SB Rally to Join with National May Day Pro-Democracy Protests; #1 100 Days Yarn; Why Elon Wants Your Data
In the latest set of national, anti-Trump demonstrations, labor and immigrant groups join with Indivisible Santa Barabara to mark International Workers' Day
At 6:30 p.m. today (Thursday May 1), a coalition of Santa Barbara organizations working to oppose Donald Trump’s extremist agenda have scheduled a rally at the Courthouse steps - one of hundreds such demonstrations planned across the country.
In 2025, May Day, traditionally observed as International Workers’ Day in celebration of the struggle for the eight-hour work day, is an apt occasion to protest Trump’s cuts to safety net programs for families, seniors and students, organizers said, as well his attacks on immigrants and the rule of law.
“May Day is an historic day of action for organized labor and immigrant rights,” Ian Paige, a leader of Indivisible Santa Barbara, said in a written statement.
“We chose our courthouse for our May Day rally because it stands for equal justice under law,” he added. “On May 1, we will gather on those historic grounds to defend the rights of our neighbors against the assault being waged against them—and the rule of law—by Trump, Musk and their MAGA sycophants.”
The latest in a series anti-Trump demonstrations, locally and in cities around the nation, the May 1 rally comes as polls show a remarkable decline in popular approval for his presidency - as well as sharp disagreement with many of his right-wing policies, few of which he emphasized in last year’s campaign.
Just four months into his term, Trump has broken all records for voter unhappiness with a president after just 100 days in office, amid sweeping and reckless governmentr cuts, including some aimed at low-income students, along wit planned, discussed or ongoing reductions in Social Security and Medicaid programs - as well as harsh immigration actions, including the illegal deportations of people in the U.S. legally, and extra-legal arrests by foreign students by masked government agents.
According to a release from SB rally planners, “May Day Strong” will call for:
An immediate halt to attacks on immigrants, Black, Indigenous, trans, and other targeted communities;
Compliance with the rule of law;
Union protections, fair wages, and dignity for all workers—regardless of race, zip code, and immigration status;
Organizers said that scheduled speakers include: Social Security Works PAC President Jon Bauman, Buellton Mayor David Silva and SB Council member Wendy Santamaria.
If you read only one 100 Days piece…Approximately 89,567,825,613 stories, news analyses and commentaries about Trump’s first 100 days in office appeared in Newsmakers’ inbox in the past five days and — amazing but true — we read wayyyy too many of them.
The good news, however: Now you don’t have to!
In any case, pretty much all you need to know is included in 100 bite-size chunks — their corporate brand! - by USA Today’s Susan Page and Zac Anderson in a breezy collaboration, “Trump’s first 100 days: Here’ 100 Things that have changed (so far).”
They write:
“From the structure of the global economy to the use of plastic straws, Donald Trump's second term has already overseen a whirlwind of change.
“Not since Franklin Roosevelt has a new president driven so many shifts, so fast. Actually, Trump may have FDR beat on the signature first-100-days marker, even though his predecessor was inaugurated with a Great Depression to tackle.”
Oh yeah, that whole Depression thing. This guy, on the other hand, had a perfectly fine economy he just needed to tank.
If even one yarn is too much heavy-lifting, here’s a list of our Top 10 items:
Egg prices are up!
The mob boss president destroyed national security alliances, treaties and agreements that kept the U.S. and its (ex) allies secure for (checks notes) 80 years.
Odds of a recession have doubled ; consumer confidence: decreased by a third.
Measles are back - Finally! The 800 cases identified in the U.S. to date in Trump’s first year are nearly three times the total in 2024.
The U.S., for the first time in our history, slapped tariffs on seals and penguins (just wait ‘til we start tariffing tuxedos, ya’ little bastards).
Tourists from around the world don’t want to come here any more.
People are actually rooting for Harvard. We didn’t think that was possible.
In a display of
blatant bribery and corruptionentrepreneurial aptitude, Trump has made $550 million on his new cryptoscambusiness since he took office.Showing his sober concern for the sacredness of the Constitution, he’s selling “Trump 2028” hats for $50 while refusing to rule out running for a third term.
Trump behaved so badly — to Canada - that voters in Our Neighbor to the North, against all odds, just kept the Liberal Party in power — after it was 20 points behind when he took office.
Only 1,360 days until Inauguration Day 2029.
This is why Musk wanted the data. One of the more stomach-churning narratives of the first 100 days is the way that Elon Musk’s army of laptop-toting incels repeatedly federal agencies, humiliating and riding roughshod over government employees, in the manner of the Red Guards, before uploading or duplicating digital files of sensitive personal data of American citizens, often amid fierce objections by the bullied public servants.
Now we know why.
In a must-read piece chillingly headlined, “‘This Is What We Are Always Scared Of: DOGE Is Building a Surveillance State”: tech writer and investigative journalist Julia Angwin connected the dots this week in the New York Times.
Angwin explained that since 1974, the Federal Privacy Act has explicitly prohibited the government from consolidating personal data of Americans which has been collected or stored in individual agencies.
The measure was passed after a lengthy political fight triggered by President Lyndon Johnson’s bid to combine all of a person’s federal record in a massive national “data bank.” Since the privacy act, there’s been little effort to restart the idea — until now.
At the behest of Musk, Trump last month signed an executive order aimed at overturning the decades-long policy. Angwin writes:
“DOGE is assembling a sprawling domestic surveillance system for the Trump administration — the likes of which we have never seen in the United States.
“President Trump could soon have the tools to satisfy his many grievances by swiftly locating compromising information about his political opponents or anyone who simply annoys him.
“The administration has already declared that it plans to comb through tax records to find the addresses of immigrants it is investigating — a plan so morally and legally challenged, it prompted several top I.R.S. officials to quit in protest. Some federal workers have been told that DOGE is using artificial intelligence to sift through their communications to identify people who harbor anti-Musk or -Trump sentiment (and presumably punish or fire them).
“What this amounts to is a stunningly fast reversal of our long history of siloing government data to prevent its misuse. In their first 100 days, Mr. Musk and Mr. Trump have knocked down the barriers that were intended to prevent them from creating dossiers on every U.S. resident. Now they seem to be building a defining feature of many authoritarian regimes: comprehensive files on everyone so they can punish those who protest.”
Angwin concludes:
“This should be a bipartisan issue. Because once we create a database of ruin, none of us are safe from having our information — no matter how innocuous — used against us.”
Read the whole thing here.
Image: From home page of Indivisible Santa Barbara, one of the organizers of tonight’s May Day rally (Screen grab).