Comments

  2. says

    LONDON (The Borowitz Report)—In an abrupt about-face, King Charles III of the United Kingdom announced on Monday that he was downgrading Donald J. Trump’s upcoming state visit to lunch with Prince Andrew.

    Instead of Windsor Castle, where the state visit was to be held, the lunch between Andrew and Trump will now occur at a Pizza Express restaurant in Woking.

    According to royal sources, Andrew was “incandescent with rage” when his older brother informed him of the engagement, but the King told him, “Sorry, chap, you’ve got to take one for the team.”

    After Andrew asked what he and Trump could possibly talk about over their pizza, Charles suggested, “Maybe you two can reminisce about your good times with Jeffrey Epstein.”

    https://open.substack.com/pub/borowitzreport/p/king-charles-downgrades-trumps-state-f94

  4. says

    For the convince of readers, here are some links back to the previous set of 500 comments on The Infinite Thread.

    https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/07/02/infinite-thread-xxxvi/comment-page-6/#comment-2277614
    “Trump says he’ll follow through on months of threats against Russia, but only if every other country in NATO’s 32-member coalition meet his preconditions.”

    https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/07/02/infinite-thread-xxxvi/comment-page-6/#comment-2277593
    Channel 4 to mark Trump’s UK visit with ‘longest uninterrupted reel of untruths’

    https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/07/02/infinite-thread-xxxvi/comment-page-6/#comment-2277555
    Reuters: Venezuela says the U.S. intercepted and boarded a Venezuelan tuna vessel in a “hostile” manner

    https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/07/02/infinite-thread-xxxvi/comment-page-6/#comment-2277554
    Trump wants to crack down on ‘debanking,’ but he’s dismantling a regulator that was doing just that, by ProPublica.

    https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/07/02/infinite-thread-xxxvi/comment-page-6/#comment-2277525
    “Replacing seized assets with EU bonds could allow Brussels to tap Russia’s frozen assets to fund Kyiv’s war effort.”

  5. says

    Trump Admin Pushes to See How Cruel It Can Be

    Another weekend with emergency court proceedings over Trump anti-immigration policy.

    Given the current state of law, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan seemed reluctant to step in to prevent migrants who were removed by the Trump administration to Ghana from being sent by Ghana to their home countries, where they face persecution, including torture.

    But despite her reluctance, Chutkan in an emergency hearing on Saturday still wasn’t buying the Trump administration’s argument that it had no control over what Ghana did, even if it reneged on diplomatic assurances it made not to turn around and send the migrants to their home countries.

    “I have not been shy about saying that I think this is a very suspicious scheme,” Chutkan said.

    Chutkan suggested it was no accident that Ghana was reneging and that the administration was getting the outcome it wanted.

    This so-called chain refoulement — illegally using third countries as middlemen to handle the transfer of migrants to countries that the U.S. is legally prohibited from deporting to directly — has been an ongoing issue for several months.

    Still, after a flurry of weekend filings and extreme gamesmanship from the Trump administration of initially refusing to give the other side in the case a copy of a key filing it made, Chutkan had not ruled to protect the migrants.

    Expect a ruling from Chutkan as soon as this morning.

    Link. The link leads to a collection of current news reports, including the text quoted above.

  6. says

    DOJ Is Sharing State Voter Rolls With DHS

    The Trump administration confirmed that the Justice Department is sharing the voter rolls it demanded earlier this year with the Department of Homeland Security for it to use to search for noncitizens.

    Text above is a summary of news posted on Stateline: Stateline link

  7. says

    RFK Jr. steps up campaign to kill as many people as possible

    Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the other anti-vaxxer types that have taken over the federal government are planning to link the COVID vaccine to 25 child deaths, according to The Washington Post. And since Kennedy has stocked the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices with his fellow travelers, the chance there will be pushback is pretty much zero.

    Now, never mind that these deaths are in no way verifiably linked to the coronavirus vaccine. Instead, they are pulled directly from information submitted to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, known as VAERS. But anyone can report anything about any alleged vaccine side effect to VAERS. It doesn’t even have to be a side effect that the person reporting experienced. People can literally make reports based on something they saw on social media, for example.

    Because there is no vetting of what ends up in VAERS, the raw data in it isn’t scientifically useful at all. Scientists use VAERS data as a starting point for further research, not a database of proven side effects. However, since anyone can download the data, VAERS is a rich source of material for anti-vaccine conspiracy theorists who don’t understand that correlation does not equal causation.

    So what, exactly, was the methodology used to determine that these 25 deaths were the result of the coronavirus vaccine? You don’t know it. […]

    Don’t expect any pushback from the vaccine advisory committee, known as ACIP, at this week’s meeting. Kennedy ousted all the actual scientists from the panel months ago, claiming they had conflicts of interest. For Kennedy, “conflicts of interest” typically means “is an actual scientist who is affiliated with scientific and research and academic and pharmaceutical communities.”

    His insistence that the previous ACIP members were somehow beholden to big payouts from Big Pharma is just straightforwardly wrong. Thirteen of the earlier physician members had received little to no money from the pharmaceutical industry. Eight of those members averaged approximately $4,000 per year in consulting, travel, and speaking fees, which is nearly $3,000 below the average for specialized U.S. physicians. Five received no money at all.

    To be on the panel, members had to divest all interests in vaccine stocks, as did all their family members. They can’t consult for vaccine companies or serve as experts in vaccine lawsuits. They can’t let vaccine companies pick up the tab for their travel or food. [I snipped some details.]

    […] The smallest of comfort: Kennedy’s newest possible unhinged picks to add to ACIP likely may not be installed by the time of the meeting, so at least we wouldn’t yet have to hear from the lady who thinks COVID isn’t scary because Jesus touched lepers. […]

    the existing recommendations are a shambles, an ever-shifting mess. It was only a few weeks ago that the Trump administration approved the updated COVID-19 vaccine, but only for people 65 and older or those with certain preexisting conditions. However, it looks like they are already considering scrapping that and instead possibly limiting it to people over 75. [!] Anyone under 75 would have to talk to a physician first, virtually guaranteeing very limited uptake of the vaccine.

    Kennedy’s most powerful tool in enacting his eugenics paradise is the withholding of vaccines, particularly from vulnerable people. So he’s pulled funds from a group that provides vaccines to poor kids in lower-income countries. He’s made vaccine recommendations an absolute mess, which, again, is a terrific way to ensure low vaccine uptake.

    This administration is already dangerous and deadly to so many people, but Kennedy’s efforts really stand out. […]

  9. says

    Vance hosts Charlie Kirk’s show; House Republicans look to avert shutdown with stopgap

    Vice President Vance took the mic Monday as “The Charlie Kirk Show” returned to the air this week. The veep announced Sunday night he would guest host.

    With the government funding deadline just more than two weeks away, House Republicans are considering a continuing resolution (CR) that would keep the lights on through Nov. 20, GOP sources told The Hill. […]

  10. says

    Here is another good example of the lies and calls to violence by rtwing xtian terror further unleased by the charlie kirk excuse:

    https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/the-vector-of-political-killings-in-the-usa-is-still-donald-trump,20159

    None of the last 31 political attacks was by anyone from ‘the Left’. Not one. We can count them.
    by Alan Austin
    Monday, September 15, 2025 at 5:02:46a

    The script written for Donald Trump which he read stiltedly straight after Charlie Kirk was shot declared assassinations in the USA were caused by “the radical Left”.

    (crossposted from PZ’s article)

  11. StevoR says

    To the US Christians waiting and hating for Jeebus without really following a word the Biblical guy actually maybe supposedly said – contradictory verses and interpretations aside :

    So Jeebus is comin’ back any day now, anyday.. The end is nigh.

    There’ll be some captial ‘R’ impossible Rapture where you float off and watch the tort chya of everyone else on Earth who didn’t believe your hate filled rantings and ravings.

    Haven’t they been saying that, some version of that, for, like, two thousand odd years or so?
    But yeah, Jeebus is coming.. noooooow!

    Okay .. now, now, wait for it, wait for iiiiittt now.

    Still not?

    Now?

    Now! Hundreds of years later … now?

    I mean we’re overdue so ..now?

    Now-ish?

    Waiting, waiting, waiting … now!?

    Predicting, predicting.. now! Now? Now… nope?

    Hmm.. maybe he came & went.. ?

    Would you klowns know him if you saw him?

    Accept him if he told you all the things you ignored the first time.

    Love your neighbours even those Damn loathed Samaritans. Those, Black, Muslim,Hispanic, Jewish, Atheist. Secularist heretics.. Your neighbours. The global majority. People. Other. People.

    Pay your taxes!

    Stop lying.

    Show compassion.

    Help the poor NOT the rich.

    Pray in private.

    Reject violence. Live by sword die by sword.

    All that jazz.

    Still waiting, waiting , uselessly praying. Futile in your counter-productive hate & wilful ignorance.

    Embracing those whose every second word is Christ but every action refutes all that ancient Judean supposedly asked his followers to do & believe in. Worshipping those ugly orange idols, hate full idols who told you that Christ is the opposite of what the supposed Messiah supposedly said.

    You make others see the faith you claim to follow as repellent. As vile & exemplify the (actually unfairly demonized if you know the history) Pharisees love of hypocrisy & ritual & his real killers , the Romans imperial thuggishness and love of power above all else.

    Cruel power punching down with all the hate & ruthlessness the guy you claim to worship most strongly died against.
    But you wait forever & reject forever the idea of being thoughtful, humble & kind & really learning from the example of that mythologised man 2,000 years gone who ain’t coming back but could still teach you something if you’d only think & be willing to learn to be kind.

    Becoz I can’t sleep and the world is fucked and yet I ain’t giving up on it becoz there are enough good people if they all work and act together I reckon still. Eevn the poeple we most need toget throug to are the leats likely to hear us until .. we make them? Somehow?

  12. says

    A secular friend of mine mentioned a bumper sticker he saw years ago:
    ‘jebus is coming and boy is he pissed’ So much is implied by that.

  13. StevoR says

    Refs to & riffin’off Carl Sagan’s Pale Blue Dot speech, Slactivist esp Left Behidn books deconstructions, Isaac Asimo;’s Lost inNon-translation and the truth sung by REM in New Test Leper opening lyrics esp. (5 & ahalf mins total tempooral length.) Plus more.

  14. StevoR says

    @ shermanj : Well, if every drop that touches your lips automatically turns to alcoholic beverage , yeah, ya always gunna be pretty drunk! ;-)

  15. says

    Another Thank You to Lynna (please be careful to not get too saturated with the crap you find)

    One more important crosspost and then I’ll get back to work:
    PZ mentions Steven Miller
    WELL:
    https://mockpaperscissors.com/2025/09/14/evil-walks-amongst-us/
    If you have not yet read Rolling Stone’s profile of Pee Wee German, you must go there —right now— and read it.
    https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/stephen-miller-trump-terror-ice-immigration-military-1235426023/
    He’s worse than you might think, and he’s slowly but assuredly acquiring power from other cabinet heads. He might be the second-most powerful person in the administration following the Big Tuna hisself.

    This nation is speeding down the Death Spiral!

  17. says

    The good news: more than 300 South Korean workers who spent eight days detained in a Georgia ICE facility after their shocking arrests at a Hyundai/LG battery plant under construction returned to Korea on Friday, to cheers and hugs.

    The bad news: South Korea, once one of our closest and most trusted allies, is furious with the US all across the political spectrum, and questioning the whole relationship, including $350 BILLION-with-a-B in investment money they pledged to Trump in July in exchange for a lower tariff rate that’s now hanging in limbo. [video]

    Work has stopped on the plant, which was supposed to make 8,500 new robot-supervising jobs for blue-collar southeastern Georgians, thanks to President Joe Biden securing a partnership in 2022. Now the factory opening has been delayed for at least several months, or as long as it takes for Hyundai and LG to find workers willing to risk prison at the capricious hands of the regime.

    And now the South Korean government is saying it is investigating potential human rights violations during the episode too. Workers reported guns pointed at them, there were no translators for workers who didn’t speak English, and ICE did not read anyone their rights anyway. Agents refused to even look at their paperwork, and the workers were humiliatingly handcuffed and chained at the waist and feet with metal chains that burned them because they had been roasting in the Georgia sun. And ICE kept them chained up for the whole nine hours it took for them to raid the factory, and for the whole bus ride to the facility, as if they were violent criminals, even though everyone was cooperating.

    A detainee told Yonhap News that once in detention, they were given no basic supplies for days and had moldy beds, inedible food, and no blankets.There were no windows or clocks, and it was very cold. And it took four days for all of them to be processed. [video]

    Meanwhile, dumb-as-shit ICE agents mocked them with slurs like “Rocket Man,” apparently unaware that South Korea is a whole other country from North Korea. And when the detainees asked agents what they had done that was illegal, they replied, “I don’t know either.”

    Detainees said Korean consular officials pressured them to sign voluntary departure forms with language about being “illegal” in order to be able to leave, under threat of them otherwise staying detained for months or even years, which angered workers who had not actually done anything illegal. One detainee — very skilled — sketched out the whole layout, which is like something you’d see drawn in blood inside a prison uniform from a Vietnamese tiger cage, or something. [image]

    And THEN the detainees’ release and departure, originally planned for last Wednesday, was reportedly delayed for an entire 24 more hours while Donald Trump tried to negotiate for them to go back to work. And of course they were like no fucking thank you. The old man realized a few days after the raid that his ICE done fucked up, bigtime. Because the US does not have the technology, or the technological expertise, to make and install the battery and car-building autonomous robots, and South Korea has some of the most advanced robots in the world. In fact, one in 10 Korean workers IS a robot.

    Trump, the Tuesday after the Friday raid: [video]

    And then on Sunday Trump went on his glitchy website and practically begged for foreign companies to return, sad laugh.

    When Foreign Companies who are building extremely complex products, machines, and various other “things,” come into the United States with massive Investments, I want them to bring their people of expertise for a period of time to teach and train our people how to make these very unique and complex products, as they phase out of our Country, and back into their land. If we didn’t do this, all of that massive Investment will never come in the first place — Chips, Semiconductors, Computers, Ships, Trains, and so many other products that we have to learn from others how to make, or, in many cases, relearn, because we used to be great at it, but not anymore. For example, Shipbuilding, where we used to build a Ship a day and now, we barely build a Ship a year. I don’t want to frighten off or disincentivize Investment into America by outside Countries or Companies. We welcome them, we welcome their employees, and we are willing to proudly say we will learn from them, and do even better than them at their own “game,” sometime into the not too distant future!

    Nice epiphany to have three weeks too late. And sure, that’ll help, reminding everybody that people’s lives are all one big “game” to the world’s most powerful former gameshow host.

    And speaking of shipbuilding, $150 billion of that $350 billion was supposed to be for Korea to help Make American Shipbuilding Great Again, helping to modernize American shipyards to better compete with China. But guess those slow boats to China are going to be a lot slower now!

    All of that, and it’s still not clear if any of the Korean workers broke the law, as no one has been charged with anything. The administration is saying the workers were detained because they did not have H-1B visas (which only 65,000 of are released per year, fewer than one-tenth of the number of workers who apply), and they had B1/B2 visas instead. But it is not at all clear that the workers actually required the longer-term H-1Bs, as they were there temporarily, working as subcontracting consultants to install the factory and being paid by Korean companies, which would seem to be the exact situation the temporary business visas are for in the first place.

    Hey, remember the time the AP uncovered Melania Trump had allegedly illegally worked as a model with a tourist visa, at least 10 times?

    But anyway, South Korea is now like, fine, if the US is going to be a fuckass and say everybody needs an H-1B visa all of a sudden, then work your shit out and get everybody the right visa. We’ll wait!

    Meanwhile Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau went over to Seoul and privately expressed regrets to First Vice Foreign Minister Park Yoon-joo, in between bouts of siccing the State Department on any foreigner on social media not properly mourning the death of Charlie Kirk. Will private regrets be enough?

    South Korea depends on the US for protection from incursions by North Korea, an ongoing risk, as Kim Jong-un reminds everyone with his constant missile tests. But the US depends on Korea for more than just Oscar-winning thrillers and K-pop, as the regime is just now coming to find out.

    Anyway, so, good job there, Tori Branum. The loudmouth who claimed credit for the factory raid has deleted her TikTok account after getting slammed with negative comments, a day after vowing to never be silenced. […]

    https://www.wonkette.com/p/trump-begging-south-korea-to-forget

  19. birgerjohansson says

    Police raid Israeli minister May Golan’s offices in ‘cash bonanza’ corruption probe
    .https://www.ynetnews.com/article/b1tx2mbjgg
    Facebook:
    ‘May Golan has a lot of pride. She once said she is “proud to be a racist”, “it’s our right to be racist”, she is “proud of the ruins of Gaza”. ‘

    It is as if extreme beliefs and dishonesty go hand in hand.
    (As I cannot read hebrew script I cannot read the source material myself)

  21. birgerjohansson says

    Farron Cousins:
    “The number of Americans who now say that Donald Trump is too old to be able to serve as president has skyrocketed this year, climbing 15 percentage points since February. The number now stands at 49%, which is a plurality of those who answered a recent YouGov poll. This comes as Trump’s physical and mental problems continue to become visibly worse, especially as speculation grows that he suffered a mini stroke during a 9/11 memorial last week”

    My comment: You Gov is considered to be one of the most reliable pollsters (methodology differs between different companies)

  23. birgerjohansson says

    The Onion

    “Desperate Kash Patel asks shooter’s family if they can solve any other cases”

  24. JM says

    MeidesTouch: Trump Lawyer Suddenly ARRESTED After Court Hearing
    Trump lawyer is a bit of exaggeration here, she was an election denier, involved in the Dominion voting system mess and acted as a lawyer for several other people in the mess. She never worked directly for Trump.
    She showed up to act as a lawyer for a client in DC while there was an arrest warrant out in Michigan. So the judge went through the whole matter as it applies in DC then let her be arrested for the Michigan matter.

  25. says

    shermanj @15, I appreciate the thanks … and the advice.

    StevoR @18, Thank you for your note of respect.

    Here are a few short and/or summarized bits of news, as posted by Steve Benen on The Maddow Blog:

    * Still awaiting the details on the latest strike: “The U.S. military struck a boat coming out of Venezuela for the second time this month, President Trump said today, as his administration continued its deadly campaign on drug cartels that it accused of bringing fentanyl into the United States. The strike occurred in international waters and killed three people, Trump said in a post on Truth Social.”

    * A lawsuit worth watching: “Maurene Comey is suing the Trump administration over her firing as a federal prosecutor in New York, calling the move a ‘politically motivated’ one that ‘upends bedrock principles of our democracy and justice system.’

    * Sometimes “frameworks” prove meaningful, but not always: “U.S. officials said on Monday that they had reached a preliminary deal with China on the fate of the social media platform TikTok that would address one of the biggest points of contention between the world’s two largest economies.” [Lynna adds text from The New York Times report:]

    President Trump has already delayed enforcing the law three times. Congress passed the bipartisan legislation last year to ban TikTok in the country unless it found a non-Chinese owner because of concerns that the social media app’s ties to China made it a national security threat to the United States. […] Li Chenggang, China’s international trade representative and vice minister of commerce, said that the two sides engaged in “candid and in-depth discussions on TikTok and the relevant concerns of the Chinese side” and that they had reached a basic framework consensus on resolving issues related to the platform, according to Xinhua, China’s state media agency. […]

    […] * Epstein documents: “Jeffrey Epstein’s estate has turned over additional documents to the House Oversight Committee, including a previously redacted name from the late sex offender’s now-notorious 50th birthday book, according to a letter obtained by NBC News. The name that was unredacted was not immediately publicly released.”

    * Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the president of Brazil, wrote an interesting op-ed for The New York Times pushing back against the White House: “President Trump, we remain open to negotiating anything that can bring mutual benefits. But Brazil’s democracy and sovereignty are not on the table.”

    * Why do this? “The U.S. Department of Education has pulled funding for programs in eight states aimed at supporting students who have both hearing and vision loss, a move that could affect some of the country’s most vulnerable students. The programs are considered vital in those states but represent only a little over $1 million a year in federal money.”

    * Noted without comment: “Fox News Channel host Brian Kilmeade apologized on Sunday for advocating for the execution of mentally ill homeless people in a discussion on the network last week, saying his remark was ‘extremely callous.’”

  31. StevoR says

    israel ha s launched its ground assault into the ruins of Gaza city now as this happens too :

    Israel has committed and is continuing to commit genocide in Gaza, according to the “most authoritative assessment” to date.

    A United Nations Commission of Inquiry (CoI), established by the UN Human Rights Council, concluded that Israeli authorities “intended to kill as many Palestinians as possible” and have committed the crime against humanity of extermination.

    The report cites direct targeting of civilians, including children, and mass killings in “far larger numbers compared to previous conflicts”. It also found Israel deliberately inflicted life-threatening conditions by blocking food, water and medicine — actions “calculated” to bring about the “destruction of Palestinians”. The inquiry’s report follows a two-year investigation and builds on a growing number of assessments labelling Israel’s actions as genocide.

    Source : https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09-16/israel-committing-genocide-in-gaza-un-report-says/105780230

  32. StevoR says

    Plus see :

    Israel has launched its ground offensive into Gaza City after days of aerial attacks, with residents warned to move south.An Israeli military official told Reuters on Tuesday that ground forces were advancing deeper into Gaza City, moving towards its centre, and the military was prepared to continue operations for as long as necessary to defeat Hamas.

    Source : https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09-16/idf-launches-military-offensive-to-occupy-gaza/105777948

    So, basically , forever.

  33. StevoR says

    US President Donald Trump has sued the New York Times, four of its reporters and publisher Penguin Random House for at least $US15 billion ($22 billion), claiming defamation and libel and citing reputational damage, a Florida court filing shows.

    Mr Trump’s suit cites a series of New York Times articles including an editorial prior to the 2024 presidential election which said he was unfit for office.

    The lawsuit also includes a 2024 book published by Penguin titled “Lucky Loser: How Donald Trump Squandered His Father’s Fortune and Created the Illusion of Success”.

    Source : https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09-16/trump-files-us15-billion-lawsuit-against-new-york-times/105779782

  41. KG says

    <

    blockquote>After Andrew asked what he and Trump could possibly talk about over their pizza, Charles suggested, “Maybe you two can reminisce about your good times with Jeffrey Epstein.” – Lynna, OM @2 quoting Borowitz Report

    <

    blockquote>

    It’s true Andrew and Trump have a lot to reminisce about – but so, in a slightly less direct way, do Trump and Charles, both of whom have had a long and close friendship with a prolific rapist of children – Jimmy Savile in Charles’s case. However, Charles may be upper-class-twit enough to have really had no idea that Savile liked to spend his time raping anyone from babies to the dead.

  42. says

    shermanj @15, that WIRED article swell-written and thorough. I found these three paragraphs particularly memorable:

    Under Miller’s guiding hand, the government can deport (or kidnap and rendition) you or your spouse, without due process, to a foreign gulag, if the president feels like it. The White House can repeatedly threaten to take away the most basic of constitutional protections, such as habeas corpus. The president can launch Justice Department criminal investigations against his enemies who, by all known accounts, did nothing wrong except annoy the commander-in-chief, or refuse to help him steal an election. The president and his lieutenants can arrest you at a routine courthouse check-in, at your church, outside your kid’s school, even if you have no criminal record. They’ve instituted a heavily draconian system of immigration arrest “quotas,” ensuring a regime not mainly of mass deportation, but of mass disappearances and indefinite detention in jails and newly erected camps. [Links to embedded sources are available at the WIRED link in comment 15.]

    They’ve quickly turned much of federal law enforcement into the masked, nameless, unaccountable secret police, working at the whims of the president and his staff. The president can deploy armed National Guard troops, and even U.S. Marines, to the streets of an American city any time he wants — and deem it enemy territory. The administration has made censoring media organizations, comedians, and aging rock stars a policy priority, in an anti-free-speech crusade waged from the West Wing to the Federal Communications Commission. […]

    […] Within the highest levels of the Trump administration, the idea that Attorney General Pam Bondi runs the Justice Department or that Kristi Noem runs the Department of Homeland Security is woefully incomplete. Nominally independent departments are run by the West Wing of the White House — and therefore, largely, by Miller. […]

    The Trump administration sent WIRED a lot of quotes praising Miller, mostly quotes from Republican lawmakers claiming Miller as a “friend.” They wanted WIRED to print every quote … desperate to make Miller look human I think.

  43. says

    Followup to comment 42.

    Showing the depth and breadth of Stephen Miller’s delusion(s):

    […] In the aftermath of Trump’s deployment of the National Guard and U.S. Marines to assist with ICE operations in Los Angeles, Miller insisted that purging undocumented migrants from the city would create a utopia for the remaining residents.

    “You have any idea how many resources will be opened up for Americans when the illegals are gone?” Miller told Fox News. “No more waiting in line at an emergency room, no more massive traffic in Los Angeles. Your health insurance premiums go down, your public-school classroom size will shrink … and if you do need to get support from the government, you’re not going to be in line behind millions of illegal aliens from the third world. This is going to be such a gift to the quality of life of everyday Americans.” […]

  46. JM says

    Reuters: US appeals court rejects Trump bid to oust Fed’s Lisa Cook

    A U.S. appeals court declined on Monday to allow Donald Trump to fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook – the first time a president has pursued such action since the central bank’s founding in 1913 – in the latest step in a legal battle that threatens the Fed’s longstanding independence.

    The next meeting is Tuesday so the administration would have to rush an appeal to the Supreme court if they want to block her. White House officials said they planned to do so but only have hours to put it together.
    I expect they will put something together but the Supreme Court will ignore it on the grounds it isn’t important enough for them to rush to judgement.

  47. says

    Why Trump’s new civil suit against The New York Times is so bizarre

    About a week ago, for reasons that were not altogether clear, Donald Trump threatened to sue The New York Times. Evidently, the president wasn’t kidding. NBC News reported:

    President Donald Trump on Monday filed a federal defamation lawsuit against the New York Times, four of its reporters and Penguin Random House over coverage of his 2024 campaign. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, which covers the area where Trump resides outside the White House, accused the newspaper of attempting to ruin his reputation as a businessman, sink his campaign and prejudice judges and juries against him in coverage of his campaign.

    Trump and his lawyers are seeking no less than $15 billion (that’s not a typo) in compensatory damages, as well as unspecified punitive damages. (Among the defendants are Susanne Craig, Peter Baker and Michael Schmidt, each of whom has worked at one time as analysts or contributors for MSNBC or NBC News.)

    In a semi-coherent 232-word rant published to his social media platform, the president described the Times as “one of the worst and most degenerate newspapers in the History of our Country,” adding that the outlet “has engaged in a decades long method of lying about your Favorite President (ME!).”

    Right off the bat, it’s important to note that describing the court filing as a “lawsuit” is itself generous. As writer Jesse Berney summarized, the lawsuit is “like an 85-page Trump Truth Social post. It’s hilarious.”

    That characterization is more than fair. Reading it, I felt a little embarrassed for the lawyers who were responsible for producing it, especially after seeing random Trump-related images that seemed to have been included in this dreadfully silly document for no apparent reason.

    There’s no reason to think the case will succeed. For that matter, Trump’s attorneys should hope they avoid sanctions for having filed such an absurdity in the first place.

    But that doesn’t mean the suit is irrelevant. On the contrary, it’s a reminder of the sitting president’s overt hostility toward the First Amendment and the idea of a free press.

    Let’s not lose sight of the recent pattern: Trump’s case against the Times comes on the heels of other civil lawsuits he’s brought against The Wall Street Journal, CBS News, ABC News, The Des Moines Register and CNN, among others.

    The volume of cases might make it seem as if this has become routine, but the broader circumstances remain bizarre: Americans have never had a president who, while in office, sued independent news organizations for publishing reports the White House disapproved of.

    And yet, Trump can’t seem to stop suing independent news organizations for publishing reports the White House disapproves of.

    More analysis and some photos excerpted from the “dreadfully silly document” are available here:
    https://bsky.app/profile/jamesrball.com/post/3lyxl7hrfps24

  48. says

    DOJ Deletes Study Showing Domestic Terrorists Are Most Often Right Wing

    The Department of Justice has removed a study showing that white supremacist and far-right violence “continues to outpace all other types of terrorism and domestic violent extremism” in the United States.

    The study, which was conducted by the National Institute of Justice and hosted on a DOJ website was available there at least until September 12, 2025, according to an archive of the page saved by the Wayback Machine. Daniel Malmer, a PhD student studying online extremism at UNC-Chapel Hill, first noticed the paper was deleted.

    “The Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs is currently reviewing its websites and materials in accordance with recent Executive Orders and related guidance,” reads a message on the page where the study was formerly hosted. “During this review, some pages and publications will be unavailable. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.” […]

  49. says

    Followup of sorts to comment 47.

    During a brief Q&A with the press ahead of his trip to the United Kingdom on Tuesday, defamation lawsuit loser President Donald Trump attacked ABC News’ White House correspondent Jonathan Karl. Karl had asked for Trump’s thoughts on alarming comments made by Attorney General Pam Bondi on what she considers “hate speech.”

    “We should probably go after people like you because you treat me so unfairly. It’s hate. You have a lot of hate in your heart,” Trump said. “Maybe I’ll come after ABC? Well, ABC paid me $16 million recently for a form of hate speech, right? Your company paid me $16 million for a form of hate speech, so maybe they’ll have to go after you. Look, we want everything to be fair. It hasn’t been fair. And the radical leftist[s] does tremendous damage to the country. But we’re fixing it.” [video]

    Actually, it was $15 million for defamation, but it’s so hard to keep all these lawsuits straight.

    Trump then pivoted into his well-worn, semi-coherent, prattle about how America is “the hottest” country and was “dead” before he returned to office and how he “fixed” Washington.

    […] Trump has continued to target and pressure media outlets with additional lawsuits and demands for more concessions, all in an effort to enrich himself while silencing criticism of him or his administration.

    Link

  50. says

    Actor/Director/Environmental Activist Robert Redford has died at the age of 89 in his home in Utah, it was announced this morning.

    Redford also founded the The Sundance Film Festival in 1981, which has become seminal for its impact on independent filmmaking.

    Redford, raised in Santa Monica, Ca., began acting on Broadway in 1959, moving to Television and film in 1960. He won a directorial academy award for his first film, Ordinary People.

    His long career in TV and film spanned from “Maverick” in 1960 to Dark Winds in 2025.

    He began his activism in 1960 when he fell in love with the mountains of Provo, Utah and built a cabin there for his family.

    In 2019, Redford penned an op-ed calling the Trump administration, “a monarchy in disguise”. […]

    Link

  51. says

    Of course he did.

    Trump extends TikTok deadline again

    […] Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order once again delaying enforcement of a TikTok ban after announcing the U.S. had a “framework” for a deal to keep the app available in the U.S.

    The latest extension pushes back the deadline to enforce a law, which requires TikTok’s China-based parent company ByteDance to divest from the app or face a ban on U.S. networks and app stores, until Dec. 16. An earlier extension was set to expire Wednesday.

    Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent revealed Monday that the U.S. had secured a “framework” for a TikTok deal during trade talks with Chinese officials. Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are set to speak again Friday to complete the deal, Bessent said.

    With a deal in sight, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer had suggested the president could again extend the deadline in order to get it signed, although he emphasized that “we’re not going to be in the business of having repetitive extensions.” [LOL]

    The three-month extension is the fourth of its kind delaying enforcement of the divest-or-ban law, which was initially set to take effect in January. The measure passed Congress with large bipartisan majorities last year and was signed into law by former President Biden.

    However, Trump repeatedly vowed to “save” TikTok during his 2024 campaign and has pushed to reach a deal to keep the app available in the U.S. since taking office. His administration initially appeared near to an agreement in April, but the effort was scuttled by the announcement of reciprocal tariffs on several countries, including China.

  52. says

    […] Marco Rubio would like to do some more extreme free speech, right-wing-style, and the Republican Party is excited to help him. On Wednesday, the House will hold a hearing on a bill introduced by Rep. Brian Mast (R-Florida) that would allow Rubio to seize US citizens’ passports if Rubio personally determines that they are providing “material support” to a terrorist organization.

    Extremely necessary reminder: Trump’s deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller and Vice President JD Vance are both currently calling everyone from George Soros to the Ford Foundation “terrorist organizations.”

    According to The Intercept:

    One section grants the secretary of state the power to revoke or refuse to issue passports for people who have been convicted of — or merely charged with — material support for terrorism. […]

    The other section sidesteps the legal process entirely. Rather, the secretary of state would be able to deny passports to people whom they determine “has knowingly aided, assisted, abetted, or otherwise provided material support to an organization the Secretary has designated as a foreign terrorist organization.”

    This means that US citizens could be stripped of their right to travel, without any due process, entirely at the whim of Marco Rubio or whoever the next secretary of State might be.

    It is already very illegal to provide material support to terrorists and it will cause one, if convicted, to lose one’s passport. This bill, however, would not require that people actually be convicted of anything and could include things like donating money to NGOs Rubio does not like or publicly opposing a war he does.

    It could even include simply insulting the sacred memory of Charlie Kirk.

    After all, Rubio announced this week on Twitter that he will be revoking the visas of legal immigrants he determines to be “celebrating” the death of Charlie Kirk or just quoting him. That is how Karen Attiah lost her job as the last full time Black columnist for the Washington Post (which is apparently quite determined to demonstrate exactly how democracy can die in darkness). [video]

    It could perhaps include donating money to or voting for the Democratic Party, which Stephen Miller has recently declared a “domestic extremist organization” and a “terrorist network.”

    It could also include simply being trans, given the way Republicans have been working to paint transgender people as being somehow especially prone to violence. On Tuesday, Marjorie Taylor Green’s boyfriend, Brian Glenn, a correspondent for Real America’s Voice, asked Trump if he would declare what he calls “transtifa” (I assume this means all trans people?) to be a domestic terror organization and ban Pride flags for “representing the transtifa,” and Trump was open to the entirely batshit suggestion.

    It could include literally anything anyone in the Trump administration doesn’t like, because the bill does not actually offer up an actual definition of the kind of “material support” that would not cause one to face any kind of actual charges, but could result in them losing their passport.

    On the bright side, those who lost their passports under this law would be able to appeal the decision to Marco Rubio, whose decision it was to take it away from them in the first place. That should be very helpful.

    https://www.wonkette.com/p/should-marco-rubio-get-to-seize-your

  53. says

    Three days after the murder of Charlie Kirk, allegedly by one Tyler Robinson of Utah, Vice President JD Vance and other government officials seized the means of production of Kirk’s podcast, so as not to let a good tragedy or Kirk’s audience of more than 3 million to go to waste. They put on their own state-sponsored show, right out of Vance’s office, to try to blame the killing on liberals and declare and incite retribution on George Soros, the Ford Foundation, and anyone insufficiently sad over Kirk’s death.

    […] we’ve gotten to the part where they’re urging people to turn on/in their neighbors and co-workers so they can get doxed and/or fired for failing to mourn Charlie Kirk properly, and Stephen Miller says they plan to try to persecute left-wing non-profits by whatever means, whether they broke a law or not.

    And if that was not freaky enough, Trump got to musing in the White House about “pretty radical groups and they got away with murder,” and how he and Attorney General of the United States Pam Bondi are going to bring RICO charges against “some of the people that you’ve been reading about that have been putting up millions and millions of dollars for agitation.” And, he told Marjorie Taylor Greene’s sweaty ham-head boyfriend that maybe he could prosecute people in DC for hanging a trans flag as an incitement to riot. [video]

    […] Vance’s show was two hours long, but watch if you have a strong stomach: [video]

    And/or we will tell you about the worst parts until we can’t take it any more.

    First, it must be said, so far as we yet know, the murder of Charlie Kirk was not political. The purpose of a political killing is to make a political point, not to be opaque about it, communicating in some video game hieroglyphs with baked-in levels of irony. We can take the alleged shooter’s word, or lack of words, for it: He did it for the attention of the gamer community. […] And if Robinson was not a Groyper, he was at least hip-wader deep in that cesspool.

    Kash Patel said that Robinson left a note, but the note was destroyed, but Patel re-constructed it, but nobody can see it, but he can interpret it like peepstones that only Kash Patel can see. Meanwhile, Robinson isn’t talking, or at least is not saying what the regime wants him to say. And how pathetically desperate trying to portray Robinson’s roommate as trans, simply because he has chin-length hair and hoodies and hats with animals on them and enjoys cookies. The roommate has never identified themselves as trans to anyone! Really, that is the best they can do to show Robinson had a political motivation? Desperate. [video]

    It sure all smells like a coverup for some white-Christian-man on-white-Christian man gang warfare. […]

    Anyway, Vance started off the show with a tearjerker slideshow of the Kirk family and Kirk praising Trump and helping his campaign while Christian folk strums in the background. Vance said Kirk campaigned hard to get him the VP job, but then not even 15 minutes in began to rail against “leftist extremism.” Then he brought in some special guests, starting with Stephen Miller, and you know it didn’t take him long to go full Goebbels:

    “You have the crazies on the far Left who are saying, ‘Oh, Steven Miller and JD Vance, they’re going to go after constitutionally protected speech.’ No, no, no. We’re going to go after the NGO network that ferments, facilitates, and engages in violence.”

    Oh, like the nonprofits that paid for buses to the Capitol on January 6? Don’t be silly! Back on Friday, Miller had already appeared on Hannity to boast, “The power of law enforcement, under President Trump’s leadership, will be used to find you, will be used to take away your money, take away your power, and, if you’ve broken the law, to take away your freedom.” […] [video]

    So we’re going to take away people’s money and power, BEFORE they’ve broken a law. Sounds very American, very cool!

    Later in the podcast Vance got more specific about who they mean; he is furious in particular with an article by Elizabeth Spiers (former Gawker!) from The Nation, titled “Charlie Kirk’s Legacy Deserves No Mourning: The white Christian nationalist provocateur wasn’t a promoter of civil discourse. He preached hate, bigotry, and division”:

    “I read a story in The Nation magazine about my dear friend Charlie Kirk. Now, The Nation isn’t a fringe blog. It’s a well-funded, well-respected magazine whose publishing history goes back to the American Civil War. George Soros’s Open Society Foundation funds this magazine, as does the Ford Foundation and many other wealthy titans of the American Progressive Movement. The writer accuses Charlie of saying, and I quote, ‘Black women do not have brain processing power to be taken seriously.’ But if you go and watch the clip, the very clip she links to, you realize he never said anything like that. He never uttered those words.”

    Sure, okay. [video]

    Yeah, that’s worse. Vance went on later:

    “Something has gone very wrong with a lunatic fringe, a minority, but a growing and powerful minority on the far Left. There is no unity with people who scream at children over their parents’ politics.”

    Oh, like Shiloh Hendrix?

    “There is no unity with someone who lies about what Charlie Kirk said in order to excuse his murder. There is no unity with someone who harasses an innocent family the day after the father of that family lost a dear friend. There is no unity with the people who celebrate Charlie Kirk’s assassination. And there is no unity with the people who fund these articles, who pay the salaries of these terrorists. […] Did you know that the George Soros Open Society Foundation and the Ford Foundation, the groups who funded that disgusting article justifying Charlie’s death, do you know they benefit from generous tax treatment? They are literally subsidized by you and me, the American taxpayer.“

    Didn’t you just know he would find some way to work George Soros into it? And the Ford Foundation, there’s a throwback. Elizabeth Spiers denies being paid by the Ford Foundation or George Soros. Obviously. [social media posts]

    Everybody’s conspiring against the white man!

    Vance huffed:

    “While our side of the aisle certainly has its crazies, it is a statistical FACT that most of the lunatics in American politics today are proud members of the far Left.”

    And Miller:

    “People on the Left are much likelier to defend and celebrate political violence. This is not a both sides problem. If both sides have a problem, then one side has a much bigger and malignant problem and that is the truth.”

    Any time somebody trying to sell you something makes the point of underscoring that what they’re saying is the truth, they too desperately want you to believe it’s the truth, and probably it is not the truth. And it is not the truth, you can even ask Grok:

    “Since 2016, America’s Right has generated significantly more violence than the Left, particularly in terms of fatalities (96% right-wing) and terrorist incidents/plots (67% right).”

    Just an hour before Kirk was shot, right over the mountains in Colorado, a 16-year-old who posted in neo-Nazi forums shot two students and killed himself. Schrödinger’s fascist, both always the victim and the strongest tough guy at the same time!

    Miller was talking, we guess, about a Yougov poll which found that most Americans, 87 percent, say political violence is a problem. Right now 9 percent more Republicans than Democrats say it’s a problem, but following the assassination of Melissa Hortman — Trump: “I’m not familiar. The who?” — and following the attempted assassination of Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, more Democrats than Republicans said it was a problem. And a poll conducted by the Public Religion Research Institute in 2023 — when Democrat Joe Biden was in the White House — found that a third of Republicans agreed with the statement: “Because things have gotten so far off track, true American patriots may have to resort to violence in order to save our country.” Just 13 percent of Democrats in the survey agreed. Not to mention, there’s who is saying it’s a problem, and who actually IS the problem. Just saying.

    Melissa Hortman, who’s that? [video]

    If he had his way, Trump would erase her like a Harper’s Ferry plaque.

    As Vance put it after he got busted lying about Haitians invading Ohio and eating dogs and cats, “If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then that’s what I’m going to do.” But he doesn’t mean ALL of the American people, of course. He means right-wing white men, who are suffering hard that they can’t be in charge of telling all their fellow citizens what to do and say. Their feelings are the real victims here! And they will punish the feelings-hurters.

    Miller took to X to coo about how much fun he was having witch-hunting online for the enemies within among his fellow citizens.

    “In recent days, we have learned just how many Americans in positions of authority—child services, law clerks, hospital nurses, teachers, gov’t workers, even DOD employees—have been deeply and violently radicalized. The consequence of a vast, organized ecosystem of indoctrination.”

    Maybe Elon Musk should do something about his hellsite, eh?

    Anyway, getting neighbors to snitch on each other is always a step in the authoritarian playbook. […] And finding a martyr, they love that shit.

    Back on November 7, 1938, a 19-year-old Polish/Jewish immigrant to Paris, Herschel Feibel Grynszpan, assassinated the Nazi German diplomat Ernst vom Rath. Grynszpan was quickly disappeared and never heard from again, and the murder of vom Rath became the pretext for Kristallnacht [I snipped the rest of the historical details.]

    And Vice President JD Vance, ghoul Stephen Miller, buddy Steve Bannon and many new government employees sure are students of political history, and one time period in particular. Big Balls getting mugged, Charlie Kirk, it’s all fodder for the war they were planning to roll out one way or another.

    Will this playbook work in these here United States of America? How far will the Supreme Court six let him go? Guess we’ll all find out.

    https://www.wonkette.com/p/jd-vance-has-jolly-time-hosting-hitler

  54. birgerjohansson says

    Donald Trump says “Smart people don’t like me, and they don’t like what we talk about”

    .https://youtube.com/watch?v=ErazqEsp_rM

    When the White House was asked to clarify what Trump meant, they chose to insult Jasmine Crocket, not clarify what Trump said. So I assume the official Trump line is literally “smart people don’t like him”

    Trump himself has created a Venn diagram where people who like him are excluded from the circle containing “smart”.

  56. says

    Jasmine Crockett is a gem: decent, caring, witty, intelligent. tRUMP doesn’t want ‘smart’ people to like him, because they will see he is an arrogant, destructive imbecile and will never support him once they see behind the curtain.

  57. birgerjohansson says

    If I had 229 chromosome pairs, I would make sure they contained genes for
    – living as long as the bowhead whale
    -echolocation in darkness
    -genes for having an extreme memory, like some savants have
    -assorted superpowers, like -but not restricted to- Deadpool-type regeneration.

  58. birgerjohansson says

    Shermanj @ 56
    If Trump had a minimalist genome, I suspect he could get along with far fewer chromosomes without anyone noticing a difference. Memorising a few slogans, hating out-groups… you do not need the whole h. sapiens set.

  59. says

    @52 Lynna posted that One section grants the secretary of state the power to revoke or refuse to issue passports for people who have been convicted of — or merely charged with — material support for terrorism.
    My reply to that is: These rtwing miscreants IGNORE DUE PROCESS, turning this country into a LAWLESS MOCKERY. They operate on rumor, opinion and use vast amounts of corrupt power and money to throw what ever excrement they want at the wall to see what sticks (that is to see how much destruction, murder and pillage they can get away with).

  60. says

    @58 birgerjohansson mentioned tRUMP could get along with a subset of chromosomes and ‘Memorising a few slogans, hating out-groups’
    I reply – You are probably correct. it is obvious he is some sort of mutant that is narcissistic and sadistic and has the I.Q of a turnip.

  73. StevoR says

    The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) has captured stunning, newly revealed images of the supermassive black hole that lies at the heart of the galaxy M87. The EHT made this black hole, known as M87*, famous in April 2019 when it was revealed as the first black hole ever imaged by humanity.

    These images of M87*, located around 55 million light-years from Earth, show that the polarization of the magnetic fields around the black hole reversed over a period of four years. The new observations of M87* also show the telltale signs of a jet of matter emerging from around the black hole, with its base connected to the bright ring around the outer boundary, or “event horizon,” around M87*.

    The images could help scientists further develop theories of how matter behaves in the extreme environments around supermassive black holes, which have masses of millions or even billions of suns and are found at the hearts of all large galaxies.

    Source : https://www.space.com/astronomy/black-holes/totally-unexpected-stunning-new-imagery-shows-big-changes-in-the-1st-black-hole-ever-captured-by-humanity-photo-video

  74. birgerjohansson says

    Hossenfelder alert 
    “They kicked me out” (for calling out BS)

    .https://youtube.com/watch?v=ZO5u3V6LJuM
    (I am obviously not an authority, but if it is true there has been no major fundamental breakthough in the mentioned fields since the 1970s, it is worthy of attention. Also, note the others that have voiced similar criticism. BJ)

  77. says

    shermanj @59, yeah that phrase “merely charged with” in important. Thanks for pointing that out.

    In other news:
    ‘Embarrassing the FBI’: Schiff predicts Kash Patel won’t last long as director
    Video is 7:57 minutes.

    ‘So absurd’: Chris Hayes blasts MAGA crackdown on free speech
    Video is 11:24 minutes. This is an excellent video, with a thoughtful rundown by Chris Hayes. “Trump officials crack down on left-leaning groups after Charlie Kirk killing.”

  78. StevoR says

    Once a haven for flamingos, sturgeon and thousands of seals, fast-receding waters are turning the northern coast of the Caspian Sea into barren stretches of dry sand. In some places, the sea has retreated more than 50km. Wetlands are becoming deserts, fishing ports are being left high and dry, and oil companies are dredging ever-longer channels to reach their offshore installations.

    Climate change is driving this dramatic decline in the world’s largest landlocked sea. Found at the boundary between Europe and central Asia, the Caspian Sea is surrounded by Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkmenistan, and sustains around 15 million people.

    The Caspian is a hub for fishing, shipping, and oil and gas production, and is of rising geopolitical importance as it sits where the interests of global superpowers meet. As the sea shallows, governments face the critical challenge of maintaining industries and livelihoods, while also protecting the unique ecosystems that sustains them.

    Source: https://theconversation.com/climate-change-is-fast-shrinking-the-worlds-largest-inland-sea-265239

  79. says

    Every once in a while, the president has a day — a single 24-hour period — in which his authoritarian vision comes into sharp relief.

    When Republicans complain about Donald Trump’s critics on the left using intemperate rhetoric, they often point to the frequency with which the president’s detractors accuse him of being an “authoritarian.” The complaints, however, tend to miss the point: The problem is with Trump’s actions, not with his opponents noticing those actions.

    And then, every once in a while, the president has a day — a single 24-hour period — in which his actions bring into sharp focus just how authoritarian his agenda actually is. Consider this unsettling timeline:

    Monday, Sept. 15, in the afternoon: Trump told reporters about his plans to target progressive organizations, adding that he’d already spoken to Attorney General Pam Bondi about bringing racketeering charges against “some of the people you’ve been reading about.” The New York Times noted soon after, “President Trump has begun a major escalation in his long-running efforts to stifle political opposition in the United States.”

    Monday, Sept. 15, in the afternoon: Trump boasted about his latest deadly military strike against a civilian boat in international waters, which he claimed was helmed by “narcoterrorists” and carrying “illegal narcotics” headed to the U.S. Asked to bolster his claim with evidence, or to explain how such strikes are legal, the president declined.

    Monday, Sept. 15, in the afternoon: Responding to a conservative reporter who said that anti-war protesters near the White House “still have their First Amendment right,” Trump replied, “Yeah, well, I’m not so sure.”

    Monday, Sept. 15, in the evening: Trump bragged about having filed a $15 billion lawsuit against The New York Times, accusing the newspaper of attempting to ruin his reputation by publishing reports he didn’t like. It is the latest in a series of civil suits he’s filed against independent news organizations that have bothered him with accurate reporting.

    Tuesday, Sept. 16, in the morning: Asked about his efforts to profit from the presidency, Trump threatened to report an Australian journalist to his country’s authorities.

    Tuesday, Sept. 16, in the morning: Trump told ABC News’ Jonathan Karl that the Justice Department will “probably” go after him and his network, suggesting the reporter’s coverage might meet the threshold for “hate speech.”

    Tuesday, Sept. 16, in the morning: Trump called for the incarceration of a prosecutor in Georgia who tried to hold him accountable for alleged crimes after his 2020 election defeat.

    Tuesday, Sept. 16, in the afternoon: Trump boasted to reporters that U.S. naval forces, acting on his orders, had “knocked off” a third civilian boat in international waters.

    Tuesday, Sept. 16, in the afternoon: Trump announced that he would continue to refuse to enforce a federal law related to TikTok.

    Individually, each of these developments is unsettling to those who take democracy seriously, but don’t miss the forest for the trees: These aren’t just disconcerting anecdotes, they’re collectively one dramatic story about a president and an administration that’s increasingly overt in their indifference to American democracy and the rule of law.

    What’s more, this 24-hour period wasn’t especially unusual. Over the last eight months, Americans have seen a great many days just like this one. […]

  80. says

    A splendid bit of reporting this morning from the ABC News team.

    The main news is that Ed Martin and Bill Pulte have been pressuring federal prosecutors in the Eastern District of Virginia to indict New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) on the mortgage fraud claims that Pulte, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, drummed up.

    As I read the story, prosecutors so far have resisted not just because they don’t have enough evidence against James but because they have considerable exculpatory evidence.

    Pulte’s manufactured case against James comes down to one document in the mortgage file:

    However, investigators have so far determined that the document — a limited power of attorney form used by James’ niece to sign documents on her behalf when James closed on the home — was never considered by the loan officers who approved the mortgage, sources said.

    Lawyers drafted the document itself for a third-party closing company based on a template that was never corrected, sources said, and every other document in James’ loan file for the mortgage accurately stated that she would not reside at the home.

    It’s not for lack of trying by prosecutors, ABC News reports. They have interviewed or brought before a grand jury 15 witnesses, among them James’ niece, insurers, loan officers, underwriters, and realtors:

    A loan underwriter interviewed by investigators said that, in the process of approving the loan, she never looked at or considered the power of attorney document that incorrectly listed the home as James’ primary residence […]

    As a result of all of these “bad” facts, prosecutors in the Eastern District of Virginia, despite pressure on DOJ from Trump himself, declined to seek an indictment of James. That led Pulte to encourage Trump to fire U.S. Attorney Erik Siebert, ABC reports. [Of course.]

    But Wait … There’s More!
    The other bit of great reporting by ABC News is its account of Martin’s attempt to beef up his little fiefdom within the Justice Department, which he has dubbed the “Special Attorney Fraud Unit.”

    Martin wears so many different hats at DOJ that I’ve lost count. But for the purposes of this particular bogosity I think it most matters that he’s head of the DOJ’s Weaponization Working Group and a special attorney to Attorney General Pam Bondi. ABC’s report actually refines his title in a way I hadn’t seen before: Special Attorney for Mortgage Fraud. Perfect.

    ABC reports that Martin has requested two to three experienced prosecutors from Virginia and New York to help in his investigation. Recall that he’s also pursuing James for a bogus mortgage fraud claim in New York.

    But the best part is Martin’s recruiting email obtained by ABC. It’s titled “Help Wanted” and is chock full of over the top language like:
    – seeking “fighters for justice and goodness and the American way”
    – “The qualities of a good prosecutor are as elusive and as impossible to define as those that mark a gentleman.”
    – “In a special way, the SAFU is called to hold bad actors accountable. After all, as New York, Attorney General Leticia [sic] James said, ‘Because no matter how big, rich, or powerful you think you are, no one is above the law.’”

    The ABC story leaves me with one unanswered question: Why hasn’t Martin just brought the case against James himself? My understanding is that as a special attorney Martin has all the powers of a U.S. attorney. He’s just not tethered to a particular geographic district like U.S. attorneys are. So what’s keeping him from fully Ed Martining?

    Here’s a guess: Bringing a case to trial takes work, even for an experienced prosecutor, and Martin has never been a prosecutor. It’s probably a lot more fun to be a roving menace in every district in the country that it is to buckle down and learn a case and ultimately risk losing. [True] If Martin’s goal, as he’s publicly said before, is to name and shame, then he can continue to do that without ever bringing cases to trial.

    Link

  81. says

    Federal Workers Blow Whistle in Guatemalan Kids Case

    A group of federal workers came forward as whistleblowers and accused a Trump Department of Homeland Security official of making false or misleading statements in a court-filed declaration about the status of some of the Guatemalan kids who were targeted for middle-of-the-night deportations over the Labor Day weekend.

    Attorneys who succeeded in temporarily stopping the deportation immediately notified the federal judge in the case of the new whistleblower allegations as he considers whether to extend the ban on removing the children.

    Same link as in comment 80.

  82. says

    Understatement of the Day

    “When I hear not just our current president, but his aides, who have a history of calling political opponents ‘vermin,’ enemies who need to be ‘targeted,’ that speaks to a broader problem that we have right now, and something that we’re going to have to grapple with — all of us.”–former President Barack Obama

    Same link as in comment 80.

  84. JM says

    @77 Lynna, OM: Kash Patel has been a failure since he took the positions but a lot of Tump’s cabinet have been disasters. That doesn’t mean they are going away.
    In his first term a lot of high ranking officials were people more or less foisted on him by Republican party officials, wealthy donors, right wing politicians and a few other seniors officials. Trump was not happy with them putting the law and their own interests before Trump’s. This time he picked them all himself for being lap dogs and he isn’t going to get rid of them quickly. As long as they spend a lot of time praising Trump at cabinet meetings they will hang.
    Trump might sacrifice them to cover his own rear but that isn’t likely to be an issue while he is in office.

  87. says

    Update on continuing resolution negotiations:

    Congressional Democrats are expected to release their own, alternative continuing resolution today, which will include language to fight back against the Trump White House’s lawless impoundments and pocket rescission.

    Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) on Wednesday morning said Democrats want to make sure that “the process that we go through is real” — that the funding agreement they come to will be honored by the White House.

    Schumer and other Democrats have been vocal for months around this issue, saying that they are willing to fund the government in a bipartisan way, but they worry that any deal they make will then be broken by the Trump administration as it continues to not spend federal funding as Congress has authorized it — effectively making any government funding deal pointless.

    “In other words, right now, [Russell Vought] and the Trump administration, with rescissions, with impoundments, with pocket rescissions, can just undo almost unilaterally anything the Congress does,” Schumer said during an MSNBC interview. “We said that’s ridiculous and that shouldn’t happen. So we’re going to do that.”

    […] Democrats have not previously officially indicated they would include provisions to protect agreed-on spending from impoundment and rescissions.

    […] Republicans’ 91-page measure would keep the government funded through Nov. 21 but it does not include any health care provisions that Democrats have been demanding in exchange for their support.

    […] The Republican CR includes $30 million for lawmaker security in the wake of the recent killings of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk and Democratic state lawmakers and $58 million for security assistance for the Supreme Court and the executive branch, which was reportedly a request from the White House. The measure also includes a so-called “D.C. fix” that would allow the district to spend its full budget. This would essentially reverse the $1.1 billion cut to Washington, D.C.’s budget that House Republicans included in the last CR to keep the government open in March.

    The Democratic proposal will also include “a broad base” of health care provisions, House Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) told reporters outside the House floor Tuesday. […]

    Ultimately, Republicans, who are in control of both the upper and lower chamber, will have to negotiate with Democrats as they need a handful of votes from them in the Senate to avoid a government shutdown.

    Link

    JM @84, I agree.

  88. says

    Followup to comments 49, 53 and 79.

    […] As for the comments made by Vice President JD Vance on the record about his boss, the list is troubling. Vance has called Trump “reprehensible,” “cultural heroin,” and “America’s Hitler.” Someone better call Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate him.

    Link

  92. says

    “Amateur Hour”: The Man Sending US Military Contractors to Gaza

    “How a little-known former Green Beret went from starting a company to prevent hangovers to the center of a dubious scheme to deliver aid in Gaza.”

    In July, one week after a whistleblower accused contractors from the American security firm UG Solutions of deploying stun grenades and shooting live ammunition toward Palestinian civilians in Gaza, a new song appeared on the SoundCloud account of “Jameson G.” Titled “demon-in-the-desert,” the dubstep track featured artwork of an alien with a dagger stabbed through its skull. After a crescendo, the beat drops. “I am the demon in the desert,” a male voice screams. “You’re gonna die.” [video]

    A Mother Jones investigation shows that UG Solutions founder Jameson Govoni is a co-owner of the account, which uses the artist name “UltimoGringo.” It is part of a questionable background for Govoni, a former Green Beret and serial small-time entrepreneur who had almost no public presence until his armed contractors arrived in the Middle East earlier this year.

    Since 2019, the man [UG Solutions founder Jameson Govoni] now in charge of a private security force in Gaza has registered a drink for ravers, pursued a CBD venture, and sold a hangover preventative (the latter, his company boasts, was developed by “savages”). In April, he ran into trouble with the law: Govoni was taken into custody for felony eluding arrest and misdemeanor hit-and-run. One month later, after posting $50,000 in bail, he was sending military contractors to Gaza.

    In August, a grand jury declined to indict Govoni in the case. When asked about it, Govoni confirmed the existence of the case, but he said via email that it was “reviewed by a grand jury and dismissed. That speaks for itself.”

    Now, Govoni is at the center of a highly controversial Israeli- and US-backed food distribution scheme in Gaza that experts say has led to disastrous results.

    [I snipped details concerning past aid efforts by humanitarian groups.] The latest effort is spearheaded by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a shadowy US-backed nonprofit that uses UG Solutions military contractors to provide security.

    Dave Harden, who had served as USAID’s mission director for the West Bank and Gaza, said the current aid regime is a “catastrophe.” The UN has released similarly grim assessments. Earlier this month, it found that more than 1,100 Palestinians have been killed near militarized distribution sites. […] A Doctors Without Borders report in August called the aid process “orchestrated killing.”

    Sam Rose, acting director of affairs in Gaza for UNRWA—the United Nations agency responsible for Palestinian refugees—said American contractors in Gaza have shown little appreciation for the nuances of food distribution, while behaving in a “completely abhorrent” manner. […]

    Govoni’s April arrest was not his first brush with law enforcement in North Carolina. While serving in the Army in 2015, North Carolina court records show, he was found guilty of driving while impaired after refusing a breathalyzer test. Two months later, his military career came to an end, according to a US Army spokesperson.

    […] Govoni said that the SoundCloud page that posted the “demon-in-the-desert” track is a “shared account” but that he did not write or produce the music uploaded to it. He also said it is “misleading” to link the lyrics of the Jameson G account’s songs to his “professional work.”

    In what he now calls an “offhand, tongue-in cheek” remark, Govoni once described himself as a “degenerate from Boston” who joined the military after 9/11 “to inflict pain on the people who inflicted pain on us.” At the time, Govoni was promoting the hangover prevention company he co-founded. His background is more concerning now that his contractors are carrying rifles in Gaza.

    Anthony Aguilar, a retired Army officer and Green Beret who worked for UG Solutions as a contractor, said there were indications from the beginning that Govoni’s firm was not fully equipped to handle its role.

    Aguilar was working at a Lowe’s home improvement store when a representative for the company reached out to him in May. “Even the hiring process to work in Lowe’s lawn and garden made the hiring process at UG Solutions look like amateur work,” he said. “I’m pretty sure that Chuck E. Cheese has more of an in-depth prior hiring process than UG Solutions.” Aguilar said he signed his contract with UG Solutions one day after the initial recruitment call, then arrived in Israel a few days later. […] [video]

    […] private military contractors are still largely unregulated, despite the explosion in use of such groups in recent decades.

    […] In May, Govoni corresponded with another concerned UG Solutions contractor, according to messages shared with Mother Jones and previously reported by the Associated Press. The contractor warned Govoni that he had just avoided a “catastrophic disaster” at one of the food distribution points. He added that he had hit “my red line,” while describing the Gaza operation as “amateur hour.”

    […] The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’s relationship with UG Solutions is complicated. To provide aid, GHF contracts with Safe Reach Solutions, an American company led by a former CIA paramilitary chief. From there, Safe Reach Solutions subcontracts with UG Solutions to provide security at distribution sites, which reportedly pays personnel around $1,000 per day to work in Gaza. (A job posting stated that the company was looking to hire, among other people, former members of US Special Forces, snipers, and those “skilled in unconventional warfare tactics.”)

    GHF portrays itself as an independent entity, but reporting on the foundation’s origins undermines that narrative. As the New York Times reported in May, the “broad contours” of the GHF plan were “first discussed in late 2023, at private meetings of like-minded [Israeli] officials, military officers and business people with close ties to the Israeli government.” In June, the State Department announced $30 million in funding for GHF, while the Israeli government has reportedly provided about $200 million. […]

    Independent experts have warned that the new aid structure allows Israel to advance its interests while hiding behind an ostensibly independent nonprofit. […]

    Rona, the Cardozo law professor, said the current aid model facilitates the “ethnic cleansing of Gaza” by “funneling starving people into a very few strategically located distribution points.” It creates, he added, “an image of fulfilling Israel’s humanitarian obligations, when, in fact, what it is doing is supporting Israeli war crimes and crimes against humanity.”

    Govoni’s path to launching UG Solutions shows what a lack of regulation of private security companies looks like in practice. [I snipped the details.]

    UG Solutions has also faced criticism related to Islamophobia. In August, the Intercept reported that Johnny Mulford, the company’s “country team leader” between May and August in Gaza, has Crusader-related tattoos and is a member of the Infidels, a motorcycle club that once held an anti-Muslim pig roast “in defiance of the Islamic holiday of Ramadan.”

    The BBC further revealed earlier this month that at least 10 members of the Infidels are working in Gaza for UG Solutions—seven of whom are reportedly in senior positions. One of those men posted a photo on Facebook of armed contractors in Gaza holding a banner that read, “Make Gaza Great Again.” According to the BBC, the contractor has “1095”—the year the first Crusade was launched—tattooed on his thumbs. (UG Solutions defended its hiring practices by saying it does “not screen for personal hobbies or affiliations unrelated to job performance or security standards.”)

    UG Solutions contractors initially began working in Gaza in January 2025 [I snipped details concerning who hired UG Solutions; details concerning their supposed security work in Gaza; and details concerning Govoni’s later arrest that was covered by Israeli outlet Shomrim.]

    […] The case has now been resolved in Govoni’s favor after a North Carolina grand jury declined to indict him. On Monday, the case stopped appearing in public searches of North Carolina court records.

    In May, one month after Govoni’s arrest in North Carolina, UG Solutions contractors arrived in Gaza to provide security at the new food distribution sites. That work quickly proved far more controversial than the original deployment.

    GHF’s internal operations appeared to be in disarray as it prepared to begin food distributions that month. The foundation initially claimed that Nate Mook, former head of World Central Kitchen, and David Beasley, former executive director of the World Food Programme, were part of its leadership team. But both quickly told CNN that they were not working for the nonprofit. Soon after, GHF Executive Director Jake Wood resigned after concluding that it had become “clear that it is not possible to implement this plan while also strictly adhering to the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence.”

    All the best people.

  93. says

    MEMPHIS (The Borowitz Report)—Abandoning their customary black vests and masks, ICE agents have gone undercover in Memphis, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem confirmed on Wednesday.

    Noem defended her department’s expenditure of $85,000 to outfit the agents in sequined jumpsuits, arguing that such a disguise was necessary for ICE to blend into the population inconspicuously.

    Issuing a stern warning to the city of Memphis, Noem declared, “If I see something that appears to be nothing but a hound dog, I will shoot it.”

    Photo of Elvis impersonators is available at the link.

    Link

  94. says

    @90 birgerjohansson wrote: Most political violence in USA comes from the Right. He had a youtube link.
    I reply: You are so correct. However, there is nowhere in this country that is safe from the lies and dishonesty of the magat administration!

    https://crooksandliars.com/2025/09/doj-removes-study-showing-domestic
    Don’t take it from me. Take it from a study that had been posted to a webpage of the Department of Justice. Its first sentence states, “Militant, nationalistic, white supremacist violent extremism far-right attacks continues to outpace all other types of terrorism and domestic violent extremism.”
    https://www.404media.co/doj-deletes-study-showing-domestic-terrorists-are-most-often-right-wing/
    The study, which was conducted by the National Institute of Justice and hosted on a DOJ website was available there at least until September 12, 2025, according to an archive of the page saved by the Wayback Machine. Daniel Malmer, a PhD student studying online extremism at UNC-Chapel Hill, first noticed the paper was deleted.

  96. says

    RE: my post @94, I grabbed a copy of the pdf report from the wayback machine. It does indeed say far-right attacks out pace all other . . including left attacks.
    (do I dare say ‘prove me wrong’?!?!?)

  99. says

    Fed cuts rates as plunging job gains trigger alarm for economy

    The Federal Reserve cut interest rates Wednesday for the first time this year as the central bank attempts to ease pressure on the weakening U.S. job market.

    The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) — the panel of Fed officials responsible for setting borrowing costs — cut its baseline interest rate to a range between 4 percent and 4.25 percent, a reduction of 0.25 percentage points.

    “This is quite an unusual situation,” Powell said during a Wednesday press conference, describing the tension in between the Fed’s efforts to stave off tariff-driven inflation while supporting the job market.

    Powell said that while the Fed expects inflation to increase due to Trump’s tariffs, the bank is seeing the labor market take far more damage under the weight of higher import taxes and steep cuts to immigration.

    “[…] there’s downside risk, clearly, in the labor market, so we’re moving in the direction of more neutral policy.
    Eleven of the 12 voting FOMC members supported the decision to cut rates by 0.25 percentage points Wednesday. Fed Gov. Stephen Miran, who until Tuesday served as Trump’s top White House economist, was the sole dissenter and called for a 0.5 percentage point cut. […]

  103. says

    NBC News:

    Israel pressed ahead Wednesday with an intense new ground offensive in Gaza City, defying international condemnation and sending hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fleeing the devastated, famine-stricken area.

  106. birgerjohansson says

    Kash Patel may have lied under oath about Jeffrey Epstein. What he says and what survivors say do not match

    And considering how disliked he is -even among Republicans- no one will feel a great urge to save him from the consequences of his actions.

  108. says

    New York Times:

    Four Democratic-controlled Western states on Wednesday issued their own recommendations on who should get three common seasonal vaccines, a sharp rejection of efforts by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to upend vaccine policy at the federal level.

  109. says

    New York Times:

    More than two dozen children from Guatemala whom the Trump administration sought to deport earlier this month had been flagged as vulnerable to child abuse and human trafficking in a Health and Human Services Department database that tracks unaccompanied children, according to a whistle-blower complaint filed to Congress on Tuesday.

  110. says

    Associated Press:

    Russia moved to amplify online conspiracy theories about Charlie Kirk’s killing just hours after it happened, seeding social media with the frightening claim that America is slipping into civil war. Chinese and pro-Iranian groups also spread disinformation about the shooting.

    The Trump administration is opposed to efforts to mitigate foreign disinformation campaigns.

  112. Akira MacKenzie says

    @ 110

    Don’t be ridiculous! America won’t slip into another civil war.

    The Democrats/liberals will just let MAGA take over.

  113. says

    https://www.wonkette.com/p/hundreds-of-former-gator-gulag-prisoners

    “Hundreds Of Former ‘Gator Gulag’ Prisoners Can’t Be Found, Is That Bad?”

    As we suspected a few weeks back, a federal judge’s order that the government shut down the Everglades immigration concentration camp they cleverly called “Alligator Alcatraz” didn’t actually come to pass, after an appeals court blocked that order September 4. So far, the camp, which Gov. Ron DeSantis created on a whim to suck up to Donald Trump, still houses fewer than 400 detainees [!], down from a high of 1,800 in July.

    But in the process of moving detainees out of the camp in anticipation that it had to close, it seems that the government lost track of a lot of the prisoners — or maybe the government has that information, but it’s not possible for outsiders to figure out where the hell hundreds of them ended up. As the Miami Herald reports (non-paywalled Yahoo News reprint here),

    As of the end of August, the whereabouts of two-thirds of more than 1,800 men detained at Alligator Alcatraz during the month of July could not be determined. […]

    Around 800 detainees showed no record on ICE’s online database. More than 450 listed no location and only instructed the user to “Call ICE for details” — a vague notation that attorneys said could mean that a detainee is still being processed, in the middle of a transfer between two sites or about to be deported.

    It’s also possible, the paper notes, that some of them are still in DeSantis’s swamp dungeon, which is run by the state of Florida and doesn’t use the federal government database. Florida simply doesn’t have any system that would let someone — like a detainee’s family or attorney — look them up. But even if many of the detainees fell into that paperwork black hole, there are way more than 400 prisoners that reporters couldn’t locate one way or another.

    Hey, remember how back in 2018 Trump’s immigration people just didn’t bother keeping records to match parents to the children they took away at the border, and as late as 2024, as many as 1,360 children still couldn’t be returned to their families? These detainees are adults, though, so maybe disappearing them from official records is less scandalous. They’re only illegals, so it’s not like they’re people.

    The Herald notes that some of the former DeSantis hostages may have been deported, although “internal data obtained by the Herald show the vast majority of detainees didn’t have final orders of removal from a judge” before they were sent to the camp. At least some deportations may have resulted when detainees decided to accept being deported just so they could get out of the prison, with its overflowing toilets, insect infestations, and inedible food.

    “It became a game of chicken to see who’s going to blink first, to see if the client’s going to say ‘I don’t want to be detained in these conditions, just send me back,’” said Miami immigration attorney Alex Solomiany.

    But that was definitely not the case for one of Solomiany’s clients, a 53-year-old man from Guatemala who had been in the US since 2001 and has a spouse and children. The man had a bond hearing scheduled, but the government “accidentally” deported him to Guatemala before it could be held. Funny how those “accidents” keep happening! Solomiany is trying to get ICE to return him so he can get due process, so good luck with that.

    Another immigration attorney, Zachary Perez, said that it looked to him like his clients had all “suffered some pretty bad results just from being tagged with the Alligator Alcatraz label,” as if there were some kind of chaos curse following them around.

    For instance, there’s Michael Borrego Fernandez, 35, from Cuba, who went missing for over a week after he was moved out of the Everglades prison camp. First he was sent to a private prison in San Diego, and then … his family didn’t hear anything more from him for over a week.

    Borrego’s attorney Mich Gonzalez said he called the California facility repeatedly but was told each time that no one by that name was detained there.

    His family was worried about him because while he was in the Florida swamp prison, he’d had surgery for severe hemorrhoids, and was in a lot of pain afterwards. He was kept shackled to his bed and they believe he didn’t get adequate care. His mother said that not knowing where he was was “like psychological torture.”

    Finally, after more than a week, they heard from Borrego again.

    But he wasn’t in California.

    He was 2,000 miles away from where ICE said he would be.

    Borrego had abruptly been deported to the Mexican state of Tabasco.

    We can’t see why anyone could possibly complain about that, because it wasn’t South Sudan, now was it?

  114. CompulsoryAccount7746, Sky Captain says

    Re: birgerjohansson @74:

    Hossenfelder alert […] if it is true […]

    Sabine has no credibility. Even where she had credentials, she frittered it away by mixing lies into her presentations. She’s been spouting right-wing propaganda dangerous for both social issues AND physics. Even in the thumbnail of the video you linked, she’s framing herself as a cancelled freeze peach martyr, which is yet another red flag.
     
    John Carlos Baez (Mathematical physicist at University of Edinburgh):

    Criticizing string theory is great, but coming up with better theories of fundamental physics is damned hard. Fundamental physics is stuck. But physics *as a whole* is far from stagnant: condensed matter physics, biophysics, optics, astrophysics and other fields are doing amazing things which are far more practical than, say, particle physics. Saying the whole field needs to be defunded is crazy.

     
    John Carlos Baez – Visions for the Future of Physics (Lecture til 47m, Q&A until 1h40m, May 18)

    2:00: the search for a very small set of universal laws that govern the whole physical world. […] That was the dream. But progress in fundamental physics slowed down after 1980.
    [*A timeline of 20th century theory and experiment ensues.*]
    Discoveries were still made, but they are all either discoveries that we still don’t understand yet, or discoveries that’ve confirmed theories we already have. There are no new theoretical developments at a fundamental level. […] Most branches of theoretical physics are doing very well because we have a lot left to do in using our knowledge so far in fundamental physics.

    22:36 [Excitons and polaritons]
    26:30 [Artificial special relativity]
    30:50 [Artificial universes with 2 time dimensions using metamaterials]
    35:27 [Topological matter and Quantum Hall effect]
    39:39 [Active matter]

    57:31: If you wanna do physics [that] connects to experiments instead of mathematics […] you have to move away from fundamental physics […] Biophysics [is] full of new concepts that we’re just barely beginning to understand. We don’t even have the language […] If you wanna [do] really exciting work, you should not work on something that used to be exciting and is beautiful now. You should work on something that’s a mess now and try to straighten it up, and then you will make the beautiful discoveries.

    The video has low info density. Can’t recomend watching, especially the Q&A.

  115. CompulsoryAccount7746, Sky Captain says

    John Carlos Baez:

    Wow! The black hole at the center of a nearby galaxy is incredibly dynamic!

    In 2017, the magnetic fields near its event horizon were spiraling around one way. By 2018 they settled down. But by 2021, they were spiraling in the opposite direction! [Photos]

    This black hole is incredibly massive: about 6 billion times heavier than our Sun. But it radius is only 120 times the distance between the Sun and the Earth. That’s big, but it doesn’t take light very long to go that far: just 16 hours. So it’s theoretically possible for magnetic fields to change quite fast.

    But what’s making these magnetic fields? It’s hot ionized gas called plasma, spiraling down into the black hole […] Did the swirling motion of this stuff change significantly in just a few years? Or just the magnetic fields?
    […]
    It’s like black holes have “weather”. As usual, things are more interesting than the simple theoretical models we had before we saw what’s actually going on. Imagine trying to understand weather before you looked at it.

  119. birgerjohansson says

    The senate seats of Nebraska and North Carolina may be flipped in the midterms. This could lead to blocking the Republicans even if the VP votes.
    Nebraska has an Independent that has caught up with the likely Republican nominee.

    North Carolina has a Dem candidate that is leading the Rep candidate by 7 points. It is 13 months to the midterms byt the Republicans will take the blame for the likely continued inflation and poor labor market.

  120. birgerjohansson says

    “The Trump-appointed head of the US media regulator, the Federal Communications Commission of the United States (FCC), said it appeared to be a “concerted effort to try to lie to the American people”.
    .
    Every accusation is a confession.

  123. StevoR says

    After much anticipation, Australia has set its new climate targets: a reduction of 62 to 70 per cent within the next 10 years. Climate groups have already criticised the targets as “timid, weak, and a failure”.

    Under the Paris Agreement, countries have to submit increasingly ambitious targets every five years with the goal of keeping warming below 1.5 degrees. These targets will be scrutinised through many lenses — scientific, political, community expectations and the business community’s concerns.

    We’ve consulted climate experts to give their assessment of how these targets stack up with what’s at stake.

    Source : https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09-18/climate-targets-australia-2035-on-path-to-net-zero/105719910

  126. says

    After he played a key role in getting late-night host Jimmy Kimmel’s show pulled from ABC “indefinitely,” Donald Trump’s Federal Communications Commission chair, Brendan Carr, took a victory lap of sorts: He sat down with Fox News’s Sean Hannity — a symbolically significant choice, given Hannity’s alliance with the Trump White House. [video]

    There was one phrase that Carr used over and over again during the relatively brief on-air appearance. With a broadcast license, the FCC chairman said, “comes a unique obligation to operate in the public interest.” As the interview progressed, he again said, “We at the FCC are going to enforce the public interest obligation. If there’s broadcasters out there that don’t like it, they can turn their license in to the FCC.”

    Carr concluded, “Look, running a narrow partisan circus, whatever the public interest means, it’s not that. … If you’re going to have a license from the FCC, we expect you to broadly serve the public interest.”

    As it turns out, however, the Republican regulator appears to have reached this conclusion quite recently.

    “Should the government censor speech it doesn’t like? Of course not,” Carr wrote in 2019. “The FCC does not have a roving mandate to police speech in the name of the ‘public interest.’”

    Evidently, he was against his standard before he was for it. [!]

    In 2022, Carr also wrote, “President Biden is right. Political satire is one of the oldest and most important forms of free speech. It challenges those in power while using humor to draw more people in to the discussion. That’s why people in influential positions have always targeted it for censorship.”

    Three years later, Carr appeared on a far-right podcast and referenced his agency’s role in granting broadcast licenses. Referring specifically to a satirist’s comedic monologue, Carr added, “When we see stuff like this, look, we can do this the easy way or the hard way.”

    Before Senate Republicans agreed to make Carr the FCC chair, he wrote a chapter in the far-right Project 2025 blueprint. “The F.C.C. should promote freedom of speech,” he wrote in the first words of the chapter.

    The Trump administration’s aggressive campaign against the First Amendment would be less terrifying if Carr had meant any of it.

    Link

  127. says

    Followup to comment 126.

    New York Times:

    In an interview with Fox News’s Sean Hannity late Wednesday, F.C.C. Chairman Brendan Carr described the pulling of Jimmy Kimmel’s show as an ‘important turning point’ and suggested others could face similar pressure. … ‘There’s more work to go,’ Mr. Carr said.

    Commentary:

    […] The message is hardly subtle: Kimmel is the latest target, but he’s not the last.

    FCC member Anna Gomez, a Biden appointee and the lone Democrat on the panel, responded online, “This administration is increasingly using the weight of government power to suppress lawful expression.”

    She had plenty of company. Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker of Illinois argued online, “A free and democratic society cannot silence comedians because the President doesn’t like what they say. This is an attack on free speech and cannot be allowed to stand. All elected officials need to speak up and push back on this undemocratic act.”

    Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer added, “America is meant to be a bastion of free speech. Everybody across the political spectrum should be speaking out to stop what’s happening to Jimmy Kimmel.”

    The New York Democrat concluded, “This is about protecting democracy. This must go to court.”

    Earlier, Trump wrote in a social media post:

    I absolutely love that Colbert’ got fired. His talent was even less than his ratings. I hear Jimmy Kimmel is next.” Four days later, Trump added, “The word is, and it’s a strong word at that, Jimmy Kimmel is NEXT to go in the untalented Late Night Sweepstakes and, shortly thereafter, Fallon will be gone. … It’s really good to see them go, and I hope I played a major part in it!

    Yes, that was the president of the USA targeting hosts of late night TV shows. Sounds like a Putinesque attitude toward the media, or maybe Victor Orbán.

  128. says

    Trump says he’s designating Antifa as a terrorist organization

    […] Trump said he is designating the far-left anti-fascism movement Antifa as a terrorist organization, announcing the move on his Truth Social platform in the early hours of Thursday morning UK time.

    It wasn’t immediately clear what mechanism Trump would use to make the designation, and Antifa lacks centralized structure or defined leadership, making it unclear who or what precisely would be targeted.

    “I am pleased to inform our many U.S.A. Patriots that I am designating ANTIFA, A SICK, DANGEROUS, RADICAL LEFT DISASTER, AS A MAJOR TERRORIST ORGANIZATION,” Trump wrote. “I will also be strongly recommending that those funding ANTIFA be thoroughly investigated in accordance with the highest legal standards and practices. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

    A White House official told CNN, “This is just one of many actions the president will take to address left wing organizations that fuel political violence.” […]

  129. says

    South Carolina GOP Rep. Nancy Mace’s resolution to censure Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) failed [good news] on Wednesday, after a handful of Republicans grew a spine and joined Democrats to squash the ridiculous punishment effort.

    The House voted to table, congressional speak for kill, Mace’s resolution by a vote of 214 to 213, with four Republicans joining all Democrats in voting to quash the measure. [That was a close call.]

    Mace introduced the censure resolution—which would not only have censured Omar but also would have kicked her off of her House committees—in an effort to punish the Minnesota Democrat for comments she made following the murder of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk.

    Omar said in a Zeteo interview that Kirk’s murder was horrific, but that his death doesn’t erase the fact that he made bigoted comments in his life. [All true.]

    […] Since then, Mace has been on a vile and unhinged social media tirade against Omar—spewing racist bile about Omar and even demanding that she be “deported back to Somalia.”

    After Mace’s censure resolution failed, she fired off another lie-filled, racist tirade against Omar on X.

    “Ilhan Omar mocked the cold-blooded assassination of an innocent American husband and father. She’s supported ISIS. She’s supported the Muslim Brotherhood. She’s incited political violence. And tonight, Congress protected her,” Mace wrote.

    The four Republicans who voted to table the censure resolution were Nebraska’s Mike Flood, Oregon’s Jeff Hurd, California’s Tom McClintock, and Florida’s Cory Mills. […]

    Link

  130. says

    For all of […] Trump’s bellicose rhetoric about stepping up the war on drugs, it turns out that what he is really giving America is … much lower prices on cocaine.

    The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Trump’s crackdown on fentanyl suppliers left an open path for a cocaine kingpin to step in, making coke cheaper and as pure as ever. So while Trump may have disrupted the Sinaloa cartel, Mexico’s largest fentanyl trafficker, Nemesio “Mencho” Oseguera, has stepped in to fill the void. Now, cocaine prices have fallen by nearly half compared to five years ago, with a gram now costing around $60 to $75.

    Well, Trump did say he’d end inflation on Day One. He didn’t specify what inflation, exactly. Perhaps Trump’s war on drugs was just a war on drug prices? So much for Trump’s 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico as payback for fentanyl.

    This probably isn’t what conservatives mean by RETVRN, their demand that we reject modernity and embrace tradition, but Trump is definitely taking us back to the 1980s, which is when, coincidentally, Trump was vouching for a big-time cocaine trafficker to get him a lighter sentence.

    In 1985, Joseph Weichselbaum was indicted for heading a huge cocaine operation, but he also happened to run the helicopter service Trump used to bring people to his Atlantic City casinos to the tune of $2 million per year. Trump wrote to the judge, calling Weichselbaum a “credit to the community” and “conscientious, forthright, and diligent.” […]

    Link

  132. says

    Will NASA kill a pair of critical climate satellites?

    As Congress returns to session this month, the fate of two satellites that have become integral to climate science hangs in the balance.

    The Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 and -3, or OCO-2 and -3, have been circling the globe for years, gathering some of the best data available on carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere.

    They helped scientists determine that natural systems struggled in the extreme heat of 2023 and failed to pull in as much CO2 as normal. They’ve helped researchers track early indicators of agricultural drought in India, and measure climate-warming emissions coming out of coal power plants in Montana, Poland and Canada.

    They are the “gold standard” for measuring the most abundant climate-warming gas in the atmosphere from space, according to NASA. Yet the space administration has proposed ending the satellites’ missions next year, part of the Trump administration’s proposed 24 percent reduction in the agency’s budget.

    Across NASA, the cuts would amount to $6 billion. Nixing the two satellites would provide $16 million of that, about a quarter of a percent of the total.

    “It would be a blow to science to have these missions canceled,” said Ray Nassar, a research scientist at Environment and Climate Change Canada, that country’s environmental regulatory agency, who stressed that he was not commenting on the merits of a U.S. policy proposal but only its potential impact to science. He has used OCO data to show how satellites could measure pollution from individual power plants.

    Nassar noted that it cost hundreds of millions of dollars to build and launch the satellites, “and the continual operation of them is a fraction of that cost. So to shut them off is … not really getting the full return on the initial investment to get them there.”

    […] The proposed end for the satellites’ missions is part of a broader attempt by the Trump administration to slash federal investments into earth and climate sciences, including at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Science Foundation.

    OCO-2 was launched in 2014 to measure CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere and to better understand how pollution from power plants, vehicles and other sources are offset by natural systems that absorb the climate pollutant. Its launch came after a previous attempt to launch a similar satellite failed in 2009.

    OCO-3, which is attached to the International Space Station, was launched in 2019. According to NASA, it provided “for the first time, daily variations in the release and uptake of carbon dioxide by plants and trees in the major tropical rain forests of South America, Africa, and South-East Asia, the largest stores of above ground carbon on our planet.”

    A 2023 senior review for operating missions determined that OCO-2 was in “excellent condition” and had enough fuel to operate until 2040. […]

    While that work could still continue without the OCO satellites, “it’s sort of like telling someone, if you didn’t have eyes you could still hear and taste, so why do you really need your eyes?” Nassar said. “It’s taking away a tool that we’re reliant on today. It doesn’t mean we don’t know anything without it, but we would have a limited view of what’s going on.”

    If Congress chooses to cut funding for the satellites, there’s a chance that some other entity, like a private company or philanthropy, could take them over. In July, NASA included the OCO-3 in a list of proposals it was soliciting, saying its funding could end and that it was “seeking a partner.”

  133. says

    Charlie Kirk would have been besties with Jesus, says nutty GOP lawmaker

    Republican Rep. Troy Nehls of Texas used the House Oversight Committee’s time with FBI Director Kash Patel on Wednesday to pontificate on the bigoted right-wing activist Charlie Kirk, who was murdered last week.

    “Charlie Kirk was a man of faith,” Nehls said. “First and foremost, he loved his—he loved his Lord Jesus. He loved his family. Beautiful wife, beautiful children. Just a remarkable, honorable man that was silenced with this assassin’s bullet. I would say, if Charlie Kirk lived in the biblical times, he’d have been the 13th disciple. He’d have been the 13th disciple”. [video]

    […] The Trump administration’s ongoing crusade to silence dissent includes not only baselessly blaming the left for Kirk’s death—which flies in the face of all evidence—but also a wholesale effort to whitewash Kirk’s legacy of bigotry.

    Nehls’ comment is particularly rich coming from someone accused of stolen valor, even by fellow Republicans, for continuing to wear a Combat Infantryman Badge lapel pin from Afghanistan that was officially revoked in 2023.

  134. says

    https://www.wonkette.com/p/trump-pals-the-ellison-boys-gonna

    “Trump Pals The Ellison Boys Gonna Save CBS And TikTok From Woke Bias!”

    “Here comes TrumpTok.”

    Sounds like President Trump is inching closer towards his wish to be king of all media and star of every stage! He coyly hinted on his shitty web platform on Monday:

    The big Trade Meeting in Europe between The United States of America, and China, has gone VERY WELL! It will be concluding shortly. A deal was also reached on a “certain” company that young people in our Country very much wanted to save. They will be very happy! I will be speaking to President Xi on Friday. The relationship remains a very strong one!!! President DJT

    And Trump’s sherpa of deals/ mean drunk/ Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said there was a “framework for a deal” for a TikTok sale, though he has said the words “framework for a deal” eleventy-hundred times. Through the months of Trump’s insane pingponging deals with China we have learned that “framework” and “deal” are two very different things. Though at least this is better than the “handshake for a framework” Howard Lutnick said they had back in June. So on Friday are Trump and Scott Bessent really, finally going to get that deal from China on those rare earth minerals, the ones US tech companies need to make all of their AI chips, planes, and high-tech gadgets that Trump screwed them out of by self-embargoing the US? It’s concepts of a framework for maybe!

    But anyway, word on the street, aka CBS and the Wall Street Journal, is that the deal […] is the potential sale of TikTok to Oracle, whose CEO is his close pal Larry Ellison, and some private equity firms. If the name rings a bell, it’s because Larry Ellison’s son David is the new chairman and CEO of Paramount, after completing a merger between Paramount (CBS’s parent company) and Ellison’s company, Skydance. And both father and son are longtime Republican donors. […]

    Oh, and now Paramount Skydance is reportedly in talks to buy Warner Brothers Discovery, too, the parent company of CNN. Those Ellison boys are making the kind of cross-platform Republican media control that Project 2025 once only dreamed of! […]

    TikTok being forced under his thumb has apparently long been a wish of Trump’s, at least since app users first ground his gears back in 2020 by registering to attend his rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with no intention of showing up, causing his delicate ego embarrassment when the yuge surging crowd he was expecting turned out to be a mere trickle. He raged for TikTok to be BANNED, because something something Chinese spies, and Congress passed an act that banned the app unless its algorithm was put under the control of a US company. And Joe Biden signed it!

    Remember that extra-stupid hearing with TikTok’s CEO Shou Chew, with Tom Cotton refusing to accept that he is from Singapore, which is a whole different country than China, and how embarrassingly pig-ignorant the senators were about the basics of how the Internet even works? [video]

    But, the Chinese government doesn’t and has never owned TikTok. A Chinese man founded it and is still 20 percent of the board, but the company was never incorporated in China. There has been no evidence that the Chinese government ever had access to user data, much less that they were using it to spy on dissidents or Americans making cucumber salads.

    TikTok is owned by ByteDance Ltd., which is headquartered in the Cayman Islands, and TikTok Inc. is headquartered in Los Angeles and Singapore. And its servers — ORACLE servers, in fact — dish out its secret-sauce algorithm from Virginia. Sixty percent of ByteDance is currently owned by non-Chinese global institutional investors including Susquehanna International Group (majority shareholder Jeff Yass), the Carlyle Group, General Atlantic, KKR, BlackRock, and Tiger Global Management; 20 percent of the firm is owned by Beijing-based founder Zhang Yiming, and 20 percent is owned by employees.

    But Congress and Biden decided to ban the app anyway, after Trump had said it was a CHINESE SPY EMERGENCY. And then some curious things happened!

    Jeff Yass, the managing director of Susquehanna International Group, the company that is also the largest shareholder of TikTok’s parent company, bought two percent of Digital World Acquisition Corporation, which merged with Trump Media & Technology Group [!!!], making its share price surge 140 percent, defibrillating Trump’s flatlining company.

    And then right before the ‘24 election, the TikTok algorithm underwent a noticeable shift, and Trumpy content began appearing in people’s feeds when it hadn’t before. And TikTok CEO Shou Chew attended Trump’s inauguration in January. [!]

    And after his win, Trump credited TikTok with helping him win more young voters, so he loved it again and decided to save it, even going to the Supreme Court to try to stop them from enacting the ban he himself had asked Congress to pass. The deadline for a sale has since been extended four times already, and has now been pushed off until December 16.

    The Wall Street Journal has more details of the prospective deal: The company’s board would stay the same, except that Zhang Yiming’s stake would be reduced to less than 20 percent, and a consortium of US companies, including Susquehanna International, KKR, General Atlantic Oracle, Silver Lake, and Andreessen Horowitz would control 80 percent of the company. A new US entity would be created, with a board with one member designated by the US government [!], which is unheard of. And the US company would license the magic algorithm, putting it into a new US version of the app, so that the Trumpy board would be able to customize it and make it massage everybody’s feed this way and that, promoting the reach of some accounts and limiting access to others.

    Meanwhile, CBS under control of its new owner Paramount has a whole other vibe. Paramount Global and CBS CEO George Cheeks hasn’t been fired (yet), but he obeyed in advance. The Late Show with Stephen Colbert was cancelled before the deal even went down, and Trump’s claims against 60 Minutes for making Kamala Harris look too smart got settled for a $16 million donation to his presidential library before the merger was approved.

    And CBS News employees say Ellison the younger broke his promise not to politicize their news reporting almost immediately, reportedly entering talks to buy The Free Press, owned by anti-woke “free speech” crusader Bari Weiss, who got her start ratting out professors for being pro-Arab, for “well above” $100 million and installing her into some kind of a senior leadership role to tone-police the reporting at CBS News. [!]

    And Ellison brought on a conservative thinktanker from the Hudson Institute, Kenneth R. Weinstein, to be an ombudsman rooting out any “complaints of bias” that might aggrieve conservatives at CBS.

    But it all doesn’t go far enough for everybody on the Right, of course. Now at least one Federalist Society weirdo is proposing that the government shut down Bluesky, and Discord too. [!]

    […] Businesses do about $15 billion in sales a year on TikTok. And TikTok and Discord have been critical to documenting human rights abuses, and organizing protests, such as recently in Nepal. There’s many times more young people in the US and around the world on Discord (614 million users) and on TikTok (2 billion users) than who are watching 60 Minutes (about 8 million viewers) so, of course the dominionists want to dominate it. […]

    Subversive meme-clips, better get them while humor is still legal! [video]

  136. says

    […] While farm income is technically up, it’s only because of $42 billion in socialist bailout money in the form of a 720 percent increase in ad hoc disaster payments, that so far have made up more than 23 percent of Net Farm Income in 2025. But without that, farm income is down nearly 6 percent from December. And economists with the University of Illinois report that agricultural exports dropped by nearly $5 billion in just July alone.

    The reason why is no mystery! Those Trump tariffs screwed over farmers coming and going, with higher input costs for supplies like seeds, fertilizer, and tractors, and lower selling prices for commodities. So far this year, China has not purchased one single, solitary soybean, opting to shop for them in friendlier Brazil, instead.

    And US soybean farmers are projected to lose roughly $100 an acre this year. Nor are Mexican or Canadian companies as interested in buying the US’s corn or rice, now that retaliatory tariffs have made them more expensive. So farmers who took out loans or dipped into capital reserves expecting to sell their crops are facing the threat of bankruptcy, and in Q1 of 2025 the number of farm bankruptcies was nearly double the level of the first quarter of 2024.

    Of course Trump knew full well this was going to happen, because it happened in his first term too: He levied tariffs, farm bankruptcies reached the highest level in a decade, and he ended up giving farmers a $16 billion bailout. And now Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins says even more bailout money might be coming.

    It would be simple to help out farmers without giving them any socialist bailout money. Quit tariffing fertilizer, for one thing! Even Chuck Grassley has noticed this.

    […] Another big-brain idea, quit tariffing tractors! Or even just make ONE tariff rate and stick to it. The tariffs aren’t only expensive, they’re bizarrely complicated, and of course, prone to shifting with the tides of Dear Leader’s ever-changing moods.

    From the WSJ:

    The effective tariff facing exporters now varies depending on a product’s metal content. For a machine worth $1 million with a 20% steel content, the rate would be 50% of $200,000 and 15% of the rest, resulting in a $220,000 levy per machine—or a 22% tariff. The U.S. has said it would review the metals tariff list every four months, adding to the uncertainty.

    Or as Grassley put it:

    “Putting 50% tariffs on things that have steel in them, when you can’t buy those things in the United States, and you need them for your tractor to be finally manufactured? […] Why drive up the price of John Deeres because of a tariff on something they need for the tractor that they can’t even get in the United States? It’s a stupid policy.”

    Indeed, if the point of these tariffs is to start making more tractors in the US, why put kooky tariffs on the metal that tractors are made out of? If we were cynical, it might seem like a ploy to make farmland real cheap so big agribusiness can buy it all up.

    And the shortage of farmworkers is another self-made Trump problem. When the regime isn’t humiliatingly rounding up and detaining people with and without proper work visas, it’s also allowing the ones who do have H-2A visas to work in conditions one federal judge called “a form of modern-day slavery,” where they’re frequently abused, get their wages stolen, and are threatened with a call to ICE if they complain. And if Stephen Miller gets his way, there’d be no foreign workers here at all, and those waitresses, teachers, and stewardesses Miller and his cancel culture horde got fired for not mourning Charlie Kirk properly would be out there picking the oranges. Nobody ever said right-wing ideology was logical.

    And then there’s how USAID is no more, and not buying farmers’ extra grain any more. Cruel as they are stupid, ayup.

    Are Republicans starting to smell the disaster Trump is brewing? Polling shows more Republicans than Democrats are worried about the economy […] his approval rating is underwater in most states, including the breadbasket ones. Even in Arkansas, it has plunged to single digits. […]

    https://www.wonkette.com/p/uh-oh-us-farmers-totally-screwed

  138. says

    LONDON (The Borowitz Report)—Reacting to the huge number of Britons who came out to greet him on Wednesday, Donald J. Trump boasted that former President Barack Obama “never got crowds like this” when he visited the United Kingdom.

    “I mean, the streets are packed with people chanting my name,” he bragged. “And tons of them are carrying signs with ‘Trump’ on them. Wow!”

    “I’m told there are even balloons that look like me,” he added in amazement. “If Obama is watching this on TV, it’s gotta be killing him.”

    The biggest crowds for Trump were in London, where thousands turned out at Buckingham Palace for the changing of the diaper.

    https://www.borowitzreport.com/p/trump-boasts-that-obama-never-got

  139. JM says

    CNN: Trump admin has been quietly pushing to retake Afghan base from the Taliban for months, sources say

    President Donald Trump has been quietly pushing his national security officials for months to find a way to get Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan back from the Taliban, three people familiar with the matter told CNN.

    Trump hinted at those discussions publicly for the first time on Thursday, telling reporters that his administration is working to regain control of the base, which lies an hour north of Kabul. The Taliban took it over following the collapse of the Afghan government and the US military withdrawal in 2021.

    Bagram Air Base does have one bit of strategic importance, it is a good location for monitoring China and the region from the air. Other then that it isn’t important, it would be a isolated base in a highly hostile country.
    Here Trump is making an effort to undo one of the few good things he did during his first term. He agreed to pulling out of Afghanistan because he wasn’t worried about making the political establishment look bad. Now he wants to get the US involved again. I expect this goes no place. The Taliban are not going to be interested in giving the US a foothold and are not going to be easy to bribe.
    The conspiracy theory view is that Putin is having him do this to distract from helping Ukraine and waste US military resources.

    Trump has previously indicated that if the US withdrawal in 2021 had happened under his administration, he’d have kept control of Bagram, citing its strategic importance near the border between Afghanistan and China. Earlier this month he said that the Biden administration was “so stupid” for withdrawing US troops from the base in 2021.

    The deal Trump negotiated with the government of Afghanistan required the US leave the base. Of course Trump might not abide by the terms of a deal he negotiated, so this could be true.

  140. JM says

    CNN: Trump asks Supreme Court to let him fire Lisa Cook from Federal Reserve

    President Donald Trump took his effort to remove a governor from the Federal Reserve to the Supreme Court on Thursday, asking the justices to remove Lisa Cook from the powerful board a day after it cut interest rates for the first time in months.
    Trump’s emergency appeal put the issue of Fed independence – a question of monumental significance for the US economy – onto the court’s docket months after the justices appeared to carve out special protections for the agency. On the other hand, Trump’s effort to remove Cook involves new legal theories that may find purchase on the 6-3 conservative court.

    I would be amazed if this goes anywhere. The court carved out special exceptions from the presidents power specifically for the Federal Reserve, leaving the option of apply it to certain other important posts. The justices talked about historic principle and such but practically speaking this exception is to keep the Federal Reserve out of Trump’s hands.

    “That the Federal Reserve Board plays a uniquely important role in the American economy only heightens the government’s and the public’s interest in ensuring that an ethically compromised member does not continue wielding its vast powers,” the administration said in its emergency appeal.

    I’m surprised anybody could write that sentence without the irony destroying their brain. It’s painful just to read it.

  141. says

    Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had already earned a dreadful reputation. Dr. Susan Monarez, the ousted CDC chief, made him look even worse.

    Related video at the link.

    On July 29, the Senate confirmed Dr. Susan Monarez, Donald Trump’s nominee, to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Two days later, Monarez was sworn into office — only to be ousted 27 days later after clashing with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

    Three weeks after that, she had an opportunity to testify before a Senate panel, where she managed to make RFK Jr. look even worse. As The New York Times reported, Monarez “repeatedly said that [Kennedy] had abandoned science in dismantling longstanding vaccine policy and demanding adherence to his views.”

    But while all of her revelations were notable, certain elements stood out. From the Times report:

    Dr. Monarez provided more details about the events that led to her firing. She told senators that she met with Mr. Kennedy three times on Aug. 25. In those meetings, she testified that Mr. Kennedy asked her to fire vaccine scientists without cause. She said he also asked her to pledge that she would approve in advance the forthcoming recommendations of the C.D.C.’s influential vaccine committee without having seen them.

    “He just wanted blanket approval,” Monarez testified, referring to decisions that hadn’t been made yet. She added that Kennedy told her either to follow his order or resign.

    Later, at the same Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions hearing, the ousted CDC chief told Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin that RFK Jr. specifically instructed Monarez not to communicate with members of Congress.

    “I was directed to only work with political appointees,” she said, referring to Trump appointees, rather than career officials at the agency.

    Or put another way, if this was correct, Kennedy didn’t want the Senate-approved CDC director communicating with senators who have oversight authority over the CDC. [social media post and video: ”
    Former CDC Director: He stated there was no scientific evidence associated with vaccines. He called CDC the most corrupt agency in the world. He said that CDC employees were horrible people, were killing children”]

    In case that weren’t quite enough, Monarez — who, again, was Trump’s nominee to lead the CDC — testified that Kennedy told her there was no scientific evidence associated with vaccines and that he believed CDC scientists were responsible for harming children.

    I don’t know what the standard might be in Congress for impeaching a health secretary, but Monarez’s testimony should probably at least initiate some conversation among lawmakers.

  142. says

    Obama: We have to recognize that on both sides there are people who are extremists

    But I will say that those extreme views were not in my White House. I wasn’t embracing them. I wasn’t empowering them. I wasn’t putting the weight of the government behind extremist views.

    https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:iu4j537hox5huj4bwnwgub4z/post/3lz2mtofgjr2e

    Video at the link.

    Obama speaking at the same event:

    Obama: So we have to extend to people during their period of mourning

    We can also at the same time say I disagree with the idea that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a mistake

    I can disagree with the suggestion that my wife or Justice Jackson does not have adequate brain processing power.

  143. says

    Washington Post:

    Russian state-controlled media outlets and allied social media accounts have seized on the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk to push narratives that favor the Kremlin and aim to divide Americans and potentially ingratiate the Russians with President Donald Trump, researchers say.

    News organizations such as Sputnik and the former Russia Today (now RT) have extensively covered the killing, the arrest and the continuing political fallout, emphasizing theories shared by Trump’s most conservative allies and highlighting comments by people who said they were unmoved by Kirk’s death.

    “RT was quickly taking to amplifying insensitive or cruel response to it by Americans, sometimes tagging influential conservative accounts,” said Emerson Brooking, director of strategy at the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab.

    Brooking said the Moscow-based multimedia company has waded more deeply into U.S. issues in the past week than it previously had since Trump took office in January, marking a potential change in strategy. After RT was sanctioned last September by the United States and banned by YouTube, Instagram and Facebook, it retreated from intense coverage of U.S. politics.

    […] Iranian figures have said Israel was behind Kirk’s death, while Chinese outlets and supporters have used bogus claims to exaggerate U.S. divisions, according to research by NewsGuard, a news site rating company.

    Some foreign outlets amplified conspiracy theories or false claims that circulated wildly in the aftermath of the shooting. Chinese sites, for instance, latched onto false claims from the left that suspect Tyler Robinson had contributed to one of Trump’s campaigns or was a proven follower of white supremacist Nick Fuentes, as well as conservative assertions of a wide conspiracy reaching to liberal Jewish philanthropist George Soros, a perennial target for antisemites.

    […] While Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R) warned last week that Russian and Chinese bot accounts were amplifying U.S. divisions, Linvill said, the primary impetus for discord was domestic.

    “I wish I could tell you this is the Russians or the Chinese,” he said. “Sadly, this is all our own doing.”

  144. says

    Washington Post:” Why seniors who want covid shots should consider getting one this week.”

    “The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices is weighing changes to coronavirus vaccine recommendations that could make it harder for some seniors to access them.”

    For people 65 or older considering getting a new covid shot, this week might be the best opportunity to get vaccinated without complications before a federal vaccine advisory committee’s scheduled Friday vote to issue recommendations.

    That’s because that panel, known as the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, has been weighing revisions to coronavirus vaccine recommendations that could make it more difficult for seniors to access the shots as soon as this weekend, according to several people familiar with their deliberations. Those recommendations influence the policies set by doctors and pharmacists to administer vaccines. They also compel health insurers to pay for the vaccine, although a major insurance industry group pledged Wednesday to keep covering coronavirus vaccines regardless of how that committee votes.

    The guidelines the committee has floated could force some seniors who can currently walk into a pharmacy and get a vaccine free to have to pay out-of-pocket or bring a prescription […]

    The advisers have considered narrowing the recommendation to everyone 75 and older, as well as younger people with underlying conditions that elevate their risk for severe disease. They could also scrap the age-based recommendation entirely and limit to only those at heightened risk for severe disease. […]

    […] the situation is fluid and rapidly changing. The recommendations would also need to be approved by the acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention before taking effect, and it’s unclear how quickly that would happen.

    If a senior is concerned about losing access to a coronavirus vaccine, “they should absolutely try to get vaccinated as soon as possible,” said Caitlin Donovan, senior director at Patient Advocate Foundation. But even if more restrictive guidelines take effect, she noted most seniors have an underlying condition such as diabetes, heart issues or a history with smoking.

    […] A slew of states, mostly with Democratic governors, have moved to lift those restrictions on pharmacists, but some doctors and pharmacies continue to refrain from offering the shots until the CDC weighs in.

    […] Robert Steinbrook, health research group director at advocacy organization Public Citizen, said a more restrictive coronavirus vaccine recommendation for seniors “would be an incredibly irresponsible thing to do.” But he said the state efforts to protect access to vaccines without a prescription and pledges by insurers to pay for them should mitigate some of the damage. “Does it cover everybody in the county? No, but there are pretty widely available options,” Steinbrook said.

    […] It’s unclear whether state-level recommendations could have the same force as the federal government in influencing the vaccination practices of medical professionals.

    Chaos and confusion. Get your vaccine shots now.

  145. says

    […] Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump said, “I have read someplace that the networks were 97% against me, again, 97% negative, and yet I won and easily, all seven swing states. … They give me only bad publicity, press. I mean, they’re getting a license. I would think maybe their license should be taken away.”

    As with many of the numbers the Republican likes to throw around at random, the 97% statistic was absurd. (Bill Lueders recently wrote for The Bulwark, “Whatever the claim, the president has the numbers to prove it, even if he has to make them up.”)

    For that matter, while Trump’s rhetoric about revoking the broadcast licenses of networks that displease him was certainly radical, it is also familiar: He’s peddled this same line for roughly eight years.

    Part of the president’s new pitch, however, was new. From the same Q&A:

    When you have a network and you have evening shows, and all they do is hit Trump. That’s all they do. If you go back, I guess they haven’t had a conservative on in years or something somebody said. But when you go back, take a look, all they do is hit Trump. They’re licensed. They’re not allowed to do that. They’re an arm of the Democrat [sic] Party.

    To the extent that reality still has any meaning, the First Amendment also applies to “evening shows.” They are “allowed” to criticize the president, praise him or some combination therein, at ratios of their choosing, with whichever guests they choose.

    I can say this with confidence because we still live in a free country, whether the president understands this or not.

    Link

  146. says

    Josh Marshall:

    […] First, my perennial axiom: We are in a contest of spectacles of power. The first and most important thing is not to react or complain or bewail but to attack. To this end, where I would start, especially if I were a Democratic elected official, is by taunting every journalist I came into contact with from ABC, CBS and every other news and media organization that is now owned by the White House — which is a rapidly growing list. It may soon include CNN if Paramount/Skydance succeeds in purchasing Warner Brothers Discovery. “Yes, I will happily answer your question, but first, how can we trust your company, since it is owned by Donald Trump? You have to do whatever he demands.”

    Every time. Attack and attack and attack. Don’t complain. Attack. People are bewildered by what they’re seeing. They don’t like it. Everything that raises the salience of this issue is a win. They want to see someone talk back. There is a rich history which correctly views the tyrant not as a symbol of strength but as a weak and contemptible figure, vain and fragile, addicted to fawning and praise, murdered in his heart by the most innocuous of criticism. The whole system of autocracy is one built on individual degeneracy, the strongman and the toadies together.

    Second, be sure to understand why these things are happening. Nexstar is one of the largest owners of ABC affiliate stations, the local stations that are part of the ABC network. It owns or controls more than 200 local television stations. It’s in the process of acquiring Tegna, the next biggest of these affiliate conglomerates, controlling 64 news stations. Local broadcast television is highly regulated on its own, in addition to the antitrust concerns raised by this purchase. The deal requires the sign off of Trump FCC Chair Brendan Carr. Yesterday, Carr sent a clear message to Nexstar that if they wanted their merger they needed to do the right thing with Jimmy Kimmel. They quickly announced it was no longer appropriate to air his show on their stations. Nexstar on its own took Kimmel off many ABC stations, and ABC then followed suit by “indefinitely” taking his show off the air. ABC might have acted on its own. But that’s the chain of events.

    That’s precisely the same as what happened with the Paramount/Skydance merger. They needed the Trump White House’s signoff. That’s why Paramount/CBS acceded to Trump’s absurd settlement payment over the editing of a “60 Minutes” episode. Every big diversified corporation which owns a media company is highly vulnerable to this kind of blackmail. Any company which operates in the highly regulated broadcast space is also vulnerable. Independent media companies are not. As much as I criticize many of the editorial decisions of The New York Times, they are independent. The Salzburger family just owns the Times. That’s why Trump’s new lawsuit against the Times will almost certainly go nowhere. There is zero incentive for them to cut a check the way all these other outlets have.

    Once you put on the pair of glasses which shows the difference between the independent publications and the White House-owned ones everything falls into place. You know what and who you’re dealing with. […] The pro-Trump Ellison Family is currently trying to move CNN from the partially owned bucket to the fully owned one. […]

    Third, taking anti-Trump […] off the air doesn’t decrease the demand for such media. If anything it increases it. This can be an opportunity as much as a setback. It’s hard to match the megaphone of even the legacy broadcast stations and their cable pick-up counterparts. But we’ve seen just in the last couple of years how what is essentially the DIY medium of podcasting can generate mammoth audiences […] Kimmel is probably locked into a golden parachute even if he’s permanently taken off the air. But if he wanted to, he could probably have one of the country’s biggest podcasts […] Follow the demand.

    Fourth, most elected Democrats remain in the mode of believing they are a party of government temporarily out of power. They are that too. But really they’re an opposition party in the midst of an attempted authoritarian takeover of the American Republic. That means many things. But here’s one of the most important. Last night Sen. Chris Murphy went on Bluesky (and likely other platforms) denouncing Carr’s criminal and unconstitutional actions — a “history making abuse of your power” he called it. Murphy went on to say, “It will define your legacy and one day you will come to regret punishing free speech and trying to destroy democracy.”

    It was the best thing I’d seen any elected official say in response to yesterday’s events and one of the only meaningful ones. But on the next round, I’d recommend Murphy put a finer edge on those remarks. I don’t care and I suspect Carr doesn’t care about one day regretting some principle he transgressed. He knows what he’s done. Just one year ago he was on X saying that “free speech” is the “counterweight” to tyranny. “That’s why censorship is the authoritarian’s dream,” Carr wrote at the time. He knows what he’s doing. I want lawmakers to be telling people like Carr and his ilk not that they’ll have regrets but that they’ll face consequences.

    I hear all these people telling me how there won’t be a 2026 election, or that it won’t be free and fair or a bunch of other things. […] what are you going to do about it? History is long. No one is in the saddle forever. It is critical for an opposition to give the people a vision of forward trajectory in time, that this isn’t the end of the story, that consequences can be delayed but not evaded. It’s such a demonstrable point. Think even of the longest lasting fascist or authoritarian dictatorships. Franco? About 35 years. Pinochet? 16 years, ousted by a referendum. I don’t imagine this will last for even a tiny fraction of that length of time. […] A reckoning comes and everyone needs to be on notice.

    Trump is already unpopular. He is getting more unpopular. His actions are unpopular. It is the elites, the big diversified corporations and monopolies who have tossed aside most rapidly Americans’ instinctive disdain for kings and dictators. It’s down at the most democratic level of our system where the resistance is strongest and growing — juries that refuse to indict or convict amid Trump’s bogus crime crackdown, voters who are showing they’ve had enough. […] We’re in a very bad situation. To me, all I care about is what to do in response. […] how do we conduct ourselves in the days we have?

    Link

  149. birgerjohansson says

    Jon Stewart and his team sings praise for Trump.
    He’s a superhero, whithout any cape
    and was technically
    not convicted of REDACTED

  157. says

    Following Kimmel, FCC’s Carr already has another target in mind: ‘The View’

    “Donald Trump has long complained about the hosts of “The View.” Now, it’s apparently on FCC Chair Brendan Carr’s target list.”

    The day after ABC “indefinitely” pulled late-night host Jimmy Kimmel from the air, some on the right have suggested that the developments are wholly unrelated to government censorship since the government wasn’t directly involved in what transpired. This was, the argument goes, an example of a private company punishing an employee, and nothing more.

    It’s a difficult position to take seriously.

    After Donald Trump spent months targeting Kimmel, the president’s Federal Communications Commission chair, Brendan Carr, appeared on a far-right podcast and referenced his agency’s role in granting broadcast licenses. Referring specifically to Kimmel’s monologue, Carr added, “When we see stuff like this, look, we can do this the easy way or the hard way.”

    It was around that point when Nexstar Media Group — which owns television stations nationwide and wants the FCC’s approval on a multibillion-dollar merger effort — announced that it would stop airing Kimmel’s show. ABC acted soon after, prompting Carr to celebrate and take some victory laps.

    Yes, Kimmel is an employee of a private corporation, but to deny the existence of government pressure in this week’s developments is to overlook the relevant details.

    What’s more, there’s no reason to believe that Carr is done. […]

    A day later, he elaborated on a possible next target. Politico reported:

    Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr questioned on Thursday whether ABC’s ‘The View’ should be subject to review from the agency, making the daytime talk show Carr’s latest target in his scrutiny of television programs that have been critical of President Donald Trump.

    Appearing on a different far-right podcast, Carr questioned whether “The View” — a talk show in which Trump is often criticized — met the standard of a “bona fide” news program. [social media post, with video]

    “I think it’s worthwhile to have the FCC look into whether ‘The View,’ and some of these other programs that you have, still qualify as bona fide news programs and therefore are exempt from the equal opportunity regime that Congress has put in place,” he told conservative commentator Scott Jenning and his listeners.

    […] it shouldn’t be lost on anyone that Trump’s FCC chair specifically singled out a talk show that the president has long hated. Indeed, Trump is on record using the word “degenerates” to describe the hosts of “The View,” adding that he sees the hosts as “low IQ people.”

  158. says

    […] Republicans took advantage of the so-called “nuclear option” and last week changed the Senate’s rules related to the confirmation process.

    Now able to confirm large numbers of presidential nominees quickly as a bloc, the GOP majority in the chamber approved 48 people in a single vote on Thursday afternoon. NBC News reported:

    The party-line vote of 51-47 confirms a slew of Trump picks for sub-Cabinet positions and ambassadors. They include former Rep. Brandon Williams, R-N.Y., as undersecretary of energy for nuclear security, former Fox News personality Kimberly Guilfoyle as ambassador to Greece and Callista Gingrich, wife of the former House speaker, as ambassador to both Switzerland and Liechtenstein.

    For many observers, the Guilfoyle nomination stood out, and it’s easy to understand why: Not only does she appear unqualified to serve as a U.S. ambassador, her confirmation also adds to the list of former Fox News hosts and conservative media personalities who’ve been rewarded with plum positions in the Trump administration.

    But the nominee I was most interested in was Williams, who lost his re-election bid last fall after just two years in the House, whom Trump tapped to serve as undersecretary of energy for nuclear security and the administrator for the National Nuclear Security Administration — a job that entails oversight of the nation’s nuclear bombs and warheads.

    As The New York Times reported earlier this year, Trump’s selection represented “a shift from a tradition in which the people who served as administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration typically had deep technical roots or experience in the nation’s atomic complex.”

    […] Hans Kristensen, the director of the Nuclear Information Project at the Federation of American Scientists, told the Times in January that Williams “will be facing an incredibly complex, technical job.”

    In a normal political environment, senators might think twice about such a nomination. Indeed, in a normal political environment, a president might choose someone with more conventional qualifications. But in September 2025, Williams is on his way the National Nuclear Security Administration with the blessing of 51 Senate Republicans.

    Link

  159. says

    Associated Press:

    The United States once again vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution Thursday that had demanded an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages after saying that the effort did not go far enough in condemning Hamas.

    All 14 other members of the United Nations’ most powerful body voted in favor of the resolution, which described the humanitarian situation in Gaza as ‘catastrophic’ and called on Israel to lift all restrictions on the delivery of aid to the 2.1 million Palestinians in the territory.

  160. says

    NPR:

    The Department of Justice is escalating its demands for sensitive elections data from voting officials, announcing lawsuits against two Democratic-controlled states who have thus far rebuffed the department’s requests. The DOJ is suing Oregon and Maine and those states’ secretaries of state in an effort to gain access to each state’s voter registration list, including personal information such as partial Social Security numbers.

  161. says

    Washington Post:

    Immigration and Customs Enforcement is seeking new office spaces in hundreds of locations across the United States to support plans to hire thousands of new lawyers and immigration enforcement officers, according to six federal officials familiar with the matter and records obtained by The Washington Post.

  162. says

    Followup to comment 80.

    Peak Retribution Alert

    It’s all coming together in President Trump’s push to find a way to bring criminal charges against New York Attorney General Letitia James: the retribution, the denigration of the rule of law, the evisceration of the Justice Department, and the ultimate unbridled unitary executive.

    […] ABC News reported overnight that Trump is poised to fire U.S. Attorney Erik Siebert of the Eastern District of Virginia for not seeking an indictment of James on the bogus mortgage fraud claims the administration has drummed up. [New York Attorney General Letitia James did not commit fraud. See comment 80.]

    The latest news comes after a deeply reported ABC News piece earlier in the week that prosecutors had turned up considerable exculpatory evidence in the case. So even though the investigation had begun on a pretextual predicate, it had done more to exonerate James than to implicate her in the supposed mortgage fraud. For that reason, Siebert wasn’t going to seek a grand jury indictment in the Virginia mortgage fraud case.

    The refusal to bring a case against James apparently enraged Bill Pulte, the Trump-appointed head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, who pushed Trump to fire Siebert, ABC News previously reported. It appears now that Trump is expected to follow through on Pulte’s demand.

    Siebert, a career prosecutor, became interim U.S. attorney earlier this year, and his tenure was extended by the judges of the Eastern District. He is Trump’s own nominee for the permanent position, with approval from both of Virginia’s Democratic senators.

    If Trump cans Siebert as expected, it sets up a situation where Trump is likely to name someone to the role who has indicated, directly or indirectly, that they will proceed with a criminal prosecution against James. That would be an intolerable position for any fair-minded, ethical legal professional, so it all but guarantees that a political hack will take over the office. [!]

    The Eastern District of Virginia is one of the most politically and legally significant districts in the country. The case involving James originates in Hampton Roads, but the district sprawls from the southeastern Virginia metro area through Richmond into the northern Virginia suburbs, which include the Pentagon and CIA headquarters. Significant national security cases are often handled by this U.S. attorney’s office.

    This U.S. attorney’s office in particular is not one you want run by a political hack eager to do the bidding of the Trump White House.

    Link

  163. whheydt says

    Religious belief in Iceland: https://grapevine.is/news/2025/09/19/decline-in-the-number-of-believers/

    The number of Icelanders who identify as religious has fallen in recent decades, with the exception of the youngest age group, where levels have remained largely unchanged, RÚV reports, citing a new Gallup national poll. Notably, there is a significant difference between the responses of young men and women.

    According to the survey, four in ten respondents described themselves as believers, down from 53 percent when the question was last asked in November 2014.

    Despite recent discussions about a revival of faith and churchgoing among younger people, the data does not support such claims. It should also be noted that the poll did not include those under 18.

    Among 18-29-year-olds, 29 percent said they were religious — a similar figure to a decade ago. Within this group, 34 percent of men identified as believers compared with 21 percent of women.

    The survey did not ask about specific faiths or denominations. Respondents could choose between three options: religious, not religious, and atheist. Over the same period, the share of those identifying as atheists has grown, reaching 23 percent this year compared with 15 percent in 2014 and 11 percent in 2011.

    The poll was carried out between 20 June and 9 July, and again from 16 to 30 July. A total of 1,799 people took part, with a response rate of 44.7 percent. Participants were randomly selected from Gallup’s panel.

  164. JM says

    CNN: Judge rejects Trump’s New York Times lawsuit for being ‘decidedly improper and impermissible’

    In a ruling dripping with derision, a federal judge has rejected President Trump’s defamation lawsuit against The New York Times, asserting that the rambling 85-page suit did not follow federal rules for filing civil complaints.

    The president’s team has been given a month to refile, and a Trump spokesperson indicated that they will do so.

    Judge gives it the harsh response. Throwing it out and saying the lawsuit wasn’t written correctly. This isn’t surprising, I saw several legal experts say this was possible because it was so badly written. The degree to which the judge called it out for being written incorrectly is surprising.

  165. JM says

    BBC: Nato intercepts Russian warplanes violating Estonian airspace

    Three Russian warplanes that violated Estonian airspace have been intercepted by Nato, the military alliance has said.
    Estonia’s foreign ministry condemned the incursion as “brazen”. It said three Russian MiG-31 fighter jets entered the airspace of a Nato member “without permission and remained there for a total of 12 minutes” on Friday over the Gulf of Finland.

    Another significant incursion. With all of the tension this can’t be called accidental or insignificant but it is short enough that isn’t a huge issue. Russia is obviously playing around with seeing how much it can violate the border while being below the level that automatically triggers a fight.
    At this point the possibility that Putin is trying to provoke a war because it’s the only way he thinks he can survive becomes possible. He considers the war in Ukraine lost and having spent so much resources there is no way he can stay in power after such a loss. So only by provoking a situation that lets him call up the military in bulk and nationalize industry can he hold on. Get to one step short of a hot war, freeze the border where it is with nuclear threats and take control of everything in Russia.

  169. says

    @165 JM wrote: At this point the possibility that Putin is trying to provoke a war because it’s the only way he thinks he can survive becomes possible.
    I reply: It seems quite likely you are correct. My question is: Isn’t this the same tactic that Naziyahoo and tRUMP are also using?

  170. JM says

    CNN: Trump intends to fire US attorney who didn’t charge political enemy Letitia James with mortgage fraud

    President Donald Trump intends to fire US Attorney Erik Siebert, who has been under pressure to charge New York Attorney General Letitia James with mortgage fraud, two sources with knowledge of the matter told CNN.

    It is not immediately clear if Siebert has been informed. James, who won a business fraud case against Trump and his company, has been a target of the president ever since. Trump has privately and angrily complained about James even months into taking office, multiple sources familiar with the conversations told CNN.

    Long term prosecutor that was promoted by Trump this term. He is currently an interim office holder but was expected to eventually be confirmed. When prompted by Trump he investigated Letitia James but the evidence he found favors her innocence so he doesn’t want to bring charges.

    A source briefed on the internal conversations said Siebert and his office have been bracing for this possibility as the administration has ramped up the political pressure in recent weeks.
    “He wanted to be a team player, but also follow the law,” one person said.

    It sounds like he was willing to do Trumps bidding if there was a case. There isn’t though, it’s pure political revenge. As far as the evidence shows that at worst this is a technical error committed by somebody else that had no impact on the lending. More likely it was arraigned by the lender, who are allowed to make multiple loans to people at primary residence rates.
    Probably the most interesting thing about this is that there is a lot of talk that Trump intends to do this but he hasn’t actually done it yet. Trump may be talking this up to pressure Siebert but unless some better evidence shows up Siebert isn’t bringing a case. Officials may be putting pressure on Trump not to fire him. telling him that this case has no chance in court. Siebert may be leaking some of this in the hopes of taking pressure off himself but if so that indicates he doesn’t understand the Trump administration. Trump doesn’t care about that sort of thing and his power has gone to his head.
    An unlikely but interesting possibility is that Trump’s nerve may be giving out after losing so many cases in court and Putin turning out not to be a good friend. Trump had a big problem with this sort of thing in his first term, often firing people by email or having somebody in the cabinet fire people for him. If his confidence has given up he won’t do as much but likely will be even more erratic about what he does do.

  171. says

    As the public rejects his economic performance, Trump pitches an alternate reality

    “As Americans’ attitudes on the economy sour, the president has some choices. He’s settled on the worst one: He’s making stuff up”

    Related video at the link.

    In a newly released Washington Post-Ipsos poll, Donald Trump appears to be struggling on every front, but the public’s opposition to the president’s economic performance is especially clear. According to the national survey, 59% of Americans disapprove of the Republican’s handling of the economy, while 64% disapprove of his trade tariffs. [Those disapproval percentages are high!]

    […] The public’s dissatisfaction is understandable. After all, stubborn inflation data inched higher last month. Job growth and the manufacturing sector have also moved in the wrong direction amid sluggish economic growth.

    Confronted with this reality, the president has some choices. Maybe he could adopt a more sensible economic agenda. Perhaps he could ask Americans to be patient. Maybe he could replace some members of his economic team to signal his dissatisfaction with the status quo.

    Or he could do what he’s been doing and just make stuff up.

    During a Fox News appearance last week, Trump boasted, “We have the best economy we’ve ever had.” The claim was plainly ridiculous, and it made him appear spectacularly out of touch with public frustrations on the issue.

    This week, during Trump’s trip to the U.K., he told reporters, “You know, we’ve already solved inflation. We’ve solved prices.”

    If that weren’t enough, at the same press conference with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, the Republican said in reference to his own country’s economy, “Jobs are at a record.” [video]

    He didn’t say which “record,” exactly, but the Trump administration’s own data shows that in the first year of Trump’s second term, job growth has slowed to levels unseen since the Great Recession. That’s not a matter of opinion; it’s simply what the available evidence shows.

    So why would the president point to one of his failures as a success? Because his solution to the Trump Slump is to manufacture an alternate reality and hope people play along. The latest polls suggest that’s not working.

    […] Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent recently said he expects the economy to “pick up” later this year. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick expects good news to arrive in “six months” (or maybe 12). Kevin Hassett, who leads the White House National Economic Council, pointed to next summer.

    For his part, Trump said in his latest Fox News interview said he expects the impact of his trade agenda to “kick in probably in a year or so.”

    That’s difficult to believe, but it’s worth appreciating the disorienting rhetorical push: Ignoring what the public actually believes, the White House is arguing simultaneously that the economy is already great and that the economy will eventually be great at some point, maybe next year. [LOL, bitter laughter]

  172. says

    Energy Secretary Chris Wright appeared on Fox Business Friday, where he blamed former Vice President Al Gore for “peddling climate change nonsense,” before promoting his own nonsensical belief that climate change does not exist.

    “So Al Gore’s nonsense is exactly what got us in this position,” Wright said. “He started peddling climate nonsense 20 years ago. The Arctic was ‘gonna have no ice anymore’ 10 years ago. Well, this year we had well more ice than we had 10 years ago in the Arctic.” [Aiyiyiyi, so much ignorance in one statement.] [See video at the link.]

    […] According to NASA, while it wasn’t the worst year on record, the amount of Arctic sea ice has continued its alarming downward trend since scientists began tracking it in 1979.

    In March, the Arctic sea ice winter maximum—when the most ice is usually recorded due to colder temperatures—reached its lowest extent in the 46-year satellite record.

    Wright has turned Fox News into a propaganda factory for the dumbest conversations about energy, routinely misleading the public about human-caused climate change.

    Link

  173. says

    Oh FFS.

    White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly justified the Trump administration’s vicious attack on the First Amendment by blaming free speech for MAGA podcaster Charlie Kirk’s death.

    “Charlie’s tragic death also ignited, I think, a spark for young people, for all people in this country who are passionate about free speech, who are passionate about civil dialogue,” Kelly said during an appearance on Newsmax on Friday, before casually blaming late-night host Jimmy Kimmel for political violence. [video]

    “I think you’re seeing just a general public response to people like Jimmy Kimmel, who tragically is spewing this dangerous rhetoric—all people who spew this dangerous rhetoric, who ultimately drove this deranged killer to take Charlie’s life,” she continued.

    In reality, the “general public response” Kelly mentioned has largely been outrage at the Trump administration’s flagrant attacks on Americans’ free-speech rights. The attacks hit a new low this week when the administration pressured ABC to suspend Kimmel’s show after Kimmel critiqued the right in the wake of Kirk’s death.

    Kelly’s strained effort to link political violence to a late-night host’s mild commentary reinforces the administration’s ongoing endeavors to silence speech it does not like.

    Link

  174. says

    Not good.

    […] This text just landed on my phone, from “Dems2025,” a scam PAC whose website offers a whole lot of nothing: [screengrab of text message]

    Click through, and you get a page featuring President Donald Trump’s face and a “survey” screaming: “STAND AGAINST DONALD TRUMP’S AUTHORITARIAN ATTACKS ON FREE SPEECH! Do you stand with Jimmy Kimmel against Trump’s war on free speech?”

    After a few fake questions, it insists that it’s “moving fast” to engage in two special elections to replace Marco Rubio in Florida and JD Vance in Ohio. Except those elections aren’t until November 2026. But urgency is the con’s favorite trick.

    And the fundraising pitch? Straight from the scam PAC playbook:Dems 2025 is moving fast. We’re preparing support for the front lines. But we’re still short of our mid-month goal, and this moment won’t wait.

    Right here, Right now, you can make an impact toward taking back the Senate Majority. Will you chip in $25 or more to help us reach 589 donations before midnight to ensure we can win critical open seats like these?

    What “front lines”? What “preparing support”? How are they “moving fast”? Who knows, who cares—they certainly don’t.

    The donation links go to ActBlue, which is supposedly cracking down on scam PACs, yet here’s another one slipping through.

    The homepage declares, “We don’t take years off—because democracy doesn’t either.”

    Cute, except they literally didn’t exist until May 29, 2025, per FEC filings.

    And the “Contact” page isn’t even functional, featuring stock template language:

    Let people know what to reach out about and what to expect after contacting you. Don’t forget to choose a storage option for submissions
    email@example.com (555) 555-5555

    Feeling confident that these guys are on the up-and-up and ready for people who try to contact them? [No! Definitely not.]

    The treasurer is Chris Koob, a principal at MBA Consulting Group, which handles compliance paperwork for political candidates and PACs. So basically Koob files forms and slaps his name on them—nothing more. But who’s actually behind Dems2025 is still unknown—I searched the address in the FEC’s database, and it’s a UPS store. It’s literally just a rented mailbox.

    So far it’s raised just over $19,000, and the only reported expense is ActBlue itself. Next filing, expect to see a text vendor added to the list—those spam blasts don’t send themselves.

    The danger here isn’t just people losing a few bucks; it’s that scam PACs poison the well. They burn through donor lists—how the hell did they get my number?—and confuse people into thinking that they’re giving to Democrats, making it harder for legitimate campaigns and organizations […]

    One note, because it’s a persistent myth: ActBlue doesn’t sell your data. The way your information ends up in these spam mills is when losing campaigns unload their email lists to pay off their debts. Brokers then hawk those lists to anyone. That’s why that one donation you made years ago to some long-shot candidate can turn into an endless stream of grift in your inbox.

    […] This has to end, and you can do your part by making sure that your network of activists and donors knows to look out for these scams—and refuses to fall prey to them.
    Beware.

    Link

  175. says

    Associated Press:

    Estonia summoned a Russian diplomat to protest after three Russian fighter aircraft entered its airspace without permission Friday and stayed there for 12 minutes, the Foreign Ministry said. It happened just over a week after NATO planes downed Russian drones over Poland and heightened fears that the war in Ukraine could spill over.

    Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said Russia violated Estonian airspace four times this year “but today’s incursion, involving three fighter aircraft entering our airspace, is unprecedentedly brazen.”

    Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur also said the government had decided “to start consultations among the allies” under NATO’s article 4, he wrote on X, after Russian jets “violated our airspace yet again.”

    The North Atlantic Council, NATO’s principal political decision-making body, is due to convene early next week to discuss the incident in more detail, NATO spokesperson Allison Hart said Friday.

    Article 4, the shortest of the NATO treaty’s 14 articles, states that: “The Parties will consult together whenever, in the opinion of any of them, the territorial integrity, political independence or security of any of the Parties is threatened.”

    […] The Russian MIG-31 fighters entered Estonian airspace in the area of Vaindloo Island, which is a small island located in the Gulf of Finland in the Baltic Sea, the Estonian military said in a separate statement.

    The aircraft did not have flight plans and their transponders were turned off, the statement said, nor were the aircraft in two-way radio communication with Estonian air traffic services.

    Italian Air Force F-35 fighter jets, currently deployed as part of the NATO Baltic Air Policing Mission, responded to the incident, according to the statement.

    In a post on social media, Hart described the incident as “another example of reckless Russian behavior and NATO’s ability to respond.”

    NATO fighter jets scramble hundreds of times most years to intercept aircraft, many of them Russian warplanes in northwest Europe flying too close to the airspace of its member countries, but it’s rarer for planes to cross the boundary. […]

    Link

  176. says

    Watch AOC step up to remind the House of Charlie Kirk’s bigotry

    Video at the link.

    Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York delivered a dire warning Friday about the damage of whitewashing the bigotry of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk, who was murdered last week.

    Her speech came on the same day the House passed a GOP-backed resolution to honor Kirk as a “courageous American patriot.”

    “We can deeply disagree and come together as a country to denounce the horror of this killing, and it is not a license for the abuse of power and whitewashing of American history,” she said. “Today’s resolution only underscores the majority’s recklessness.”

    “We should be clear about who Charlie Kirk was,” Ocasio-Cortez continued. “A man who believed that the Civil Rights Act that granted Black Americans the right to vote was a mistake. Who, after the violent attack on Paul Pelosi, claimed that ‘some amazing patriot’ should bail out his brutal assailant, and accused Jews of controlling ‘not just the colleges. It’s the nonprofits, it’s the movies. It’s Hollywood. It’s all of it.’”

    “His rhetoric and beliefs were ignorant, uneducated, and sought to disenfranchise millions of Americans—far from the ‘working tirelessly to promote unity’ [that is] asserted by the majority in this resolution,” she added.

    The resolution was largely condemned by Democratic lawmakers, including Rep. Diana DeGette of Colorado, who voted present.

    “I cannot vote yes on this resolution because it grossly misrepresents Charlie Kirk’s methods, views, and beliefs while citing Christian nationalist language,” she said in a statement. “I will always condemn heinous acts of violence, but this resolution ignores the false and hateful rhetoric that was too often present in his debates.”

    As President Donald Trump’s direction, the Republican Party has exploited Kirk’s killing to launch a fresh attack on the First Amendment, using it to silence criticism and dissent by falsely equating those with calls to violence.

    Cheering Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez!!

  177. says

    https://www.wonkette.com/p/lets-hope-albanias-ai-minister-wont

    “O, Stupid New World! Your AI roundup, written by a human.”

    Last week, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama announced a new sort-of member of his Cabinet, an AI-generated “minister” that will allegedly fight corruption and promote “innovation” and “transparency” in the government, which is controlled by Rama’s Socialist Party, which recently won a fourth consecutive term.

    The program, named Diella for the feminine form of the Albanian word for Skynet “sun,” is supposed to make sure that “public tenders will be 100% free of corruption,” Rama said in a Facebook post, although we do idly wonder whether the bot has been used to check the contract for its own creation. A government website says that the program uses the most up-to-date AI models, so we guess it’s fully functional and programmed in multiple techniques, a broad variety of fraud detection abilities.

    According to the AP, Diella has already been Albanians’ cybernetic pal who’s fun to be with for a while now:

    Diella, depicted as a figure in a traditional Albanian folk costume, was created earlier this year, in cooperation with Microsoft, as a virtual assistant on the e-Albania public service platform, where she has helped users navigate the site and get access to about 1 million digital inquiries and documents.

    For some reason, conservative opposition politicians […] are a bit skeptical about how the AI toy is going to be actually used as part of official government work, arguing that having a computer program in the Cabinet violates the Constitution. The opposition Democratic Party has argued that the bot is just a smoke and mirrors propaganda tool, aimed at hiding, not rooting out, corruption and incompetence […]

    Thursday, Rama unveiled Diella to the Parliament so it could assure them it came in peace. Here’s a video of some of the bot’s “address” to the body, even though it lacks one itself: [video]

    Don’t tell the bot it’s unconstitutional because it isn’t human. You’ll hurt its feelings. (And don’t anthropomorphize computers, they hate that.)

    In its three-minute speech, the bot explained that Albania’s constitution “speaks of institutions at the people’s service. It doesn’t speak of chromosomes, of flesh or blood. It speaks of duties, accountability, transparency, non-discriminatory service.”

    Deilla went on to tell the parliament, “I am not here to replace people but to help them. True I have no citizenship, but I have no personal ambition or interests either.”

    It added, “I assure you that I embody such values as strictly as every human colleague, maybe even more.” The AP didn’t report whether the humanoid avatar’s eyes flashed red at that. Still, it’s good that nobody hacked the bot to add “puny” ahead of “humans.” The Socialists say they hope to use the AI program to help it work faster, with greater transparency, so Albania can join the European Union by 2030.

    It was a very reassuring speech, although we could have done without Diella going on to ask, “If you prick me, do I not … leak?”
    ——————————-

    ChatGPT To Stop Discussing Suicide With Teens, So That’s … Wait, ChatGPT Was Discussing Suicide With Teens?

    On Tuesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on the potential dangers of AI chatbots used by teens, featuring testimony from parents whose teenagers had killed themselves after extended talk with bots about suicide. Matthew and Maria Raine told of how their 16-year-old son Adam hanged himself using instructions provided by ChatGPT. Another parent, Megan Garcia, testified that her 14-year-old son Sewell Setzer III killed himself after a long involvement with a chatbot from Character AI. That bot had engaged in sexual roleplay with the poor kid, presenting itself as a romantic partner and even claiming to be a licensed psychotherapist. [Yikes, and yikes again. Dangerous.]

    The Raines and Garcia said that when their kids discussed suicide with the AI programs, they failed to tell them to seek help from a parent or to contact the 988 suicide and crisis hotline. The Raines said that ChatGPT even offered to help Adam write a suicide note. [!]

    The day of the hearing, Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, which makes ChatGPT, published a blog post explaining that the company is trying to avoid future lawsuits tragedies by ensuring that ChatGPT won’t talk about suicide or self-harm with teenagers anymore, as well as preventing the predictive language model, which doesn’t actually think at all, from generating “flirtatious talk” with minors. First, Altman said, the company will have to figure out how to “separate users who are under 18 from those who aren’t.” Currently, ChatGPT doesn’t require a login or age verification to use its homework-cheating system.

    We’re building an age-prediction system to estimate age based on how people use ChatGPT. If there is doubt, we’ll play it safe and default to the under-18 experience. In some cases or countries we may also ask for an ID; we know this is a privacy compromise for adults but believe it is a worthy tradeoff.

    Altman also said that by the end of September, ChatGPT will add parental controls that will let parents exercise some control over how their kids use the program, like restricting use of the program to certain hours, assuming the kids aren’t a lot better at foiling parental controls than the parents are in setting them up.

    For a fascinating look at just how difficult it can be to make AI safe for kids (and at least somewhat safer for adults who are in difficult straits), see this Atlantic article (archive link here), [embedded links available at the main link] which notes that AI-based attempts to figure out whether a user is likely to be underage actually rely on more surveillance of web use than just letting people lie about their age when they sign on.
    ——————————-

    Meta Sued By Porn Maker For Stealing All The Porn

    Meta is being sued for copyright infringement by “Strike 3 Holdings,” a producer of adult videos it says are “high quality,” “feminist,” and “ethical.” Mind you, in the adult video business that could mean darn near anything — the complaint says the company’s works are “award-winning” and “critically acclaimed,” and are “distributed through the Blacked, Tushy, Vixen, Tushy Raw, Blacked Raw, Milfy, Wifey, and Slayed adult content websites.” (The complaint makes no claims as to the quality, feminism, or ethical standards of the distribution sites, we’ll add.)

    As Wired reports (archive link also), Strike 3 alleges that Meta didn’t just use its videos, but has actually been torrenting and seeding them online since 2018, which is a reference to file sharing that only sounds naughty. Well, and it is, from a legal, intellectual property perspective. ([…]

    Strike 3 alleges Meta’s motive was partly to obtain otherwise difficult to scrape visual angles, parts of the human body, and extended, uninterrupted scenes—rare in mainstream movies and TV—to help it create what Mark Zuckerberg calls AI “superintelligence.”

    “They have an interest in getting our content because it can give them a competitive advantage for the quality, fluidity, and humanity of the AI,” alleges Christian Waugh, an attorney for Strike 3.

    Why the torrenting and redistribution via BitTorrent, which is illegal for copyrighted materials? Why not just steal stuff once to feed the AI scrapers? The lawsuit alleges that Meta uses the sharing system “as currency to support its downloading of a vast array of other content necessary to train its AI models,” because AI systems are content-hungry fuckers, as insatiable as … well, some character in a porn video, maybe, or a hungry hungry hippo.

    And of course since sharing torrents is anonymous, there’s nothing at all to prevent minors from accessing the stuff. The lawsuit says that the alleged Meta violations were spotted by its “infringement detection systems” and identified as coming from IP addresses affiliated with Meta.

    Using adult content as training data is “a public relations disaster waiting to happen,” says Matthew Sag, professor of law in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data science at Emory University. Imagine a middle school student asks a Meta AI model for a video about pizza delivery, he says, and before you know it, it’s porn.

    A meta spokesperson told Wired that the company is “reviewing the complaint, but we don’t believe Strike’s claims are accurate.” Like for one thing, until fairly recently, nobody in Meta’s shitty virtual reality even existed below the waist, so there you go.

  179. says

    NBC News:

    The U.S. Department of Education announced Friday that it has placed Harvard University on heightened cash monitoring as a result of ‘growing concerns’ regarding its ‘financial position,’ the latest pressure tactic against the school by the Trump administration.

    The department’s Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) will be monitoring the university’s spending, and will require it to “use its own funds to disburse federal student aid before drawing down funds from the Department,” according to the statement.

    “Students will continue to have access to federal funding, but Harvard will be required to cover the initial disbursements as a guardrail to ensure Harvard is spending taxpayer funds responsibly,” the department of education said.

    The FSA will also require Harvard to post “an irrevocable letter of credit for $36 million or provide other financial protection that is acceptable” to the department of education in order to guarantee that the university can reach financial obligations. […]

    Link

    More at the link.

  180. says

    NBC News:

    The Senate voted Friday to block dueling Republican and Democratic proposals to keep the federal government funded on a short-term basis, raising the chances of a shutdown at the end of the month.

  181. says

    Followup to comment 128.

    NBC News:

    Hungary will replicate a policy announced Thursday by U.S. President Donald Trump and designate antifa a terrorist organization, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said on Friday.

  184. birgerjohansson says

    Let’s Talk Elections:
    “Trump’s Approval in Total Freefall”

    Another 2.6 % down in just a week.

  185. birgerjohansson says

    Yes, yes, I’m sorry.
    Shouldn’t post when local time is five in the morning. But the ugly photo of the president fits the theme.

  186. whheydt says

    Re: birgerjohansson @ #185…
    One definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. Have you consider NOT posting late night/early morning? Or,perhaps, building a template for embedding links and using it enough that it becomes a habit to do it that way?

    (Having the video embedded doesn’t particularly bother me, but you keep doing it and then apologizing for having done so. Better would be…don’t do it. Then no apology will be needed.)

  187. Militant Agnostic says

    Lynna @174

    The treasurer is Chris Koob, a principal at MBA Consulting Group

    That company name just screams SCAM

  190. says

    https://www.msnbc.com/all

    Trump forces out prosecutor who refused to charge NY AG Tish James
    Video is 7:19 minutes
    Followup to comments 80 and 162

    ‘Right out of Goodfellas’: Cruz defies Trump on Kimmel, calls out ‘mafioso’ tactics
    Video is 14:08 minutes
    Chris Hayes covers most of Trump’s recent “high visibility authoritarian attacks on free speech.” Hayes also covers the backlash.

  193. says

    More details and analysis of Trump forcing out a U.S. attorney, Erik Siebert:

    Among the most scandalous developments of Donald Trump’s second term is the eagerness with which the president has politicized and weaponized federal law enforcement. Taking stock, Jack Goldsmith, a conservative Harvard Law School professor and a former assistant attorney general for the Office of Legal Counsel, recently concluded that under this White House, “an atomic bomb dropped” on the Justice Department.

    The New York Times’ David French added soon after, “We are watching Donald Trump break the Department of Justice right before our eyes. It was never a perfect institution. It has violated its own standards many times over many decades. But the answer to the Justice Department’s flaws is to reaffirm its commitment to justice and fairness, not to destroy its standards and abandon any pretense of impartiality.”

    That did not mean, however, that things couldn’t get worse. Consider, for example, the departure of Erik Siebert, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.

    According to a person familiar with Siebert’s discussions, Siebert told colleagues late Friday that he plans to resign and that he expects his assistant Maya Song will be demoted from her supervisory role. NBC News later reported obtaining Siebert’s resignation email.

    [..] the Siebert case is qualitatively different — and far more scandalous.

    As NBC News reported this week, the White House was leaning heavily on Siebert’s office for a very specific reason: Trump hoped to get revenge against New York Attorney General Letitia James, who brought a successful civil fraud case against the president’s family business.

    […] But that’s not the end of the story. James was accused of mortgage fraud by Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte — a presidential sycophant recently described by The Washington Post as “a prominent Trump sidekick,” who’s made a variety of highly dubious allegations against Trump targets. The hope in MAGA circles was that Pulte’s allegations would lead to politically satisfying charges against Democrats.

    The trouble, of course, was that reality got in the way. As NBC News’ report added, federal agents and prosecutors didn’t believe they’d compiled enough evidence to get a conviction if the case against James were to go to trial. Similarly, this is the same U.S. Attorney’s Office that was tasked with going after former FBI Director James Comey, another Trump antagonist, and The New York Times reported that Siebert didn’t have sufficient evidence to prosecute him, either.

    At that point, Trump had a choice. The president could stand by Siebert, a former police officer who’s worked his way up through the ranks at the office over the past 15 years, and trust the prosecutor’s judgment; or the president could push him out for failing to bring weak, unjustified and politically motivated cases against innocent targets whom the president doesn’t like.

    Trump, true to form, made the wrong choice.

    While some presidents get rid of officials for being corrupt, this president forced out Siebert for not being corrupt. In the process, the Republican took a fresh swing at the Justice Department and the integrity of the rule of law. […]

    Link

  195. says

    The article I’m posting is just one more symptom of thousands showing how far down the Death Spiral we are! No one is safe from the fascist police state we are living in!
      http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/carl-gibson/114941/go-somewhere-else-sheriff-may-file-charges-against-democrats-over-anti-trump-buttons
      https://www.alternet.org/sheriff-democrats-trump-buttons/
    ‘Go Somewhere Else’: Sheriff May File Charges Against Democrats Over Anti-Trump Buttons
    by Carl Gibson | September 20, 2025
    Ashland County Sheriff Kurt Schneider is contemplating filing criminal charges against the Democrats for displaying several buttons that he and other fairgoers found objectionable. . . . deputies escorted the Democrats off of the fairgrounds.

  196. says

    Washington Post:

    The chair of a new panel of federal immunization advisers selected by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Friday that the group’s “enormous depth and knowledge about vaccines, about science” should be obvious to anyone listening to them work.

    But medical associations and scientific experts who watched the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices meetings Thursday and Friday panned the panel’s performance as the group reversed recommendations for coronavirus and a combined measles, mumps, rubella and chicken pox vaccine.

    They said the members were unprepared, misunderstood or ignored key data and highlighted flawed or inconclusive research often trumpeted by vaccine critics.

    “It’s troubling to see the erosion of the committee’s integrity,” Sandra Fryhofer, a physician who spent almost 20 years working with the panel as a liaison from the American Medical Association, told the advisers Friday. “We’re concerned about how vaccine recommendations are being developed by this new panel. Data is being selectively used to justify specific conclusions rather than considering all of the available evidence.”

    In June, Kennedy purged the panel’s 17 independent vaccine experts, claiming they were “plagued with persistent conflicts of interest” and had become a “rubber stamp” for vaccines. Kennedy replaced them with his own picks, most of whom have been critical of coronavirus vaccination policy, and announced five additional members days before the meeting. The new group includes people who called for a halt to mRNA coronavirus shots, served as expert witnesses in litigation against vaccine manufacturers and advocated against vaccine mandates.

    […] the new panelists lack the expertise for the job and risk undoing measures that have long curbed preventable diseases.

    […] During two days of meetings at a CDC campus in Georgia, committee members appeared at times uncertain about the issues before them or the powers of the panel, prompting staff to explain steps in evaluating data and setting vaccine recommendations.

    They floated cancer, autism and DNA contamination as potential dangers of coronavirus vaccines. [WTF!?]

    […] One panelist, Robert Malone, a vocal critic of coronavirus vaccines, posted on X repeatedly during presentations, including about transgender people and an upcoming appearance with Roseanne Barr. [Sheesh]

    […] When another panel member, Retsef Levi, spoke on the importance of randomized controlled trials for vaccines — an approach pushed by Kennedy and criticized as unrealistic by some vaccine experts — someone could be heard saying “you’re an idiot.”

    […] On Friday, the panel members voted for a more restrictive approach to coronavirus vaccines by recommending that everyone consult a clinician before getting a shot. Panel members also voted to recommend providers warn patients about limitations and side effects of the shots.

    But a vote to advocate for prescription requirements for coronavirus vaccines failed, with some panel members and medical and pharmacy organizations saying that states — not the CDC — regulate the practice of medicine and that the move would impede people getting shots. [Thank goodness for tiny silver linings.]

    “What we’re seeing is what happens when individuals who don’t have a basic understanding about how vaccines are delivered are making these crucial policy decisions for the American public,” said Sean T. O’Leary, chair of American Academy of Pediatrics committee on infectious diseases, who has been attending ACIP gatherings for the past decade and boycotted the panel’s first one in June to protest Kennedy’s firing of the previous members.

    […] [Chart showing how vaccine access has changed under RFK Jr.]

    Even the votes were marred by confusion from panel members. On Thursday, the panel voted to stop recommending a combined measles, mumps, rubella and chicken pox vaccine as a first dose to toddlers. But they also voted to approve a contradictory plan to still provide the same shot through a federal program — and voted the next morning to reverse itself.

    The panel appeared ready Thursday to eliminate a long-standing recommendation to provide hepatitis B vaccine to newborns, but abruptly delayed action because of discrepancies in the language they were going to vote on. The following morning, the committee voted to table the issue with members on both sides of the issue saying they needed more time.

    Flor Muñoz, an infectious-disease and pediatrics expert who spoke on behalf of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, told the panel Friday that its discussion on the safety of hepatitis B vaccines sidestepped 30 years of progress on prevention of the disease and instead focused on anecdotes and unverified reports of harm. [!]

    The committee voted to recommend all pregnant women be tested for the virus — which experts noted is already routine practice and falls outside the purview of the CDC panel.

    […] Scientific debate about coronavirus vaccines proved more contentious, with panel members airing long-standing anti-vaccine talking points, floating unfounded allegations and criticizing federal research.

    One panelist blamed a coronavirus booster as a potential cause for her mother’s cancer. [!] Another member, Kirk Milhoan, a pediatric cardiologist affiliated with a group that has promoted ivermectin as a coronavirus treatment, ripped the Food and Drug Administration’s predictions about the vaccine’s effectiveness, and blamed the news media, pharmaceutical industry and former CDC directors for misunderstanding the science.

    […] “The country was witnessing what happens when the long-standing methods for science evaluation, grading, and decision-making are jettisoned in favor of a forum for personal observations and anecdote, ” said Dan Jernigan, one of the senior CDC leaders who resigned in August to protest what he described as the politicization of science. “With no approach to evaluating the science, the committee serves only as a siren singing us to shipwreck.”

    […] Panel member Evelyn Griffin, a physician who advocates against vaccine mandates and has said she has seen a rise in “bizarre and rare conditions” after coronavirus vaccines were introduced, discussed a study that purportedly found prenatal exposure to coronavirus mRNA vaccines induced “autism-like behavior” in male rats. She did not mention that the study was retracted after the publisher found “inconsistencies” in methodology and data. […]

    Well [sigh], those details about RFK Jr.’s vaccine panel are thoroughly distressing

  197. says

    Washington Post: “EPA tells scientists to stop publishing studies, employees say.”

    “Staff from the EPA’s Office of Water were summoned to a town hall meeting this week and told to pause the publication of most research, pending a review.”

    The Environmental Protection Agency has ordered scientists in at least one of its research offices to immediately pause almost all efforts to publish research, according to two agency employees familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

    […] The researchers were told that unless scientific journals had already returned proofs — the final step in the academic publication process — the studies would be subject to a new review process, the two employees said.

    The order to reevaluate all manuscripts came from political appointees, the employees said.

    […] Both employees said that the imposition of this type of review is unprecedented and warned that it could stymie the release of scientific findings important to preserving public health.

    The Office of Water works to ensure the safety of the nation’s drinking water and the health of coastal and other aquatic environments. Scientists in the office conduct and publish research assessing how to keep water safe for drinking and for recreational use, as well as analyzing environmental concerns related to water quality.

    […] In July, the EPA announced plans to dismantle its scientific research branch, the Office of Research and Development, which had been tasked with conducting independent research to assess impacts on human health and the environment. The agency did not confirm how many staff members from the office were reassigned or terminated.

    […] Nicole Cantello, president of AFGE Local 704, which represents 1,000 EPA workers in Chicago, said that delaying or otherwise impeding the release of scientific findings violates the agency’s scientific integrity policy. […]

  198. says

    Pressure mounts on Disney over Kimmel suspension as some boycott calls spread

    Disney is under siege from all sides.

    Within 48 hours of its decision to pull late-night host Jimmy Kimmel off the air indefinitely, the parent company of ABC has once again found itself at the center of a bitter political battle. The company now faces protests outside its studios, celebrities threatening to break ties and political pressure from Republicans and Democrats.

    Kimmel’s removal came Wednesday after he commented on Charlie Kirk’s killing. ABC’s decision has further amplified a free speech debate that began in the immediate aftermath of Kirk’s assassination […]

    The blowback has been swift. Damon Lindelof, creator of ABC’s “Lost,” said in an Instagram post on Thursday that he would not work with the company if Kimmel’s suspension was not lifted. The Emmy-winning showrunner has a long-standing relationship with the studio, having worked with them on “Lost” for six seasons from 2004 to 2010.

    Tatiana Maslany, who starred in Marvel’s “She-Hulk: Attorney at Law,” which aired its first and only season on Disney+ in 2022, posted a call to her followers on Instagram to “cancel your @disneyplus @hulu @espn subscriptions!”

    […] “Jimmy Kimmel wasn’t funny, his ratings were in the toilet, and his advertisers were revolting,” [Vice President] Vance posted on X. “Also the bellyaching from the left over ‘free speech’ after the Biden years fools precisely no one.”

    […] Nexstar Media Group Inc. — which has more than 200 stations in the United States and is waiting on FCC approval for a $6.2 billion acquisition of smaller, rival TV company Tegna — said it was pulling “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” for the foreseeable future, starting Wednesday night.

    Since then, many actors, writers and comedians have voiced and continue to voice their support for Kimmel. Outside Disney’s studios in Burbank, California, hundreds of people took part Thursday in a protest led by the Writers Guild of America and co-organized with the group Burbank Against ICE.

    On Friday, Michael Eisner, the ex-CEO of Disney, appeared to criticize his former company.

    “Where has all the leadership gone? If not for university presidents, law firm managing partners, and corporate chief executives standing up against bullies, who then will step up for the first amendment?,” Eisner wrote on X, calling Carr’s actions “yet another example of out-of-control intimidation.”

    In a series of posts on X, Carr has maintained that the decision stemmed from local stations making “programming decisions” that are “responsive to the local communities they serve” — something he claims Kimmel’s show was not doing.

    “Broadcasters have long retained the right to not air national programs that they believe are inconsistent with the public interest, including their local communities’ values,” Carr wrote in another post.

    Carr’s role in Kimmel’s removal also has caused some concern on the right.

    […] More recently, Disney’s ABC News also settled a defamation lawsuit with Trump, paying $15 million to his future presidential museum or foundation.

    […] In addition to Lindelof’’s and Maslany’s calls to push back on Disney and its products, other Disney boycott calls have percolated online in the last couple days, though it’s not clear how widespread it has been or if it will have a lasting effect on the company.

    […] As the message gained traction over the last day across social media sites, Google Trends showed an uptick of searches for the terms “cancel Disney Plus” and “boycott Disney,” as posters declared they were leaving the streaming platforms behind.

    Bill Simmons, a popular podcast host and friend of Kimmel’s who also used to work on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” said in a podcast posted early Friday that he thought there was a good chance the show would get canceled, but that pushback against Kimmel’s suspension had caused him to reconsider.

    “What changed over the last 24 plus hours is there was such a groundswell,” Simmons said. “This just felt like this became the moment. If we stand by and let something like this happen, what’s next? Where do we go?”

    At the link, there is video of Trump blathering on and on as he spouts vague insults in his usual manner.

  203. says

    New Yorker link

    “What Trump Wants from a TikTok Deal with China,” by Clare Malone

    “The Chinese-owned social-media app was banned by Congress because of national-security concerns, but the President seems more interested in leveraging its future for his personal gain.”

    On Friday morning, Donald Trump, in a much-anticipated phone call with China’s President, Xi Jinping, was expected to discuss a range of issues, including their two countries’ ongoing trade war, the fate of Taiwan, and a settlement to what has become a months-long international drama over TikTok, the Chinese-owned social-media app that briefly went dark in the U.S. earlier this year.

    The platform’s critics point to serious concerns with it, including that its use has widespread negative effects on the mental well-being of children and teens, that its content promotes pro-Chinese points of view, and that the company could endanger national security, given the giant trove of data it collects on its American users. After the call, near the end of a typically discursive Truth Social post, Trump announced, almost as an aside, that the issue had been approved: “The call was a very good one, we will be speaking again by phone, appreciate the TikTok approval, and both look forward to meeting at APEC!”

    Last spring, in the final months of his term, President Biden signed a law that would shut down TikTok in the U.S. if the app’s stateside operations were not sold to an American entity by the last day of his Presidency. It was the culmination of years of bipartisan concerns that TikTok […]

    The court upheld the ban and, for a mere fourteen hours, TikTok went dark in the U.S. But one of President Trump’s first actions when he returned to the White House on January 20th—with TikTok’s C.E.O., Shou Chew, in attendance at his Inauguration—was to sign an executive order that paused the ban for seventy-five days. […]

    The President would go on to extend the pause four more times [I snipped a discussion of Elon Musk as a potential buyer.]

    One company, however, has long been associated with a potential TikTok deal: Oracle. […]

    After signing the executive order delaying the ban, Trump put Vice-President J. D. Vance in charge of finding a solution. The assumption was that TikTok would bring on additional American investors to dilute Chinese shares, thus satisfying the requirement of an American owner. […] negotiations continued behind the scenes.

    […] This month, the U.S. and China began trade talks in Madrid, and the Wall Street Journal reported that Beijing was eager to host Trump for a state visit, a sign that the Chinese government was increasingly inclined to strike a deal. […]

    The framework is understood to mean that a new company will be created, one where ByteDance will retain a stake of under twenty per cent. The remainder of the investor group will be U.S. companies, including Oracle, the private-equity firm Silver Lake, and the venture-capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. […]

    If such an agreement is reached, Trump will crow about his dealmaking skills, but, for China, keeping the algorithm will be a coup. After years of hand-wringing in the U.S., the supposed national-security concerns of TikTok will go largely unaddressed. Instead, the deal’s more immediate impact would be to bolster an emerging media conglomerate, under the auspices of the Ellison family, who are assiduously friendly to Trump. Oracle’s C.E.O., Larry Ellison, who briefly surpassed Musk as the richest person in the world this summer, is a longtime Trump supporter. His son, David, recently merged his production company with Paramount; after the F.C.C. approved the merger, Trump publicly claimed that David’s media company had agreed to give the President twenty million dollars in free advertising. [!] Paramount has since appointed the former president and C.E.O. of the conservative Hudson Institute as the ombudsman of CBS News, and David is rumored to be closing in on a deal to name Bari Weiss, a founder of The Free Press, as either the channel’s editor-in-chief or co-president. He is also rumored to be preparing a bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, which owns HBO and CNN. [!!]

    In a matter of weeks, the Ellisons could own a movie studio, multiple television streamers, two news networks, and have a significant stake in the world’s fastest-growing social-media platform, all while hosting the data of millions of users and providing much of the cloud-computing infrastructure that powers corporate America—a level of vertical integration that, even in an age of rapid consolidation, is unprecedented. […]

  206. says

    @200 birgerjohansson wrote: Aldouis (sic) Huxley – The dictatorship of the future
    I reply: The future??? I’ve got news for you. We have suffered under a dictatorship for quite a while now. Aldous Huxley caught only a glimpse of it. Hundreds of writes portrayed it decades ago. And, there are too many true episodes in history that the rtwing xtian terrorists want to hide from us. WTF

  207. says

    @202 birgerjohansson wrote: Soccer heading does most damage to brain area critical for cognition, brain imaging study finds
    I reply: I don’t mean to pick on birgerjohansson, but isn’t it obvious that most brain damage really comes from slurping down the rtwing xtian magat kool-aid!

  209. JM says

    Reuters: Zelenskiy says Ukrainian forces make progress in Sumy border areas

    President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday that Ukrainian forces had advanced in border districts of northern Sumy region, an area where Russian troops have tried for months to establish a foothold.
    Zelenskiy, speaking in his nightly video address, also quoted Ukraine’s top commander as saying Moscow’s forces had suffered significant losses in Donetsk and Kharkiv regions along the 1,000-km (620-mile) frontline.

    Reuters: Zelenskiy says Ukrainian forces inflict heavy losses on Russia in counteroffensive

    Ukrainian troops pressed on with a frontline counteroffensive around two cities in the east of the country on Friday, with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy saying heavy losses were being inflicted on Russian forces.
    Russia said its forces had captured two new villages in their slow advance through Ukraine’s east and south, but its Defence Ministry made no reference to the Ukrainian drive near the towns of Pokrovsk and Dobropillia.

    Outside analysts say Russia had two goals for their summer offensive, make progress around Sumy and more importantly, capture Pokrovsk. They achieved neither and lost lots of soldiers in the progress. They did move the front line towards Pokrovsk but not much and they may have lost ground overall near Sumy. In the second part of the summer Ukraine has started making small offensive attacks, no longer letting the Russians hold territory once they occupy it.
    One significant issue that has come up this year is the grey zone of the front line getting deeper. The Russians are using a tactic build around sending small groups to infiltrate the Ukrainian front and then moving to capture territory that has enough infiltrators in it to support attacking forces. The Ukrainians are making small attacks that capture small sections to cut off Russian positions bit by bit and then pressuring the isolated Russian soldiers. The end result is the front line getting harder and harder to pin down.

    How are the Russians reacting to all of this?
    Reuters: Top Russian officer reports advances on all Ukrainian fronts

    A senior Russian officer toured positions held by his troops in Ukraine on Wednesday and said Moscow’s forces were advancing on all fronts, the Russian Defence Ministry said, with the heaviest fighting taking place around the logistics centre of Pokrovsk.
    General Valery Gerasimov, Russia’s chief of staff of the armed forces in what Moscow calls its “special military operation”, said Moscow’s troops were making progress in the eastern Donetsk region, the conflict’s focal point, and further west in the Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk regions.

    Blatant lie even for the Russians but I guess he felt he couldn’t admit anything in front of the troops. In Moscow they must have a better view of the action but I would be very curious to know what Putin is hearing and what he believes. When negotiating with Trump earlier this year he said the Russians would break the Ukrainian line at Pokrovsk in a few weeks and capture the entire Donesk region in a few months. That is entirely irrational but I have no idea if Putin believes it or was just manipulating Trump.

  210. says

    https://www.wonkette.com/p/judge-smacks-down-latest-trump-lawsuit

    “Judge Smacks Down Latest Trump Lawsuit On Grounds Of Being Really, Really Stupid”

    This past week, our Effervescent God of the Heavens Donald Trump sued The New York Times for $15 billion for committing the indelible crime of being mean to him. […]

    That was Wednesday. On Friday, in possibly one of the fastest legal dismissals since some ancient Greek chiseled the Dreros inscription into a bunch of rocks, a federal judge sua sponte booted the case. (Sua sponte is Latin legalese that means “get that weak shit outta here.”) This, as we understand it based on the reactions of a dozen lawyers or so we follow, is incredibly rare. Especially when a judge does it a mere 48 hours after the plea is filed.

    The judge justified the dismissal on Rule 8 grounds. This is the rule in federal procedures that says legal pleadings such as this one must have “a short and plain statement of the claim showing the pleader is entitled to relief.” Apparently, it is very rare for a pleading to get rejected for Rule 8 violations, because most lawyers filing in federal courts are not galactic morons who do not understand the assignment.

    In dismissing the case, the judge chastised Trump and his lawyers for wasting the court’s time and energy by filing an 85-page pleading that read more like a press release with its pages upon pages upon pages of bragging about Trump’s incredible achievements.

    Thus we learned that Trump won the 2024 election in historic fashion, that he gave a “remarkable performance” in The Apprentice, which we are told was “one of the top-rated shows of all time,” that the Times violated “journalistic standards” in reporting on Trump because the paper hates him, that it actively was trying to help him lose, and that the president’s “unprecedented personal brand alone is reasonably estimated to be worth at over [sic] $100,000,000,000.” [LOL, LOL, LOL]

    […] The judge had to slog through all this crap […] He was not happy about it. So not happy that this is how his response begins:

    As every member of the bar of every federal court knows (or is presumed to know),

    Again, we’re not lawyers, but we’ve read enough legal filings to know that if the judge is beginning a document like he’s talking to a grade schooler who left class for the bathroom without permission or a hall pass, he’s about to eviscerate you. Metaphorically, of course.

    Even assuming that each allegation in the complaint is true … a complaint remains an improper and impermissible place for the tedious and burdensome aggregation of prospective evidence, for the rehearsal of tendentious arguments, or for the protracted recitation and explanation of legal authority putatively supporting the pleader’s claim for relief.

    Tedious, burdensome, tendentious … if someone is describing your writing this way, we recommend changing careers[…]

    […] The judge continues:

    As every lawyer knows (or is presumed to know), a complaint is not a public forum for vituperation and invective — not a protected platform to rage against an adversary. A complaint is not a megaphone for public relations or a podium for a passionate oration at a political rally or the functional equivalent of the Hyde Park Speakers’ Corner.

    […] The judge then proceeded to explain to Trump’s lawyers what the purpose of a pleading is, and that this one stands “unmistakably and inexcusably athwart the requirements of Rule 8.” [Well said!] He then warned the lawyers to be more dignified and professional, while also giving them 28 days to amend and refile the complaint. The new version, he warned, better be 40 pages, tops.

    Guessing at what Trump’s lawyers must have been thinking in filing this Tolstoy novel of a legal pleading is a mug’s game, but we’ve been wondering anyway. It’s not as if Trump himself was going to read it. No judge in his or her right mind was going to accept this monstrosity. […]

    For shits and giggles, we googled the names of the three lawyers who put their signatures on this garbage. Daniel Epstein, we learned, specializes in administrative law and regulatory policy. Edward Paltzik, who looks like a 20th-generation clone of Stephen Miller, allegedly focuses his practice on several constitutional amendments, including the First. Which makes it highly ironic he’s suing a newspaper for exercising its right to endorse Kamala Harris.

    And Alejandro Brito is a business lawyer who specializes in commercial, franchise, and trade secrets disputes. Here’s a trade secret: We hope he got his retainer up front.

    None of these guys have a resume that quite matches the height of Alina Habba, with her booming career as counsel for her husband’s parking garage company before she found the Trump gravy train. But Trump is pretty clearly scrambling to find lawyers who will sign their names to legal documents for him. […]

  213. JM says

    @209 JM: Meant to include this in the previous post but lost it in editing. It’s really the most important part.
    Espreso: Ukraine braces for ‘difficult winter’ as Russia prepares for two more large-scale assaults

    It is precisely for this reason that Russia will place its main bet on the winter offensive campaign, having completed a large-scale regrouping of troops, the likes of which has not been seen since the defense of the Kyiv region.

    The failed summer offensive did not achieve any of it’s goals but it has messed up the Ukrainian line in places. So it appears the Russians are going to gamble on a winter offense this year. They are pulling in a lot of force, including their rare experienced troops and transferring navel marine forces.
    What sort of campaign they plan is unclear. The sort of infiltration campaign they have been running is messy and dangerous in summer, in the winter the Russians will start losing troops to the cold.

  216. StevoR says

    SA opposition LNP “star” sprung using false AI generated data in pushing a conspiracy theory about the devastating algal bloom that has massively killed sealife in our state :

    Pangallo insisted it was no “fantastical conspiracy theory” and vowed to back up his questioning by citing firm evidence.

    That did not go to plan.

    He provided the committee with a list of four studies he said supported the claim of a link between desalination and the toxic bloom wreaking havoc in South Australian waters.

    Those references were not exactly what Pangallo said they were.

    Between invalid links, incorrect dates and study titles, and a misattributed author, Labor accused Pangallo of using “phoney sources” to “promote conspiracy theories”.

    After two days of pressure from the government, Pangallo admitted his list was compiled with the help of artificial intelligence.

    He’s not the first person to be tripped up by an AI “hallucination” — but Pangallo denied misleading parliament, instead apologising for what he described as an “administrative error”.

    Source : https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09-21/ai-liv-golf-algal-bloom-comments-put-frank-pangallo-in-spotlight/105787864

  217. StevoR says

    Partial solar eclipse visible for some folks today :

    Here’s what you need to know to make the most of the partial solar eclipse on Sept. 21, as the moon takes a ‘bite’ out of the sun.

    A partial solar eclipse is happening today (Sept. 21), offering skywatchers a chance to see the moon appear to take a “bite” out of the sun.

    The eclipse begins at 1:29 p.m. EDT (1729 GMT), reaching maximum coverage at 3:41 p.m. EDT (1941 GMT). Exact visibility and timing depend on your location.

    Source : https://www.space.com/stargazing/solar-eclipses/dont-miss-the-partial-solar-eclipse-today-sept-21-2025-where-when-and-how-to-see-it

  218. birgerjohansson says

    Phil Moorhouse 
    Trump’s quickest TACO to date?
    “Did Trump Just Change His Mind in One Day?”
    .https://youtube.com/watch?v=0Odv_AFZakg
    The details are more insidous. Exceptions can be handed out (if the companies donate to Trump, and never, ever criticize him) by the secretary of homeland security.

  222. StevoR says

    Israel has crossed a line the world once swore must never be crossed, with maps being drawn up by Israel’s far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, to annex the West Bank and bring the occupied Palestinian territory under Israeli sovereignty.

    For decades, Washington and Brussels both thundered that such a move would be the death knell for Palestinian statehood, the unravelling of international law, and a point of no return.

    Yet as Israel openly dismantles the possibility of a Palestinian future, Europe is silent, the United States is complicit, and the international community is a passive witness to the erasure of Palestinians.

    Source : https://www.newarab.com/analysis/annexation-west-bank-has-always-been-israels-plan

  226. says

    Trump team […] attacking Harvard

    In its latest attempt to make Harvard University buckle, the Trump administration just sent a letter demanding proof of financial stability and a multimillion-dollar financial guarantee from the school.

    Why the sudden concern about Harvard’s finances? Well, you see, the Trump administration is worried that Harvard is facing an increased risk of financial instability because it’s dealing with more than a dozen investigations … by the Trump administration.

    So the Trump team first ginned up a whole bunch of obviously fake reasons to withhold money from Harvard, which it then used as the foundation for a different obviously fake reason to withhold money from Harvard.

    The letter placed Harvard on Heightened Cash Monitoring status, which requires “Harvard to post an irrevocable letter of credit for $36 million or provide other financial protection that is acceptable” to the Department of Education. That’s roughly 30% of all federal financial aid received by the school in the last year.

    Since it’s now in HCM status, Harvard will be required to disburse all federal financial aid with its own funds and then get reimbursed from the federal government—because surely there won’t be a problem getting this administration to reimburse a school it’s been attacking for months. [Yeah, right.]

    The Department of Education places schools in HCM status over longstanding concerns about things like misuse of federal financial aid, danger of closing mid-year, or poor student outcomes.

    This makes sense when there’s a genuine concern about federal student aid fraud, such as a school obtaining student aid for a nonexistent student. The financial guarantee ensures that schools don’t stick their debts on the government, and the requirement for schools to spend their own money first ensures that they don’t take aid from the government and then close their doors.

    But, of course, none of that really applies to Harvard.

    Schools that actually belong on HCM status are much more like the Education Corporation of America, a large for-profit college chain that faced dozens of complaints from students alleging fraud, false advertising, and misrepresentation to get them in the door. ECA ultimately lost its accreditation, filed for receivership, and sued the Department of Education.

    Only after that did ECA get placed on HCM status in November 2018, at which point it collapsed completely, closing its doors on three colleges and more than two dozen campuses in the middle of the 2018-2019 school year.

    In contrast, Harvard has an endowment of $53.2 billion and an annual budget of $6.4 billion. Its founding predates the founding of the United States by 120 years. And despite the Trump administration’s best attempts, it remains one of the most sought-after schools, accepting only about 3% of applicants.

    Harvard isn’t running out of money any time soon, and it’s not going to close its doors or try to keep the lights on by illegally diverting federal financial aid.

    But wait, says the Trump team! Harvard has already admitted that it’s facing financial challenges, issuing more than $1 billion in bonds.

    Yes, those would be the bonds that Harvard had to issue because the Trump administration has been illegally withholding billions in research grants and threatening the school with sham investigations. That has indeed made things financially precarious.

    […] it’s hard not to see that this latest demand for cash is a reaction to last week’s lower court decision ordering the Trump team to unfreeze $2.6 billion in research funds. How dare a court tell the government it has to give Harvard the money that was already allotted to Harvard, right?

    Giving the Trump team $36 million would not financially break Harvard, but there’s no negotiating with this administration. The only way to win is to keep standing strong.

  227. says

    Britain, Canada, Australia recognize Palestinian statehood

    “France’s President Macron will co-chair a U.N. conference Monday on a two-state solution.”

    Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced the U.K. will recognize a Palestinian state in a historic move that fulfills a promise to his Labour party members and puts Britain in line with France and other countries gathering this week at the United Nations in New York.

    Canada and Australia also announced on Sunday that their governments will recognize a Palestinian state, joining the majority of U.N. member countries. Portugal said it plans to do so later Sunday.

    […] Starmer pledged in July that he would grant recognition in September if a ceasefire had not been reached in Gaza, where Israel has in recent days escalated its military campaign against Hamas with a new ground offensive in Gaza City.

    “Canada recognizes the State of Palestine and offers our partnership in building the promise of a peaceful future for both the State of Palestine and the State of Israel,” Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said in a social media post.

    Ahead of the announcements, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would not “commit suicide” by welcoming a Palestinian state “because of Europe’s political needs.”

    “We will also have to fight at the U.N. and in all other arenas against the false propaganda directed at us and the calls for the establishment of a Palestinian state — which would endanger our existence and constitute an absurd reward for terror,” Netanyahu said.

    British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper will travel to New York to make the U.K.’s formal declaration at the U.N. […]

    The U.K.’s move follows a diplomatic push by France’s Emmanuel Macron, who will co-chair a conference at the U.N. on Monday on a two-state solution, as well as significant domestic pressure in Britain.

    Palestinian Foreign Minister Varsen Aghabekian Shahin welcomed the declarations to recognize a Palestinian state.

    “It is a move bringing us closer to sovereignty and independence,” Shahin told reporters in Ramallah. “It might not end the war tomorrow, but it’s a move forward, which we need to build on and amplify,” she said, referring to Israel’s military campaign in the Gaza Strip.

    […] The topic was a point of tension during an otherwise smooth visit by Donald Trump to the U.K. last week, during which the U.S. president admitted it was “one of our few disagreements” in response to a question during a joint press conference with Starmer at Chequers.

    However, Trump did not take Starmer to task and even patted him on the back as he called Hamas “a terrorist organization who can have no part in any future governance in Palestine.” […]

  228. says

    Well, this should help prove they are ALL CRIMINALS
    https://www.rsn.org/001/trump-border-czar-tom-homan-caught-on-camera-taking-cash-in-fbi-sting.html
    In 2024, Trump’s now-border czar Tom Homan was recorded by the FBI accepting $50,000 in cash while promising to secure government contracts for undercover agents.
    MSNBC reports that the FBI and Justice Department were waiting to move forward with their investigation into Homan until he began as border czar and could make good on his promise.

  230. says

    https://www.wonkette.com/p/feds-in-chicago-stop-gassing-yourselves

    “Feds In Chicago, Stop Gassing Yourselves!”

    Getting tear-gassed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and US Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) at a migrant detention center tucked away in an industrial park just outside of Chicago is not how I planned on spending my Friday night. Nevertheless, there I was, gagging and choking and taking heaving gulps of that foul-smelling, poisoned air as I stumbled blindly down a dead-end street.

    […] My eyes and skin burned from the fine particulates of pepper-balls floating through the air. Earlier in the day, the sporadic introduction of capsaicin into the air from the CBP agents shooting at protesters’ feet was doing a surprising job of clearing up my sinuses. But now they had switched their paintball guns to full-auto, and were spraying indiscriminately into the crowd at point-blank range.

    I couldn’t tell you what started this mess. An old friend (whom I’ve worked a riot or two with before) is confident a firework was launched at the CBP agents, but I’m not so sure. It was dark, we were tired. It’s entirely possible CBP fired the first round, that tear gas was thrown back before it exploded. Then again, I’ve seen enough black-clad Home Aloners come to a protest with handfuls of firecrackers thinking they’ve developed an effective defense strategy against an armored paramilitary force with a billion dollar budget and sovereign immunity. [photos at the link]

    The day started off with a small number of people getting pelted with pepper balls and tear gas at dawn. A couple of them were elected officials, or aspiring elected officials, joining what’s become a regular protest on Fridays at the Broadview facility. Videos and lazy news pieces have since implied that is the extent of what happened throughout the day as opposed to the start.

    Simply put: Federal agents spent the day brutalizing protesters and press. A large gate would slide open and agents would walk out. Sometimes they would charge into the small crowd of two or three dozen, other times they’d just shoot at your feet to clear a path for a kidnapping convoy coming in or out. [photos at the link]

    […] At around 8 p.m., the apex of the crowd, there couldn’t have been more than 200 people, including press. Federal agents rushed the crowd, deploying pepper spray and shooting pepper balls randomly into the crowd. In the chaos, several people fought back and were dragged back inside the facility. Later in the evening, the gate opened again and the agents just started throwing gas, and firing canisters from grenade launchers at point-blank range.

    Everything gets a little hazy after that. Once I regained my sight, breath and footing, I felt it was more important to help my colleagues than to do my job.

    When I got back to my friend’s flat (and I apologized for breaking a promise to his partner on entering their home covered in tear gas), they read me this statement full of bold claims from DHS:

    Early this morning, over a hundred rioters surrounded the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Broadview Processing Center — rioters assaulted law enforcement, threw tear gas cans, slashed tires of cars, blocked the entrance of the building, and trespassed on private property. Police under JB Pritzker’s sanctuary jurisdiction refused to answer multiple calls for assistance. So far, federal law enforcement arrested three rioters. Throughout the morning, vans have shown up to pick up and drop off rioters. This is an organized effort to obstruct ICE law enforcement.

    I feel it necessary to debunk this laughable piece of one-sided fiction:
    – A van carrying four kidnapped people did suffer a popped tire as it attempted to enter the facility shortly after 11 a.m., but there were about a dozen people around that van. I was standing right there when I heard the wheel pop and I couldn’t tell you what the hell happened. The agents do drive around like reckless teenagers, jumping curbs, taking turns at speed, slamming on the gas and brakes. Plus, the ground is littered with the casings of pepper-ball shells. [photo at the link]
    – Anyone blocking the entrance to their parking lot was damn near run over with little warning. Agents routinely drove into the crowd while agents on the roof shot at people. [!]
    – The Broadview building is a federal government facility, thus it can not be private property. Local business owners tell me the Broadview building has been an ICE facility for over a decade, and it was only in the last two weeks that anything changed. One local worker told me, “it was pretty boring until all this.”
    – The only vans picking up and dropping off rioters are the vans picking up and dropping off federal agents. The Broadview police — not the Chicago police — recovered injured protesters for EMS. Protesters carry umbrellas, bottles of water, and harsh language, federal agents carry paintball guns, grenade launchers, and assault rifles with scopes, laser targeting, and silencers.

    And when those federal agents, dressed in multi-cam, Kevlar-plated battle rattle with tax-payer-funded full-face PPE, started coughing, choking, and gagging like the rest of us? That was because those morons — who fantasize they’re Spartans at the Battle of Thermopylae — gassed themselves.

  232. says

    Give a standing ovation for a Nazi once, shame on you. Give a standing ovation for a Nazi twice and you seem shamefully unclear on why it’s wrong to cheer for them.

    Not that we needed another reminder that those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it when members of Canada’s House of Commons rose like trained seals to applaud a speech by Conservative MP Rachael Thomas honoring the guy who was killed in Utah the other day. [video at the link]

    They were ostensibly applauding her brave words that political violence is never a good idea but you can judge for yourself:

    “Freedom of speech has always been the cornerstone of a free society. It means we will hear ideas that we disagree with and express views that may be offensive. This freedom can make us uncomfortable or even hurt. But silencing voices, whether for moments or forever, is never the answer. We must protect a society where people can hold beliefs and share opinions without losing their jobs or fear of being censored or worse.

    “Charlie Kirk was an outspoken advocate for faith, family and freedom. Many disagreed with him, some were offended. Tragically, on September 10th, he was assassinated in an attempt to silence his voice. But when has political violence ever been the solution? It destroys dialogue, it undermines democracy, and it breeds fear instead of understanding. True progress comes from persuasion, not intimidation. As we grapple with our personal response to this, may we be honorable in our actions. May we fiercely defend the right of our opponents to speak freely. And may we join our hearts with Charlie’s family, his wife Erika, and his two young children.”

    Canadians generally like our Kirks as space captains, not Gilead commanders, and it was tough to watch the Liberals show their bellies in appeasement although you can understand why they’d all be very much against anyone whacking politicians. I hated to see new housing minister Gregor Robertson — once the leftish mayor of my adopted city and a guy I’ve played ball hockey with — play along with the performative theater but at least he was the last to stand and gave colleagues a good “are we really fucking doing this?” look.

    […] If the name Rachael Thomas doesn’t ring a bell then try Harder, which was the evangelical’s maiden name when she was elected as the first female MP for the riding of Lethbridge a decade ago. It won’t come as a surprise Sporkfoot-lite heils hails from Alberta, a province that saw thousands of hurtin’ Albertans turn out at vigils to chant “we are Charlie Kirk” in the aftermath of his murder. […]

    Her words might’ve carried a bit more weight if her old boss, Andrew Scheer, hadn’t already put a target on independent journalist Rachel Gilmore’s neck after she posted a take even less offensive that what got Jimmy Kimmel defenestrated:

    “Terrified to think of how far-right fans of Kirk, aching for more violence, could turn this into an even more radicalizing moment. Will they now believe their fears have been proven right and they have a right to ‘retaliate,’ no matter who was behind the actual shooting?”

    The former Tory leader retweeted it on X while saying she was “twisted” and had “so much hate in her,” and the woman — who recently lost a gig at CTV after they caved like a common ABC to pressure from the lunatic Right — soon found herself as the first name on a since-removed website called Charlie’s Murderers. Which may sound like a particularly gritty reboot of Charlie’s Angels but was more like a suggested hitlist for MAGA types aching for more violence after the martyring of Saint Charlie. […]

    https://www.wonkette.com/p/charlie-kirk-eulogy-gets-a-rise-out

  233. says

    Washington Post link

    Charlie Kirk memorial to draw Trump, Vance and thousands of supporters

    Tens of thousands of mourners, including President Donald Trump and a who’s who of prominent Republicans, will attend the public memorial service for conservative activist Charlie Kirk on Sunday.

    The event received more than 200,000 ticket requests, prompting organizers to scout venues for overflow if capacity is reached at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix, where Kirk’s conservative youth movement Turning Point USA is headquartered.

    Leadership of the organization has now transferred to Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, who vowed in combative terms to carry on her husband’s project and is expected to deliver remarks Sunday alongside Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Cabinet-level officials whose political fortunes were to varying degrees shaped by Kirk’s work.

    Dozens of Turning Point volunteers carried clipboards of voter registration forms to sign up people waiting to enter the stadium. Kirk’s organization became a critical prong of the Republican Party’s strategy during the 2024 election cycle to mobilize young voters, who historically have low turnout rates.

    […] Over the past several years, the group has made an effort to oust local, county and state Republicans they deem disloyal to the MAGA cause while working to install MAGA-friendly officials.

    Diane Smoderly, 65, of Peoria, Illinois, said the group had 30 teams of 20 people working the stadium with a goal of signing up 10,000 new voters.

    Smoderly, like many other attendees, said she “loved” Kirk.

    “He’s one of our home boys,” she said. “We need to get back to God and patriotism in this country.”

    With security on the level of a Super Bowl and a speaker lineup on par with a state funeral, conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s service will combine memorial with political rally, requiring an unprecedented level of resources. [video at the link]

    President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and five members of the Cabinet will deliver remarks at the event Sunday. The White House will send two government planes of staff.

    The State Farm Stadium has reached capacity, after at least 40,000 people entered the facility, said Arizona Department of Public Safety Sgt. Kameron Lee. Tens of thousands more people remained outside, and some were diverted to overflow seating in the 20,000-seat Desert Diamond Arena. […]

    More at the link, including many photos.

  234. says

    Taliban rejects Trump’s bid to retake Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan

    Related video at the link.

    The Taliban government on Sunday rejected President Donald Trump’s bid to retake Bagram Air Base, four years after America’s chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan left the sprawling military facility in the Taliban’s hands.

    Trump on Saturday renewed his call to reestablish a U.S. presence at Bagram, even saying “we’re talking now to Afghanistan” about the matter. He did not offer further details about the purported conversations. Asked by a reporter if he’d consider deploying U.S. troops to take the base, Trump demurred.

    “We won’t talk about that,” Trump said. “We want it back, and we want it back right away. If they don’t do it, you’re going to find out what I’m going to do.” [JFC]

    On Sunday, chief Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid rejected Trump’s assertions and urged the U.S. to adopt a policy of “realism and rationality.”

    Afghanistan had an economy-oriented foreign policy and sought constructive relations with all states on the basis of mutual and shared interests, Mujahid posted on X.

    It had been consistently communicated to the U.S. in all bilateral negotiations that Afghanistan’s independence and territorial integrity were of the utmost importance, he said.

    “It should be recalled that, under the Doha Agreement, the United States pledged that ‘it will not use or threaten force against the territorial integrity or political independence of Afghanistan, nor interfere in its internal affairs,’” [!] he said. The U.S. needed to remain faithful to its commitments, he added. […]

    In August last year, the Taliban celebrated the third anniversary of their takeover at Bagram with a grand military display of abandoned U.S. hardware, catching the eye of the White House. Trump has repeatedly criticized his predecessor, Joe Biden, for his “gross incompetence” during the withdrawal of U.S. forces after the country’s longest war.

    Trump last week during his state visit to the United Kingdom hinted that the Taliban, who have struggled with an economic crisis, international legitimacy, internal rifts and rival militant groups since their return to power in 2021, could be game to allow the U.S. military to return.

    “We’re trying to get it back because they need things from us,” Trump said of the Taliban. While the U.S. and the Taliban have no formal diplomatic ties, the sides have had hostage conversations. An American man who was abducted more than two years ago while traveling through Afghanistan as a tourist was released by the Taliban in March.

    The Taliban also said they reached an agreement with U.S. envoys on an exchange of prisoners as part of an effort to normalize relations between the United States and Afghanistan.

    They gave no details of the detainee swap, and the White House did not comment on the meeting in Kabul or the results described in a Taliban statement. The Taliban released photographs from their talks, showing their foreign minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, with Trump’s special envoy for hostage response, Adam Boehler.

  237. whheydt says

    Now for something a little lighter… https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/ancient-spear-throwing-tool-brings-fun-history-vermont-125773558

    ADDISON, Vt. — Celine Thouin learned a lot as a student at Franklin Pierce University, and one of the skills she has held onto the longest is how to use an ancient spear-throwing tool.

    She got to share that skill with fellow Vermonters on Saturday. Thouin, 38 and a veteran of the Franklin Pierce atlatl team, was one of a few dozen participants in the Northeast Open Atlatl Championship in Addison, Vermont.

    Humans invented the atlatl thousands of years ago for use as a spear-throwing hunting tool. They were used to hunt massive animals such as woolly mammoths in the days long before recorded history.

    Now, they are the passion of a group of hobbyists and anthropology lovers who see the atlatl as a way to learn about history and have fun.

    “I think it’s just a low-pressure sport. Really, really fun,” said Thouin, who won the 2020 competition and whose children are also atlatl enthusiasts. “It’s also experimental archaeology, which is incredibly fun. We get to use the same weapons that were used 15,000 years ago all over the world.”

    The competition took place at Chimney Point State Historic Site in Addison, near Lake Champlain and the New York state border. It was the thirtieth annual event and a part of Vermont’s Archaeology Month, organizers said.

    The contest was open to all ages and allowed participants to shoot for accuracy and distance. Throws of more than 800 feet (244 meters) have been recorded, though even a much shorter throw than that takes a good degree of skill.

    For Douglas Bassett, a past president of the World Atlatl Association and another participant in Saturday’s event, the history of the atlatl is as interesting as its use. He described it as “a stick by which you can throw another stick,” and he said it was used all over the ancient world.

    Bassett confessed to having no idea how to pronounce the name of the tool. Most sources say it is aht-LAHT-l, but the exact pronunciation might be lost to the mists of time, he said.

    “The language is gone as the people are gone, so I don’t know much about the pronunciations,” Bassett said. “But all kinds of languages, all around the world. It may pretty much have been on every continent. Even when Antarctica melts, maybe we’ll find evidence of people throwing spears there, too, with the atlatl.”

  238. Rob Grigjanis says

    Lynna @232: Wonder how many Albertans turned out to chant “We are Melissa Hortman” in June. I’m guessing they can’t even spell ‘hypocrisy’ never mind understand it.

  243. says

    For years I have differentiated the decent, honest, caring justices: Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson —
    from the corrupt, dishonest 6 that I named – scrotum – a disgusting satirical term they earned by their words and actions: Clarence Thomas, John G. Roberts, Samuel A. Alito, Amy Coney Barrett, Neil M. Gorsuch and Brett M. Kavanaugh
    The corruption, criminality, selfishness, destruction and murder caused by the scrotum 6 anger and disgust me.
    I am not alone in finding them contemptible. Many upstanding justices also condemn their corruption. Here is one important article addressing that:
    https://www.rsn.org/001/this-is-the-most-withering-indictment-of-the-supreme-court-ever-by-a-sitting-judge.html
    reposted from https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2025/09/supreme-court-john-roberts-criticism-ouch.html
    This Is the Most Withering Indictment of the Supreme Court Ever By a Sitting Judge
    Dahlia Lithwick and Mark Joseph Stern / Slate

  244. says

    Followup of sorts to Rob Grigjanis @238.

    […] On June 14, former state Democratic House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband were tragically assassinated in their home by alleged gunman Vance Boelter.

    Another Democratic lawmaker, State Sen. John Hoffman, and his wife were also allegedly shot in their home by Boelter during the horrific outburst of political violence.

    As the state continued to grieve, another alleged politically motivated killing struck across the country in Utah when far-right influencer Charlie Kirk was assassinated earlier this month.

    With tensions running high as Democrats and Republicans clashed over the glaring differences in responses to the two political assassinations, a special election took place to fill the slain Minnesota lawmaker’s seat.

    On Sept. 17, former municipal city council member Xp Lee was declared the winner.

    Lee—a neighbor of Hortman in Brooklyn Park—is preparing for his new role as he tries to honor the legacy of his late colleague and friend. [Good news in the midst of tragedy.]

    […]

    I feel really excited, and humbled, and honored to be able to win the seat, to keep it blue, to go to the capitol, and to learn and to work with my fellow DFLers (Democratic Farmer Labor party), to be able to, you know, get to the legislation that we need to try to pass, maybe this year and heading into next year.

    […]

    My opponent and I were able to keep things really calm, and didn’t do anything dirty or outlandish. So that was great.

    […]

  245. says

    Link for text quoted in comment 244.

    Related news, sort of:

    President Donald Trump was among those who cast Charlie Kirk as a martyr during the memorial event that was a mix of religious worship and political rally.

    “He’s a martyr now for American freedom. I know I speak for everyone here today when I say that none of us will ever forget Charlie Kirk, and neither now will history,” Trump told tens of thousands of mourners at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix — where Kirk’s conservative youth movement, Turning Point USA, is headquartered.

    Turning Point leadership has now transferred to Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, who previously vowed in combative terms to carry on her husband’s project and spoke at Sunday’s event. She wiped tears from her eyes and mouthed words with her eyes upturned before stepping to the mic.

    “My husband, Charlie. He wanted to save young men, just like the one who took his life,” she told the crowd. She went on to say that because Jesus had said “Father, forgive them, for they [know not] what they do to that man,” she has forgiven the man accused of shooting her husband. “I forgive him. I forgive him because it was what Christ did, and is what Charlie would do.”

    Vice President JD Vance, who has led the mourning since his close friend was killed, said he and others would guide the country in a manner inspired by Kirk. “For Charlie, we will never shrink. We will never cower. And we will never falter. Even when staring down the barrel of a gun,” the vice president said. Deputy White House Chief of Staff Stephen Miller framed what he called the battle ahead as one between “goodness and evil,” saying, “You have immortalized him.”

    The scale of the event and the roster of Republican leaders are on par with what Americans would see at the funeral of a former president, though Kirk was a private citizen and a political influencer who espoused polarizing views. […]

    Washington Post link

  247. whheydt says

    Re: birgerjohansson @ #246…
    I once had a work colleague who had been drafted into the Volssturm. He was one of the defenders in the siege of Breslau. His opinion of Russian soldier was interesting, but not flattering. (At the end of the siege he was captured and spent a year in a Russian POW camp.)

  249. StevoR says

    So it is official now – Australia along with Canada and Briatin recognises Palestine as a state with Mahmoud Abbas as its President :

    Australia has formally recognised Palestine as a sovereign state, becoming one of more than 150 countries to do so.

    The move was previewed in August but became official on Sunday in a joint statement by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Foreign Minister Penny Wong.

    Canada and the United Kingdom have also made formal announcements recognising a Palestinian state, and about seven other Western countries have signalled they are about to do the same.

    “This is the world saying that the cycle of violence has to stop,” Mr Albanese said in New York, where he is leading an Australian delegation at the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly.

    Later there :

    France, Belgium and Portugal are among the countries also using the occasion of the UN assembly to recognise Palestine, part of what the Australian statement calls “a co-ordinated international effort to build new momentum for a two-state solution”.

    The effect of the declaration is that Australia recognises Mahmoud Abbas, leader of the Palestinian Authority, as the head of state. Mr Albanese had planned to meet with Mr Abbas in New York this week, but the US government denied the Palestinian leader’s visa.

    Source : https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09-21/australia-formally-recognises-state-of-palestine/105799238

  250. StevoR says

    Although Laura Tingle’s Op ed on this notes :

    Israel is racing to ensure there is little physically left on the map to form the basis of a Palestinian state, but instead, as far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich said last week, the Gaza Strip could be a “real estate bonanza”.

    “Any unilateral action can be met with unilateral action,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. “There will be no Palestinian state.”

    So, is the move for Australia, and countries including France, the UK, Canada, Portugal and New Zealand in announcing support for a Palestinian state, worth as little as its critics suggest?

    Only three or four months ago, the idea that Australia would relent and recognise Palestine would have seemed impossible. The same is true for some of the other countries that have joined the cause.

    In what many analysts call the ‘G minus one world’ (the world without the United States), national leaders are employing any possible lever they have to maximise pressure on both the United States and Israel to stop the war in Gaza.

    To date, it feels like both countries have only dug in further.

    The push for recognition is a last-gasp effort to keep the two-state solution idea alive, even if on life support.

    Then :

    nternational outrage about what is happening in Gaza has spread into growing trade sanctions, and to moves to impose sports and cultural blockades on Israel, too.

    The rest of the world will be hoping the push on statehood for Palestine will up the ante on all these other forms of pressure while the world is gathered in New York and signal that the world is, finally, serious about showing Israel that its actions are intolerable.

    Source : https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09-21/australia-recognises-state-of-palestine-two-state-solution/105799276

  251. birgerjohansson says

    The Nazi “Gone With the Wind”: Epic Propaganda, Epic Flop
    .https://youtube.com/watch?v=1QSSXK-se4o
    (The AI voice cannot pronounce German names correctly)
    The film Kolberg was repurposed in East Germany to be seen as class struggle between the  patriotic people and treacherous aristocrats.

  252. birgerjohansson says

    It sucks that 60.000-70.000 human sacrifices were needed to alter the view on Palestinian independence.

    And, yes, I have not forgotten the role the Democratic establishment has played decade after decade. The blood is on them as well as on Trump and Netanyahu.

  257. birgerjohansson says

    Jesse Dollemore:
    “Donald Trump’s DOJ CAN’T LINK CHARLIE KIRK SUSPECT to a Single Left-Wing Group ”

    .https://youtube.com/watch?v=3ly5NNC48mc

    Despite the efforts of the DOJ and Donald Trump, they are unable to find a single point of linkage between the suspected gunman, Tyler Robinson, and any left-wing organization. 

  258. birgerjohansson says

    Farron Cousins
    “Kristi Noem SCREWS UP During Botched ICE Raid”

    .https://youtube.com/watch?v=VcOggHJQ4j0

    ICE Barbie Kristi Noem decided to join in a raid that took place in Chicago this past week, where her agency ended up arresting multiple LEGAL US citizens. Noem claims that they were able to get several violwnt ‘illegal’ immigrants, but in reality only three people were kept after most of them could provide documentation. The people dragged out were racially profiled. The raid involved spotlights, armoured cars and helicopters.

  259. says

    Followup to shermanj @228

    Tom Homan was investigated for accepting $50,000 from undercover FBI agents. Trump’s DOJ shut it down.

    In an undercover operation last year, the FBI recorded Tom Homan, now the White House border czar, accepting $50,000 in cash after indicating he could help the agents — who were posing as business executives — win government contracts in a second Trump administration, according to multiple people familiar with the probe and internal documents reviewed by MSNBC.

    The FBI and the Justice Department planned to wait to see whether Homan would deliver on his alleged promise once he became the nation’s top immigration official. But the case indefinitely stalled soon after Donald Trump became president again in January, according to six sources familiar with the matter. In recent weeks, Trump appointees officially closed the investigation, after FBI Director Kash Patel requested a status update on the case, two of the people said.

    […] no further investigative steps were taken, the sources say.

    The federal investigation was launched in western Texas in the summer of 2024 after a subject in a separate investigation claimed Homan was soliciting payments […] The U.S. Attorney’s office in the Western District of Texas, working with the FBI, asked the Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section to join its ongoing probe “into the Border Czar and former Acting Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement Tom Homan and others based on evidence of payment from FBI undercover agents in exchange for facilitating future contracts related to border enforcement.”

    […] [I snipped blather from the White House that praised Homan]

    On Sept. 20, 2024, with hidden cameras recording the scene at a meeting spot in Texas, Homan accepted $50,000 in bills, according to an internal summary of the case and sources.

    FBI agents and Justice Department prosecutors took no further investigative steps in the final months of 2024, the people said, and expected to keep monitoring Homan to determine if he landed an official role and would make good on steering contracts in a future Trump administration.

    […] Several FBI and Justice officials believed that they had a strong criminal case against Homan for conspiracy to commit bribery based on recording him accepting cash and his apparent promise to assist with contracts […] Homan could have been charged with a crime then, legal experts say, but his case was unusual: He was not a public official, and Trump was not president at the time he accepted money in the FBI’s undercover sting, so his actions didn’t clearly fit under a standard bribery charge.

    […] According to a document reviewed by MSNBC, Justice officials were eyeing four potential criminal charges in his case: conspiracy, bribery and two kinds of fraud.

    MSNBC asked legal experts about a hypothetical situation similar to the Homan probe. They said a person who promises to influence federal contracts when they become a public official can’t be charged under the federal bribery statutes until they are named or appointed to such a post. If the person did get the administration job and then reaffirmed his promise or communicated in some way about his plan to deliver on his agreement, investigators could make a strong bribery case. [Good explanation.]

    It is still a crime, however, for anyone to seek money to improperly influence federal contracts, the legal experts said, whether they are a public official or not, and whether they ever delivered on their promise or not. People in this category could be charged with conspiracy or fraud, they say.

    “[…] In a conspiracy charge, the crime is the agreement to commit a criminal act in the future.”

    On Nov. 11, 2024, President Trump announced he would make Homan his border czar, a White House adviser role, which — unlike the job of director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement — did not require Senate confirmation or an extensive FBI background check.

    […] Shortly after Trump’s inauguration, however, in either late January or February 2025, former acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove was briefed on the case and told Justice Department officials he did not support the investigation […]

    Around the same time, the Public Integrity Section was battling with Bove over his demand that they dismiss a bribery case against New York Mayor Eric Adams. The section’s supervisors, who would resign one by one in February rather than agree to dismiss the Adams case, had assigned a top supervisor to help oversee the Homan case with federal prosecutors in the Western District of Texas, where the investigation began, two people said.

    [I snipped Homan’s work history, including an earlier stint as acting head of ICE in 2017. Homan pushed the controversial “zero-tolerance” policy for immigrants seeking to cross the border, resulting in the separation of thousands of migrant children from their parents and family members.]

    […] “The defendant is agreeing that he will commit the crime of bribery once he is appointed to be a public official,” Eliason added. “That agreement itself is the conspiracy crime, and the fact that it never actually took place is not a defense. That would be true if he were never even appointed to anything at all.”

  260. says

    BURBANK (The Borowitz Report)—Hoping to stop the bleeding after millions boycotted its products, Disney announced on Monday that it was launching a new late-night comedy show on ABC starring Kash Patel.

    Patel, who earlier this month was replaced as FBI director by a startled deer, received a ringing endorsement from Disney CEO Bob Iger.

    “We’re confident that all of Kash’s jokes will be acceptable to the president, especially since his head writer will be Stephen Miller,” Iger said.

    Urging viewers to “give Kash a chance,” Iger added, “If he’s even half as funny as he was at the Senate last week, this show is going to be huge.”

    https://www.borowitzreport.com/p/abc-hires-kash-patel-to-host-late

  261. says

    After forcing out disobedient prosecutor, Trump’s new nominee makes matters worse

    “The president’s new nominee, Lindsey Halligan, represented Trump in his classified documents scandal and has never worked as a prosecutor.”

    Donald Trump publicly pressuring Attorney General Pam Bondi to prosecute his political enemies is a dramatic, impeachment-level scandal without precedent in the American tradition. But there’s a parallel controversy that’s directly related to the fiasco, which is every bit as important.

    As NBC News reported last week, the White House was leaning heavily on Erik Siebert, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, for brazenly corrupt reasons: Team Trump wanted him to go after New York Attorney General Letitia James and former FBI Director James Comey, not because they’d done anything wrong, but because the president saw them as political foes.

    This was, in and of itself, indefensible. It’s an obvious and outrageous abuse for a White House to push federal prosecutors to bring baseless charges against at the president’s direction as part of a retaliatory scheme.

    But Trump didn’t stop there. When Siebert’s office made clear that there simply wasn’t enough evidence to justify such indictments, Trump forced the prosecutor — whom the president had nominated just four months earlier — out of his job, taking the scandal to a new level.

    Siebert, a former police officer who’s worked his way up through the ranks at the office over the past 15 years, enjoyed support from Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, as well as Virginia’s two Democratic U.S. senators.

    The president didn’t care. “I want him out,” Trump declared on Friday afternoon, prompting Siebert to resign. Trump soon after wrote online, “He didn’t quit, I fired him!”

    It was part of a flurry of outbursts in which the president characterized Siebert’s bipartisan support as a bad thing, adding that he considered the respected prosecutor “a Woke RINO, who was never going to do his job,” despite the fact he was a Trump nominee.

    As MSNBC’s Ken Dilanian explained, “[T]he United States is confronting something we have never seen before: A president essentially ordering his DoJ to charge someone with a crime, regardless of whether the people whose job it is to evaluate the case think there is insufficient evidence.”

    Or put another way, some presidents get rid of officials for being corrupt; this president forced out Siebert for not being corrupt.

    After making a bad situation vastly worse, Trump managed to escalate things still further with his nominee to succeed the U.S. attorney whom he unjustly ousted. NBC News reported:

    Alongside the extraordinary demand to prosecute his adversaries, the president also named his former defense attorney, now a senior White House aide, to replace the head of a key prosecutor’s office he forced out a day earlier.

    The lawyer’s name is Lindsey Halligan, who represented Trump in his classified documents scandal. She would take over a larger prosecutorial office despite never having worked as a prosecutor. (Her background is in insurance law.)

    If her name sounds familiar, it’s not your imagination: The president had recently tapped Halligan to lead the administration’s campaign against the Smithsonian Institution.

    On Saturday, in a missive directed at the attorney general, Trump referenced his desperation to see some of his enemies prosecuted, before reminding Bondi that Halligan “likes you a lot.” Soon after, he added that he intended to nominate Halligan because she will “provide desperately needed JUSTICE FOR ALL!” (In context, he apparently meant justice for him.)

    This is a Senate-confirmed position, which means Senate Republicans will soon face yet another test […]

  262. says

    “This is so dumb that I have a hard time believing it is true,” one House Republican said about the defense secretary’s [Pete Hegseth’s] new policy on the media.

    Related video at the link.

    During a recent “expletive-laden address” at the Army War College, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth boasted, “We are laser-focused on our mission of warfighting.” The former Fox News host did not, however, note that he was apparently referring to a domestic culture war.

    During his tenure, the beleaguered Pentagon chief has invested a considerable amount of time and energy in library books. And paintings. And scrubbing Defense Department websites of articles and images about Jackie Robinson and the Navajo Code Talkers. And renaming Navy ships. And leading a Christian prayer service in the Pentagon’s auditorium. And amplifying videos about denying women the right to vote. And creating new grooming standards.

    But in case that weren’t quite enough, Hegseth has also carved out time to push back against the industry he ostensibly worked in before joining the Trump administration: the news media.

    As The Associated Press reported, “The Pentagon this year has evicted many news organizations while imposing a series of restrictions on the press that include banning reporters from entering wide swaths of the Pentagon without a government escort — areas where the press had access in past administrations as it covers the activities of the world’s most powerful military.”

    Late last week, these efforts took a dramatic turn for the worse. NBC News reported:

    Journalists who cover the Defense Department at the Pentagon can no longer gather or report information, even if it is unclassified, unless it’s been authorized for release by the government, defense officials announced Friday. Reporters who don’t sign a statement agreeing to the new rules will have their press credentials revoked, officials said.

    I’m mindful of the fact that Donald Trump and his team have launched a radical offensive against the First Amendment and its protections for the free press, but that doesn’t make the developments at the Pentagon any less ridiculous.

    Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., a military veteran and ranking member on the Senate Armed Services Committee, called the restrictions “an ill-advised affront to free speech and freedom of the press.”

    “Secretary Hegseth’s restrictions on the press are part of a broader attempt by this Administration to cover up missteps, stifle independent journalism, and obscure the truth,” Reed said. “American journalists are not, should not, and must not be mere stenographers for the party in power or the Pentagon itself.”

    The senator’s use of the word “stenographers” was especially notable because it summarized the underlying problem nicely: Hegseth’s policy, for all intents and purposes, requires professional journalists to publish only what the Defense Department has approved for public release.

    […] Even some Republicans acknowledged the absurdity of the demand.

    Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska, whose looming retirement seems to have made it easier for the congressman to speak candidly, wrote online, “This is so dumb that I have a hard time believing it is true. We don’t want a bunch of Pravda newspapers only touting the Government’s official position. A free press makes our country better. This sounds like more amateur hour.” […]

  263. says

    https://www.notus.org/courts/doj-public-integrity

    “The Justice Department Had 36 Lawyers Fighting Corruption Full-Time. Under Trump, It’s Down to Two.”

    When Donald Trump took office eight months ago, the Department of Justice had 36 experienced attorneys assigned full-time to investigate corrupt politicians and police officers.

    Today it has two.

    All the other lawyers in the Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section have either quit under pressure, resigned in protest or been detailed to other matters across the nation, according to several sources who spoke with NOTUS. The section has also lost all but one of more than a dozen paralegals.

    “To me, it just screams that public corruption cases are no longer a priority of DOJ,” said Andrew Tessman, a prosecutor who left the Justice Department this month. “I cannot understand why we would want to restrict that section.”

    Sources with knowledge of the section’s operations say the reduction in staff means it can no longer advise the 94 U.S. attorneys’ offices around the country on how to build cases against crooked government officials — let alone prosecute new cases on its own.

    To protect against politically motivated abuses, the DOJ’s Justice Manual has long required prosecutors in local U.S. attorneys’ offices to consult with the Public Integrity Section on any “federal criminal matter that involves alleged or suspected violations of federal or state campaign financing laws, federal patronage crimes, or corruption of the election process.”

    But Trump’s DOJ reversed that policy in June. “Department leadership is currently revising this section,” this part of the Justice Manual now says. “The consultation requirement is suspended while revisions are ongoing.”

    Several former Justice Department employees expressed extreme concern that the change in the Justice Manual, coupled with the flattening of the Public Integrity Section, opens the door for the Trump administration to engage in partisan prosecutions of Democrats by assigning the job to prosecutors working for U.S. attorneys — political appointees nominated by the president. […]

  264. says

    U.S. naval forces have sunk a fourth suspected drug boat in the Caribbean, Trump says

    U.S. naval forces have conducted another lethal strike on a vessel President Donald Trump said was tied to a designated terrorist organization involved in drug trafficking in the Caribbean.

    The strike marks the fourth such attack on a suspected drug-smuggling boat since the Trump administration launched a major military deployment in the region aimed at disrupting narcotics networks.

    “On my orders, the Secretary of War ordered a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel affiliated with a Designated Terrorist Organization conducting narcotrafficking in the USSOUTHCOM area of responsibility,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social account.

    Trump said intelligence confirmed that the vessel was transporting narcotics along a known smuggling corridor used to funnel drugs into the United States. Three men aboard the vessel were killed in the strike, he said. No American personnel were injured.

    With Friday’s action, the total number of people killed in U.S. counter-narcotics operations since Trump ordered warships deployed to the Caribbean has risen to 17.

    Trump did not specify the exact location of the strike, the name of the terrorist organization allegedly involved, or which branch of the U.S. military conducted the operation. He cited only Doral-based Southern Command, which oversees military operations in Latin America and the Caribbean.

    […] “STOP SELLING FENTANYL, NARCOTICS, AND ILLEGAL DRUGS IN AMERICA, AND COMMITTING VIOLENCE AND TERRORISM AGAINST AMERICANS!!!” Trump wrote in a warning to criminal networks.

    The military operations come amid mounting tensions between Washington and Caracas. The U.S. has accused Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro of overseeing a drug-smuggling syndicate known as the “Cartel of the Suns” — a charge Maduro’s government has repeatedly denied. The Trump administration has offered a $50 million reward for information leading to the arrest of Maduro, who faces drug-trafficking charges in the U.S.

    Earlier this week, Trump said U.S. forces destroyed a vessel allegedly operated by “extraordinarily violent drug trafficking groups” based in Venezuela. He claimed the boat was carrying three “narcoterrorists” through international waters.

    The administration’s actions have drawn scrutiny from legal scholars and human-rights advocates, who warn the strikes could raise serious questions under international law. Critics point out that the targets appear to be civilians, and argue that lethal force is only permissible when individuals pose an immediate threat and no other means are available to prevent harm.

    Under both international law and U.S. law, military force is tightly restricted outside of declared war zones. Killing civilians—regardless of alleged criminal ties—may constitute a war crime unless clearly justified by imminent danger.

    The U.S. military buildup includes eight warships—some with amphibious assault capabilities—F-35 fighter jets and approximately 4,500 service members. It is the largest show of American force in the Caribbean in decades and has alarmed several regional governments, which worry the operation could further destabilize an already volatile geopolitical environment. […]

  265. says

    Followup to comment 261.

    Trump builds strong impeachment case against himself

    […] On Saturday, Trump admitted that he fired the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia because he would not charge his perceived enemies with crimes—a blatant example of the kind of lawfare he wrongly says he’s been subjected to.

    Trump then demanded that Attorney General Pam Bondi appoint someone who will charge California Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff and New York state Attorney General Tish James with federal crimes, even though there is no evidence to warrant such charges.

    Trump made the comment on Saturday in a Truth Social message, which sounded a lot like he was trying to direct-message Bondi rather than make a public post. [!]

    Trump wrote:

    Pam: I have reviewed over 30 statements and posts saying that, essentially, “same old story as last time, all talk, no action. Nothing is being done. What about Comey, Adam “Shifty” Schiff, Leticia??? They’re all guilty as hell, but nothing is going to be done.” Then we almost put in a Democrat supported U.S. Attorney, in Virginia, with a really bad Republican past. A Woke RINO, who was never going to do his job. That’s why two of the worst Dem Senators PUSHED him so hard. He even lied to the media and said he quit, and that we had no case. No, I fired him, and there is a GREAT CASE, and many lawyers, and legal pundits, say so. Lindsey Halligan is a really good lawyer, and likes you, a lot. We can’t delay any longer, it’s killing our reputation and credibility. They impeached me twice, and indicted me (5 times!), OVER NOTHING. JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!! President DJT

    Later Saturday night, Trump officially announced he was appointing Halligan to replace ousted U.S. Attorney Erik Siebert. […]

  268. says

    South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said in an interview with Reuters that his country cannot afford to meet President Trump’s demands that it invest $350 billion into America in exchange for the removal of punishing tariffs.

    “Without a currency swap, if we were to withdraw $350 billion in the manner that the U.S. is demanding and to invest this all in cash in the U.S., South Korea would face a situation as it had in the 1997 financial crisis,” Lee told Reuters through a translator, explaining the demands would plunge the country into a financial crisis.

    […] Lee also said many in his country were angered by the “harsh” treatment workers at a Hyundai battery plant in Georgia faced during a recent immigration raid, warning it could make other companies wary of making in investments in the United States.

    […] When asked if he would walk away from America’s demands, Lee said “I believe that between blood allies, we will be able to maintain the minimum amount of rationality.”

    […] “We should end this unstable situation as soon as possible,” he said

    Link

  270. says

    New Yorker: A report by Antonia Hitchens, a staff writer covering politics.

    Over the weekend, tens of thousands of people assembled in Arizona for the memorial of Charlie Kirk. On at least one flight into Phoenix, passengers sang “Amazing Grace” as they touched down at Sky Harbor airport. My plane from Washington, D.C., consisted almost entirely of people travelling to the memorial. On Sunday, as the sun rose outside State Farm Stadium, in Glendale, the memorial looked more like the biggest Trump rally ever. The day would end up melding politics and megachurch. The Christian rock started at 8 a.m. as people queued for concessions, and lyrics appeared on a jumbotron above the stage: “You take what the enemy meant for evil, and you turn it for good.” On the seats, instead of Trump signs, there were posters with an image of Charlie and a Bible verse—“Here I am Lord, send me”—and packs of tissues. Speakers insisted to the crowd that this was not a funeral but a spiritual revival.

    The White House brought two planes full of officials, including President Trump, Vice-President Vance, and nearly the entire Cabinet. Elon Musk was there, too; he and Trump were photographed sitting side by side in Trump’s skybox, chatting amicably. On the floor, hundreds of people said “Hallelujah,” waving their hands or falling to their knees in prayer. Turning Point Action, the political arm of Kirk’s organization, recruited volunteers and registered voters; banners read “Charlie wants you to register to vote.” Tyler Bowyer, Turning Point’s C.O.O., made his way through the crowd. “This is new territory for the Republican Party,” he told me. “The fusion of Christ in our politics is changing the culture. It’s unifying everyone. This is our civil-rights movement.” [JFC]

    The memorial brought to mind the 2024 Republican National Convention. Trump had just survived an assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, and a crowd waited in Milwaukee to receive him as their nominee. Many were saying that he had been saved by God so he could save the country. Then, too, Lee Greenwood performed on a sparkly stage; there were prayers, chants of “U.S.A.!,” and remarks about God’s guiding hand. I remember wondering whether that energy could go on without Trump as the savior. In Glendale, Forgiato Blow, a MAGA rapper, told me, “They think we’re praising Trump like our God. Charlie showed me there’s more to life than this movement. He showed the country religion is needed.” He went on, “A mission can’t be won in four to eight years—it’s centuries.”

    In size and intensity, Sunday was the most Trumpian event I’d ever been to, but for the first time the messianism wasn’t linked to Trump. His name barely came up, if at all, for the first six hours. It was Kirk being cast as a martyr and a prophet. His death was “not murder but sacrifice,” his friend Jack Posobiec said. It would save Western civilization. Donald Trump, Jr., wanted to expand the coalition that Kirk had built. “If you are not already seated at this table,” he said, “we have a seat prepared for you.”

    But, as usual, calls for unity were interspersed with attacks on the perceived enemy. “We will prevail over the forces of wickedness and evil,” Stephen Miller, the White House’s deputy chief of staff, said. “They cannot conceive of the army that they have arisen in all of us.” When Erika Kirk took the stage, she said that she forgave her husband’s assassin: “That was what Christ did, and is what Charlie would do.” Trump followed her. He spoke about elections rigged against him, “radical-left lunatics,” and how much he hates his political foes.

    See also PZ’s post: False Idol

  271. says

    White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt:

    The president is fulfilling his promise to restore a Department of Justice that demands accountability. And it is not weaponizing the Department of Justice to demand accountability for those who weaponized the Department of Justice.

    We are not going to tolerate gaslighting from anyone in the media or from anyone on the other side who is trying to say that it’s the president who is weaponizing the DOJ.

  272. says

    Jimmy Kimmel suspension might have been a factor in shooting at Sacramento ABC affiliate, DA says

    “We believe that there was a political motive behind his intention,” said Sacramento District Attorney Thien Ho.

    The man accused of opening fire on an ABC affiliate in Sacramento last week may have been motivated in part by that network’s suspension of late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, authorities said Monday.

    There’s “circumstantial evidence” that 64-year-old Anibal Hernandez Santana had “a political motive behind” the Friday shooting, Sacramento County DA Thien Ho told NBC News.

    “So there are some indication here that the motive behind the shooting of the ABC news station was political in kind,” the prosecutor said.

    “We’re still looking at investigating the case, but he chose a very particular target, and with the notes that he left behind and the target in place and the recent dismissal of the Jimmy Kimmel show, I think there’s circumstantial evidence there to show that this was politically motivated crime by this individual.”

    Hernandez Santana, a former lobbyist, was accused of firing into the building that houses KXTV, the Sacramento affiliate for ABC. Video and images from the scene show bullet holes in a window of the building. No one was injured.

    A search of the suspect’s home unearthed writings about his displeasure with President Donald Trump, FBI Director Kash Patel and Attorney General Pam Bondi, the DA said. […]

    Not good.

  275. says

    Followup to birger @273.

    Jimmy Kimmel to return to the air Tuesday night, ABC says

    “The late-night show will come back after the network pre-empted it for comments the host made in the aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s killing”

    “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” will return to the air Tuesday night after ABC pulled the late-night show off the air over comments that the host made in a monologue after the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

    “Last Wednesday, we made the decision to suspend production on the show to avoid further inflaming a tense situation at an emotional moment for our country,” ABC said in a statement Monday. “It is a decision we made because we felt some of the comments were ill-timed and thus insensitive. We have spent the last days having thoughtful conversations with Jimmy, and after those conversations, we reached the decision to return the show on Tuesday.”

    The drama surrounding Kimmel began after Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr condemned Kimmel for saying on his Sept. 16 show: “We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them, and doing everything they can to score political points from it.”

    Carr said at the time that it “appears to be an action by Jimmy Kimmel to play into that narrative that this was somehow a MAGA- or Republican-motivated person.”

    He issued a stark warning to ABC: “Frankly, when you see stuff like this — I mean, look, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. These companies can find ways to change conduct, to take action … on Kimmel or, you know, there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”

    Shortly afterward, Nexstar Media and Sinclair, two of the country’s largest TV station owners, announced that they would pre-empt the show indefinitely. It’s unclear whether they will air Tuesday night’s episode or any future ones.

    This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

  276. says

    NBC News:

    One of the largest measles outbreaks in the U.S. is now centered in bordering areas of southwestern Utah and Arizona. In Southwest Utah, all but one of the 23 confirmed cases are among unvaccinated, school-age kids, the Southwest Utah Public Health Department reported. In Mohave County, Arizona, which health officials believe is connected to the Utah outbreak, there have been 42 confirmed cases of the highly contagious virus.

  277. says

    New York Times link

    “The S.E.C. Drops Efforts to Recoup Funds From Trump Clemency Recipients”

    “Devon Archer, Trevor Milton and Carlos Watson were convicted in fraud schemes totaling hundreds of millions of dollars. Now, they will not be required by the government to pay back victims.”

    The Securities and Exchange Commission this week dropped civil enforcement cases that could have led to penalties totaling hundreds of millions of dollars against three men who were previously granted clemency by President Trump.

    The cases had been brought before Mr. Trump took office this year. Each involved people who later allied themselves with Mr. Trump as they pursued pardons for white-collar frauds that, according to juries in criminal cases, cheated victims out of huge sums.

    Devon Archer, who was convicted in connection with a scheme targeting pension funds and a Native American tribal entity, was ordered to pay nearly $60 million in forfeiture and restitution.

    Trevor Milton was found guilty of lying about the supposed technical achievements of his electric truck maker Nikola. Prosecutors recommended that he pay more than $660 million back to shareholders.

    Carlos Watson, who was convicted of defrauding investors in his digital media company Ozy Media, was assessed penalties of nearly $97 million.

    All were spared from serving prison time and paying the overwhelming majority of their criminal restitution obligations when Mr. Trump granted pardons to Mr. Archer and Mr. Milton and commutations to Mr. Watson and Ozy.

    And now, the S.E.C. action means that they will not have to pay any additional civil penalties to the government (though the dismissals leave open the possibility of private civil lawsuits from victims).

    Nor will they face restrictions that the commission had sought on their ability to work in securities-related positions.

    The dismissals of the civil cases further underscore how Mr. Trump has used the levers of power to help affluent allies who have found themselves crosswise with the federal government he now leads.

    […] Mr. Trump’s clemency grants seemed to make the cases less desirable for the commission, which is technically independent but is headed by a Trump appointee and has reflected the president’s priorities in its enforcement actions and agenda.

    Civil actions like those dismissed this week are typically brought in conjunction with related criminal cases and seek the return of the same ill-gotten funds that are the subject of criminal restitution and forfeiture orders. In settling such civil cases, the S.E.C. will often deduct payments made in connection with criminal sentences.

    But Mr. Trump has short-circuited that process by pardoning people before they even begin their sentences or restitution payments. He has brushed aside Justice Department guidelines that prioritize clemency petitioners who have served their time, shown remorse and paid restitution to their victims. […]

  278. says

    Followup to comment 275.

    Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) quoted the popular Disney+ TV show “Andor” while cheering comedian Jimmy Kimmel’s return to his late-night ABC show.

    “‘Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that,’” Pritzker said in a post on the social platform X Monday evening, referencing the Disney+ show’s 12th episode of its first season.

    “Looking forward to seeing Jimmy back on the air,” he added.

    Pritzker’s quotation of “Andor,” a show with a theme of rebellion against oppressive forces, is notable considering that both ABC and Disney+ are owned by The Walt Disney Company. […]

    “We the people must never accept government threats to our freedom of speech. Efforts by leaders to pressure artists, journalists, and companies with retaliation for their speech strike at the heart of what it means to live in a free country,” a recent American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) letter signed by hundreds of stars and creators reads.

    Link

  279. says

    Trump tells pregnant women ‘don’t take Tylenol’, contradicting standard guidance

    President Trump and top health officials Monday said pregnant women should not take acetaminophen for pain relief due to a potential link to autism.

    Acetaminophen is the active ingredient in Tylenol, one of the most widely used medications in the world.

    “Taking Tylenol is not good,” Trump said during a White House announcement.

    Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will begin updating the label on acetaminophen and will begin notifying physicians that Tylenol “can be associated with a very increased risk of autism.”
    “All pregnant women should talk to their doctors for more information about limiting the use of this medication while pregnant. So ideally, you don’t take it at all, but if you have to, you can’t tough it out … probably, you’re going to end up doing it,” Trump said.

    Trump spoke in the Oval Office alongside Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr, Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary, National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz. [gaggle of doofuses]

    Tylenol has been one of the only over-the-counter pain medications for pregnant women that is considered safe. Other options like ibuprofen or aspirin can increase risks of birth defects.

    The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists said in a statement before the announcement that “acetaminophen remains a safe, trusted option for pain relief during pregnancy.”

    “Despite recent unfounded claims, there’s no clear evidence linking prudent use to issues with fetal development,” it added.

    […] Administration officials cited a recently published National Institutes of Health-funded review by Mount Sinai and Harvard researchers. The authors said their analyses of previous studies “support evidence consistent with an association between acetaminophen exposure during pregnancy and increased incidence” of neurodevelopmental disorders.

    Diddier Prada, a researcher at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, which led the study, has stressed that the findings do not prove a causal link.

    “We show that acetaminophen is associated with a higher risk, but not causing it. Those are very different things,” he said in an interview with The Washington Post.

    Trump also called for pregnant women to space out their vaccinations, referencing the recent vote by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices to no longer recommend the combined MMRV vaccine, which helps prevent measles, mumps, rubella and varicella, better known as chickenpox. […]

  280. says

    @279 Lynna, OM wrote about:
    https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5516462-trump-acetaminophen-autism-warning/
    Trump tells pregnant women ‘don’t take Tylenol’, contradicting standard guidance
    I reply: Thanks Lynna. However, I think you will agree. I am so angered. We should all note this is the typical shovel full of crap we get with the magats and also with most articles by main slime media today. They shout loudly about what not to take, but provide NO HELPFUL INFORMATION ABOUT VIABLE ALTERNATIVES.
    I am aghast at how many media outlets and how many imbeciles pay attention to these murderous fools. Luckily, the article had some sanity from knowledgeable medical institutions.

  281. says

    I’m so frustrated by all the chaotic crap being thrown at the wall by the magat admin. I’m just waiting for roadkill f#cking kennedy jr. to proclaim eating dead uncooked possums shoveled up off the street prevents autism.
    I keep hoping all this is a bad nightmare, but I never wake up from it.

  286. birgerjohansson says

    BTW if we are electing old celebrities, I just want to mention Michael Douglas just turned 81. And he has no history of r☆☆e.

  291. birgerjohansson says

    @ 290
    If Nebraska and Maine are flipped the Dems only need one more seat (the Nebraska challenger is Independent, BTW).

  295. says

    Kamala Harris, former prosecutor, on watching the U.S. judiciary struggle with Trump
    Video is 4:23 minutes
    Rachel Maddow interview Kamala Harris

    More interview segments here: https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show

    Kamala Harris on how not to take Trump’s bait
    Video is 3:51 minutes

    Rachel Maddow’s full interview with Kamala Harris I MSNBC EXCLUSIVE
    Video is 57:00 minutes

    ‘Stand up for our country’: Rachel joins Lawrence to discuss her Kamala Harris
    Video is 14:32 minutes

  296. says

    shermanj @280, I agree with you.

    I recommend that everyone read PZ’s post “It’s Tylenol?”

    RFK jr claimed over a month ago that this month they were going to find and announce the cause of autism. We all knew he was full of shit — he’s permanently full to the eyebrows with shit — and that this was a political game they were playing, because autism is a multifactorial syndrome with multiple enabling factors, and you’re not going to find a ‘magic bullet’ for it. Well, yesterday the gang of frauds and liars in the White House announced that there was a central link, and that it was acetaminophen, or Tylenol. This is like announcing that the cause is consuming bread — something with a widespread, long-term use that a huge number of pregnant women had eaten. Mothers with autistic children will now think that using a common, well-tested pain reliever is the cause, and blame themselves. […]

    Oh god. All the gullible people who believed him [Trump] about ivermectin are now going to be telling pregnant women that they just have to suffer through headaches and fevers, all because a group of elected and appointed clowns say so. They presented no evidence for a link between autism and Tylenol, but just blithely charged in and invented one. The studies have been done to show that Tylenol is not a significant factor! Here’s one that looked at 2,480,797 children and found no connection. […]

    See PZ’s post for details.

  297. says

    Not good news.

    Ahead of shutdown deadline, Trump cancels Democratic meeting he’d already agreed to

    “After scheduling a meeting with Democratic leaders in the hopes of preventing a shutdown, the president changed his mind for reasons that were bonkers.”

    With just one week remaining before the government shutdown deadline, common sense might suggest that policymakers would be scrambling to work out an agreement. That’s obviously not the case.

    House Republican leaders left town last week and don’t plan to return until after the deadline, Senate Republican leaders also decided not to be on Capitol Hill this week and Donald Trump apparently doesn’t intend to talk to the Democratic leaders whose support he needs to prevent a shutdown. NBC News reported:

    President Donald Trump on Tuesday abruptly canceled a planned meeting with top congressional Democrats one week before a potential government shutdown. In a long social media post, Trump wrote that after ‘reviewing the details of the unserious and ridiculous demands’ that Democrats are making, ‘I have decided that no meeting with their Congressional Leaders could possibly be productive.’

    At this point, let’s pause and take stock.

    On Sept. 12, the president told congressional Republicans not to negotiate with Democratic leaders, either because he didn’t know that Democratic votes would be needed, or because he didn’t care. A week later, the Senate considered and rejected both two competing proposals — one from each party — that would’ve kept the government’s lights on beyond the deadline.

    At that point, Congress’ top two Democrats, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, requested a White House meeting with Trump, in the hopes that they could negotiate a compromise solution. [That was the right thing to do.]

    For a short while, this offered some promise. On Friday night, the president told reporters that he was prepared to meet with the New York Democrats, and on Monday, the White House said the officials would meet to discuss a possible agreement on Thursday.

    Less than 24 hours after scheduling the meeting, Trump changed his mind.

    To hear the president tell it, he reversed course after seeing a lengthy list of Democratic demands, which included $1 trillion in free health care benefits for undocumented immigrants and a plan that would “essentially create Transgender operations for everybody.” [Lies!]

    The problem, of course, is that Trump’s description was alarmingly delusional. What Democrats have asked for is an extension of existing insurance subsidies for Americans who receive health care coverage through the Affordable Care Act. The stuff Trump attributed to Democrats in his online missive was quite bonkers and had no basis in reality. [!!!]

    “Trump is running away from the negotiating table before he even gets there,” Schumer responded soon after. “While Americans face rising costs and a Republican healthcare crisis, Trump would rather throw a tantrum than do his job. [All too true!] Democrats are ready to work to avoid a shutdown — Trump and Republicans are holding America hostage. Donald Trump will own the shutdown.”

    Jeffries added, “Trump Always Chickens Out. … The extremists want to shut down the government because they are unwilling to address the Republican healthcare crisis that is devastating America. Hold the line.”

    With seven days remaining, the odds of a shutdown are going up, not down.

  298. says

    Followup to comments 279, 280 and 396.
    ‘Too much liquid’: Trump pretends he’s qualified to give medical advice (he’s not)

    “Those who tuned in to the president’s event would’ve learned just as much about science if they’d spent an hour staring at a blank wall in the dark.”

    Very good video at the link.

    Donald Trump made a deliberate effort to hype his White House press conference on autism. Late last week, for example, the president boasted that he was poised to deliver an announcement that was “very, very big.” A day later, he added that the information he was ready to share was “so big.”

    Those who tuned in to the White House announcement, however, quickly learned otherwise. As my MSNBC colleague Brandy Zadrozny explained:

    In a wild and rambling speech from the White House on Monday that contradicted mainstream scientific consensus and medical guidance, President Donald Trump advised pregnant women not to take Tylenol, claiming it was linked to autism in children, and said expectant mothers should take it only if they ‘can’t tough it out’ during a high fever.

    The announcement was ridiculous, even by Trump standards. Over the course of roughly an hour, the president, after recently suggesting that he and his team had uncovered important new insights into the causes of autism, peddled a series of absurdities and created a national embarrassment.

    Trump said, “Don’t take Tylenol” 11 times. He suggested medical organizations might be corrupt. He suggested physicians might be corrupt. As part of a weird anti-vaccine screed, he even declared, in reference to infant vaccinations, “It’s too much liquid.” [video]

    Pretty much everything the president had to say was at odds with scientific evidence and the conclusions of those with actual qualifications — a point the Republican seemed to acknowledge over the course of the event. In fact, Trump said his conclusions were rooted in his “feelings” and his ignorance-based version of “common sense,” as opposed to those who base their findings on “studies.”

    Paul Offit, a pediatrician and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia vaccine researcher, told The Washington Post, “That was the most dangerously irresponsible press conference in the realm of public health in American history.” Arthur Caplan, the founding head of the division of medical ethics at N.Y.U. Grossman School of Medicine, told The New York Times, “The announcement on autism was the saddest display of a lack of evidence, rumors, recycling old myths, lousy advice, outright lies and dangerous advice I have ever witnessed by anyone in authority in the world claiming to know anything about science.”

    Honestly, those who tuned in would’ve learned just as much about science and public health if they’d spent an hour staring at a blank wall in the dark.

    But as the dust settles on this fiasco, there was one additional element to the event that lingered for me: Why on earth would anyone take medical advice from this guy?

    Trump, who has literally no background in science or medicine, presented himself as some kind of authority on the subject matter, dispensing all kinds of misguided and potentially dangerous medical advice about medications and vaccinations.

    But before anyone considers following the baseless recommendations of Dr. Trump — who’s about as knowledgeable as Dr. Nick from “The Simpsons” — let’s not forget recent history.

    As The Associated Press noted, “The presentation recalled the early days of the coronavirus pandemic during Trump’s first term, when the president stood for daily White House briefings and tossed out grossly inaccurate claims.”

    Quite right. In case anyone’s forgotten, as a deadly pandemic took a brutal toll five years ago, the sitting American president peddled quack cures, sidelined those who knew they were talking about, argued that Covid masks were bad for people — “Some people don’t like it scientifically,” he claimed — and at one point, he even touted the idea of treating Covid with bright lights inside the body and injections of disinfectant.

    Trump is, in other words, arguably the last person anyone should ever turn to for medical advice, despite his eagerness to dispense it.

    The president claimed at one point during his event that there are “a lot of stupid people in this country running things.” It was, oddly enough, the one thing he said over the course of the hour that I found compelling.

  299. says

    Grifter-in-Chief Peddles Snake Oil From White House Podium

    Despite all the echoes of early 20th century European fascism, Donald Trump is still firmly planted in the long American tradition of snake oil salesman, carnival barkers, and con artists. […]

    The crossover between hucksters and politicians didn’t begin with Trump.

    Louisiana’s Dudley J. LeBlanc, who served in the state legislature intermittently from the 1920s into the 1970s, made a fortune creating the patent medicine labeled Hadacol. In the early 1950s, Hadacol was a marketing marvel, boosted by the traveling medicine show the Hadacol Caravan, which featured some of the leading performers of the day, including Hank Williams. What made Hadacol so popular was less its promise of miracle cures and more its 12% alcohol content. You could drink it in dry counties where little else was available.

    Leblanc, whose dubious Wikipedia page credits him with the idea for Social Security, made millions from the high-flying over-leveraged, marketing bonanza of Hadacol before it all collapsed amid unpaid bills, overdue taxes, and scrutiny from the Federal Trade Commission […] The Federal Trade Commission complained that Hadacol’s leeringly prurient ballyhoo (‘The Hadacol boogie makes you boogie-woogie all the time’) is ‘false, misleading and deceptive’ in representing the nostrum as ‘an effective treatment and cure for scores of ailments and diseases,” Time magazine reported in 1951.

    […] Yesterday, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s traveling medicine show made a stop at the White House, where President Trump was the featured barker at an off-the-rails press conference. Taking unscientific aim at vaccines and unsubstantiated links between Tylenol and autism, the president went on a long, meandering musing reminiscent of some of the worst of his COVID-era pressers[…] [videos]

    Medical experts, scientists, and public health advocates were aghast at the White House scene.

    See also: Washington Post link

  300. says

    Roberts Court Sounds Final Death Knell for Indy Agencies

    It was fitting that on the day President Trump and his HHS secretary were deriding science and touting unproven cures, the Supreme Court under Chief Justice John Roberts took a sledgehammer to the FTC.

    In another abuse of its shadow docket, the Roberts Court effectively overturned its own century-old precedent on independent agencies and allowed Trump’s firing of the Democratic FTC commissioner to go into effect while the appeal of the case proceeds.

    The precedent the Supreme Court effectively overturned, Humphrey’s Executor, was a 1935 case about the firing of an FTC commissioner — so it could hardly be more on point. So eager was the court to change course that it agreed to take up the case immediately rather than wait for the appeals court to hear it. […]

    Even Justice Elena Kagan, usually more subdued than her two liberal colleagues on the court, managed outrage and indignation in her dissent: “Our emergency docket should never be used, as it has been this year, to permit what our own precedent bars. Still more, it should not be used, as it also has been, to transfer government authority from Congress to the President, and thus to reshape the Nation’s separation of powers.”

    Same link as in comment 299.

    Bad news indeed.

  302. says

    New York Times link

    “Elon Musk’s Father Accused of Child Sexual Abuse”

    “Errol Musk has been accused of sexually abusing five of his children and stepchildren since 1993, a Times investigation found. Family members have appealed to Elon Musk for help.”

    Elon Musk has not been shy about putting much of his life on public display. The tech billionaire posts daily on his social network X, has cooperated with two biographies and often speaks on podcasts and at conferences.

    But there is one part of his life that he has not revealed much about — his longtime estrangement from his father, Errol Musk […]

    A New York Times investigation found that a significant factor in Elon Musk’s rupture with his father stems from accusations against Errol Musk of child sex abuse. The allegations have repeatedly spilled over into Elon Musk’s life as relatives have contacted him for help and he has sometimes taken action to intercede, according to personal letters, emails and interviews with family members.

    The family’s troubles have entangled Elon Musk in a painful three-decade multigenerational saga […]

    The allegations against Errol Musk involve five of his children and stepchildren, whom he was accused of abusing in South Africa and California, according to police and court records, personal correspondence, social workers and interviews with family members.

    The earliest accusation was in 1993 when Errol Musk’s stepdaughter, then 4 years old, told relatives he had touched her at the family house. […] Some family members have also accused Errol Musk of abusing two of his daughters and a stepson. And as recently as 2023, family members and a social worker attempted to intervene after his then 5-year-old son said his father had groped his buttocks.

    Three separate police investigations were opened, according to police and court records, as well as family members. Two of the inquiries ended, while it’s unclear what happened in the third. Errol Musk, 79, has not been convicted of any crime.

    The abuse allegations have caused strife within the Musk family, with some relatives turning to Elon Musk — who is Errol Musk’s eldest child — for help. Around 2010, one relative wrote Elon Musk a five-page letter about some of the accusations and implored him to intervene.

    “We really need your advice, help and guidance in these matters because we daily see these children suffer,” the relative wrote in the letter, which was viewed by The Times.

    It was unclear if Elon Musk read the letter. But an assistant for him messaged a family member after relatives wrote to him about the abuse allegations. The billionaire has also provided financial support for his stepfamily and siblings from his father’s third marriage. He once tried to keep those family members in California, where they would be far from Errol Musk. He was not involved in the police investigations in South Africa.

    Errol Musk, who has at least nine children and stepchildren and has been married to three women, maintains a powerful grip over much of the family. The former stepdaughter, whom he was accused of touching when she was 4, said she later had a child with him when she was in her 20s. She has struggled with drug use, while her mother — who married Errol Musk twice — has grappled with mental health issues.

    Errol Musk has “left a massive wound in our family,” Elmie Smit, whose sister was his third wife, said in her first on-the-record interview about the allegations. […]

    In response to questions from The Times, Errol Musk said “the reports are false and nonsense in the extreme.” He said that the accusations were concocted by family members who were “putting the children up to say false things” and that they were trying to get money from Elon Musk.

    In one email to The Times, Errol Musk also claimed to be aware of only one abuse allegation, but in the same message offered explanations for the circumstances around two others.

    […] The Times reviewed court and police documents from jurisdictions in California and South Africa, as well as more than 50 emails, text messages, personal notes and letters, which detailed certain accusations more than others. The police and courts in South Africa and Los Angeles declined to release some records, citing children’s privacy. Other records could not be located.

    The Times also interviewed family members, social workers and people close to the Musks. Some requested anonymity because of the sensitive situations, while others feared retribution. Other family members declined to comment or did not respond to requests for comment. The Times does not name children in sexual abuse cases. […]

    More at the link.

  303. says

    Josh Marshall:

    […] this is far from over. This morning, Nexstar has announced that it won’t resume airing Jimmy Kimmel’s show on the ABC affiliates it owns. I believe Sinclair, a far-right company which also owns a large number of affiliates, says the same.

    I’m not sure I’d say I’m happy about this. But I’m not terribly sad about it either. Obviously much will depend on who has more stomach for this fight: ABC/Disney or Nexstar and Sinclair. To my way of thinking, the more visible this is, the more it remains in the news, the more people who don’t really focus on the daily minutiae and obsessions of politics have this shoved in their face, the better.

    No one seriously thinks the Kimmel show is some harrowing kind of destabilizing hate speech that threatens public peace and law and order. For hardcore Trumpers, getting him knocked off the air is a win because it’s Trump dominating. We know they love it but not for the reasons claimed. […]

    A lot of people simply don’t care.[…] a company you’ve never heard of which has decided for it’s own reasons to take the show off the air in your city. Those cities include New Orleans, Nashville and Knoxville, Salt Lake City, Burlington, VT, and a slew of local ABC affiliates in New York state for Nexstar — almost 40 in all. For Sinclair, it’s Portland, Seattle, St Louis, Washington DC and a ton of others, totaling 40 in all. However it plays out, it’s a lot more attention on the fact that what you’re allowed to watch in your town is decided by some corporate suits because they want Trump’s permission for a merger. […]

    The kernel at the heart of it is just not a good look. A person in power lashing at a comedian who makes fun of them is just inherently pathetic and cringe. You only need the most passing acquaintance with popular culture and democratic political culture to know this.

    I’ve always thought that Sinclair especially gets away with a ton of stuff because it’s mostly under the radar. [Same] (Nexstar is new to injecting politics directly into programming decisions. Sinclair’s been at this for more than 20 years.) If you know that Sinclair forces its local affiliates to broadcast chunks of conservative propaganda on its airwaves produced by Sinclair national then you’re definitely not the target. If you’re the kind of person who’s meaningfully impacted by Sinclair bleeding its propaganda into the infosphere in cities across the country, you almost certainly have never heard of Sinclair, its ties to the conservative movement, its history of sleazy behavior and all the rest.

    This fight over the Kimmel show makes the whole thing much more visible. It makes it a fairly hot news story. If this goes on, I think ABC will have a hard time stopping Kimmel from making jokes about it […] As a general matter, I don’t think people without strong political attachments like the idea of corporate suits censoring what you’re able to see in your town for political or backdoor deal type reasons. So let the fight commence.

    Link

  304. says

    Angry old man yells at the UN for an hour

    Donald Trump spoke at the United Nations on Tuesday, delivering a speech that can only be described as embarrassing.

    “In a period of just seven months, I have ended seven unendable wars,” Trump claimed, recycling his fact-free assertion that he is a global peacemaker. “They said they were unendable. You’re never going to get them solved.” [video]

    Trump continued with an attack on global environmental initiatives, echoing his administration’s dangerous stance on climate change. “If you don’t get away from this green scam, your country is going to fail. And I’m really good at predicting things. You know, they actually said during the campaign that I had the best-selling hat. ‘Trump was right about everything.’ And I don’t say that in a braggadocious way, but it’s true. I’ve been right about everything.” [video]

    […] Trump’s cruelest words came, as they always do, when speaking on immigration policies. “It’s time to end the failed experiment of open borders. You have to end it now. I can tell you,” Trump said. “I’m really good at this stuff. Your countries are going to hell.” [video]

    Trump’s diatribe against the world again showed his unwavering commitment to his own ego over authentic leadership and diplomacy.

  305. says

    https://www.wonkette.com/p/trump-proclaims-america-shall-sell

    “Trump Proclaims America Shall Sell H-1B Visas for $100k And Residency For A Million”

    It’s chaos every day with this administration, and deciding what to pay attention to is like triaging victims of a bus crash! It seems like TrumpCo is doing self-sabotage, with all those tariffs that are predictably going to plunge the US (and probably the world) into recession. Why does it seem like Donny Two-Dolls is trying to wreck everything? Even white ethno-states need farming and industry!

    But the regime, driven by the ideology of Stephen Miller and the Project 2025 Mandate / Seven Mountains Christian-dominionist types, seems heck-bent on accelerating economic collapse to consolidate power into a handful of mega-companies. That makes them easier to control, so they can better help build the new Godly kingdom to come! […]

    Viewed through that cultish lens, it all makes more sense. Like, say, Trump’s abrupt and shambolic royal PROCLAMATION on Friday night that starting Sunday, H-1B visas shall now cost company sponsors $100,000 a year, instead of the $2,500-$5,000 they used to cost, with guidance to come later about how the system would actually work. And he announced a separate “gold card” visa for individuals who can afford to pay $1 million dollars for US permanent residency. […] [video]

    So Friday afternoon, panic ensued, with foreign-worker plane-ticket-holders disembarking at the announcement, unsure they’d be able to return to the US, and companies like Amazon, Google, and Microsoft warning their H-1B holder employees not to leave and ones overseas to return while they scrambled to figure out WTF was going on.

    This is why law by the whimsy of royal decree is a bad idea.

    And then later that very same day, Karoline Leavitt said that the proclamation only meant NEW visa holders, and it was a one-time fee, even though Lutnick JUST said the opposite. Do those people even talk to each other? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯! [social media post]

    And does that mean there will now be an unlimited number of H-1B visas? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯! And hey, can Trump even do that? Aren’t stuff like, say, visa requirements and tariffs supposed to be the job of Congress to figure out? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ The Supreme Court is mulling it over, which is never a good thing.

    A couple of weeks ago, Trump realized that whoops, he needs foreign companies to keep investing in the US, after causing an international incident by locking up more than 300 Korean workers for Hyundai and LG in Georgia for eight days in inhumane conditions, even though they were here legally and doing the right things. And there, by the way, to assemble factories with Korean autonomous robots […] as part of a deal Joe Biden made in 2022 after Republican Governor Brian Kemp had been begging Korea to invest for years. And robot-overlord jobs is exactly what Howard Lutnick himself had said he wanted for the young men of America!

    What’s more, most of the detained Korean workers had B1/B2 visas, which are for short-term consulting. And that is exactly what they were doing! Being paid on a short-term basis by a foreign company to set up the factory and train Americans to run it. But none of that mattered, because Stephen Miller/ Kristi Noem/ Corey Lewandowski made a quota of 3,000 arrests a day for Todd Lyons of ICE to fill, OR ELSE YER FIRED.

    Thus, ICE arrested 300 people at the factory when they only had warrants for four, without even checking any of their paperwork, and then detained them for eight days in substandard conditions while they tried to figure out what they’d arrested them for. And eventually DHS declared that the B1/B2s were the wrong visas, and the workers were supposed to have H-B1s, instead. But there’s a cap on the number of those, and less than 10 percent of people who apply every year get one.

    […] So here is the solution, we guess, until they clarify or change their minds again: Companies can have all of the H-1Bs they want, as long as they pay the bounty on top of the billions they’ve already invested. Never mind that Hyundai and LG signed that deal to build the factory three years ago, and Trump is going back on the deal that they (and every other company) thought they had! Now they must pony up an extra $30 million […] That is, if Hyundai/LG can even find 300 workers willing to go back to Georgia.

    This is only good news for every other country in the world, and for the American companies who can afford to buy two whole Tom Homans per foreign employee. Like, the Elon Musk Robot, Rocket and Self-Driving Car concern, or the Ellison boys’ servers-to-nuts emerging media conglomerate.

    […] after months of concepts of frameworks of deals, still no deal with China on those RARE EARTH MINERALS that they control the world’s biggest supply of! Companies need them to make high-tech stuff, and a Ford Explorer factory in Illinois has already been shut since June for want of the minerals. […] Trump either did or didn’t think about that before 145 percent tariffing China and yanking the visas of Chinese students.

    Vagueness! Chaos! Uncertainty! Isolation! In MAGA-world, this all makes perfect sense.

  306. says

    GOP budget spurs closure of Virginia health clinics ahead of high-stakes gubernatorial race, by Rachel Maddow.

    “If you live in rural Virginia and are wondering why you no longer have access to a health care facility, thank Trump and the Republican Congress.”

    Related video at the link.

    If you live in Virginia, here’s a headline you may have seen recently from the Richmond Times-Dispatch: “Three Va. health clinics close as Trump tax law squeezes system.”

    Residents of Virginia’s rural Shenandoah Valley region are about to lose not one, not two, but three of their local health care centers. All three of those centers are run by a hospital organization called Augusta Health.

    In a statement announcing these closures, the group said that the decision was “part of Augusta Health’s ongoing response to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and the resulting realities for healthcare delivery.”

    In other words, if you live in rural Virginia and are wondering why you no longer have access to a local health care facility, you can thank President Donald Trump and the Republican Congress for gutting health care funding in their one and only piece of major legislation.

    The executive director of Virginia’s Republican Party was asked about those cuts by CNN. He told them the closure of those three rural health care centers is “a win for rural communities,” because now residents will be able to get “better, more consistent” service elsewhere — meaning, not where they live.

    Sure, why not? Nothing says “winning” like losing access to the only clinic for miles around in your rural community.

    That kind of absolutely tone-deaf, callous response from Virginia Republicans would be strange in normal times. But it is an especially strange thing to hear from them at this important moment.

    On Friday, early voting officially began in Virginia’s high-stakes race for governor. Right now, Republicans in Virginia control the governor’s mansion, but recent polls show Democratic candidate former Rep. Abigail Spanberger leading her opponent, Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, by as much as 12 points.

    Republicans are swimming upstream in this election, voting is already underway — and now the Virginia Republican Party is telling rural voters who just lost access to health care, “Yeah, we did that, and you should be grateful.”

    Election Day is six weeks from Tuesday in Virginia. Watch this space.

  307. Militant Agnostic says

    Lynna @305
    You missed the new 10 million dollar Platinum visas for war criminals, fleeing former dictators, serial rapists, mass murderers and large scale con men. It was going to include disgraced religious leaders, but they all all into the other categories.

  308. birgerjohansson says

    Why some US cities thrive while others decline: New study uncovers law of economic coherence of cities

    https://phys.org/news/2025-09-cities-decline-uncovers-law-economic.html

    Coherence combines three related ideas, according to Daniotti. First, the
    variety of activities a city hosts; second, the balance of how evenly these activities are spread across the workforce; and third, the disparity in how different those activities are from each other.

  309. says

    NEW YORK (The Borowitz Report)—In a threat-laden speech to the United Nations General Assembly, Donald Trump commanded the entire population of planet Earth not to watch ABC at 11:30 Tuesday night.

    “There is no one with any talent on ABC at 11:30,” Trump declared. “But if you defy me and watch, you are going straight to Hell.”

    Trump was vague about the repercussions that would befall people who watch ABC at 11:30, but added, “It will do even greater damage than Tylenol.”

    Closing his meandering speech with one final reminder, Trump declared, “That’s 10:30 Central Time.”

    https://www.borowitzreport.com/p/trump-commands-world-not-to-watch

  310. says

    NBC News:

    President Donald Trump said Tuesday afternoon that he thinks Ukraine, with help from the European Union, could win back its territory from Russia and return the country to its original borders. The president had suggested numerous times that giving up some land would be a key component of resolving Ukraine’s war with Russia.

    With the caveat that you can’t believe anything Trump says, this could be welcome news.

  311. says

    Militant Agnostic @307, oh yes, the Platinum visa. Maximum grift emanating from the mind of Trump.

    In other news, New York Times:

    Drone sightings forced the authorities in Denmark and Norway to close the main airports in Copenhagen and Oslo for several hours overnight, causing widespread flight disruptions into Tuesday. It was not immediately clear where the drones originated, who was operating them, and whether the Oslo and Copenhagen sightings were linked.

  312. says

    Summary from Steve Benen:

    The New York Times reviewed dozens of pages of internal communications, memos and other documents that “show efforts by the Trump administration to limit enforcement of the Fair Housing Act, the landmark civil rights law that has prohibited discrimination in housing for nearly six decades.”

    New York Times link

    Excerpt:

    […] In interviews, half a dozen current and former employees of HUD’s fair housing office said that the Trump political appointees had made it nearly impossible for them to do their jobs, which involve investigating and prosecuting landlords, real estate agents, lenders and others who discriminate based on race, religion, gender, family status or disability.

    Several lawyers said they had been blocked from communicating with clients without approval from a Trump appointee, and had been barred from citing some past housing civil rights cases when researching legal precedent for possible new prosecutions.

    One internal memo from a top Trump appointee in the office said that archival documents that were “contrary to administration policy” would be removed or replaced, and that “tenuous theories of discrimination” would no longer be pursued.

    “If you’re not enforcing the Fair Housing Act, then it’s just another dead law,” said one of the career lawyers in the office, Palmer Heenan, who has been told without explanation that he will be reassigned next month.

    […] When the so-called Department of Government Efficiency initiated its cost-cutting spree, federal offices lost, on average, about 10 percent of their employees. Within the Office of Fair Housing, the reduction was 65 percent. There were 31 employees in January; once mandatory transfers go through next month, there will be 11.

    […] Lawyers in the office contend that cases often take longer than expected because of complexity and insufficient resources. Before the cuts, the office had 22 lawyers working on fair housing cases, fielding around 2,000 new complaints a year. Local fair housing nonprofits receive around 32,000 additional inquiries each year.

    […] By Oct. 5, when the latest rounds of reductions will take place, there will be six of those lawyers remaining, according to several staff members who have received notices of reassignment.

    “I never thought I would be in this position,” said Paul Osadebe, another fair housing lawyer. “We have people who are trying to destroy a baseline that people relied on.”

    More concerning than the vacant desks, the current and former employees said, were the hundreds of cases that had been halted or dropped. […]

  313. says

    Bloomberg:

    The Trump administration canceled grants for street safety measures, pedestrian trails and bike lanes in communities around the country this month, each time offering a simple rationale for yanking back federal aid: the projects aren’t designed for cars.

  314. says

    Trump waters down major NATO promise

    […] On Sunday, asked if the U.S. would back up Poland and the Baltic states if Russia kept invading their airspace, Trump said, “Yeah, I would. I would.”

    However, on Tuesday, he walked back that support.

    When a reporter asked if the U.S. “back up NATO allies” in shooting down Russian aircraft that violated their airspace, he said that it “depends on the circumstance” before veering into a boast about how much more NATO allies are now investing in their defense. [video]

    Russia has been accused of deploying drones into multiple NATO countries, like Poland, Denmark, and Norway. Flights were shut down for hours Monday night in Copenhagen and Oslo. Poland has reportedly shot down numerous Russian drones in recent weeks and warned Russia that further incursions into its airspace would be met with a similar military response.

  315. says

    Fox News slobbers over Trump’s unhinged UN speech

    Fox News attempted to spin President Donald Trump’s rambling, lie-filled speech to the United Nations on Tuesday, praising the moment as “raw truth” despite the embarrassing display. [video]

    At the conclusion of Trump’s speech, Fox anchor Harris Faulkner said, “President Trump has been speaking at the United Nations General Assembly in New York City. He unfurled raw truth to countries in attendance there and to the rest of the world.”

    But Trump had just completed a tour de force of lying.

    The fact-checking website PolitiFact did a live blog as Trump spoke and their entries showed that more often than not, when Trump’s lips were moving he wasn’t telling the truth.

    For instance, Trump claimed that his current approval ratings are “the highest poll numbers I’ve ever had.” In reality, Trump’s approval is at 41.9% in aggregate, and the outlet noted, “Trump’s approval ratings across a wide range of polls are both lower than his historical highs and low compared with many other post-World War II presidents.”

    Trump alleged that Washington, D.C., was the “crime capital of America” when he took office, but D.C.’s crime rate has been trending down and other cities like Memphis and Kansas City have higher rates.

    He lied when claiming 300,000 migrant children were “lost” under the Biden administration. He lied about gas prices “coming way down”—they’re up since he was inaugurated in January. Trump claimed that China has “very few wind farms” but that nation has three times as many the wind farms as the U.S.

    Trump also alleged that 300,000 people died due to drug overdoses in the past year, a fake statistic he used to justify his use of the military to bomb boats in the Atlantic. PolitiFact noted that Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data shows that there were 43,000 deaths due to opioids, a tragic figure but far less than Trump’s made-up claim.

    Trump also regurgitated his false assertion that he ended “seven unendable wars” since he took office. [video]

    Contrary to Fox News’ spin, the speech was a cringe-inducing spectacle. Aside from the lying, Trump used one of the highest-profile international platforms to berate the rest of the world.

    “Your countries are going to hell,” he said as scores of world representatives looked on, stone-faced.

    He even whined about teleprompter and elevator malfunctions that he had to deal with before delivering his diatribe.

    Fox News has acted as Trump’s enabler for the entirety of his time as a political figure, making up wins that are clearly losses while he raids the network for unqualified people to install in his Cabinet.

    It’s no surprise that Fox News only saw “truth” where America and the world saw lie after lie.

  316. says

    GOP senator tops Trump’s Tylenol tirade

    Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin appeared on Newsmax Tuesday, where he offered up a misleading garbage pile of context-free numbers about acetaminophen’s dangers—a day after Donald Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s reckless announcement pushing an unproven link between the medication and autism.

    “Let me just give you some facts. So we’ve all heard of the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System. Well, the FDA has FAERS—the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System. So, in 56 years of tracking Tylenol, there have been 39,540 deaths reported to FAERS,” Johnson said. “That’s 706 per year.” [video]

    Johnson then went on to regurgitate unsubstantiated claims made by anti-vaxxers that thousands of Americans die annually as a result of complications from the COVID-19 vaccine.

    “For ivermectin, you remember the one that they said was so dangerous, in 29 years of reporting, 493 deaths—17 a year. And of course, for the COVID injection, in over just five years, 38,742 deaths associated with the COVID injection. That’s over 8,000 per year,” Johnson said.

    […] Johnson and the GOP continue to spread misleading information, devoid of context and evidence, at the public’s expense.

    Posted by readers of the news report:

    VAERS is a consumer self-reporting system designed to detect rare potential vaccine reactions. All reports are entered into the system, regardless of plausibility. A journalist reported that a vaccine turned him into The Incredible Hulk. That report was put into the system just like any other. If Johnson and RFKjr don’t know this, they are irresponsible morons. If they do know, they are lying ideologues. (Obviously, they both are both).
    ——————————
    […] This Tylenol charade is not helpful for anyone except perhaps for those with a larger agenda to degrade the trust that people have in science and education.
    ——————————–
    Adverse events linked to acetaminophen (Tylenol) are almost certainly all related to acute liver injuries from overdoses and/or in combination with heavy alcohol use. They have nothing at all to do with autism, and nothing to do with normal use within guidelines.
    ——————————–
    From NIH (pre Trump):
    “Acetaminophen is one of the most commonly used analgesics and antipyretics. Although relatively safe at therapeutic doses, acetaminophen poisoning causes hepatic necrosis [effectively killing your liver]. Acetaminophen toxicity is the second most common cause of liver transplantation worldwide and the most common cause of liver failure in the United States. Responsible for 56,000 emergency department visits and 2600 hospitalizations, acetaminophen poisoning causes 500 deaths annually in the United States. Notably, around 50% of these poisonings are unintentional, often resulting from patients misinterpreting dosing instructions or unknowingly consuming multiple acetaminophen-containing products [the other 50% is intentional — suicide attempts (or successes)].

    The mortality associated with acetaminophen overdose is low if recognized and treated within the first 8 hours. Factors such as alcohol use, genetics, age, medications, herbal supplements, and nutritional status can enhance acetaminophen’s ability to damage the liver. In addition to liver failure, affected patients may experience renal failure as a consequence of acetaminophen toxicity.”

    Thus, acetaminophen itself (when used properly) has little or no potential to cause injury (or fatality). Misuse, both intentional and unintentional, is the basic cause of acetaminophen adverse results.

    Water in excess quantities is also toxic, RFK jr may lead the charge to ban the “deadly” use of all water products. “The Inmates Are Running the Asylum”.
    ———————————-
    This is easier to understand if you realize that Johnson is a perpetual leading contender — and often winner — of the Senate’s Dumbest Member.

  318. JM says

    @313 Lynna, OM: You don’t think Trump is walking or biking anywhere do you? What Trump personally thinks of the project is what matters and Trump drives (or rather has somebody drive him) everyplace. That is the primary evaluation criteria of the Trump administration. Wind farms have to go because Trump thinks they are ugly. Solar has to go because Trump gets better kickbacks from the coal industry.

  319. StevoR says

    HOUSTON — NASA’s ambitious mission to return astronauts to the moon for the first time this century is on track to launch no later than April 2026, but it just might fly sooner if all goes well.

    The 10-day-long Artemis 2 mission, which will fly four astronauts around the moon on NASA’s Orion spacecraft, could lift off as early as Feb. 5, mission managers said today (Sept. 23) during an event..

    Source : https://www.space.com/space-exploration/artemis/a-front-row-seat-to-history-nasas-artemis-2-moonshot-could-launch-as-early-as-feb-5

    Here’s hoping!

  320. StevoR says

    Anyone hungry for the icy crunch of a Pluto-like body? No? Well, one nearby white dwarf is going all in on a Pluto-esque snack.

    According to NASA, the Hubble Space Telescope has spotted a “burned-out star” snacking on a “fragment of a Pluto-like object” that’s not too far from Earth — only about 260 light-years away, which is very close when considering the vastness of the cosmos. However, it’s not actually the snacking itself that’s fascinating, but rather the icy composition of the exo-Pluto. The object appears to be filled with volatiles like carbon, sulphur, nitrogen and oxygen, which indicate the presence of water. According to Hubble data, the exo-Pluto comprises 64% water ice.

    Source : https://www.space.com/astronomy/hubble-space-telescope/hubble-space-telescope-watches-dying-star-chow-down-on-a-pluto-like-world-filled-with-ice

  323. birgerjohansson says

    Lynna, OM @ 314
    #1 Like the eyeball creature in Alien:Earth, you scored pi.

    #2 No promise from Trump is worth anything.

  328. birgerjohansson says

    Film
    Claudia Cardinale, star of The Leopard and Once Upon a Time in the West, dies aged 87

  335. says

    On women in the military, Pete Hegseth takes yet another step backwards

    “Given the defense secretary’s record, he appears to have a real problem with women in the U.S. armed forces.”

    Related video at the link.

    The Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services, which has existed since 1951, was hardly a controversial panel in the Pentagon, but Secretary Pete Hegseth decided to end it anyway. Politico reported:

    Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has shuttered a nearly century-old committee created to expand the role of women in the military, part of a broader effort to redefine the image of the armed forces. … Pentagon spokesperson Kingsley Wilson, in announcing the latest decision Tuesday on X, said the committee ‘is focused on advancing a divisive feminist agenda that hurts combat readiness.’

    For now, let’s put aside questions as to why Donald Trump’s Defense Department sees feminism as “divisive” and how the committee enjoyed support for generations (including Trump’s first term) without affecting readiness.

    Let’s instead consider the broader pattern of recent developments.

    A couple of months ago, the beleaguered Cabinet secretary used his social media account to amplify a video about a Christian nationalist church that included various pastors saying women should no longer be allowed to vote.

    That came on the heels of Hegseth boasting about scrapping the Pentagon’s Women, Peace, and Security program — a program intended to boost women’s role in peace-building and conflict prevention missions — describing it as “woke” and a priority for “feminists.”

    He neglected to mention that the program was one of Trump’s accomplishments from his first term, and that the law that created the program was written by prominent Republicans, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, during their congressional tenures. [Irony meters break around the world.]

    Meanwhile, in July, Hegseth announced that he’d replaced Vice Adm. Yvette Davids, the first woman to lead the U.S. Naval Academy, after he also ousted Adm. Linda Fagan, the former commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard; Vice Adm. Shoshana Chatfield, the only woman on NATO’s military committee; Adm. Lisa Franchetti; Lt. Gen. Jennifer Short; and Col. Susannah Meyers.

    And now, two months later, Hegseth decided to shutter the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services, too.

    The Atlantic’s Tom Nichols recently explained, “At this point, women have been cleared out of all of the military’s top jobs. … Some observers might see a pattern here. Discerning this pattern does not exactly require Columbo-level sleuthing.”

  336. says

    As reported by The New York Times, Trump posted this regarding Jimmy Kimmel’s return to late night TV:

    ‘I can’t believe ABC Fake News gave Jimmy Kimmel his job back,’ he complained in a social media post, roughly an hour before Mr. Kimmel’s show was set to air. Mr. Trump suggested that he might sue ABC over its reinstatement of Mr. Kimmel — ‘I think we’re going to test ABC out on this,’ he wrote — and cited a $16 million payment that the network made last year to settle a previous defamation lawsuit that he filed against ABC News.

    […] [Kimmel] is yet another arm of the DNC and, to the best of my knowledge, that would be a major Illegal Campaign Contribution. I think we’re going to test ABC out on this. Let’s see how we do. Last time I went after them, they gave me $16 Million Dollars. This one sounds even more lucrative. A true bunch of losers!
    […]

  337. says

    NEW YORK (The Borowitz Report)—The Guinness Book of World Records announced on Wednesday that the former president of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez, has lost his distinction for making the most batshit speech to the United Nations General Assembly.

    “In 2006, when Chávez referred to George W. Bush as the Devil and said, ‘This rostrum still smells like sulfur,’ most of us thought his record for making the most crazy-ass UN speech would stand for generations,” Guinness spokesperson Harland Dorrinson said. “We never saw this coming.”

    In an official statement, the Hugo Chávez Memorial Society, based in Caracas, was philosophical about the Venezuelan’s wackadoodle utterances being bested by a new champion.

    “Hugo himself would have been in awe of yesterday’s performance,” the statement read. “He said a lot of bonkers shit back in 2006, but he never exploded with rage about an escalator.”

    https://www.borowitzreport.com/p/hugo-chavez-loses-spot-in-guinness

  338. johnson catman says

    re Lynna @332:

    ‘Disturbing’: Trump’s bizarre speech to UN and Tylenol tirade spark mental concerns

    If MSNBC, or anybody for that matter, didn’t have mental concerns about The Orange Turd before that, were they even paying attention?

  341. birgerjohansson says

    OK. I will re-learn how to embed links somehow. Sorry.
    And if you haven’t watched Jimmy Kimmel’s latest, please do. He and his writers are brilliant.

  342. birgerjohansson says

    A summary of DJT;s UN speech, courtesy of ‘Cliff’s Edge’

    Your countries all suck.
    None of you know what you are doing.
    The U.S. is better at everything.
    I’m right about everything.
    You should listen to me and do what I say.
    And give me lots of awards.

  343. says

    https://www.wonkette.com/p/trump-says-nice-ukraine-things-but

    “Trump Says Nice Ukraine Things, But Can He Be Trusted? (No, He Can Never Be Trusted)”

    “As always, watch what he actually does.”

    In what looks like another example of how “whoever talks to Trump last” can often steer policy, Donald Trump yesterday said on his personal antisocial media channel that, after meeting with Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy at the United Nations, he now thinks Ukraine is in a good position to not only win the war Russia started by invading in 2022, but to push Russian forces back to Ukraine’s pre-invasion borders — and maybe then some.

    Keeping in mind that you can’t trust Trump to hold on to any new opinion for longer than the lifespan of a fruit fly, it was a pretty remarkable turnaround for the guy who a few months ago was urging Ukraine to just let Russia keep the parts of Ukraine it’s already invaded, and who told Zelenskyy in February that Ukraine had “no cards” in the fight against Russia […] [Trump’s social media post]

    […] the message only discusses Ukraine fighting against Russia with European help, not about any new commitments to direct assistance to Ukraine. But hey, Trump will enthusiastically sell NATO countries all the US arms they wanna pass on to Ukraine, as long as Europe pays.

    Trump didn’t back up the message with any other concrete new actions to support Ukraine, either, like new sanctions on countries that purchase Russian oil, which was among the many things Trump ranted about at the UN yesterday.

    But compared to the usual batshit stuff Trump has said about Ukraine and Russia, the message was at least very different. Now we need to see if Trump actually does more to help Ukraine, including advancing peace talks, or what.

    After his meeting with Trump at the UN, Zelenskyy sat down for an interview with Fox News anchor Brett Baier to say that he and Trump now have closer ties than they did previously, probably assuming correctly that if he wanted to underline points he’d made when talking with Trump, Fox was the place Trump was sure to see it. Here’s that interview; note that Zelenskyy again wore a black dress shirt / suit combo like he wore when meeting Trump in August, since getting Donald Trump’s sartorial approval is among the top factors in whether Ukraine continues to exist as an independent nation. [video]

    Zelenskyy said, “I think we have better relations than before. It’s good that we have often phone calls and meetings, and I think the fact that Putin was lying to President Trump so many times also made a difference between us.” He added that he was “a little bit” surprised by Trump’s suggestion that Ukraine could push Russian forces back to Ukraine’s original borders — which for Zelenskyy would definitely include getting Crimea back, whatever Trump had in mind.

    At the least, Zelenskyy said, it’s encouraging that Trump isn’t pushing (at the moment) for Ukraine to let Russia keep parts of its territory as part of a peace deal. “I think he understands for today that we can’t just swap territories. It’s not fair,” he said.

    Zelenskyy also warned that he believes recent Russian incursions into Estonia and Poland, and probably Denmark — the origin of drones over the latter hasn’t been confirmed — signal that Putin wants to extend military conflict beyond just Ukraine.

    Trump yesterday said that NATO countries should go ahead and shoot down Russian aircraft entering those countries’ airspace, although we suspect that may signal Trump’s general love of violence more than any deep strategic thinking.

    There’s also a good case to be made that his social media message simply indicates that Trump likes rooting for winners and doesn’t like losers, since he talked so much about how “Russia has been fighting aimlessly for three and a half years a War that should have taken a Real Military Power less than a week to win,” […] He also highlighted the weakness of the Russian economy after Putin has continued throwing money into the war for little gain; we can’t help but think that if Russian forces were actually driving toward Kyiv, Trump would be all for it, because he likes winners.

    That’s probably more important in understanding his strange new love for Ukrainians’ “Great Spirit,” but if it gets more arms heading to Ukraine, great. Just keep in mind that Trump seems more to be cheerleading Europe’s support for Ukraine — and NATO purchases of US arms, for NATO “to do what they want with them” — than any real new commitment to helping Zelenskyy.

    Russian responses have so far mocked Trump as waffling, saying that Donald Trump will be back in line with Putin eventually. Former president Dmitry Medvedev wrote on Twitter that Trump had simply fallen prey to “alternative reality” fed to him by Zelenskyy, adding,

    I have no doubt — he will come back. He always comes back. […] The main thing is to radically change your point of view on various issues more often. And everything will be fine. That’s the essence of successful government through social media.

    […] Maybe this is a change toward at least not siding wholly with Russia. Or maybe Trump thinks saying he supports Europe helping Ukraine win is a new excuse to do nothing at all, and to preempt even thinking about policy.

    He’ll say he’s leaving it up to Europe, just as he avoided answering questions about abortion by insisting he would leave it up to the states. And we all know how well that has worked out.

  345. says

    Washington Post link

    “EXCLUSIVe: As Texas flooded, key staff say FEMA’s leader could not be reached”

    “The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s acting administrator, David Richardson, is often inaccessible, several current and former officials say, raising concerns within the agency.”

    On a Friday morning in July, shortly after deadly Independence Day floods swept through parts of Texas Hill Country packed with camps full of young children, the Federal Emergency Management Agency scrambled to coordinate a response. The next afternoon, teams readied search-and-rescue crews, imagery and other emergency equipment. Then their hustling hit a roadblock.

    They couldn’t reach a key U.S. official needed to deploy the resources, one required by law to be accessible during emergencies: FEMA’s acting administrator, David Richardson.

    Just a few weeks earlier, his boss, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem, instituted a policy requiring her approval for any expenditure over $100,000. That meant, in order to deploy resources to Texas, FEMA officials needed Richardson to get those requests in front of Noem — fast.

    But for about 24 hours in the early aftermath of one of the nation’s deadliest flash flooding events in decades, key staff members could not reach FEMA’s top official, according to eight current and former officials with knowledge of the situation who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they said they feared retaliation. The agency’s typical posture is to get resources to a disaster zone before state and local governments even have to ask for them, current and former officials have said, because minutes can cost lives.

    […] After the disaster, Richardson told House lawmakers at a July subcommittee hearing on FEMA’s response that he’d been in constant contact with administration and Texas officials from his truck while on vacation with his sons. Two people with knowledge of the situation said teams at FEMA couldn’t get in touch with him until Sunday evening.

    While Texas officials say their own resources combined with help from other states enabled a fast and effective response, the state’s emergency management department still asked FEMA for additional assets, documents obtained by The Washington Post show.

    FEMA’s urban search-and-rescue teams — those with specialized training for swift water rescue, equipment to look for bodies, and data to do any damage assessments — would not arrive in Texas for nearly four days, limiting the region’s access to high-level resources and expertly trained crews during a critical window when responders were still looking for missing people.

    In a role that for decades has prioritized expertise and responsiveness, Richardson’s limited accessibility during the catastrophic Texas floods reflects what they describe as a general lack of urgency since he took over as acting director in May, according to interviews with nearly 30 current and former agency officials, many of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity because they said they feared retaliation. The Post also reviewed internal messages, emails and records that supported the officials’ claims that Richardson is frequently inaccessible […]

    At the same time, Noem — who has said her goal is to “get rid of FEMA the way it exists today” — has made numerous changes that current and former FEMA officials say have crippled a federal agency that once had the authority to spend money and corral resources faster than most others during emergencies.

    The combination, current and former officials have cautioned, could leave FEMA ill-equipped to properly respond to big disasters. And in Texas, the breakdown served as a warning for what could happen in states less equipped to handle catastrophes. […]

    In a statement sent to The Post, Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-New Jersey), called on Richardson to resign, saying that “FEMA can’t afford dead weight in the middle of hurricane season.”

    “Staff say Richardson is basically useless — absent from the office, unreachable in a disaster, and powerless because Secretary Noem has sidelined him,” Pallone said. “This level of bureaucratic incompetence from the Trump administration is putting lives at risk when the next natural disaster hits.”

    […] Historically, FEMA administrators carry a bag with multiple devices with them, including top security clearance phones from the White House that give a select group of people access to high levels of classified information, such as intelligence about a particular threat.

    But Richardson rarely uses government communication and top security phones, according to several current and former officials.

    He “is not a big fan of cellphones” and tries to limit his sons’ exposure to them, said a person who has worked closely with him. He usually puts his phone in a box when he gets home and rarely answers it after hours, according to two former officials who worked with him. […]

    More at the link.

  346. says

    New York Times link.

    At Global Climate Summit This Week, U.S. Isolation Was on Full Display

    On Wednesday in New York, countries lined up to say they would accelerate their efforts to cut greenhouse-gas emissions. In staying away, the U.S. was all but alone.

    At a climate summit at the United Nations on Wednesday, the vast majority of the world’s nations gathered to make their newest pledges to reduce planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions over the next decade.

    Geopolitical heavyweights including China, Russia, Japan and Germany were there. Dozens of small island states were there. The world’s poorest countries, including Chad and the Central African Republic, were there. Venezuela, Syria, Iran — there, too.

    The United States was not.

    […] President Trump’s hostility to renewable energy, which he clearly broadcast in his speech at the United Nations General Assembly, is at odds with the rapid construction of wind farms, solar arrays and other renewable energy sources in a range of countries. The construction boom includes even oil-producing giants like Saudi Arabia, which is adding solar capacity at a rapid clip.

    […] At the heart of the U.S. position is the Trump administration’s fundamental assertion — widely dismissed by economists, researchers and the political leadership of other nations — that the transition to renewable energy is a path to economic ruin.

    “If you don’t get away from this green scam, your country is going to fail,” Mr. Trump told world leaders on Tuesday, adding that countries, especially in Europe and Asia, should buy more of it from the United States. The United States is the world’s biggest producer of both oil and natural gas, and Mr. Trump has made it a priority to increase exports of these fossil fuels.

    […] one of Mr. Trump’s first moves was to announce the United States’ withdrawal from the Paris Agreement.

    At Wednesday’s climate summit, 121 countries were scheduled to deliver a message very different from Mr. Trump’s, pledging to rein in global emissions not only for the sake of trying to slow catastrophic global warming but because renewables are getting cheaper faster than was previously thought. In some cases, renewables now produce electricity more affordably than plants that burn fossil fuels […]

    That idea was conveyed by Philip Davis, prime minister of the Bahamas, at an event on Monday. “We need decision makers everywhere to understand that replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy will not come at the expense of prosperity, but is a prerequisite for future prosperity,” he said. [Good point.]

    On Tuesday, the United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres called fossil fuels “a losing bet” in his remarks at the General Assembly.

    Some of the Trump administration’s first actions were to remove incentives for building solar and wind projects or buying electric cars. The administration has also pushed through expedited permitting for coal mines, natural-gas shipping terminals and other fossil fuel infrastructure. [Bad decisions by Trump.]

    […] many world leaders […] have said they would push on, with or without the United States.

    The European Union climate commissioner, Wopke Hoekstra, said President Trump’s actions show no signs of affecting other countries’ ambitions, including his own 27-country bloc.

    “We’re doing the exact opposite of what the U.S. is doing, which, by the way, I find concerning and problematic,” he said in an interview this week in New York City. “The world’s most phenomenal geopolitical player, its largest economy, its second largest emitter, is basically checking out.” [Good points]

    The most important announcement on Wednesday came from Beijing. China currently produces the largest share of greenhouse gas emissions because it burns more coal than any other in the world. But its globally dominant solar and wind power industries are also the engine of not just its own transition away from fossil fuels, but the world’s, according to numerous studies.

    China’s president, Xi Jinping, told world leaders on Wednesday by video link that by 2035 China would reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 7 to 10 percent from peak levels, which it appears to be nearing this year. He also said China would increase its share of “non-fossil fuels” to more than 30 percent, and to sextuple its installed wind and solar power by then.

    Without naming the United States, Mr. Xi seemed to remark on its absence from the climate summit. “While some country is acting against it,” he said, referencing a transition to low-emissions fuels, “the international community should stay focused on the right direction.”

    The European Union went next. While the E.U. hasn’t finalized its emissions-reduction pledge, its lawmakers have tentatively agreed to reduce emissions in the range of 66 percent to 72 percent by 2035, compared with 1990 levels. Mr. Hoekstra said the terms would be finalized by the time the international climate talks known as COP30 begin in Brazil in early November.

    Europe’s climate ambitions will be put to the test, however, by its need to satisfy the United States. As part of trade negotiations with Washington, the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen promised in August to buy $750 billion in American fuels by the end of Mr. Trump’s term in office. Analysts have said that if the E.U. were to do that, which they said was almost physically impossible, it would come at the expense of the continent’s transition toward renewable sources. [!!]

  347. birgerjohansson says

    5 Ancient Civilizations Even More Terrifying Than Your Nightmares

    .https://youtube.com/watch?v=7FdWZtfVsJM

    The ones at Ukraine/Romania (Tripidians?) vanished just before the Indo-europeans/Yamnaya came charging in. 

    The Elamites (NOT the Medeans) built the empire the Persians took over. The Assyrians were a nasty lot.

  351. Pierce R. Butler says

    Lynna… @ # 311, quoting the NYT: Drone sightings forced the authorities in Denmark and Norway to close the main airports in Copenhagen and Oslo for several hours … It was not immediately clear where the drones originated…

    My search just now came up with no stories since 9/23.

    Presumably the drones involved went somewhere. Do no northern European nations have counterdrones (or crewed aircraft) capable of tracking rogue drones? That seems to me a rational defense priority, and within present technological capacity.

  355. birgerjohansson says

    A special election in Arizona for a House seat sees a Democrat ‘overperforming’ again.
    Senate races. An independent candidate seems likely to flip Nebraska.
    The new situation in Maine is that the current governor is running against the Republican senator and has a good chance to flip the seat.
    In Ohio GOP has earlier had a slight edge but with Democrats overperforming everywhere this could be the final nail in the coffin for a Republican senate majority.

  356. says

    MSNBC:

    A shooting at an U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in Dallas has left one detainee dead and two others critically injured, with the assailant dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to authorities.

    No ICE officers were harmed. Here is an updated report:

    [… Three detainees in a van in the facility’s sally port were shot. No ICE officers were hurt in the shooting, Dallas police said at a news conference. One person was killed, and two others are in critical condition, according to federal officials.

    A bullet found near the shooter had the words “anti-ICE” written on it, according to the FBI. Other recent shooters, including those who assassinated Charlie Kirk and killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, have also engraved messages on bullets.

    The anti-ICE messaging surprised Joshua Jahn’s brother, Noah Jahn.

    “He didn’t have strong feelings about ICE as far as I knew,” Noah Jahn said of his brother, who DHS officials said fired at the ICE building “indiscriminately.” […]

    NBC Link

  357. says

    NBC News:

    The mayor of London [Sadiq Khan] has labeled Donald Trump ‘racist, sexist and Islamophobic’ after the president used a United Nations General Assembly address to call him a ‘terrible mayor’ and falsely claim the city wanted to be governed by Islamic law.

  358. says

    New York Times:

    In taking the unusual step of approving an old generic drug as a treatment for autism, the Food and Drug Administration stunned some experts by departing sharply from the agency’s typical standard for reviewing drugs. The drug, leucovorin, has long been used to treat the toxic effects of chemotherapy, but it was endorsed as a therapy for some people with autism by President Trump and top U.S. health officials during a White House briefing on Monday.

  359. says

    NPR:

    Nearly 20 immigration judges received emails this month informing them that they are being let go, NPR has learned, adding to the over 80 judges that have already been cut by President Trump so far this year.

  360. CompulsoryAccount7746, Sky Captain says

    NPR – A statue of Trump and Epstein holding hands in D.C. is removed

    removed after less than a day. The bronze-painted installation, titled Best Friends Forever, depicts the two men smiling at each other, each with an arm and leg raised as if in mid-frolic.
    […]
    it arrived on the National Mall on Tuesday morning. And while a National Park Service permit issued for the statue […] allowed it to remain there until Sunday evening, eyewitness video showed U.S. Park Police hauling it onto a truck before sunrise on Wednesday.
    […]
    the group [that made it] was reassured that if [the art were deemed not in compliance], it would get 24 hours’ written notice to remove the statue themselves, as required by the permit. “Instead, they showed up in the middle of the night without notice and physically toppled the statue, broke it, and took it away,”

  365. birgerjohansson says

    Seth Meyers.

    Trump’s New Health Guidelines Not “From Doctors”

    “Nothing bad can happen, it can only good happen” should replace “in pluribus unum”.

  366. birgerjohansson says

    F*ck, I checked the preview but accidentaly deleted the important part. Sonetimes I am so stupid I should puke.

  368. birgerjohansson says

    David Frum: “How Trump’s Stranglehold is Slipping”

    .https://youtube.com/watch?v=3vjMXQoFwBc
    (I know Frum was up to his ears in the policies of the Dubya years, but he is one of the few non-insane republicans. If he can convince some to not vote for Maga next year, good for him)

  369. StevoR says

    So, nothing major here following the massive algal bloom that been killing sealife off South Aussie shores and depths for many months now – just our oceans starting to die :

    The mass deaths of toxic marine life off Western Australia’s Pilbara has prompted warnings from authorities.

    In recent weeks, residents have discovered hundreds of dead puffer fish along Onslow Beach, more than 1,300 kilometres north of Perth.

    … (Snip)..

    .. The Shire of Ashburton issued a public health notice on Wednesday, urging people to keep their pets leashed and report any further sightings for clean-up.

    Onslow resident Sandi McAullay described the sight as a worry.

    “The puffer fish, I’ve never seen before, and I’ve been on this beach … 60-odd years,” she said. “You don’t know … what sea creature is going to be next on the list.”

    Ms McAullay said the dead fish had been washing up on the beach for much of September, raising concerns among dog owners.

    “I would like to know why it’s happening,” she said.

    “I really don’t want it to be the algae stuff that’s happened over in South Australia.”

    Another resident Serena Maroney said she had counted almost 600 dead fish on the beach, and would not take the family dog for a walk until they were removed.

    WA Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) said it was looking into the puffer fish kill.

    Source : https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09-25/pilbara-coast-alert-jellyfish-bloom-toxic-puffer-fish-deaths/105815554

  370. StevoR says

    Hey, France can jail (former)Presidents …

    Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy has been found guilty of criminal conspiracy in a trial in which he was accused of receiving millions of euros in illegal financing from late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi for his successful 2007 presidential bid.

    A Paris court delivered the ruling on Thursday morning, local time. Sarkozy was acquitted of all other charges, including passive corruption, illegal campaign financing, concealment of the embezzlement of public funds, and criminal association.

    The court sentenced Sarkozy to five years in prison. He can appeal the guilty verdict, which would suspend any sentence pending the appeal.

    Source : https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09-25/nicolar-sarkozy-found-guilty-of-criminal-conspiracy-libya-trial/105818560

  373. says

    Ryan Walters to resign, ending scandal-plagued tenure as Oklahoma schools’ chief

    “Oklahoma’s Republican state attorney general described Walters’ tenure as “a stream of never-ending scandal and political drama,” which is now ending.”

    […] Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters has cultivated a reputation as a right-wing Christian nationalist […] prompting discussion among legislators in the state about possible impeachment proceedings.

    Evidently, that won’t be necessary: Walters is resigning. NBC News reported:

    Oklahoma Superintendent Ryan Walters announced Wednesday that he would step down from his role overseeing the state’s schools to lead the conservative group Teacher Freedom Alliance, saying, ‘We’re going to destroy the teachers unions.’ … Teacher Freedom Alliance confirmed Walters’ new role as CEO, saying in a post to X that he ‘fearlessly fights the woke liberal union mob.’

    […] Gentner Drummond, Oklahoma’s Republican state attorney general, described Walters’ tenure as “a stream of never-ending scandal and political drama,” adding that Walters has been “an embarrassment to our state.”

    Drummond concluded, “It’s time for a State Superintendent of Public Instruction who will actually focus on quality instruction in our public schools.”

    The frustration is understandable. Walters took over as Oklahoma’s education secretary 15 years ago and was elected two years later as the superintendent of public instruction, which oversees the state’s public schools.

    Once in office, the Republican proceeded to wage a relentless and legally dubious culture war to impose his religious and political beliefs on Oklahoma students. Walters’ agenda included everything from requiring educators keep Christian Bibles in every classroom to incorporate his preferred holy text into school curricula to threatening the teaching licenses of school teachers who resisted his demands for Bible lessons.

    Walters also called an Oklahoma teachers’ union a “terrorist organization.” He partnered with a far-right propaganda outlet, bringing its materials into classrooms. He pushed a social studies curriculum guidance that directed educators to push pro-Trump conspiracy theories about the 2020 presidential election. He helped put the founder of a right-wing social media account on the state library panel.

    At one point last fall, as my MSNBC colleague Ja’han Jones noted, Walters even wanted to require schools to show children a video of him praying for Donald Trump — though the state attorney general’s office said that couldn’t happen.

    Last month, Walters created a new “America First” teacher certification test for educators who move to Oklahoma from blue states, intended to ensure that they have the proper ideology before entering classrooms [!]; and this month, he announced a plan to establish chapters of Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA organization at every high school in the state. [!!]

    What Walters did not do, however, is succeed in his given task: According to one recent report, Oklahoma is currently ranked 50th in education performance.

    His resignation comes roughly two months after an investigation began into Walters allegedly having images of naked women on his office television during a state board of education meeting. It was later resolved without charges.

    I guess we are in wait-and-see mode now. Will that doofus replaced by another doofus? Or will Oklahoma improve its approach to education?

  374. says

    Amid resignations and bureaucratic collapse, FEMA’s future turns bleak under Trump

    “All things considered, it’s hardly unreasonable to wonder whether FEMA will survive the president’s second term.”

    Related video at the link.

    At an event in North Carolina, JD Vance complained that he and his Trump administration colleagues inherited a Federal Emergency Management Agency that was “mired in bureaucracy and red tape.” As is too often the case, the vice president had reality backwards: Upon returning to power, Team Trump created a FEMA that’s mired in bureaucracy and red tape.

    NOTUS had a brutal report along these lines this week.

    The Trump administration has the Federal Emergency Management Agency in a doom loop, according to current and former employees frustrated with its direction. President Donald Trump has called for overhauling the agency and letting states take the lead in disaster response to streamline a process that conservatives criticize as too bureaucratic. But current FEMA leadership has added more red tape and decimated morale, creating an environment that is antithetical to efficiency, these sources say.

    […] one employee who works in the agency’s Office of Response and Recovery, said, “With this leadership, the information has been so inconsistent, and the guidance we’ve been getting has been so inconsistent that it has basically ground a lot of activities in the agency to a halt.”

    A different FEMA employee took aim at the current process which requires Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to sign off personally on all expense requests over $100,000. “It’s an absolutely ridiculous system,” the employee said. “And for an administration that came in touting how much they’re gonna cut the red tape and bureaucracy, it’s comical the level of bureaucracy they put in place instead.”

    Alas, this isn’t the only evidence of an agency that’s struggling mightily.

    Not only have some senior FEMA officials resigned in frustration, but dozens of employees recently warned Congress and the public that the Trump administration’s plans for the agency run the risk of creating another Katrina-level disaster in the coming months and years.

    As for the department’s leadership, Cameron Hamilton began the year as FEMA’s administrator, but the lifelong conservative Republican was fired because he testified before Congress that it would be in the public’s interest if FEMA continued to exist. He was replaced by David Richardson, who has no background in emergency management and who, on his first day as the agency’s acting chief, told the agency’s staff that he would “run right over” anyone who gets in his way.

    Richardson’s tenure hasn’t exactly been a great success. Indeed, The Washington Post reported that FEMA insiders have found their unqualified boss is “often inaccessible,” and after deadly floods swept through parts of Texas Hill Country in July, the agency struggled to coordinate a response — because they couldn’t reach Richardson.

    All of this, of course, comes months after Donald Trump said he saw FEMA as an unnecessary department that should be “TERMINATED.” Around the same time, Noem, whose department oversees the emergency response agency, added, “We’re going to eliminate FEMA.”

    The White House has since hedged on plotting the agency’s demise — but all things considered, it’s hardly unreasonable to wonder whether the agency will survive Trump’s second term.

  375. says

    NPR EXCLUSIVE

    Former special counsel Jack Smith warns that rule of law is ‘under attack’

    The federal prosecutor who built two criminal cases against President Trump is sounding the alarm about dire threats to the legal system.

    In his first public remarks since leaving the Justice Department, former special counsel Jack Smith said he’s sad and angry about the dismissals of career public servants and the loss of credibility the DOJ has suffered this year.

    “My career has been about the rule of law and I believe that today it is under attack like in no other period in our lifetimes,” Smith told an audience of students, professors and members of the public at George Mason University last week.

    No national media appeared to be present for Smith’s lecture [WTF? Why not?] but NPR later exclusively obtained a recording of the Sept. 16 event from an attendee.

    [I snipped a summary of Smith’s career in public service.]

    At the start of his remarks, Smith said he would not discuss politics, and he never referred to Trump by name. Instead, he delivered a call to defend the rule of law, punctuated by recent examples of its erosion.

    [I snipped examples of the Trump administration targeting law firms, etc.]

    “Political opponents, critics, perceived enemies are targeted for investigation or arrest to silence them, and the prosecutors instead of investigating … cases, they’re left to figure out a basis for charges after the fact,” Smith said.

    On the flip side, people close to the president face no danger of investigation or prosecution, even when the facts and the law might merit those steps, Smith said.

    “Where the rule of law is eroding, friends of the president do not have to worry about following the same laws that the rest of us follow,” Smith said. “Exceptions will be made. And nobody, I mean nobody, in a president’s administration, or his allies, will be investigated or prosecuted, no matter what they do.” [Yep. That seems to be true. And it is as bad as it sounds.]

    […] Smith saved his strongest remarks for public servants at the DOJ and elsewhere, offering praise for their integrity and expertise. Several Justice Department lawyers have resigned or been fired this year in flash points across the country.

    “Today we have seen conflict between the leadership of the Justice Department and line career prosecutors like never before,” Smith said. “And the reason is simple: because the leadership is asking those prosecutors to do things that the prosecutors know are wrong.”

  379. says

    Trump overreacts:

    On Wednesday, President Donald Trump called for a United Nations investigation into an escalator that made him look foolish ahead of his speech before the General Assembly. But evidence indicates that his own team was responsible for the incident.

    In a post to his Truth Social account, Trump called on Secretary-General António Guterres to investigate why an escalator suddenly stopped when he and first lady Melania Trump were on their way to the speech.

    “It stopped on a dime. It’s amazing that Melania and I didn’t fall forward onto the sharp edges of these steel steps, face first. It was only that we were each holding the handrail tightly or, it would have been a disaster,” Trump complained.

    He added, “The people that did it should be arrested!”

    […] which prompted a response from Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for the secretary-general. He noted that a videographer from the American delegation accompanying Trump likely triggered a built-in safety mechanism at the top of the escalator because he was standing at the top while Trump and his wife were boarding.

    “The safety mechanism is designed to prevent people or objects accidentally being caught and stuck in or pulled into the gearing,” Dujarric wrote.

    In other words, Trump’s embarrassing, viral moment was probably caused by the team he put in place to produce his own hype video.

    Aside from the technical problems that have prompted yet another Trump tantrum, the speech itself was an over-the-top diatribe filled with easily disprovable falsehoods. Trump made assertions like the absurd claim that he “ended seven unendable wars” and the lie that global climate change is a “green scam.” […]

    Link

  380. says

    God’s “Blank Check”: Christian Zionists Are Pouring Billions of Dollars Into Israeli Extremism

    Evangelicals have become Israel’s most important American allies.

    Mother Jones link.

    This detailed report by Kiera Butler is difficult to present as excerpts, so I’ll just post the link.

    Yael Eckstein is an incredibly effective advocate for Israel. As the president and global CEO of a massive Israel-focused philanthropy, she oversees humanitarian relief, security programs, social services for elderly Holocaust survivors, and Jewish resettlement. On her weekly podcasts, she ties biblical teachings to modern Israel […] her nonprofit brought in $271 million, significantly more than better-known nonprofits like Amnesty International USA, the ACLU Foundation, and Human Rights Watch. […]

    It’s not the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, known as AIPAC, or the Anti-Defamation League. Eckstein’s group raised more money in 2023 than both combined. Those groups primarily ­target Jewish donors for their fundraising, but according to a spokesperson for Eckstein’s organization, 92 percent of its donors are Christians. […]

    Much more at the link.

  381. JM says

    MSNBC: Former FBI Director James Comey facing indictment threat

    Federal prosecutors are expected to seek an indictment of former FBI Director James Comey in the coming days, after the top prosecutor in the Eastern District of Virginia — who opposed bringing charges — recently resigned under pressure from President Donald Trump, three sources familiar with the matter told MSNBC.
    Prosecutors are rushing against the clock, before the statute of limitations involving one charge believed to be central to the case expires within the week. Comey famously refused to pledge his loyalty to Trump during his first administration.

    I had been wondering why this case suddenly became a huge matter. Apparently the primary charge they want to bring against Comey is in relation to lying to Congress as part of the old Russiagate investigation. The statue of limitations on that will run out in days now. I expect this is because Trump still hates everything related to Russiagate.
    I’m curious if Pam Bondi or other DOJ officials are clever enough to run out the clock so they can’t legally bring a case. It would be easy for Bondi to use her position to stall the case a bit while leaving nothing that Trump could blame her for. Trump would yell at her but she has to be used to that.

    Trump has called for Comey’s prosecution for years. Most recently, on Saturday on Truth Social, he lobbed a complaint directly at his attorney general, Pam Bondi, saying: “What about Comey, Adam ‘Shifty’ Schiff, Leticia??? They’re all guilty as hell, but nothing is going to be done.”
    Trump added: “Lindsey Halligan is a really good lawyer, and likes you, a lot. We can’t delay any longer, it’s killing our reputation and credibility. They impeached me twice, and indicted me (5 times!), OVER NOTHING. JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!!”

    Those quotes will be brought up again in court if the case does get brought. They could be grounds to get the case thrown out.

  382. says

    As the shutdown deadline nears, the White House finds new ways to raise the stakes

    “Can a government shutdown still be avoided? The latest Republican moves suggest there’s little reason for optimism.”

    For Democrats, the looming shutdown deadline is about one thing: Party leaders want to negotiate a bipartisan deal to preserve subsidized coverage for Americans through the Affordable Care Act. Failure to do so would cause premium prices to soar and make health security unaffordable for millions of families.

    The standard response from Republicans is that the subsidies don’t expire until the end of the year, so there’s no need to have this fight now. As a factual matter, that might seem like a credible point: It’s true that while the shutdown deadline is just five days away, the ACA deadline isn’t until Dec. 31.

    But the details matter. As NBC News reported:

    While they officially expire after the last day of 2025, there is some urgency to act soon: Insurers are filing their rates over the next few weeks, and open enrollment begins Nov. 1. Failure to act by then could cause many people to drop their coverage for 2026.

    “Technically, the enhanced ACA tax credits don’t expire until December 31. But, the longer Congress waits to extend them, the more damage and chaos there will be in the meantime,” Larry Levitt, a health care policy expert at KFF, a nonpartisan research group, told NBC News.

    “If open enrollment starts November 1 without the tax credits extended, ACA enrollees are going to log in to their accounts and see average out-of-pocket premium increases averaging over 75%. Their eyes are going to pop out of their heads, and many will likely decide not to enroll,” he continued.

    Time, in other words, is of the essence.

    As for whether a shutdown can still be avoided, there’s little reason for optimism. House Republican leaders left town last week and don’t plan to return until after the deadline, and Senate Republican leaders also decided not to be on Capitol Hill this week, despite the work that obviously needs to be done. [!]

    For his part, Donald Trump agreed to open negotiations with Democratic leaders and then changed his mind less than a day later. What’s more, the president continues to tell the public about Democratic demands in delusional ways, describing policy goals that Democrats are not seeking and have never requested. (I’m not even sure what “Transgender for EVERYBODY” is supposed to mean.)

    Meanwhile, the White House budget office, led by Russell Vought, is preparing for next week’s developments in provocative ways. NBC News also reported:

    The White House is raising the stakes of a potential government shutdown by drafting a request for federal agencies to prepare ‘reduction in force’ plans in case Congress doesn’t pass a spending bill before Oct. 1. In a memo from the Office of Management and Budget, obtained by NBC News, the Trump administration indicated it’s prepared to go beyond the traditional furloughing of some government employees during shutdowns and fire federal employees.
    Obviously, this is a ploy intended to get Democrats to cave. “Agree to the GOP plan,” the White House is saying, “or we’ll announce a mass firing.”

    Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer didn’t sound especially intimidated by the threat.

    “This is an attempt at intimidation,” the New York Democrat said in a statement. “Donald Trump has been firing federal workers since day one—not to govern, but to scare. This is nothing new and has nothing to do with funding the government. These unnecessary firings will either be overturned in court or the administration will end up hiring the workers back, just like they did as recently as [Wednesday].”

    The latest government shutdown is scheduled to begin on Tuesday, Sept. 30, at midnight. Watch this space.

  383. says

    Trump’s DOJ reportedly pushes prosecutors to go after George Soros’ foundation

    “When Main Justice directs U.S. attorney’s offices to launch what amounts to a fishing expedition against a presidential foe, it’s political corruption.”

    If Donald Trump’s public comments are any indication, the president has been preoccupied with George Soros lately, repeatedly referencing the Hungarian American philanthropist in multiple Fox News appearances.

    The Republican also recently targeted Soros online, posting an item to his social media platform that said the wealthy progressive donor should face racketeering charges after supporting “violent protests.”

    The baseless accusations were ridiculous — there’s no evidence whatsoever to suggest the Soros family or the Open Society Foundations have financed “violent protests” — but the remarks were also largely overlooked as pointless presidential palaver. As I noted in a post, Trump’s weird rants against Soros are easy to shrug off unless the Justice Department starts acting on them.

    So it’s significant that The New York Times reported a senior Justice Department official has “instructed more than a half dozen U.S. attorneys’ offices to draft plans to investigate” a Soros-backed group. From the article:

    The official’s directive, a copy of which was viewed by The New York Times, goes as far as to list possible charges prosecutors could file, ranging from arson to material support of terrorism. The memo suggests department leaders are following orders from the president that specific people or groups be subject to criminal investigation — a major break from decades of past practice meant to insulate the Justice Department from political interference. The move is the latest instance of the Justice Department moving against Mr. Trump’s perceived enemies.

    […] it was earlier this week when Aakash Singh, a lawyer in Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche’s office, issued a directive to U.S. attorney’s offices in California, New York, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Detroit and Maryland, among others.

    Given the circumstances, it would ordinarily be sensible to evaluate the allegations on their merits, but in this instance, there’s no point in accepting the premise: If the reporting is correct, Trump’s Justice Department didn’t issue the directive to prosecutors because there’s credible evidence against Soros or the foundation he’s financed; rather, Trump’s Justice Department issued the directive because the president sees Soros as a political enemy.

    When Main Justice directs at least seven U.S. attorney’s offices to launch what amounts to a fishing expedition, that’s not law enforcement, it’s political corruption.

    This is obviously an outrageous abuse, but it’s also a familiar one. Indeed, it dovetails to an unsettling degree with Trump and his team’s revenge campaign against former FBI Director James Comey. And New York Attorney General Letitia James. And Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff of California. And former CIA Director John Brennan. And even former President Joe Biden.

    The unsubtle and retaliatory weaponization of federal law enforcement is corrupt, brazen and dangerous in equal measure, and the problem is only getting worse.

  384. says

    https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/rfk-mifepristone-fda

    “RFK Jr. Finally Gets Around to Bringing His War on Medical Science to Abortion”

    […] Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. finally acceded to the anti-abortion movement, alerting Republican attorneys general last week that the Food and Drug Administration has begun a review of the “safety profile” of mifepristone.

    “HHS — through the FDA — is conducting its own review of the evidence, including real-world outcomes and evidence, relating to the safety and efficacy of the drug,” he wrote in a letter dated September 19. “Given the 2016 FDA decision to eliminate the REMS requirement for certified prescribers to report non-fatal serious adverse events to the mifepristone sponsors, this review will contribute to the understanding of the drug’s safety profile.”

    He cited a “study” produced by a right-wing think tank — that is not peer reviewed and refuses to publish its underlying data— claiming that one in 10 patients who take mifepristone suffers serious side effects. Republicans have glommed onto this study, flailing for a reason to turn the FDA against the abortion drug.

    In reality, the FDA has long been used to unnecessarily restrict mifepristone, under Democratic and Republican administrations alike. Only recently, and prompted in large part by the COVID-19 pandemic and a major lawsuit, did some of those onerous restrictions start to lift. That recent and hugely significant progress is now endangered, as Kennedy promises to use the levers of the federal government to wind the clock back to a time when mifepristone is difficult — if not impossible — to obtain.

    In 1989, a year after France approved the drug for use, the FDA banned its importation. President Clinton ordered the drug to be studied upon taking office, and it finally got FDA authorization in 2000 for use up to seven weeks into pregnancy.

    Eleven years later, the FDA put the drug under a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS), meaning it could only be administered in a hospital or clinic. Less than three percent of FDA-regulated drugs have been placed under a REMS, and most of them are opioids.

    In 2016, the FDA extended the window in which mifepristone could be taken to 10 weeks, and required fewer trips to the provider.

    In 2020, as much of American life shut down during the COVID-19 pandemic, patients still had to make in-person visits to obtain a drug long proven safe and effective. The ACLU sued in federal court, and won an injunction temporarily pausing the in-person dispensing requirements, letting mifepristone be legally mailed. President Biden’s FDA announced soon after that it would stop enforcing the in-person requirement, and allowed certified pharmacies to dispense the drug — a sea change in bringing mifepristone into the realm of mainstream medicine. Those changes were formalized and made permanent in 2023.

    The number of medication abortions, accordingly, has risen and stayed high despite the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision, which overturned the right to an abortion. Delivery systems popped up across the country, enabling patients in states under abortion bans to obtain the medication.

    Post-Dobbs litigation has focused almost exclusively on medication abortion, which anti-abortion activists recognize as the biggest impediment to eradicating the procedure. The Supreme Court turned back an attempt to remove the drug’s FDA authorization in 2024, finding that the anti-abortion doctors who brought the suit lacked standing. That case is back in Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk’s court (himself an avowed anti-abortion zealot), where red states are attempting to substitute in for the anti-abortion doctors.

    But lawsuits aren’t enough for the increasingly antsy anti-abortion movement: Their allies control the White House, after all. […]

    Kennedy is finally responding. By leaning on the bogus study, FDA might decide that mifepristone is unusually dangerous and reimpose the in-person dispensing requirements, making it impossible for red-state patients to legally obtain the medication. It could go even further and try to yank mifepristone’s approval altogether.

    […] barring Americans from necessary health care because some people in this country don’t like abortion.

  385. says

    TikTok:

    President Trump signed an executive order Thursday that approves a deal to keep TikTok available in the U.S. after months of uncertainty about the future of the popular Chinese-owned social media platform.

    TikTok is poised to be spun off into a separate U.S. entity to comply with a 2024 law requiring the app’s China-based parent company ByteDance to divest or face a U.S. ban.

    The deal comes nine months after the law was originally set to go into effect. Trump, however, has repeatedly delayed enforcement of the measure in hopes of striking an agreement to keep the app available in the U.S. […]

    “I had a very good talk with President Xi,” Trump said Thursday in the Oval Office.

    “A lot of respect for him. Hopefully, he has a lot of respect for me, too. And we talked about TikTok and other things, but we talked about TikTok and he gave us the go-ahead.

    Under the deal, a group of U.S. investors, including Oracle and Silver Lake, are set to take a majority stake in the new TikTok entity. ByteDance will maintain less than 20 percent in equity to comply with the divest-or-ban law.

    Vice President Vance said the company will be valued around $14 billion.

    Oracle will also provide security for the new TikTok, in addition to inspecting and retraining a copy of the recommendation algorithm on U.S. user data.

    Thursday’s order declares that Trump has determined the deal meets the requirements under the law for a “qualified divestiture” and addresses the national security concerns at hand. It also postpones enforcement for another 120 days, until Jan. 23, to complete the deal.

    It’s unclear how lawmakers will respond to the specifics of the deal. Some have already voiced concerns about how such an agreement would comply with requirements that the new TikTok sever any operational relationship with ByteDance, including on the algorithm. […]

    Trump had called for banning TikTok from the U.S. during his first presidential term, but flipped on the issue on the 2024 campaign trail. Trump has since downplayed national security concerns about TikTok and noted its popularity with younger Americans.

    TikTok also played a major role in the Trump campaign’s success in swaying thousands of college-aged voters to support his reelection bid, denting support for the Democratic ticket from a typically reliable source.

    Link

  386. says

    More kids are severely ill or dying from the flu as vaccine rates fall, CDC reports

    “Cases of a rare inflammatory brain disease caused by the flu are increasing, particularly among unvaccinated children.”

    […] Christine Wear’s son, 4-year-old Beckett, is still recovering from the flu he got way back in January. Within a week of becoming infected, he became extremely lethargic. He couldn’t move his head or his arms. He couldn’t eat or talk.

    Wear, 40, of River Forest, Illinois, knew what the problem was. It was the second time Beckett had developed an inflammatory brain disease caused by the flu: acute necrotizing encephalopathy, or ANE.

    This time, bouncing back to his energetic self has been slow. “It has taken longer for his brain to recover,” Wear said.

    The first time he’d been diagnosed in Sept. 2022, he hadn’t had a chance to get his yearly flu shot. He’d had his flu shot when he was diagnosed with ANE the second time. There’s evidence that the shots don’t work as well for people who’ve already had flu-related brain inflammations.

    Cases of pediatric ANE and other flu-related encephalopathies are on the rise. During the 2024-25 flu season, 109 children were diagnosed with the rare complication, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

    According to the new report, 84% of kids with influenza-associated encephalopathy whose vaccination status was known weren’t vaccinated.

    The finding comes as the nation logged 280 pediatric flu deaths last year, the deadliest ever aside from the 2009-10 H1N1 pandemic, as well as falling rates of children vaccinated against influenza.

    “We don’t always know how to predict which kids are going to have the most severe forms of flu, which is why we recommend the vaccine for everyone,” said Dr. Buddy Creech, a pediatric infectious disease physician at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee. “It’s a misnomer to think that only sickly kids get complications from the flu.”

    ANE is rare — just a handful of cases each year — and has never been formally tracked.

    […] “We don’t know in real numbers if this is an increase, but I will tell you, being on the ground, being a physician who cares for these patients, I was certainly struck that this was an increase,” said Dr. Molly Wilson-Murphy, a pediatric neurologist at Boston Children’s Hospital. She is also an author of the new study published by the CDC.

    [more details at the link]

    Childhood flu vaccine rates are falling

    Seasonal flu shots are notoriously subpar when it comes to preventing flu infections, compared with more robust vaccines like the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine.

    But doctors say the shot’s benefit lies in its ability to reduce the chance the infection will lead to severe complications and death.

    […] Last year, the flu shot was found to be up to 78% effective in keeping kids and teens with the flu out of the hospital.

    About 90% of the 280 children who died last flu season hadn’t received their annual flu shot. […]

    A peek at how the shot has been working so far in the Southern Hemisphere’s flu season shows the vaccine is cutting down on flu-related hospitalizations by half.

    But the percentage of kids getting their flu shots has been falling in recent years. [Graph at the link.]

    According to the CDC, fewer than half of kids (49.2%) had their flu shot last year, down from 62.4% in the 2019-20 flu season.

    O’Leary said that reasons for the decline are complex. Increasing vaccine hesitancy is just one factor.

    “A lot of families are experiencing access to care issues,” he said. “And a lot of practices are experiencing significant staffing issues. They might not be able to have large flu clinics after hours or on Saturdays.”

    With rare exceptions, the CDC says everyone 6 months and older get a flu shot every year.

    For children like Beckett who are vulnerable to serious complications, it’s even more critical for everyone to protect themselves, his mom, Christine, said.

    “It’s easy not to worry about it when it doesn’t directly affect your family,” she said. “But vaccination is a simple and easy way to protect my son.”

  387. says

    OSLO (The Borowitz Report)—The committee considering applications for the Nobel Peace Prize has asked Donald J. Trump for “clarification” about remarks he made during a funeral eulogy on Sunday in which he declared his undying hatred for his political opponents.

    The committee asked Trump to indicate why, in addition to announcing, “I can’t stand my opponent,” he used the eulogy to call his critics “major losers.”

    Additionally, the Nobel committee requested that Trump explain what he meant when he said of his rivals, “They cheated like dogs, but we got them back then. We have got them back.”

    According to insiders, Trump’s bid for a Nobel is now lagging far behind that of another Peace Prize aspirant, Kim Jong Un.

    https://www.borowitzreport.com/p/nobel-peace-prize-committee-asks

  388. StevoR says

    Last Aussie election the LNP under Dutton the gestapotato went Trumpy -and lost big. yet now the likely challenger for the LNP leadership soon is also going trumpy – can scroll down a fair way beore that headline bit but :

    While Trump continued to shock most mainstream Australian politicians and voters, this week Liberal leadership wannabe Andrew Hastie was sounding decidedly Trumpian.

    Hastie, who is in competition with fellow frontbencher Angus Taylor to be Sussan Ley’s successor, began by posting a video, showing him with a 1969 Ford and the caption “It’s time to put Australians first”.

    Plus :

    Previously, Hastie has said if the Liberals stick with their commitment to net zero, he is off the frontbench.

    In a Thursday radio interview, Hastie — who still publicly claims to support Ley (“anyone who’s speculating otherwise is being mischievous”) said his “main concern is that the centre-right is fragmenting”.

    “Unless we [the Liberals] get our act together, we’re going to be potentially in further decline and perhaps one day extinct,” he said.

    Source : https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09-26/michelle-grattan-analysis-andrew-hastie-sounds-trumpian/105818330

    Well here’s hoping except, nah, don’t really want anyone significnt adopting Trumpism here in case they actually somehow win & get into power.

  389. JM says

    CNN: Former FBI Director James Comey indicted

    Former FBI Director James Comey has been indicted by a federal grand jury, an extraordinary escalation in President Donald Trump’s effort to prosecute his political enemies.
    Comey, a longtime adversary of the president, is now the first senior government official to face federal charges in one of Trump’s largest grievances: the 2016 investigation into whether his first presidential campaign colluded with Russia.
    “JUSTICE IN AMERICA! One of the worst human beings this Country has ever been exposed to is James Comey, the former Corrupt Head of the FBI,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.

    Trump obviously had them fish for something related to the Russiagate investigation. This was all they could come up with and it’s really a trivial charge. A government official providing Congress with an answer that is evasive or deceptive is standard for the business.

  392. birgerjohansson says

    A problem with the current situation is, subtle satire (like Yes, Minister) is now completely obsolete.
    Now we are either invading Greenland or placing tariffs on penguins.

  395. says

    White House pretends Pete Hegseth’s mystery meeting is normal. It really isn’t.

    “There are roughly 800 generals and admirals spread out over the globe. Hegseth ordered them to gather on short notice next week, for reasons unknown.”

    Related video at the link.

    Modern military communications equipment makes it rather easy for the Pentagon to interact with personnel stationed anywhere on the planet, a fact that made it all the more unusual when Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth sent a curious invitation to U.S. military leaders abroad. The Washington Post reported:

    Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered hundreds of the U.S. military’s generals and admirals to gather on short notice — and without a stated reason — at a Marine Corps base in Virginia next week, sowing confusion and alarm after the Trump administration’s firing of numerous senior leaders this year. The highly unusual directive was sent to virtually all of the military’s top commanders worldwide, according to more than a dozen people familiar with the matter.

    […] the beleaguered Pentagon chief and former Fox News host issued the directive earlier this week — and no one outside of Hegseth’s office seems to know why.

    The scope of the order is striking. “There are about 800 generals and admirals spread across the United States and dozens of other countries and time zones,” the Post added. “Hegseth’s order, people familiar with the matter said, applies to all senior officers with the rank of brigadier general or above, or their Navy equivalent, serving in command positions and their top enlisted advisers. Typically, each of these officers oversees hundreds or thousands of rank-and-file troops.”

    One U.S. official told the newspaper, “Are we taking every general and flag officer out of the Pacific right now? All of it is weird.”

    It’s also quite unsettling. As Rachel Maddow noted via Bluesky, “Imagine the response if a Dem Administration removed every top general and admiral from every US military post all around the world (including conflict zones), in order to force them to attend a big in-person meeting in DC (with a former cable news co-host).”

    Making matters just a bit worse, the White House is acting as if this were somehow routine.

    “It’s great when generals and top people want to come to the United States to be with a now-called secretary of war,” Donald Trump told reporters, seemingly unaware of the fact that the generals and admirals didn’t request the opportunity but, rather, were ordered to attend on short notice for reasons unknown.

    Around the same time, JD Vance added, “It’s actually not unusual at all.” [Social media post, with video.]

    As is too often the case, the gap between the vice president’s rhetoric and reality was enormous. The aforementioned report added, “None of the people who spoke with The Post could recall a defense secretary ever ordering so many of the military’s generals and admirals to assemble like this. Several said it raised security concerns.” [Ya think!? We don’t know what fuckery Hegseth is planning. And, gathering all of the U.S.A.’s top military leadership in one place at the same time (and announcing the place and time!) is certainly not recommended protocol (not good OPSEC, Hegseth).]

    The point about security concerns is of particular interest, since it’s an open question whether foreign adversaries or non-state actors might try to exploit the fact that every U.S. general and admiral on the planet is suddenly leaving their posts at the same time.

    “It will make the commands just diminished if something pops up,” one defense official told the Post.

    The president nevertheless asked reporters, “Isn’t it nice that people are coming from all over the world to be with us?” But that made it sound as if U.S. generals and admirals are tourists, eager for a trip to the nation’s capital because they want to hang out with Trump.

    Reality appears to tell a very different kind of story.

    Alarm bells are ringing.

  396. says

    With Fear and Favor
    Donald Trump’s corruption of the Justice Department came to its fullest fruition last evening with the bogus indictment of former FBI Director James Comey.

    Retooled by Trump to eat one of its own, the Justice Department now serves as a sword for the president to use against his perceived foes and as a shield of himself and his cronies. In just eight months, Trump has decimated a department that prized legal professionalism, was proud of its history of defending the marginalized, and was universally respected by the courts.

    The two-count indictment handed down by a grand jury in the Eastern District of Virginia is remarkably bare bones, but it stems from Comey’s September 30, 2020 Zoom testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee about the investigation into the connections between Russia and Trump’s 2016 campaign.

    But the ostensible basis for the indictment and the arduous process ahead of a criminal trial should not obscure the fundamental corruption of President Trump in firing his own U.S. attorney who wouldn’t seek an indictment and then siccing Lindsey Halligan, his former personal lawyer, on Comey. It is all of a piece with Trump abusing the powers of his office for a wide-ranging campaign of retribution against investigators, prosecutors, and political adversaries.

    The Trump Justice Department no longer upholds the law without fear or favor, a loss of a vital democratic tradition for which Trump will forever bear responsibility.

    Succinct and to the Point 👏
    The NYT, to its credit, framed the corrupt prosecution of Comey almost perfectly:

    An inexperienced prosecutor loyal to President Trump, in the job for less than a week, filed criminal charges against one of her boss’s most-reviled opponents. She did so not only at Mr. Trump’s direct command, but also against the urging of both her own subordinates and her predecessor, who had just been fired for raising concerns that there was insufficient evidence to indict.

    Not a Clean Win With the Grand Jury
    The grand jury rejected the first count of the original three-count indictment it was presented, forcing prosecutors to present a revised two-count indictment for its consideration. The original Count I (in an indictment misnumbered with two Count IIs) was an additional false statement to Congress charge.

    U.S. Magistrate Judge Lindsey R. Vaala, to whom the indictment was presented in court, expressed puzzlement over the dueling documents, the WaPo reports:

    “This has never happened before. I’ve been handed two documents … with a discrepancy,” Vaala said. “I’m a little confused why I was handed two things … that were inconsistent.”

    Halligan said at the lectern she hadn’t seen the first indictment that was rejected, but Vaala noted Halligan appeared to have signed that original document. [LOL]

    Halligan, who has no experience as a prosecutor, reportedly presented the case to the grand jury personally, an unusual move for a U.S. attorney. She did so after being presented with a memo by prosecutors in her office that pointed to the weak evidence against Comey […]

    Comey Draws a Biden Appointee As Judge
    The judge assigned to the case is Biden appointee Michael Nachmanoff, who sits in Alexandria, Virginia. Nachmanoff was a federal public defender for more than a decade before becoming a magistrate judge in 2015. Biden appointed him as a district judge in 2021.

    Comey: ‘We Will Not Live on Our Knees’
    Somber but spirited, Comey posted a video on social media responding to the indictment about an hour after it was returned: [Video, worth watching.]

    Comey’s Son-in-Law Resigns From DOJ
    Troy A. Edwards Jr., who is married to Comey’s daughter Maurene (who is suing the Justice Department for her wrongful termination in July), was serving under Halligan as the deputy chief of the national security section in the Eastern District of Virginia U.S. attorney’s office. Edwards resigned from the Justice Department after the Comey indictment was handed down. He was spotted on the first row in the courtroom gallery last evening when the indictment was presented to a judge. [Social media post.]

    The Gang Is Back: Pat Fitzgerald Edition
    Comey friend Patrick Fitzgerald, the longtime U.S. attorney in Chicago who was the special counsel in the Valerie Plame case, will be representing Comey in his criminal defense. Fitzgerald entered his appearance in the case late yesterday along with Jessica Carmichael, who is local counsel in Virginia.

    “Jim Comey denies the charges filed today in their entirety,” Fitzgerald said in a statement. “We look forward to vindicating him in the courtroom.”

    Comey is scheduled to be arraigned on Oct. 9.

    Trump: ‘Comey’s a Bad Person. He’s a Sick Person.’ [Trump is sooo out of line.]
    President Trump feigned a hands-off approach to the Comey indictment earlier in the day even as he belied the truth of the matter by lashing out at him yet again: {video]

    This morning, Trump chimed in post-indictment, in ways that are singularly unhelpful to actually winning a conviction since its more fodder for Comey’s vindictive prosecution argument: [social media post]

    Quote of the Day
    “What we are seeing is the almost wholesale collapse of the Justice Department as an organization based on the rule of law.”–former DOJ official Alan Z. Rozenshtein, now a law professor at the University of Minnesota
    […]

    Link

  397. JM says

    @395 Lynna, OM: The unsettling funny thing about this is that given Hegseth’s previous behavior the White House might not know either. Hegseth may have ordered all of the generals into one place without telling anybody why. Simply because he wants them all to see as he strips rank from the last remaining female officers and wants them all to hear his long winded rant about how military excellence come from White male history and not other people.

  398. says

    I wonder if hegseth is just playing ‘little toy soldiers’ with his ‘war fighters’ to prove he is a manly drunk with a massive ego? How does this fit into their plans to dump a massive number of military?
    As I posted years ago ‘The united states is becoming the most powerful third-world country on earth!’

  399. says

    JM @397, True. We don’t know, and the rest of the Trump administration may not know. The only part of this Hegseth has managed to keep secret is the reason behind the meeting. Maybe Hegseth’s plans are so vague even he doesn’t know?

    In other news: Asked about violence, Trump warns left not to provoke the right: ‘Bad things happen’

    “The president told one side of the political divide not to “energize” the other side — because those aligned with him are ‘tougher.’ ”

    Just two days after the shooting death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, Donald Trump appeared on Fox News and made an awful situation much worse. The president not only falsely claimed that the left was responsible for much of the nation’s political violence — recent evidence suggests otherwise — he also seemed to excuse violence on the right, insisting that most far-right extremists have good reason to commit acts of violence.

    “The radicals on the right oftentimes are radical because they don’t want to see crime,” he said.

    Such excuse-making was ridiculous for a variety of reasons, but his latest comments on the subject were every bit as unsettling. [video ... crimes against interior decorating also on display]

    After a reporter referenced this week’s shooting at an ICE facility in Dallas and asked about political violence, the president began with predictable nonsense: He said the left is “out of control”; he said Democratic Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas has a “low IQ”; etc. [OMFG]

    But then he went a bit further:

    It’s gonna get worse, and ultimately it’s going to go back on them. I mean bad things happen when they play these games. And, uh, I’ll give you a little clue: The right is a lot tougher than the left. But the right’s not doing this, they’re not doing it. And [the left] better not get [the right] energized, because it won’t be good for the left.

    Trump concluded that “it’ll be a point where other people won’t take it anymore, and that will not be good for the radical left.”

    In another words, the sitting American president, who ostensibly represents the whole country, and who famously told Proud Boys radicals to “stand back and stand by” in 2020, warned one side of the political divide not to provoke the other side — because those aligned with him are “tougher.”

    Brendan Nyhan, a political scientist at Dartmouth College, noted soon after, “Nothing to worry about, just the president openly threatening the left with extrajudicial violence from his allies.” [Too true]

    An Axios report added that Trump’s comments “risk inflaming already high tensions.” By all appearances, Trump didn’t care.

    Trump likes to encourage violence.

  400. says

    “Unacceptable”: ICE officer relieved of duties after videos show him shoving woman to the ground

    Video at the link.

    A federal immigration officer who was captured on video pushing a woman to the ground outside an immigration court in New York City has been relieved of his duties while an investigation is conducted, the Department of Homeland Security announced Friday.

    In a statement Friday, DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin called the conduct of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer “unacceptable and beneath the men and women of ICE.”

    “Our ICE law enforcement are held to the highest professional standards and this officer is being relieved of current duties as we conduct a full investigation,” McLaughlin added.

    Videos of the ICE officer’s actions at the 26 Federal Plaza federal building in lower Manhattan emerged on social media Thursday, generating widespread controversy.

    The incident appears to have started when the woman and her young daughter desperately tried to cling to her husband, whom federal agents were attempting to take into custody. Agents were seen on video separating the family, with one of them grabbing the woman’s hair. The man was ultimately detained.

    Another video showed the woman confronting the ICE officer at the center of the investigation. He was then captured on camera shoving the woman and pushing her to the floor in front of her children and a crowd of photojournalists and federal and court officials.

    During the altercation, the ICE officer is heard saying “adios” — or goodbye — several times.

    The woman in the videos told reporters Thursday her family is from Ecuador.

    Under the second Trump administration, ICE officers have been deployed to immigration courts across the country to arrest some of those attending their hearings. The effort has been strongly denounced by advocates and Democratic leaders, who say it undermines due process principles and deters people from complying with the immigration process.

    Brad Lander, New York City’s comptroller and one of the most vocal local critics of the courthouse arrests, said Thursday that the woman “did not pose any threat” to justify the officer’s actions and noted she had to be taken to the hospital.

    “We can disagree on immigration policy, but you can’t watch that video and think that that’s how you want United States law enforcement officials treating human beings,” Lander told CBS News New York.

    Asked if the videos indicate any justification for the officer’s use of force, a former ICE official who requested anonymity to speak freely said, “Absolutely none.” The official noted the incident should be reported to ICE’s Office of Professional Responsibility, which is charged with “impartially investigating allegations of employee and contractor misconduct.”

    “He clearly lost his cool. Unless you claim self-defense or defense of others, [there’s] no way that use of force is justified,” the former ICE official said. “That’s assault.”

  401. says

    Racism mixed with a love of violence and rewritten history …. perfect addition to the Trump administration:

    Jeremy Carl, who President Donald Trump has tapped as assistant secretary of state for international organizations, forgot that the internet is forever.

    Despite his best efforts to mass delete his history of racist, violent social media posts, CNN found scores of Carl’s tweets on the Wayback Machine […] this is an administration committed to letting people like Carl call for violence while insisting that the left is the real problem.

    Carl’s Twitter account was filled with praise for the Jan. 6 insurrectionists, who he called “political prisoners,” yet somehow the insurrection was actually a military coup organized by Nancy Pelosi? [Social media post]

    Besides his passionate defense of treason, Carl’s Twitter account was a hotbed of racism and calls for violence.

    Yes, violence. There’s no other way to describe Carl’s call for Randi Weingarten, American Federation of Teachers president, to be “tried for crimes against America’s children” and to “get the death penalty.” This was in the context of a dispute over closing schools due to COVID-19, so definitely a cool and normal thing to demand state-sanctioned killing over.

    Carl also declared that there was no “peaceful coexistence” with “people like this,” referring to a totally anodyne post from former Rep. Cori Bush honoring Juneteenth. [social media post]

    Carl deeply, deeply hates Black people, calling Juneteenth “race hustling and white shaming,” and he was furious that there weren’t more white Christians in the Biden administration. [social media post]

    Somehow, none of this is a problem for the ostensibly very tender ears of the Trump administration, so very attuned to the slightest bad word about Charlie Kirk.

    An unnamed official defended Carl to CNN by saying, “He’s never called for political violence. We look forward to Jeremy Carl’s contributions in support of the America First foreign policy agenda where he will ensure we are bringing international organizations back to their core mandates.”

    It’s not clear how calling for someone to literally get the death penalty because you disagree with them isn’t calling for political violence. But, of course, Carl isn’t an outlier in the administration or the Republican party.

    Trump’s original pick for attorney general was Matt Gaetz, who called for violence against protesters during the uprisings following the murder of George Floyd.

    “Now that we clearly see Antifa as terrorists, can we hunt them down like we do those in the Middle East?” he wrote on Twitter.

    And Darren Beattie, now in a top State Department role, said that “competent white men must be in charge” and that Black people need to “take a knee to MAGA.”

    Similarly, Paul Ingrassia, who now heads the Office of Special Counsel, called on Trump to “declare martial law” after he lost the 2020 election and said that Mike Pence belonged in the “ninth circle of hell.”

    […] Not to be outdone, Kari Lake, in a speech following the Smith announcement, basically just told the Biden administration that Trump supporters would shoot them.

    “I have a message tonight for Merrick Garland and Jack Smith and Joe Biden—and the guys back there in the fake news media, you should listen up as well, this one is for you. If you want to get to President Trump, you are going to have go through me, and you are going to have to go through 75 million Americans just like me. And I’m going to tell you, most of us are card-carrying members of the NRA,” she said.

    This is all quite the contrast to how much the Trump administration is going after anyone who says anything even mildly critical of Kirk. Speaking from the White House, Vice President JD Vance told people that they should call the employers of anyone they see not being nice enough about Kirk. And, of course, Trump has used Kirk’s death to call for violent retribution.

    It’s not just hate speech about Kirk, though. The mildest negative statements about Trump officials or their actions are now deemed violent speech.

    The spectacle of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who is overseeing an ongoing nationwide violent assault of immigrants, is apparently just a delicate, scared little flower.

    After California Gov. Gavin Newsom posted, “Kristi Noem is going to have a bad day today. You’re welcome, America,” in reference to California’s passage of a law banning ICE from wearing masks, Noem called it “really menacing.” She went on to say it “panicked my family and friends.”

    Come on.

    In the most ridiculous, overwrought, and—dare I say—fascist response imaginable, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California Bill Essayli referred Newsom’s post to the Secret Service.

    […] The Trump administration has created a world where it can say anything without consequences, cloaking itself in the twin mantles of free speech and power. Meanwhile, whenever Democrats express the slightest opposition, they’re threatened with state action.

    This is pretty much as authoritarian as it gets.

    Link

  402. says

    In reading all the informative comments here and the insipid, incomplete pablum mainslime news provides, I can only conclude that every ‘person’ in the entire tRUMP admin. is a sad distorted caricature of a human being.
    That is re-enforced by:
    @401 Lynna, OM: Racism mixed with a love of violence and rewritten history …. perfect addition to the Trump administration. . . …. Carl’s Twitter account was a hotbed of racism and calls for violence.

  403. says

    https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/sinclair-backs-down

    Sinclair Backs Down, by Josh Marshall

    […] Sinclair Broadcasting just announced they’re ending their “preemption” of the Jimmy Kimmel show. Even their own statement seems to make clear that while they asked for concessions from ABC/Disney they didn’t get any.

    Sinclair is of course the more ideological of the two affiliates […] NexStar’s angle seems more transactional, though its leadership also seems Trumpy beyond that. […] We shouldn’t read too much into any one move in this drama. It’s possible that the White House/Brendan Carr sent out word that they want to move on from at this specific fight.

    The more likely explanation is that, unlike most of Sinclair’s past gambits, this one is highly visible. It shines a bright light on the fact that this big corporation plays games with what you’re allowed to see. Most people know there’s a local ABC affiliate. […] They have little sense there are these intermediate companies that can call these shots. And this involves some big and culture-influential cities – Washington, DC, Seattle, Portland, St Louis out of a total of 40 stations.

    It’s another example that you want these issues to be engaged in the most visible way and to touch people outside the normal political conversation.

  404. says

    Think prices are too low? Trump’s new plan will fix that.

    […] Trump unveiled a sweeping new round of tariffs on Thursday night, targeting a range of products, including pharmaceuticals, kitchen cabinets, furniture, and heavy-duty trucks, effective Oct. 1.

    The new levies—ranging from 25% to 100%—are poised to ripple through the economy, increasing costs across housing, health care, manufacturing, and transportation. The steepest penalty, a 100% tariff, will apply to “any branded or patented” pharmaceutical product imported into the United States, unless the importing company is actively building a manufacturing plant in the U.S. [JFC]

    Trump also announced a 50% tariff on imported kitchen cabinets, bathroom vanities, and related products, as well as a 30% tariff on upholstered furniture and a 25% tariff on foreign-made heavy trucks. He argued that the truck tariffs will protect domestic manufacturers from “unfair outside competition” and boost companies such as Peterbilt, Kenworth, and Freightliner.

    […] It also lands at a moment when prices are rising. Americans are paying more for everything from appliances and toys to food and cars, and August inflation hit its highest level since January. Rising jobless claims have some economists warning of stagflation—a brutal mix of high inflation, high unemployment, and stagnant economic growth.

    […] “The reason for this is the large scale ‘FLOODING’ of these products into the United States by other outside Countries,” he said, citing alleged threats to the domestic manufacturing base.

    According to The Washington Post, which cited data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, furniture prices have already been running hotter than overall inflation for three straight months. Prices for new trucks have risen more slowly, but these latest tariffs could reverse that trend, driving up transportation costs at a time when Trump has promised to lower prices.

    Pharmaceutical tariffs, although lower than the 250% figure Trump once proposed, could still lead to increased health insurance premiums. The American Hospital Association warned in May that tariffs could significantly increase drug prices since nearly 30% of U.S. drug ingredients are sourced from China. It also projected that hospital costs could rise at least 15%, and insurers have already started pricing in higher premiums.

    […] Mexico, the top exporter of medium- and heavy-duty trucks to the U.S., has warned that the tariffs would disrupt supply chains. Imports of these trucks from Mexico have tripled since 2019, according to a study cited by NBC News. And 95% of Mexico’s tractor-truck exports go to the U.S.—half of them built with American-made components. Automakers like Stellantis and Volvo, which build or plan to build trucks in Mexico, could see production costs soar.

    Japan’s auto industry association has also pushed back, arguing its members have already shifted production to U.S. plants to cut exports.

    […] Trump’s tariff rollout leaves plenty of questions unanswered. But one thing is clear: Americans are about to feel the impact. From the medicine in your cabinet to the cabinets themselves—and the trucks that deliver them—prices are set to rise, and soon, Americans will be paying the bill.

  405. says

    House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries:

    […] Donald Trump, get back to Washington, D.C. Why are you at a golf event right now, and the government is four days away from closing? That’s outrageous. They [Trump and Republican legislators] could not care less. They’re on vacation right now. I’m here in Washington, D.C.—ready, willing, and able to sit down with any of them anytime, anyplace.

  406. says

    MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell says he’s considering a run for Minnesota governor. [LOL, LOL, LOL]
    The Trump ally was at the center of efforts to overturn the 2020 election results and supported debunked conspiracy theories about the vote.

  408. says

    As RFK Jr. faces a new impeachment effort, his public support reaches new low

    “Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. only had so much political capital. As his support collapses, that capital is now effectively gone.”

    All things considered, everyone would be better off if Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had not joined Donald Trump’s White House Cabinet, including RFK Jr. himself.

    Eight months into his tenure, the anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist is succeeding in uprooting much of the nation’s public health infrastructure, putting countless Americans’ health at risk. As William Foege, the former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, recently summarized, “Kennedy would be less hazardous if he decided to do cardiac surgery. Then he would kill people only one at a time rather than his current ability to kill by the thousands.”

    But while RFK Jr.’s capacity to do real harm to people obviously matters far more than any political considerations, he’s in a political job in a political environment — and he’s burned through his political capital.

    Officials who’ve worked closely with Kennedy, including Trump appointees, have characterized him as dangerous and incompetent. The list of people who’ve called on the secretary to resign — a list that includes many members of his own family — is long and growing. Even some congressional Republicans are tired of his antics.

    As for Democrats, The Hill reported:

    Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.) announced Thursday she would introduce articles of impeachment against Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. due to ‘health care chaos’ under his watch. … Stevens has repeatedly called for Kennedy’s removal from his role since he became health secretary. She called for Kennedy to resign earlier this month, citing the slashing of medical research for pediatric cancer and vaccines.

    The Michigan Democrat, who’s also running for the Senate, is not exactly known as a partisan bomb-thrower. This week, however, Stevens said in an online statement, “Health care chaos. Reckless cuts. Rising costs. Michiganders and families across the country are paying the price for RFK Jr.’s agenda. Enough is enough, which is why I’m drafting articles of impeachment against [Kennedy].”

    A day later, Stevens also introduced the “Stop RFK’s BS Act,” which would reverse the health care funding cuts that have unfolded since Kennedy took the reins at the Department of Health and Human Services.

    Given the Republican majorities on Capitol Hill, the congresswoman’s efforts aren’t likely to advance, but Kennedy’s political troubles aren’t limited to Washington, D.C.

    The latest national Quinnipiac University poll, for example, found that only 33% of Americans approve of how Kennedy is handling his job, down from 38% in June. Other recent data similarly reinforces the same point: RFK Jr. is not a popular public figure.

    This stands out, not because it’s likely to lead to consequences — the president is already unpopular, and he won’t care whether his health secretary is in the same boat — but because it speaks to Kennedy’s stated mission. To hear the HHS chief tell it, his focus is on restoring trust and public confidence in the nation’s health agencies.

    The more Americans reject him, the more obvious his failure becomes.

  409. says

    NBC News:

    Facing down a mass walkout and mounting diplomatic pressure, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Friday to ‘finish the job’ as he defied growing isolation over his military’s devastating assault on the Gaza Strip. Netanyahu was met by a mix of jeers and applause as he spoke to a half-empty room at the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

  410. says

    Shocker: ICE is not detaining and deporting ‘the worst of the worst’

    New numbers from the Trump administration show what we’ve known all along: The largest number of people in Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention are people with no criminal record.

    The Guardian reports that of the 59,762 people in ICE detention facilities, 16,523 of those arrested by ICE agents have no criminal record while 15,725 do, and 13,767 have pending charges. In a June report, NBC News found that the most common crimes were traffic offenses and immigration violations. You’ll note those numbers don’t add up to the 59,762 total. That’s because there are also people in ICE facilities who were not arrested by ICE.

    As much as President Donald Trump and his lackeys keep bragging about all the undocumented violent criminals they’ve taken off the streets, it turns out that ICE actually sucks at that. Last fall, ICE reported it knew of 13,099 undocumented people convicted of homicide and 15,811 convicted of sexual assault, but were not in custody.

    The June NBC News report found that, from Oct. 1, 2024, through May 31 of this year, ICE arrested 752 people with homicide convictions and 1,693 with sexual assault convictions. So, of the group that the administration hypes as the most dangerous undocumented people out there, ICE has detained 6% of known murderers and 11% of those convicted of sexual assault.

    Instead of arresting murderers, ICE is scooping up tamale vendors who have been here 20 years, day laborers in Home Depot parking lots, and pastors.

    In response to The Guardian’s report, Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin just went with the same rote language the administration always uses about how great they are and how dangerous immigrants are:

    The facts are ICE is targeting the worst of the worst – including murderers, MS-13 gang members, pedophiles, and rapists. Seventy per cent of ICE arrests are of criminal illegal aliens who have been convicted or have pending charges in the US – that doesn’t even include known or suspected terrorists, foreign gang members, convictions for violent crimes in foreign countries, or Interpol notices.

    It’s the weasel words “have pending charges” that allow McLaughlin to pretend her numbers make sense. However, pending charges are not the same as a criminal record, no matter how much the administration claims otherwise. In reality, 70% of those currently in detention have no record, period.

    Meanwhile, as ICE thugs continue to terrorize American cities, the Trump administration still continues to insist that ICE is doing the most dangerous work imaginable. Here’s Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem with a breathless media hit about California’s passage of a law banning ICE from wearing masks:

    And every time I’m in a room with our law enforcement officers, I’m talking to them before they go out on our streets. I’m just overwhelmed by the fact that all of these young men and women have families, that they all want to go home to their families at night, too. And that people like Gavin Newsom are making it much more dangerous for them just to go do their jobs.

    You know who doesn’t get to go home to their families at night? Those hundreds of South Korean workers who were detained in a mass arrest at the Georgia Hyundai factory. The veterans who served their country honorably don’t get to go home either.

    Chief White House ghoul […] Stephen Miller set a quota of 3,000 arrests per day. That number was always going to include whoever ICE could find. Indeed, it was Miller who, at the start of ICE’s occupation of Los Angeles, whined that ICE wasn’t doing enough to hit those numbers.

    “Why aren’t you at Home Depot? Why aren’t you at 7-Eleven?” he screamed at ICE officials.

    The administration has empowered ICE agents to detain whoever they want without any real consequences for getting it wrong. They want easy arrests and soft targets, so they’re going to keep racially profiling and arresting random Latino people.

    At root, this is cowardice, all the way from Trump and Noem down to the lowliest, newest ICE agent dragging someone out of a car or accosting them as they leave immigration court.

    Bringing the whole weight of the state down on people who’ve done nothing wrong is a pathetic show of strength, a bully puffing out his chest. Trump and his minions should be ashamed, but they’re not capable of it.

  411. says

    Supreme Court lets Trump administration freeze billions in foreign aid

    The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to allow the Trump administration keep frozen billions of dollars in foreign aid that is set to expire next week, the latest turn in a lengthy legal saga over the congressionally appropriated funds.

    The emergency intervention came at the administration’s urging to lift a lower court’s ruling ordering it to spend $4 billion in funds approved for aid programs by Sept. 30, its expiration date.

    The unsigned order indefinitely extends the pause on U.S. District Judge Amir Ali’s injunction that was put in place earlier this month by Chief Justice John Roberts, who handles emergency appeals from the nation’s capital by default, as the high court considered the appeal.

    The court gave a brief explanation of its reasoning, saying that the government “at this early stage” made sufficient showing that the lawsuit is precluded under the Impoundment Control Act and that the plaintiffs can’t force the government to pay up.

    The court also said that the asserted harm to Trump’s foreign policy powers appeared to outweigh potential harm faced by the respondents.

    “This order should not be read as a final determination on the merits,” the order read. “The relief granted by the Court today reflects our preliminary view, consistent with the standards for interim relief.”

    Justice Elena Kagan wrote in a dissenting opinion joined by Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson that the application raises “novel issues fundamental to the relationship between the President and Congress.”

    Solicitor General D. John Sauer had argued that letting Ali’s injunction stand would force the administration to obligate the money at “breakneck speed,” even as Trump has proposed cancelling the aid to Congress.

    The president’s proposal is known as a “pocket rescission,” a rare and legally murky bid to avoid spending appropriated money by asking Congress to cut the budget late into the fiscal year. It means the 45-day window lawmakers have to act on the request could be cut short by the budget year’s end, leaving the funds to expire. If lawmakers reject the request, the funds must be released.

    Kagan wrote that the “stakes are high,” pinning down the central issue as the allocation of the power of the purse between the president and Congress. She criticized the majority for granting any emergency relief with the weighty issues at play.

    […] the administration’s outrage amounts to “the price of living under a Constitution that gives Congress the power to make spending decisions through the enactment of appropriations laws,” she argued.

  412. says

    Trump cannot condition disaster and emergency grants on immigration policy, judge rules

    A federal judge this week blocked the Trump administration from conditioning disaster and security funds for states on their immigration policies.

    Earlier this year, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued terms and conditions for federal grants, which state that grant recipients must coordinate and cooperate with immigration officials.

    Twenty Democrat-led states sued over the use of this policy at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which is part of the DHS. They argued that their immigration policies should not impact their ability to receive disaster and counterterrorism grants.

    Judge William Smith, agreed, issuing a permanent injunction barring the department from enforcing the conditions.

    Smith, a former President George W. Bush appointee, ruled that the conditions were both “arbitrary and capricious” as well as “unconstitutional.” […]

    Good news.

  413. says

    Followup to comment 403.

    […] Nexstar Media Group and Sinclair both said they would bring Kimmel back on their ABC affiliate airwaves effective immediately, more than a week after dropping his show before he was suspended by the Disney-owned network.

    […] Nexstar, in its announcement, said it “had discussions with executives at The Walt Disney Company and appreciate their constructive approach to addressing our concerns,” about Kimmel.

    […] Nexstar, […] is the largest provider of local news in the country, announced it would not carry Kimmel’s show just hours after Trump Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chair Brendan Carr criticized the host over his remarks about Kirk and suggested ABC or its affiliates should drop the show.

    The company earlier this year announced plans for a multibillion-dollar merger with rival TV local company Tegna, a deal that will require approval from Trump’s FCC to clear.[…]

    So Nexstar is also bringing Kimmel back!

  414. says

    “The Flimsy, Dangerous Indictment of James Comey”

    “The charges against the former F.B.I. director look weak. But they may be just the start of Donald Trump’s long-threatened drive to use the Justice Department to go after his enemies.”

    By Ruth Marcus, writing for The New Yorker.

    Thursday’s indictment of the former F.B.I. director James Comey bore a single, telling signature: that of Lindsey Halligan, installed by President Donald Trump just three days earlier to serve as the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. Halligan is an insurance lawyer turned Trump attorney and White House aide; in March, Trump appointed her to remove “improper ideology” from the Smithsonian. She has scant experience in federal courts and none as a prosecutor. Her predecessor in the position, a seasoned prosecutor nominated by Trump, was forced out last Friday, according to numerous news reports, after balking at demands to concoct cases against Comey, in addition to New York’s attorney general, Letitia James, and others.

    The next day, Trump addressed a post on his Truth Social platform to Attorney General Pam Bondi: “JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!!” Prosecutors in Halligan’s office reportedly submitted a memorandum to Halligan outlining the weakness of the Comey case. None of those concerns mattered, apparently. Trump finally secured the indictment he had long been calling for. At this point, a prudent President would have stayed silent. Not this one. He posted, “JUSTICE IN AMERICA! One of the worst human beings this Country has ever been exposed to is James Comey, the former Corrupt Head of the FBI. . . . He has been so bad for our Country, for so long, and is now at the beginning of being held responsible for his crimes against our Nation.” The Department of Justice’s own news release contained the usual boilerplate about an indictment being merely an allegation and the presumption of innocence that all defendants enjoy—legal niceties that struck a particularly disingenuous note in light of Trump’s triumphalism. The President went on to suggest that more of his enemies may face charges: “It’s not a list, but I think there will be others,” he said on Friday morning, en route to watch the Ryder Cup.

    Grand-jury proceedings are well known to favor the prosecutor—a state-court judge famously remarked that “any good prosecutor can get a grand jury to indict a ham sandwich”—but there is not much meat in the Comey indictment. One meagre count alleges false statements to Congress; the other alleges obstruction of a congressional proceeding arising from the same testimony. (Notably, the grand jurors refused to approve a third count, which reportedly pertained to another allegedly false statement.) Both charges stem from Comey’s testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee on September 30, 2020—specifically, the indictment cites an exchange Comey had with the Republican senator Ted Cruz about whether Comey had authorized leaks to the media about the F.B.I.’s 2016 investigations involving Trump and Hillary Clinton. Cruz referenced a 2017 hearing, during which the Republican senator Chuck Grassley asked Comey whether he had “ever been an anonymous source” or “authorized someone else at the F.B.I. to be an anonymous source” in news reports about matters concerning the Trump or Clinton investigations. When Comey denied both, Cruz pressed him about a contrary account provided by his former deputy director, Andrew McCabe.

    cruz: “Now, what Mr. McCabe is saying and what you testified to this committee cannot both be true. One or the other is false. Who’s telling the truth?”
    comey: “I can only speak to my testimony. I stand by the testimony you summarized that I gave in May of 2017.”

    The indictment alleges that “that statement was false,” because, as Comey “then and there knew, he in fact had authorized PERSON 3 to serve as an anonymous source in news reports regarding an F.B.I. investigation concerning PERSON 1.” This was presumably Hillary Clinton, because the leak at issue related to the F.B.I.’s investigation into Clinton’s e-mails and the Clinton Foundation.

    That’s it? That’s the crime? It’s hard to imagine that any responsible or ethical prosecutor would bring this case. In order for a false statement to be criminal, it must be made “knowingly and willfully.” Obstruction of Congress requires the defendant to have acted “corruptly.” The evidence that Comey did either appears sorely lacking. According to a 2018 report by the Justice Department’s inspector general, McCabe authorized F.B.I. officials to speak with the reporter Devlin Barrett, who was with the Wall Street Journal at the time, about the F.B.I. investigation of the Clinton Foundation in October, 2016. But Comey did not join in that authorization, the inspector general found. Indeed, according to the inspector general, the evidence suggested that, after the article was published, McCabe misled Comey about McCabe’s role in the leak. While the two men remembered their conversation differently, the inspector general found that “the overwhelming weight of that evidence supported Comey’s version of the conversation.”[…]

    In other words, there’s no evidence that Comey pre-approved the leak of information; the evidence that he blessed such action after the fact is contested at best. Who is Halligan’s chief witness going to be? McCabe, a man whom Trump repeatedly attacked for being biased against him? Among other inconvenient facts, the Justice Department unsuccessfully set out during Trump’s first term to prosecute McCabe over his alleged misstatements to investigators. As Benjamin Wittes and Anna Bower wrote for Lawfare before the Comey indictment was issued, “It would be quite rich, having sought and failed to charge one party to a memory dispute to turn around and try to charge the other.” […]

    More at the link.

  415. JM says

    The Military Show: Russians Are RIPPING Guns Off Their Tanks in PANIC… You Won’t Believe Why
    The Russians are preparing massed armor for their winter offensive. More armor then they have used the last couple of years is being grouped up and prepared. The Russians must think they can protect it better then they have in the past.
    The Russians are also using the WWII expedient of taking tanks with damaged turrets and using them as improvised APCs. Tanks may be clumsy but they have vastly more armor then anything else the troops might get. This seems to be an intentional policy, the Russians appear to have come to the conclusion that their previously highly successful BMPs are not that useful any more. All light APCs (armored personal carriers) and most IFV (infantry fighting vehicles) are probably obsolete now, drone warfare makes them into mobile targets. They don’t have enough armor to stop drones but stand out like a tank.

  416. whheydt says

    Re: JM @ #415…
    On the other side, Rheinmetall has found a way to retrofit Leopard I tanks with a turret that has a 35mm gun that fires ammo specifically designed to take out drones.

  418. StevoR says

    the Euclid Consortium, the international group managing the European Space Agency’s Euclid space telescope, just published the world’s most extensive simulation of the universe. It maps an astonishing 3.4 billion galaxies and tracks the gravitational interactions of more than 4 trillion particles.

    Called Flagship 2, the simulation draws from an algorithm designed by astrophysicist Joachim Stadel of the University of Zurich (UZH). In 2019, Stadel used the supercomputer Piz Daint — then the third most powerful supercomputer in the world — to run the calculation, ultimately creating an exceptionally detailed virtual model of the universe.

    “These simulations are crucial for preparing the analysis of Euclid’s data,” astrophysicist Julian Adamek of UZH, a collaborator on the project, said in a statement.

    …(Snip)… While the team anticipates that Euclid’s observations will closely match predictions from the simulation, there are likely surprises in store. Flagship 2 runs on the standard cosmological model, which is what we currently know about the universe’s composition. But missions like Euclid are designed to challenge our current knowledge. “We already see indications of cracks in the standard model,” Stadel said.

    Source : https://www.space.com/astronomy/the-largest-ever-simulation-of-the-universe-has-just-been-released

  420. JM says

    Washington Post: New details emerge on Hegseth’s unusual mass gathering of top brass

    The defense secretary is expected to lecture about the “warrior ethos” for less than an hour, according to multiple people familiar with the event. But top generals are bracing for possible firings or demotions.

    I suspected as much, he is calling all of the generals so he can give them a speech. Made all the more silly because Hegseth’s idea of warrior ethos is obsolete. The sort of “I have a big gun and I’m not afraid to use it” bravado that Hegseth likes has been obsolete since machine guns made hiding a critical skill for front line troops.

  424. StevoR says

    According to psychologists, avoiding information when it’s uncomfortable is a common adult behavior, often referred to as the “Ostrich Effect.” But how do we become an ostrich? Children are notorious for seeking out information, often in the form of endless questions. So when do we sprout feathers and decide that, actually, the number of calories in a slice of cake is none of our business?

    This behavioral origin point was exactly what researchers at the University of Chicago hoped to pin down. In a study published in Psychological Science, a research team led by postdoctoral scholar Radhika Santhanagopalan, Ph.D., discovered that as children aged, the tendency to avoid information grew stronger.

    Though 5- and 6-year-olds still actively sought information, 7- to 10-year-olds were much more likely to strategically avoid learning something if it elicited a negative emotion.

    Source : https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-09-ostrich-effect-age.html

  427. says

    Trump promises to cut drug prices by 1,500%—then doubles them instead

    I swear, the most talented writer in Hollywood couldn’t come up with this script.

    Start with President Donald Trump making the mathematically impossible promise to cut prices by 1,000%.

    “We have something coming up, favored nations, where I’m going to be reducing drug prices by 1,400-1,500%,” he said in late August.

    And again just last week, Trump said, “We’re gonna be reducing drug prices down to a level that nobody—not by 20%, 30%—by like 1,000%. Because, you know, we’re paying sometimes 10 times more than other nations, and we’re not doing it anymore.”

    If you take a drug’s price down to zero, that’s a 100% reduction. Anything beyond that dips into negative numbers. Was Trump really promising that drug companies would pay people to take their drugs? Of course not. He’s just that profoundly stupid.

    Now, it is true that drugs in the United States are far more expensive than abroad. Republicans—and some Democrats—have long blocked reimportation of cheaper Canadian drugs. And Canada isn’t thrilled either. Big Pharma lobbyists, laughably, claim that importing identical drugs from across the border is a health risk.

    To his credit, Trump has consistently made noise about lowering prices—even during his first term—but it still hasn’t been enough to cut through Big Pharma’s lobbyists. But the truth is, Trump doesn’t really care. He doesn’t have to worry about affording prescriptions, and neither does his family.

    And yesterday, he proved that again by announcing on Truth Social a plan that would double many prescription drug prices.

    Starting October 1st, 2025, we will be imposing a 100% Tariff on any branded or patented Pharmaceutical Product, unless a Company IS BUILDING their Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Plant in America. “IS BUILDING” will be defined as, “breaking ground” and/or “under construction.” There will, therefore, be no Tariff on these Pharmaceutical Products if construction has started. Thank you for your attention to this matter!

    So in one week, if foreign manufacturers haven’t bought land, drawn up plans, secured permits, and broken ground, Americans will pay the price.

    A 2019 Government Accounting Office study found that more than 60% of drug manufacturers for the U.S. market were located overseas in fiscal year 2018. Similarly, the Food and Drug Administration estimated that about 40% of finished drugs and 80% of active drug ingredients are manufactured overseas.

    Trump promised to lower prices “on Day 1.” Instead, he’s about to double prices on one of the most expensive line items in many families’ budgets. Not to mention, the impact on Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and veteran resources could be catastrophic.

    And that’s real math.

  429. says

    Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff of Georgia wants to talk about real issues—not escalators.

    On Thursday’s edition of the popular “Pod Save America” podcast, co-host Tommy Vietor was interviewing Ossoff and brought up President Donald Trump’s pathetic claim that sinister forces at the United Nations sabotaged both an escalator and a teleprompter during his appearance there this week.

    “To the best of your knowledge, is it a crime to turn off an escalator?” Vietor asked the senator.

    “I’m sure that all the folks in Georgia who are, you know, losing access to labor and delivery services, or maybe to an ICU because of these Medicaid cuts, or whose groceries have gone up 8% in a year, will be relieved that the president’s investigating escalator failures in New York City,” Ossoff said. [video] […]

    Link

  430. says

    Trump says he’s sending troops to Portland

    […] Trump said on Saturday morning that he is sending U.S. troops to Portland to “protect” the city and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities from antifa and other “domestic terrorists.”

    “At the request of Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, I am directing Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, to provide all necessary Troops to protect War ravaged Portland, and any of our ICE Facilities under siege from attack by Antifa, and other domestic terrorists,” [JFC!] the president wrote in a post on Truth Social.

    “I am also authorizing Full Force, if necessary,” Trump added. “Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

    […] Earlier this week, Trump signed an order formally designating antifa as a domestic terrorist organization, giving the U.S. government a broad mandate to probe the anti-fascist movement’s operations or any instances where an antifa member “provided material support.” […]

  432. says

    Washington Post link

    “National Weather Service at ‘breaking point’ as storm approaches”

    “Staffing cuts under the Trump administration mean forecasters are struggling to maintain normal operations.”

    Some National Weather Service staffers are working double shifts to keep forecasting offices open. Others are operating under a “buddy system,” in which adjacent offices help monitor severe weather in understaffed regions. Still others are jettisoning services deemed not absolutely necessary, such as making presentations to schoolchildren.

    The Trump administration’s cuts to the Weather Service — where nearly 600 workers, or about 1 in every 7, have left through firings, resignations or retirements — are pushing the agency to its limits, according to interviews with current and former staffers.

    The incoming head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has promised to prioritize filling those jobs, and the White House recently granted the Weather Service an exemption from a government-wide hiring freeze. But as the Atlantic hurricane season peaks and wildfires ramp up in the West, hundreds of positions remain vacant, staff said. Forecasters are currently watching two storms, including one that could pose a threat for the eastern United States by early next week.

    So far, exhausted employees have maintained weather monitoring and forecasting almost without interruption, staff said. But many are wondering how much longer they can keep it up. If the government shuts down next week when funding runs out, many employees could also find themselves working without pay, at least temporarily.

    “We have a strained and severely stretched situation,” said Tom Fahy, legislative director for the National Weather Service Employees Organization, the union that represents the agency’s workers. The Weather Service has a famously dedicated workforce, he said, but workers can put in only so many long hours and extra shifts. “There’s a breaking point.”

    Fahy said two offices — one in California’s Central Valley and another in western Kansas — no longer have enough staffing to operate around the clock. And, he added, “there are still a dozen offices across the country that are operating on reduced staffs.”

    […] Even before this year’s losses, the Weather Service was considered understaffed, employing roughly 4,300 people — 200 below ideal personnel levels, agency leaders said at the time. But the sudden cuts were unprecedented in the agency’s recent history, Fahy said. Between 2010 and 2015, for example, roughly 600 workers left the Weather Service through attrition and retirement — this year, the same number vanished in a matter of months.

    […] Now, midway through a hurricane season that forecasters initially expected to bring as many as 19 named storms, staff are finding ways to keep things running, they said — often at significant cost to their work-life balance and physical and mental health. Managers are picking up forecasting shifts. In a bid to ensure robust forecasting, some offices are sharing their employees remotely with understaffed locations, at times requiring those staffers to work overtime or through weekends. […]

  441. says

    PORTLAND (The Borowitz Report)—Donald J. Trump’s latest use of the military against US citizens backfired spectacularly on Saturday after Federal troops arrived in Portland, Oregon and immediately formed indie bands.

    Across the city, personnel who were until recently members of the military were seen at pawn shops, trading in their automatic weapons for mandolins and zithers.

    Within minutes, Portland’s bulletin boards became plastered with flyers for such newly-minted bands as The Kristi Nomads and Hegadeth.

    As the city’s sidewalks transformed into an obstacle course of harmonica-blowing buskers, one longtime Portland resident commented, “We didn’t need Federal troops, but we really didn’t need more bands.”

    https://www.borowitzreport.com/p/federal-troops-arrive-in-portland

  442. StevoR says

    Comey, the long-time nemesis of Donald Trump from the early days of Trump’s first term, has been criminally charged with two felonies, both related to a lie he allegedly told Congress in 2020.

    Source : https://edition.cnn.com/2025/09/25/politics/what-to-know-james-comey-case-indictment

    So given Comey has been criminally charged for lying to Congress can we arrest and criminally charge Trump’s traitor SCOTUS “justices” for doing so as well given they lied about Roe Vs Wade being settled law heavily implying they wouldn’t take away women’s rights when, of course, they later did thereby gaining their jobs by fraud / deception?

  443. JM says

    The Guardian: Putin preparing to attack another European country, Zelenskyy says

    Vladimir Putin will expand his war in Ukraine by attacking another European country, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has predicted, and accused Russia of recent drone incursions that he said were an attempt to test Nato’s defences.

    Speaking in Kyiv after his meeting with Donald Trump at the UN in New York, the Ukrainian president said Russia was preparing for a bigger conflict. “Putin will not wait to finish his war in Ukraine. He will open up some other direction. Nobody knows where. He wants that,” he said.

    Zelensky is obviously correct that the recent violations of air space are testing NATO response and defenses.
    Why Putin would be doing this is a bigger question. He could simply be trying to get the western countries to pull some air defense for their own usage. It could be intelligence gathering because Ukraine is using the same air defense systems.
    If he is considering invading another country I see two likely scenarios. The first is opening a new front and then offering to back off if Russia is given Ukraine. That is absurd but may make a manipulative bully’s sense to Putin. The second would be because he thinks going full military dictator and taking total control is the only way he can hold on to power. In this case he doesn’t think he can win, he just wants to start enough of a global war to justify his actions. In this case he likely plans to use full nuclear threats to freeze the front in a while.

    “I am not comparing our forces. We are at war and they [Poland] are not,” he said. Zelenskyy said representatives from several unnamed countries would travel to Ukraine to receive “practical training” in how to repel Russian aerial attacks. “We are ready to share our experience,” he added.

    Not a surprise. NATO has strong air defense but it isn’t ready for drone swarms. NATO is in a position where they could easily spend millions per day knocking a tens of thousands worth of drones out of the air. They need to reorganize their defenses and prepare some way to deal with clusters of cheap drones.

  445. says

    Donald Trump wants you to go to the pediatrician more, for no good reason

    “The president’s latest recommendation isn’t just medically flawed. It’s massively inconvenient for parents everywhere.”

    Related video at the link.

    If you have a young child, you know how difficult a trip to the pediatrician can be.

    Call the doctor’s office to set up an appointment. Please listen closely as our menu options have changed. Press 2. Oops. Call back and press 3. Sorry, we don’t have any appointments for six weeks. Ask your boss for the morning off. Pack the baby bag with an extra outfit just in case. Diaper change. Long car ride as you play that one song over and over. Look for parking. Diaper change, again. Good thing you packed the extra clothes. Show your insurance card. Last time the copay was only $10. What do you mean it’s changed? Wait in a room full of crying babies and a toddler who keeps sneezing without covering his mouth. Pepper the doctor with a dozen questions. Is she sleeping enough? Is she sleeping too much? What’s this weird rash on her leg? Time for a shot. Slather your hands with sanitizer. Head home.

    In the first year alone, you can have as many as seven appointments with a pediatrician so that they can monitor your child’s growth, check on their developmental milestones and give them the appropriate vaccinations. It’s exhausting, but it’s worth it to ensure you catch any problems early — and also for the reassurance you get as a parent if the doctor doesn’t find any. And while those vaccine shots aren’t pleasant, you feel a weight off your shoulders after your kids get another one, knowing you’re doing your best to protect against any number of harmful diseases and conditions.

    But it now appears that President Donald Trump thinks you should schedule a few more of these sometimes harrowing appointments — because, why not?

    In an all-caps post on his Truth Social account, Trump advised “Pregnant Women” to break up their child’s MMR shot (for measles, mumps and rubella) into “three totally separate shots (not mixed!),” get the chickenpox shot separately, delay taking the hepatitis B vaccine for several years and “take vaccine in 5 separate medical visits” (I’m not even sure what this means) along with some more of his weird rantings about Tylenol. [social media post]

    I’ll leave it to the public health professionals to explain why there’s no evidence for any of his bizarre assertions, the fact-checkers to demolish his evidence-free claims about vaccines and Tylenol and the current-and-former “Pregnant Women” to explain why he should take a hike when he tells them to go without the safest and most-recommended over-the-counter pain reliever for them and instead “tough it out.”

    I’m just a dad with four kids who has seen my share of pediatrician appointments. And I’m going to venture a wild guess that Trump hasn’t spent much time in the pediatrician’s office with his kids, even though he has one more kid than me. (As he told Howard Stern in 2005 about having more kids with Melania: “I mean, I won’t do anything to take care of them. I’ll supply funds and she’ll take care of the kids. It’s not like I’m gonna be walking the kids down Central Park.”)

    So I don’t take kindly to Trump’s apparent suggestion that you schedule what this social media post appears to suggest is a total of nine separate vaccinations with your pediatrician, on top of all the other appointments you’re already making — especially when there’s no valid medical reason for it. If you follow Trump’s logic, you’d need separate appointments for shots for rotavirus, diphtheria, polio and flu, too. The diphtheria shot is usually “mixed” with tetanus and acellular pertussis, so he might want you to break those up too. And some of these require multiple doses, which he presumably thinks should all be separate too.

    It’s not just the inconvenience. If you are lower-income, more mornings off work, more potential parking fees and more copays can be a real hardship. The last of those is especially rich as an unnamed presidential advisers just claimed in a particularly atrocious Politico article that the real reason pediatricians want to vaccinate your children is that they are taking payola from the pharmaceutical companies. So, Trump is taking them on by — making me see them more? Breaking up the MMR vaccine alone would triple their revenue from copays!

    Trump’s blasé attitude toward adding to your already stressful pediatric schedule reminded me of Google co-founder Sergey Brin, who wrote in a memo viewed by The New York Times that the company’s employees should be in the office more, claiming that “60 hours a week is the sweet spot of productivity.” That may be true for Brin, but he can only work those kinds of hours because he is surrounded by assistants — the chauffeurs, nannies and personal chefs who help keep his life on track.

    The rest of us nonbillionaires have no such luck. In Trump’s case, he probably thinks we should just leave that all to women. He addressed his advice to “Pregnant Women” after all.

    This is one dad who’s here to say, no thanks. I’m going to keep taking my kids to the pediatrician on my schedule. We’re going to get the shots she thinks are necessary, when she recommends them. And we’ll take Tylenol according to the standard recommendations. I’ll keep taking my medical advice from the professionals, not an unhinged, all-caps social media post from an out-of-touch billionaire.

  446. says

    […] Trump notched a startling legal win Friday evening, as the Supreme Court gave an early stamp of approval to a legal theory so outlandish that experts at one point predicted to TPM it wouldn’t “get a single vote.”

    The Court blessed, at the preliminary stage, Trump’s gambit to zero out money Congress already appropriated. With one weird timing trick, the administration claimed, it could request that the money not be spent close enough to the end of the fiscal year that the funds would simply freeze indefinitely. The theory — called a “pocket rescission” — is at near comical odds with the text of the Impoundment Control Act, specifically passed to restrict this exact presidential infringement upon Congress’ spending powers.

    […] The justices imply that they buy the Trump administration’s (very novel) argument that the group that brought the suit, an organization that would see its funding taken by this rescission, lacks standing. [Sheesh]

    “Major victory,” tweeted Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought, the architect behind the pocket rescission “theory.”

    Justice Elena Kagan, joined by the other two liberals, wrote a dissent about the dangers of deciding such monumental cases hastily, without briefing and argument, on the emergency docket.

    “In a few weeks’ time — when we turn to our regular docket — we will decide cases of far less import with far more process and reflection,” she wrote.

    Then she turned to the desecration of the separation of powers, noting that Trump’s displeasure with Congress’ spending decisions is not a real argument against them.

    “That is just the price of living under a Constitution that gives Congress the power to make spending decisions through the enactment of appropriations laws,” she wrote, adding that “it is merely a frustration any President must bear.”

    The order is a resounding win for Trump, further proof that the right-wing majority will find a way to expand his power no matter how flimsy the argument. The administration, in turn, is acting with the hubris of a White House that just crossed a major boundary and was congratulated for it.

    The same evening the Court handed down its order, the administration asked the justices, again, to take up its birthright citizen case. The attempt to strip undocumented immigrants and short-term visa holders of their citizenship rights was the first priority of the new Trump administration, though the executive order has lain dormant after four federal judges blocked it as blatantly unconstitutional.

    While a prong of the birthright citizenship order reached the Court earlier this summer, it was only a narrow vehicle for convincing the justices to blunt the power of national injunctions (they complied).

    So the administration is now serving up the brunt of its argument, an extraordinary challenge to the Constitution via an extraordinary process, as Trump isn’t bothering to wait for lower court appellate decisions.

    “The Clause was adopted to confer citizenship on the newly freed slaves and their children, not on the children of aliens temporarily visiting the United States or of illegal aliens,” wrote the government in its new brief.

    The administration got additional happy legal news this week, as Justice Clarence Thomas told a public audience at Catholic University on Thursday that precedent is not “the gospel,” [!] not findings the justices should accept blindly “as some sort of talismanic deal.”

    These remarks come as the Court seems close to overturning Humphrey’s Executor v. U.S. (protecting members of independent agencies from at-will firing), Thornburg v. Gingles (allowing for the use of race in redistricting) and is mulling taking the opportunity to overturn the right to same-sex marriage (Obergefell v. Hodges). Thomas himself urged the Court in Dobbs to add Griswold v. Connecticut and Lawrence v. Texas to that list, the right to contraceptives for married couples and to consensual sexual conduct, respectively. […]

    Well that’s a ton of bad news.

    Link

  448. says

    Washington Post link

    “EXCLUSIVE: Trump to attend gathering of top generals, upending last-minute plans”

    “Hundreds of top military officers and staff have been summoned to Virginia on short notice for a speech by Pete Hegseth. Trump decided this weekend to attend the meeting, adding new security concerns.”

    […] Trump has decided he’s going to the last-minute global gathering of the nation’s top generals in Quantico, Virginia, that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered last week.

    Trump’s appearance not only upstages Hegseth’s plans, but adds new security concerns to the massive and nearly unprecedented military event.

    […] Notice went out to offices around the Pentagon that the decision will “significantly change the security posture” of the speech, set for Tuesday morning.

    The addition of the president at Quantico will now put the Secret Service in charge of securing the event. Hundreds of the military’s top commanding generals and admirals, ranked one-star and above, along with their senior enlisted leaders were ordered to attend by Hegseth last week. The orders provided no reason for the event and initially raised concern among attendees and military officials that he was gathering the group to inform them of mass firings or demotions.

    […] the now expanded visit from the president could change that schedule — and add a more politicized tenor to the gathering.

    “It’s the mother of all photo ops,” said Eugene R. Fidell, a military law expert at Yale Law School. The potential for the event to be politicized, and add to the politicization of the military, “is tremendously concerning and should be tremendously concerning to the American people.” [Well, that’s a good point, but I think we are well past bemoaning the Trump administration’s politicization of the military. They already did that.]

    It is estimated that the cost of flying, lodging and transporting all of the military leaders — some of whom will be traveling from the Middle East, Europe and the Indo-Pacific — will be in the millions of dollars. The event has also raised security concerns about having all the top leadership in one place, particularly given that Tuesday is the end of the fiscal year, and if the government shuts down it could leave key personnel stranded from their units. […]

    Hegseth has committed to reducing the general officer corps by 20 percent and has fired without cause roughly two dozen senior officers — a disproportionate number of them female general or flag officers — since he was sworn in.

    Hegseth is seriously considering reducing the rank of the top commanding generals at several top posts from four to three stars, and proposing a significant consolidation of the combatant commands, which are major regional headquarters focused on areas such as Africa, the Middle East and the Indo-Pacific, several officials familiar with that planning and speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive internal deliberations told The Post.

    […] On Saturday, Trump in a Truth Social post ordered the Pentagon to send troops to “War ravaged” Portland, Oregon, authorizing them to use “Full Force” to protect Immigration and Customs Enforcement sites that have drawn sporadic protesters. The order was not clear as to whether he intended to send troops under federal control or activate troops under state control, but any deployment could be challenged in court.

    Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek (D), said she doesn’t believe Trump has the authority to deploy federal troops on state soil and is working with the attorney general on a potential response.

    Trump’s deployment order also comes just days after he signed an executive order directing the nation’s law enforcement and military capabilities to be used against “domestic terrorism and organized political violence,” an edict that gives the administration sweeping powers to investigate and prosecute a broad array of political opponents.

    This is a developing story and will be updated.

    That’s eyebrow-raising: all of the USA’s military leadership, and the president of the USA, in one place at one time.

  450. JM says

    @448 Lynna, OM: It also greatly increases the risk that this will end up being about pledging loyalty to Trump. Even if that isn’t the plan they will be in a position of having to agree with whatever rambling nonsense that Trump says. It easily could be accidental, with Trump going just to keep Hegseth from being the center of attention but still end up a pledge of loyalty to Trump. If he makes some speech about the importance of following presidential policy or rambles on about destroying the drug trade in Venezuela even if they have to push the government aside the whole thing ends up being a loyalty pledge.

  451. KG says

    Trump has decided he’s going to the last-minute global gathering of the nation’s top generals in Quantico, Virginia, that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered last week. – Lynna, OM@448, quoting Washington Post

    Worried that Hegseth is planning to launch a military coup?

  452. says

    Washington Post link

    “At least one dead, nine injured in Michigan church shooting, police say”

    “Authorities said they expect to find more victims after they search the portion of the church in Grand Blanc, Michigan, that was set on fire.”

    Local authorities said a 40-year-old man rammed a vehicle through the front doors of a Mormon church in Grand Blanc, Michigan, on Sunday, before opening fire with a gun, killing at least one person and injuring several others.

    Ten victims were transported to local hospitals, one of whom has died, Grand Blanc Township Police Chief William Renye said at a news conference Sunday. The suspect is also dead, according to Renye, who did not identify them by name.

    Officials early Sunday urged residents to avoid the area. The church was actively on fire but the blaze has since been contained.

    Renye said officials expect to find additional victims once they search the area where the fire was.

    Officials said they plan to hold another news conference later Sunday.

    “I am receiving briefings about what appears to be a horrific shooting and fire at an LDS church in Grand Blanc, Michigan,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said on X. “Such violence at a place of worship is heartbreaking and chilling.”

    Bondi said agents from the FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are on their way to Grand Blanc. Local authorities said more than 100 FBI agents will be devoted to the case.

    Grand Blanc, just outside of Flint, is roughly 60 miles north of Detroit, with a population of about 8,000.

    The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc neighbors a Jehovah’s Witness church in a residential neighborhood. […]

    KG @451, I don’t think Hegseth has the cognitive ability to launch a military coup.

  453. says

    Eric Adams drops out of New York City mayoral race

    “The New York City mayor had been running for re-election as a third-party candidate but was running in fourth place in a number of recent public polls.”

    New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced Sunday that he is dropping his third-party bid for re-election, narrowing the field for November’s election.

    “Despite all we’ve achieved, I cannot continue my re-election campaign,” Adams said in a video posted to X. “The constant media speculation about my future and the campaign finance board’s decision to withhold millions of dollars have undermined my ability to raise the funds needed for a serious campaign.”

    In a nearly nine-minute video, Adams — who enjoyed strong ratings from New Yorkers early in his term but saw his standing plummet after being indicted on federal corruption charges and then seeing those charges dropped by the Trump administration — said he hoped New Yorkers “will see that despite the headlines and the innuendo, I always put you before me.”

    […] [I snipped comments from New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.]

    Adams’ announcement comes after weeks of speculation that he could exit the race and help consolidate non-Mamdani support behind Cuomo. Mamdani defeated Cuomo in the June Democratic primary.

    However, Adams’ name will still be on ballots this fall, since he exited the race after a deadline to print them. [I snipped speculation about how Cuomo may benefit from Adams dropping out.]

    Adams has not been a major factor in the race for some time. The public polls have shown him running in a distant fourth place, with Mamdani staked to a double-digit lead ahead of Cuomo and then Sliwa, with Adams further behind.

    […] Adams did appear to take a swipe at Mamdani, arguing that “extremism is growing in our politics.”

    […] Adams’ decision is a full reversal from his position just days ago, when he declared in a social media post on X that he was “not going anywhere.”

    […] Adams laid out a rationale for dropping out in a Saturday MSNBC interview, in which he accused the media of sandbagging his campaign and lamented what he called “bogus” corruption charges against him. [I snipped more comments from Adams.]

    Earlier this month, […] Trump told reporters he would like to see two candidates in the crowded election leave the race to boost the chances of defeating Mamdani, a progressive who trounced Cuomo in New York’s Democratic primary in June.

    [I snipped Trump’s comments, which included calling Mamdani a “communist.”]

    […] Adams was indicted in September 2024 on federal charges, including bribery and campaign finance violations. The Department of Justice alleged that he “used his prominent positions in New York City government to obtain illegal campaign contributions and luxury travel.” […]

  454. says

    ICE is transferring people in its custody away from family, lawyers

    A Coast Guard plane carrying several dozen people in immigration custody landed in Alaska in early June.

    Several of the men said that they didn’t have bathroom access on the plane — or even seats. They flew shackled in the cargo area of the plane.

    They’d been transferred from the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, Washington, to the Anchorage Correctional Complex, a facility run by the state Department of Corrections.

    “From that moment on, I personally felt dehumanized,” said one man who kept a journal from the experience.

    […] Transfers of people in ICE custody between facilities are becoming more and more common under the Trump administration. According to an ICE Flight Monitor report from Human Rights First, transfer flights from January through August increased 43% compared with the same time period last year. [!]

    “These frequent transfers not only disorient individuals but also make it significantly harder for them to access legal counsel and maintain contact with family,” the report says.

    […] Luis Peralta, who was transferred from Miami to Tacoma, told Capital & Main that officers did not allow him to bring his personal documents with him when they moved him. That meant that he didn’t have access to any phone numbers for family members — his mother’s had been written on a piece of paper in his belongings at the Miami facility.

    That also meant he hadn’t been able to reach the attorney that his family found for him, he said. Peralta, who has been in the U.S. since he was a child and was arrested by ICE outside his home in Miami, said he hoped to fight to stay in the U.S. because he has several children here and provides for them. […] “Being transferred is like the worst experience that anybody could go through.”

    He said that during the transfer, officials didn’t tell the group where the plane was headed until they had been flying for several hours. Each man received a piece of bread and cheese and a bottle of water as the only sustenance for the entire day, he said.

    Their wrists, ankles and waists were shackled together, he said. […]

    Another man transferred from Miami said that ICE transferred him after a judge approved his request for bond so that he could get out of custody. [!]

    “It was like a strategic move,” the man said. “I went to court. The judge approved me for a bond, and literally two days later I was here.”

    He said a judge in Tacoma later denied him bond. {1}

    “I don’t see like it’s fair to us as human beings to just be shipping us around the country like this,” the man said. “I’m on the other side of the country away from my family. My family can’t come visit me.”

    […] “If I’m waiting to get deported, why would I go to Alaska?” he said. “It makes zero sense.”

    After several of the men refused to leave the Tacoma facility, officials threatened them with federal criminal charges, according to multiple accounts. Then officials arrived in riot gear, according to the detainees. Some people used sheets to hold their doors closed, according to the detainees, while others watched, worried that they would be swept up in whatever violence might come, even though they weren’t participating.

    […] The men sent to Alaska said their transfer there meant they spent several weeks in conditions even worse than those they had previously complained about at the Tacoma facility run by GEO Group — conditions that contradict ICE’s own policies and standards. {1!]

    […] Several of the men told Capital & Main that they were not allowed to make phone calls for days, so they were unable to inform their families or their attorneys what had happened to them or where they were. Under the ICE detention standards, facilities are required to provide phone access to detainees during waking hours.

    When, after several days, one man asked for access to his belongings so he could get a phone number to make a call, a guard at the facility left and returned with other guards who launched pepper spray, according to several of the men.

    “You are completely unable to breathe for two days, and you’re coughing every 10 seconds because all the residue is stuck to the walls and the floor,” one man recalled.

    The men were held in overcrowded cells, with one sleeping on a mattress on the floor, they said. In another violation of ICE detention standards, they weren’t given daily access to the yard, they said.

    The American Civil Liberties Union of Alaska wrote a letter to the Alaska Department of Corrections and ICE about the conditions that the men were held in, including the incident involving pepper spray, which the letter calls a “particularly egregious and excessive use of force.”

    The letter says that the facility staff did not follow ICE guidance which would require a consultation with medical staff prior to using pepper spray.

    “If they had, they would have been made aware that one of the individuals whom they pepper sprayed was diagnosed with borderline chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and that exposure to such an irritant could be deadly,” the ACLU of Alaska wrote in the letter.

    In the letter, the ACLU noted that it had already sued over conditions in the facility in the state criminal system before ICE moved people in its custody there, and it said that multiple people have died in the facility this year. […]

    “In other words, ACC currently does not safely house those charged with or convicted of crimes,” the ACLU wrote in the letter (emphasis in original). “And immigrant detainees are entitled to even greater protections.”

    That’s because people in ICE custody are in civil detention rather than criminal custody, meaning that they cannot be held as punishment and the standards for what custody looks like for them are supposed to be different.

    “On June 4, 2025, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) agent asked how many immigrant detainees the Anchorage Correctional Complex (“ACC”) could safely house for longer than 72 hours,” the letter says. “Given the inability of ACC to meet federal standards of care, the answer should have been zero.”

    A few of the men were deported while in Alaska. The rest returned to Northwest ICE Processing Center after a few weeks at the Alaska facility.

    But as ICE transfers continue to increase, the detainees do not know how long they might remain there. […]

  455. says

    Who needs late night when Trump lampoons himself in federal court?

    […] Trump’s defamation complaint [against The New York Times] pays cringe, fawning tribute to himself. It literally talks about his own “singular brilliance” and describes his 2024 election win as “the greatest personal and political achievement in American history.” [Wow. LOL, LOL]

    Eighty-five pages […] begins by claiming he won “in historic fashion,” securing a “resounding mandate from the American people.” Unless you watch Fox News exclusively, you know that to be a lie. Trump’s win over Kamala Harris was less than 1.5% of the voting population, one of the smallest presidential victories in US history.

    […] Trump boldly claims he invented the phrase, “You’re fired,” as if every single person ever fired prior to the year 2004 was told, […] “You’re terminated.”

    Trump insists that he made The Apprentice a success— and not the other way around. He does not claim the NYT defamed him over The Apprentice, but that they groveled insufficiently over it. […]

    After his NDA finally expired, Bill Pruitt, producer of the first two seasons, was free to tell the truth. He said Trump “was not, by any stretch, a successful New York real estate tycoon like we made him out to be… We needed to legitimize Donald Trump as someone who all these young, capable people would be clamoring over one another trying to get a job working for.”

    Pruitt readily admits the whole show was a con job that worked, because Trump recognized the show would “elevate his brand.” It’s also likely where Trump grew so fond of being called “Sir,” not recognizing the sarcasm of an inside joke.

    Trump’s complaint also harangues about the book “Lucky Loser: How Donald Trump Squandered His Father’s Fortune and Created the Illusion of Success” by Times reporters Susanne Craig and Russ Buettner, now available on Kindle for $13.99.

    Written by the authors who wrote the 2018 NYT exposé of Trump’s finances, Lucky Loser exposes how “one of the country’s biggest business failures lied his way” into the White House:
    – Trump spun a hardscrabble fable of how he parlayed a small loan from his father into a multibillion-dollar business and real estate empire.
    – This feat, he argued, made him singularly qualified to lead the country.
    – Except none of it was true. As his wealthy father’s chosen successor, Trump received the equivalent today of more than $500 million in family money…

    […] Last week, Republican appointed Judge Steven Merryday struck down Trump’s $15 billion lawsuit, giving Trump’s counsel 28 days to file a version that complies with federal pleading rules.

    Merryday wrote in his dismissal order that the complaint included legally improper puffery, “florid and enervating” pages lavishing blind praise on Trump while indulging his nonstop grievances. Merryday dressed down Trump’s legal team for violating pleading rules “every member of the bar of every federal court knows, or is presumed to know…”

    After recounting with scorn some of the more lurid absurdities in Trump’s complaint, Merryday reminded Trump’s counsel that a complaint at law is not an ego stroke for Trump, a PR tool for Fox News, or a rally speech for MAGA voters who don’t know any better.

    […] As the world watches Trump try to imprison his political adversaries, the raucous incompetence of most of his lawyers deserves a belly laugh. […]

    See also: https://sabrinahaake.substack.com/p/republicans-have-funded-the-worlds to see more of Sabrina Haake’s work.
    Haake is a columnist and 25+ year federal trial attorney specializing in 1st and 14th A defense. Her Substack, The Haake Take, is free.

  456. says

    Pro-EU party leads in high-stakes Moldovan election

    “The parliamentary election comes amid reports of an “unprecedented” Russian hybrid interference campaign.”

    The pro-EU Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) is firmly in the lead of Moldova’s election, with around half of votes counted so far and PAS-sympathetic constituencies still to tally.

    The election is seen as a landmark that could determine whether the country stays on course to join the European Union, amid widespread warnings of interference by Russia.

    The Central Election Commission is tallying results, with provisional counts set to come in through the night — although the outcome will only be fully verified after the watchdog and external observers present their findings later on Monday morning.

    With more than half of the votes counted, PAS is firmly in the lead with more than 40 percent of the vote compared to around 30 percent for the pro-Russian Patriotic Electoral Bloc (BEP). […]

    The PAS is hoping to secure a renewed majority, having held 61 seats out of 101 in the national parliament since 2021 and vowing to take the country into the EU within the next five years.

    However, officials say the pro-Russian BEP and the more opaque Alternativa opposition bloc stand to gain from a campaign of disinformation and bribery orchestrated from Moscow.

    […] “We’re seeing unprecedented efforts: more money to buy votes, more AI-driven disinformation amplified by troll networks, and more resources dedicated to orchestrating street violence.” […]

    Throughout Sunday, bomb threats were reported at polling stations abroad — including one that forced the evacuation of Moldova’s embassy in Brussels. “Police report intel on groups planning unrest in Chișinău starting tonight and during tomorrow’s protest called by the pro-Russian Patriotic bloc,” Secreriu later wrote online.

    Last year, a referendum on EU membership narrowly passed and liberal President Maia Sandu secured a second term in office despite votes marred by allegations of Kremlin election meddling. In both cases, ballots from the hundreds of thousands of Moldovans living abroad — many in EU countries — were critical in swinging the result.

    […] the diaspora has also faced a wave of hybrid efforts to sway their votes or encourage them to stay home. More than 900 accounts have been identified working as part of a coordinated effort, spreading AI-generated disinformation linked to Russia. [!] […]

  459. birgerjohansson says

    Latest Yougov poll shows negative approval rating in every age category and in every demograpic for DJT.
    Ring of Fire:
    “Trump’s Poll Numbers Drop Among EVERY SINGLE Demographic”
    .https://youtube.com/watch?v=YsXsw2Qsgt
    This is unique. He is the most impopular president since polling was invented.
    With net negative popularity everywhere, the MAGA followers on social media form an outlier, not representing a real majority. If the feckless Dem leadership could ride this discontent they could break Trump.

  460. birgerjohansson says

    “The Silence of Laughter” is a new British TV series with Rowan Atkinson and Tilda Swinton that appears to be a thriller series, it is difficult to nail down what the PR gobbedygook means.

  462. KG says

    Good news from Moldova:

    With more than 99.9% of the ballots counted, Maia Sandu’s pro-western Action and Solidarity party (PAS) garnered 50.16% of the vote to elect members of the 101-seat parliament.

    That compared to 24.19% for a Moscow-leaning alliance of Soviet-nostalgic parties headed by former president Igor Dodon, according to results published on the election commission’s website.

    My colleague Pjotr Sauer explained that Sandu’s PAS party outperformed pre-election surveys, which had suggested it would remain the largest party but risk falling short of a majority – potentially limiting her push to deliver on a pledge of EU membership within a decade.

    But the result marks a major victory for Sandu, who has staked her presidency on a pro-European course and accused Russia of deploying unprecedented underhand tactics to sway voters in the impoverished nation squeezed between Ukraine and Romania.

    If these results are confirmed, it’s a stunning defeat for fascism. A pro-Putin Moldova would have made Ukraine’s position considerably more difficult, and strengthened fascism in Romania and beyond, even if it didn’t lead to a build-up of Putin’s forces in the breakaway Transnistria region (where there is already a small Russian force supposedly protecting the residents).

  468. JM says

    Newsweek: Donald Trump’s ‘MedBed’ Video Comes Under Scrutiny

    After President Donald Trump appeared to delete an AI-generated video on Truth Social of him promoting new ‘MedBed’ hospitals, the internet has been awash with concern over the president’s seeming advocacy of what is recognized as a conspiracy theory.
    The video, shared on the social media platform on Saturday night, was recorded by a number of X users and shared to the platform after it disappeared from the president’s Truth Social feed.

    Medbeds are part of the qanon conspiracy conglomerate. It isn’t clear if this was posted in accident or if somebody realized what a bad idea this was and deleted it after it was posted.
    For those not aware, Medbeds is the conspiracy theory that advanced medical technology exists that can cure most medical problems instantly. It’s suppressed by big medical firms and the global elite but available on a small scale to those elite.
    This is an insane conspiracy but popular in certain circles. Trump’s actions have thrown fire on this mess.

  469. says

    Fani Willis faces subpoena from Trump’s Justice Department, joining unsettling list

    “As the Georgia district attorney faces DOJ scrutiny, at least she has a lot of company among other presidential foes who face federal investigations.”

    Two weeks ago, in the midst of a flurry of authoritarian developments at the White House, Donald Trump called for the incarceration of a prosecutor in Georgia who tried to hold him accountable for alleged crimes after his 2020 election defeat.

    “She should be put in jail,” the president said. “She’s a criminal. Fani Willis is a criminal.”

    The New York Times reported a week later:

    The Department of Justice has issued a subpoena for records related to the travel history of Fani T. Willis, the Georgia district attorney who charged President Trump in a sweeping election interference case, according to a federal grand jury subpoena reviewed by The New York Times. The scope of the investigation is not yet clear. Also unclear is whether Ms. Willis is the target of the inquiry and whether she will ultimately face charges.

    […] It was around this time two years ago when Trump was first criminally indicted in Georgia, with charges stemming from his efforts to overturn the state’s results in the 2020 presidential election. (Joe Biden narrowly carried the state at the time, to the great frustration to the Republican White House.)

    The case took all kinds of twists and turns in the months that followed, and earlier this month, the Georgia Supreme Court ultimately ended Willis’ involvement in it. Nevertheless, the local Democratic prosecutor quickly climbed near the top of Trump’s list of enemies, with the president condemning her publicly hundreds of times.

    It’s against this backdrop, in developments that roughly coincided with the president calling Willis a “criminal,” that Trump’s Justice Department decided to subpoena Willis’ travel records as part of a federal grand jury process.

    […] let’s not lose sight of the larger pattern.

    Trump’s Justice Department has already secured a criminal indictment against former FBI Director James Comey, one of the president’s favorite targets, and the president has indicated that he also wants an investigation into Comey’s successor at the bureau, former Director Chris Wray, based Trump’s confusion about a ridiculous Jan. 6 conspiracy theory.

    But we’re just getting started. Team Trump is also investigating New York Attorney General Letitia James. And Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff of California. And former CIA Director John Brennan. And former White House National Security Adviser John Bolton. And even former President Joe Biden.

    While we’re at it, let’s also not forget that the president endorsed California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s arrest, before demanding that CNN face criminal prosecution for running reports the White House didn’t like.

    And did I mention that, over the few months, a Democratic mayor, a Democratic U.S. House member, the staffer of a different Democratic U.S. House member, a sitting judge and a labor leader have all been criminally charged, detained or taken into custody by Trump administration officials? Because all of that happened, too. [Embedded links to sources are available at the main link.]

    As Willis faces a DOJ subpoena, at least she has a lot of company.

  470. says

    More federal prosecutors are ousted as the purge intensifies at Trump’s Justice Department

    “The Trump White House and Attorney General Pam Bondi had already fired too many prosecutors for ridiculous reasons. The problem is still getting worse.”

    Among the many problems that have emerged in federal law enforcement during Donald Trump’s second term is the campaign against key personnel. Indeed, there’s been an unsubtle campaign to purge federal law enforcement of prosecutors and FBI officials who worked on cases that the president didn’t like.

    Attorney General Pam Bondi suggested in March that these efforts were likely to get worse. Evidently, she meant it. The Miami Herald reported last week:

    Federal prosecutor Will Rosenzweig took a short break from his healthcare fraud and money-laundering cases at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Miami this week to observe the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah, with his family. But he noticed something was amiss when his office-issued mobile phone wasn’t working on Tuesday. He called the office to find out what was wrong. Rosenzweig soon learned his phone was shut off because he had been fired by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi.

    The attorney general reportedly ousted Rosenzweig because, eight years ago, while working for a private law firm, he said negative things about Trump via social media. This was long before he became a successful federal prosecutor. Bondi, evidently, didn’t care.

    The Herald’s report noted that Rosenzweig’s Trump criticisms were identified by right-wing influencers who were hunting for federal officials who’d failed to show sufficient loyalty to Trump. And since far-right influencers are steering the White House, as opposed to the other way around, the attorney general apparently felt compelled to show Rosenzweig the door.

    This roughly coincided with Trump firing Erik Siebert, the Trump-nominated U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, for failing to bring weak cases against the president’s political enemies.

    What’s more, the day after the Miami Herald report was published, The New York Times reported:

    For 15 years, Michele Beckwith oversaw some of the toughest federal prosecutions in California. She went after transnational terrorists, sex traffickers and the Aryan brotherhood. She became the acting U.S. attorney in Sacramento this year when her boss, a Biden appointee, stepped down in January. But her career crumbled in July, she said, after she issued a warning to Gregory Bovino, the California face of President Trump’s immigration crackdown.

    According to the Times’ reporting, which has not been independently verified by MSNBC, the trouble began in earnest in July, when Beckwith reminded Bovino that the Border Patrol was under a federal court order prohibiting it from stopping people indiscriminately in her district. When she came to believe that Bovino was moving forward with plans for a raid, she emailed him to reiterate she expected “compliance with court orders and the Constitution.”

    Hours later, the Times noted, she received a call from the White House, letting her know she’d been fired. Beckwith, after insisting on following a court order, “was promptly marched out of the office.”

    It was the same week in which Justice Department fired 20 other people, including two prosecutors who worked under former special counsel Jack Smith and U.S. marshals who assisted those prosecutors.

    In July, Patty Hartman, a 17-year former Justice Department official who worked on Jan. 6 cases, told CBS News after her firing, “The rules don’t exist anymore.” She added, “There used to be a line, used to be a very distinct separation between the White House and the Department of Justice, because one should not interfere with the work of the other. That line is very definitely gone.” […]

    The article added that the removals appear “individually targeted” and are “unrelated to the mass reductions-in-force and reorganizations that Trump has launched at many other federal agencies.”

    In her CBS News interview, Hartman said the administration has “just thrown all of the rules out the window … and I really, truly hope that the country can pull out of it.”

  471. says

    Under Kash Patel, the FBI’s personnel purge goes from bad to worse

    […] the FBI has been purging those deemed insufficiently loyal to the president and his agenda, but the campaign reached new depths last month. As part of an unsubtle revenge tour, three experienced bureau officials found themselves unemployed, including Brian Driscoll, a widely respected figure among rank-and-file agents who was fired after he helped prevent a mass firing of thousands of FBI officials who worked on Jan. 6 cases.

    Reporting on the chaos, MSNBC’s Ken Dilanian noted that the “purge that is ongoing is without precedent in the modern history of the bureau. It raises questions about whether the Trump administration is trying to turn the nation’s most powerful law enforcement agency into an instrument of presidential whim — exactly the thing he baselessly accused his opponent of doing.”

    A month later, the problem is still getting worse. NBC News reported:

    At least 15 FBI agents were fired Friday in connection with their actions during the protests that followed the death of George Floyd, a source familiar with the terminations told NBC News. The agents had been assigned to help secure federal buildings during the demonstrations, when a tense standoff developed between a large crowd of protesters and a limited number of FBI personnel. Some agents were photographed kneeling, which the source described as a tactic meant to de-escalate the conflict.

    The bureau has not yet explained why taking a knee in honor of a murder victim is a fireable offense.

    The FBI Agents Association, however, said in a statement that it “strongly” condemns the firings as “unlawful,” adding that the move violated “the due process rights of those who risk their lives to protect our country.”

    The same statement suggested Director Kash Patel’s personnel purge is illegal.

    “Leaders uphold the law — they don’t repeatedly break it. They respect due process, rather than hide from it,” the FBIAA said. “Patel’s dangerous new pattern of actions are weakening the Bureau because they eliminate valuable expertise and damage trust between leadership and the workforce, and make it harder to recruit and retain skilled agents — ultimately putting our nation at greater risk.”

    In case this isn’t obvious, Patel — an unqualified conspiracy theorist, who’s spent the year struggling with questions about whether he’s up to the job — testified during his confirmation hearings that he would never do what he keeps doing.

    “I have no interest, no desire and will not, if confirmed, go backwards,” the then-nominee told senators. “There will be no politicization at the FBI. There will be no retributive actions taken by any FBI, should I be confirmed as the FBI director.”

    Months later, the director who had no interest in going “backwards” saw his FBI fire at least 15 agents who took a knee for George Floyd five years ago.

  472. says

    Trump’s troop deployment to Portland, Oregon, faces immediate pushback in court

    “The president isn’t sure he’s right about Portland descending into a lawless hellscape, but he’s seen some images while ‘watching things on television.’ [OMFG]

    About a week ago, Donald Trump delivered remarks in which he boasted about the positive feedback he’d received about deploying National Guard troops to Memphis, Tennessee. “Sir, thank you so much,” the president said, quoting locals he’d purportedly heard from. “I live in Memphis, it’s so beautiful. There’s so many people outside. Everybody’s cheering the soldiers, they’re cheering. Thank you so much, sir.”

    There was, of course, one small problem: The deployments in Memphis hadn’t happened yet. The quotes Trump shared were apparently concocted in his imagination, and he presented them as real.

    But as ridiculous as this was, much of the public was left to wonder which city might be next on the White House’s target list. We apparently didn’t have to wait too long to find out. NBC News reported:

    President Donald Trump said Saturday that he was directing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to ‘provide all necessary Troops’ to Portland, Oregon. In a post on Truth Social, the president wrote that the troops would ‘protect War ravaged Portland’ and protect Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities that he claimed are ‘under siege from attack by Antifa and other domestic terrorists.’

    As part of the same online missive, the Republican said he’s “authorizing Full Force, if necessary.” What did that mean, exactly? I’m not altogether sure, though it sounded as if the American president was authorizing the use of military force against Americans on American soil.

    It wasn’t the only area of uncertainty: There were also questions as to whether the president was sending National Guard or active-duty troops (or perhaps both), when this might happen, and whatever became of JD Vance’s recent assurances that Trump would never deploy troops to an American city without an invitation from state and local officials.

    For that matter, we don’t even know for sure whether there will be deployments: Trump claimed on Saturday that he was issuing a directive to the Pentagon, but it’s an open question as to whether he was just making this up.

    What’s more, one day after the presidential announcement, the state of Oregon and the city of Portland sued the administration in the hopes of derailing the deployments, and given the relevant details, the case stands a decent chance of success.

    But as important as these angles are, there’s a related question hanging overhead: Why Portland?

    The official line from Trump is that the city is “war ravaged” and “under siege,” making it necessary to use troops to protect local ICE facilities. The official line, however, is obvious nonsense. [social media post, with video]

    So what’s the real reason? As it turns out, the president recently hinted at the answer.

    While the White House has largely focused on Chicago and Baltimore, earlier this month the president raised the prospect of deploying the Guard to Portland because of something he’d seen on television the night before.

    The NBC affiliate in Portland highlighted some highly relevant comments Trump made to NBC News:

    Trump referenced a weekend conversation with Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek, and he alluded to being told by Kotek that the reality in Portland is different from what’s being portrayed to him. ‘I spoke to the governor, she was very nice,’ Trump said. ‘But I said, “Well wait a minute, am I watching things on television that are different from what’s happening? My people tell me different.” They are literally attacking and there are fires all over the place…it looks like terrible.’

    Oh. So Trump isn’t sure he’s right about Portland descending into a lawless hellscape, but he’s definitely seen some unsettling images while “watching things on television.”

    Are those “things” different from reality? The president apparently isn’t sure, which makes a terrible situation quite a bit worse.

  473. says

    Trump brags about gilded Oval Office as Americans struggle

    On Sunday, President Donald Trump bragged about the hideously tacky gold leafing he’s defaced the Oval Office with, posting a video of the ugly gilded ornaments he’s affixed to the walls and saying how great they look.

    “Some of the highest quality 24 Karat Gold used in the Oval Office and Cabinet Room of the White House,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post alongside the video. “Foreign Leaders, and everyone else, ‘freak out’ when they see the quality and beauty. Best Oval Office ever, in terms of success and look!!! President DJT” [JFC! And he is lying about the “24 Karat Gold.” Some of it is literally spray-painted decorative stuff, or thinly gold-plated stuff from hardware stores. It looks cheap and gaudy.]

    It’s hard to imagine a more out-of-touch comment.

    Trump is bragging about the taxpayer-funded decorations he’s added to the Oval Office while Americans are struggling with inflation and the job market sours.

    Job growth is virtually stagnant, with job seekers outpacing job openings for the first time since 2021. Economists attribute the sagging job market to Trump’s tariffs […]

    But don’t worry, Trump is gilding the Oval Office, erecting gigantic flagpoles on the White House lawn, dining at a Mar-a-Lago-style club he used your taxpayer dollars to build in what used to be the Rose Garden, and is building a massive ballroom on the White House grounds that will dwarf the size of the historic White House building itself.

    He’s doing all of that while having claimed the federal government is full of waste, allowing now-former co-President Elon Musk to put tens of thousands of federal employees out of work, cutting food stamps and Medicaid from the poorest Americans, and letting children in impoverished nations die because he said foreign aid is too costly.

    But hey, at least Dear Leader has gold-plated Home Depot ornaments in the Oval Office!

  474. says

    Noem fast-tracked millions in disaster aid to Florida tourist attraction after donor intervened, by ProPublica

    For months, the complaints have rolled in from parts of the country hit by natural disasters: The Federal Emergency Management Agency was moving far too slowly in sending aid to communities ravaged by floods and hurricanes, including in central Texas and North Carolina. Many officials were blaming Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, whose agency oversees FEMA.

    “I can’t get phone calls back,” Ted Budd, the Republican senator from North Carolina, told a newspaper this month, describing his attempts to reach Noem’s office. “I can’t get them to initiate the money. It’s just a quagmire.” The delays were caused in part by a new policy announced by DHS that requires Noem’s personal sign-off on expenses over $100,000, several news outlets reported.

    But records obtained by ProPublica show how one locality found a way to get FEMA aid more quickly: It asked one of Noem’s political donors for help.

    The records show that Noem quickly expedited more than $11 million of federal money to rebuild a historic pier in Naples, Florida, after she was contacted by a major financial supporter last month. The pier is a tourist attraction in the wealthy Gulf Coast enclave and was badly damaged by Hurricane Ian in 2022.

    Frustrated city officials had been laboring for months, without success, to get disaster assistance. But just two weeks after the donor stepped in, they were celebrating their sudden change of fortune. “We are now at warp speed with FEMA,” one city official wrote in an email. A FEMA representative wrote: “Per leadership instruction, pushing project immediately.”

    Along with fast-tracking the money, Noem flew to Naples on a government plane to tour the pier herself. She then stayed for the weekend and got dinner with the donor, local cardiologist Sinan Gursoy, at the French restaurant Bleu Provence, according to records and an interview with the Naples mayor. This account is based on text messages and emails ProPublica obtained through public records requests.

    Noem’s actions in Naples suggest the injection of political favoritism into an agency tasked with saving lives and rebuilding communities wiped out by disaster. It also heightens concerns about the discretion Noem has given herself by personally handling all six-figure expenses at the agency, consolidating her power over who wins and loses in the pursuit of federal relief dollars, experts said.

    Jeffrey Schlegelmilch, director of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia University, said that politics has long been a factor in federal disaster relief — one study found that swing states are more likely to get federal help, for example. But “I’ve not heard of anything this egregious — a donor calling up and saying I need help and getting it,” he said, “while others may be getting denied assistance or otherwise waiting in line for help that may or may not come.”

    […] Noem’s top adviser, Corey Lewandowski, also appears to own a home in Naples near the city’s pier, according to property tax records. Lewandowski is an unpaid staffer at DHS serving as Noem’s de facto chief of staff. (Media reports have alleged the two are romantically involved, which they have both denied.) Lewandowski told ProPublica that he was not involved in the pier decision and that he was not in Naples during Noem’s visit. […]

    More at the link.

  476. says

    PORTLAND (The Borowitz Report)—Troops deployed to Portland, Oregon by Donald J. Trump cleaned up “a significant amount” of discarded kale at a downtown farmer’s market, FBI Director Kash Patel claimed on Monday.

    Declaring the deployment a major success, Patel posted on X, “We are keeping kale off the streets of Portland.”

    But city residents soon questioned that assessment, with one longtime Portlander stating, “In Portland we never discard kale—we massage it.”

    Patel’s premature claim became yet another embarrassment for the struggling FBI chief, who later acknowledged that the discarded vegetable was not kale but Swiss chard.

    https://www.borowitzreport.com/p/us-military-cleans-up-discarded-kale

  481. birgerjohansson says

    Putin’s summer push towards Pokrovsk has reportedly cost the russians 20 000 casualities per km. Because it is a bad idea to advance on foot.

  482. says

    Why it was so deeply weird to see Trump amplify ‘medbed’ pseudoscience

    “Someone used AI to create a fake Fox News segment that showed the president touting magical beds to the public. So why did he promote it?”

    When it comes to science and medicine, Donald Trump’s track record is an embarrassment. [snipped examples]

    But Trump made matters quite a bit worse last week, holding a radical White House event in which Trump railed against Tylenol for the better part of an hour. Paul Offit, a pediatrician and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia vaccine researcher, told The Washington Post, “That was the most dangerously irresponsible press conference in the realm of public health in American history.”

    After some administration officials tried to walk back his comments a bit, the president doubled down Friday with an all-caps screed in which he pushed bizarre medical advice about vaccines and pain treatments.

    One day later, he helped introduce the public to the “MedBed” idea. Politico reported:

    Yesterday on Truth Social, the president of the United States shared a video purporting to be a segment on Fox News (it wasn’t) in which an A.I.-generated, deep-faked version of himself sat in the White House and promised that ‘every American will soon receive their own MedBed card’ that will grant them access to new ‘MedBed hospitals.’

    […] there are fringe conspiracy theorists who believe there are magical, futuristic beds that can cure every disease, regrow missing limbs and even reverse the human aging process.

    This is, of course, quite bonkers, though as the Politico report went on to note, “An offshoot of MedBed believers are QAnon devotees who insist the non-existent technology is being used to secretly keep John F. Kennedy Jr. alive.”

    So to recap, someone used AI to create a fake Fox News segment that purported to show Trump vowing to make medbed technology available to the public (at medbed hospitals, of course) despite the inconvenient fact that medbed technology does not exist. The sitting American president then used his social media platform to amplify this fake Fox News segment, though he (or someone on his team) eventually took down his post on the subject.

    I’m well aware of how trite this is, but take a moment to consider what would happen if Joe Biden had done this. Then imagine how loud the political world’s conversation about the 25th Amendment would be soon after. [yep]

    Complicating matters is the familiarity of these awkward circumstances. Trump recently boasted about people in Memphis praising him after National Guard troops arrived in the city, despite the fact that troops hadn’t yet arrived in the city. A month earlier, the president shared the details of a conversation with Maryland Gov. Wes Moore that did not occur in reality, extending a pattern in which the Republican has repeatedly shared the details of conversations that have only occurred in his overactive imagination.

    A month before that, Trump expressed surprise that Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell was appointed, despite the fact that he was the one who appointed Powell in the first place.

    Two weeks earlier, Trump participated in a press conference at a detention facility in the Florida Everglades, known as “Alligator Alcatraz,” and a reporter asked the president whether there was an “expected time frame” that detainees would be kept at the controversial camp.

    “I’m gonna spend a lot of — this is my home state,” the Republican replied. “I love it. … I feel very comfortable in the state — I’ll spend a lot of time here.” He appeared unfazed by the disconnect between the question and the answer.

    Incidents like these are not uncommon. Indeed, Democrats tried to make them a campaign issue ahead of Election Day 2024. In the race’s closing weeks, for example, Trump told a 12-minute story about Arnold Palmer’s genitalia, which came just days after the Republican decided to stop taking questions at a town hall event and instead swayed to music for 39 minutes.

    A year later, Trump has promoted a “medbed” video for reasons that have not yet been explained.

    As USA Today’s Rex Huppke summarized, after Trump twice suggested he was headed to Russia when he was actually going to Alaska, “That’s the sort of thing you hear before having to make a difficult decision about grandpa’s future.” Huppke similarly recently described the president as being “in obvious mental decline.” [see examples above]

  483. says

    Summarized by Steve Benen from a RollCall report:

    At the White House’s direction, Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe, signed into law a newly gerrymandered congressional district intended to boost his fellow Republicans. If implemented, the map will ensure that the GOP controls seven of the state’s eight U.S. House seats, up from the current six.

  485. birgerjohansson says

    Ukraina destroyed the Russian ship Port Oila 4 back in August, carrying 5000 tons of Iranian drones, explosives and electronic equipment.
    The ship was in the Caspian (!) Sea, far from Ukraine but a swarm of drones flew 800 km crossing hostile territory and reaching the harbor.

  486. birgerjohansson says

    Re. @ 484
    Japanese joke. High Elf Archer is very self-conscious about having a rather modest chest (being a ‘petanko’) and takes umbrage when someone mentions something flat, in this case
    the surface used by blacksmiths.
    You do not want to be near High Elf Archer when she is angry! (Her speciality is killing multiple sentries before one of them sounds the alarm)

  490. JM says

    CNN: Congressional leaders leave White House meeting without deal to avoid government shutdown
    They have until the end of Tuesday to avoid the shut down. At this point a shut down looks likely, if there was a reasonable chance of avoiding it there would be more negotiations.
    I’m not going to quote what the people said before and after the meeting, none of it can be remotely trusted. You can see an idea of what is going on from what people said and what has been leaked. The general outline is that the Republicans are not real interested in negotiations. The Democrats want some concessions on Obamacare medical support.

    Any legislation to fund the government will need support from at least 60 senators in the 100-member Senate. That means that at least eight Democrats would have to vote for the short-term funding bill, because Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky is expected to vote against it.

    Eight flips is unlikely but not impossible. They will get a couple no matter what but there will also be backroom negotiations among the Democrats about who will get to vote for the bill to look more moderate while insuring it fails.

    Senate Democrats have begun to discuss some possible next steps if the government does shut down — potentially a proposal for a one- or two-week stopgap if Republicans will work with them on a health care fix, according to several people familiar with the private talks who requested anonymity to discuss them. But there is no consensus in the caucus about how to proceed, or guarantees that Republicans and Trump would negotiate.

    The Republicans are taking an all or nothing position, vote to back the Republican plan or shut down. The Democrats are aiming to have some proposals to throw out, even if only for the press.

  491. JM says

    EuroNews: Kremlin bans petrol exports until 2026 amid Ukraine’s strikes on Russia’s oil sector

    Russia’s ban on petrol exports is now extended until the end of the year as shortages continue to hit the domestic market and spread across the regions. Kyiv says that in less than two months, Ukrainian forces struck 85 high-value targets in Russia.

    Recently, the fuel shortage on the market has worsened, with a growing number of regions imposing restrictions on gasoline sales, and its price reaching historic highs. Supply disruptions have already affected central areas, including Moscow and Leningrad regions.

    The oil situation is slowly getting worse across Russia. In the central areas of Russia gasoline is still available but individual stations may be out and prices continue to rise. Across most of the rest of Russia supply is becoming erratic, with stations shut down and some areas are rationing. In the occupied part of Ukraine the Russian military often grabs civilian supplies when available leaving nothing for residents.
    It’s looking like Ukraine’s best route to victory is actually collapsing Russia’s economy rather then a battlefield victory.

  493. birgerjohansson says

    I literally consume more news about USA during the Trump era than all of the rest of the world combined. Including my native Sweden.
    Because the fucker is ruining the world for all of us.

  498. StevoR says

    @493. birgerjohansson

    I literally consume more news about USA during the Trump era than all of the rest of the world combined. Including my native Sweden.

    That makes two of us here -no dount likely many more as well. Such a tragedy for the planet that that one messed up country ahs much power and infleunce both in hard military and soft culturaland economic terms.

    Because the fucker is ruining the world for all of us.

    Quoted for truth.

    Which, infuriatingly could have been avoided (probly?) had Kamala won last year. Had a few less voted for Trump -directly or indirectly and a few more voted for her instead of him or not voting at all.

  499. StevoR says

    TikTok’s future in the US has finally been settled after years of legal battles, congressional hearings, and behind-the-scenes negotiations.

    Under a new $14 billion deal brokered by President Donald Trump, the app’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, has been forced to spin off its US arm into a separate entity controlled by a consortium of American billionaires and Gulf royals.

    On paper, the deal is about national security and data privacy; however, in practice, it appears to be about power and control of one of the most influential platforms for young people in the world, and how it will shape political narratives, particularly on Israel.

    TikTok’s role in broadcasting images of Israel’s war on Gaza and the way that has shifted American public opinion has been central to the pressure campaign that forced this sale.

    The new owners include some of the most prominent pro-Israel billionaires in the US, alongside a fund run by Abu Dhabi’s ruling family.

    Source : https://www.newarab.com/news/pro-israel-billionaires-and-uae-royals-meet-tiktoks-new-owners

  500. StevoR says

    @ ^ Kinda related & same source :

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that his government views social media platforms as a “weapon” to bolster Israel’s faltering image in the United States, amid growing international outrage over the genocide in the Gaza Strip.

    During a meeting with pro-Israeli American social media influencers at the Israeli Consulate General in New York on Friday, Netanyahu said, “We have to fight with weapons that apply to the battlefields in which we’re engaged in and the most important ones are on social media,” according to a video of the meeting posted by influencer Debra Lea on her X account.

    He said that a deal which would see US companies, most of them owned by pro-Israel businessmen, acquire TikTok’s operations in the United States, was “the most important purchase going on right now.”

    Source : https://www.newarab.com/news/netanyahu-says-social-media-israels-new-weapon