First They Came for the Cartoon Characters...

We all knew the Trump administration considered Sid the Science Kid a bigger threat than inappropriate ties to the Russian government; apparently, they also consider Sesame Street a parasitic neighborhood, living, as it does, off the welfare state, or somesuch nonsense.

Yeah, that's a rough bunch, right there!

On the chopping block for Trump's budget - along with Meals on Wheels and science and medical research - is the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which would be completely eliminated. That means goodbye NPR, PBS, and tons of other non-profit, for-the-good-of-actual-human-beings TV and radio stations. (It's worth mentioning, I think, that NPR ratings are the highest they've ever been, in a time when many for-profit media outlets have been tightening their belts, in large part because people trust them to be unbiased - privatization is hardly a guarantor of success, much less trustworthiness.) The administration argues that these can be successfully privatized - which is true for big cities, maybe, although private ownership means less likelihood that the content will be purely for the public good, rather than Big Business benefit. So, again, privatization in order to benefit the wealthy, and a big "screw you" to everyone else. 

And an especially big "sucks to be you" for rural communities, who will also be dealing with the elimination of the Economic Development Administration, which gives grants to struggling communities, and the Appalachian Regional Commission, as well as the Delta Regional Authority and the Northern Border Regional Commission. They are, of course, also targeting the EPA, NEH, NEA, IMLS, public education (specifically targeting teacher education and summer and after-school programs), small businesses, and so much more.

Why are these programs being cut?

“When you start looking at places that we reduce spending, one of the questions we asked was, can we really continue to ask a coal miner in West Virginia or a single mom in Detroit to pay for these programs? The answer was no,” Mulvaney told MSNBC’s Morning Joe. “We can ask them to pay for defense, and we will, but we can’t ask them to continue to pay for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.”[Source]

The administration thinks coal miners shouldn't have to pay for such luxury programs; but cutting CPB, IMLS, NEH, etc., actually hurts coal miners and other rural citizens more than anyone else. For instance, rural areas stand to lose far more than big cities if you cut the NEA. Now, I'm not a coal miner. If I were a coal miner, however, I'd be frankly insulted by the insinuation that I am all and only about the labor that can be extracted from me. The implication is that coal miners and other rural citizens don't want or need strong public education, access to media, libraries, museums, clean water and air, non-toxic backyards, insurance, community improvements, etc. All we rural folk need is a strong military in case some unspecified war pops up that we can send our kids to fight in! (Once they're out of the military, though, they're on their own.) I think it's disgusting that this administration seems to believe poor rural citizens do not need, want, or deserve such programs, which are vital to our growth as human beings, individually and communally.

Of course, rural people aren't the only ones who'll suffer under this budget. Poor urban dwellers and the homeless are looking at tough times, too.

And I can't help but wonder why Trump wants to boost an already inflated military budget. Our military spending dwarfs that of the rest of the world.

And, let's be honest, if Trump really wanted to watch U.S. spending, we know where he should start:

[Source]

Pretty picture time! While today is most commonly celebrated as St. Patrick's Day, it is also St. Gertrude's Day! St. Gertrude is the patron saint of cats, so here's a picture of a pretty cat:

Kitten Ranga!

Links!

• A Very Timely St. Patrick's Day Special Section!
• When America Despised the Irish: The 19th Century’s Refugee Crisis "These days it’s not just the 32 million Americans—10 percent of the country’s population—with predominantly Irish roots who celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. Even those without Celtic blood now don green clothes and hoist pints of Guinness on March 17 to be Irish for a day. There was a time, however, when the thought of Americans honoring all things Irish was unimaginable." It's a very familiar story - fleeing famine and political conflict at home, only to be faced with racism, religious discrimination, and more violence on our shores. Think about that as you celebrate the Irish today. 
•  Related: Irish PM tells Trump: ‘St Patrick was an immigrant’
  
  
  


• Library Land
• Slightly related to the above, Trump's 'Irish proverb' confuses the internet on St Patrick's Day It wasn't a proverb; it's almost definitely not Irish, either. The article also shows how hard it can be to track down quotes, as well as the differences in approach that Obama's and Trump's speech writers apparently take in crafting what the President will say.
• If you'd like to read something actually Irish: Read Me, I’m Irish: 24 Books by Irish-American Poets 
• Speaking of difficulty tracking things down: Uncovering the Hidden Books Tucked Inside Every Single Library "There’s no standard way to catalog anonymous texts, which makes them incredibly hard to find." 
• Health, Science, & Technology
• 5 Changes Coming to Hurricane Season Forecasts "As hurricane season approaches, the National Hurricane Center has updated its messaging and forecasts to keep us safe. Some of these improvements, announced last week, have been in the works for a decade."
• The Scary Thing About GMO That Nobody’s Talking About  "Slowly but surely, we’re surrendering the ways and means of food production to private interests. We’re entrusting the most fundamental aspect of our survival to institutions with no accountability to the public, and who in many cases have repeatedly violated the public trust. This isn’t just risky, it’s reckless." 
•  International
• Turkish Artist and Journalist Sentenced to Two Years for Painting "Authorities claim that Zehra Doğan endangered security by depicting an ongoing military operation in Nusaybin, but in fact her painting was based on a government photograph that showed the same scene."
• Donald Trump refuses to shake Angela Merkel's hand  He's probably frightened because he thinks uranium does bad things, m'kay? And she knows a thing or three about uranium. 
• Also, why did Trump think it wise to remind Merkel the NSA had tapped her phone?
• US makes formal apology to Britain after White House accuses GCHQ of wiretapping Trump Tower This is why it matters what ridiculous thing comes out of Trump's mouth (or gets typed in his Twitter) - a stupid claim becomes an international embarrassment. How long before something he puts out there becomes an international incident?
• Or maybe the White House isn't sorry? Trump Offers No Apology for Claim on British Spying We'll have no allies left, at this rate.
• Rex Tillerson Rejects Talks With North Korea on Nuclear Program "'The policy of strategic patience has ended,' Mr. Tillerson said, a reference to the term used by the Obama administration to describe a policy of waiting out the North Koreans, while gradually ratcheting up sanctions and covert action." I'm now leaning towards WWIII starting with North Korea...
• U.S. News
• Breaking Faith  "Secularism is indeed correlated with greater tolerance of gay marriage and pot legalization. But it’s also making America’s partisan clashes more brutal. And it has contributed to the rise of both Donald Trump and the so-called alt-right movement, whose members see themselves as proponents of white nationalism. As Americans have left organized religion, they haven’t stopped viewing politics as a struggle between 'us' and 'them.' Many have come to define us and them in even more primal and irreconcilable ways."
• Out of prison, then back in? Unique plan aims to break cycle Sounds like an interesting program - and one that might actually work.
• GOP rep splits with Trump on Meals on Wheels "GOP Rep. Chris Collins (N.Y.) says he disagrees with President Trump’s federal budget blueprint, specifically citing its lack of funding for Meals on Wheels.... 'It is one I would never vote to cut even one dollar. I’m not going to try to justify it because it’s not my plan. I do disagree with that.'"
• So, What Happens if Millions of Americans Lose Healthcare Coverage?  "It may seem easy for some to say we simply can’t afford to provide care to everyone or to think it’s a matter of working hard and doing the right thing to pay your own way. The hard reality is that unless we start turning people away from Emergency Departments, all of us are impacted when a considerable number don’t have access to healthcare. What kind of country we want to be, is ultimately what we need to decide."
• A Key Part of the GOP’s Plan to Overhaul the Tax Code Is in Deep Trouble  "The bottom line: A border adjusted tax would cut the 35 percent corporate rate to 20 percent but tax imports, leaving clear winners and losers."
• Secret Service laptop with Trump Tower floor plans stolen in New York "The Secret Service did say the stolen laptop itself could not have contained classified material but could have been used to access such material on a server." Welp...that can't be good.