left or the right. They are the righteous, and they will defy Trump and his cabal of sycophant loyalists, who seek to condemn them to servitude. They will engage in a protest that may well shape the future of the United States of America, as well as the democratic countries of the world. I wish them Godspeed and extend my sincerest gratitude for their unwavering dedication and their steadfast perseverance. Thanks for reading john king! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.
Breaking!
April 2025 – Washington, D.C. / Brussels
The Hind Rajab Foundation has filed a request for prosecution in the United States against Yuval Shatel, an Israeli soldier accused of serious violations of international humanitarian law during Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.
The request, which outlines the evidence and criminal charges against Shatel, was submitted to both the U.S. Department of Justice and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and calls for Shatel’s immediate arrest and prosecution under U.S. federal law for:
War crimes under 18 U.S.C. § 2441
Conspiracy to commit war crimes under 18 U.S.C. § 371
Genocide and conspiracy to commit genocide under 18 U.S.C. § 1091
The Hind Rajab Foundation can use our help. Please join me in making a contribution.
https://buy.stripe.com/cN228hbY5g7jaM84gg