Thursday, August 20, 2026

Blake Moore Town hall, Friday, 4:30-6:00, Taggart Center, USU

 Our congressman, Blake Moore, is holding an in-person town hall Friday, August 21, from 4:30-6:00 in the Ballroom of the Taggart Student Center on the Logan campus of Utah State University.  The ballroom is in the northwest corner of the 2nd floor.  Public (paid) parking is available - for information see this site.  Parking in university lots runs the risk of getting a parking ticket from USU. 

Recall that Blake Moore is behind the violation of two wildly popular National Monuments.



Rep Moore takes LOTs of money from PACS and corporations




Examples of looting allowed by Republican House and Mr Moore:
No bid contracts for family and buddies of president,
Insider trading,
Pay-to-play schemes,
Pardons for profit,
 Qatari Bribe-force one, 
Elon Musk escapes almost 2 dozen investigations of his illegal business practices and gets rewarded with new federal contracts,












Alleged Examples of Trump Administration Enrichment & Exploitation
mr Moore and GOP have not tried to stop any of this
CategorySpecific Example & DescriptionEstimated Value / ImpactSourcing & Context
Taxpayer-Funded Slush FundsAttempted to drop a personal $10 billion IRS privacy lawsuit in exchange for establishing a $1.8 billion "Anti-Weaponization" Department of Justice fund to pay political allies and January 6 rioters, while permanently barring audits on prior Trump family tax returns.$1.8 BillionBlocked temporarily in 2026; challenged by congressional Democrats via the No Taxpayer-Funded Settlement Slush Funds Act.
Foreign Emoluments & Policy SwapsThe United Arab Emirates (UAE) deposited funds into the Trump-backed World Liberty Financial crypto venture. Two weeks later, the administration approved UAE access to highly restricted, advanced AI semiconductor chips.$2 Billion investmentReported by House Appropriations Committee members as an acute national security and constitutional violation.
Defense Procurement Self-DealingThe U.S. Pentagon and Air Force awarded multi-million-dollar drone and startup contracts to Powerus and Vulcan Elements—firms in which Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump hold active venture capital stakes.$1.6+ Billion in backing & loansTracked by anti-corruption advocacy organizations like RepresentUs in 2026.
Market-Moving Insider TradingExtensive personal financial trading by Donald Trump while in office, purchasing massive volumes of shares in tech giants (Nvidia, Palantir, Oracle) right before enacting policy moves or brokering corporate mergers (e.g., the TikTok sale).3,600+ individual trades (Exceeding $100M)Disclosed via mandatory public Office of Government Ethics filings.
Cryptocurrency DeregulationExecutive orders signed to explicitly prioritize and deregulate digital currency spaces immediately following the launch of Trump family memecoins and trading platforms, raising their market value.$4 Billion pocketed collectivelyHighlighted in congressional records targeting 100 days of administrative corruption.
Pay-to-Play Access & DinnersFacilitation of a private members' club ("Executive Branch") charging high sign-in fees for direct access to Cabinet members, alongside million-dollar dinner packages selling regulatory access to figures like RFK Jr.$500,000 entrance feeOutlined by Oversight Committee Democrats as a blurring of public duty with private gain.
Pardons for ProfitPresidential pardons issued to billionaire and corporate criminals (such as Trevor Milton and Changpeng Zhao) shortly after they or their firms injected massive sums into pro-Trump political action committees or inaugural funds.Millions in political donationsMonitored by the [Campaign Legal Center (CLC)](1.1.2, 1.2.9) tracking resource.
Foreign Real Estate ExpansionExploitation of the presidency to secure state-backed real estate partnerships and Trump-branded luxury resorts with sovereign wealth funds in Oman, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Vietnam.Billions in Middle Eastern capitalReported extensively by international press and watchdogs regarding the Foreign Emoluments Clause.


Wednesday, August 19, 2026

Knowledge: UPDATED! News and information sources

 Fact-checked and accurate sources of information and news

Updated Aug, 20, 2026

Source of icon art

It is vital to have a free press.  Please pay for these excellent sources of news if you can afford it.


Utah and local news:


Public Radio Stations
  • Utah Public Radio (UPR)
    • Details: Broadcasts from Utah State University in Logan on 91.5 FM (KUSU) and across a statewide translator network. It offers regional reporting, local public affairs like Access Utah, and NPR programming.
    • Access Utah is the daily show about local issues. Listen to it wherever you get podcast and at the source.
    • Key recent
  • KUER 90.1
    • Details: Utah's primary NPR affiliate based in Salt Lake City with widespread broadcast reach across northern counties, providing extensive state news and investigative reporting. [1, 2, 3, 4]

  • Local Print & Digital News
    • paper copies are in grocery stores and are mailed to subscribers
    • Details: Logan-based daily newspaper providing essential local reporting on Cache Valley city governments, county affairs, local sports, and community events   
  • Salt Lake Tribune-no paywall now.
  • The Salt Lake Tribune
    • Details: A statewide independent digital and print news organization providing high-level watchdog and legislative journalism relevant to all Utah residents. [1]

 

KUER- National Public Radio from SLC
    Sample article:


Politics & Government
1,000 Utahns could lose housing under Trump’s homelessness priorities
Macy Lipkin
, December 16, 2025
A shift away from permanent supportive housing vouchers would force disabled Utahns out of their homes. One advocate calls it a lose-lose for residents and landlords.


Utah News Dispatch

Reddit: Logan Utah 


Be very cautious reading the
  • CACHE VALLEY DAILY (This is a MAGA propaganda sheet when anything even slightly political or environmental is discussed.
  • Obits, push pieces, and schedules are probably fine)

Aggregators and analysis of national news:

    Aaron Parnas Perspective provides short, accurate, and vital news summaries several times a day. Aaron Parnas 
Independent Journalist | Attorney | Strategist Contact: agparnasbusiness@gmail.com
The Parnas Perspective
The Parnas Perspective
By Aaron Parnas
                        Courses: Robert Reich: Wealth and poverty, 14 lectures

Publicly supported and less biased sources of news (in no particular order)

Newspapers and magazines (in no particular order)


  • Washington Post:  Washington Post has been in the news because its billionaire owner, Jeff Bezos, muzzled the histories newspaper. They have a few great hjournalists left but be careful. https://www.washingtonpost.com 

Other miscellaneous sources:



Robert Reich suggests:

: The Guardian, Democracy Now, Business Insider, The New Yorker, The American Prospect, Americans for Tax Fairness, The Economic Policy Institute, The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, ProPublica, Labor Notes, The Lever, Popular Information, Heather Cox Richardson, and, of course, this Substack.

Olga Luatman uses these sources:

TTT day 101

  • New York Times: 5

  • Politico: 3

  • ProPublica: 1

  • Mother Jones: 2

  • CBS News: 2

  • NPR: 3

  • ABC News: 4

  • Reuters: 2

  • The Washington Post: 2

  • CNN: 4

  • Wall Street Journal: 3

  • The Guardian: 2

  • Axios: 1

  • USA TODAY: 2

  • The Hill: 3

  • Associated Press: 6

  • 50501: 1

  • NOTUS: 1

TTT day 100 https://trumptyrannytracker.substack.com/p/trump-tyranny-tracker-day-100



Associated Press: 4

New York Times: 2+5

NBC News: 1

X (formerly Twitter): 1

WIRED: 2

The Guardian: 2

CNN: 3

The Hill: 4

USA TODAY: 2

The Washington Post: 1

ProPublica: 1

Wall Street Journal: 2

50501: 1

NPR: 1

Follow SOURCES OF RELIABLE INFORMATION: 


What is "credible" news? From Olympic College library https://libguides.olympic.edu/news 

Quality journalism provides the public with accurate information, analysis, and comment so they can make informed decisions and participate in democracy. Quality journalism helps protect citizenry by making the government and the private sector accountable. Investigative journalism in particular aims to expose corruption and malfeasance in government and in private institutions. Propublica is an example of an investigative news organization. 

Established newspapers of record can lose their reputation due to financial collapse, take-over or merger by another entity that did not have the same standards or allowed increased government control and suppression of the paper's editorial independence. The Los Angeles Times and The Washington Post are examples of newspapers that have suppressed of the papers' editorial independence. (SUSANNE THINKS IT IS STILL OK BUT WE NEED TO WATCH)

Misinformation is spread with the intent to mislead the public for financial or political gain. False stories that are widely accessed and shared through social media (often with bots or automated accounts) can generate substantial advertising revenue for their purveyors, but they can also inflict lasting social and political harm in the process.

For credible news, it is best to seek out outlets which are well-staffed with reporters, and which follow a strict, fact-checked editorial process. Outlets might include broadcasting services such as National Public Radio, press services such as Reuters or Associated Press, or international “newspapers of record” such as The Guardian. 

These types of newspapers generally require a paid subscription for access. But you can access a number of "newspapers of record" for free through through our library databases--including National Newspaper Core, U.S. Major Dailies--in one search. Watch this video on how to use this database.

And Explore this guide for links to a variety of local, independent, national and international news!


Heather Cox Richardson was interviewed by these sources.  They are likely reliable

Heather Cox Richardson is an expert in nineteenth-century America, specializing in politics and economics. Her most recent book, To Make Men Free, A History of the Republican Party From 1854 To The Present, was released in 2014. Cox Richardson’s first four books explored the Civil War, Reconstruction, the Gilded Age, and the American West, and stretched from the presidencies of Abraham Lincoln to that of Theodore Roosevelt. Her The Death of Reconstruction (2001), Wounded Knee: Party Politics and the Road to an American Massacre (2010), and West from Appomattox: The Reconstruction of America After the Civil War (2007) were all selections of the History Book Club; West from Appomattox was also an Editor’s Choice selection of the New York Times Book Review. She is also the author of: The Greatest Nation of the Earth: Republican Economic Policies during the Civil War. Richardson is president of The Historical Society, an organization designed to bring academic history to general readers. Her expertise has been utilized by the New York Times, Bloomberg, CNN.com, BBC, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, and Huffington Post; her blogs for The Historical Society won the Cliopatria Award.

Her daily digest, Letters From an American, about Trump's ongoing impeachment process has attracted something of a cult following:

WBUR

Newsweek

CNN

PBS NewsHour

WBUR

AP

PBS NewsHour

CBS News

NPR On Point

Foreign Policy

Boston Globe

WBUR City Space

The New Republic

Washington Post

Vanity Fair

"Say More'' podcast

Boston Globe

The Nation "Start Making Sense" podcast

USA Today

CNN

WBUR

Washington Post

WGBH "Greater Boston"

NPR's "All Things Considered"

Moyers on Democracy

Boston Globe

GPB-Atlanta

BBC NewsNight

New York Times

Washington Post

WGBH News.

WGBH "Greater Boston"

The Atlantic

Boston Globe

Time magazine

WGBH

WGBH

WGBH

The Guardian

WGBH "Greater Boston"

Newsweek

WGBH "Greater Boston"

WBUR News

The Atlantic

WBUR "Radio Boston"

WBUR "Radio Boston"

The Guardian

Quartz.com

New York Times

NECN "The Take"

WBUR

WGBH

The Guardian

CNN

New York Times

NECN "The Take"

Boston Globe