Lucas Brigham 1/26/25 Lucas Brigham 1/26/25

Anti-America’s Top Ten Countdown: January 26, 2025 Edition

It’s that time of the week again. It’s time for Anti-America’s Top Ten Countdown, in which I break down the top ten most important news stories that every progressive needs to hear about. These are the opinions you won’t hear from the mainstream media now that it’s been captured by corporations and the right wing. Let’s get into it.

*Donald Trump falsifying the path of a 2019 hurricane, creating the controversy later known as “Sharpiegate.” Image taken from Science Magazine.*

10: DON PETTY

This is hardly the most important story on this list, hence why it’s only number ten. However, in one of his first acts as President of the United States this time, Donald Trump signed an executive order to rename Denali to Mount McKinley. This is something he threatened to do in his first term, but eventually backed down from under pressure from Alaska’s U.S. Senators. This name change might be disrespectful to indigenous people, but the other one is worse. The Gulf of Mexico is officially the Gulf of America, which serves as an immense monument to how much of a sore winner Trump is. Even beyond that, with reports that Trump is ordering 10,000 American troops to be sent to the Mexican border, I firmly believe that an invasion is imminent. Given that this story is only listed as number ten, you know it’s been a very fast news week. Countdown number nine.

*An El Al plane. Image taken from the airline’s website.*

9: THE PLANE IS REAL

Well, with the ceasefire agreement now in effect between Israel and Hamas, and the first hostages being returned home, it seems tensions in the Middle East are coming down. At least, for now. I don’t know if this agreement is going to hold in the long term, but the airlines probably know more than I do. Delta Air Lines, one of the three legacy carriers in the United States, has announced that it will resume service from New York-JFK to Tel Aviv starting on April 1. The nearest airport to me, Boston Logan, used to have Delta flights to Tel Aviv as well, though who knows when that’s going to resume. I personally don’t know if I would feel comfortable visiting Israel in the near future. They did elect Benjamin Netanyahu multiple times, but then again, given that America has now made Donald Trump President twice, do I really have any moral superiority? Regardless, it’s good to see a ceasefire in effect, even if I wish it had happened prior to the November 5 U.S. election. Countdown number eight.

*Mark Zuckerberg making a bizarre face at Trump’s inauguration. Image taken from the New York Times.*

8: META’S QUEST

Mark Zuckerberg and his fellow social media billionaires are acting like Donald Trump received 90 percent of the vote rather than 50. Their actions in bowing down to the GOP have been well-documented, and I’m not going to belabor the point here. However, according to this BBC News report , the Meta platform known as Instagram has been hiding search results for “Democrats.” The company claimed it was “urgently trying to fix the problem”, but I don’t think they care. That’s because I don’t think it was a glitch. I think Meta’s platforms are functioning exactly as Zuckerberg wants them to, which is to suck Trump’s you-know-what at every possible opportunity. In my mind, anyone who’s concerned about social media’s increasing slant toward the right has two options: They can either move to BlueSky, which is like Twitter before it was taken over by Elon Musk, or they can disconnect completely. The latter option might not be a bad idea. Countdown number seven.

*Pete Hegseth at his Senate confirmation hearing. Image taken from NPR.*

7: PETER, PETER, DRUNKEN BEATER

Well, they did it. Despite numerous allegations of alcoholism and impropriety, and despite the fact that he was totally unqualified for the position by any objective standard, Pete Hegseth has been confirmed. America’s new Secretary of Defense is a former Fox News host, and in the words of Hayley Williams from Paramore: “How did we get here?” Well, we got here because so many people idiotically believed Trump was the antiwar candidate. This could not be further from the truth. However, possibly the most chilling part of Hegseth’s confirmation hearings was when he was asked if he’d follow orders to have soldiers massacre peaceful protestors. Hegseth refused to answer, which is code for “Yes, but I don’t want to look bad in front of the Senate.” This Slate article by a Marine illustrates just how dangerous Hegseth is. The streets will soon run red with the blood of Trump’s enemies, and you can’t say I didn’t warn you. Countdown number six.

*Emergency services respond to the shooting at Antioch High School in Nashville, Tennessee. Image taken from Charisma News.*

6: AMERICAN BAD DREAM

America’s favorite pastime has made its return to Nashville, Tennessee, and this time the victim of this fear roulette is Antioch High School. A teenager shot and killed a fellow student, then himself in the school’s cafeteria. Now, one thing that’s been getting a lot of attention is the perpetrator’s manifesto. I’m not going to paraphrase, let alone quote, said manifesto, because I don’t think we should be giving this deranged psycho what he wanted. This is Nashville’s second school shooting in as many years, giving us a reminder that it can happen anywhere in the country. I’m reminded of the young woman who attended an elementary school near Sandy Hook in 2012, and was later a student at Michigan State University in 2023. Some people and communities have lived through two shootings, which is just unacceptable. It’s also worth noting that an AI security system failed to detect the weapon illustrating that artificial intelligence is worse than useless. Nothing will ever be done about gun violence in our schools - it’s been happening since 1764, after all. Countdown number five.

5: WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT ELON

I’ve already covered this story here , so I’m not going to spend too much time on it. Elon Musk, who is basically the shadow President of the United States at this point, made a Nazi salute on stage at Trump’s inauguration. If you’re not terrified, you’re not paying attention. I’m not going to say for sure that Trump will commit a genocide of his political opponents here - we’re not at step 10 yet. What I am going to say, however, is that we’re maybe at step 7. It started with mass deportations, and it’s going to end with camps if we let it. It can happen here, and it is happening here. Countdown number four.

*CDC headquarters in Atlanta. Image taken from the New Georgia Encyclopedia.*

4: THEY’RE BLINDING US WITHOUT SCIENCE

At a time when we may be on the brink of a global human bird flu pandemic, it would be nice to have a serious leader at the helm. One who will listen to scientific experts and acknowledge when not a scientific expert themselves. Donald Trump, of course, is not that leader, and it speaks to the depravity of the American electorate that we gave him a second chance. He has directed the CDC to pause all public communications until at least February 1 - but let’s be honest, we should assume that these communications will not resume until Trump’s term ends. To illustrate how big a problem is, information about outbreaks related to contaminated food products cannot be published now. Weekly CDC updates on seasonal vaccination statistics have also been disrupted. And if bird flu truly does become a pandemic of COVID proportions (or worse, given its 50% case-fatality rate), we won’t even know it’s happening until people are literally dying in the streets. Countdown number three.

*Donald Trump after signing numerous executive orders. Image taken from NPR.*

3: JUDGE, JURY, AND EXECUTIVE

During his first few days in office, Donald Trump signed a flurry of executive orders. These included the aforementioned renamings of Denali and the Gulf of Mexico, as well as dozens of others. One executive order will withdraw the United States from the Paris Climate Accords, which will mean America alone once again. In my mind, this is part of his “shock and awe” strategy. Trump wants to make his opponents feel powerless when he signs dozens of executive orders a day, so he keeps shocking people until they grow numb to everything. Honestly, it’s working, even on me, and that’s the scary part. Even if you follow politics and insist on reading every last thing Trump does, there’s a point where you won’t be alarmed anymore. And that’s to say nothing of those who choose to obey in advance, like the mainstream media. Countdown number two.

*Donald Trump shaking hands with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen. Image taken from the Financial Times.*

2: I SEE RED, WHITE, AND BLUE

During the transition period, Trump said that he wanted to make Canada the 51st state. For the record, he’s still talking about that, claiming that Canadians would have “much better health coverage” if they were part of the United States. Even as someone who’s never lived in Canada, I beg to differ. Trump is speaking just like Vladimir Putin here. As alarming as his words toward Canada are, he seems even more serious about Greenland. During a phone conversation with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, Trump angrily demanded the island. Try as she might to insist that Greenland wasn’t for sale, Frederiksen couldn’t placate Trump. And she won’t be able to, because the felon is deadly serious about it. As scared as I am for my own country, I’m even more terrified for the rest of the world. Just 49.9% of the American electorate may have been enough to start World War III over the island of Greenland - Greenland, with basically no agriculture and that belongs to a NATO ally - and that’s beyond infuriating. Countdown number one.

*Kyle Rittenhouse at a Wisconsin bar in the early days of 2021 wearing a provocative T-shirt and drinking beers with the Proud Boys.*

1: GASLIGHT, OBSTRUCT, PROJECT

He did it. We all warned you he was going to do it, but many of you didn’t listen. Donald Trump has pardoned approximately 1,500 people who were present at the United States Capitol during the coup attempt on January 6, 2021. The rule of law is officially dead in America, and what’s worse is that many of the newly-pardoned January Sixers are reportedly now purchasing firearms. At least one man has now been rearrested on a gun charge. Whether or not this person is pardoned once more, the fact remains that there are going to be a lot more guns floating around, just like there are after every high-profile mass shooting. Even if Pete Hegseth doesn’t order the military to fire on protestors, he doesn’t really need to, because the pardoned January Sixers are going to do it for him. In the words of Kyle Rittenhouse, they are “free as fuck.” The streets will run red, and time will crawl until Canada annexes us.

Lucas Brigham 1/19/25 Lucas Brigham 1/19/25

Anti-America’s Top Ten Countdown: January 19, 2025 Edition

It’s that time of the week again: Sunday. And that can only mean one thing. It’s time for Anti-America’s Top Ten Countdown, during which I list the most important news stories that every progressive needs to know. Without further ado, let’s go. Countdown number ten!

*Chicago skyline, image taken from TripAdvisor.*

10: RAIDERS OF THE WINDY CITY

According to the Wall Street Journal, President-elect Donald Trump and his goons plans to begin deportation raids immediately after taking office. Their first target will be multiple locations in Chicago. Knowing that immigrant and racial minority communities swung greatly toward Trump in the most recent election (as did most other groups, to be fair), my sympathy is very limited. To those families who will be torn apart through no fault of their own, I hold a great deal of sorrow in my heart. As horrifying as it is that Trump’s going to send his foot soldiers into liberal cities and Democrats are likely only going to obey in advance, I will say this: If you supported this policy through your vote, and your family gets torn apart, I only have so many fucks to give. The leopards are hungry, and they will eat well. Countdown number nine!

*Mark Carney, likely Canada’s next Prime Minister. Image taken from the Associated Press.*

9: O CANADA! CAN I JOIN YOU?

As we covered last week, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced his resignation, and former bank governor Mark Carney is likely to take his place. Now, I don’t know too much about Mark Carney, but he seems to be far more popular than Trudeau. This notion is supported by evidence that polls may be narrowing. It’s long been my belief that the Canadian Conservatives were riding a sugar high and that if and when Trump won in the United States, Pierre Poilievre’s numbers would fall like a freight elevator whose chains had been cut. That’s exactly what’s happening now, and since Canada is basically a sane, kind version of America, the voters are going to reject Poilievre’s brand of politics. But even if they don’t, the worst case scenario is that the Conservatives pass some unpopular things and get voted out a few years later. We’re in far more trouble south of the border. Countdown number eight.

*A copy of Project 2025, taken from the NPR website.*

8: THE UNCIVIL SERVICE

Well, to those of you who refused to vote for Harris because “Project 2025 is never going to happen”, I hope you’ve realized just how wrong you were. Before the 2024 election, Trump publicized his plan to replace the civil service, career bureaucrats who are traditionally in their positions regardless of whether the President is a Democrat or a Republican, with loyalists. This is evidenced by this report that Trump’s team has been interrogating civil servants about who they voted for in the most recent election. The dangers of this cannot be overstated - there’s going to be absolutely nothing preventing Trump from having his goons fire on peaceful protestors, for instance. Of course, however, the cruelty is the point, and for those idiots who fell for it and didn’t vote for Harris (or even voted for Trump), then I’m not going to cry when you’re targeted. Because we warned you it was coming, and you didn’t listen. Countdown number seven.

*A September 2024 missile strike on Kyiv, Ukraine. Image taken from BBC News.*

7: THE WAR GOES ON

Now, believe it or not, the war in Ukraine is still going on. In fact, with Trump threatening to withhold military aid from Ukraine (and possibly even aid Russia), there’s every chance the war will escalate to threaten the rest of Europe. Yesterday, Russia attacked the civilian capital of Kyiv , killing several and injuring several more. It sickens me that the world (or at least the United States) seems to have forgotten about the Russian invasion of Ukraine when it’s more brutal and depraved than ever. After targeting civilians so many times, people have just grown numb to it all. Russia must be stopped, but if anything, they’re likely to start World War III, and we’ll have an Axis of Evil with Russia and the United States against our former European allies. This was yet another reason why Trump could not be allowed to return to power, but we let him back in with open arms. Absolutely disgraceful. Countdown number six.

*Outgoing President Joe Biden announcing the ceasefire agreement in the Israel-Hamas War, flanked by Kamala Harris and Antony Blinken. Image taken from Maine Public’s website.*

6: TOO FUCKING LATE

The main reason the Russian invasion of Ukraine is hardly in the news anymore is because the conflict between Israel and Hamas (and the genocide in Gaza) has taken its position among the headlines. However, apparently they’ve reached a ceasefire deal to end the fighting for six weeks and release the remaining hostages. Now, it’s good that the fighting will stop, at least temporarily, and it’s good that the hostages are being released. However, this item would be a lot higher on the list if I actually expected the ceasefire to hold. Furthermore, let’s be real: The Israeli genocide in Gaza is one of the most important reasons Trump won the election back in November. Once Trump takes office, he is going to let Netanyahu turn Gaza into a parking lot, and the pro-Palestine protestors who burned the country down to spite Harris are going to be totally silent. I’d bet my life that this ceasefire won’t last very long. Countdown number five.

*A comparison of the 2009 (Obama) and 2017 (Trump) inauguration crowds, taken from PBS New.*

5: ALTERNATIVE FACTS, REDUX

Due to the allegedly severe weather in Washington, DC, it’s been announced that Trump’s second inauguration tomorrow will take place indoors. Now, a little snowstorm didn’t stop William Henry Harrison from giving a really long speech outdoors for his inauguration, even if it did stop his life a few weeks later. But this isn’t really about the weather. It’s about the crowd size. Namely, Trump is worried the crowd size will have suffered some “shrinkage” since 2017. To hold the ceremonies outdoors would require Donald Trump to have some honesty and integrity, and we all know he’s got not a single iota of either in his body. No, this is about his image, plain and simple. I’m sorry, Sean Spicer, but you’re not going to be able to push any alternative facts this time. Countdown number four.

*A meme about bird flu taken from Redbubble.*

4: FOR THE BIRDS

Bird flu hasn’t yet mutated to the point where it can spread easily between humans. However, that doesn’t mean it can’t happen. And while I’m no virologist, it seems like with four years of anti-vaxxers and raw milk lovers Donald Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in charge of the country’s public health policy, it’ll get plenty of chances to mutate to such a form. When that happens, we’re all fucked. It seems like many people have forgotten this happened. Clearly they forgot, because otherwise they wouldn’t have voted for Trump again. But Trump suggested injecting bleach and did nothing about the COVID-19 pandemic when he knew he had to get reelected. And if H5N1 becomes a pandemic on anything remotely resembling the scale of COVID, do you seriously expect Trump to do anything productive about the virus? Of course not. His second term is all about revenge, and he’ll ban vaccines even as the general public begs for them. And if you want a vaccine, too bad. The day to request them for the whole country was November 5, 2024. Countdown number three.

*An infamous photo of Donald Trump at a 2018 G7 meeting, taken from BBC News.*

3: AMERICA LAST

America’s traditional allies are expressing deep concern again, and why shouldn’t they be? At a time when the world must confront Vladimir Putin (whom Trump supports and will probably send troops to support in Ukraine), and at a time when the climate crisis is increasingly dire (which Trump doesn’t even believe in), half of America voted to burn the whole world down. Literally. During Trump’s first term, the United States was increasingly a pariah on the world stage, and it’s going to be far worse this time. The voters have proven that their decision to elect a madman was not an aberration. Americans actively love this man. Remember when the rest of the world closed their borders to us during COVID? Well, even if there is no pandemic in the next four years, they have every right to do so again. Trump keeps talking of invading Mexico and making Canada the 51st state. We are a pariah on the scale of North Korea, and unlike North Korean civilians, we freely choose this. Countdown number two.

*Mario and Yoshi duking it out in Tick Tock Hop, a duel minigame from Mario Party 3 (N64). Image taken from Super Mario Wiki.*

2: TICK TOCK HOP

I’m not talking about Mario Party here. I’m talking about the app that got banned this morning for “security reasons” even if the U.S. government does nothing about expensive health care or school shootings. Well, I don’t believe the government cares about national security, even if TikTok is a cancer on society by decimating the average attention span. But wait: The plot thickens! A few hours before I post this article, TikTok’s service has been restored in the United States, and the owners have posted a statement thanking Trump to every user who logs back on. So Donald Trump, who started the effort to ban TikTok in the first place, is now going to get credit for saving it. Make it make sense! Nothing about this country makes sense, but that’s America for you. Trump is going to be far more popular this term than he was the first time, and it’s a damning indictment on the American public. Countdown number one.

*Joe Biden during his infamous June 2024 debate with Donald Trump. Image taken from NBC News.*

1: JOE WAS BIDEN HIS TIME TOO LONG

I’m not going to say that Joe Biden was the second-worst President after Trump, nor do I regret voting for him in 2020. However, it’s clear that Biden was not the right man for the moment. At a time when Trump had to be arrested and imprisoned for inciting an attempted violent coup on January 6, Biden appointed lame-ass Merrick Garland to be his Attorney General. Now, I wish he were on the Supreme Court right now, but Garland did a terrible job as Attorney General, waiting until way too late to hold Trump accountable for his numerous crimes. But Biden himself is hardly blameless, having run for reelection when he knew he was mentally unfit to take on Donald Trump, then dropping out when it was too late to save his party. Joe Biden will leave office tomorrow, and while he did some good things as the 46th President of the United States, his legacy is irrevocably tainted by his failure to prevent Trump’s return. The tragic irony is that he won the 2020 primary largely on presenting himself as the most electable candidate who would deny Trump a second term, and yet he’s now the reason Trump will have a second term. Let’s Go Brandon!

Lucas Brigham 1/12/25 Lucas Brigham 1/12/25

Anti-America’s Top Ten Countdown: January 12, 2025 Edition

Yes, I’m doing this again. I’m going to count down the top ten most important news stories of the past week for progressives. I’m going to choose them, not the obedient idiots at MSNBC or CNN, and certainly not the conservative hacks at Fox News. So let’s get into them, shall we?

*Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announces his resignation. Image taken from CNN.*

10: THAT’S TRUE…D’OH!

Justin Trudeau, the Prime Minister of Canada and leader of the country’s Liberal party, has announced his resignation. I’m not in Canada, even if I might wish I lived there, but from what I’ve gathered he overstayed his welcome. Additionally, he loosened Canada’s immigration laws, which some blamed for increased housing costs. In my mind, Trudeau gets too much hate, but then again, he looks like an angel compared to the abomination who’s about to be President on the other side of the border. This resignation sets off an election in Canada, and some people are comparing Pierre Poilievre, the leader of the Conservative Party, to Donald Trump. Now, if I lived in Canada, I wouldn’t vote for the Conservatives, but they’re nothing like the Republican Party. They still support universal health insurance and gun control, for instance, and don’t deny climate change. In many ways, they are to the left of the American Democratic Party. Countdown number nine.

*Thumbnail for the Matt Gaetz show on One America News.*

9: SHUT THE GAETZ

So let’s talk about Matt Gaetz for a moment. You might remember him as the former Congressman and sex trafficker from northwest Florida. Trump nominated him to be the U.S. Attorney General, but in the words of Gaetz’s Cameo page, that didn’t work out., that’s putting it pretty mildly, don’t you think? And yes, he’s on Cameo now, just like so many other washed-up conservative figures. He may have evaded any legal consequences for his actions, just like the President-elect, but at least we get to make fun of him. Gaetz now has a show on One America News Network, and he’s got so much Botox it’s ridiculous. But he isn’t going to be Attorney General, even if the actual Attorney General, Pam Bondi, isn’t going to be much better. Even so, the pathetic man who is Matt Gaetz is now on track for a humiliating next chapter in his career, and it couldn’t be more satisfying. Countdown number eight.

*Courtroom sketch of Donald Trump’s hush money sentencing. Image taken from Reuters.*

8: GETTING AWAY WITH MURDER

After the Supreme Court ruled that Trump could in fact be sentenced (on a 5-4 decision, mind you), the President-elect was indeed sentenced by Judge Juan Merchan in the hush money case. His penalty was what’s known as an “unconditional discharge” - in other words, absolutely nothing. Sure, he’s technically still a felon and cannot own a gun (not that people should be able to own guns anyway, though that’s a rant for another day), but he can still be President. Man, I wish Merchan had possessed the spine to put Trump in prison, because such crimes usually do result in prison time if the defendant is convicted. So that begs the question: Why do we even have laws? Like, if Trump the convicted felon can be President, nobody should be in jail. I hope that the first time he travels abroad as President, he gets arrested. What a disgrace. Countdown number seven.

*Mark Zuckerberg announces content moderation policy changes at Meta. Image taken from Tech Policy Press.*

7: FACTS? WHO CARES ABOUT THOSE?

Ah, Mark Zuckerberg. Other than Rudy Giuliani, there is perhaps no public figure who’s experienced more of a fall from grace over the last decade or so. I’m old enough to remember this article from 2017 arguing that Zuckerberg should run for President in 2020. From the vantage point of 2025, it’s downright laughable to think he’d have run against Trump as a Democrat. And yet, somebody actually published it. In any case, Zuckerberg, whose company Meta owns FaceBook and Instagram, has said that Facebook will end fact-checking on its platform. I believe this is an effort to move these platforms in the direction of Elon Musk’s Xitter (pronounced “shitter) in a craven display of anticipatory obedience to the Trump regime. Unlike Elon Musk, who has his devoted followers, nobody likes Zuckerberg anymore, and that’s a stark contrast from when he was a hero of the #Resistance in 2017! Countdown number six!

*Xitter profile picture of Phillip “Catturd” Buchanan.*

6: GET THE LITTER BOX

In the words of The Ring of Fire host Farron Cousins, this is one of the dumbest stories I’ve ever covered. But it’s true. For those of who who have remained blissfully unaware, there’s a right-wing influencer on Xitter who goes by the name of “Catturd”, using toilet humor in order to be a pro-Trump troll. What makes this even more pathetic is that he’s apparently 60 years old according to Wikipedia. Anyway, Phillip “Catturd” Buchanan has filed a defamation lawsuit against Congressman Thomas Massie (R-KY) of Christmas card fame. Catturd called Massie a “cringe butthurt DeSimp loser” after Massie jokingly asked the influencer how the kitty litter tasted. I don’t know what all of this means, or if anything will come of it at all. What I do know is that this makes a mockery of the United States…well, more so. We are a global laughing stock. Indeed, we’re worse than a global laughing stock if the top five are anything to go by.

*Barack Obama and Donald Trump talking cordially at Jimmy Carter’s funeral. Image taken from NBC News.*

5: O-BOMBING IT:

So former President Jimmy Carter recently died at the age of 100. It’s quite tragic that he lived just long enough to see his home state, Georgia, vote for Trump again. At Carter’s funeral, Barack Obama and Donald Trump can be seen embracing one another as if they’re longtime friends. Some people might disagree with me on this, but in my mind, Obama is showing his true colors right here. As a former President and still the de facto leader of the Democratic Party, Obama should be a voice for the party fighting against Trump’s attack on democracy. Instead he’s acting buddy-buddy with the evil man whom Obama’s constantly called a threat to democracy. Well, which is it? If you really believe Trump’s so dangerous, why are you publicly acting like he’s your friend? The Democrats are certainly behaving like the controlled opposition right now, and they are a disgrace. Countdown number four.

*Senator John Fetterman (D-PA). Image taken from NBC News.*

4: FETTERMAN IS NOT THE BETTER MAN

Remember when I said that Mark Zuckerberg suffered the biggest fall from grace over the last decade? Well, I lied - that “honor” goes to John Fetterman, the “Democratic” Senator from Pennsylvania. Fetterman, who was elected as a progressive Democrat over Republican quack Mehmet Oz, has shown his true colors as a traitor to the cause. Fetterman has announced he will meet with Trump at Mar-A-Lago. Truth be told, there’s no excuse for this. Literally none. Fetterman ran for office promising to counteract the no votes of Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, and now he’s becoming one of them himself. Unlike Manchin or Sinema, however, Fetterman ran as a progressive, which makes me think his 2022 stroke might have broken his brain, literally. Brain damage can turn one into a completely different person, and that’s quite sad really. Countdown number three.

*An image Donald Trump posted on Truth Social implying a desire to invade Canada. Image taken from the Council of Canadians website.*

3: CANADA GOOSE CHASE

I want to make one thing very clear: I oppose the potential invasion of Canada. I hope it doesn’t happen, but Trump, who is about to have near-absolute power over the military, is openly saying that he’ll make Canada the 51st state. He’s been talking about it constantly for the last few weeks, and CNN is disgracefully covering it as a “territorial expansion” rather than the “military invasion” that such a project would entail. But let’s be real: Trump admires Putin and wants to be just like him. I think we should take these threats seriously, which is why it’s beyond infuriating that Democrats don’t seem to be. I emailed my Senators, both Democrats, to ask them to make a statement opposing this invasion, because even those who think the idea is ridiculous don’t seem to understand how horrific it would be. We won’t be a laughing stock anymore - the world will be united against us, and we will be a global pariah. If anything, the American population is worse than the Russian population, because Russian civilians couldn’t vote against Putin. The American people freely chose Trump, and we do not deserve to be forgiven. Countdown number two.

*Firefighters battling the Pacific Palisades wildfire.*

2: THE BLAZE

As I write this, the city of Los Angeles, second-largest in America, is dealing with a series of horrendous wildfires. Possibly the most horrific one is currently taking place in Pacific Palisades, an affluent neighborhood with many famous residents. It’s true that many online are not sympathetic to wealthy celebrities losing their second (or seventh) homes, and I understand why. However, I think it’s worth comparing these fires to the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012. It’s been said before, but Sandy Hook was the end of the gun control debate; if you were going to write a story about an event that would make Americans support gun control, you couldn’t do much “better” than 20 first-graders gunned down in their classroom right before Christmas. In much the same way, if a beautiful wealthy urban neighborhood was destroyed by a wildfire, and nothing is done about climate change, then nothing will ever be done. If the 2024 election ended the fight against climate change in the United States, the Pacific Palisades wildfire put the final nail in its coffin and buried it six feet under. Countdown number one.

*Outgoing Vice President Kamala Harris shaking hands with Speaker of the House Mike Johnson. Image taken from ABC News.*

1: AMERICA’S GONE COUP-COUP:

January 6, 2025 was not like January 6, 2021. This time, the certification went on with little fuss, and no Democrats objected to it. This means that the insurrection worked. Donald Trump got away with a literal coup attempt, and now we can say it wasn’t even an attempt. This is America now, where bad behavior gets rewarded. Unarmed black men have to be careful not to be caught slippin’ up, whereas the President of the United States can make his supporters storm the Capitol and get nothing for it. Indeed, he’ll get rewarded for it with the highest office in the land once again. This country is not worth saving - at least Brazil punishes their insurrectionist leaders. That is a sickening end to our countdown, isn’t it?

Lucas Brigham 5/28/19 Lucas Brigham 5/28/19

Blog Post Title One

It all begins with an idea.

It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.

Be clear, be confident and don’t overthink it. The beauty of your story is that it’s going to continue to evolve and your site can evolve with it. Your goal should be to make it feel right for right now. Later will take care of itself. It always does.