We Resist: Day 680

One of the difficulties in resisting the Trump administration, the Republican Congressional majority, and Republican state legislatures (plus the occasional non-Republican who obliges us to resist their nonsense, too, like we don't have enough to worry about) is keeping on top of the sheer number of horrors, indignities, and normalization of the aggressively abnormal that they unleash every single day.

So here is a daily thread for all of us to share all the things that are going on, thus crowdsourcing a daily compendium of the onslaught of conservative erosion of our rights and our very democracy.

Stay engaged. Stay vigilant. Resist.

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Earlier today by me: "Guidance Regarding Political Activity" Forbids Resistance; Will Constrain Whistleblowers and Trump Wanted to Give Putin $50M Trump Tower Penthouse During the 2016 Campaign and Democrats Are on It.

Here are some more things in the news today...

Of course. And of course the Kremlin is making it public, to ensure we all know that Trump is still Putin's puppet and doesn't have the power to cancel their meeting. https://t.co/BYgnOwOI4j

— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) November 30, 2018

Andrew Roth at the Guardian: 'Danger Never Went Away': Ukrainian Cities Feel Cornered by Russia. "Even before the clash on Sunday in which Russia's coastguard seized three Ukrainian ships, Moscow had spent months strangling the sea trade into the vulnerable Ukrainian port cities between mainland Russia and Crimea. ...'It began this summer, the Russian federation's answer to us,' said Alexander Barchan, the head of the Berdyansk sea port authority, in an interview at his offices by the docks. Year on year, he said, shipping had already dropped 50%. 'I think we can safely call it an economic blockade. We're losing cargo flow, we're losing profit. We've moved just half the cargo that we did in previous years.' Russia has denied any disruption to Ukrainian shipping. Asked how long it could continue, Barchan paused, put up his hands and said: 'We don't even want to speculate.' The emergence of a naval front has ignited concerns that the simmering conflict between Russia and Ukraine could lead to open war."

By unanimous consent Senate just passed a resolution condemning Russia for their attacks on Ukraine and demanding the release of the 24 sailors Russia has taken as well as the 3 ships https://t.co/s643QDT5vX

— Olga Lautman (@olgaNYC1211) November 30, 2018

Good. Unfortunately, our president is still a fucking puppet of Putin.

Speaking of which... Carol D. Leonnig and Josh Dawsey at the Washington Post: 'Individual 1': Trump Emerges as a Central Subject of Mueller Probe. "In two major developments this week, [Donald] Trump has been labeled in the parlance of criminal investigations as a major subject of interest, complete with an opaque legal code name: 'Individual 1.' New evidence from two separate fronts of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III's investigation casts fresh doubts on Trump's version of key events involving Russia, signaling potential political and legal peril for the president."

Relatedly, Politico's Kyle Cheney reports: "Prosecutors are considering retrying Manafort on the 10 charges that resulted in a hung jury in Virginia in August. They're also still weighing whether to file new charges based on what they say is Manafort's breach of the plea agreement."

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[Content Note: War; death] Staff at the Daily Beast: U.S. Airstrike in Afghanistan Killed 23 Civilians, Mostly Women and Children, Says U.N. "A U.S. airstrike in Afghanistan on Tuesday killed as many as 23 civilians, mostly women and children, according to the United Nations. Investigators say that as many as 10 children and eight women may have been killed in the strike on a compound in Helmand province. The U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan said Tuesday's helicopter strike took place amid a firefight between Afghan special forces and Taliban fighters, and that the Taliban had been using the compound 'as a fighting position' and accused the militants of using civilians as human shields. ...The U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan has recorded 649 civilian casualties (dead and injured) as a result of aerial attacks in the first nine months of this year — the highest since records began in 2009."

[CN: Nativism; child abuse] Laura C. Morel and Patrick Michels at the Texas Tribune: No One on the Inside Can Talk About What's Happening at the Tent City for Migrant Kids.

Months after the government erected a tent city in the desert, most of what happens inside the encampment remains hidden, even from curious neighbors in the nearby town of 1,600 residents. The only images of the minors in the camp, standing outside in an orderly line or playing soccer, have been released by the Department of Health and Human Services.

"We have the same access that the whole world has," said Tornillo schools Superintendent Rosy Vega-Barrio, "which is none."

There is one local organization that gets inside the camp regularly: Diocesan Migrant & Refugee Services. The El Paso legal nonprofit is among dozens of groups funded by the government to provide legal services to immigrant children in custody.

But lawyers at Diocesan Migrant & Refugee Services, known locally as DMRS, can't speak publicly about the children at Tornillo. Their contract prohibits them from talking to the media, Executive Director Melissa Lopez said in an interview. It's another aspect of the conflict of interest built into the funding for legal aid, which also prevents lawyers from taking the government to court to get children released.

There is much more at the link.

Zack Whittaker at Techcrunch: Marriott Says 500 Million Starwood Guest Records Stolen in Massive Data Breach. "Starwood Hotels has confirmed its hotel guest database of about 500 million customers has been stolen in a data breach. The hotel and resorts giant said in a statement filed with U.S. regulators that the 'unauthorized access' to its guest database was detected on or before September 10 — but may have dated back as far as 2014. ...Some 327 million records contained a guest's name, postal address, phone number, date of birth, gender, email address, passport number, Starwood's rewards information (including points and balance), arrival and departure information, reservation date, and their communication preferences. Starwood said an unknown number of records contained encrypted credit card data, but has 'not been able to rule out' that the components needed to decrypt the data wasn't also taken."

Scott Bland at Politico: Pro-Bernie Group Hacked in Quarter-Million-Dollar Email Scam. "The political nonprofit launched by Sen. Bernie Sanders in 2016 lost nearly a quarter-million dollars to an email scam that year, according to new tax documents obtained by Politico. Our Revolution 'was the victim of a Business E-Mail Compromise scam that took place in December 2016 but was not discovered until January 2017, resulting in the loss of approximately $242,000 via an electronic transfer of funds to an overseas account,' the group disclosed in its tax forms covering the year 2017, which were filed earlier this month." If it was discovered almost two years ago, why are we only hearing about it now?

[CN: Anti-semitism] Ryan Mac at BuzzFeed: Sheryl Sandberg Emailed Staff to Conduct Research on Billionaire George Soros. "Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg requested research on a perceived company enemy, the billionaire George Soros, according to an internal email described to BuzzFeed News and confirmed by Facebook. Sandberg has previously said that she was unaware of the work done by Definers Public Affairs, a communications firm that Facebook hired for public relations and opposition research on competitors and critics, including Soros. ...While a Facebook spokesperson maintains that Sandberg did not direct Definers, it now acknowledges that she did in fact request research on Soros following comments he made at the World Economic Forum in January." She's really leaning in to Facebook's values, eh?

[CN: Climate change; environmental racism] Yessenia Funes at Earther: Climate Change Threatens Priceless Knowledge Held by Indigenous Communities, Federal Report Warns.

There are myriad ways society can benefit from indigenous knowledge. For instance, climate scientists are now working with Alaskan Native hunters to document changing Arctic ice conditions. However, the people who rely on this knowledge every day — to subsistence hunt, for example — are struggling to come to terms with the changes they're seeing on their land. These changes are outside historical patterns, so this traditional knowledge? In some cases, it seems to be losing its place.

That caribou's migration route may have changed. Or that herb used for ceremony isn't blooming during its usual time. These sorts of changes have severe impacts on indigenous peoples' health, both physical and mental. The assessment doesn't shy away from this reality. It states:

Indigenous health is based on interconnected social and ecological systems that are being disrupted by a changing climate. As these changes continue, the health of individuals and communities will be uniquely challenged by climate impacts to lands, waters, foods, and other plant and animal species. These impacts threaten sites, practices, and relationships with cultural, spiritual, or ceremonial importance that are foundational to Indigenous peoples' cultural heritages, identities, and physical and mental health.

Losing their sense of place and associated cultural practices will be devastating for indigenous communities, said [Elizabeth Brabec, the director of the Center for Heritage and Society]. There's actually a term for this loss: solastalgia.

"That's going to destabilize culture, and it's going to destabilize communities," Berbac told Earther.

And finally, to bring today's thread full circle with a giant lolsob...

From the WSJ pic.twitter.com/cxZn5gLPsi

— scott horsley (@HorsleyScott) November 29, 2018

*jumps into Christmas tree*

What have you been reading that we need to resist today?