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Sunday thought: It's time again for good trouble

Time to take action against Trump's mayhem

Robert Reich Jan 18

Friends,

Tomorrow we honor the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr.

Trump has removed MLK Jr.’s birthday from the National Park Service’s fee-free days and substituted his own birthday of June 14 as a fee-free day.

I write this more in sorrow than in anger.

All told, I feel profound sorrow for America. Sorrow for the people of Minneapolis who are enduring this Trump-made hell. Sorrow for Renee Good’s three children and wife.

I also feel sorrow for Greenlanders and Venezuelans and others around the world fearing what the sociopath in the Oval Office may do next. Sorrow for everyone justifiably worried about the future of America and the planet because of him.

I’m old enough to remember when Martin Luther King Jr.’s mission seemed impossible. Just as the mission you and I must now engage in — defeating Trumpism and creating a new and better America out of the rubble and chaos he is wreaking — may seem impossible at this moment.

Martin Luther King Jr. accomplished more than anyone thought he could when he began. He did it with patience and perseverance, with the strength of conviction. He did it with calmness, reason, and quiet passion.

And he did it with civil disobedience — what one of his assistants, the late great congressman John Lewis, called “good trouble.”

Good trouble meant mobilizing the nation against racial injustice by making sure almost everyone saw its horrors. Night after night on the news — watching peaceful civil rights marchers getting clobbered by white supremacists.

I remember watching Bull Connor, commissioner of public safety in Birmingham, and his goons use firehoses and attack dogs against Black people — including children — who were peacefully standing up for their rights.

The scenes horrified America and much of the world. Yet were it not for our painful national exposure to racist brutality, we wouldn’t have gotten the Civil Rights Act or the Voting Rights Act.

I’ve been thinking of those scenes as I’ve watched ICE thugs patrolling Minneapolis. Watched armed agents pulling people out of cars, using chokeholds, demanding proof of citizenship. Masked agents in unmarked vehicles grabbing neighbors off the streets, using tear gas and pepper spray, shooting innocent people exercising their First Amendment rights to protest.

This time it isn’t Bull Connor and his racist goons. It’s Donald Trump, JD Vance, Kristi Noem, Stephen Miller, and their fascist goons. It’s armed agents of the president of the United States who are bullying and brutalizing people. Committing a cold-blooded murder of a middle-class white woman in broad daylight who tried to get out of their way. Shooting and injuring others.

This time it’s Trump and the thugs around him making up stories to justify this brutality, lying about the protester’s motives, and threatening even more brutality.

Take a wider look and you see their lawless bullying on a different scale: a criminal investigation of the chairman of the Federal Reserve Board for failing to lower interest rates as fast as Trump wants. Criminal investigations of U.S. senators and representatives for telling America’s soldiers that they don’t have to follow illegal orders. Criminal investigations of the governor of Minnesota and mayor of Minneapolis for refusing to cooperate with Trump’s brown shirts.

The Justice Department searching the home of a Washington Post reporter and seizing her laptops and other devices.

Trump raising tariffs on our trusted allies — until and unless they support him in taking over Greenland. Greenland!

A crazy old man saying “fuck you, fuck you” and giving the finger to an American factory worker who criticizes him in public. The crazy old man is president of the United States, and the worker has lost his job because he dared criticize that crazy old man.

I remember the good trouble that occurred 65 years ago. I believe it’s time for it again. Time for all of us — every one of us — to cause it.

What kind of good trouble?

A huge national demonstration, far larger than anything before. Everyone in the streets.

A giant general strike where we stop purchasing all products for two weeks (stocking up beforehand).

A massive boycott of all businesses sucking up to Trump.

A coordinated effort to get all our employers, our churches and synagogues, our unions, our universities to condemn this madness.

A loud demand that our members of Congress impeach and convict him of his high crimes.

There is no longer any neutral place to stand. Either you’re standing up for democracy, the rule of law, and social justice, or you’re complicit in the fascist mayhem Trump has unleashed.

That, for me, is the lesson of all this.

Trump and his thugs have brought us to this point. They are the Bull Connors of today.

We stand with the people of Minneapolis and with the people of every other town and city where Trump’s thugs are prowling or will prowl, and where people are resisting.

We stand with the citizens of Greenland and Venezuela. With Canadians and Europeans. With every nation now threatened by Trump’s lawless abuses of power.

We stand proudly and sturdily everywhere the bright lights of freedom and truth still shine.

We will overcome the darkness of Trump’s fascism. We reject the hate, the bigotry, the fear, and the murderous lawlessness of his regime. We dedicate ourselves to causing good trouble -- ending this mayhem, and building a new and better America.

**

@amyzellmer

Amy Zellmer on Instagram: "The song is truly a bop!"

Star: No time for NIMBYism, wind power is needed now Misleading, outdated information about wind turbines is causing unnecessary alarm

 AS HIGHLIGHTED IN A PREVIOUS ARTICLE, DIRTY ENERGY KOCH HAS FUNDED 

MISINFORMATION, DISINFORMATION AND LOTS OF BOGUS THINK TANKS TO 

PROMOTE THEIR INTERESTS HISTORICALLY AND FUNDED ATTACKS AND

OPPOSITION TO PRESIDENT OBAMA TO PREVENT HIM FROM IMPLEMENTING 

CHANGE.  


I SAVED THE ARTICLE BELOW FROM 2009 THAT HIGHLIGHTS THE FAILURES TO 

ADDRESS CLIMATE CHANGE AND REDUCE OUR DEPENDENCE ON DIRTY ENERGY.


PLEASE NOTE THAT RFK JR OPPOSED AN OFFSHORE WIND TURBINE PROJECT 

THAT WOULD SPOIL HIS VIEW!

TRUMP IS WALLOWING IN DIRTY ENERGY $$$ AND IGNORES THE FUTURE.....

 CHALLENGING OFFSHORE WIND PROJECTS THAT WILL POWER MILLIONS OF 

HOMES, SLASHING FUNDING FOR PROJECTS THAT WILL REDUCE ENERGY 

CONSUMPTION...... 

FOLLOW THE MONEY!

OPINION No time for NIMBYism, wind power is needed now   Misleading, outdated information about wind turbines is causing unnecessary alarm Feb 12, 2009 04:30 AM Marilyn Churley After decades on the outside fighting to get in, environmental activists are finally in a position to make things happen. I watched Barack Obama's inaugural address on a big-screen TV at Queen's Park with members of the Green Energy Act Alliance, a coalition of environmental, farming, community and native groups. We all cheered when Obama talked about renewable energy and the new economy. Since then, the new president has kept his word and allocated hundreds of billions of dollars for clean power and public transportation while placing key scientists and policy-makers in cabinet to support his new initiatives. Toronto and other cities have also been leading the way for years. As a city councillor in the late 1980s, I am proud to have introduced the Energy Efficiency Office at city hall and helped in the creation of the Toronto Atmospheric Fund. More recently, under the leadership of Mayor David Miller, the city has set aggressive targets for greenhouse gas emissions. At the provincial level, Minister of Energy and Infrastructure George Smitherman recently announced the signing of long-term contracts for six new wind energy projects. And Premier Dalton McGuinty has announced his government's plans for a new Green Energy Act, advocated by the Green Energy Act Alliance, which will include a streamlined regulatory and approvals process for green energy projects. Significantly, McGuinty announced in a speech earlier in the week that "NIMBYism will no longer prevail," in response to local opposition to wind farms based on a range of concerns. Opponents fear large wind turbines will kill birds, destroy beautiful views, have some, as yet unspecified, health effects, and lower property values. Perhaps the most infamous case of NIMBYism is well-known environmentalist Bobby Kennedy Jr.'s fight against an offshore wind farm proposed near the Kennedy family cottage in Cape Cod, Mass. (For the record, after an eight-year battle, the project was approved after exhaustive environmental and economic studies showed negligible impacts.) In Ontario, a new province-wide group has emerged to fight wind turbine production in large parts of rural Ontario. In Scarborough, a community group is up in arms over the mere placement of a wind research platform offshore in Lake Ontario to measure the wind resource for possible future wind generation. I'm all for citizen involvement – having been a community environmental activist for years – but let's get some perspective here. Study after study demonstrates that the trigger point for severe climate change is closer than previously thought, and the consequences even more dire. To put a fine point on it, we need action now. Studies conclude that by 2030 renewable energy could provide up to one-third of all global power, and energy efficiency and conservation could reduce greenhouse gases by more than 25 per cent. Just to slow the pace sufficiently to avoid some of the certain catastrophic results demands that we do it all and do it now. Scientists say delays in significant action would mean failing to contain global warming to less than 2 degrees Celsius, which is the level they say must be met to prevent its most severe impacts. If that happens, all bets are off. Wind power is a critical part of the mix as it's the fastest growing source of electric generation around the world. I am not saying that every proposed site is going to be appropriate and I am not reducing all opposition to NIMBYism, but there is plenty of misleading and outdated information being used that is causing unnecessary alarm (for instance, the design of modern turbines has greatly reduced danger to birds). So yes, of course, there must be a transparent and robust environmental assessment process that examines all aspects of a proposed siting with real input from affected communities. We just don't have the luxury of stringing out alternative energy project processes for years. We need solutions now. Global climate change is having environmental impacts that make short-term concerns about wind turbines pale in comparison. We need these projects and we are going to need a lot more like them if we are to wean ourselves off fossil fuel energy. Better to take appropriate steps now than have birds dying in their nests and whole species and ecosystems disappearing – which, by the way, is already starting to happen. And while changing our light bulbs and taking public transportation are part of the solution, they are not going to get coal plants shut down. The Kyoto Protocol agreement on climate change ends in 2012 and we are not even close to meeting our targets. Governments are preparing for the next phase and will meet in Copenhagen in December 2009 to sign a new agreement. Ontario has a chance to be a leader in Canada and the world. So I say urgently to my friends who care about the environment and future generations, we cannot be split on this issue. We want coal plants closed, no new nuclear or gas plants and we hate the dirty Alberta tar sands. We are going to be laughed out of town if we don't fully and aggressively support all forms of renewable power – including wind power. Ontario has the chance to seriously tackle climate change, shut down its coal plants and, as a very important added benefit these days, stay competitive with the United States under a pro-green Obama administration. We can be world leaders, build the technology here, employ thousands of Ontarians and save our planet all at the same time. Let's not blow it. Marilyn Churley is a former Ontario NDP cabinet minister, Toronto city councillor and co-founder of Citizens for a Safe Environment.   http://www.thestar.com/comment/article/586185

 

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BREAKING: Trump Hit With $310M Lawsuit Alleging “Epstein‑Identical” Sex‑Trafficking Venture

Trump, Elon Musk, Bill Gates named in wild new civil complaint out of Palm Beach County

Dean Blundell Dec 3

December 2, 2025

Just when you think the Epstein story has squeezed every last drop of horror out of American public life, Florida says: hold my drink.

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A new lawsuit filed in Palm Beach County is accusing Donald Trump of running a “trafficking venture” that the plaintiffs say is “identical in every material respect” to Jeffrey Epstein’s sex‑trafficking operation.

Yes, that Epstein.
Yes, Trump is named in both his individual and official capacity as president.
And because 2020‑something is written by whoever scripted “Black Mirror,” the suit also drags in Elon Musk and Bill Gates.

Let’s unpack this circus.

What just landed in court?

According to the filing (reported by hyper‑local outlet BOCA News Now), an anonymous lead plaintiff and other redacted plaintiffs have launched a $310 million civil lawsuit in Palm Beach County.

They’re asking for:

• At least $310 million in compensatory damages

• More than $134 million in attorneys’ fees

• A laundry list of injunctions, including:

  • The “immediate return of full legal and physical custody” of the lead plaintiff’s daughter

  • Limits on what the defendants can do going forward

They even want the court to fast‑track the whole thing and get a jury trial by Dec. 20.

No chill. Zero.

Who’s getting sued?

The short version: a whole billionaire bingo card.

Named defendants include:

• Donald Trump – in his personal capacity and in his official capacity as president at the time

• Elon Musk – tech king, professional main character of the internet

• Bill Gates – philanthropist, Microsoft founder, guy forever explaining why he hung around Jeffrey Epstein at all

• Other entities and individuals (some redacted, some government‑related, depending on how much of the complaint you’ve seen)

The through‑line: plaintiffs say these people were part of an “eight‑year trafficking and exploitation venture” that kicked off around 2018 and supposedly “continued and escalated under the current Trump administration.”

So the allegation isn’t just “Trump knew Epstein.” It’s: Trump and friends ran their own Epstein‑style operation.

Again: allegation, not fact. That distinction matters unless you enjoy defamation lawsuits.

The “Epstein‑identical” part

This is the heart of it.

The complaint says Trump and the other defendants:

• Ran a trafficking scheme that was “identical in every material respect” to Epstein’s:

  • Grooming a vulnerable young girl from childhood

  • Using wealth, status, and connections as leverage

  • Threatening consequences if she spoke up

• Used foundations and philanthropy as a “cover and silencing mechanism”

  • The suit specifically name‑checks the Gates Foundation as a key way to launder reputations and keep everyone quiet

• Orchestrated “coordinated sexual assaults” that mirrored what’s been alleged in Epstein‑world for years

If you’re thinking, “That sounds like a Netflix true‑crime series someone pitched and got told to tone it down,” same.

The lead plaintiff’s story (as she tells it)

The lead plaintiff isn’t named; her identity is redacted. Here’s what the lawsuit claims on her behalf:

• Grooming since birth:
  The suit says Trump started “grooming” her in 1998—the year she was born. The implication is that powerful adults had their eyes on her from day one.

• Full‑blown trafficking by 2018:
  By 2018, according to the filing, this had escalated into an “eight‑year trafficking and exploitation venture” that allegedly involved multiple defendants, coordinated assaults, and high‑level cover‑ups.

• Her infant daughter taken as punishment:
  One of the darkest claims: the plaintiff says her infant daughter was taken from her as punishment for filing lawsuits.
  The complaint argues this tactic was “identical to Epstein’s use of custody threats against mothers who sued.”

• Multiple attempts on her life:
  The lawsuit goes even further, accusing Trump and others of having “attempted to murder” her at least five times.
  We’re talking about:

  • Alleged poisoning

  • Vehicular attacks

  • Orchestrated physical assaults made to look like accidents

If you’re sitting there going, “That sounds…extreme,” you’re not alone. The bar to file a civil complaint is not the same as the bar to prove it.

This is one side of the story, written by or for the plaintiffs. We haven’t seen evidence tested in court, and we haven’t seen the defendants respond.

Where does Epstein actually fit into this?

The Epstein comparison is doing a lot of work here.

The plaintiffs are essentially saying:

“You know the Epstein operation? That—but with this cast, this timeline, and these tactics.”

Specifically, they’re arguing:

• The structure of the alleged abuse—grooming, coercion, retaliation—is a carbon copy.

• The alleged use of custody threats and legal intimidation mirrors what’s been described in some Epstein‑adjacent cases.

• The appeal to wealth, power, and foundations looks like a remix of the same elite‑protection machine that let Epstein operate for years.

Important line in the sand:

• Jeffrey Epstein: Convicted sex offender, later charged with federal sex‑trafficking, died in jail awaiting trial.

• Donald Trump / Elon Musk / Bill Gates in this case:

  • Named as civil defendants in a new lawsuit.

  • Not criminally charged in connection with this complaint.

  • Have previously denied wrongdoing in relation to Epstein.

You can see why the plaintiffs lean on the Epstein name—it nukes the room on contact. But courts aren’t Twitter; they still have to ask, “Okay, but what can you prove?”

So, is Trump charged with trafficking?

Short answer: Not yet.

Longer answer:

• This is a civil lawsuit, not a criminal indictment.

• The plaintiffs are suing for money and court orders, not prison time.

• The standard here is “more likely than not”, not “beyond a reasonable doubt.”

• The complaint itself notes that Trump is not facing active criminal charges over Epstein and that he has denied any wrongdoing.

So you’ll see headlines like:

“Trump sued for ‘Epstein‑identical’ trafficking venture”

What you won’t see (accurately, anyway) is:

“Trump charged with Epstein‑style trafficking crimes”

That’s not what this is.

What happens next (in the real world, not on Twitter)

Here’s what this actually looks like in a courtroom, not in your group chat:

1. The judge reads this thing and decides what survives the first round.

   • Some claims may get tossed immediately as too vague or legally impossible.

   • Others might limp forward into discovery.

2. The defendants’ lawyers file motions to dismiss.
   Expect:

   • “This is frivolous.”

   • “The facts don’t add up.”

   • “The court doesn’t have jurisdiction to do half of what you’re asking.”

3. Absolute war over credibility.

   • Can the plaintiff back up any of this with documents, witnesses, records?

   • Are there prior, related cases? (The filing supposedly references earlier lawsuits and threats.)

   • Do judges in other states buy any part of this narrative?

4. Media spin goes nuclear, no matter what the court does.

   • If the judge lets even one claim survive, you’ll see “TRUMP TRAFFICKING CASE MOVES FORWARD.”

   • If it all gets tossed, you’ll get “BIZARRE, BASELESS LAWSUIT THROWN OUT.”

In the meantime, the internet will do what it does:
Half will take the complaint as gospel.
The other half will decide the plaintiff is lying before they read a single page.

So should you take this seriously?

Yes—and carefully.

You can hold a few truths in your head at the same time:

• Child sex trafficking is real, horrifying, and routinely buried by powerful people.

• Elite men absolutely have used wealth, foundations, and legal threats to silence victims.

• Civil courts do sometimes become home to wild, sprawling, conspiratorial filings that never make it past a judge.

Both things can be true.

If even a fraction of what’s alleged here is real, it’s monstrous and deserves daylight.

If the complaint turns out to be legally or factually flimsy, that matters too—because it muddies the waters for actual survivors who already struggle to be believed.

The Trump, Musk, Gates part

Let’s deal with the giant names on the marquee.

• Trump

  • Has a long, documented social history with Jeffrey Epstein.

  • Has repeatedly denied any involvement in Epstein’s trafficking operation.

  • Is not criminally charged over Epstein.

  • Now finds himself accused in a civil suit of running a similar trafficking venture.

• Elon Musk

  • Has been name‑dropped around the Epstein orbit before, mostly in the context of social overlap and invitations.

  • Has publicly denied a relationship with Epstein.

  • Is now being accused of participating in or benefiting from this alleged “venture.”

• Bill Gates

  • Has admitted meeting Epstein multiple times and called it a “huge mistake.”

  • Has never been charged in connection with Epstein’s crimes.

  • Is now accused of having his foundation used as a “cover and silencing mechanism.”

No court has agreed with any of that, yet. This is one complaint, at the starting line.

Why this is going to blow up anyway

Put yourself in the algorithm’s shoes:

• “Trump.”

• “Sex trafficking.”

• “Epstein.”

• “Elon Musk.”

• “Bill Gates.”

• “Infant taken as punishment.”

• “Attempted murder by poisoning.”

You think that doesn’t trend?

This story has all the ingredients for maximum discourse:

• Rage fuel for people who think we’ve never really dealt with Epstein’s network.

• Weaponized talking points for politicians who want to paint Trump as uniquely monstrous—or uniquely persecuted.

• Confusion for anyone still trying to figure out what’s actually real in a news cycle built entirely out of vibes.

How to watch this without losing your mind

A few practical rules for you (and your sanity):

1. Separate “this lawsuit exists” from “everything in it is true.”
   “A person filed a lawsuit” is a fact.
   “Every word of the lawsuit is accurate” is not.

2. Look for the first serious legal move.

   • Does the judge smack this down as fantasy?

   • Or does at least one trafficking‑related claim survive?

3. Watch how mainstream outlets treat it.

   • If this stays in the “local oddity” category, that’s one signal.

   • If major investigative shops start digging, that’s another.

4. Leave room for nuance.
   It is entirely possible that:

   • Some allegations are wrong or exaggerated

   • And the plaintiff was still harmed

   • And the legal system still fails survivors most of the time

Reality is rarely as clean as a hashtag.

Final thought

This case could end up being:

• A genuine window into how the ultra‑rich abuse and discard vulnerable people,
  or

• A legally doomed, emotionally raw attempt to make sense of trauma, tied to the most radioactive names on earth.

Right now, we don’t know.

What we do know is that another woman has walked into a Florida courthouse and put the words “Trump,” “Epstein‑identical,” and “trafficking venture” into the public record—along with Musk, Gates, and a story that’s going to haunt the discourse whether it holds up or not.

Believe survivors.
Demand evidence.
Don’t let either side off the hook.

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