Baltimore Activist Alert December 31, 2017 through January 2, 2018

Baltimore Activist Alert December 31, 2017 through January 2, 2018

"I speak as an American to the leaders of my own nation. The great initiative in this war is ours. The initiative to stop it must be ours." -Martin Luther King Jr.

Friends, this list and other email documents which I send out are done under the auspices of the Baltimore Nonviolence Center.  Go to www.baltimorenonviolencecenter.blogspot.com.  If you appreciate this information and would like to make a donation, send contributions to BNC, 325 East 25th Street, Baltimore, MD 21218.  Max Obuszewski can be reached at 410-323-1607 or mobuszewski2001 [at] comcast.net.

1] Books, buttons and stickers

2] Web site for info on federal legislation

3] Join Nonviolent Resistance lists  

4] Two friends are looking to buy a house in Baltimore

5] Pancake Breakfast – Dec. 31

6] Lunch Patrol -- Dec. 31

7] Thrive Baltimore New Year's Eve Party – Dec. 31

8] The Fig Tree D.C. New Year's Eve Party – Dec. 31

9] REGISTER for Conference on U.S. Foreign Military Bases – through Dec. 31

10] Protest at the Pentagon – Jan. 1

11] March on Washington Protest – Jan. 1

12] Warming the Homeless – Jan. 1

13] Feeding the Homeless – Jan. 1

14] Advocate for the victims and survivors of human trafficking – Jan. 2

15] Peace vigil – Jan. 2

16] Vigil to say "No Drone Research at JHU" – Jan. 2

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1] – Buttons, bumperstickers and books are available.  “God Bless the Whole World, No Exceptions” stickers are in stock. Call Max at 410-323-1607.

2] – To obtain information how your federal legislators voted on particular bills, go to http://thomas.loc.gov/.  Congressional toll-free numbers are 888-818-6641, 888-355-3588 or 800-426-8073. The White House Comment Email is accessible at http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/.

3] – THE ORGANIZING LIST will be the primary decision-making mechanism of the National Campaign of Nonviolent Resistance [NCNR].  It will be augmented by conference calls and possibly in-person meetings as needed.  It will consist of 1 or 2 representatives from each local, regional, or national organization (not coalitions) that wishes to actively work to carry out the NCNR campaign of facilitating and organizing nonviolent resistance to the war in Iraq.

To join the ORGANIZING List, please send your name, group affiliation, city and email 6address to mobuszewski at Verizon.net.  Different local chapters of a national organization are encouraged to subscribe.  

THE NOTICES LIST will include only notices of NCNR actions and related information and is open to any interested person to subscribe.  It will be moderated to maintain focus & will include periodic notices about getting involved in NCNR national organizing.  To join the NOTICES List, send an email message to ncnrnotices-subscribe@lists.riseup.net. You will get a confirmation message once subscribed.  If you have problems, please write to the list manager at ncnrnotices-admin@lists.riseup.net.

4] – Janice and Max are looking to buy a house in Baltimore.  Let Max know if you have any leads—410-323-1607 or mobuszewski 2001 at comcast dot net. 

5] – Usually, the Baltimore Ethical Society, 306 W. Franklin St., Suite 102, Baltimore 21201-4661, meets on Sundays, and generally there is a speaker and discussion from 10:30 AM to noon.  On Sun., Dec. 31, there is no Sunday Platform.  Instead enjoy a Pancake Breakfast. As 2017 draws to a close, celebrate with a hearty breakfast and time to connect. Pancakes are on flap, with a variety of expert chefs turning out to turn things over.  Everyone is invited to bring a warm article of clothing such as gloves, scarves, hats, socks to adorn the mitten tree. Coffee, tea, and juice beverages will be provided. The Pancake Breakfast is free and open to all.

   Besides having a pancake-focused potluck brunch, enjoy sharing with others less fortunate by providing warm decorations for a mitten tree (mittens, gloves, scarves, hats) and by bringing sun gifts for an exchange – bring a wrapped gift with a value between $2 and $10. This year warm items provided as mitten tree decorations will be donated to TurnAround, which provides support services to victims of domestic violence.  Call 410-581-2322 or email ask@bmorethical.org.

6] – On Sun., Dec. 31 at noon, join the Lunch Patrol, hosted by B & Dee's Baltimore Love, 421 Fallsway, Baltimore 21202.  This is a brown bag lunch distribution to those in need throughout Baltimore City.  It happens the last Sunday of every month. Visit https://www.facebook.com/events/955991887872684/.

7] – On Sun., Dec. 31 at 8 PM, come to the Thrive Baltimore New Year's Eve Party with delicious vegan food and drinks, great music and awesome people!! Admission is free! RSVP is required to ensure that there is enough food for everyone! RSVP at http://buytickets.at/thrivebaltimore/134476r Food and drink sales will support Thrive Baltimore's effort to provide free plant-based cooking demos, nutrition lectures, food tastings, film screenings and other fun, informational programming. At Thrive Baltimore, we're dedicated to encouraging people to make healthier, kinder choices that will enable them to live more conscious lifestyles.

Thrive Baltimore is at 6 East Lafayette Ave. at North Charles St., Baltimore. Thrive Baltimore is located 2 blocks from Penn Station. Call Thrive Baltimore at (443) 863-8652 or email info@thrivebaltimore.org.

8] – The Fig Tree DC would like to invite all Fig Tree and extended Dr. SEBI family members to a natural New Year’s Kick Off Celebration. There will be Food/Drinks, and the cost is $50. Tickets can be purchased @ 1205 Farragut St. NW or by calling (323) 819-5204.  HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE TO BEGIN YOUR NEW YEAR OFF NATURALLY!!  It begins on Sun., Dec, 31 at 9 PM through Mon., Jan 1 at 3 AM at 1205 Farragut St. NW, WDC 20011.  Go to https://www.facebook.com/TheFigTreeDC/?ref=page_internal.

9] – PLEASE REGISTER BY Sun., Dec. 31st for the Conference on U.S. Foreign Military Bases January 12 - 14, 2018 at the University of Baltimore Learning Commons Town Hall, Baltimore, organized by the Coalition Against U.S. Foreign Military Bases.  Fourteen prominent peace, justice and environmental organizations in the United States are collectively organizing a 3-day national conference. You can still register after the deadline, but we will not be able to guarantee meals for you.  Go to https://gallery.mailchimp.com/ccd625b69dbee766fcef0d707/images/134bb23c-8e0a-4bdc-9355-d038f70ccd28.jpg.

10] – There is a weekly Pentagon Peace Vigil from 7 to 8 AM on Mondays, since 1987, outside the Pentagon Metro stop.  The next vigil is Jan. 1, and it is sponsored by the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker.  Email artlaffin@hotmail.com or call 202-882-9649.  The vigil will be outside the Pentagon's south Metro entrance and in the designated "protest zone" behind bicycle fences across from the entrance to the Metro.  By Metro, take Yellow Line and get out at the "Pentagon" stop. Do not go to the Pentagon City stop! Go up south escalators and turn left and walk across to protest area. By car from D.C. area, take 395 South and get off at Exit 8A-Pentagon South Parking. Take slight right onto S. Rotary Rd. at end of ramp and right on S. Fern St. Then take left onto Army Navy Dr. You can "pay to park" on Army Navy Dr.,  and there is meter parking one block on right on Eads St. Payment for both of these spots begin at 8 AM.  No cameras are allowed on Pentagon grounds. Restrooms are located inside Marriott Residence Inn on corner of S. Fern and Army Navy Dr.

11] – On Mon., Jan. 1 from 10 AM to 11 PM, March on Washington Protest, hosted by Revolution Today at the White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., WDC 20500. See https://www.facebook.com/events/136922990357401/.

12] – On Mon., Jan. 1 from 11 AM to 3 PM, get with Warming the Homeless in B-More on New Year’s Day, hosted by Love The HopeFul at 420 Fallsway, Baltimore 21202. Go to https://www.eventbrite.com/e/love-the-hopeful-1000-blankets-1000-coats-for-the-homeless-in-b-more-tickets-38692866405?aff=es2.

13] –  Get Street Meals for the D.C. Homeless Community, hosted by Project Affinity on Mon., Jan. 1 at 6:15 PM at Salvation Army Harbor Light Center, WDC 20002. Volunteers are needed to help prepare and distribute the meals at ten different locations, starting with 6th & Constitution Ave.  Email info@projectaffinity.org.

14] – On Tues., Jan. 2 at 4 PM, help out with Dining for Dollars to Benefit NOVA HTI at the Mellow Mushroom, Herndon, VA.  Advocate for the victims and survivors of human trafficking in Northern Virginia while enjoying delicious pizza! If you miss this event, Dining for Dollars will happen Feb. 6 and Mar. 6! Between 4 and 7 PM, NOVA-HTI will receive 10% of all dine-in sales! Contact Maria Buczek at maria@novahti.com.

15] –  Each Tuesday from 4:30 - 5:30 PM, the Catholic Peace Fellowship-Philadelphia for peace in Afghanistan and Iraq gathers at the Suburban Station, 16th St. & JFK Blvd., at the entrance to Tracks 3 and 4 on the mezzanine.  The next vigil is Jan. 2.  Call 215-426-0364.

16] – Vigil to say "No Drone Research at JHU" each Tuesday at 33rd & North Charles Sts. join this ongoing vigil on Jan. 2 from 5:30  to 6:30 PM. Call Max at 410-323-1607.   

To be continued.

Donations can be sent to the Baltimore Nonviolence Center, 325 E. 25th St., Baltimore, MD 21218.  Ph: 410-323-1607; Email: mobuszewski2001 [at] comcast.net. Go to http://baltimorenonviolencecenter.blogspot.com/.

"The master class has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles. The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject class has had nothing to gain and everything to lose--especially their lives." Eugene Victor Debs

A New Trial in Scotland May Bring Universal Basic Income to Life

A New Trial in Scotland May Bring Universal Basic Income to Life

https://futurism.com/new-trial-scotland-bring-universal-basic-income-life/

Lou Del Bello

Published: December 26, 2017

UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME LANDS IN SCOTLAND

People living in the Scottish cities of Glasgow, Edinburgh, Fife, and North Ayrshire may soon receive an unconditional monthly sum as part of a series of universal basic income pilots currently being explored with support from the local government.

Although still in its infancy and rife with controversy, the idea has already attracted £250,000 (nearly $334,500) of public funding in the form of a grant to develop feasibility studies. The cities involved have until late March 2018 to submit their bids.

In a world where jobs are being increasingly taken over by machines, leaders have started to recognize that the welfare safety net will need to change. Advocates of universal basic income believe that the unconditional offer of a regular, though tiny, sum of money could help many get back on their feet, and even encourage them to invest in new business ideas.

In Scotland, some have criticized the government’s involvement of the government, which doesn’t have the powers over tax and benefits necessary to pilot a full basic income. However people from both sides of the political aisle have engaged with the proposal, which would cost money upfront but could deliver important savings by replacing unemployment benefits.

Speaking at a conference of economists, Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: “It might turn out not to be the answer, it might turn out not to be feasible. But as work changes as rapidly as it is doing, I think its really important that we are prepared to be open-minded about the different ways that we can support individuals to participate fully in the new economy.”

Scotland is not the first country to consider universal basic income. 2017 saw a number of experiments being rolled out all over the world — in Kenya, Finland, Canada, and California, among others. California’s efforts are spearheaded by the Silicon Valley’s largest startup accelerator, Y Combinator, which is in the process of launching a large scale study based on the findings of a small scale trial conducted last year in Oakland.

TOWARDS AN EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY

Y Combinator’s president, Sam Altman, tweeted: “In a world where technology eliminates jobs, it will mean that the cost of having a great life goes down a lot […] But without something like basic income, I don’t think we can really have equality of opportunity.”

But while Y Combinator is supported by wealthy investors, governments are under greater scrutiny when it comes to spending taxpayer money. Finland’s experiment, which was rolled out this year, earned praise around the world but also has its fair share of critics. The scheme was described as “little more than a publicity stunt” and its design was labeled as “just a form of unconditional unemployment benefits.”

As the world of work evolves, both private giants and governments are reflecting on the future of public welfare, and universal income is an appealing idea. But the questions remain whether money spent this way will actually benefit the poor, and how to make the idea work in practice. Amidst the controversy, Scotland will be a place to watch in 2018, as the government’s grant winners will set out to find answers.

References: the Guardian, Basic Income Earth Network

Donations can be sent to the Baltimore Nonviolence Center, 325 E. 25th St., Baltimore, MD 21218.  Ph: 410-323-1607; Email: mobuszewski2001 [at] comcast.net. Go to http://baltimorenonviolencecenter.blogspot.com/

"The master class has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles. The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject class has had nothing to gain and everything to lose--especially their lives." Eugene Victor Debs

A Subversive Bull: Robert Lawson and The Story of Ferdinand

Published on Portside (https://new.portside.org/)

A Subversive Bull: Robert Lawson and The Story of Ferdinand

December 1, 2016

Illustration Chronicles

  On a damp and rainy Sunday in October of 1935, Munro Leaf sat down to write a story. He had been eager to work with his friend – the illustrator Robert Lawson – for some time and so he decided to pen a book which he felt might suit the illustrator’s skills. Lawson was a master at drawing animals but horses, dogs, cats, rabbits and mice had all been done a thousand times already. Leaf wanted something new and decided that his story should be about a bull. What he created was called The Story of Ferdinand. It was a simple but amusing tale of a peaceful Spanish bull who had no interest in bullfighting.

The endpapers of the book as seen in this 1966 edition.
Source: Thorn Books

   Leaf was himself rather modest about the work; remarking once that he had written it in less than forty minutes. Yet once the words were combined with Lawson's beautiful black-and-white etchings, the pair felt quite satisfied with the outcome. Indeed, they even joked that their publication had the potential to go on and sell twenty-thousand copies. Two years later the book had sold more than twelve times that amount. 

   What was even more surprising was the reaction that the simple story was getting. In no time at all their picturebook was being labeled as subversive and it was stirring up all kinds of international controversy. Banned in Spain, burnt by Hitler and continuously dissected and deconstructed, The Story of Ferdinand remains, to this day, a fascinating example of the power of picture books.

'Once upon a time in Spain there was a little bull and his name was Ferdinand'
Photograph: Illustration Chronicles

  Published by Viking Press in 1936, the release of Ferdinand came during the era of the Great Depression. For this reason, its initial release was rather modest. It seemed that their publisher was only mildly enthusiastic about it and so only one-and-a-half-thousand copies were originally published. That year also saw the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War. In just nine short months after the book's release, Spain saw itself caught in a violent war between a right-wing group of Nationalists and the country's democratic, left-leaning government. 

   In light of these events, Ferdinand started to take on a much greater significance. Leaf and Lawson's book presented a Spanish character who stood out from society and refused to fight. Those who supported the violent uprising that was led by Francisco Franco viewed it as pacifist propaganda and they banned its publication. It wasn't until Franco's death in 1975 that this ban was eventually removed.

Above we can see Ferdinand's mother. She respects her son's right to freedom of thought and believes he must establish his own sense of identity. We also Ferdinand growing older while the spectre of death (shown as a vulture) looks down upon him.

Photograph: Illustration Chronicles

    Despite the tendency for people to read a political message in the story Munro Leaf always maintained that its only agenda was to entertain. “It was propaganda all right,” he's quoted as saying, “but propaganda for laughter only.”

   Even with all that said, people continued to draw their own meanings from the book. Clearly, Ferdinand is a story that celebrates the right for people to develop their own unique identities. Yet, to some, this message can be seen as dangerous when people don't conform to the mainstream or when they don't help to further a national agenda. Franco and his supports certainly saw it this way. So too did Hitler who apparently labelled it as “degenerate democratic propaganda”. During World War II he ordered that all copies be destroyed. After he was defeated in 1945, thirty-thousand new copies were quickly published and handed out freely to the children of Germany in the hopes of encouraging peace between nations.

'What they wanted most of all was to be picked to fight at the bull fights in Madrid'; a picture of the other bulls.
Photograph: Illustration Chronicles

  Even with the controversy that surrounded it, the book managed to become a massive international hit and a cultural phenomenon. In 1938 it outsold Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind and it went on to become the number one bestseller in the US that year. Today it has been translated into more than sixty languages and has sold millions of copies worldwide. 

  Ferdinand had – and continues to have – many famous admirers. People like H.G. Wells, Gandhi and Ernest Hemingway all supported the book; while musician Elliott Smith sported a tattoo of the peaceful bull upon his arm. One year a giant Ferdinand floated down New York's Sixth Avenue as part of the Macy's Day Parade. On another occasion, the bull's story was turned into a song by the jazz duo Slim & Slam. Even Disney got involved, creating an animated adaptation of the story in 1938

. 

Ferdinand sitting quietly under the cork tree and the five men in very funny hats.
Photograph: Illustration Chronicles

   Much of its success must certainly lie in the fantastic pairing of Leaf's words with Lawson's illustrations. One account suggests that the illustrator loved the text so much that he managed to produce a complete "dummy" book on the same day that he had read it. Another account suggests that the illustrator was initially intimidated by the text, having never drawn a bull before or even been to Spain. And so for that reason, it may have taken him several months before he had researched enough to properly put pen to paper. 

   Whatever the truth may be, the book manages to transport its reader into Ferdinand's world effortlessly. The anatomy of the bulls are perfect and the costumes of the picadors, matadors and banderilleros all feel accurate. Yet these technicalities go unnoticed. What stands out is the beautiful interplay between the words and pictures. Ferdinand is a warm, good-natured and humorous book that is filled with inventive flourishes and a sharp rhythm that allow the text and image to carry equal importance.

A detail from the book showing two Banderilleros who have now become afraid of Ferdinand. They call him 'Ferdinand the Fierce'
Photograph: Illustration Chronicles

   A philosophical reader will certainly draw political themes out from this story, but many will argue that its true longevity has nothing to do with the possible metaphors within it. A young audience isn't drawn to The Story of Ferdinand because of its political parallels.They like the book because Ferdinand is an easy character to empathise with.

   Another strength of the title comes from the fact that Leaf and Lawson don't patronise their young readers. “I have never, as far as I can remember, given one moment's thought as to whether any drawing that I was doing was for adults or children” Lawson once said. "I have never changed one conception or line or detail to suit the supposed age of the reader.” Perhaps this is the main reason for the book's survival.

'Ferdinand ran to the middle of the ring and everyone shouted and clapped because they thought he was going to fight fiercely and butt and snort and stick his horns around'
Photograph: Illustration Chronicles

   Lawson felt that the terms "children’s author" and "children’s illustrator" were condescending. He believed that these titles suggested that an author or illustrator had to cater their work to fit the limited tastes or understandings of young readers. He believed that the opposite was, in fact, the case. He felt that children were less limited than adults. 

“They do not know that they ought to admire certain art because it is ‘naive’ or ‘spontaneous’ or because it has been drawn with a kitchen spoon or a discarded shirt front,” he said. “They are, for a pitifully few short years, honest and sincere, clear-eyed and open-minded. To give them anything less than the utmost that we possess of frankness, honesty and sincerity is, to my mind, the lowest possible crime.”

   The final page of the book shows Ferdinand after he has returned from the bullrings of Madrid. He sits peacefully on his hill.
Scan: The Story of Ferdinand (1936)
http://amzn.to/2hxjOZP

The final page of the book shows Ferdinand after he has returned from the bullrings of Madrid. He sits peacefully on his hill.

Scan: The Story of Ferdinand (1936)

Philip Kennedy is an illustrator living and working in Dublin, Ireland. Illustration Chronicles is a website where I write about the history of illustration. Through his work as an illustrator, he has collaborated with clients on a broad range of projects including editorial work, comics, album covers and educational resources. His love for history has seen him work in a number of museums including Dublin's Chester Beatty Library, the National Gallery of Ireland, London's Design Museum and the British Museum. As a writer, he has written texts for educational materials and also worked for several years as a staff writer for The Fox Is Black.  A graduate of London's Kingston University (MA Illustration) and the National College of Art & Design, Dublin (BA History of Art and Fine Art), he has taught as a visiting tutor and often facilitates workshops and activities for children.  Email him at hello@philipkennedy.net.

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Source URL: https://new.portside.org/2017-12-28/subversive-bull-robert-lawson-and-story-ferdinand

Donations can be sent to the Baltimore Nonviolence Center, 325 E. 25th St., Baltimore, MD 21218.  Ph: 410-323-1607; Email: mobuszewski2001 [at] comcast.net. Go to http://baltimorenonviolencecenter.blogspot.com/

"The master class has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles. The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject class has had nothing to gain and everything to lose--especially their lives." Eugene Victor Debs

Six Major Legal Battles of 2017 Will Persist in 2018

Wednesday, December 27, 2017

Truthdig

Six Major Legal Battles of 2017 Will Persist in 2018

Trump has had a hand in shaping all of the year’s biggest legal stories.

Bill Blum

www.commondreams.org/views/2017/12/27/six-major-legal-battles-2017-will-persist-2018

Every American president influences the course of our law and legal institutions through Supreme Court appointments or by pushing legislation and executive orders. But few have had as much impact in one year as the current occupant of the White House, Donald J. Trump.

   An intemperate, burgeoning autocrat swept into office by a hypermasculine nativist revival and backed by the most rapacious elements of the corporate oligarchy, Trump has had a hand in shaping all of the year’s biggest legal stories.

   At the same time, he has engendered a dogged resistance in the courts that has slowed and in some instances blunted his agenda.

   The struggles promise to continue into 2018 and beyond.

Although it would be impossible in a single column to catalog all of the legal fault lines Trump has opened, here are six that should make any list:

Neil Gorsuch and the Supreme Court

   Seated in April after the Republican-led Senate abolished the filibuster rule for Supreme Court nominees, Gorsuch filled the vacancy left by the February 2016 death of Antonin Scalia. Gorsuch’s confirmation restored the court’s 5-4 conservative majority and ranks among Trump’s foremost achievements.

    Since taking the bench, Gorsuch has given every indication of being all that his fans in the Federalist Society and the Heritage Foundation had hoped. In his first three months on the court during its October 2016-June 2017 term, he voted in agreement with Clarence Thomas, long considered the most right-wing outlier on the panel, in every case he reviewed on the merits. He voted in line with Samuel Alito in 94 percent of his cases. On the other hand, he agreed with Sonia Sotomayor, regarded by many as the most liberal associate member, at a 58.8 percent clip. Such disparate percentages are dramatic and rare, because the court has historically tended to issue more unanimous decisions than ones that have divided 5-4 along ideological lines.

   Gorsuch’s hard-right outlook was also evident in the court’s controversial per curiam (unsigned) ruling on the Trump administration’s second anti-Muslim travel ban. Issued in late June, the ruling temporarily permitted part of the ban to take effect for visa applicants and refugees from six Muslim-majority countries who lacked a “bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the United States.” Gorsuch, Alito and Thomas voted to reinstate the ban in its entirety.

   In oral arguments conducted this term, Gorsuch has been boisterous and aggressive in a fashion reminiscent of Scalia but rarely seen among new justices. He is expected to be a reliable conservative vote in cases involving political gerrymandering (Gill v. Whitford), efforts by religiously motivated business operators to deny services to LGBT customers (Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, attacks on public employee unions (Janus v. AFSME), and voter registration purges (Husted v. A. Philip Randolph Institute).

  With the aging of the court—Ruth Bader Ginsburg (84), Anthony Kennedy (81) and Stephen Breyer (79) are nearing retirement—Trump probably will have an opportunity to appoint at least one more justice in the near future. In the meantime, he is appointing conservative jurists to the lower federal courts at a rapidly accelerating rate in an attempt to engineer a conservative takeover of the third branch of government.

Scapegoating Immigrants

   The scapegoating of immigrants as supposed sources of crime and terrorism and as the supposed cause of low wages and unemployment was a hallmark of Trump’s presidential campaign.

   Since the election, the scapegoating has picked up at a fevered pace, with the promulgation of the travel ban, the issuance of an executive order ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, and efforts to deny federal law enforcement grants to “sanctuary cities.”

   The Muslim travel ban is now in its third iteration. Last week, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals declared the third ban illegal, paving the way for the issue to return to the Supreme Court, where it probably will be upheld.

   Legislation aimed at restoring DACA has stalled in Congress. Attempts to block rescission of the program in the courts are being litigated but show little signs of success.

    On the other hand, legal actions resisting the Justice Department’s policy of defunding sanctuary cities have achieved a fair measure of success. Although federal judges in San Francisco, Chicago and Philadelphia have issued injunctions to stop the policy, the cases are far from being over.

Deconstruction of the Administrative State

   The president may be short on intellectual candlepower, but Steve Bannon, his former chief strategist, isn’t. At a meeting of the Conservative Political Action Conference in February, Bannon explained that one of his—and the president’s—central goals was “the deconstruction of the administrative state.”

   What Bannon meant by the catch phrase was nothing less than the dismantling of the social safety net and the regulatory framework instituted since the New Deal to protect the public from the most predatory aspects of the free market.

   Although Bannon left the White House in August, his influence was felt early in Trump’s first year and lives on. One of Trump’s first executive orders, signed Jan. 30, required that executive departments slash two regulations for every new regulation they create.

In addition, Trump has stacked his administration with Cabinet members and directors dedicated to undermining the statutory goals and objectives of the agencies they have been appointed to lead. These include Scott Pruitt, a longtime foe of environmental protection, to head the Environmental Protection Agency; Betsy DeVos, a right-wing heiress and foe of public schools, to lead the Department of Education; and tea party zealot Mick Mulvaney to serve as director of the Office of Management and Budget and, more recently, as acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Policies adopted by DeVos and Pruitt have sparked several high-profile lawsuits that will take years to resolve.

  The Justice Department, under the leadership of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, has also gotten into the business of deregulation. The department recently announced that it had revoked 25 policies that had been in place since 1975. Among the policies sent to the dustbin were those that encouraged the department to enforce restrictions on some interstate shipments of firearms, give guidance to local law enforcement to refrain from imposing excessive fines on poor people, and advise public agencies on integrating disabled employees more completely into their workplaces.

The #MeToo Movement

   Along with shameless economic inequality and racism, sexual harassment in all its various guises has long been among America’s nastiest vices. Worse, harassment on and off the job often went unpunished and ignored, swept under the rug by an “old boys” network that sought to normalize and excuse misconduct as “locker-room talk” or otherwise healthy heterosexual behavior.

   No more.

   Thanks to the allegations of abuse brought by 19 women against Trump during the campaign, and to the many women who have come forward with tales of assault and rape against rich and powerful men like movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, the #MeToo movement has emerged as a powerful force, spawning a spate of firings and resignations in both the public and private sectors.

    At least six senators have called for Trump to resign for his abusive history, including Democrats Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Kamala Harris of California and independent Bernie Sanders of Vermont.

   The movement has also prompted a wave of litigation and related developments in the legal system. In November, famed attorney David Boies lost The New York Times as a client as a result of his firm’s alleged role in helping to cover up Weinstein’s abuse history. More recently, 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Alex Kozinski was forced to resign in the face of sexual misconduct complaints by former law clerks and female colleagues dating from the mid-1980s. The movement will only gather steam in 2018.

#FakeNews, the First Amendment and Net Neutrality

   Still another signature of the Trump campaign and mode of governance has been hostility to the news media, the First Amendment and internet neutrality.

    Trump began his presidential bid with a series of blistering attacks on the mainstream media. In a February 2016 appearance on Fox News he said, “We ought to open up the libel laws,” thus making it easier to sue journalists who write critical things about him.

   Since then, he has railed almost daily on Twitter and elsewhere against #FakeNews whenever the press has gotten under his skin with stories about his conduct and public commentary. The administration has even threatened to ban individual reporters, such as CNN’s Jim Acosta, from attending White House news briefings.

   In an important step toward reinstating Cold War-style censorship, the Justice Department demanded in September that the television network RT America register as a “foreign agent” in order to remain on the air. Faced with being shuttered, the network has complied.

  But perhaps the most significant attack on press freedoms during Trump’s first year came earlier this month when the Federal Communications Commission voted 3-2 to end the Obama-era policy of net neutrality. Henceforth, broadband behemoths like AT&T and Verizon will be allowed to control the speed of internet traffic, speeding up some websites and slowing down others, and imposing access fees on content providers, which could squeeze alternative publications out of the electronic marketplace. Legal observers expect a number of lawsuits to be filed in January, challenging the new policies.

The Mueller Investigation, Presidential Pardons and the Specter of Impeachment

   Of all the legal battles of 2017, none was more vital than the investigation into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential race, conducted by Robert S. Mueller III. And none will be more critical heading into the new year.

   To date, as I have previously reported, Mueller has indicted two top Trump campaign aides—Paul Manafort and Rick Gates—on charges of money laundering, failing to register as foreign agents, conspiracy against the United States, and other serious federal felonies stemming from their work on behalf of the former pro-Russia government of Ukraine. In addition, Trump’s first national security chief, Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, has pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his post-election contacts with Russia’s then-Ambassador Sergey Kislyak about the lifting of U.S. sanctions. And former foreign policy adviser George “Coffee Boy” Papadopoulos has pleaded guilty to lying about his attempts during the campaign to obtain dirt on Hillary Clinton, including her 30,000 deleted emails, from Russian sources.

   No one seriously believes that Mueller is finished. Both Donald Trump Jr. and the president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, are on the hook for various acts and omissions that fall within Mueller’s broad mandate to investigate “any links/and or coordination between Donald Trump’s election campaign and Russia, and any matters that may arise directly from the investigation.” The president is also in jeopardy for possible obstruction of justice.

Because Mueller shows no signs of letting up next year, a host of critical questions will come to a head:

   Will the Mueller probe provoke Trump to pardon his family members should they, too, be indicted?

   Will Trump take the unprecedented step of pardoning himself if Mueller concludes that he is indeed guilty of obstruction and provides Congress with grounds for impeachment?

    Will Trump fire Mueller in a desperate attempt to end the Russiagate inquiry, as a number of Republican House members and the president’s Fox News echo chamber have urged?

    Will the nation survive the ensuing constitutional crisis if Trump takes any or all of the above steps?

  Stay tuned. 2018 is shaping up to be a most fateful and interesting year.

© 2017 TruthDig

Bill Blum is a former administrative law judge and death penalty defense attorney. He is the author of three legal thrillers published by Penguin/Putnam and a contributing writer for California Lawyer Magazine. His non-fiction work has appeared in a wide variety of publications, ranging from The Nation and The Progressive to the Los Angeles Times, the L.A. Weekly and Los Angeles Magazine.

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"The master class has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles. The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject class has had nothing to gain and everything to lose--especially their lives." Eugene Victor Debs