Trump Drops to 41% Approval as Chaos, Cruelty, and Corruption Catch Up

 

📉 Trump Drops to 41% Approval as Chaos, Cruelty, and Corruption Catch Up

Donald Trump’s gamble with Iran isn’t paying off. Instead of a patriotic boost, new polls show his approval dropping to a weak 41%, down from already low June numbers. The American public isn’t buying the tough-guy act, and it's backfiring across the board—on the economy, immigration, and foreign policy. The numbers tell the story: the Trump Show is wearing thin.

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❌ America Rejects the Iran Strikes

Trump hoped that military action against Iran would rally support.
It didn’t. A majority of Americans disapprove of the strikes, and his usual “rally-around-the-flag” effect has vanished. His approval rating is now underwater on nearly every major issue.

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🚨 ICE Abuses Continue to Shock the Nation

Meanwhile, the cruelty of his immigration crackdown is making headlines again:

• 🇨🇦 Johnny Noviello, a Canadian green card holder, died in ICE custody in Florida. He had epilepsy and needed meds. ICE claims they “provided care.” His family calls it a preventable death.
• 🇺🇸 Andrea Velez, a 32-year-old U.S. citizen, was tackled and arrested by ICE in L.A. despite screaming family members saying she was a citizen. Her "crime"? Standing near ICE agents.
• 🇺🇸 In El Paso, ICE agents brutally beat a father of three Marines during a deportation attempt. His wrists bled from zip ties, and pleas to recognize his military family were ignored.

These aren’t isolated cases. This is the machinery of mass deportation running wild.

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🏛️ Trump’s Medicaid-Gutting Bill Implodes

Trump and MAGA Republicans tried to push a Medicaid-slashing bill, but the Senate parliamentarian ruled it illegal under budget rules. That kills the fast-track option and puts the bill on life support. Another failure.

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🚗 Elon Musk and the Trump Orbit Crumble

In Trump’s world, even his allies are flailing:

• Cybertrucks are collecting dust in parking lots.
• Tesla executives are leaving in droves.
• European and Chinese competitors are dominating the EV market.
• Musk is slashing prices and flooding the internet with memes—but the world is moving on.

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⚖️ Trump’s Lawyer Faces Serious Charges

Alina Habba, Trump’s personal lawyer turned interim U.S. Attorney for New Jersey, is under investigation for:

• Abusing power
• Targeting Democrats with flimsy arrests
• Violating at least six ethical rules

New Jersey's legal community may hold her to account, unlike Florida.

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💥 Gavin Newsom Fights Back

In a bold move, California Gov. Gavin Newsom sued Fox News for $787 million—the same amount Fox paid Dominion for spreading election lies. Fox aired an edited clip to discredit Newsom. Now, he’s suing in Delaware, and promising to donate any winnings to anti-Trump causes unless Fox apologizes. It’s a direct hit to the right-wing propaganda machine.

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🌊 The Tide Is Turning

This week showed us that even the most aggressive regimes can fall apart—slowly at first, then all at once:

• A budget bill collapses
• Approval numbers tank
• Lawsuits and ethics complaints pile up

41% approval and falling.
The lies, the violence, and the chaos are no longer working. People are waking up. People are fighting back.

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✊ We are not powerless. Keep speaking. Keep resisting. The cracks are spreading.

🔗 Follow more updates at marygeddry.substack.com
📣 @magixarc.bsky.social

#Trump41Percent #ICEAbuse #Medicaid #TeslaCrash #GavinNewsom #FoxNewsLawsuit #AlinaHabba #Resist

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Vancouver’s Car Addiction: How We’re Driving Ourselves Into a Crisis

 Vancouver’s Car Addiction: How We’re Driving Ourselves Into a Crisis

I Gave Up My Car for the Environment. Now I Watch the Roads Choke With Traffic.

I stopped driving over 22 years ago. I did it because I cared—because we were told that cars were one of the biggest contributors to climate change. I sacrificed job opportunities, turned down gigs, and adapted my life so I wouldn’t be part of the problem.

Fast forward to today, and Vancouver is ranked 69th in the world for worst traffic. Cars clog the roads at every hour of the day. The SkyTrain stations are surrounded by seas of parked cars, and Uber has turned the city into a 24/7 traffic jam. Even Tesla, which was supposed to be the future, is now just another oversized status symbol clogging the streets.

Where did we go wrong?

The Numbers: A City Drowning in Cars

• Over 210,000 new vehicles were registered in BC in 2023 alone—a 15.3% increase from the year before.
• In March 2024, BC dealers sold 19,542 new cars—a 16.4% spike over March 2023.
• Between 2016 and 2021, over 250,000 new cars hit BC roads.
• In 2021, Vancouver alone added more than 29,000 new cars—double the previous five years combined.

(Source: BIV.com, StatsCan)

What Changed?

1. COVID shifted people away from transit—but they never went back.
2. Uber & ride-hailing apps flooded the streets with more vehicles.
3. Newcomers bought cars instead of using transit, adding to congestion.
4. Owning a car became a "must-have" status symbol—even Teslas.

But what’s worse? Many of these people don’t even care about Canada.

Using & Abusing Canada

I’ve seen it firsthand—people moving here not because they love Canada, but because it’s convenient. Like the 55-year-old woman in my job search class—a teacher with 25 years of experience, moving here not to work, but just to be closer to her kids in the U.S.. Their real life is in Google and Amazon, while Canada is just a stepping stone.

This happens everywhere—people using Canada’s healthcare, schools, and social services while their real wealth and future are in another country. And the traffic? It’s part of the problem. The more people who treat this place as a convenience instead of a home, the worse it gets.

Worst-Case Scenario: The Smog Apocalypse

Look at Mexico City in the 1990s. The air was so toxic that people could only drive on certain days. Imagine Vancouver under a thick blanket of smog, with:

• Emergency health warnings every summer for respiratory issues.
• A city-wide car ban to control pollution.
• Sky-high insurance & tolls just to discourage driving.
• Children developing asthma from the fumes.

Sound extreme? It’s already happening elsewhere. Do we really want that?

Best-Case Scenario: A Vancouver That Actually Works

What if we actually fixed this? Imagine:

• Massive investments in public transit, making it the best way to get around.
• Car-free zones & better bike infrastructure, freeing up the streets.
• Higher taxes on luxury car purchases, discouraging pointless status symbols.
• A real crackdown on Uber, limiting the flood of ride-hailing cars.

What Needs to Happen NOW

1. Stop subsidizing car culture—shift funding to transit.
2. Increase taxes on excessive vehicle ownership—you don’t need three cars.
3. Stricter emissions rules—make gas guzzlers expensive to own.
4. Stronger policies on who gets to stay in Canada—if you’re just here to use it, why should we support that?
5. A cultural shift—we need to make cars the uncool choice again.

Final Thought: You Have a Choice

You can be part of the solution or the problem. Every car on the road is a choice. Every person who chooses transit, bikes, or walks is part of the future. Vancouver is at a breaking point—do we let it turn into another smog-choked metropolis, or do we finally do something about it?

It starts with you.

Tank Man, Tesla, and the Dystopia We’re Living In

 Tank Man, Tesla, and the Dystopia We’re Living In

I remember where I was when the world witnessed an act of defiance that would be etched into history forever. It was 1989, and I was in Mexico, visiting a friend—an American, wealthy, living a life far removed from the struggles of the world. We sat there, watching in shock as the footage played on TV: a lone man, carrying two shopping bags, standing in front of a line of tanks in Tiananmen Square.

It was surreal. How could one person face such immense power with nothing but their body and their will? We struggled to grasp it then, and I still struggle with it now. The image of Tank Man is burned into my mind, a symbol of resistance against an unstoppable machine.

The Echoes of the Past in the Present

Recently, I saw a drawing that shook me—a modern version of that same scene, but instead of tanks, there were Teslas. A lone figure standing in their way. It was haunting, a reminder that history doesn’t repeat, but it certainly rhymes.

Today, as I walked the streets, one of those bulky, ugly, tank-like cars drove by—the kind designed to look intimidating, built for a future that feels more like a sci-fi dystopia than reality. And in that moment, I felt it. That same unease. That same creeping realization that maybe we’re living in a time just as pivotal as 1989. Maybe we are standing on the edge of something.

Are We Sleepwalking Into Dystopia?

Back then, it was the Chinese government’s iron fist, crushing a movement, silencing dissent. Today, it feels different—but just as insidious. Our world is being reshaped by technology, corporate power, and surveillance, all wrapped up in the illusion of progress.

Tank Man stood in front of something physical—massive machines of war, symbols of oppression. But what do we stand against now? It’s not just tanks in the streets; it’s algorithms controlling our news, corporations mining our data, billionaires shaping policies, militarized police forces rolling through neighborhoods in vehicles designed for war zones. The enemy is harder to see, but the battle is just as real.

A Call to Awareness

I don’t know if we’re on the brink of war, but I know this: the world is shifting. We need to pay attention. We need to remember Tank Man—not just as a historical moment, but as a reminder that one person can stand up, even when it seems impossible.

What will resistance look like in this new era? Who will be our Tank Man? Or maybe the question is—are we brave enough to be them ourselves.